May 22, 2017

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Mayor Pat Asbill: Looking for something to do in Ridge Spring?? Just take a minute and consider. This week,  the Little League is celebrating its year with an awards banquet, a dunking booth, and a snow cone machine with the week ending with Memorial Day and an Oyster Roast at Juniper. The first weekend in June is the Peach Tree 23 Yard Sale, which is no longer just a yard sale, but also a place with vendors of all kinds: metalworking, crafts, outdoor furniture, produce. The list goes on and on. This year, the town has rented 103 spaces, not including those setting up in their yards or along the sidewalk. Also, on June 15,  the Town along with The Saluda County Chamber of Commerce  will set up a movie screen on the lawn at the new town hall to show Monster Trucks, our first free outdoor movie. The movie is being sponsored by Edward's Heating and Cooling, Rowland Kitchen and Associates, the Friends of Ridge Spring, and AARS. We are looking for at least 2 more sponsors to defray the cost of  showing the movie. If you or your business is interested in helping with the cost, please call Town Hall at 685-5511. This is our first outdoor movie, and we hope all will come, bring a lawn chair, a blanket, or just sit on the grass and enjoy a free movie with friends and family. Also in the plans are a Farm to Table Dinner in September, the Farmer's Market, the BBQ and Harvest Festival in October, Christmas activities, and we are in the process of planning a quilting weekend to compliment our designation on the Quilt Trail. If you want to get involved, if you are tired of watching TV, or just want to make friends, we could use your help. Give us a call and we will put you to work on the activity of your choice. Like the saying goes: "It takes a village".

Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Gathering was held this past Saturday and fun was had by all. The weather was perfect. Carter, my grandson, and I got into practice for the Farmers' Market and selling boiled peanuts  We look forward to next year's Gathering.

FORS met Tuesday night.  The new rack cards and town brochures have been ordered and in time for the Peachtree 23 Yard Sale.  These were  paid with monies that Saluda County Council awarded FORS from the ATAX funds.  With a grant from AgSouth a new sign for the Farmers' Market will be placed at the of intersection of Hwy #1 and #392.  FORS is "Friends of Ridge Spring" What a community!!!!!

MOUNT CALVARY LUTHERAN CHURCH—MAY GALA TO BENEFIT ICARE4 –A BLESSED EVENT: On May 13 at 11:00am, over 110 people gathered at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Johnston, SC for a benefit for ICare4.  This benefit was hosted by the Mount Calvary Lutheran Church Social Ministry and Youth Group committees.  ICare4 is a non-profit, faith based organization that provides aide to young men, women and children who are rescued by local police and FBI from Human/Sex Trafficking.   

ICare4 is currently the only organization in the Southeast, located in Augusta, GA, that aides those rescued by giving Social, Medical and Psychological care; job training; and allows the women to keep their children with them.  ICare4 is the currently the only organization that recognizes an important piece in rehabilitation is keeping mothers with their children.   

ICare4 is in the process of building a facility that will allow those rescued a safe place to stay while regaining and learning new ways to view themselves and the world that surrounds them.  The benefit held on May 13 was designed to raise money to help with this much needed housing. Mount Calvary is pleased to announce that $5,000 + was raised at this benefit.  We give thanks to God for sending so many caring and loving people to support this worthy Social Justice Issue.  For more information on how you may help, please contact Pastor Christi Pursey or Mrs. Janna Yonce at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church (803) 685-7523. Be sure to review the pictures from this event.

Joanne Crouch, AARS: We are currently looking for students  for the Monsters to Dinosaurs Handbuilding Pottery workshop on June 12th-16th from 9-12.  The week of instruction will be taught by Kim Ruff.  Cost is $100 for the week-$80 for the second child from the same family. Reserve spots at the Art Center on Fridays or Saturdays from 10-4.  You may also contact Kim Ruff by email- makerart@aol.com.
Some of our members participated at Magnolia Ridge on Saturday, May 20th.  This community event focuses on art & antiques.  Carolyn Boatwright, DS Owens, and Joanne Crouch exhibited work at the event.  AARS members, DS Owens, Donna Minor and Ron Buttler won awards for their work at the Aiken Members Show.
 The public is invited to AARS membership meeting on Thursday, June 8th at 6:30 at the Art Center. Check out the work of local artisans for that unique gift for someone special or for yourself.  Join our membership meeting on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30.  Our hours are10-4 on Fridays and Saturdays.

Josie Rodgers

Are you ready for the Peachtree 23 Yard Sale?  Get your shirt at RS town hall for $12 in various colors.  There will be miles and miles of goodies and treasures and deals for all ages.  For more info, check out the town’s FB page. 

Jordyn Rodgers, a rising senior dance major at Coker College, was recently names President of Coker College’s Delta Eta Pi Dance Honor Society.  This group of stellar students participates in various fundraising and philanthropy projects throughout the year.  Jordyn is an RSM High alum and the daughter of Mike and Angela Rodgers of Ward.

RSM Elem:  Aiken County held the "Celebration of Character" on Sat., May 13, in downtown Aiken.  The following students from RSM Elem were recognized:  Cody Davenport, Nathaly SeguraFlores, Emma Fulmer, Lizbeth Segura-Rosas, Gaby Valeriano.

RSM High: Congratulations to sophomore Kelson Palmer for being named to the All-State Baseball Team!  This honor is voted on by high school head baseball coaches throughout the state.

Several members of the RSM Mid/High track team competed in the state meet Sat., May 13.  Results are as follows:  Boys 4x100 State Runner-Up (Tray Dean, Jason Robinson, Jerry Tyler, Dennis Wise); Melvin Alewine, 3^rd in discus, 6^th in shot put; Quin Jeffery, 5^th in discus; Jason Robinson, 3^rd in 800 meter run; Tray Dean, 6^th in 100 meter dash; Mikayla Davis, State Runner-Up Discus and Shot Put; Girls 4x800 4^th place (Kelsie Storey, Katelyn Kirk, Kaylah McDowell, Kendra Storey); 4x400 Relay 7^th place (Kelsie Storey, Katelyn Kirk, Anissa Dean, Kendra Storey).  Congratulations to the track team coached by Andy Harris!

RSM High’s Poetry Café was quite an event!  The Shakespeare Chapter of the National English Honor Society sponsored the evening with decorations, refreshments, a poetry writing activity, and prizes!  Alicia Key, President, explained what the NEHS is, and Summer Cherry shared several definitions of poetry.  Almost 30 poems, both original and published, were performed by students and faculty.  Even principal Kyle Blankenship got in on the action, as did English teachers Monica Jones and Kelly Bedenbaugh.  Many NEHS members read poetry, and several other students stood behind the mic and recited poems.  The audience created “I Am” poems, and some even shared their poems.  All participants received a certificate, and several awards were given:  Best Original Poem, Arturo Contreras; Best Performance of Original Poem, Andrew Moyer; Best Overall Performance, Symia Wilson; and Most Entertaining, Alicia Key.  Everyone had a fun evening with many students wishing the next day they had been able to participate. 

We are getting excited about a new little Trojan joining the RSM family!  Mrs. Diana Meade, SPED teacher, is expecting a precious little boy in June!  The faculty/staff of RSM Mid/High hosted a Rainbow Baby Shower for Mrs. Meade 2 weeks ago.  Mrs. Meade has a little boy and a little girl awaiting the birth of their little brother! 

The RSM family is also celebrating the upcoming marriage of Miss Britteny Jones, ELA teacher at the middle school.  On Mon., May 22, the Trojan family hosted a shower for Miss Jones, soon to be Mrs. Brown! The Trojan family enjoys getting together to celebrate each other’s successes and happiness, and they also surround each other with love and support during tough times. 

One of those tough times occurred recently when our art teacher, Mrs. Carmen Holley, lost her son in a tragic auto accident.  We continue to keep Mrs. Holley and her family in our thoughts and prayers and surround them with encouragement and love. 

David Marshall James:

   The Broadway revival of “Hello, Dolly!” at the Shubert Theater is nominated for 10 Tony awards (to be broadcast June 11^th on CBS), including one for Bette Midler as Best Actress in a Musical.  News of this revival prompted “The History of ‘Hello, Dolly!’ ” as my presentation subject for The Ridge Spring Woman’s Study Club this February, and that presentation will be presented here, in four parts, this being the third:

    Carol Channing almost didn’t become Dolly Levi.  Director Gower Champion and producer David Merrick offered the part to Nanette Fabray, who was coming off Irving Berlin’s final Broadway show, “Mr. President,” which had not done as well as anyone had hoped, closing after nine months at the St. James Theater.  Champion had worked with Fabray earlier in her career, but still wanted to hear her sing some of composer/lyricist Jerry Herman’s numbers.

   Fabray refused to audition, as she termed it, and thus walked away from the part.  She went on to become a mainstay of late ’60s and ’70s TV, most notably in later years as the grandmother on the hit comedy “One Day at a Time.”  However, she never performed in another Broadway show after “Mr. President,” although she did do stage work in other locales.  Fabray is one year older than Channing and a two-time Tony Award winner.

   Channing had also worked with Champion at the beginning of her career, even before she scored a hit as Lorelei Lee in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1949, a part that would make Marilyn Monroe a bona-fide star in the 1952 film version, in which Monroe cast a long shadow with her rendition of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”  Channing claims that Monroe watched her from the audience on multiple occasions on Broadway and “copied” her performance.  Unlike Fabray, Channing wanted “Dolly” in a big way.

   It’s tempting to think that “Hello, Dolly!” came together breezily.  Almost half of it did, but Champion and Co. didn’t realize what trouble they were in until their first stop on the road of tryouts, Detroit, where the critics panned much of the play, including a stereopticon show given by Dolly at the opening.  Merrick, ever the over-reactor, descended on Detroit in a fury:  “Close the show!” he proclaimed.

   Champion, however, having worked with Merrick before, knew how to push back, getting in Merrick’s face and telling him that he had enough backers in Los Angeles lined up to buy out the show from under Merrick, which is just what he intended to do if Merrick abandoned ship.   Merrick couldn’t abide the notion of Champion coming into New York eight weeks later with a hit show.  It would make Merrick look a bigger fool than if he just stood his losses.

   So, “Dolly” began its nip and tuck, with Herman writing new songs and deleting old ones, including shopkeeper Horace Vandergelder’s big Act I finale, “I Put a Penny in My Pocket,” an extravagant and amusing production number that would have played well.  But Champion wanted great.

   Furthermore, the show was based on Thornton Wilder’s “The Matchmaker,” not its ill-fated predecessor, “The Merchant of Yonkers.”  It was “Hello, Dolly!” not “Hello, Horace!”  After trekking back East to Washington, D.C., the show’s last stop before hitting the Great White Way, Herman submitted an Act I show-stopping finale, “Before the Parade Passes By,” the widowed Dolly’s declaration that she has decided to rejoin the human race, go after a new husband (Horace), and otherwise demonstrate that “Tomorrow will be brighter than the good old days.”

Harriet's Garden Tips: The Heat is On!!!! Hope  you have or are beginning to plant your vegetables.  A rain gauge is valuable to make sure you have had enough rain.  Last night it rained but I do not know how much.  When you are not sure you can over water plants and drown them or underwater them and cause the roots to come to the surface searching for water. They dry out more quickly, weaken and become more susceptible to disease and other maladies.  I have always heard an inch of water a week is what plants need. 

REMINDERS

June 2& 3: Peach Tree 23 Yard Sale

June 6: Vouchers given out at Town Hall

June 10: RS Farmers' Market Opens

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

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

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

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

Third Thursday of the Month: FORS at Library at 5:00