Dramatic sunset the day after Christmas 2019!
Utensil: use at least a 6-qt. crockpot or heavy dutch oven.
Ingredients:
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, diced, with juice
1 28-oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (not San Marzano or plum), undrained
1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons bacon grease
1 red bell pepper, roasted, skin removed
1 green bell pepper, roasted, skin removed
2 leeks, green part removed
1 medium yellow onion
2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 lb. lean Hickory Nut Gap ground beef
1/2 lb. top round steak, chopped finely
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (used earlier than other spices)
Dry spice set:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried mustard
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon A-1 sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons beef bouillon powder (or 2 cubes)
Instructions:
1. Mix dry spice set in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Add tomatoes, pinto beans, and tomato sauce to a crockpot or dutch oven that holds at least 6 quarts. Turn on medium heat to pot (if crockpot, cooking 8 hours on low is recommended).
3. Dice peppers, leeks, onion and jalapenos finely. Heat bacon grease on medium in a large skillet. Add peppers, leeks and onion and saute until soft, about 5-10 min. Add to pot. Saute jalapenos in remaining grease for 5 min., then add to pot.
4. Using same skillet, brown Italian sausage. When done, transfer to pot by slotted spoon and leave remaining grease in skillet. Add ground beef to skillet and saute till brown, then transfer by slotted spoon to pot. Add round steak to skillet, season with the Montreal steak seasoning, and saute until browned. Drain grease from skillet and add steak to pot.
5. Add dry spice set to pot and stir thoroughly.
6. Add to pot, one at a time, stirring after each addition: lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, A-1 sauce, minced garlic, beef bouillon. Stir thoroughly, cover pot and let simmer on stove, tightly covered, for at least two hours. (Crockpot: cook 6-8 hours on low).
When done, stir thoroughly and serve.
About three dozen people joined the afternoon gathering -- making lunch from the eleven tastings, or helping themselves to a larger bowl. Cornbread and brownies were provided by Susie Bancer and Karen Ownensby, who also chaired the event and set up the room. We had a DONATION bucket and the event tallied $200 for the club's fundraising effort.
Calendar of Events
March 3 - NORTH CAROLINA PRIMARY VOTING DAY
March 8, Sunday - DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS
March 17, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.- Community Covered Dish Dinner. Program: Carolina Conservancy
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day
April 11, Saturday - 2 p.m. - Easter Egg Hunt
April 11, Saturday - 2 p.m. - Easter Egg Hunt
April 12, Sunday - Easter
April 18 - SALE ON THE TRAIL- Community Yard Sale at the UHNGCC beginning at 8 a.m.
Community Breakfast - beginning at 8 a.m.
April 21, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. Community Covered Dish Dinner. Program: Jack Bancer, Living Off the Grid
April 22 - Earth Day
I am providing this e-mail (groundedingerton@gmail.com) as a way for Gerton residents to have an additional way to communicate with the Board and make suggestions or comments on activities in our community. The success of any organization is participation and new ideas, so I hope to meet more of you at our monthly dinners and events and hear new ideas or suggestions at the e-mail address shown above. With that being said – If you normally attend our dinners (3rd Tuesday of every month) please consider inviting one of your neighbors to join you. If you have never attended or it has been a while please think about joining us to enjoy a meal and meet new neighbors.
We have several activities that will be upon us before we know it – be on the look out for the early spring flowers making their debut in our new planter boxes in front of the community center. Our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Sale on the Trail/Breakfast will be taking place in April – for the Sale on the Trail (Saturday April 18th) please start thinking about good quality items you can donate to the Community Center and consider helping with the setup, pricing, and sale activities.
A big Thanks to Gloria Black-Anders for her past leadership with our Highway Beautification Program and Trash pick-up. Mike Hamlin will now be heading up this committee and will provide an update and preliminary dates for clean up at our March 17th Dinner.
Our Membership Dues Drive has been a tremendous success with over $500 in dues and $1000 in donations received as I write this note. If you have not yet donated, please see a Board Member for details.
We had a great time at the first “Gerton Chili Cook-Off” and thanks for the leadership of Susie Bancer, Karen Owensby and the participants. This event will be a yearly activity added to our calendar.
