‘Christmas at Rugby’ Returns Saturday
Music, Victorian Decorations, Christmas Dinner & More
Candlelit
visits to traditionally decorated historic buildings, seasonal music performed
throughout the village, an award winning film and mural at the Rugby Visitor
Centre and Theatre, and a traditional Victorian dinner combine to provide
glimpses of 1880s Rugby Christmases. This annual holiday fundraiser will take
place December 8 at the British-founded museum village atop the Cumberland
Plateau.
Six
historic and reconstructed buildings open to visitors will be lit with candles
and old-fashioned oil lamps. Beautifully decorated with holly, ivy, and
evergreens, just as used by Rugby's early colonists, these buildings will transport
you back to 1880s Rugby. The open buildings include the antique-filled
founder's home, Kingstone Lisle, where
Madame Margaret Hughes, the founder's mother (portrayed by Virginia Lovellette)
will greet visitors. The fragrance of
plum pudding steaming on the kitchen wood stove and parlor music performed by
Michael Harris and Donna Hefner will fill the house. Enjoy cider and
cookies while listening to Robin and Company harmonize in the Schoolhouse. Visitors
will also be welcomed to 1880 Newbury House, the Victorian-furnished original
boarding house now a bed and breakfast, where Zeb Turrentine will be performing
classical guitar music.
The
Harrow Road Cafe will serve a
four-course Christmas dinner by oil lamp light at two reserved seatings - 5:45
and 8:00 pm Eastern Time. The menu
includes Champagne punch, Clam Chowder, Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps, Roast Filet
Mignon with Béarnaise Sauce, Twice Baked Potato, Antiqua Vegetable Medley, and
Pumpkin Cheese Cake. Recipe handouts will be provided. For event and dinner
tickets and area lodging information, call Historic Rugby toll free at
1-888-214-3400 or locally at 423-628-2441.
The
award-winning history film, Rugby: The
Power of a Dream, will be shown several times each evening at the Visitor
Centre & Rebecca Johnson Theatre. A
32-foot wall mural at the centre shows Rugby as it looked in the 1880s.
Hot
wassail will be served fireside at the Rugby Community Room where visitors can
take part in old-time carol singing led by musicians Butch Hodgkins and Doug Piercy.
At the
Rugby Printing Works, the 1880s Chandler-Price letterpress will turn out hand
printed hot wassail recipes for visitors.
Visitors
are invited to the historic Christ Church Episcopal, to visit with members and
listen to the music of Thomas Howell and Judy Newport. The
choir will also be performing there 4:30–5 and 7-7:30.
Christmas
treasure shoppers will find many gift ideas.
The Rugby Commissary Museum
Store, the Spirit of Red Hill Nature Art and Oddiments Shop next door, and the Painted Rooster and the Carriage House Gallery, both
across the street, have a wide variety of items including ornate Victorian
cards and decorations, cookbooks, British preserves and teas, hand-crafted
pottery, quilts, woven rugs, stained glass, dolls and baskets, artwork and
more. An authentically costumed St.
Nicholas will give out candy to children of all ages.
Event hours are 4 to 9 p.m.
Eastern (3-8 Central). Event tickets are $12 and
can be purchased in advance, or on Saturday at the Visitor Centre. Tickets
for Historic Rugby members are only $9 and high school and elementary students
are $5. Dinner tickets must be purchased in advance and are $29, tax and
gratuity included. Call 1-888-214-3400 for event and dinner tickets and
information on area lodging. Christmas At Rugby proceeds help support the
restoration and preservation of the National Register village.
 |
| Annie closing up Spirit of Red Hill at end of 2011 season |
SPIRIT OF RED HILL
RELOCATION SALE
Store Prepares for Move
Across the Street
We don’t want to pack it up – except
for you! Beginning Thursday December 6
and for the rest of 2012 – BIG
DISCOUNTS!!!!! PRICES SLASHED!!!! Minimum 25% off on all
vintage and antique items. Come see us
before we move a few feet north!!!!
Editor's Note: Since Spirit of Red Hill is moving, it is our understanding that the commercial space they have been occupying next to the Commissary will be available for rent. If anyone is interested in the space for a shop, artist's gallery or other appropriate use, please contact Historic Rugby.
BIRTHDAYS
Dec. 8 - George Zepp
Dec. 9 - Cheryl Cribbet
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely
Dec.
8 – Christmas at Rugby – 4 p.m to 9 p.m. Eastern. Visit beautifully decorated
candle and lamp lit historic buildings. Enjoy live music and witness the magic
of actors portraying early Rugby colonists. Join in with the carolers singing
beside the fire while sampling Hot Wassail, the favorite holiday drink of
Rugby. Browse Christmas treasures at The Shops of Rugby. Keep an eye out for
Victorian Santa. Experience a delightful Four-Course Victorian Dinner at the
Harrow Road Cafe (Reservations Required) Call toll-free 888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441.
Dec. 8 – Christ Church Christmas Concert – 4:30 – 5
p.m. and 7–7:30 p.m. This is included as part of the Christmas at Rugby event,
but all others are welcome as well.
Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve Service at Christ Church – 5
p.m. followed by a potluck. All are welcome.
December 31 – New Year’s Eve Dinner at Harrow Road
Café. Reservations required. Call 423-628-2441 or 1-888-214-3400.
| Ongoing Activities Quilters’ Group - Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2–4 p.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church Episcopal. Rugby Yoga – NEW DAY: Mondays at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church Episcopal. Christ Church Episcopal -- Sunday morning services, 11 a.m. Eastern, year round; all are welcomed |
 |
| Linda Konig |
Another Round of Opossum
By Linda Konig
We usually see opossums
off and on all winter. They sleep in holes in tree trunks, etc., but don't
truly hibernate. Their fur doesn't give
much insulation, so they use lots of Though they're nocturnal creatures, they
sometimes come out in the daytime in winter because it's warmer during daylight
hours.
Opossums are indeed
strange creatures, and I got carried away reading about them last week. Some of the stuff I read made me laugh out
loud. For instance, some people actually believe that opossums mate through the
nose! If you're one of those people, I apologize for laughing, and I can see
how people would believe almost anything about them, because they're so
unusual. Bear in mind, though, that
opossums are mammals, and so their sex lives aren't all that different from
other mammals'.
However, they can have
as many as 3 litters a year between January and July. The infant opossums are
born after only 12 or 13 days in the mother's womb, and they're a bit smaller
than a honeybee at birth. Their hind legs aren't developed yet, and so they
must pull their way upwards on the mother's body with hook-like claws on their front
feet to reach her pouch. She has licked her abdominal fur before this to help
the young have an easier time of it.
When they're in the pouch, they'll attach themselves to the 13
teats. If there are more than 13 young,
the ones who don't find a teat for themselves perish. She can have up to 25 babies at a time. However,
6 to 9 is more normal. After about 2 months, the babies are about the size of a
house mouse and can leave the pouch off and on, gradually increasing the amount
of time spent outside the pouch, clinging to the mother's back. In another
month or so, they're on their own!
An opossum pouch is a fur-lined marvel. The mother opossum can run or even swim without danger to her young ones because she can close her pouch very tightly. She can put up a pretty good defense if she and her babies are threatened, mostly by hissing and showing her 50 needle-like teeth.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
