Eden House…Perdue plant…Holiday Island…Tri-County Airport…Ahoskie Town Hall…Black Rock…Ocracoke; the guesses to the exact location of “Brian’s Booty” were numerous.

On Tuesday, Brian Pavlick, Roanoke-Chowan Publishing’s Advertising Director, finally answered the question that has been on the lips of hundreds of people throughout the local area…Hope Plantation.

In the process, Pavlick reached inside a box of correct responses and drew the name of one lucky winner, Perry Eure of the Eure community in Gates County. Eure won $500 for figuring out the location.

Perry Eure was among the names of the 34 correct entries in the “Find Brian’s Booty Contest” – one which ran for the four-week duration of Roanoke-Chowan Publishing’s 2010 Crossroads special edition. The overall theme for this year’s Crossroads was “Treasures.” With that in mind, an idea was hatched to include a treasure hunt as part of the four-week special section.

Each week, a different clue was given on the location of “Brian’s Booty.” Eventually, those clues all linked together and pointed to Hope Plantation, a historical site near Windsor in Bertie County.

The Week 1 clue…“in a land once roamed by the greatest pirate of them all”…referenced Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, who did indeed once look for safe harbor in the Albemarle Sound/Chowan River area of Bertie County.

For Week #2, we gave the clue that Brian’s treasure was hidden at a place facing north; one way in, one way out. The Hope House at Hope Plantation faces north and is located on a dead end road.

Week #3’s clue referenced North Carolina’s “boss lady” would feel at home where the treasure was buried. The state’s “boss lady” is current Governor Bev Perdue. Hope Plantation and the Hope House were the home of Bertie County native David Stone, who served as Governor of North Carolina from 1808-1810.

If you knew the layout of Hope Plantation, the final clue of the contest would lead to a correct answer. That clue…“me treasure is flanked by a King and a Monk”…referenced the King Bazemore House and the Roanoke-Chowan Heritage Center, two structures also located on Hope Plantation. The Heritage Center was dedicated in honor of longtime North Carolina Senator and Bertie County native J.J. “Monk” Harrington.

“My whole family went on a treasure hunt and we really thought the answer was Black Rock or the Black Rock area there near the Eden House (US 17) bridge,” said Eure. “Then that last clue about the King and the Monk threw me for a loop. To be honest, I just wrote down Hope Plantation on one entry just as a hunch. I really didn’t think it was there, but as it turned out, it was there.”

Of Eure’s 11 entries, six were linked to the Black Rock area. He also guessed Holiday Island (in the Chowan River), the Bertie Courthouse in Windsor, Bal Gra (on the banks of the Albemarle Sound in Bertie County), the Cashie River bridge in Windsor and, of course, Hope Plantation.

“I even read a book on Blackbeard, looking for clues there,” Eure admitted. “We had a big time with it…my two boys, Tracy and Tommy, and my wife, Joyce, all trying to figure out where the treasure was hidden. It was a lot of fun. You kept us looking forward to the clues each week. We’re very proud to have a newspaper that serves our communities like the ones you publish. I read every word of it and really enjoy the paper.”

Others correctly identifying Hope Plantation (some with multiple entries) were Karen Cavin of Murfreesboro, Kathy Richmond of Ahoskie, Brenda White of Windsor, Diana Merrick of Colerain, Ann Askew of Eure, Holly White of Windsor, Kelly Davis of Ahoskie, Nancy Godwin of Ahoskie, Scott Cavin of Murfreesboro, Gene Davis of Ahoskie, Ellen Williams of Rich Square, Dave Merrick of Colerain, Peggy Lee of Ahoskie, Jo Ann Jordan of Ahoskie, Karen Askew of Windsor, Jason Williams of Durham, Barbara Davis of Ahoskie, Will Murphy of Ahoskie and Hal Daniels of Ahoskie.

All totaled, the contest attracted 177 entries. A few of the guesses were unique in nature…in Brian’s pants pocket; in Brian’s boot; in a cave; and under (Ahoskie Mayor) Linda Blackburn’s house.

The entries came from each county in the Roanoke-Chowan area (Bertie, Gates, Hertford and Northampton). There were entries from Kill Devil Hills, Durham and Nashville, NC. Two came from out of state, both from different residents of New Jersey.

But the bottom line was that it appeared, from the number of entries, the contest was a popular one. We hope you enjoy playing the contest as much as we delighted in the fact of entertaining our readers as well as providing a lesson in local history.