Ringing in the New Year
In addition to the special events at the Harrow Road Café and Grey Gables, some folks started a new tradition in Rugby with game night at the Friendly House.
In addition to the special events at the Harrow Road Café and Grey Gables, some folks started a new tradition in Rugby with game night at the Friendly House.
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| Midnite revelers Tom Howell, Benita Howell, Harry Hester, Jessie Gully, JoNell Hester, Barbara and Boyd Mitchell |
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| JoNell and Harry Hester and Jessy Gully play games New Years Eve |
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| Mara and Bob Trumbo play dominoes with Eric Wilson and Vi Biehl |
Perhaps next year at
midnight we can lower Donna’s bloomers from newly built Perrigo Boarding House,
fire George’s cannon and ring the schoolhouse bell! Excitement up and down
Central Avenue (formerly Highway 52).
History Night This Friday
Our
January History Night will be this Friday, Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the
Friendly House. Everyone, including visitors, is welcome.
Bring
your thinking caps because we'll be having a contest to see how much we've
learned of Rugby history in the last few years,
and there will be a prize -- a gift certificate for the Harrow Road Cafe. Also,
this is the meeting when we invite anyone to bring a
Rugby artifact or a copy of an old newspaper article concerning Rugby, etc.,
for show-and-tell. Hint: there are a few families
around who might have something you could bring if needed.
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| Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell |
By Amy Barnes
Historic
Rugby is holding a Dinner and Movie Night this Saturday, Jan. 12. The movie starts
at 7:30 p.m./6:30 Central at the Visitor Centre theatre. This week’s
movie will be His Girl Friday starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and
directed by Howard Hawks. It was released in 1940. This film is a good
quality DVD with very good sound (unlike the movie night we had in September). We
hope folks will stop by and have dinner at the Harrow Road Café (open until 8/7
Central) before the free film (contributions to Historic Rugby welcomed).
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| Jessie Gully in her tiara |
Help Celebrate after Feb. 2 Potluck
By: Herself
Jessie Gully’s 70th birthday party will be held in the Rugby
Community Room from 7:30ish to 9:30ish (Eastern) after the potluck dinner on
Feb. 2. We will play bingo – the little prizes will be from “The Isles.” In between games Jessie will entertain with
stories from her life. No gifts or cards
wanted, just your presence is requested. (Red-headed grandson will be 21 on the
same day and will be there!)
Winter Philosophical Nights Begin
Share Your Views on Life
Amy Barnes and Jessie Gully will
sponsor two Thomas Hughes winter philosophical nights. The first is on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. at Jessie’s
home. The second is on Feb. 28 at Amy’s
home. Refreshments will not be served,
but the hostess will offer drinks (tea or coffee). If you are interested in your neighbors’
views on life, and those of Rugby founder Thomas Hughes, please come!
Water Line Breaks... Again
On Friday night at about 7:30 or 8 p.m. the water main broke along
Highway 52 near Rugby’s Christ Church in the same area where it has broken
repeatedly before. Fortunately, the Harrow Road Café was far enough along in
serving its guests that this did not interfere with dinner there. At about 9
p.m. Huntsville Utility crews had used valves to confine the area affected and
many folks reported that their water pressure returned to near normal. The
crews called in heavy equipment and worked well past a below-freezing midnight
to repair the broken pipe.
BIRTHDAYS
Jan. 14 – Drew Martin and Charles Crabtree
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely
Thurs. Jan. 24 – Thomas Hughes Philosophical
Night #1 – 7 p.m. at Jessie Gully’s house.
Share views on life with your neighbors.
Sat. Feb. 2 – Community Potluck – 7 p.m. at the Rugby Community
Room followed by 70th Birthday Party for Jessie Gully
Thurs. Feb. 14 – Valentine’s Dinner at Harrow Road Café
Sat. Feb. 16 – Dinner and Movie Night – Movie starts at 7:30 p.m.
EST at Visitor Centre Theatre. Stop in at the Café for dinner before the movie!
Thurs. Feb. 28 – Thomas Hughes Philosophical
Night #2 – 7 p.m. at Amy Barnes’ house.
Share views on life with your neighbors.
Sat. March 9 – Dinner and Movie Night – Movie starts at 7:30 p.m.
EST at Visitor Centre Theatre. Visit the Café for dinner before the movie!
| Ongoing Activities Quilters’ Group - Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2–4 p.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church Episcopal. Rugby Yoga –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 |
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| Linda Konig |
By Linda Konig
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The Appalachian area is unmatched in the number of mussel
species, compared to the rest of the world. Throughout history, mussels have
been used in various ways in Tennessee. Native Americans made jewelry from the
mussel shells they found whose insides were coated with nacre, in other words,
mother-of-pearl. Later in Tennessee history, the mussel shells were used to
make buttons, but of course now most buttons are plastic.
Occasionally, freshwater pearls would be found in the
mussels, and the lucky person who found one could sell it to jewelers in New
York or elsewhere for money. This sometimes led to a pearl rush with people
rushing to the Holston and Clinch Rivers, hoping to strike it rich.
Since then, we've learned the secret to making freshwater
pearls, by inserting bits of mussel shell inside a living mussel. Just as an
oyster makes a pearl by coating an irritant with nacre, the mussel coats the
irritating bit of shell. Did you know that our official state gem is the
freshwater pearl? Tennessee has the only freshwater pearl farm in the U.S.,
located near Camden, Tennessee. Not only that but approximately 40% of the
mussel shells exported to Japan for use in their freshwater pearl industry come
from Tennessee.
As much as I admire mother-of-pearl and freshwater pearl
jewelry, there's a much greater reason
for loving these bivalves. We need them to help keep our rivers clean. Mussels
siphon water into and out of their bodies, filtering out bacteria, algae, and
poisonous waste particles. In other words they're a good indicator species. If
they take in too much poisonous chemical, they die. A bit of good news: our
neighbor the Big South Fork River now has six more mussel species added to its
list, thanks to artificial propagation and relocation. They now have 45 species
of mussels.
Think that's a lot of mussels? They once had 76 kinds.
Mussels are also a valuable part of the food chain, being eaten by fish,
otters, and muskrats. For more information about mussels being reintroduced
into the Big South Fork and a photo, try www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/oct/11/mussels-being-reintroduced-Big-South-Fork/
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
