Steve Logan plays a Civil War veteran

Lantern Tour “On Stage” Saturday

A Very Special Multi-Media Event

By Rick Murphy

Everyone I have talked to who has seen the rehearsals for this Saturdays “Lantern Tour On Stage” has said it is amazing. So don’t forget, Historic Rugby’s popular Laurel Dale Cemetery Lantern Tour goes on the stage this Saturday in a new multi-media version at the Rebecca Johnson Theatre at Rugby - Saturday, January 28, at 4 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Central).

Nine of the many colorful characters of Rugby's past will come alive for this event, telling their own true stories – several funny, some tragic. This time they will be accompanied by 150 historic and other projected images showing how they looked, their homes and their settings.

Find out where this bridge once took folks – photo courtesy of Linda Brooks Jones

Tickets are available at the door for $15, or $7 for students grades K-12. The Harrow Road Café will be open until 9 p.m. for dining before or after the show.

Photo of the Week

 Taking Care of Rugby’s Historic Buildings

William Crabtree and son in front of ivy-covered downed tree

Marlee Mitchell loves the trees around Ruralia, the historic Rugby home that she so carefully restored a few years ago. But recently she realized that a tulip poplar in the front yard that had been dropping limbs had become a danger to the house. On Friday, William Crabtree from nearby Armathwaite and his son came to the rescue. They carefully removed two panels of Marlee’s fence and cut the tree, dropping it exactly in the middle of the opening in the fence. They removed the tree and put the fence panels back – just like they had been. They also removed a very dead tree in her back yard.

Marlee is already making plans to plant some more native trees in her yard.

Trail Cleanup Tuesday

It is supposed to be beautiful spring-like weather Tuesday.  So, if you would like to get outside and enjoy that, and do some good at the same time, volunteers are needed to help pick up trash to get ready for the February Soup Hike. Trash pickup will be along Horseshoe Bend Road and maybe some of the hiking trail near Rita Myers’ gate. Anyone who would like to help should meet at the Café at 10 a.m. Bring work gloves and garbage bags. Thanks to Benita and Tom Howell, who are organizing this trash pick-up.   

By the way, I should clarify the route for the Soup Hike that is planned for February 11.  It is a beautiful trail through the woods that passes near the White Oak Creek several places. Eric Wilson says it begins at the Beacon Hill home of Tom and Benita Howell. It leads downhill to White Oak Creek, then over a rise to rejoin the White Oak, past the old "Letner property" (Riverside) and arrive at Rita's gate.  From there we follow the White Oak upstream to the highway bridge where cars will be available to shuttle us back to Rugby. The hike is about two miles and is rated "moderate" with one climb through the woods.

Print Shop Volunteer Opportunity

Mike Harris volunteering at print shop

Rugby has a wonderful historic asset in the print shop located on the main road near the Café.  Printing was an important part of the early days of the Rugby.  The Rugby Printing Works published the first newspaper, The Rugbeian, in January 1881, shortly after the opening of the new town. The print shop building that now stands in Rugby was built in 1887 and was moved to Rugby in 1977 from the nearby town of Deer Lodge.

Unfortunately, although the shop is sometimes open to visitors for special events, most day-to-day tourists do not get to see the inside with all of its wonderful old printing equipment, type cases and type, and samples of things printed from these presses.

Carolyn Bankston would like to help change that. She is seeking volunteers to open the print shop on weekends for visitors. No experience is necessary, but it would be helpful. An interpreter manual will be provided to help answer questions. People interested should contact Carolyn at 628-2845.

Obituary Information

Lavonne Gibbs wanted to express condolences and make sure everyone in Rugby knows that the son of Bobby and Margaret Brooks of Rugby passed away a few weeks ago.  Clark Brooks, age 43, of Clarkrange, died Thursday, January  5 at the Jamestown Medical Center, according to a recent obituary in the Fentress Courier.  

Squirrel Update

Several folks have asked about our project of safely relocating the flying squirrels who had taken up residence in the Walton Court attic.  Knock on wood, all appears to be quiet in the attic at the moment. We caught seven squirrels. Five have been successfully relocated. 

One poor soul gave up hope in the cage before we could get to him/her for relocation.
  
Another was caught on Friday morning. Rick took him to the park in Allardt, thinking that would be a very nice home for him (my apologies to the folks in Allardt). Rick took the cage out of the car and put it on the ground.  When he opened the cage door the squirrel seemed hesitant to leave. After some coaxing, it ran out of the cage, but alas, did not get more than 20 feet before a large bird, maybe a hawk, swooped down from nowhere and grabbed it without even landing. Now we see why flying squirrels are nocturnal in their wanderings.

BIRTHDAYS

Jan. 23 - Sara Senft
Jan. 26 - Benita Howell
Jan. 27 - Jessica Erickson
Jan. 28 - Peter Keese

CALENDAR

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.

