Sunday, March 9, 2008

Thomas Howell created this post to relieve Rick Murphy, who is recovering from minor surgery.


Birthdays, March 11 - 16:
3/11: Michael Buck
3/13: Darwin Bertram, Hannah and Zach Alley

News:
Rugby received its most significant snowfall this year Friday night and most all day Saturday. The white stuff -- about two or two and a half inches -- came after heavy rain earlier Friday, probably the heaviest rain Rugby has received in 2008. A layer of ice under the snow made travel treacherous for a few hours, but major roads (and even the gravel roads of Beacon Hill) were clear by mid-afternoon.

Rita Elliott made snow cream. Her recipe calls for snow, rich milk, sugar, vanilla, and lots of know-how to get the proportions right. Don't try this in a large city due to air pollution.

Earlier in the week we had quite a windstorm. These have been happening here quite a bit of late. Some Beacon Hill residents have been having large trees removed near their houses, a wise precaution. We canceled Tuesday's hike on account of the wind. Walking in the woods under such conditions is to risk having a tree fall on you.

Butch Hodgkins' workshop was framed (walls only) last week; see photo above, made in the snow.

Rev. Donald Feick, former supply priest at Christ Church, suffered a fall last week and fractured the ball of the hip. He was in surgery, and the good news is that he went through that well. If you want to send a card, address it to 4343 Lebanon Rd., Room T-1023, Hermitage, TN 37076.

Benita Howell received advance copies this week of Thomas Hughes' Rugby, Tennessee, reissued by University of Tennessee Press with an introduction by her. This inexpensive paperback will be officially released in April and will be available at the Commissary.


Morgan County Oil Wells
If you attended the community meeting in Rugby on March 1 and want to know more about oil exploration and drilling in the vicinity, check the Knoxville News-Sentinel archive for a March 2 article by Liz Engel, "Crude Optimism for State's Oil Wells." Tennessee ranks 28th nationally in oil production, but in 2006 Morgan County produced almost 50,000 barrels and was the second most productive county in the state. Fentress, Pickett, and Scott ranked third, fourth, and fifth. Apparently, Tennessee's relatively small supply of crude oil is considered "top-notch" because it is easy to refine. High prices are encouraging more drilling for shallow deposits at 200 to 300 feet, but geologists believe there are deeper pools 500 to 2500 feet below the surface.


Forthcoming events:


Friday, March 14. Special History Club meeting at Grey Gables B&B. Dinner at 6:30 for those with reservations; program at 7:30. Linda Brooks Jones, Kathy Williams of the Fentress County Historical Society, and Ila Hull will speak on the Brooks family in Rugby. Linda Konig will take last-minute dinner reservations today (March 11); call her at 628-5243.

Saturday, March 15. St. Patrick's Dinner at Harrow Road Cafe Menu:
Pride of Erin Soup
Timlestown Roast Sirloin
Potato Farl
Baby Carrots, Peas, & Onions in Cream
Spoon Rolls
Bailey's Irish Cream Cake
Beverage of Choice
$17.95
Enjoy Irish music on the player and an Irish history flyer. Folks may bring their own wine -- no charge. Regular dinner menu will also be available. Dinner seating begins at 5:00 and is available until 8:30. Please call 628-2441 or 888-214-3400 for reservations so you can be seated more promptly.

Friday, March 21 - Good Friday service at Christ Church at 5:00 pm.

Workshops at the Community Building (obtain flyer with details at the Commissary):

March 15, 9 a.m. -- 5 p.m. Personalize and Decorate with Quilting (NEW). Instructor, Joyce Lantz. Fee $25.

March 16, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Create a Unique Table with Quilting (NEW). Instructor, Joyce Lantz. Fee $25. Both classes together for $45.

March 22 and 23 (Easter Sunday), 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Birds Nest Basket (NEW). Instructor, Judy Zugish. Fee $90.

Call Historic Rugby 628-2441 or 888-214-3400 or Rugby Commissary 628-5166 to register.


Hike Thursday, March 13 to Zenith with Teresa Coker, who lived there as a little girl. All hikes are as weather permits. Leave from the Cafe (it is now open for breakfast!) at 10:30 a.m. Zenith, on the North White Oak Creek in Fentress County, was the site of an underground coal mine where serious labor violence took place during the 1930s. Teresa is the granddaughter of the operators of a cash store in the mining community. Three small houses were moved from Zenith to Rugby after the mine closed; all are now located on Central Avenue.


Nature Notes, by Linda Konig

Jan. 17, 2003 -- Snowed last night and this morning, fine, very fine powdery snow. Robin Myers' horses ran down to the foot of the hill pasture; they're really enjoying the snow and feeling frisky. Misty, the mare, seems especially excited and has gotten down on her back to roll around in it. You'd think she'd get so wet and cold, but they have their thicker winter coats now. The other two are mostly rearing at one another and leaping about, chasing each other. They seem so invigorated by the snow. A little after 7 o'clock tonight, I went over to the church in the freezing cold. I wanted to see it in snow under the moonlight. The sight was magnificent with the moon so round and the snow reflecting the moonlight. I could see Orion just above the steeple. Turned the lights on inside the church so I could see the warm light spilling out onto the blue snow. Beautiful. Well, if I'd been John Donne, I'd have written a prayer poem right then and there, and it would have reverberated through the ages. Passing by Uffington, I saw the security light was out. If only it hadn't been so terribly cold (supposed to get down to zero degrees tonight), I'd have stopped to pay Mme. Hughes a visit. The house did look ghostly but lovely in the moon-snow light. I might have walked behind the house to look down toward the pond, and I might have seen the moon-snow light resting on deer. A moment of visible silence: moonlight on deer on snow.


Jan. 23, 2003 -- L'heure bleu. Tonight the twilight lingered a long me because of the snow light. I love it when the snow looks blue, reflecting the sky and making everything a picture of l'heure bleu (literally "blue hour," what the French call twilight).