February 8, 2016

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

                                                                                       

From the Mayor’s Desk: We have begun to clean the mold from Town Hall. Our first task was to locate the leaks and water sources. The roof is flat which always presents problems. We are repairing leaks and pricing a new roof line. SCEG is working with us to upgrade the lobby, we have removed all the holly bushes from next to the building which were both holding moisture and sending roots under the foundation and breaking it allowing moisture to enter the back side of the building, and finally we will treat the mold and replace the inside walls and then paint. As you know the EMS has decided to put a stand- alone building at the corner of Oak and Trojan Road. This move is happening in the near future. As our plans stand now, the town will sell the building where the EMS and Police Department are presently located and return the police office to Town Hall.

Although we are being inundated with ads from the many candidates, you must make sure you are registered to vote.  No matter who you support, if you can’t vote, you can’t support anyone with what they need the most-your vote!!!!

MAGNOLIA RIDGE ANTIQUE AND ART GATHERING will be held on MAY 21^st from 9:00 AM UNTIL 4:00 PM. To save a spot please call 561.262.7475 or email bevarndt36@gmail.com

I can’t be sure if it is winter or spring.  Those bulbs are beginning to pop up through the soil and may like a little fertilizing.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: A big thanks to everyone who participated in Ridge Spring United Methodist Church's 3rd annual Souper Bowl of Caring Lunch. 5 different soups, 4 kinds of sandwiches and too many deserts to name were enjoyed by 26 individuals ranging in age from 90+ to 8 months. Denver nudged out the Panthers in the love donations with a total of $133 collected. The Big Red Box was overflowing with donations of soup and other non perishables food (166 items). This was truly a community event as we welcomed guests from Spann UMC, RS Baptist church and surrounding neighborhoods. Thanks again to everyone who helped prepared the food, donated and came. See you next year!!

I am fortunate that I receive the emailed newsletters from both RSM Elementary School and the RSM Middle/High School.  What a simple way to keep up with what is going on in our schools.

Excerpts from the RSM Middle/High School Newsletter:

Alicia Key Book Review: Kindness for Weakness by Shawn Goodman: Due to a broken, abusive home, James always walks aimlessly around town. From his lifeless, chain-smoking mother and her drug addict boyfriend to his absent father and the always empty fridge, home wasn’t a place where James felt safe or even wanted to be. His solution was to get up early and just walk anywhere so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the abuse. Walking was his escape. Being fifteen and friendless, he always felt out of place and weak, but that is about to change. This book has a very serious tone mixed with action and tension. The book’s high point would probably be how James’s journey   parallels the plots of the two books he is reading in this book. Goodman portrayed the journey very well and realistically; the journey from boy to manhood wasn’t rushed. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a coming of age story or anyone who likes to see an underdog finally grow up and defend himself.

Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest: The Martin Luther King Jr. Steering ommittee, in conjunction with University of South Carolina Aiken’s Inclusion Advisory Council

(IAC) invited Aiken County students to enter a contest by submitting a poster or an essay. Students in grades K-5 were to create posters that showed their responses to the question: “What does the MLK holiday mean to you?” Our students in grades 6-12 were to write an essay about what the following quote from MLK meant to them: “If you can’t fly, then run If you can’t run, then walk If you can’t walk, then crawl but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” Ms. Jones challenged her classes to write essays to enter the contest. Our own Felicia Anderson came in Second Place in the district-wide competition. When asked how she felt about winning, Felicia responded, “To be selected as a winner in the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Essay Contest, indeed is a true honor. I didn’t expect to win. Most importantly, I tried my best, and it showed. I am proud to represent my school, Ridge Spring-Monetta High School. The message from Dr. King’s quote will forever remain inside of me: ‘...but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.’ Without a doubt, I will keep moving forward to pursue my goals and dreams.” Congratulations to Felicia!

Josie Rodgers:

It's a big week for us!  My niece Savannah turns 16 Thursday.  Annalee turns 15 Friday and will head to the highway dept.  My mom turns 39 again on Friday.  It's really special that she and Anna share birthdays.  They are having a special lunch date.  It's also Valentine's Day weekend.  Celebrations all around!  And reminders that we're getting older.

The Camellia Tea, sponsored by the Edgefield Camellia Club, will be held on Thurs, Feb. 11, at historic Magnolia Dale in downtown Edgefield from 3-5 pm.  The event is open to the public; no reservations are necessary, and admission is free.  Magnolia Dale is located at 320 Norris Street, Edgefield, SC 29824.

Baseball and softball registration for Edgefield County will take place Feb. 13 at the various fields in Edgefield.  Soccer registration will take place at the soccer field.  You can also sign up by completing a form and mailing it to EC Recreation or stopping by the office Mon-Fir between 8:30 & 5 pm to complete the forms.  For more info, contact Nick Wates at 637-2621.

RSM Elem (Rene Miller): RS-M Elementary is hosting a Community Learning Night on Thurs., Feb. 18, from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm. There will be a variety of activities to participate in. Please join us as we explore the exciting resources available in our school and community. The event will begin in the gym.

RSM High:  Congratulations to William Bedenbaugh for signing to play football for Newberry College! William is the son of Terry and Kelly (Rodgers) Bedenbaugh of Ward.  I guess I need to teach him the fight song and Alma Mater.  They may have changed the mascot to the Wolves, but they'll always be the Indians to me!

Reviewed by David Marshall James: "The Man That Got Away:  The Life and Songs of Harold Arlen" by Walter Rimler

Few benefactors of American culture possess such poor name recognition as Harold Arlen, who composed:  “It's Only a Paper Moon," "I Love a Parade," and "I've Got the World on a String."

   Those comprise a mere prelude.  How about:  "Stormy Weather," "Blues in the Night," and "Make It One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)."  One of his earliest hits, "Get Happy," is sounded by the University of South Carolina band at every football game.

   Oh say, have you heard "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," a Groucho Marx standard?

Still at a loss?  There's always "We're Off to See the Wizard."  And, of course, "Over the Rainbow."

   Why, then, oh why isn't Arlen's name on a par with those of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, George and Ira Gershwin, and Irving Berlin, all of whom were Arlen's good friends?

   Arlen never composed a super-colossal Broadway hit, as the above gentlemen did, time and again.  His "Bloomer Girl" did run well, but it's seldom revived.  Arlen was unusual in that his other three big Broadway shows of the 1940s and '50s-- "St. Louis Woman," "House of Flowers," and "Jamaica"-- featured all-black casts.  Indeed, Arlen's blues-and-jazz ethos landed him his first big break, composing the annual revues at The Cotton Club, Harlem's destination nightspot.

  The son of a Jewish cantor who almost disowned him when he married a Gentile, Arlen grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood in Syracuse, New York.  In other words and notes, his father intoned bluesily, while the neighborhood hopped to a jazz beat.  Arlen was perfectly suited to The Cotton Club, where Ethel Waters introduced his "Stormy Weather."

   If the public didn't pick up on Arlen's name, his fellow songwriters did, and many became lifelong friends.  As Berlin stated, "Harold's best is the best."  So Arlen was perplexed when George Gershwin and their coterie expressed distaste for his "Last Night When We Were Young."

   It took a teenager on the West Coast, who discovered a recording of "Last Night When We Were Young" in a record-store remainder bin, to become the song's cheerleader, often proclaiming it as her favorite.  Later, Judy Garland filmed it for one of her last MGM musicals, "In the Good Old Summertime," although the studio cut it-- the same studio that cut "Over the Rainbow" from preview showings of "The Wizard of Oz," twice.

   Nevertheless, the excised footage survives and can be viewed on DVD packages of "In the Good Old Summertime."  Garland shared her enthusiasm for the song with sometime-lover Frank Sinatra, who recorded it for his "In the Wee Small Hours" album, and it became a hit, twenty years after its composition.  This just goes to show how songs-- and songwriters-- sometimes take the long road to fame.

Reminders:

Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wed., 12:30 – 4:30; Thurs 8:30 am - 12:00 pm; Fri 8:30 pm -4:30 pm

Ridge Spring Library Toddler Time Mondays at 10:30

3^rd Thursday:  FORS at Ridge Spring Library 5:00 pm

1^st Tuesday of the Month:  AARS meets at 6:30, 685-5783

 Wednesday:  AA meets at Recovery Works

 Monday & Friday:  Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings 7 pm at Recovery Works (enter on Ponderosa Drive; park in Visitor Parking Area)