Stop and Smell the Roses Traveling Exhibit

Stop and Smell the Roses is a banner exhibition celebrating 35th years of the Rose Buddies. It all started in September 1983 when Fred Fearing and Joe Kramer decided that boaters at Mariners’ Wharf should be welcomed.  Fearing gathered refreshments and Kramer, an avid rose gardener, clipped blossoms from his garden to give to the ladies. This gathering generated such a positive response that Fearing and Kramer decided to welcome every incoming boater with the same gesture.  The Rose Buddies and Elizabeth City, the “Harbor of Hospitality,” were on their way into waterway history. Today, the Elizabeth City Area Convention and Visitors Bureau staff and volunteers carry on the 35-year tradition by cutting roses for visiting vessels and hosting the gatherings.