Friday, February 27, 2015

March - April 2015

The Echo is published bi-monthly throughout the year by the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Club. You can access the online BLOG at www.gertonecho.blogspot.com or pick up a paper copy at the Gerton Post Office. News is always welcome; pictures, too. Pease submit to Editor Margaret Whitt at mwhitt@du.edu or 625-0264. Roving ace reporter: Barbara Earnhardt. Photographers: Jay Alley, Sylvia Sane, Shirley Boone, Chelsea Rath.

Officers for 2015: Jim Sane, President; Lynn Morehead, Vice President; Sarah Gayle, Winter Secretary; Lana Roberts, Summer Secretary; Sylvia Sane, Treasurer; Board members: Jim Earnhardt, Jean Bradley, Patty Tanner, Claudia Freeman. Immediate Past President, Margaret Whitt
The third week of February provided a time of reflection as the cold and snow and ice turned Gerton into a winter wonderland! 

Calendar of Events

March 7, Park in the Moonlight and hike to the top of the Rock. Chimney Rock State Park fundraiser. See Facebook page for more information.

March 17, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Community Covered Dish Dinner. Program:
"Forging from the Soul" - Award-winning Artist Blacksmith and psychotherapist, Dave MacDonald will discuss how he intertwines his passion for the healing arts with his love of forging metal.

March 20, 11 a.m. New Moon Meditation, 311 Buffalo Creek Road, Lake Lure, more information, call Rev. Heidi Peck - 216-6438

March 21, Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. - Mind Body Spirit Day at the Black Mountain Light Center

April 4, Saturday, 1-2 p.m. Easter Egg Hunt. Kids 12 and younger

April 5, Sunday - Easter

April 17, Friday- 11 a.m. New Moon Meditation, 311 Buffalo Creek Road, Lake Lure. more information, call Rev. Heidi Peck. 216-6438

April 18, Saturday - SALE ON THE TRAIL. Breakfast - 8 a.m. Community Yard Sale - 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

April 18, Saturday - 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Mind Body Spirit Day at the Black Mountain Light Center

April 21, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Community Covered Dish Dinner. Program: Jane Lawson on Laughing Water Retreat Center

April 23, Thursday, NOON - Ministry of Hope 4th annual South of Asheville Luncheon at Lake Lure Inn. Tickets - $35. See Margaret Whitt for tickets--625-0264

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, May 28,  3 p.m. Gerton High Tea

President’s Note

We survived the ice.  There were no serious injuries.  Gerton Fire and Rescue had one ice-related call.  A U-Haul truck was stuck on Bearwallow Mountain Road.  I sent an e-mail to all on the UHNG  E-MAIL list the second day of the ice to check if anyone needed assistance.  I called people on the UHNG Member Roster that didn’t have an e-mail address listed.  Regretfully,  one of the numbers I called was incorrect by one digit.  I received a call on Friday that they were still digging out.  I called them back when I checked my messages.  They had gotten their car down to 74 by then.  I will bring the rosters to the monthly meeting.  Please check the rosters and update your info.

Kitchen Project Update:  The demo phase is complete.  As soon as the weather permits, Jim Earnhardt and I are going to pick up the building materials.  We have to do some framing work for the sheetrock on the walls and ceiling.  Thanks to all that helped on the demo ( Stan Mobley, Jack Mumpower, Richard Campbell, and Mark Skipper).  A special thanks to Bobby Dees.  Bobby  came by to advise on structural issues.  It’s extremely helpful to have access to his knowledge and experience.

We still need volunteers for club committees and dinner hosts for 2015.  The sign up rosters will be available at the monthly meeting.  The success of the UHNGCC depends on the volunteer spirit of the members. 


Jim Sane

Walking Group Tallies Miles for 2014: 2,587 of them!

In 2014, 15 walkers and random guests logged a total of 2,587 miles stepping, kicking, jogging, back kicking, stretching with bands and lifting weights over the course of the year. Sometimes the group is as small as two and has been as large as a dozen in the summer months. Here are the totals (in alphabetical order) for the year. Once again, Sylvia Sane, outpaced the group, with 509 miles posted. The group is open to all. Time: Monday - Friday 9-10 a.m.

  • Jean Bradley -               138
  • Jean Carson -                  47
  • Margaret Colwell -       151
  • Barbara Earnhardt -        42
  • Toni Eastman -               63
  • Joan Erskine -                 82
  • Becca Hathaway -           52
  • Karen Hudson-Brown - 229
  • Meg Mumpower -         422
  • Joan Pool -                        7
  • Lana Roberts -               171
  • Sylvia Sane -                 509
  • Lois Simpson -              162
  • Carla Van Dale -               9
  • Margaret Whitt -           396
  • Guests -                           19

Journey Scholarship Information from the Regional Office

(the following is a letter we received about scholarship help for high school seniors; further information can be obtained from Linda Lamp)
It is an honor for WNC Communities to manage the Journey Scholarship for youth preparing to enter college.  Last year, 11 deserving high school seniors received scholarship funds totaling $12,500 to continue their education. 

Because your community participated in the 2014 WNC Honors Awards Program, high school seniors in your community are eligible to apply for a 2015 scholarship.  The Journey Scholarship Application has been emailed to high school guidance counselors of the school that is closest to your community.  However, this is no guarantee the application will get into the hands of the eligible students.  You can help by sharing this application with high school seniors in your community. 

Criteria for the application are listed on page two and the deadline to get completed applications postmarked or hand-delivered to WNC Communities is Wednesday, March 25, 2015.  Please familiarize yourself with the application particularly noting the “Community Confirmation” section on the final page. This is where a community officer can assist by reviewing the application and signing the application which confirms the high school senior applying actually lives in, participates in or their application will be supported by your community. 

If you have any questions, need a hard copy to be mailed, or receive the attached in another format just email or call me:

Linda L. Lamp (lindalamp@wnccommunities.org)
WNC Communities
594 Brevard Road
Asheville, NC 28806
828-252-4783


January Program

On a beautiful January 20, with mild seasonal weather 23 of us gathered for good food (as always) and a housekeeping program. Jim Sane used the program time to make corrections on our community roster, procure commitments for dinner hosting duties and committee assignments. During the business meeting, we passed the annual 2015 budget (see below) and had an update on the new kitchen. The new flooring should arrive by the end of January; the cabinets have been ordered and a vote has been taken on the necessary 50 knobs and/or pulls. A new microwave and hot water heater will also be installed. Details and pictures of work in progress will be posted as available.

2015 Budget

Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Club
2015 Operating Budget
Expenses

Maintenance of Club and Property             2014       actual 2014             2015

Lawn Care                                                      $1800        $1870                    $1920
Pest Control                                                        636            639                        639
Utilities                                                               900            749                       780
Heating oil                                                         300                0                            0
Propane Tank Rental and Propane                      79               79                         79                          
Sub-Total                                                        $3715         3337                     $3418


Insurance                                                       $2100          1960                      1960

Taxes on rental space                                         140          135                        135

Supplies

Paper plates, napkins, utensils, dining cloths, decorations,
Calendar, etc.                                      $250            321                       350

Printing of Echo, Postage,
 PO and safe deposit rental                              300            147                         350

Sub-Total                                                        $550            468                        700


Building Projects                                           $2200          3150                      2200

Programs                                                        
GertonFest food/expenses                               800                581                       800
Easter egg hunt                                                 30                    0                         30
July 4 Cookout (and fireworks)                       100                  89                       100             
Sale on Trail food                                            100                 46                         50
Play                                                                  200                 49                        200
Thanksgiving turkey                                        100                  0                         100
High Tea                                                         __                   0                           327
Others                                                             200                 47                         200

Sub-Total                                                        $1530            812                      1807

Outreach                                                        $200                71                        200

Rental Space                                                  100               0                           100

Repairs/Maintenance                                    505               0                           500
                                         
 TOTAL                                                        $11,040         $9,933             $11,020



REVENUE  2015

                                                anticipated 2014   actual 2014   anticipated 2015

Dues                                        $740                         570                     570


Donations
            Exercise                      $400                         367                     350
            Meetings                     $400                         521                     500
            unrestricted               $800                          609                    600                                                                              
Fundraisers
            GertonFest               $2500                       1821                   1800
            Summer Play           $1500                       1700                   1500
            Sale on the Trail      $1200                       1052                   1000
            July 4                          $100                         137                     100
            Cookbooks                 $200                        690                      400
            High Tea                                                 $1040                   1000

Rent
            Building                      $200                         175                      200
            Store                         $3,000                        3,000                 3,000

TOTAL                             $11,040                $11,682         $11,020


Not accounted for in the budget:

Income - Prize money from county and region
Expenses - New Kitchen will come from Savings Account

January 1, 2015 - $19,779.42 - Savings Amount
(includes CD of $5,725.03, tallies from fundraisers, awards, cookbooks, named donations, green doors--over the last four years)


Kitchen

(A Story in pictures)
How it used to look -- before February 10



 Day One, February 10 -- everything inside the kitchen becomes....
a pile of debris outside the kitchen....


 Day Two, February 11. Everything in kitchen returns to primitive state, including ceiling...
and the old hot water heater heads out the door to the dump.




16 Over 80 - UHNGCC hosts Carolina Mountain Club's

 Special Birthday Party



    On January 16, the Community Center was host to the Carolina Mountain Club for a special birthday party for a few of their 16 trail builders age 80 and older. It was also a retirement party for a special volunteer, Howard McDonald, 89, who had volunteered over 9,000 hours. His responsibility was engineering bridges, outhouses, and shelters along the trails maintained by the Carolina Mountain Club.
    This club is almost 90 years old and maintains trails in Western North Carolina, including the Appalachian Trail and Mountains-to-Sea Trail. CMC has built the trails in the Florence Preserve and the Bearwallow Trail in Gerton. This winter, they're building a trail on Little Bearwallow Mountain which will connect with the meadow on the back side of Bearwallow. We are fortunate that this crew finds time to build trails here during the winter, when places in the higher mountains are not accessible.
    Skip Sheldon, coordinator of the trail crew working in Gerton, will speak at the Community Club monthly meeting on May 19, about the Carolina Mountain Club and their trailbuilding.

Notes from the Fire Chief, Jay Alley


2014 was a very good year for Gerton Fire and Rescue. We were awarded a grant to replace all of our radios in the trucks and made a start in replacing the hand held radios. We had to get this grant because the county radio system is changing over to a digital format and the old radios we had would not work with that system. The grant was a matching grant for $8000 and we are well on our way to replacing all of our radio equipment. We have added several new members since our last post. We welcome Rod and Josh Kuykendall as our newest volunteers. We also have hired as one of our paid staff, Robert White.

We are working to increase our trained members by holding certification training at the station on Monday nights. We also have added several new medications and procedures to our EMS protocols. We now carry Narcan for narcotic overdoses. We are in the process of putting Aspirin, Nitroglycerin and Albuterol on our units for those cardiac and respiratory issues. Changes are coming quickly and we are striving to provide you with the best care possible by keeping up with these standards.

We also now have a Facebook account. Please like us. I keep it up to date with interesting articles and information as it relates to our community. Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact our chief at chief@gertonfire.org. Our web page is www.gertonfire.org. It is under construction so please be patient as we update it. If you have anything that you feel is important that is safety related, please share it with us.

Just to give you an update of what we need in the future, we will have to replace most of our gear in the next year or so because it is 10 years old and NFPA requires it to be replaced. We have applied for a grant this year to replace all of our self-contained breathing apparatus on our trucks. They are 10 years old and required to be replaced by the NFPA standards. We have two trucks that are past their prime and require a great deal of maintenance to keep them operational. We hope in the next few years to replace them with newer trucks. This is not to say that trucks and equipment do not work or are broken, but these are the needs of the department over the next few years.

I hope you will take the time to come by sometime and visit. Our paid staff is typically at the station Monday through Friday 8-5. We also are there for training on Monday nights around 7 pm. We train every Monday night and always welcome you to come by and visit. Last year we had over 2200 hours in training for our members in 2014. Much of this training was on firefighting, but there was a great deal on medical and dealing with emergencies that we may encounter. I am proud of our members and the effort they put in for our community.

Below are our call statistics for 2014:
Building fire 1
Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue 1
Brush or brush-and-grass mixture fire 2
Medical assist, assist EMS crew 5
EMS call, excluding vehicle accident with injury 26
Motor vehicle accident with injuries 4
Motor vehicle accident with no injuries 5
Power line down 3
Public service assistance, other 3
Assist police or other governmental agency 3
Public service 2
Assist invalid 2
Unauthorized burning 1
Cover assignment, standby, move up 1
Good intent call, other 2
Dispatched & cancelled enroute 8
Authorized controlled burning 3
Smoke scare, odor of smoke 1
Steam, vapor, fog or dust thought to be smoke 2
Alarm system activation, no fire - unintentional 2
Severe weather or natural disaster, other 1
Wind storm, tornado/hurricane assessment 2
Total number of Incidents for 2014 for Station 22 = 80


As always, we ask for your continued support. If we can ever be of any help, please let us know. We install smoke detectors at no cost to our homeowners. We will change out the batteries if needed. We are here to keep you safe and we love to help. Thanks for your support and BE SAFE!

Goats in the Gorge
By Chelsea Rath, The Weed Action Coalition of Hickory Nut Gorge

Slipper, the Goat -- Hard at Work on Invasives

If you drove between Lake Lure and Gerton in the summer and fall of 2014, you may have seen some new residents of the gorge. Eleven goats, hard at work, eating the dreaded kudzu, became somewhat of a roadside tourist attraction during those months. Many people stopped and took pictures and asked questions, curious what these animals were up to.

These goats are a part of an initiative of the Weed Action Coalition of Hickory Nut Gorge (WAC-HNG) to use herbivory as a method to control non-native invasive plants. WAC-HNG (pronounced “whacking”) was created in 2012 by the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and area partners to combat these invasives. WAC-HNG has the objective to preserve the scenic beauty, biodiversity, and natural resources of a place that is so important. The Hickory Nut Gorge houses over 50 rare species of plants and animals. And, in an ever-changing landscape, invasive plants threaten it all.

Herbivory is becoming a widely popular form of vegetation control. For residents of the gorge, non-native invasive plants are visible almost everywhere. Kudzu takes over the roadsides, Oriental Bittersweet strangles our trees, and Multifora Rose snags your skin and clothes as you hike. Luckily, goats love to eat away at Kudzu and other invasives. In an effort to grab the attention of the community, while working on the invasive problem, WAC-HNG had the idea to use goats in an easily visible area, so that people who drove by would see the impact that was being made.

Working with a local landowner and goat contractor, WAC-HNG was able to put the goats along HWY 74-A to drum up attention while they ate away at the Kudzu. It was a very successful project. Although Kudzu dominated this area, it was not the only invasive present on the property. Japanese Honeysuckle, Japanese Stiltgrass, and Tree-of-Heaven also had their place. The goats reduced all 10 invasive species to 2% cover or less. Kudzu itself dominated at over 95% cover and was reduced to less than 1%.

Multiple treatments are necessary for effective control of these invasive plants, so the goats will be back out this year repeating treatments and beginning at new locations in the gorge as well. Keep an eye out for these hard-working animals! In an effort to increase the acreage the goats can work on, WAC-HNG is developing an Adopt-A-Goat campaign, to further increase awareness and raise funds. To stay updated about WAC-HNG, the goats, and how you can help, visit www.wachng.org.

Goats, such as Slipper above, take the land from this (above)...


to this (on right)






Childhood Homes

870 Homewood Avenue, Salem, Ohio
The early days of Barbara Ross Earnhardt and her siblings were spent here

  We moved to 870 Homewood Avenue in Salem, Ohio, in January of 1938.  I know that because my new baby sister came to live with my parents and me that same month.  I had ordered her, so I was pleased—why else would my mother have asked me whether I wanted a sister or a brother?  We lived in this house for  six years, adding a mess of a baby brother to the mix.  We outgrew the house, and the day we moved away, I remember looking out the car’s rear window and promising I would come and buy it back someday.

 A few years ago, my sister and I returned to look at 870 Homewood—we were standing out on the front sidewalk.  Out came a pleasant woman who asked who we were.  We told her, and she replied, “Oh—you’re the Ross girls!  I bought this house from your dad!”  She had been my dad’s secretary, and as little girls, we thought her name “Zora Trotter” was one of the funniest names in the world.  She lived in the house with her mother, and invited us in—but our husbands were waiting in the car, and so we declined.  I wanted to know if up in the attic there was a plaster wall with our names scribbled on it.  “There is!” she told us.  They probably still are.... Barbara Earnhardt

Neighborhood News

Received at the CHURCH
Souper Bowl Sunday, February 1, at Bearwallow Baptist netted 128 pounds of food and $106.25 cash to help with food expenses for Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach. Just a reminder that the food bank can always use our offerings.
Delivered to the OUTREACH in Lake Lure
Donnie Freeman, interim pastor at Bearwallow, and Jean Bradley make the delivery.

Gerton Mourns Passing of Two WWII Vets

Two lovely gentlemen who graced our lives in Gerton have left us behind--David Douglas on January 4, and Griff Campbell on January 12.  Both contributed in so many ways to our community. They were both in their 90s, both served in the Armed Forces,  and both led outstanding professional lives that influenced thousands of others for good.

