Airing of the Quilts

Cashiers Historical Society and Cashiers Quilters will stage the Airing of the Quilts May 28-30 at the society’s grounds on 107 South. Everyone is invited to share in the tales woven into each of these most storied of Appalachian heirlooms.

Alarge part of Cashiers Historical Society’s mission is hosting educational events that showcase the heritage of Appalachia and Cashiers. Airing of the Quilts is a traditional rite of spring in the mountains that “harkens” back to the days when the women would wash their quilts and hang them out to air before storing the clean quilts until the next winter. This year CHS and Cashiers Quilters will share a new event that celebrates the long-ago tradition of Airing of the Quilts. The family-friendly event will be Memorial Day weekend, May 28 through 30 on the grounds of the Historical Society (located on Highway 107 South) from 10:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. each day. CHS is pleased to partner with the Cashiers Quilters, a dedicated group who keep the art of quilting alive by preserving and practicing the time-honored tradition of quilt making. They believe that each quilt tells a story and each quilt “radiates the warmth of the hands that made them.”

Members of Cashiers Quilters while making 50 Star Quilt to be raffled.

The North Carolina star pattern

The North Carolina quilted star

Cashiers Quilters have made and donated a quilt featuring 50 stars for 50 states for this special occasion, and CHS will be selling raffle tickets so one lucky winner will get to take this piece of living history home with them. As guests tour the grounds, they will have an opportunity to see a wide variety of quilts belonging to local and regional collectors displayed in each of the four historical buildings. In addition, there will be a variety of demonstrations and activities, Appalachian crafts and a children’s zone. CHS invites you to help make this a memorable event by bringing your family and inviting your friends to see the quilts and enjoy the many activities. Admission is free; however, donations are appreciated. Do you own a quilt that has a story? Would you like to share a favorite or family quilt? Or maybe you would like to volunteer Memorial Day weekend, May 28, 29, or 30? Cashiers Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization and always appreciates volunteers. To find out more about this event or CHS contact the office at (828) 743-7710.

by Sandi Rogers, Cashiers Historical Society

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Revenge on the Fly

The late Mike Cavender’s Revenge on the Fly is a twisty tale of family, fly fishing, and murder.

“I wanted to kill off a number of relatives when I started my first novel that eventually became Revenge on the Fly.” – Michael Cavender.

Actually, there’s more to the plot than that: Fly fishing; a love story; an unsolved death; and, yes, a very unhappy family. All are brought together in Mike Cavender’s atmospheric, Revenge on the Fly. It was published in late 2013, and we were looking forward to his signing here at Shakespeare & Co., but it was not to be: Mike succumbed to cancer in June 2014.

Here’s the cover blurb from Serena author Ron Rash: “Revenge on the Fly is a beautiful meditation on the ties that bind us to family and place. Michael Cavender is a gifted writer, an exciting new voice in North Carolina literature.” Briefly, the story centers on freelance writer/fishing guide Ben Phelps as he returns to “Kelsey,” in the North Carolina mountains, near the manyacred Phelps family summer retreat “Mossback” where he grew up. But that was decades in the past, before he became estranged from his late parents. Now Watt, Ben’s real-estate developer brother, wants to transform the trout streams and old-growth forest of Mossback into something that pays, instead of sucking up cash. But he needs Ben’s signature to make it happen. Paulette Webb, Mike’s widow, was great to speak to me on the telephone recently and refresh my memory. She and Mike owned the Mill Creek Store (now the site of Highlands Properties) selling men’s and women’s clothes for many years, as well as offering fly-fishing guidance and instruction. Mike was executive director of the Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust, 2000-2006, and also served on the Highlands Town board. Like his character Ben, Mike’s family had an estate in Highlands, but unlike the fictional “Mossback” it was downtown and known during their time as “the old Farnsworth place.” Today it’s called Hutchinson House, next to the Hudson Library and is operated by the Old Edwards Inn; as the name indicates, it was originally built in 1878 for Highlands co-founder Clinton Hutchinson.

Revenge on the Fly is out of print, but we have a couple of fairly priced copies here at the store, or you can read it on your Kindle from you know where.

by Stuart Ferguson, Local Historian, Co-Owner Shakespeare & Company

photo by Susan Renfro

Writer’s Imprint on Highlands

Generations of writers and journalists have found respite and renewal on the HighlandsCashiers Plateau.

The Laurel, looking back at its 20 years of Highlands history, notes that its own writers feel a kinship to the many journalists who have called the Plateau home.

During extended visits and summerings of the famous, we’ve benefitted from exchanging the rarefied air they breathed. Among them is Lloyd Wendt, a journalist hired by the Chicago Tribune in 1934 who became its Sunday editor. He covered subjects that are still hot topics in the 21st century like Selma, Alabama, with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights marches and racism. He was one of the first newsmen to report from behind the Berlin Wall in East Germany, Poland, and Russia – yes, three nations still struggling in their own volatile history-in-the-making. He covered Vietnam and the Six-Day War between Israel and Egypt. He often interviewed Presidents and people of power and fame. One thing that sets him apart from some of his colleagues is that he treated his subjects with respect – no bullying. Remember newsmen and women who practiced a civil approach to journalism? It would be nice to think it was the refreshing and refurbishing summers in Highlands that contributed to his courtesy. There were also women journalists who chose Highlands’ air for a lungful of summer ahhhh. Sandra Mackey, a Highlands and Atlanta writer, penned books about Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. Her fresh, personal take on Middle East politics, religion, and history was eye-opening, Her knowledge of the strict culture surrounding a woman’s status in Islamic society contributed to a climate of understanding and empathy in America for the Arabic culture.

It’s a pleasure to imagine that journalists who lived in Highlands and played their part in pioneering and transcribing history, helped mold our local philosophy and ethos.

The Laurel is also grateful to the Highlands and Cashiers Historical Societies for their many contributions over the years. To learn more about the writers and journalists who left their impressive imprints on the Plateau, read Ran Shaffner’s Heart of the Blue Ridge. Visit highlandshistory.com or email hhs@ highlandshistory.com.

by Donna Rhodes

photo by Susan Renfro