March PineStraw 2011 by PineStraw Magazine

Live the Lifeyou want

Enjoy golf privileges at 7 premier courses!

Call today and reserve your private tour of our spacious homes, quaint cottages and beautiful apartments. Discover all Belle Meade and Pine Knoll have to offer as two

Nationally Accredited Continuing Care Retirement Communities.

Call

910-246-1008 today for lunch & a tour!

St. Joseph of the Pines is the leading provider of senior living and healthcare serving the Sandhills region since 1948.

www.sjp.org

11045 US 15-501 N • Aberdeen, NC 28315

910-692-2111 • WWW.STEVEJONESHONDA.COM Steve Jones Honda is your premier North Carolina Honda dealer. We are locally owned and operated and are proud to have served the Carolina Sandhills and Moore County for over 14 years. Since the day we opened our doors, we have maintained a solid commitment to our customers, offering them a great selection of new and certified Pre-owned Hondas as well as quality used vehicles, each of which goes through a rigorous reconditioning process making them “almost new”. In need of service? Our team of certified Honda technicians have the expertise, training and special tools to make your Honda run like new, plus we have an extensive parts inventory, allowing us to get you back on the road quickly should you require service. Many dealers “talk the talk”, but at Steve Jones Honda, we pride ourselves in making your vehicle purchase and service experience pleasurable and easy. There's a reason over 42,000 satisfied customers and counting agree…

Steve Jones Honda… Experience the Difference

Simply Put we have the cheapest tire prices in the Sandhills or we are FREE! FREE Tire Rotation For Life** FREE Roadside Assistance*** FREE Road Hazard Tire Replacement *** FREE 27 Multi-Point Inspection On Every Vehicle

OIL FILTER CHANGE

Saturday Only Special Free 27 Point Inspection *Up to 5 qts of oil & filter Additional Fees may apply for non-Honda, Hybrid & Diesel vehicles

FRONT BRAKE SPECIAL Reg: $26999 MARCH SPECIAL

219

*Valid 3/2011 only with coupon Additional Fees may apply for non-Honda vehicles

AIR FILTER & CABIN FILTER REPLACMENT Reg: $11999 MARCH SPECIAL

9999

* Valid 3/2011 only with coupon Additional fees may apply for non-Honda vehicles

COOLING SYSTEM SERVICE

Reg: $11995

MARCH SPECIAL

9999

- Inspect Hoses - Inspect w/Pump - Up to 2 Gallons Coolant - BG Flush Kit *Valid 3/2011 only with coupon Additional Fees may apply for non-Honda vehicles ****Lifetime Protection

Authorized NC Inspection Station * We must carry same tire in our inventory. If you find a lower price, we must be able to purchase the tires from the competitor at the same price you were offered & we will install them for free. ** If purchased from us, we will rotate 4 times per year free for the life of the tires. *** When you purchase nitro fill. ****See dealer for details.

PineStraw M A G A Z I N E Jim Dodson, Editor

910.693.2506 • jim@pinestrawmag.com

Andie Stuart Rose, Creative Director 910.693.2467 • andie@pinestrawmag.com

Kathryn Galloway, Graphic Designer Ashley Wahl, Editorial Assistant Editorial

Deborah Salomon, Staff Writer Noah Salt, Staff Writer Stephen E. Smith, Staff Writer Sara King, Proofreader Mary Novitsky, Proofreader Photographers

Glenn Dickerson Laura Gingerich Jeanne Paine Tim Sayer Hannah Sharpe

Photo by Michelle Bolton Photography

APPAREL CoolSweats Gentlemen's Corner The Faded Rose Dazzle

BOUTIQUES Eye Max Optical Boutique Green Gate Olive Oils The Potpourri Old Sport & Gallery

FINE JEWELRY Gemma Gallery Appraisals & Repairs Jewels of Pinehurst

SALONS & SPAS

David Woronoff, Publisher Advertising Sales

Ginny Kelly, 910.693.2481 • ginnykelly@thepilot.com Terry Hartsell, 910.693.2513 Marty Hefner, 910.693.2508 Peggy Marsh, 910.693.2516 Darlene McNeil-Smith, 910.693.2519 Johnsie Tipton, 910.693.2515 Karen Triplett, 910.693.2510 Perry Loflin, 910.693.2514 Pat Taylor, Advertising Director 910.693.2505 • pat@thepilot.com Advertising Graphic Design

Elaine's Hairdressers Glam Salon & Spa Taylor David Salon

Kathryn Galloway, B.J. Hill Mechelle Wood, Scott Yancey, Kristen Clark

RESTAURANTS & INNS

Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488 • dstark@thepilot.com

Lady Bedford's Tea Parlour & Gift Shoppe Pine Crest Inn Restaurant & Pub

SERVICES Brenner Real Estate Village of Pinehurst Rentals & Golf

Contributors

Cos Barnes, Tom Bryant, Susan Campbell, Geoff Cutler, Al & Annette Daniels, Frank Daniels III, Mart Dickerson, Jack Dodson, Kay Grismer, Robyn James, Pamela Powers January, Jan Leitschuh, Audrey Moriarty, Dale Nixon, Lee Pace, Astrid Stellanova, Angie Tally

advertise@thepilot.com

PineStraw Magazine 910.693.2467 145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue Southern Pines, NC 28387 pinestraw@thepilot.com • www.pinestrawmag.com ©Copyright 2011. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. PineStraw magazine is published by The Pilot LLC

March 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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March 2011

Departments

7 10 13 27 29 33 27 39 41 43 47 49 51 53 57 90 102 107

Volume 6, No. 3

Sweet Tea Chronicles Jim Dodson PinePitch Events Cos and Effect Cos Barnes The Omnivorous Reader Stephen E. Smith Bookshelf PineBuzz Jack Dodson Hitting Home Dale Nixon Vine Wisdom Robyn James The Kitchen Garden Jan Leitschuh Spirits Frank Daniels III Pleasures of Life Ashley Wahl Birdwatch Susan Campbell The Sporting Life Tom Bryant Golftown Journal Lee Pace Calendar SandhillSeen Thoughts from the Man Shed

Palustris Festival

Geoff Cutler

109 The Accidental Astrologer Astrid Stellanova 111

PineNeedler 112 SouthWords

Mart Dickerson Sherry Nemmers

Features

64 Mark Twain, and Me

68 Palustris Festival 2011

78 Story of a House

86 The Garden Path

John Chappell

We’ve been good friends since boyhood — mine, at least Four days and over a hundred events. The fun begins here. Deborah Salomon

Briarwood might be Weymouth’s most mysterious house. Please, step inside. Noah Salt

As it approaches its 10th year of life, the Pinehurst Arboretum has never looked better.

Cover details: John Chappell as Mark Twain, photographed at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. Photograph by Tim Sayer. Photograph this page by Hannah Sharpe of the STARS students production of ARTSplosion

Carolyn Ragone

Janice Storrs

910.315.9577 Storrs & Co. Real Estate, LLC

#-6& 3% 1*/&)6345 0-% 508/ -0$"5*0/ #3 #"5) .-4

www.janicestorrs.com

910.603.4114 Carolyn Ragone Real Estate, LLC

(-&/.003 %3*7& 4065)&3/ 1*/&4 #3 #"

www.ragonerealestatenc.com

910.315.5622 Paula Espe Properties

Kathy Hawks

Paula Espe

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910.992.6272 Kathy Hawks Resort Properties, LLC

#3 #" */ 7"44 0/-: .*/65&4 "8": '30. '5 #3"(( " .645 4&&

www.kathyhawks.com

910.315.2622 Binky Albright Properties, LLC

% $& 6 &% 3 Betsy Robinson

Binky Albright 1*/& 3*%(& 8)*41&3*/( 1*/&4 "$3& 8"5&3'30/5

www.binkyalbright.com

910.639.0695 Area Real Estate Partners, Inc.

# #" 8"5&3'30/5 /*37"/" "5 46/4&5 %3 8)*41&3*/( 1*/&4

www.arearealestatepartners.com

910.315.7754 MEJ Properties

Mary Ellen Josephson

Linda Covington

-*/7*--& ("3%&/4 (0-' '30/5 $0/%0 #3 #" 1$$ .&.#&34)*1

mejosephson@embarqmail.com

910.695.0352 Covington Investment Properties

'09'*3& "3&" $6450. #3 #" "$3&4 (6&45 $055"(&

www.CovingtonNC.com

Each Firm Independently Owned & Operated A Top producing Network of Firms Serving the Moore County Area of NC Sharing Ideas, Techonology, Marketing and Sales Support

SweeT TeA chronicleS

what the Palm Knows

BY JIM DODSON

n back of a crowded wine bar the other night, amid the din of a jolly Friday evening crowd, I discovered a friend who has an unexpected gift known since human beings crawled out of the primal ooze. He reads palms. “I don’t tell many people about it,” he explained with a quiet little smile, “and I don’t do it very often anymore. But if you’re interested, I’d be happy to take a look at your hand.” I’d had just enough ginger beer to be durn curious, and a personal family history I’ll explain in a Sandhills minute. So I thrust out my hand. He looked. His eyebrows arched. “Oh, this is very interesting,” he said. “I’ve heard about this but never seen it before.” I glanced down at my palm, wondering what he saw there: feast or famine, boom or bust, epiphany or egads, a sudden windfall from a rich unknown uncle, or me collapsing and dying in a crowded shopping mall in Florida. For some unexplained reason, though I harbor no particular fear of death, I’ve always had this completely cockamamie fear of collapsing and dying in a crowded shopping mall anywhere in the state of Florida. You tell me. “Trouble?” I ventured. “Oh no,” he said, offering only a slightly reassuring smile. “The lines indicate you’ll be very famous. But, well, after you are gone.” I breathed a sigh of relief — and disappointment. Was that all there was? I told him not to bother a fig about the message in my palm. Being famous has never appealed to me, I explained, because no famous person I’d ever met seemed all that happy. And, besides, I added, with a year and a half of college tuition yet to come up with, I’d much rather have the rich uncle who sent me a mint. I asked if he would mind taking a second look, just to be sure. He laughed. I guess he thought I was kidding.

nfolding on the cusp of seasons, the moody and unpredictable month of March — named for the Roman god of war — is perhaps the fitting month for fortunetelling or soothsaying or just a spot of friendly old-fashioned palm reading. The art of palmistry has been around thousands of years, a branch of Indian astrology widely respected by the sages of the ancient world, and something of a cliché upon the landscape of the vanishing rural South where every crossroad no bigger than the hips on a garden snake was typically home to a small frame house with a sign out front featuring an upraised palm and the occult practitioner’s name — “Madame Arcana” — announcing her roadside craft. When I was a teenager on a leafy suburban street in Greensboro, my father

of all people had a palm-reading routine that was a big hit on the neighborhood barbecue and cocktail party circuit, particularly with the prettiest and vainest wives. He was an award-winning adman and former newspaper publisher who had a country-porch talent for spinning tales — or in this case making up people’s fates and adorning them in the most shameless, flattering and verbal embroidery. For this reason and other deeply embarrassing acts of genial sociability, I took to calling him Opti the Mystic. “You are justly known far and wide for your great physical beauty,” he once told statuesque Mary Lou Kuppenheimer, the neighborhood’s only divorcée whose frequently visible brassiere straps were the inspiration for endless conversation among our gang of teenage turks, not to mention their fathers. “But your real strength is that of an inner character that will take you to exciting new places and provide you with an exciting career opportunity you never could have envisioned. I could easily see you becoming the first lady ambassador to Portugal.” Or this gem I recall to a regular golf buddy’s domineering wife, who constantly harped that her cheap husband never took her anywhere: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more intriguing Girdle of Venus. That’s the line meant to reveal your emotional intelligence and ability to shape the future you desire. You are greatly admired for your natural female wisdom and a sense of brilliant timing. It appears something involving exotic travel and meeting extraordinary new people is in your immediate future. Tell me, have you ever visited Khartoum during the rainy season?” It was, of course, all in fun, an entertaining party stunt. And it went on for years – almost to the end of his life. Like the Stoics of ancient Rome, thinking back, Opti the Mystic embraced the notion that each of us does have a destiny that must be played out against the vagaries of the present world, a fate shaped through the small trials and triumphs of everyday life, perhaps even pre-ordained by some all-wise higher power, intended to put us through the refiner’s fire and a step closer to God, though as far as I know he never placed the least bit of stock in whatever he saw, or simply imagined, written in the palm of an offered hand.

till, as late as our only golf trip to Scotland — our final golf trip anywhere, when he was pushing 80 and several months from his own quiet passing — Opti the Mystic was up to his old good-natured tricks. While we were sipping Churchill’s favorite brandy after a meal in a pub outside the spires of St. Andrews, he offered to read my palm for the very first time. I sipped my cognac and gave him my hand. “Am I going to be rich?” I asked. “Please don’t tell me I should run for the senate or something like that.” He shook his head. “This is very interesting.”

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

sweet tea chronicles

“Interesting good or interesting bad?” I asked. “Good and bad. You’re already rich, but you may not realize it. I see other things.” “A hole-in-one? A new Chevy Blazer or John Deere lawn tractor at the very least?” Opti shook his head, uncharacteristically solemn. “Those things aren’t important. I see some interesting change coming in your life, some important connections of the heart you will finally make ... things you will pass along to your children. Your children are your real job, you know.” Just then our waitress appeared, a large, jolly gal with a mop of curly blond hair, a real-life Wife of Bath. “What’s he doing?” she demanded to know. “He’s telling my fortune,” I explained to her. She grinned lustily. “Aw, go on. Is he any good at it, the fortune-telling bit, I mean?” “He predicted the end of the eighties and the demise of the leisure suit,” I assured her. “Even before they happened.” She thrust him her pink, plump palm; Opti smiled and dropped mine like a stone. He told her she was going to have a long life, several gorgeous healthy children, a nice house by the sea, and possibly win some kind of national acclaim owing to border collies. The Wife of Bath let loose a delighted shriek. “Good heavens! I have two border collies! You are the most amazing man I’ve ever met.” And with that she bent and planted a large kiss on his blushing forehead and trundled away our dirty dishes, muttering delightfully to herself. “You sure know how to warm a big bonny lassie’s heart,” I said to Opti. “That’s my job,” he replied with a wink. The funny thing about my father’s thoughts about my palm is this: He was right. Not long afterward he passed on, and I went through some tough times and emerged, I think, a better and wiser person for all I’d been through — closer than ever to my children, more in touch with the world around me, happier with the way my own life was headed. Of course, every human soul has its ups and downs, its daily trials and triumphs, its own trip through the refiner’s fire, especially as middle age comes on. So maybe, as I suspect, old Opti the Mystic was merely an astute observer of the way life works — and a fellow who understood that a little well-placed positive reinforcement and encouragement from the gods, even if it turns out to be more wishful thinking than hard science, can make a wonderful difference in a perfect stranger’s life. Or even a son’s. Whatever our palms may tell us, the future is really now. Our true happiness comes with the grace of God, and the joy we make every time we reach out that human hand to another human being. PS

Tď?¨ď?Ľ Rď?Ľď?łď?Żď?˛ď?´ Lď?Šď?Śď?Ľď?łď?´ď?šď?Źď?Ľ Yď?Żď?ľ Lď?Żď?śď?Ľ, ď?Ąď?´ ď?´ď?¨ď?Ľ Pď?˛ď?Šď?Łď?Ľ Yď?Żď?ľ Wď?Ąď?Žď?´.

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ORWV GHQ KRPH U D * Sď?Łď?¨ď?Ľď?¤ď?ľď?Źď?Ľ Yď?Żď?ľď?˛ Pď?˛ď?Šď?śď?Ąď?´ď?Ľ Tď?Żď?ľď?˛VTď?Żď?¤ď?Ąď?š W DUW DW KMX VKWRP H LW GZ FNDJHV DQG ODQ S D IURP Located just 5 miles from Pinehurst, Legacy Lakes offers an incredible collection of resort amenities, including:

â&#x20AC;˘ Legacy Golf Links, a Nicklaus-designed 4Â˝ star public golf course â&#x20AC;˘ The Plantation House Racquet & Fitness Club â&#x20AC;˘ Full ďŹ tness center â&#x20AC;˘ Resort-style pool

Golf Digest

USGA National Championship Site

Top 25 Public Golf Courses In The Country By Golf World Magazine, 2009

Golf course home sites are available from $47,500 and home & land packages start at just $186,400.

Top 5o Courses in the Country for Customer Service

Stop by and visit our community or call 800.609.9892 for a private tour.

www.legacylakes.com

what Goes Around

Like to bike? On Saturday, March 5, at 10:30 a.m., flock with Pedal for Penick, a friendly bicycle event offering 10, 25 or 60 mile routes beginning at the Weymouth House and ending at the Blanche Robertson Garden Cottage at Penick Village. Event benefits the Capital Campaign Cottages at Penick Village. Ride participants may receive a free bike inspection/safety check from Rainbow Cycles. Held rain or shine. Sign up soon! Registration closes March 3. Cost: $75. Information: www.penickvillagefoundation. org and (910) 692-4494.

String Theory

The Weymouth Chamber Music Series presents the Ciompi Quartet on March 6 at 3 p.m. Founded at Duke University by renowned Italian violinist Giorgio Ciompi, this experienced foursome guarantees to bring energy, passion and intellect to the stage every time. Weymouth Center, 555 East Connecticut Ave, Southern Pines. Cost: $20 (members); $25 (non-members). Information: (910) 692-6261.

Foul Play

Every Sunday, Nick, a single Italian-American from New Jersey, has dinner with both sets of his grandparents. When he tells them that his dream job is waiting for him in Seattle, the scheming begins — Nick’s grandfolks go to desperate measures to keep him “home” where he belongs. Don’t miss Moore OnStage’s live theater presentation of “Over the River and Through the Woods” at the Sunrise Theater, March 23 – 26 at 7:30 p.m.; March 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets: $22 (adults) and $15 (students under 18); all seats are $15 on Wednesday, March 23. Reservations: (910) 6927118. Information: www.mooreonstage.com

in Fine Fiddle

On March 6, at 7 p.m., the Rooster’s Wife Concert Series features legendary Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser and young cello ace Natalie Haas. Together? Perfect chemistry. Tickets: $25 (advance); $29 (at door). Catch “18 South” on March 19 at 8 p.m., a band born on the front porch of a house on the quiet Nashville Street, 18th Ave. See six musicians come together with one common desire: to create a band defined by nothing other than its music. Both events to be held at The Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-7502 or www.theroosterswife.org

March 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Family Matters

The Sandbox Players present “Crimes of the Heart,” at the Sunrise Theater, downtown Southern Pines, on March 10 – 13. Three sisters from Mississippi gather to await their grandpa’s impending death, and discover each other’s (humorously) troubled worlds. Play times: Thursday & Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets: $15. Information: (910) 295-5828.

March Marching

105 Pitch Pine Lane • Pinehurst, Nc

The Moore County Homebuilder’s Association’s annual Parade of Homes showcases local builders and their premier models, offering residents and visitors the oppor390 Legacy Lakes Way • aberdeen, Nc tunity to see the latest in leading design trends. Event runs March 4 – 6 and March 11 – 13 from 12 – 6 p.m. at the Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst. Free. Information: (910) 944-2992 or www.mchba.com

Farm Fresh

The Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative is taking membership and produce box subscriptions for 2011. Well over 1,200 Moore County residents have already come together for this community project of neighbors feeding neighbors. Support local farmers and join in the farm-fresh fun. Membership: $25 (provides newsletters, seasonal recipes, access to potlucks, canning classes and special NC seafood and local grass-fed meat buys). Produce boxes (containing a variety of local fruits and vegetables) are available for weekly or bi-weekly delivery through spring and summer for an additional (farmers market) fee. Subscriptions are limited. Sign up soon by visiting SandhillsFarm2Table.com

Tee for Tykes

On Monday, March 21, the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, Inc. and Pinehurst Resort Course No. 8 present the 7th annual golf tournament to benefit the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina. Format: Pinehurst Scramble. Dinner, silent auction and awards will follow tournament; auction includes golf trips and golf equipment. Cost: $200 per player/$750 per team of four. Entry fee includes green and cart fees, prizes, range balls, snacks, coffee and Danish, bag lunch and dinner. Also, chance to win a hole-in-one prize of a Mazda two-year lease on hole No. 8, and $1,000 on hole No. 15, provided by Bill Smith Mazda. Information: www.bghncsandhills.org or Ron at (910) 295-1819.

chasing Tails

The 60th Stoneybrook Steeplechase will be held at the Carolina Horse Park on April 9. This annual celebration of equine culture and cordial competition is sure to be a symphony of excitement, alive with the clip-clop of hooves, chatter of children and buzz about speculated winners. But horses won’t be the only ones trotting. Run for Ribbons 5k, a community fitness event to kick-off a colorful day of cancer awareness, will be held on the track after the horse race. Dare to wear your finest — or zaniest — hat. Information: www.carolinahorsepark.com

PINEHURST

135 Wild Turkey Run – 4 BR / 3.5 BA / Swimming Pool

SEVEN LAKES WEST

112 Forest Square Circle – 3 BR / 2.5 BA / Golf Front

SOUTHERN PINES

171 Starland Lane – 3 BR / 3 BA / Townhome

A beautiful and spacious home located in a wonderful neighborhood. The main level features a large gourmet kitchen, formal dining room, ofﬁce, spacious family room with ﬁreplace and a master suite with private bath perfect for relaxing. The upper level features 3 bedrooms with 2 full baths and a bonus room. Enjoy the privacy in the backyard while you take a dip in the pool! $489,000 Code 734

This home offers lots of square footage for a small price. With lots of room for everyone, you’ll feel right at home. Gas log fireplace, hardwood floors, tile floors, wall of windows and crown molding are just a few pluses. This home is a must see to truly appreciate all it has to offer! $237,500 Code 313

www.135WildTurkeyRun.com

www.112ForestSquareCircle.com

www.171StarlandLane.com

SOUTHERN PINES

SEVEN LAKES WEST

325 Magnolia Circle – 3 BR / 2 BA / Golf Front

811 N. Glenwood Trail – 3 BR / 2 BA / Highland Trails

This welcoming townhome has many desirable features. The main level features a great kitchen with granite counters, a living room with clerestory windows for maximum light, an ofﬁce, formal dining space, laundry room and a luxurious master suite with private bath. The upper level has more living area including a large loft, a walk-in hall closet, a 2nd full bath and 2 guest bedrooms. This townhome is a must see to appreciate! $255,000 Code 704

158 Banbridge Drive – 3 BR / 2.5 BA / Golf Front

Beauty, style and elegance are carefully brought together in this golf front home overlooking the 1st green of the Longleaf CC. You’ll love the living room with its soaring ceiling & built-ins, the Carolina room with its walls of windows and the welcoming kitchen. The split bedroom plan allows for maximum privacy. The gardener will love to spend time in the beautifully landscaped yard and everyone will want to watch the golfers! $379,000 Code 713

What a great family home with a super location: close to Ft. Bragg. This home has a lot to offer from spacious rooms to a large yard. The kitchen offers a pretty workspace while the family room features built-in shelving and brick ﬁreplace. The master bedroom has it’s own private bath. Also featured is a living room, formal dining room, 2 guest bedrooms, one car garage and beautiful water feature in the backyard! $175,000 Code 747

This gorgeous brick home is in immaculate condition and offers beautiful golf views. Many upscale features can be found through out including vaulted ceilings, gas ﬁreplace, recessed accent lighting, granite kitchen counters, screened porch, trey ceiling, luxurious master bath, shining hardwood ﬂoors, two decks and lots of storage. Also featured are two guest bedrooms, oversized garage and beautiful landscaping! $364,700 Code 746

www.325MagnoliaCircle.com

www.811GlenwoodTrail.com

www.158BanbridgeDrive.com

SEVEN LAKES WEST

FOXFIRE

ABERDEEN

335 Longleaf Drive – 4 BR / 3 BA / Split Plan

This is a beautiful home by Bolton Builders with many exciting features. The split ﬂoor plan allows privacy for every family member. The kitchen has a great layout for the cook and the living area is roomy with a ﬁreplace. The master bedroom is spacious with large closets and a spa like bath. The walk-out lower level has a large living area that is sure to please! $299,000 Code 751

www.335LongleafDrive.com

PINEBLUFF

400 Whippoorwill Lane – 3 BR / 3.5 BA / 15 Acres

Enjoy the privacy and all this lovely home has to offer. A covered wrap around porch welcomes you into this immaculate home with special touches. The main level offers a formal dining room for entertaining, a gourmet kitchen, Carolina room, living room with a ﬁreplace, and a master suite with spa like bath. The upper level is home to the guest bedrooms, family room and bonus room. The lower level is a fully unﬁnished basement! $399,000 Code 741

www.400WhippoorwillLane.com

2 Dickinson Court – 3 BR / 2 BA / Corner Lot

1135 Magnolia Drive – 3 BR / 2.5 BA / Glen Laurel

This inviting home has a floor plan that you will love. Featured is a living room with a vauled ceiling, fireplace and entertainment niche. The open kitchen has all the space you need to prepare family meals. Escape to the elegant master suite complete with sitting area and private bath. Other pluses to this home include security system, two guest bedrooms, large patio and 2 car garage! $226,000 Code 739

This home is located on a quiet cul-de-sac in a great neighborhood. Outside you will appreciate the screened porch, and landscaped yard. Inside is a well planned ﬂoor plan. The main level is home to an inviting kitchen, a cozy living room and formal dining room. The upper level features the master suit and 2 guest bedrooms. Enjoy the oversized deck or long walks around the neighborhood! $228,000 Code 740

www.2DickinsonCourt.com

www.1135MagnoliaDrive.com

PINEHURST

44 Deerwood Lane – 4 BR / 2.5 BA/ Pinehurst #6

303 Hampton Drive – 2 BR / 2 BA / Nicely Renovated

This lovely all brick home offers upscale landscaping and a bright and open floor plan that is sure to please. Features include hardwood flooring, crown molding, decorative chair railing, chandelier lighting, vaulted ceiling, gas fireplace, bay window, granite kitchen counters, tile floors, main level master bedroom, generous sized guest bedrooms and lots of storage! $349,900 Code 743

This charming unit in the Hamptons of Pinehurst is a rare find. The beautiful renovations and open floor plan together make this home a true gem. It features hardwood floors, large picture windows, vaulted ceiling, granite kitchen counters, tile floors, built-in shelving, a gas fireplace and lots of storage room. Its easy living at its best! $192,500 Code 744

www.44DeerwoodLane.com

www.303HamptonDrive.com

View Floor Plans and Virtual Tours of Our Listings and See ALL Moore County Listings and Community Information at 12

www.MarthaGentry.com

Palustris Festival

Visual Art

Art, as the saying goes, is purely in the eye of the beholder — which explains why the Second Annual Palustris Festival is even bigger and better for 2011, offering an even broader palate of exhibitions, lectures, walking tours, and live concerts, all celebrating our rich Sandhills heritage of the visual, literary and performing arts. There’s something for everyone. Come join the fun.

Art Exhibit: William Mangum Art & Ben Owen Pottery

When: March 24-25, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., March 26, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., March 27, 1 - 4 p.m. Two North Carolina gems join forces. William Mangum has become one of the most respected (and collected) watercolor artists in the Old North State. Third generation potter Ben Owen — whose roots run deep in the Carolina clay — practically has it in his blood. Cost: Free. Where: Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2787

Art Exhibit: Paintings for Palustris When: March 24 - 26, 10 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Opening reception Thursday 5 - 7 p.m. An eclectic mix of work by local award-winning artists. Gallery artists will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for questions. Cost: Free. Where: Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. (910) 255-0665

Art Exhibit and Open Studios

When: March 24-27, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Opening reception Thursday 5 - 7 p.m. Visit the Artists League of the Sandhills to see — and meet — the artists at work. The Exchange Street Gallery will be presenting “On Being Human,” paintings by members of the League, in all mediums. Cost: Free. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. (910) 944-3979

Exhibit: Award-Winning Quilts of the Sandhills

When: March 24-27, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Sandhills Quilters Guild presents an exhibit of quilts made by its members. All quilts on display have earned a ribbon at a quilt show. Cost: Free. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185

Exhibit: Bella Filati Customer Showcase

When: March 24-26, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. View a dazzling showcase of goods knitted and crocheted by customers. Vote on your favorite piece. Cost: Free. Where: Bella Filati, 277 NE Broad Street, Southern Pines. (910) 692-3528

Sandhills Carving Club

When: March 26, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. A collection of carvings including awardwinning decorative duck decoys, animals and other objects. Demonstrations will take place, too. Cost: Free. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. (910) 944-3979

Thursday, March 24 8 a.m. Art in the Gardens Sculpture Exhibit 8 a.m. Art-a-la-Palustris Breakfast with Jewelry Artists 9 a.m. William Mangum Art & Ben Owen Pottery 10 a.m. “On Being Human” Exhibit & Sale 10 a.m. “Paintings for Palustris” Art Exhibit 10 a.m. Pottery Experience: Wheel Throwing Demo 10 a.m. Award-Winning Quilts of the Sandhills 10 a.m. Bella Filati Customer Showcase 10 a.m. Open Studios 10 a.m. SCC Arts & Crafts Sale 12 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot 2 p.m. Pottery Experience: Raku Demo 4 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot 4:30 p.m. Hasting Gallery Opening Reception 5 p.m. Ladies Night Out 5 p.m. Opening Reception for “On Being Human” 5 p.m. Opening Reception for “Paintings for Palustris” Friday, March 25 8 a.m. Art in the Gardens Sculpture Exhibit 8 a.m. Art-a-la-Palustris Breakfast 9 a.m. Follow the Leader Oil Painting Class 9 a.m. William Mangum Art & Ben Owen Pottery 10 a.m. “On Being Human” Exhibit & Sale 10 a.m. “Paintings for Palustris” Art Exhibit 10 a.m. Pottery Experience: Wheel Throwing Demo 10 a.m. Award-Winning Quilts of the Sandhills 10 a.m. Bella Filati Customer Showcase 10 a.m. Open Studios 10 a.m. Seagrove Area Potters Sale 12 p.m. Follow the Leader Oil Painting Class 12 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot 2 p.m. Pottery Experience: Raku Demo 3:30 p.m. 3rd Annual Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild Kit Challenge 4 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

Visual Art Saturday, March 26 8 a.m.

3rd Annual Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild Kit Challenge

8 a.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Sandhills Photo Exhibit 8 a.m. Art in the Gardens Sculpture Exhibit 8 a.m. Art-a-la-Palustris Breakfast with artist Kim Sobat 9 a.m.

Fun Painting with Alcohol Inks Class

10 a.m. “On Being Human” Exhibit & Sale 10 a.m. “Paintings for Palustris” Art Exhibit 10 a.m. Pottery Experience: Wheel Throwing Demo 10 a.m. Award-Winning Quilts of the Sandhills 10 a.m. Bella Filati Customer Showcase 10 a.m. Open Studios 10 a.m. Sandhills Carving Club 10 a.m. Seagrove Area Potters Sale & Demo 10 a.m. William Mangum Art & Ben Owen Pottery 12 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot 1 p.m.

Fun Painting with Alcohol Inks Class

2 p.m.

Pottery Experience: Raku Demo

4 p.m.

Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot

Sunday, March 27 8 a.m. Art in the Gardens Sculpture Exhibit 10 a.m. “On Being Human” Exhibit & Sale 10 a.m. Pottery Experience: Wheel Throwing Demo 10 a.m. Award-Winning Quilts of the Sandhills 10 a.m. Open Studios 12 p.m. Pottery Experience: Glaze & Fire Your Own Raku Pot 1 p.m. Art in the Garden & Tour of Steed Hall 1 p.m.

Play with Clay

1 p.m.

William Mangum Art & Ben Owen Pottery

2 p.m.

Pottery Experience: Raku Demo

4 p.m.

Pottery Experience: Glaze &

Palustris 2011

Art in the Gardens Sculpture Exhibit

When: March 24-27, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sculpture throughout the horticultural gardens. (Walking shoes recommended!) All work will be for sale. Showgoers may help select the People’s Choice Award. Awards Ceremony on Sunday, March 27, at 2:30 p.m. in Steeds Hall. Cost: Free; donations accepted. Where: Ball Visitor’s Center, Sandhills Community College

Hasting Gallery Opening Reception

When: March 24, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Drawing and paintings and more — art exhibit features the works of Evelyn Dempsey and her son, John R. Dempsey III. Cost: Free. Where: Boyd Library, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst

Seagrove Area Potters Sale & Demo

When: March 25, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. March 26, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Seagrove Area potters will demonstrate on the potters wheel and speak about their craft, as well as selling their wares on site. Participating potters: Bobbie Thomas of Thomas Pottery, Sally Lufkin of Lufkin Pottery, Charlotte Wooten of Humble Mill Pottery. Cost: Free. Where: March 25 - Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185. March 26 - Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2787

A Toast to the Old Growth: Sandhills Photo Display

When: March 26, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. A stunning display of wildlife photos from area photographers. Cost: Free. Where: Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2167

Follow the Leader Oil Painting Class

When: March 24, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. and March 25, 12 - 4 p.m. With an instructor leading the way, complete a small oil painting to take home. Supplies provided; wear clothes to paint in. Open to anyone with a desire to paint; space is limited. Two classes offered. Cost: $25 per person; Reservations required. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. (910) 944-3979

Pottery Experience

When: March 24-27 Daily Schedule: 10-11 a.m.: Wheel throwing demonstration 12-1 p.m.: Glaze & fire your own raku pot 2-3 p.m.: Raku demonstration 4-5 p.m.: Glaze & fire your own raku pot (Limit of 10 people; advance reservations required.)

Each day, Linda and Jim Dalton will offer studio tours, question and answer sessions and casual discussions of how pottery is made and sold. Pottery will be on display and available for purchase. Cost: Free. Where: Linda Dalton Pottery, 250 Oakhurst Vista, West End. (910) 947-5325

Fun Painting with Alcohol Inks Class

When: March 26, Class 1: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.; Class 2: 1 - 4 p.m. Karen Walker will lead the class in completing a painting using alcohol inks. All supplies will be provided; no experience necessary. Take home a lovely painting and a new talent. Open to anyone with a desire to paint; space is limited. Cost: $25 per person. Reservations required. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen . (910) 944-3979

Fire Your March 2011 . .Own . . . . Raku . . . . .Pot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Palustris 2011

SCC Arts & Crafts Sale

When: March 24, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. This arts and crafts sale features scarves, jewelry, holiday cards, notecards, toys and other wares made by Sandhills Community College students and faculty. Cost: Free. Where: Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3879

Arts in the Arboretum

Ladies Night Out

When: March 24, 5 - 7 p.m. Meet the artists, participate in creating a group masterpiece, enjoy a wine and cheese reception while viewing the special exhibit, and take home an original miniature painting. In addition, there will be door prizes and a special drawing for the selection of an original painting. Cost: $25. Where: About Art Gallery, 2160 Midland Road, Pinehurst. (910) 215-5963

When: March 26, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Arts in the Arboretum is a multiple-arts event held throughout the Village Arboretum. 11 a.m. Pine Cone Art Sculpture for all ages. Supplies furnished. 12 p.m. Picnic in the park. Bring your basket and a blanket; drinks provided. 12 p.m. West Pine Middle School D.R.U.M. Ensemble, followed by a Drum Circle. The Drum Circle is an interactive performance, during which the audience is invited to drum with the students. 12:30 a.m. The Golf Capital Chorus in the Magnolia Garden. 1 p.m. Woodland Garden Arts Adventure Trail Hunt. 1-4 p.m. Woodcarving and pine-needle basket making demonstrations. 2 p.m. Design your own kite (kits furnished). A kite-flying demonstration in the meadow will follow. 3 p.m. Youth Musical and Drama Performances, including Cuttin’ Grass (a local bluegrass group featuring Austin Cameron, a freshman at Union Pines on banjo; Noah Richardson, a freshman at North Moore on bass; Samantha Burns, a student at SCC, as vocalist), and the Pinecrest High School Chamber Ensemble. Cost: Free. Where: Village Arboretum, 395 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-1900

Art-a-la-Palustris Breakfast

When: March 24, 8 - 10 a.m. Kathleen Miller shares her passion for painting. When: March 25, 8 - 10 a.m. Jewelry artists will demonstrate and share the art of adornment. When: March 26, 8 - 10 a.m. Artist Kim Sobat demonstrates and shares her art gusto. Cost: $12 in advance / $15 at door (each session), includes mimosas, continental breakfast and a special gift. Reservations: jeanskipper@ jeanskipper.com, or (910) 692-6077 Where: Artist Alley, 167 E. New Hampshire Avenue, Southern Pines

Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild Kit Challenge

When: March 25, 3:30 - 8 p.m. The Carolina Mixed Media Art Guild invites you to the gallery opening of their unique exhibit, “Take 25.” Join them for an opening with food, drink, and the opportunity to meet participating artists. Exhibit will also be on display Saturday, March 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: Free. Where: Artist Alley, 167 E. New Hampshire Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-6077

We finally made it through the cold, dark winter; the warm breezy days that make us glad to be North Carolinians are upon us! At The Sly Fox, we’re saying goodbye to rich winter fare and beer as we eagerly anticipate the arrival of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, and refreshing beers suitable for sipping on a warm spring day. So, the Cornhole boards are out and the patio is open. Come welcome the arrival of Spring properly at The Sly Fox!

Play with Clay

When: March 27, 1 - 4 p.m. Colors ’n Clay Art Studio will offer a chance for young and old to “play with clay” and get their hands dirty while turning a piece of clay into something special. Local artists are featured in the studio. Cost: Free. Where: Colors ’n Clay, 230 SW Broad Street, Southern Pines. (910) 692-4656

Music Thursday, March 24 5 p.m. Sandhills Harmony Chorus 7 p.m.

Joshua Wolff Jazz Trio On Broadway

8:30 p.m. Tin Men in Concert @ Poplar Knight Spot Friday, March 25 12 p.m.

Palustris 2011

Sandhills Harmony Chorus

When: March 24, 5 - 6 p.m. The Sandhills Harmony Chorus presents a musical concert, “As Long As I’m Singin’,” featuring an all-female chorus singing in close harmony, eccentric characters, comic scenes, and upbeat quartets performing light-hearted pop and variety tunes. The show is fun, the humor family-friendly. Cost: $5. Where: Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Fellowship Hall, 340 S. Ridge Street, Southern Pines. (910) 944-1458

Music Through the Ages

3:30 p.m. Baxter Clement Student Spectacular 7 p.m.

Ode to Joy - Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

8:30 p.m. Double-Wide in Concert Saturday, March 26 3 p.m.

For the Opera Lover

5 p.m.

Moore County Choral Society Ensemble

8 p.m. Capitol Steps in Concert 8:30 p.m. Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore Sunday, March 27 11:30 a.m. A Gospel Brunch 3 p.m.

Old Bethesda Harmony: Hymns from the New World

4 p.m. Sacred Illuminations

Moore County Choral Society Ensemble

When: March 26, 5 - 5:45 p.m. The Moore County Choral Society Ensemble will perform a varied program of choral literature, spanning music history from the Renaissance to the 21st century. The Ensemble is an adjunct small choral group whose members sing in the larger chorus as well. Cost: Free. Where: Community Congregational Church, 141 N. Bennett Street, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2109

Sacred Illuminations

When: March 27, 4 - 5 p.m. The 36-voice Emmanuel Parish Choir will present an hour-long concert of “Sacred Illuminations,” featuring Franz Schubert’s Mass in G Major. Exquisite choral repertoire from the 19th and 20th centuries will round out the program, led by Dr. Homer Ashton Ferguson, choirmaster, and Johnny Bradburn, organist. Cost: Free. Where: Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 340 S. Ridge Street, Southern Pines. (910) 692-3171

When: March 26, 8:30 p.m. Mollie O’Brien’s voice is an American treasure. Warm, inviting and instantly recognizable, her singing runs the gamet from blues to folk to modern standards. Accompanied by Rich Moore, expect an unforgettable evening. Cost: $20 in advance / $23 at door. Tickets: www.theroosterswife.org. (910) 944-7502 Where: Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen

Old Bethesda Harmony: Hymns from the New World

When: March 27, 3 - 4:15 p.m. Moore County Historical Association invites you to explore the history of early American spiritual songs in authentic Old Bethesda Church. Americans expressed new ideas on freedom, religion, and individuality through music. The program will include traditional and new settings of rarely heard gems and old favorites alike, plus a chance to sing along. Cost: $12 adults / Free for children. Where: Old Bethesda Presbyterian Church, 1020 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen Information: www.moorehistory.com or (910) 692-2051

Baxter Clement Student Spectacular

When: March 25, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Enjoy a fun, high-spirited event featuring students who are currently studying with Baxter Clement, owner of the Sandhills School for the Performing Arts in Southern Pines. Cost: Free. Where: Penick Village Auditorium, 397 East Rhode Island Extension, Southern Pines. (910) 692-0386

Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore

Music Through the Ages

When: March 25, 12 - 1 p.m. A performance by students and faculty from the music program at Sandhills Community College. Cost: Free. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185

Ode to Joy - Beethoven’s 9th Symphony

When: March 25, 7 - 9 p.m. Maestro David Michael Wolff leads musicians from the Carolina Philharmonic, side by side with many of Moore County’s most promising young instrumentalists and singers in a concert culminating in the finale of Beethoven’s greatest masterwork, “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9. Also on the program are Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in G Minor (with Wolff conducting from the keyboard), Handel’s Hallelujah, Amen, Verdi’s beloved Va, pensiero, and John Williams’ Harry Potter Symphonic Suite. Come and witness this inspirational and transformational event. Cost: $20 general admission / $5 full-time student. Tickets: www.carolinaphil.org Where: R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines. (910) 687-4746

Tin Men in Concert

When: March 24, 8:30 p.m. New Orleans comes to lower Aberdeen. Tin Men is an amazing trio of guitar, sousaphone and washboard. Try not to sing and dance along. Cost: $20 in advance / $23 at door. Tickets: www.theroosterswife.org or (910) 944-7502 Where: Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen

Joshua Wolff Jazz Trio On Broadway

DoubleWide in Concert

When: March 25, 8:30 p.m. Modern jazz via New Orleans, New York and North Carolina. Tenor sax and Cameron native John Ellis brings his quartet, Double-Wide, for a totally cool evening of funk and jazz. Cost: $20 in advance / $23 at door. Tickets: www.theroosterswife.org. (910) 944-7502 Where: Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen

A Gospel Brunch

When: March 27, 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Rooster’s Wife and Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities present “A Gospel Brunch” featuring Martha Bassett. Cost: $18 in advance / $22 at door / Free for children under 12. Where: Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen Information: www.theroosterswife.org

When: March 24, 7 - 9 p.m. The Joshua Wolff Jazz Trio will feature guest jazz vocalist Laura Didier, presented by the Carolina Philharmonic, which was founded in 2009 by Joshua’s brother, David Michael Wolff. Joshua Wolfe is noted for his fierce energy, mastery of harmony and rhythm, and vast knowledge of the standard repertoire. Cost: $20 general admission / $5 full-time student. Tickets: (910) 687-4746 Where: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Founders Hall, 300 Dundee Road, Pinehurst

For the Opera Lover

When: March 26, 3 - 5 p.m. Arias, duets, trios and quartets from the land of opera, with a couple of Broadway bon-bons thrown in for good measure. David Michael Wolff leads guest soloists and the Carolina Philharmonic Chorus from the keyboard. If you love the Met, you won’t want to miss this! Works by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Bizet and Wagner. Cost: $20 general admission / $5 full-time student. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185 Information: www.carolinaphil.org or (910) 687-4746

Capitol Steps in Concert

When: March 26, 8 - 10 p.m. The Capitol Steps began as a group of Senate staffers who set out to satirize the very people and places that employed them. Although, today, not all of the current members of the Steps are former Capitol Hill staffers, taken together the performers have worked in a total of 18 Congressional offices and represent 62 years of collective House and Senate staff experience. Cost: $22 in advance / $25 at the door. Information: www.mooreart.org or (910) 692-2787 Where: R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines

Lectures Thursday, March 24 11 a.m. North Carolina & the South: How the Past Shapes the Present 1 p.m. Rock and Roll: The First Decade 2:30 p.m. Rivers of North Carolina 3:30 p.m. Death of a Pinehurst Princess: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery 4 p.m.

The Jerusalem Windows of Marc Chagall by Vivian Jacobson

6 p.m. Reflected Glory 7:30 p.m. Art in North Carolina by William Mangum Friday, March 25 10 a.m. Revelations from Mark Twain’s Autobiography 11 a.m. The Movie Migration from Murphy to Manteo 1:15 p.m. Poetry for People Who Don’t Like Poetry 2:30 p.m. SEAGROVE: A Community of Potters-Like No Place On Earth Saturday, March 26 2 p.m.

Writers in the Garden

2:30 p.m. Guide to the Wildflowers of the Sandhills 3:30 p.m. Group Read: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Sunday, March 27 2 p.m. Cooking Demonstration at Malcolm Blue 2 p.m.

Lecture: North Carolina Artists Colonies by Dr. Molly Gwinn

3 p.m.

Francina’s Calling - A Chat with Anne Goodwin

Palustris 2011

Rivers of North Carolina

When: March 24, 2:30 - 3:15 p.m. Over two hundred rivers flow through the Old North State, including mighty streams such as the Cape Fear and Roanoke, as well as smaller, lesser known streams as the Little Toe and the Thompson. John Hairr, manager of House in the Horseshoe and author, will share anecdotes about many of these rivers in this lecture and slide presentation. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3879

The Jerusalem Windows of Marc Chagall

When: March 26, 2 - 3:30 p.m. PineStraw Magazine, Moore County Area Libraries and The Country Bookshop present a lecture/reading event at the Village Arboretum in Pinehurst. Cost: Free. Where: Village Arboretum, 395 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-3211

When: March 24, 4 - 5 p.m. Lecturer Vivian R. Jacobson will present a lecture and slide presentation of The Jerusalem Windows of Marc Chagall, which discusses the 12 windows Chagall designed for the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center Synagogue in Jerusalem. The windows were dedicated on February 6, 1962, each representing a tribe of Israel. Chagall’s tributes is filled with an assembly of animal forms, heavenly bodies and other elements symbolic of each tribe. Cost: Free. Where: Temple Beth Shalom, 131 Jackson Springs Road, Foxfire Village.

Reflected Glory

When: March 24, 6 - 7 p.m. This lecture is a remembrance of Stonewall Jackson by his wife, Anna, who was a North Carolinian. The event includes a reading of his actual letters written during the war, ending with his tragic death in May 1863. Cost: Free; donations accepted. Where: Malcolm Blue Farm, 1177 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen. (910) 315-5967

Lecture: North Carolina Artists Colonies by Dr. Molly Gwinn

When: March 27, 2 - 3 p.m. Dr. Molly Gwinn will discuss North Carolina Artists’ Colonies at the Artists League of the Sandhills. Dr. Gwinn is an art historian who has presented many art lectures throughout Moore County and has offered courses at the Center for Creative Retirement at Sandhills Community College. She earned her doctorate from Rutgers University and has taught art history at Rutgers, New York University, and Dallas Museum of Art. Cost: Free. Reservations required. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. (910) 944-3979

Writers in the Garden

Group Read — The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Mark Twain LookAlike Contest

When: March 26, 3:30 p.m. Join The Country Bookshop as they encourage the community to participate in a “group read” of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Led by various members of Moore County’s literary community, the event will consist of discussion groups of the reading. Immediately following the discussion, The Country Bookshop will also host a Mark Twain Look-Alike Contest. Think white wigs and handlebar mustaches. Judging and awards ceremony will take place at 4p.m. at the bookshop. Cost: Free. Where: The Country Bookshop, 140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines Information: www.thecountrybookshop.biz or (910) 692-3211.

Art in North Carolina by William Mangum

When: March 24, 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. William Mangum, one of the most popular and respected watercolor artists in the region, is a North Carolina native. Aside from his commercial success, his stunning art has been featured in many exhibitions across the U.S. and abroad. Bill’s paintings have been shown by notable museums and art organizations. Starting with a 59-cent tray of watercolors, Bill has produced more than 3,000 originals — all inspired from his 30 years of travels throughout North Carolina and abroad. Cost: Free. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185

Palustris 2011

Poetry for People Who Don’t Like Poetry

Seagrove: A Community of Potters-Like No Place On Earth

When: March 25, 1:15 - 2:15 p.m. Enjoy poetry for people who don’t like poetry and songs for people who like to sing along. Presented by Stephen Smith. A good time guaranteed. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-6185

North Carolina & the South: How the Past Shapes the Present

When: March 24, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Ray Linville will give you more of an understanding about our state, the American South, and how historical, political, socioeconomic, and other cultural connections have helped shape our identity. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3867

When: March 25, 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Representing the Seagrove Area Potters Association (SAPA), potter Frank Neef will present a pottery wheel demonstration and lecture on Seagrove’s unique history. He will discuss why his family moved to Seagrove, and the opportunities and restrictions of living within such a unique place. In addition to Neef’s work, other SAPA potters will be displaying and selling pottery in the Dempsey Student Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other participating potters include: Bobbie Thomas of Thomas Pottery, Sally Lufkin of Lufkin Pottery, Audrey Valone of BlueStone Pottery. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3879

Francina’s Calling - A Chat with Anne Goodwin

When: March 27, 3 - 4:30 p.m. Join Anne Goodwin as she speaks about her book, “Stay for Lunch,” a story about how an unlikely pair — Francina and Anne — brought together by a destiny-driven moment that changed both of their lives and proved that age is no barrier to friendship. Francina, an 86-year-old devoted Methodist, and Anne, a seemingly content 31-year-old with an unanchored soul, meet suddenly. An unusual story of faith and friendship unfolds. Cost: Free. Where: Given Memorial Library / Tufts Archives, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. (910) 295-6022 Information: www.givenmemoriallibrary.org

Cooking Demonstration at Malcolm Blue

When: March 27, 2 - 4 p.m. Cooking the old-fashioned way — from scratch. Learn how to make shortbread, scones, and other old-timey goods in the period kitchen of the Malcolm Blue farmhouse. Excellent family activity. Cost: Free, donations accepted. Where: Malcolm Blue Farm, 1177 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen. (910) 315-5967

The Movie Migration from Murphy to Manteo

When: March 25, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. This one-hour session is presented by SCC’s dean of instruction, Ron Layne, who explores the use of North Carolina’s landscape as a backdrop for film and the visual and symbolic significance associated with our land. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3715

Rock and Roll: The First Decade

When: March 24, 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Dr. John Turner, senior vice president for instruction & student services, gives a multi-media presentation on rock and roll music (1955-1964) emphasizing its impact on American culture: the economy, fashions, religion and the music business. It was a time when popular music fought it out with rock and roll — what a battle it was. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3704

Revelations from Mark Twain’s Autobiography

When: March 25, 10 - 11 a.m. Led by Larry Allen, this lecture will explore revelations that readers and scholars can learn from the new “Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1,” which was just released 100 years after his death. The discussion will cover how the dictated format works to humanize the almost deified image he now commands, and how the textual features of the work set up for later volumes. Cost: Free. Where: Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3879

Theater & Dance

Storytelling by Gran’Daddy Junebug

When: March 25, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Storyteller and actor Mitchell G. Capel — also known as “Gran’Daddy Junebug” — continues his family tradition of presenting culture and teaching through stories. Join Gran’Daddy Junebug as he brings stories to life, and teaches responsibility and respect for self and others. Cost: $10 Adults / Free for children under 12. Where: Southern Pines Primary School, 1250 W. New York Avenue, Southern Pines

Thursday, March 24 6 p.m.

diversity

7:30 p.m. Over the river and Through the Woods

Doug Berky’s No Show

Friday, March 25 6 p.m.

diversity

6 p.m.

storytelling by Gran’daddy Junebug

7 p.m.

George Moses horton: uncovering & celebrating Lost Black history

7:30 p.m. Over the river and Through the Woods saTurday, March 26 1 p.m.

coffeehouse Theatre with anna Gardner

7:30 p.m. Over the river and Through the Woods suNday, March 27 2 p.m.

Over the river and Through the Woods

2 p.m.

african american dance Ensemble

4 p.m.

doug Berky’s “No show”

When: March 27, 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. A performance has been scheduled, but the actor fails to show. Or does he? What will happen when a lone spectator, Doug Berky, finds himself unwittingly on stage? Discover the characters he transforms into as he explores the props and masks left on stage. Cost: $10 ACMC members & O’Neal familes / $12 general public Tickets: Available at the Campbell House or by calling (910) 692-2787. Children, ages 4+, welcome. Where: O’Neal School’s Activity Center & Theater 3300 Airport Road, Southern Pines

When: March 26, 1 - 1:30 p.m. Playwright Anna Gardner presents her most recent, original 10-minute plays and monologues. Join her for coffee and 30 minutes of fun and laughter. Cost: Free. Where: Flynne’s Coffee Bar, 115 NE Broad Street, Southern Pines. (910) 693-1999

over the river and Through the woods

When: March 24, 25, 26 7:30 - 10 p.m. March 27 2 - 4 p.m. Moore OnStage presents “Over the River and Through the Woods” by Joe DiPietro. The play is about Nick, a single ItalianAmerican from New Jersey who sees both sets of grandparents every Sunday for dinner. Cost: $22 adult / $15 child / $18 for groups 15+ (in advance). Tickets: (910) 692-7118 Where: Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines

George Moses horton: uncovering & celebrating lost Black history

When: March 25, 7 - 8:30 p.m. Marjorie Hudson will talk about her research and discoveries in uncovering and celebrating the fascinating life and poetry of George Moses Horton. Horton was the first black man to publish a book in the South — he was living in slavery at the time of publication. Hudson will lead a discussion on this accomplished man, interspersed with a selection of poems that will be performed by local readers. Horton’s poems help tell the story of his life in a way that helps us touch history by voicing poetry. Cost: Free. Where: Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-6261

coffeehouse Theatre with Anna Gardner

Diversity

When: March 24 & 25, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Diversity is a show that uses music, dance and theater to showcase the students and faculty of the Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School while encouraging the acceptance of diversity. Cost: $5 adult / $3 child / $1 Sandhills Renaissance students. Where: Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School, 140 Southern Dunes Drive, Vass. (910) 695-1004

African American Dance ensemble

When: March 27, 2 - 3 p.m. The African American Dance Ensemble is an internationally recognized professional company based in Durham, NC. The company of dancers and drummers has been entertaining audiences for three decades. Director Chuck Davis has received many awards for his work and contributions in the field of dance. Don’t miss it! Cost: $25 adult / $10 students (with ID). Children welcome. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst Information: www.cpacsandhills.org or (910) 695-7898

Tours Thursday, March 24 8 a.m. Arboretum Self-Guided Walking Tour 10 a.m.

Weymouth House Tours

10:30 a.m. Village Walking Tour 1 p.m. Docent-Guided Tour of Shaw House Property 1 p.m. SCC Gardens Guided Tour 3:30 p.m. Introduction to Our Temple Friday, March 25

Palustris 2011

Village Walking Tour

When: March 24-26, 10:30 - 11:30a.m. Enjoy a guided walking tour of the historic village of Pinehurst, including historic buildings and cottages. Tour leaves from Givens Memorial Library / Tufts Archives. Dress is casual; wear walking shoes. Cost: Free. Where: Given Memorial Library / Tufts Archives, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. (910) 295-6022.

8 a.m. Arboretum Self-Guided Walking Tour 10 a.m.

Weymouth House Tours

10:30 a.m. Village Walking Tour 1 p.m. Docent-Guided Tour of Shaw House Property 1 p.m. SCC Gardens Guided Tour Saturday, March 27 8 a.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Bird Walk 8 a.m. Arboretum Self-Guided Walking Tour 10 a.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Wildflower Hike 10:30 a.m. Village Walking Tour 11:30 a.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Old Growth Hike 1 p.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Old Growth Hike 1 p.m.

Weymouth House Tours

2:30 p.m. A Toast to the Old Growth: Redcockaded Woodpecker Sunday, March 28 8 a.m. Arboretum Self-Guided Walking Tour 1 p.m.

Weymouth House Tours

Arboretum Self-Guided Walking Tour

When: March 24-27, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. A self-guided walking tour of the Village Arboretum. Trail maps, designed and illustrated by local artist Susan Edquist, are available at most entrances to the park. Sponsored by the Friends of the Arboretum. Oh, and wear your walking shoes. Cost: Free. Where: Village Arboretum, 395 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. (910) 295-1900.

Weymouth House Tour

When: March 24 & 25, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.; March 26 & 27 1 - 3 p.m. Enjoy a docent led tour of historic Weymouth House, the former home of author James Boyd and his wife, Katharine Boyd. Weymouth was the center of a very social life in the 1920s and 1930s, with the Boyds entertaining such literary friends as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Paul Green and Sherwood Anderson. Cost: Free. Where: Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-6261

Sandhills Community College Gardens Guided Tour

When: March 24 & 25, 1 - 5 p.m. The Sandhills Horticultural Society will lead tours of the 32-acre garden on the campus of SCC. This garden includes a diverse variety of plants and garden styles, from formal English to a Japanese. Tours will be guided on the hour. Cost: Free. Where: Ball Visitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3882

Art in the Garden & Tour of Steed Hall

When: March 27, 1 - 3 p.m. Stroll through the Sandhills Community College Horticulture Gardens and see the spring flowers and garden sculpture exhibits. Meet and greet sculptors from all over North Carolina, and tour Steed Hall, the new building for the SCC Horticulture Department. An Awards Ceremony and reception will be held at 2:30 p.m. in Steed Hall to recognize winning sculptures. Walking shoes recommended. Cost: Free, donations accepted. Where: Steed Hall, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 695-3882

Tour of Shaw House Property

When: March 24 & 25, 1 - 4 p.m. Moore County Historical Association presents a docentguided tour of the Shaw House, former residence of Southern Pinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; first mayor and the birthplace of the town. Cost: Free, donations accepted. Where: Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Rd, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2051 Information: www.moorehistory.com

Palustris 2011

A Toast to the Old Growth Walks at Weymouth Woods

Introduction to Our Temple When: March 24, 3:30 - 4 p.m. Take a half-hour tour of the Temple Beth Shalom, prior to Vivian Jacobson’s lecture, “The Jerusalem Windows: The Twelve Tribes of Israel.” The tour will emphasize the Temple’s religious objects, Torah scrolls, prayer books, external light, and other ceremonial Jewish objects. Cost: Free. Where: Temple Beth Shalom, 131 Jackson Springs Road, Foxfire Village Information: (910) 673-5224

When: March 26 Sandhills Photo Display – Several area wildlife photographers will display their photos in the auditorium. This will be open all day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. so stop in. 8 a.m. - Bird Walk: Early spring migrant birds and “winter birds” of the longleaf pine forest will be searched for on this two-mile hike. Learn to identify birds by sight and sound. Meet at the park office. 10 a.m. - Wildflower Hike: Botanist/biologist Bruce Sorrie, with the NC Natural Heritage Program, will lead a hike to look at wildflowers, shrubs and trees. Meet at the park office. 11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. - Old Growth Hike: Meet the oldest-known longleaf in the world! Meet at the park office and we will carpool 4 miles to the Boyd Tract. From there it’s a 200-yard hike to the 462-year-old tree. 2:30 p.m. - Red-cockaded woodpeckers: Join Brady Beck, biologist with the NC Wildlife Resource Commission, for an overview of the ecology and research techniques used in studying and managing this endangered species. 4:00 p.m. - Party For The Pine: Meet at Weymouth Center (just down the road from Weymouth Woods) to celebrate the birthday of the oldest known longleaf pine in the world, which is 462 years old! We will have cake and punch and discuss how Weymouth Woods came to have this incredible piece of property. Afterward, join us for a hike to see this longleaf matriarch. The hike is one mile round trip. Be prepared for hiking on sandy trails with roots downhill to the tree. Cost: Free. Where: Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2167 Information: http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/parks/wewo/main.php

Special Events

Palustris 2011

Our Scottish Heritage: A Tour Through Time 1770-1900

Thursday, March 24 1 p.m. Artistic Luncheon 6 p.m. Diversity Friday, March 25 2 p.m.

Free Yoga in the Pines

An Affair of the Arts

6 p.m. An Affair of the Arts 6 p.m. Diversity 7 p.m.

The Story of Jugtown

Saturday, March 27 9 a.m. Save Our Sandhills: Our Biodiverse Treasure 10 a.m.

Bleeding Pines of Turpentine

11:30 a.m. Bleeding Pines of Turpentine 12 p.m. Artistic Luncheon 2 p.m.

Our Scottish Heritage: A Tour Through Time 1770-1900

4 p.m.

Birthday Party for the Oldest Longleaf Pine @ Weymouth Center

4:30 p.m. Mark Twain Look-A-Like Contest 5:30 p.m. Center for Creative Retirement Spring Soiree

When: March 25, 6 - 10:30 p.m. An evening of dinner, dancing and cabaret. The evening stars Tom Bernett and the Swing Street Band, along with a lot of other surprises. Cost: Tickets for Dance, Show & Dinner: $25 plus a $10 dinner surcharge. Tickets for Dance & Show ONLY: $25 (available ONLY after March 14, if not sold out) Seating strictly limited to the first 400 reservations. Information: www.affairofthearts.net or (910) 692-8839 Where: The Fair Barn, 200 Beulah Hill Road, Pinehurst

When: March 26, 2 - 4:30 p.m. Moore County Historical Association will offer a livinghistory tour highlighting the Scottish heritage of the Sandhills. The Shaw House will feature vintage clothing, Civil War artifacts, and the first mayor of Southern Pines, Squire Charles Washington Shaw. The Britt Sanders Cabin will feature the American Colonial period with 1770s clothing on display. Tea will be served in the Garner House. Cost:$10 adults / Free for children. Where: Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2051 Information: www.moorehistory.com

The Story of Jugtown

When: March 25, 7 - 8:30 p.m. Directed by Ray Owen, this “cultural theater” event will focus on the story and history of the Owen/ Owens pottery families. The event will be told through the words of Vernon Owens, Ben Owen III, and other members of their families. There will also be music and live pottery demonstrations. Cost: $10 in advance/ $15 at the door. Where: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. (910) 692-2787

Center for Creative Retirement Spring Soiree

When: March 26, 5:30 - 7:15 p.m. This reception will feature instructors and participants of the Center for Creative Retirement at Sandhills Community College. Heavy hors d’oeuvres, class ticklers, and a ballroom dancing demonstration by dancers of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Pinehurst will be included. Cost: $25 per person. Reservations required by calling (910) 246-4943 by March 10. Where: Downstairs, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst

Bleeding Pines of Turpentine

When: March 26, First performance: 10 - 11:15 a.m.; second performance: 11:30 a.m-12:45 p.m. Based on a narrative by Ray Owen, this performance is inspired by the turpentine trees in Southern Pines — a town named for its forests. From the V-shaped cuts made in longleaf pines by former slaves or their descendants, to let loose the flow of resin collected for turpentine, pitch and rosin — we have marked this land in a way that marks us as a community. Cost: $12 in advance/$15 at the door. Where: Old Bethesda Presbyterian Church, 1020 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen Information: www.mooreart.org

Palustris 2011

Save Our Sandhills: Our Biodiverse Treasure Birthday Party for the Oldest Longleaf Pine

When: March 26, 4 - 5 p.m. Join Scott Hartley of the Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve on a short walk to celebrate the 462nd birthday of the oldest known longleaf pine tree in the world. Afterward, enjoy cake and a “toast” to the largest surviving vestige of original longleaf forest that once covered the southeastern coastal plains. Cost: Free. Where: Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. (910) 692-6261 Information: www.weymouthcenter.org

Artistic Luncheon

When: March 24, 1 - 2 p.m. & March 26, 12 - 1 p.m. Tour the Artists League of the Sandhills while enjoying a soup and salad luncheon with dessert. Cost: $10. Where: Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. (910) 944-3979

When: March 26, 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Explore the unique history of the region. Talks, photography and literature will depict the tremendous biodiversity in the longleaf pine ecosystem, while traditional bluegrass music offers cultural flair. 9 a.m. -6:30 p.m. Display of nature photography in the Sandhills by award-winning photographer Todd Pusser. Items for sale. 10:30 a.m. -12 p.m. An Ode to Longleaf: Ruth & Bob Stolting will present Save Our Sandhills’ PowerPoint tribute to the beauty, biodiversity, and plight of the Sandhills ecosystem. 12 - 1 p.m. Traditional bluegrass music performed by Joe & Abby McDonald. Refreshments will be served. 1 - 2:30 p.m. Landscaping for Wildlife & Beneficial Insects: Jackie Hough, co-owner of Raft Swamp Farm, will provide instruction and discuss the rewards of landscaping that fosters a healthy ecosystem. 2:30 - 4 p.m. A Guide to the Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region — North Carolina to Georgia. Bruce Sorrie, botanist with North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, will present his book (to be published May 2011) and discuss aspects of preserving longleaf and associated ecosystems. His (autographed) book may be ordered at a 20 percent publisher’s discount. 4 - 5:30 p.m. Photographer Todd Pusser will speak on his photography of the Sandhills (if his ontour schedule permits). Otherwise, Ruth and Bob Stolting will present An Ode to Longleaf, Save Our Sandhills’ PowerPoint tribute to the beauty, biodiversity, and plight of the Sandhills longleaf pine ecosystem. 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Traditional bluegrass music performed by Joe & Abby McDonald. Refreshments will be served. Cost: Donations accepted. Where: Southern Pines Civic Club, 105 S. Ashe Street, Southern Pines Information: www.saveoursandhills.org

C o s an d E ffect

Good Long Lives

Nobody wants to live in the past — but it’s nice to visit once in a while By Cos Barnes

Let’s hear it for longevity!

I talked to Jinx Brockwell, via her daughter, Sarah Mathews, this week, and she told me of a bridge club started in Southern Pines in the 1950s that is still going strong with the members meeting on the first and third Wednesday of each month. I have been a substitute with these ladies, and believe me, they know how to play the game. They have experienced the illnesses, deaths and moving away of their colleagues; still they keep on going, adding new members and enjoying the play. Jinx, who is approaching age 100, mentioned names I knew and some I had simply heard of: Muddimer, Pollock, Huntley, McMillan, Ponzer, Hiatt, Jackson, Brown, Hodgkins, Dickinson, Page and Hollister. She remembered their personalities and their style of play. Another group of women call themselves the Lunch Bunch. In the ’70s, when their children were little, Cele Bryant, Jan Staub and Elouise Crews started meeting for lunch on Wednesdays, the one day they had domestic help. They said they frequently went out of town as there were few lunch restaurants here then. “We formerly borrowed strollers, cribs and high chairs,” Jan said. “Now we share walkers and canes.” They’ve helped decorate for their offsprings’ weddings, welcomed grandchildren and witnessed their christenings. Snapshots are shared each Wednesday. In the course of these many years they have visited their sick, celebrated retirements and buried their dead. The Lunch Bunch numbers around 10 now. They have a neat way of determining where next Wednesday’s luncheon will be held. It is determined by whoever is present on the current Wednesday. Few calls are made, but the word gets around. No one knows how many will show up. They cover the county, selecting well-known eating establishments and breaking in new ones. Luckily I was welcomed into this group some years ago, and I appreciate them and celebrate the strength we draw from each other. Friends of members have been warmly welcomed and added when they moved here. I must mention my friend Norris Hodgkins, frequently called Mr. Southern Pines. Known for his phenomenal memory, he has been the one I called over the years for information about the history of the area, inhabitants and happenings. Some time back I had a list of people I needed to identify. I called him and asked him about each one. He responded by telling me they were deceased or living at new addresses. “Do you want the addresses?” he would ask. As I said yes, I asked him how he remembered all this. His reply was, “If you were in the banking business for as long as I was, you’d remember.” And speaking of quotes, Dr. Marty Grothe says, “You don’t want to live in the past, but it is OK to visit now and again.” PS Cos Barnes, we’re thrilled to say, lives and writes in Southern Pines. She is a longtime contributor to PineStraw magazine.

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February 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ThE oMNiVoRouS REAdER

Coming home

Eight ﬁctional tales that bring home the hidden casualties of war

By sTephen e. smiTh

After our troops

invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, the TV news would list, at the end of each evening newscast, the names of our service personnel killed in action. These tributes continued for a couple of years and then, for reasons only a Nielsen expert might comprehend, they gradually disappeared, first on the commercial networks and then on PBS until the dead whose flag-draped coffins were returned to Dover Air Force base slipped quietly to their final resting places unmemorialized by the greater culture. How quickly we forget the ultimate sacrifice they made. We forget, too, the sacrifices made by those who have returned alive, although physically disabled and emotionally battered, and the suffering of the families who waited anxiously for their loved ones to re-enter their lives. Siobhan Fallon’s book of eight interrelated stories, You Know When the Men Are Gone, reminds us again of the enormous physical and emotional toll paid by our service men and women and by the families who pass weeks, months, even years while their loved ones fight wars thousands of miles away. For that reason alone, Fallon’s first book of stories is well worth a careful read. She lays bare the inner workings of fictional military families and the lonely, introspective lives they lead at Fort Hood, Texas, the largest military

base in the country. All of the requisite suspects are present — unfaithful spouses, angry teenagers, wounded returnees suffering physical disabilities and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a lonely wife battling cancer while her husband serves in Iraq — and their stories address many of the inequities of military life. But Fallon delves deeper into the psyches of her characters, and it’s her talent for illuminating the secret recesses of private lives that lifts her stories above the ordinary. In the opening story, the thin walls of military housing reveal in the rattle of dishes and the slamming of doors the desperate life of Natalya Torres, a Serbian military wife who speaks little English and has been left alone in a strange country to care for her two small children. While shopping in the base commissary, Meg Brady, the third-person narrator, is examining the packaged cuts in the meat department when she encounters Natalya: “…she wondered if a human being would look the same if packaged by a butcher, the striation of fat, the white bone protruding, the blood thin like water in the folds of the wrap… Meg glanced at Natalya’s cart. It was full of potatoes and onions and cabbage. ‘Are these favorites from your home country?’ But Natalya did not seem to understand. Meg played with her wedding ring and spoke slower, ‘What do you like to cook?’” By carefully dissecting the muted world that exists on the other side of the sheetrock, Meg gradually determines that Natalya is an unfaithful wife, but she and the other military wives do little to support the stranger in their midst. In Leave, Chief Warrant Officer Nick Cash suspects his wife has taken a lover while he was serving in Iraq, and he breaks into the family basement while on leave so he can listen as his wife and young daughter go about their daily lives. He’d been an interrogator while in Iraq, and he’s obsessed with discovering the truth — “He interviewed informers and interrogated suspects, watched the blinking eyes, twitching hands, the sweat on their foreheads, knowing that every word was suspect, each sentence could be loaded with mistruths, familiar vengeance, jihadism, fear, self-preservation, and maybe, just maybe, innocence.” Caught up in his voyeuristic obsession, he reads Grimm’s Fairy Tales, the unDisneyized edition with its sufferings

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2011

ThE oMNiVoRouS REAdER

and cruelties, in the dim recesses of the basement and imagines his wife’s sexual indiscretions. The Last Stand is the story of Specialist Kit Murphy, who returns to Fort Hood after months spent at Walter Reed Hospital to find his wife, Helena, disenchanted with him and military life. Kit has suffered a crippling foot injury from an IED and the wound hasn’t healed correctly, and Helena miscarried while he was serving in Iraq. She’s there to meet Kit when he returns, but she’s reserved a motel room with twin beds for his first night back. She “gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, climbed into her own bed, and clicked off her bedside light.” Kit awakens and imagines the skin swelling around his wound, blood and pus oozing from the stitches, and he knows his marriage to Helena is over. When he awakens a few nights later, hung-over and hurt from a night on the town, he calls out to Helena as she’s leav-

Still, she writes with the insight, grace, and surety of John updike, and her stories are a mirror in which readers, military and otherwise, are bound to see troubling reﬂections of themselves . ing him. “But the door shut behind her and there was nothing for Kit to hold on to, nothing to break his fall, and as his knees buckled beneath him he knew with certainty that Helena, that everything, was gone.” Fallon’s carefully crafted prose and her eye for detail bring her characters to life with a compassion and authenticity few writers can manage — which is not to say that she doesn’t walk that shaky edge between sentiment and sentimentality and relies on a touch too much symbolism. Occasionally she stumbles into an excessive simile — “Mimi pressed her face into Carla’s chest, trying to find her milk source the way a famished vampire bat with a heat sensor in its nose tries to find the throbbing vein of a cow.” Still, she writes with the insight, grace, and surety of John Updike, and her stories are a mirror in which readers, military and otherwise, are bound to see troubling reflections of themselves. PS Stephen Smith’s most recent book of poetry, A Short Report on the Fire at Woolworths, is available at The Country Bookshop. He can be reached at travisses@hotmail.com.

The Country Bookshop 2011 Palustris Event

Mark Twain Look-A-Like Contest A Palustris Festival Event

Saturday, March 26th 4:30 p.m. Join The Country Bookshop as we honor handlebar moustaches, white wigs, linen suits and pocket watches. The contest is presented in conjunction with our community read of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” beginning at 3:30 p.m.

March 2011 Author Events: Thursday, March 10 at 7 p.m. Arlis Ryan The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare Friday, March 18 at 7 p.m. Abigail Dewitt Dogs 140 N

The Country Bookshop S

•S

31 , NC • (910) 692-3211

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . TREET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OUTHERN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .INES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2011 ORTHWEST ROAD

B o o k s h elf

New Releases For March By K ay Grismer and Angie Tally for The Country Bookshop FICTION-HARDCOVER THE COMPLAINTS by Ian Rankin. In the first of a new series, Rankin introduces Malcolm Fox, a cop who investigates other cops as a member of the department known as “The Dark Side.” MINDING FRANKIE by Maeve Binchy. A recovering alcoholic agrees to raise his former flame’s baby after she dies, but the unconventional arrangement is challenged by a nosy social worker who wants to put the baby in a foster home, and it’s up to everyone in his close-knit Dublin community to convince her she’s wrong. THE PARIS WIFE by Paula Denice McClain. McClain brings to life the Paris of the Lost Generation as background to this emotionally wrenching story of love and betrayal, told in the voice of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley. THE PEACH KEEPER by Sarah Addison Allen. After her marriage to her college sweetheart crumbles, a woman returns to her Southern hometown, where she uncovers a family feud and a strangely secretive man who may be exactly what she needs. THE SATURDAY BIG TENT WEDDING PARTY by Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe investigates a case of rural jealousy in which cattle are being poisoned and an apprentice abandons the girl he got pregnant; and wedding bells may finally ring for Grace Makutsi. SING YOU HOME by Jodi Picoult. Picoult deals with the controversial and complex issues of what defines a “family” in her novel about a woman who, after losing her baby and her marriage, finds a new relationship with a school counselor with whom she wants to have a baby using her former husband’s frozen embryos. STARTED EARLY, TOOK MY DOG by Kate Atkinson. A retired police detective’s life takes a surprising turn when she suddenly decides to care for the small child of a habitual offender, and former detective Jackson Brodie, from Case Histories, embarks on a different sort of rescue — that of an abused dog. THE TROUBLED MAN by Henning Mankell. In the first new Kurt Wallander mystery in more than a decade, Wallander discovers his daughter’s father-in-law, a retired naval officer who disappeared during a walk, is involved in elaborate Cold War espionage. FICTION-PAPERBACK BEATRICE AND VIRGIL by Yann Martell. The Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi returns with the story of the relationship between a novelist and a taxidermist who collaborate on a play about a donkey and a howler monkey who survived a genocide. HEART OF THE MATTER by Emily Giffin. In alternating points of view, Giffin tells a story of three women caught in an untenable triangle, each questioning everything they once believed about love and loyalty.

THE INFORMATION OFFICER by Mark Mills. In this historical novel set on the island of Malta in 1942, a British information officer is assigned to bolster the morale of the people in the face of Nazi occupation, while at the same time investigating the murder of a young woman. MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie Dobbs must unravel a case of wartime love and death, an investigation that leads her to a doomed affair between a young cartographer and a mysterious nurse. MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER by Robin Oliveria. A brilliant young midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon travels to Washington, D.C., to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Robin Oliveria will be at The Country Bookshop on Thursday, April 28, at 7 p.m. A MURDEROUS PROCESSION by Ariana Franklin. King Henry II chooses Adelia Aguilar, the Mistress of the Art of Death, to accompany his daughter to Sicily, where she is to marry; but when people in her wedding procession are murdered, Adelia must discover the killer’s identity. A SEPARATE COUNTRY by Robert Hicks. Set in New Orleans in the years after the Civil War, Hicks’ novel is based on the life of John Bell Hood, one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army and one of its most tragic figures. SOLAR by Ian McEwan. A Nobel Prize-winning physicist whose professional and personal worlds collide in a freak accident is given the opportunity to save the world from environmental disaster in this dark comedy by the author of Atonement. THE SOLITUDE OF PRIME NUMBERS by Paolo Giordano. When a chance occurrence reunites two kindred but scarred spirits after years apart, a lifetime of concealed emotions is forced to the surface. THE SURRENDERED by Chang-Rae Lee. The author of A Gesture Life returns with the story of a homeless girl, a young GI, and a damaged missionary as their lives collide at a Korean orphanage at the end of the Korean War. WALKING TO GATLINBURG by Howard Frank Mosher. After the slave he is trying to help escape is murdered, a young man travels through war-torn America to the Great Smoky Mountains searching for his own brother missing from the Union Army. But his trek to Gatlinburg becomes a journey of survival when he discovers the murderers are on his trail. A WEEK IN DECEMBER by Sebastian Faulks. Over the course of seven days in 2007, Faulk’s novel follows seven diverse characters in London who are forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit. WHITER THAN SNOW by Sandra Dallas. When an avalanche claims the lives of five of nine children walking to their homes in a small Colorado town in 1920, the survivors and their families are profoundly affected.

B o o k s h elf

NON-FICTION-HARDCOVER AMERICA AFLAME by David Goldfield. The NC author offers the first major new interpretation of the Civil War era, not as a triumph of freedom, but as America’s greatest failure. David Goldfield will be at The Country Bookshop on Thursday, May 19, at 7 p.m. THE FEAR by Peter Godwin. Journalist Godwin witnesses the courage and resilience of the people of his homeland of Zimbabwe as they challenge the fallen dictator Robert Mugabe and his brutal campaign of terror, a period the locals call The Fear. SHIFTING LOYALTIES by Judkin Browning. Focusing on the Union occupation of Carteret and Craven counties in southeast NC, Browning offers new insights into the effects of war on Southerners and the nature of civil-military relations under long-term occupation, especially coastal residents’ negotiations with their occupiers and each other as they forged new social, cultural and political identities. A WIDOW’S STORY by Joyce Carol Oates. Oates shares her deeply personal memoir about the unexpected death of her husband of 40 years and its wrenching, surprising aftermath. NON-FICTION-PAPERBACK TALES FROM A FREE-RANGE CHILDHOOD by Don Davis. In his first new book in six years, Davis, considered by many to be the father of family tales, returns to recollections of growing up in the southern Appalachians. Don Davis will be at The Country Bookshop on Thursday, April 21, at 7 p.m. THE BASEBALL CODES by Jason Turbow. Turbow offers an insider’s look at baseball’s unwritten rules, with examples from the game’s most fascinating characters and wildest historical moments. FARM FRESH NORTH CAROLINA by Diane Daniel. The Durham travel writer compiled the first statewide guidebook of its kind featuring more than 425 farms, produce stands, farmers markets, wineries, children-friendly pumpkin patches, pickyour-own orchards, agricultural festivals and more.

THE MAN WHO ATE HIS BOOTS, by Anthony Brandt. Brandt presents the often harrowing history of the adventurers who searched for the Northwest Passage, the holy grail of 19thcentury British exploration.

B o o k s h elf

MARK TWAIN’S OTHER WOMAN by Laura Skandera Trombley. Isabel Lyon, Twain’s last personal secretary who ran his chaotic household for six years, left his employ after a dramatic breakup. At his decree, biographers omitted her from the official Twain history. Now Trombley reveals the truth of the split that sheds light on the author’s final decade. SUPREME POWER by Jeff Shesol. Historian Shesol offers a fascinating reconstruction of one of the great political and legal battles of the 20th century — FDR vs. the Supreme Court. CHILDREN’S BOOKS INTERRUPTING CHICKEN by David Ezra Stein. Chosen for the 2011 Caldecott Honor Award, this wonderful new picture book will have parents and children laughing out loud as Papa Chicken tries his best to read Little Chicken a bedtime story but is interrupted again and again as Little Chicken attempts to “save” Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel and others from the fates that will surely befall them. Fun for ages 4-8. GEORGE BROWN, CLASS CLOWN: What’s Black and White and Stinks All Over? by Nancy Krulik. It’s hard being the new kid, so on the first day of the fourth grade at Sugarman Elementary, George makes a wish to “make kids laugh but not get in trouble.” What follows is a hilarious series. A great new series for readers 8-10. MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool. Winner of the 2011 Newbery Medal. Sent by her wanderer father to live in his old hometown of Manifest, Kansas, 12-year-old Abilene Tucker is at first disappointed by the quiet, run-down town, but is then intrigued when she discovers a hidden cigar box containing a menagerie of objects that lead her to discern her father’s connection to the remarkable town. Ages 10-14 THE CHEMICAL GARDEN TRILOGY: Wither by Lauren DeStefano. In the strange version of Earth where 16-year-old Rhyne exists, geneticallyengineered “first generation” members live long, healthy lives. However, they must watch as subsequent generations die from a virus which kills girls by age 20 and boys by age 25. Fans of Hunger Games will love this fastpaced first installment of a trilogy. Ages 14 and up. PS PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . February 2011

P i neb u z z

Gasland An Indie documentary with a little something for everybody By Jack Dodson

The documen-

tary “Gasland” has the whole package when it comes to documentary filmmaking: whitewashed, Hitchcockian titles that break documentary convention; chapters to break up the story; a first-person narrative, told from inside cars and through nonchalant voiceovers by a twentysomething hipster, who plays banjo and chases gas company executives for interviews in his free time.

The film, which received recognition from the Academy Awards, is essentially about a guy, Josh Fox, who gets a letter in the mail from an oil company that wants to pay him to drill on his land in Pennsylvania for natural gas, since he lives in an area where it’s prevalent. Upon investigation, he finds these companies involved in drilling for natural gas have all kinds of cloudy issues surrounding them — including numerous accusations that their drilling causes natural gas to leak into residents’ water supplies, in some instances causing fires. Unlike many documentaries that seem to bring home issues on impoverished Africa or Asia, “Gasland” is about America, where it’s become something of a blood sport to attack the corporate elite. Having said that, this film aims to offer a balanced investigation and more about Fox’s journey to uncover the truth. As a rule, I would harp on journalism ethics that dictate how to tell a factual story. I would say first-person is the worst way to make a documentary, seeing as it’s a style of filmmaking that seeks to tell fact. I always seem to expect these films to have Watergate-caliber reporting. Too bad Woodward stuck to books and Bernstein stayed in newsprint. As a result, I frequently dismiss voiceovers, preferring films in which we never get to know the person who made them. Narrators don’t allow the story to tell itself. That’s even the trouble with print journalism: The story has to be told through one person’s account, so there’s no way to be truly objective. Obviously there’s always the fact that journalism can never be objective — the writer, videographer, interviewer, photographer or reporter always makes choices about how to frame and tell a story. Still, it’s something to be strived for. But then comes “the documentary.” It’s not quite film and it’s not quite journalism. Sometimes it’s those hokey exposés on aliens aired on the SciFi channel, or a bad account of murders or crimes told through superficial interviews and unfortunate re-enactments. It has many different purposes, and depending on your

perspective, it can serve very different purposes. As defined by MerriamWebster’s online dictionary: “a documentary presentation (as a film or novel).” That doesn’t really help. But this might: “A documentary film is a movie that attempts, in some way, to document reality. Even though the scenes are carefully chosen and arranged, they are not scripted, and the people in a documentary film are not actors,” as written on questionand-answer site WiseGeek. However, with voiceover there needs to be a script. There’s even been an award created within the Writer’s Guild of America presented to the best documentary writer every year. And that seems to be getting into some gray areas. In the final analysis, I don’t mind the freeform filmmaking style Fox uses here, mostly because it gives the story a very personal touch. It’s looking at an issue that could very easily be overloaded with just facts, figures, and scientific research. He calms it all down and tells the story in an easy, narrative way, while backing everything up with pretty solid research. “Gasland” has a little something for everyone. Cool editing styles. A smart narrative arc. Straight facts and figures. Stories about people. An interesting presentation of the information. It’s all pretty well done, even if its nod from the miniature golden man himself didn’t indicate that already. Video of the month: “Last Minutes with ODEN” on Vimeo and YouTube This seven-minute documentary is not new. It was posted about a year ago by Phos Pictures, but it recently won Best Video and Best Documentary at the Vimeo Festival and Awards. It’s beautiful, tragic and heart-wrenching, documenting the death of a man’s dog. The music selection is perfect, drawing upon a collaboration between Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Aaron Dessner. Album of the month: “Rolling Blackouts” — The Go! Team The Go! Team’s newest album is a long while coming. It’s last — “Proof of Youth” — was released in 2007. And it’s come out strong, getting good reviews from various music sites. The British sextet keeps up its peppy-poppy feel in its newest album, keeping up a formula that’s worked for them ever since the success of 2004’s “Thunder, Lightning, Strike.” PS Jack Dodson can be reached at jdodson4@elon.edu.

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h i tt i n g h o m e

No Good Football Finally it’s over. Just in time for March Madness

By Dale Nixon

The months of January and February and a game called football all but ruined my life.

In January, some sort of super-duper football games were played to proclaim some sort of super-duper winner. The playing of these games and the eventual outcome turned Bob Nixon into what, for lack of a better term, I’ll call a “no-good.” He was no good to me, no good to talk to, and no good to be around. The only thing the man was good for was sitting on the couch, staring at the tube, mumbling incoherently and dozing as he watched the playing of these games. He didn’t know that I existed. He turned his back on me and directed his full attention to a bunch of jocks running up and down a field, knocking each other down. I vied for his affections the only way I knew how. I tried to make him jealous. I stalked into the den and announced, “Bob, while you’re watching one of these all important playoff games, I think I’ll run off with the milkman.” (We don’t have a milkman.) Totally absorbed in the game, he said, “Good.” I took a step as if to leave and said, “Bob, I’m leaving now. Don’t you have anything to say?” “Yes. Would you please move? You’re blocking my view of the screen.” This tactic obviously didn’t work. Jealousy did not rear its ugly head during a playoff game. I thought about leaving him to his own devices and going shopping, taking a walk, calling a friend or going to the movies and removing myself from the frustrating situation. But each time I tried to leave the room, Bob said, “Wait just a minute. Watch this instant replay. Stay and see this guy kick for a field goal. I want you to see this guy make this cut-back.” Hallelujah! In his own way, Bob wanted me to sit and watch the games with him. He did know I existed. I settled in next to him on the couch and pulled out my latest needlepoint project. He nudged me gently and said, “Green Bay won.” “I don’t care.”

“The Steelers held on to win their game.” “I don’t care.” “A couple of breaks and the Jets could have won theirs.” “I don’t care.” “Sanchez got a really bad call.” “I don’t care.” Each time he nudged me, I lost my place on the piece of canvas. I finally put the needlepoint project away. I then tried to read a book. Bob interrupted me repeatedly to spout vital football statistics, give biographical sketches on the players, and draw my attention to the post-game analysis. I put my book aside. The man not only wanted me to sit and watch games with him, he wanted me to listen to him. This was not for me. I tried to sneak out of the room. “Dale, while you’re up, would you fix me some popcorn and a big Coke? Oh, yeah, and see if we have any of those salted pecans left from Christmas.” Did I look like a concession stand? I retrieved his popcorn, Coke and pecans. I answered the phone so he wouldn’t be disturbed. I refrained from making any noise (like laughter). I listened to more statistics and biographical sketches, and I feigned interest in punts, dives, roll-outs, drop-backs, zone defenses, options and blitzes. I was a miserable “no-good” with Bob. Football had ruined my life. The decadence had to come to an end, though. As the weekend wound down, I was relieved. At last, football season was over. The super-duper games had been played, and I had made it through yet another year. Uh-oh. Correction: Bob then informed me that something called the “Super Bowl” would be played on Sunday, February 6. It was supposed to be the most super of the super-duper games. Here we go again. I had to set up a concession stand, feign interest, stare at a tube, keep quiet, and be a “no-good” for yet another football spectacular. And as if January and February weren’t bad enough, he announced that he couldn’t wait to share something with me called “March Madness.” I’d run away from home, but we don’t have a milkman. PS Columnist Dale Nixon resides in Concord but enjoys a slice of heaven (disguised as a condominium) in the village of Pinehurst. You may contact her by e-mail at dalenixon@carolina.rr.com.

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Vine Wisdom

Back to the Futures of Bordeaux 2009

By Robyn James

What are Bordeaux

futures and why do people buy them? The Bordeaux futures, or en primeur, campaign begins each spring following reviews and barrel tasting from nearly 400 critics and wine merchants from around the world. When you buy Bordeaux futures, you’re buying the wine before it’s bottled and released, at a set price determined by the different chateaux. To determine the price, the chateaux assess the quality of the vintage, economic conditions, prior vintage pricing, perceived demand, and other variables. A consumer purchases futures on the speculation that they will be cheaper now, than upon release a couple of years from now.

If conducted wisely, en primeur can benefit producers and consumers alike. Chateaux sell much of their wine before the next harvest, while buyers snap up cases at a cost below the final release price. You pay up front and the wine is delivered to you in about two years. Over the years in the wine industry, I have seen California wineries attempt to copycat the futures campaign that Bordeaux has launched every single year for centuries. It never works in California. The little ego on the shoulders of California winemakers keeps saying, “Your wine is just as good as Bordeaux! You can do this too.” Nope, it is a Francophile deal, always has been, and always will be. It’s conducted each year, whether it is a “good” year or “bad” year, and the prices are a dramatic reflection of the quality of the vintage. What makes a “good” year? The president of the faculty of the University of Bordeaux’s school of oenology, professor Denis Dubourdieu, has long claimed that five conditions must be satisfied in order for Bordeaux to have a great red wine vintage. Those conditions are: (1) An early flowering at the beginning of June; (2) A healthy and uniform fruit set, meaning hot, sunny, relatively dry weather; (3) The véraison, which is the change from green to red grapes, must begin early (in 2009 it started in late July, rather than August); (4)

The grapes have to ripen fully, which means there must be warm weather with just enough rainfall in August and September to prevent photosynthesis from shutting down and stressing vines; and (5) September and October have to be generally dry, sunny, and warm, without excessive heat spells. As Dubourdieu stated in his summary of the vintage, all five conditions were satisfied in 2009. In the fourteen years that our store has been in business, we have only participated in the futures campaign three times, the 2000, 2005 and now the 2009 vintages. The good news for American consumers is that the dollar, as it did in 1983 (when the 1982s were offered as futures), has strengthened vis á vis the euro. The economic meltdown since 2005 has also kept prices in check. The bad news for American consumers is that this is the first futures vintage where they will face stiff competition for purchases from the Asian market, particularly Hong Kong. However, Asian buyers are mainly interested in the classified First and Second Growths of Bordeaux, the luxury products. We will find incredible values in the less prestigious appellations and wines. Robert Parker, of the Wine Advocate, calls 2009 “a magical vintage.” “The wines reveal an extraordinary freshness and precision, but there is a vibrancy that is the paradox of 2009. The vintage displays characteristics of other creamy-textured, opulent, fat, succulent, special vintages. Yet, the 2009s also have the structure, freshness, acid levels as well as vibrancy and precision of cooler vintages. In that sense, this is the glory of the 2009s. For as big and rich as well as high in alcohol as they are, they are also remarkably delicate, fresh, and pure. This paradox, albeit a wonderful one, is unprecedented in the three plus decades I have been tasting Bordeaux barrel samples.” James Suckling, Bordeaux critic for the Wine Spectator, states, “The 2009s have the same juicy fruit and rich, round tannins as the 1982s, but are simply much better made. It’s a new world with the top names of Bordeaux. The work in their vineyards and cellars can’t be compared to that of three decades ago. They harvest half the amount of grapes now. They pick at precisely the right time. They ferment and macerate better. They age the wines in better wood and for the appropriate amount of time. The precision in winemaking in Bordeaux at the top estates is phenomenal. Bordeaux triumphs again.” That’s what the experts are saying, and we will all get to taste the magic in the fall of 2012. PS Robyn James is proprietor of The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room in Southern Pines. Contact her at winecellar@pinehurst.net.

The kitchen garden

The Pea Trellis

The unexpected warmth of a spring Sunday and new friendship lay the seed for a lovely harvest

By Jan Leitschuh

It was one of those

special Sundays that come and go during Sandhills winters, where a softness melts the edges of a cold sun and sharp breezes still.

As it happened, we had relatives with us from Wisconsin, my younger brother and his new girlfriend. We all sat outside on the back steps that mellow morning and enjoyed bathing in the rays, each of us meditating deeply on a sturdy mug of steaming java and the neighboring pines. Of course, my husband and I swelled with the pride of the relocated. I may have even gloated a wee bit, ever-so-gently, about our weather-favored region vis-a-vis the frozen North. There we were, working on nothing at all, when all of a sudden, spring fever boiled up, hot and unremitting, even though the calender and common sense said, “What are you smoking? It’s still winter. Planting now is perilous. You have guests. And besides, you haven’t finished your coffee!” Late winter, to the kitchen gardener, is the time of new beginnings. Seeds sprout on the water heater, and the hardier varieties go out to the unheated portable greenhouse. Scrub oak leaves and old stalks get raked from the herb and perennial beds. Daffodil shoots appear, defying the inevitable bone-chilling nights ahead. The blueberry bushes push bright red stems up through their loamy, pine bark mulch. Crape myrtles and butterfly bushes get a few shaping nips while the cutting implements are out. The muscadine and Concord grapes endure a thorough pruning and order emerges from tangled chaos, along with a big pile of long flexible canes. And the fruit trees swell with buds. Like our own youth, each young tree offers far more possibility than it can bear. Most likely, this is nature’s way of assuring that some fruit children (and for us, some of our dreams) make it through tough times. This wild abundance of twigs, limbs and buds benefits from intelligent pruning to maximize size and yield, to diminish disease. Studying a fruit tree for pruning is a bit like making art. There are principles, of course, but in the end it’s an all-absorbing surrender to the task at hand, and each pruner shapes his or her own collaboration with nature. The thoughtful kitchen-garden pruner looks for the sturdy limbs, ones that emerge at the best strong angle for bearing fruit. Crossed, weak, and dead wood

are nipped and sawed away at the proper place, just outside the fleshy “collar,”next the water sprouts and “blind” upright wood get cut, then a little opening of the middle for air circulation. Everything also gets a coating of dormant oil, to smother summer’s sap-sucking scale insects. In the process, one admires the abundance of “spurs” on the new heirloom apples, the generative source of next year’s pies and sauces. The vigorous pears have sprouted below their grafts, from their rootstock, and carefully sterilized Felco #2s — disinfected with rubbing alcohol so as to prevent the bacterial spread of fireblight — take those off neatly. The stone fruit buds whisper of lovely flowers in a month or so, followed by a variety of fruit: purple, yellow or red plums, peaches and the odd little “pluot,” a cross between a plum and an apricot. All of which leaves behind a big pile of prunings. Some of the prettiest slender red peach prunings find a use in vases to unfurl their pink blossoms inside the warm house. That sight alone can make one ache for spring. So when this break in the late winter cold hit, I had the inspiration to plant peas despite the knowledge that they could also crash and freeze-burn. Anticipating the day’s predicted warmth, I had soaked a quarter’s worth of sugar snap peas in a glass of water for a day, then drained them and let them sprout in a damp paper towel for another day, all to prevent rotting in the cold ground before the life force could overtake the forces of decay. This very day — this intoxicating Sunday that barely hinted of the balmy spring to come — their tiny rootlets were breaking through. Germination assured, I poked around in the garden. The ground was chilly, but the chocolate-cake soil could be worked just fine. My partner in spring-feverishness was my brother’s new girlfriend. Though they had been an item for some time, we were new to each other. He’s had some rough luck in the woman department, my brother, and his choices and I didn’t always relate though I always wanted it all to work out like a Disney movie. So, there we were, she and I, still cautiously feeling each other out. We’d done the Pinehurst carriage ride scene, eaten at the local restaurants, driven through lovely horse country and bought fresh eggs from a neighboring farm — and then this urge to garden hit. She was laid up, lame from a recent foot surgery but gamely schlepping around town. I told her I was going to plant peas, and did she want to join me in the garden? I saw a spark flare in her eyes. She did. I set up a big white plastic wicker garden chair in the sun for her to sprawl in, and then I fetched the newborn peas.

The kitchen garden

Peas climb with little tendrils, and do much better with support. Hmmmm, support. I wasn’t motivated to make a formal structure. While my garden companion and I chatted, I considered simple pea brush — prunings and branches pushed into the ground, the way my grandparents did it. As I pawed through the pile of tree and grape prunings, I saw I had the makings of something even better. A pea trellis! Her eyes lit up with enthusiasm. As I stuck the long, straight sticks of crape myrtle and peach into the soft soil in a circle about three feet in diameter, she encouraged me and spoke of starting a garden together with my brother. She wanted to make a pea trellis too. She opened up and spoke of how hopeful she was of their life together, and of her feelings for my only living sibling. With jute twine, I tied the tops of the sticks together to make a tepee, then wove the thinner grapevine canes around it to hide the twine, weaving casually as one would do with a grapevine wreath. She thought the simple rustic structure looked fantastic. I felt myself opening to this new woman

Hope springs eternal in gardening as well as love... in my brother’s life, as naturally as a peach blossom in a warm room. Hope springs eternal in gardening as well as love, though perhaps in the end they are essentially one and the same. I started weaving a second row of grapevine along the bottom of the tepee, both for stability and to give the young peas something to grab onto. The work gave us a casual focus, and the words flowed easily. When I asked if the structure needed a third band of grapevine in between the other two, she said it did, and repeated her hope of crafting a pea trellis of her own back in Wisconsin. We spoke easily of how we liked to eat our sugar snaps: raw right in the garden, raw in salads, stir-fried or steamed lightly and tossed with oil and mint. With the enchanting structure completed, and some very interesting seeds indeed planted, I then patted the newly sprouted peas into the perilous ground, and watered them in, wishing them luck. Then we walked back to the guys together, to enjoy the rest of the morning’s promise — and, perhaps, a future harvest. PS Jan Leitschuh is a local gardener, avid eater of fresh produce and co-founder of the Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative.

