Eric Wilson

Eric Wilson - photo by Jim McBrayer

Making Things Better

 By Rick Murphy

 Rugby lost a treasure this week with the passing of Eric Wilson on Thursday.  While much of the community was aware that Eric had very recently been diagnosed with untreatable cancer and might only have a short time, I think most of us were surprised that his death occurred less than a week after he received the final diagnosis. He will be greatly missed.

Folks in the community will each surely have their own different fond remembrances of Eric.  But I think one common feeling in a small community like Rugby is that when you lose one of your neighbors you realize how much you will miss the special part they played in our day-to-day lives.  And up until a few months ago, Eric was a very active part of our daily lives in Rugby – taking his daily walks or runs, volunteering with some building repair projects, visiting at the Commissary, helping to maintain trails …and so much more.

Eric cared a lot about the people of Rugby and worked to help make things here better.  Many of us remember how Eric and Vi became early “pioneers” in helping to revive the Rugby community.  They lovingly built “High Wray” in 1990, the first new house in what was to become Rugby’s Beacon Hill residential community.  It is a house that very much reflects Eric’s talent as a wood worker and which has served as a wonderful model for how a new house can successfully reflect the architecture of the period of Rugby’s early days. 

I would certainly not attempt to recite all the other things Eric has done for Rugby, but I will remind folks that he started this weekly e-newsletter a number of years ago. Since we took over the newsletter a few years ago Eric has been faithful about giving us helpful comments …and criticisms.  He would frequently tell us that he liked a certain edition.  And on occasion he would tell us what he didn’t like.  We always appreciated his directness, because we always knew he wanted to help us be better. 

In recent years I have had the pleasure of playing bridge with Eric once a week.  He was very patient in sharing his knowledge about various rules and conventions used in the game – which helped us understand what a good professor he must have been. And I don’t know if it had something to do with his being a math professor or just having a very disciplined mind, but Eric was extremely good at tracking the cards that had been played. This could be a bit intimidating.  When playing as his bridge partner, it was not uncommon for him to look up at you after a play and raise one eyebrow, as if to say… “did you really mean to play that card?” He was usually right!  And more than once he would remind the rest of us that we needed to stop talking so much and “Play Bridge.”  We didn’t mind too much because we always knew he just wanted to help us be better.   

When Eric got to the point a few months ago when he was in too much pain to sit at the card table or focus on playing bridge, the rest of us quickly realized how important Eric was to our little group.  As we played without him, we started to talk about what Eric would say at a certain point in the game.  More than once we have reminded each other that if Eric were here he would tell us that we should stop talking and “Play Bridge!”  

So while he will be sorely missed, in some ways he is still here …helping us be better.



Eric and Vi and friends

 

Message from Bob and Mara Trumbo:

 

I don’t have anything tangible of Eric’s to share except this story:

Eric sent out a request for any seamstress in the village that could tailor his torn jeans and make them into shorts. At the same time I was looking for someone to fix the side of the hollow tree trunk in front of the Cafe` to use as a planter. We traded services and we were both happy. Tomorrow I’ll buy a flowering plant to put in the tree trunk planter in his memory. May he rest in peace, free from all pain. Our love and sympathies for Vi.

Mara & Bob

 

Morel Time in Rugby

 

Morel mushrooms are popping up in Rugby - George took this photo of one at Walton Court

 

 

Misty Poss Getting Married in Rugby!  

Dear Rugby Friends, My family and I will be in Rugby from Friday April 26 to Sunday April 28 to celebrate our wedding at Christ Church on Saturday! I'm excited to show my family from out of state the beauty of Rugby! While I wish I could invite every one of you to the ceremony, we would love it if you dropped in to share a cup of tea or glass of wine (or 2!) with us that weekend at Oak Lodge. I'd love for our families to meet my "Rugby family." Looking forward to being amongst you again. – Misty Poss

Save the Date

By Gigi Schooler

I hope everyone in Rugby will plan on attending the Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting for the new Visitor Center in Wartburg on Thurs., May 2nd, 4:00 p.m.  Commissioner Susan Whitaker, Senator Yager, and Rep. John Mark Windle will be in attendance as well as many other dignitaries.  A portion of the Center will be devoted to the Cumberland Trail and later on, a kiosk (patterned after the one at the Massengale homeplace) will be set up on the property.  The person in charge of that project is Bobby Fulcher, Ranger in charge of the Cumberland Scenic Trail.  As you know, Bobby is also an accomplished musician and will be performing at the Central Schools Office at 6:00 p.m., following the grand opening of the VC.  Two big treats for one trip.

 

Annette Caldwell

 By Mara and Bob Trumbo

News has been received from Roland Caldwell on the passing of his beloved wife and our dear friend Annette. The letter is dated April 19th but it does not specify the date of her death of respiratory failure. 

Perhaps Annette and Eric went on this journey together, they will both be in good company and be terribly missed by us all.

Birthdays

April 27 – Beth Donegan and Douglas Cooksey

Calendar

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely  

 

Thurs. April 25 – Philosophy Club Meeting at the Café – 6:30 p.m.

Fri. April 26 - Rescheduled date for the Nancy Swain Watters Memorial Walk -- a benefit walk (five miles) is scheduled in Oneida - rescheduled due to bad weather last Friday

Thurs. May 2 - Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening for Visitor Center in Wartburg - 4:00 p.m.

Sat. May 4 – Community Potluck - 7 p.m.

Sat. May 11 – Morgan County Rabies Clinic at Brooks Store – 2:30 p.m. – Rabies vaccination for cats and dogs three months  or older. $10

Sun. May 12 – Special Presentation about Eduard Bertz, Rugby’s First Librarian. Wulfhard Stahl, a visiting scholar from Switzerland, will discuss Bertz, who was important in helping organize Rugby’s historic library, and who wrote later about poet Walt Whitman and the national craze for bicycles back when they were new.

Fri. and Sat. May 17 and 18 – 39^th Annual Rugby Village Festival. The headliner entertainment on Friday night will be Scottish folk singer Jean Redpath, who has made several appearances on NPR’s “Prairie Home Companion” show.

June 29 – Rugby Independence Day picnic will be the Saturday before July 4 at John and Kathy Hicks’ house. 

Nature Notes  

AUTUMN OLIVES 

By Linda Konig 

 

I've recently learned a lot about some of the most numerous and invasive, yet potentially helpful, bushes in our area called Autumn Olive.  They're blooming right now, and though their tiny blooms aren't as colorful and striking as some of our other spring flowers, the little bugle-shaped flowers and silvery pale green leaves are beautiful with other flowers in bouquets.  They smell heavenly.  Perhaps best of all, gathering the blooming sprigs will prevent the bugle-shaped flowers from becoming berries in the fall.  What's wrong with the berries?  Nothing except that birds love them and hence they spread their tiny seeds all over meadows, fence rows, roadways, etc.  Once you learn what these bushes look like, you'll be amazed at the number of them everywhere, especially along fencerows.  They were once promoted by the U.S. Agricultural Service as something farmers could use to enrich worn-out soils.  These amazing bushes' roots add nitrogen to the soil. 

What most people didn't know is that the Autumn Olive's orangey-red berries are tart-sweet and very good in jams, fruit leathers, etc., according to information on the web.  Not only are they delicious, but they contain from 11 to 18 times more lycopene as tomatoes when they're cooked.  Men take note!  Lycopene is highly recommended as a deterrent against prostate and other forms of cancer.  Yes, you can buy lycopene in bottles, but why shell out money when you can get these abundant berries free every fall?  So why not eat the berries and prevent the birds' further spreading of these invasive bushes? 

I learned about the berries' edibility too late last fall to be able to gather any, but I hope to get a lot this fall.  According to what I've read, they're easy to knock off the bushes into pails.  Some people eat them raw, but the lycopene is more effective when cooked.  My new motto is: If you can't lick 'em, eat 'em.  There are numerous recipes on the web, and you'll find good photos of the leaves, flowers, and berries at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaeagnus_umbellata.

  

This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp