Nearby

Maybe that explains why Bull Islanders tend to take a long view about most things. They are not, generally, excitable—except, perhaps, when it comes to the water. On that subject they are passionate. No wonder: Standing on the shoreline, it’s possible to watch the sun both rise and set over water. Piers dot every inlet, trawlers fill slips at York Haven Marina, and sails flutter on the breeze at all hours of the day. The community is mostly residential, but commercial fishing is still a large part of the local economy. Even suburban move-ins embrace the sea culture, decorating their lawns with lighthouses, anchors and other maritime ornaments.

Poquoson isn’t solely defined by water. The city’s identity is also tied to NASA’s Langley Research Center. Looming over treetops across the Back River are the giant structures on which Project Mercury astronauts trained to land on the moon. Over the years, many NASA scientists have taken up residence in Poquoson (they constitute about 13 percent of Poquoson’s population), which has benefited from the influx of brainpower.

Bull Islanders like to brag about the sports championships won by Poquoson High School (current AA state champion in baseball and nine-time AA state champion in wrestling), but the school’s most notable achievements are more cerebral than physical. The high school Academic Bowl team has qualified for the National Academic Championships a handful of times, and teams from elementary, middle and high school have all competed at the World Finals in an international construction and problem-solving competition called Odyssey of the Mind (OM).

Norm Remchuk has coached elementary, middle and high school OM teams since 2003, including squads that finished fourth, fifth and 13th at the World finals. Before he took over, Poquoson High had won the championship in 2000 and 2001. In 2001, then-15-year-old Kelsey Boitnott set a world record in the “structure” event, building an 18-gram balsawood tower that held 1,535 pounds before snapping. China is one of the top competitors in structures, but its youngsters have yet to beat little Poquoson—Boitnott’s record still stands.

Stroll the streets of Poquoson and you get a sense that Bull Islanders pay little heed to short-term change. For example, several businesses have passed through the brick building on the corner of Yorktown and Hunts Neck roads, but folks still refer to it as B.C. Smith’s. It doesn’t seem to matter that Smith’s general store closed more than 10 years ago, or that the park bench out front, where boys sat to watch traffic pass, is now just a memory. Residents still talk about the general store and the bench—even though the building now houses a shop called the Perfect Garden. It was closed when I stopped by, a sign on the door stating the reason: “Makin’ cookies.”