Quilt Exhibit Friday and Saturday
Quilt Tea Saturday
A Patchwork of Edibles Tea
Grey Gables will have a special tea in celebration of the Morgan County Heritage Quilt Trail Grand Opening Tour And Rugby Quilts, Past and Present - A Unique Quilt Exhibit - Saturday April 9, 2011 – 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern time.
Tables will be decorated with quilt tablecloths, quilt themed centerpieces and quilt square napkin rings. Servers will be in Victorian dress. Enjoy The Patchwork Edibles Tea and view the Rugby Quilt Exhibit featured in historic buildings. Approximately twenty quilt squares will be viewed on the county quilt tour. $10.00 plus tax and gratuity. Call Linda Brooks Jones at Grey Gables for reservations and information. 628.5252
Perrigo Garden Club Meets
By Donna Heffner
We had a fine turnout for the very first meeting of the PGC (Perrigo Garden Club). Plans include a community flower cutting garden (courtesy of Cheryl Hodgkins), along with pumpkins and gourds for village fall decorations. Ten household plots will also be planted.
Anyone wishing to grab a hoe and help throughout the summer very welcome!
Cheryl Hodgkins provided the photo of the garden group at the Perrigo site.
Volunteer News
Invasive Plant Pulling and Church Repairs
By Benita Howell
We had excellent weather for Japanese spirea pulling on Saturday morning. Thanks to John Gilliat, Bob Hemminger, Jim Meadows, Carrie Thornthwaite, and Eric Wilson who pitched in with Tom and me to fill Lisa Huff's TDEC pickup truck to overflowing with plants that will be immolated on the Rugby burn pile instead of flowering and setting seed this year. We really are making substantial progress getting this invasive out of Cox Branch.
Also, everyone should notice that Christ Church now has a sturdy new exterior door. We are very grateful to Julian Bankston and Charles Gibbs, who had considerable trouble-shooting to do as they prepared and installed the new door. retaining the old hinges and adding a third matching one. The poor old door was coming apart and would hardly stay closed unless locked, but it does have sentimental value. If Vestry should decide to auction it during Festival, would there be interested bidders?
BIRTHDAYS
April 4 - Tom Howell and Judy Newport
April 5 - Anna Joyce Walton Herr
April 6 - Lavonne Gibbs and Cynthia Johnson
April 7 - Gerald Hanwright
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern Time zone, just barely
Thursday, April 7 - Spirit of Red Hill reopens for season
Fri. and Sat., April 8 and 9 – The 2011 Rugby Quilts Past and Present: A Unique Quilt Exhibit is scheduled for Friday, April 8, from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Exhibit and site admission is $7. Quilters and visitors will enjoy a variety of activities: displays of old and new quilts in historic settings; quilt appraisals by Certified Appraiser Shari Pierce; Bed Turnings, and vendors galore to find that special quilting item. The movie, “How to Make an American Quilt” will be featured on Friday evening in the Rebecca Johnson Theatre.
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
Saturday, April 30 – Historic Rugby Board Meeting 1:00 p.m. at the Community Building
Saturday, May 7 – Community Potluck 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 14 and 15 – Spring Festival
Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2–4 p.m. at the Friendly House
Mating Frogs Calls
By Linda Konig
When trying to identify frogs and toads, the ear is definitely quicker than the eye. Frogs are usually hidden and camouflaged in the vegetation around pond and puddles, and, as you've probably noticed, before you can even wink, they've leapt into the water. So I find it much easier to identify them by sound. You can hear sounds of our southeastern frogs on http://www.sefrogs.org/.
I've had fun learning their distinctive calls. Usually you only hear their mating calls as the males try to entice females to the water. I've learned a few variations on those calls, however, and mostly what they're actually saying is, "Back off, Buster! She's mine!"
These "back off" calls can be radically different sounding from their usual mating call (what you hear on the tapes that are so helpful in learning the calls). The most amazing warning call I've heard so far is the one the Cope's Gray Tree frog uses. His usual call is rough and raspy, very "froggy;" his warning call sounds like a beagle puppy barking! To my ear, his warning sounds more like a bark than the Barking Frog's does! On the other hand, the Green Frog's" out-of-tune-banjo-string" call changes to a low growl when he's threatened by another male in his territory. Maybe he's saying, "This gun is loaded, Buster!"
Right now, we're mostly hearing Spring Peepers which ordinarily just "peep" in a very high ear-piercing pitch. Listen a few minutes, though, and you'll probably hear a few musical trills. These trills may be a more diplomatic warning, "Pardon me, sir, but you seem to have inadvertently encroached upon my territory."
Historic Rugby’s Spring Workshops
April 16 and 17 - Honeysuckle Basketry is a perfect workshop for beginner basket makers. Instructor Bobby Edwards is an award-winning basket maker from Fentress County who has been practicing his art for 15 years in the Southeast. Bobby got his start right here in Rugby making White Oak baskets in a basket workshop. Workshop fee is $75. Register now so class minimums can be met!
May 28 - Spring Wildflower Walk and Picnic Lunch ~ 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. - attendees can take part in one of the most diverse wildflower walks in Tennessee, led by instructor Jack Carman. His book Wildflowers of Tennessee is a definitive guide. Jack leads field trips and photo workshops for the Gatlinburg Spring Flower Pilgrimage, among others, and has won awards for his wildflower photos. The fee is $25, including a plant list of expected sightings. The day will finish with a film presentation and book signing in the late afternoon.
June 11 - Imagery In Writing Workshop - 10 a.m to 4 p.m. This workshop will focus on voice and imagery. Struggling to find a voice in writing? The student will produce writing a reader will listen to and read. Included are exploring subject matter, diction, point of view, syntax, grammar, and imagery to allow the voice of an author to be distinguished from that of others. Come prepared to write and bring along some work you have already begun. The instructor is K.B. Ballentine. She has attended writing academies in both America and Britain and has published in Alehouse, Bent Pin, Front Range, River Poets Journal, Touchstone and others. The fee is $28.
To register for workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be available at 1880 Newbury House and local cottages at a 10% discount to students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.
Historic Rugby’s website at http://www.historicrugby.org/ lists all workshops for the year.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
