Historic Building Restoration Continues with Beautiful
Fall Weather
Rugby is expected to
have another week of beautiful fall weather this coming week. The pleasant dry days have been a great time
for exterior wood preparation to continue at Historic Kingstone Lisle. The building has taken on an eerie look, just
in time for the Halloween events, as loose paint has been removed down to
layers which were white and green. Tourists have seemed interested in this restoration work-in-progress.
Truck Bypass to be Finished by Summer
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| Carrie Thornthwaite's photo of Little Creek Bridge |
The project was
originally scheduled for completion at the end of 2012, but was delayed
when the Little Creek Bridge had to be reconstructed. It turns out that Rugby's
$13.5 million Hwy. 52 reroute is now expected to wrap up next summer! (See the
article)
History Club Field Trip
From Linda Konig
The History Club's field
trip will be to the Doisy House museum in Huntsville this Saturday, Oct. 27. Let's carpool, meeting at Christ Church
parking area, at 10 a.m. Some of us know
how to get there, and we'll lead. Bert Walker, President of the Scott County Historical Society, will meet us at
the Doisy House and show us through the exhibit on brick-making and coke ovens
in Scott County. Some of the photos from
the exhibit were published in this fall's issue of The Scott County Chronicle. Other items came from the Historic Rugby Archives.
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| Barbara Stagg photo of Rice Hollow 2010 |
Rice Hollow Picnic
Saturday
| Our annual Rice Hollow
Picnic will be this Saturday, October 27. We wish to invite all our Rugby
friends to attend. The gate opens at 10 a.m., potluck lunch at noon. Live
music, cave and bat presentations and fun games, including a horse pitching
contest, in the afternoon. Bring a covered dish to share. Drinks will be
provided. Bring chairs, if you wish. Our Rice Hollow farm is about a one hour drive north of Jamestown. Contact us for driving directions (628-5678) or follow Julian (contact Julian at 628-2845 for leaving time). |
Hear ghost stories and a
calling forth of Rugby spirits at the 1882 Hughes Library.Take lamp-lit tours
of 1884 Kingstone Lisle (the founder's home) and the 1907 Schoolhouse. After a
chili supper, enjoy a lantern-lit walk for more stories around the bonfire.
There's even a short film set right here in Rugby showing some troubling
occurrences!
Event Hours: 6-10
Eastern/ 5-9 Central
It's all included in the
Ghostly ticket, $19/adults and $10/students grades 6-12. Feel free to come in
costume.
For reservations.
423-628-2441 or 888-214-3400.
Questions? Email: rugbylegacy@highland.net
Bob Young has been taking advantage of the beautiful autumn weather to do major repairs on the shed behind historic
Virgo House. From this photo, you might wonder whether there is much left of
the non-historic shed! Stay tuned for an
update next week.
BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 23 - Sam Stringfield
Oct. 27 - Nora Meadows
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, Oct. 27 – Ghostly
Gathering - A Calling of the Spirits of Rugby's Past with an award-winning-chili dinner, lantern-lit tours of historic buildings, storytelling, and a
Druid's Bonfire. Contact Historic Rugby for reservations.
Saturday, Oct. 27 – History Outing to Scott
County Historical Society to see a new exhibit on brick-making and the coke ovens in Scott County.
Details above.
Saturday, Oct. 27 – Picnic at Rice Hollow. Details above.
Saturday, Nov. 3 – Community Potluck 7 p.m. Eastern
Tuesday, Nov. 6 - Election Day
Tuesday, Nov. 6 - Election Day
Saturday, Nov. 10 – Book Talk – Kit Howes talks about his book Hot
Zone at 7:30 p.m. Eastern at the Rebecca Johnson Theatre in the Historic Rugby
Visitor Centre. Free event.
| Ongoing Activities 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 |
Black Gum Tree
By Linda Konig
If you haven't noticed
the red Black Gum tree in front of where I live on Highway 52, DO SO. It's the most beautiful I've ever seen it,
and the good news is that the Black Gum's vivid scarlet color usually lasts
longer than other red trees' colors. I'm
calling it a Black Gum tree today, but some other names for it are Black
Tupelo, Sour Gum, and Pepperidge. Its
scientific name is Nyssa sylvatica, Greek for 'nymph of the woods'. The word
Tupelo comes from a native Creek word meaning 'tree of the swamp'. However, no one seems to know why they're called
Black Gum or Sour Gum because, unlike the Sweet Gums, they don't ooze gum! To add to all the confusion about names,
people in the South used to use hollow sections of the trunk as bee gums.
Now that you've been
properly introduced, let me tell you of some of her virtues. This kind of tree does NOT have serious pest
or disease problems, which is nice to hear in these days of so many of our
native trees having fatal pest problems. I've been calling mine “her,” though she doesn't bear fruit. However, I've learned that both the male and
female of the species have tiny flowers, and that a female doesn't have fruit
unless there's a male tree nearby. (There are exceptions.) A few young Sour Gums are at the edge of Boyd Mitchell's orchard against the woods
(where the wet weather spring runs), and they bear little blue-black berries
every year. The birds love 'em! It beats
me why because they're mostly a round hard seed with a very thin layer of pulp
around it.
Some of the birds that
visit Black Gums for berries have already begun their fall migrations. These would include the Wood Thrushes. Other birds that gobble them up are Robins,
Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, various kinds of Woodpeckers, Brown
Thrashers, Eastern Bluebirds, Scarlet Tanagers, Gray Catbirds, and Cedar
Waxwings. Animals that love the round
berries are black bears, gray foxes, raccoons, opossums, fox squirrels, and gray
squirrels. Deer like to nibble on the
foliage.
The beekeepers of Rugby
will be happy to learn that the Black Gums are good honey trees, meaning bees
love to visit the flowers in spring. You'll have to look hard for the flowers because they're somewhat
inconspicuous, being a greenish white. I
hope my Black Tupelo is there for a long time. She's in a good spot, being on the low end of the yard where it's more damp. This kind of tree likes acid soil, too. Take a glance at it as you drive by, and you
might spot its round mistletoe ball now that a few of the leaves have fallen. To read more about this interesting tree and
view some pictures, try www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/bl_tupelo.html.
