Blalock Construction had a project update meeting last week with the state Department of Transportation and the various contractors working on the new Rugby Highway 52 route.
While there was some disagreement on the date when the bypass is expected to open, officials at the planning meeting said they would definitely finish before the Nov. 4, 2013 deadline. Most of those in attendance seemed to believe that the actual opening of the new Highway 52 would be in October, although one person suggested that the opening might be as early as August.
Various stages of the
final work were discussed at the meeting, including paving that could start
as early as June. For a couple of weeks,
toward the end of the project, Highway 52 traffic be will temporarily directed
onto the new bypass and the only route into Rugby will be from the Brewstertown
Road intersection of the bypass while work is done on the interchange east of White
Oak Creek. So during that period, everyone will enter Rugby on the Brooks Store
end of town.
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| Bobby Fulcher |
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 2 at 4 p.m.
Commissioner Susan Whitaker, Senator Ken 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. Later 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 p.m., following the grand opening of the VC. Two big treats for one
trip.
Hattie Carey, caretaker of Rugby's Laurel Dale Cemetery, has requested donations to assist in maintenance of the cemetery, especially mowing during the summer months. The historic cemetery is an important part of Rugby and the work of maintaining is done but a few generous people who work very hard at maintaining it. Many thanks to Hattie and William Crabtree and others who do such a nice job of keeping the cemetery looking nice.
If you can help, please send donations to:
Hattie Carey
4928 Mount Helen Rd.
Allardt, TN 38504
Two Upcoming History Events
in Rugby
History
Night – Friday May 10 - All Those Blacklock Boys
I'd
often wondered what happened to all those 7 Blacklock boys after the family moved away from Rugby, and I've recently learned the fates of most
of them. The story is, like most stories
of families, full of hard work, joy and fulfillment, as well as some
heartbreak. The Blacklock family was
destined to be linked in several ways with the early days of South Pittsburg, Tenn.,
then later with the then-young burgeoning area around Birmingham, Alabama. We'll be talking about the Blacklocks at our
next History Night, Friday, May 10. As
usual, we'll meet at the Friendly House at 7:30 p.m. If anybody knows of any artifacts lying
around Rugby that are tied in with the Blacklock family, let me know. -- Linda
Konig
Swiss Scholar Speaking May 12 - Hear About Rugby’s Colorful First
Librarian
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| Bertz in later years |
German native Eduard Bertz arrived in the newly
founded Rugby, Tenn., colony from England in 1881 but stayed only two years
before returning to Europe in 1883. However, in that brief period he helped
establish one of the remaining icons of Historic Rugby, the 1882 Thomas Hughes
Public Library, by serving as its first librarian.
On Sunday,
May 12, 2013, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, Swiss researcher Wulfhard Stahl will
talk about the life and work of Bertz. This free presentation in Historic
Rugby’s Rebecca Johnson Theatre is open to the public.
Bertz (1853-1931) went on to write nine books,
including an 1896 novel based on his Rugby experiences and a 1900 book about
bicycling that has been reissued twice, most recently last year.
Stahl, who is librarian for the World Trade
Institute in Bern, Switzerland, has been researching the life and works of
Bertz for nearly 30 years. He last visited Rugby in 1994. Stahl has published
collections of Bertz’s letters in editions of the Gissing Journal and spoken about him at conferences.
Bertz was a close friend of the English novelist
George Gissing, who shared with him an interest in social reform as nations
became industrialized. Their correspondence between 1887 and 1903 was compiled
in book form in 1961 by Rutgers University’s Arthur C. Young.
Bertz was also an admirer of American poet Walt
Whitman. A controversial article Bertz wrote in 1905 about Whitman is still
debated today in scholarly circles.
“We hope you’ll join us for a glimpse into the
life of this little-known Rugby leader,” said Zach Langley, executive director
of Historic Rugby. “Rugby’s Harrow Road Café will be open until 3 p.m. that
Sunday for visitors.”
