Saving Some of Rugby’s Hemlocks

Tree-Killing Insect Close To Rugby

Decades ago we lost most of our chestnut trees to blight. Now we are at risk of losing our hemlock trees to an insect. It appears that now is the time for Rugby to start focusing on this problem.

Several folks have recently noticed that there are blue dots painted on hemlocks along the trail to the Gentlemen's Swimming Hole. I recently spoke to Marie Tackett, botanist for the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, who said officials recently treated 640 trees for the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid in the area of the Rugby trail and the Clear Fork. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is the bug that has been killing hemlock trees in the Smokies and the one now in our area.

The fact that workers are already treating some of Rugby’s trees is good news. Treatments for large numbers of trees can be expensive. Unfortunately, they do not normally do treatments for trees on private land, so it appears that they will not be able to help trees around the homes or historic buildings in Rugby.

Marie said the closest the bug has been seen to Rugby is at Honey Creek and Burnt Mill Bridge, which is not very far.

She said no evidence of the bug has been evident along the Gentlemen’s Swimming Hole trail yet, but that NPS officials are trying to go treat areas that have the most impact on trails in the park. They treat everything within 150 feet of the trail. The treatment lasts for 3-5 years.

Gentlemen's Swimming Hole in Autumn

The treatment is administered in two ways. If it is within 30 feet of the river, the chemical is injected directly into the tree so that it will not get into the river. If it is further away, a drench is put in the soil around the trees.

I also spoke to Lisa Huff, the representative for the Rugby State Natural Area, asking if they could treat some trees in Rugby.  She said she could request chemicals to treat the trees along the Massengale Homeplace trail.  We have asked whether they could also treat other places in the State Natural Area, like along the White Oak, but it is not clear that they are prepared to treat such a large area.

Mark Your Calendar for Tree Treatment Demonstration

Hadley Hury has asked Marie Tackett to come to Rugby to provide more information and demonstrate how to treat trees so that we can start doing it ourselves.  She will be coming Saturday, August 18 at 10 a.m. - details to follow. Please put this on your calendar NOW.

Marie did say that even though the park is treating trees now due to the large number that they have to deal with, individuals with fewer trees to treat may want to wait until fall to carry out treatment. It is our understanding that the fall and spring are better times to treat, and that treatments should not be done when large amounts of rain are expected.

For questions and suggestions, contact Hadley Hury at  hhhury@gmail.com or Rick Murphy at rickmurphy1@aol.com

Book Club Meeting July 22 The Rugby Book Group will meet at the home of Benita and Tom Howell at 4:30 p.m. ET, Sunday afternoon, July 22. We'll discuss what we've been reading, suggest books to discuss this fall and winter, and choose a book and date for our second anniversary meeting in August. New participants are welcome.

Invitation to Area Artists and Craft Persons

The Commissary and General Store, operated by Historic Rugby Inc. is a unique retail outlet for area artists and craft persons.  Building on its long-standing reputation for high quality regional arts and crafts, the Commissary Committee is inviting those interested in being a part of this market to submit their work for an upcoming jury review. This will help ensure that the work offered through the Commissary is representative of the creative excellence of the area.

Visitors to Rugby are always interested in needlework and weaving, pottery, wood products, baskets, graphic and two-dimensional art as well as an array of other time-honored crafts. The Commissary has provided a venue to showcase these talents to many thousands of visitors to Rugby for more than 25 years.

The committee is looking in particular for handcrafted items that reflect quality workmanship, as well as creativity in developing original designs or adapting traditional designs. Use of natural materials and traditional production techniques is encouraged. Because of the dedication to traditional crafts, the Commissary is not able to accept items made from commercial kits, molds, stamps, etc.

If you would like to have your crafts included, bring an application with three examples for each category of work to be juried to the Commissary between August 1 and 18.  If you are already associated with the Commissary, you only need to apply if you want to submit work in a new category. The jury committee will review submissions August 23-24. Application forms, guidelines and sample contract are available in Rugby at the Commissary. Call the Commissary at 423-628-5166 with questions, or to have application materials either emailed or mailed directly to you. 

BIRTHDAYS

July 17 - Virginia Lee

July 19 - John Mount
 

CALENDAR

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.

Saturday, July 21 – Appalachian Writers Series – Author Vicki Lane. Join us for an evening with Vicki Lane as she speaks on her novel series and how it draws on the Appalachian past and present. "I think that, as an outsider, I sometimes see more clearly the wonderful things that people who grew up here take for granted." 7 p.m. Eastern/ 6 Central. Lane and her husband moved to the mountains in 1975 to learn the rural life. She soon fell in love with the Appalachian culture. Her acute understanding of the ways of the mountains is easily spotted in her novels. She is author of the Elizabeth Goodweather Appalachian Mysteries, the fourth of which, IN A DARK SEASON, is an Anthony nominee for Best PBO and THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS, a spinoff/standalone, centering on Miss Birdie, Elizabeth's octogenarian neighbor.
http://vickilanemysteries.com

Sunday, July 22 - The Rugby Book Group meets at the home of Benita and Tom Howell at 4:30 p.m. ET. We'll discuss what we've been reading, suggest books to discuss this fall and winter, and choose a book and date for our second anniversary meeting in August. New participants are welcome.

