Wishing You a Rugby Christmas

In the spirit of the holiday, George went through his family collection of antique Christmas cards and we chose this beautiful card to share with you.  It’s an early 1920s card originally sent from Rugby's Berry family to Elizabeth Walton. 

We hope all of you have a wonderful Rugby Christmas.

Rick and George

Christmas Decoration at Jessie Gully's house

Rugby Gives Toys for Local Children

By Annie Patterson

Appalachia Habitat would like to thank all the folks who brought toys to Rugby’s Harrow Road Cafe for the toy drive. Last Thursday evening a Christmas party was held at the Robbins community center for over 100 children. Santa, Mrs. Claus and a band of elves (including our own Betty Burton) distributed toys and snacks and a festive time was had by all. Another party is being held in Wartburg with a return visit from all the North Pole principal players.

Thanks again for all of your support. It has been a tough year for a lot of families, so a time dedicated to the kids seems to be just the ticket.

Christmas Day Hike

By Eric Wilson

The annual Christmas Day Hike at Colditz Cove has become a part of the day's activities for many Rugby folks.  As usual, we will meet at the Cafe parking lot at 2 p.m. Eastern time to drive to Allardt for the hike.

Job Fair Tuesday

 There will be a Fentress County Job Fair on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at the Jamestown Community Center.  This event is sponsored by your Chamber of Commerce and the Crossville Career Center. 

Mary and Bob dance on the Church lawn

 English Country Dancing Dec. 29

By Mary Hemminger

Bob and I would like to offer English Country Dancing on Thursday, December 29 at the Friendly House. We hope that families in the village over the holidays will want to join us for an evening of lovely music, dancing and good friends. If you have questions you can email me at mejs@juno.com

New Year’s Eve Events Announced

Rugby Offers Two Options for Celebrating

 As you start thinking about what to do New Year’s Eve, keep in mind that Rugby will have two options for special dinner events.

Grey Gables Bed’n Breakfast – New Year’s Eve Dinner - 7 p.m.  Several menu options available.  $20 per person, plus tax and gratuity.  Reservations – call 423-628-5252.

Harrow Road Café – Seatings from 5 p.m. until 8:45 p.m. Several menu options are available from $17.95 - $24.95, plus tax and gratuity.  Wine and champagne available. Reservations – call toll-free number 888-214-3400 or locally 423-628-2441.

Historic Rugby Announces Winter Hours

 Slightly Reduced Hours Effective January 2

Historic Rugby’s facilities including the restaurant will remain open throughout the upcoming winter on a slightly abbreviated schedule.

The Harrow Road Café will be open every day except Wednesdays. On Sundays through Thursdays hours will be 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. EST. Hours of operation on Fridays and Saturdays are later to include dinner seatings, 8:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. EST.

The Visitor Centre and the Commissary General Store will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. While both will be closed Mondays through Thursdays, weekday and weekend group tours can be arranged with advance reservation by calling the numbers above. 
 
All Historic Rugby lodging facilities are available year-round.  To make reservations for lodging, group tours or meetings, or to get Historic Rugby general information, please call the numbers below, visit the website at www.historicrugby.org or email rugbylegacy@highland.net.  All inclusive packages will be available from January 2 until mid-March. 

Winter hours of operation are WEATHER PERMITTING, so be sure to call first to avoid disappointment. Weather on the Cumberland Plateau can be very different region to region. The toll-free number is 1-888-214-3400 or use 423-628-2441.
Historic Rugby will resume normal seasonal hours in mid March.

Spirit of Red Hill After-Christmas Sale

By Donna Hefner and Annie Patterson

The end of our seventh season (can you believe it!?) is fast approaching. From December 26 through December 31, everything in the shop will be on sale with discounts ranging from 10% to 50%. The shop will then be closed for the winter while we work on creations for next season as well as plans for the Alexander-Perrigo construction adventure of 2012 across the street.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful 2011 and sending best wishes to all of you for a joyous, joyous holiday season.





BIRTHDAYS

Dec. 19 - Mary Hemminger

Dec. 21 – Tiffany Terry

Dec. 22 - Nicholas Coker

Dec. 24 - Charles Gibbs

Robin Branstetter and Daughters

CALENDAR

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.


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

 Sunday, Dec. 25 – Christmas Day Hike – meet at Café at 2 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 29 – English Country Dancing

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 and Grey Gables - 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

Old-Fashioned Christmas Trees

By Linda Konig

When I was a very young child, we always used Eastern red cedars as our Christmas trees. Daddy would go cut one down, and they were extremely plentiful in southern Middle Tennessee. They didn't usually have the loveliest of shapes. Their branches wouldn't hold up heavy ornaments. They would get terribly scratchy when they dried out, but their fragrance will always linger in my memory. I'll bet a lot of you reading this have similar memories.  Another childhood memory involving their fragrance is that our school pencils always smelled like Red Cedar because they were made from the wood. Oh, the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil!

 A few days ago, I went out to gather a few stems of red cedar to stick into the branches of my artificial tree so that it would smell like Christmas and seem more real. That got me to thinking about these Juniperus virginiana trees. Yes, technically our so-called Eastern red cedars are actually in the juniper family.  I looked them up on the web and found out that a lot of our wildlife depend on these trees for food. Bluebirds, wild turkeys, quail, ruffed grouse, pheasant, rabbits, foxes, raccoons, possums, skunks, coyotes and probably many others enjoy eating the pale frosty-blue berries, though they're reportedly poisonous to humans. However, cedar waxwings seem to love them more than any other species and flock to the trees in—well, flocks. Hence, their name.

I learned that red cedars are dioecious, that is, they are either male or female.  The male trees send out their pollen on the winds of March. One website said that when you hear the peepers in Spring, it's time to look for the male trees' brown twig tips that cast their pollen to the winds. At the same time, the female trees have put out their strange-looking tiny greenish-pink flowers.These flowers exude liquid drops. The cedar pollen sticks to the liquid, and then the liquid recedes back down into the ovaries.  A few months later, and we find the frosty-blue berries on the female cedar trees. By the way, it takes approximately 10 years for cedar trees to reach sexual maturity. They have the potential to live 850 years! I wonder how old those big female trees in front of Butch Hodgkins’ house are?

 
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp