Georgia Mountain Laurel September 2019

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Publisher/Editor - Tracy McCoy Assistant Editor - D’Anna Coleman Art Director - Dianne VanderHorst Graphic Designer - Lucas McCoy Office Manager/ Account Executive - Cindi Freeman Account Executive - Melynda Hensley Photographer/Writer - Peter McIntosh Contributing Writers: Beth Frierberg, Mark Holloway, Steve Jarrard, MD, Lisa Harris, ME Law, John Shivers, Emory Jones, Lorie Thompson, M. Erik Matlock, Melynda Hensley, Josh Scott, Lucy Ezzard, Peggy Thrasher, Beck Peterson

Georgia Mountain Laurel Mailing: PO Box 2218, Clayton, Georgia 30525 Office: 2511 Highway 441, Mountain City, Georgia 30562 706-782-1600 • www.gmlaurel.com

September 2019 • Volume Sixteen • Issue Nine Copyright 2019 by Rabun’s Laurel Inc. All rights reserved. The Georgia Mountain Laurel Magazine is published twelve times per year. Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. The publishers and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to GML magazine’s right to edit. Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, photographs and drawings. Every effort has been made to assure that all information presented in this issue is accurate, and neither Laurel magazine or any of its staff is responsible for omissions or information that has been misrepresented to the magazine. The Georgia Mountain Laurel maintains a Christian focus throughout their magazine. Rabun’s Laurel, Inc. reserves the right to refuse content or advertising for any reason without explanation.

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Today’s Events are History Tomorrow Mary Elizabeth Law Remembers Rabun Mary Grace Speed - Coming to Warwoman Rabun County Historical Society John V. Arrendale Tallulah Falls Railway Lovin’ the Journey CCC Camps

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Cover Artist Broderick & Michele Crawford Book Review - Griswaldville Music History

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Bon Appetit The Family Table Moonshiners

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R4G River Garden Bless Your Heart

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Mountain Happenings Event Calendar The Family Reunion

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Live Healthy & Be Well The Maternity Hospital

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Adventure Out Paws 4 Life Out of the Blue Ridge The Hunter of Tallulah Falls

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Poss Realty Featured Home Harry Norman Featured Home

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Memories of Rabun’s Lakes Clayton Over Florida By the Way

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Today’s Current Events are Tomorrow’s History

by John Shivers

T

he beautiful thing about history is that it’s a non-ending, ever-evolving story. While too often we tend to think of history as a bunch of dry and boring facts that happened to somebody else some place else, the truth is: if you break down the word history, you get two words his story. The story of men and women who shaped and molded life during their era, so that their stories can paint a tapestry of what was… what is… sometimes along with a sneak preview of what will be.

Rabun County was officially established by an act of the Georgia Legislature just in time for Christmas on December 21, 1819 and named the new county for the state’s eleventh governor, William Rabun, who had died unexpectedly less than two months before. That he died before completing his term is his unique story, but because of it, Rabun County got its name.

In the 200 years since that legislative action, it‘s been the people from Tallulah Falls to Dillard and Satolah to Tate City who have created the stories that have propelled Rabun County into the 21st Century. During the Civil War, Rabun was one of five Georgia counties that did not agree with leaving the Union, yet they fielded men to fight for the Confederacy. Those men who took a political stand were husbands and sons and brothers, and when you apply the human element to a well-worn fact, history suddenly becomes living, breathing and two-dimensional.

Beginning with this September issue, Georgia Mountain Laurel Magazine will be exploring and presenting each month different historical aspects of Northeast Georgia’s story. Rather than citing dates and places and events, the stories will instead mine the knowledge and memories of individuals in the mountains who remember… or who are in the know about those dates and places and events that shaped our story.

Rabun history is the fuel that rocketed yesterday into today, and on into tomorrow. Rabun County 200 years old and growing!

Mary Elizabeth Law

by Tracy McCoy

“I wanted people to know 50 years from now what happened today for their children and grandchildren”

M

ary Elizabeth Vickers was born in 1931 near Hale Ridge road in the Warwoman Community east of Clayton, Georgia. Her parents, Bob Vickers and Maggie Page Vickers, raised four children, Mary Elizabeth being the oldest. Her father Bob taught at the Hamby School located near their home. There was no money to pay teachers during the depression. Bartering was a way of life in rural Rabun in the 30s. The depression was in full force and there simply was no money.

People charged what they needed and traded whatever they could grow or raise to get the basic things they needed. Mary Elizabeth’s father later went to work in the Civilian Conservation Camps (CCC) then to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) building dams. Mr. Vickers then ran for Ordinary of Rabun County and won. He took office in 1953. Maggie, was a nurse working in the nursery at Rabun County Hospital.

Bob’s grandmother Elizabeth Mary Shelton Vickers was from Waynesville, North Carolina. She was raised by her uncle after her father was killed in the Civil War and her mother remarried. She met and married Bob’s grandfather and soon she must have heard things were better in Rabun so she and her husband decided to move their family to Clayton. On the trip her husband became very ill and died from flu leaving his wife and children to continue the trip on their own. Mrs. Vickers was a very strong woman who went on to raise her children. Her home was located in Clayton (in the location of Ed West Realty). She asked her grandson and his family to come to Clayton to live with her promising her home to them. They did move from lower Warwoman to town when Mary Elizabeth was a child. “We were poor, we all were,” Mary Elizabeth said. “We walked everywhere we went. It was easier being in town. We could walk to school, when we could afford to we’d go to the movie theater in Clayton. We could take a quarter and pay 10 cents for the movie and have 15 cents left over for popcorn and a Coke.”

Mary Elizabeth attended school in Clayton but there were three high schools in Rabun at the time. One in Clayton, Lakemont, Rabun Gap and Burton School went

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through the 10th grade. Travel was not easy, many people couldn’t afford a car, they walked or took the train where they needed to go. Therefore Clayton students didn’t associate with Burton or Rabun Gap. They just didn’t know each other. You only knew the people you lived around.

The Vickers family attended the Clayton Baptist Church where Mary Elizabeth is a member even today. For fun Mary Elizabeth and her friends would go to basketball games or square dances in the gym or to the Mountain City Playhouse. In the summertime she and others would walk south of Clayton to the swimming pool at the Rabun County golf course.

She graduated with 32 other students in 1948. She went on to attend Piedmont College. Her sister Jessie Ruth Vickers married Jeff Houck and moved to Warwoman. Polly married and moved to Chatsworth, Georgia and her brother Henry Vickers enlisted in the United States Army. Mary Elizabeth gained her teaching certificate but never taught the first class. She met and married Ted Law and the couple moved to Mountain City where they started a family. The Laws had three children: Keith Law who lives in Jackson County and retired from Georgia Power, Tom Law who resides in Stephens County where he is Publisher at The Toccoa Record, and Carol Law Turner who lives in Rabun County.

Mary Elizabeth went to work for her father in the Ordinary’s office working “in the vault” where records are stored. At that time records where handwritten and organized. Mary Elizabeth says she wrote many wills for residents. In that vault is where her love of history was honed. She found it fascinating to research history of families and communities. She left her work at the courthouse and went to work for Georgia Power Company working in the business office.

She helped start the Rabun County Historical Society where she has worked diligently for three decades to preserve Rabun County history. She also served on the League of Women Voters in Rabun. Mary Elizabeth Law was the first female on the Rabun County Board of Commissioners, serving from 2005 - 2009. She is a strong and intelligent woman who has made her mark on Rabun.

When we talked about what has changed the most in her lifetime, she said she never dreamed there would be multi-million dollar homes on the shores of Lake Burton, Rabun and Seed. “When I was growing up, you could drive over to the lake stop on the side of the road and have a picnic, swim or fish in the lake.” The growth of tourism after the war, the changes on the lakes, the rail road and the forest service are all things that brought people to the mountains and once it is discovered it is hard to leave. Many people began to build second homes in the mountains and Main street has developed and ballooned in the past decade. “People don’t like change, but it’s inevitable. The key is to work to move it in the right direction.” Mary Elizabeth states.

I asked Mary Elizabeth where she felt like she did her best work. “With the Historical Society. I like helping preserve our history and helping others find answers.” She has a nicely organized collection of personal history in her home, all of it easily accessible during our visit. She is very proud of her family, as she should be. She was sure to show me photos of her three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren (3 girls and 1 boy).

They are stationed in Hawaii with her grandson serving in the Marine Corp.

I asked who were some of her closest friends and she was quick to say, “My best friends were Janie P. Taylor, Mildred Whittaker and Marie Embry.” Mary Elizabeth enjoyed sewing and quilting with Janie at the Rabun County Civic Center. She likes to read and scrapbook too.

She has now retired from the Rabun County Historical Society but still serves on the board and is available to answer questions. In fact a phone call came in during our visit from a man looking for information on an upcoming event. Today she lives at Cannonwood in Tiger, Georgia. She has friends who live there and she has her flowers which she enjoys. They have activities for the residents and she participates when she can. I certainly enjoyed visiting with Mary Elizabeth, she is a gifted historian and treasure to those who know her. I am glad to be one of them.

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Mary Grace Speed Coming to Warwoman

by Tracy McCoy

”M

y mama, Daisy Cobb, died of pneumonia when I was three years old, so I went to live with my grandparents.

I had a brother 10 days old and other brothers and sisters. They took all nine of us in.” These words, spoken by Mary Grace Speed ,tore at my heart. “I don’t think they really wanted to do that at their age but we didn’t have anywhere else to go. So as quick as I got old enough they sent me to the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) school at Tamassee. That’s where I met my husband J.P. Speed. Mary Grace was born in the Holly Springs community over near Long Creek, South Carolina and that’s where she grew up. She gave her heart to Jesus at Holly Springs Baptist Church.

She was Mary Grace Cobb back then and she remembers there was a shindig over at a camp below Tamassee and J.P. (Pick) asked her to go.

She accepted his invitation and they walked together to the event. “Oh he held my hand on the way and that began our ‘courtin’ ” she said and when she was 16 years old, he asked her to marry him and she said yes.

Mary Grace and Pick were married over at Walhalla at the courthouse and he hired a taxi to take them to his parent’s home on Warwoman Road in Clayton. “On our way down the road, about Warwoman Dell, he turned to me and said ‘I forgot to tell you this is Warwoman, it’s where they declare war on women. Course he was kidding, but it scared me a little.” she said.

The newlyweds moved in with Pick’s parents Marlor and Amanda Speed. Pick went into town (Clayton) and got a job at Dover & White drug store. Mary Grace stayed home and learned a lot about cooking and homemaking from her mother-in-law. She also learned to garden, cut wood and hand hew cross ties on Sandy Ford. Soon she was expecting her first child Donnie Ray. The Speed brothers had a sawmill up from their parent’s house on Warwoman so J.P. and his brother Milton began sawing lumber to build the young couple a home. It took a while for the lumber to dry and to get enough but they built a small home on the side of Warwoman Road to raise their children.

After Donnie Ray came James, then Johnny, Mike and then two sweet girls, Debbie (Page) and Judy (O’Shields).

If you are from Warwoman (and I am) it is understood that anything above “the Dell” is considered town and Warwoman starts at the Dell and goes to Pine Mountain. Warwoman is a place all its own. Mary Grace took me through her mind back to the community when she moved there in 1950 naming each family that resided along the road. “Well there were the Moselys, the Smiths, the Pages, the Becks, the Bleckleys, the Cannons, the Swaffords, Speeds all along the way, the Beattys, the Galloways, the Wilbanks family, the Nortons, the Darnells, the Houcks, the Godfreys, the Singletons, the Ledfords, the Gillespies. Folks were spread out though, there

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were big fields and not a lot of houses. The road was dirt and not many had cars. We done a lot of walking!”

After the drug store, J.P went to work at Black Rock State Park, then Rabun Mills. Each move made things a little better for his family. Mary Grace worked a short time at the Shirt Factory in Clayton. In later years Pick drove the school bus. Judy, the youngest of their children said, “Daddy taught us to work hard, we never went without. They both worked and they showed us love.” When I asked Judy what was Mary Grace best at in the kitchen her reply was “Cornbread! I can try to make it using her recipe but it’s never the same. She makes the best!”

Mary Grace cooked for her kids getting up every morning to cook homemade biscuits, eggs, sausage and gravy, making sure they ate good before they got on the bus to go to school. She cooked on a wood cookstove for years and then switched to a gas stove later on. I asked her if J.P. and her boys hunted deer and grinning she pointed above her head and said, “Yes and so did I!” The deer mounted above her head was one that Pick and the boys had been hunting hard. Hunting was more for survival than sport in those days.

Money was in short supply and families had to eat. So she joined them on the hunt one morning in 1969 and she took the deer.

I asked what they did for fun and she said they stayed home and made their own fun.

The kids would walk to the creek and fish or a lot of ball games where played in the cow pastures. They swam and played music on the front porches. Neighbors, usually family, gathered together. There was always church activities. Mary Grace and her family became members of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, where her son-in-law Raymond Page is Pastor today.

After the kids were grown in the later years the home that she and Pick built was in need of major repairs. Her oldest son Donnie Ray came to her ans said “We are going to build y’all a new house.” Mary Grace’s response was “We can’t afford that.” to which he replied, “I didn’t say anything about pay.” The children worked together to build the home that Mary Grace still lives in. The lumber coming from the sawmill and the elbow grease from the children she had devoted her life to.

When I asked Mary Grace who her best friend was, without hesitation she said “J.P. was”.

Where you saw one you saw the other they literally spent their entire lives together. He taught her to drive on a model T Ford. They were always together and always in love.

Mary Grace has loved living in Rabun County and she loved and cared for her family well. She and J.P. were married 61 years. She lost her best friend on December 20, 2011 to cancer. She and J.P. have 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandson. Her walls are adorned with family pictures; her shelves with collectables.. Her home reflects a happy family, great memories, and love. There were plenty of hard times along the way but Mary Grace met them with a grateful heart, her faith and her family alongside her. She is a beautiful person with a precious heart.

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Rabun County Historical Society Mary Ann Rutherford Lipscomb... More Than A Pretty Face

by Beck Peterson

T

he Athens Daily Herald wrote “she was one of the three beautiful Rutherford sisters whose charm, graciousness and popularity make them famous”. However, Mary Ann Rutherford (1848-1918) proved to be much more than a pretty face and a socialite from an old southern family. As the founder of the Tallulah Falls School she was truly a woman ahead of her time. While spending her summers at her cottage in Tallulah Falls, she observed the lack of educational opportunities for mountain children. In 1906, when president of the Georgia Federation Women’s Club, she shared her story of the children and asked the membership to financially assist in building a school in Tallulah Falls, Georgia.

With the federation’s backing and her organizational skill and drive, the Tallulah Falls Industrial School opened to twentytwo eager children on July 12, 1909. Mary felt passionately that education was the key to a successful and productive future, especially for women. She campaigned for compulsory laws for education for all Georgia children and fought against child labor abuses. What were Mary’s experiences that influenced her beliefs and actions?

Just before Christmas in December, 1848, Mary Ann was born to Williams Rutherford, Jr. and Laura Battsile Cobb Rutherford in Athens Georgia. She was their third child and two more siblings would come later. The Rutherford’s were a distinguished and wealthy family with deep southern roots. They resided in Georgia before the War Between the States and were southern loyalists.

Several family members fought in the war. Among those serving were Thomas R.R. Cobb and Howell Cobb, Laura’s brothers, and John Cobb Rutherford and Williams Rutherford, Jr., her son and husband.

Serving the Confederacy was not just limited to the men. Laura, Mary’s mother, was a charter member of the Soldiers’ Aid Society which provided boxes of clothing, blankets and food. Laura’s sister, Mildred Lewis Rutherford was actively involved in promoting Confederate Memorials.

The Rutherford family produced many educators, lawyers and businessmen. Mary’s father was a professor of mathematics at Franklin College (1856-86). Her mother brought to the attention of Athens citizens the need for better education for girls. In August, 1854 she anonymously submitted an article to a local Athens newspaper. The article was titled “The Education of Our Girls” in which she wrote that boys were receiving a fine education while the girls had none. She challenged the Athens businessmen and

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other professionals to change the situation. A prominent Athens lawyer, Thomas R. R. Cobb, agreed and began raising money for a girls’ school. Unknown to him, it was his sister who had written the article! In 1859, the Lucy Cobb Institute opened.

The institute was named for his daughter, who had died just before the school opened.

Little can be found about Mary Ann’s childhood and youth.

We know, she and her sister Mildred attended the Lucy Cobb Institute. Her teen years coincided with the Civil War and she watched her uncles, brother and father go off to war. As a young adult Mary married into another prominent Athens family, the Lipscomb family.

The Lipscomb patriarch, Andrew Adgate Lipscomb, was a pastor, an educator and chancellor at the University of Georgia from 1860-1874. Mary married his son Francis A. Lipscomb in 1869. They were 21 and 23 years old respectively. Francis was an 1866 graduate of the University of Georgia and later became an English professor at his alma mater. Mary and Francis had three children: Blanche, Frank Adgate and Rutherford. Just after five years of marriage, Francis died in 1874 at the age of 28. At twenty-six Mary had three young children to raise.

After Francis’s death, Mary went to Washington City to work at Miss Sallie Lipscomb’s school. In 1895, Mary returned to Athens and became principal of the Lucy Cobb Institute. She remained at the school until 1907.

Although living in Athens and being principal of the Lucy Cobb Institute, Mary spent summers in Rabun County at her cottage at Tallulah Falls. She observed the mountain children’s poor education and started teaching them to read and write on her cottage’s porch. The only school available to the area children had a school term of only three months. It was located in a poorly maintained room over the local jail. Mary was determined to find a means for them to have a proper education.

In 1906, after the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs approved the building of a school in Tallulah Falls, the campaign for raising money began. Nearly five acres of land was donated by Miss Sarah E. White for the school building location. The one-story structure was designed to have a large assembly room, two classrooms, a cook room and a workshop.

The school taught the regular academics as well as “industrial skills” (homemaking, farming, woodworking). Mary served as the chairman of the school until poor health caused her retirement in 1914.

Mary Ann Rutherford Lipscomb died on September 10, 1918 at the age of sixty-nine. On reporting her death, the Athens Daily Herald wrote the “…untiring energy of the woman whose big brain and loving tender heart, has done more for Georgia than perhaps any woman ….” Nearly a hundred years after the Tallulah Falls School opened, Mary was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement for her work on behalf of the education of Georgia children and the founding of the Tallulah Falls School.

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John Virgil Arrendale, Sr. Submitted by: Lucy Ezzard Bartlett, Ed.D. Margaret “Peggy” Pleasants Thrasher, Ph.D.

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n 1879, in a hollow near the foot of Glassy Mountain, a fat, roly-poly baby boy was born and named John Virgil Arrendale.

He was a descendent of Thomas Arrendale, who settled in the Tiger and Bridge Creek areas. Thomas Arrendale had served in the War of 1812 and as a veteran drew land from both the Gold and the Cherokee lotteries whereby he purchased or traded for additional land lots. According to Andrew J. Ritchie in the Sketches of Rabun County History, the Arrendale family was among the largest land owners in the county.

In the days when John V. was growing up, few people in Rabun County saw the need for a college education, and perhaps still fewer made the effort, commitment, and sacrifice necessary to secure one. He was one of the first three from Rabun County to receive a college degree (University of Georgia, School of Agriculture 1905). During his senior year, he was assigned to write his senior thesis on what he would do with the rest of his life. He wrote that he would return to Rabun County and work to improve the quality of life for the mountain people he loved so well.

During John V.’s funeral service, April 1972, Rev. L.B. Gibbs stated, “The same inquiring mind was one of his characteristics throughout life. He maintained an intellectual curiosity and interest in life to a remarkable degree. Some people looked at him as a dreamer, a visionary, but it would be helpful and inspiring to look at how many of his dreams and visions became realities which have benefitted many people.”

...Some people looked at him as a dreamer, a visionary, but it would be helpful and inspiring to look at how many of his dreams and visions became realities which have benefitted many people.”

John V. Arrendale could not have done so much nor have become the leader he was had it not been for the support and backing of his beloved wife, Tallulah E. Edwards. In 1905, he was the first principal of the Rabun Gap Industrial School (the forerunner to the present Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School) where he met his wife who was the teacher of domestic science (home economics) and assistant principal.

His family was very dear to him. He took pride in seeing his four children and nine grandchildren grow up to take their places in the local community and around the world. Their first born was Clyde A. Pleasants English, beloved teacher, artist, and lover of Rabun County. John V. Arrendale, Jr. felt blessed to be a dairyman and pecan grower. Ruth A. Ezzard cherished being a teacher, college professor, and encourager/financer of local adults seeking professional training. Dr. Joe Arrendale served the medical needs of grateful patients and was an accomplished wood worker. (An interesting statistic is that at the beginning of World War II, only 4% if the female population had college degrees. Three women in the Arrendale family were in that group!) His grandchildren endeavoring to carry on his interests in our county include Janie Pleasants Taylor, Dr. John Ezzard, Jim Pleasants, Lucy Ezzard Bartlett, Peggy Pleasants Thrasher, and Henry Ezzard.

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While he was still a young man, he became the First Farm Demonstration Agent in Rabun County. He also served in that capacity in Macon and Clay Counties in North Carolina. He had a keen interest in growing things as he took the lead in introducing new crops into this county. In those years there was no veterinarian in the county, so he would frequently traipse out into the cold, rainy night to tend a sick cow or hog.

Prior to serving as County Agent, The Bureau of Indian Affairs beckoned him, and he worked with American Indians in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Texas.

Some say his greatest accomplishment is Black Rock Mountain State Park. For many years he envisioned a state park on the top of Black Rock Mountain. He dreaded the thought of that unique area being commercialized and chopped up. In addition, he wanted to increase tourism in this area. John V. cornered anyone who would listen to him about the park: gubernatorial candidates, legislators, and the man on the street. His great-granddaughter, Dawne W. Bryan, said it well, “He knew the power of the pen, the influence of others’ opinions, how words could inform and enlighten.” He encouraged others to purchase small parcels of land and was himself able to buy many parcels of land during the depression which he gladly deeded or sold to the State of Georgia for the establishment of the park in 1952. The Black Rock Mountain State Park is the highest state park in Georgia and enjoyed by many.

For several decades John V. was the Rabun County Surveyor. During his tenure, he fought hard to get right-of-way for rural electric lines to bring power to these mountains and valleys. He pushed for better roads, laid out the Davis Gap Road to the satisfaction of civil engineers, helped start the fish hatchery on Lake Burton, and supported the beginning of the poultry industry in North Georgia. Furthermore, he introduced apples, grapes, and blueberries to this area, and was instrumental in helping set up the Blue Ridge Soil and Water Conservation District. In 1970 he was awarded the well-earned and richly deserved designation of Outstanding Conservation Farmer of the District. He maintained an active interest in others and was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of Scottish Rite, and a Shriner.

He assisted in securing land for the Rainy Mountain Boy Scout Camp property—his interest in Scouting going back to 1914 when he organized the first Scout troop in the county, in Tiger.

These activities and accomplishments are an eloquent testimony to his interest in the well-being of the people of this area and his willingness to spend time and energy on their behalf. In his 92 years, John V. Arrendale did indeed, with his wife and family working beside him, seek to improve the quality of life in Rabun County.

More information on John V. Arrendale and Black Rock Mountain State Park can be found in the Foxfire Magazine, Fall 1983 and in Andrew J. Ritchie’s Sketches of Rabun County History.

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The Tallulah Falls Railway 1898-1961

by Josh Scott

T

he Tallulah Falls Railway was a 58-mile, locally owned rail line that ran from Cornelia, Georgia to Franklin, North Carolina, but Tallulah Falls was far more than just a railway. For many years, the residents of Habersham, Rabun and Macon counties relied on the railroad for transportation, mail service, milk, and non-local produce, as well as many other important items. Unlike many other American railways of the same era, the Tallulah Falls never received additions and upgrades. Due to the lack of funds, derailments, and antiquated/second-hand equipment, many locals referred to the rail line as the “Total Failure,” or simply the “TF.” The railroad was able to survive the great depression and the introduction of the automobile, but when trucks started moving freight traffic, the old TF couldn’t compete. Crossing 42 trestles over 58 miles of railroad created constant maintenance and eventually proved to be too much for the struggling railway.

In 1961 the railroad was abandoned.

The Tallulah Falls was not the first rail line planned for the Northeast Georgia mountains. Before the Civil War, the Blue Ridge Railway was chartered to operate from Walhalla, South Carolina to East Tennessee, making a direct route through the isolated Appalachian Mountains. Construction began in the 1850s, but the Civil War and several financial hardships doomed the project. Today, the incomplete Stumphouse Tunnel, in Oconee County, South Carolina, stands as one of the few reminders of the failed venture.

Next, the Richmond & Danville Railway began construction with the same mission of connecting the southern ports with East Tennessee and beyond. Cornelia, Georgia was selected as the terminus and interchange of the new rail line. Construction began in 1871 and reached the town of Tallulah Falls on June 22, 1882. In 1887 all stock and properties were sold to the Blue Ridge & Atlantic Railway. The

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Blue Ridge & Atlantic soon began operating two daily trains to the town of Tallulah Falls with additional tourist sight-seeing excursion during the summer. Tourism soon became a major role in the development of the rail line, and hotels and resorts opened along the railway. At the same time, tourism began to boom in the town of Tallulah Falls. Thousands of visitors came to see the famed “Niagara of the South” or the “Grand Canyon of the East.” Economic hardship hit the Blue Ridge & Atlantic Railway and, in 1898, ownership of the railway and its equipment was transferred to the newly incorporated Tallulah Falls Railway.

The Tallulah Falls Railway once again began construction north. A partnership with the Southern Railway was reached and excursion trains began operating from Atlanta to Tallulah Falls. All of this activity gave the railway the capital to continue construction. The citizens of Macon county elected to give the company $60,000 dollars to finish the line and construct a depot near downtown Franklin. The Tallulah Falls Railway reached Franklin in June 1907.

Georgia Power announced plans for six hydro-electric plants for the Tallulah and Tugalo Rivers to help power the growing city of Atlanta. Two miles of track would be relocated to make way for the water level of the planned Lake Rabun. In 1915, Georgia Power finished construction of the Mathis Dam, and Lake Rabun began to fill with water, starting a new chapter for the Tallulah Falls Railway.

In the 1910s, tourism was still a major draw for the railway; however, disaster struck in the winter of 1921, when a devastating fire destroyed most of the area, thus ending almost 40 years of tourism for the railway.

In 1929 the great depression hit the struggling Tallulah Falls Railway with full force. Passenger trains and freight traffic dwindled, but the rail line managed to stay afloat with the federal Postal Service contract. The TF found ways of keeping money circulating in the community by buying hand-hued crossties from families along the right-of-way. This saved the railway money and helped give money back to local families.

In 1946 passenger service on the railway abruptly ended when locomotive No. 73 struck a log truck at a crossing in Habersham County. With only $100.00 worth of damage to the train, it still proved to be too much for the ailing and aging railway, and on July 31, 1946, passenger service on the Tallulah Falls Railway was permanently suspended.

On the motive power front, the Tallulah Falls Railway housed a unique collection of steam locomotives, ranging in age from 1898 through 1912, but maintenance costs were rising. The new diesel-electric locomotives had lower operating and maintenance costs, and the Tallulah Falls Railway made the decision to sell their steam locomotives and purchase two new diesels from General Electric. These new diesels numbered 501 and 502, brought the operating costs of the railway from over $90 to less than $20 per operating day. This helped to prolong the life of the TF line, but it wasn’t going to completely solve the Continued...

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problem. The railroad was still struggling, so much so that they could not even afford to have the new diesels painted. The line would finally be able to paint the engines in the early 1950s, after Hollywood discovered the little mountain railway.

Paramount studios discovered the Tallulah Falls Railway in 1950, choosing the line as a backdrop for “I’d Climb the Highest Mountain.” Walt Disney was also impressed with the isolated nature of the Tallulah Falls and chose it as the background of his 1956 picture “The Great Locomotive Chase,” a Civil War-era film. Three 19th Century locomotives were brought in from across the country, locals were cast as extras, and the Tallulah Falls became the backdrop to over six-weeks of continuous filming by Disney and his crew. Mr. Disney himself was so in love with the rail line that he made several offers to purchase it, but the offers never landed on the desks of the right people.

All of this attention was just simply not enough to keep the railroad going. Five years later, in November 1960, the Tallulah Falls Railway filed for abandonment, and on March 25th, 1961, the Tallulah Falls Railway made its final run. The crews on the Tallulah Falls were famous for tossing out chewing gum, oranges, and treats to children along the line, and the final run was no exception.

After the final run, despite an effort to save the line for commercial and tourism purposes, on May 4, 1961, what remained of the Tallulah Falls Railway and its assets were put up for public auction. By April 1962, all rail north of Demorest, Georgia had been removed. The Southern Railway continued to operate on the Cornelia to Demorest portion of the Tallulah Falls until the late 1980s.

Today, only small portions of the Tallulah Falls Railway railbed are visible along the side of old highway 441, which follows the rail line closely along its entire distance. Two museums help to tell the story of the Tallulah Falls Railway. The museum in Cornelia, Georgia displays Tallulah Falls caboose X-5 outside their museum at the Cornelia depot. The Rabun Gap Nacoochee School in Dillard also owns an impressive museum, with many TF memorabilia but it has been mostly closed since the passing of Dess Oliver in 2015.

The Tallulah Falls Railway was an amazing asset to the communities it served, bringing with it items from the Sears Roebuck catalogs, mail, and transporting our troops back home during the first and second World Wars. It also brought with it a sense of community, smiles, and waves from total strangers, and connected the small towns to the outside world. One can only help but wonder what the counties that the railway served would look like today had it survived.

It is safe to say that the development of this entire isolated region of Appalachia would look a lot different today had it not been for a so-called “Total Failure.”

Josh Scott grew up in Macon County, often hearing the stories and seeing the photographs of the Tallulah Falls Railway, and it always captured his interest.

Josh made a connection with the railway through his love of trains and history, as well as a few family connections. For entertainment as a child, he would listen to people tell stories of the train, wishing that he had a time machine so he could see it for himself. When Josh was in middle school, he was introduced to Dess Oliver, and for those who knew him, the rest was history. Josh shared, “I soon became involved with Dess’ museum and he became my mentor, learning more about the TF than I ever could on my own. Now that Dess is gone, I use the TF to honor and remember him and his legacy. I dedicate this article to him and the knowledge that he passed on to me, I know that it wouldn’t have been possible without it.”

26 - September 2019

Lovin’ The Journey

By Mark Holloway

N

ot all soldiers come home from war. One warrior in particular served bravely as an officer defeating the British in the American Revolution.

He got to come home .

For his efforts, he was given a large tract of land in the untamed, rugged and mountainous northeast corner of the Union’s 13th state. His name was even mentioned by one of our nations’s most famous explorers, William Bartram. You probably know the Bartram Trail meanders through our beloved county.

they’d grow out of that.”

We started our visit at the Clayton Cafe but soon we’re driving up to the top of Georgia’s highest state park.

“When your off, we’re not. The weekends are when everyone is out in the woods and on the water. So, that’s when we’re on.”

Who did Bartram mention in 1794? John Dillard.

Working holidays and weekends is a sacrifice he makes and his wife understands.

John was one of the earliest settlers here. I imagine Bartram may have met him on a trail and asked, “Colonel, are you from around here?”

“I tell young men looking to become game wardens that it can’t be a job. It’s got to be a lifestyle. And your young wives need to know that early on.”

John answers, “No. But I got here as quick as I could.”

There was an intensity in his eyes when he talked about advocating for wildlife. But the look in his eyes shifted to a twinkle when he talked about his wife and their first child due to grace this county in January. Stephanie and Derek have chosen the name Drake.

The Dillard name will continue.

Derek Dillard is one of the few mountain men who can actually answer that question with a resounding ‘yes’!!

Tracy reminded her writers this month the magazine would shine the light on our county’s 200th birthday.

So, I couldn’t think of a better native to visit with this month than Derek, a 46 year old lawman whose roots go directly back to muskets, militia, mountainsides.

Sergeant Dillard, patrols the woods and waters for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Although he cares for people and carefully guards the sacred duty to help those in need, he’s quick to come to the defense of those who have no voice.

“Animals can’t talk.” says Derek. “We’re out there for them.” The game warden is trusting of the 95 percent of the sportsmen. “It’s the five percent who are your outlaws. The poachers. You’d hope

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Derek’s family name is nearly synonymous with Rabun County.

And law enforcement is in their DNA too. His grandfather Henry Dillard patrolled these mountains in the 1950s with the Georgia State Patrol. Derek is also a direct descendant of A.L. Dillard who was the county Sheriff in 1891.

Derek is sort of a big deal. He doesn’t come across that way when you hang out with him, but he is. He was Georgia’s Game Warden of the Year before he was even 30. Six year later, he was the Investigative Game Warden of the Year. He’s still serves as an original member of the DNR Honor Guard.

He graduated from Rabun County High School in 1991 and went onto college. He became a marine, serving 8 years. In 2017 he earned is Masters in Public Safety Administration. He’s an active instructor at Forsyth’s Georgia Public Safety Training Center, teaching, fire arms, ATV and Emergency Vehicle Training and Active Shooter response.

My friend and GSP Commissioner, Colonel Mark McDonough says about Derek, “He’s a good one.”

Nuff said.

Derek’s advice to us hunters is quite simple, wear your orange safety vests. I pressed him on where to see the most deer this season. He told me, “In the woods.” Then he laughed. He had a gun on his hip so I decided not to press him for a better answer.

He thinks retirement in about seven years sounds good.

In the meantime, he’ll carry on a long tradition in Rabun County.

Perhaps 200 more years from now, folks will learn about Derek Dillard and his deep roots here and the contributions he’s made.

Quality people have made a place for the rest of us to truly enjoy. For this I’m thankful.

See you on the trail.

Mark Holloway is the owner of Fresh Start, Property Stewards. He and his wife Carol enjoy the outdoors, travel and serving others.

September 2019 - 29

Rabun County Historical Society-CCC Camps

by M.E. Law

D

id you know Rabun County has four camps or Civilian Conservation Corps workers? They were Camp Warwoman, known as Camp 6, and three located on the headwaters of the Tallulah River known as Camp 5, Camp Lake Rabun known as Camp 9, and Camp Grafton, known as Camp 10 on Moccasin Creek and the Lake Burton area.

An Act of Congress created the CCC on March 31, 1933. Judge of the Ordinary, Will Smith, R.E.A. Hamby, Joseph T. Davis, Fred Derrick and Frank Smith were members of a delegation who traveled to Washington to ask for a CCC Camp in Rabun County. News soon came to Clayton there would be four camps in the area.

The first camp was located in the Warwoman Community near the present day check-in station in the Warwoman Wildlife Management Area. Some of the projects built by this group were the construction of a fire tower on Rabun Bald, stringing telephone lines from tree to tree for communications, keeping three trails open: (Forest Service Trail, Rabun Bald Trail, Appalachain Trail); rebuilding and widening roads; and creating Warwoman Dell picnic areaon the old railroad bed left in the 1860’s by builders of the Blue Ridge Railroad.

Another group built the road from Tiger through the Liberty Community to Burton Dam. The main focus of the corps was to improve the timer stands as well as build trails and roads.

At the time, the white pine was an endangered tree and workers spent much time pruning them.

The camps published a newsletter once amonth. They formed baseball teams and camps played each other. Also, social activities included dances on Saturday nights. Many of the men who came to Rabun County to work for the CCC also found wives and made Rabun County their home.

My father had been teaching school in the Warwoman Community for a few years. He had receieved no salary since it was the Depression and no money was available from the state or county. My brother was born in 1933 and now he had two children, so he signed up for the CCC to have some cash money.

He was an assisant leader in the Camp 6 group.

The beginning of World War II in 1941 brought an end to CCC camps throughout the United States. Many of the men were inducted into the army.

My father went to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority who was building dams for the Tennessee River. During the was, he worked building Fontana Dam in Fontana, N.C., an essential power plant for the Oak Ridge Atomic project.

Some of the projects built in the 1930’s are still standing in Rabun County, such as the picnic shelter at Warwoman Dell, a nice cool place in the summer. The CCC program had a positive impact on the economy of the United States and helped many communities including Rabun County.

30 - September 2019

September 2019 - 31

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Cover Artists - Broderick and Michele Crawford Hometown Memories from The Crawfords

by Tracy McCoy

W

hen I think of hometown pride, I think of Broderick and Michele Crawford. Broderick was born in Tiger, Georgia a few decades ago.

Michele was born in Gainesville, Georgia one less decade ago than her husband. They met when Michele came to Rabun for work. She quickly found the love that most people have for this part of the world. Broderick was the owner of Crawford Jewelry and a gifted jeweler to boot.

Michele was a customer at the store and soon the couple began to date and eventually married. Today they are a perfect pair, Broderick an award winning artist and Michele a very talented photographer. They work side by side at Crawford Art Gallery on Main Street in Clayton. When they are not in the shop they are out in nature or traveling for art shows and competitions. When you step in the gallery you see the awards on display and a quick look around explains why they are there. His art and her photography and a successful framing business have created one of the most successful art galleries in the region.

Broderick was our first ever cover artist on what was then Rabun’s Laurel. He was asked to be our cover artist again on our five year anniversary cover and so when I thought about who could contribute to our Bi-centennial issue Broderick was a natural fit. For one reason his love of Rabun County and for another he and Michele have a “just for fun” initiative titled Rabun 200 where they are sharing historical photos and memories on social media. They have created a Christmas ornament and bronze token with the logo Broderick created to reflect our history. Michele shares her husband’s adoration of the mountains, its people and places so I wanted to involve her as well. When I visited to interview the couple for this article the focus shifted from their impressive portfolios to growing up southern, he in Rabun and she in Hall County.

34 - September 2019

“My grandfather, James E. Crawford had left behind drawings that he had done of Lincoln, a snake lady and a few others, and he was known for his penmanship. Best I can guess that is where my artistic talent came from.” He passed in the late 20s. Along with myself, a few other family members have the artistic gene, but I’m the first to take the talent and turn it into a career. Broderick said. Born in Franklin, North

Carolina and raised in Tiger, Georgia, he jokes he was a North Carolinian for a day. His parents M.L. and Eva Crawford were hardworking folks. His father had been in logging and his mother worked at the Shirt factory. The Crawfords also ran a kennel in Tiger and supplied pet stores in Atlanta with puppies.

They raised dogs and moved dogs for others. His father raised hunting breeds and sold the puppies all over the nation. Many puppies took the ride to their new home by being shipped out of Tiger on the Tallulah Falls Railroad.

“This county was a lot different back then, Clayton was filled with what I call ‘necessary businesses’, like hardware stores (Reeves, Dickerson’s, Western Auto, a 5 &10 cents store (Harpers), a movie theatre, cafes (Clayton Cafe, Effie Lord’s Cafe, Kermit’s,) a pool hall, gas station (Roy Jones’ station), car dealerships, barber and beauty shops, clothing stores and a bank. There was nothing on what is now Highway 441 it was fields, the road came from Tallulah Falls into Lakemont, Wiley, Tiger and on to Clayton.” Broderick said.

When I was growing up in Tiger, 441(now old 441) created more business for Tiger back then. There was Roane’s Store, Tiger Mountain Orchard Packing House, a small Texaco station, Cannon’s Cabins, Tiger Drive In Theater, Tween Lakes Motor Court, the Post Office and during my early years the Tiger Depot was there.

Broderick as a child and with his mother Eva

As a boy Broderick remembers riding his bike to John V. Arrendale’s (now Ezzards) to pick blueberries. “Mr. Arrendale would pay 10 cents a pint so I’d pick 6 pints to get my 60 cents and then jump on my bike and ride to the Golf Course where there was a public swimming pool. It cost a quarter to get in and you could stay all day. That would leave me with 35 cents to get a Coca Cola, a pack of crackers and an orange push up sherbet for the ride home from the snack shack. I’d be home before my mom got home from work.”

Michele on the other hand was raised by her mom and her grandmother.

Her family would travel through Rabun on the way to Cherokee for new moccasins and the proverbial Indian photo by the tee-pee. Her mother was a nurse and her grandmother worked at Woolworth’s on the square in downtown Gainesville. She and her brother would get home from school and then ride with their mother to sit on the square in downtown Gainesville waiting on her Grandmother to get off from work. She recalled laying in the back window of their car and watching people on many afternoons waiting on her Grandmother. Both were raised poor but happy and agree times were much simpler then.

Michele as a child with her younger brother Michael

Many a Rabun County teen remembers “cruising” town. Riding in circles for hours hanging out the window waving at friends. A see and be seen pastime.

Then there was of course the square dancing at Mountain City Playhouse, a movie at Tiger Drive In or in town, but Broderick was more likely to be on the creek bank with a fishing pole in his hand or hunting the mountain sides with a shotgun kicking up quail out of fence lines. He spent a lot of time with his grandmother Carrie English who lived across the road from his house. Broderick learned a lot from her. “She taught me how to grow food and can it and she made gritted bread, one of his favorite things. She was part Cherokee, there wasn’t much she couldn’t do. My uncle Carlton English taught me about the woods, how to hunt and fish. He also taught me how to hunt wild honey by watching the bees. We gathered honey from bee trees and sometimes we would cut down the bee trees to haul them out to his farm where he would set them up to be used for hives.” Broderick went on

September 2019 - 35

to say, “Life was good, it wasn’t always easy but I have some great memories.”

Broderick’s grandmother Carrie English with several grandchildren

Broderick’s grandfather Jim English with Gus Arrendale

Broderick’s awards include: 1st Place in California Upland Game Stamp, Colorado Wildlife Stamp, Delaware Trout Stamp, Iowa Duck Stamp.

Three time of the Idaho Duck’s Unlimited Artist of the Year Award. Sponsor Artist winner for Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida Ducks Unlimited.

Winner of the Georgia Trout Unlimited Tag Contest.

2011 Troutfest Contest Two-time finalist in the Federal Duck Stamp Competition.

36 - September 2019

Broderick recalls many weekends he would load up puppies with his mother in her 1956 Ford Fairlane and haul them to the Atlanta area to kennels. One day coming back home they stopped and picked up some fried chicken and brought it back to Tiger for the family. The chicken was so good, it got to be a regular weekend thing for the family. Broderick and Eva would leave with a load of puppies and return late in the evening with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken for the entire family waiting on the front porch. When he turned 15 years old Eva gave him the Fairlane. He blacked out the white wall tires, jacked it up and made an original car into a hotrod as much as he could. The 1956 Ford lasted his mother 15 years, it lasted Broderick a mere 10 months. He had run it through every mud hole and down every backroad in Rabun County. He sold it for $65 and bought a 1963 Volkswagen for $250.

One summer Broderick worked a summer program offered by the Forest Service, it was a Youth Conservation Corp (YCC). He studied and learned about caring for nature under the guidance of Marie Mellinger and Clayton Croom. He and others cleaned trails, planted, cut, trimmed and tended the forest. He loved it, it was his favorite job and something he wanted to pursue. He made $1.35 an hour, he thought he had hit the big time. “I could fill up my car and have $30 left over. The job lasted for ten or twelve weeks that summer and I finished that knowing I wanted to work for the Forest Service.”

After graduation in 1974 he looked into it going to work for the USFS, but at the time there was a 6-month waiting list. Being creative with his hands, his sisters, who owned Clayton Jewelry, talked him into going to school to learn jewelry, watch repair and engraving. So, he worked part time at his sister’s store while he went to school.

Shortly after finishing school, Broderick bought the business from his sisters. The jewelry trade was a great means in providing for his family, but it was always just a job and not his passion.

He painted for fun and relaxation for years. But in 1993 he started turning his passion into a growing career. In 2007, he went full time into wildlife art and has never looked back. “I am happy that I have since been able to take it and make a living at it.” Michele has been Broderick’s biggest fan and encourager and he has been hers.

0ther photographs by Michele Crawford

Broderick and Michele in 1992 Michele is very gifted as a photographer and framer. She has the same passion for nature that her husband does. She loves the mountains and has met some incredible people since moving here. Her memories of growing up were of simple Christmases where she and her brother would get some clothes, a couple books and a toy or two. She said that she watched Gainesville grow from a small town to a big city. “I was working with 9th District Opportunity and was offered to come to Rabun and I jumped at the chance.

I am very glad I did.” Michele said. “After moving here, I went to work for The Clayton Tribune as a reporter. I learned a lot and my job at the Tribune offered me opportunities to meet some really great Rabun County folks.

“My favorite thing when I moved here was Melvin Taylor selling beans on Main Street on Saturday mornings. I felt like I had moved into a Norman Rockwell painting,” Little did she know what a large part paintings would play in her future. The Crawfords are ready for wherever life takes them. They are content in their Main Street location and enjoy traveling to shows. Broderick has two sons, Luke who lives in Connecticut and Daniel who lives in Rhode Island. He has grandchildren he enjoys spending time with as well. History buffs, nature lovers, artists, this couple has a lot to offer, you should stop by the gallery for a visit, you may end up staying a couple hours like I did but you’ll enjoy it for sure.

September 2019 - 37

finding Art 38 - September 2019

September 2019 - 39

“Griswoldville,” Paints War Through Teen-age Eyes

R

by John Shivers

abun County native and author Jordan Poss has done it again!

Whether “it” is a love story, an historical accounting, or a masterful piece of fiction woven among fact, is up for debate. In truth, his fourth and newest book, “Griswoldville,” is actually a superb duke’s mixture of homage, fact and creativity, as only Jordan can wrap and display those words.

His first book, “No Snakes in Iceland,” released in 2016, and was set in the 10th Century among the heathen Vikings. “Cicero,” an account of the famous Roman lawyer, politician, and philosopher some forty years before the birth of Christ, was his second title. “Dark Full of Enemies,” a covert European spy thriller, was released in 2017, and in 2018, coming a little closer to home, in several different ways, Jordan released “Griswoldville.” This heart-rending, coming-of-age account set in middle Georgia near the end of the Civil War is one that will remain with you, long after you close the cover for the final time. battle on November 21 and 22, 1864. The Yanks prevailed, primarily because the Georgia Militia, a decrepit company of men almost too old to live, and boys too young to fight, let alone die, were charged with protecting the state’s security.

It is against that backdrop, and as a part of that rag-tag military company, that Jordan Poss created and carefully placed Georgie and his grandfather, Lafayette “Fate” Eschenbach. Georgie has spent the three years since his father left for the war being the “man of the house.” With his mother and younger siblings, assisted by his grandfather, Georgie has made and harvested crops and slaughtered livestock for food. By working through all those challenges, he’s grown from a mere young boy to a stronger and wiser young man. In reality, he’s aged well before his time and far beyond his fourteen notches on the birthday stick.

That growth serves him well, when he and Fate, and others of their ilk, are called to defend their homes and state. And while the experience of mindless, needless marching and drilling make less and less sense to him, Georgie discovers that the tales of war, and the reality of bullets and blood, death and destruction, make even less sense. Nevertheless, Georgie gives it everything he has within himself, fighting against odds that can’t be beat.

If, as the philosophers say, the windows are the eyes to the soul, then readers of this newest saga get an inside look at fourteen year-old Georgie Wax as soon as they spy the cover.

While the photo of the young Reb is stock art, since Georgie was born in Jordan’s creative mind, you nonetheless glimpse the determination, the fear, the burning desire to live and contribute, that readers understand and embrace themselves, by the time they reach the last page.

So there’s the historical angle and the fictional part of this story. As for the love story portion of the equation, Jordan was blessed with two grandfathers, who helped to mold and make him. The late Ed Poss and the late JL McKay loomed large in his growing up years, and through the pages of “Griswoldville,” Jordan pays homage. Several of the scenes in the book were inspired by actual events that happened in his life, thanks to both of those nurturing mentors. The scene in the book where Fate shows Georgie how to shoot a squirrel without leaving a mark on the body, was actually something that JL McKay showed Jordan firsthand.

Griswoldville was a mill town some ten miles east of present day Macon, where a division of federal troops, under the command of General William T. Sherman, engaged in

So is it memoir, history, or love story? You’ll have to decide.

“Griswoldville” is available on Amazon, or by contacting Jordan directly at jordanmposs.com.

40 - September 2019

finding Art

September 2019 - 41

Music History

by Tom Nixon

The themes throughout all music reflect what is important to us as humans. Things that bring us joy, happiness, and many times, what brings us grief and pain. Music, being an outlet for expression, was the primary way to express elation and despair for the early settlers of the area. Folks began to create their own music in the style they were accustomed to and music influenced by those of different backgrounds. However, themes would remain the same.

Songs about survival in the mountains and their beauty, loss of loved ones, heaven, falling in love, infidelity, and murder.

Early settlers were people of strong faith and sacred music was central to the individual and communities as they developed throughout Appalachia. Early public gatherings for people to worship were absent of instrumentation.

Also, some church doctrines excluded instruments from being part of the service. Shape note singing came about for people to sing their songs of worship. The writing of shape note scores allowed people to associate notes of the scale with particular shapes. This allowed them to read music without having to know traditional staff sight reading. The earliest type of shape note music is known as “Christian Harmony”, and reflects a deliberate contrast to European sacred music of the time. The use of parallel fifths were common in Christian Harmony, which was taboo to

42 - September 2019

M

usic is a language and art that is universal.

Although, as much as we like to quantify, streamline, or commercialize the music, it remains diverse to the individual and region from which it comes. The history of music in Rabun County tells the story of the immigrants that came here and reflects their experiences as they lived out their lives in the harsh environment of the southern Appalachian mountains.

Old English, Scottish, and Irish Ballads are some of the oldest music compositions to first arrive to the area. This also includes fiddle tunes and sacred music from those same areas and early African music. As early as the 1600s, these forms of music would develop alongside each other and begin to integrate, giving us something that is uniquely American and specific to the southern Appalachian region.

be used in European sacred music. This makes Christian Harmony unique to America and Appalachia. Later the Sacred Harp shape note tradition came about with the organ and piano eventually being used for accompaniment. This style of singing has a rich history in Rabun County. Singing conventions were a regular occurrence for over a century and gatherings still convene today.

Outside of worship gatherings, folks would gather in their homes. After the work was all done for the week, news of a dance would spread across the “hollers” and over the ridges.

Some would walk for a day or so just to get there, with maybe a dozen folks coming if you were lucky. Reason being, that would be the whole community. But, rest assured, it was a fun filled night for all. I can remember my grandmother telling me of these occasions. Instrumentation usually consisted of a guitar, banjo and fiddle, but sometimes only a guitar or fiddle would be the accompaniment. Mountain arrangements of old Irish tunes and original compositions would be the repertoire. Mountain square dancing began to take shape as callers began to choreograph their individual calling styles. Dancing would take place in the largest room in the cabin after all the furniture was moved outside.

Since there wasn’t much room, free style dancing or “buck dancing” was a popular display giving one the opportunity to “show off”. Some areas north of Rabun County would

call this “flatfootin”; Although, buck dancing displayed a much more flashy style.

The music played for those early dances would be “old time music”. This style demonstrated less singing and each instrument would play the melody at the same time. Old time music is a forerunner of what we now call Bluegrass music, with Bluegrass having a plethora of influences contributing to what it is today. With the development of industry, technology, and the debut of the Grand Ole Opry, the landscape of mountain and now country music began to change. If a family could afford a radio, they would gather around and listen to the Opry broadcast every Saturday night. Music was now becoming commercialized, with certain groups and personalities gaining followings and being idolized. Pop culture was arriving to the mountains.

Aside from broad pop culture influences, Rabun County has held to many of the old mountain music traditions.

Even though events and gathering are larger and more sophisticated, they hold to the same themes. I dare to mention venues, events, and personalities that have kept these traditions alive, for fear I would overlook any that might be important to others, but here are some that stick out in my mind. For venues and events: shape note singing schools, Mountaineer Festival, Mountain City Playhouse, Halls Boat House, countless community benefits, bluegrass and folk festivals, and in home jam sessions all over the area. The people who were a part of these activities are real icons of Rabun County and many were my mentors.

Forgive me if I don’t mention someone of importance to you. These are: Hyman Brown, the Welborn family, Jr Crow, Bob Mashburn, Curtis Blackwell, Red Jones, Oliver Rice, Robert Sexton, Apple Savage, and there are so many others.

about our society. Music is certainly my passion, and passing on what I’ve learned and continue to learn from others is central to that passion. It would take volumes to cover all that needs to be covered about music history for the area, much less in general. The styles and types of the world’s music are countless and growing.

A few years ago, the Southern Highland Music Foundation was established. Our goal is to enrich the lives of children and the community through all genres of music. We are all about music education and have a focus on heritage for the area. We have been fortunate to work with music teachers in the local public school system over the past few years, but as always, we need funding to accomplish our goals. If you are interesting in underwriting our activities, giving a donation, volunteering, or just learning more about what we do, please refer to the contact information below. SHMF is a 501c3 organization and your contributions are tax deductible. With so much division in our world, music is the one thing that we can share together, even in it’s diversity.

Southern Highland Music Foundation, Tom Nixon, CEO 629 Duggan Hill Dr. - Clayton, Ga. 30525 706-490-0539 CEO@southernhighlandmusicfoundation.com www.Southernhighlandmusicfoundation.com

I feel privileged to have been exposed to all these early mountain music styles and other traditions. Being raised in a musical family that held to tradition is one thing of which I am very thankful. Having been involved with the Foxfire program (www.foxfire.org) in the 1980s was a highlight of my life; I can assert with confidence it’s major impact on my career as an educator and musician. Nowhere else could I have gained exposure to the depth of southern Appalachian traditional music. It’s been over 38 years since I became a part of the Foxfire Boys. Our success and tradition would not have happened had it not been for the talented work of Foxfire teacher George Reynolds.

Remarkably, the band is still together after all these years.

For so many positive reasons, my hope is to keep these traditions alive. We can learn much from books, but experiencing live music is something that transcends the intellect. With so much in modern society competing for our attention and allegiance, we are often distracted from the fundamentals or foundations that foster all that is good

September 2019 - 43

Bon Appétit

I Know You Are Hungry and I am Doing the Best That I Can!!!

By Scarlett Cook

S

ummer has come and gone and so have the slow moving days. Now it is hurry up, finish your breakfast, brush

your teeth, get your book bag, get in the car; we should have left 10 minutes ago! So dinner is the last thing on your mind when you are trying to get everyone out the door. So what if you could come home, take a casserole out of the refrigerator, put it in the oven, and with minimal fuss have dinner on the table without becoming a Tasmanian Devil? And without the sink piled high with dishes? Hopefully this will take some of the sting out of getting back into the routine. Enjoy and don’t think about that you have eight more months of this routine.

Breakfast Casserole Serves 10 3/4 Loaf French bread, torn into 2” pieces 3 Tablespoons melted butter 1/4 Pound ham, chopped into bite size pieces – from the deli / leftovers / or a small ham steak 1/2 Pound Swiss cheese, shredded 1/4 Pound Cheddar cheese, shredded 8 Eggs 1 3/4 Cups milk 4 Green onions, chopped 1/4 Teaspoon red pepper flakes 1 Tablespoon spicy mustard (or regular) 1 Cup sour cream 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese Grease a 13” X 9” baking dish. Spread bread pieces in bottom and drizzle with butter.

Sprinkle with ham and cheeses.

Mix eggs, milk, green onions, mustard and pepper well.

Pour over bread and cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325˚.

Remove casserole from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.

Uncover and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and spread with sour cream and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Baked an additional 10 minutes.

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Spinach Salad Serves 8 1 Pound of prewashed spinach 1 Pint strawberries, washed and sliced 1/2 Cup chopped walnuts Dressing 1/3 Cup brown sugar 1/2 Cup vegetable oil 1/4 Cup white vinegar 1/4 Teaspoon salt Whisk dressing ingredients together and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, combine spinach, strawberries, walnuts and dressing.

Heavenly Chocolate Loaf Cake Serves 8 1 Cup plain flour 1 Cup sugar 1/2 Cup cocoa 4 Tablespoons butter 1 Cup boiling water 1 Teaspoon baking soda 1 Egg 1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 Teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350Ëš. Grease and flour loaf pan.

Place flour, sugar and cocoa in mixing bowl and mix until blended.

Add butter, water, soda, vanilla and salt. Mix well.

Add egg and beat until smooth.

Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 5 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack.

Whipped cream or ice cream (especially coffee ice cream) makes this even more delicious!

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A Taste of the Mountains

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September 2019 - 47

The Family Table T

by Lorie R. Thompson

his year marks the 200th anniversary of the formation of Rabun County. Happy Bicentennial Anniversary to us!

I have always taken great pride in being native to Rabun County. I am as “local” as you can find. My maiden name was Ramey, and I married a Thompson.

My four Grandparents were McKay’s, Keener’s, Ramey’s, and Page’s. All of these families go back to the 1800s in Rabun County. My roots here, go deep.

Everyone is “from” somewhere, but I believe Rabun County is unique, and it is a source of pride to be from here. The natural beauty of the area, combined with the gracious people who live here make this an exceptional spot in the World. Yep, I puff up when I talk about Rabun County. It is my home, and I feel a proprietorial interest. My roots go deep.

I love the old stories of Rabun families from years gone by.

My Dad was a great storyteller, and I listened to his tales of growing up in Depression Era Rabun County. I know life was hard, but there was joy in it, too.

I am old enough that I recall getting fresh milk and butter from my Great Uncle Rob and Aunt Drucy Keener. Picking blackberries along their fence rows was an annual event.

My Granny Ramey had chickens, and there were always plenty of fresh eggs. My Dad had honey bees, raised pigs, and beef cattle, so there was high-quality food in our home.

Sunday lunch at my Granny Ramey’s was a glorious thing.

Granny Ramey’s home was small. Probably not 1200 sq ft.

With the largest room in the house being the kitchen. There was a wrap-around porch with long tables built from old doors, to accommodate the heavy-laden lunch plates. There were rows of rocking chairs for the grown-ups to enjoy, overlooking Tiger Creek. For the kids, there was always a game of cow-pasture softball, tag, or playing in the creek.

The highlight of each Sunday afternoon was the meal, and Granny Ramey’s fried chicken was the star of the show.

I have tried to replicate my Granny’s chicken, and it may be only in my memory, but her fried chicken was the best I have ever had. I watched her cooking it many times, but never paid any attention to the mechanics of it. I have tried to reason why her fried chicken was better than mine. Here are my ideas; I believe the chicken was better than what I can currently buy. My Granny was cooking “free-range”

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chicken before it was cool. The chickens were smaller than the birds of today and had better flavor. She fried them in a mix of Crisco and Lard that came from the pigs my daddy raised each year. I have worked to make my panfried chicken as close to Granny’s as possible. It is not as good as my memory of hers, but it is tasty. Let me share my method.

Start with the best quality chicken you can buy. Andy’s Market sells small chicken pieces that are perfect for frying. The Springer Mountain Farms Chicken or the Ingle’s Harvest Farms brand is good, too. Look for smaller pieces of chicken that you get with the organic or “no hormone” chicken. It is hard to get big chicken pieces cooked completely done without overcooking the crust — the size of the chicken piece is important.

Your chicken needs to dry before you cook it. Ideally, buy it a day ahead and wash it in cool water. Dry it as much as possible. Place the chicken on a rack or dry paper towels. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cover it and refrigerate overnight. One hour before you are ready to cook, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and dry each piece with a paper towel.

In a cast iron or heavy skillet (make sure you have a lid that will fit it) heat approximately 1 cup of shortening. Use Crisco with some bacon drippings or Lard. The fat should be at least one inch deep in your pan. Start your pan warming over medium-low heat. Bring the temperature up to medium-high (375 degrees) just before placing chicken into the frying pan. Get the fat hot enough to sizzle and then turn it back down just below medium after putting the chicken in the pan.

Dredge each piece of dry chicken in seasoned flour. Use 2 cups of self-rising flour with 1 tsp of onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne. Self-rising flour is best for this. Use any seasoning you like.

It is essential to dredge the dry chicken in the flour first. Dredging the dry chicken in the flour first will make the crust adhere to the chicken.

In a separate bowl mix one egg and one cup of whole buttermilk or whole milk. (Try a couple of shakes of hot sauce in this) Dip each piece of floured chicken in the egg and milk, then, dredge in flour mix again. Place each piece of chicken in the hot fat, with the skin side up.

Don’t crowd the pan! The chicken pieces should not touch each other. Allow the chicken to brown on each side, cooking approx 7-10 minutes on each side. After both sides are browned, turn the heat down to medium-low and place a tight-fitting lid over the chicken and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and turn the chicken over. Cook for five more minutes and check the chicken for doneness with a meat thermometer reading 165+ degrees. Or, pierce with a sharp knife near the bone. The juice should run clear.

To make the Cream Gravy, pour off excess fat from your chicken pan, leaving approx. 4 T of fat. Add 2-3 T of the leftover flour dredge to the grease and brown the flour over medium heat. Turn off heat when the roux is golden brown. Add a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk to the roux. Use a whisk to incorporate the milk into the flour/fat mixture. Turn the heat back on to medium. Add 1 1/2 C of water and continue to heat until the gravy has started to boil. Turn the temperature down and allow to slow simmer until it is slightly thickened. Add water if needed to thin or continue to simmer if needed, to thicken. Gravy will get thicker as it cools. continued on page 50

September 2019 - 49

The Family Table Bread was a staple at our family table. You either had cornbread, biscuits, or “light bread.” (Store-bought loaf bread.) If there was cream gravy, there would be biscuits or a “biscuit pone.”

Making a biscuit “pone” is so easy, and it is delicious bread without the trouble of making home-made biscuits. The recipe is for a 10” skillet that will feed 6+ people. This recipe can be halved and use an eight-inch skillet. — Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together, 2 C self-rising flour. (White Lily is excellent!) And 2 tsp of baking powder. Add 1/4 C of Crisco Vegetable Shortening and cut into the flour with a pastry cutter or a fork. With a cheese grater, grate in 1/4 stick of cold butter. Work the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or fork. Add whole buttermilk (approx. 1 C) blending into the flour until dough is “wet.” This dough should be wetter than regular biscuit dough.

Grease a black iron skillet with Crisco and pour the dough into the pan.

Bake approx. 15-20 minutes or until the top is starting to brown. Invert pone on a plate.

I had the pleasure recently to get some of local beekeeper, Jimmy Addis’ Sourwood Honey. It is the best honey I have ever had! Jimmy said it was a particularly good year for sourwood. This biscuit pone with some “Cow Salve Butter” is a real treat. (Cow Salve Butter is very dark, yellow butter from cows that eat grass. Kerry Gold Butter is as close to Uncle Rob’s butter as I can find.) Try this biscuit pone bread. It is easy to make, and your family will love it!

My Grandparents lived in a time in Rabun County when money was hard to come by. They lived careful lives full of daily work. Looking on from the outside, it might seem that they had a hard life, but they had large families that remained close to them throughout their lives. They had warm, comfortable homes. There was plenty of good quality food, and mealtime was a pleasure. They went to Church on Sunday and gospel singings on Saturday night. They shopped in Clayton on Saturday, and the men all visited in the corner park while the ladies talked in the shops.

You can’t recreate the simpler times, but you can cook a meal for your family to enjoy. Have pan-fried chicken, cream gravy and a biscuit pone with butter and honey. Sit on the porch after lunch and watch the kids play in the yard. Enjoy the time with those you love.

Wishing for you and your family a day of simple pleasures, Rabun County style.

Lorie Thompson is a REALTOR at Poss Realty in Clayton, Georiga. Her expertise in her industry is second only to her culinary talents. Lorie is a dynamo in the kitchen. Honestly if she prepares it, it will likely be the best you’ve ever had! Lorie and her husband, Anthony (Peanut), make their home in the Persimmon community. She is the proud mother of Joe Thompson and Kendall Thompson.

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September 2019 - 51

from the Rabun County Historical Society Moonshiners hile Sunday afternoons were usually quiet in

by M.E. Law

W

Clayton in the 1950s, one particular Sunday was different. Sheriff Lamon Queen and his deputy, who was also his son-in-law, flushed a truck loaded with moonshine whiskey at Tiger. He followed the truck back to town and when the truck stopped at a traffic light, his son-in-law jumped onto the truck’s running board.

When he attempted to turn off the switch, the driver hit his hand with a fruit jar and knocked him off the truck.

Then the race was on!

The truck started toward Warwoman at top speed. After rescuing his deputy, the sheriff began a hot pursuit and sounded the siren for the truck to stop. The truck stopped suddenly, backing into the sheriff’s car and pushing it off the road. The car was inoperable and the sheriff was slightly bruised. Meanwhile, the truck sped on down Warwoman Road, which was unpaved beyond Warwoman Dell. Bill Hunnicutt, driving a new taxi, came upon the sheriff and his deputy and was flagged down to continue the chase. The whiskey truck raised so much dust the taxi driver could not see where he was going. He met another truck driven by Tom Harkins coming towards town, causing a collison of the truck and taxi. Mr. Harley Wall, who was driving behind the taxi just for the excitement, ran into the wrecked taxi. Then Policeman Sanford Garland, who was following Wall, plowed into Wall’s car before he could get stopped.

Meanwhile, my father just happened to be standing on the corner, after church, on Main Street and saw what was happening. Ted and I had gone home when Daddy came by and asked Ted if he would like to go see what was happening. He climbed into Daddy’s ‘39 Chevorlet and the took off. Their car was the last one on the scene and they were astounded to see the pile-up. They loaded up the sheriff, deputy and others and brought them back to town, but no one was seriously hurt. The sheriff summoned help from his office to resume the chase.

The officers tracked the truck up Highway 28 from Pine Mountain towards Highlands, North Carolina, then off a side road toward the glades when they flushed the truck and driver. The tag had been removed and the whiskey had been hidden in the woods. Two men were arrested and one escaped. Although the sheriff had caused the wreck of five cars, he had captured 150 gallons of whiskey the previous Sunday, loaded on a truck covered with wood slabs.

Evidently the moonshiners thought Sunday might be a good time to move their merchandise, but they were outsmarted by the law officers of Rabun County.

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What’s Going On with R4G?

F

Kevin Hurt, Senior Pastor of Grace Bible Church

or those who are new to our area, or a new reader to the Georgia Mountain Laurel, this may be your first time hearing about R4G (Rabun For the Gospel), so let me briefly introduce who we are.

First, R4G’s unity and strength is built around our allegiance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ — Together we stand united because we really believe that the God of the universe was motivated by His love for a world of sinners. And as a demonstration of God’s love for sinners, Jesus became a man who lived a perfect life and died a cruel death on the Cross in the place of sinners. We passionately believe that because Jesus lived and died, and then rose again, that we are saved from the judgment and wrath that our sin deserves. It is our profound joy to know that we are reconciled to the God we have offended, and now we are loved eternally by Him. And that, my friend, unites us together!

Second, R4G’s unity and strength is built around our mutual encouragement, accountability, and insight from one another — We know that our churches are all unique and different in our styles of worship, the order of our services, the types of missions we do, and so much more that uniquely defines our local congregations. And we love that. So, when we come together in our monthly Pastor’s fellowship, we learn from each other and encourage each

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other as we learn and glean from the way we each do ministry in our local churches. I can’t tell you how many times we have left those meetings encouraged and challenged to do a better job in our ministries to our local congregations.

R4G has helped all of us as Pastors to be more committed to love and serve our people than ever before. And that, brothers and sisters, is the type of unity we need, and we are experiencing, at R4G! Now that you have a feel for who we are, let me encourage you to check out two upcoming events sponsored by R4G. The Annual Gathering of Churches — This year’s FREE event will be held on September 15-18, nightly at 6:30 at the Civic Center in Clayton. This is a time when our Churches in Rabun County come together for four nights of singing, preaching, and great fellowship. This year’s event has been designed to serve our churches and help us be the Church that God has called us to be in Rabun County. Let me encourage you to check out the information on our R4G Facebook Events page, mark your calendar, and make plans to bring your church with you this year.

The R4G Women’s Conference — On October 26 we are offering a FREE conference just for ladies. As pastors of Rabun County, we know that women are a vital part of the work that God does through His Church. Because we know how valuable they are, we want to do everything we can to encourage and strengthen the women in our Churches.

This conference is going to be a great opportunity for women to come together for great teaching, fellowship, and encouragement. Check out the information below, mark it on your calendar, and, since registration is required, be sure to register online for this FREE conference.

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September 2019 - 57

Bless Your Heart - Use Me

by Lisa Harris

A

re we being used?

Often?

Are we making the most of every opportunity?

Are we wise in our words? Are our conversations gracious and kind?

Are we carrying out the ministry God has given each of us?

Without grumbling?

Hmmm…

I experienced a strong nudge from God to prepare a dinner for a precious, young friend of mine. In her early forties, with three children, a doting, successful husband and lovely home. She had become sick and I was very concerned about her. I felt God say, ‘take dinner.’

So, I called and offered and she gratefully accepted, except they were leaving for vacation the next day. It had been planned and they didn’t want to disappoint the kids. I told her I would bring it by when they got back. Remembering so well, as a young mom, how vacations can be terribly exhausting, leaving little room for relaxing and healing.

I eagerly prepared some of the food ahead of time, and waited for their return. Sunday morning came and as I was leaving early church, I received a text saying they had gotten home the day before and were looking forward to dinner.

“Fabulous,” I thought and smiled.

Then she continued, “I won’t be home as I am shopping with a friend, please leave the food with my sweet husband.”

“Shopping?” I thought, “Do they really need dinner?”

I got in my car puzzled over the last sentence--but still felt strongly to take dinner.

Finishing up the cooking a few hours later, I packed everything in throw-away so she wouldn’t be burdened with returning dishes and texted that I was on my way.

Arriving a few minutes later, I spoke with her husband about our mutual concern for her constant going and not resting, then left.

As I was leaving her street I asked God, “Was there a purpose for taking food, Lord? I didn’t mind at all, but....”

God responded with such kindness in His voice...

“She needed mothering,” those words seeped into my soul.

My heart melted like butter.

Yes Lord. She absolutely did.

Why? Because her mother was confined to a wheel chair.

She has to care for her mother.

God gave me the privilege of mothering.

My heart was full. Their bellies were full.

God teaches us to just ‘do’ and He will take care of the rest.

--A few Sunday’s past my husband and I sat beside a family

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with three small children. We had scooted in late with not too many spots to choose from. The seats we chose were towards the back and we quietly grabbed them. However, to my slight disappointment we were next to young parents with (gasp!) small children.

“Oh dear,” I thought, “we may not hear the sermon today,” as I eyed the young children sitting in the middle of their parents.

I looked over at the mom who was very slim, wearing a lovely maxi-dress. She had long blonde hair that framed her pretty face. At glance, I could see the sweet countenance she carried about her. I smiled and nodded and laughed to myself, “well, here we go with the sermon, let’s see how long they last.”

The children wiggled just a bit, one climbed in his mother’s lap for a while but not a peep was heard.

Not. One. Whisper.

Seriously people--Nothing.

I was impressed.

God whispered to my heart, “tell her.”

I knew what He meant. (Sometimes you just know EXACTLY what He means--right?!)

After the sermon was over I leaned over and introduced myself.

I told this lovely mom that she had done a wonderful job with her mothering.

Her children were so well-behaved in church.

They were respectful and obedient and she should be so proud of them.

She absolutely glowed.

She thanked me and we hugged.

I may never know why God had me lean in and encourage, and that’s absolutely okay.

I was the one blessed…(and still impressed) --We all have these teachable moments. God speaks to our hearts, we respond, and sometimes we get the why and sometimes we don’t. I love little stories of God’s goodness, it encourages your hearts, it’s exciting to ask God daily how to be used.

I would LOVE to hear from YOU! Send me your ‘ah ha’ moment from God. How God asked you to do something and how you responded. What was the outcome? What did you learn?

Send to bless_your_heart@yahoo.com and attach a photo of yourself if you’d like.

I will put the chosen God moment story in my column. (it will be read and edited by me and the Laurel Editor, Tracy McCoy) Please keep it under 800 words or less.

Thank you for Blessing MY Heart!

September 2019 - 59

Mountain Happenings STEPHENS COUNTY October 4th - 6th Currahee Military Weekend Toccoa Info: 706.886.2132 October 12th Pioneer Day Traveler’s Rest State Historic Site Toccoa Info: 706.356.4362 October 26th - 27th Harvest Festival Downtown Toccoa Info: 706.898.5777 October 31st Costume Parade Downtown Toccoa Info: 706.898.5777 The Ritz Theater Toccoa Info: www.ritztheatretoccoa.com September 26th Night at the Ritz - Lightwire Theater October 3rd Night at the Ritz - Joe Gransden October 24th Night at the Ritz - The Headless Hessian of Sleepy Hollow: Live from WVL Radio Theatre HABERSHAM COUNTY September 5th, October 24th Sip & Stroll Downtown Clarkesville Info: 706.754.2220 September 7th and each Saturday through September Clarkesville Market Place Old Courthouse Parking Lot Clarkesville Info: 706.754.2220 September 6th - 14th Chattahoochee Mountain Fair 182 Hwy. 17, Clarkesville Info: 706.768.6890 chattahoocheemountainfair.org September 19th -22nd, 26th - 29th October 4th - 6th “Sound of Music” Habersham Community Theatre Clarkesville Info: 706.839.1315 habershamtheater.org September 28th Big Red Apple Festival Downtown Cornelia Info: 706.778.8585

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October 31st Trick or Treat on the Square Downtown Clarkesville Info: 706.754.2220 WHITE COUNTY September 5th - 8th, 12th - 15th September 19th - 22nd September 26th - October 27th 49th Annual Oktoberfest Helen Info: 706.878.1908 September 7th Helen’s 50th Celebration Oktoberfest Parade Downtown Helen Info: 706.878.1908 September 7th and each Saturday Saturday Evening Music Concert Series Unicoi State Park & Lodge Helen Info: 706.865.5356 September 28th 12th Annual Agri-Fest and the 9th Annual Pottery Comes to Town Freedom Park, Cleveland Info: 706.865.5356 October 25th - 27th Art-Oberfest Arts & Crafts Festival Helen Arts & Heritage Center Helen Info: 706.878.3933, helenarts.org SNCA Sautee Nacoochee Info: 706.878.3300 www.snca.org September 7th and the first Saturday of each month Blacksmithing Demonstration September 8th - 9th String Theory September 21st Rod Harris, Jr. Hardman Farm Historic Site Sautee Nacoochee Info: 706.878.1077 September 10th Emory Jones Book Signing September 7th Farm Animal Fun Day September 14th Georgia’s Spirit of Appalachia Food, Wine and Art Festival Info: 706.865.5356 October 19th Fall Celebration

RABUN COUNTY September 7th and each Saturday Bluegrass on the Square Tallulah Falls Opera House Tallulah Falls Info: 706.212.0241 September 7th and each Saturday through October Clayton Farmers’ Market October 26th - Fall Festival Food Bank of NE Georgia Clayton Info: 706.782.0780 September 7th and each Saturday Community Market Rabun County Civic Center Clayton Info: 706.782.5271 September 16th, October 14th Junior Chef After School Northeast Georgia FoodBank Clayton Info: 706.212.0241 September 21st Clayton Crawl Main Street, Clayton Info: www.claytoncrawl.org September 28th Harvest Stomp Stonewall Creek Vineyards Tiger Info: 706.212.0584 October 5th Mountaineer Festival Rabun Pavilions and Civic Center Clayton Info: foxfire.org October 5th Rabun County Gospel Singing Convention Tiger Baptist Church, Tiger Info: 706.490.1896 October 19th Bluegrass Music Festival Rabun Arena, Tiger Info: rabunarena.com Tallulah Gorge State Park Tallulah Falls Info: 706.754.7981 September 1st Tal-luau September 14th, October 13th Full Moon Suspension Bridge Hike September 21st A Tour and Tea October 31st Trunk or Treat for Halloween

TOWNS COUNTY September 7th - 8th Rust & Roses Vintage Market Days Towns County Recreation & Conference Center, Young Harris Info: 706.896.4966 October 5th Puttin’ on the Dog Towns County Rec Center Young Harris Info: 770.335.5996 Mountain Home Music Theatre Hiawassee Info: 706.896.3624 September 21st, October 12th Mountain Home Music Band September 14th Justin Terry Live September 28th Barry Evans wih South Wind Band October 5th Special Show with the Outpost Opry Variety Show from Nashville October 19th Dr. Michael Gottsman & the Varmits October 26th Roy Perren (Elvis) Live Crane Creek Vineyards Young Harris Info: 706.379.1236 September 6th and each Friday Friday Evening Tapas & Acoustic October 19th - Fall Festival Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds Hiawassee Info: 706.896.4191 georgiamountainfairgrounds.com September 12th - 14th Daily & Vincent Landfest in the Mountains and on the Lake October 11th - 19th Georgia Mountain Fair October 26th Appalachian Brew, Stew & Que Festival UNION COUNTY

September 7th and the first Saturday of the month through October Cruise-In at the Farmers’ Market Old Smokey Road Blairsville Info: 863.414.5276

CLAY COUNTY, NC

September 14th Hard Hats and High Heels North Georgia Technical College Blairsville Info: 706.379.2484

September 21st 8th Annual Pet Celebration Historic Hayesville Square, Hayesville Info: 828.389.3704

September 21st and the third Saturday of the month Cruise-In On The Square Downtown Blairsville Info: 863.414.5276 September 27th QuiltFest 2019 House of Prayer Church Family Life Center, Blairsville Info: 678.923.5031 October 4th - 5th Fall Pumpkin & Paca Fest Lasso the Moon Alpaca Farm Blairsville Info: 706.835.1837

September 6th Friday Night Summer Concert Series Historic Courthouse Square Downtown Hayesville Info: 828.389.1181

September 21st Cherokee Heritage Festival Adjacent to Old Jail Museum Hayesville Info: 828.389.3045 October 5th Steins and Wine Around the Sauare The Square, Hayesville Info: 828.389.3704 October 19th - 20th Punkin’ Chunkin’ Festival Hayesville Info: 828.389.3704 John C. Campbell Folk School Brasstown Info: 828.837.2775

September 11th - 15th Macon County Fair Wayne Proffitt Agricultural Center Franklin Info: 828.369.3523 themaconcofair.com September 27th - 28th Annual Fall Arts, Crafs & Bake Sale Hickory Knoll United Methodist Church, Franklin Info: 828.369.9300 September 28th Satulah-Bration Chili Cook-Off Kelsey-Hutchinson Park Highlands Info: 828.526.2112 October 19th 23rd Annual PumpkinFest Downtown Franklin Info: 828.524.2516 Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts Franklin Info: 866.273.4615; 828.524.1598 GreatMountainMusic.com September 7th - The Steeldrivers

October 5th Indian Summer Festival Suches Info: 706.747.2401

September 5th Aubrey Atwater in Concert

September 14th The Collinsworth Family

September 13th - Lillies of the West

September 21st - Lonestar

September 20th - Theo & Brenna

October 12th - !3th, 19th - 20th 50th Blairsville Sorghum Festival Meeks Park Blairsville Info: 706.745.5789 blairsvillesorghumfestival.com

September 27th - Jones Brothers

September 27th Arrival from Sweden: The Music of Abba

October 5th - 6th 45th Annual Fall Festival October 11th - Blue Eyed Girl

September 28th - ARTrageous!

October 4th - Rhonda Vincent October 12th - Tim Hawkins

October 26th Dancing with North GA Stars 2019 Union County Fine Arts Center Blairsville Info: 706.896.4966

Peacock Performing Arts Center Hayesville Info: 828.389.2787 thepeacocknc.org

October 19th Departure: The Journey Tribute Band

October 31st Hometown Halloween on the Square Downtown Blairsville Info: 706.347.3503 Vogal State Park Blairsville Info: 706.745.2628 September 14th Mountain Music Day Festival

August 31st - September 1st Mountain Heritage Festival Mountain Life Museum Blairsville Info: 706.745.5493

October 26th - Fall Festival

September 3rd and each Tuesday and Saturday through October Union County Farmers’ Market Old Smokey Road Blairsville Info: 706.439.6043

September 7th and each Saturday Live Music

Paradise Hills Resort and Spa Blairsville Info: 706.745.7483

October 26th Hallo-Wine Celebration

September 14th Song Writers Showcase 29 September 28th Terry Wenham - Mentalist October 11th - 13th, 18th - 20th “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime” MACON COUNTY, NC September 6th and each Friday in September Friday Night Live Concerts Town Square, Highlands Info: 828.526.2112 September 7th and each Saturday through October 12th Pickin’ on the Square Downtown, Franklin Info: 828.524.2516 September 7th, 14th, 21st Saturdays on Pine Concert Series Kelsey Hutchinson Park, Highlands Info: 828.526.2112

October 26th The National Dance Co. of Siberia Cowee School - Arts & Heritage Ctr. Franklin Info: 828.349.1945 September 21st - Mile Twelve October 19th Lorraine Jordan & Carolina Road Highlands Performing Arts Center Highlands Info: 828.526.9047 September 14th Jason Petty - Hank Williams and My Honkey Tonk Heroes September 29th - Tenors Unlimited October 4th - GAOS: Tintoretto October 5th - “Kinky Boots” October 12th - MET: Turandot October 19th NTL: The Lehman Trilogy October 26th - GAOS: Guaguin

September 2019 - 61

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The Family Reunion - Pour the Tea and Gather W

by Tracy McCoy

hether it was once a year or twice, families used to gather. Gather is trendy today, the word not the action. Remember the annual family reunion? Maybe your family still has one and if they do, bravo! Please do all you can to keep that tradition going. It is an important one. It builds relationships that last a lifetime. I have cousins that I love dearly and that I have such great memories of. Cornfield baseball games, catching lightening bugs, hunting easter eggs, opening presents, all of these memories take me back.

I remember when the cars would pull up the kids would run off, parents carrying boxes of food full of bowls covered in plastic wrap or tin foil. The tables would be lined with fried chicken, fried squash, fresh green beans with new potatoes in them, casseroles, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, pones of cornbread, gallons of sweet tea and then there was the dessert table, always my favorite. That table of temptation usually had banana pudding, pound cake, fruit cobbler, homemade yellow cake with boiled icing, and a jumbo tub of cool whip. My Speed family always had Granny’s pink stuff. We all loved it and that bowl was always empty first.

I can remember the adults sitting in the shade in those old woven lawn chairs under the shade tree or on the porch in the metal gliders or worn wooden rockers. Then there was the porch swing. It wasn’t a eat quick and leave event, it was an all day true southern gathering. Often full bellies led to afternoon naps.

Summer reunions were sure to include playing in Warwoman creek, walking the dirt road to the wooden bridge towards Earls Ford. We ate off those tables all afternoon, cold squash, the last of the deviled eggs or a spoonful of cobbler or finger dipped in the last of the Cool Whip was not uncommon. Laughter filled the air as tales of times gone by were shared. Confessions of deeds done behind Granny and Papa’s back were admitted and raised eyebrows, sheepish grins and the realization that they knew it all along.

Us girls giggled about whatever boy we had slipped a note to the week before, planned what we would do when we grew up, snuck inside to eavesdrop on the party line, listened to records, played hopscotch, jumprope and watched the parents play horseshoes. The boys might dig some worms, grab a pole and head to the creek to fish, play tag or baseball, compare pocket knives, ride bikes, or fight. I can remember more than one time a hickory was cut and whoopin’s were given.

One big gathering I remember was a community wide reunion of families, The Hale Ridge dinner held each year the first weekend in September. All descendants of the original families who lived in that community decades before came from all over for food fellowship, some preaching and singing.

More of a homecoming than a small family reunion, it was a full day of fun.

At the end of the day, we were worn out, sad to leave each other and promising to write or call each other (no texting back in my day). Hugs and I love yous were swapped. Those aunts with too much lipstick and uncles who reeked of cigarettes had to have a hug as well. Family means so much and those memories do too. If it’s been a while since you went to or planned a reunion, make this the year that you go. Take your kids and leave the electronics at home. We all need to visit more, breathe more fresh air, get more exercise and cultivate those family relationships. Porch sitting laughter is best, so pour a glass of tea and just gather!

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“Live Healthy and Be Well” Parkinson’s disease and treatments Stephen Jarrard, MD, FACS

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have many patients who have some form or degree of Parkinson’s Disease. It can be a very debilitating illness, but in milder cases may be medically managed to maintain an excellent quality of life. Most of us know someone with PD but may not know much about the condition itself. And, with PD as with many other health conditions, knowledge is a serious weapon to use in the fight against disease and sickness.

Parkinson’s disease is named after an English Doctor named James Parkinson. In 1817, he published a paper titled “Essay on the Shaking Palsy” and became the first to accurately describe the condition, although the causes were not accurately identified until many years later with the advent of better research and advanced neuro-imaging technologies. PD is a progressive degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. It results in a movement disorder of which the four cardinal symptoms are tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement, and postural instability. These symptoms result from the death of cells in the midbrain which produce a neuro-transmitter called dopamine. The trademark lesion of PD manifests as inclusions known as Lewy Bodies form in certain neurons of the midbrain. This condition is slightly more common in women than men, and most commonly occurs after age 50, although 10% of PD patients may present at age less than 40 (young onset disease).

The tremor of PD is usually a resting tremor noticeable when the limb in not in use. Active, intentional use of the limb, such as reaching for something, will stop the tremor. You may notice a tremor known as “pill rolling” involving the thumb and first two fingers, and looks exactly what it sounds like. As the disease advances, however, the tremor may become ever present, making even the most simple of tasks such as eating, dressing, or bathing very difficult. Rigidity refers to the muscles tending to remain in a state of contraction causing stiffness and resistance to smooth movement. Slowness of movement, or bradykinesia, also interferes with smooth movement. PD patients with this symptom often must plan each stage of movement of a task, and the transitions between stages may be jerky, rough, and awkward.

Providing a PD patient some external cues can often help orient them, give them a goal, and make this process easier. Finally, postural instability results later in the disease and can result in accidents and falls. Advanced PD patients often walk flexed forward at the hip, with a jerky, shuffling movement technique which may be hard to start, and then hard to stop once movement begins. This is known as Parkinson’s gait and becomes more common as the disease progresses.

Other manifestations of PD include disorders in thinking processes, sleep pattern disturbances, inappropriate emotions, inability to plan and execute plans, memory loss, difficulty following rules, and sometimes an inability to inhibit inappropriate actions. A very common symptom as the disease progresses is the development of mask facies, or loss of ability to express emotion with the face, resulting in a facial expression similar to a mask. And, as you might guess given these type symptoms and their causes, people who have PD are two to six times more likely to develop dementia, further reducing their quality of life and increasing their chances of needing constant care as this condition progresses.

To date, unfortunately, there is no cure for PD, but the management of the disease and some new treatments give hope for minimizing or delaying for many years the progression of more severe and debilitating symptoms. Currently, the main treatment techniques involve medicines, surgery, and multi-disciplinary management.

M e d i c i n a l therapies usually involve a drug called Levodopa (L-dopa) which is

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a precursor of dopamine. Increasing the level of this in the brain will result in an increase of dopamine which can then slow down or resolve symptoms caused by loss of dopamine producing cells. Other medicines used are dopamine agonists, meaning that they have an effect of helping or stimulating the production of dopamine in the brain, thus reducing symptoms.

In the last couple of years, the use of medical cannabis in the form of Cannabidiol (CBD) Oil has been shown to significantly relieve tremor and clear muddled thinking processes. I have seen this in my own practice with my good friend Harold “Tom” Phillips of Lakemont – he has been using low THC content (< 5%) CBD Oil and gets much better relief from his PD symptoms than before with other treatments. The only problem is this product is currently difficult to obtain, at present. However, recent changes in Georgia State Law to allow in-state cultivation and production will make it much more available in the near future.

The most promising surgical technique currently being used is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). It involves carefully placing a pacemaker type device into specific areas of the brain that can help regulate the severe movement disorders. It is often recommended for PD patients who have significant movement disorders despite medicines, or those who cannot tolerate the medicines. Its effects can be variable, and results depend on many individual patient related factors. And, although studies have not always born out these results, many patients have learned to manage their symptoms and improve quality of life using physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, meditation, massage therapy, and regular exercise.

These techniques, while not curative, have been shown to improve mobility, flexibility, gait speed, and strength. Certainly, a multidisciplinary approach involving physicians, neurosurgeons, and therapists will yield the best results. And, as with any other disease or condition, a positive outlook, “fighting” mentality, and a good network of supportive family and caregivers can only add to these results!

Support groups help and can be found in the region. There is one nearby in Jackson County. Also, much useful information can be found through the American PD Association (www.apdaparkinson. org). If you have PD or know someone who does, please go to www.awareincare.org for information on how to get a free “aware in care” kit from the Parkinson’s Foundation which will help you keep your medicines organized, and provide valuable information to healthcare providers if you have to visit an emergency room or be admitted to a hospital.

We really do enjoy hearing from you with any questions, concerns, or ideas for future columns and/or health and wellness related issues for the Georgia Mountain Laurel. Please send an email to rabundoctor@gmail.com, or call us at 706-782-3572, and we will be sure to consider your input. This and previous articles can be found on the web at www.rabundoctor.com in an archived format.

If you use Twitter, then follow us for health tips and wellness advice @rabundoctor, and on Facebook see the page rabundoctor. Until next month, live healthy and be well!

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Healthy and Well

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Rabun County Historical Society Maternity Hospital

by M.E. Law

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ublic health has always been a priority for Rabun County citizens and in 1939, a county health department was established with an office located upstairs in a building on Main Street. Jo Kinman Brewer was the first full-time certified public health nurse. Jo Brewer found that Dr. James Green was interested in providing a central location to deliver babies. At this time, midwives performed most deliveries in the rural area. They were taught by the state health department and received a license to practice. Lizzie Keason of Tiger, Effie Dickerson of Tiger and Etta Owens of Moutain City were three who were licensed midwives. The idea for a maternity hospital was formed at this time, due to the realization that these women were getting older and the services the provided needed to continue. Mrs. Effie Dickerson was the last midwife and when she retired in 1956, the midwife era ended.

On November 20th, 1942 the Rabun County Maternity Hospital opened in a two story house on South Main Street across the railroad tracks. This house is still standing and is a private residence today. Patients were housed upstairs and the kitchen was downstairs. Mrs. Effie Dickerson was chosen to help Jo Brewer, RN and Dr. James Green. The maternity hospital was the only such facility ever organized under a local/state public health nurse and a nurse/midwife. It

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was unique also because a preventative training program was conducted while mothers were patients. Jo Brewer had gone back to school for midwife training to qualify for this position.

Vassie Powell Lyon, Director of Rabun County Public Welfare Department, was a tremendous help in the beginning.

The hospital improvised at first with mostly locally collected or constructed equipment. Miss Vassie would answer frantic calls for a basket for a newborn and would collect another laundry basket for a bassinet. More than 100 babies were delivered the first year. Robert Jesse Singleton, Jr. being the very first.

Carrie Vickers was the second employee hired. Miss Effie was so busy helping deliver babies she could not prepare meals.

My grandmother was an excellent cook and was well-known for the delicious meals she served. Jo Brewer often said the mothers were eso pleased with the food they wanted to stay as lond as they could.

The John Billow Corporation bought the Bell house and property next to Clayton Motors. This was converted to a modern maternity hospital and in August, 1944 the operation was moved to this location. In 1952, Rabun County Hospital absorbed the maternity patients.

My mother, Maggie Vickers, started her nursing career in the maternity hospital, continued in the second, then finished her career at the Rabn County Hospital. She received her LPN license from on-the-job training with no formal education, as did some of the others who begain with the maternity hospital.

She always worked the night shift because she preferred it. She could never get out of this routine â&#x20AC;&#x201C; working nights, sleeping days.

The maternity hospital provided valuable and needed service when it began. The citizens of Rabun County were very fortunate to have Jo Brewer and Dr. James Green pursue their idea for health care. My two older children were born in the second maternity hospital, with my mother as nurse and my grandmother cooking. How lucky I was!

Healthy and Well

September 2019 - 71

Adventure Out-Tallulah Gorge State Park

by Peter McIntosh

ith this month being the Georgia Mountain Laurel’s “Rabun County Bicentennial” Issue, we’re going to visit some beauty spots with a little local history. First we’re going to Inspiration Point in Tallulah Gorge State Park. The trail to Inspiration Point opened on 2010. The park itself was established in 1993 but the history of Tallulah Gorge goes way back into the late 1800’s. In those days, Tallulah Gorge was lined by fancy hotels, 17 at it’s peak, and folks would hike to Inspiration Point in their Sunday best. (see photo) In 1886, a tightrope walker named Professor Leon crossed the gorge from this point as a publicity stunt for one of the hotels and then Karl Wallenda followed suit from what is now Overlook #1 in 1970. And regardless of what Wallenda and the Professor did, please don’t go around the railings. It’s not just stupid and dangerous, it’s also illegal. The park rangers here are nice and friendly, but don’t mess with them.

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This viewing spot is located on the north rim of the gorge, past Overlook #1, where the old Wallenda Tower lays on its side.

From the visitor’s center, it’s less than 1/4 mile to Overlook #1 and then another 1/4 mile to Inspiration Point. It’s a gentle descent from the visitor’s canter to the first overlook. From there, the trail ascends, away from the gorge back into the forest. This wide footpath winds back and fourth, upwards and around, then back out to the edge of the gorge. I think you’ll agree, this spot was appropriately named because the view is truly, “inspirational!” From here it’s 900 breathtaking feet to the floor of the gorge. Looking upstream you can see Oceana Falls and the visitor’s center. Bring your binoculars and watch the tiny little people crossing the suspension bridge far upstream. Looking downstream you can see a stunning rock formation across the gorge known as “the amphitheater.” This overlook is a great spot

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a night or two. And yes, it has a bathroom and shower.

Happy history!

And now for my rhyme as we go back in time:

to watch the boaters this fall during the whitewater release.

And as part of Rabun’s centennial celebration, Tallulah Gorge State Park is having a special event on Saturday, Sept. 21st called “A Tour and Tea at Tallulah.” According to their website it is “An early evening stroll on our North Rim Trail while hearing stories about Tallulah Falls from the Victoria Era. Then, enjoy instrumental music on the back patio of Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center while enjoying a cup of tea.” Space is limited so call to reserve your spot! $15 plus $5 parking.

706-754-7981 (Or see the website below) Sounds like a great event to me.

Across Hwy 441, but still a part of the state park, is the Short Line Trail, a large part of which follows the rail bed of the Tallulah Falls Railway which ran 58 miles from Cornelia, GA to Franklin, NC. The railway reached Tallulah Gorge in 1892, spurring the tourism boom, and then reached Clayton in 1905.

On this trail you can see the old concrete supports where the railway crossed the Tallulah River. You can find out more about the railway and everything involving Rabun County history by visiting the Rabun County Historical Society on Church Street in downtown Clayton. And if you like old trains and really want to saturate yourself in history, my friend Jim

Wear comfortable shoes so you don’t get blistery, As we take a walk through Rabun County history.

High o’er the gorge and where trains used to run, Our mountain bicentennial will be a whole lot of fun!

Getting there: Tallulah Gorge State Park is located about 12 miles south of Clayton and is accessed via Jane Hurt Yarn Road off of US Hwy 441, just north of the Tallulah Gorge bridge.

Tallulah Gorge State Park: https://gastateparks.org/TallulahGorge Phone: 705-754-7981 Rabun County Historical Society: https://www.rabunhistory.org/ Vintage Caboose rental: https://www.vrbo.com/1114082 To see more of Peter’s photos of if you have a question or comment: www.mcintoshmountains.com

Reaves at Black Bear Creek Antiques on Hwy 76 W, (See their ad ) has a fully restored 1929 caboose where you can stay for

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Meet Sunshine

by Becca Neff

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he is almost 6 months old now; she has been with us since April. Our best guess she is a Lab/ Cur/Pit mix. She was brought to us as a stray that was found dumped along with her litter-mates on the highway near Lake Burton. Her siblings all found families before having to come to the shelter. She is very energetic, full of life, good natured and loving just like any other pup. However there is one issue that sits her apart, she has Megaesophagus which is an enlargement of the esophagus, it lessens the ability to swallow food and food to pass to the stomach. This congenital defect has caused her to be small for her age and breed. She spits up after eating if sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not held upright. She needs a Baileys chair to help her, there are numerous videos online you can watch. She eats wet food and needs frequent small meals. Her new home would need to be aware of the significant amount of time and care she needs but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m positive her love and affection in return will be worth the effort. Please help if possible to spread the word about Sunshine in hopes we find the perfect home for her.

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lot of animals which people have harvested by making sure they have the proper license and are recording their harvest properly. As far as handling live animals, they assist Game Management when needed, doing what they can with the equipment they have.

Beth primarily spends her time in the state parks. “At Tallulah Gorge, specifically, where access is restricted in certain areas, and where visitors are supposed to stay on the trails as opposed to going towards the edge of the cliffs, it becomes a safety issue for them, and a safety issue for us if they slip and fall and need to be rescued. That happens a lot.”

Out of the Blue Ridge “They’ve Got Game”

By Beth Fierberg

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s it a game warden’s job to keep animals and humans safe from one another? I thought so, but that’s actually a very small part of their job which is mainly public safety through law enforcement, education and community involvement.

To learn more about what they do at Tallulah Gorge State Park I sat down with Officers, Chad Chambers (“Chad”) and Beth Gilbert (“Beth”), Game Wardens First Class, who represent the best of the Law Enforcement Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”).

Chad is the official Rabun County Game Warden. At the age of 24, he went back to school to earn his wildlife degree and has been a game warden ever since. Beth is assigned to both Rabun County and Tallulah Gorge State Park and has been a game warden for three years. She has worked for the DNR for a total of fourteen years. First, in the Environmental Protections Division and after that, as the Park Ranger for Black Rock Mountain State Park.

Having experienced several aspects of the DNR, Beth says she loves her game warden position above all. All the divisions have good things about them, but as game warden, both Chad and Beth agree that they have more flexibility and autonomy.

They do work alone a lot of the time which isn’t always a good thing, but, for the most part, they can pick what they want to do each day and they’re not sitting behind a desk!

As public safety officers, game wardens make sure the public is hunting, fishing and boating correctly. They deal with a

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Chad deals mostly with people on the many lakes in Rabun County, but it depends on the time of the year as to what occupies most of his time. “During hunting season, we deal with a lot of hunting complaints about deer hunting without permission, shooting from roadways, to night hunting from a vehicle with spotlights. In the spring we deal with a lot of trout fisherman which is difficult because it can take all day sometimes, checking all the streams especially by yourself.

There might be sixty people on a stream. You have to watch them and they’re watching you. Then you get into boating season. Holiday weekends are a nightmare out there. There are too many boats and too many people who don’t know how to drive them. Operator inexperience is their number one problem along with boating under the influence. Winter time is the only time we get a little break and then it starts all over again.”

Game wardens also do a lot of search, rescue and recovery.

They also assist local agencies a lot because of their equipment capabilities such as helicopters and ATVs. Their agency also investigates and reconstructs boating and hunting accidents and drownings which typically occur during the summertime but can happen all year around.

Both Chad and Beth agree that the most difficult aspect of the job is deaths and notifications to family. Often if someone dies in a state park, they do have family or friends who are with them.

The most common issue game wardens run into repeatedly are boating mistakes. Chad’s message is for you to take the time to learn the rules and laws associated with whatever it is you are engaged in. The public can find all the rules on the Georgia DNR website. Game wardens also carry boating handbooks they will gladly hand out, but often find themselves giving them along with a citation.

Educating the public is a big part of the Game Warden Mission Statement, by conducting classes and programs to educate citizens about wildlife laws and safety practices.

Chad emphasizes in order for them to do their job well, they need the public’s help. “If people would report things it helps us a lot. See something, say something.”

According to statistics, being a game warden is the second most dangerous law enforcement job there is after Customs

and Border Patrol. Most everybody they come in contact with are armed, but they are usually out sporting and enjoying the outdoors, being good law-abiding citizens.

I asked Beth what she would say to people considering a career as a game warden. “I think it’s a great job. I do. I think lots of jobs are becoming more and more about sitting at a desk, taking phone calls, everything is electronic, and ours is still very much hands on. You’re interacting with people face-to-face a lot. You’re in the environment. For somebody who wants to become a game warden, I think that they would be best served by being hunters, being fisherman, and being familiar with those things or things that we do day in and day out. We can teach you how to become a police officer, but having those [outdoor] skills will go a long way in doing the job.”

If you see Officers Chambers and Gilbert about be sure to wave hello and thank them for keeping us safe while we enjoy our beautiful surroundings and ensuring that Georgia’s natural resources will be conserved for our present and future generations.

Franklin, North Carolina

Beth Fierberg enjoys the peaceful mountain life with her husband and three rescue dogs. She is an avid nature lover, photographer and writer, but her primary passion lies with saving abandoned animals and participating in many shelter and rescue projects. Beth can be contacted by email at bethegg@yahoo.com.

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The Hunter of Tallulah Falls

by Melynda Hensley, the 7x great granddaughter of Adam Poole Vandiver

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efore the Great Wallenda walked across the Gorge; before Georgia power dammed the river to power Atlanta; before the railroad came to Tallulah Falls and made the area a tourist attraction for “the Niagara of the South;” the rushing water ran free and land was wild and inhabited mainly by the Cherokee Indians. In the 1780s, Reverend George Vandiver established the first trading post at junction of the Chattooga river and the Tallulah River as well as gaining the trust of the Cherokee. One of his son’s, Adam Poole Vandiver married his Cherokee playmate, Gullie “Dove,” sister to the last Cherokee Indian chief, Grey Eagle. The couple settled on the banks of the river and had several children.

Not much is know about Gullie, or Martha as her adopted English name, except she was buried in the Vandiver family plot, only to be moved into the mountains “by her people” when the settlement was buried underwater by the new dam. Adam Poole Vandiver, on the other hand, was a colorful character to the area, and there are several tales about “the Hunter of Tallulah Falls.” Whether they be tall tales or not, they definitely show the tenacity of the Appalachian people who settled this untamed frontier.

One such telling comes from Charles Lanman in “Adventures of the Wilds of North America,” in which Lanman traveled through the mountains and met the famed “Hunter of Tallulah.” Lanman’s description of Vandiver’s residence,“which is planted directly at the mouth of the Tallulah chasm,” is as follows: “He lives in a log-cabin, occupying the center of a small valley, which the Tallulah River winds its wayward course. It is completely

hemmed in on all sides by wild and abrupt mountains, and is one of the most romantic and beautiful nooks imaginable.”

By Vandiver’s own hand, he tilled his few acres during the summer months, and his live stock consisted of a mule, some half dozen goats, and several dogs. Said mule was “the smallest and most miserable-looking creature of the kind [Lanman] ever saw, and glories in the singular name of ‘The Devil and Tom Walker.’”

Vandiver told Lanman of this fact, he did so “with as self-satisfied air,” and Lanman told him that the first portion of that name was more applicable to him than the mule, in which Vandiver “grinned horribly a ghastly smile,” as if he was paid a compliment. When asked of his opinion on President Polk, “I never seed the governor of this state; for, when he came to this country, some years ago, I was off on ‘tother side fo the ridge, shooting deer. I voted for the general, and that’s all I know about him.” The traveler described Vandiver as “small in stature with a weasel face, a small grey eye, and wears a long white beard,” but what he lacked in size, he made up in his grand adventures.

On one such adventure he came upon a large gray wolf and fired a shot at its’ head, but the wolf did not drop, instead it went down into an adjoining cave to disappear. After waiting for a while, Vandiver decided that the wolf must have died down in the cave.

Crawling on his hands and knees, he made his way to the bottom of the cave to find the wolf was still alive! A “clinch-fight” resulted in the hunter cutting the heart out of the animal, and upon dragging our the carcass out into the sunlight, he discovered the wolf’s lower jaw had been broken by his initial shot, ensuring the hunter’s victory.

Another time, when Vandiver was out of ammunition, his beloved hunting dogs came upon a large bear, and the bear was “about to squeeze [the dog] to death, a sight the hunter could not endure. Vandiver “unsheathed his huge hunting-knife and assaulted the black monster,” and in doing so, he “completely cut off two of his own fingers instead of injuring the bear.”

Using “a perfect frenzy of pain and rage,” Vandiver succeeded in taking down the three hundred fifty pound bear.

Photo submitted by Jane Hurt Yarn Interpretive Center

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Another battle was with a buck which Vandiver shot at the top of a 30-foot high cliff face. Thinking the deer

was dead, he approached it but was assaulted by the deer, which pushed Vandiver over the cliff into a pond of water below. The deer got away, and Vandiver suffered no broken bones, thanks to the pool that somewhat softened his fall. About a month later, the mighty hunter killed a buck with “a bullet wound in the lower part of its neck.” He felt sure he had finally killed the deer that had pushed him over the precipice.

According to Vandiver, his most remarkable escape was when he was camping on Union County’s loftiest mountain, after hearing a wolf howl, he had climbed up on “an immense boulder-rock.”

He suddenly felt a “swinging sensation” as the boulder started dislodging from it’s resting place to “plunge into the ravine half a mile below him. Fortunately, an oak limb was hanging overhead, and as the rock fell, “he seized the limb, and thereby saved his life.” Once the boulder reached the bottom, Vandiver dropped down to “the very spot which had been vacated by the boulder.”

This was the only time in Vandiver’s life “when he had been really frightened,” and for a whole day after this incident, “he did not care a finger’s snap for the finest game in the wilderness.”

That must have been a scary event for Mr. Vandiver to not hunt for a whole day because he claims to have killed 4,000 deer in his lifetime. Although deer was his favorite game to hunt, he was not particular and would “secure the fur of every four-legged creature which may happen to cross his path.” Starting in early November, the Hunter would “supply himself with every variety of shooting materials, steel-traps, and a comfortable stock of provisions, and placing them upon his mule, start[ed] for some wild region among the mountains,” where he would stay until spring. He used two methods for hunting: “fire-lighting” and “still-hunting,” and his largest haul of hides he brought in at one time was six hundred, which consisted of “the bear, the black and grey wolf, the panther, the wild-cat, the fox, the coon, and some dozen other varieties.” With arrival of spring, Vandiver would pile the furs upon the mule, hoisted himself up on top of his plunder, and made “a bee-line out of the wilderness.” Apparently to see Mr. Vandiver in his “homeward-bound condition,” it was remarked to the traveler as “one of the most curious and romantic pictures imaginable.”

In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

Thank you to Pat Coleman of Rabun Co. Historical Society and Jennifer Jones of the Jane Hurt Yarn Center for your help!

Lanman, Charles. Adventures in the Wilds of North America. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1854.

September 2019 - 79

The View from This Home?

Unbelievable!

by John Shivers

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t’s not the highest point in Rabun County, but from the vantage of the home at 601 Sonya, it’s one of the most incredible local views, especially the multi-colorful sunsets. With its five-star resort appearance, nestled amongst the trees, this home in Goat Cliff Estates on Lake Burton will render you speechless. The 180 degree view of the four-season vista of Appalachian mountain ridges, Waterfall Club, and numerous lake views is guaranteed to steal your breath away. Imagine buying just a house and getting all of this as well!

When you’re at home in this Southern Living® home (A Friendly Little Cottage), designed along Craftsman lines and clad in appropriate wood siding, you’ll be sitting in the catbird seat, both inside and out. Catbird seat is English slang often used to describe an enviable position or great advantage.

Thanks to the unique siting of the home, the soaring ceilings, the interesting angles created by the custom wall placement, and the gracious and oversize rooms, this home affords an enviable position of great advantage on more than two acres.

Four bedrooms with generous closet space and four full baths and one half bath afford space for the large, year-round family, or many guests for long weekends, holidays and special occasions. But while the sleeping space lends itself to the flexibility of the home, it’s the remainder of the 3,695 square feet that infuse the home with the elements of gracious, comfortable living. If you’re looking for a cookie-cutter interior, keep on looking. Throughout the three levels of this home built in 2000 that look out on the lake view, you’ll find interesting niches and corners, sloped ceilings and dormers, adding interest, livability and comfortable charm.

The main level of this striking residence contains the soaring, two-story great room, anchored by a massive, stacked stone fireplace. The dining room and

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adjacent kitchen with a breakfast bar are just steps from the great room, making it possible for the resident chef to remain connected with everything thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening. Parking for the home is just outside the kitchen door.

Unloading groceries will be a snap.

The well-equipped kitchen itself, laid out for comfort with generous cabinet storage and work space, features pass-through openings to both the living room and dining room, making meal preparation as enjoyable as it is convenient.

The use of wood on wood, hand-selected by the builder, is utilized through much of the great room and adjacent spaces, including tongue and groove ceilings and real hardwood floors, and marks this home as a cut above. Another unique aspect that harkens to lake lodges of the past, is the comfortable swinging bed on the sleeping porch. Use it for relaxation, or as another overnight guest accommodation.

The master bedroom offers both privacy, spaciousness and still more of that fantastic view. The en-suite bath with separate shower and garden tub adds still more comfort and convenience. Bedrooms on the top level are connected by an open walk-way overlooking the great room. Should the owners ever have need, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a bedroom and bath on the main level that could easily be converted for their use. The finished bottom level also contains one oversized bedroom and bath.

In addition to the massive masonry fireplace on the main level, hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a second fireplace on the terrace level, where the family room / game room and oversize laundry room with cabinets and sink are found. Atrium doors on both levels provide easy access to the covered porches.

Enjoy the security of a gated community, neighborhood association, and lake access with pavilion that includes a full kitchen and bath. Anchorage Marina for boat storage is only five minutes away. Clayton with its many award-winning restaurants is less than fifteen minutes away.

This home is MLS#8461633. For a chance to view the Rabun landscape from this unforgettable vantage point, contact agent Tina Anzo with Poss Realty, 404-964-2363 or at the office 706-782-2121.

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SERVICE Professionals

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September 2019 - 83

Here’s Your Invitation to Year-Round Lake Living

by John Shivers

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s you dream about what it might be to live in the mountains, imagine the approach to this Lake Burton home with lush rhododendron and mountain laurel interspersed with deciduous and evergreen trees lining the meandering paved driveway. Once the house is in view, the rocking chair front porch welcomes one and all to 3272 Moccasin Creek! The large lake lot of more than two acres offers plenty of privacy from the neighbors, and its prime Lake Burton location along the main lake channel offers a lifestyle to be envied.

Originally constructed in the late 1980s, this spacious home offers more than 7,500± square feet of living space. Three levels include a total of five bedrooms, four full baths, and one half-bath. Thanks to a very recent remodel, the interiors offer a fresh, clean rustic cottage style.

Look for updates in the spacious kitchen that is open to the main living area.

Generous cabinets finished in white and solid surface countertops make the cook’s job a piece of cake. Included in the appliance inventory is a cooktop and separate double ovens, dishwasher, refrigerator, built-in ice maker and garbage disposal. Anchoring the kitchen

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is a rustic, dark-stained island / breakfast bar, illuminated by pendant lighting that adds both to the workability and the attractiveness of the space.

The great room offers vaulted tongue and groove ceilings with a curved wall of glass that looks out over big water, panoramic mountain views and beautiful morning sunrises. Ample natural light gives the room an open and airy feeling. Refinished hardwood floors offer a warm accent. The large masonry fireplace creates a focal point of the room and welcomes cozy weather!

Escape to the master suite located on the main level, where the over-size spa-like bath contributes to the lake side resort setting. Imagine soaking in the garden tub letting all your cares melt away.

Sliding accordion doors lead to the screened porch providing opportunity for cool breezes and communing with the sounds of Nature to lull you to sleep.

Guests will enjoy two spacious guest rooms and two recent renovated bathrooms on the upper level along with a third room that could be used for additional sleeping quarters or office space.

Imagine the sounds of joy and laughter coming from the lower level where plenty of kids and their friends can enjoy the bunk bedroom, bathroom, and recreational space with a second masonry fireplace. There is opportunity for additional expansion with an unfinished two car garage that is a blank canvas waiting for a creative eye.

Multiple niches throughout the home make great places to display artwork, or to retreat for some one-on-one time.

A laundry room that includes storage, a sink and hanging clothes provision is also located on the main level. Generous closet and storage spaces throughout make this home a definite keeper.

Step outside to a warm stone and woodsided exterior. Screened porches and newly constructed decks bridge the home with the lakefront. With 260 feet of shoreline, the property offers a stately presence when viewed from the water. continued to page 86

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Stone steps lead to a two-stall enclosed boathouse. Up top, a partially-covered area expands the versatility, made even better by the privacy of the lot. Nearby, a swim dock makes it easy to enjoy soaking up the rays while enjoying panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and main lake body. The views simply don’t get much better than this!

A nearby marina makes an already sweet deal better, and for those families with school age children, this homes straddles a vacation-like existence teamed with one of Georgia’s awardwinning public school systems. There are also two private schools in Rabun County.

For additional information on MLS#8569469, contact Agent Sarah Gillespie at Harry Norman, REALTORS® Luxury Lake and Mountain at 404-735-6157, or by calling the office at 706-212-0228.

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Memories of Rabun’s Lakes

by Liz Alley Barnett

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t was a hot July day in the summer of 1977. I was 12 years old and my friend Caroline and I were in the middle of Lake Burton. Caroline was in the Jon boat with a Sears and Roebuck 15 HP motor and I was in the lake with my skis pointed to the sky. Caroline was teaching me how to ski. Back then, there weren’t houses on every point and cove and we were in a long stretch of nothing but mountains and water.

Caroline revved the motor, all 15 horses and much to my surprise, I came out of the water like a newly baptized sinner.

I skied on wobbly legs, but ski I did.

I shared a birthday with Jeff Hendricks who lived on the lake year-round. For years on July 15th, Caroline and her Mom, Nancy, would plan a big party for us. Likely there would be twenty or thirty teenagers who would spend the afternoon jumping off the roof of the boathouse trying to sing “Happy Birthday” before we hit the water.

My first brush with lake life was as a little girl on Lake Yonah.

Harvey Free, a local car salesman and family friend, invited us to go camping with him and his family. Before we could pack up the old green station wagon, dad had to clean out the shovels, hoes and bags of fertilizer he had in there for his garden. Particularly the stalk of corn that had rooted in the spilt soil in the way back. It was a job, packing to camp and my mother was more of the “I love not camping” type woman.

We had no fancy Coleman stove, only cast-iron skillets to cook with over an open fire, an army green metal cooler that held milk and eggs and sweet tea made in a retired pickle jar. At camp, just below Tugaloo Dam at the mouth of Lake Yonah, we’d set up our dwelling with tarps and blankets. I remember feeling like we were a band of gypsies, at least in my imagination. There was a sense of community with us and the other campers whose gear was no better than ours. Dad was his best self when he was fishing. He and Harvey would come back to camp with a mess of fish and clean them on a big rock by the lake. Mom and Mrs. Susie, Harvey’s wife, would set up their work table to make the other fixings. I remember sitting with my brothers and sisters on the jagged rocks by the lake, with plates balanced on knobby knees, eating that fish.

It’s one of the best meals I ever had.

Lake Burton was not my first love and like most natives, I’ve tried them all, Yonah, Seed, Rabun and Burton. If you grew up in the mountains, you may not have grown up on the lake proper but you certainly partook of their lovely offerings.

Today, Lake Yonah has seventy-two vacation and permanent homes and is the least populated of the Georgia Power lakes of Rabun County. Lake Seed is a 240-acre lake with thirteen miles of beautiful shoreline. Lake seed is sandwiched between

Every morning of that summer and many after, we’d leave early to explore the lake. I was bad about confusing faster and slower with the motor and one day, I rammed the boat wide open into the West’s boathouse. Caroline’s dad came running and found us dazed and confused on our backs, the motor smoking like a freight train.

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Lake Rabun and Lake Burton. It’s quite enough on Yonah and Seed to enjoy kayaking and paddle boarding most any time of day. Like Lake Seed, Yonah provides primitive campsites. Now there are real bathrooms nearby unlike the “taking yourself to the woods” of the old days.

titled “Boat Church” shows Scott standing in his 1973 orange Correct Craft boat along with other boats, putting his money in the offering basket at boat church. Scott says if you look closely, he is in many of his mother’s paintings, her small way to give a nod to her son.

Lynne Keller, whose grandfather then father owned and operated Hall’s Boathouse on Lake Rabun, has fond memories of living on the lake and of Hall’s Boathouse. “We rented fishing boats, did motor repair and sold concessions, such as peanuts, candy and cokes for ten cents each.” Mrs. Keller says.

“Hall’s also had a pinball machine, a bowling game and a jukebox.” Mrs. Keller says that over the years, a lot of young Rabun county men were hired to work at Hall’s Boathouse.

One of their main duties was to give tourist boat tours of the lake. Tours cost fifty cents or for a longer tour, a dollar. The tour guides wore khaki uniforms every day except Sunday they wore white. As a matter of fact, my own father, Jack Alley, was one of those guides. He met my mother at Hall’s Boathouse when she was on a double date with someone else. My father politely toured the foursome around the lake and as they left, he told his friend “That girl Shannon, I’m going to marry her someday.”

Until the time of its removal in 1917, the town of Burton with some two hundred people was the largest community in Rabun County. The former town of Burton lies below the lake’s surface, a fact I can never seem to get over.

As a girl, Mrs. Keller enjoyed visiting with families arriving at the lake to spend the summer. Since there was no lake road on the backside of the lake, her father would take their belongings over in an 18 or 21ft wooden Chris-Craft boat. Among the items being taken were large blocks of ice for their ice boxes.

Scott Poss’s family moved from Nowhere Road in Madison County, Georgia to Lake Rabun in 1969. The road to his family home was rough and in winter, often impassable. If the weather was particularly bad, his father would stop at Alley’s grocery on the way home from work to use the payphone. He’d tell his family to listen out for him and if he got stuck at the dam, he’d honk his horn so Scott could pick him up by boat. Scott remembers that most mornings in the winter, the school bus couldn’t get to his house so he would take his jon boat and meet the bus at Hall’s Boathouse. Since he was only twelve, he would call his mother from the payphone to let her know he made it across safely. One winter he remembers, the lake surface being frozen solid and he and his family were snowed in for a couple of weeks.

Scott was a dock boy at Rabun Boathouse owned by Fred Worley. He fondly remembers the ticket books stacked on the shelf in the office and how families would charge their gas and supplies all summer. Each family had their own ticket book.

On Labor Day, when most everyone left the lake for the winter, it was time to pay up. Mr. Worley was known for offering a double or nothing flip of the coin for the supplies. Many times, people left paying $400 instead of the $200 they owed for their items but equally as many got their supplies for free. Scott says it all worked out in the end.

Scott’s mother, Mary George Poss, a well-known artist, painted many scenes of Lake Rabun and Rabun County. The painting

Rod Hickox, who spent his summers on Lake Burton as a boy, lives there with his family year-round. His grandfather L.F. Reeves Sr leased a lot in 1947 from Georgia Power for $15.00 a year for one hundred years. In the mid 1960s, Mr. Hickox and his cousin Joe Luke III, would leave their summer homes early in a 16ft aluminum fishing boat with an outboard motor that would go 21 mph. He and his cousin would fish all morning, swim and ski all afternoon and go frog gigging at night. He remembers having a charge account at Anchorage Marina when Ned Stockton was the owner. His mother gave him a specific list of items he could charge, which were gas, grape soda, and bubble gum. Mr. Hickox says tourism was the best thing to happen to Lake Burton, in particular when the city girls arrived and made him forget all about fishing.

Mr. Hickox, who was a local banker for 40 years, says the lakes have been essential to the economy of Rabun County.

He estimates that the property owners on the lakes contribute approximately 60 percent of the tax base. It’s true, our lakes are alive in the summer. The curvy road of Burton is crowded with people walking, little dogs on leashes and children on bikes. Golf carts line the lake roads with coolers and beach towels peeking out. On the water, it looks like donuts have been scattered with the brightly colored tubes and floats tethered to their docks. There is activity on every surface. The sound of boats motoring up and down the lake, the squeal of children as they jump in the water and maybe a dog or two right behind them.

I love the lake of summer but the mountain girl in me loves the lake of winter most. The lakes that are silent and still, the ones with battened down boathouses and covered lawn furniture.

The lakes that seems to have breathed in the chaos of summer and exhaled in the silence of winter are where I like to walk the winding roads alone. My breath produces little clouds of steam, the mountains a silent cocoon. The winter lake feels like an old friend, it’s presence accommodating to its fair-weather buddies but protective of its natives. The mountains have witnessed so much of our lives, the tumbling down and the rise to the top. They surround us like a warm blanket whatever life at the base of them has brought. There is the ocean whose vastness and beauty are overwhelming and breath taking, but then there are the lakes of Rabun County. The little corner tucked into the farthest point of the state is the best place on earth, it’s home.

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Why Would Anyone Choose Clayton Over Florida?

by M. Erik Matlock

W

e’ve been residents of Clayton since 2017, after hurricane Irma ushered us out with some urgency.

It would have been our third hurricane in 12 months. Matthew hit us pretty hard at home. Ivan got us in Belize. We’d had enough.

The comedy was that Irma came through Palm Coast, Florida less than 24 hours after we’d loaded the moving van and left.

Then it followed us all the way up here and dropped seven trees around the house we first rented in Lakemont.

Hurricanes are just one reason Florida lost us after only six years. There are more reasons that might not make sense unless you’ve lived down there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful state, but it has some drawbacks.

If your AC goes out in Florida during the summer months between January and December, it’s practically a death sentence. We lost ours for three days in April of 2017 and thought we would just die. That actually sealed the deal. We knew we were done.

Our electric bill here is about a third of the one in Florida.

And no water bill thanks to wonderful well water. Average utilities in Florida when we left: $350 a month. Average bill in Clayton: $100. Saving money was a critical factor for us.

Living in the sunshine state took around 75% of my income just to pay rent, utilities and car expenses. t’s closer to 50% here. Becoming debt-free is much more realistic now.

Possibly the only thing I miss is my internet connection. The fastest line here doesn’t allow me to work as fast as the slowest there. It’s a fact. In fact for the first year in our home the rest of the world assumed we’d been kidnapped by aliens. Twenty of my first thirty days here were spent managing a website from the local Waffle House with a wifi hotspot.

The tech-needy folks need to consider that. We’ve got more options on the horizon for legitimate high-speed internet including a local start-up with some good ideas, but for now we’re struggling. Even with the bulk of our income derived from the Internet, we’ve still worked through it and wouldn’t go back except to visit.

Our first week there, one of my kids told me that people come here for vacation, but we get to live here. That sentiment lasted about two years with me. The vacationers in our little town went from a seasonal holiday traffic nuisance to mostly unrestrained growth and an understaffed police force very

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quickly. That little retirement community is expected to be the size of Baltimore in a few years. Hopefully without the same issues…

With Clayton, the glory of a small town shines in our downtown.

Trendy restaurants mix with local shops and the history of the town still comes through. Where we have a handful of billboards around town, you’ll do a full day’s reading by the time you reach town down there. Most Florida towns seem to cater more to tourist traffic than the locals. As long as it brings income, even short-sighted income, they will justify one more fast food joint or retailer. Even at the expense of the locals who built the town.

As long as we don’t reach that point here, I’m staying.

I’ve also discovered what I’m calling the Mountain Man workout. Basically, you buy a big chunk of land in the mountains and determine to make it beautiful. In Florida, folks pay people to mow their grass and clean their pools. Then they pay a gym to let them come it and exercise in the air conditioning. We mow our own grass, and move a lot of dirt and rock. It’s a free exercise program that has dropped almost 70 pounds off of me. And the property is looking grand.

Just enjoying the seasons and making home as welcoming to the family living there doesn’t cost anything. Doing that instead of mindlessly following the crowd makes the world itself a little more welcoming and less expensive.

If you’re considering the traditional “retire, pack up and move to Florida” maneuver, be sure you know what you’re getting into. It’s beautiful and it rarely sees freezing temperatures, but it’s busy, crowded, hot and expensive. If Clayton is your home, I suggest you treasure it. If the grass seems greener on the other side of the state line you might just need to take better care of the grass you have.

This is the lifestyle we needed and the best place we found to do it. Between my wife Geri and myself, we’ve spent time in almost every region of the country and chose Clayton as home. We’ve got a good thing going here and haven’t yet met a neighbor we can’t be friends with.

Our son loves the schools and they treated him like family from day one. The local business owners we’ve met are some of the finest anywhere. That small town charm so many folks fondly remember from their youth stands in living color here.

Thanks for welcoming us in. We’re glad to be here.

By the Way...

Caught between a rock and a hard pig

by Emory Jones

E

ver since I gave my pet pig Cunningham a pet rock for Christmas (he named him Chris), he’s wanted that little nugget to see Rock City up near Chattanooga. He has ever since he saw that big promotion someone inadvertently painted on a barn outside Bell Buckle on our way back from the horse races.

Giving Cunningham his own pet was a rock-solid idea because it taught him responsibility. Not a lot, mind you because he’s a pig. Also, since rocks don’t have to be fed, watered or neutered, it’s not all that hard. Still, Cunningham takes his rock on walks, and from time to time, dresses him up in one of my old socks.

Cunningham especially likes to take his rock on field trips. We have pictures of Chris in front of famous places like Tallulah Falls and the county line sign. The best one is of the rock skipping across Smith Lake.

People will be debating the merits of companion rocks for years, and while my wife won’t let me have one, a pet rock is perfect for a pig. I’ll admit, rocks can be hard to handle in the wild, but once domesticated and with the rough edges knocked off, you’ll never have a more solid buddy or a better friend in a fight.

I’m not sure why Cunningham wanted to take his pet rock to Rock City, but I suppose he feels that since Chris is a country rock, it would do him good to see how city rocks live. Plus, I suspect Cunningham wanted to see the place himself as much as anything.

When the big day came, I packed up some ham sandwiches, and with Chris and Cunningham in the front seat of the truck, we headed north. Cunningham had made his rock a little stocking cap out of my old sock, but it was such a warm day, I convinced him to leave it at home. After we parked in the parking lot at Rock City, I looked around for a rock to scotch the wheel but, ironically, couldn’t find one.

At the gate, I asked, “How much is a ticket?”

“Is that a pig?” the man asked back, pointing at Cunningham.

“It is,” I said proudly. “That’s my pet pig.”

“What’s in his mouth?” he asked, still pointing “That’s his pet rock. He wants to take a picture of it looking out over those seven states you mention in the brochure.”

“Pigs aren’t allowed in Rock City,” the man said rather testily.

“It doesn’t mention that in the brochure.”

“I’m calling Security,” he said, picking up a red phone.

Sensing trouble, Cunningham charged through the gate. I had no choice but to follow and, just as the brochure promised, we ran through incredible rock formations, magical caves, and breathtaking views.

The brochure also says you can experience Rock City at your own pace. Mine turned out to be a dead run chasing a squealing pig carrying a pet rock. Cunningham gained ground on that swinging bridge, although I nearly had him when he stopped to see those seven states. But he got away and slid through Fat Man’s Squeeze like a greased pig.

I finally caught up when he crashed into a pile of red and black birdhouses at the gift shop. At that point, I nonchalantly bought a piece of fudge and headed on back to the truck.

All and all, it was a fun day, although we never did get that picture.

Oh well, as Grandaddy always said, it’s something all the time.

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