May - June 2023

Azaleas in peak bloom in the spring of 2023. 

And azaleas -- up close. 

President's Note

In April, we hosted our first ever Taco Tuesday night, a change from our long-standing covered dish pot luck meals. Steve Jones and Ellen Boyle provided the tacos, meat, beans, and rice. All the rest of us had to do was bring our favorite toppings. We had vanilla ice cream, cake, and brownies for dessert. With assorted cones and sprinkles, too. It was like an evening in a favorite Mexican restaurant, but right here in Gerton. Going forward we hope to have other "special" meals that will happen in the midst of our covered dish meals. We are trying to keep the old---and bring in the new. The evening also featured a wonderful program about bears--and our responsibility to learn to live beside them. You never know what will happen in a "regular" monthly gathering at the center.

Meanwhile, the no-longer-new community room is being used regularly by a writing group and a Flannery O'Connor short story discussion group. The room is ideal for about a dozen people. If you want to sign up for some kind of game night with neighbors and friends, please do so. The use of the room is free. You may use the kitchen to help with your food or drink preparations, but be sure to clean up after yourselves! We have a book on the table to sign in, so that we may have a running idea of how and who is using the room.

Since January, we have tried to sponsor another activity each month, or so: In January, we had our second annual chili cook-off; in February, we hosted Eva and Diego in a concert for the soon-to-happen trip to New York's Carnegie Hall. Happening soon on MAY 13 will be a combined yard sale, community breakfast, and bake sale. Sylvia Sane will soon be making calls for cakes and pies, cookies and brownies. Gloria Anders, Chuck Mallory, and Steve Jones will be heading up the breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. And Stan Mobley is in charge of the yard sale -- a private one, where you keep the money and a few tables where we will sell stuff and keep the money for the club. More information on these events below and over email. Plan to spend your morning on the day before Mother's Day with us at the UHNGCC.

As the season of spring is upon us, there is much to notice in the blooming of dogwood (in particular) and in flowers. Long ago, Thoreau reported in his Walden: "One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring come in." I think this, too, was my reason for moving to Gerton!

Please join us on the 13th of May and again at our monthly dinner on May16. 

Margaret Whitt, President, UHNGCC

Calendar of Events

Saturday, May 13, beginning at 8 a.m. - Community breakfast, bake sale, and yard sale

Tuesday, May 16, 6:30 p.m. - Covered Dish Dinner and Program

Monday, May 29 - Memorial Day

Tuesday, June 20, 6:30 p.m. - Covered Dish Dinner and Program

Tuesday, July 4 - Our annual Celebration: stay tuned, but count on burgers and hot dogs and Bingo

Community Breakfast, Bake Sale, Yard Sale: Sat., May 13

Please join us on Saturday May 13, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Breakfast, Bake Sale and Indoor Yard Sale.

As a fundraiser to support the UHNGCC, we are sponsoring an Indoor Yard Sale. Reserved Tables/Spaces are available ($10 donation requested per table) to help you sell your treasures and antiques. If you want to reserve one or more tables, please send an e-mail to groundedingerton@gmail.com with your Name and Phone number and someone will contact you to confirm your space. We will be advertising the Sale on Craigslist so if you want to provide pictures of your items, we can include them in our notice about the sale.

We will be providing options to set-up your table or space prior to the sale on Saturday, May 13, or you can load-in early before the Sale on Saturday if you have reserved a space. Please be prepared to manage your own Sale payments and remove any unsold items at the end of the Sale at 1 p.m.

If you are not interested in selling your own items to make some cash but want to donate clean, quality items to the Community Center to be sold at our table, you can send an e-mail to groundedingerton@gmail.com and someone will contact you about pickup or drop off of your items prior to the Sale on Saturday, May 13. All items donated to the Community Center that are not sold will be donated to a Non-Profit. 

We will begin serving breakfast at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. Plan to start your day with your neighbors down at the center. We will also have a bake sale--you might want to buy a cake for a neighbor. Mother's Day is the following Sunday. You may expect a call from one of our board members asking you to donate an item for the bake sale. We look forward to your saying: YES!

See you on the 13th!

Hickory Nut Program a Success

by Chuck Mallory

 

Several dozen local residents turned out for the “Sustainable Living in Hickory Nut Forest” program on March 11 at Laughing Waters Retreat. Jane Lawson, cofounder of Hickory Nut Forest with her late husband, John Myers, gave a brief history of this exceptionally preserved land.

Jane Lawson

Residents Alys Campaigne and Tia Wackerhagen spoke on living in the community, the focus on solar usage, water power, community gardens and other sustainable practices that make Hickory Nut Forest unique. The 25 acres of the community is surrounded by 35 acres of land protected by Conserving Carolina.

After the talk in the Laughing Waters Retreat cabin, many attendees took a short hiking tour to the micro-hydro system that powers Laughing Waters Retreat. Bill Maurer, who manages the system, showed how the system is regulated, cleaned, and how the water flow powers the cabin.

Old Waterwheel

Another part of the day was touring the home of Ryan and Jane Lubbers, who have a fully solar-powered home. Jane explained how the house was built, special materials used, and how heat/cold is regulated on a house that fully relies on solar.

Jane Lubbers welcomes visitors to their solar home.

The enlightening talk was yet another moment when Gertonites could confirm that we live in a very special place!

For future events like this, go to ConservingCarolina.org/calendar

June 10 Event at Laughing Waters: "Wild Encounters"

Join Conserving Carolina and Laughing Waters Retreat Center for a free lecture entitled, "Wild Encounters," presented by naturalist and educator, Carlton Burke, of Carolina Mountain Naturalists, on Saturday, June 10th at 10:30 a.m. The event will take place in an outdoor pavilion located in the orchard at Laughing Waters Retreat Center, 3259 Gerton Highway, Gerton, NC.

The southern Appalachian Mountains are home to an incredible diversity of both plant and animal life. During this program, Carlton Burke will bring a variety of animals native to the region for you to learn about and see up-close. This program will include LIVE ANIMALS and will be perfect for all ages! So, come out and bring the kids!

Guests are asked to park in the orchard, accessed from the address above, and can expect a short walk up a little hill and gravel driveway to the pavilion. If mobility is an issue, there is the opportunity to be dropped off closer to the pavilion.

For more information, visit Conserving Carolina’s website calendar event at conservingcarolina.org/calendar. Space is limited and pre-registration is required.

For more information about Laughing Waters Retreat Center, visit laughingwatersnc.com. Laughing Waters is the community center for Hickory Nut Forest Eco Community in Gerton, NC. With 20 homesites in the midst of forever-protected forest, its focus is on land stewardship, green homes, renewable energy, healthy food, and education.

Conserving Carolina, your local land trust, is dedicated to protecting and stewarding land and water resources vital to our natural heritage and quality of life and to fostering appreciation and understanding of the natural world. For more info visit, www.conservingcarolina.org. 

 

Carlton Burke, Carolina Mountain Naturalists

Oral History Project

For a Gerton Oral History Project and Fundraiser, we are going to begin a series of story telling times. 

WHO?  Anyone who lives or has lived in Gerton

WHY? To record and archive stories of the people, land, and history of Gerton

SHARE YOUR STORIES: Sign up for a 15 to 90 minute time slot to tell us your stories about living in Gerton, now or in the past.

WE RECORD AND TRANSCRIBE: We will record your voice and transcribe the stories

THE FINISHED PROJECT: We will put it together in a booklet and sell it as a fundraiser for the UHNGCC.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:  email your interest and how many minutes to gertonstories@gmail.com

or call: 828-571-0813 (leave a voice mail)

Gerton Flower Quiz

These close ups of flowers in bloom are to help all of us master the names of those many species that grow locally. And if you are already knowledgeable, then feel good about your botanical wisdom. 

A Jack-in-the-Pulpit growing in the wild.

a great white trillium

Golden ragwort, an early spring flower growing wild all over the gorge provides early food for our pollinator friends.

March Dinner and Program

About two dozen neighbors came to our March 21 gathering for a covered dish dinner and then a lively and informative program delivered by Maria Belluccio and Chris Pantzis on their recent trip to Buenos Aires and the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chili. Special highlights included the many street Tango dancers of Buenos Aires and then the glaciers in the Patagonia. They traveled toward and near Tiera del Fuego and the Straits of Magellan. Especially haunting and varied were the many glaciers in their shapes and sizes. They showed us penguins as well, and the various animals that call Patagonia home. For many of us in the audience, it was our first "trip" to the far reaches of South America. Thanks, Maria and Chris, for sharing your adventures.

...with a slide showing Buenos Aires

...and later at the glaciers in the Patagonia region

 Maria was also the winner of our 50-50 Raffle. She gave her share of the winnings, $39, to Eva Infanzon for their coming trip to New York to play in Carnegie Hall. Also the Bearwallow Baptist Church gave a donation and other neighbors chipped in still more cash for their trip ahead. 

Other news of the evening included the announcement of an ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, which will be facilitated by Julia Pierce. A progress report was delivered at our April meeting. Further, mark your calendar for MAY 13, when we will hold a BREAKFAST, a giant BAKE SALE, and a private yard sale.

Litter Sweep - First of the Year

Tom Milroy, Mike Hamlin, Sarah Gayle, Stan Mobley, and Steve Jones

A hale and hearty five people showed up for our Friday, March 31, litter sweep. They collected nine bags of trash and three bags of recycled waste. It appears that Stan Mobley worked single-handedly from the center up toward Bat Cave, while Tom Milroy, Mike Hamlin, Sarah Gayle, and Steve Jones worked from the club to the Continental Divide. The job was completed in a little over an hour, and the dog remains that were spotted last time are still occupying its space on the side of the road. Perhaps it will, eventually, go back into nature. 

Our next litter sweep will be July 7. Come join the fun and satisfaction of living in a clean place!

A photo from 1970 newspaper where Gertonites were still about the business of picking up trash. Hard to believe that was only over a half century ago!

April Dinner and Program

We held our first Taco Tuesday dinner on April 18 for about 30 neighbors at the community center. Thanks to Ellen Boyle and Steve Jones, who prepared and provided several meats for the tacos--both soft and crunchy, along with rice and beans. Folks brought toppings to share, and we had ice cream cones and brownies and cake for dessert. We offered a wide assortment of drinks (without coffee) to match the evening's meal. This offering was a change-up from our usual covered dish pot luck and was welcomed by all who attended. 

Ashley Hobbs, who is a Special Project biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, gave an informative program on Bearwise. She spoke about how it is our charge to live alongside the black bears. We have about 20,000 black bears in North Carolina, the largest number in the southeast. They have settled in two regions within the state -- the larger number on the coast and here in the mountains. Bears hear much better than humans and their sense of smell is about 100 times better than ours. A warning was given about birdfeeders - a seven pound bag of birdseed is about 20,000 calories, which is a bear's normal daily intake during the latter days of early fall. So we were advised to take down our birdfeeders during the spring and summer months. Bears have a kind of GPS sense of where they are and are likely to know well their homes. We also need to lock our car doors because bears can smell food in cars and also know how to open a car door and climb inside. 

Ashley brought with her two taxidermy small cubs (about 4-5 months old) that were the victims of a car accident in Buncombe County, the spot in North Carolina that receives about 40 percent of calls on bears. For further information about bears, go to their helpful website: www.bearwise.org

Steve Ringenberg was the winner of the 50/50 Raffle. He turned his winnings back to the club, for a total of $133. Someone also donated $20 to the Donation Jar. So the club was the big winner on Tuesday night. Thank you, Steve, and another mystery person. 

Bear destruction at garbage site in Chestnut Hills.

A Look Back to Earlier Times in the ECHOs of Yesteryear

From the Sept. 1988 issue of the Echo:

Another sad note tolled the passing of Winnie Asbury, another long-time resident of Gerton, who died on Aug. 24. "Miss Winnie" passed quietly into a better life, following a long period of decline. A vibrant lady who took an active part in community life, Miss Winnie is remembered lovingly by friends and neighbors. Who could forget her courage the cool, rainy Sunday when she fell and broke her ankle just outside her little cabin at Chestnut Hills? She sat under her umbrella and sang until folks returning from church saw her and called for help!

From the Oct. 1988 issue of the Echo:

A catchy name has been selected for our local 4-H group: THE GERTON GOOF-OFFS! Adult sponsor is Carl Gillenwater.

From the July 1967 issue of the Echo:

Our good friend and longtime resident, Mr. Kelly Owensby, has a rare sense of humor and delight to astound his friends. Mrs. Mary Noel Green has been recording many of his witticisms. In discussing a friend of his, Kelly sez: "He's crazy about me...I've got him bad fooled."

Neighborhood News

Hulon Ted Roberts, 82, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, passed away on April 13, 2023. In accordance with his wishes, he will be cremated with no formal services. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

For many years Ted and Lana Roberts had a second home in Gerton. Both were active in the life of our community, and Lana served for a number of years on the board of the UHNGCC. We have fond memories of Ted driving his go-cart to the post office and around Gerton. Only recently, they sold their home in Gerton. Ted will be missed by his North Carolina friends. 

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ECHO of the Gorge is published bi-monthly by the UHNGCC. News and photos may be sent to Margaret Whitt at margaret.whitt@du.edu. Photos for this issue provided by Margaret Whitt, Chuck Mallory, Sylvia Sane, Ellen Boyle, Jane Lawson, Linda Reandeau, Mike Reandeau.

Officers of UHNGCC for 2023: President - Margaret Whitt; Vice-President - Ellen Boyle; Secretary - Karen Owensby; Treasurer - Sylvia Sane; Board Members - Chuck Mallory, Sarah Gayle; Stan Mobley, Lee Strickland, and Teresa Garrick.