Local Hospital to Reopen
It was good news to hear that
there is now an agreement to reopen the Scott County Hospital which had closed recently. Since the hospital in Scott County closed, folks
in the Rugby area were down to one local hospital – the one in Jamestown about
30 minutes away. So, it is good to hear
that the Scott County Hospital is expected to reopen - hopefully within 90 days. Here is a
link to the story in The Knoxville News Sentinel. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/jul/19/scott-county-panel-chooses-firm-to-reopen/
Author Vicki Lane Shares the Love
A very respectable crowd turned
out in the theater for author Vicki Lane’s visit on Saturday night. Those who
went said they were treated to a most enjoyable evening.
Vicki told of moving to a farm in
North Carolina as a young couple with an infant, and "having to learn the
language" as they were being mentored in farming by a kind neighbor. Many laughs
came from the audience as well as stories of kindness, respect, acceptance and
assimilation. Stories were told about Lane’s beginning to write, and how many
of those early experiences, as well as the friends she made locally, informed
and illuminated her novels.
The audience fell in love with
her, and she appeared to fall in love with Rugby.
Invitation to Area Artists and Craft Persons
The Commissary and
General Store, operated by Historic Rugby Inc. is a unique retail outlet for
area artists and craft persons. Building on its long-standing reputation for
high quality regional arts and crafts, the Commissary Committee is inviting those
interested in being a part of this market to submit their work for an upcoming
jury review. This will help ensure that the work offered through the Commissary
is representative of the creative excellence of the area.
Visitors to Rugby are always interested in
needlework and weaving, pottery, wood products, baskets, graphic and
two-dimensional art as well as an array of other time-honored crafts. The
Commissary has provided a venue to showcase these talents to many thousands of
visitors to Rugby for more than 25 years.
The committee is looking in particular for handcrafted items that
reflect quality workmanship, as well as creativity in developing original
designs or adapting traditional designs. Use of natural materials and
traditional production techniques is encouraged. Because of the dedication to
traditional crafts, the Commissary is not able to accept items made from
commercial kits, molds, stamps, etc.
If you would like to have your crafts included,
bring an application with three examples for each category of work to be juried
to the Commissary between August 1 and 18. If you are already associated with
the Commissary, you only need to apply if you want to submit work in a new
category. The jury committee will review submissions August 23-24. Application
forms, guidelines and sample contract are available in Rugby at the Commissary.
Call the Commissary at 423-628-5166 with questions, or to have application
materials either emailed or mailed directly to you.
Rugby
Week Taking a Break
Rugby Week is taking a break. The next Rugby Week will be Aug. 13.
BIRTHDAYS
July 27 - Linda Konig and Louise Zepp
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday,
August 18 – Demonstration – Treating hemlocks for the woolly adelgid, led by
Marie Tackett from the Big South Fork National RRA. 10 a.m. Location to be
announced.
Saturday,
August 18 – Appalachian Writer Series – 7 p.m. EDT/6 Central. Author Jennifer
Bauer. Bauer, a former interpretive specialist
with Roan Mountain State Park, will be visiting Rugby to speak on her new
historical book, "Roan Mountain: History of an Appalachian
Treasure," with several parallels to the Rugby story – including another
destination 19th century hotel. A book-signing opportunity will
follow the discussion.
Saturday, August 25 - Debbie Harris will
host Rugby Book Group Saturday evening, August 25, at 7:00 p.m., for our
second anniversary meeting. The book selection is Jim Webb's Born
Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America. http://www.amazon.com/Born-Fighting-Scots-Irish-Shaped-America/dp/0767916891/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342999248&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=Born+Fghting
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Quilters’ Group - Wednesdays and Saturdays, 2–4 p.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House behind Christ Church
Rugby Yoga – Wednesdays, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, at the Friendly House.
Christ Church Episcopal -- Sunday morning services, 11 a.m. Eastern, year round; all are welcomed.
Historic Rugby Workshops
Handcrafted Appalachian Knife Workshop – August 4 – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Handcraft an old-fashioned Appalachian style knife using rustic wood and a recycled saw blade. Create an item to treasure for years to come. Fuzzy Orange lives near Rugby and has been studying and teaching his crafts for many years. Anyone who has met him knows he is a joy to be around and a great story-teller. Students of his classes will be sure to have a good time. The cost for this workshop is $35.
“Mountain Splendor” Painting With Oils
Workshop – Saturday, August 18 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fine art made easy with step-by-step instruction in composition design- sky,
mountains and waterfall in an evergreen forest setting. Mara Trumbo was born in
Italy, raised in Southern Africa and now lives in Rugby. She has studied and
acquired various techniques, which reveal themselves in her romantic paintings
and pottery creations. Mara is a member of the Cumberland Art Society and
displays her work in Crossville and Cookeville galleries. The cost for this
class is $65.
To register for
workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be
available at 1880 Newbury House and Rugby's cottages at a 10% discount to
students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.
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| Happy Birthday Linda! |
NATURE NOTES
Why Bird Watchers Should Love Snails
Why Bird Watchers Should Love Snails
By Linda Konig
I never gave much thought about what bird egg shells were made of until I recently read a fascinating new book called The Forest Unseen, a Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell. If someone had asked me about them, after a moment's thought I might have answered that they're probably made of calcium. What I wouldn't have realized is that a great deal of the eggs' calcium comes from snail shells, especially if we're talking about wild birds. Yes, female birds love to eat snails and sometimes swallow them whole. If the snail is too big to swallow whole, they will pick it up with their beak and pound the snail against a rock to break up the shell before eating it. Escargot, without the butter! The shell is then further crushed by sand and tough fibers in the bird's gizzard. Thus the calcium is sent to the gut where it dissolves and passes into the bird's bloodstream.
If the bird isn't going to lay eggs that day, the calcium winds up
in special calcium-holding areas in her long leg and wing bones for later use. Over
a few weeks' time, she can store up enough calcium to make several egg shells
when the time is ripe. Only mature female birds do this. After mating, her
stored calcium is sucked back up into the bloodstream and travels to a special
shell gland. This gland is the last stop on her egg assembly line. After
formation, the egg is first covered with a tough membrane that is studded with
tiny bristles of sugar molecules and complex proteins. These bristles attract
calcium carbonate from the shell gland and, somewhat like snowflakes growing from
ice crystals, the crystals grow larger until they cover the egg. Many layers of
calcium are evenly distributed by the time the egg is laid.
As the bird embryo grows within the eggshell during the next couple of weeks or so, it pulls needed calcium for its bones from the eggshell. If the embryo turns out to become a female bird, the cycle may continue when someday some of her bone may go back into the making of eggshells. Some female bird species eat the remaining bits of shell after their eggs have hatched. Ironically, broken bits of bird eggshell on the ground are often grazed by snails, and so the cycle continues. Who knows? The calcium in our bones may have once been part of a fish's bones or some bird's bones or even part of a snail's shell. The more I learn about nature, the more I'm humbled and amazed at the interweaving of the cloth of life, and the more I'm loathe to needlessly destroy any of it.
For more details on the fascinating journey of calcium in the lives of snails and birds, I refer you to the book named above which was written by a biology professor at the University of the South at Sewanee. For some nice eye candy, I refer you to www.sialis.org/nestseabl.htm for photos of nests with eggs and baby bluebirds.
This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp
