Rugby State Natural Area
Programs This Weekend
RSVP Reguired by April
12
We are very lucky to
have Lisa Huff from the State Natural Areas Program coming to Rugby this
weekend to do a couple of nature programs.
The first is a guided hike of the Massengale Trail on Saturday, April
14. The second is an indoor program on Sunday, April 15 called Historic Plant Communities of the Cumberland
Plateau.
Spring Walk to the Massengale Homeplace – Saturday, April 14 10 a.m. Meet at
the Historic Rugby Visitor’s 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’ll discuss the history of the Rugby colony and
early settlers and the state natural area. Event limited to 20 participants. Reservations are required. RSVP to lisa.huff@tn.gov by April
12. No pets.
Easter at the Harrow Road Cafe
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Appalachian Writers
Series Starts Saturday
We're fortunate to kick off Rugby's new Appalachian Writers Series with
not one but TWO nationally recognized novelists, both this month, both in
Rugby's Rebecca Johnson Theatre.
On Saturday, April 14, Nancy Jensen will discuss her first novel
"The Sisters." Nancy, who lives and teaches in Eastern Kentucky, is
no stranger to Rugby. She's a frequent visitor and supporter. Her book has
drawn wide praise since its publication a few months ago. She speaks at 4 p.m.
Eastern.
On Sunday, April 22, Sharyn McCrumb will talk about her ballad
novels, including "The Ballad of Tom Dooley." Sharyn is a New York
Times best-selling author whose stories weave together legends, history and
contemporary life in Appalachia. Her presentation is at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Both authors will be available afterward for book signings & will
have copies of their works available for purchase. Watch for other authors in
this new Rugby series during coming months! There is no admission charge.
Hury Poetry Published
Rugby’s Hadley Hury has had three of his amazing poems published
recently in the current issue of The Forge Journal. You can check them
out online at:
www.forgejournal.com
www.forgejournal.com
The publication comes in time for Hadley to celebrate it along with his
birthday this week. Happy Birthday Hadley!
Plugging Old Oil and Gas Wells Near Rugby
The Knoxville New
Sentinel had an interesting article about a program to plug “orphaned” oil and
gas wells in the Big South Fork. This is
of interest to the folks in Rugby since there has been activity in the last
year or so with wells on Big South Fork land close to Rugby. Below is a link to the article. Notice that the first photo with the article
is from a location near Rugby.
Rugby’s New Congressman at Café Today
Campaigning for Reelection
With the recent redistricting, Rugby’s U.S. Congressional District will be the Third Congressional District - a long, odd-shaped district which is currently represented by Republican Chuck Fleischman. Fleischman, who is anticipating considerable opposition in the August Republican Primary, will be visiting Morgan County today, Monday, April 9. Historic Rugby will be part of his itinerary and Fleischmann will be coming to the Harrow Road Cafe at 11 a.m. today. If you are interested, come meet him, and of course consider staying for lunch.
With the recent redistricting, Rugby’s U.S. Congressional District will be the Third Congressional District - a long, odd-shaped district which is currently represented by Republican Chuck Fleischman. Fleischman, who is anticipating considerable opposition in the August Republican Primary, will be visiting Morgan County today, Monday, April 9. Historic Rugby will be part of his itinerary and Fleischmann will be coming to the Harrow Road Cafe at 11 a.m. today. If you are interested, come meet him, and of course consider staying for lunch.
There is an
interesting entry about the Third Congressional District at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee's_3rd_congressional_district. This is the district in which Beacon Hill
homeowner Don Barkman ran in the last election.
Rugby’s Connection to the Sinking of the Titanic
100th
Anniversary This Week
By George Zepp
We'll hear a lot this
week about the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic ocean liner on
April 15, 1912, but few will know about the link to Rugby, Tennessee's founding
family of British author Thomas Hughes (1822-1896).
Hughes' youngest
daughter and her Church of England vicar husband both perished in the disaster
that claimed 1,500 lives. They were traveling in second class (tickets: 26
pounds sterling each) and probably could have secured seats in lifeboats, but
accounts say they let others take them instead.
Historic Rugby's
Archive is lucky, thanks to Hughes descendants, to have a few items about
Lilian Hughes Carter, this same daughter. She wrote her brother Arthur (Pip) in
1902 on a postcard that showed a London building their father had dedicated to
the cooperative movement. The cornerstone with his name is now seen in front of
the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall in Uffington, England, since the London
building has been demolished.
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| Post Card sent by Lilian Hughes Carter |
Also in the Rugby
Archive is a letter of Titanic condolence to brother Arthur. It's from Janet
Dickinson, daughter of the portraitist Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908), who
painted at least two portraits of Thomas Hughes that are in Historic Rugby's
collections. A replica of one hangs today in Historic Rugby's Visitor Centre.
The other original was acquired this year by Historic Rugby through a generous
gift from a Hughes descendant in Scotland, but is not yet on display.
Lilian Hughes Carter
(1867-1912) and her husband, the Rev. Ernest Courtenay Carter, 54, (they
married in 1890), boarded the Titantic in Southampton on their way to the USA
to visit Lilian's brother George Hughes in Kansas, one American family
descendant recalled recently.