In closing I want be mindful of what a wonderful community we have here in Gerton and request that we all support those who are less fortunate by asking that you bring food items for the Outreach Program. We have a goal of donating 100 lbs. of food each month, so please bring non perishable food items for our collection box.
All the Best!
Stan Mobley
groundedingerton@gmail.com
UHNGCC President
President's Note
I want to begin by offering a Big Thank You to my fellow Board Members and the Community at Large for the support and encouragement you have offered me in my new role as President. I am always one to help behind the scenes, but this role of leadership is a new opportunity for me, and I am counting on Gerton to help me navigate and lead our Center to new heights.I am providing this e-mail (groundedingerton@gmail.com) as a way for Gerton residents to have an additional way to communicate with the Board and make suggestions or comments on activities in our community. The success of any organization is participation and new ideas, so I hope to meet more of you at our monthly dinners and events and hear new ideas or suggestions at the e-mail address shown above. With that being said – If you normally attend our dinners (3rd Tuesday of every month) please consider inviting one of your neighbors to join you. If you have never attended or it has been a while please think about joining us to enjoy a meal and meet new neighbors.
We have several activities that will be upon us before we know it – be on the look out for the early spring flowers making their debut in our new planter boxes in front of the community center. Our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Sale on the Trail/Breakfast will be taking place in April – for the Sale on the Trail (Saturday April 18th) please start thinking about good quality items you can donate to the Community Center and consider helping with the setup, pricing, and sale activities.
A big Thanks to Gloria Black-Anders for her past leadership with our Highway Beautification Program and Trash pick-up. Mike Hamlin will now be heading up this committee and will provide an update and preliminary dates for clean up at our March 17th Dinner.
Our Membership Dues Drive has been a tremendous success with over $500 in dues and $1000 in donations received as I write this note. If you have not yet donated, please see a Board Member for details.
We had a great time at the first “Gerton Chili Cook-Off” and thanks for the leadership of Susie Bancer, Karen Owensby and the participants. This event will be a yearly activity added to our calendar.
In closing I want be mindful of what a wonderful community we have here in Gerton and request that we all support those who are less fortunate by asking that you bring food items for the Outreach Program. We have a goal of donating 100 lbs. of food each month, so please bring non perishable food items for our collection box.
All the Best!
Stan Mobley
groundedingerton@gmail.com
UHNGCC President
he ECHO OF THE GORGE is published bi-monthly, a newsletter of the UHNGCC.
Copies are available in the Gerton Post Office or the issue may be found online: www.gertonecho.blogspot.com
News and pictures may be sent to Margaret Whitt at margaret.whitt@du.edu
Photographers for this issue: Margaret Whitt, Karen Owensby, Karen Bradley
Officers of the 2020 UHNGCC: President - Stan Mobley;
Vice-President - Jim Earnhardt; Secretary - Karen Owensby; Treasurer - Sylvia Sane;
Board - Jean Bradley, Margaret Whitt, Chuck Mallory
After Christmas Clean-Up
Decorating for the holidays is always the fun part. We like to change our ordinary days into the festive colors of the Christmas season. We put wreaths up; we either haul out or go chop down or head to the tree lot to purchase a tree, which we bring home and set up, and adorn with ornaments that invoke all kinds of memories from years gone by. Then the holidays are over--and all the Christmas decor seems somehow out-of-place.
As a community we do this decorating on a larger scale. We put up over 40 fresh greens with bright red bows on every street sign in Gerton that connects with 74A. We put up two trees inside the clubhouse, and we add a timer to the big tree by the picture window that salutes the season for all passersby for the month of December. But when the new year comes and we move into January, Christmas becomes "so last year."
Taking down the holiday reminders and storing them is a less fun job. SO, this year we thank Mac and Mary Kay McAdams, Jim Earnhardt, Sylvia Sane, Jean Bradley, and Stan Mobley for undecorating and re-storing our trees, ornaments, garland, and red bows until next year. We thank Jim Sane for taking down the greens from all our street signs. Thanks and thanks for making us look again as a community who knows what the date is! Thanks for doing the jobs that are less fun.
Food for Hickory Nut Gorge Outreach...
In 2019, we collected 1,031 pounds (a little over half a ton) of food and supplies for our neighbors in the gorge. For 2020, our goal is 1,200 pounds (or a 100 pounds a month). We have a new chart on the clubhouse podium, so that you may check our progress towards this goal. Remember when you come to dinner on the third Tuesday to bring some extra cans for those who live among us.
Chuck Mallory took top honors in a blind voting ballot. Here is his award-winning recipe:
Inaugural Chili Cook-Off
One of three tables set up for tasting the chili.
Our inaugural Gerton chili cook-off took place on Saturday, January 25, from noon-2 p.m. We had eleven entries: Chuck Mallory, Jami Lynn, Gloria Anders, Susie Bancer, Karen Owensby, Sheila Padgett, Stan Mobley, Steve Jones, Mike Hamlin, Jim Earnhardt, and Chris Panthos. When neighbors entered the room, each was given a ballot and asked to select their top three choices. While everyone got votes!, the winners are pictured below. Each was awarded a wooden stir spoon and a small piece of pottery provided by Gerton's own potter, Mike Hamlin.
"Gerton Grub" Chili
Utensil: use at least a 6-qt. crockpot or heavy dutch oven.
Ingredients:
1 28-oz can San Marzano tomatoes, diced, with juice
1 28-oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes (not San Marzano or plum), undrained
1 15-oz. can pinto beans, drained
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons bacon grease
1 red bell pepper, roasted, skin removed
1 green bell pepper, roasted, skin removed
2 leeks, green part removed
1 medium yellow onion
2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed
1 lb. mild Italian sausage
1 lb. lean Hickory Nut Gap ground beef
1/2 lb. top round steak, chopped finely
1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (used earlier than other spices)
Dry spice set:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried mustard
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon A-1 sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons beef bouillon powder (or 2 cubes)
Instructions:
1. Mix dry spice set in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Add tomatoes, pinto beans, and tomato sauce to a crockpot or dutch oven that holds at least 6 quarts. Turn on medium heat to pot (if crockpot, cooking 8 hours on low is recommended).
3. Dice peppers, leeks, onion and jalapenos finely. Heat bacon grease on medium in a large skillet. Add peppers, leeks and onion and saute until soft, about 5-10 min. Add to pot. Saute jalapenos in remaining grease for 5 min., then add to pot.
4. Using same skillet, brown Italian sausage. When done, transfer to pot by slotted spoon and leave remaining grease in skillet. Add ground beef to skillet and saute till brown, then transfer by slotted spoon to pot. Add round steak to skillet, season with the Montreal steak seasoning, and saute until browned. Drain grease from skillet and add steak to pot.
5. Add dry spice set to pot and stir thoroughly.
6. Add to pot, one at a time, stirring after each addition: lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, A-1 sauce, minced garlic, beef bouillon. Stir thoroughly, cover pot and let simmer on stove, tightly covered, for at least two hours. (Crockpot: cook 6-8 hours on low).
When done, stir thoroughly and serve.
Steve Jones's chili was voted first runner-up.
Susie Bancer took second runner-up prize.
Here, Susie Bancer, Gloria Anders, and Jim Earnhardt get in a visit before the tasting.
Journey Scholarship...
is available from the WNCCommunities to high school seniors planning to go to college in the fall. Please contact a member of the board for the application.
and UHNGCC Scholarship...
is also available from UHNGCC. Please contact Stan Mobley for an application. Forms will be in the Gerton Post Office by mid-April. The application due date is May 15.
On a rainy Tuesday, February 18, 25 neighbors gathered for another wonderful meal. We began the meal with a brief tribute to long-time Gerton neighbor Gene Earnhardt, who died in the early hours of February 4. This night would have been his 86th birthday. After our meal, we used the program time to talk with each other at our tables--answering the question: What brought you to Gerton? One of our plans in the new year is to get to know each other a bit better!
We always marvel at how even with just over two dozen people, we always have a well-balanced, colorful, and delicious meal.
Mike Hamlin (left) is presented the first 50/50 raffle of the new year by Stan Mobley. He won $38. Mike has won the raffle twice, but the other time, he says, was long, long ago. The club keeps $38.
Eugene Irwin Earnhardt, Jr. passed away peacefully Feb. 4 at age 85.
Born in Thomasville, on Feb. 18, 1934 to Eugene Irwin Earnhardt Sr. and Ruth Maier Earnhardt, married for 60 years to Barbara Ross Earnhardt, Gene was the father to three sons and the grandpa to one grandson.
Gene graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in 1952, attended Washington & Lee University and graduated from Northwestern University in 1956 with degrees in Economics and English.
He became a salesman for Alcoa Steamship Company in Manhattan, where the couple met in 1957.
Married in 1959, and after a six-month camping trip through much of Europe, they returned to North Carolina for Gene to enter UNC-Chapel Hill graduate school in American History.
At Pfeiffer University (Misenheimer) for 30 years, Gene chaired the history department, ran many faculty committees, graded 1,000s of papers and impacted the lives of many students and colleagues.
He was an avid brush clearer and chain sawer; lover of movies, art and theater; a faithful sports fan (Go, Tar Heels!); a sharer of dry wit, insight and expertise; and a current affairs analyst through the lens of history.
He and Barbara retired in 2000 to Gerton, the Earnhardt family's beloved summer community.
He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., Albemarle and Asheville.
Survived by his wife, Barbara; sons David (Swannanoa), Sam (Black Mountain) and John (Menlo Park, Calif.) and daughter-in-law Lisa and grandson Jack; brothers Jim (Keith) and Tom (Dana). He was also "Uncle Gene" to nine nieces and nephews. Gene and Barbara's two cats, Lucy and Leroy, will miss him. Mainly Leroy.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. in Black Mountain in the Assembly Room at Givens Highland Farms, the couple's residence for the past five years. The Rev. Lynn Bledsoe officiated. Friends were received after the service. The interment will take place in early summer at Bearwallow Baptist Church cemetery in Gerton.
The family is grateful to the great care Gene received from the Highland Farms health care staff over his final months...they are truly the best.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that any gifts be made in memoriam to the Pfeiffer Fund, c/o Pfeiffer University History Department (Misenheimer, NC 28109) or the charity of the donor's choice
.
February Program
It was good to have Susan and David back in town from their home in Florence, S.C. for our monthly meal. They spent an extra day to join us.
Neighborhood News
Born in Thomasville, on Feb. 18, 1934 to Eugene Irwin Earnhardt Sr. and Ruth Maier Earnhardt, married for 60 years to Barbara Ross Earnhardt, Gene was the father to three sons and the grandpa to one grandson.
Gene graduated from Sewanee Military Academy in 1952, attended Washington & Lee University and graduated from Northwestern University in 1956 with degrees in Economics and English.
He became a salesman for Alcoa Steamship Company in Manhattan, where the couple met in 1957.
Married in 1959, and after a six-month camping trip through much of Europe, they returned to North Carolina for Gene to enter UNC-Chapel Hill graduate school in American History.
At Pfeiffer University (Misenheimer) for 30 years, Gene chaired the history department, ran many faculty committees, graded 1,000s of papers and impacted the lives of many students and colleagues.
He was an avid brush clearer and chain sawer; lover of movies, art and theater; a faithful sports fan (Go, Tar Heels!); a sharer of dry wit, insight and expertise; and a current affairs analyst through the lens of history.
He and Barbara retired in 2000 to Gerton, the Earnhardt family's beloved summer community.
He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., Albemarle and Asheville.
Survived by his wife, Barbara; sons David (Swannanoa), Sam (Black Mountain) and John (Menlo Park, Calif.) and daughter-in-law Lisa and grandson Jack; brothers Jim (Keith) and Tom (Dana). He was also "Uncle Gene" to nine nieces and nephews. Gene and Barbara's two cats, Lucy and Leroy, will miss him. Mainly Leroy.
A memorial service was held on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. in Black Mountain in the Assembly Room at Givens Highland Farms, the couple's residence for the past five years. The Rev. Lynn Bledsoe officiated. Friends were received after the service. The interment will take place in early summer at Bearwallow Baptist Church cemetery in Gerton.
The family is grateful to the great care Gene received from the Highland Farms health care staff over his final months...they are truly the best.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that any gifts be made in memoriam to the Pfeiffer Fund, c/o Pfeiffer University History Department (Misenheimer, NC 28109) or the charity of the donor's choice