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The Martinez

The original form of the classic martini is a rustic and fine surprise

By Frank Daniels III

The addition of cherry liqueur struck me as unnecessary and I’ve tried the Martinez with and without. Both work, but I was surprised to find a general preference for its inclusion. The presence of orange bitters is another martini ingredient that has disappeared from the modern versions, but was a required one in versions of the cocktail up until the advent of vodka martinis and the general drying out of the drink that James Bond and the Smirnoff marketing machine wrought. The proportions of the Martinez are also closer to the traditional measurements, ones that have been eschewed in martinis for modern tastes. So this martini looks extremely different from the typical martini you may have had recently, and that difference in look carries through to its exceptional robust flavors. This cocktail works well either shaken or stirred; shaken it takes on body similar to a Manhattan, and if you are serving several guests it looks exceedingly enticing in a martini pitcher, condensation beading around the meniscus level. Makes me thirsty. Enjoy!

No drink epitomizes the

Courtesy of Ransom Spirits/Photography by Eye of the Lady Photography Studio

cocktail culture more than the martini. Glorious and sublime, the martini has a murky origin, and every claimant makes a good story.

The lore around the original martini is fascinating and became relevant recently when I discovered the artisanal gins from an Oregon company, Ransom Spirits (www.ransomspirits.com). Ransom is both a winery and a distillery, and their gins are among the best I’ve tasted. Their traditional dry gin, Small’s, is excellent, but it is their old style gin that is unique and worthy of reviving the original martini story and recipe. The story begins in the mid-1800s when a just-flush gold miner descended from the Sierra Nevadas during the California Gold Rush to celebrate in the town of Martinez; he had his celebratory taste buds set on a bottle (or two) of Champagne, a worthy high roller’s choice! The bar had none, but undeterred, the bartender concocted a special drink with gin and dry white wine. Apparently pleased, the miner took the recipe with him to San Francisco, where the bartender at the Occidental Hotel adapted it, substituting vermouth for the white wine. He called his cocktail the Martinez after its inspiration. (There are many other stories about the origins of the martini, and we’ll cover those in another column.) The gin of the time would have been Old Tom, a sweeter, heavier-bodied spirit than the dry gins that we have today. Ransom’s Old Tom Gin is made with exacting care to replicate the taste, aroma and body of these early gins, and I think you’ll find that, historically accurate or not, its unique taste and range make it an excellent addition to your bar. This Old Tom Gin looks more like whiskey, but it tastes and smells like gin, like no other gin you’ve had. With such a robust gin as the base this cocktail becomes a very different martini. The vermouth available in the mid-1800s would have been Italian vermouth, what we call sweet or red vermouth.

Martinez

2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin ¾1 oz Sweet vermouth ¼1 oz Maraschino liqueur dash orange bitters Long orange twist Chill a cocktail glass with ice and some of the cherry liqueur to season the glass, then dump the mixture. In an ice-filled cocktail shaker pour the gin, sweet vermouth and maraschino liqueur. Add a dash or so of orange bitters, shake vigorously and strain into the chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a long coil of orange twist. PS Frank Daniels is an editor and writer living Nashville, Tenn. fdanielsiii@mac.com. His blog on cocktails is http://www.frankslittleblackbarbook.com fdanielsiii@mac.com

P l e A S u r e S o F l i F e d e P T .

live opera, Anyone?

An adventurous Echo Boomer fi nds her place at the Met — sort of

By ashley Wahl

The Metropolitan opera

recently reported that its average audience member is now pushing 70. Like that wasn’t already common knowledge.

Still, those survey results raise a valid question. What’s stopping the youngsters from donning their finest fake furs and trying classic opera on for size? As a representative of Generation Echo Boomers, I have a couple of speculations having to do with the absence of 20-somethings from the grand old theater. Namely, my cohorts are either (a) using the hefty chunk of change a ticket would cost them to make rent, or (b) unable to turn off their iPhones long enough to attend a three-hour production. Also — and I believe I speak for the majority of my fast-fingered, gadget-savvy peers when I say this — factors beyond our control have caused us to redefine what it means to be entertained. When I was born, for instance, Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” was considered our nation’s anthem in various regions across the States. Frankly, my generation wouldn’t know high culture if it were floating around in our Cocoa Puffs. Perhaps in an attempt to make opera accessible to a broader audience, the Met began broadcasting live performances — in HD — to cinemas around the globe in 2006. In 2009, the Sunrise Theater became one of two vendors in North Carolina to offer this unique cultural (sort of) experience. A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the Met Live in HD in our very own Southern Pines theater for the showing of Puccini’s American opera: The Girl of the Golden West. I honestly didn’t know whether to dress up or not. At least I knew to turn off my phone. The view from my balcony seat was first-rate. In high definition, details of the set — the Polka Saloon, based in a California mining

camp circa 1850 — were as clear as the English libretto; you could see the twinkle in each singer’s eye, and the muscles working in their jaws. Admittedly, it did take a while for me to start feeling any sort of emotional tug into Puccini’s three-act melodrama. The plot was classic: Everybody (but mostly Sheriff Jack Rance) loves her (Minnie, saloon owner and girl of the golden west), but she loves him (Ramerrez, the bad-news bandit disguising himself as Dick Johnson). I don’t know when it happened — but at some point it did — I began rooting for Ramerrez, who’d been so taken by Minnie’s purity and innocence that he’d vowed to change his errant ways for her love. Maybe it had something to do with the passion and gamut of emotions that the whole singing/orchestral elements of opera provide. Needless to say, I was on the edge of my seat by Act III, wondering whether Ramerrez would gallop off into the sunset with Minnie or be fated to the gallows. (Spoiler alert: He gets the girl!) Between acts, the camera went backstage, providing a behind-thescenes experience virtually unconceivable to those sitting in the live theater, I presume. Backstage interviews offered insight into the minds of the director, maestro, choreographers and performers. For Deborah Voigt, the role of Minnie meant tackling “perilous high C’s.” For Marcello Giordani, getting in touch with his inner Clint Eastwood allowed him to play Dick Johnson’s role with ease. “Oddly enough, some people prefer intermission to the actual performance,” says Nancy Jacobs, a Sunrise volunteer. My favorite moment of the HD experience was seeing the audience (yes, the folks surrounding me) erupt in a standing ovation between acts and as the cast took final bows. Although full operatic repertoire may only be achieved at a live performance, seeing as I’ve no idea what that is, I think I can settle nicely for the telecast. It’s great to know my bank won’t break every time I want a little exposure to high culture. Besides, if I can help to lower the average age of a Met-goer, well, then, that’s a pure bonus. PS

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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B i r d wat c h

Swallows

True Harbingers of Spring

Purple martin By Susan Campbell

As the days lengthen and the air

begins to warm, many of us look forward to the return of migrant songbirds. Dozens of species that breed here spend their winters far to the south, and dozens more spend time feeding here as they migrate to summer haunts in New England and points farther north. Of these, the first to arrive back in the Sandhills are the swallows. On a day in March or early April, it is possible to see six different species: barn, rough-winged, tree, bank and cliff, as well as the more familiar purple martin. And since swallows move in mixed flocks at this time of year, encountering three or four kinds in close proximity is not unusual.

Swallows are almost exclusively insectivorous and are built to catch their prey on the wing. They have strong pointed wings and forked tails, which allow for excellent aerial maneuverability. Except for adult male martins, they are all dark on top and light colored below. But each species has a characteristic flight pattern that can be used to identify it even if field marks cannot be discerned. Modern field guides include descriptions of the patterns: Where a species flies and how it flies (the combination of flapping and soaring) are unique. This is very helpful since swallows spend most of their time on the wing and tend to be quite high in the air, so plumage is difficult, if not impossible, to see. Without a doubt, the best place to find swallows is over water, where insects are most abundant during the warmer months. If one is lucky and there is a snag or wire adjacent to a wet area, the birds may be perched at

close range, which should make for ideal viewing conditions. Except for purple martins, sexes are identical. To the human eye, male and female size, coloration and behavior are the same. However, you may be able to pick out the drabber plumage of a juvenile in late summer if you have a pair of binoculars â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and a good bit of patience. Purple martins are the largest of the group and have the darkest feathering. Adult males are a distinctive bluish-black. Females and second-year males have some blue feathering on the back and head but are mainly a dingy gray. Juveniles will be a paler gray with little or no blue feathers in late summer. Barn swallows have a dark bluish back, orange face and yellowish underparts. They also have a deeply forked tail. Given this superior rudder, they are capable of low and erratic flight, scooping up insects close to water level or over large grassy expanses such as horse pastures or golf course fairways. By comparison, rough-winged swallows are stocky and brown above, whitish below, with a drab, buffy throat. They spend a lot of time soaring high in the air and, therefore, have a more squared-off tail. Tree, bank and cliff swallows do not breed in the Sandhills so are less likely to be spotted in spring. All three have less distinct plumage and short, forked tails. Tree swallows have dark green backs, broad, long wings and more direct flight behavior with less wheeling involved. Bank swallows have light brown backs, thinner wings and quick wing beats. Cliff swallows, which resemble barn swallows with a short tail and a pale rump patch, fly more deliberately, with slightly slower, more powerful strokes. Although these little birds are well-engineered for flight, they are not known for their song. In fact, their vocalizations consist of short raspy or mechanical calls. However, swallows can be quite noisy, whether they are migrating as a flock or as pairs defending a breeding territory. So try to remember to listen and look up more this spring: You might just spot some of these fancy fliers! PS Susan would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. She can be contacted by e-mail at susan@ncaves.com, by phone at (910) 949-3207 or by mail at 144 Pine Ridge Drive, Whispering Pines, NC 28327.

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The SPorTing liFe

The Alaska highway it’s March and i’m Airstream dreaming

Left to right: A grizzly in the road. Waiting to go through construction around Kluane Lake. Toad River in the Yukon

By tom BRyaNt

When the winter solstice is past and

the sun is on a slow trek north to provide longer days and warmer weather, I begin to think about fishing poles, tackle boxes, and heading south where the fish are. This mood of mine was heightened the other day when we happened to have a rare daytime temperature of over 50 degrees. Hunting season was over, and I was outside with little to do but pick up pine cones and check on the Airstream trailer that I had winterized back in November.

The trailer was fine inside, just cold as an icebox, so I opened the door to let her get some fresh air and breathe a little. Linda, my bride, and I had acquired the 19-foot Airstream Bambi the year I retired from the newspaper business. We debated on building a getaway vacation cabin on some property we have in the mountains close to our son, Tommy. However, we had always wanted to see this great country, so we decided that rather than build a permanent, one-stop location that we would be locked into, why not get a cabin with wheels and hit the road? That way, wherever we stopped would be our vacation location. Our first trips were short and to familiar places, down to the beach or up to the mountains, and they provided the much needed learning experiences that novices should have. There is a lot to do when hooking up a travel trailer and getting everything ready to fit with the tow vehicle. The techniques aren’t difficult, but they must be precise and executed correctly or there could be dangerous consequences. I was thinking about all this as I pulled a small fishing lure pack from the storage area in the back of the trailer. Wow, I thought, that’s been in there since our last beach trip in the fall. No worry, I’ll check it out and get it ready for Florida, if I can talk Linda into getting on the road next week.

After purchasing the Airstream, we kind of hit the ground running with our first long camping experience. We had talked about going to Alaska for years. So why not now? Forty years in the newspaper business and Linda’s 36 years as a teacher convinced us we needed a break from the ordinary. Well, we got it. On June 22, 2007, we cranked the Toyota FJ Cruiser with the little Bambi securely hooked up behind and headed northwest, destination Alaska. We had planned for the trip to take around eight weeks, driving west to Missouri, then northwest up through Iowa, South Dakota and into Montana. Once we got there, we would go over the border into Canada, then through the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. The beautiful wilderness of the Yukon Territory was next, and then Alaska. We were in no hurry and that was a good thing. Top speed on the interstates for us was 60 miles per hour, and in the wild country of Canada no more than 45. Sometimes, even at that, we were taking a risk. When we arrived at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, we took a few days to rest up before tackling the famed Alaska Highway. And tackle is a good word. From Dawson Creek, the highway extends almost 595 miles to Lower Post, where it enters the Yukon. It winds through the wilderness for 550 miles and crosses into Alaska, continuing to Delta Junction, where it officially ends. A total of 1,422 miles of what almost passes as a road. An excerpt from the journal Linda kept of our trip describes best what a traveler can expect from the Alaska Highway: The road between Whitehorse and Beaver Creek is in bad shape. Lots of frost heaves and bumps. The road all the way around Kluane Lake is being repaired, and there was a long wait for our turn to go through 13 miles of construction. The road threads itself between the lake and the base of a mountain. There’s no room to pull over. My favorite of all the beautiful parts of Canada that we visited was the Yukon. It was there that we saw large groups of wild animals either on or right beside the road. It was not unusual to see stone sheep licking minerals off the highway. In a lush green meadow, a moose and her calf lazily grazed as they stood up to their knees in wildflowers. A big black bear ambled out of what looked like a thick impenetrable stretch of brush. A herd of bison lounged next to the road. One even

T h e sp o r t i n g l i f e

had all four legs in the air. Animals were everywhere! From grizzlies to chipmunks, we saw them on this trip. What a treat! On our return trip, our original navigation plan was to head south from Palmer, Alaska, over the mountains and down to western Canada and Washington State. But one evening, if you want to call it that since we were experiencing 22 hours of daylight (the other two were dusk), a big motor home pulled into the campground as I was walking to the office to check out. We were planning an early departure the next morning. The fellow’s motor home looked as if it had been through a bad hailstorm. The giant windshield had numerous dings and a big

From grizzlies to chipmunks, we saw them on this trip. What a treat! crack from one end to the other. When I asked what happened, he told me that he had just come over the mountains on the road we were planning to take the next day. “Don’t do it!” he said when I indicated we were planning to be on that route. “Go back the way you came even if it is the Alaska Highway. They are logging on the road over the mountain, and logging trucks don’t slow down. We’re lucky that the damage isn’t a lot worse.” So, there it was, deja vu all over again, back down the Alaska Highway through Canada and eventually, after two months and 11,034 miles, home to Southern Pines. Our Alaska trip was great, a memory that will be with us forever. The little Airstream and the tow vehicle, the FJ Cruiser, have done an admirable job, and both are poised in our backyard ready for our next getaway, probably starting this month. My fishing gear is in pretty good shape and Florida beckons. Now if I can convince Linda that we need to go to where the fish are, we’ll be on the road. If not Florida again, we can head to the giant redwoods in northern California. So many new places to visit! So little time! And I’ll bet we can find some trout streams along the way. PS Tom Bryant is a lifelong outdoorsman and PineStraw’s Sporting Life columnist.

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G o l ft o w n J o u r n a l

Back to the Future A comprehensive restoration by Coore and Crenshaw aims to make Pinehurst No. 2 what it used to be By Lee Pace

David Fay never

forgot the passion P.J. Boatwright had for Pinehurst No. 2. He never forgot Boatwright’s stories of playing golf on slow summer afternoons in the 1950s and his descriptions of the course and its singular personality. Also quite clear in Fay’s mind three decades later are the sharp opinions Boatwright held for what happened to the course during the 1970s — the period when new management took No. 2 down the slippery slope from green and brown and textured to emerald and coiffed and svelte.

“It was clear to me, P.J.’s most enjoyable time during his working life Hole 12 on Pinehurst No. 2. was when he was executive secretary of the Carolinas Golf Association,” says Fay, an underling to Boatwright in championship administration in the 1980s for the United States Golf Association. “Things would get a little quiet in the afternoons, and he’d play golf with Pete Tufts. He described the way it was, with fairways and sandy soil, pine straw, pine cones, and wire grass — certainly not love grass. He thought love grass was an abomination, that it was for flower gardens and ornamentals.” Boatwright, an excellent amateur golfer from Aiken, S.C., had been hired in 1955 to run the CGA, the appointment made by Richard Tufts, the head of the Pinehurst founding family and a man who donated incalculable hours to both USGA and CGA administrative offices. Boatwright worked out of an office at Pinehurst Country Club, with Tufts offering the club’s secretarial staff to help out with CGA correspondence and clerical chores. Under Boatwright’s leadership, the CGA membership quadrupled. “It was a perfectly wonderful four years,” wife Nancy said years later. “He always looked back on those days with much pride.”

Boatwright’s skills with rules and tournament operations were soon worthy of a larger stage, and Tufts recommended him to USGA Executive Director Joe Dey. In 1959, Dey hired Boatwright to one of two new assistant director positions, and Boatwright moved to New York City — this was before the USGA moved its headquarters to Far Hills, N.J. Ten years later, Boatwright took the helm when Dey left to become commissioner of the PGA Tour. Through the 1970s and ’80s, Boatwright emerged as golf’s foremost authority on the rules of golf, appropriately succeeding his mentor Tufts, himself a giant in golf administration through his ascendancy up the ranks of the USGA hierarchy in the 1950s. Boatwright was known for his tall, gaunt frame, his muted suits, button-down shirts and floppy hat, his mellow Southern drawl, and his everpresent pipe. He was also quick to say that the old gal in Pinehurst wasn’t what she used to be. Boatwright believed that the Diamondhead Corporation, the development concern headed by North Carolina native Malcom McLean, had little appreciation and understanding for the nuances and appeal of No. 2 following its purchase of the resort from the Tufts family on Dec. 31, 1970. He applauded Robert Dedman’s good intentions upon buying the distressed resort in 1984 from the banks following Diamondhead’s demise, but he nonetheless felt there was still too much damn grass, and he bristled over the condition of the greens and the multiple green resurfacings that commenced in the mid-1970s — Bermuda to bent, from bent back to Bermuda, and then finally back to bent again. Fay traveled to Pinehurst a handful of times with Boatwright to tend to the planning and administration of the World Amateur Team Championship in 1979 and the U.S. Amateur one year later (one round of stroke play qualifying was held on No. 2, and the match play portion continued at the Country Club of North Carolina). “P.J. talked so lovingly about what No. 2 had been years ago,” Fay says. “But he didn’t like what Diamondhead did with the golf course. He didn’t like them growing all the Bermuda, and he hated all the love grass. In my mind, even with the great changes the Dedman family made, it never quite got all the way back to the Pinehurst that Boatwright so revered. In fact, I don’t think he would have been the biggest fan of the course we saw in 1999 and 2005, I really don’t.”

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Boatwright’s opinions marinated in Fay’s memory bank as Fay rose up the USGA administrative ranks, taking over the executive director’s post in 1991 when Boatwright was stricken and later succumbed to bone cancer. Fay was one of Pinehurst’s biggest supporters in the resort’s quest to land and then execute a U.S. Open — “A U.S. Open at Pinehurst could be Tracy-andHepburnesque,” he said. He reveled in the tradition and ambience of the golf course, the resort, and the village. “How many times today do you hear some hot young star in any sport hear the name of a Hall of Fame player in his sport and say, ‘Who was he?’” Fay muses. “When you get to Pinehurst, that changes. It’s impossible not to get caught up in the great history. It’s everywhere. It’s where

“i thought, what a bold stroke to attempt to take Pinehurst no . 2 back to the way it looked for all its glory days . . . .” you look, it’s in the air, it’s in the turf, it’s in the images on the walls, it’s in the church bells. You can almost feel the ghosts coming out.” But over time Fay was also one of several influential figures in golf to wonder if the excessive use of long grass to fight immense ball flight distances had gone too far on a course known for having width and a visual palette that perfectly reflected its Sandhills heritage. At the same time, Pinehurst COO Don Padgett was coming to the same conclusion; his opinion reached a vortex on Father’s Day in 2008 when he played No. 2 with old tour pro chum Lanny Wadkins, and Wadkins was aghast that the course had little of the look and feel Wadkins knew from his North and South Amateur heyday in the 1960s. The idea to hire architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to take No. 2 back to its “golden age” looks of the mid-20th century began incubating in the minds of Pinehurst and USGA officials, including, of course, Pinehurst owner Bob Dedman Jr. In time a deal was struck, the work began in February 2010, and the course closed for three and a half months over the winter. The reopening was planned for March 2011, though the grow-in and maturation process for the transplanted wire grass, reconstructed bunkers, and resurfaced greens will continue. “I thought, what a bold stroke to attempt to take Pinehurst No. 2 back to the way it looked for all its glory days — after sand greens, that is; we don’t want to go quite that far,” Fay said in PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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November 2010. “It would be much the same as Oakmont showed its boldness by pulling out all those Christmas trees planted in the 1950s.” The Coore and Crenshaw restoration project was conceived with Donald Ross in mind, with a century of history in mind, with the resort’s members and guests in mind. Yet with two successful Opens held in 1999 and 2005 and a unique “double-header” scheduled in 2014 of back-to-back Opens for men and women, the standards and playability for a national championship had to be considered as well. The architects realized that less rough could make for lower scores. But Fay, USGA President Jim Hyler and Senior Director of Rules and Competitions Mike Davis agreed that a sympathetic restoration project engineered by Coore and Crenshaw and a return to the true character of Ross’s design trumped all issues of scores. “Mike, it’s possible you could get some rain and the golf course might not be as hard and fast as you’d like it,” Coore said in the planning stages. “If that happened and nine- or ten-under won the Open, would it bother you? Would that be an issue?” “No,” Davis said. “As long as the golf course plays true to its character, plays the way it was intended to play, then the best player would have won that week.” That was an instrumental threshold to cross in getting Coore and Crenshaw to sign on to the project. Padgett admits that had they turned the job down, he’s not sure who the next choice would have been. Fay believed from the outset that Bill and Ben were the ideal team for the project. “Coore and Crenshaw are great tailors,” Fay says. “A suit by those guys is never ‘off-the-rack.’ It’s original stuff, it fits perfectly, every stitch is in exactly the right place. Their courses are ones you enjoy and you look forward to playing. “With Coore and Crenshaw, you have just the right people with the feel for Pinehurst and the ‘TLC’ they’ll bring to the project. This is big stuff, it’s dramatic. I can’t say enough about Bob Dedman Jr. pulling the trigger on this project. At the end of the day, he makes the decision. I think if P.J. Boatwright were still around, he’d have patted Dedman Sr. on the back twenty years ago and said, ‘You’re on the right track, but you’re not going far enough.’” Fay surprised the golf world at Christmastime 2010 with the announcement that he was retiring from the USGA. Pinehurst loses a friend and champion for the resort upon Fay’s exit, but his influence on the resort and its No. 2 course will be felt well into the future — the very period when No. 2 reconnects once more with its past. PS Lee Pace, author of “Pinehurst Stories,” is an award-winning sportswriter and a longtime resident of Chapel Hill.

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Oldest Living Longleaf Pine

March 2011

Weymouth Woods, March 2010

Finally I’ve found you— tall and gorgeous, I’m not yet committed to anyone in the forest. As always, I’m looking for age and experience. Will you have me? It takes the right fiber to outlive one’s siblings. Pinus palustris. Has the Latin made you vainglorious? You get pinker and pinker as sun comes up yonder, sun in your crown gilds the uppermost needles. Bark flakes like paper — reams and reams of it — thickly leaved like sheaves of consciousness. I love in late light how you gather a lavender bloom on your layers. You have everything! Height, color, heart — all I ever asked for in a mate. Are these bare orange places unusually sensitive? Do beetles bore you? Day leaves through the trees, easy as always. Do you ever weary of the wood you inhabit— millionth deer, millionth rabbit— wish to pick up roots, take off across the meadow, find anyone but pines to be with? - Becky Gould Gibson Becky Gould Gibson, the author of five collections of poetry, has just finished a two-week residency at The Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities. She lives in Winston-Salem and can be reached at gouldgibson46@yahoo.com

Mark Twain, and Me By John Chappell

t was mumps that brought Mark I ventured backstage to see Holbrook in New Twain to me. York where he was playing in I Never Sang for My Fifth grade, home and sick abed Father (a favorite play of mine after that). He’d and done with all my Hardy Boys been playing a senator on television in a series and even every Nancy Drew. Cast back on the that itself challenged the times. I thought he “good books” every boy used to get for birthdays might, just might, just possibly might understand from well-intended aunts and teachers. what I was going to ask him, and why. Bored, bored, and bored as only a boy can I told him I wanted to use his carefully edited be. In desperation, I finally gave in and read Tom Twain material where he’d not be going: local Sawyer and discovered caves and Becky Thatcher stages and community halls and college auditoriand the hope of someday becoming a pirate, if I ums too small to accommodate his more expen“lived and was good.” sive presence. Folks should see Twain on stage, Next came Tom Sawyer Detective and then live, and I thought it could make a difference. Tom Sawyer Abroad. Finally, with no more Tom “Well, I don’t know why not,” Holbrook Sawyer books about, I turned to Huckleberry Finn graciously agreed. “A lot are just taking it out of and ran aground from the beginning: The whole the book and off the records. I appreciate your John Chappell during a performance of “Mark Twain thing was written in the first person. asking.” Tonight!” The ornate desk shown was used by Clemens It took the rest of grade school, four more years He later wrote me — when I was struggling to when he wrote “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” and a Southern Pines High School diploma, a master the Master’s timing — that it was hidden summer apprenticeship in theater, and at least a away in Twain’s words. week of college English before — this time on assignment — I picked Huck up “The timing is in the material,” he advised. “Stick to it, and it will get to again, reading it this time in parallel with Catcher in the Rye. you after a while.” Finally, I got it. And laughed, and laughed … and thought. It did. In Hannibal, Missouri, there to do a benefit for the Mark Twain That was about the time Hal Holbrook was putting together his perforBoyhood Home and Museum, John Winkler let me hear William Gillette mance as Twain in the form of a recreated platform appearance he called imitating his friend Twain. It had been recorded on a wax cylinder during Mark Twain Tonight! When he came to Wake Forest, I was the backstage Gillette’s visit to a Yale drama class. I heard him “pulling his voice” just as student stage manager who got him on, then rushed around to watch from described in Life on the Mississippi. out front. “Smiley would bet on anything … if there was a doooooog fight … he That astounding performance changed my life, though I didn’t know would bet on it. If there was a caaaaaaaaat fight … he would bet on it. Just as it then. What stunned me was that — in theater, and theater alone — Mark long as he could get somebody to bet on the other side; and, if he couldn’t … Twain, though long dead, could return: acting, makeup and costume, the he would chaaaaaaaange sides ….” canvas and brushes of an “actor’s portrait” painting him back to life in his What put the stamp on Twain was meeting 80-year-old Arch Cameron, own words. who’d lived in Hannibal all his life. He operated the caves as a tourist attracAnd what words! Every current battle, every modern conflict had its vivid tion. And he had the saaaaaaaaaaame drawl. cousin in Twain’s day. If the old man went after the war in the Philippines, we Winkler ran the Becky Thatcher Bookshop and was on the museum heard Vietnam. If he said George Washington was “the only president ever board. I stayed at his house, a rambling mansion complete with its own elevaelected for telling the truth,” we thought of Nixon. Presidents have changed, tor. Nobody ever rode the elevator. That’s just where they stored the family but the laugh still comes. silver. He hooked up his 16-mm projector and ran the Edison film of Twain. Now that’s preaching, without preaching. Radicals and ROTC cadets and There he was, his own true self, emerging from the front door of campus security guards laughed together. When humor explodes a thing, Stormfield — his Redding, Connecticut, home — as if telling the camera operanobody — no king, no president, nobody — can put it together again. And evtor to get that machinery out of there. The next shot showed him appearing erybody feels better right away. It’s the only weapon that makes people happy. around one end of the house to stroll — puffing away at his cigar — straight Rushing to the great trove of Twain’s works, I hunted for Holbrook’s stuff. past the camera, ignoring it completely. A second later, there he was again: In vain. He’d woven a Persian carpet from that pure gold, its pattern folas if he’d run madly around the house so he could amble past and ignore the lowing the few examples in print of Twain’s platform style. But it just wasn’t camera one more time. something that could work the same spell on a screen. It only had its magic Finally, Mark Twain and I had met. At least, I met him. He’s been a live, on stage. constant companion ever since. I’ve taken him across the Atlantic and Pacific,

John Chappell as Mark Twain, photographed at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. Photograph by Tim Sayer.

into and out of the late Soviet Union. We’ve seen the pyramids, the Parthenon. Back here we’ve visited the Sunrise, the Carolina, the Forum several times, the English-Speaking Union. We’ve met audiences across the country and around the world. Alkahest has represented me from the beginning, ever since the late Ralph Bridges took me on over 40 years ago. Founded in 1896, Alkahest (http://www.alkahestartists.net) is the oldest lyceum agency in the world and still run by the Bridges family. “He’s not our first Twain,” Ralph used to say. “Before John Chappell, we had Hal Holbrook,

“Before John Chappell, we had Hal Holbrook, and in my grandfat her’s t ime, a fellow named Sam Clemens did t he act.” and in my grandfather’s time, a fellow named Sam Clemens did the act.” In Oxford, England, I managed to acquire an academic gown like the one Twain got in 1907 to accept his honorary degree. He liked it so much, he wore it to his daughter’s wedding. I have photographs of him in that crimson robe. It’s in the Hannibal museum along with the table on which he wrote Tom Sawyer. After playing there, they asked how I liked the table. It was the very one. They’d pulled it out and taken it over to the high school auditorium for the show. Same old Hannibal we know from the books, complete with Hucks and Toms and Beckys cutting up in the balcony. And we are the same we’ve always been. Twain never goes out of date, and never stops offending the Philistines. Here they go again, I may as well make my view plainly known in the face of modern revisionists, believing they’re cleaning up the Huck book but really pulling the teeth of its attack on racism and lying about what Twain really wrote. On the other hand, more people will undoubtedly rush out and buy the real one, just like at the beginning when Louisa May Alcott and a committee of the public library in Concord, Massachusetts, found Adventures of Huckleberry Finn too crude and had it removed from the public bookshelves. “If Mr. Clemens cannot think of something better to tell our pure-minded lads and lasses he had best stop writing for them,” Alcott said, prob-

ably followed by a sniff. Twain didn’t mind; he knew even bad publicity is good for business. “That will sell 25,000 copies for us sure,” he wrote. “Those idiots in Concord are not a court of last resort, and I am not disturbed by their moral gymnastics.” Over four decades I’ve seen audiences continually amazed that Twain sounds like he’s talking about today’s news. Well, he’d recognize lots of sweet-smelling sugar-coated lies still current in our world — silent lies only humor can defeat. “Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution — these can lift at a colossal humbug — push it a little — crowd it a little — weaken it a little, century by century: but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast,” he declared, unvarnished and unbowed. “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” And that’s why I do it, a player playing one who had things to say worth remembering — because we’re still the same fools he knew. Same damned fools, Sam; same damned fools. “The human race doesn’t change very much,” Twain said. “I’m going to use my influence to get it drowned properly next time. No mistakes. No Ark.” PS John Chappell writes for The Pilot and PineStraw. Contact him at jchappell@gmail.com.

“Fruma”

English Springer Spaniel Graphite on Canson Paper

Pamela Powers January FINE

ART

PORTRAITS

PETS

w w w. p a m e l a p o w e r s j a n u a r y. c o m • 910 . 6 9 2 . 0 5 0 5

Firing the kiln

Potters wheel

Ben Owen III

Jacques Busbee

Vernon Owens

pal u str i s 2 0 1 1

The Story of Jugtown

aised in the clay is what they say about the remarkable potters of Jugtown. Their tradition comes alive in this “cultural event” that will focus on the Owen/Owens family of artisans. At center stage will be Vernon, Pam and Travis Owens, and cousin Ben Owen III — wedging clay, turning pots and stacking wares on drying shelves — telling their remarkable family story in their own words, guided by a series of historical images projected on a pair of screens, with historian Ray Owen serving as the program’s moderator. Jugtown Pottery, located near Seagrove, was founded in 1917 by artists Jacques and Juliana Busbee. After discovering an orange pie plate made of clay at the Lexington County Fair, they traced the dish’s origin to Moore County, discovering orangeware, earthenware, and salt glazed wares being made by the local potters. The Busbees began marketing the pots of these traditional craftsmen, and brought new life to the dwindling craft by introducing the potters to the world’s great ceramic traditions. Drawing from a lineage as old as the Carolina hills, strong family traditions and a willingness to innovate have sustained the craft for generations. The Jugtown potters are known the world over, celebrated with honors, showcased in numerous public collections and exhibitions, and featured in the national media in programs such as the PBS series “Antiques Roadshow” and the Peabody Award-winning series “Craft In America.” Vernon and wife Pamela Owens are Jugtown Pottery’s current owners, who along with son Travis are the resident potters. Vernon Owens is a recipient of the NC Folk Heritage Award, the NEA National Heritage Fellowship, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University. Vernon is the grandson of Jugtown’s first potter, J. H. Owen. Ben Owen III, Vernon Owens’ cousin, is the grandson of Jugtown’s master potter Ben Owen, Sr. He studied pottery as an apprentice with his grandfather and later at East Carolina University. Ben was named a “North Carolina Living Treasure” by Randall Library, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, in 2004, and is among the nation’s most highly acclaimed craftsmen. PS

Juliana Busbee

Palustris Festival

Ben Owen Sr.

What: The Story of Jugtown Date: Friday, March 25 Time: 7 - 8:30 p.m. Location: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College

Cost: $10 in advance, $15 at the door Presented By: The Arts Council of Moore County Phone: (910) 692-2787 More Info: www.mooreart.org or www.palustrisfestival.com

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spirit-filled woods, trees marked with V-shaped cuts by former slaves or their descendants, and an age-old tale about a woman’s heroic carriage ride into the region’s last great stand of virgin longleaf pines are the inspiration for writer/historian Ray Owen’s cultural theater production “Bleeding Pines of Turpentine.” Staged at Old Bethesda Presbyterian, the Civil War-era church in Aberdeen, this multi-arts performance will utilize dance, music, projected images and dramatic readings in a celebration of the strange beauty of the turpentine trees in Southern Pines — a town named for its forests. Hundreds of turpentine trees remain in the Weymouth section of Southern Pines, probably more than in any other town in America, their trunks scarred with gashes to let loose the flow of sap collected for turpentine, pitch and rosin. Many of them are vestiges of the virgin forest, hundreds of years old. They are marked in a way that shapes us as a community, spared from the axe in the early twentieth century by a remarkable woman named Helen Boyd Dull. Based on a narrative by Ray Owen, the performance will showcase a variety of artistic talent. A ritual pipe band march, lead by Wake & District Public Safety Pipes & Drums, will signal the start of the three-act program. Act One, titled “The Thirsty Desert,” will feature an original musical score by Ryan Book, who will accompany dancer Diana Turner-Forte in her composition inspired by the natural world. A backdrop to the piece will be a sequence of images by photographer Brady Beck projected on the wall above the pulpit — scenes of the natural world free from the hands of man. Act Two, titled “The Siren of the Round Timber Tract,” will be a dramatization of a story originally written by Ray Owen for PineStraw. Owen will portray the “Spirit of Turpentine,” with actress Abigail Dowd portraying the “Siren.” The part is based upon Helen Boyd Dull’s historic ride into the virgin pines (known locally as round timber), where she encountered turpentiners bleeding the trees in the dying forest. Rod Brower and the Together-N-Unity Choir will provide

the musical accompaniment, with their soulful renderings of traditional AfricanAmerican spirituals. The third and final act, titled “Bleeding Pines of Turpentine,” will feature an interpretive dance by Diana Turner-Forte, accompanied by a piece of music written and performed by Ryan Book. Projected overhead will be a series of images by photographer Frank Hunter showing the raw beauty of the surviving turpentine trees. The event is co-sponsored by the Arts Council of Moore County and the Moore County Historical Association, in conjunction with Perry Davis/Davis Video Productions and Southern Pines Sister Cities, with all proceeds going toward funding future performances. PS

Palustris Festival What: Bleeding Pines of Turpentine Date: Saturday, March 26 Time: 10 - 11:15 a.m. & 11:30 - 12:45 p.m. Location: Old Bethesda Presbyterian Church Cost:$12 in advance/$15 at the door Presented By: Arts Council of Moore County, Moore County Historical Association, Bethesda Presbyterian Church Phone: (910) 692-2787 More Info: www.mooreart.org or www.palustrisfestival.com

Photograph above by Brady Beck, Photograph left by Frank Hunter

Bleeding Pines of Turpentine

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Bound for Carolina BY DEBORAH SALOMON Saxophonist John Ellis paints himself, cryptically, as from “a family of a rare breed: Southern Democrats whose politics is defined by civil rights and injustice.” There is no hidden message, however, in the title of Ellis’ jazz band. “I named it Double Wide after the trailers in Cameron, where I grew up,” Ellis told PineStraw. “The music feels double-wide to me, as well, due to the presence of the organ and sousaphone, both large instruments with large, powerful base capabilities.” Matt Perrine mans the sousaphone, joined by Gary Versace on organ and Jason Marsalis (of the renowned Marsalis jazz family) on drums. Ellis, who now has one foot in New York, the other in New Orleans, makes music with one foot in church, the other in the circus, and still another in the jazz conservatory, adds DownBeat. com. The church foot grew from playing in his father’s, as a boy. Ellis’ signature album, Dance Like Tomorrow, celebrates defiance in the face of post-Katrina adversity. Speakers of the jazz lexicon spare no superlatives, calling Ellis’ style cosmopolitan yet down-home, urbane yet greasy, lively yet edgily compelling. Ellis has a knack for writing catchy, fluid, optimistic songs, one critic enthuses. And, still somewhat political, as his “I Miss You Molly” — a musical ode to the acerbic, Bushbashing Texas-based syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, who died in 2007. Best of all, Ellis is a home(town) boy who’s coming back for Palustris. “I left NC in 1997,” he says. “I’ve been disappointed at how hard it’s been to play back home since then. I feel a special love for NC …” Ellis credits Janet Kenworthy of The Rooster’s Wife in Aberdeen and Steve Haines at UNCG for making local performances happen. “With any luck I’ll be playing at home more often.” PS

Palustris Festival What: Double-Wide in Concert Date: Friday, March 25 Time: 8:30 - 10:30 p.m. Location: Poplar Knight Spot Cost: $20 in advance / $23 at door Presented By: The Rooster’s Wife Concert Series Phone: (910) 944-7502 More Info: www.theroosterswife.org or www.palustrisfestival.com PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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The Dances of Life By DeBorah salomon

he rhythms of Africa and the life experiences of her people throb in unison when the Durham-based African American Dance Ensemble takes the stage. Sandhills dance doyenne Diana Turner-Forte, who earned a Piney Award in 2009, has known founder Chuck Davis for decades. “His dances celebrate pan-African culture. The performances attract people who want to understand this culture,” TurnerForte says. And what performances they are, transmitting joy and sorrow, humanity and art. Some include narration and audience participation; others speak through the drums; others are pure entertainment, Turner-Forte continues. Davis began the Chuck Davis Dance company in New York in 1968, during the heyday created by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. In 1980 he was invited to the prestigious American Dance Festival, which for a time during every summer occupies the campus of Duke University in Durham and has sponsored the Black Tradition in American Dance project. Here, Davis and his newly named African American Dance Ensemble found a permanent home. The nine musicians and dancers perform at schools and festivals throughout North Carolina and elsewhere. Their mantra — peace, love and respect for everybody — is spoken at each performance. Enlightening, inspiring, Turner-Forte calls the experience, which will benefit the Carolina Performing Arts Center’s Adopt-a-Dancer program. PS

Palustris Festival What: African American Dance Ensemble Date: Sunday, March 27 Time: 2-3 p.m. Location: Owens Auditorium at Sandhills Community College Cost: $25 adult / $10 students (with ID). Children welcome. Presented By: Carolina Performing Arts Center Phone: (910) 695-7898 More Info: www.cpac.webimaginarium.com or www.palustrisfestival.com

n e d r a G e h t in s r e it r W retum ary Arts Come To the Arbo Three Masters of the Liter

Magazine’s second dors of spring, PineStraw en spl g nin ur ret the by ee of the most Embraced m is proud to present thr gra pro n” rde Ga the in yne, gift playannual “Writers stselling novelist David Pa be — ina rol Ca rth No in acclaimed writers ny Abbott. d award-winning poet To an k, nic ral ty Area Gu e Jun t igh wr shop and the Moore Coun ok Bo try un Co the by Jointly sponsored nket or chairs (and st invites fans to bring a bla fea y rar in the lite r’s yea s thi , ies Librar ration of the written word eb cel le rab mo me a for us perhaps a picnic) and join um. n at the Pinehurst Arboret author beautiful Magnolia Garde , C. of Henderson, N. is the ando Novelist David Payne, a son W to ck Ba , vels including his latest d an of five highly acclaimed no obe Gl by the likes of the Boston Passo, and has been called generation. his of ist vel no most gifted Dallas Morning News the ern fabulist, m with the eye of a South icis lyr e tiv and exclarra na ng ini mb Co nroy as “the summing up Co t Pa by d ile ha en be s work. Payne’s latest novel ha read and discuss his latest ll wi e yn Pa .” eer car r’s ite ooks.com mation point of a great wr work at www.davidpayneb e’s yn Pa t ou ab re mo Guralnick is rn lea You may ely and entertaining June In more ways than one, liv Yo w rker, this enasure. Though a native Ne also a North Carolina tre ories of Childhood ngth plays including Mem l-le ful ten of r tho au ing gag nal administras made her mark as a natio ha ht Lig the of en om W d an rolina Arts Director of the North Ca as d an s art r ate the the rector of tor in ntly serves as Executive Di rre cu e Sh ts. Ar er eat Th the state of Council be reading and discussing l e’l Sh . ion iss mm Co ts the City of Raleigh’s Ar www.juneguralnick.com playwriting. Her webite is and novelist pleased to welcome poet Finally, PineStraw is most omas Th us e recipient of the prestigio whose Tony Abbott, a three-tim ty, cie rth Carolina Poetry So set him H. McDill Award of the No s vel and two award-winning no d an hte four collections of poems lig o de ry landscape. Abbott, wh ora mp nte co the on ll be wi art r, ap winte untry bookshop this past Co the at n to charm wd cro ow tha erfl ov an afternoon t is certai off g pin cap — rks wo ed www. reading from his select her www.blairpub.com or eit at rk wo ’s ny To t ou ab and delight. Learn more standing room only afncpoetrysociety.org rticultural Gardens was a Ho C SC the at nt eve r’s early and stake Last yea n more memorable. Come eve be to ses mi pro nt eve fair. This year’s den . PS out a great spot in the gar

Palustris Festival

n W hat: Writers in the Garde 2 p.m. at Date: Saturday, March 26 um ret Location: Pinehurst Arbo Cost: Free agazine, Presented By: PineStraw M ies, Moore County Area Librar p sho ok The Country Bo Phone: (910) 692-3211 stival.com More Info: www.palustrisfe

historic Village Walking Tour ❊

Stretch your legs and enjoy a guided walking tour of the historic village of Pinehurst, including 24 historic buildings and cottages.

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Palustris Festival

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What: Walking Tour Date: Thurs. - Sat., March 24 - 26 Time: 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. Location: Given Memorial Library

Cost: Free Presented By: Given Memorial Library & The Tufts Archives Phone: (910) 295-6022 More Info: www.tuftsarchives.org or www.palustrisfestival.com

pal u str i s 2 0 1 1

Inside Jokes

The Capitol Steps Make Politics a Laughing Matter

By Ashley Wahl

group of Senate staffers turned political satirists, the Capitol Steps, have been busy lampooning government leaders since Reagan took office. Boy, do they put on a show. “First you may see Joe Biden perform a rock song,” says Capitol Steps co-founder Elaina Newport; “then Kim Jong-il may take the stage and sing a love ballad.” Newport, who began working on Capitol Hill as a legislative assistant to Charles Percy, believes news channels could benefit from taking a less serious approach to politics. (Think “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.) “The world’s gone crazy,” she says. “We need to laugh about it.” Having recorded over 30 albums, the Capitol Steps have poked fun at both parties — and everyone in between — with parodies to popular tunes. The titles of their latest albums, “Liberal Shop of Horrors” and “Barackin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” respectfully, practically speak for themselves. As far as writing material goes, “sex scandals are the best,” says Newport. South Carolina’s former governor Mark Sanford’s Argentinean affair, for example, was nearly too good to be true. “When else could we work ‘Don’t Cry for me, Argentina’ into the script?” Although front-page news, headlines and primaries provide constant

changes in content, bank on the major players being part of the show. “Barack, Palin and Biden will be there,” Newport says, “although all of the issues will change.” Collectively, the cast has served a sum of 18 Congressional offices and, according to their website, “represent 62 years of … House and Senate staff experience.” But casting auditions attract politicians and performers alike. “Someone may finish singing a beautiful song,” says Newport, “and then we’ll look at them and say, ‘Now, can you sing that like Osama Bin Ladin?’” Whether or not your political views clash with the person sitting beside you, the Capitol Steps provide a common ground for their audience: laughter. “It makes us human,” Newport says. PS

Palustris Festival What: Capitol Steps in Concert Date: Saturday, March 26 Time: 8 - 10 p.m. Location: R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School

Cost: $22 in advance / $25 at the door Presented By: The Arts Council of Moore County Phone: (910) 692-2787 More Info: www.mooreart.org or www.palustrisfestival.com

The Art of Diversity Photograph & Story By Hannah Sharpe Roman orator Cicero once said: “Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.” For students and faculty at Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School, better known as STARS, art is the tool to discovering the true essence of humanity. On a Wednesday afternoon, students in Carmen Jones’ dance class dart around in costumes for rehearsal. Preening peacocks pose while painted tribal drummers beat glowing neon sticks around makeshift drums. The students are preparing for ARTSplosion, an annual cultural arts event, where students have the opportunity to showcase their talents to the community. The build-up to the performance has been a mounting wave of excitement and anticipation. “It’s a really good motivator,” Jones says. “It gives them a reason to look forward to coming to school.” Instead of holding an entire week of events this year, teachers decided that ARTSplosion could be stronger by celebrating everyone’s various talents in one main production. Hence the theme: “Diversity.” “We realized that we were stronger together,” Jones says. Students will take their audience on a trip around the world to visit other cultures through dance, song and skits, which will all culminate in one central message: unity through diversity. “Unity and diversity are really good themes to come across [for students] at this age and to emphasize what’s going on in the world,” Jones says. She adds that celebrating diversity yields tolerance and opens minds to a greater understanding of the world we live in. “If we can teach kids that at a young age,” she says, “I think we’re doing our job.” Members of a local Filipino dance group will also perform in the production. “We’re trying to involve as many people in the community and keep this as authentic as we can in everything we teach [the students],” she says. Art galleries featuring work from each student in the school and a traveling exhibit with ancient to contemporary art from all over the world will complement the production. Jones believes the entire event will serve as a means to engage the community in a dialogue about accepting differences in others by overcoming social and cultural barriers. “The arts are the universal language to everyone,” she says. “It’s amazing to be able to relate to someone on that basic human level.” Eighth-grader Michaela Bois agrees. “It’s amazing how one thing can bring so many people together to celebrate in so many different ways,” she says. Bois and her classmates plan to give their all during their ARTSplosion performance in an effort to show their gratitude to the school that has given them the chance to explore, create and define themselves as individuals. Here, they’ve found their passion. PS

Palustris Festival What: ARTSplosion: Diversity Date: Thur. & Fri., March 24 & 25 Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School

Cost: $5 Adult/$3 Child/$1 STARS Students Presented By: The Arts Council of Moore County Phone: (910) 695-1004 More Info: www.palustrisfestival.com

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Wolffs at the Door By Deborah Salomon

irtuoso pianist/conductor David Michael Wolff’s arrival in the Sandhills in 2009 was no less spectacular than Mary Poppins’ descent by umbrella: Shock and awe, joy and adulation greeted both. What did Moore County do to deserve this? Wolff, a child prodigy of Mozartian proportions from Seattle, was already internationally acclaimed when asked to guest-conduct the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. While in the area, Big Apple residents Wolff and his wife, singer Young Mee Jun, took a side trip to Pinehurst. “When can we move?” she asked. Since then, not only has the couple relocated to Aberdeen, but Wolff, 35, has founded the North Carolina Philharmonic (billed as a small philharmonic with big ideas) which draws on the state’s best musicians to play in underserved locations. In September he traveled to Zhijiang, Pinehurst’s sister city in Hunan province, to perform at the International Peace Festival. The maestro’s long-term plans include a 2,200-seat performing arts center, making Pinehurst synonymous, he writes, with artistic innovation. “The evolution I envision for the Sandhills is nothing less than transformational,” Wolff told PineStraw. Mon Dieu! Or, as one aficionado says, David Michael Wolff is the best thing to happen since James Tufts got off the train. Joshua Wolff, also a musical whiz-kid, admired his brother’s artistry and switched from sax to piano at age 13. Jazz beckoned. By 21, he was high on the list of Seattle jazz pianists, noted by a critic for his “fierce energy and mastery of harmony and rhythm.” The New York-based Joshua Wolff Trio plays jazz shrines like The Blue Note and Birdland. He returns to Pinehurst for Palustris with On Broadway — jazz interpretations of Broadway show tunes — joined by vocalist Laura Didier. PS

Palustris Festival What: Joshua Wolff Jazz Trio On Broadway Date: Thursday, March 24 Time: 7 p.m. Location: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Founders Hall Cost: $20 general admission / $5 full-time students Presented By: The Carolina Philharmonic Phone: (910) 687-4746 More Info: www.carolinaphil.org or www. palustrisfestival.com What: Ode to Joy - Beethoven’s 9th Symphony Date: Friday, March 25 Time: 7 p.m. Location: R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School Cost: $20 general admission / $5 full-time students Presented By: The Carolina Philharmonic Phone: (910) 687-4746 More Info: www.carolinaphil.org or www. palustrisfestival.com

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Madness Metal By Ashley Wahl

Photographs by Hannah Sharpe

ike Roig picked up welding as an afterthought. “It was one of the last techniques I learned as I was leaving school,” says the life-long artist. Judging from the looks of his yard — metal structures sprouting like flowering trees and shrubs — a little tinkering went a long way. “Eventually I woke up to the fact that the little sculptures I would make were actually going out and making homes, whereas the silk screens, drawings, and paintings were all piling up in drawers.” Mike’s metal sculptures, crafted from odd scraps of recycled metal, add an air of playful ingenuity to every site they grace. The campus of Sandhills Community College is home to three: Axis of Agape, Bob Dylan’s Oracle, and Three Ring Cirrus. “My wife writes children’s books,” the sculptor says. “If I get stuck for naming one of my pieces, I can always count on her for help.” For Mike, the limitations of his medium of choice are nearly as intriguing as its malleability. “Metal is a great material,” says Mike. “Before you know how to manipulate it, metal doesn’t seem like it’s all that open to suggestions. But then you learn a few techniques,” he says, “and discover that it’s an incredibly suggestible material.” Rust, pitting, and other such blemishes don’t deter, Mike assures. “The thing about finding metal in a scrap yard rather than starting out with pristine new metal is the surface texture that comes with metal that’s been aged,” says Mike. “A little bit of pitting to the surface doesn’t interfere with its ability to become a substantial piece of sculpture.” “Plus,” Mike adds, “imperfections add a sense of history.” Although not all of Mike’s metal works are kinetic, several feature elements that spin via wind. Abstract birds — a theme that continues to weave through Mike’s art — are whimsy in motion. “I never knew exactly why I was so drawn to birds,” Mike admits, adding that Joseph Campbell once called them “universal symbols of the spirit.” Whether or not he subconsciously chose to incorporate birds into his work to represent a human spirit that transcends both time and culture, it’s clear his spirit is free. “I think it’s important that everybody have access to some kind of idea of creativity, and the freedom that comes from that,” Mike muses. “We’re not all artists, but we all have some kind of passion and some kind of creativity. What art is supposed to do is simply be that kind of inspiration for somebody else.” By using junkyard treasures to create something figurative (or, in many cases completely abstract), Mike hopes to inspire others to look at the world through new eyes. “I’d like for my work to give a spark to somebody else’s imagination,” he says, “and on a personal note, I’d just like to see what wild, big, crazy things I can invent.” Mike Roig is one of several sculptors whose Location: Steed Hall, Sandhills work will be displayed in Community College the horticultural gardens Cost: Free, donations accepted What: Tour of Steeds Hall and on the campus of Sandhills Phone: (910) 695-3882 Awards Ceremony Community College during More Info: www.mooreart.org or Date: Sunday, March 27 the Palustris Festival. “Art in the www.palustrisfestival.com Time: 1 3 p.m. (Awards ceremoGardens” will feature sculpture from all over ny at 2:30 p.m.) North Carolina and will be on display from March 24 through May 25. PS

Palustris Festival

S tor y o f a h o u s e

Rest Easy, Alice Antiquity endures at the Southworth estate

By Deborah Salomon • Photographs By Glenn Dickerson

Parged stucco and diamond-paned windows set Briarwood apart architecturally from its Weymouth Heights neighbors. The graceful staircase is original; the glassed-in family room, an addition.

omes with stately names usually fit the image: a brick or stone manse of period architecture and formal gardens furnished in heirlooms. Its genteel residents — retired, of course — bear a family resemblance to the gilt-framed portraits hung over mantels. Briarwood, dating from 1903 and centerpiece of the Weymouth Conservancy, fails that definition while fulfilling a livelier one. “This house has a happy vibe,” says current owner Katherine Czarnik. Did paper heiress Alice Southworth envision her boxy, stuccoed chunk of real estate with tiled roof a Tuscan villa or Spanish hacienda? Was she influenced by that hot new architect Frank Lloyd Wright? Perhaps Southworth was just a stubborn rich woman out to make a splash with indoor plumbing and innovative gas wall sconces. Military physicians Katherine and Jim Czarnik differ on all points. They are a tall, active couple with no ties to Weymouth’s golden age, when socialites built third homes midway between Newport and Palm Beach. The Czarniks discovered Southern Pines while posted at Fort Bragg. Other transplants welcomed them. This helps since Jim is gone to unknown destinations for weeks, sometimes months. Military art, old maps and family photos, not ancestral portraits, decorate their walls. Furniture varies from futons to Victorian sofas upholstered in sapphire and ruby brocade. The four Czarnik daughters roam the hallways like Eloise roamed The Plaza. And if a ghost exists (as rumors suggest) she’d better not bump into the vast collections of figurines, pottery, china, Ukrainian Easter eggs, dolls and books. The garden where spinster Southworth and her neighbor/special friend Miss Jenks entertained ladies wearing long dresses and hats has become a playground. “We fit into this house,” Katherine says. “I feel like it was built for us, only 100 years ago.” “I like to play hide-and-seek with my friends even if it’s a babyish game,” says Maddie, 11. “I like the buttons you pushed to get the servants,” adds Paige, 8. “I like the skylight,” Sasha, 13, continues. “I like the comfy beds,” says Isabella, 7, who doesn’t remember living elsewhere.

The atrium skylight at Briarwood has a Frank Lloyd Wright “prairie” motif.

“I never had a hometown.” Katherine Czarnik’s father was an Army officer. She was born in Germany, moved around the U.S., attended 10 schools in 13 years. No military marriage for her, she vowed before joining the service to pay for medical school. There, at Uniformed Services University in Maryland, she met Jim Czarnik, from Wisconsin. Jim and his nine siblings grew up in a house with one bathroom. “He was used to crowded conditions,” Katherine says. Jim appreciates the seven bedrooms, three bathrooms and endless crannies of their 6,000-square-foot purchase. Katherine specializes in dermatology, Jim in emergency medicine. Katherine has left the military but returns for contract work. Jim now practices with the U.S Army. While stationed in Hawaii, Texas and elsewhere, the Czarniks lived in base housing — the bland one-size-fits-all kind which Katherine personalized with her collections. Locally, the family first bought in Pine Needles. Katherine had a new baby and wasn’t looking to move when a real estate agent-friend invited her, just for fun, to an open house at Briarwood. It was like nothing she had ever seen. “The house is kind of ugly from the front but the back side is pretty,” Katherine admits. “I could tell from the moment I walked in that this house had a history.” Floors are “fossilized” local pine, so hard the cable guy’s drill bit got stuck. With massive columns defining the living room, stained woodwork and Wrightian prairie touches, the house felt darkly masculine. “Sturdy,” was Katherine’s word. “That’s good because we’re sturdy people.” Solid, also. The walls of concrete and steel interfere with cell phone and Wi-Fi reception. Briarwood’s design origin puzzles even architect Robert Anderson, who lives next door. Italianate, perhaps, he says, with a sensitive and intelligent plan. Robert and Lynn Anderson considered purchasing Briarwood when it was abandoned and uninhabitable but gave up when financing could not be obtained. Since then, Briarwood has been repaired by previous owners, but uncertainties always exist. This did not dissuade the Czarniks. “I’ve lived in new houses that had problems,” Katherine mentions. The living room, furnished in Victorian antiques, displays Katherine Czarnik’s collections. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

Snapshots from another time: life at Briarwood, circa 1910, garden parties and ladies on the lawn

The European floorplan suited her, too: On the main floor, rooms — including a guest bedroom, office, vast post-Southworth family room, sun nook, dining room and kitchen — are arranged around the formal living room illuminated by the atrium skylight, another uncommon element in residential architecture of the period. Here, Katherine says, they can lie down at night and see the stars. This house was built for tall people, Katherine noticed, by a practical New Englander who demanded quality materials. Alice Southworth’s bathroom cabinet was mounted high. A few of the original plumbing fixtures, including a toilet and claw-foot tub, are in place and operational. Doors are massive, no two the same, most with original hardware. Built-ins and window seats are everywhere. Closets, another unusual feature, are plentiful. A covenant protects the diamond-paned windows, no two panes identical. The staircase was well-executed, with low, child-friendly risers. If only the house had a basement, Katherine said to her friend. Bingo. “I guess we’re moving,” she decided.

Briarwood needs a special type of occupant, one less bent on imprinting than accepting. Willingness to live with antiquity and not rip, strip and reconfigure seems unusual, especially in the kitchen. Briarwood’s kitchen had been redone in the 1990s, with an island and lovely painted cabinets but no magazine glitz. Katherine refinished cupboards in the butler’s pantry herself but left the kitchen virtually intact. Upstairs, the secondary bedrooms are spread out along a closed hallway. These were guest quarters, Katherine surmises, now ideal for her Little Women. Glass-front curio cabinets burst with their dolls and china cabinets with their tea sets. Katherine’s collections of the same are not ornaments. “I like to use my stuff.” Jim brought back one silk carpet from Oman. Another came from an estate sale in Savannah.

Windows, windows, everywhere, including interior panels in the beamed dining room and the ’90s kitchen.

All things considered, however, crossing the threshold today, Alice Southworth would not be a stranger. The Czarniks’ sense of history is palpable. Katherine owns tables which belonged to her grandmother, one of 18 children. She has become de facto caretaker of Alice Southworth’s heritage. She found evidence of former inhabitants, including an ink-stained shelf. With the house came documents, deeds, picture albums filled with events captured in sepia, even a box containing keys corresponding to door locks bearing the same numbers. And although the Czarniks are content with existing wallpaper and window treatments, they do have plans. The basement, formerly servants’ quarters with no access from inside the house, is being converted to a man cave for Jim. An enclosed porch will join the kitchen as a breakfast room. When the children are grown, Katherine and Jim may close off the upstairs and move into Alice Southworth’s main floor bedroom. By then, Jim will stay home long enough to meet the neighbors. Because, as Katherine says, “I’m never moving. This is our forever house.” PS

Divide and Conquer W Pre-1903

1903 - 1971 1991

here there’s a will, a group of determined homeowners will find a way. The will was to keep a land parcel in the Weymouth Heights area of Southern Pines from being developed inappropriately. Attorney Bruce Cunningham, his wife Ann Petersen and their preservationist brigade found a way. The issue centered around Briarwood, the “party” home built by Alice Southworth, heiress to the Southworth paper empire, on 10 acres in 1903 — decades before James Boyd put Weymouth on the literary map. In the 1920s land near Orchard Road (named for the peach orchard it bisected) had been subdivided into 10 lots, where gracious “cottages” were built. That worked. Unrest erupted in 1971 when Southworth’s nephew Howard Corning, to whom she had bequeathed Briarwood, arrived with plans to subdivide the remainder of the estate into 20 lots. “That would have destroyed the character of Weymouth Heights,” says Cunningham, a member of the Historic District Commission and Orchard Road resident. After a thumbs down from the town council the land lay dormant and overgrown. Uninhabited, Briarwood fell into disrepair. Enter the Southern Pines school system with a plan to purchase and raze Briarwood for a ball field with chain link fence and lights. The neighbors objected. What to do? Cunningham called a neighborhood meeting in 1991. How about if everyone bought the parcel across from their property? Better yet, “Charlie Hall had the idea to form a corporation, buy the land, divide it into larger lots and sell to people who have a sense of preservation,” Cunningham recalls. Charlie and Eleanor Hall, Cunningham and Petersen were joined by David and Beth Carpenter and Donald and Lloyd Cutler. Thus was the Weymouth Conservancy born. Such an undertaking required cash. How would they pay the $300,000 asking price for the estate? The conservancy borrowed 110 percent of the purchase price, to cover payments and interest, then drew a plan for the 10 acres, with Briarwood the focal point. Covenants were attached to its sale: Among others, the parged stucco exterior, diamond-paned windows and terra cotta tile roof must be preserved. After clever buy-sell-finance maneuvers the plan succeeded. In 1992 Briarwood — abandoned, leaky, reportedly haunted — was sold for $60,000 to Bill and Doris Russell, credited with rescuing the house with their preliminary renovation, followed by the Hood family and, finally, Jim and Katherine Czarnik. Each family continued the restoration. All the lots finally sold — the first to architects Robert and Lynn Anderson, the last to Tom Van Camp. Buyers built handsome homes. Through a land swap, the Southern Pines Elementary School got its recreation field. And, in the end, the deal cost the participants nothing. “We shut down the Weymouth Conservancy, went to Vito’s for dinner and distributed the profits,” Cunningham says. “We each made $54.” Their accomplishment, however, was priceless: An architectural matriarch had been restored and surrounded by thoroughly modern (but very respectful) great-grandchildren. PS

The Hoods, Czarniks and Russells have all assumed roles as caretakers of historic Briarwood.

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Longleaf Pine Savanna

Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bridge

Upper Terrace

Spring Flora

Magnolia Garden Entrance

Photograph by Don McKenzie

Lewis Pavilion

By Noah Salt

Pinehurst Arboretum

“If you can picture it, this whole area was like a jungle just a few years ago before our crews

arrived and began clearing it out,” explained longtime Pinehurst resident Joyce Franke, as she guided a recent visitor through the handsome wooden pavilion marking the entrance to the Clara McLean Magnolia Gardens at the Pinehurst Arboretum. Spreading out before Franke and her companion near the intersection of Magnolia and McCaskill roads was a charming vest-pocket oasis that could well be the most inviting space in all of Pinehurst — assuming woodland retreats are your thing — a grassy glade framed by over seventeen different varieties of magnolias, shaded by a canopy of towering hardwoods, and scored by graceful stone footpaths that lead to a classical overlook and creek. The garden is one of half

a dozen distinctive spots in the 35-acre Arboretum that is nearing completion as its tenth year looms on the horizon. The idea for the arboretum first took root in Franke’s mind back in 2002 when, serving as president the nonprofit Pinehurst Historic Preservation Foundation — soon to be renamed the Village Heritage Foundation — Franke successfully spearheaded the $2 million renovation of the Fair Barn, accomplished almost entirely with private funds. “Not long before we completed work on that, which gave us a beautiful indoor gathering spot for the village, I began thinking a lot about Frederick Law Olmsted’s original plan for the village and realized we had a wonderful opportunity to build upon that legacy right here in the heart of the village.” While attending a Village Council meeting where a discussion arose regarding a plan to expand neighboring Rassie Wicker Park’s

Upper Terrace

athletic fields to include a large unimproved area below the new Village Hall, Franke literally had a better idea. “When I looked at that area, which included creeks and a very overgrown forest amid the remains of the village’s dumping ground, I thought how wonderful it would be to have a cultivated green space there instead, a place for more passive recreation and learning, a garden for picnics or weddings, for walking or just learning about nature. An arboretum was perfectly in keeping with Olmsted’s original horticultural vision for the village. Fortunately, the idea was warmly received and we were able to get moving fairly quickly on fundraising,” she explained, continuing the guided stroll along a winding path to a handsome wood-sculpted bridge to the expansive 3.5 acre area that was eventually transformed from the village dumping ground into a beautiful grass “Meadow.” “You wouldn’t believe what we managed to take out of that old site,” Franke added with a laugh. “It was nothing but a mountain of clam and oyster shells and broken hotel pottery, decades of resort waste — even a few old refrigerators. All of that existed until about 1960.” Upon the council’s unanimous approval in the spring of 2003, she points out, Larry Best of LandDesign Inc. offered his talents as a landscape designer pro bono, and created the master plan for the arboretum’s phased development, and also served as project manager. “Larry had his hands all over this project from the beginning, and his folks were wonderful to work with, really interested in creating a space for generations of people who live in Pinehurst or simply come here to visit.” When health issues at home forced Franke to step aside in 2003, Bill Smith assumed the key leadership role that to date has privately raised the money to cover at least three additional phases of construction. Among those who came forth with vital early seed money, Smith points out, ClubCorp of America provided a $125,000 grant that enabled work to begin in earnest. “From the beginning this was a story of a lot of generous people from across the community coming forward to create a living legacy that will only improve with age.” The group’s initial development phase included the Magnolia Garden, boasting the most complete number of magnolia varieties in the region. Following this, the foundation tackled the proposed Meadow and oversaw the moving of something like 15,000 cubic yards of dirt to make the ridge suitable for landscaping. In time, more than 130 native hardwood trees were planted along the southern and western borders of the Meadow. Crews from Forest Creek and the Sandhills Golf Course Superintendents organization were instrumental in finishing the lawn just weeks before an alfresco performance on the Meadow by the North Carolina Symphony in early May of 2006. “It was a close call, and we had crews working right up to the last minute,” Joyce Franke recalls, “but it came off in the nick of time and really introduced a lot of folks to what a wonderful asset this arboretum is — and will be.” Four years after this event, thousands more got introduced to the natural splendors of the Arboretum when a crowd of more than 6,000 gathered last spring for a live evening concert by country music star Vince Gill. As of the end of 2010, more than 300 private donors have contributed most of

the roughly $1 million spent to date on the Arboretum’s creation, which includes a network of broad footpaths linking four primary areas — the Magnolia Garden, Meadow, a new Woodland Garden recently named in honor of Pinehurst’s late mayor, Steve Smith, and a unique longleaf pine savanna. Highlighted structures include the dramatic Magnolia Garden entrance, three beautiful wooden bridges, The Overlook, Point Pavilion, and a spectacular Pergola Garden funded by the Meyer Family Foundation and members of the Forest Creek Golf Club. To date, more than 400 yards of brick pathways and 600 yards of gravel walks have been constructed through the Arboretum, connecting it to the Greenway and village proper, with future plans calling for the construction of an Education Pavilion on the west side of the Meadow. Since work began almost a decade ago, in addition to the hundreds of native trees and shrubs that previously existed on the site, the foundation has planted more than 300 trees, 2,500 longleaf seedlings, 100 large shrubs, 475 medium bulbs, and over 700 small shrubs, perennials, and grasses. To date, volunteers for the Friends of the Pinehurst Arboretum, which recently published a splendid trail map of the 35-acre complex, have identified and labeled dozens of species of trees and shrubs. “The arboretum is really a tribute to the shared vision of a lot of dedicated and talented people who made it happen,” notes current foundation president Terry Brown, pointing out that only a few smaller projects remain on the drawing board. In the near future, he adds, money has been established for the creation of a new Learning Center on the Meadow, and the foundation’s efforts are now geared to raising an endowment fund that will care for the property into the future. “If we’ve done our job, and I think we have,” mused the Arboretum’s original visionary as she concluded her guided tour, “this place will be a natural asset to future generations who come to live in the Sandhills — or maybe just find their way here for a day or even an hour. It’s the perfect place to be in nature and appreciate what a remarkable treasure Pinehurst really is.” PS For information on making a donation to the Pinehurst Arboretum or becoming a member of the “Friends of the Pinehurst Arboretum,” please contact the Pinehurst Heritage Foundation at P.O. Box 398, Pinehurst, NC, 28370 or contact Joyce Franke at (910) 695-0504.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday SENIOR 1ACTIVITY: National

Pig Day. 11 a.m. Douglas Community Center, (910) 692-7376. ART EXHIBIT: Simply Watercolors. 12 – 3 p.m. Artists League of the Sandhills, (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

WEYMOUTH CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES. 3 p.m. Weymouth Center. (910) 692-6261. ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 7 p.m. Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas Poplar Knight Spot www.theroosterswife. org, (910) 944-7502.

MOORE COUNTY CONCERT BAND. 2 p.m. Carolina Hotel, www.moorecountyband.com. SUNDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE. 2:30 p.m. “James and the Giant Peach” Southern Pines Public Library, (910) 692-8235.

SANDHILLS PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB MEETING. 7 p.m. Christ Fellowship Church, www. sandhillsphotoclub.org.

LIBRARY LECTURE SERIES. 3 p.m. Explorations: A Forum for Adults. (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

SENIOR ACTIVITY: Nutrition Lecture. 11:30 a.m. Douglas Community Center, (910) 692-7376.

CLASSICAL CONCERT GOLF TOURNAMENT. SERIES. 8 p.m. Featuring Pine Needles and Mid Pines. violinist Alina Ibragimova. (910) 673-1000 or www. Sunrise Theater, www. carolinagolf.org. mooreart.org.

CONCERT. 2 – 21 20 4:30 p.m. Young Musicians Festival Winners’ Concert. Weymouth Center, www. weymouthcenter.org or (910) 692-6261.

LUNCH WITH ART CLASS. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Cost: $45. Artists LEGENDS. 11:30 a.m. Country Club of North League of the Sandhills, Carolina, (910) 673-1330. (910) 944-3979 or www. artistleague.org. WINE TASTING. 6 - 8:30 p.m. Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party. The Village Wine Shop, (910) 295-5100

BENEFIT GOLF TOURNAMENT. The Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, Inc. and Pinehurst Resort Course No. 8 present the 7th annual golf tournament to benefit the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, www.bghncsandhills.org or Ron at (910) 295-1819.

PIZZA WITH PIZZAZZ. 5 – 6 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library, (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

FREE YOGA IN 28 TAR HEEL CUP 29 27 THE PINES. 2 - 4 p.m. Village MATCHES. The Dormie

SENIOR ACTIVITY. 11 a.m. Join Arboretum, (910) 295-1900 Club, (910) 673-1000 or www. the senior division as we www.palustrisfestival.com. carolinasgolf.org. travel to Carthage to enjoy lunch at the famous Pik n’ KALEIDOSCOPE SANDHILLS Pig. (910) 692-7376. FAMILY SERIES. 4 – 5:30 NATURAL HISTORY p.m. Doug Berky’s No Show. SOCIETY. 7 p.m. O’Neal School Activity Weymouth Woods, Center, (910) 692-2787 or Sandhills Nature Preserve, www.mooreart.org. (910) 692-2167

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

GARDENING LECTURE. 10 a.m. Free event at Sandhills Community College, Owens Auditorium. (910) 695-3882.

CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, (910) 295-6022.

17th ANNUAL PINE NEEDLE MEN’S INVITATIONAL. Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, (910)692-8611. GATHERING AT GIVEN. 3:30 p.m. Given Memorial Library (910) 295-6022.

HOME & GARDEN EXPO. Fri. 12 - 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sun. 12 - 5 p.m. The Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst. (910) 944-2992.

TEEN EVENT AT LIBRARY. 5:30 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library, www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235. RENEWABLE ENERGY: Challenges and Hope. 6 p.m. CCNC, (910) 235-0635.

THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Iphigenie en Tauride. Sunrise Theater, Information: (910) 692-3611. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library, www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

MOORE ON STAGE: Over the River and Through the Woods. 7:30 p.m. (Wednesday – Saturday); 2 p.m. (Sunday). Sunrise Theater, (910) 692-7118. www.mooreonstage.com.

ART EXHIBIT & OPENING RECEPTION. 6 – 8 p.m. . Call for schedule. Campbell House Galleries, www.mooreart.org or (910) 692-4356.

OLDIES & 11 HISTORIC WALKING TOUR & TEA. 10 GOODIES FILM SERIES. Carolina Hotel, (910) 235-8415. 2:30 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library, www.sppl. net or (910) 692-8235.

AUTHOR EVENT. In “The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare,” The Country Bookshop, www. thecountrybookshop.biz or (910) 692-3211.

ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 8 p.m. Asleep at the Wheel. Poplar Knight Spot, www.theroosterswife.org or (910) 944-7502. GOLF TOURNAMENT. Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, (910) 235-8140. UNCORKED: The Battle of California. 5:30 p.m. Stone versus Bear Republic. Elliott’s on Linden, (910) 295-3663.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NATIONAL 18 17 MOORE. 11:30 a.m. Table on the Green, Midland THEATER LIVE IN HD. 3 p.m. Danny Boyle’s new production of Frankenstein, Sunrise Theater, www. sunrisetheater.org.

Country Club. Reservations: (910) 944-9611.

AUTHOR EVENT. 4 p.m. NC Author Abigail Dewitt presents “Dogs”. The Country Bookshop, www.thecountrybookshop.biz or (910) 692-3211.

WINE TASTING. 6 - 8:30 p.m. A “Luck of the JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 – 10 p.m. Cypress Bend Irish” The Village Wine Vineyards & Winery, www.cypressbendvineShop, (910) 295-5100 or yards.com or (910) 369-0411. www.villagewineshop.net.

BOOK SIGNING. 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. “Death of a Pinehurst Princess: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery,” Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, www.palustrisfestival.com.

FAYETTEVILLE ARTS COUNCIL LECTURE. 7 – 8 p.m. Illustration and the Cultural Icon, presented WINE TASTING. 6 – by Dwight Smith. 301 Hay 8:30 p.m. Women Gone Street, Fayetteville, www. Wine! The Village Wine theartscouncil.com. Shop, (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Sunrise Theater, (910) 692-3611.

