You never know when you might be able to help someone in need. A simple Facebook post from Studio 12 in Avon recently helped a family in Elizabeth City find peace and closure after a family member's death.
On December 1, 2023, 74-year-old Stanford Lee Lewis, who went by the nickname Lum, passed away in his hometown of Elizabeth City. A decorated veteran who served several tours in Vietnam, Lewis had been disabled by legal blindness due to glaucoma and unable to work since the late 1990s. When he was working before losing his sight, Lewis often worked on the Outer Banks for general contractor Olin Finch.
“Lum did various jobs for us," Finch says. "He was very talented and very artistic. Anything artistic we needed done, we would have him do it." Finch mentions a carved mantelpiece in his office that Lewis carved and stonework that he did for several builders.
Lewis was a natural-born artist who had a degree in art education from Elizabeth City State University. His daughter, Keesha Landis, says his talents were innate, but they were refined during his post-secondary education. Finch built the Nags Head Hammocks stores in Duck and Kill Devil Hills, and Lewis was hired to build a stonework waterfall in the Duck store and paint the ceilings in both stores to look like the coastal sky, complete with birds, planes and clouds. He spent long hours on tall ladders and scaffolding painting the high ceilings in the stores more than 20 years ago, and his work can still be seen in the stores today.
Photo: Stanford "Lum" Lewis painted the ceilings of the Nags Head Hammocks store in Kill Devil Hills to look like the coastal sky. The Duck location of Nags Head Hammocks also has a ceiling with Lewis's artwork, though some of his art in that location was lost to water damage.
As Keesha began settling her father’s affairs, she became interested in seeing his artwork on the Outer Banks. “I was in reflection mode,” she says. It had been 25 years since her father had been to the Outer Banks, but it was a place he loved and through his art there are still peices of him here. She made the trip to Nags Head Hammocks in Kill Devil Hills to connect with her father through his art.
“I also remembered seeing a picture of a sculpture he had done," Keesha says.
All she knew was that it was either King Neptune or Poseiden and that it was located somewhere in Avon. "I didn’t know where that photo was taken. I googled it and searched around the internet but found nothing." Keesha did not have time to track it down. She had a funeral to arrange.
Meanwhile, her husband, William Landis, picked up the search. He contacted Studio 12 in Avon to see if anyone there could help contact local artists and possibly find the statue. Studio 12 owner Dawn Eskins did not know about the piece of art, but she put the word out on Studio 12’s Facebook page.
"People here are just so helpful," Eskins says.
Photo: Mystery solved! The location of Lewis's Poseiden statue turned out to be Pamlico Point Condos in Avon.
A few Facebook comments and two days later, Keesha and William were standing in front of the concrete Poseiden statue at Pamlico Point Condos in Avon. First, someone had posted a Google map of a statue she saw while walking. Then someone sent a picture of the yard it was in. The Landises and Eskins went right to it, and it was the very same piece that Keesha remembered from the photo, though time had weathered the statue quite a bit.
Finch says it was the late builder Tom Holian who commissioned the Poseiden statue. Holian wanted something unique as a centerpiece in the yard of Pamlico Point Condos, which he built. He made a giant concrete block and hired Lewis to carve it. Finch says he remembers that Lewis carved the statue with only a chisel and a hammer.
Keesha and William took photos of the statue to share with the family at the funeral, and everyone was grateful to the people in Avon who helped them find this final piece of Lum’s Art.
"It was such a feel-good story," Eskins says. "It was touching for everyone who was involved in solving this mystery."
Following up, William and Keesha were thankful to those who helped. "This means the world to me," Keesha wrote on Facebook. "I had never heard of Avon NC but just one phone call to Dawn taught me that you people are the salt of the earth," William added.
Photo: A friendly local cat stayed by Keesha's side the whole time she was at the statue site.
Keep your eyes and ears open this holiday season and look for ways to help others when you can. No matter how large or small the act, you never know the impact it might have.
About the Author Molly Harrison
Molly Harrison is managing editor at OneBoat, publisher of OuterBanksThisWeek.com. She moved to Nags Head in 1994 and since then has made her living writing articles and creating publications about the people, places and culture of the Outer Banks.
