July 31, 2017

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Ridge Spring Farmers' Market is still going strong.  We had 10 vendors and I sold out by 10:30. George Raborn sold out of his purple hull Crowder peas before 10:00. The produce is fresh the baked goods are great and the sense of friendliness is wonderful. If it is in season, it is there, including okra, peas, corn, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupe, watermelon, plants, peanuts, and much more. Come check us out.  We are up and running by 8:30 but some are there before 7:00 AM.

AUGUST 6, MOUNT CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH HOMEOMING:  On August 6, Mt. Calvary will celebrate 187 years of doing ministry.  At the 11 am worship service we will welcome The Reverend Mary Sue Dreier, Professor of Pastoral Care and Missional Leadership, Director of LTSS

Academic Programs.  A covered dish luncheon will immediately follow worship.  Please your favorite dish to share and join us in welcoming Pastor Dreier.  Questions?  Ask Pastor Christi.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH:   End of the first full month with our new Pastor, Ashley and we couldn’t be more pleased. Today’s message was all about rest, replenish then moving on. Look for our church to be doing just that. Pastor Ashley will not be at church next Sunday but will be back the 2^nd full Sunday of August and Communion will take place. Join us, we’ll save you a seat. The Big Red Box (BRB) is back from vacation and hungry for school supplies. These supplies will be taken to Ridge Spring Elementary School to help supplement what was not purchased. If you would like to help, please leave your donation on the porch of either the Church or Family Life Center and a member will make sure it makes its way into the BRB! The Prayer Box is located on the porch of the FLC. If you have a prayer request, need a call from our Pastor, please use the material there to write it down and place in the box. It is checked right before Service on Sunday. Service is 11 a.m. on Sunday unless otherwise noted.

Ridge Spring-Monetta Elementary School Registration will be August 9  9:00 am - 4:00 pm and August 10  Noon - 7:00 pm

The Mount Alpha Educational Union will have a Back to School Blast on August 12, 2017 at the Ridge Spring Star Community Center from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The Presenters for the occasion will be Mr. Kenneth Johnson, Mrs. Callie Herlong; Mrs. Sharon Padgett; and Ms. Joyce Davis.  School supplies will be given and lunch. Everyone is invited.

 Leonard Bell is offering Market Boxes on Thursdays at the Johnston Farmers Market. Each box will contain a variety of, in season, fruits and vegetables as well as offerings from other farmers and artists at the market. If you are interested in ordering a box they are $20 and available for pick on Thursday around 5pm. Please call Mr. Bell at 803-646-2169 or Janet Burgess @ 803-275-8030

The Art Center by Joanne Crouch

     An Introduction to Pottery for children will be held August 14-18 from 3:30-18.  Class includes instruction and all supplies for $15 per day.  Please wear old clothes or wear an apron.  This class requires pre-registration.  Text Joanne Crouch at (803)480-0576 or contact instructor Kim Ruff at artmaker@aol.com.
  Get started on Christmas early with Christmas in August at the Art Center on Thursday, August 24^th from 5:30-7:00.  Using pinecone petals, gold leaf and a gourd to make an ornament that can be used on your tree or displayed year-round.  Cost is $30 ages 10 & up.  Text instructor, Joanne Crouch at (803)480-0576, call (803)685-5577 or email joanne.crouch26@gmail.com (mailto:joanne.crouch26@gmail.com) to pre-register for this class.  Pre-registration is required for this class.
     We are excited to announce the beginning of our adult pottery class at the Art Center.   The first class is a two-hour session on Monday, August 14^th 6:30-8:30.  Spots are limited.  The class instruction and all supplies are provided for $35.  Class pre-registration is required to be in this class.  Text Joanne Crouch at (803)480-0576 or email Kim Ruff at artmaker@aol.com.   Bring your water bottle and an apron.  More class will be available in the future. 
     Ridge Spring Rocks!  The Art Center is initiating a movement that takes the simple rock and paints images on them.  The rocks are then hid around town.  When the rock is found, a picture is taken and put on the group’s facebook page.  The finder then hides the rock for others to find.  If you need help getting started, please contact the Art Center on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-4 for more information.  Please join Ridge Spring Rocks! on facebook.

          Officers for AARS 2017-2018 are Joanne Crouch, president; Kedryn Evans. vice-president; Carolyn Boatwright, secretary;  Barbara Yon, treasurer; and DS Owen, bookkeeper.  The Art Center is open on Fridays and Saturday from 10-4.  Come and enjoy the work of local artist. 

DETAILED FACTS ABOUT THE COMING ECLIIPSE

You can easily damage your eyesight, permanently, during the eclipse. The only safe way to view the eclipse directly is through sufficient eye shielding, which could include:

            1. specialized eclipse glasses, designed explicitly for solar viewing,

            2. looking through welder's glass/goggles/hoods, where you need shade 14 or                            higher glass to be safe,

            3. or through a telescope/binoculars equipped with a specialized solar filter                                  placed over the outer lens.

The Sun will appear to be obscured by the Moon, little by little, over the course of approximately an hour. As the Sun becomes a crescent, followed by a thin line, followed by just a few points-of-light, you may be tempted to take your glasses off and look at the Sun directly. Don't! Even a few seconds of looking at these drops of sunlight directly can leave you with years of afterimages, holes in your retina or even permanent blindness. (Libraries around the country are donating out some two million pairs of glasses, if you don't/can't buy your own.) Only during absolute totality is it safe to remove your glasses.

Totality will only last about two minutes for most observers who make the trek. The shadow of the Moon will fall on the Earth for a combination of two reasons: the Sun is relatively far from Earth (aphelion, where Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs on July 3) while the Moon is relatively close to Earth (perigee, where the Moon is closest to Earth, occurs on August 18th, just 3 days prior to the eclipse

Prepare for things to get chilly. When 80% of the sunlight is blocked, you won't notice a difference in brightness, but your skin will. The Sun is so brilliant that the unaided human eye can't tell the difference even when the Sun is 99% obscured. But sunlight reaching Earth outputs a total of approximately 700 Watts-per-square-meter in the infrared, where human skin is sensitive. By comparison, a fully overcast sky might block only about 65-70% of the heat from the Sun, something your skin will definitely notice. If you've never experienced it before, the lack of heat coming from the Sun can feel both surprising and disturbing. Prepare for this the same way you'd prepare for sundown; temperatures may drop by as much as 20-to-30 degrees Fahrenheit in some places over the course of an hour or two.

During the partial eclipse, create and look for bizarre shadow effects. If you ever noticed sunlight filtering through the trees, a pinhole, or other small spaces, you may have created bits of light that look like tiny circles. These are actually filtered images of the Sun itself! During a partial eclipse, these will appear as small crescents instead, showing you the part of the Sun that's peeking out from behind the Moon only. One of the best ways to view this phenomenon with no equipment is to face your back to the Sun, hold your hands over your head, and extend your fingers, with your right hand's fingers crossing over your left's at 90 degrees. The shadows that are cast between your fingers, normally showcasing the space between them, will instead show the effects of the Sun being partially blocked by the Moon.

Josie Rodgers:

Sports at all schools are in full gear this week, many with extended or two-a-day practices.  Everyone is getting excited!  I am excited!  I love volleyball and football!  It’s a very busy season for my family with a cheerleader/volleyball player and 2 coaches in the family.  Yes, I’ve taken up cheer coaching again, this time at Wardlaw.  I am so excited that my good friend Melanie Wash is taking this journey with me!  She was a Coquette at USC and has so much energy and creativity!  It’s going to be a fun year!

The Saluda County Library Summer Reading Program:  On Fri., July 11, enjoy a presentation from the Charleston Aquarium @ 11 am.   Readers of all ages (including adults) can stop by the library (Saluda or Ridge Spring) to pick up summer reading logs.  There are prizes for all ages, including babies, children, teens and adults! Call 864/445-4500 ext. 2264 for more information. Summer Reading Events are free and for all ages!  

RSM Middle:  Monica Johnson, coach: the middle school cheerleaders will have shirts for RSM classes of 2024 -2018 on display at registration on Aug. 8-9 for pre-order. These would be a great gift for the RSM students in your life!

            RSM High: The RSM Varsity Cheerleaders are off to a great start.  They are preparing for their cheer camp with W.A.R. Athletics.  The girls are refreshing their skills and learning new fundamentals to bring spirit to the school. During the summer, the squad spent time practicing, building a bond, and getting to know their coaches: Kelly Bedenbaugh & Tisha Ward.  Look out for great fundraisers to come and support the ladies of RSM Varsity Cheerleading Squad. They will kickoff the year with a faculty car wash, ad sales, and training to come for the classy Little Lady Trojanettes. Go RSM Trojans!

We a new media center specialist, Patti Powell.   Ms. Powell taught at Silver Bluff for the past 17 years.  She taught English IV, AP Lit, and yearbook.  She was also a senior sponsor, prom coordinator, and dept chair.  This will be her first year as a library media specialist, and she brings a great deal of experience and creativity to RSM.  Her goals are “to get students involved and connected to the media center and to foster a love of reading.”  Ms. Powell also says, “We will be having book clubs for both middle and high school, reading promotions with prizes throughout the year, Battle of the Books for middle school, as well as other special promotions.”  Ms. Powell is from North Augusta and has twins in college:  Eleanor, a secondary English ed major at USCA, and Geoffrey, an architecture major at Clemson.  Ms. Powell has already been working at the school and is excited to meet everyone and get started on a wonderful year!  Parents and students can email her  at ppowell@acpsd.net.

The first day for RSM teachers is Wed., Aug 16, and the students will start the following Wed., Aug. 23.  The school calendar and daily schedule have changed a bit, so be aware of times and dates!

Harriet's Garden Tips:  The caterpillars are now attacking parsley.  This year I am trying to have two separate plots of parsley.  That way one can be for them to eat and one can be for me. I will have to let you know if that works.  Keep deadheading.  Drop the dead blooms in the flower bed to see if they will reseed for next year.  My Rose Campions does.

REMINDERS

All Summer Saturdays: Ridge Spring Farmers' Market

August 5: Watson Family Reunion 

August 21: Total Solar Eclipse

Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wed., 8:30 – 4:30;         Thurs 8:30 am –12:30 pm; Fri 8:30 pm -4:30 pm; Sat 9-12

Ridge Spring Library Toddler Time Mondays at 10:30

Saluda County Library Hours:  Mon/Wed 8:30 am-5 pm; Tues/Thurs 8:30 am – 6 pm;   Fri 8:30am – 5 pm; Sat closed new fax machine and can send toll free

Narcotics Anonymous Fridays at RS Library at 7:00 PM

Ridge Spring Post Office hours:  Mon-Fri. 7:30 am – 11:30 am; Sat 9 – 10 am

Recycling Center Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 1-7; Sat 7-7; Sun 3-7; Tues/Thurs closed

First Thursday of the Month:  AARS meets at 6:30, 685-5783

Every Friday & Saturday:  AARS hours 10 – 4 or by appt, free admission

Third Thursday of the Month: FORS at Library at 5:00; no meetings in July & August