LIBRARY ROOF NEARS COMPLETIONWork to replace the damaged roof of the historic Thomas Hughes Library neared completion this week as the red terra cotta color returned to most of the new roof. It appears that just a little of the painting is still needed. Then the Historic Rugby properties staff will presumably finish the exterior siding painting, as weather allows.
RUGBY HIKING CLUB FORMS
Members of the Big South Fork Chapter of the Tennessee Trails Association met at the Café on Sunday for its annual organizational meeting. The group decided to reorganize the group as the independent Rugby Hiking Club, which will be unaffiliated with TTA. While the group continues to support the activities of TTA and encourages people to become members of TTA, several members felt that it would be better to focus the energies of the Rugby group on doing local hikes and related activities.
The group discussed upcoming hiking opportunities. The first organized hike will be Saturday, January 9. Bob Trumbo will lead the group around the Deer Gap Loop in Fentress County. See details in the calendar below.
Photo above shows most of the attendees at Sunday's hiking club meeting. Apologies to former President Jim Meadows whose arm is shown in the foregrown. Photo by Rick Murphy
MYSTERY OF THE MISSING MISTLETOE
Last week we published an article about the first Christmas in Rugby. It mentioned that the colonists could not find any mistletoe that first Christmas.
While conducting the tour of Kingstone Lisle during Christmas at Rugby recently, Julian Bankston mentioned the lack of mistletoe in Rugby at the first Christmas. A visitor on one of the tours told him that the reason the colonists could not find mistletoe was because in England it grows on the ground, not in trees like it does here.
NEW YEARS EVE IN RUGBY
It’s not too late to make New Years Eve plans in Rugby, where two events are going on.
There will be special dinners at both the Harrow Road Café and Grey Gables Bed and Breakfast. Both places are offering special lodging packages. For contact information, see the Calendar of Events below or check out the Historic Rugby and Grey Gables websites from links on this page.
CAFÉ STAFF THANKS DECORATORS
The staff of the Harrow Road Cafe would like to thank the decorating committee of Ron, Jonell and Mary, Boyd and Barbara and Jessie for their outstanding job decorating the Cafe. They also thank the many others from Rugby who helped with enthusiasm and cooperation to make the two Christmas event nights wonderful.
From the Staff, including Chuck, Joanna, Teresa, Shelia, Mary, Bobbie Jo, Lisa, Brittney and Eddie.
BIRTHDAYS
December 30 - Ron Jackson
December 31 - Chris Myers
January 3 - Gayle Minor
CALENDAR
December 29 - Christmas carol sing and open house at Tom and Benita Howell’s home, Ambleside, from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
December 31 – New Years Eve at Historic Rugby – special holiday dinner at Harrow Road Café. Lodging and special lodging/dinner packages are also still available, including rooms in original Rugby historic buildings. Guests can choose from a 6 oz. Sirloin Steak w/Shrimp Scampi, Chicken Primavera, or Pan Seared Salmon with Honey Dijon sauce. Reservations are required. Full dinner prices are from $17.95 to $22.95 plus tax and gratuity. Seating is from 5:30 to 8:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Call for dinner reservations or more information on New Year’s Eve Lodging Packages. Toll free at 1-888-214-3400 or locally at 628-2441. Proceeds help support the restoration and preservation of Historic Rugby, a National Register village.
December 31 - A "New Year's Eve Dinner Package" including Lodging, Plateau Gourmet Dinner and Country Breakfast will be held at Grey Gables Bed 'n Breakfast Inn in Rugby. $140.00 plus tax and gratuity on dinner, double occupancy. Dinner only is $20 plus tax and gratuity. Call 423-628-5252 for reservations.
January 2 – Community Potluck at 7:00 p.m. followed by English Country dancing. Mary Hemminger says “We will dance 1-1/2 hours or until people are wanting to go home.”
January 8 –History Club Meeting 7:00 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House. This will be the annual time for tossing about ideas for future programs, as well as updating some of the information from past programs.
January 9 – Saturday Hike with Rugby Hiking Club. Hike approximately three miles along the bluffs south of Jamestown on East Fork Stables property accessed from the Jordan Motel on Highway 127. Rated moderate, depending on the weather, with bluff views, a waterfall, and Jordan Lake as points of interest. Dress appropriately for the weather, and bring water and snacks. Meet at Harrow Road Café at 9:30 a.m. Eastern to carpool, or arrange to meet at the animal barn parking area behind Jordan Motel at 9:00 a.m. Central. For more information and to register, contact hike leader Bob Trumbo at ctrumbo@highland.net.
January 9 – Historic Rugby Board Meeting – 1:30 p.m. at the Community Building.
January 16 – Book Club Meeting - 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).
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2-4 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
By Linda Konig
Well, gentle readers, the "nature lady" isn't infallible – but then most of you probably already know that. When I wrote last winter about the hawk that hunts in the vicinity of Pleasant View Nazarene Church on Hwy. 52, I thought it was a Red-Tailed Hawk because I thought I spied reddish tail feathers. Recently, however, I had an excellent chance to pull into a driveway in that neighborhood and get out my binoculars for a really good look at him or her perched on a dead tree branch. Then as it flew, I saw it was definitely a Red-Shouldered Hawk.
I was thrilled to learn this because they're uncommon. They live in our area year-round, though easier to see in winter. Superb hunters, they prefer to perch on branches or wires and swoop down on mice, snakes, frogs, and other small prey. This particular Red-Shouldered Hawk has a good territory near woods where it can nest and yet near fields and ponds that provide prey. Individual Red-Shoulders will live and hunt in the same spot for years, and I've seen this one at least 3 years.
Of course, hawks must have excellent eyesight to spot tiny voles and mice from their high perches. Thanks to Santa Claus who brought me a DVD about raptors, I've learned some amazing facts about hawks' renowned eyesight. Raptors in general have 20-7 vision (as opposed to our usual 20-20). This allows them to see details three times finer than we can. There are three factors that enable them to do this. For one thing, they have a telephoto lens in each eye (a dimple in the lens that magnifies objects by 40%).
Another factor is that, unlike us, they have no blood vessels between the image and their retinas to interfere with what's being projected onto the retina. Also their pupils' muscles work much faster than ours, allowing them to adjust more rapidly to changing light conditions. Thank goodness, we don't have to get our protein from tiny animals hiding and running in the grass.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
