Martha Bassett

I’ve often been asked what I would’ve done for a living had I not been a musician. If you had asked eight-year-old me, I probably would’ve said “an astronaut” or “a gymnast.” But as a grown up, I know where lies my passion, and possibly my latent skills. I would be a cook. Growing up, my mom controlled the kitchen. She taught me the basics to get my Girl Scout cooking badge, but ultimately the kitchen was her domain and she didn’t want others underfoot. I was allowed to be the potato masher (which I took very seriously) and was required to be the dishwasher. Mom, like her mother, cooked three meals a day. It was a bona fide creative outlet, and she experimented freely. I didn’t expand my culinary repertoire past mashed potatoes until college – when at long last I had my own kitchen. I learned to make authentic spaghetti sauce with meatballs from an Italian friend. I learned the fine art of fried corn from a friend from Kentucky. I’d call my mom frequently with questions about rhubarb cake or creamed tomatoes or corn pone. I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn about turkey dressing and gravy from my grandma before she died. I think of her every Thanksgiving when I taste it. As the years have passed, I’ve spent considerable effort learning to fry chicken, make homemade pasta, and bake sourdough bread. For a while I got deeply into cheesemaking, which turned out to be too time-consuming to keep up with. One year I grew a variety of half runner green beans from seeds my dad gave me, and I canned 84 quarts. They tasted like home, unlike any other beans I’ve bought. If there was a bright side to being quarantined for most of 2020, it was my ability to spend time in the kitchen. I learned to cook fish, which turned out to be easy. Since my current yard is too shady to garden, I signed up for weekly produce from a local farm. That infusion of fresh vegetables made me realize how lucky I was to 1) have a home with a kitchen, 2) have access to good food, and 3) be healthy. A lot of things that I formerly took for granted became focal points for Thanksgiving. Much like my mom, I hold my kitchen as private territory, my happy solitary place. And yet somehow, my two sons have both grown up to be professional cooks. I’m amazed at what they teach me, and I am pleased when they ask for my recipes. Although I didn’t consciously teach them, they learned from me like I learned from my mom and my grandma, attempting to duplicate the tastes of comfort and home. Not long ago, when visiting my partner Pat’s family for Thanksgiving, I raised a critical eyebrow when Pat’s mom put buttermilk in the mashed potatoes…until I tasted them. The next morning, she showed me her special method for making thick, golden-brown potato cakes with the leftovers. Last Thanksgiving my son Max insisted that I try cream cheese in my mashed potatoes. They were rich and creamy, the perfect bowl to hold my grandma’s turkey gravy. I was so proud of him! Dear reader, I wish for you comfort, good health, and delightful culinary surprises this Thanksgiving. May you be brave enough to add new ingredients to old comforts and have the presence of mind to be grateful for your bounty.

by Gin Denton

ANNA MERTSON

I met Anna Mertson on FB. We connected over a mutual love for horses, and this Surry County native is living in Germany now—which is the destination of my dream trip. As our Messenger conversations continued, I discovered that she was also a performing musician! I dove into listening to her music on Spotify, and I loved her soulful, raspy, country sound. Anna describes her sound as a mix, with heavy county and folk roots. She said, “I love to add in blues and soft rock numbers, so it’s hard to pin exactly what I do. The music I write reflects that mix of country, folk, and blues.” Anna got her start singing in the church choir and began playing guitar when she was eight. She goes on to share, “That’s when I began playing and singing together. My papa was who taught me my first chords of guitar. We'd sit around in the living room playing and singing old gospel hymns. So naturally, in the church is where I started – just like many others in this area. Something I also try to incorporate into my setlists even to this day. It wasn't until I was in high school that I began to branch out singing at vineyards and breweries and from there everything took off. I did not study music in college … I actually studied agriculture – I know! A stark contrast!” Anna was born and raised in Surry County, then moved to Raleigh for college. She came back to Surry and started the agriculture programs for the four local middle schools. When her husband received orders for Germany, they moved overseas. Anna says, “We will be there for around three years, but will soon enough be back to our home county. Because of the move, I'm currently only playing in Surry County for a few weeks in the fall, winter, and spring.” Some of the venues Anna has played in Surry include Golden Road Vineyards, Hidden Vineyard, Soho, Granite City Sports Pub, Shelton Vineyard, Thirsty Souls, and White Elephant. In Galax, she’s played Creek Bottom Brews and was featured on Stevie Barr's Crooked Road Show twice. Her October tour is over, but she’ll be back in December at Golden Road Vineyard, then again for a tour in May 2022. Her album, Where I Go from Here, released in 2018 and includes covers and originals. Her most recent release, Sessions, is a threesong project of stripped acoustic originals. Anna’s favorite cover is “Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton. She shared, “Every time I sing that song, people come to me telling me how important that song is to them. Which is the whole point of music isn't it? To make people feel something and find a connection with them on a deeper level.” When asked about her goals, Anna says, “ I used to think my goal was to become a big singer-songwriter ... the next Patsy Cline or Dolly Parton so to say (with whom I share a birthday with as well as Janis Joplin!) ... and at times that would be nice, don't get me wrong. But honestly, my goal is to be happy with the life God has given me and to use my talents to help others. I don't want my name to be known for selfish purposes – I don't care about being rich and famous. I'm okay with a simple life on the farm, with my family, a few good horses, and a good dog or two. If my name is to be known at any point in my life, I hope it is because some song I wrote helped someone get through these ever-changing times we live in. For me, I want people to hear the music I write and sing – and feel something. Whether that's healing, happiness, peace, empathy, strength, etc. I don't care what the feeling is, I just want my music to make a difference in someone's life in some small way. I love the ability to express myself through music. We live in what can feel like an overwhelmingly rotten world. I only hope I make it a better place with my music. I hope to continue expanding, recording and writing. I guess my goal is to simply never stop singing and to continue writing for as long as I live.” You can follow Anna on Instagram and on Facebook at Anna Mertson Music. Find her music on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube. Remember to look for Anna in December at Golden Road Vineyard. And back again touring in May 2022.

Small Business Development and the Pursuit of Happiness

Pursuing happiness within his profession while mentoring Mount Airy’s youth is Will Pfitzner’s passion. LazerEdge, Will’s business, specializes in laser-cut, wooden home décor. Will takes pride in combining the craftsmanship practices passed down in our community with innovative technologies such as laser cutting to revolutionize the home decor industry.

In addition to maintaining his business, Will desires to build confidence and business skills in our youth so they stay local. He knows from experience that college degrees don’t necessarily make you happy, even when you land a successful job upon graduation. In this article, Will shares his story of the pursuit of happiness, success, and giving back to the community through mentoring the next generation:

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I was told that one must go to college to be successful, granting success will bring happiness. But for so many, including myself, this was not true...and thankfully not the end of my story.

In 2014, my junior year of college, I couldn’t find sustainable, made-in-the-USA gifts for my friends and family. So I founded LazerEdge from my dorm room with the help of NC State’s Entrepreneurship Garage. Finding the solution to this personal problem snowballed, and I spent any time outside of classes over the next two years making wood wall hangings, coasters, and ornaments for my community. Those years of hustle served as my awakening that I had a passion and service I could provide the world. Amidst my realization, I obtained my B.S. from NC State in Biomedical Engineering and went on to accept a position with a reputable and well-known consulting company. But I was not truly happy. I believe many in our current economic situation face a similar dilemma: they must work to provide basic living necessities. I hold an immense amount of gratitude for the circumstances that allowed me to make my next move and transition my efforts to LazerEdge. I found myself “doing what I love,” and this guided me towards my deeper purpose of serving my community through teaching and mentorship. In addition to LazerEdge, I serve as vice president of YESurry, a non-profit that partners with the seven high schools in Surry County where students learn to take responsibility for their future through developing their own businesses. Students need engaging, relevant, experiential learning opportunities that empower them to apply content knowledge, an entrepreneurial mindset, and professional skills to real-world problems meaningful to them. Harvard Business School defines entrepreneurship as “the pursuit of opportunity regardless of resources currently controlled.” Pursuit implies action – you have to chase the opportunity. Our students begin their journey into who they are with Self Discovery and determining What Matters Most to each of them. We then Build Trust and Connect to the World by exploring current events and having open discussions. Only after the students understand themselves and their environment can they fully achieve the Entrepreneurial Mindset and begin the process of Ideation. We allow students ideas to run wild – there are no wrong answers, and anything is possible. The second half of our definition reads: regardless of resources currently controlled. We teach that it doesn't matter how little or how much they have at the start. It doesn't matter if they don’t have the necessary funds or all the required skills. They must not limit opportunities by the assets they currently have but allow the attractiveness of the opportunity to serve as their guide. We teach them how to conduct feasibility assessments from research and analytics and use marketing, operations, management, and finance to their advantage. Entrepreneurship is raw, rugged, and a brutally honest world. It is constantly changing, and the future is unknown. Around the nation, entrepreneurship has become the hot new profession. However, I believe some applaud it for the wrong reason. Many entrepreneurs base their efforts on the accumulation of the rewards. To me, it’s vital to also love the process, the struggle, the journey, and to live in the present moment. I encourage anyone on this journey to be patient along the way. Realize that true success does not come quickly; it takes consistent work and perseverance. Everyone's vehicle for success is traveling at a different speed. If you do 20 push-ups a day, you’re going to have different results than if you did 200 a day. Find the number you can handle while still being happy. How many hours of hustle can you continue to do day after day without losing your happiness...or sanity? To me, this theme for success of a true entrepreneur is worth noting – happiness must be our North Star.