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; Secretaries Jean Bradley and Lana Roberts; 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.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
(Every morning, Monday-Friday at 9 o’clock, exercise classes for anyone interested in keeping or becoming more fit. DVD-led routines, moving any old way you can manage—but steadily moving, there’s no wrong way to do this kind of step-class. Between 4 or l0 are usually gathered. There’s room for YOU!)
Summer Library Hours will be observed M-F, 9-l0 a.m. during Exercise Classes.
For other times, ask Roberta Pope, Community Club Librarian.July l FRIDAY NIGHT BINGO: 7 o’clock at the Community Center.
JULY 4th 6:30 FOURTH OF JULY PICNIC outdoors beside the Nita and Susan’s store. BRING YOUR CHAIRS, PLEASE—there will be tables. Maybe bring towels for your kids old enough to scramble around the creek. Bring side dishes….
7—Conversation Group: l0:15 a.m.: Join for good talk on various subjects. This week: “An Idea for Making Our Country Better.”
16-“Massage and Body Work”–details at http:// Laughing Waters NC.com
19—Covered Dish Dinner: 6:30. Preview of “Antique Antics”; also
Actor David Topt speaking of his theater work experiences, including “Hallmark” productions.
Actor David Topt speaking of his theater work experiences, including “Hallmark” productions.
20—Pruning Party for Shubbery at the Community Center; bring clippers,
wear long-sleeved shirts and garden gloves. We’ll furnish beverages.
Rain date—TBA.
22-23—THE PLAY! 8 o’clock performance, two acts. Buy $10 tickets at
the doors which open at 7:15.
28—Conversation Group: l0:15 a.m. “A Person Outside My Family Who Greatly Influenced Me-“(a childhood neighbor? mentor/teacher? a boss?)
29—BINGO NIGHT! 7:00 p.m.
AUGUST
9—Conversation Group: l0:15 Subject to be decided by group
UHNG Board Meeting: 3 p.m.
12—Friday BINGO 7:00 p.m.
16—Covered Dish Dinner at Community Center 6:30; Dr. Ed Reilly
of Fairview Chiropractic Center will talk on benefits of treatment.
23—Conversation Group: Subject decided at previous meeting
26—Friday Bingo 7:00 p.m.
September 3—GertonFest! Breakfast and Garage Sale and Dog Show
and Games and Spelling Bee and…maybe a Square Dance?
What President Margaret Whitt Would Probably Tell You
If She Were Not Grandmothering at the Beach!
1—That the program Karen Owensby presented at the May Covered Dish made
us proud to live in Henderson County: its Public Health Services outreach for citizens unable to pay—because of unemployment, reduced circumstances and
living in poverty—shine bright enough to serve as example studied by other health professionals, in and out of North Carolina. Good for our County! Good for us!
2—That surely, surely you will plan to attend the Fourth of July bash at the Community Center where hamburgers and hotdogs and fireworks will be the order of the evening. (Condiments will be available. Plates of sliced tomatoes, onions, and a few lettuce leaves wouldn’t be frowned on. Covered side dishes and desserts are MORE than welcome! Eighty five folks attended last year’s Fourth! Bring food around 5:30-6.
3—That surely, surely you’ll be standing at the front of the line for tickets either on Friday or Saturday the nights of the summer play, “Antique Antics”—written by Helen Brown who’s directing, again. (July 22-23)
4—That you’ll help out, if you can, to come prune the Community Club garden shrubbery—the azalea, the forsythia, and mercilessly rip out honeysuckle vines.
5—That you’ll help look for, or contribute to a fund for, a new kitchen refrigerator and two STURDY picnic tables with benches. We really need new ones, but gently used refrigerator with ample freezer space, and two sturdy picnic-table-benches for the outdoor pavilion, would be just terrific!
6—That you won’t forget the BINGO GAMES!! On alternate Friday nights—watch the Community Center announcement board. (Ask Karen Hudson-Brown and Joan Poole what it feels like to WIN!!)
7—And start saving your treasures and trash for the GertonFest, September 3,
Labor Day Weekend.
8—And that you’ll invite new neighbors to all of the above, in case they don’t yet know what they otherwise might be missing.
“ANTIQUE ANTICS”:
Another World Premier in Gerton!
Another World Premier in Gerton!
The lighted-hearted comedy “Antique Antics” promises to be an evening of rollicking summer theater. Helen Brown’s two-act play will be performed in the Gerton Community Center dining room on July 22/23 at 8 p.m.. For the very first time, the Hickory Creek Players will use an elevated stage for their tenth summer play in a row. The new chairs are ample-bottomed.
Action takes place in Agnes Beal’s antique shop, financially on the skids. Agnes’ novice assistant, Elveena Mae, bumbles through her job, earnest and incompetent. Upstairs in the shop their l00-year-old renter daily pounds his cane to demand the daily newspaper. Agnes’ amorous suitor Angelo, a retired lawyer, is puzzled by a suspicious customer—antique vases disappear then appear again, or show up broken. Adding to the confusion looms an estate sale Agnes hopes will put the shop in the black again. The outcome is…uncertain!
Melanie Anderson and Freddie Ann Nappi play the leads, and Gerton’s own Bonnie Moore plays as Mary Bickers, a very odd, well-to-do collector. Melvin Freeman is attorney Angelo (Gelo) Harding, who hopes to wed Agnes Beal, and Eugene Earnhardt is Mr. Kicklighter, the upstairs renter.
“Antique Antics” will happen Friday and Saturday July 22-23. Beginning at 7:15 p.m., the $10 tickets will be sold at the door for the 8 p.m. performances. The Community Center provides plenty of parking along Rt. 74-A, from Bat Cave, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure. Theater-goers will see the Center’s new double-paned windows and French doors overlooking the creek, renovations completed since the last play.
CHANGE IN KELLY HILL ACCESS TO FLORENCE PRESERVE
“There is now a new trail head for the Florence Nature Preserve, a 600-acre preserve off highway 74A in Gerton. The preserve is owned by Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and is a special treasure in the upper Hickory Nut Gorge. The property was donated to CMLC by Dr. Tom and Glenna Florence, but access to the trail system was along a private property right-of-way up Kelly Hill Road beside the store.
“To improve this access, Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community (‘Laughing Waters’) is transferring 26 acres to CMLC, so they will have more vehicle parking and a scenic route of entry. Hikers can also use this trailhead to access the Hickory Nut Gorge Trail System which extends down through the gorge.
“The location is approximately one mile down the gorge from Nita and Susan's Hickory Creek Market in Gerton, at the old stone chimney. Hiking here can be fairly strenuous, so bring good hiking shoes and plenty of water. Please do not use the old access on Kelly Hill Road as that is now closed.
“We are enthusiastic about the Florence Nature Preserve and the experiences it holds. We hope to see you on the trail.
Printed from "Laughing Waters" Newsletter
----------------------NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS------------------
Cheryl Owenby’s unexpected death May 21 as the result of a traffic accident hurt everybody who knew her, her family the most. Daughter-in-law to Roy and Marjorie Owenby, husband of Roy “Butch” Owenby, sister-in-law to Anita Owenby, and mother of twins Tegan and Alexander, Cheryl was owner/operator of Reeves Owenby Insurance Agency, and friend to hundreds of people through her business and through her church, First Baptist of Marshall. Many from Gerton attended the family reception Thursday evening, and then many more Friday for the funeral service. Memorial gifts can be made to the First Baptist Church of Marshall Building Fund, P.O. Box 484, Marshall, N.C. 28753.
Patty Tanner is still beaming from the four-generation reunion at her home recently. She writes: “June 9 through ll was a great three days for me! My daughter Pam Brock, granddaughter Julie Davis, and great-granddaughter Mary Caroline Davis, came for a short visit. I had not seen Mary Caroline since she was three weeks old. At their visit, Mary Caroline was four-and-half months old. What a difference! She had grown so, and had a “melt-your heart” smile. She got to meet great-great Aunt Virginia McGuffey, great-great Aunt Margaret Colwell, great-great Uncle Doug Colwell, and Eric Perry and their children, Gracelyn and Faith. I think Mary Caroline really enjoyed seeing all the new faces and hearing different voices. She had big smiles for all as she was passed around.”
(And then Patty writes, “Thanks for letting me brag a little!” The editors think she has much to brag about!)
Our 25 American Flags are up again along the highway! Karen Bradley picked up the new flags for the Club. Jean Bradley and Claudia Freeman replaced the old tattered flags and attached new ones on the posts. Then Karl Bradley drove his tractor with its front-end loader to help fire department members erect the flags, with John Hathaway hoisting most of them as he stood up in the front-end loader. Not an easy job, all around. THANKS to everybody who got our flags up and flying. And thanks for why.
Anybody know what happened to the Echo Notebook in the post office? It can be replaced, of course—but where’ditgo?? That notebook adds to Neighborhood News….
Sarah Gayle returned to live in Gerton in April. A long time Gerton homeowner and Community Club member, she moved to Hendersonville two years ago, but then decided the traffic noise wasn’t what she had in mind. (Gerton spoiled her.) She’s now living in a cozy house off Bear Wallow Road. If you see her, welcome her back!
Another proud grandma’s report from Lynn Morehead: grandson Zach Buck is employeed as a summer counselor and guide for Outward Bound Therapy Expedition in Lehigh, Utah. The program challenges youth in two week outdoor sessions where they provide their own overnight dwellings and fashion their own implements, a true outdoorsman life all day and all night, carrying backpacks. Gerton residents may remember Zach visiting in Gerton since he was small. One more year of college to go, Zach loves the North Carolina mountains, so he might be back with us!
Leash laws exist in Henderson County. Ordinances for dog ownership outline regulations that a dog off its owner’s property must be on leash and walked by “competent” person. Dogs don’t like this much, but we know—and you know—the growing number of dogs in the city and county requires that we ask owners to observe the practice. Rabies is on the rise in our county. Recently, a local resident was bitten badly by an upset animal off leash. Shouldn’t happen—but does. The dog had up-to-date shots, but for all concerned, it was an awful experience. Dogs still wandering—after the owner has been reminded--should be reported to the Animal Enforcement Office—697-4911. Not a pleasant thing to have to do—but fair, if the owner doesn’t comply. What we wish for all dogs is that they have soft pillows and their owner’s hundred acres to run in.
Break-ins occurred at Nita and Susan’s Store in June, and three laptops and $320 were stolen. Anita Owenby called the Sheriff’s Office, but there seemed to be little follow-up. On Kelly Hill, personal property was taken from an unoccupied house. No report was called into the Sheriff’s Office. Why the Sheriff’s Office wasn’t called to report this robbery on the Hill is troubling. If you know of a break-in or are victim of one, of COURSE, call 697-4911--if for no other reason than to alert officials to a possible pattern of neighborhood robberies. Maybe we need to invite the Sheriff to a Community Club meeting for dinner, to ask some questions—and how we might do better about reporting further break-ins….
PBS-TV “Exploring North Carolina” showed a clip of Bearwallow Baptist Church as example of the way people knew how to use cross ventilation to keep cooler in summer. Tom Earnhardt, the series’ producer and writer, attended church many Sundays during his Gerton summers.
Photos of Gerton..
Gerton Fire Department getting water from the pond
Bear Wallow Baptist Church "Beach Blast" with its waterslide and fabulous Billy Mitchell hamburgers was a happy success for the 49 people who came, and the 15 youngsters who participated in the Bible studies during the afternoon.
Photos of Gerton..
Gerton Fire Department getting water from the pond
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Nita and Susan's Grand Opening
