MAY-JUNE ECHO 2011

The Echo of the Gorge is the bi-monthly newsletter of the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center.  Now available on the Internet, readers can access ongoing news at gertonecho.blogspot.   Readers’ comments can be added directly to the blog. The Gerton Post Office has hard copies.

     The editor always welcomes news items: e-mail lualice@bellsouth.net, or phone 828-625-9255.  An Echo pad at the P.O. serves as reporter too. Space determines use, and editor may revise.  Other submissions considered.)

UHNGCC Officers: President Margaret Whitt, Vice-president Jim

Earnhardt; Secretary Jean Bradley; Treasurer Sylvia Sane. Program co-chairs Mary Kay McAdams and Lynn Morehead. Board Members usually meet second Tuesdays before third Tuesday’s regular meetings. Any club member may attend. Rotating-term Board Members are Jean Bradley, Patty Tanner, Lynn Morehead, Mel Freeman; Anita Owenby serves as outgoing president; Margie Owenby is lifetime member. Debbie Pustorino is Community Club photographer and blog designer.

                                                        PRESIDENT’S NOTE

   We look forward to the return of our spring-summer Gerton dwellers. Spring has come at last to the Gorge, and we welcome your presence among us again. Our annual Easter egg hunt was another success--thanks to Patty Tanner, Jean Bradley, and Syble Freeman. We had about a dozen egg hunters and their family members join us on a perfect-weather Saturday before Easter for the finding of about 300 eggs, hidden by Kyle, Ashley and a buddy.  Next year, we plan to host not only the hunt for the young, but sponsor another more complicated hunt for everybody else--teenagers to senior citizens.

     Our participation in Sale on the Trail was, for the second year, a success. The club made over $700 in a yard sale, pancake breakfast, and home-baked cake sale.

     New doors will be installed before our May dinner together, and the brass naming plaques will be in place by mid-May as well.  (Read dedications, see pictures.)
     Our exercise group, which walks to a DVD four miles three times a week (MWF) at 9 a.m., will add a yoga class beginning the first Wednesday in May at 10:15. Join us for either or both. (See note for Schedule Changes. ) All are welcome.

     Mark your calendars for another world premier of a Helen Brown play on July 22 and 23, “Antique Antics.”
      I look forward to seeing you all in Gerton and at the Center during the months ahead.                 
                                                                                                                               -- Margaret Whitt

                                                                                                                       

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

(May-June: 9 a.m. exercise group Monday through Friday—see details below.)

            May

 11   David Douglas’ 89^th birthday!  Send greetings to Flescher’s Health Care Center, Room 402, 3016 Cane Creek Road, Fairview, N.C.  28730

l7         Community Club Potluck Dinner: 6:30; Karen Owensby will present program on Henderson County Health Services available.

                   l8        Friends of the Mountains Branch Library—lunch and author reading at

Lake Lure Inn: noon, reserve $25 tickets by calling 625-0546.

21    Grand Opening of Nita & Susan’s Hickory Creek Store: see full day’s activities in story below.

21    Rumbling Bald Resort: Hendersonville Antique Auto Club Show –free to

public; $10 entry fee for cars to show; Call 696-4168/694-3050 for more info.

21 Dragon Boat Races—Lake Lure: sign up for a team, raise money for local

children.  Good family fun.  Visit www.lureofthedragons.org

                  21   8 A.M. Free guided bird walk leaving from Hickory Nut Gap Farm on Sugar Hollow Road.  Bring pen, paper, binoculars, field guides.  (Fairview Town Crier, page 4 notice.)

                  (Every single Thursday, and every single Sunday:

Thursdays, Fairview’s Welcome Table serves at ll:30 any all who come to eat a home-cooked meal at common tables in the downstairs community room at Fairview Christian Fellowship behind the public library.  Donations are accepted, but not required.

                  Sundays at the Church of the Transfiguration in Bat Cave, 4 to 5 p.m. dinners

                        are served to anyone who comes.  No cost, donations welcomed. )

JUNE

6  Pirate Scavenger Hunt—see www.HickoryNutOlympiad.com,

21  Community Club Potluck Dinner: 6:30   Fairview’s Kyle Wright will describe benefits                     of Massage Therapy.

                  Play Rehearsals begin!

                              (…and a few July dates to mark:               

                     JULY 19  Community Club Potluck Dinner  6:30  Sneak Preview of “Antique  Antics” and more!

             JULY 22-23: Helen Brown’s “Antique Antics”—mystery-comedy; reserve tickets!)

Re-framing of the Forty-one New Windows, and the Hanging of  Five (count ‘em) New Doors:  Windows-on-the-World installed the windows in January.  In April and early May to replace the old hollow wood doors with the new metal ones, Jim Earnhardt, Mel Freeman, Jim Sane ripped up and out, dragged, carried, measured, re-measured, hammered, re-measured, buzz-sawed—for hours and hours and hours. For volunteering all this skilled labor, shake their hands, pound them on their shoulders, give them huge, real hugs.  Send them thank-you notes, e-mailed or hand-written, or bake them thank-you cakes, pies or cookies, any kind. Invite them for dinners. Thank their wives too.  Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here:

 

              
 

 

Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center Naming Rights for Windows

(As follows, the names, donors and wording are here printed as they read on the handsome brass plaques beside the new windows and new doors contributed for the Community Center renovation:

-In Loving Memory Doris Oates Given by the Landon Roberts Family

-In Loving Memory Hal and Hattie Oates Given by the Landon Roberts Family

-In Memory of Hazel Lyda Given by the Lyda Family

-In honor of Roy and Marjorie Owenby Given by Anita, Butch, Cheryl, Tegan and Alex

- Martin “Mac” and Lois MacDonald

- OUR PARENTS Given by Jack and Meg Mumpower

-In honor of Bobby and Ruby Dees with gratitude from the community
-In Memory of John Lucien and Laurene Troutman Moore Given by Tom and   Nancy Moore Eubank, John, Marshall, Stephen and Laura

-In Honor of My Parents Grayson and Jean Bradley Given by Karl and Karen Bradley

-In Memory of Modeen and Roscoe Bradley Given by Jean Bradley

-In Memory of Claude and Christene Hunter Given by sons Fred and Claude, Jr.

-In Honor of Our Parents Paul and Patty Tanner Given by Patty Ann Talton, Pam    Brock, Ben Tanner, and Philip Tanner

-In Loving Memory of Lawrence and Varina Huntley given by daughters Billie Ledbetter and Family, Beada Turnmire and Family

-In Loving Memory of T. R. & Luetta Connor Given by William and Mike Wilson

-In Loving Memory of Bill & Gladys Wilson Given by William and Mike Wilson

-In Honor of Barbara and Gene Earnhardt Given by sons David, Sam, and John

-In Memory of Marion Garris Given by her daughters Mary Kay McAdams and Roberta Pope

-To live in the hearts of those we love is never to die. Bob Field

- The song is ended, but the melody lingers on. Shirley J. Field

-In Memory of Ben and Elizabeth McGuffey Given by their daughters Barbara Kelsey, Patty Tanner, Virginia McGuffey, and Margaret Colwell

-In honor of Barbara and Gene Earnhardt from grandson Jack (2010)

-In Memory of Ruth and Irwin Earnhardt from the Earnhardt grandchildren

   -Henry E. and Dixie O. Hudson Dedicated to God and family--Devoted to one another--Delightful to have known

-  In honor of Lucy Odessa Glover, In Memory of Catherine Lydia Boone  from Jerry and Shirley Boone (2010)

-The David F. Douglas Family Since 1939

-In Memory of  Ruth and Irwin Earnhardt Given by Keith and Jim Earnhardt

-In Memory of Roy and Josephine Kesler  Their spirits live on in Gerton

-In Honor of  Lester and Lucille Freeman Given by Jim and Sylvia Sane

-In Honor of  David and Rose Ann Douglas Given by Jerry and Lucy Douglas

-With fond memories of  Chestnut Hill Swimming Pool 1947-1981

  And all its good lifeguards

     - In Honor of Our Parents Buster and Mary Zeigler given by their sons R..L. and Roy, Jr.

- In Memory of My Parents Tom and Queenie Oates Given by Lemuel and Sandra,

 Travis and Molly

-In Memory of My Dad Phelps Merrell Given by Cindy and Don Williams

-In Memory of My Parents Frances and Fred Keihle Given by their son Fritz

-In loving memory of Luther C. Pool  Given by his wife Joan Pool

-In Loving Memory of Jessie Gupton Coghill  Given by her daughter Joan Pool

-In loving memory of Lela “Granny” Rhodes  Given by granddaughters Billie

      Ledbetter and Family, Beada Turnmire and Family

--In Memory of Leonard Barnes  (1906-2008) Given by his Gerton friends

--In honor of Gene and Barbara Kelsey Given by Mike and Debbie Kelsey 

--In honor of Bobby and Ruby Dees with gratitude from the community

 

Nita and Susan's Hickory Creek Market in Gerton will have GRAND Opening Saturday May 21st!   Store opens at 7:30 a.m.—check it out for various activities (see below)--visit and taste!   
3:00 pm Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy  will host a  2-hour, medium strenuous nature hike through the nearby Florence Preserve. "Roots & Branches" of Asheville will supply their granola bars for the hungry hikers to snack on!  Please contact  susan@hickorycreekmarket.com, or phone Hickory Creek Market (625-1546) if you plan on coming out for the hike, so we can have a head count! 

5:00 - 6:00 pm  the ECO (Environmental & Conservation Organization) will set up a "water monitoring event"  for children and the young at heart, next to Hickory Creek.  This will be a "critter station" with nets for kids to use to explore the stream to discover and identify macro-invertebrates species--bugs and such!

5:30 - 6:30 pm  Hickory Nut Gap Farm will have their grill fired up and offer samples of their local pastured meats, and there will be the hosts of other foods from local  vendors and tasty salads contributed by Hickory Nut Creek 

6:00 - 8 pm There will be an "Old Time" music jam hosted by Adam and Joe of the local band, Southern Exposure. Bring a lawn chair to relax in and listen, and if you’d like to, bring an instrument to join in with the music making!  The event is free for all—though of course donations will be welcomed for the musicians.

For more info:  susan@hickorycreekmarket.com  Hickory Creek Market Phone: (828) 625-9181  Check out our new website!! www.hickorycreekmarket.com

 

     NEW EXERCISE SCHEDULE CHANGES

          (in Community Center Meeting Room)

This schedule will be posted on the front door of the clubhouse. You are welcome to any and all:

Beginning May 1, step-exercise will take place Monday-Friday, five times a week:.
Monday - 9 a.m. - Level 2 - Four "fast" miles, ending with a mile using the stretch bands.
Tuesday - 9 a.m. - Level 1 - Out of five miles, the group will choose which three miles they want to do. Moderate speed.
Wednesday - 9 a.m. - Level 3 - Three fast miles--with warm up and cool down in 45“.
Wednesday - 10:15 a.m. - Yoga - 30 minute beginning yoga work-out for whoever wants to try or try part of it. Pick up a yoga mat at Target or Wal-Mart. We will move the tables around and prepare the perfect yoga room.
Thursday - 9 a.m. - Level 1 - Out of five miles, the group will choose which three miles they want to do. Moderate speed. (Same as Tuesday)
Friday - 9 a.m. - Level 2 - Four "fast" miles, ending with a mile using the stretch bands. (Same as Monday)
--For the dozen or so of us who have been exercising through the winter, this time together has proved enormously helpful—and fun.  We want to make sure that everyone who wants to exercise with us can find a time and speed appropriate. Also, for those who want to participate a certain number of times per week, this flexible schedule can better meet those needs.

--Come when you can. All women (and men) are welcome.

 

                                       NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

A comment from a gertonecho.blogspot reader:

The pictures in current ECHO show what a nice improvement the new windows make with the addition of so much more natural light.  I look forward to seeing all this in mid-May.  Jim Earnhardt, Jim Sane, and Mel Freeman are gems to have as members who donate so much expertise and building skills for the installation.

Bear Wallow Baptist Church Bells have gone silent.  Sorely missed, they just plumb wore out and can not be repaired.  Installed in l963 as a gift from Ben and Elizabeth McGuffey after the congregation added a steeple, hymn melodies have graced the community three-times-a day.  We are grateful for their memory—Gerton mornings, noons and late afternoons don’t seem the same without them.  BUT, a Chimes Fund has been established, with replacement cost estimated at between $7000-$8000.  Contributions are welcomed: send to Bear Wallow Baptist, P.O. Box #187, Gerton—28735. Mark “Chimes” on your check, please.

The upcoming summer play ("Antique Antics") needs two female leads: could you be one of those?  Call Helen Brown (625-4975) for more details.  Rehearsals begin late June, and work around others' schedules.  Play dates are July 22-23.  It’s hard work—but worth it!

ANYBODY SEEN SOME KITTIES? “Have you recently acquired some new cats at your house?  Four of my outside cats have disappeared. Missing are l calico adult female, l gray/black adult male, l gray striped small adult female, and l black/white kitten.  All cats have been spayed/neutered and each, except for the kitten, has had an ear clipped. Please phone Bob Field at 625-ll44 if you’ve seen or perhaps are caring for these cats.” 

NOTE ON PRINTING THE BLOG: Bob Field reports that printing the blogged Echo is possible: copy and paste into a word processor program.  “I tried it, and it does work.”  Lots of sheets to do so, though. (A three page printed Echo at the PO amounts to six sides!  At home, 6 pages! L)  (Editor’s note: the Blog is free for Internet users. The hard copies cost paper-and-ink—which are generously being donated by Debbie Pustorino, our blog designer.  Thank her, please, when you see her.)

