Rugby's Week in Photos
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| Jessie Gully hosted a farewell party for Deanna and Fred Oliver who are moving near Jamestown ( Mara Trumbo posted photo on Facebook). Lisa Donegan and friends transformed the Community Room for her daughter's wedding reception (Cheryl Hodgkins posted on Facebook). And George Zepp took photo of fall decorations greating visitors in front of Visitor Centre |
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| Last year's storyteller by bonfire |
Ghostly Gathering Oct.
20 and 27
Historic Rugby’s most
popular October event is being held the next two Saturday evenings. Ghostly
Gathering gives visitors a taste of the stranger side of Rugby's past.
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.
More Information About
Water Line Breaks
A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the water
line break that occurred during Pilgrimage.
Eddie Jeffers with the Huntsville Utility District was contacted by
Rugby Week and he said he was “very sorry” about the disruptive situation. He
did clarify that the frequent water line breaks in Rugby relate to how the
lines were originally installed and that the breaks have nothing to do with the
nearby pumping station.
Jeffers said that water pipes throughout the
area, not just Rugby, were often laid directly on “sand rock” and that the rock
expands and contracts with temperature changes, resulting in stress on the
pipes. He also said that the pipe
replaced recently near Christ Church was an original pipe, so earlier breaks in
the same area were not the same pipe, but were close to it, suggesting that the
general area near the church is affected by rock underneath.
Jeffers mentioned that he thought this was not
the first time that water had to be cutoff to Rugby during a major event. But, he went on to say that Huntsville
Utility District does not have funds to correct the situation.
Perhaps if those affected by the breaks
expressed enough interest to Huntsville Utility District, they might add
another cut off valve so that during future breaks near the Church the water could
be confined, allowing water to Beacon Hill residences and Historic Rugby to be
redirected from the other direction. The phone number to reach Huntsville
Utility is 663-3550.
Rugby Performance on
YouTube
Here's a link to one
song from one of the Michaelmas Festival performances by "Trammel
Creek," with performers from Gallatin, TN, and Scottsville, Ky.,
including Scott Gilbert on drums (appearing later in the video). It's posted
on Historic Rugby's YouTube site. Enjoy "My Old Kentucky Home."
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| Kit Howes |
From Benita Howell
Local author and retired
firefighter Kit Howes has been invited to talk about his new book Hot
Zone at 7:30 on the evening of November 10 at Historic Rugby’s Rebecca
Johnson Theatre. The foreward to this
book says “...required
reading for anyone who ever wondered what it is like to leave a warm bed at
three in the morning and, in the words of the author, ‘bring order out of chaos’." There is more information
about the book at http://www.kithowes.com/
Firefighters from the area
are also being specially invited to this event, as well as Rugby Book Group
members and a group from AmeriCorps who are staying in and near Rugby for most
of November to work on projects for Tennessee State Natural Areas.
Everyone is welcome. This is a free event.
Windows
for Sale
From Jessica Neary
Our
mistake is your gain! We have 8 beautiful Marvin Wood Ultimate Double Hung
windows still in packaging. Here are the details:
RO 26 3/8" x 37 1/2"
Low E II with Argon.
two over two authentic divided light
primed pine interior and exterior
white sash lock
4 9/16" jambs, 5 1/2" long sill horns
RO 26 3/8" x 37 1/2"
Low E II with Argon.
two over two authentic divided light
primed pine interior and exterior
white sash lock
4 9/16" jambs, 5 1/2" long sill horns
I paid
$470 each. I am asking $350 per window
Call
Jessica Neary 865-272-3097. Please leave a message and I will return your call.
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| Charles Gibbs on left receiving award last year |
Linda
Konig provided Rugby Week with an interesting caving magazine that has an
article by Rugby resident Charles Gibbs. In the article he reports on the
discovery of two cave pits that may be two of the deepest pits in
Kentucky. The article is in the October
2012 edition of the NSS News, a magazine of the National Speleological Society,
Inc. The pits are located in Wayne County, Kentucky four miles north of the
Tennessee border. It appears that these
two pits were not known to outsiders until 1999 when the son-law of the
landowner showed one of the pits to Charles and Chris Gibbs and a local logger.
The
story about their exploration of these two pits seems pretty incredible to
someone who knows nothing about caving. One
pit, the Reese Pit, is 215 feet deep – the other pit, the Emerson Pit, is 185
feet deep. The story talks about the initial
descent into the 185 foot cave by Chris Gibbs where he began descending with a
150 foot rope with “ascending gear attached.” When he realized that the rope
was not long enough he “switched over and ascended without difficulty.” The cavers later returned with a 300 foot
rope to explore the pits.
Interestingly,
a few year’s later, Barbara Stagg’s son, Randy Paylor, independently discovered
these pits after talking with local landowners and walking in the area.
The
story said that the existence of the two pits was kept relatively quiet until
the property could be purchased in order to keep caver access open. The land was purchased by the Charles Gibbs
family in 2009. The pits have been named
for Emerson Reese Dakin, the granddaughter of Charles and Lavonne Gibbs.
There
are several photos with the article including one showing Lavonne Gibbs sitting
“a safe distance from the pit entrance.” The photo makes it look like it would
be very easy to accidentally walk into the 215 foot deep pit!
BIRTHDAYS
Oct. 16 Laurie Lee and Debbie Harris
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturdays, Oct. 20 and 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 informationRugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
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 to be announced
Saturday, Nov. 10 – Book Talk – Kit Howes talk about his book Hot Zone -7:30 p.m. at the Rebecca Johnson Theatre at 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 |
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| Linda Konig |
LEATHERWOOD
By Linda Konig
My brother Chris and I
went up to Leatherwood Ford in the Big South Fork this past week, and we read
something about leatherwood on one of the signs there. There are a lot of those bushes among the
undergrowth along the Big South Fork River, usually under trees near streams,
but people usually don't pay much attention to them except in spring. If you happen to see their delicate
bell-shaped flowers, then you should stop to admire them. They usually bloom in our area in March,
before the leatherwood leaves come.
Their pale yellow paired blooms appear at the same time as the Spicebush
blooms, and they're the same shade of yellow.
You'll find lots of leatherwood bushes in bloom at Leatherwood Ford
(hence the name) if you go at the right time.
Meanwhile, take a look at http://ontariotrees.com/main/species.php?id=2056
This time of year,
however, we can enjoy their yellow foliage.
I looked for some of their red oval berries (poisonous) but didn't find
any. They do put out next year's flower
buds quite early, so I looked for those and found them in pairs at the leaf
nodes along the branches and at branch tips.
The thing that probably
fascinates people the most, however, is the extreme flexibility of leatherwood
twigs. This plant was quite useful in
pioneer days for Native Americans and whites alike. Longhunters used to strip
the bark from the twigs to use as shoestrings.
Native Americans made baskets, fishing line, and bow strings with
them. In fact, it was probably the
natives that taught the Scots-Irish and other whites how to use the
leatherwood. Amazingly, you can even tie
the young twigs into knots. Restrain
yourself, though. The Park Service
probably frowns on finding bushes covered in knots!
This Week’s Editor: Rick Murphy
