July - August 2023

Stan Mobley plants summer flowers by one of our Gerton signs, while...

Mike Hamlin plants flowers at the other Gerton sign. Thanks to Stan and Mike.

President's Note

I have always thought that when July 4th rolls around we are halfway through our summer! So at least I can say, at this point: we are in the thick of our summer days. Part-time Gertonites have returned from their Florida homes and always add so much to our collective times together. Our numbers at monthly gatherings have increased--over 40 in May and over 30 in June. We look forward to our annual celebration of our country's birthday on July 4. Bring your friends and family and join your neighbors for a community cook-out of burgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs with all the trimmings. Bring sides to share. After the meal we will once again play some old-fashioned BINGO -- always fun when you win and barely tolerable when you lose. In the low moments of Bingo, well, Hope does spring eternal--until it doesn't. Come see what your fate will be this night! Free to play and $$ prizes for the winners. 

Our new spring triple event was the first of our annual fundraisers, and we raised over $1,000. Always a success when we reach the four-digit number! Our first game night was fun with a small crowd, but lots of laugh. Join us for the next game night on July 22. And then after time-out for the pandemic, we will return to our celebration of small town living with GERTONFEST XII. This year we will open around 3 p.m. with music, a fall plant sale, and some wonderful art to look at and/or buy. Local artists will be featured. Once again, homemade cakes and pies, cookies and brownies, breads and quiches will be available for sale. Around 5:30 we will begin selling our BBQ dinners. Choose from pork or chicken. Take out or eat in. AND....the popular Gerton t-shirts will return. You can place your orders ahead of time. More news to follow about the shirts.

We will host our second themed food night at our July meeting. Though it will be hard to top Taco Tuesday, we plan to have a French-themed evening come July 18. Stay turned for further information on how to participate. 

Don't forget to join us on Friday, July 7 for our first litter sweep of the season. 9:30 is our start time and with more of us present, the work takes less time. Each piece of trash removed from our roadsides makes the drive home and the drive through Gerton all the more scenic.

And don't forget to give your voice to the Gerton Oral History Project. HOW TO PARTICIPATE:  email your interest and how many minutes to gertonstories@gmail.com

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

When we gather for our monthly meals, please remember to support our giving to Lake Lure Outreach. An email will go out before the monthly meal to let all of us know what needs they have for that month. Thanks to each of you who contribute to making our time together richer. Gerton still remains a wonderful place to live, work, and play. 

Margaret Whitt, President, UHNGCC

Calendar of Events

July 4, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. - Community Cook-Out - Burgers, Dogs Provided. Bring sides, and stay for Bingo.

July 7, Friday, 9:30 a.m. LITTER SWEEP. Meet at UHNGCC for an hour of pick-up time with neighbors. 

July 18, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. - Community Covered Dish- French-themed. Program: Lee Strickland will speak on her recent trip to the Brittany area of France.

July 22, Saturday, 7 p.m. - Summer Game Night. Shuffleboard, Darts, Ping Pong. Board Games

August 15, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. - Community Covered Dish. Program: TBA

September 2, Saturday - GertonFest XII: BBQ DINNER, Fall Plant Sale, and Art Fair

From Gerton to the BIG APPLE

The Infanzon family joined others from the Carolina Youth Symphony to make the trip to New York City to perform a concert in Carnegie Hall at the end of April. New York at night greets them on their arrival.

A view from the top of the Empire State Building (above) was part of their tour through the city.

Eva takes a quiet moment to look at Carnegie Hall before the concert begins. At the very last minute Diego got sick and was unable to attend. All of Gerton is so very proud of Eva and Diego and their talent. We joined with the whole family in congratulating and supporting their endeavors. 

UHNGCC Spring Triple Event: Community Breakfast, Bake Sale, Yard and Plant Sale

In earlier days, we used to join with our neighbors from Gerton to Lake Lure for the 50-mile Community Yard Sale that had over 100 vendors, Sale in the Gorge. But the Chamber did not sponsor the event this year, so we ventured out on our own--not sure how well we would do. Earlier, this event was the start of our fundraising activities for the year. With good cooperation from all the members of the board, we chose Saturday, May 13, the day before Mother's Day, to see how well our Triple Event would fare. At the end of the day, we cleared close to $1,200. Thanks to all of the community who supported all or part of the morning. With or without the return of the Sale in the Gorge, we will host the event again next spring. 

Our morning started with breakfast at 8 a.m. About 40 joined the breakfast offerings of scrambled eggs and sausage, pancakes, biscuits and sausage gravy, fruit, orange juice and coffee. Thanks to Steve Jones, Jim Earnhardt, and Chuck Mallory, who arose before 6 a.m. to get the kitchen ready to prepare the food. The breakfast made UHNGCC over $500. Thanks to each of the cooks who cleaned up the kitchen after their work was done.

We made almost $400 on cakes, cookies, brownies, pies, quiches, biscotti, and various breads that the following local cooks brought: Roberta Pope. Lee Strickland, Margaret Whitt, Jim Earnhardt, Syble Freeman, Kim Jones, Betty Cameron, Eileen Farrell, Teresa Garrick, Tom Buffkin, Chuck Mallory, Sheila Padgett, Susan Cage, Karen Owensby, Sarah Gayle, Rita Francis, Lucy Donaldson, Anastasia Welsh, Sylvia Sane, Linda Reandeau, and Melissa Grindle. Thanks to all those who offered their talents in this department. Thanks to Sylvia Sane and Lee Strickland who made the calls and to Teresa Garrick for spending the whole morning selling the goods.

The yard sale offered tables to eight members of our community, who wanted to sell their own offerings. They were able to rent a table for $10. Then the community had about six tables where we offered items that had been in our storage area. This part of our event brought in a total of about $400. Thanks to Stan Mobley, who did the heavy lifting on this end, rented the tables, set up the room, advertised on Craigslist, and then packed up what was left so that it could be carted away by Don and Syble Freeman for the big yard sale sponsored by Carpenter's Hands. In the week prior to the sale on May 13, Stan had good help from Karen Owensby and Mike Hamlin. Packing up at the end of the event was offered by Sylvia Sane, Sarah Gayle, Lee Strickland, Teresa Garrick, and Karen Owensby, Mike Hamlin, and, of course, Stan Mobley.

On the back patio, it was perfect weather to sell native plants. This part of the community sale raised $90 to be put toward the building of a professional bocce ball court, which will be installed beside the Bradley Pavilion. We will begin work on this once all the money needed is on hand. Thanks to Ellen Boyle for preparing all the plants that were sold on May 13.  Look for another plant sale at GertonFest.

Coming Summer Events:  July 4th and GertonFest XII

Once again, on July 4, UHNGCC will host its annual community cook-out with burgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs. Neighbors will bring appropriate sides. We will eat together at 6:30 p.m.

 to be followed with spirited family games of Bingo. Once again we will give away free giant candy bars duct-taped with various surprise amounts of either coins or paper currency. You could win 2 cents or up to $10! We will play a dozen games of various kinds of Bingo. Then you will have plenty of time to search out a fireworks celebration in your neighborhood.

And after a few years of rest (because of Covid), GertonFest XII will return this Saturday of Labor Day weekend, September 2.  This year we will have a BBQ dinner, fall plant sale, and an artist's fair. We also will have a baked sale with popular items again up for your purchase. More details as we know them!

May Dinner and Program

Over 40 neighbors gathered on Tuesday, May 16, to share a covered dish dinner. This was the largest dinner crowd we have had since we reopened from Covid concerns back in late winter. 

Kate Loughran on Invasive Plants in the Hickory Nut Gorge. On the slide shown above, Kate tells about the insidious growth of Burning Bush, a beautiful bush that flowers pink in the early days of fall. Many of the invasives carry names that defy their non-welcome status: Tree of Heaven, Princess Tree, silkwood, for example.

Phyllis Murray won her first jackpot at the 50/50 Raffle. Her share was $69, but she generously returned her share to the club, making a successful tally of $138 for UHNGCC.

Game Night Comes to Gerton

We held our first Game Night on Saturday, June 10. About a dozen of us showed up to play shuffleboard, throw darts, and compete in ping pong. Meanwhile others, were happy to play board games. Ellen Boyle, Chuck Mallory, and Teresa Garrick brought snacks and drinks. Though we had a small crowd, we had plenty of laughs. We will try sponsoring a game night or two again this summer.

Join us if you see the lights on!

First, there was Jenga...until there wasn't!

Pictionary captured our attention for the longest time. Best yet, we ditched the board, and took turns drawing. It was amazing how many spouses were able to guess their partner's picture.

We held game night on June 10. Any chance you can guess what the answer to this drawing was?

Yesterday, of course. Maybe the rules say you can't use numbers and letters, but we also made up our own rules. 

Creatures in the Neighborhood

    by Chuck Mallory

 

Dozens of neighbors gathered at Laughing Waters Retreat on Saturday morning, June 10, for a lively presentation called "Wild Encounters." Naturalist Carlton Burke talked about his career in exploring nature and some of the many encounters we can all have, living in Hickory Nut Gorge.

After a lively song, Burke brought out one animal at a time from cloaked cages to discuss their benefits to the area, their "personalities," and how to have respect for our woodland neighbors.

First was a spotted salamander, while Burke explained that our area is the Salamander Capital of the world. Then he brought out the smallest animal, a tiny tree frog. The many adults and children in the audience at the outdoor pavilion were delighted to hear his animal calls as well as get to touch the animals as he brought them around to every row.

Burke showed a barred owl, though no one got to touch him, and explained that they are typically noiseless. One attendee asked, "He seems to stare at you with affection." Burke quickly straightened that up, saying that the owl was used to him, but watching him only as a defense posture and hates humans.

Next was an opossum, and then, a groundhog--which many of us see running across the road but rarely see close up. Groundhogs have various names in other parts of the country, like woodchuck and whistle pig. They are actually squirrels!

The last creature, of course, was a king snake, which alternately frightened or delighted the crowd, depending on knowledge and fear level. All the children in the audience were delighted to pet the snake--the adults, not so much. Burke told of the many benefits of snakes in the area, which are more than simply eating pesky rodents.

This presentation is part of a regular series from Conserving Carolina, held at Laughing Waters. Stay tuned on Facebook at the Laughing Waters Retreat page!

 

Chestnut Cleanup

    by Chuck Mallory

              On Saturday, June 17, there was a cleanup day around the Bill Douglas Pavilion at the Chestnut Hills community. That Saturday turned out to be a disadvantageous day for planning it, with many residents busy with summer activities and vacations. However, three people--Mike Reandeau, Chuck Mallory, and Katie Hovermale (Ned Beck's cousin)--got a lot done, spending the morning hacking away at weeds, avoiding poison ivy, and overall doing a major clearing of the brush around the Pavilion.

             But there was earlier help from two others. Susan Eggerton visited the day before to do some careful pruning of the butterfly garden. She made sure the appropriate plants were spared, the weeds cleared, and gave the blueberry bush space and sun to grow. And earlier in the week, Tyler Hejl did a major power-washing of the Pavilion and replaced a broken board in the steps.

            Fortunately, Katie, who is a periodic visitor, has a friend who is a professional pruner. Via cell phone, the friend gave her expert advice on how to prune the forsythia bushes on the north side so they have room and can get some sun.

            Another resident will organize a second cleaning day for other areas in the community later this summer. An email will be sent later when that date is set.

Pile of brush grows quickly. Next clean up, there will be still more to do!

June Dinner and Program

Always plenty of good food to choose!

and time to mill about and talk with neighbors.

We had 33 gather on Tuesday, June 20, for our monthly event. Thanks to Jane Lawson, Maria Belluccio and Chris Pantzis, and Julia Pierce for hosting. Eva Infanzon won the 50/50 raffle and in keeping with her known kindness, she returned her half to the club. So the club garnered $126 from the raffle, $10 donation, and $15 from Game Night for a total of $151. Thanks to all for your ongoing support of our community club.

Karen Owensby loves to travel. Istanbul, Turkey, is her favorite city in the world. She has been there five times. Shortly after Karen's second trip to Ukraine to serve on a medical mission tour, she returned to the city of her heart and this time added a trip to Cappadocia, Turkey, a city of many caves. She showed stunning pictures of paintings on the inside of these caves that have lasted for many hundreds of years. She added on a ride in a hot air balloon that was both beautiful and memorable. It is always fun to see Karen's pictures and hear of her travels.

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.

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.