July - August 2015

At the end of June, the Gerton Post Office got a new coat of paint--same color, but a fresh look!

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, Bonnie Moore. Photographers:  Sylvia Sane, Jean Bradley, Dave MacDonald, and Bonnie Moore

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. 

Calendar of Events

July 1, 8, 15, and 22 - Primitive Rug Hooking Class. This class is for kids and teens, but adults are welcome to watch. Volunteers from the local Rug Guild will teach. Each student will make a small "mug rug" to take home. Fee: $2. NC Cooperative Extension. 100 Jackson Park Rd., Hendersonville

July 3, around 9 p.m.- Fireworks at Lake Lure 

July 4 - Community Cook-Out. Burgers and Dogs provided. Bring sides. Bingo till dark followed by fireworks extravaganza!

July 18—Ken Abbott’s photos of Sherrill’s Inn displayed

                                             at Asheville Art Museum.   (See Neighborhood News.)

July 21, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Community Covered Dish. Program: Moments from the play.

July 24 and 25 - Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m Summer Play: TWO MANY GHOSTS!

August 18, 6:30 p.m., Community Covered Dish. Program: Field trip to Laughing Waters after dinner.

September 5, GERTONFEST VII -- SAVE THE DATE

President’s Note

I’ve been busy trying to catch up with my projects, and starting more at the same time.   But the kitchen is finished and it looks great.  Thanks to everyone that helped on this project.

The High Tea was an extremely successful event.  I was there at the end to pick up the chairs and tables.  Everyone I spoke with loved the event.  Thanks to all the ladies that made the High Tea such a success.

We had a large crowd at the June Dinner.  I forgot to get a count, but I would estimate approximately 40.  Freddie Ann Nappi gave a very good program on competitive bow shooting.  I really like the theme of having Gerton’s talented and interesting people present the programs.

Well, that’s about all I have for this issue of the Echo.  It’s been a great year for UHNG Community Club thus far.  We have upcoming events and I look forward to working with everyone and continuing the great success we’ve enjoyed.

                                                               Jim Sane

SIXTH SUMMER WORLD PREMIER IN GERTON!

by Barbara Earnhardt

Every mansion needs a ghost--everybody knows that.  But what about a mansion with two ghosts?  And these particular two ghosts like to raid the wine cabinet when they can?

Gerton's Hickory Creek Players present their sixteenth-in-a-row summer play--"Two Many Ghosts" by playwright/director Helen Brown.  The play promises another rollicking evening of light fare with familiar local talent.  It takes place July 24 and 25 at the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge Community Center.  Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 o'clock performance.

This is the sixth play Helen Brown has created for the Community Center's fund raising.  "Writing plays is a good way to spend the long winter months," she says, "thinking up situations and characters in hopes of bringing a summer audience of all ages some hearty laughs."

Set in a 150-year-old mansion, a young heiress wants to sell the house with its twenty rooms.  She doesn't have the gift of ghost-seeing, evidently a talent granted to very few people.  (All playgoers will see the ghosts, guaranteed, either night attended.)

Ghosts Hagatha and Theodora--who enjoy a stolen glass of wine now and then--are played by seasoned actors Bonnie Moore and Ruth Hudson.  Heiress Ellenor Harrington (Freddie Ann Nappi) has hired realtor Pete Wilson (Mike Hurst) who hopes to land one of three prospective buyers: Miss Tripplet (Pam Lewis), Tommy "Sweets" Thomas (Don Lewis), or Lillian Wingfield (Ruth Ann Nappi).  Resisting any change to the mansion is longtime, cranky caretaker Mr. Stipplehogger ("Stipp") and his helper Lexal, (Fred and J.D. Nappi).  Beth Ward will provide on the electric keyboard appropriately scary music for a haunted house.

The two-act play takes about l-l/2 hour's viewing time, with an Intermission for a stretch and refreshments.  The $15 tickets can be purchased at the door each evening. 

Gerton Teacup High Tea

In the new incarnation of high teas, we held our first high tea in September 2014. The event was a "sold out" affair, so under the leadership of Margaret Colwell we held our second high tea on May 28. Once again, the affair was another colossal "sold out" success.

Jackie Palmer, caterer extraordinaire from Lancaster, South Carolina (and also Margaret Whitt's sister) returned to put a new spin on the arrangement of our menu. Margaret Colwell, Patty Tanner, Virginia McGuffey, Jean Bradley, Joan Pool, and Helen Brown, Ruth Hudson, and Freddie Ann Nappi prepared the sandwiches, savories, and sweets. Helen Brown, Ruth Hudson, and Ruth Ann Nappi prepared the flowers, with help from Claudia Freeman. Toni Eastman offered a lovely tea cup wreath. Bonnie Moore designed and printed the tickets; Jean Bradley coordinated sales and tallied the money. Jim Sane, Doug Colwell, Mack McAdams picked up the tables and chairs from Lake Lure and Jim Sane, Jim Earnhardt, Mack McAdams, and David Scoggins returned them after the tea ended. Brad Earnhardt once again coming from his musical tour of the Biltmore made it to Gerton to play the classical guitar for the second time. Doug and Margaret Colwell gave the center a thorough cleaning before the tea and Syble Freeman and Sylvia Sane aided in the cleaning up.

This year the tea was served by a bevy of young women with ties to the community. Pictured above are Faith Perry, Freddie Ann Nappi, Gracelyn Perry, Sarah Margaret Leahy, Abigail Leahy, and Kari Bishop, who served the tea and also re-supplied the buffet table and helped clear the tables at the end of the tea. Their youthful energy was an inspiration. Plus, they were personable and competent and all-around delightful in their assigned roles.

By tables, women served themselves from the buffet, while sweets were on each table. A number of hats filled the room, making a delightful spring fashion statement. All-in-all, an affair to remember. Thanks to all who made it possible and all who came to enjoy an afternoon at the top of the gorge. The UHNGCC made over $950 on the event.

Letter about the Tea:

from Pat McCall in Fairview to Margaret Colwell, chair of the spring 2015 High Tea:

I wanted to write and tell you what a wonderful time my friends and I had at the High Tea party. We really enjoyed it. You all did a wonderful job of setting the tea and making it a special event. Please thank the other ladies and all who helped put it together. The young ladies who so graciously served were just charming. It was also very nice to make your acquaintance, as well as some other ladies...Thank you again for having us. 

May and June Programs

In May, Skip Shelton of Carolina Mountain Club gave a mini-lesson with pictures on "How to Build a Mountain Trail." Many of those who participate in their trail-building club are well into their 80s and 90s! The pictures did a wonderful job of illustrating the challenges of making a trail that will last. The pictures were also a reminder of how really beautiful is our area of the state. Though we live here and see it every day, we often need to be reminded of our good fortune.

In June, Freddie Ann Nappi did a first-rate job of explaining the bow and the competitive events into which archery has taken her. Accomplished as an actor and an archer, we also know that Freddie Ann has many as yet untapped talents.

New Kitchen Renovation Complete! 

As the calendar turned to June, the last details of the new kitchen have been accomplished! Even though the old kitchen was with us for so many years--more than half a century, it is now hard to remember what it looked like. In the pictures below, you can see the new ceiling and light fixtures, the new refrigerator moved from the serving area to its new place inside the kitchen, the garbage can gracefully hidden under the center aisle. 

 Below, this picture gives a good idea of the new flooring and the, at present, pristine look of the white cabinets with counter tops that are speckled with yellow and brown marbling design. Decorative old ceramic tea pots find a new home atop the cabinets.

 And, finally, here you can see the new microwave, which complements the refrigerator in burnished stainless steel, over the pair of our black stoves. Only the stoves and the sink remain--everything else is brand new! And we look forward to its lasting another half century. Thanks again to all the members of the community who helped--for a day, for an hour, or for days on end! And a special thanks to Jim Earnhardt and Jim Sane for being on the job from its conception to putting the last nail in the molding strips.

Helpful Information: Detecting a Stroke. Think FAST!

Face drooping - Does one side of the face droop or is it numb?

Arm weakness - Is one arm weak or numb?

Speech difficulty - Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Can he or she repeat a simple sentence?

Time to call 911 - If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 911 immediately

Bearwallow Bench 

by Bonnie Moore

Stonework by Marc Archambault, Hammerhead Stoneworks, Asheville, NC

On Sunday, April 25, if you came in the side door of Bearwallow Baptist Church to worship, you might have missed the new stone bench installed in front of the church on the Friday before. Since then we hope you have checked it out.  The bench was a gift to the church and all the people who attend there. Over the last ten years, the members of Bearwallow Baptist Church have given out over 12,000  “wooden nickels” with the personal message: “Child, You were worth it.” That message is now engraved in stone, and this Bench will continue to deliver this message long after the current residents of Gerton are gone.  Hammerhead Stoneworks in Asheville found the Tennessee sandstone slab and installed it in time for this year's Homecoming of the church on July 5. Walkers, runners, and all who pass by are invited to come sit and rest awhile on the new bench.

Neighborhood News

Karl and Karen Bradley have offered their land to a friend's cattle. A young calf in the first days of life is pictured here in late April. If you've ever traveled to the Scottish Highlands, you likely would have run into relatives of our newest neighbors: Highlander Cows look at you soulfully, with curved horns they find useful for combing through their longhaired fur coats.  Some of them are friendly--others, not.  In the Bradleys' meadow you can spot three such animals--one a newborn--and their companion a Black Angus.  The Highlanders have no names, at least for now. (Maybe the Community Center should have a naming contest?  On the other hand, once named, animals are famously harder to contemplate eating. It's why some people turn into vegetarians. And our temporary tenants, their grandparents originally imported from the blasting cold Scottish winters where their coats keep them toasty warm,  are bred to improve the flavor of  our beef....)

 Only temporary tenants, the four are here until next spring when their owner will have a nearby place for them to live.  Until then, they grace the Bradleys' meadows--and Gerton!   --B. Earnhardt 

SHERRILL’s INN, toward Asheville on #74A, is our nearest neighboring farm and family home to the Clarke family since 1934.  Professional photographer Ken Abbott found valuable evidence of historic and authentic mountain life inside and outside the house.  A year ago April, Ken brought his photographs for us to see at the Community Center dinner.  He hoped to find a publisher for a hardback book with text describing the Inn’s history.  That hope is close to becoming tangible.  His stunning 35 photos, one of which was displayed in New York’s Museum of Modern Art in a collection of outstanding photographs, will be hanging in the Asheville Museum of Art in downtown Asheville.  The show is free on Wednesdays from 3 to 5, beginning July 18 through October ll.  “Heritage and Home: Photographs of Hickory Nut Gap Farm” will be worth a visit for those who know the house well, and those who wish they did.  The Museum’s hours are usually ll a.m. to 5 p.m. other days as well, with admission $10 to free, depending on your age.    --B.Earnhardt

Happy Birthday, Billy Gaines!

Tuesday June 9, 22 friends and neighbors gathered at Patty Tanner's house off Bearwallow Subdivision Rd, to surprise Charleston resident Billy Gaines with a birthday party. He had arrived only the Sunday before and was lured to Patty's house by word of a local "Chicken Foot" tournament. Chicken Foot, for those not aware, is a game of dominoes, and a new favorite game of Billy's. This party was especially fun, because it had as many local men in attendance as ladies.

Billy is well loved here in Gerton, where he has a summer house, because he is always willing to help in the community. He has helped recently with Jim Sane, Jim Earnhardt, Doug Colwell and others gutting and rebuilding the UHNGCC kitchen. He also has helped with Gertonfest, and the fourth of July and Labor day picnics. This year he has agreed to be prop master for Helen Brown's play. He has boiled peanuts for the real southern residence, and is first to offer a ride to the first Thursday BayBreeze fish eaters. Gerton hopes he's around another 69 years! -- B. Moore

Notes to the Little Library:

"Absolutely love it! great concept which I plan to soon implement. Long live the written word. Thank you!
"I borrowed Crossing Over and I know this much is true--will bring a handful back when I return them."   signed but signature not legible!

"Shlammed a great book. XOXO" no signature