Lynn Roebuck - comb graves

History Field Trip Saturday

See Stockton Cemetery Roof Graves

Saturday morning, June 16, is the date for a History Club field trip to Stockton Cemetery. Stockton has one of the more interesting cemeteries in the area, featuring 11 “roof graves,” sometimes called “comb graves.” These early 1800's graves are chiefly found in the western Cumberland Plateau area and hark back to a style of gravestones in Scotland. We'll see where Ben Stockton, Grover Stockton, Solomon Giles, and others who had connections with Rugby lived. While we're in greater downtown Stockton (ha!), we'll drive about to see where there were a couple of stores, where the railroad stopped, etc. Let's gather at the parking area in front of the church about 10 a.m. and carpool to Stockton.

The photo above is from a flickr site and shows comb graves in Warren County.  The website is at:

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/caving/4035280088/

- Linda Konig

Flower in Mitchell garden

Garden Event Photos

Wonderful Day for Garden Lovers

The first event focused around Rugby’s private gardens appeared to be a great success.  Folks who attended it seemed to genuinely enjoy the presentations, the gardens, the wonderful lunch at the Café and the incredible tea at the end of the day.  It took efforts by many volunteers to make the event so enjoyable.

Event Coordinator Barbara Mitchell at the Cafe with the beautiful lunch that she did a great job of planning (and the Cafe did a great job of preparing). Top right shows the wonderful tea served on Lisa Donegan's porch. Bottom right is Bob Washburn leading the workshop on sun and shade gardening.

All along the way Barbara Mitchell did a great job of planning, working with volunteers, decorating, gardening, etc, etc.  Thanks to Barbara and all the hard-working volunteers and HRI staff who helped make this such a success.

Café Information Online

Thanks to a tip from the family of Nora and Jim Meadows, Rugby's Harrow Road Cafe is now represented on the restaurant site UrbanSpoon.com.

Actually, Rugby's Cafe was already there -- listed under Huntsville, Tennessee -- but with no photos and little information beyond the phone number. We've added a bit of information and are working on getting Rugby its own listing!

Anyplace that's not a major city on UrbanSpoon is called a Neighborhood, so that certainly fits Rugby.

We'll be able to post the menu there soon (a new one is in the works) and hear from diners who visit.

Wartburg, Jamestown and other familiar locations are also listed, but the Mexican restaurant in Wartburg isn't there yet. It appears UrbanSpoon assembled most of the listings on in 2008, so it might not have existed then.

Give it a look, and give the Cafe a friendly "Like." Click here:  http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/300/1270179/restaurant/Tennessee/Huntsville/Harrow-Road-Cafe-Rugby

-George Zepp

Update on Vi's Shop

Turns out Eric and I aren't going to be in Sewanee this summer, so I will be working in Wilo'th'Wisp doing further clearing to make room for working on crafts this summer and preparing the place to open as my Wilo'th'Wisp again this autumn. When my sign's out at the end of our driveway, feel free to come on by for a break from your usual day. I'll be here with coffee, tea and snacks. No shop. Just a place to stop in and take a break. And feel free to bring snacks to share with others now and then if you want to. See you soon. Oh, I'll still have my lending library going strong. Cheers!

 –Vi Biehl

Correction

Recently we included an item requesting donations to the Laurel Dale Cemetery to help with maintenance.  It was pointed out that the information we included had a mistake.  The person in charge of collecting the donations is Sally Carey – her name was wrong in the original story.  But donation checks made out to Laurel Dale Cemetery Association were fine.   

I know we all appreciate all the work that Sally, William Crabtree and others do in helping to keep the cemetery looking so nice.

BIRTHDAYS

June 17 - Lloyd Stokes

June 18 - Jenny Young

CALENDAR

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.

Saturday, June 16 – History Club excursion to Stockton Cemetery. Gather at the parking area in front of the church about 10 a.m. and carpool to Stockton.

Sunday, June 24 – Historic Rugby Annual Membership Meeting – 1:30 p.m. at the Visitor Centre Theatre followed by a Member Reception on the porch. Board Meeting follows at the Community Building.

June 30 – Independence Day Picnic - at Lizzie's Place (home of John and Kathy Hicks) will be held on Saturday June 30 from 6-9 p.m. Eastern. Join your neighbors and friends for the annual 4th of July picnic on JUNE 30. Doug and Butch will provide music for the annual picnic at John and Kathy Hicks. Bring a dish to share. John and Kathy will provide barbeque, buns, drinks.

July 7 – Antique Car Show
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.


Historic Rugby Workshops

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.

Randy Paylor photo - Ragged Fringed Orchid

NATURE NOTES

Wild Orchids

By Linda Konig

Maybe you think orchids only grow in tropical jungles or hothouses. Wrong. I've seen 10 kinds in and around the Rugby area, and there are several others that should be around here that I haven't seen yet. True, these orchids won't be showing up on prom dresses, but they're interesting. Tennessee has 39 kinds of wild orchids, according to Jack Carman's book, Wildflowers of Tennessee. 

My latest find is blooming now in the meadow at Roslyn and in the meadow around the pond at the Dollar Store in Allardt. It's called Ragged Fringed Orchid, also known as Green Fringed Orchid, or Platanthera lacera if you prefer the Latin name. Barbara Stagg's son Randy found more than 16 of these beauties in the meadow and made lots of photographs, one of which you see here. Remember, orchids should NOT be dug up and transplanted because they depend on certain endomycorrhizal funguses in the soil. 

Ragged Fringed Orchids are unusual in more than one respect. One way they differ from most flowers is that they release most of their fragrance at night. Why would they do that?  They do that to entice moths from two different families to come to the flowers for nectar and inadvertently pollinate them. The Noctuiid and Sphinx families of moths have many species. Sphinx (sometimes called Hawk) moths prefer pale flowers with deep nectar wells.  Sphinx moths co-evolved with orchids! 

Noctuiid moths are interesting to entomologists because these moths have tympanic organs (a kind of ear) on their thorax. These ears can detect the ultrasonic frequencies of bats' radar and thus start flying erratically or drop to the ground to avoid being eaten. Noctuiid females respond to males that send out ultrasonic communication, sending messages that must be something like the equivalent of a wolf whistle or a “How about stepping out tonight?”

Have I personally observed any of this sipping and mating activity? No, not specifically. However, I did visit John and Barbara's meadow a couple of nights this past week and saw a few tan moths flitting about. I can tell you that the fragrance of the orchids isn't sweet like most floral smells, but it was a not-unpleasant green-ish smell that I assume is pleasing to moths. To each his own.

This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp