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| English primroses blossoming in Rugby. Photo by Rick Murphy |
By Rick Murphy
I guess everyone is worn out from a pretty, but busy weekend. It sounds like community volunteers worked very hard Saturday painting three rooms in the Community Building. Jody Hester said everyone should be proud as the rooms look much more inviting. And the building smells so much better.
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| This giant crane is helping install concrete forms at the site of the 52 Bypass bridge over the White Oak. Footers for the first form on the west bank had been poured by this past weekend. Photo by Carrie Thornthwaite. |
George and I were surprised at how many people showed up Saturday night to see the photos from our trip to Southeast Asia. We hope it was a pleasant diversion for those of you looking for something to do after dinner on Saturday night.
I was very sad that the oak tree next to Ivy Cottage had to come down this week. Historic Rugby had hoped that the tree people could just do some selective trimming of dead limbs, but the arborists showed us just how rotted the tree was, and how dangerous it had become. I have bought a few trees to plant around the site, including one oak, so maybe we can begin the process of replacing some of the trees we have lost over the years. But it takes a long time for an oak to get as big as the one that was just removed.
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| The giant oak next to Ivy Cottage and just across from the Harrow Road Cafe had to be removed this week. Sadly, it had serious interior rot and posed a danger to both adjoining buildings. Photos by Rick Murphy and George Zepp. |
Spirit of Red Hill and Perrigo Garden
By Donna Heffner and Annie Patterson
Spirit of Red Hill will be reopening on Thursday, April 7, for our 7th season in Rugby!! An eclectic mix of old and new items await your perusal. Looking forward to seeing everyone and welcoming Quilt Exhibit guests! Our hours for 2011:
Sunday Noon – 5:30 pm
Mon.-Sat. 10:30 am – 5:30 pm (closed Wed.)
Perrigo Garden Club to convene! As we don’t plan to begin construction of the Perrigo Boarding House until 2012, it seemed a shame to let flat, cleared, organic soil lie fallow. So – as soon as the weather cooperates, the land will be plowed (thank you Robin!). The first Saturday after the plowing takes place, anyone interested in having their own Personal Perrigo Plantable Patch should meet at the property at 9:30 a.m. to stake your claim. We envision an informal community garden for everyone’s enjoyment (if we can just keep Butch & Cheryl out of your maters…). Everyone welcome!
Art For Japan Disaster Fund
By Mara Trumbo
I invite you to spend a day painting with me in Rugby for a $40+ donation cheque made out to the Red Cross Of Tennessee for the Japan Disaster Fund. I will provide all canvases and the use of my brushes, acrylic paints, medium etc. All levels from beginners through advanced artists welcome.
You can bring a covered dish and we'll have a prayer and lunch together half way through our landscape project.I'll set the date as soon as I get some replies, but it will be sometime within the next 3 weeks. Please call me at (423) 628-6591 or e-mail me at Cadisama@earthlink.net. Visit my online gallery at
www.PictureTrail.com/
Workshop Schedule Announced
Historic Rugby has announced the schedule of workshops for the year at http://www.historicrugby.org/workshops-in-rugby.php
BIRTHDAYS
March 17- Eric Wilson
March 20 - Carrie Thornthwaite
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern Time zone, just barely
Saturday March 19 - English Country Dancing 7 p.m.
Friday, April 1 - English Country Dancing 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 7 - Spirit of Red Hill reopens for season
Fri. and Sat., April 8 and 9 – Rugby Quilts Exhibition, "Rugby Quilts: Past and Present." Displays of old and new quilts, quilt appraisals and bed turnings are all on the program. There's even a film: "How to Make an American Quilt." Reservation information at http://www.historicrugby.org/
Friday, April 15 – History Night Annual Dinner at Grey Gables. 7 p.m. Willie Beaty from Jamestown will be the guest speaker. His topic will be Buck's Mill, the closest grist mill to Rugby in the 1880's. Mr. Beaty is the author of a book about the grist mills of Fentress County. The dinner is $11, plus tax and gratuity. Please let Linda Jones (423-628-5252) know the number in your party by Wednesday, April 13, if at all possible, especially if you have special dietary needs.
Saturday, April 16 - English Country Dancing 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 16 - Rugby Book Group – 7 p.m. at Judy Newport’s house. The book is Jonathan Franzen’s best selling novel “Freedom.” For more information or directions, Judy can be reached at 931-704-7946
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2–4 p.m. at the Friendly House
NATURE NOTES
By Linda Konig
We’ve certainly had a lot of night rains lately, and the salamanders and frogs are loving it. I visited a couple of big woodland puddles this week (sometimes called “vernal pools” by those of a more romantically-inclined nature) and saw some telltale milky “Jello” blobs that show breeding activity. I’m not citing a Website today, because I want you to get out there and see these blobs and maybe even some minute wigglers for yourself.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell the difference between Wood Frog egg blobs and Spotted Salamander egg blobs. They look alike to me and use the same puddles in the same season. We seem to have more Spotted Salamanders around than Wood Frogs, though. Since the drought two years ago, I haven’t been hearing nearly as many Wood Frogs as I used to.
The Spotted Salamanders fascinate me for several reasons. One reason is their spots, which fluoresce bright lime-green under black light. Salamanders are known to communicate mostly by pheromones and touch. But what about the sense of sight? Wouldn’t it be handy to be able to see something fluoresce in the dark since they’re nocturnal creatures? A male’s chemical “cologne” marks his territory and is a billboard for other males that says, “This is MY spot! KEEP OUT!” And, of course, salamander “cologne” is used to attract the opposite sex.
Chemicals are also useful to keep predators away, warning them of toxic secretions. So why are the spots fluorescent? Are other salamanders or animals, perhaps predators, able to see in the ultraviolet spectrum and thus attracted or repelled by the spots? Do other kinds of salamanders have fluorescent spots, stripes or blotches? I haven’t had a chance to look at any other kinds with my black light. The more you learn, the more questions you have. Ain’t spring grand?
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
