Ridge Spring News: February 2018

Monday, February 26, 2018

February 26, 2018

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

March 9 and 10 Quilting on the Ridge

The Quilt Raffle: Our featured handmade quilt will be raffled off at the conclusion of the weekend. The quilt is by Anne Curley, the maker of the quilt that is being raffled. The quilt is machine pieced but hand stitched. It is from a non smoking home. She said to wash it on the delicate cycle in cold water but she throws a color catcher in with it. Dry on low. She thought it was the perfect one for the raffle! Tickets will be available at the shops for $1 each or 6 tickets for $5.

The Quilt Trail: Take part in the Ridge Heritage Quilt Trail and visit the shops of Ridge Spring as they showcase beautiful, handmade, and historic quilts. Participants are encouraged to start at The Art Center of Ridge Spring at 108 Maintenance Building Circle, behind the Civic Center. For an optional $5 registration fee, participants will receive a Ridge Spring Goodie Bag containing a map, one free raffle ticket, and discounts to area stores. Tickets will be available at the shops for $1 each or 6 tickets for $5. ( if you see my car at the shop, stop by and buy your tickets.)

The beauty of the South is definitely blooming upon us. The peach trees are blooming early but they are gorgeous. You can see different varieties by their being in full bloom or just budding. I do not know which is blooming at which time but the orchards are in different stages of blooming. How else can we have peaches all summer. Webb Photography can take beautiful family portraits in a peach orchard with the blooming trees as the back drop. Every year I want to cut down this flowering peach tree in my yard but then I see it in bloom at this time, and I know that I cannot do it. I love spring!!!!

The Art Center of Ridge Spring will reopen on Friday, March 2nd from 10-2. We are making a change in hours to better serve our customers. Out regular hours will be Fridays & Saturdays from 10:0 until 2:00 PM. Quilting on the Ridge is on March 9th and 10th and will celebrate quilts. Many quilts will be available for viewing in businesses throughout town. There will be heirloom quilts in addition to the art of local artists. Barbara Yon will lead a workshop on painting a quilt block at the Art Center. A drawing will be held for a quilt on Saturday, March 10th at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. You do not need to be present to win. Contact a member of AARS, FORS, or Town Hall for tickets.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: If you were planning to donate soup to be taken to local food banks you still have time. Church members will be collecting and distributing the soup at the end of the week. The church continues to collect items for personal hygiene bags. Some items needed are: full size bar soap, full size tooth paste, individually packaged tooth brush, combs, nail files/emery boards, bath towels, wash clothes. If you are interested in helping leave your items on the porch of either the FLC or the church and a member will make sure they are placed in the Big Red Box.

Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of the month and that means communion. The Methodist Church offers ‘open’ communion meaning anyone of any faith or not is welcome at the our table. Please join us during regular Church service for Communion. Sunday Service is at 11 a.m. unless otherwise noted. We’ll save you a seat.

American Legion Post 133: The Post is selling Boston Butts on Good Friday, March 30, Easter Weekend. The proceeds will sponsor local students to Boy's State. Contact any Legion member for tickets or call Phillips Boatwright at 685.7753. Ticket are $35.00 each and the Boston Butts can be picked up at the Legion Hut on Pecan Grove Road on March 30 between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM.

Cub Scouts: We would like to put that Pack 555 is recruiting new members. Boys and girls are invited to join. We meet every 2nd and 4th Monday at Ridge Spring Baptist Church at 7:00. Any questions, contact Melissa Stover at mostover310@gmail.com

Security Federal Bank will be opening accounts for its customers from 1-5 March 7, 8, 14, 15, 20 and from 9-12 and 1-5 March 26-30. Their plans also include having a soft opening on April 2.

Wendy Arndt, Magnolia Ridge: The 9th Annual Antique and Art Festival is May 19 2018. Horse riding Summer programs available for children or adults beginner through advanced. The flag on the gazebo it is from the winners of the Harvest Festival BBQ.

The Department of Agriculture is holding classes for farmers so they can accept vouchers this summer. These vouchers are given to people over a certain age to use to get fresh fruits and vegetables. A Win for the farmers and a Win for the participants. For more information contact the department at 503.734.2224. If you missed the class that was in Aiken, there are others being offered throughout the state. Just call the number for the schedule.

Rene Miller, RSM Elementary School

RSME Miss and Master Pageant: Applications for the RS-ME Miss and Master Natural Pageant were sent home Tuesday, February 20th. The cost of the pageant is $20 per contest- ant. Applications and payment are due to 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Cockrell, no later than March 16th. The pageant will be held in the RS-ME gymnasium on March 22nd at 6:30pm. Audience members can purchase a ticket for $5 at the door the night of the pageant. Come out and support our little kings and queens!

Day of Caring: We are looking for volunteers to help with our Day of Caring. The Day of Caring is on April 14, 2018. If you are good with handiwork and outside projects, WE NEED YOU! Also, we are accepting financial donations to the school to purchase materials and supplies. If you have any questions, please contact (803) 685-2000.

4K Registration: 4K registration will begin March 5 and run through April 13, here at RSME. Please be aware that there are limited slots. For more information go to: https://www.acpsd.net/domain/94

Josie Rodgers, RSM High School: The Trojans are going to State! The varsity boys basketball team, under the coaching of Mark Wright, defeated Lewisville last Friday night to win the Upper State Championship! The winning shot was made at the buzzer by Melvin Alewine. The team will travel to Colonial Life Arena this Saturday to play for the State Championship! Tickets are $10. #trojanstrong RSM High: The varsity softball team is having a 50-inning softball game fundraiser on Sat., Mar. 10 beginning at 10 am. Admission is $3, and lunch will be on the grill at 1. The players are taking donations per inning that they play. See any JV or varsity softball player to help support this fundraiser. The Black History Program at RSM High was absolutely wonderful! Under the direction of Felicia Key, the students presented a variety of talents to highlight the contributions of African-Americans to our culture. The program culminated with the Gospel Warriors Praise Group. It was a very special day to share with our families and communities.

Review from David Marshall James: "A Whisper of Bones" by Ellen Hart

Mystery novelist Ellen Hart can take a seemingly simple premise and coax it to bloom into a many-streaked tulip, to borrow an image from Dr. Samuel Johnson, whom Hart references several times in her latest Jane Lawless mystery.

When Jane's Minneapolis restaurant, the Lyme House, isn't running her ragged, she moonlights as a P.I., should the case intrigue her.

As the plot germinates, a prospective client-- referred by Jane's best bud, theater owner and Ph.Diva Cordelia Thorn-- approaches Jane about a missing cousin.

Said client-to-be, Britt Ickles, is attending a symposium at "The U" (-niversity of Minnesota). She has popped in to visit some aging aunties in St. Paul who were estranged from their sister, Britt's now-deceased mother, Pauline.

Britt hasn't seen aunts Lena and Eleanor for about 40 years. When she recalls playing with Lena's son, Timmy, on her last visit, during the 1970s, both aunts state that she must be confused, that there never was a Timmy.

Thus, the proverbial barn door swings wide, letting loose a wildly spinning tale that would cause Alfred Hitchcock to do-si-do with Eva Marie Saint and Tippi Hedren, what with a root cellar, a basement, and a creakingly creepy old house.

Meanwhile, Jane is dealing with now-on-again paramour Dr. Julia Martinson, who's not Cordelia's favorite person in the World. As for La Thorn, she steals the show with the legerdemain of Cary Grant in Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief."

Moreover, author Hart balances the tragic and the comic elements of her novel with well-honed skill. Aunt Lena gives Cordelia a run for her money in the let-her-rip department; indeed, she could be the Ghost of Cordelia Future, especially if La Thorn switches her bevvie-of-choice from black-cherry soda to Black Jack.

Tastes may vary, but this novel may be Hart's best yet, and it comes on the heels of her receiving the Grand Master award at the 2017 Edgar awards for mystery writers. We would say she's on a hot streak-- right, Dr. J.?

Harriet's Garden Tips: So much is blooming that it is hard to believe. A good rule of thumb is to prune after something has bloomed which is before next year's blooms are set. It is too early to plant many vegetable seeds but you can plant beets, spinach, carrots, lettuce, snap peas, English peas, and many other vegetables that are considered spring plants. I am thinking of planting potatoes. There are red, Irish, and even purple ones. Get that rain gauge out and place in the garden to make sure you get at least an inch of water each week. I already have tomato seeds sprouting in the shop. The plants should be ready by the end of April.