Several accounts
detail that on the night before the Titanic's sinking, Rev. Carter presided
over a hymn service in the second class dining salon that included the song
"Eternal Father, Strong to Save," also known ironically as "For
those in Peril on the Sea."
Lilian was not the
first Thomas Hughes child to die in an untimely way. Before her there were: a
brother who drowned in 1859 at age 9; another brother who died of paralysis in
1888 at age 32; and a sister who died of scarlet fever in 1856 at age 5. Then
there were Thomas Hughes' brothers, one dying of malaria in British Guyana,
another of heat stroke in India, and yet another who died in Morocco of an old
injury from a childhood shooting accident.
The May 1, 1912, Janet
Dickinson condolence letter to her brother says in part: "Lily has meant
so much to me all my life from 13... You as a family have an extraordinary
& splendid way of taking trouble it seems to me, which I admire but can't
reach, but this is a stiff and unlooked-for blow to you all, & I do
so feel for you."
While Princeton
University has the rights to a surviving photo of Lilian as a young girl,
Historic Rugby will be displaying a copy of it in Rugby's Harrow Road Cafe this
week as a memorial.
More on the disaster
and the Carters is available on the Internet at www.encyclopedia-titanica.org
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| Boyd Mitchell with bee hives |
Looking for Bee Swarms
Help
Give Bees a New Home
By Charles Gibbs
April and May are the
months when honey bees are most likely to swarm in Rugby. If you see a swarm of honey bees, which would
look like a basketball size group of bees hanging from a bush or tree limb,
please contact Boyd Mitchell (423-628-2440) or Charles Gibbs (423-628-5678) as
soon as possible, so that they might provide the bees a new hive home.
BIRTHDAYS
April 13 - Betty Stokes
April 13 - Betty Stokes
April 14 - Hadley Hury
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
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.
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
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
Sunday, April 15 - Historic Plant Communities of the Cumberland
Plateau – at 3:00 p.m. This is an indoor program
to be held in the Johnson Auditorium at the Historic Rugby Visitor’s Center.
The program provides historic photographs and remembrances of early explorers
and settlers on the landscape of the Cumberland Plateau and pictures of
beautiful native plants and landscapes. The program is about 45 minutes long
and there will be time for questions and answers afterward. The past informs
the present. Find out about the current plans the Department of Environment and
Conservation has for the old Bowater Corporation pine plantations that were
acquired in the mid-2000s and added to state park and state natural areas. The
outcome may surprise you. If you are interested in attending, RSVP to lisa.huff@tn.gov by April
12.
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
Spring Wildflower Walk and Picnic Lunch ~ On Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern, attendees can take part in one of the most diverse wildflower walks in Tennessee, led by instructor Jack Carmen, whose book Wildflowers of Tennessee is a definitive guide. Jack leads field trips and photo workshops for the Gatlinburg Spring Flower Pilgrimage, among others, and has won awards for his wildflower photos. The fee is $25 and includes a plant list of expected sightings. The day will finish with a film presentation and book signing in the late afternoon.
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.
NATURE NOTES
Sycamores
Sycamores
By Linda Konig
I love to go down to the Clear Fork and look about at the trees, wildflowers, the river, rocks, everything. Lately I've become particularly fascinated by the sycamore trees. I must admit I'm pretty lousy at tree identification, but the American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) tree is so easy to recognize, by its bark if nothing else. I think it's very likely that whoever first had the idea for camouflage military uniforms must have had the sycamore bark in mind. Take a look at www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/american_sycamore.htm and you'll see what I mean.
One of the fun facts about the Sycamore is its
affinity with wildlife of all kinds.
Purple finches, chickadees, goldfinches, mallards, and dark-eyed juncos
love to eat the seeds which are compacted into a round ball that drops from the
tree in winter. Sapsuckers will sometimes tap the trunk for the sweet sap. Later,
hummingbirds take advantage of the holes drilled by sapsuckers to help themselves
to some sweet sap, too. Muskrats, beaver, and squirrels also love the seeds. Beavers
sometimes eat the bark.
Pileated Woodpeckers, Big Brown Bats, Belted
Kingfishers, Bluebirds, and Great Crested Flycatchers take shelter in the
branches of Sycamores, and Belted Kingfishers dig their holes for egg laying
and raising their young among the roots of this tree.
Perhaps most interesting is the fact that older
sycamores (and they can live hundreds of years) tend to develop giant hollows
in their trunks which have come in handy for many species. Barred owls, Eastern
Screech owls, Wood Ducks, and Great Blue Herons are among the birds that have used
the cavities for nesting. Squirrels, raccoons, and opossums make homes in them also. AND, believe it or not, when the cavities are
large enough, black bears often use them for hibernating.
Even more incredible, people have lived in them
in the past. When I read on the web that sometimes people in pioneer days
sheltered in Sycamore trees, it triggered a memory of something from Tennessee
history. One of Sumner County's famous longhunters, Thomas Sharp (Big Foot)
Spencer, lived in a Sycamore tree for a time in the late 1700s with his hunting
dog, Midnight. I used to imagine they were piled on top of one another, but
lately I've read that in historical times American sycamores were sometimes
much larger than today's. George Washington recorded in his journal that he'd
found a sycamore that measured nearly 45 feet in circumference. And George wouldn't lie about a thing like
that.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