Saturday, August 18 – Demonstration – Treating hemlocks for the woolly adelgid led by Marie Tackett from the Big South Fork.  10 a.m.  Location to be announced. Saturday, August 18 – Appalachian Writer Series – 7:00 p.m. ET. Author Jennifer Bauer. Jennifer Bauer, a former interpretive specialist with Roan Mountain State Park, will be visiting Rugby to speak on her new historical book, "Roan Mountain: History of an Appalachian Treasure," with several parallels to the Rugby story – including another destination 19th century hotel. A book-signing opportunity will follow the discussion.

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

Kudzu Basket Workshop - July 21at 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Finally! A use for kudzu vines! Learn to weave your very own Kudzu Basket with easy to learn techniques taught by Fuzzy Orange. Fuzzy lives near Rugby and has been studying and teaching bark basketry for many years. Anyone who has met him knows he is a joy to be around and a great story-teller. Students of his classes will be sure to have a good time. The cost for this workshop is $35. Please make advanced reservations.

Handcrafted Appalachian Knife Workshop – August 4 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Handcraft an old-fashioned Appalachian style knife using rustic wood and a recycled saw blade. Create an item to treasure for years to come.  Fuzzy Orange lives near Rugby and has been studying and teaching his crafts for many years. Anyone who has met him knows he is a joy to be around and a great story-teller. Students of his classes will be sure to have a good time. The cost for this workshop is $35.

“Mountain Splendor” Painting With Oils Workshop – Saturday, August 18 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fine art made easy with step-by-step instruction in composition design- sky, mountains and waterfall in an evergreen forest setting.  Mara Trumbo was born in Italy, raised in Southern Africa and now lives in Rugby. She has studied and acquired various techniques, which reveal themselves in her romantic paintings and pottery creations. Mara is a member of the Cumberland Art Society and displays her work in Crossville and Cookeville galleries.  The cost for this class is $65.

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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

Sweet Betsy Candy

By Linda Konig

I'll bet it's been months since you've thought of Trillium. After all, they bloomed back in March or April and then sort of died back till next spring, right?  Not quite right. This year I was eager to see the 3-sided seedpod in the middle of the three leaves develop and ripen, so I've been watching a colony of 10 Sweet Betsy Trillium in the backyard.  (See www.summitpost.org/sweet-betsy-trillium/216114 to refresh your memory of what they look like.)  Admittedly, mine had gotten pretty brown and yellow and ragged-looking since spring. Well, the mowing man demolished 9 of them before I thought to put up a flag to warn him off. So then I was watching the 10^th one. Finally, my patience was rewarded yesterday morning when the seedpod either was torn open on one side by something, or maybe the pod just naturally splits open when the seeds are ripe.

The pinkish-orange seeds have a natural sweet fatty treat attached to them that ants just love. To my surprise, the white-colored treat, called an elaisome, was much larger than the seed itself. I'd seen pictures of seeds with elaisomes on the end, but usually the elaisome was tiny compared to the actual seed. I was expecting to see lots of ants lined up to take away the seeds to their anthill for feeding their larvae, but there again, I was surprised.  A few ants tried to get at the seeds, but they were deterred by yellow jackets. In all my reading about elaisomes on certain early wildflower seeds, I'd not read that yellow jackets go for the elaisomes, too, but it makes sense since they like sweets. Of course, the ants or yellow jackets aren't consciously thinking: 'Wow!  Yummy Sweet Betsy candy! Let's take them down into the nest, eat the candy, and throw away this other seed part in our hole. That way, we'll be spreading the Sweet Betsy plants so our descendants can have some candy, too.'

I saw proof of how much the yellow jackets love this treat when three of them devoured almost all of an elaisome in a matter of about 5 seconds before one of them flew off with the round seed, only a bit of elaisome still clinging to it. Most of the time, however, a yellow jacket seemed to be thinking of the whole tribe, and she took the whole seed, elaisome and all, back home. A couple of times, a yellow jacket took off with the seed but got less than a foot away before she landed and had to shift the load a bit in order to carry it.

Let's hope the yellow jacket nest is across the highway or somewhere else.  Their nests are usually in a hole but look quite a bit like a hornets' nest in shape and are made of paper. If it's in the yard, it could spell trouble. On the other hand, a skunk could dig up the nest some night and enjoy a meal of yellow jackets. I don't know if skunks like sweet elaisomes.  I guess that's another chapter.

This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp