Newbern resident lives the life of a goodwill pirate

Captain Huck poses in his pirate attire. [Click to enlarge]

And there is no question that the Mississippi River has had its share of pirates.

So, it is only fitting that a Newbern resident, with the name of one of Twain's most famous fictional characters, has embodied the pirate spirit.

Huck Greek, or Captain Huck as he likes to be called, has taken up the pirate life. He walks and talks and dresses like an actual pirate.

However, this pirate is not out in search of buried treasure or making people walk the plank. He is in fact, involved in charity events and recently assisted in making a young boy's fascination with imaginary pirates become a reality.

As you may know, ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" television show provides families in need with a new home.

These needy families are sent on a vacation for a week, while a construction team works 24 hours a day for seven days, building them a new house. And from time to time, they find a creative way to destroy the old house.

The McKinneys live right outside of Little Rock, Ark., and their son, Jobe, has leukemia.

The house they were living in was not suitable for their son's condition. The show was contacted and decided that the family needed a new one to aid in Jobe's treatment.

Jobe is a huge "Pirates of the Caribbean" fan as well as all things pirate. So, the producers of the show thought it would be neat for pirates to come and destroy the old house to make way for a new one.

Captain Huck was contacted on short notice through a social networking sight by one of the producers. He and his wife, Kyren, and stepdaughter, Kaitlin, dropped everything and traveled to central Arkansas.

They met with approximately 35 other pirates, dressed in full pirate attire, to prepare for the annihilation of the old house.

Members from a comedy troupe from Kansas City, called the Skallywags, were present along with area history re-enactors and others.

During the day of filming the host of the show, Ty Pennington, assembled a crew of workers and volunteers wearing blue shirts.

As the "blue shirts" were standing in front of the house, the pirates parted the crowd and began an all-out assault on the house using swords, axes and hatchets.

Finally, heavy machinery was commandeered by some pirates and finished what the others had started.

Although Jobe and his family were not there to see the chaos in person, they got to watch the video of it from a safe distance while on vacation.

Captain Huck said, "It was fun, but it was all about Jobe and doing what we could, to make his life better."

Huck and his wife, Kyren, are members of Pirates on the Mississippi, a local group that is interested in the pirate culture. The group tries to meet once a month for adventures and goodwill.

They attend pirate festivals and conferences across the country.

Earlier this year, they attended PyrateCon in New Orleans, where they helped raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Also, this month they will attend the St. Louis Pirate Festival which helps benefit the St. Louis Children's Hospital.

"We are pirates of goodwill that try to entertain, amaze and show compassion for all," said Huck. "The main thing that inspires us ... arrrrrrrrr the little lads and lasses like Jobe, who is fighting for his life. That little boy is a pirate, true and true."

The pirate episode of ABC's "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" is scheduled to air in November. Anyone interested in joining the Pirates of the Mississippi can contact Captain Huck at huckgreek@aol.com .