Historic Rugby Annual Membership Meeting Sunday

Gathering at previous membership meeting

Historic Rugby welcomes all members to its annual membership meeting this Sunday, June 23 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern at the Visitor Centre.  The meeting will be followed by a Membership Appreciation Reception on the porch where members will also have an opportunity to meet new Executive Director Zach Langley.  Non-members who are interested in Historic Rugby are also welcome to attend (and hopefully become interested in becoming a member), so feel free to bring a friend or relative.

Views of Antique Street Fair

Shoppers at Saturday's Antique Street Fair

 

Charles Gibbs, an organizer of  the fascinating antique lamp exhibit at the Antique Street Fair. Top right: Shoppers at Rugby's newest shop "The Gathering Place."  Bottom:  A shopper at the Spirit of Red Hill's upstairs room which opened just in time for Saturday's fair.

 

A craft demonstrator weaving at the Commissary during Antique Street Fair

 

 

Breakfast for Annette Caldwell 

To honor the late Annette Caldwell and reflect on her memory, Roland Caldwell and family will be hosting a breakfast at Grey Gables this Sunday, June 23, at 8:30 a.m.  Everyone who knew Annette is invited to attend. It will be a time for fellowship, sharing memories and giving voice to the knowing of a loving friend and gracious lady.  

A Memorial Service will be held afterward at Christ Church, Episcopal at 11 a.m. Please respond to Linda Jones that you can attend: 423-628-5252. 

 

Recent Bear Sighting 

Jodye Weiler

 

A medium size black bear was in my pasture (across from the trailer) yesterday evening. He apparently smelled the corn in the corn crib and came to check it out. Needless to say, he scared the bejeebers out of me. I called Amy's husband and he came over to make as certain as possible that it was no longer around. 

 My concern is for anyone on the trail to or from Jones Falls. Up until this year, I had only hearsay regarding hogs and  bears. This has been "my year"... seeing them myself makes a "true believer" out of this gal. 

 I've since heard that this must be a "new kid on the block," as the one cruising around up in the village was a larger one.

 

Birthdays  

June 18 - Jenny Young

June 22 - Bethany Jackson and Dennis Cribbet 

Calendar

Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely    

 

Sun. June 23 – Breakfast for Friends of Annette Caldwell at Grey Gables – 8:30 a.m. A time for fellowship, sharing memories and giving voice to the knowing of a loving friend and gracious lady.  A Memorial Service will be held at Christ Church, Episcopal at 11 a.m. EDT.   Please respond to Linda Jones if you can attend: 423-628-5252  Sun. June 23 – Historic Rugby Annual Membership Meeting – 1:30 p.m. Eastern followed by a reception on the Visitor Centre porch for new Executive Director Zach Langley. Board meeting following reception.   Wed. June 26 – White Elephant Bingo - Harrow Road Café -   6.30 p.m. Special menu available.  Purchase of at least one drink (soda, tea, coffee, ice cream, ale or wine) is the price of admission.  Please bring a bingo card and markers if you have them.   Sat. June 29 – Rugby Independence Day picnic will be the Saturday before July 4 at John and Kathy Hicks’ house

Sun. July 7 - Rugby School and Thomas Hughes: A Retrospective. Patrick Derham, Headmaster of Rugby School in England, will share the history and significance of our namesake, Rugby School, and provide insight into the life and times of our founder, Thomas Hughes.

Sat. July 13 – Antique Car Show 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern/8-2 Central. Spectators have free admission. Car registration is $10 per car. A wide variety of antique cars,  plus craft vendors, shopping at the Shops of Rugby and food at the Harrow Road Café.

Sat. July 27 – Appalachian Basketry Class – Learn to make a “Beanpot Basket” – named for its shape, this round basket is easy for a beginner, and fun for anyone. Registration required at least 7 days before class.  $32 or $42.  Registration forms available through Historic Rugby. 

Nature Notes  

Blister Beetles

By Linda Konig  

Several years ago, I watched a David Attenborough nature program on TV and bought its companion book, Life in the Undergrowth.  One of the incredible insects covered was a certain kind of blister beetle in California.  Its life history was so amazing that I've never forgotten it. Imagine then my surprise when I learned a couple of weeks ago that we have a blister beetle around here with the very same bizarre life history. There are several insects in the Southeast that are commonly called blister beetle, but the one I'm talking about is also called the American Oil Beetle (Meloe americanus). It's solid black with a sometimes greenish or purplish sheen. Take a look at www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/146280122 to see precisely what it looks like. These beetles can cause painful blisters if you pick them up or step on them with bare feet.  A caustic oil containing cantharidin oozes out of their joints when they're threatened. 

Now to get to the interesting part. The female blister (American Oil) beetles lay their eggs on or near wildflowers in the buttercup family. This is a fairly large early springtime family. You can look them up in a good wildflower guide such as Wildflowers of Tennessee by Jack B. Carman. When the eggs hatch, the minute larvae immediately, as a group, climb up the nearest buttercup plant. There they sit, not eating, just sit, remaining in a bunch. They're waiting for a free ride to a nearby free blister beetle restaurant. Sooner or later, a wild bee comes along, and, if it's a male, he's terribly attracted to these blister beetle larvae. Why? Because they smell just like a female wild bee! So he lands, expecting to mate, but instead the would-be female seems to disintegrate and spread all over him as the blister beetle larvae climb onboard.   

Confused and frustrated, off he flies, still seeking a female wild bee. Sooner or later, he finds one and they mate. As they're mating, all the blister beetle larvae “switch planes” so to speak, and then get a free ride to the female's burrow. This is where she will lay her eggs and where she has previously stocked pollen and nectar for her future offspring. Unfortunately, those future offspring are doomed. The blister beetle larvae not only eat all the foodstores the female has gathered, they will often eat all the bee eggs as well. It's an “insect-eat-insect” world out there! 

 

 

This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp