May 14, 2018

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

The sixth Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Gathering is being held at 216 Mt. Calvary Rd., Ridge Spring this coming Saturday May 19th.  GPS will not get you to the place but google does.  It is located at the intersection of Hwy #23 and Mt. Calvary Road.  Feel free to call for directions.  Besides the antique and art vendors, Palmetto Antique Tractor Show will be joining us on the grounds as well.  Come early and enjoye free coffee.   There will be breakfast and lunch foods available for purchase as well as baked goods from the Mennonites.  Admission to the event is free as always!!!.  It is both a vendor and shopper delight. 

Magnolia Ridge is a 36 acre working horse farm boasting a 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom Victorian farm house bed and breakfast along with an eight stall center aisle barn surrounded by large beautiful pastures. 

 On this coming Saturday May 19th at 4:00 PM  Helpful Hands Ministries presents "Three Times A Lady" Women's Conference at the Ridge Spring Civic Center.   The Civic Center is located at 900 West Main Street. Whether you are a daughter, wife, mother or all three you can be a lady of  honor and faith.  Join all as Rev. Dr. Stacy Lee, Bev. Patricia Wright and Rev. Richetta Dorns explores God's Word and encouragement.  

I keep seeing signs of peaches.  I am ready, how about you?

Patrick Arnold, Harvest Festival Committee Chair

  Time to get dressed up and put on a pageant! A special guest joined us last night, Bob Jackson, to talk about how we can reinstate the Harvest Festival Beauty Pageant. He spoke with confidence and assured us that he along with a few committee members and volunteers we can bring it back this year. We are going to be all hands on deck to make the return of the beauty pageant a success!

  We will be using Convergent Design from Columbia to take over website duties. They will take good care of us for years to come. I would like to thank Noel Steele for designing and maintaining the website for as long as she has. Great job Noel! If anyone has suggestions or recommendations for the design and direction of the website please let me know and we can add it.

 Parade- Michael Crim talked about reaching out to local groups, clubs, businesses, schools and churches to beef up the parade and make it more diverse and longer. Quality and quantity. Qwen Etheredge will be working with Michael to drum up more participation for this year.

 Welcome Center- We will be selling the newly branded Take Time t-shirts this year instead of the traditional Harvest Festival + year t-shirts. Sales have been way down and expense has taken over profit. The idea of selling black and white photograph reprints of Ridge Spring from the 20s-40s came up and we are going to move forward with that. If you or your family has old photographs of Ridge Spring or people in the town we could use them for this initiative. Let me know and we will find a way to get them scanned in and edited for use.

Decorating- Scarecrows are getting a facelift! The town had repaired the bodies but their faces….OOOF. They have been sanded and are ready for a new face to be applied. Please contact Pat Asbill if you wish to put your artistic skills to the test.

 Volunteers: As we prepare for the Harvest Festival 5 months and some change away, let’s consider our own families and friends to help out as well. We need several volunteers to help out with the many different events. All you have to do is ask. They don’t have to attend the meetings but be ready on the day of to pitch in and carry a table, work a booth, set up a popup, pass out BBQ, collect money, hand out flyers.

ALL COMMITTEE HEADS- WE NEED YOUR BUDGETS. We want to make sure we are tracking all expenditures this year. Please make your best estimation of what you will need to spend on your event or part of the festival. This includes prize money, trophies, paying entertainment, materials needed, labor, printed ads/flyers, booklets and rentals. See y’all at the Harvest Festival….meeting- Tuesday, June 12th Ridge Spring Town Hall 7:00p

Haley Bee's Boutique: Anyone who has been in the shop lately knows that I am BEYOND EXCITED to announce the launch of @kineticards in our store! A dear friend of mine and a fellow SCAD alumni, @chreckm has created the PERFECT greeting card for every occasion. What makes these so special? Each card works with her Free App to play a sweet sound and message bringing each card to life! Whether announcing your baby’s gender, “proposing” to your bridesmaids, celebrating a graduation, singing Happy Birthday or just sending a special shout out, we’ve got you covered!!!! Come in and check them out today!!! You won’t be disappointed! 🐝🎉 #shophaleybee (don’t have time? We will sign, seal, and mail for you!)

Art Center in Ridge Spring by Joanne Crouch

            There is COOL Art at the Art Center!  Thank you to RS Town Hall, air conditioning units are being installed in the Art Center.  Come shop and take classes in a comfortable environment.  D.S. Owens, Donna Minor, Ron Buttler and Joanne Crouch won awards at the Aiken Member’s Show on Thursday, May 10^th.        Barbara Yon hosted members from the Ridge Spring Woman’s Club at the Art Center on Thursday, May 10^th.  The group was interested in hearing about the Ridge Quilt Trail.    D.S Owens is the featured artist for May at the Jim Harrison Gallery in Denmark, SC.     A photographer is featuring a tree study in this exhibit.  Member, Ron Buttler, will be the featured artist for June at Gallery next month.        Hours of operation at the Art Center are Fridays and Saturdays from 10-2.  Join us for our membership meetings on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30. 

Josie Rodgers

I enjoyed the Aiken County Public Schools banquet to honor Teachers and Principals of the Year as well as our GEMs.  It was held in Aiken High’s new cafeteria.  From RSM were De’Shawn Cooks, RSM Mid GEM; Thomasina Garret, RSM Elem GEM; Callie Herlong, RSM Elem Principal and Principal of the Year Honor Court; Terrell Carson, RSM Elem Teacher of the Year; Kyle Blankenship, RSM High Principal; and me!  We were treated like royalty with flowers, the paparazzi, and our own individual walk across the stage.  The new District Teacher of the Year is Emilee Meek, a SPED teacher from Gloverville Elementary. The GEM of the Year is Leon Pough, custodian at Wagener-Salley High.  The Principal of the Year is Lisa Fallaw from East Aiken School of the Arts.  I was proud to take my mom with me (since I insisted that Coach get ready for the state softball tourney and get his hay baled before we left).  I was also thrilled that my longtime friend DeeDee Washington (Chief Officer of Instruction) was able to give my mom a hug.  They hadn’t seen each other since June of 1987 (our graduation!).  Our principal was so proud of us.  What a blessing it all was!

Boy Scout News:  Congratulations to Tyler Berry and Tyler Johnson for earning Eagle Scout last week!  This is the highest rank/achievement for the Boy Scouts of America. Tyler Berry is a senior at RSM High and a member of Troop 555 in Ridge Spring.  Tyler Johnson is a senior at Saluda High and a member of Troop 31 in Saluda.  These cousins had to earn at least 21 merit badges, complete a service project, participate in an intense interview with the board of review.  Berry’s project consisted of constructing a kayak/canoe rack, painting and re-lettering signs, and cleaning and clearing the hiking trail at St. Mary Help of Christians Campground. This massive project involved 22 Scouts, parents, and other who volunteered over 200 hours.  Johnson enlisted the help of the construction teacher at Saluda High to design and build a storage building on the back of the 3rd base dugout.  This structure will house equipment at a convenient proximity to the field and will allow the team and coaches convenient access to the equipment.  Both young men have been working on their Eagle Scout award for several years.  Berry is the son of Jamie and Dana Berry and plans to attend USC-Aiken and major in biology and eventually pursue a career in pharmacy.  Johnson is the son of David and Angela Rodgers and plans to attend Lander and major in history and education or business management.

RSM High: Rescheduled for May 16:  The National English Honor Society will sponsor its 2^nd Poetry Night with recitations of original and published poetry by students, staff, and family.  The evening begins at 6 pm with refreshments, audience activities, and door prizes.  All are welcome!

CNA Certified!  Five young ladies from the health science department and HOSA of RSM High took and passed their CNA exams last Saturday!  They are fully certified!  Nurse and teacher Tiffany Middlebrooks guided the class over the past few years and had them more than ready for this final test with rigorous coursework and lots of real clinical hours at a nursing home as well as much practice.  Congratulations to our new CNAs:  Summer Cherry, Leslie Long, Kearra Grate, Elizabeth Barajas-Valencia, and Samantha Coursey.  The health science program at RSM High continues to grow and excel, providing our community with well-trained and compassionate healthcare leaders of tomorrow!

Jeff Clamp, band director - The band and chorus will present their Spring Concert on Tues., May 15, at 7 pm in the high school gym.  There is no cost for admission to the concert.  Please come out and support the talented musicians of RSM Mid/High.

Review from David Marshall James:  “Southern Splendor:  Saving Architectural Treasures of the Old South" by Marc A. Matrana, Robin S. Lattimore, and Michael W. Kitchens

   It may be tempting, even comforting, to believe that the preservation of America's architectural history-- and thus something of the personal histories it embodies-- is a given.   Restored historical homes and house museums can prove an economic boon to their respective locales. Think about all the tourist traffic to, say, Monticello, at Charlottesville, Virginia.  Most people don't realize that Thomas Jefferson's self-designed residence once had livestock trotting through its stately rooms, having fallen on hard times.

   Although this splendid keepsake volume from the University Press of Mississippi includes chapters on such well-known historic homes as Monticello, the two White Houses of the Confederacy (in Montgomery, Alabama, and Richmond, Virginia), Andrew Jackson's The Hermitage in Tennessee, and Jefferson Davis's Beauvoir (ravaged by Hurricane Katrina) in Biloxi, Mississippi, the grand majority of the houses described herein includes many not-so-familiar places.

   Many people have in mind the vision of a Greek Revival "temple" with Ionic or Corinthian columns across at least one portico as the typical antebellum mansion, and Richard Hampton Jenrette's Millford near Sumter, South Carolina, proves a fine example.  However, some of the period houses tend more to a simpler Federal or Colonial style, or else a Georgian Palladian or Italianate one.  Some boast rotundas, or else large cupolas, with windows that could draw out hot air through a central flue, an early form of air conditioning.

   The reader may be surprised how many of the antebellum mansions featured running water, indoor plumbing, and even gas lighting, the gas having been produced in separate outdoor structures and piped inside.

   For sheer exterior beauty in an Italianate style, Nottoway (near Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is unsurpassed.  Aside from being open for tours, Nottoway is also available for weddings and other events.

   With its double spiral staircases and front doors surrounded by panels of red Venetian glass, Waverly (near West Point, Mississippi) deserves honors for its interior architectural beauty.  The mansion, featuring a multilevel rotunda, was overrun by vermin for many decades before being saved by a local family.

   Over the top, literally and figuratively-- on a hill overlooking Macon, Georgia-- Hay House embodies what a fortune can accomplish, although its builder was a prominent jeweler and entrepreneur, not a plantation owner.  Completed in 1860, Hay House looks more postbellum than ante-, and the reader may have a sneaking suspicion that Margaret Mitchell (who surely must have seen it) had it in mind as a model for Scarlett O'Hara's and Rhett Butler's grandiose Reconstruction-era Atlanta abode.

   The authors conclude with a chapter on derelict Southern antebellum houses, including the Conner-Hodges mansion near Hodges, South Carolina.  And to think that Monticello could have been one of them.

May 15, 2017: ( from last year) April showers bring May flowers.  How true!!!  Daylilies are really hardy.  Have you seen them growing in ditches and along the roadside?  They are called daylilies because that beautiful bloom lasts one day.  There are newer varieties that bloom continuously for longer periods of time.  I love to  mix daylilies in flower beds.  They divide easily and just survive.  We have two wonderful daylily places in town.  The Daylily Depot and Loris and Bobby Yonce have and sell beautiful varieties of them.   In 1944 my mother was visiting may father at Fort Hood, Texas when she walked by a lady selling what turned out to be daylilies out of her trunk.  Mom could not get a plant but the lady promised to send Mom some seeds for $1.00 or it might have been a quarter. That began my families love of daylilies. 

REMINDERS

May 17: Friends of Ridge Spring meeting

May 19:  The Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Festival

May 19:  Women's Conference at Civic Center @ 4:00 PM

June 2: Peach Tree 23 Yard Sale

June 5: Voucher Distribution

June 9: Farmers Market Opens

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

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

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