The first night of Historic Rugby’s Ghostly Gathering starts Saturday night, with this initial event reportedly already sold out. Earlier last week there were still spaces available for the second Saturday of the event (Oct. 31 – Halloween itself), so a few may remain. Cooler weather and beautiful fall foliage should help attendees get into the spirit of things. The event is described as “A Calling of the Spirits From Rugby's Past...With Story Telling...Ghostly Film…Chili & Cornbread Dinner ... Candle & Lantern Lit Tours...Druids’ Bonfire Stories.” See Calendar Below for reservation information.
Historic Rugby Accepts Preservation Award
Former First Lady Laura Bush was one of the honorees along with Historic Rugby at the Thursday night preservation award ceremony in Nashville sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Trust presented its Trustees Emeritus Award for Excellence in the Stewardship of Historic Sites to Historic Rugby. The organization was one of 23 nationwide award winners (but the ONLY one from Tennessee) honored by the National Trust during its 2009 National Preservation Conference in Nashville.
Photos by Scott Gilbert
The award was accepted on behalf of Historic Rugby by Greg Reed, current President of the Board of Directors, George Zepp, a former President of the Board of Directors, Cheryl Cribbet as current Executive Director, Barbara Stagg as Development Director and former Executive Director, and John Gilliat as long-time Properties Director.Several other folks from Rugby and friends of Historic Rugby attended the award ceremony.
Water, Water Everywhere (Except Pipes)
Broken Water Main
Last Tuesday morning I heard a strange noise, went out in front of Walton Court and heard the sound of rushing water – like a stream out of control. We have had a lot of rain but nothing at the time that would cause that kind of flow in that location. When I got out to the highway I could see water bubbling up from the grass along the fence next to Christ Church. Below and beyond it the ditch and woods were flooding. Water was rushing through a culvert under the road and out the other side creating a waterfall in the little stream between Walton Court and the Hughes Library.Huntsville Utility District workers arrived to cut off the 8-inch main to most of the village while determining the site of the break. With the outage isolated, Walton Court, Roslyn and Beacon Hill had water again. But water service remained cut off for the most of the Historic Rugby buildings, including the Café, which had to limit what it could serve until early afternoon. Heavy equipment was brought in to dig up and replace the broken pipe. All the digging alongside the highway near the church left a muddy mess, but the Utility District got the problem fixed promptly.
Carrie Thornthwaite wrote that “the Clear Fork River has not quite reached the maximum height of last spring, but it is getting close.” On the top left picture below, you can see that the river has come into the sandy area at the Gentlemen’s Swimming Hole. “On the Fentress County side, the river is touching the base of the old diving board support. At the Meeting of the Waters, the path around to make the climb up to the trail is blocked by high water and the boulders in the river are all nearly covered,” Carrie said.
Christmas Home Tour
By Lisa Donegan
Ten homeowners have committed to the Dec. 5 Tour of Homes, with each decorating according to their individual tastes and styles – lavishly, over-the-top or simply elegant. We would love for those homeowners who are not participating “actively” to participate by having their homes/grounds groomed with the greens and/or ribbons of the season.... candles in the window, etc. We are procuring horse-drawn transportation for the tour through Beacon Hill.... sleigh bells and all. Anyone wishing to contribute to affray the cost of the livery service (by making a cash donation) would be met with much appreciation, and an extra cup of wassail (or eggnog, or perhaps a wee bit of fine Irish whiskey). We are hopeful that Mother Nature and Father Christmas will conspire to provide us with a light dusting of snow! The event is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., just at twilight, to make the tour even more magical.
Letner Estate Auction Held
Saturday’s auction of the Letner property off Horseshoe Bend Road apparently drew a pretty large crowd of bidders and gawkers. The high bidder was Beacon Hill resident Steve Logan. I know Steve and Jane Logan both love the natural water features around Rugby and are looking forward to protecting the natural beauty of the 11-acre Letner property, located at a bend in White Oak Creek.
Book Club Report
By Benita Howell
Eight book club members gathered at the home of Vi Biehl and Eric Wilson to discuss Vi’s reading selection, “The Last Report on the Miracle at Little No Horse,” by Louise Erdrich. We had a wide-ranging and enriching discussion about the mosaic of serious and comic means Erdrich uses to talk about love, forgiveness, and transcending cultural boundaries. We all agreed that hearing the audio book, especially the Ojibwa language phrases, would enhance our enjoyment of this book. Barbara Stagg suggests that readers eager for more of Erdrich and these characters read “Love Medicine” and also Erdrich's poetry.
Benita Howell will host the next book club meeting after the holidays, on Saturday January 16. Continuing our multi-cultural readings, the next selection is “The Known World,” by Edward P. Jones. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel explores the moral complexities of slavery in antebellum Virginia through the experiences of free and enslaved blacks, black and white slave owners, and their interactions with one another and with whites in a society shaped by slavery. The book was published by Amistad, a division of HarperCollins, in 2003 (paperback edition 2004).
Links to information: HarperCollins and Amazon
Birthdays
October 19 - Brenda Hanwright
October 23 - Sam Stringfield
Calendar of Events
October 24 and 31 - Ghostly Gathering - A Calling of the Spirits from Rugby’s Past. Story telling, Ghostly Film, Chili and Cornbread Dinner, Candle and Lantern Lit Tours, Druids Bonfire Stories. Admission: Adults $19; Students $10.00 (ages 6 and above ONLY please). Advance reservations required. Call Historic Rugby at 423-628-2441 or Toll-Free 1-888-214-3400.
October 25 – Costume Party – Receive free consultation regarding putting together a costume for Rugby special events. 2:00 p.m. Eastern at the Community Building. For more information, contact Jody Hester at jonell@deeceelabs.com
October 30 – Community Halloween Party at the Olivers at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. You may bring food for the Spirits if you feel afraid. Come stir the caldron and feed the rats and bats. The witches and goblins will be out that night.
November 7 – Community Potluck 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Potluck will be followed by a fire prevention presentation.
November 14 - History Club field trip to Deer Lodge. Barbara Stagg will lead. Meet in the parking area behind Print Shop to carpool at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.
November 14 - Joan Donaldson Book Signing – 10:30 a.m. Eastern. Her new book “On Viney's Mountain” has been released and is already available at the Commissary. This historical novel for young adults is set in the Rugby Colony and features a heroine suggested by Aunt Dicey Fletcher (imagined as a young girl). For more information on Joan or the book, check www.joandonaldson.com or Google “On Viney's Mountain.”
November 27 – Thanksgiving Marketplace
December 5 – Christmas Tour of Homes 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
December 12 – Christmas at Rugby
Exercise Group - Monday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2-4 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
HRI Workshops –
November 7 - Walk About Basketry - Walking Stick – New Workshop – Instructor Judy Zugish - All levels can learn to weave a classy walking stick handle from prepared bark and plant fibers for those glorious Cumberland Plateau hiking trails. Treasure and use your walking stick often.
November 8 - Walk About Basketry - Water Bottle Basket - New Workshop – Instructor Judy Zugish - All levels can learn to weave a unique belt or shoulder carrying basket for your water container, woven with prepared bark and plant fibers.
TO REGISTER FOR WORKSHOPS: Call 423-628-2441 or Toll-Free 1-888-214-3400. Lodging is available at Historic Rugby with a 10% discount to all workshop participants.
Nature Notes
by Linda Konig
After all our wet weather lately, mushrooms are popping up everywhere. Rick Murphy called me Sunday afternoon and said something strange had come up in one of the Walton Court flowerbeds. He described it as having a red stalk with a dark brownish-green something on top that didn’t look like dead leaves. Of course, my curiosity got the better of me and I went over to look at it. It was a stinkhorn. After looking in my “Audubon Field Guide to Mushrooms,” we identified it as an Elegant Stinkhorn of the Phallacae family. Why it’s called Elegant, I don't know, but it does stink – like carrion to be exact.
There’s a good reason it smells like carrion. It’s attracting Bluebottles and other flies. Box turtles, Leopard slugs, and Fungus Gnats also come to these fungi. They all eat the slimy brownish green top of the Elegant Stinkhorn, and, while they're doing so, some of the stinkhorn’s spores stick to their legs and are taken then to other locales, thus spreading the stinkhorn’s territory. In fact, the stinkhorn is totally dependent on this method of spore dispersal. Some of the folk names for this stinkhorn are Devil’s Lipstick, Devil's Horn, Devil’s Stinkpot, and I'll let you guess some of the other obvious phallic names. Folk medicine has used it for various maladies such as rheumatism, ulcers, and epilepsy. Again, I'll let you guess some of the conditions it was supposed to treat according to the old “doctrine of signatures” which said that if a plant resembled a body part, then it was obviously meant to treat that body part. Believe it or not, this mushroom is edible for humans, and the Chinese dry and sell it.
(Photo by George Zepp)
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