DAVID DOUGLAS came as a teenager to Gerton in 1939 when his parents--William and Bertha--drove him from New York to North Carolina to enroll him in Belmont Abbey College.  After his B.A. degree, he earned two more degrees--a Bachelor of Philosophy from Loyola University and a Bachelor of Science from the Merchant Marine Academy.  He served as a Merchant Marine during WWII, and also in the Coast Guard.  He continued his loyalty to servicemen by volunteering at the V.A. Hospital in Asheville after he retired from Kaiser Aluminum.  David represented that company in Africa as an engineer in Ghana, and with his wife Marjorie and their three sons--Michael, David, Jerry--lived abroad for some years before returning to Louisiana. He lived in both Henderson and Buncombe County.


He brought his second wife Rose Ann to Gerton. Here he pursued many hobbies--carpentry, inlaid wood furniture, stained glass, jewelry making, stamp collecting, watercolor.  He was a ham radio operator, and worked with Boy Scouts of America for many years.  He was quite a gourmet chef, specializing in French food.  He was active in the Men's Prayer Breakfast Saturday morning gatherings at the Community Center, and joined the Gerton Fire Department volunteer team.  He served for several years as Program Chair for the UHNG Community Center, and was an active participant at Bearwallow Baptist Church and Church of the Transfiguration in Bat Cave.

Bobby Dees and Donnie Freeman conducted his memorial service at Bearwallow January 9.  He leaves behind his beloved Rose Ann, his three sons, and step-daughters Jan Peleaz, Amy Goss, Sue Coons, and step-son Mark Powell.  Several grandchildren and great grandchildren added to the family circle.  His beloved brother Bill predeceased him.  Sister-in-law Bettye lives in Los Angeles.
The family expressed gratitude to the Bearwallow Baptist members and the Community Club for the lunch served after the memorial service January 9.  The family also noted the excellent care David received for his year's residence at Universal Health Care in Fletcher, as well as the kindness of the continuous concern of Gerton friends during David's years of declining health.  

There's a heartening tribute to David from a Universal Health Care employee in the Guest Book section of the Asheville Citizen Times obituary: for a class-assigned paper, her young son interviewed David as a WWII veteran.  Always taking an interest in young people, including many Gerton youngsters we could name, David detailed his war experiences for the youngster. According to the mother, her son earned a 99 on his paper. 
   
GRIFF CAMPBELL
(by Barbara Earnhardt)
Writing an obituary is hard. Obituary writing for a close friend of over 40 years is especially hard. So we've decided for notice of Griff Campbell's death January 12 at Twin Lakes Retirement Community in Burlington, to write instead some things Echo readers might not know about their friend and summer neighbor of 25 years.

Son of a Methodist minister, Griff and his siblings grew up in a number of South Carolina parsonages. In WWII, he served in the US Army in Africa and Italy, loved reminiscing about how he and his team could calculate the precise angle from which to launch mortarfire bound for enemy lines. After attending Brevard College and the  University of South Carolina earning his Ph.D. in literature, he brought his wife Betty Fellers Campbell and two young sons to Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, N.C. For the remainder of his professional life there, he taught more than a thousand students, exulting his subjects as diverse as sentence diagramming to explicating John Milton. His reading poems aloud in class persuaded many students to change their majors to English.

He also served as town commissioner, church lay reader, teacher and choir member of the Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in nearby Richfield. He was regular pronouncer of words for the county-wide spelling bees. He was poll watcher for countless elections, led book discussions, and served Meals on Wheels.

In his 50s, he had a massive heart attack, swore off caffeine and cigarettes and lived another 40-plus years.

In Gerton, some readers may recall his acting in two Hickory Creek Players' productions: "In Arsenic and old Lace" as the crazed Henry Einstein; in "Southern Fried Murder," as both a dotty rich old lady (murdered, of course) and her foppish son. He relished a good game of Scrabble, Boggle, and Bridge. Way into his late 80s, he beat many younger players in golf. Hearing from former students by phone, letter, or visits pleased him mightily.


He secured the first set of park benches down at the center, he shared with various groups poems he had memorized from Robert Burns, Robert Frost, TS Eliot, and Walt Whitman. He loved reading contemporary novels and listening to J.S. Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze." Griff leaves behind Betty, his wife of 61 years, two musician sons, Griffin and Bob, and their wives, five grandchildren, and multitudes of friends. Condolences can be sent to 2745 Wade Coble Drive, Apt. 107, Burlington, NC  27215.
J. Griffin Campbell, 1919-2015

Ed Hunting is relocating out of Greentree Rehab and joining his brother in Texas.Mary and Ed's Gerton house will be sold with the money going to the Kalamazoo Educational Fund. 

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