Friday, Jan. 27 – Music at the Café – 6:30 p.m. - Robin Branstetter and the girls

Saturday, Jan. 28 – Commissary Craft Demonstration – Sue Duncan spinning with Angora bunnies

Saturday, Jan. 28 – Lantern Tour Onstage – 4 p.m. Eastern at the Visitor Centre Theatre. Adult admission $15 at the door. K-12 students, $7. Dinner specials, wine and ale will be available after the performance at the Harrow Road Café.

Saturday, Jan. 28 – Catfish Dinner at Grey Gables - Beginning at 6 p.m Eastern. Entertainment $12 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Call Linda or Tiffany for reservations 423-628-5252

Sunday, Jan. 29 – Commissary Artist Demonstration - Mara Trumbo-Painting

Saturday, Feb. 4 - Community Potluck at the Friendly House - 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 7 – Afternoon Tea at Grey Gables - 1 p.m. Eastern, $10 per person, plus tax and gratuity. For Reservations: 423-628-5252

Saturday, Feb. 11 – Soup Hike – This is a beautiful hike of about two miles and is rated "moderate" with one climb through the woods. Meet at the Café at 10 a.m. Eastern. Soup afterward at the Harrow Road Café. The trail to be hiked begins at the Beacon Hill home of Tom and Benita Howell, leads downhill to White Oak Creek, then over a rise to rejoin the White Oak, past the "Letner property" (Riverswide) and arrive at Rita's gate.  From there we follow the White Oak upstream to the highway bridge where cars will be available to shuttle us back to Rugby. 

Saturday, Feb.11 – Valentine Dinner at the Harrow Road Café. – Four-course dinner and special gift. Lodging packages available for Historic Newbury House B&B and Cottages

Saturday Feb. 11 – Valentine Dinner at Grey Gables with entertainment. $18.50 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations Required: 423-628-5252

Saturday, Feb. 25 – Book Club at 7 p.m. Eastern/6 Central at the home of Kit and Candy Howes. The book the group will be reading is The Tiger, a true story of vengeance and survival by John Vaillant
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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.

Christ Church Episcopal -- Sunday morning services, 11 a.m. Eastern year round; all are welcome.

Historic Rugby Winter Hours

Harrow Road Café open every day except Wednesdays. Sundays through Thursdays - 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. EST. Friday and Saturday hours, including dinner seatings, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. EST.

Visitor Centre and Commissary General Store - Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays through Thursdays. Weekday and weekend group tours can be arranged with advance reservation. Post Office in the Commissary is closed until March

Lodging Facilities are available year-round.


NATURE NOTES

Some of Next Spring's Beauties

By Linda Konig

Boyd Mitchell brought me a present late yesterday afternoon that fit in his hand—a brown papery object covered with dark brown hairy stuff. It was about the size and shape of a small sweet potato, but very lightweight. He said he got it off a tree in his yard in Beacon Hill. It looked familiar, and I knew it was some kind of cocoon that I'd seen before. But I couldn't quite remember what it was. I looked up pictures in my butterfly and moth guides and decided it was a Polyphemus moth cocoon. The Polyphemus moth (Polyphemus being another name for Cyclops) is named for the four eyes on its exotic wings, one on each. The front wings have small eyes with clear windows you can see through. The rear wings, however, have larger dark-ringed clear-windowed eyes that probably scare off birds and bats, etc.

I've found a couple of these big brown cocoons myself in years past in the woods or on the ground. I've tried keeping them, but the adult moth never came out. Reading about them today, I learned a couple of reasons why this can happen. The most prevalent reason is that the Polyphemus caterpillar was already infected with parasitic eggs or larvae when it made its cocoon and went into its pupal stage inside the cocoon. At the same time the caterpillar was changing, so were the parasitic larvae. They ate away the Polyphemus pupa from the inside out. 

I learned a lot today about how these interesting-looking cocoons are made. Since the Polyphemus moth is a member of the silk moth family, it spins silk. (One woman online tells how she detaches the silk from the cocoon, boils it, etc. and then has silk threads with which she makes silk cloth. It seems like an awful lot of trouble.) It wraps the sticky silk under and around a big leaf from the tree it's been living on, wrapping itself up in the leaf as it spins. In spring, the moth will exit its dark pupa inside the cocoon, secrete a chemical onto one end of the cocoon to loosen the sticky silk, and then make its grand entrance to the outside world. 

A week later, the male and female Polyphemus moths will have mated, and she will have laid her eggs. That is, unless they spend too much time around street lights and other all-night lights. The lights distract them from their proper mission in life and make it easy for bats and night-flying birds to catch and eat them. They only have one week of life after emerging, partly because, as adults, they can't eat. One website reported that the Polyphemus moth is practically extinct in cities. I'm so glad that we live in the country and still have these beauties fluttering about on spring nights. Meanwhile, for a truly amazing close-up website where you can see each phase of a Polyphemus moth's life from egg, through all the caterpillar instars, cocoon, and on to adult, click on http://lifecycle.onenessbecomesus.com/Life.html .

 This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp