Down East Starts Petition

The new Kinston minor league baseball franchise is in the process of naming their new team. They have offered five names, all including Down East as the identifying location of this team.

This has caused a public outcry among Kinston residents who want "Kinston" in the name and especially for the TRUE Down East community who does NOT want THEIR name associated with a ballteam that is located some 80-miles west.  Bottom line:  "Kinston is NOT Down East."  

According to Ch 12 news ... 

Wade Howell, the General Manager for this franchise, said, "Thanks to the more than 1300 name submissions, we've received a number of unique names that embody the energetic spirit of Eastern North Carolina. While the new team will call Kinston home, there are so many people from neighboring areas that will be part of the new family of fans. To honor the geographic diversity of the fans, and to give a nod to the many vibrant areas the team will serve, we'll precede the new team nickname with the phrase "Down East".

Complaints are pouring in on social media about the choices for a name for the new minor league baseball team coming to Kinston.

So we asked the team's general manager about the complaints. Wade Howell said the team's name will be chosen from the five options being given. He said other options will not be added. The five name options are: Down East Eagles, Down East Hamhawks, Down East Hogzillas, Down East Shaggers and Down East Wood Ducks.

The purpose of this petition is to EDUCATE the Kinston team officials and the region where the TRUE Down East is and why using this name is inappropriate and unacceptable.  

Signatures, comments and support from Down East residents, natives, visitors and friends are welcome. 

DOWN EAST IS ...

Down East is that string of communities that follow along and near Highway 70 and then onto Highway 12 where you reach the “big water” of Pamlico Sound. It begins with Bettie, then Otway, and turning south takes you through Straits, Harkers Island, back through Gloucester and Marshallberg before heading northeast through Smyrna, Williston, Davis, Stacy, Sea Level, Atlantic, and Cedar Island.

Down East is thirteen communities of men born to be fishermen, boatbuilders, decoy carvers, hunting guides and of women born to be all those things if needed and everything else — mothers, community leaders, teachers, storekeepers, fish house worker, doctors, nurses and preachers.

Down East Carteret County is a beautiful, natural, and until recent years, isolated and unspoiled landscape that remains the backbone of its heritage and a shared bond among Down East people. The marsh and its aroma, the wind-sheared oaks, the natural harbors and the saltwater running in their veins is what holds the people and the traditions of these communities together. 

This place, beginning with North River and stretching south, north and east along the shores of Core Sound, has shaped the character of those people, instilling in them a sense of independence, self-reliance, and pride that runs generations deep, a heritage that’s sacred, tied to the sounds and creeks that surround them, sustain them, strengthen them.

If you would like to sign the petition, go to this link here.