A lot will be going on this coming weekend.
Friday night is the music of Leonard Anderson at the Café starting at 6 p.m. Eastern. Then at 7 p.m. is the History Night meeting at the Friendly House where George Zepp is going to be talking about the history of wine making in Rugby. For those of you who heard his brief overview presentation at the Historic Rugby annual membership meeting in June, you should know the one Friday night will be an expanded version including information gleaned from additional research.
On Saturday the Farmers Market starts about 9 a.m. then the Dulcimer Workshop starts at 10 a.m. That evening the Book Club meets at 7 p.m.
See the calendar below for more detail about each of these happenings.
Grapes grow in 1892 behind Villa Ray, the home of Rugby’s most enthusiastic early viticulturist and winemaker, Dr. Charles Kemp.
NATURAL AREA, TRAIL & EXHIBITS OPENING 27th
Tennessee’s Commissioner of Environment and Conservation Jim Fyke will preside at the public dedication of the new, 725-acre Rugby State Natural Area Friday, August 27, at 11 a.m. Eastern at Historic Rugby. The public is invited.
The commissioner, other special guests and Historic Rugby representatives will also open the first trail in the natural area – the 1.2-mile Massengale Homeplace Loop Trail and outdoor exhibits.
The trail project was funded by a $32,200 Recreation Trail Program Grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), with additional funds provided by the Cracker Barrel Foundation.
The short ceremony will include a “vine cutting,” and will take place at the new trailhead kiosk located behind the Rugby Visitor Centre off State Scenic Highway 52. Parking is adjacent and also across the highway at Christ Church.
“On behalf of all the people who represent Rugby, including Cheryl Cribbet, executive director, the board, staff, residents and our loyal membership, Historic Rugby is honored to be opening the new Rugby State Natural Area in partnership with TDEC,” said Historic Rugby board chair Jane Logan. “The new Massengale Homeplace Loop Trail gives us all another way to enjoy and protect the rich cultural and natural resources that are unique to our location on the Cumberland Plateau.”
After the ceremony, Tennessee Division of Natural Areas East Tennessee Stewardship Ecologist Lisa Huff and others will lead the short hike to the Massengale Homeplace where participants can be the first to see the large three-panel kiosk that features original art, historic photographs and drawings and extensive archival materials to portray “Uncle” Dempsey Massengale and the rest of the Appalachian family living on the ridgetop from the 1860s to early 1900s.
An authentic hand-split black locust rail fence surrounds the cabin site where chimney remains and stone corner blocks mark the original two-pen log cabin. A short side trail leads to the family’s Civil War-era stone springhouse.
Dempsey Massengale’s great-grandson, Lummy Massengale, will be a special guest. He has provided extensive materials about the family and volunteered hundreds of hours to help complete the homeplace clearing, fence, kiosk and trail building. Several Rugby village residents also helped extensively with everything from clearing and trail building to bench and sign making.
An optional lunch at the Harrow Road Café in Rugby will follow the hike with seating beginning about noon. To assure seating, please call 1-888-214-3400 for reservations.
The Rugby State Natural Area and Massengale Homeplace Trail are managed through a cooperative agreement between TDEC’s State Natural Areas Program and non-profit Historic Rugby.
Call 1-888-214-3400 or view www.historicrugby.org for Rugby and area lodging, camping, and other information or email rugbylegacy@highland.net.
By Chuck Leeds
I just wanted to inform everyone that our resident “dumpster diver” is back in town. A bear was spotted destroying the lid on the "new bear proofed" dumpster at approximately 6:30 p.m. this beautiful Sunday evening. He looks to me to be the same younger smallish male that was here last fall. Anyway, I just thought I'd drop a line to inform you and try to get some warnings out to be very careful.
Photo by George Zepp shows severe damage to the steel-reinforced Café dumpster’s lid caused by a bear.
THE OTHER BYPASS
By George Zepp
Interestingly, Rugby in England is also finally now getting a bypass -- and for similar reasons, after a similar long delay. Six years ago (see article below), the situation there was much like it has been here in recent years. It all sounds strikingly like our own Rugby, where a motorcyclist died when he went off a curve heading toward the White Oak Bridge just this past May 11. Read on...
“VILLAGERS living close to an accident blackspot have renewed safety calls after a motorcyclist was injured at the site - less than three months after a biker was killed.
“The motorcyclist received leg injuries after his Suzuki motorbike was in collision with a black BMW at Lawford Heath Lane, on the outskirts of Rugby, at 5 pm on Tuesday. Residents mounted a campaign for a speed limit and weight restrictions on the road after Christopher Warren, 46, of The Ryelands, Lawford Heath, Rugby, died when his bike crashed into a ditch on the road in August. They said speeding cars and lorries [trucks] which use the road to go to the Rugby Cement works had made it much more dangerous.
“But they were told by Warwickshire County Council bosses that no action was planned because the proposed Rugby bypass, which would go from Avon Mill roundabout to Potsford Dam, should alleviate the traffic problems.
The road is currently on hold pending a public inquiry in February, which was ordered by government officials who said the proposed route would cut into greenbelt land.
“Rugby borough councillor Claire Watson (Con, Lawford and King's Newnham), who first tackled the county council in September, said she would call for any restrictions, such as a temporary speed limit, to improve the safety of the road.
“She said: ‘We need anything to stop this. The residents have long said cars go down at tremendous speeds and there is no footpath - it is just a country road. Some have said they have nearly lost their arms because the cars have been so close.’” -- Coventry Evening Telegraph, Nov. 16, 2004
BIRTHDAYS
Aug. 12 - Steve Bell and Susan Dunaway
Aug. 14 - Jim Allen
Aug. 15 - Helen Keese and Christopher Buck
Aug. 17 - Kasey Myers
CALENDAR
August 13 – Music at the Café with Leonard Anderson 6 p.m Eastern. Enjoy live entertainment while you dine at the Harrow Road Cafe.
August 13 – Wine in Rugby, a special History Night presentation telling the little-known story of viticulture and wine-making here in Rugby’s early days, 1881-1892. 7 p.m. Eastern, Friendly House behind Christ Church. Free.
August 14 – Farmers Market 9 a.m. Eastern to about noon, Ivy Cottage lawn
August 14 – Book Club 7 p.m. Eastern at Kathy Hicks’ home. The reading selection is “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck
August 20 – Music at the Café with Butch Hodgkins and Doug Piercy 6 p.m. Eastern. Enjoy the live music while you dine at the Harrow Road Cafe.
August 21 – Mark Twain Visits Rugby - 7:45 p.m. Eastern. A one-man theatrical presentation, “Mark Twain At Large,” at the Rebecca Johnson Theatre. Adults $18 – Seniors $16 – K-12 Students $12. Call 1-888-214-3400 to reserve seats. Dinner at the Harrow Road Café is being served beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.
August 27 – Dedication of the Rugby State Natural Area and its first public trail - the Massengale Homeplace Loop. 11 a.m. Eastern at the trailhead near the Rugby Workshop, behind the Community Building
August 27 - Music at the Café with Brett and Suzanne Chambers, 6 p.m. Eastern. Enjoy live music while dining at Harrow Road Café.
September 4 - 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 has been CANCELLED.
September 11 - Fall Wildflower Walk - Jack Carman, author of the book “Wildflowers of Tennessee,” will lead several walks around Rugby. From Blue Curls to Maryland Golden Aster, attendees will learn and see at least 20 species and attend a slide presentation and book signing. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern. $25
By Linda Konig
I guess I've loved bumblebees ever since the first time one brushed against the back of my hand as I was gathering flowers. They're incredibly soft, and most are incredibly gentle -- not at all prone to sting. I came across a little book called Humblebee Bumblebee at Donna Heffner and Annie Patterson's house last week, and now I'm really hooked.
Among other things, I learned that the queen bumblebee spends winters alone in a hole she's dug for herself at the bottom of an approximately six-inch tunnel, preferably on a north-facing slope. Why north-facing? Probably because she isn't as inclined to wake up too early in the spring if her hideaway is cooler and facing north. That way the sun doesn't warm up the slope too much before winter is actually over. It's vital that she be able to find nectar on her first trip out after her winter-long sleep.
According to what I read we could possibly have as many as seven different species of bumblebees around Rugby. Three are known for their gentle dispositions, especially the Bombus perplexus (which they have in the Smokies, but I'm not sure about around here). You just about have to beat them with a sledgehammer before they will sting you. Bombus vagans, a more common kind, is probably one of ours and is also gentle. They love rosebay rhododendrons, mountain laurel, ironweed, Japanese honeysuckle, dandelions, sumacs, asters, mints, evening primroses, buttercups, roses, willows, and saxifrages. Larkspurs, monkshood, wood betony, and some clovers are especially dependent on bumblebees for pollination because bumblebees have longer tongues than domesticated bees and some other wild bees.
Although bumblebees have natural enemies such as skunks, bears, blue jays, and various parasites, their greatest threat is lack of adequate habitat in areas such as inner cities and monoculture farms with no wild areas as buffer zones.
You can see photos of the Bombus vagans bumblebee at
atbi/species/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insects/Hymenoptera/Apidae/images/bombus_vagans_CW640.htm
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