 Joel Sherwood and Ginger Williams are to be married at Lake Lure Inn May 7.  Family members and a few close friends will attend as Dr. Thom Sherwood marries the couple who will live on Bear Wallow Road where Joel has made his home for the past three years.  Family members in attendance include mother Joan and sister Emily Sherwood, and Ginger’s sister as bridesmaid, and her father and step-mother, Mr. and Mrs. Williams of Hendersonville.

(The Bearwallow Baptist Ladies sponsored a reception-shower for Joel Sherwood and his bride-to-be Ginger Williams on April 8.)

The Sale on the Trail April l6 netted for the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center $700.  Home-baked goods sold briskly, as did the sausage-and-biscuit (and gravy) breakfasts prepared by Syble and Don Freeman, and Mel Freeman.

Thanks be to the mystery gardener who freshly planted daffodils beside the Community Club sign.  The flowers looked bravely cheerful, while everything else looked done for. And to Virginia McGuffey for the rainbow yellow and red tulips beside the ‘Welcome to Gerton’ sign, Fairview side,—and to Sylvia Sane for the sign-flowers Bat Cave side. 

Thank you to the Department of Transportation for their litter-pickup during the Littersweep Week in April-

J. Griffin Campbell, a summertime resident with wife Betty, hugely enjoyed his visit to Washington, D.C. Veterans’ sites, the second Saturday in April.  This is the same all-expenses-paid trip project honoring veterans of last century’s wars that Martin MacDonald described to us several years ago at a Community Center program. (Leonard Barnes was also so honored, you may remember.)  A terrible April storm front delayed Griff’s return flight by 2-l/2 hours, but many Burlington, N.C., friends waited at the airport to welcome him home anyhow.

The Erskine women--Cassidy, Lorri and Chelsea (now Mrs. Lucas West) whisked by Amtrak to Washington, D.C., for a visit to the Nation’s Capitol the week before Easter.. Fifth grader Cassidy Erskine reports the following: “We toured the U.S. Senate (I felt like an ant inside), and outside, Chelsea zoomed her camera lens so we could see the gold statue of “Freedom” on top of the Capitol—she was a little bit rusted from all the rain and weather.  Chelsea and I sat in front of one of the humongous columns of the Lincoln Memorial—and we pressed our backs into the grooves—and we visited the statue of Abraham Lincoln.  We saw the Viet Nam Memorial with all the names—nobody is allowed to smoke or drink anything there.  We saw lots of flowers.  The cherry trees were bloom for the Festival—they were beautiful.  And we saw the Robert E. Lee house at the National Cemetery—but there was such a long line, we didn’t go in.  We saw the eternal flame, too.  We saw the White House where the President lives—and we visited Lafayette Park where we met a Russian lady protesting nuclear weapons.  We saw the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian Museum, and at the Museum of Natural History, we saw the blue whale and tyrannosaurus rex. Chelsea and I got our pictures made by a special camera that showed what we’d look like as Neanderthals.  I found out that the iced tea isn’t good there, and the water tastes like chlorine bleach.  I loved eating the cocoanut shrimp and delicious crab cakes. We stayed at my sister’s apartment in Maryland near Andrews Air force Base.  On the train trip, I played with my IPO, and tried to sleep—but on the trip home, a bunch of eighth graders wouldn’t be quiet.” 

Bear-sighting: a neighbor reported seeing a mangy old bear lumbering along her driveway.  S/he’d knocked over the garbage can, but couldn’t open it.  The neighbor said  ‘SHOO!”—and the bear beat a hasty retreat.  “Guess I’ll have to bring my bird feeders in at night now,” the neighbor sighed.  So--everybody else--you’ve been forewarned.

Dave MacDonald won second place for his blacksmithing art entry at the 40th annual Inman Park Art Festival in Atlanta.  His daddy, "Mac" MacDonald would have been proud!  Dave intends to create more art here in Gerton when he and his friend Stan Mobley move here permanently.    

Baby duck sighting: Chestnut Hills Pond, the one the Gerton Fire and Rescue Department uses and says is the best pond around for depth and quantity, harbors annually a pair of ducks—and offspring, sometimes as many as 12.  Critters sometimes eat the eggs—and babies, including pre-historic looking snapping turtles who pull the tender-toed ducklings underwater to drown them.  Last spring, Paul Freeman and David Erskine hooked one of the garbage-can-lid-sized turtles—and two other nearby human baby duck-lovers captured a female laying eggs.  Neither action pleased the turtles.  Stay tuned for further developments for this spring’s clutch of fluffy ducklings.  Wish them well….          

Scenes from 2011 Easter Egg Hunt