April 12,  2019

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Spring is here.  The azaleas, the dogwoods and so many more blooming plants remind us each of something.  I remember how much my parents, grandmother, aunts loved the spring.  They would write letters to each one discussing the blooms.  Then when one received a letter, read it, and then wrote their own messages on parts of the paper or added more pages to the letter and mailed it to the next person.  I found an envelope with four different letters.  This was their email and forwarding the news as we do today.

Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church will hold Sunrise Service at 7:00 AM plus breakfast.  Festival Service will be at 11:00 AM.  The church is at 1186 Mt. Calvary Road, Johnston.

News from AARS: Barbara Yon earned a $500 purchase Award at the 44th Anderson Art Show. Joanne Crouch was accepted in Art Around Town at that show.  Joanne Crouch won a 1st & 3rd place Professional Painting award at the Jim Harrison Gallery in Denmark.  Gwen Power won 2nd Place in Professional Painting.  D.S. Owens won a 2nd Photography  Award.

We have several events coming up in our community.

April 27: Rikard's Roadside Bar-Be-Que: We have set a date for our grand opening and music get together which is April 27th.  Anyone that would like to come pick and grin let us know.  We are going to have 2 bands for sure and around 6:00 pm we are going to have a hog calling contest with prize money. The Grand opening will begin around 12:00 noon and we will end it at 8:00pm.  We are located at 905 West Main Street, Ridge Spring.

May 4: RIDGE SPRING FIRE DEPARTMENT BENEFIT In Memory of MICHAEL B. ADAMICK: The Annual Ridge Spring Volunteer Fire Department’s Benefit has always had a great turn out from the local community as well as family and friends of Mike Adamick from Connecticut.  This event has grown over the years and is their only fundraiser. The success of the benefit determines what the Fire Department can and cannot purchase over the next year. Auction items will be accepted right up to the start of the auction at 6:00. Of course cash donations are always welcome too. Don't forget the delicious BBQ plates, bake sale and street dance with Steele Justice - this event is a win-win!!!​

FIRE DEPARTMENT AUXILIARY BAKE SALE: Donations are needed for the bake sale in conjunction with the Fire Dept. Benefit.  This is a great way to support the volunteers that work so hard and everyone loves fresh baked homemade goodies. Baked goods can be dropped off at the Fire Dept. after 10 a.m. on Saturday.

May 18: Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Gathering: May 18th is the date of the annual Antique and Art Gathering, right here in Ridge Spring. It will be held at Magnolia Ridge located at intersection of Rte 23 and Mt Calvary Rd. Think Peach trees and Horses!! There is no fee, come browse from 9:00 till 3:00. Breakfast and lunch will be available for purchase. It is a beautiful setting for a wonderful day. magridge12@gmail.com  

May 31-June 1Peach Tree 23 Yard Sale occurs.  What an event.

Review from David Marshall James:  "The Last Act" by Brad Parks

   Once this thriller is well in hand, the pages will start flipping like fast-food burgers after a White House order for a National College Football Champions reception.

   The premise appears basic, but author Brad Parks-- in his third stand-alone novel past his Carter Ross newspaperman mysteries-- builds it into a really big show, as Ed Sullivan used to say.

   Which is fitting, as the protagonist is a former child actor, now fading out in his late twenties, having been a busy Actors Equity member on the Great White Way.  Tommy Jump was never well-known in the provinces, although he trouped on the occasional tour.  Perhaps he'll make a comeback in his later years, as a character actor.  Or, perhaps he will become a stage manager, out in said provinces.

   He did receive critical raves once, yet for a short-run performance, in "Cherokee Purples," concerning a family in the heirloom-tomato biz.  Brad:  You netted that shot-- it's a chuckle keeper.

   Tommy's coming off a summertime gig in the Catskills when he's approached by a former classmate, now an FBI agent.  Will Tommy assume a false identity as a federal prisoner in order to get close to a fellow felon at "Camp Cupcake," down in West Virginia?  After all, the pay is way above his usual scale.

   The Feds are after some documents stashed by this former banker, who was convicted of laundering many millions of dollars for a major Mexican drug cartel.  (Fuggedabout da fence:  They've got a drive-thru tunnel that comes out in an El Paso warehouse.  And, judging by the sophistication of El Chapo's shower-drop tunnel, 'twouldn't be surprising if an underground map of the Tex-Mex border looks like a guide to the NYC subway system.)

   Parks creates characters like a longtime Broadway dramatist:  Tommy; his inamorata, Amanda, who hails from small-town Mississippi; and assorted inmates at the federal corrections facility.  And then there's Barb.  A frustrated stand-up comic, she's Tommy's suburban New Jersey stage mother.

   Deprived of her own theatrical glory, Barb has grabbed the limelight as a high-school secretary.  You know the type:  Large and in-charge, even fear-inducing; nevertheless, funny as all-get-out when she's on someone else's case.

   Expect the unexpected in this twisty novel, with enough turns to match a country road in West Virginia.  Consider it a perfect summer read, at the beach or not.  It's also a nice fit for Father's Day, and for any den-recliner denizen.

   Parks is not above self-referencing-- well, Stephen King does it, too-- and we thus expect some future character to be singing a tune from "Cherokee Purples," now a popular sensation as a musical.  Perhaps there's a harvest-social hoedown number:  "Maters!  Maters!  Pick You Some!"  It's yours, Brad:  Take it and run with it.

Harriet's Garden Tips:  Most bulbs have finished blooming so fertilize them for next year.  Enjoy those blooming bushes for they fill our lives with beauty.  You can get cuttings from them in the summer.   Fertilize your garden when it begins to come to life.  Don't work soil when it is wet.  Squeeze a handful for soil, if it sticks together, wait another day to work in the garden.  The traditional time for Planting seed is Good Friday.  Another good guide for seed-planting time is when the major forest trees come into leaf. 

REMINDERS

April 27: Rikard's Grand Opening Music Get Together

May 4: RS Volunteer Firemen's Benefit

May 18: Magnolia Ridge Antique and Art Gathering

May 31-June 1: Peachtree 23 Yard Sale

June 6: Vouchers distributed at Town Hall

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

Security Bank Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 9-12  1-5, Wed. 9-12

Ridge Spring Town Hall: Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm, Sat. 8:30am - 12:30pm