By Miles Layton

EDENTON — As the sun dips low over Edenton Bay, casting gold across the water at Sunfish Park, visitors instinctively pause. Some stand at the rail. Others linger on the pier. Soon, they will have a place to sit — and a story to remember.

On Tuesday night, the Edenton Town Council unanimously approved plans for a commemorative bench at Sunfish Park, a gift from longtime tour boat captain and Edenton Bay Cruises owner Captain Mark Thesier, known to many as the captain of the “Liber-Tea.”

The featured photo for this story was taken recently of the amazing sunset view at Sunfish Park on a warm day.

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The bench, which will be privately purchased and installed by the town, is meant to honor Thesier’s wife, Theresa, on the occasion of her 75th birthday — and to give residents and visitors a permanent place to sit and watch the sunsets Edenton is known for.

“I’ve come to you to request a commemorative bench to be installed at Sunfish Park,” Public Works Director David Myers told the council. “Currently, there is no bench there for citizens or guests to enjoy the sunset. Captain Mark, who you all know operates and owns the Liber-tea tour boat, is requesting one for his wife Teresa’s 75th birthday.”

The bench will match those already placed throughout downtown Edenton and will come at no cost to taxpayers — paid for by Thesier.  

“It’s about $2,800, so it would be of no cost to the town,” Myers said. “Public Works will install it and make sure it is installed correctly, but I think it would be a good asset for the town, for all guests and citizens to enjoy it and sit there and watch the sunset. It takes about 12 weeks to get it here.”

Council members asked whether the bench would be the same style seen elsewhere.

“It’s the same benches that we see downtown. It’d be identical,” Myers replied.

The bench will measure between six and eight feet wide and will be secured to a small concrete pad.

“There will be a small concrete pad for it so that way it can’t be moved,” Myers said.

It will also include a commemorative plaque, the language of which Thesier drafted with his family.

Two possible locations were presented, both near the water’s edge at Sunfish Park. The preferred placement would situate the bench between crepe myrtle trees, facing west toward the bay.

“Those crepe myrtle trees are in line with where we would like to set the bench, in between two of those trees,” Myers explained. “It’s probably 30, 40, 50 yards in front of the Herringbone.”

Town staff said nearby business owners and sailing instructors were consulted.

“I spoke to Joe and Stephanie Wach and also Matt and Stu that run the Sunfish School for the kids, the sailing school, and they all agreed that it would be an asset and not interfere with the operations,” Myers said.

The orientation of the bench was intentional.

“We intend to be in line with the crepe myrtles but orient the bench itself due west so that no matter what time of year, you’re not going to be having to swing around to spot the sunset,” Myers said. “You’ll be able to pivot slightly to catch it year-round.”

When Capt. Thesier stepped forward to speak, the conversation shifted from logistics to meaning.

“Many of you know it gets harder and harder every year to come up with the birthday — after a while you’d like to express a little deeper appreciation of her in our life,” he said.  

He said the bench was a family project.

“This was my daughter and son-in-law and two grandchildren and myself project,” Thesier said.

He joked about the town’s policy on commemorative benches.

“First question I had was, you don’t have to be dead to get one of these benches,” he said.

Beyond the birthday, the bench also honors his wife —  he credits Theresa with the vision behind Edenton Bay Cruises, now in its 12th year.

“When we get to the language of the engraving on the bench, she truly was the creative vision for Edenton Bay Cruises,” Thesier said. “I get all the glory because I’m down there driving the boat.”

He said his wife is affectionately known as “The Commodore.”

“She outranks me,” Thesier said. “She truly is the inspiration and the guiding light and the original thinker to say, ‘Let’s find some place to do a boat tour.’”

He also thanked the town for supporting the idea from the beginning.

“That always comes back to you folks, embracing the idea 12 years ago and pretty much letting us define it,” he said.

Council members thanked Thesier for his contribution to the community.

“I just want to thank you for the service that you provide your community and visitors,” Councilman Craig Miller said. “I hear a lot of good things about it from visitors.”

With no objections raised, the council approved the bench.

Once installed, it will quietly join the landscape of Sunfish Park — a place to rest, to reflect, and to watch the sun settle into the bay — carrying with it a story of family, gratitude, and a community that embraced an idea and watched it grow.