Come see Mark Twain in the Rebecca Johnson Theatre – Saturday, August 21 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The performance is especially timely as 2010 is the 100th anniversary of Twain’s death. There was a recent article in The New York Times about the pending release of Mark Twain’s unexpurgated autobiography, which his will required not be released until he had been dead for 100 years. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/books/10twain.html?_r=1
Writers such as Mark Twain were considered great celebrities in the nineteenth century - in a way they were the rock stars of their time. Often engaging in speaking tours, writers such as Twain traveled the U.S. and Europe to sell-out crowds and much publicity. One of his contemporaries was Rugby founder Thomas Hughes, who was celebrated for his novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays and other books.
Dinner at the Harrow Road Cafe being served from 5 - 8 pm. Advance reservations are required.
CEMETERY LANTERN TOUR
Kudos to Mike Harris, who organized The Lantern Tour of Laurel Dale Cemetery that was held Saturday night, and to all of the actors, readers, singers and staff who helped with the event. It was a really special evening. Costumed interpreters told the stories of several residents of the historic cemetery taken from actual letters and newspaper accounts. Joining Margaret Hughes and Robert Walton were Edith Wellman, Lizzie Fletcher, Charles Oldfield, Andrew Burroughs, Helen Lourie and others.
Top left: Cemetery Tour attendees gather to hear the story of Helen Lourie played by Benita Howell. Top right: Tour organizer and narrator Mike Harris with lantern with actor Tom Howell standing behind. Bottom right: Actor Steve Logan plays the role of a Union soldier buried at the cemetery. Bottom left: Ron Jackson, Mary Hemminger, Benita Howell and Bethany Jackson sing music at beginning of tour. Photos by Jim McBrayer and Rick Murphy
All of the actors and readers were very effective in their parts. Particularly haunting was the tale of Patricia Wellman as acted by Jessie Gulley. “Patricia” stood by her grave in her elegant, but somber, period clothes and told how her true love, a lawyer, was shot getting off the train in nearby Helenwood.
The event was sold out and the Café was extremely busy before the tour as most of the tour goers went to enjoy dinner and bluegrass music before venturing out to the cemetery.
CAMP RUGBY DELIGHTS LOCAL CHILDREN
Historic Rugby sponsored a three-day summer camp for children from Scott County last week. In addition to learning about Rugby’s history, the children were seen walking in a group on several outings and enjoyed making birdhouses. Historic Rugby organized the event with the help of quite a few volunteers. Many thanks to everybody who helped make this such a special week for the children. And thanks also to the Boys and Girls Club of Scott County which sponsored the children.
Photos of Camp Rugby taken by Jim McBrayer.
Here are a few of the written “reviews” from the children themselves:
“I went to the Camp Rugby program. I have done many things but one of my favorites was the nature walk. I saw many things while walking. Deer, berries, a toad, black berries, and a lizard…” - Matthew
“I went to the café and ate Shepherd’s pie…” - Owen
“ Day One was a lot of fun. We looked at all the buildings. I liked the library the most. I think Ed liked it too because of the big doors. I liked it most because all of the books are still there from 1951! … The church was second best because of the size. The inside was bigger than the outside….All of the staff are extremely nice! I might come and live here when I grow up!” - Love, Trevor
“I liked hiking to the Cemetery and the Bluebird house we made.” - Daniel
FARMERS MARKET CONTINUES TO GROW
By Jim and Dorcus McBrayer
RED CROSS RECRUITING LOCAL VOLUNTEERS
The Red Cross is recruiting local volunteers. If you would like to learn more about volunteering contact Becky Domina at bdomina@knoxarc.org or at 865-584-2999 for more details about what is involved.
REMINDER ABOUT RUGBY WEEK ARTICLES
Rugby Week welcomes your submissions of articles, calendar items, photos and other relevant items. We still cannot accept submissions that have special formatting, such as brochures and advertising flyers. Please submit articles and calendar items in narrative form (look at past editions to get an idea of length). The narrative can be sent in the body of an email or as a Word attachment. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. Sunday.
BIRTHDAY
July 27 - Lovelle Atkinson, Linda Konig and Louise Zepp
July 31 - Jane Fuchs
Aug. -3 - Scott Britt
CALENDAR
July 26 – English Country Dancing – 7:30 p.m. – Friendly House
July 31 – Farmers Market 9:00 a.m. – about noon - Ivy Cottage lawn
August 7 – Community Potluck 7:00 p.m. Eastern
August 13 – Wine in Rugby, a special History Night presentation about the little-known story of viticulture and wine-making here in Rugby’s early days, 1881-1892. 7 p.m., Friendly House behind Christ Church. Free.
August 14 – Book Club 7:00 p.m. Eastern at Kathy Hicks’ home. The reading selection is “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck.
August 21, 2010 – Mark Twain Visits Rugby - 7:30 p.m. Come see Mark Twain in the Rebecca Johnson Theatre. Dinner at the Harrow Road Cafe being served from 5 - 8 p.m. Advance reservations required. Contact Historic Rugby.
August 27 – Dedication of the Rugby State Natural Area and its first public trail - the Massengale Homeplace Loop.
September 4 - 41st Rugby Village Pilgrimage - Historic Building Tour... Visit private historic and new homes, museum buildings, and historic lodgings
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2-4 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House
HRI WORKSHOP CALENDAR
For Workshop Registration, contact Historic Rugby at 888-214-3400 – or email rugbylegacy@highland.net
August 14 - Lessons with the Mountain Dulcimer. Come enjoy a day of lessons for playing this beloved Appalachian instrument with one of the instrument’s most enthusiastic teachers and musicians. 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Instructor: June Goforth. Fee: $35.
August 28 - Introduction to Kaleidoscope. This class explores the world of kaleidoscopes. Each student will learn mirror configurations as well as construction of object boxes. The final product is a completed kaleidoscope to be shared and enjoyed by friends and family. 10 a.m. Eastern. Instructor: Sara Senft. Fee: $65.
By Linda Konig
It's amazing how little we actually pay attention to our surroundings as we go through our familiar routines. On the other hand, when we're in unfamiliar territory we're usually more alert to everything we see around us. I had a wonderful time on Thursday of last week as I explored the marshy pond area in Allardt between the Municipal Building and the new Dollar General store, and came to a new appreciation of Allardt's "downtown" area. I'd been meaning to do this ever since the new building was built because the parking lot is so convenient to the cattail-filled pond. On Wednesday afternoon, I'd stopped there, and there was a baby Snapping Turtle making its way across the concrete parking lot toward the pond! A couple of young women had spotted it, and one of them scooped it up in a plastic cup and carried it to the edge of the pond where it was safe from cars. It immediately disappeared into the underbrush and muck. It was almost as if the turtle were directing me to the pond, and that was a reminder of my earlier intention.
Well, I was delighted at all the wildflowers I saw there as I wandered about in that wet meadow the next morning -- flowers you can't see from the highway passing through because they're mostly hidden by the tall grasses. Probably the most unfamiliar to us was the Square-Stemmed Monkeyflower. I had seen a very few of these last year near the Allardt school at a tiny wet-weather stream, but those in the meadow were much taller --about 4 feet tall, and there were so many. Their blossoms, about 1 inch long, are pinkish-lavender.
If you like pink, you'd love the Virginia Meadow Beauties that were scattered in groups in the wet meadow. They're well-named, being great beauties, deep pink and having unusually-shaped anthers. Also saw the first Narrow-Leaf Vervain (pale lavender-blue in the sunlight) I'd ever seen that was branched. I'd only seen them on roadsides where they'd been mowed down regularly, and so I didn't know they could get big enough to branch out and have lots more of the delicate little flowers. I saw yellow Seedboxes, purple Ironweed just beginning to bloom, wild Evening Primroses flowering, Queen Anne's Lace (of course), Lace Buttons, familiar blue Chicory (mostly open in mornings), Morning Glories, Black-Eyed Susans, and many others. Actually, I didn't explore as much as I would have liked because we'd had about 2 inches of rain within the past 24 hours, and the whole meadow was more-or-less covered in water. Unlike the Monkeyflowers and Meadow Beauties, I don't particularly like wet feet.
I hope and pray no one ever gets the idea to fill in the meadow completely and pave it over, but I suppose it's only a matter of time. How did that '60's song go? "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. . . ."
Photo of virginia meadow beauty is at http://www.pbase.com/waterfallrich/image/101410191
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