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| Dancers at Festival |
There are lots of gardening
opportunities at Historic Rugby this time of year. And it looks like the weather will be nice again on
Tuesday (April 30), so if you can help, please come to Newbury House at 10
a.m. Bring your gloves and any tools,
like hand clippers, trowel or rake. We
need to spruce up the flower beds and decide on other projects. If you have any questions call Rick Murphy at
628-319-7842 or email him at rickmurphy1@aol.com . Thanks
Commissary Has Forever Stamps
Jessie Gully would like to
remind everybody that the Rugby Commissary postal station sells Forever Stamps and can
help with postage for various mailings.
In order to keep the postal store in Rugby it is important to keep
the number of stamps sold and the amount of mail sent through Rugby's post office
at a sufficient level. She hopes to see postal customers on Thursdays through Sundays. Thanks!
Local Man Seeks Office in Plateau Electric Election
By Harry Gosnell
I would like to ask everyone who is a Plateau Electric member
in Morgan County to come out and vote for me at the Wartburg office on May 18,
2013 between the hours of 9 am – 4 pm. I
have worked hard for the Morgan County members and will continue to get things
done for your co-op.
Editor's Note: Harry lives close to Rugby on Nydeck Road. Many of you may have seen or talked to Harry at the Café with his wife Tammy. We would encourage you to support Harry in the upcoming election.
Rugby Folks Complete 1/2 Marathon
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| Congratulations to Barbara (in red socks) and Boyd Mitchell who completed the Nashville Country Music 1/2 Marathon on Saturday. Photos above show them and family members who endured the cold and rain. |
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Birthdays
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Calendar
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely
Tues. April 30- Volunteer
Gardening at Newbury House -10 a.m.
Thurs. May 2 - Ribbon
Cutting/Grand Opening for Morgan County Visitor Center in Wartburg - 4 p.m.
Sat. May 4 – Community Potluck - 7 p.m.
Sat. May 4 – Community Potluck - 7 p.m.
Fri. May 10 – History Night at the
Friendly House - 7:30 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 at the Rugby Visitor Centre Theater - 4 p.m.
Fri. and Sat. May 17 and 18 – 39th 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.
Sat. June 1 – Lantern Tour on Stage
Sun. June 9 – Appalachian Writers
Series welcomes Sallie Bissell – 3 p.m.
June 29 – Rugby Independence Day picnic will be the Saturday before July 4
at John and Kathy Hicks’ house.
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| Linda Konig |
Phanaeus Vindex
By Linda Konig
I'll bet you don't know you have a friend named Phanaeus
Vindex. No, he's not from outer space,
though a greatly blown-up video of him would make the beginnings of a great 1950's
Hollywood horror movie. He's quite
handsome, fierce-looking, and colorful, and he and his beautiful lady love are
very special friends to those of us who live in Rugby or other areas in the
Southeast with lots of pasture land. If
you go to www.bugguide.net/node/view/5442/bgimage you'll find some good photos of
them. Sometimes they're called Rainbow
Scarabs. Their life story is
fascinating, but if you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read this next
part at mealtime.
Phanaeus Vindex scarabs fly low in a zig-zag fashion over pastures in
the daytime sniffing for fresh cow patties and horse, goat or sheep dung. When they find a pile to their liking, the
male and female work together to dig tunnels underneath the patties. Then they move some of the dung into the
tunnels and make dung balls. She then
lays an egg inside each dung ball. Well,
you can guess the rest. Sometimes a dung
pile disappears in just a matter of hours. (Yes, somewhere out there are people who probably have been paid to time
this.)
Why do I call these scarabs our friends? Because without them and certain other scarab
beetles we could not stand being outdoors on warm spring and summer days for
the awful stench coming from local pastures.
We would also have serious housefly and horsefly problems and be prone
to windborne as well as flyborne disease.
Unfortunately our scarab friends have enemies. They and
other helpful scarabs are on the decline in some areas. They have many predators which include Blue
Jays, European Starlings, Crows, Grackles, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Big
Brown Bats, American Toads, and 5-Lined Skinks. Another serious problem for them is indiscriminate spraying of chemical
pesticides. Since some of our native
scarabs have been on the decline, two other kinds of scarab have been imported
to the Southeast to help take care of our pastures. So the next time you drive by a pasture with
the windows rolled down, breathe a prayer of thanks for our scarabs.
