November 26, 2018

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

The Nut House: Our crackers are back up and running and we can now crack customer's pecans for just 35¢ per pound. Due to the new configuration of our equipment, we kindly ask that you give us 24 hours to process your pecans!

Leonard Bell will be at the Town Square on December 8, 15, 29 for you to get fresh collards, turnips and turnip greens, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.  He will be t here sometime around 11:00 AM.  Enjoy!!!

The Ridge Spring Christmas Tour of Homes sponsored by The Green Thumb Garden Club and assisted by the Ridge Garden Club will be held Sunday afternoon December 9 from 2:00PM to 5:00 PM.  Tickets are $10.00 for the tour.  They may be purchased at any of the homes or the Ridge Spring Baptist Church.  Also directions to the homes will be given with the tickets.  Homemade cakes and apple cider will be served at Lib Cumbee's Event Venue.  The homes on tour are Magnolia Shadows Bed and Breakfast, Rod and Julia Lewis' home, Inez Randall's (Sheppard Jones Home), and Lib Cumbee's Event Venue.  Ridge Spring Baptist Church, Immanuel Lutheran Church and Spann United Methodist Church in Ward will be open and decorated.  Enjoy!!!!.

Rikard's Roadside BBQ is now serving breakfast on Fridays and Saturdays beginning around 7:00 AM.

Harriet's Garden is closed for the winter.  I will still be working with cuttings and planting seeds.  If my car is there stop by. 

Harvest Festival Committee: The Christmas Tree lighting will be held on Sunday December 2 at around 4:30.  There should be goodie bags and Santa Claus will arrive in time to hear from all the girls and boys.

Joseph Calhoun Watson was invited to the Clemson Carolina Game that was played November 24 2018.  He was nominated to be recognized for his military service by his brother's daughter's daughter who is a student at Clemson.  Joe received 4 tickets and a parking pass to attend the game.  He took his daughter Mary and her two sons.  A golf cart met them at the parking lot and took them to the stadium.  He received at half time a plaque that read Recognition of Joseph Calhoun Watson, Thank you for your service from The Clemson Athletic Department.  He was seen on the big TV screen in the stadium.  When he returned to his seat, many congratulated him  and shook his hand.

Joe was to have graduated with the class of 1944.  He had been promised if he joined the reserves he would be able to finish with his class, but after a year, he was called up to active duty.  He only needed one more semester, too.  After the war in Europe ended Joe was stationed at leHarve and Reims France to help in handling supply lines that were going back home, especially the troops.  When he did get back in September 1946, he went straight to Clemson, and  graduated in April with the class of 1947.

Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church's annual Fill the Truck Food Drive for the Johnston Food Bank started Sunday November 25. We will be collecting non-perishable food items and paper products through Sunday, December 9. In addition to the non-perishable donations, we will be purchasing 150 hams. All the food will be delivered to the Food Bank in time for the December food distribution.  Anyone wanting make a donation, may leave their food at the church on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays in addition to Sundays before the last day of collecting.

Last Saturday during Christmas Open House Mrs.Ora Broadnax visited me at the shop.  I mentioned the Quilt weekend that FORS will sponsor in March and wondered if she had any quilts.  The answer was no but she remembered how she and her family worked on quilts during rainy days.  They would use that round box that cheese came in as a hoop.  Cloth came from floral sacks of chicken feed and/or hog feed.   Sometimes the cloth salesman came through and material was bought. He measured it by placing the cloth at his nose, then stretching out to the tip of his finger and that would be a yard.  (I remember my mother doing the same thing to see  how much material she had.)  The quilt  was hung from the rafter and rolled down when it would be raining so all could work on it.  Then rolled back up at night for the next day may be a work day.

Josie Rodgers

Thanksgiving was a wonderful time with family and friends showing gratitude to our heavenly Father for our many blessings both great and small. My Granny came and spent a couple of nights with my mom. She can’t leave her beautiful tortoise shell cat “Happy” for too long. Happy is Granny’s constant companion, but she’s quite the trickster when it comes to being found when it’s time to go home! I did not partake of the chaos on Friday; instead, River, Annalee, Aiden and I stayed home and decorated and played games. We are currently working on a 550-piece Santa puzzle from last year. Pooky’s tree is adorned in her special ornaments as well as pink additions. The next step is talking Coach into getting out our sleigh and reindeer and putting them together. These were all hand-made (deer by Mark and sleigh by Bernard Trotter some years ago). I love this season of peace, happiness, and good cheer!

The Ridge Spring Christmas Tree Lighting will be held Sun., Dec. 2 at 4:30. A very special guest is expected, and boys and girls can tell him their special Christmas wishes.

RSM High: The Beta Club and English Honor Society are sponsoring Cookies and Stories with Mrs. Claus on Wed., Dec. 5, at 6 pm. Children of all ages are invited to this free event to enjoy holiday snacks, crafts, and games as well as special time with Mrs. Claus herself! 

RSUMC: In November the Big Red Box is collecting holiday meal items. These will be either taken to a local food bank or to a family in need. If you would like to participate, please leave nonperishable items on the porch of either the church or Family Life Center.

Review from David Marshall James:  "The Dead Ringer" by M.C. Beaton

   In one sense, the English Cotswolds have come a long way since Miss Marple sleuthed the village mystery into literary legend.

   Then again, there's a lingering medieval feeling to some of the Cotswolds villages, dating back to the cornerstone laying of single-tower Norman churches, hamlets where residents once believed in witches and other supernatural entities, in spite of the Christian presence.  Chalk it up, perhaps, to inbreeding.

   Such would seem the case in Thirk Magna, with its historic church and odd collection of bell ringers. They're front and center in M.C. Beaton's latest Agatha Raisin mystery, a broad riff on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," what with its bells and corrupt clergy.

   Beaton also focuses heavily on the Bishop of Mircester and his fawning Dean, a pair to rival Monseigneur Claude Frollo in Victor Hugo's classic.  Agatha's on the sidelines of the Bishop's descent into Thirk Magna until she becomes the unwanted object of his affection.  Meanwhile, Thirk Magna's church ladies are just itching to "get under the purple," as they put it, as "The Bish" is quite the dish.

   Lucky for Agatha that she resides in a far more congenial Cotswold village, nearby Carsely (fictitious, as are Mircester and Thirk Magna), where she's even a BFF of the vicar's wife, Mrs. Bloxby, although the Reverend Bloxby, of quite another mind, refers to her as "that Raisin woman."

   Beaton's latest novel concerns itself, as do its many predecessors, with matters of the twice-wed Agatha's heart, when she's not stumbling upon murder victims.  Yet her romantic conundrum enlightens her solution of the crimes.  Nevertheless, the author doesn't sell the expected fun short.  Agatha, who pulled herself up from the Manchester slums, can still brawl, figuratively and literally, with those unwise enough to cast a gauntlet before her.

   Nothing like La Raisin raisin' cane.  A double gin-and-tonic hoist to her then, along with some pub-grub lasagna (her comfort libation and quick-grab meal).  Also:  "Jolly good show" honors to Agatha-- and her creator-- for her literally lifesaving use of cigarettes.  Murderers, after all, can be hazardous to one's health.

Harriet's Garden Tips: Friday while I was at the shop and it was really cold, I had to water my pots.  The wind was blowing and wind helps plants dry out faster.  If there is ever a freeze, the water in the pots will drop to 32 degrees but not lower.  The surface temperatures can drop below 32 but the water will not.  Water then becomes an insulator.  Get those bulbs in the ground.  Move shrubbery now and keep those weeds under control.  Poinsettias are beginning to show up in stores.  Next week I will give you a neat way to put them in arrangements. 

REMINDERS

December 2: Christmas Tree Lighting at 4:30

December 8, 15, 29: Leonard Bell on the Square

Ridge Spring Library Hours: Mon. Tues. 9:00 - 12:00; Wed. Thurs. Closed;

            Fri. 10:00 - 4:00; Sat. 10:00 - 1:00.

Saluda Library Hours:  Mon/Wed 8:30 am-5 pm; Tues/Thurs 8:30 am – 6 pm; Fri 8:30    am – 5 pm; Sat closed

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

Fridays & Saturdays:  AARS hours 10:00-2:00 or by appt, free admission

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

Third Thursday: FORS at Town Hall at 5:30 PM

Every 1^st Thursday:  Audibel Hearing Center in the back room of Bank

Fridays:  Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings 7-8 pm at The Ridge Spring Library