Rugby Folks Share Their Homes

Jessie Gully with her decorated fireplace - photo by G. Zepp

Home Tour Helps Historic Rugby Through the Winter

More than 100 people from all over the Southeast came out on a cold but sunny Saturday to catch a glimpse of how seven Rugby homeowners decorated their homes for the holidays. They also were able to see historic Uffington House beautifully decorated for the season, where there was also a holiday quilt exhibit and music with Robin Branstetter and her daughters.

Those who came through our house seemed really interested in the uniqueness of Rugby homes and how the homeowners have put their own interesting interpretations on the holidays.  A few of them even got to hear Edith Piaf’s famous recording La Vie En Rose, on the Walton Court wind-up Victrola while they waited for the van to come to take them to the next home.  To see Edith Piaf perform this song, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g4NiHef4Ks  

Historic Uffington House was decorated with greenery, fruit and beautiful holiday quilts - photos by R. Murphy and G. Zepp

A lot of folks worked really hard to make this event a good experience.  In addition to the homeowners, a large number in the community helped out with decorating, preparations, marketing, and logistics.  And the Historic Rugby staff worked really hard to make sure that everything was organized. 

Funds raised by this event go to help pay expenses to keep Historic Rugby operating during the winter.

Upcoming Rugby Speaker Reviewed

New York Times Reviews "The Sisters"

Recently Rugby Week mentioned that author Nancy Jensen was coming to Rugby on April 14 to talk about her book, The Sisters, which has received a lot of national attention recently.  There is a  new review of her book in the New York Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/books/review/the-sisters-by-nancy-jensen-book-review.html

It’s a Blue, Blue Christmas at the Commissary Store

 The Rugby Commissary Store still has plenty of Rugby blue sweatshirts which would make perfect Christmas gifts. 

This color has just been available for a few months and is perfect for the winter holiday season.  There are two different designs based on Rugby buildings available,Christ Church and the Tabard Inn.

In the photo Angela models one of the sweatshirts in front of the beautifully decorated tree at the Harrow Road Café.

Lost and Found

 By Benita Howell

Last Saturday evening as we were locking up Christ Church after "Christmas at Rugby" my flashlight picked out a necklace with a broken clasp laying between two of the stones on the front walk. It probably belongs to someone who attended the Choir Concert, because no choir member or other church member claimed it Sunday.

Connie Phillips is now keeping the necklace in the Historic Rugby office.The owner can call Connie at 423-628-4421 or email rugbylegacy@highland.net, give a description of the lost necklace, and make arrangements to reclaim it.

BIRTHDAYS

Dec. 15 - Matthew Stagg, Rita Myers and JoNell Hester

Dec. 17 - Barbara Mitchell

Dec. 19 - Mary Hemminger

CALENDAR

Rugby is in the Eastern Time zone, just barely.

Friday, Dec. 16 - Music at the Café -  Butch and Doug

Friday, Dec. 23 – Music at the Café – Robin Branstetter and the Girls

Friday, Dec. 30 – Music at the Café – Lesia Terry and Great Day in the Morning

Saturday, Dec. 31 – New Years Eve at Harrow Road Café - Call now to book your table for a festive evening.

Saturday, Jan. 14 – Book Club – 7 p.m. at Benita and Tom Howell’s house. Two of Kentucky author Wendell Berry's works will be discussed, The Long-Legged House, a collection of essays, and Nathan Coulter, the first novel in his Port William series. The snow date will be January 21.

Quilters’ Group - Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2–4 p.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church

Rugby Yoga – Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House.


NATURE NOTES

Mistletoe

By Linda Konig

English Mistletoe, or rather the lack thereof, figured in Rugby's first Christmas in 1880.  The young English bachelors, who were accustomed to having mistletoe at Christmastime, looked for it in the Rugby area, but didn't find any. They probably wanted to put a sprig of it on their English plum pudding or to hang it up for a kissing ball (though there were only about two girls in Rugby at the time). There was mistletoe in our area, but it was American mistletoe, which is native to the eastern U.S. and maybe they didn't recognize it. It's been around for over 20,000 years. The main difference I can see in the two kinds is that the English one has fewer berries and its leaves are more elongated; ours are more oval. I was amazed to learn from websites that there are about 1,300 kinds of mistletoe, globally.

People often call mistletoe parasitic, but actually it's only partially so. Its green leaves do produce some of its food through photosynthesis (making food from sunshine). However, it does send roots into the bark of trees to obtain more nourishment.Mistletoe can kill trees, but it takes many, many years. Usually, mistletoe only slows their growth. Mistletoe likes oak, hickory, walnut, maple, sycamore and many other kinds of trees.

A question might be: does mistletoe serve any useful purpose? Well, this plant is absolutely vital to a beautiful butterfly that lives in the Southeast, the Great Purple Hairstreak (called purple, but it's actually blue). We don't see many of these flying about, probably because they spend most of their lives up in the mistletoe balls in trees! Their eggs are laid on mistletoe, the caterpillars feed exclusively on the mistletoe leaves, the adults drink the mistletoe flower nectar, and they do their courting and mating in the mistletoe balls. Does mistletoe impact any other species? Yes! Various insects and birds love it. Their nectar is sought by both wild bees and domesticated bees. Many birds eat the berries -- bluebirds, mourning doves, robins, grouse, among others. House wrens, mourning doves, chickadees, pine siskins, and others even make their nests inside the mistletoe balls. 

I know of a huge tree with lots of mistletoe on it in Allardt on Hwy. 52. You may have seen it. It's at the second house west from the Allardt Post Office on the left side of the street as you drive from Rugby to Jamestown. So look up as you go by.You can also see some great photos and read more about our mistletoe by going to http://www.hiltonpond.org/thisweek051208.html.

This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp