Taking Advantage of a Beautiful Fall Week
It is no secret that the
U.S. Postal Service has been looking at ways to cut costs. They are currently
working on a plan to reduce $1.2 billion from the cost of local post offices by
February 2013, with further cuts to also be made the following year.
Annie Patterson recently shared a notice about cost cutting at the Elgin Post Office, which is the
nearest post office to Rugby. The Elgin Post Office was at one
point on a list of those proposed for closing. It now appears Elgin is slated
to remain open, but on a much reduced basis.
The Elgin P.O. has done a
survey of its customers about possible ways to reduce costs. It offered several
options – including trimming hours at the existing post office, offering
delivery service in lieu of a post office, and outsourcing basic postal
services to a local business (like Rugby’s arrangement).
The notice Elgin issued
says 93% of the 28 survey respondents chose the option of keeping the office
open, even with greatly reduced hours. It says that based on the surveys “and
taking into account Postal Service operational needs,” hours at Elgin will
likely be cut to Mon. - Fri. 2-4 p.m., and Sat. 8-11 a.m. The exact date for
the reduction in hours has not been announced, but is expected to be sometime
in January.
According to Annie, it
is expected that Robbins Post Office hours will also be reduced, but not nearly
as drastically -- perhaps to six hours a day.
Rugby has not had an
official post office with a postmaster since 1959, but is very fortunate to have
what the Postal Service now calls a “Village Post Office” – which is where reduced
postal services are made available through an existing local business or
government office. In our case, the Village Post Office is currently handled
out of the Commissary which is run by Historic Rugby and includes the
availability of mail boxes which are in a kiosk behind the Commissary. The mail box kiosk appears to be very popular, as people can check their mail even when the Commissary is closed. It also provides a relatively secure place for mail to be stored when people are out of town for a few days. Before the Commissary started providing local
postal services, boxes and postal services were located at Brooks Store.
 |
| Speaking of Brooks Store, the old dead end road next to the store was gated closed recently. |
Welcome AmeriCorps
Lisa Huff, the Tennessee Natural Areas representative for the
Rugby Natural Area, has said an AmeriCorps group will be staying in the Rugby area
for most of November. They will be doing
projects throughout the area including invasive plant removal at the Rugby
State Natural Area and at Colditz Cove. They also hope to start treating hemlock
trees in the natural area and other areas.
We appreciate the work that the State Natural Areas and the AmeriCorps
group will be doing in and around Rugby.
Scott County Hospital
Update
Progress Made Toward Reopening
Scott County appears to be
making progress towards getting its hospital reopened. The link below is to a
story about how the county hopes close on the deal Dec. 17 with a third party
that will operate the hospital.
Out-of-Control Leaf Burning Reported
Burn Permits Now Required
From Tom Howell
During the past week,
our Clear Fork fire department has responded to several out-of-control leaf
burns. All of them were in assistance to other departments, and some of these
were canceled en route. But one leaf burn spread to a concrete block storage
building which was destroyed before we or anyone else could get there. (The
two closest fire departments had no volunteers available. We were first on
scene, from 15 miles away.)
To begin with, leaf
burning isn't the best use of resources. It’s better to compost them into
leaf mold, mixing them with kitchen wastes and/or manure to make a good grade
of compost. If you can grind them up with a lawnmower, they'll break down
quicker, but that isn't really necessary. Using a mulching mower is what some
do to make them disappear.
If you're going to
burn anything, get a burn permit, either by calling 423-346-6655 (in Morgan Co.) or by going online at http://burnsafetn.org/burn_permit.html where weekend and off-hour permits are also available
for small piles.
This is required by
law between October 15 and May 15. If it's too dry or windy, you won't get a
permit. Don't burn under those conditions. It is illegal to leave a fire
untended. Failure to tend a burn is what led to the storage building fire
described above. Get help if you need it, too. And keep your eyes open in all
directions. Under some conditions embers can start a new fire away from your
burn! It goes without saying that you want to keep your burn well away from
structures. Douse the fire when the burn is completed or if you are called
away.
|
| History Group Tours Scott County Museum and Archives |
 |
| Bert Walker at the Scott County Historical Museum in Huntsville showed three people from the Rugby History Group an exhibit about brick making in Scott County on Saturday |
-- From Facebook page of
“Friends of Historic Rugby”
The Morgan County
Archives Committee is sponsoring a fund raiser Nov. 9. Renovations are underway
to transform the old jail in Wartburg into the Morgan County Archives and
Family History Center. Some funding has been secured through grants, but
matching gifts are important.
Tickets are on sale this week at the Morgan County News Office for, "An Evening with Bill Landry", Friday, Nov. 9, 7p.m. It will be held at the Morgan Co Schools Central Office Auditorium in Wartburg.
Ticket price is $10. Tickets will be available at the door, unless they sell out early.
Tickets are on sale this week at the Morgan County News Office for, "An Evening with Bill Landry", Friday, Nov. 9, 7p.m. It will be held at the Morgan Co Schools Central Office Auditorium in Wartburg.
Ticket price is $10. Tickets will be available at the door, unless they sell out early.
Check Facebook to see.
(You don’t have to be a Facebook member to see the pages. Just search for
them.)
Photos of Virgo House Shed
 |
| Bob Young finished the work on the shed behind Virgo House - just in time for his birthday! Photos by George Zepp |
BIRTHDAYS
Nov.3 - Carolyn Bankston and Rick Murphy
Nov. 4 - Bob Young
CALENDAR
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Rugby is in the Eastern time zone, just barely.
Saturday, Nov. 3 – Community Potluck 7 p.m. Eastern – Benita says
this will be at the Community Building due to construction at the Friendly
House
Tuesday, Nov. 6 - Election Day. Rugby voters go to Burrville & take photo IDs!
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.Tuesday, Nov. 6 - Election Day. Rugby voters go to Burrville & take photo IDs!
| 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 |
NATURE NOTES
Fox Squirrels
Fox Squirrels
By Linda Konig
We're all familiar with
the common gray squirrels, but have you seen any fox squirrels? They aren't as common as the gray ones, but,
yes, we have them around Rugby. Bill Jones mentioned them to me some years
back, and I'd never heard of them before. He said they sometimes saw them in
the trees directly behind Grey Gables, and sure enough, when I began looking
for them at the times I was eating on their back porch, I finally saw one or
two. Then on another occasion, up in Rice Hollow, KY, a friend of Charles and
LaVonne Gibbs pointed out a large fox squirrel sunning himself, spread out on
top of a barn. This was in late winter. Perhaps he was trying to get a tan
before heading to Florida for spring break!
Fox squirrels are the
largest species of squirrel we have, measuring up to 19 inches long when
mature. And, yes, they can remind you of a fox, particularly in their
coloration, looking somewhat like a gray fox with a mixture of reddish and gray
fur. They can also remind you of a fox
in the way they move across the ground. They spend more time on the ground than
other squirrels. Often they'll flee from enemies on foot rather than climbing a
tree for safety as a gray squirrel would do.
Though they have a
varied diet in summer that includes mulberries, moths, beetles, field corn,
buds and seeds of maple and other trees, in winter they're very dependent on
nuts and acorns that they've stored. They like to bury nuts in shallow holes in
the ground in autumn. In winter they can find the nuts again with their keen
sense of smell, even when the ground is covered in snow. In other words, their
winter survival is greatly affected by the fall mast. Since mast is slim this
year, it doesn't sound good for the squirrels and some of our other wildlife
this winter. Tennessee does allow licensed hunting of fox squirrels and other
squirrels, however. Maybe it's a kindness, because otherwise more of them would
die of slow starvation during winters.
