All About Women - November 2010

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NOVEMBER 2010 3

all about

editor Sherrie Norris sherrie@aawmag.com 828-264-3612 ext. 251

MARKETING CONSULTANTs Aimee Hicks, Crystal Owens, Mark Mitchell, Laura Henley and Rex Goss

PRODUCTION / LAYOUT ARTIST Robert Moore

Graphic DesignerS Robert Moore, Jennifer Canosa, Robert Hampton, Meleah Petty

Contributing writers Corrinne Loucks Assad, Genevieve Austin, June W. Bare, Maggie Bishop, Sherry Boone, Heather Young Brandon, Sharon Carlton, Bonnie Church, Naomi Faw, Danica Goodman, Bill Hensley, Heather W. Jordan, Kelly Penick, Vicki Randolph, Sue Spirit, Teri Wiggans, and Krystal Wilson.

Copy editing Sandy Shook

For advertising CALL 828-264-3612

“Winter is an etching, Spring a watercolor, Summer an oil painting and Autumn a mosaic of them all.”

– Stanley Horowitz

Cover photo by Robert Moore and Feature Photo by Sherrie Norris Any reproduction of news articles, photographs, or advertising artwork is strictly prohibited without permission from management. ©Copyright 2010 A Mountain Times Publication

4 NOVEMBER 2010

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page

Still Crazy About Kids

30

Features

Columns

Features

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Justice for All..................................pg 20 Bloom Where You’re Planted......pg 21 All About Authors........................pg 42 The Pet Page.................................pg 40 Mom’s World.................................pg 47 High Country Courtesies...........pg 48 Young @ Heart.............................pg 49 www.aawmag.com

page

Painting From The Heart

Grandfather Mountain’s Newest Ranger

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Contra Dance...............................pg 14 Not A Typical Wedding................pg 16 Heartfelt Healing..........................pg 18 Re-Defining A Program...............pg 28 Sweet Sassafras.............................pg 36 All About Men: Chip King...........pg 37 “The Shining Seas”.......................pg 44

Catalina Lehmann Avery High Senior Reaches Beyond the Border

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Sue McBean

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Harriet-Wilcox Fulton

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Sections

News Bits........................................... pg 8 Cents & Sensibility..........................pg 34 Travel & Leisure..............................pg 43 Motherhood & Parenting.............pg 44 Beauty & Style.................................pg 50 Health & Fitness.............................pg 52 Food & Drink..................................pg 55 NOVEMBER 2010 5

Editor’s Note

A Time For All

Seasons

A

Visit aawmag.com to find links and resources for all stories mentioned in this issue.

s impossible as it may seem, the fourth Thursday in November, which we have been celebrating for years as Thanksgiving Day, is just around the next corner.

It’s a perfect time to take a deep breath and honor the day for what it was created – but of course, the “deep breath” won’t come until most of us hostesses clear the last crumb of stuffing from the turkey’s . . . cavity.

Along with Thanksgiving Day come parades, family gatherings centered around the dinner table, football, and an afternoon snooze.

The long weekend also marks the beginning of Christmas season, with Santa bursting at the seams to take a seat in every mall to entice kids to aggravate their parents to death for another toy.

Pardon me if I sound like Scrooge, but as usual, this season will fast become another commercial event in which the origins and meaning of the days we honor are nearly obscured.

I came out of a local store in mid-October, as furious as it’s in me to be, (which isn’t too terrible these days!) reeling from the stark contrasts between the first and third aisles.

Orange and black took precedence with miniature tombstones and everything reeking of Halloween. The next aisle was filed with an assortment of talking turkeys, wooden pilgrims and plastic pumpkins. One aisle over, I noticed a tiny manger scene almost covered up with the tinsel and toys associated with Christmas.

Could we please digest one season at a time before the next one begins?

For starters, let’s celebrate Thanksgiving for what it is and spend every moment we can with those we love.

Remembering you, wonderful women –and men! – of the High Country as I (try to) count my many blessings. And by the way, that includes you amazing soldiers who have fought for our freedom. Happy Veterans Day!

Sherrie Norris, Editor sherrie@aawmag.com

6 NOVEMBER 2010

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Readers’

October Issue

Voice Thanks for the Encouragement Dear Sherrie,

Sherrie, We just received our October issues of All About Women. I always like to look through it and read the stories. This week I haven’t made it past page 19. I just finished reading the “9 Trips to the Altar” about the wedding gown. I loved the article. It is such a sweet story and I loved how you used pictures of each bride in the gown. The article, photos and design were put together so well. Thanks so much. I truly enjoyed it.

Thanks, too, for the family reunion tips on page 15. I will definitely be using those when our family has another reunion.

Thanks for all you do.

Heather Canter

Thank you so much for publishing the magazine monthly again! Most importantly, thank you for encouraging women of all ages, not only about health and everyday life but especially about God and spirituality. I truly enjoy every single article, every time a new issue comes out. You have inspired me so much throughout my life, even as a child when you were my Sunday school teacher. I always enjoy reading your articles and recipes and how you always mention memories of growing up in Crossnore.

Just wanted to say thanks!

Sara Houston

Let us know what you think. After all, this magazine is

All About YOU!

To send a letter contact: Sherrie Norris, Editor sherrie@aawmag.com

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NOVEMBER 2010 7

&Clips

News Bits

Moms In Touch 10th Anniversary Luncheon

H

igh Country women are invited to attend the Moms In Touch 10th Anniversary Luncheon on Friday, Nov. 5.

Hosted by Watauga Moms In Touch (MIT) members, the celebratory luncheon will be held at Grace Lutheran Church at 115 East King St. in Boone from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Moms In Touch is a nondenominational Christian ministry, through which participants gather and pray for their children and their schools for one hour per week. Started in 1984 by Fern Nichols and another praying mom, there are more than 18,500 active Moms In Touch groups that meet in every state in the United States, plus 120

foreign countries. MIT groups praying for Watauga schools have been meeting since 2000.

There are currently active MIT groups, or a representative in place ready to start a group, for each Watauga school.

In addition to a light lunch, a guest speaker and a program celebrating 10 years of fellowship and encouragement as area moms supported their children and schools in prayer, are planned.

Mothers, grandmother, aunts and friends who are willing to pray for a specific child are welcomed to learn about Moms In Touch at the free luncheon.

For more information about the luncheon, call Lisa Sloboda,Watauga High School MIT leader,

at (828) 355-9623. To learn more about Moms In Touch, visit www.momsintouch.org

Military mothers with recently injured sons, Carol Isaacs, Gail Walker and Sarah Loveless, seated, were honored during the monthly meeting of the High Country Chapter of Blue Star Mothers. Surrounding them are other members of their “support team.” Standing, left to right, are: Janet Ellison, Becky Million, Debbie Branch, Tammy Miller, Kim Isler, Mary Vance Berlin, Diane Sides, Amy Butler, Tammy Spears and Peri Moretz. Photo by Sherrie Norris

Military Mothers Honored Following Sons Battle Injuries

T

hree members of the High Country Chapter of Blue Star Mothers were honored in a special ceremony during a recent meeting of the organization at the National Guard Amory in Boone.

Carol Isaacs, Sarah Loveless and Gail Walker were each presented with a “Silver Star” flag, signifying that their sons were recently wounded while on overseas duty. All three soldiers were 8 NOVEMBER 2010

wounded while serving in Afghanistan.

The local chapter of Blue Star Mothers was formed to support families – and especially mothers – in Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties who have sons or daughters serving in any branch of the military.

Though relatively new, the High Country chapter is about 25 members strong and active in community events to heighten awareness and

support for not only their children but also all men and women serving our country with valor and honor.

For further information or to express your interest in Blue Star Mothers, contact Debbie Branch, president, at branchfamily@earthlink. net or Kimberley Isler, secretary/interim public relations chair, at Bluestarmomx3@yahoo.com. www.aawmag.com

Before

AAW Columnist Named Boone’s Biggest Winner

C

orrinne Lousks Assad of Boone, local Realtor and columnist/feature writer for All About Women Magazine, was named winner of the most recent Boone’s Biggest Winner’s League (BBWL).

Assad is a local businesswoman, always “on the go,” who, along with her husband and four stepdaughters, and a very active and youthful mother, tries to eat right, exercise routinely and take good care of her body.And, like most, she has found through the years, that it’s not always easy to “do the right thing.”

After trying all the “quick fixes” with friends in recent years, still her success came only through her efforts in the BBWL. For more information about B o o n e ’s B i g g e s t Winner programs, contact Br yan Belcher, MPH, CHES, Wa t a u g a C o u n t y Healthy Carolinians, 215 Doctors Drive After in Boone; (828) 2688961.

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NOVEMBER 2010 9

x o c l i W t e i r r a H

n o t Ful

Artist Harriet-Wilcox Fulton loves to work with oils and watercolors, as well as leather, glass etching, pen and ink drawings and paper tooling. Photos by Sherrie Norris

Painting From The Heart

By Sherrie Norris

T

he walls of her home are covered with art – treasures that reach from her heart to touch the lives of others.

Harriet Wilcox-Fulton, a New Jersey native who discovered the High Country through relatives, has called Blowing Rock home for several years.

Having inherited her love for art – as well as her ability to produce it – from her paternal grandmother and aunt, she is the only member of her immediate family to become an artist.

Her late husband, Ralph Wilcox, was a great inspiration and encouraged her to pursue her talent.

Harriet loves to work with oils and watercolors, as well as leather, glass etching, pen and ink drawings and paper tooling, etc.

Her work is captivating; her three-dimensional paper tooling projects are extraordinary — each intricate design a result of a creative mind and skillful hands.

Remarkably, it took her a mere two months to learn the technique, lessons for which she drove 210 miles twice weekly to learn from a woman

10 NOVEMBER 2010

lining the walls of her home.

She has spent endless hours creating art for loved ones and takes delight in their expressions when presented with her gifts.

One item, produced for friends who own Buffalo Camp near Blowing Rock, is among The artist with her latest project which she her favorites, giving the illusion of the donated for a Hospice fundraiser. large animal for which the camp is named, ready to stampede from the frame.

Her most recent Creative Designs. wo r k , a f i ve - m o n t h Her art is inspired by project and “one-of-aspecial people, animals and kind” depiction of the places; the tooling technique, Linn Cove Viaduct, was especially from photographs, complete and ready for requires patience, precision the frame – “just in time,” and attention to intricate detail. she said, for the annual Several photo copies are fundraising ball for Hospice required as she cuts and “builds” last month, which drew favor piece by piece upon the background/ among the crowd, as well as a large base, each little detail from the original donation through the auction. photograph.

Giving of her time and talent is a big part of who Harriet perfected her technique over time, as not only her latest work proves but also those Harriet is, say those who know her best. nearing retirement.

Producing art is nothing new for Harriet, who, in her former executive life, also found time to run her home-based ceramics businesses called

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High Country Hospice marketing representative Candice Cook said, “Harriet is a great volunteer who helps with every aspect of Hospice – from patient care to working behind the scenes to make events like the Fall Ball a success. It is because of volunteers like Harriet that we are able to continue providing services in Watauga County.”

Vickie Woods, Hospice volunteer coordinator, added, “Harriet is one of the best Hospice volunteers and is very giving of herself. Our patients and families love having her in their homes.”

Harriet takes very little for granted, as one who has health concerns of her own.

A self-described “country girl” and a member of a hard-working farm family, Harriet learned a lot at an early age and was “strong as a man” at age 7, she says.

She eventually retired from Niagra Mohawk Utlities Company in upstate New York but not before she defied the odds on the job, numerous times.

It was through her electrical, plumbing and carpentry skills that she made a particular point late in her career. “When I bid on a job in the maintenance department, I had a tough time. The men did not want me there,” she said. “But when

they saw what I could do, they respected me and didn’t mind working with me.

“I’ve always been independent. If I didn’t know how to do something, I’d go back to school to learn.”

Harriet owned a large rental complex, its occupants also routinely benefactors of her skills, love and compassion.

Following retirement, Harriet says she basically lost her identity. At the same time, she began looking for ways to help others by providing the needy with clothing, furniture, etc., and started visiting the elderly in local hospitals and nursing homes.

As a former dog trainer, Harriet has also taken animals into the health-care facilities for pet therapy, including her Curly-Q, a longtime companion that passed away recently.

Active in First Presbyterian Church of Boone, Harriet says, “I just want to help people. God put

me on this Earth for something and I want to fulfill his purpose for me.”

Harriet and Ralph fell in love with the Blowing Rock area after moving south from their sprawling 90-acre estate in New York. “Our place up there was my heaven … my haven,” she said.

In her beautiful spacious studio, Harriet discovered and nurtured her niche as an artist, thanks to Ralph.

“It’s because of him that I am what I am now. I was very shy at the time. He opened my door and gave me the encouragement I needed,” she said.

“My mind is always working and I’m thankful to be able to work with my hands.”

With a medical condition that often debilitates her, Harriet is also thankful for life in these mountains, where she is at peace and surrounded by a circle of wonderful friends who she considers family.

“I live one day at a time and make the best of every day that I’m given,” she said.

t

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NOVEMBER 2010 11

12 NOVEMBER 2010

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Superintendent

Sue McBean

Grandfather Mountain’s Newest Ranger Is Here To Stay

By Vicki Randolph

E

veryone in the High Country recognizes Grandfather Mountain as an icon of Appalachia. Something that everyone might not realize is that much of the mountain is now a North Carolina State Park.

Sue McBean has the prestigious honor of being the first superintendent of the new state park, which encompasses 2,456 acres along the crest of the famous mountain now managed by the park system.

Sue has worked all over the United States in her chosen parks and recreation field—from Massachusetts to Alaska and several places in between. She has been employed with N.C. State Parks for seventeen years, working her way up the ladder and now, literally, up the mountain.

“There is a lot of work involved in starting a new park,” she says. Sue has had the privilege of helping establish the park, hire staff and make plans and decisions that will influence the popular destination long into the future. “There is a lot of prep and planning that goes into establishing our future goals and developing a master plan,” she adds.

“

“I have some ideas, and now I also have two rangers with some really great ideas,” says Sue. “We are working on some pretty adventurous program planning.”

Continued conser vation of the backcountry portion of the mountain was part of the long-range stewardship vision held by the mountain’s previous owner, the late Hugh Morton and his family.

It is now protected, and will be for future generations by enthusiastic park rangers like Sue. The part of the mountain that has been a famous tourist destination for more than five decades will still remain a place to learn about wildlife and offer ongoing opportunities for crossing the historic swinging bridge. The attraction’s 749 acres will remain unchanged for those who know and love it so well.

Ranger Sue supervises the foreverprotected backcountry. And being the first superintendent means she has a lot of impact on the park’s operation.

Par t of “the beauty” involved in managing a backcountry park with little to no developed areas includes time to spend outside.

Normally, once a park ranger advances

in his or her career to management level, he or she has very little time to spend in the wild and scenic nature, which, ironically, was what attracted them to their career.

“Every park is different and unique,” says Ranger Sue. “We are the only one in North Carolina that is all backcountry.”

That means that her leadership position is also as unique as the park.

Despite her administrative duties, Sue makes it a point to get out on the trails at least two days per week—on one of the most beautiful mountains in the country.

Plan as she might, there is no typical day at Grandfather Mountain State Park.

“Things happen all the time that you don’t plan for,” she says. “Lost hikers, people who need assistance, injured hikers who need carried-out—you just never know what a day might bring.”

But Grandfather Mountain is like icing on the cake for this highly trained ranger—it’s the culmination of an enduring outdoor career full of hard work. And the best thing about it is, Super Sue is here to stay!

”

Every park is different and unique,” says Ranger Sue. “We are the only one in North Carolina that is all backcountry.

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NOVEMBER 2010 13

Contra Dance Having A Blast At A

By Sharon Carlton

C

ontra dance is becoming increasingly popular here in the High Country.

Its lively historic music, easy-tolearn dance movements and relaxed, welcoming attitudes of participants appeal to a variety of demographics in the community.

All these aspects combine to create a lighthearted evening of toe-tapping, live music and invigorating fun.

Contra dancing evolved from English and Scottish country dances of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Introduced to America by settlers, the music and instruments reflect the rich heritage of AngloCeltic music. Dance movements are reminiscent of American country and square dancing.

The melodic, toe-tapping tunes performed on traditional stringed instruments evoke images of early settlers’ celebrations, before the advent of synthesized or amplified music.

The name contra refers to lines of couples facing each other who dance as a foursome, moving in opposite directions up and down the line to form new foursomes.

The French are credited for renaming the New England-based country dance “contradans.”

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“

A contra dance is an amusement park ride that we make ourselves.

— Unknown

”

Later Americanized, the name contra dance remains today as events find billing as contra dances, county dances and folk dances.

Designed for groups of dancers, “the more the merrier” is the prevailing attitude. Entering the local contra dance venue, participants are immediately showered with welcoming smiles from multigenerational dancers, including

Photos by Layne Sizemore

Appalachian State University students, families with children, older adults and everyone in between.

Singles, couples and clusters of friends are equally welcomed. Regardless of experience, age or background, anyone who can follow directions and kick up their heels can contra dance.

Casual, comfortable attire is recommended for contra dancing. Dancers should wear soft-soled, closed shoes to enable easy, quick movements.

Sneakers are acceptable but sandals are risky.

Nonbulky clothes permitting freedom of motion that allow partners to hold and guide each other’s steps are suggested. Lightweight jeans, pants or shorts with a casual cotton shirt is basic contra dance dress.

Some experienced female dancers prefer long skirts which gracefully exaggerate spinning and turning movements.

Overall, dancers should dress for comfort, fast-paced interaction and an up-tempo workout. www.aawmag.com

New dancers should arrive early for the predance lesson portion of the evening.

Because new dancers are always expected, callers routinely teach steps and formations before the dance begins. Familiarity with the terms and motions enhances enjoyment of the dances’ quick cadences.

Before each dance, the “caller” initiates a “walkthrough,” directing couples through various steps and formations.

In most dances, couples form a line divided into foursomes, facing each other. Once the music starts, the pace accelerates as partners dance with the other couple from the foursome, following the callers’ directions.

After completing the dance’s steps and formations, each couple moves forward forming new foursomes. The new foursomes progress to form another foursome, repeating the pattern for the duration of the song.

By the end of each song, the pattern of movements flows smoothly for experienced and novice dancers alike.

Dancers greet new partners with whom they may “balance and swing,“ “form a star,” maneuver a “courtesy swing” and execute a “gypsy.”

The way to learn to contra dance is to join in. When a new song or dance is announced, newcomers should grab a partner and form a foursome.

Beginners are encouraged to dance with an experienced dancer for a song or two. The more competent dancer familiarizes the novice dancer with the movements, keeps the newer dancer in step, keeping each of the foursomes moving through the paces.

Several times each evening, a traditional contra waltz occurs, slowing the tempo to a lilting beat.

Couples stand hip to hip, facing the same direction rather than each other. Partners intertwine hands in a figure eight, hold and glide around the floor in a circle, temporarily abandoning contra lines and multiple partners for a melodic, romantic waltz.

There are no frowns during the lively-paced swinging of partners and spinning.

Local caller Warren Doyle encourages dancers to feel the music. “Stop thinking and just keep moving,” he counsels. “If you make a mistake, just keep moving!”

No guilt, no pressure; just friendly frolicking on the dance floor to jigs, reels and good time music.

Contra dances are regularly scheduled at venues in the High Country. Visit the website www.boonecountrydancers.org to learn about monthly dances held at Valle Crucis’ Apple Barn in summer and at the Old Cove Creek gym during winter.

Contact ASU’s Appalachian Heritage Council via e-mail at appheritage@appstate.edu or visit the website www.apps.appstate.edu to learn about dances at ASU’s Legends. From November to May, dances take place on the last Friday of each month at the Todd Mercantile (phone (336) 877-5401).

Admission is a reasonable $5 to $10 per person.

A contra dance is an adventure choreographed to regional music with a lively beat, creating fun connections with others.

Contra dancing is a magical experience and a celebration of tradition. www.aawmag.com

NOVEMBER 2010 15

All’s well that ends well, agrees Krystal Wilson and her beloved, Rayland.

Not Your Typical

Fairy Tale Wedding

By Krystal Wilson

M

y wedding day finally arrived, a day I’d dreamed of since I was a little girl.

As I began the day, my mind was filled with visions of autumn-dusted leaves, beautiful mums and a simple but elegant wedding gown.

It was Sept. 26, 2009. I had spent the night with my family in Blowing Rock and realized I had forgotten one of my shoes at the home in Valle Crucis, that I was planning to share with my beloved, Rayland.

So off I went. I ran into the house, got the shoe and disappeared before Rayland realized I had been there.

16 NOVEMBER 2010

I left filled with excitement. Everything was set in place. I could think of nothing that could ruin this perfect day. Despite the rain and plans for an outdoor wedding, I knew in my heart that the skies would clear long enough for our ceremony.

I was wrong.

I’m still not sure what happened. The doctors think I passed out from exhaustion. I hit two trees.

I don’t remember the crash at all. I do recall waking up, seeing a lot of blood and then climbing up the small dam that I had crashed into.

A very nice man approached me and said an ambulance was on the way. I must have blacked out again, but I did “come to” as medics were

loading me into the ambulance. I told them it was my wedding day. Someone said they didn’t think I would be able to get married that day.

My heart sank. I felt no pain until then. It was the worst kind … my heart was broken.

Next thing I knew, I was at the Watauga Medical Center where a wonderful medical staff was caring for me.They will never know the impact they had on me that day.

Rayland’s aunt was one of my nurses; I’ll also never forget her expression. I didn’t realize things were so bad until I saw her crying and looking at me with fear in her eyes. She removed my jewelry and remained at my side until Rayland and my dad www.aawmag.com

arr T ano Me the am in wh T ma we dre B the wa W ho mo Id I ha K the me ann det B mo W ab 17, tru Th jus S all

1

2

3

D me

It was not exactly the wedding of her dreams, states Krystal Wilson..

arrived and were summoned to my room.

The doctor said I needed to be transferred to another hospital and recommended Carolina’s Medical Center. She wanted me to be airlifted but the weather had deteriorated, so I had to go by ambulance. I had 20-plus broken bones, including in my neck and back. I also had a collapsed lung, which needed immediate attention.

Two weeks later on Oct. 17, Rayland and I were married. I was in a full upper body brace, my eyes were still red, my face still blue. It was not my dream wedding with all the frills.

But it was worth it all to me as I struggled down the aisle and saw my future husband patiently waiting and staring at me with tears in his eyes.

We began our “honeymoon” that night – at our home camped out in front of the television with movies and pizza. It was the best night of my life.

I did get my fairy tale wedding after all, I realized.

I had married my handsome prince!

Knowing how much I wanted to wear the wedding gown that his mother made for me, Rayland suggested that on our one-year anniversary that we renew our vows. He was determined for me to have my dream wedding.

But again, “life happened,” this time with much more pleasant news.

We discovered in May that we were expecting a baby girl, so we moved the wedding up to July 17, our nine-month anniversary. My dream came true that day, surrounded by family and friends.

The flowers, decorations and everything were just perfect – and I finally got to wear my dress!

So, to the moral of this story, and a few tips for all future brides to remember: 1. It doesn’t “pay” to drive on your wedding day.

2. Regardless of how much you plan for perfection, try to be prepared for the unexpected.

3. Don’t become overwhelmed with all the details. In the end, everything will work out.

You will easily recall the things that did go as planned and will eventually be able to laugh at those that didn’t.

Dedicated to: Rayland Wilson.Thank you for showing me what love truly is all about.

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NOVEMBER 2010 17

Heartfelt Healing

Our Rich Tradition of

Thanksgiving

By Teri Wiggins

O

ur traditional Thanksgiving holiday originates from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation where pilgrims gave thanks to God for their abundant harvest.

Joining the 53 pilgrims were 90 Indians from the Wampanoag tribe, including their leader, Massasoit, who had been known to have donated enough food to get the fledgling colony through the first harsh winter in 1619.

Squanto, of the Patuxet tribe, who at that time lived amongst the Wampanoag, had earlier been captured by the English explorer Thomas Hunt and sold into slavery in Spain.

He was rescued by Spanish friars, ended up in England where he worked with another explorer, Thomas Dermer, and eventually returned to his birth area, only to find that his tribe had been wiped out by a plague.

Squanto connected with the Wampanoag tribe and was asked by Massasoit to reassure the pilgrims, as an interpreter using the English language, that the Indians had only friendly intentions. The Wamapnoag and English pilgrims created an historical treaty pledging peace and friendship.

Squanto became not only an interpreter but a guide, as well. He shared agricultural knowledge teaching the pilgrims how to grow corn and catch eels. Plymouth governor Bradford declared him a “special instrument of God for their good.”

“

Imagine peace and friendliness between the Indians and pilgrims, no want of fish, fowl, including wild turkeys, venison and corn meal and a threeday harvest festival honoring both the Indian and English traditions.

I want to pause here to honor our American roots in this day of thanks that we celebrate annually. We have had a rich harvest in the High Country this year. The apple trees are loaded, the gardens overflowing and wildlife abounds.We have deer and turkeys visiting our yards multiple times throughout the year.

The Native Americans believe that animals that cross our paths have messages for us.

Jamie Sams, in her book Medicine Cards, shares insights about the gifts that animals have to offer.

Turkey represents the “give-away.” Often a member of a tribe joyfully gives away all she or he owns and does without so that others may survive.

These individuals are highly respected amongst their community.

Sams shares that deer represent “gentleness.”

They are filled with love and compassion for all those who pass their way.

I believe that each time I see a deer, it is to remind me about the importance of being gentle to myself and others.

The first Thanksgiving demonstrated the camaraderie and fellowship witnessed by the gathering of the pilgrims and Indians. They celebrated life and the abundant harvest together.

Massasoit and the other Wampanoag tribal members “gave away” food to the pilgrims, so that they would survive that first winter, and then shared their fishing and farming knowledge.

Although Squanto had been captured by the English and sold into slavery, he, too, gave his gifts generously.

The deer medicine of love and compassion was shared freely.

Our High Country community has so many examples of “turkey and deer medicine.” Many local businesses and volunteers donate time, talent and treasures to organizations, such as OASIS (Opposing Abuse with Service, Information and Shelter), sheltering women and children who have been abused; High Country Women’s Fund, helping women and children get back on their feet, empowered and independent; Hospitality House, helping people who are temporarily homeless; the Humane Society; the Health and Hunger Coalition; the Community Care Clinic; and the list continues.

I feel so blessed to be a part of this community where we do come together in peace and friendliness, sharing our abundance and gifts with each other.

May we continue to expand our hearts and celebrate joyfully this year as we give thanks.

Teri Wiggans, RNC/MSN/FNP, gives thanks for being a part of the Heartfelt Healing Center, 828264-4443 at www.heartfelthealingcenter.com.

The first Thanksgiving demonstrated the camaraderie and fellowship witnessed by the gathering of the pilgrims and Indians.

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NOVEMBER 2010 19

Justice for ALL

Traps for the Unwary: Some Consumer Finance Cautions

A

mericans are flooded every day with advertisements promising that they can have whatever it is that they want now and pay for that item later.

Unfortunately, most financed purchases result in much higher overall payments than if the consumer saved for and purchased the product outright.

Over time, this debt can get out of control. It’s tempting to look for a quick fix.

Here are a few “deals” to look out for and also tips to help you face climbing debt.

Rent-to-Own: Renting-to-own sounds like a great deal for someone with limited resources. For little or no money down, the buyer can walk out of the store with the TV or couch they’ve always wanted.

In exchange for this deal, the person promises to pay a weekly or monthly rental charge for the item.

What may seem like a small obligation now, adds up to great amounts over time. It’s common to pay two to three times the item’s value before owning it outright.

Also, one missed payment is all it takes for the seller to be able to repossess the item. When this happens, the buyer may lose credit for all the payments she’s already made and have to pay fees for reclaiming the item.

Advice: Avoid rent-to-own schemes.

Tax Refund Anticipation Loans Tax refund anticipation loans also promise cash quickly with seemingly little drawbacks. These loans allow you to take home a portion of your tax refund today in exchange for signing over the full amount of your tax return to the preparer.

The preparer has a huge incentive to offer a refund that is as high as possible. Not only does this mean the preparer takes more money from the deal, but stands to gain from any overpayment they make to you, even if they are the ones who made the mistake. For example, if your tax refund comes back lower than what they loaned you, you will have to pay back what they gave you at a high interest.

Advice: A short wait, usually a couple of weeks, can help avoid an unnecessary headache when getting an income tax refund.

“Same As Cash” Purchases Similar to rent-to-own offers, “same as cash” purchases provide instant satisfaction to the cashstrapped shopper. Usually, the buyer gives nothing to the seller at the time of sale – in exchange for a promise to pay back the seller within a certain period of time. When the purchase price is not paid back in that period of time, the buyer is charged a high interest going back all the way to the date of purchase.

Advice: If you can’t save up for it before purchasing it, it’s very likely you will not be able to set aside the money for it after purchasing it.

20 NOVEMBER 2010

Being Careful With Collateral When faced with higher and higher debt, it’s tempting to use the equity in one’s home as a way to get cash to pay off those debts. This is a bad idea. When you make a credit card purchase, there is nothing backing up the loan but a promise to pay. If you fail to pay, the creditor is forced to sue you to try to get money. Depending on the circumstances, the creditor may never be able to collect that money. But, if you use your house as collateral for a loan to cover credit card debt, your house can be taken away from you if you fail to pay back the loan.

Advice: Never use your home to back up credit card or other smaller debts.

Credit Repair Schemes Companies promising to clean up consumers’ credit for a fee are proliferating. Unfortunately, some of these offers are actually scams that take upfront fees, but do nothing to improve the consumer’s credit. Oftentimes, the consumer could take the same steps just as effectively for free. If credit reports are accurate, they can’t be “cleared up” – they can only reflect subsequent payments and improvements. If it’s inaccurate, you can challenge it yourself by sending a written dispute to the reporting bureau, which will be placed in your file. You can also ask that inaccurate information be removed, and that a corrected version be sent to anyone receiving your report in the past six months.

Advice: By law, credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the promised services. If you use them at all, get a written contract. To contact a nonprofit consumer credit counseling service, call the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at 1-800-388-2227. They usually charge a small fee for their services, but also offer useful, comprehensive budgeting and credit consolidation plans that are effective.

“Justice For All” is a new column provided by Legal Aid of North Carolina 171 Grand Blvd. Boone, NC 28607. (828) 264-5640 ext. 1105

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Bloom Where You’re Planted

Blessed With Thanksgiving Memories

By Sherry Boone

T

hanksgiving Day was always an emotional day for me when I lived 900 miles away from home. Our family usually took our vacation in the spring, during Easter break, and went “back home” when our children were out of school for a week.

I was blessed to be with my husband and children but I missed being back in North Carolina with my mother, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins who always gathered to share a Thanksgiving meal and memories.

If I knew that my Aunt Frieda was home from California, I was even more homesick. To make matters worse, I always watched Perry Como’s television Thanksgiving special knowing full well that at the end of the program he would stand at the head of the table and sing “Bless This House!”

Oh, my, how that hurt. I usually left the room when the program ended, had a good cry and returned with dry eyes – determined to count my blessings and do my best to give my family a happy Thanksgiving Day with a good dinner.

On one particular Thanksgiving Day as we ate our meal, I kept thinking of an elderly black gentleman who sometimes picked up our yard clippings, etc. He had a job but also made extra money with this service. We hadn’t seen him in a while and we heard that his wife had died.

I wondered how Lewis was and if he had grown children and grandchildren to be with him on this day? That thought would not go away. After my family had finished our meal, I looked to see if a phone number was listed for him. It was. I called him and discovered that he was alone.

“Lewis, can I come over and bring dinner to you?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, yes, you can,” he answered.

My day was getting happier by the minute. I called my friend Fay to see if she’d go with me.

She and her family had also finished their meal.

She was from West Virginia and was more than 900 miles away from her family, too.

She was happy to go with me and was waiting for me when I arrived at her home with a big

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tray filled with turkey and dressing and all the trimmings, including pumpkin pie and banana pudding.

Lewis had given me directions to his home and we had no trouble getting there. When I turned into his driveway, I said, “Oh, Fay, look.”

There he sat, waiting on the porch in a rocking chair — beside an empty rocking chair. (I now know how he must have felt that day, many years ago.)

I also know how much he appreciated the

Thanksgiving meal.

It wasn’t my idea to take that meal. I believe that God spurred me on. I was thankful, and still am today, that I had listened. More than one person received a blessing that Thanksgiving Day. Fay and I had been wonderfully blessed, as well.

I think blessings are to be counted and then shared - not just at Thanksgiving but all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. May you be blessed as you reach out to bless others during this holiday season.

NOVEMBER 2010 21

Women’s Build Day

Avery County women come together to help one of their own.

Linda Drivas, Leah Willis (homeowner) & her mom, Bea Burkhart

many One of s written g in s bles women by the e studs on insid e th around house!

Buffy Clark

(above) Missy Lyons & Chestina English

Betty Erhart in red, & Sondra Underwood, ACHFH Board President Sisters Linda Wiseman & Darlene Smith 22 NOVEMBER 2010

The untangling of the foundation drainage pipe. www.aawmag.com

End Childhood Hunger in the High Country

“Christmas in the Mountains Volume 4” CD

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he Hunger and Health Coalition is offering volume four of the “Christmas in the Mountains” CD to fund its “End Childhood Hunger in the High Country” initiative.

According to Compton Fortuna, Hunger and Health Coalition executive director, “The thought of any child being hungry is unbearable and the Hunger and Health Coalition is passionate about providing food to the children who need it most.”

For every CD you purchase at $10, the Hunger and Health Coalition can buy 50 pounds of food. That is enough to fill a food box for a family of four, Fortuna said. What a fabulous gift to give to the hungry families in our area, while you and your friends who receive CDs as gifts will enjoy a delightful group of holiday songs. The CDs make perfect stocking stuffers and gifts for your employees.

Leslie Shavell, project coordinator, said, “Because there are so many folks in our area who have lost their jobs, our food distribution has increased by 58 percent this year. The people who are coming in to get food boxes and prescriptions used to be employed, productive citizens, and now cannot afford to feed their families or even buy medicine.”

At the Hunger Coalition, these folks can get food and free prescriptions for their families, food for their children through special programs that are part of the “End Childhood Hunger” initiative, as well as clothing and firewood for the winter, she said.

Talented and caring musicians have donated all of the music on the “Christmas in the Mountains Volume 4” CD, she said. Many people have already donated to the production of the CD. More than 70 locations have generously agreed to sell the CD in their businesses, Shavell said. The community support of this project over the last three years has given the Hunger Coalition more than $90,000 to feed the increasing number of hungry in our area.

All of the proceeds from the CD this year will again go to “End Childhood Hunger in the High Country.”

“We want to thank the donors and all the musicians, retailers and production teams that have given so much time and talent to make this CD possible. It is truly a labor of love because we all want to make a difference in Appalachian Evergreens (www.Appevergreens.Com) Apple Hill Farm (Banner Elk–Beginning Oct.) Artwalk (Boone) Bank Of Granite (Boone) Bare Essentials (Boone) Black Bear Books (Boone) Blowing Rock Market (Exxon Station) Blowing Rocket Office Blue Moon Guitars & Music (W. Jefferson) Bob Timberlake (Blowing Rock) All 9 Boone Drugs In Boone, Blowing Rock, Crossnore, Foscoe, Linville Café Portofino (Boone) Carriage Trade Antiques (Blowing Rock) Changes Salon (Boone) Cheap Joe’s (Boone) Chetola Gift Shop (Blowing Rock) Christopher’s Wine And Cheese (Blowing Rock) Conrad’s Coffee Company (Boone–Shadowline) Conrad’s Coffee Co. (Boone-Highlands Commons ) Cornerstone Bookstore (Boone) Cornett-Deal Christmas Tree Farm (Sugar Grove) Custard Depot (Downtown Boone)

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children’s lives.The children are the true victims of this devastating economic crisis through no fault of their own,” Shavell said.

Visit one of the locations on the following list and show your support for the Hunger and Health Coalition by purchasing the CD for $10. Every dollar goes to buy food for the “End Childhood Hunger Program,” and the food is distributed to local residents only.

Please call the Hunger and Health Coalition at 828-262-1628 or check the website www.hungercoalition.com for more information about others ways to show your support.

Deer Valley Racquet Club Pro Shop (Boone) Dulcimer Shop (Blowing Rock) Everything Scottish (Linville) Framing By Lori (Boone) Fred’s General Mercantile (Beech Mountain) Fritz And Riley (Blowing Rock) Glidewell’s Restaurant (Blowing Rock) Grandfather Mountain (Linville) Green Mother Goods (Boone) Harkins’ Insurance Agency (Boone) Hunger And Health Coalition Office And Website Www.Hungercoalition.Com (Boone) Kilwin’s Ice Cream (Blowing Rock) Kilwin’s Ice Cream (Tanger Outlet Blowing Rock) Libby’s ( Jefferson) All Three Mast Stores (1 In Boone, 2 In Valle Crucis, Maw’s Produce (Foscoe) Meadowbrook Inn (Blowing Rock) Mike’s Inland Seafood (Boone) Monkee’s Shoes (Blowing Rock) Mountain Bagels (Boone) Mountain Home Music Christmas Show New Lifestyles Carpet (Banner Elk)

Pappy’s Barbeque (Banner Elk) Pepper’s (Boone) Piedmont Federal (Boone) Pleasant Papers (Blowing Rock) Poppy’s By Design (Blowing Rock) Rumple Presbyterian Church (Blowing Rock) Rydell Music Center (Boone) The Shoppes At Farmers (Boone) Souths (Boone Mall) St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Blowing Rock) Stick Boy Bread (Boone) Summit Group Real Estate (John Heinlein) (Banner Elk) University Book Store (Boone) Watauga Women’s Center (Boone) Walgreen Drug Store (Boone) Western Carolina Eye Associates (Boone)

You may send donations for the CD to: Hunger and Health Coalition P.O. Box 1837 Boone, N.C. 28607 Please note on your check that it is for the Christmas CD. NOVEMBER 2010 23

Avery High Senior Reaches Beyond the Border

By Sherrie Norris

Avery County High School senior Catalina Lehmann is leading an interesting life during her last year in high school.

Catalina has learned to love the idea of a mandatory school uniform, which she says, eliminates the “competition” issue. “It’s so easy to get ready in the morning without spending 15 minutes to choose an outfit,” she says.

24 NOVEMBER 2010

The active 17-year-old, whose family spends summers in her mother’s homeland of Argentina, chose to remain there this year for her first semester, enrolled in a bilingual school in San Carlos de Bariloche. “By doing this, I can stay for the ski competitions in September-October,” Catalina said.

She planned to return to Avery for her second semester but has since secured an internship during November - December at an Argentine governmental agency.

Summer in the U.S. is winter in Argentina, which allows Catalina, an avid skier, to compete in both South America and in the United States nine months of the year.

In her free time, the busy teen has been organizing and hosting fundraising dinners — with the help of her late grandmother’s church — for the less fortunate in the community.

And that’s just for starters!

This past summer, Catalina published a bilingual children’s book called Mi Amigo Americano, written in Spanish. “I was inspired to write it because I want children to have the opportunity to learn a secondary language like I did,” Catalina said.

“Argentina has so much potential regarding industry, economics, agriculture, etc.

“Since English is becoming the most influential language in the world, it’s so important that kids learn it. Children are our future and these kids deserve a shot at a great future.” www.aawmag.com

y

Catalina wrote a bilingual children’s book called Mi Amigo Americano, to give children the opportunity to learn a secondary language - like she did.

Copies of the book have been shipped to many of those children in South America.

Catalina grew up in Banner Elk, attended Banner Elk Elementary School, Avery Middle School, Avery County High School and now the Woodville School, taking online classes to meet Avery’s graduation criteria.

She has a 4.3 grade point average and is secretary of Avery High’s National Honors Society chapter.

When at Avery, Catalina participates in a morning Bible study, meets with an accountability group each Thursday at 7 a.m. and is involved in Young Life.

Day classes, now at Woodville, are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Ski practice/competitions and a current focus on college applications leave her little free time. Nevertheless, she says, “I’m managing to do it!”

Woodville is a private bilingual school that teaches in both English and Spanish, she said.

“At first, I hated the mandatory hunter-green school uniform – a white polo shirt, a knit sweater, brown shoes, white knee socks and a skirt-but now I love the idea.

“Uniforms completely eliminate the ‘competition’ issue, and it’s so easy to get ready in the morning without spending 15 minutes to choose an outfit,” she said.

During her remaining time in South America, Catalina plans to host read-alouds and disperse copies of her book throughout public primary schools in Argentina.

Catalina has numerous ties with Argentina, having been born in her mother’s homeland of San Carlos de Bariloche.

“Mother moved to the states upon marrying my father, who is from the U.S. and once hosted an Argentine/American ski exchange program,” she said.“He took skiers from the U.S. to Argentina to train and met my mother during one of his trips.”

Catalina’s family spends July through August there, where she and her younger brother and sister ski their way through “summer vacation.”

“When summer is over and school starts in August, my classmates and teachers at Avery laugh at me,” she said. “Instead of showing up with a gorgeous bikini tan, I have a ski goggle tan!”

Skiing since she was 3, Catalina trains 18-plus hours each week, 36 weeks a year.

“During in-season training in the U.S., I practice Continued On Page 26

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NOVEMBER 2010 25

AVERY Senior

Continued From Page 25

Her dream?

To be the U.S. ambassador to Argentina.

“

”

Skiing since she was 3, Catalina trains 18-plus hours each week, 36 weeks a year and competes in the USA and South America.

six days a week. Competitions are held every weekend from December through mid- March. I attend race events throughout North and South America year round,” she said.

Catalina has made the Southern Alpine (SARA) Combined State Team for three consecutive years - only five girls make the cut each season.

She also loves golf and was named captain and MVP of her high school’s golf team last season.

In fact, she started the first women’s golf team at Avery. “I petitioned an entire year for a girls’ team but was told it was impossible because of school budget cuts,” she said. “So, I practiced with the men’s team for two seasons. Eventually, the school made a women’s team, now in its second season.

We had more participants than the boys’ team!”

She also enjoys waterskiing, yoga and instructional workout videos; cooking, fashion and creative writing; and has an interest in conspiracy theories (extraterrestrial life forms, Nibiru, the Mayans, JFK, Mary Magdalene, etc.).

She also loves impressionistic and expressionistic art.

With a passion for different cultures, she enjoys traveling and, of course, working with children.

She has been a vegetarian for four years and has adopted a healthier lifestyle because of it.

Catalina started a successful baby clothes drive last year, with help from RAM’s Rack and Banner Elk Elementary School.

Following a six- month collection, she sent the items to Argentina, where they were dispersed to 26 NOVEMBER 2010

Helping the less fortunate is second nature to Catalina, as evidenced during a fundraising food drive in Argentina which she organizes with the help of her late grandmother’s church.

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Community in Argentina where Catalina lives.

women for their babies.

She says,“My ties with Argentina have everything to do with my interest in international relations.“ Fluent in Castillano, an Argentine Spanish dialect she learned as a child from her mother, Catalina currently is learning French - and loves it!

“I also know tons of random phrases in other different languages, such as Mandarin Chinese,

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Italian, Portuguese, etc. Eventually, I would like to be fluent in French, Italian and Portuguese.

Learning languages comes very easily to me, and I absolutely love it,” she said.

Helping those less fortunate has been a lifetime goal. “When I was little I wanted to be a missionary,” she said.“But now that I’m older and have experienced more, I want to be a Foreign

Service officer. I’m not exactly sure but I think I’d like to work for the United Nations or the U.S. Department of State.”

Her dream? “To be the U.S. ambassador to Argentina.”

To learn more about her book, www. trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail. aspx?BookId=SKU-000189087.

NOVEMBER 2010 27

All About Women

RE-

A

DEFINING

Program: ASU Women’s Basketball Makes A Name for Itself

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Photo by Rob Moore 28 NOVEMBER 2010

fter completing just her second season as head coach of the Appalachian State University women’s basketball program, Darcie Vincent and her staff accomplished more than some do in an entire career.

No stranger to success, the 2010 Southern Conference Coach of the Year had previously led Division II California (Pa.) to a national title in 2004, but Vincent had her work cut out for her heading into the 2009-10 campaign.

Having the youngest team in the conference, the 2009-10 edition of the Mountaineers exceeded expectations, posting one of the best campaigns in school history.The squad closed out the 2009-10 season with a 23-12 record and 14-6 league mark, good enough for a tie for second place in the regular season SoCon standings, after finishing eighth the season prior.

In addition to more than doubling its number of overall and conference victories from the previous season, the 23 wins were the second most in school history and the 14 conference wins were the most since the 1995-96 season.

With the list of accomplishments and milestones abundant, perhaps one of the most impressive feats was the way the team finished the season, www.aawmag.com

Lending A Hand

Photo by Dave Mayo

In the Community

“

Words cannot explain how proud I am of our youthful and somewhat inexperienced team.

”

winning the inaugural Women’s Basketball amazing. Our quick success has helped to put Appalachian State women’s Invitational title on their home floor.

After coming up short to Samford in basketball back in the minds of many the conference tournament semifinals, the North Carolina high school players Black and Gold were awarded the number once again. We are a program that one overall seed in the WBI postseason has been revamped, and I am excited tournament. Having something to prove, about the potential and promise we ASU dominated its opponents throughout have. We have higher expectations for the the WBI, winning by an average of 16 upcoming season and are working towards winning a conference points and rallying from a championship.”

19 -point deficit to defeat Where ASU women’s Memphis in the Holmes basketball has tended Center and win the title. to be overlooked in the Coach Vincent cannot past, the program has emphasize enough the returned to dominance importance of last year’s and continues to successes and what they vie for an elusive mean to a program that is conference crown. A working toward re-building team that returns all a tradition. five starters, including “Last season was a 1000-point scorer and tremendous leap forward all-conference selection for our women’s basketball Sam Ramirez, in addition program,” Vincent said. “In to all-conference just a two-year period, honorees Ashlen Dewart we were able to take our a n d A n n a F re e m a n , program from the bottom and welcomes a highly of the conference to the talented incoming class, top of the SoCon.” Photo by Dave Mayo the Mountaineers have Vincent is not only extremely proud of her team’s given ASU women’s basketball a new look accomplishments and triumphs from a and re-defined a once fledgling program.

In just one-year time, the Mountaineers season ago and pleased what it has already done for the program’s name, but looks have proven to be a team with No Equal. forward to continuing to grow and working The team will play its regular-season hometowards bringing a Southern Conference opener Monday, November 22 at 7 p.m. against non-conference foe Gardner-Webb title back to Boone.

“Words cannot explain how proud I am of in the Holmes Center. Please show your our youthful and somewhat inexperienced support for this up and coming program team,” Vincent said. “To conclude the by making sure you are in attendance this season with a come-from-behind win season and helping to cheer the team on to in the WBI Championship game over another outstanding season. For a special Memphis in front of our fans and on our discounted ticket offer please see the ad home floor, was honestly nothing less than on page 3. www.aawmag.com

A

successful basketball program is not only marked by its performance on the court, but also by its actions off it. Knowing how vital community involvement is to a team’s success and how it can build unity and team strength, Appalachian State University women’s basketball has made sure to put its name out there, getting involved and volunteering in numerous campus activities and for local Boone charitable organizations.

One of Appalachian’s primary causes that it donates much of its time and resources to is its annual Think Pink game. This past season, the Mountaineers teamed up with over 1,200 schools across the country to raise money in support of breast cancer research and awareness.

Head Coach Darcie Vincent and the women’s basketball staff donated $1 dollar to the cause for every student that attended ASU’s game against UNCG, totaling $240, and the program teamed up with Boone’s local American Cancer Society to raise money for the noteworthy cause. Overall the team raised over $1000 for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/ Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

In addition to Think Pink, the Black and Gold donated their $500 winnings from the NCAA/ SoCon ‘Pack the House’ Challenge to the March of Dimes. The squad was deemed ‘Pack the House’ winners when it set a Holmes Center record in attendance for a women’s basketball game as 1,576 fans filled the Holmes Center to see ASU down conference foe Davidson. ‘Trying to help out in as many ways as possible, the Apps have volunteered on both Appalachian State’s campus and in Boone.

Over the past year the Mountaineers have been directly involved in 15 community service events.

Starting the school year off on a strong foot, the Black and Gold volunteered at ASU’s Freshmen Move in Day in 2009 and 2010, helping incoming freshman and their families move into dorms.

After arriving home late from its first regular-season game during the 2009-10 season at Marshall, the team woke up early the next morning to volunteer at the Angel Food Ministries, passing out food and supplies to those in need.

Pairing up with numerous Appalachian State varsity athletic teams, the Apps also participated in Celebrity Serve. Celebrity Serve was an event where the squad went to Makotos and Beef O’Bradys restaurants and served food and drinks to customers.

Hoping to encourage local youth to get involved and become Mountaineer fans, the team put on a basketball clinic at Hardin Park elementary in the Fall of 2009, running drills with the local youth teams and giving the young girls advice and guidance.

Standouts Anna Freeman and Ashlen Dewart both donated their time as well, as they read to local elementary school children in the spring of 2010.

Freeman enjoyed the opportunity of reading to local youth and knows how important it is to give back to and get involved with the local community.

“I absolutely loved having the opportunity to go to Parkway Elementary School last year for reading day,” Freeman said. “ Boone as a community is so supportive of us, so when we are presented with an opportunity to give back we are more than excited to do so. The women’s basketball program takes the importance of serving our community very seriously and we feel blessed to be in a position that we can do so.”

Encouraging its team to be involved in as many activities as possible, the squad also assisted in the Fall Bazaar setup at the Boone United Methodist Church, set up flags for Alcohol Awareness on ASU’s campus, did the 2010 Walk for Awareness, volunteered at the Women’s Center on campus, participated in the Green Valley Fall Festival, stuffed boxes for Operation Christmas Child and participated in Activities Day with Crossnore.

The Black and Gold will be out and about in the community again this year, putting on clinics for local youth. Keep an eye out for updates!

NOVEMBER 2010 29

Kathy

Cottrell

Preserving Her Mountain Heritage

By Sherrie Norris

Still Crazy About Kids

Jane Campbell will be sharing her love for the loom at this year’s N.C. State Fair in Raleigh. She will be among an approximate 75 crafters demonstrating traditional crafts in the Village of Yesteryear.

30 NOVEMBER 2010

Photos by Rob Moore

K

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athy Cottrell retired last June from a 35-year career in education.

Two months later, she was back in the classroom as a volunteer.

“I love kids! I just can’t stay away from them,” the energetic educator-for-life says with her trademark bright smile and glimmering eyes helping to prove her point.

When she walked out of Hardin Park Elementary School last spring following 23 years there teaching mainly kindergarten, Kathy knew she would be back for more.

Since both of her daughters, Molly and Betsy, followed in her footsteps as a teacher – Betsy at Hardin Park – she knew she’d always find a welcoming spot to lend a hand.

“I have to be retired six whole months before I can go back in as a sub,” she says, almost sadly.

In the meantime, every minute she spends surrounded by students is a gift.

“Miss Kathy” or “Mrs. Cottrell,” as she’s been known for most of her life, always knew she wanted to be a teacher. It was a natural inclination since, tomboy that she was, she was always the “ringleader” of neighborhood activities. “I loved, absolutely loved, making up games and activities for my friends.We even had a ‘thinking tree’ that we’d sit under and hang our feet over the creek when we couldn’t decide what to do. We’d stay there until we came up with something to get into and then, off we’d go.”

She laughs as she recalls some of those antics.

“One day, I’ll never forget, we were under the bridge near where Bojangles’ is now, and we lit some firecrackers and caused a commotion. My mama came after me with a switch and I felt it all the way home!”

Kathy wrote plays for the neighborhood and, along with her best buddies, would charge a small fee for their parents to come watch. “We did it right, let me tell you, with curtains, spotlights, the works!”

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Photos by Rob Moore

“

I love kids!

I just can’t stay away from them.

”

It was no surprise that many years later, the popular cheerleader who married the high school quarterback would be a beloved school teacher, mother of three and play a pregnant nun in a community theater production.

One of four children born to Jay and Suma Aldridge, Kathy grew up in a house behind the current Wendy’s location, known then as Faculty Street Extension, “a wonderful neighborhood” she describes. She attended Appalachian Elementary School and made memories to last a lifetime.

With a desire to play baseball, she showed up for Little League try-outs one day but was told girls were not allowed to play.“That made me so mad I couldn’t see straight,” she said.

Later, finding her niche, Kathy became head cheerleader in high school, worked at Stamey’s Drive-in on the weekends and fell in love with David Cottrell.

“I saved my money for college and lived at home while I went to ASU. David went there, too, and we continued to date through college,” she said.

It was actually Kathy’s first-grade teacher, Miss Elizabeth Putnum, who inspired her career. “She was the most beautiful woman in the world and I wanted to be just like her. She was a very special lady,” Kathy says.

By all accounts, Kathy achieved that goal.“And here I am, 35 years later and I don’t want to stop surrounding myself with children,” she said.

Following college, Kathy taught one year in Collettesville before she and David were married.

“Several of us, all young and new teachers, carpooled down the mountain every day and had a ball.”

After her second year of teaching, she joined the faculty at Cove Creek Elementary School and taught for 10 years, starting with second-third Continued On Page 33 NOVEMBER 2010 31

Mrs. Cottrell

By Sherrie Norris

T

he majority of Kathy Cottrell’s life has been spent in the classroom. However, there is life away from the chalkboard.

Kathy and her husband, David, have enjoyed raising their family on the outskirts of Boone, and have loved seeing the kids grow into the responsible, compassionate adults that they are.

Their firstborn, Molly Zimmer, is a seventhgrade teacher at Brawley Elementary School in Mooresville.

Betsy Krause teaches second-grade at Hardin Park.

“I’m so glad the girls love teaching. It’s not like they didn’t know what they were getting into!” their proud mother explains. “We talk shop almost every night and it means so much that they have taken this career pathway.”

Sam is a senior at N.C. State where he is pursuing a degree in industrial engineering.

“David and I are so proud of our children for many reasons, but none more so than the fact that they never forgot how they were raised and that they’re still good Christian kids.”

David is vice-president of LifeStore in Boone 32 NOVEMBER 2010

Outside the Classroom and according to Kathy “is the most wonderful husband ever.”

The Cottrells are active members of Perkinsville Baptist Church in Boone, where Kathy and Betsy direct the children’s choir. Kathy leads children’s sermons and special programs.

She is also currently involved in two different Bible studies, walks six miles each morning in three-mile increments, first with David and then with special friends. Plus, she is a member of a “fun book club” that meets once a month.

Despite last year’s stellar performance as a pregnant nun in a community theater’s production of “The Dixie Swim Club,” Kathy declares, “I am not an actress!”

During the summer, she mows the yard and loves gardening, an inherited trait. “My daddy is known for his roses, and he’s going to teach me how to trim blueberry bushes,” she says.

“I’ve loved being able to spend time with my parents this summer.We’ve gardened and canned everything we can get in a jar.”

She says her love for children came from her mother – “She taught me patience and love. God

Kathy Cottrell, front row, left, with her fellow cast members from the Blue Ridge Community Theatre’s 2009 production of The Dixie Swim Club: Amy Beane, Cindy Brown, Sheila Deal and Kay Stacy. Photo submitted

put her in a place of servanthood.”

Kathy also loves to sew, paint and ride bikes with David. “I also love music and playing my guitar,” she said.

Possessing a unique enthusiasm for life in general, Kathy makes the most of every opportunity.

“It’s truly the simple things in life that make me the happiest,” she says. www.aawmag.com

Kathy Cottrell Continued From Page 31 grade combination and for the last seven years, first-second combined. “I loved that old school and everyone there,” she said.

While at Cove Creek, Kathy was named Teacher of the Year for the school, as well as that for the entire county.

When she heard of an opening at Hardin Park, she jumped at the chance to be closer home; by that time, she was the mother of two little girls.

Again, she team-taught combined second-third grade classes and first-second; for many years she taught kindergarten, the early part of which, her third child and only son, Sam, was born.

Named Teacher of the Year again, Kathy is quick to say she would never have been the teacher she was without those with whom she worked the closest. Among others, she named Carmen Patella, Deannie Dishman, Joy Keasey, Rosemary Mock and Betty Church, as co-workers who had a significant impact upon her career, as well as her personal growth.

Leaving Hardin Park last spring was bittersweet for Kathy. “I wanted to make room for younger teachers who deserved their opportunity. I knew if I moved on out, at least one could start teaching,” she said.

Following a brief summer of mowing, gardening and living life to its fullest, Kathy couldn’t wait for the new school year to begin and was right back in the building as soon as possible, painting murals on the walls.

“I have to be with kids …. I have to have my fix,” she said.

So, for two to three hours a day, three to four days a week, she’s’ back, but this time as a helper in Mrs. Betsy Krause’s room, where she loves seeing her daughter at work.

Among many things for which “Mrs. Cottrell” is remembered are the popular sing-alongs with

Mrs. Mock and K-3 students. “Rosemary plays the piano, I play the guitar and we all sing. Those students are the best little performers. I always look forward to it, year after year. We’ve got to get another one going real soon.”

With tears in her eyes, Kathy says, “I have been so blessed through my years of teaching.

Those precious little kids, their parents and the wonderful people I worked with have touched my heart in ways that I can never describe. I am truly the most blessed person I know.”

A true educator at heart, Kathy says she is “sick of hearing people bash public education.”

“It truly takes a community to raise a child and we all have to work together – with the parents – to make sure that children are taught what they need and are loved and nurtured at the same time,” she said.

Education, she says, is not just the responsibility of the schools.

“Parents have a strong role to play and can help so much by staying connected,” she said.

Making sure homework is done, backbacks are unpacked and repacked the night before school and placed by the door with shoes, coats, etc., makes life easier for the kids, she says.

“Organizational skills are not born into a child but just that much will help them get off to a good start,” she said.

In speaking of her passion for the classroom, Kathy says, “Teachers need to feel like they can be free to teach, to be creative.

When kids see that learning can be fun, they will love it and want to learn. I’ve always told my student teachers, ‘If you can’t laugh at least once a day, you are in the wrong profession.’”

Technology is an effective tool to learning, Kathy admits,“but it’s not the only tool. Children still need to know how to write!”

It’s Kathy’s desire that children learn well and become well-rounded in all aspects of life.

“I expect my students to become leaders and nurses and doctors and I want them to take care of me when I’m in the old folks’ home!”

Kathy and David in Italy.

Kathy Closes

The Vatican

A

2008 family vacation in Italy will stand out in her mind forever, for more reasons than one. Mention the Vatican and her face might turn red while her family’s eyes begin to roll and everyone bursts into laughter.

While attempting the 321-step climb toward the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, Kathy became light-headed and had to stop, seven steps short of the goal. She had not eaten prior to the tour, causing her blood sugar to plummet. She passed out and drew the attention of emergency medical personnel who ran the stairway to reach her. Among her rescuers was a rather obese doctor who, kneeling over her while trying to get his own breath, perspiration dripping on her, kept repeating, “Un momento, un momento,” as he plopped a large sugar cube into her mouth.

Attempting to administer IVs, the medics were unable to find a vein and ended up puncturing her arms numerous times, after which they bandaged her arms and insisted on carrying her to the bottom, via a rear passageway.

“As I look back now, it was the funniest thing ever,” Kathy said. “David and my brother had no idea what the commotion was about as they returned to the bottom, where they thought we were,” she says.

“Betsy and Sam were with me – humiliated that their mother caused panic enough for the main gate of to be closed!”

“As we reached the bottom, I was being carried within a short distance from the red carpet that led from the pope’s quarters to his limousine! All I could say was, ‘Is he in there?’”

When we reached the gate, it opened and there I was, carried out like royalty! Can you imagine how everyone must’ve felt – especially those who were wanting to get in and thought it was closed for the pope or someone important?

“David and my brother were standing there at the gate, trying to see what was going on! It was awful!”

“Wiped out,” she slept the rest of the day but was back up the next morning and hiked the Cinque Terre.

Back in the good old days (1994) with kindergarten pals, Garrett, Bryan and Zach.

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NOVEMBER 2010 33

Cents

& Sensibility

By Corrinne Loucks Assad

T

here seems to be a lot of hype these days about selling gold for cash. It’s all over television, newspaper and Internet ads.

What’s going on?

When the value of the dollar goes down, the value of precious metals goes up.

For those who actually have extra, unwanted gold to sell, how do you know we’re not being scammed?

One thing is certain. If you take your gold to a pawn shop, you will definitely not get what your gold is worth in cash. Pawn shops buy to re-sell.

Jewelry stores generally offer better paybacks than pawn shops. The online gold buying system was designed for people getting rid of unwanted gold items, such as watches, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, coins chains and more. The buyers use current gold prices and then take into account the

34 NOVEMBER 2010

quality, karat and class, as well as the purity of your gold. Then they look at the weight and measure according to the current gold market, which determines what you will be paid for your gold.

It’s safe to say that you’ll lose about 75 percent of the value of your jewelry by selling it for scrap as opposed to selling the piece of jewelry itself.

How can you find out how much your unwanted wedding band or damaged gold bracelet is worth?

Here’s a brief tutorial:

• The price of gold based on a troy ounce of

24-karat, or pure, gold: A troy ounce contains 31.1 grams, or 20 pennyweights. (You can find the current price for gold at Kitco or Goldprice.org.)

• G o l d l e s s t h a n 2 4 K i s d i s c o u n t e d proportionately: 18K is 75 percent pure gold,

14K is 58.3 percent, and 10K is 41.7 percent gold. Gold jewelry of 10K or more will have a karat stamp.

So, what is that old, bent wedding band worth?

Ask a jeweler to weigh it and give you a quote based on the spot price for gold.The price will be further discounted by the fees to assay and refine it — normally 10 to 20 percent — and any profit the buyer hopes to make.

In the week after gold hit a historic high of $1,035 an ounce and then dropped below the $1,000 milestone, a 14K wedding band was selling for about $75.

If your jewelry is broken, however, or the matching earring or cuff link is missing, it may be worth selling for cash.

Not knowing what to look for when comparing

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companies, you can easily fall victim to schemes. How can you avoid the thieves and ensure a safe, reliable online gold selling experience? Reputable dealers offer the following tips;

• Take pictures of all items before sending them to the buyer.

• Take out extra insurance for shipping.

• Never send a package without having noted the tracking number.

• Find out the current price of gold via a live chart, available at www.Kitco.Com

• Are they willing to send your jewelry back if you don’t like the appraisal?

• Read online testimonials and references.

• Read all terms and conditions and ensure you understand them fully.

• Check for a quick customer service

response either via phone or online.

• Check the legality of the company.

• U.S. citizens: Make sure the buyer is from a U.S.- based company.

• Find out about satisfaction guarantee policy.

Selling your old unwanted or broken gold jewelry (you know those chains that are all

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kinked up in the bottom of your jewelry box drawer) can be a good idea for extra cash, provided you’re getting a fair deal. Save yourself a headache by doing your homework on the person or company that you’re dealing with. You may choose to test out a company by sending them just a small portion of your gold to start.

Since the only way to really know a person or company is legit is to deal with them firsthand, consider going to one of the quickly growing, in popularity Tupperware-style jewelry parties.

The idea is that you bring your unwanted, broken gold to the party and get paid cash, on the spot. This surely has to be more fun than another makeup or kitchen products party where you’re forking out the cash. You can have fun getting together with friends, rest assured that you know who you are dealing with in selling your gold, and, you’ll know where to find them!

A local expert tells us,“No matter where you sell your gold, call around for the best price possible. If a company refuses to give you a quote on an ounce or pennyweight basis over the phone, don’t do business with them.

Typically folks who insist on waiting to give a quote in person do so to judge how much they can legitimately get away with in their offer.”

NOVEMBER 2010 35

Business

2 Feature

Sweet

Sassafras

April Sullivan and her mother, Delores Sommers, make a perfect team at Sassafrass.

By Vicki Randolph

W

alking into Sassafras is like coming home.

The downtown West Jefferson store could easily be disguised as a welcome wagon of the High Country, where most everything is handmade locally in Ashe County or in another North Carolina community.

The warm colors and cozy feel of the store draw visitors in to explore the contents – and they are varied.

Not only do visitors have access to items handmade by store owner April Sommers Sullivan and her mom, Delores Sommers, but currently, to those also made by eight other local vendors.

From refurbished furniture to original jewelry, three-dimensional rug- hookings to antique quilts and unique clothing to collectibles, Sassafras has something for everyone.

With the economy in a tailspin and business owners everywhere shaking in their boots, it’s refreshing to talk with April and watch the sparkle in her eyes as she greets visitors to her shop. It is obvious she loves what she does.

When she heard about the closing of the business previously occupying her current store location, April knew she had to do something.

36 NOVEMBER 2010

Just a sample of the many handmade items found in the unique West Jefferson store called Sassafrass. Photos by Vicki Randolph

“I just didn’t want to see another business shut down,” she says. “I couldn’t bear to see another empty store front in town.”

So she did something about it!

Although already juggling a full-time job and family responsibilities, April stepped up to the additional challenge of starting her own business.

She opened the store in June 2008 and has never looked back.

“I enjoy coming here every day,” she happily exclaims. “It is welcoming and cozy; I love the colors and textures. I love meeting people and getting to know the other shop owners in town.

The economy is tough but I’m not going to let it get me down. I’m here to stay.”

Aside from running the business and still working outside the store,April also offers classes in rug hooking, penny rugs and punch- needling.

If none of those ring a bell that’s okay, she offers the classes for all skill levels, including beginners.

She caters to individual needs and requests, so any class can be offered any time to any group.

Shoppers at Sassafras are warmly welcomed by April and/or Delores, the latter of which is often found at the back of the store, creating her works of art around a wooded work table, surrounded by warm-colored wools and baskets of rug strippings.

Mother and daughter are both overflowing with talent and an infectious passion for fiber arts.

Plan to stop by soon and see them doing what they do best.

For more information about classes, custom orders or becoming a vendor, call (336) 846-1883 or visit the Sassafrass Facebook page. www.aawmag.com

All About Men

Chip King

Growing The Game At

Grandfather

By Bill F. Hensley

C

hip King is alive, well and prospering in the North Carolina mountains after spending 29 years in the Pinehurst/ Southern Pines area.

But the genial golf firector at Grandfather Golf and Country Club is used to making transitions, having come to the Sandhills from his native Canada as a young man.

King is now in his fourth year at Grandfather and has settled in to his new surroundings like a native.

“This is all I thought it would be and more,” he said with a smile,“and I am enjoying every minute of it.”

For the record, King was one of North Carolina’s most active and popular golf professionals when he was lured to a new challenge at Grandfather.After joining the Mid Pines resort staff in 1984 as head pro, he later took over as golf director at both Mid Pines and Pine Needles and then became general manager and golf director of the sister resorts owned by the Peggy Kirk Bell family.

“I never thought I would leave Pine Needles and Mid Pines,” he remarked, “because it was a dream job at two outstanding resorts. It was a chance to grow and learn, and the Bell family was great to me. I was completely happy the entire time I was there, but something about coming to Grandfather was too good to pass up.”

During his Sandhills career, King swept the numerous honors and awards that golf possible career in golf. professionals vie for. He was president of the Having heard of Pinehurst’s great reputation Carolinas PGA section, Taylor Made’s National for the game, King decided to visit the area to Club Professional of the Month in June 1990, play some of the Donald Ross classic courses and Carolinas PGA Professional of the Year in 1991, seek employment. He was lucky in both respects.

National Resort Merchandiser of the Year in 2002, “I walked into the Country Club of North winner of the PGA’s Bill Stausbaugh Award in 1994 Carolina golf shop one day and met Buck Adams,” and 1999, and Horton Smith Award in 1996. he said. “Adams was a legend, a rare individual with Since he has been at Grandfather, he has an enviable record of having trained and mentored been cited by the PGA President’s Council on dozens of assistant pros. He hired me on the spot Growing the Game from and I worked there for three 2007 to the present. Last years learning as much as I could There is a lot year, the Grandfather course, about teaching and playing. Most designed by Ellis Maples, was of satisfaction in importantly, he taught me how to rated as the second best be a golf professional, and I will course in the state behind seeing players always be grateful.”

Pinehurst No. 2. improve after a King got his first head pro “As everyone knows, this position in 1981 at the Highland is a fabulous golf course few lessons.

Country Club in Fayetteville. He that ranks with the best in was there for three years before the nation,” he said proudly. beginning his long tenure at Mid “It is quite an honor to be associated with such Pines and Pine Needles. a fine club.”

At Grandfather, he oversees an outstanding golf King was born in Montreal but grew up in program for the club’s members and guests. He Toronto, where he played golf and hockey in high has a staff of 12, including seven interns he works school. He attended York University for three closely with. The club recently hosted a highly years where he was a business major before successful Carolinas PGA Section championship heading for the USA in the mid-1970s and a tournament.

“

”

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King, 58, is a well-known teacher who rejoices in spending time on the practice range. “There is a lot of satisfaction in seeing players improve after a few lessons,” he said.

He plays little during the season from mid-April through October. “There just isn’t time,” he said.

“When the club closes, I go to Florida for several weeks and play often down there.”

King is married to the former Deborah Lynn of Southern Pines. The couple has three children — twin boys who are 28 and a daughter, 30. They have three grandchildren.

Devout Christians, the Kings are active in their Banner Elk church and are enjoying being a part of the mountain communities.

When he is not involved with golf, King likes working in the yard of his Linville home, reading and watching sports — especially hockey — on television.

And if he were ever homesick for his native Canada, that malady was cured last year when the North Carolina High Country received more than 100 inches of snow.

“If I had a hockey stick I would have felt right at home,” he said.

NOVEMBER 2010 37

Real Estate

&Home

SAFE s d u S

DO IT YOURSELF CLEANERS SAVE TIME AND MONEY

by Corrinne Loucks Assad

T

he healthiest, most economical household cleaning products available today are most likely those you make yourself.

These “do-it-yourself” green cleaning products are inexpensive, won’t damage your septic system and won’t create toxins that are damaging to your family’s health.

To save time and money, mix up a few of the following “recipes” - the basic ingredients for which are things you probably already have on hand.

Simple products go a long way: Baking soda: Abrasive for scrubbing and works with water, vinegar or lemon by fizzing and speeding up cleaning times.

Borax: Disinfects, bleaches and deodorizes; handy in laundry mixes.

Distilled white vinegar: Disinfects and breaks up dirt.

Hydrogen peroxide: Disinfects and bleaches.

Lemons: Cut grease.

Olive oil: Picks up dirt and polishes wood; cheaper grades work well.

38 NOVEMBER 2010

Vegetable-based (liquid castile) soap: Nonpetroleum all-purpose cleaners.

Washing soda: A highly alkaline chemical compound which can be used to remove stubborn stains from laundry, also serves as a general cleaner and helps unblock pipes.

Should be handled with gloves.

Vinegar is a great ingredient for many different cleaning jobs: 1⁄4 part vinegar to 3⁄4 parts water makes a great cleaner for windows and mirrors.

White vinegar and water mix can also be used for hardwood floors, on stainless appliances and tile.

According to EarthEasy.com, white vinegar “cuts grease, removes mildew, odors, some stains and wax buildup.”

Add 4 cups white vinegar to your coffee pot and run through one cycle to clean out the coffee maker and pot.

Sprayed undiluted onto mold, white vinegar will kill 80 percent of the mold.The remaining 20 percent can be cleaned up with a spray bottle of www.aawmag.com

hydrogen peroxide.

For a great furniture polish: Mix 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 4 cups of warm water. Put the ingredients in a spray bottle. Set the bottle in a pan of warm water, and spray the warm solution on furniture. Dry and polish with a soft cloth.

Baking soda, another essential household cleaner when mixed with water or other ingredients can be used for different cleaning applications, as well: A natural abrasive, it works well for scrubbing.

Combined with a little dish soap, baking soda makes a good stove- top scrubber. Baking soda also works well as a deodorizer, eliminating odors rather than just masking them, like air fresheners often do.

Lemons add a fresh, citrus scent to homemade cleaners. They also work well for cutting grease. Helping counter bacteria and dissolve smells, lemon cleaners work great for countertops and hand cleansers. Also, a great stain remover and deodorizer for cleaning toilets.

Mix the juice of one lemon with enough Borax to make a paste. Remove the water from your toilet bowl. Dampen the sides of your toilet, apply the paste and let it sit. After two hours, scrub off the paste and the stain.

There are many homemade laundry detergent recipes out there that will not only save you money but also are better for your family’s skin and easier on the environment.

For the bar soaps required in the recipes, try Fels-Naptha, Ivory, Sunlight, Castile or Zote.

Don’t use heavily perfumed soaps.Washing soda and Borax can normally be found in the laundry and cleaning aisles.

Homes with really hard water or well water may have to adjust the recipes if the clothes come out looking dingy.

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You can make huge pails of this at once, or smaller quantities. Empty liquid laundry detergent bottles work great for storing the detergent.

Just make a big batch, pour in bottles and shake before use.

Recipe No. 1 1 quart water (boiling) 2 cups bar soap (grated) 2 cups Borax 2 cups washing soda Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted.You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

Pour the soapy water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and washing soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well-mixed.

Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Stir the soap each time you use it (will gel).

Recipe No. 2 – Powdered Laundry Detergent 2 cups Fels Naptha Soap (finely grated – you could also try the other bar soaps listed at the top) 1 cup washing soda 1 cup Borax Mix well and store in an airtight plastic container.

Use 2 tablespoons per full load.

Recipe No. 3 – Powdered Laundry Detergent – Large Quantity 12 cups Borax 8 cups baking soda 8 cups washing soda 8 cups bar soap (grated) Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub. Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.

NOVEMBER 2010 39

the Pet Page

Vonda Penick, pictured with Yorkie and Odie, has a deep love for her pets and helps to ensure the safety and well-being of others through her family business.

40 NOVEMBER 2010

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By Genevieve Austin

V

Fe

onda Penick and her husband, Chris, have always been passionate about dogs.

From the start of their marriage, nearly 25 years ago, they’ve made their home in Boone with at least one or two canine companions.

Adding children (Trevor, 19, and Kyle, 17) and jobs to the mix made life colorful, fun and full of responsibilities. Vonda worked as a teacher’s assistant 2000-2006 for Watauga County Schools.

While the teaching aspect was enjoyable, an opportunity that began in 1999 grew into a family venture and opened doors previously unimagined.

The Penicks’ love for dogs led to a unique family venture when, in 1999, they were introduced to the Invisible Fence.

As the No. 1 pettraining solutions business directly related to dogs and cats, Invisible Fence is highly recommended by veterinarians. Providing pets safety and freedom since 1973, pet owners are also offered a wide range of training products and services.

In fact, it all works so effectively that Invisible Fence Brand® owners nationwide enjoy a 99.2 percent success rate at keeping pets safe at home; 98.8 percent are fully satisfied.

Vonda and Chris own and operate Invisible Fence Brand® Of The High Country serving northwestern North Carolina pet owners. Vonda took on the bookkeeping while still a teacher’s assistant. Chris operated and managed the growing business.

In addition to her role as wife, mother, active member of Howard’s Creek Baptist Church, Vonda’s life was full of activity as their homebased business rapidly grew. Ten years into the underground fencing, the couple recognized the time had come to move it from their private residence.

With their own dogs playing such an important role in their lives,

“

the

Beyond nce

there was no question about the canines joining them at their new office at 275 Daniel Boone Drive, Suite B, in Boone.

Vonda runs the office with efficiency and often helps Chris “in the field,” as he is constantly installing or servicing invisible fences across the High Country.

What do Yorkie and Odie do? They keep Vonda company at the office, but love to join the couple when they’re working outside, too – perfect customer service representatives.

Odie, a silver-backed Yorkshire terrier, and Molly, a boxer/labrador mix, enthusiastically charm customers as they drop in.

The Penicks believe in what they do, realizing that Invisible Fence® Brand solutions are humane, versatile and very affordable, while customizing the individual needs of one’s pet and the household needs of each family.

The small monitoring collar, the MicroLite®, that’s placed on the pet, can define outdoor yard and territory boundaries, train dogs to develop good habits and give them “free to be” space.

The service works just as well for cats, Vonda said.

PetFree® indoor solutions are also available to zone off areas, such as furniture, rooms and kitchen areas, or anywhere you want to restrict pet access. Also available are pet access doors, remote trainers, bark control products, etc.

The Penicks are also happy to offer complete professional pet training to ensure the pet’s safety and comfort.

It’s all a part of who they are, what they do and their love for animals.

To schedule a free in-home consultation, or to receive more information, please call Vonda and Chris at (828) 264-DOGS (3647) or e-mail highcountry@invisiblefence.com.

It’s all a part of who they are, what they do and their love for animals.

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”

NOVEMBER 2010 41

All About Authors

Donna Akers with Maggie Bishop

Tell us about your latest book.

Donna: Watauga County (2008), published with my co-author Brian Lambeth in the Images of America series with Arcadia Publishing, is a collection of 200 historic photographs and postcards from the area around Boone and Blowing Rock, N.C. Reflecting the rural nature of this region, these images of businesses, people, houses, churches, and schools from smaller communities, such as Todd, Valle Crucis, Bethel and Sugar Grove, tell the history of this unique mountain enclave. I’m happy that it’s helped to emphasize how important local history and culture is to an area, and how it needs to be preserved.

What is the most difficult aspect of research?

Donna: Collecting 200 historic photographs and postcards for a community is always a challenge, almost a treasure hunt, because I like to acquire unpublished photos and share them in the books.

It requires newspaper articles, fliers and finding the local history buffs or older folks who may collect photographs. I’ve even been known to go door to door with my laptop and portable scanner in order to find photos of an area

42 NOVEMBER 2010

What inspired your ghost book?

Donna: Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County, Virginia was inspired because local children begged me to compile such a book after they enjoyed the ghost stories in my Plumb Full of History book. I was pregnant with my second son through researching the book, so that’s true dedication to your art!

Why do you write?

Donna: I write because it makes me happy and fills a need to help and teach others. I write because I love to read and want to give others the gift of the written word transporting you to another place.

With jobs ranging from archeologist, environmental planner at the Pentagon, town planner for Boone, N.C., and adjunct instructor at Appalachian State University, I believe I’ve found my calling, since these books tie together my interests in preserving history and teaching others.

Since 1993, I’ve called the High Country home, and divide myself between here and Abingdon,Va. I am proud to have produced two Watauga County natives, my two sons, Owen and Riley Warmuth.

What books have you written?

Donna: Watauga County (Arcadia Publishing) Boone (Arcadia Publishing) Blowing Rock (Arcadia Publishing) Abingdon (Arcadia Publishing) Washington County (Arcadia Publishing) Washington County Revisited (Arcadia Publishing) Abingdon Then & Now (out November 2010, Arcadia Publishing) Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County,Virginia (Laurel Publishing) Plumb Full of History: A Story of Abingdon, Virginia (High Country Publishers) Available from www.donnaakers.com or www. donnawarmuth.com, bookstores, area retail stores, online book retailers and Amazon.com. www.aawmag.com

& Leisure “Holy Spinning and Chanting” Travel

By Sue Spirit

“Strings” I am strings of a homemade harp.

Spirit, play me.

I am clean clothes sailing on a line.

Spirit, fill me with longing.

I am a rosary of beads and knots.

Spirit, caress me.

I am prayer flags threaded on sturdy cord.

Spirit, let me fly.

I am a kite, tethered yet free.

Spirit, carry me high.

Spirit, wind, ruah, breath, vibrate my soul, loosen my heart, urge me on.

— Sue Spirit

Part III – The Journey Continues

A

whirlwind of activity was planned for our three days in Kathmandu, the noisy, teeming capital of Nepal.

Tramping through backpacker heaven, strolling among 16th- century Buddhist and Hindu temples, riding in bicycle rickshaws, tasting our first helping of the national dish daal bhaat (lentils and rice), all could have been fun if a sinus infection I’d picked up on a trip to Spain a few months earlier had not kicked in with a vengeance.

Ever the adventurous eater, I had no appetite.

Always the intrepid explorer, I dragged through the streets. The world’s worst trekker (I had been unable to negotiate the thousands of ragged steps on our three-day trek the previous week) had become the world’s worst sightseer.

My fellow travelers were pleasant. I had become the trip poet and journal-keeper, and they were condescendingly “proud” that I had trekked out from remote Sanctuary Lodge without incident — but I still imagined that they were thinking, “Poor Sue: She just isn’t up to it.”

But Boudhanath Stupa – a revered Buddhist holy place whose neighborhood is largely inhabited by Tibetan exiles – must have had healing properties.

The moment I entered its compound I was breathing better, indeed breathing mystery with every step.

In the center was the stupa itself, an enormous rounded white tower with Buddha eyes painted near the top on all sides, and a gigantic statue of the Buddha.

I drifted away from the others in our group, circling the stupa, spinning the cylindrical prayer wheel drums that surrounded it, listening to strollers chanting the mantra “Om mani padmi www.aawmag.com

hum” and sometimes joining in.

Mantras are capable of creating spiritual transformation. This place truly felt like a crucible of new life.

“Om mani padmi hum” is said to contain all of the teachings of the Buddha: Generosity, pure ethics, tolerance, patience, perseverance, concentration and wisdom.

Everywhere I looked, prayer flags were flying, each printed with a Buddhist mantra.

Blue flags symbolized sky or space; red meant fire; white stood for wind; green, water; and yellow, earth.

Men and women monks were walking, spinning, chanting, fingering prayer beads and pouring out of a monastery where they had just finished their morning sit.

Everyone I encountered bowed slightly, pressed hands together in a prayerlike gesture, and murmured, “Namaste, the spirit in me meets the same spirit in you.”

This gesture symbolizes the equality of all

persons and the sacredness of all life.

In a little shop, I found a beautiful prayer flag journal, a perfect gift for me. I bought packages of prayer flags for like-minded friends.

Indra, our leader, presented each of us with a CD of Tibetan Buddhist chants.

Small handmade harps created a music all their own.

We stopped at a mandala painting shop, where an artist explained how the paints were made from powders and how each mandala contained concentric geometric forms and images of universal wholeness.

Apprentice painters were being initiated into mysteries, slowly, mindfully copying designs.

I could have stayed all day. Here was a place of holy, healing exuberance. This was exactly why I had come to Nepal.

Back in my hotel room, words capturing the essence of my day’s experiences found their way into my journal, becoming a poem of ecstasy and remembering.

NOVEMBER 2010 43

Arts

& Entertainment

“The Shining Seas” Inspired by Gulf Oil Spill

By Sherrie Norris

44 NOVEMBER 2010

www.aawmag.com

Local Artisan Brings Strong Message to the Stage

F

ormer New York actress turned puppeteer, Kathy Ford has brought a unique dimension of art to the High Country.

“At times whimsical, other times fantastical,” she describes, her puppetry is preparing to deliver a message of hope as she presents The Shining Seas, Prayer To The Oceans, Through Puppets, Poem and Song in Boone on Nov. 12.

Saddened by the oil spill in the Gulf, Kathy and her husband, Alistair Burke, felt moved to create a community gathering to raise money and awareness for the cleanup. The idea, she says, “is to gather in celebration and support of the oceans.”

As an accomplished designer of all things magical, Kathy’s latest creations will be a focal point of the theatrical presentation.

The event promises to an entertaining yet thought-provoking experience, Kathy tells us,“in honor of a tragedy that has affected us all.”

“My style of theater intellectualizes,” Kathy says. “I like to go past the mental into the subconscious. This will be more of a heartoriented production … poetry with feeling, etc.”

While the production will be for all ages,“easily considered a fairytale,” Kathy is quick to remind that not all fairytales are happy-go-lucky.

“It’s family friendly but requiring parental support,” Alistair adds.“It’s not something where parents will want to drop their kids off and pick them up an hour later. It’s deeper than that.”

“Simple visual, beautifully symbolic … almost like a dream that makes a certain amount of

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sense” aptly describes the production, Kathy says, which will showcase her diverse talents and skills, as well as her deep level of compassion.

“I’m a community oriented person. This really is about bringing people together in a hopeful, creative manner,” she said,“ and helps us navigate through the process and all the feelings that we have experienced since the oil spill.”

Kathy describes her cast and those behind the scenes as a “collective gathering, equalizing the playing field with professionals to others making their stage debut.”

S h e a d d s , “ To s e e someone in your community resonating with their own artistic spirit makes it more magical and more personal.”

Kathy says it’s “just thrilling the way the show has come together,” describing amazing synchronicities.”

“We have many wonderful people involved and every time we’ve needed something or someone, it’s been right there. Everything is coming together in such a magical way,” she said.

Kathy and Alistair say they feel extremely blessed to be in such a place where community spirit prevails.

The presentation will take place at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 170 Council St. in Boone on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. Admission is a suggested $7 donation, with proceeds benefiting the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) to support the Gulf oil spill clean-up efforts.

“We picked the NWF after research of the various organizations that are doing clean-up work and consulted the Better Business Bureau before we made our decision.”

Continued On Page 46

NOVEMBER 2010 45

The Incredibly Creative Kathy Ford Continued From Page 45

K

athy was born in Mexico and moved several times with her family before ending up in New York, where she lived for 30 years.

Performing since high school, Kathy was in rehearsal when a female puppeteer, waiting for her timeslot, was impressed with Kathy and asked her to perform in her puppet troupe.

“I started puppeting and fell in love with it,” Kathy said.

“Three years later, I began to branch off and began building my own puppets and creating my own costuming.”

While working for other people afforded security, Kathy eventually decided to go solo.

As a classically trained actress with “tons of voice and dance lessons,” Kathy had previously handpicked her teachers and studied with the best, among those, for 15 years, “a young New York vaudevillian actor, to whom I attribute my skills and passion for the stage.”

Being a woman in theater was not an easy life, Kathy admits.

“I worked hard but it was P h o t o s a n d g r a p h i c s b y A l i s t a i r B u r k e difficult and frustrating to find acceptance as a woman,” she said.

H oweve r, t h o s e s a m e people who treated her “strangely” in those early days, were in awe with she received an internship at Yale.

“It helped define who I was and what I was capable which is probably the most developed form of of doing,” she said. puppetry in the world.

That coveted opportunity helped Kathy The puppets are large - usually about one-half gain much-needed confidence in helping move life size – and the Bunraku deals with the conflict forward. “I was never interested in fame and between social obligations and human emotions fortune, I just wanted to – just as The Shining Seas suggests. be respected,” she said.

The first puppet troupe While puppets are with which she traveled often associated with came through Nor th children, Kathy says Carolina, she said. “I was so her focus is much impressed with the respect more serious. “They we received from the schools are definitely not the and colleges we visited. We Muppets, though I found children here were love the Muppets!” much more relaxed and Kathy’s puppets engageable. The people we are more like the met possessed a pure sort Bunraku (Japanese of openness and were not puppet theater), jaded or over influenced by

“

the media.”

That Southern hospitality drew Kathy and her family here years later, and for the last three years, she and Alistair have called the High Country home, feeling as if they’ve “dropped into paradise.”

“We are very happy to be in a place that welcomes a different point of view and where arts and crafts are appreciated,” she said.

The couple admits they’ve gained much wisdom and knowledge from the local elders and love how traditions are kept alive here.

A creative duo with vast talents, Kathy and Alistair share a booth each week at the Watauga County Farmers’ Market, where representing their business Kingfisher Crafts, they sell Kathy’s handmade jewelry and Alistair’s farm-inspired, breathtaking photography.

“We have made so many friends there and feel very lucky to be among such an amazing group of people ever y week. It’s such a fun atmosphere and is like extended family, she said.

Kathy’s life on the stage and as a jewelry maker is

I was never interested in fame and fortune, I just wanted to be respected.

46 NOVEMBER 2010

”

not her one and only claim to fame. She won the 2009 All Dolled Up: Beaded Art Doll Competition, a national beaded art doll contest in Nashville.

Following the contest criteria in the earthen mother theme, Kathy designed and made her very first doll, Jolyma, and walked away the winner in a very competitive event.

“I am still happy that I won.The doll was judged through this community. We brought her to the Farmers’ Market where she made many friends who went online to vote for her,” she said.

“Kathy’s been working with her hands most of her life,” her husband said. “She’s an incredibly creative person.”

To meet Kathy and Alistair, to see their creativity in action and to share their love for nature, plan to attend The Shining Seas.You’ll be glad you did. www.aawmag.com

”

t h R ig

MOMs’ World

By Heather W. Jordan, CNM, MSN

ANGLES I

’ve been doing a lot of sifting through papers and stuff lately. My usual prompt for such a project is moving, but that is not the reason.

Instead, I’m feeling motivated to consolidate, reorganize and simplify, and part of that process is closing out a storage unit, which has been occupied with a wide variety of documents and objects for more than two years now.

My mom once said that if people actually considered the value of what they were housing in storage and the actual cost of storing something for – oh, for the sake of argument, let’s just say two years — that they might either find a place for it or get rid of it, since they probably could have replaced it a number of times over.

Lawn chairs only cost so much, she had noted.

Well, as I leafed through the endless stream of 10-year-old Texaco bills, bank statements, phone bills, and school papers, I found myself quite liberated by the fact that really there was no need to hang onto them any longer. The chances of needing to look up a utilities bill from 1997 in Seattle was less than zero.

Now, while some people are quite good at filtering through the continuous memorabilia that is our life and simplifying on an ongoing basis, I have always been one to accumulate stuff. Sometimes it is because I think I might need it one day, and sometimes it’s because it required such a labor of love to produce that I cannot bear to let it go.

And let’s face it, sometimes it is because time is short and the pile just gets moved from one table to another until it finally winds up in a box or on some flat surface.

As I progressed through box after box, I started to dream that one day my desk at work, kitchen table at home and my children’s playroom would have a place for everything and everything in its place. I mused on the simplicity of it all and what www.aawmag.com

relief I would gain from a complete lack of clutter.

Once when I was commenting on the neatness and organizational skills of a colleague of mine, he admitted that he was somewhat OCD in that he could tolerate 90 degree angles — possibly 45 — such as when looking at objects or books on a bookshelf, but anything outside of that drove him nuts.

I sighed and thought to myself that I certainly had a wide range of angles (or perhaps a complete lack thereof) re p re s e n t e d i n my current office space, as well as at home. Maybe I could start striving for some right angles.

Of course, with children it is extremely difficult to decide upon what is kept and discarded. I have encountered other mothers who keep their son’s or daughter’s artwork for a week or two and then have confessed to me that they have thrown it out

when their child was not looking, trying to only keep what they could display.

Although I’ll admit to throwing out the homework or some of the scribbles, I certainly can’t seem to part with the “hand” turkey made for Thanksgiving or the list for Santa from every Christmas.

Choosing a few pieces of artwork to represent several years of grade school seems impossible, and so my piles get larger and right angles give way to collages and concentric patterns that trace my family across the canvas that is my life. Even so, I am happy that I have some impulses to consolidate, and I continue to ponder the Eastern philosophies and religions which emphasize the need to let go of our possessions to acquire enlightenment and a purity of being that escapes many of us.

And yet, I cannot help but think that decades from now, perhaps even a century from now, others will find these bits and pieces, decipher our story, and have some sense of who we were as people.

In the end, I suppose I value that ability to tell our story through what we leave behind. Probably, no plot will be lost if the phone bills or bank statements don’t make it in. But I want to make sure the “hand” turkey does!

If you have comments or questions about this article, please feel free to contact Heather Jordan, certified nurse-midwife, at the office of Charles E. Baker, M.D., at 828-737-7711, ext. 253, or e-mail her at landh@localnet.com.

NOVEMBER 2010 47

Motherhood

& Parenting

High Country Courtesies

A Return to

Table

Manners

by Sharon Carlton

D

uring the Medieval Ages when the formal business of land transactions, loans and grievances were conducted at court in a local castle or township centers, peasants and town folks had to persuade court officials that they could conduct themselves respectfully – and not cause a scene – before they were given a “ticket” to enter the court.

Etiquette, the French word for ticket, evolved to mean “the accepted or required manners or ceremonies needed to conduct oneself in social relations, in professional life, or in an official capacity.”

Distinctive changes in culture since World War II resulted in a more casual social environment with less focus on use of congenial courtesies.

With rapid movement toward a global community, using proper etiquette is once again imperative to show respect for others and an appreciation of differences.

A return to social graces can make life more pleasant for everyone and is a necessary tool for success.

Use of proper table manners is a prime example of a manners set that receives less emphasis in today’s on-the-move style.

With increased scheduled activities and more parents working outside the home, fewer families regularly sit together to eat meals. The faster pace of life leaves less time for parents to instruct children in table manners.

Accessibility of fast food provides an easy, affordable opportunity to eat on the run in cars or away from home. People often grab a meal when they can, eating alone in front of televisions or computers — a setting not requiring consideration of appearances or use of proper etiquette.

As ready availability of food reduces the time previously required for food preparation, additional time has been freed for activities, which further diminishes time for the traditional ceremony of a relaxed meal with others.

With less formality surrounding dining, less concern is shown for appearances, manners and courtesies.

While using formal manners at every meal is not necessary, on occasion, using correct dining etiquette can open doors.

In business, individuals are judged on the ability

48 NOVEMBER 2010

to reflect a company’s values and status at business meals.

Ed McGraw, a former senior executive at several large corporations, said his company’s interview processes for executives included at least three dinner meetings where potential employees were evaluated on their ability to represent the company via manners and interaction with others, including the serving staff.

Candidates for higher level positions should use correct techniques in a variety of situations: Spooning soup, cutting meats, knowing when to use fingers (or not), using napkins appropriately, selecting and handling silverware, and properly excusing oneself.

Conversation, tone and body language used by potential employees when engaging with the restaurant staff reflect core character qualities of respect and kindness, always desirable in a job candidate.

In daily life, eating with someone who is using good manners is much more pleasant than eating with someone who is “stuffing face” while talking with a mouthful of food, burping or spearing food like a popsicle.

Whether using formal or casual dining manners, making sure to avoid offending others has many benefits in different settings.

Efforts to improve table manners should begin with the basics: Sit up straight, use a napkin, chew slowly with mouth closed, speak after food has been swallowed, and hold silverware properly.

Taking small bites, chewing food thoroughly and keeping elbows off the table when food is present are skills resulting in safe eating, as well as a more attractive diner.

A slower pace when eating and a moment of thought given to appearance benefits everyone.

By modeling changes desired in the world, such as excellent table manners, individuals can pay it forward.

By treating people well, others are attracted and inspired. Benefits for the individual include more respect in social relationships and in the workplace.

Society is overdue a return to social graces to show appreciation of and respect for others, concern for the welfare of the community and politeness toward everyone.

Sharon Carlton, High Country Courtesies ©2010. Sharon Carlton conducts High Country Courtesies customer service workshops and is director of High Country Cotillion, a social education program for youth. She writes and speaks on modern etiquette and life skill topics. Contact her at sacarlton@skybest.com

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Young at Heart

Learning to

By Heather (Young) Brandon

“I have never learned to ride a bike,” I admitted to my friend, Holly, last week at the gym.

A

fter she finished laughing, I laid out my various excuses … there was no safe place to learn when I was a child, the idea of falling on itchy grass makes me cringe, I prefer to spend the least amount of time possible in the emergency room … .

And, while all of these are true, I also had little interest in learning to ride a bike. My parents did offer to get me a bike once, I recall, but by that time, I was already an avid swimmer and did not want to leave the pool long enough to give it a try.

As an adult, I have considered giving it a try; however, the eager and cautious sides of my mind have yet to finish battling it out.

Occasionally, I long to coast by pedestrians on the Greenway Trail, but I also enjoy walking without the aid of crutches. I think I would enjoy biking with Roger in places like Boulder, Colo., but I am pretty sure that training wheels are not available for adult bikes. I sometimes think that I would like to learn something new, but I am afraid that I am too old to master a skill that most people my age take for granted.

“I’ll teach you,” announced Holly. www.aawmag.com

Ride

My father-in-law has made similar offers in the past (again after expressing his amusement at my lack of basic skills). But, I am slightly concerned that as an advanced cyclist, he might consider a proper lesson to be putting me on a bike at the top of a steep hill and giving me a sound push, while encouraging me to hang on, peddle and watch out for trees.

Holly, I feel certain, would let me begin on nice, level ground with nary a tree in sight.

While we finish our workout, I envision my lessons. I imagine myself in a very stylish cycling outfit, hair blowing in the wind, easily riding on my first try. Realistically, I would probably be covered head to toe and padded wherever possible, my hair would be covered with the largest helmet available, and I would master the art of falling on my first try.

“But,” Holly continues, waking me from my daydream, “you really should look into a bike with training wheels.”

I pretend not to notice the mocking gleam in her expression.

“Do you think any of the local bike shops offer adult beginner lessons?” I respond.

There are plenty of other adult beginner lessons advertised – swimming, dancing, sky diving – but I cannot recall ever seeing a notice for adult “learn to ride a bike” lessons. Perhaps there is some stigma attached to not knowing how to ride a bike, and I am the only person brave (or foolish)

enough to admit it.

Prepared to endure more ridicule, I called Boone Bike and Touring and asked about cycling lessons for adult beginners. Much to my surprise, the very helpful salesperson did not laugh. Instead, he immediately gave me the phone number of someone who does offer lessons and made suggestions about which types of bikes are good for beginners. He even assured me that I am not the first adult to call and ask this question.

Feeling less alone, I researched adult beginner cycling lessons online and found an enlightening article1 that was published in the Boston Globe in 2008. The article described a course offered at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. The testimonials from the successfully trained students were further encouragement that I could, in fact, learn to ride a bike at my advanced age.

“So,” Holly asked this week at the gym, “still want me to teach you to ride a bike? I promise I won’t laugh … much.”

I responded, “Yes, I do believe I do. And, we can laugh together!”

1 Brown, Emma. “Start at Any Age.” Boston Globe 30 June 2008. Lifestyle. 14 Sept. 2010 www.boston. com/lifestyle/articles/2008/06/30/start_at_any_ age/?page=1>

NOVEMBER 2010 49

& Style

Beauty

FALL s n o i h s a F A

utumn’s cooler weather has arrived and with it, those trendy fall fashions with extra layers that often create a warmer, if not more refined look.

According to the “fashion world,” it’s all about grays, faux furs and vests, longer skirts and a slight lean toward the masculine look with fitted (tuxedo) jackets this fall. Not to mention stunning accessories, including silk scarves, gemstone jewelry, bold cardigans, ponchos, classic leggings and boots. Did we miss anything? Probably!

What works on New York City runways won’t necessarily work on the streets of Boone, Newland or West Jefferson, but we can come close if we so choose.

What works for some women, may not work for others.

Fashion should be all about what looks and feels good on you!

A few tips for your best look: Fitted jackets look good with jeans. Feminize the look with heels and a great bag and bold jewelry.

Enjoy the comfort of a thick sweater. If you’ve got the shape for it and want a sleeker/stylish look, add a waist belt.

Go for neutral colors that go with everything, such as brown, beige, off-white and gray. Choose between the standard knit turtleneck or long cardigan style, or the more feminine-looking kimono or belted look. Make sure your neck and/ or head doesn’t get lost in the sweater’s neck.

Buy boots with these two things in mind: The shape and length of your legs. Basically, if you want to elongate your legs stick to dark brown and black boots in ankle, knee or thigh height.

Midcalf is a no-no if you have thick or short legs because it can chop your legs in two and make them look stubby.

Simple and solid colored suede and leather bags should be on the top of your accessory list. Indulge in tan, brown or black suede/leather bags for the casual bohemian look. Choose bags with minimal details that go well with most attire.

Leather bags with braided straps and buckle pockets are great additions; for the more adventurous look, carry those bags with gold and exotic embellishments.

50 NOVEMBER 2010

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& Style

Beauty

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D

uring this fall season of transition, as nature turns over a new leaf, we need to need to make sure we allow our cosmetics to make the change just as naturally.

From summer’s bright, dramatic coloring to the cozier feeling of fall, our goal should be to have a relaxed look, without giving the impression that we’re trying too hard.

At the same time, we need to make sure that our skin remains radiant, while still able to “breathe.”

Calmer subdued colors can add to our glowing appearance without being applied too “boldly.”

Previously, many women have applied color over their entire face.

For the fall, the focus seems to be more about

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ver

A New Leaf In Your Cosmetic Case

By Kelly Penick

accenting one facial feature at a time.

For instance, focus on the eyes or lips, but not both. If playing up one or the other, use a lighter foundation, producing a more natural appearance.

When the foundation and powder are used sparingly, it is even more important to have great skin. Your esthetician is the key player in advising you and helping enhance skin health.

Balance is the key.

If focusing on eyes or lips, apply some blush to the cheeks to obtain a healthy glow, natural flush-from-within look.

Smoky eyes are still in, but for the fall season, can be enhanced with a copper or bronze eye

shadow.We are seeing a lot of mixing and blending of shades, such as browns and purples.This allows for color to still be fun, but practical at the same time. Rather than buying 10 different eye shadows, try mixing a couple to obtain an entirely new look.

Enlist the advice of spa professionals, if needed, to help create those runway looks in a more subtle relaxed fashion.

This fall, you can look and feel great with a little extra effort.

Kelly Penick is an independent licensed esthetician who may be reached at (828) 773-3587.

NOVEMBER 2010 51

&Fitness

Health

Rewiring

Healthy Lady

to scr you sol ah T bre E the

the Brain for

•

•

Well-being

52 NOVEMBER 2010

•

I and beh thr

•

•

W to pro life

By Bonnie Church, CNC, wellness coach

Are you emotionally healthy?

Emotional health doesn’t mean living in a constant state of bliss. As a matter of fact, if a toddler is running toward a busy highway, bliss would definitely be an inappropriate response.

Wide-eyed panic triggering the mother to intercept and reprimand the child would be in order. On the other hand, would wide-eyed panic be an inappropriate response to a toddler tugging on his mother’s sleeve to get her attention?

An emotionally healthy person will respond appropriately to threats to their well-being. They do not allow their emotions to escalate out of

control. When someone cuts an emotionally healthy person off in traffic they will be irritated for a few moments, not outraged for hours.

Out-of-control emotions sometimes require medical intervention, but often the response to stress can be modified through cognitive therapies, such as emotional brain training [EBT].

EBT is based on the premise that our brains get habituated to reacting to stress in negative and destructive ways. In order to change the reaction, the brain needs to be “rewired.”

For example, if you habitually reach for a fistful of brownies for comfort during times of emotional upset, eventually you will become “hardwired” www.aawmag.com

H imm art H ret P can wo I to of a F tra

to self-medicating with food. [Or alcohol, or screaming at the kids, etc.] Though reason tells you gorging will create more problems than it solves, the faculty of reason has been hijacked by a hardwired emotional response.

To rewire the stress response, one needs to break the cycle.

Emotional brain training techniques that rewire the emotional response to stress include: • Monitoring your stress level throughout the day.

• When under stress, stating the reason you are under stress. “My client is late for his appointment.”

• Identifying the emotional response to stress.

“I am feeling angry that I am sitting here wasting time. I am feeling insecure that this is an indication of lack of respect. I am feeling fear that I won’t be compensated for my time.”

Instead of ruminating over negative emotions and allowing them to escalate into destructive behaviors, you can re-pattern your response through: • Relaxing the body using deep breathing and relaxation exercises.

• Putting the stress trigger and emotion in perspective through positive affirmations and reality checks. “I am in control of my response to this situation. I am happy to have a few minutes to collect my thoughts and organize the rest of my week.”

With time and practice, this process will begin to happen on a subconscious level. Hard-wiring productive responses to stress will reap some life-changing benefits including: Health: Getting “stressed out” lowers immunity, elevates blood sugar and constricts arteries.

Harmony: Ventilating anger and anxiety or retreating into depression destroys relationships.

Profitability: A positive attitude and a can-do spirit increase your attractiveness in the workplace and your likelihood of being promoted.

If your “out of control” emotions are a threat to you or the ones you love, do seek the services of a mental health professional.

For more information on emotional brain training: www.ebt.org.

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Food

&Drink

Queen’s Beets The

By Naomi Faw

The Queen’s Banquet

It began in the kitchen with what we had; canned beets, French peas, a cookbook and a cancelled school day. My daughter had the “I’m bored” syndrome. My effort at breaking the boredom was to open a can of beets. I enticed her, “Beets are root vegetables and they live under ground.”

I placed the open can under her nose, “You can smell the earth,” I said. She sniffed and replied with an exaggerated, “Yuck.”

I flipped through the recipe book. What to do with those earthy beets? The only recipe was for, “Harvard Beets,” and the notation read: they had been “served at every 1940’s banquet.” My daughter enjoys cooking so I asked if she would like to help. Now, in spite of the smell, she wanted to participate. I gathered ingredients as she called them out.

While working, I asked her, “How old is Great Aunt Viva and Granny?

“I think they are 83.”

Viva is 84 and Granny is 82. They were married women when this recipe was invented! Harvard beets has stood the test of time, just like them.

Do you think they ever used this recipe, attended a banquet or ate Harvard beets?”

“I think they may have eaten them, but I don’t think they went to a banquet. Why don’t we make these for the Queen of England?”

I agreed. Suddenly, the Queen was having a banquet and we were shipping her Harvard beets.

She proceeded: “A medium saucepan, 1/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.” I didn’t have cornstarch. We searched the pantry seeking a substitute - flour. I put the first ingredients in the pan, and she continued calling out the rest. I stirred while we talked about how red beet juice is, permanent juice stains and how raw flour needs to cook at least a minute or more. She looked in the pot and pronounced the sauce good. I disagreed.

She ignored me and called out the last ingredient.

“One tablespoon of butter. Whew, that’s a lot of butter,” she exclaimed.

I was stirring and she was waiting. She called my sister and in her best British accent said, “We are making Harvard beets for the Queen of England.”

“What are you doing?” my sister asked. There was a repeated, “Making the Queen’s beets.”

We giggled when she hung up, amused; it felt like www.aawmag.com

we had made a prank phone call. The beet sauce wasn’t thick and as she stood by me at the stove she again called my sister, using her best British accent: “We are making Harvard beets for the Queen, would you like to taste them before they are shipped to England?”

“No.” She was cleaning house and in no humor for tea parties or anything that involved the Queen.

We giggled with glee and sharing unspoken delight in the incredible idea of shipping food to England.

My daughter consulted the cookbook, “Add beets and cook until hot.”

She called my sister back,“Will you come taste them with a spot of tea? “ “Honey, I have got to get my work done,” my sister said as she hung up.The beets were finished.

I ate them hot out of the bowl,“I LOVE them! Why

don’t you try them?” I asked.“The earthy taste has been replaced by a sweet one.” I offered the tiniest bite of the thick red root and placed it on her lip.

Just the thought brought on a fit of coughing and snorting from her – and laughter from me. The juice didn’t even touch her tongue.

My daughter did not like food fit for a queen, so we decided to cook for the king. We found a fancy can of French peas. Viva, who always brought something when she visited, had contributed them to our pantry. My daughter inspected the open can of peas; they were the tiniest peas she had ever seen.

“Why don’t we make English peas out of those French peas?” I asked. She called out the ingredients to Creamy English peas, “Two tablespoons of butter, that’s a lot of butter. Can I call your sister?”

“No, we had better not; we might be on our last thread with her.”

She called my brother and in her best British accent said, “We have made Harvard beets and English peas for the King and Queen of England.

Before we ship them would you like to come?

The King needs a taste-tester.” He became quiet.

I said, “He probably thinks we have lost our minds.”

She thought he was tempted.

No, he would not come.

With no volunteers, I was the taste-tester.

“Oooh, how much salt had she told me to put in those peas?”

She said, “One-half teaspoon.”

“I used one teaspoon.”

She tasted the peas, “They really aren’t that bad and I don’t even like salt. I think you used too much cream.”

I think she was trying to be nice.

Later that day, Viva surprised us with a visit. I warmed up leftovers, including the Queen’s beets and the King’s peas. My daughter opted for chicken tenders. Viva ate the Queen and King’s banquet.

Like Viva, and Granny before us, we had made do with what we had and ended up with a Queen’s Banquet. We didn’t ship any to England. It was so good, salt and all, it didn’t even make it to the mailbox. Viva called later in the year; she was running for queen of a local contest. It must have been the beets.

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Food

Happy

&Drink

Thanksgiving!

By Sherrie Norris

Gather the family around the table for another wonderful meal as we celebrate one of the most memorable occasions of the year.

Roasted Turkey Approx. 16 lb Turkey 1 cup butter or margarine Flour ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp pepper 2 onions 4-5 stalks of celery 2 cloves of garlic crushed Turkey Roasting Bag Remove giblets and neck from turkey; wash, and set aside. Wash turkey thoroughly inside and out; pat dry with paper towels. Preheat oven to 325F. Mix about half of the butter with onion and celery and stuff into cavity of turkey Place more butter and garlic under the skin of turkey. Bend wing tips under body, or fasten to body with poultry pins. Brush with more butter; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place turkey in roasting bag and tie, making a few small slits in top of bag to allow steam to escape.Then place in a shallow roasting pan and bake about 4 hours, or until meat thermometer registers 185F. Remove from oven and take out of bag; place on serving tray. Take the remaining juice in bag and roasting pan; heat and mix in a saucepan with a little flour until thick gravy forms.

(Directions with roasting bag are similar and very easy.)

Old Fashioned Stuffing 12 cups plain dry stuffing, day-old bread or cornbread, or mixture of all 3 cups chopped onion 2½ cups chopped celery ½ cup butter or margarine 1 tsp. salt 1½ tsp. poultry seasoning ¼ cup chopped parsley Sauté onion and celery in butter or margarine just until tender. Add to bread along with salt, poultry seasoning and parsley. Toss lightly until well mixed. Add a little hot broth or water to moisten, if desired.

Place in two buttered baking dishes. Bake covered, at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer. Drizzle with juices from the turkey roasting pan for additional flavor and moistness.

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Sweet Potato Casserole 3 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes 1 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs ½ cup melted butter 1/3 cup canned milk 1 tsp. vanilla Dash salt Mix all ingredients together and spoon into baking dish. Recipe may be doubled and baked in a larger baking dish for larger crowd. Cover with topping: Topping: 1 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup flour 1 cup chopped nuts 1/3 cup butter Mix well and sprinkle on top of sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Coconut mixed in with a little more butter is a nice touch.

Frosted Pumpkin Dessert Squares 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs ¼ cup sugar ¼ cup butter or margarine, melted 1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin or 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree ½ cup brown sugar ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. ground cinnamon ¼ tsp. ground ginger 1/8 tsp. ground cloves 1 qt. vanilla ice cream, softened Whipped cream Toasted coconut Mix crumbs with sugar and butter. Press into bottom of 9-inch square pan. Combine pumpkin with brown sugar, salt and spices. Fold in ice cream.

Pour into crumb-lined pan. Cover and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer about 20 minutes before serving. Cut into squares; top each square with whipped cream and toasted coconut. Makes about 9 (3-inch) squares.

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Parting Shot

I can’t carry any more gourds!

Photo by Sherrie Norris

58 NOVEMBER 2010

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NOVEMBER 2010 59