REMINDERS

March 9 & 10: Quilting on the Ridge

March 13: RS Harvest Festival meeting Town Hall

March 15: Friends of Ridge Spring Meeting at Town Hall

March 30: American Legion Boston Butt Sale

May 19: The Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Festival

Ridge Spring Library hours: Reopen soon

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

Monday, February 19, 2018

February 19, 2018

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

March 9 and 10 Quilting on the Ridge

Take part in the Ridge Heritage Quilt Trail and visit the shops of Ridge Spring as they showcase beautiful, handmade, and historic quilts. Participants are encouraged to start at The Art Center of Ridge Spring at 108 Maintenance Building Circle, behind the Civic Center. For an optional $5 registration fee, participants will receive a Ridge Spring Goodie Bag containing a map, one free raffle ticket, and discounts to area stores.

Our featured handmade quilt will be raffled off at the conclusion of the weekend. Tickets will be available at the shops for $1 each or 6 tickets for $5.

AARS: If you have been waiting for the class on how to paint quilt blocks for your house or barn, please call Barbara Yon 803 685 5386 to get in the next classes.

This past week I went to THREE meetings in Ridge Spring. One was the Harvest Festival meeting led by our trusty Patrick Arnold where we went over the successes and notes on a few improvements. All were really pleased with the BBQ.

I went to the branding meeting with Alison South's presentation as to how to help bring Ridge Spring under one umbrella using a theme. It was great. Check by town hall to see some of the ideas. I hope you will see them being used soon, too.

The next meeting was FORS, Friends of Ridge Spring. WE are working on the "Quilting on the Ridge" Theme which will be March 9 and 10. Even Harriet's Garden will have a quilt and tickets to sell. Maybe a few plants to check out. If I have any pansies left, they are yours. Check out the Art Center for there will be several on display as well as quilts in the shops.

Harvest Festival: The king has planted his flag into the gazebo to proclaim his title of BBQ King of Ridge Spring. Dean & Valerie Price of Batesburg-Leesville were the first to write their name in the history books last October at the BBQ Battle for the Ridge! Dean & Val went on to lay waste to the BBQ landscape until they made their final stop at the South Carolina State House where Pimp My Pig was awarded BBQ KING of SOUTH CAROLINA! Team Pimp My Pig was 1^st in BBQ and 1^st in Ribs for the state and shows no sign of slowing down for 2018. PmP will defend their title this year as the fierce competition closes in on all sides to remove their flag from the castle (aka the gazebo).

Who will reign supreme this year? Well, that’s for the judges to figure out. Our job is to plan and organize for the next Harvest Festival. Patrick Arnold is the Chair for the upcoming Festival and he is raring to go. The BBQ cooking field may be expanded to include a few more. Next meeting is March 13 at town Hall.

Security Federal Bank will be opening accounts for its customers from 1-5 March 7, 8, 14, 15, 20 and from 9-12 and 1-5 March 26-30. Their plans also include having a soft opening on April 2.

Callie Herlong Principal: Ridge Spring-Monetta Elementary School will have 4K Registration on March 5 through April 13 at RSME. There are limited slots

Jeff Clamp RSM MH band director: Ten students represented Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle / High School at the Claflin University Invitational Honor Band Clinic on the weekend of February 9 - 11. Representing the Middle School were Kyla Padgett, Paola Trinidad, Amia Green, Savannah Minor, Nehemiah Singley, and Landon Hastings. High School students attending the clinic were Joanna Kaiser, Jonathan Cumbee, Kandon Hastings, and Zachary Truesdale. They rehearsed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning with clinicians from Penn State University, University of Washington, and with the Claflin University students. On Sunday afternoon the students performed in a concert with students from several other schools from South Carolina.

Josie Rodgers

RSM High: Nine members of the Beta Club attended the SC Beta Club Convention at Myrtle Beach this past weekend along with over 1,000 other Beta members from around the state. All types of competitions took place including talent, art, and academics. Competing for RSM were Arturo Contreras (math), Morgan Berry (science), Summer Cherry (photo), Rachel Burger (on-site pencil drawing), Perla Hernandez (Spanish), Lexi Sterling (group scrapbook), and group banner. Our very own Perla Hernandez won 3^rd place for Spanish, 11^th grade! Also, Arturo Contreras was asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening session on Friday night! RSM Beta sponsors are Josie Rodgers and Kelly Bedenbaugh. Chaperones included Ken Lipsey and Amber Moody; special guest was Ruby Powell.

College Football Signign: Congratulations to Melvin Alewine who signed to play for Newberry College and to Jacob Williams who signed to play with SC Faith Athletics and Music College in Charleston.

The basketball teams have enjoyed much success this season! The girls ended their road to state with a loss to McCormick Thurs., Feb. 15. The boys hosted Denmark and were victorious, leading them to another game Tues., Feb. 20, in Spartanburg against High Point. Good luck, Trojans!

Ms. Jackson’s English 4 students have been reading Night by Elie Wiesel and studying the Holocaust. On Tues., Feb. 20, Mrs. Judith Evans, a Holocaust survivor who resides in Aiken, will visit these classes and speak to them about her experiences.

On Feb. 8, Sgt. Byers, Aiken’s recruitment officer, visited the English 2 classes at RSM High and spoke about the Army, education, future goals, and his own journey through school and the military. He also brought Mrs. Rodgers Army goodies (which will ensure that she will invited him back!). The students were quite receptive and asked excellent questions. Some are even considering the military as a future option to help pay for their education.

Big things are happening at RSM High! The school is taking its Farm to Table theme and putting the plans into action even before ground has broken for the new high school. The new building will be located beside the new middle school; the façades will face Trojan Road. Eventually, the new elementary school will also reside next to these schools, uniting the campus in convenience while keeping the individual schools separate for obvious reasons. We are all very excited to begin this new phase in our school system. The students of the Ridge truly deserve facilities that are cutting edge and competitive with other schools in our state and across the nation.

The Black History program will be held Thurs., Feb. 22, in the high school gym. Mrs. Felicia Key is in charge, and we are excited about what the program will bring.

Review from David Marshall James: "Bad Housekeeping" by Maia Chance

Great-Aunt Euphemia: The name conjures up images of blued & bunned hair, hand-knitted sweaters, and velcro-strapped support shoes & hose, all powdered down with something from the Walgreen's beauty-aid aisle.

Scratch that: In author Maia Chance's first "Aggie and Effie Mystery," "Effie"-- accent on the first syllable-- arrives in Naneda, New York, in a stolen Cadillac, looking very much like the fashion model that she once was, thanks to assorted cosmetic procedures and a steady diet of nicotine. When Effie shops for fruits and vegetables at the farmers' market, they're to garnish her panoply of cocktails.

As for the Agnes (Blythe) in the series title: She's Effie's great-niece, back in her hometown of Naneda so her longtime, live-in boyfriend can commence a professorship at the local university.

He's gotten his dip thanks largely to Agnes's support, and he promptly dumps her. Note to one and all: It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that ring.

So, Agnes has been traded out for a Pilates instructor, which further reinforces her insecurities in regard to her lifelong love of muffins, cupcakes, and Jell-O with marshmallows.

As the reader would anticipate, Effie and Agnes are going to bond at their respective moments of need, with each bringing out the best, and sometimes the worst, in the other.

Effie has come to stay, on a mission: To rescue the historic inn she inherited, now facing imminent demolition. With only one week to bring the wiring up to code, both Agnes and Effie become seriously sidetracked as murder suspects when the town's largely loathed, ersatz do-gooder is found dead, by our heroines, at the inn.

Agnes and Effie want to clear their names and thus take it upon themselves to conduct their own investigation, resulting in tire-squealing turns throughout town in the purloined Caddy, pursuing and being pursued by a lengthy list of suspects.

This fun-- and funny-- mystery has lots going for it, with characters and plotting that bring to mind the best of Janet Evanovich. If the author can keep her deck stacked with extra Jokers, she could earn a wide readership for her two bad ladies.

Harriet's Garden Tips: The daffodils and other spring bulbs are looking beautiful. I have heard and read that you fertilize after they bloom but before the leaves turn brown. I have also read the opposite. A good 10-10-10 fertilizer is good when the leaves start emerging. Make sure you wash off any fertilizer that may be on the plant. The one thing the experts do agree on is you can add natural compost to improve your soil. As hard as it is to not cut the browning leaves of the spent bulbs, the bulbs need the leaves to get and store food for next year's blooms. You can intersperse planting of other flowers, such as annuals or other perennials. You are also encouraged to separate the bulbs after a few years for they do get crowded. On a personal note, I have these grape hyacinths that I have tried to dig up after they bloom, but I can't seem to get deep enough. I guess I will try again this year. They need to be moved.

REMINDERS

March 9 & 10: Quilting on the Ridge

March 13: RS Harvest Festival meeting Town Hall

March 15: Friends of Ridge Spring Meeting at Town Hall

May 19: The 9th Annual Antique and Art Festival

Ridge Spring Library hours: Reopen soon

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

Monday, February 12, 2018

February 12, 2018

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Mayor Pat Asbill: If you happened to be in Ridge Spring last week, you noticed that activity was beginning at Security Federal Bank. They will be working to refinish and furnish the building throughout February. They will be opening accounts for its customers from 1-5 o'clock March 7,8,14,15,20 and from 9-12 and 1-5 o'clock March 26-30. Their plans also include having a soft opening on April 2.

The Nut House & Country Market now has updated hours for February - October (open Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm). www.nuthouseandcountrymarket.com (207) 692-6206

Wendy Arndt at Magnolia Ridge: The 9th Annual Antique and Art Festival is May 19 2018. Horse riding Summer programs available for children or adults beginner through advanced.

Gazebo News: If you noticed a flag on the Gazebo it is from the winners of the Harvest Festival BBQ. The king has planted his flag into the gazebo to proclaim his title .of BBQ King of Ridge Spring. Dean & Valerie Price of Batesburg-Leesville was first to write their name in the history books last October at the BBQ Battle for the Ridge!

Quilting on the Ridge is an upcoming event planned for Ridge Spring

on March 9 and 10.

In Ridge Spring we are at the end of the Quilt Trail and we have a walking Trail right here too. Let's celebrate this home style art form in our own town. More information coming. FORS is meeting February 15 to continue planning this unique event.

Ridge Spring Library: The computers are installed and now for the training before the doors open.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: February: February and the BRB starts thinking soup…in fact the BRB will be collecting cans of soup the entire month of February. The Souper Bowl of Caring (an international organization started in Columbia, SC) will sponsor many drives, lunches and soup collections. RSUMC hosted a Souper Bowl of Caring lunch on February 4, 2018 with 24 in attendance. Team buckets with the Super Bowl teams logos collected $74 in donations with the Eagles on top. The cans of soup and money collected will go to local food banks. Have you heard our AD on WKSX? Have you seen notification of the Ash Wednesday Service on the Town Sign? Rev. Ashley Buchanan: Ash Wednesday service will be held at Ridge Spring United Methodist Church at 6:00 PM on February 14th. Shrove (or Fat) Tuesday pancake supper, February 13, 2018, CANCELLED.

Five students represented Ridge Spring-Monetta High School at the Limestone College Honor Band Clinic on the weekend of February 1 - 3. Senior Tyler Rowe, Junior Alex Timmerman, Sophomores Joanna Kaiser and Jonathan Cumbee, and Freshman Chesley Cooper traveled to Gaffney, SC for the 3 day clinic. They were among approximately 120 students from 35 high schools across North and South Carolina. The students were separated into two bands of approximately 60 member each. They rehearsed Thursday evening, all day Friday, and again Saturday morning, and performed a concert with their band on Saturday afternoon.

Ridge Spring - Monetta Elementary

February 19 is President’s Day Holiday. There will be no school.

Congratulations to our Terrific Kids for the month of January. The character word was Ambition. Terrific Kids word for the month of February is teamwork. Your child’s success in school is a team effort. Parents, teachers, and support staff must work together with the students to ensure their success in school and in life. Ridge Spring - Monetta Elementary

2nd NINE WEEK’S HONOR ROLL 2017 – 2018

1^st Grade “A” Honor Roll – James Buck, O’Miya Bussey, Addison Cooper, Zyvarire Denny, Alexander Fierros-Garcia, Luke Gillian, Kollyns Harley, Noah Mitchum, Joanna Musico Lopez, Zi’Jarius Phillips, Lacey Rodgers, Nathaniel Tew, Marcellus Wideman, Dean Wylie..

1^st Grade “A/B” Honor Roll – Lazahri Alexander, Alexander Andrade, Jamarcus Bosket, Conner Cockrell, McKynna Colwell, Christian Finnie, Shamira Gibson, Bryson Hunter, Deavione’ Jeffery, Ryland Johnson, Joseph Jones, Kendereon Phillips, Jaleigha Price, Joseph Robinson, Kayleigh Wood.

2^nd Grade “A” Honor Roll – Paetyn Crouch, Michael Davis, Dane Edwards, Gavin Fulmer, Layne Gayhart, Dakota Hartley, Irene Hernandez, Emely Jimenez, Aaden McCormick, Miracle Morphy, Gracie Myers, Jasper Ogden, Londyn Powell, Nathaly Segura, Jaziyah Stephens.

2^nd Grade “A/B” Honor Roll – Brooke Blume, Addyson Bradley, Lillian Burdett, Jennifer Fulmer, Riley Holsomback, Kennedy Ligons, Daniel Robinson, Salvador Ruiz, Madisyn Simpkins, Carleigh Solomon, Makaylen Wideman, Hunter Wooten, Ny’Asia Young.

3^rd Grade “A” Honor Roll – Dylan Harris, Jamirah Lites, Gabby Valeriano.

3^rd Grade “A/B Honor Roll – Lamyous Alexander, Paetyn Colwell, McKinley Cumbee, Tyler Diaz, Malik Fuller, Jennifer Gomez-Alvarado, Johnthon Gonzalez Martinez, Damani Guest, Tylaisha Jeffery, Anthony Key, Isaiah Kimbrough, Conner Morphy, Lizbeth Ortiz, Jade Roccia, Tucker Rodgers, Romeo Ruiz.

4^th Grade “A” Honor Roll – Jose Hernandez, Randy Renteral.

4^th Grade “A/B” Honor Roll – Aiden Allen, Larry Andraca, Jabarius Brunson, Fredy Cabanas, Wyatt Davenport, Brailon Frazier, William Goode, Jer’Daisha Johnson, Haleigh Mitchell, Lizbeth Segura, Gracie Temples, Alyssa Whitfield, Chaunkira Williams.

5^th Grade “A” Honor Roll – Emma Fulmer, Aubrianna Wise.

5^th Grade”A/B Honor Roll – Logan Brightwell, Makynna Folden, Parker Holsomeback, Peyton Holsomback, MaKayla Manning, Honesty Monroe, Cassandra Oakman, Sebastian Ogden, Gracelyn Padgett, Braylon Smith, Christian Smith, James Smith, Maryann Sterling, Devin Ward.

Review from David Marshall James: "Darkness, Sing Me a Song" by David Housewright With the names Holland Taylor and Sidney Poitier, you would think two fine actors were sharing an office in Minneapolis. However, they're "Taylor" and "Freddie" to their friends-- and enemies-- two P.I.'s takin' care of business, Taylor on the mean streets, Freddie on the machines: The coffeemaker and the computer.

Their P.I. firm has plenty of corporate clients seeking background checks, but Taylor's working for a high-tone law firm that's repping an uber-wealthy woman charged with murdering her son's girlfriend.

The politically ambitious county attorney is all over the high-profile case of the rich, beautiful defendant. Well, as the late Joan Rivers often put it, "If you're rich and you're ugly, it's your own damn fault."

Once some compelling evidence surfaces, Taylor's off to Arona, Wisconsin, of all places, where the defendant owns a summer-getaway compound. There's nothing like one of these towns to supply a noir-ish, even a "Twilight Zone-y," feeling, as if they exist on some isolated plateau detached from reality's usual occurrences and rules of play.

Everyone's up in everyone else's biz, while layers of corruption have become stratified owing to corrupt politicians, in this case a mayor who has paid for his Borgia-esque transgressions with a bullet to the back of his head.

With an untenable number of suspects, that murder remains unsolved. Furthermore, the townsfolk are bitterly divided over an environmentally callous company seeking real estate like the Cookie Monster in the Nabisco aisle.

Chalk up another primo story from St. Paul, Minnesota, author David Housewright, who has returned to his Holland Taylor series following a hiatus of almost two decades, a series that won him an Edgar Award for his novel "Penance" (1995).

Housewright is one of those rara-avis writers whose books seem to get better and better. Indeed, he's one of the premier detective-fiction writers of our time, and it's high time he received another Edgar. That's our song, and we're stickin' to it.

Harriet's Garden Tips: I have been going through my seeds that were in the freezer and checking how long it takes for maturity. One plant I like is thunbergia which is known as the black-eyed Susan vine. To maturity it takes 10 weeks. I planted eight hanging baskets in hopes they will be ready for the Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Gathering that will be held on May 19th. Then I started checking my tomato seeds and more. Thyme takes forever so I am taking cuttings. Spring is getting closer and closer.

REMINDERS

February 15: FORS meeting at Town Hall 5:00

Ridge Spring Library hours: Reopen soon

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