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| The Clear Fork River on Sunday looking toward the rock at the Ladies Swimming Hole |
A Good Year for Bears
A recent article in The Tennessean reports that it is time for bears to come out of hibernation and that this is expected to be a good year for new cubs. It mentions that while the Cumberland Plateau has a large presence of bears, bears are making appearances all over the state of Tennessee, including places like Memphis!
The article says “growth in bears prompted TWRA to conduct a survey this year, which found most Tennesseans support having bears in the state. Although it can still be rare to see a bear, the TWRA also has increased efforts to make sure people know how to be safe if they encounter one."A recent article in The Tennessean reports that it is time for bears to come out of hibernation and that this is expected to be a good year for new cubs. It mentions that while the Cumberland Plateau has a large presence of bears, bears are making appearances all over the state of Tennessee, including places like Memphis!
To gauge public opinion in the north Cumberland Plateau area, particularly with regard to the possibility of a bear hunting season, the wildlife agency has scheduled two public hearings this week. They will be at 6:30 p.m. (Central Time) Thursday in the York Institute cafeteria in Jamestown and 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Pickett County Courthouse in Byrdstown.
Information about the hearings can be found on the wildlife agency’s website at news.tn.gov/node/8551.
The full article can be read at http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120324/NEWS21/303240037/Black-bears-spread-across-Tennessee?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Possible Wastewater Release
Local River Hazard Alerts IssuedThe Big South Fork River and Recreation Area issued the following alert on March 22. “Due to the failure of a wastewater treatment facility, there is a potential health concern involving contact with the water in New River and the Big South Fork. Keep in mind that the Big South Fork River flows north into Lake Cumberland. This alert will affect the majority of the river flowing through the park.” This problem was reported to involve the lower portion of the New River, including a section within the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. A notice issued by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation cautioned the public “to avoid recreational uses of this portion of the New River, which is downstream from river mile 14.8. The advisory pertains to all boating, swimming and fishing.”
For updates on the situation and more details go to http://www.nps.gov/biso/planyourvisit/riversafety.htm
“Meet the Author” Plans Set
By Benita Howell
As was reported earlier, longtime Rugby friend and author Nancy Jensen will offer readings, discussion and book signing for her praised novel The Sisters on April 14 at 4 p.m. at the Visitor Centre theatre. This will also be the selected book for the Rugby Book Club. We're planning to continue our book group discussion of The Sisters with Nancy Jensen at Friendly House after the public reading and book signing. Anyone who already has read the book is welcome to participate. Then, we're making a 7 p.m. dinner reservation at Harrow Road Cafe for the book group and anyone else who would like to join Nancy then.
To make dinner reservations, please call or email Connie Phillips and ask to be included in our group. 423-628-2441 or rugbylegacy@highland.net BIRTHDAYS
March 27 - John Hicks
March 28 - Jane LoganMarch 27 - John Hicks
April 2 - Carman Roberson
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, March 31 – Community Potluck 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 3 – Litter Pickup – volunteers needed to pick up trash along Highway 52. Meet at Harrow Road Café at 9:30 a.m.Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, March 31 – Community Potluck 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 14 – Spring Walk to Massengale Homeplace with Lisa Huff of the State Natural Areas, Lisa Huff, Tennessee Natural Areas Program. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Historic Rugby Visitor Center for a short orientation. The hike will be of easy to moderate difficulty round trip to the historic Massengale Homeplace and back. The program should be no longer than 2 hours. We should be able to see spring wildflowers and we will discuss the history of the Rugby colony and early settlers and the state natural area. For more information including description, directions, and a map of Rugby State Natural Area go to: http://tn.gov/environment/na/natareas/rugby/. Reservations required. RSVP to lisa.huff@tn.gov by April 12. No pets. Event limited to 20 participants.
Saturday, April 14 – Historic Rugby Visiting Speaker - Longtime Rugby friend and author Nancy Jensen will offer readings, discussion and book signing for her praised novel The Sisters at 4 p.m. at the Visitor Centre Theatre. This will also be the selected book for the Rugby Book Club which will meet at the Friendly House after the theatre event. The book club and any other interested parties are invited to join the group for dinner at Harrow Road Cafe at 7 p.m. To make dinner reservations, please call or email Connie Phillips and ask to be included in the book group. 423-628-2441 or rugbylegacy@highland.net
Saturday, April 21 – Historic Rugby Board Meeting at the Community Building. Ongoing Activities
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 welcomed.
Carrie Thornthwaite’s Weekend Wanderings – Saturdays and Sundays – Join Carrie to hike. On Saturdays she usually leaves from the Cafe around 10 a.m. for a 1½ to 2 hour hike in the area. On Sundays she usually leaves, again from the Cafe, about 2 p.m. Note that this is "usually", but not always. If you'd like to join her, please call or e-mail her to confirm that she is indeed going to walk thornthwch@lipscomb.edu . She is not hiking on Sunday, April 14th... for that Saturday, please plan to attend the Spring Walk to Massengale Homeplace with Lisa Huff.
Historic Rugby Workshops
Honeysuckle Basketry - This is a very popular 2-day workshop. Help collect and process the vines and weave a rib-style basket. . The workshop is on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22 from 9 am – 5 pm Eastern. Instructor Bobby Edwards is an award winning basket maker from Fentress County who has been practicing his art for 15 years in the Southeast. Bobby got his start right here in Rugby making White Oak baskets in a White Oak basket workshop. Workshop fee is $75 ~ register early!
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 welcomed.
Carrie Thornthwaite’s Weekend Wanderings – Saturdays and Sundays – Join Carrie to hike. On Saturdays she usually leaves from the Cafe around 10 a.m. for a 1½ to 2 hour hike in the area. On Sundays she usually leaves, again from the Cafe, about 2 p.m. Note that this is "usually", but not always. If you'd like to join her, please call or e-mail her to confirm that she is indeed going to walk thornthwch@lipscomb.edu . She is not hiking on Sunday, April 14th... for that Saturday, please plan to attend the Spring Walk to Massengale Homeplace with Lisa Huff.
Historic Rugby Workshops
Honeysuckle Basketry - This is a very popular 2-day workshop. Help collect and process the vines and weave a rib-style basket. . The workshop is on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22 from 9 am – 5 pm Eastern. Instructor Bobby Edwards is an award winning basket maker from Fentress County who has been practicing his art for 15 years in the Southeast. Bobby got his start right here in Rugby making White Oak baskets in a White Oak basket workshop. Workshop fee is $75 ~ register early!
Celtic Knotwork (quilting workshop) - Choose between ancient and modern patterns suited to one's interest and desired complexity. Variations are simple to elaborate applique designs, from stained glass effects to mesh work. Celtic Knot patterns can be adapted to any application that uses fabric. Students are invited to an additional four hours to work on this project.Saturday, April 28 from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. Eastern and Sunday (optional for those who wish to continue on their project), April 29 from 11a.m. until 3pm Eastern time. Instructor: Joyce Lantz, Fee $45.
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| Moss Near Clear Fork Sunday |
Mosses and Liverworts Around Rugby Learn about the small plants, which form a green carpet over the forest floor, the luxuriant mosses, and liverworts. The workshop is Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m.. – 2 p.m. Eastern. Instructor Dr. Kenneth McFarland is a Ph.D. Lecturer, Division of Biology, from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. His interests are morphology, taxonomy, and ecology. Workshop fee is $15 ~ register early!
Sun to Shade Design Garden/Cumberland Plateau Garden Tour at Rugby Come spend the day in garden activities including a sun to shade design workshop plant sale, lunch and garden tour. Included in the day’s activities is a presentation including information about Rugby’s gardens, lunch and finishing the day with an Afternoon Tea in the garden. The event is Saturday, June 9 from 9 a.m. Eastern until 5:30 p.m. The all-inclusive fee is $40. Instructor Bob Washburn, co-owner of Wolf River Valley Growers in Pall Mall, will be joined by Rugby’s own Rick Murphy and Barbara Mitchell for this very special event. Register early – this is a day not to be missed.
Show Your Spirit Basket Workshop Create a generously sized Spirit Basket that is perfect for tailgating or carrying with you. This is an intermediate level project. The workshop is Friday, June 22 from 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Eastern and Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Eastern. Instructor Beth Hester is the owner of The Basket Maker’s Catalog. She has been teaching basketry workshops locally and throughout the southeastern U.S .for many years. Workshop fee is $99 ~ register early!
To register for workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be available at 1880 Newbury House and Rugby's cottages at a 10% discount to students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.
Spring Tentworms
By Linda Konig
Have you seen any Spring Tentworms yet? They're back. As for how numerous they will be this year, we'll just have to wait and see. Some years we see their silvery white tents in the crotches of a lot of trees; other years we see hardly any.
As for what harm they do the trees and bushes by eating the leaves, you can relax. Unless a tree or bush is already doing poorly, the damage to them is only temporarily non-aesthetic. They will always put out more leaves.
I became aware of these Spring Tent caterpillars a couple of weeks ago when I found a blackish cigar-shaped patch on a twig of the Flowering Quince in the yard. Looking at the patch through a magnifying glass, I saw that there were numerous tiny blackish caterpillars crawling about, evidently just hatched from their shiny black cocoon which was at the Y-intersection of a branch. I cut off the twig. You can also burn them and that's probably best.
Since then I've seen a couple of their tents high up in a couple of trees at the edge of the yard, unfortunately too high to get at or observe closely. I'd love to be able to watch a colony of them leaving en masse from their tent three times a day to graze: just before dawn, at mid-afternoon, and again after sunset. As the caterpillars grow larger, they enlarge their tent. After several weeks, they leave the tents to form creamy cocoons. Their next stage is an attractive little tan moth, which I've seen about at night many times, but only this week learned what it was. Of course, the moth mates and lays eggs.
That's all for this year, only one generation per year in our part of the country. If you think you've been seeing them in late summer and early fall, you're thinking of the Fall Webworm, a different insect whose webs are made at the ends of branches and enclose numerous leaves which they eat. These caterpillars spend all their time inside the web until they're practically ready to pupate, becoming a different moth from the Eastern Spring Tentworm moth. Fall Webworm webs are much more unsightly than the Spring Tentworms'.Since then I've seen a couple of their tents high up in a couple of trees at the edge of the yard, unfortunately too high to get at or observe closely. I'd love to be able to watch a colony of them leaving en masse from their tent three times a day to graze: just before dawn, at mid-afternoon, and again after sunset. As the caterpillars grow larger, they enlarge their tent. After several weeks, they leave the tents to form creamy cocoons. Their next stage is an attractive little tan moth, which I've seen about at night many times, but only this week learned what it was. Of course, the moth mates and lays eggs.
So what real damage do these Spring caterpillars do? The loss is negligible really unless you happen to own horses. Unfortunately, Spring Tentworms cause Mare Reproduction Loss Syndrome. If these caterpillars happen to make a tent on a tree in or hanging over a horse pasture, then the pasture owner needs to be aware. If Tentworms fall into the pasture or their frass falls into the grass and a mare in foal grazes from that spot, they can cause the mare to abort. For more information about Mare Reproduction Loss Syndrome, etc., as well as photos of every phase of their lives, see http://en.wikipedia.org/Eastern_tent_caterpillar.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
