Last week Historic Rugby hosted Patrick Boyle (current Earl of Glasgow) and his cousin Beatrice Boyle, both relations of Sir John Boyle who helped found the Rugby Colony in the 1880s. Over 40 people attended the reception and dinner on Tuesday evening.
Elsie Taylor Dodson, great granddaughter of Thomas Taylor (who was the Boyle families' Glades Farm manager in the 1880s), was also an honored guest. Sir Boyle, Beatrice, Elsie and other guests from Rugby had taken a driving tour to the site of the Glades Farm near Burrville earlier in the day. At the dinner Elsie spoke about her Rugby ancestors.
Sir Patrick and Beatrice had very gracious things to say about the hospitality he had received during his Rugby visit. And the they were very good sports as they listened to accounts from Barbara Stagg and George Zepp about how Sir John Boyle was not always the most popular fellow in the early village of Rugby.
The photo above shows Beatrice Boyle, Sir Patrick Boyle and Cheryl Cribbet -thanks to Jody Hester for the photo.
It was also interesting to hear the current Earl talk about their family home in Scotland, Castle Kelburn, which is open to the public for tours and events. The exterior of the castle has temporarily been painted very bright colors by graffiti artists from Brazil. To see the castle as painted by the graffiti artists go to http://www.kelburnestate.com/castle/graffiti_project.asp
Community Potluck and Meeting
A large group gathered for Saturday night’s Rugby potluck and to hear the discussion about two topics of interest to the community.
Potluck organizer Julian Bankston said that it was probably the largest group ever assembled for the monthly potluck with approximately 54 people in attendance.
After the meal, Historic Rugby’s Executive Director Cheryl Cribbet led a discussion about the upcoming Pilgrimage home tour and about the upkeep of the Community Building.
Cheryl asked for input about this year’s Pilgrimage saying “it’s all about the community.” A list was passed around to determine which homeowners would be willing to have their homes on tour for the one-day event, Saturday September 5. The group offered lots of ideas including discussion about opening the private homes for more hours than in the past, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and possibly ending at 6:00 p.m. to coincide with the times the Historic Rugby public buildings are open. There was also discussion about giving participants more information about the open homes including a better map showing the location of those on tour.
Cheryl also led a discussion about repairs and improvements needed to the Community Building which many in the community have expressed concern about in the past. Cheryl said that although this year is proving to be a financially challenging one for Historic Rugby, she felt we need to figure out ways to better maintain the building so it can generate enough money to help sustain its future maintenance and utilities costs. She started the process of forming a committee to evaluate the upkeep and maintenance needs of the building. Once the needs have been determined, then a long-term plan for obtaining donations of money, supplies and possibly volunteer labor can be formulated.
Historic Rugby’s Development Director Barbara Stagg said there are already a number of important fundraising challenges for Historic Rugby that need to be addressed. She mentioned that nearly $70,000 is needed to pay off the debt on Forest Legacy land that is now part of the Rugby State Natural Area. Stagg also mentioned that the Historic Rugby Board of Directors recently entered into a contract to purchase land from Tom Martin adjoining the Uffington House property that Historic Rugby already owned. Nearly $100,000 is still needed to fulfill that contract. She said she was working on a full list of fundraising needs and priorities which she would share with the community after the June board meeting.
Print Shop Repair Still Needs $1,500
At the recent Community Potluck Cheryl Cribbet and Barbara Stagg said that the mini-campaign to raise enough money to replace the roof on the Print Shop and to make other repairs and repaint the building is getting closer to its goal. Of the estimated $6,000 needed, approximately $4,500 has been raised. Anyone who can make a donation toward the remaining $1,500 should contact Historic Rugby at 628-2441 or Toll-Free 1-888-214-3400.
Rugby Book Club Begins
Debbie Harris is helping organize a Rugby Book Group. She says everyone is welcome. The first meeting will be on August 8, at 7:00 p.m. at Debbie Harris' house. The book will be The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.
Stephen King describes the book this way: "I flat-out loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. In the end, this isn't a novel about dogs or heartland America, it's a novel about the human heart and the mysteries that live there, understood but impossible to articulate.... I don't reread many books because life is too short. I will be re-reading this one."
Please let Debbie know if you’re interested at harrisdl1@hotmail.com
Birthdays
June 9 - Jodye Weiler
June 13 - Mike Alain
Calendar of Events
June 11 – Baby Shower for Alicia Berry at the Community Room 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Everyone is invited – she is expecting a girl!
June 19 – History Club Annual Dinner at Grey Gables. Dinner at 7:00 p.m. followed by presentation by Howard Ray Duncan playing a late 19th Century businessman in the Big South Fork area. Dinner of salad, chicken with veggies, rolls and dessert for $12 plus gratuity. For those who prefer, Linda Jones can prepare a vegetarian or vegan meal. Make reservations with Linda Konig by June 14 at 628-5243.
June 21 – Historic Rugby’s Annual Membership Meeting 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Includes updates on Historic Rugby activities/operations, board elections and refreshments. Current member of Historic Rugby can vote in the Board elections. Non-members who are interested are also welcome to attend (and hopefully join).
July 4 - 11th Annual Fourth of July Picnic from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Lizzie's Place (John and Kathy Hicks’ home in Beacon Hill). This will take the place of the monthly potluck. All in the Rugby community (and family) are welcome. Bring a dish to share. John and Kathy will provide barbecue, buns, drinks. Pray for dry weather.
July 11 – An Evening of Traditional Country with Logan Murrell at Historic Rugby’s Johnson Theatre at 7:45 p.m. Eastern. Logan is a 12-year-old musical prodigy from Knoxville who began singing when she was only 23 months old. $10
August 8 – Book Club at 7:00 p.m. at Debbie Harris' house. The book will be The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Please let Debbie Harris know if your interested at harrisdl1@hotmail.com
Exercise Group – Monday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
HRI Workshops
(For more details about workshops go to Historic Rugby Website at http://www.historicrugby.org/ )
June 13 – Cast Iron Cooking Made Easy - Instructor Larry Edmondson. Demonstration of traditional camp cooking techniques. Enjoy lunch together as you eat your creations.
June 20 – Hand Spinning on the Treadle Wheel – Instructor Sue Duncan. Learn or advance spinning skills on the traditional treadle wheel. Several wheels will be available for students to use.
June 27 – Container Gardening for Shade – Instructor Bob Washburn. Emphasis will be on plants that are deer resistant. Instructor will have plants available for purchase.
July 11-12 - Creating With Clay - Instructor June Watts Two-day pottery workshop will focus on hand building and sculpting in clay and is perfect for beginners or those with limited experience.
TO REGISTER FOR WORKSHOPS:
Call (423) 628-2441 or Toll-Free 1-888-214-3400. Lodging is available at Historic Rugby with a 10% discount to all workshop participants.
Health Notes
By Vi Biehl
(Editor’s Note: Vi Biehl recently wrote that she was being treated for early stages of Lyme disease. I mentioned to her that this is a topic which concerns many in Rugby, since we have a lot of outdoor activities. She was nice enough to do some research on the topic and here is what she found.)
Searched web for Lyme disease info. Found two solid (trustworthy) sources: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention); MERCK (Merck Manual/s Medical Library on line). I also read extensively on tick-borne diseases at several university web sites. All say virtually the same things, which I will summarize here. Each of these web sites has lots of information about symptoms, treatment, avoidance and other things I won't bother with here.
There are three ticks typical to our area: (a) blacklegged (deer) ticks which can give humans Lyme disease. About 2/3 people who are infected get the rash specific to Lyme disease called erythema migrans, a large bullseye target looking rash, but you can get the disease without getting the rash; (b) lone star ticks, which have irritating saliva that can cause a rash at the bite site due to an allergic reaction; this rash is sometimes mistaken for the Lyme disease rash; (c) dog ticks which can give humans Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Each carries other human diseases too.
Deer (blacklegged) ticks live for two years and have three feeding stages. (1) Eggs are laid in the spring by adult ticks in ground debris around your yard, especially the areas around bird feeders which draw birds, mice, and squirrels, their primary hatched larval food sources in the summer and early fall. If these animals have Lyme disease, etc., they pass the infection on to the larval tick in their blood, and this/these diseases remain in the tick the rest of their lives. After this feeding, the larvae go inactive and grow into their (2) nymph stage and the following spring, they look for blood meals to enable their own growth to adulthood, and if they picked up an infection earlier, they freely pass the disease/s along to their hosts, usually another small animal, or a human. These very active pinhead sized nymphs are what cause the most cases of human Lyme disease. (3) The adult stage ticks feed on larger animals including humans, and then begin the cycle again when eggs are laid in ground debris in the spring.
An interesting fact of which I was totally ignorant: deer don't get Lyme disease so we are not getting the disease from them via ticks. They merely provide the ticks with transportation from area to area as the ticks are feeding on them. And following are some more facts:
Your chances in 2007 of getting Lyme disease in this area of the U.S. were 1 per 200,000 people, so if you get it, you're a big jackpot winner!
A. There is no evidence that Lyme disease can be passed from human to human via touch, kissing or sex.
B. It hasn't been linked to blood transfusions, but a study has shown that the bacterium can live in stored blood. Check with the Red Cross website for current criteria.
C. Dogs and cats can get Lyme disease, but they pass it to their owners only by the ticks they carry to you.
D. Eating venison or squirrel, cooked well, won't pass Lyme disease to you. But if you pick up an infected tick during handling the animal before cooking, there you go!
E. There is no scientific evidence that you can get Lyme disease through the air, food, water, or from bites of mosquitoes, flies, fleas or lice.
F. There was a shot you could get in 2002 to prevent infection, but it was removed from the market by the drug company, many reasons given, none really known publicly. New immunization drugs are being worked on but there's no shot you can just go and get to prevent infection now. (Sigh)
G. There are 3 stages of Lyme disease infection from early to late. Early, within the first weeks/month+ is typically easy to eliminate in most people with specific antibiotics over 2-3 weeks. Intermediate infections are harder to eliminate, requiring antibiotics over longer periods. The late stage is very difficult to get rid of, and sometimes not possible.
A file folder has been put in the Commissary so anyone interested in more info relative to symptoms, etc, just go and read it when you're over there visiting. MUCH info is included. Cheers from Vi, who is presently getting treated antibiotically for 'early stage' Lyme disease.
This Week’s Editors - Rick Murphy and George Zepp