PARENTING SEMINAR. Community Presbyterian Church, Pinehurst. www.sandhillsmops.com.

FREE YOGA IN THE PINES. 2 – 4 p.m. Village Arboretum, (910) 295-1900 and www.palustrisfestival.com. WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Village Wine Shop, (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net. EXHIBIT OPENING. 7 – 9 p.m. Grand opening of “We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball.” Fayetteville Arts Council, www.theartscouncil.com.

PineStraw MAGAZINE

March

Arts & Entertainment Calendar March 1 – April 15

March 3 – 6

AARP TAX HELP. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. A.A.R.P. Tax Help will be available at the Southern Pines Library on Tuesdays and Saturdays through April 15. Clients must register onsite. There are no prior appointments by phone. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net.

17th ANNUAL PINE NEEDLE MEN’S INVITATIONAL. An “Invite Only” event. To request additional information please call Pine Needles at (910)692-8611. Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, 1005 Midland Road, Southern Pines.

PEDAL FOR PENICK. 10:30 a.m. Event held rain or shine. www.penickvillagefoundation.org.

March 1

Saturday ART TUTORIAL SERIRES. Beginning oil painting with Diane Kraudelt. Hollyhocks Art Gallery. (910) 255-0665.

ARTour TO PHILADELPHIA. (910) 692-2787 or www.mooreart.org.

HABI-DASH. Habitat for Humanity spring fundraiser. www.sandhillshabitatgala.com. SWING INTO SPRING. 7 -10 p.m. Heart of Carolina Jazz Society presents third annual dance and dinner. Carolina Trace Clubhouse, Sanford. www.carolinajazz.com. ONE-DAY GOLF TOURNAMENT. (910) 673-1000 or www.carolinasgolf.org.

STOP HUNGER EVENT. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Dempsey Student Center at SCC, (910) 528-7003 or (910) 215-8150 x234. THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Sunrise Theater, www.sunrisetheater.org or (910) 692-3611. ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 8 p.m. 18 South. (910) 944-7502 or www.theroosterswife.org.

FOOD DEMONSTRATION. 12 & 2 p.m. Granny Edith’s Old-Fashioned Pot Roast & Gravy. Elliott’s on Linden, (910) 295-3663. MEET THE SWAMPDOGS. 12 – 2 p.m. Meet the players and learn about Negro League Baseball at J.P. Riddle Stadium, Legion Road. (910) 323-1776 or www.theartscouncil.com.

SENIOR ACTIVITY: National Pig Day. 11 a.m. Appreciate one of our most intelligent animals: the pig. Pigs wallow in the mud to keep cool because they don’t have sweat glands, not because they just like being dirty. Honor pigs around the world by watching “Charlotte’s Web.” Soda and popcorn provided. For adults 50+. Cost: $1 (residents); $2 (non-residents). Douglas Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-7376.

March 1 – 18 ART EXHIBIT: Simply Watercolors. 12 – 3 p.m. A show featuring the works of six local artists: Deane Billings, Mike D’Andrea, Caroline Love, Michelle Satterfield, K.C. Sorvari and Pamela Swarbrick. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

March 2 GARDENING LECTURE. 10 a.m. Bob Solberg of Green Hill Farm, a nationally known lecturer on the subject of hostas will give a presentation on growing hostas. Bob has introduced more than 60 hosta varieties including hosta of the year in 2002, “Guacamole.” Hostas for sale after lecture. Free event at Sandhills Community College, Owens Auditorium. For reservations, call Tricia Mabe at (910) 695-3882. CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Bring infants and toddlers (birth through 5 years) to join for stories, songs and fun. Then stay for playtime! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

March 3 ART TUTORIAL SERIES. Loose Watercolor Flowers with Sandy Scott. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Information and registration: (910) 255-0665. GATHERING AT GIVEN. 3:30 p.m. Don Sweeting, EVP of Golf and Club Operations will be discussing upcoming plans for the Pinehurst Resort. Part of his discussion will be centered on Golf Course No. 2 and the upcoming U.S. Open’s. Free and open to the public. Given Memorial Library 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022. WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. High end wine tasting featuring Orin Swift’s The Prisoner. Try gourmet cheeses too. Cost: $25. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net.

Key: Art Music/Concerts Dance/Theater Film Literature/Speakers Fun History Sports

FAYETTEVILLE ARTS COUNCIL LECTURE. 7 p.m. The African American Male in the Super Hero Community, presented by Jonathan Chestnut, Associate Professor of Art at Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville Arts Council, 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville. Information: www.theartscouncil.com.

March 4 – 5 PARENTING SEMINAR. Sandhills MOPS presents parenting seminar with speaker Dr. Kathy Koch. Friday: 7 - 8:30 p.m. “Why Do They Do That?” Cost: $15; Saturday: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. “How Am I Smart? Help Children Discover and Use Their Intelligences” Cost: $25 (Includes free entry into Friday night). Community Presbyterian Church, Pinehurst. For tickets and information: www.sandhillsmops.com.

March 4 – 6 HOME & GARDEN EXPO. Fri. 12 - 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sun. 12 - 5 p.m. Sponsored by the Moore County Home Builders Association. The Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst. (910) 944-2992. Pinehurst Resor, Carolina Hotel, 80 Carolina Vista Drive.

March 4 UNCORKED: Battle of the Old World. 5:30 p.m. Round 1: Rhone Versus Bordeaux. Introducing a four-month series where a battle royale between Old World wine-producing regions will incur. First up is two of Frances best known regions. Bordeaux is known for its elegance; Rhone is known for its expressiveness. Cost: $20 (includes four tapa-style bites paired with four wines). Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. ART EXHIBIT & OPENING RECEPTION. 6 – 8 p.m. 2011 Young People’s Fine Arts Festival. Exhibit on display through March 19. Call for schedule. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Information: www.mooreart.org or (910) 692-4356. JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 – 10 p.m. Live jazz music and hors d’oeuvres, rain or shine. Admission: $8. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery, 21904 Riverton Road, Wagram. Information: www.cypressbendvineyards.com or (910) 369-0411.

March 5 ART TUTORIAL SERIRES. Beginning oil painting with Diane Kraudelt. Hollyhocks Art Gallery 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Information and registration: (910) 255-0665. PEDAL FOR PENICK. 10:30 a.m. Benefitting the Garden Cottages Capital Campaign. Friendly bicycle event offering 10, 25 or 60 mile routes beginning at the Weymouth House and ending at the Blanche Robertson Garden Cottage at Penick Village. Ride participants may receive a free bike inspection/ safety check from Rainbow Cycles. Event held rain or shine. Cost: $75. Information: www.penickvillagefoundation.org. FOOD DEMONSTRATION: Fresh From the Farm. 12 & 2 p.m. Kitchen Essence Guest Speaker Dale Thompson on “How cheeseburgers were intended.” Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663.

March 5 -7 ARTour TO PHILADELPHIA. Arts Council of Moore County presents an ARTour to Philadelphia, featuring the Philadelphia Flower Show, Barnes Foundation, Marc Chagall exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Information: (910) 692-2787 or www.mooreart.org.

ca l e n da r

March 6

SENIOR ACTIVITY. 12 p.m. Colorectal Cancer Awareness. With recommended screening, this fatal cancer can be prevented or detected early, when it can be more easily and successfully treated. Douglas Community Center will have a guest speaker to talk about the importance of being aware of this deadly disease. For ages 50+. Douglas Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Information and registration: (910) 692-7376.

WEYMOUTH CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES. 3 p.m. Featuring the Ciompi Quartet: violin, viola, cello. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-6261.

Providing Custom Homes & Remodeling

ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 7 p.m. Alasdair Fraser (one of Scotland’s finest fiddlers) and Natalie Haas (young cello ace) have perfect chemistry. Cost: $25 (in advance); $29 (at door). Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen. Information: www.theroosterswife.org or (910) 944-7502.

OLDIES & GOODIES FILM SERIES. 2:30 p.m. Presenting “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House,” a 1948 comedy starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, and Melvyn Douglas. Enjoy refreshments and meet other film buffs at this free event. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

March 7 ART CLASS. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Applying Perspective in Landscape with Betty DiBartolomeo. Cost: $45. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

March 8

Fax 910-295-1549 P.O. Box 3090, Pinehurst, NC 28374

LUNCH WITH LEGENDS. 11:30 a.m. League of Women Voters of Moore County’s third annual event. This year’s “guests” include Susan B. Anthony, a pivotal figure in 19th century rights movements; Francis Perkins, the first woman to hold a cabinet post; and Sojourner Truth, a former slave who became an abolitionist preacher. Conversations, in their own words, portrayed by League members. Country Club of North Carolina. Cost: $30. Information and tickets: Ginger Finney at (910) 673-1330. WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras Party. French Wine Tasting or Louisiana Beer 6. Cost: $10. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net.

ART TUTORIAL SERIES. Exploring shadows and light with Diane Kraudelt. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information and registration: (910) 255-0665. ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Pastel: Figurative or Animal with Betty Hendrix. Cost: $45. Artist League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

TEEN EVENT AT LIBRARY. 5:30 p.m. The Teen Advisory Board (grades 9-12) meets and welcomes new members who wish to attend. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

MEET THE ARTIST. 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Meet Carolyn Rotter at work in the Gallery. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 255-0665. Key: Art

Music/Concerts

Dance/Theater

Film

SANDBOX PLAYERS PRESENT: Crimes of the Heart. 7:30 p.m. (Thursday, Friday & Saturday); 2 p.m. (Saturday & Sunday). Tickets: $15. Thursday night is buy one, get one free. Sunrise Theater, 250 Broad Street, Southern Pines. Information: (910) 295-5828.

HISTORIC WALKING TOUR & TEA. Discover the stories of Pinehurst and enjoy the traditions of classic high tea at one of America’s Historic Landmarks. Cost: $25. Space is limited. Carolina Hotel, 80 Carolina Vista Drive. Information and registration: (910) 235-8415.

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Bring infants and toddlers (birth through 5 years) to join for stories, songs and fun. Then stay for playtime! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

ART CLASS. 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Deconstructing Abstraction in Acrylics with JJ Love. Class includes 30-minute lunch break. Cost: $130. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

FAYETTEVILLE ARTS COUNCIL LECTURE. 7 – 8 p.m. Reading the Vision: The African American Female Artist as Illustrator, presented by Soni Martin, Professor of Art at Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville Arts Council, 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville. Information: www.theartscouncil.com.

March 11

CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022.

March 10

March 10 – 13

March 9

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Challenges and Hope. 6 p.m. English Speaking Union presentation by Doug Sandridge at CCNC, Pinehurst. Membership, reservations and information: (910) 235-0635.

AUTHOR EVENT. In “The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare,” an historical novel of Tudor England, author Arlis Ryan answers the question: What if Anne Hathaway Shakespeare had been Shakespeare’s silent writing partner? The Country Bookshop, 140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. Information: www.thecountrybookshop.biz or (910) 692-3211.

UNCORKED: The Battle of California. 5:30 p.m. Stone versus Bear Republic. Two breweries, both known for their hops and abilities to balance out their brews with malts. Which one wins? Cost: $20 (includes four tapa-style bites paired with four wines). Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 8 p.m. Asleep at the Wheel. Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight Street, Aberdeen. Information: www.theroosterswife.org or (910) 944-7502.

March 11 – 13 GOLF TOURNAMENT. Nineteen collegiate golf teams will compete on Pinehurst No. 6 for the Pinehurst Intercollegiate title this year. Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 235-8140.

March 12 HABI-DASH. Habitat for Humanity spring fundraiser. 50’s-themed Habi-Dash features a “dash” for art, a DJ, food by White Rabbit Catering and an Elvis impersonator. Every ticket holder will go home with a piece of artwork, donated by talented local artists. Tickets: $250 (each ticket allows 2 people to attend). Information: www.sandhillshabitatgala.com. Literature/Speakers

Fun

History

Sports

ca l e n da r MEET THE ARTIST. 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Meet Jane Casnellie at work in the Gallery. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: www.hollyhocksartgallery.com or (910) 255-0665. FOOD DEMONSTRATION. 12 & 2 p.m. FNC shrimp and Elena’s Mediterranean Stew. Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. SWING INTO SPRING. 7 -10 p.m. Heart of Carolina Jazz Society presents third annual dance and dinner. Carolina Trace Clubhouse, Sanford. Tickets: $35 (before March 2); $45 (after March 2). Tickets and information: www.carolinajazz.com.

March 12 – 13 SOUTHERN PINES HORSE TRIALS. Carolina Horse Park at Five Points, just off Hwy 211 between Aberdeen and Raeford. Information: (910) 875-2074 or www.carolinahorsepark.com. ONE-DAY GOLF TOURNAMENT. Carolinas Golf Association presents one-day tournament at Seven Lakes Country Club. Information: (910) 673-1000 or www.carolinasgolf.org.

March 13 MOORE COUNTY CONCERT BAND. 2 p.m. Free event held in the Cardinal Ballroom of the Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst. Information: www.moorecountyband.com. SUNDAY AFTERNOON MOVIE. 2:30 p.m. Kids grades 3-5 (and their parents) are invited to watch “James and the Giant Peach” (rated PG), a musical adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Roald Dahl. Refreshments will be served. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

March 14

als fee). Computer rental fee: $25. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org. GOLF TOURNAMENT. Pre-Senior/Senior/Super Senior Tournament sponsored through the Carolinas Golf Association held at Pine Needles and Mid Pines. Information: (910) 673-1000 or www.carolinagolf.org.

March 16 THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Iphigenie en Tauride. Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo reprise their starring roles in Gluck’s nuanced and elegant interpretation of this primal Greek myth. Tenor Paul Groves also returns to Stephen Wadsworth’s insightful production, first seen in 2007. Patrick Summers conducts. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. Tickets: www.sunrisetheater. org. Information: (910) 692-3611. CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Bring infants and toddlers (birth through 5 years) to join for stories, songs and fun. Then stay for playtime! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

March 17 ART CLASS. 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Deconstructing Abstraction in Acrylics with JJ Love. Class includes 30-minute lunch break. Cost: $130. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org. FINE ARTS LECTURE SERIES. 10 a.m. Dr. Molly Gwinn on “Edward Hopper: Finding Beauty in the Commonplace” at Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut

Ave., Southern Pines. Information and registration: Arts Council of Moore County at (910) 692-2787. MEET THE ARTIST. 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Meet Jean Frost at work in the Gallery. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: www.hollyhocksartgallery.com or (910) 255-0665. NATIONAL THEATER LIVE IN HD. 3 p.m. Danny Boyle’s new production of Frankenstein, a play by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, will be broadcast from the National’s Olivier Theatre. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Information: www.sunrisetheater.org. BOOK CLUB. 5:30 p.m. This month’s book selection is “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand” by Helen Simonson. The debut novel, described as “Jane Austen meets Alexander McCall Smith,” was named as one of the Top Ten Books of 2010 by the New York Times. No preregistration is required; new members welcome. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235. WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. A “Luck of the Irish” Wine Tasting and live music with Gary Lewis. Irish Beer available, too. Cost: $10. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net. ART CLASS. 6 – 9 p.m. Watercolor Techniques: Beginning to Intermediate with Mike D’Andrea. Cost: $80. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

March 18 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MOORE. 11:30 a.m. Luncheon at Tavern on the Green, Midland Country Club with speaker Darlind Davis, Director of Drug Free Moore County. Reservations required. Cost: $12. Reservations: (910) 944-9611.

SANDHILLS PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB MEETING. 7 p.m. Juan Pons with a slideshow presentation on Nature Photography. Juan is a professional photographer who lives in Pittsboro. Christ Fellowship Church, Midland and Pee Dee Road, Southern Pines. Information: wildnaturephoto. com and www.sandhillsphotoclub.org. CLASSICAL CONCERT SERIES. 8 p.m. Featuring violinist Alina Ibragimova. Born in Russia, Ibragimova is a former pupil of the Moscow Gnesin and Yehudi Menuhin schools, and the Royal College of Music London. Her recent engagements include her BBC Proms debut with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia and the City of Birmingham Symphony. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Information: www.mooreart.org.

March 15 SENIOR ACTIVITY: Nutrition Lecture. 11:30 a.m. Promoting healthful eating by providing practical nutrition and physical activity tips. Sign up by March 11. Douglas Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-7376. BOOK CLUB. 2 p.m. “Roll River.” James Boyd Book Club with Weymouth’s Librarian, Dotty Starling. Weymouth Center, 555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Information: www.weymouthcenter.org or (910) 692-6261.

March 15 – 16 ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Putting Your Art on the Web with Tommy McDonell. Cost: $80 (includes materiKey: Art Music/Concerts Dance/Theater Film Literature/Speakers Fun History Sports PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

ca l e n da r AUTHOR EVENT. 4 p.m. NC Author Abigail Dewitt presents “Dogs,” her contemporary novel of love and desire, guilt and accountability; about a young woman who must face the hard truths of her parents’ lives and her own. The Country Bookshop, 140 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Information: www.thecountrybookshop.biz or (910) 692-3211. UNCORKED. 5:30 p.m. Battle of the Old World. 5:30 p.m. Round 2: Burgundy versus Loire. Burgundy definitely has the edge in this one, producing some of the most beautiful wines in the world. Don’t sleep on Loire Valley though; its work with Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc are second to none. Cost: $20 (includes four tapa-style bites paired with four wines). Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 – 10 p.m. Live jazz music and hors d’oeuvres, rain or shine. Admission: $8. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery, 21904 Riverton Road, Wagram. Information: www.cypressbendvineyards.com or (910) 369-0411. NATIONAL THEATER LIVE IN HD. 7:30 - 10 p.m. Danny Boyle’s new production of Frankenstein, a play by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, will be broadcast from the National’s Olivier Theatre. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Information: www.sunrisetheater.org.

March 19 STOP HUNGER EVENT. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief organization, will hold the third annual meal-packaging event in the Dempsey Student Center at SCC. The meal packaging program provides volunteers the opportunity to package dehydrated, high protein, and highly nutritious meals that are used in crisis situations and in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world. Organizers are again seeking monetary donations and volunteers. Information: Dan Askins at DanAskins@gmail.com or (910) 528-7003 or (910) 215-8150 x234.

Frankenstein, a play by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Mary Shelley, will be broadcast from the National’s Olivier Theatre. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Information: www.sunrisetheater.org. LIBRARY LECTURE SERIES. 3 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library’s ongoing lecture series. Explorations: A Forum for Adults. Playwright Anna Gardner will be featured speaker. Gardner’s play, “Come Dance on My Grave” will be part of the 2011 Palustris Festival. 170 West Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

March 21 BENEFIT GOLF TOURNAMENT. The Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina, Inc. and Pinehurst Resort Course No. 8 present the 7th annual golf tournament to benefit the Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina. Cost: $200 per player/$750 per team of four. Entry fee includes green and cart fees, prizes, range balls, snacks, coffee and Danish, bag lunch and dinner. Also, chance to win a hole-in-one prize of a Mazda two-year lease on hole #8, and $1,000 on hole #15, provided by Bill Smith Mazda. Information: www.bghncsandhills.org or Ron at (910) 295-1819.

March 22 PIZZA WITH PIZZAZZ. 5 – 6 p.m. Discover the art of “Tricky Pix.” Learn all about trick photography and enjoy free pizza with your friends. For students grades 6-8. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

March 23 ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Underpainting in Watercolor Pencils: Colored Pencil with Watercolor by Betty Hendrix. Cost: $45. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Bring infants and toddlers (birth through 5 years) to join for stories, songs and fun. Then stay for playtime! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235.

March 23 – 27 MOORE ON STAGE: Over the River and Through the Woods. 7:30 p.m. (Wednesday – Saturday); 2 p.m. (Sunday). Every Sunday, Nick, a single Italian American from New Jersey, has dinner with both sets of his grandparents. When he tells them that his dream job is waiting for him in Seattle, the scheming begins — Nick’s grandfolks go to desperate measures to keep him “home” where he belongs. Tickets: $22 (adults) and $15 (students under 18); all seats are $15 on Wednesday, March 23. Reservations: (910) 692-7118. Information: www.mooreonstage.com.

March 24 – 27

Palustris Festival Second Annual Celebration of the Visual, Literary and Performing Arts

in Moore County. See pages 13 – 25 for a complete listing of Palustris Festival events; featured artists and events found on pages 68 - 77. Tickets and Information: www.palustrisfestival.com.

March 24 BOOK SIGNING. 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Steve Bouser talks about his recent book, “Death of a Pinehurst Princess: The 1935 Elva Statler Davidson Mystery,” at Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College. Information: www.palustrisfestival.com.

FOOD DEMONSTRATION. 12 & 2 p.m. Steakhouse Beef Tips Supper in 15 minutes. Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Natalie Dessay triumphed as the fragile heroine of Donizetti’s masterpiece on Opening Night of the 2007–08 season in Mary Zimmerman’s hit production. Now she returns to the role of the innocent young woman driven to madness, opposite Joseph Calleja, who sings her lover Edgardo. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. Tickets and information: www.sunrisetheater.org or (910) 692-3611. ROOSTER’S WIFE CONCERT SERIES. 8 p.m. 18 South. Born on the front porch and dining room of a house on the quiet Nashville Street, 18th Ave. South, the band is a coming together of six musicians with one common desire to create a band defined by nothing other than it’s music. Tickets and information: (910) 944-7502 or www.theroosterswife.org.

March 19 – 20 SPRING MUSICAL: TBA. Presented by Pinecrest Players at R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, Southern Pines. Tickets and information: afaw@ncms.org.

March 20 CONCERT. 2 – 4:30 p.m. Young Musicians Festival Winners’ Concert. Weymouth Center, 555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Information: www. weymouthcenter.org or (910) 692-6261. NATIONAL THEATER LIVE IN HD. 2:30 p.m. Encore performance. Danny Boyle’s new production of Key: Art Music/Concerts Dance/Theater Film Literature/Speakers Fun History Sports PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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ca l e n da r Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-7376.

OPENING RECEPTION & EXHIBIT. 5 – 7 p.m. Wine, appetizers and “A Cupcake Mosaic: Edible Art Exhibit” by Elliott’s on Linden. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 255-0665.

WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. Beers of the United Kingdom, includes Souvenir Glass and live music with Carla Denman. Cost: $12. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net.

INTERNATIONAL TENORS. 6 – 8 p.m. Pinehurst Forum presents the International Tenors at Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst Resort. Tickets and information: www. pinehurstforum.org. FAYETTEVILLE ARTS COUNCIL. 7 – 8 p.m. Illustration and the Cultural Icon presented by Dwight Smith, Lecturer at Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville Arts Council, 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville. Information: www.theartscouncil.com. RUTH PAULY LECTURE SERIES. 7:30 p.m. William Mangum, “Art in North Carolina.” Mangum began his journey as an artist with a 59¢ tray of watercolors as a senior at UNCG and has developed into one of the premier landscape and architectural artists of his time. Sandhills Community College, Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Rd., Southern Pines.

March 25 FREE YOGA IN THE PINES. 2 – 4 p.m. Village Arboretum, Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-1900 www.palustrisfestival.com. SENIOR ACTIVITY. 2 – 9 p.m. Robert Frost’s Birthday. He first tried farming, teaching, shoemaking and editing to make a living, but poetry was his first love. Frost won a Pulitzer Prize four times and was the first poet to be invited to read a poem at a Presidential Inauguration. There will be a reading of, “The Road Not Taken.” Light refreshments will be served. Cost: $2 (residents); $4 (non-residents). Douglas Key: Art

Music/Concerts

Dance/Theater

Film

EXHIBIT OPENING. 7 – 9 p.m. Grand opening of “We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball,” with an appearance and book-signing by award-winning artist Kadir Nelson. Exhibition includes 33 original paintings, 13 sketches and educational materials, all of which are dedicated to the preservation of the history of Negro Leagues. Exhibit continues through month of March. Fayetteville Arts Council, 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville. Information: www. theartscouncil.com.

March 25 – 27 SOUTHERN PINES HORSE TRIALS II. Carolina Horse Park at Five Points, just off Hwy 211 between Aberdeen and Raeford. Information: (910) 875-2074 or www.carolinahorsepark.com.

March 26 FOOD DEMONSTRATION. 12 & 2 p.m. Granny Edith’s Old-Fashioned Pot Roast & Gravy. Great rewards, little effort. Elliott’s on Linden, 905 Linden Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-3663. MEET THE SWAMPDOGS. 12 – 2 p.m. Meet the players and learn about Negro League Baseball at J.P. Riddle Stadium, Legion Road. Information: (910) 3231776 or www.theartscouncil.com. Literature/Speakers

Fun

History

March 27 FREE YOGA IN THE PINES. 2 – 4 p.m. Village Arboretum, Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-1900 www.palustrisfestival.com. KALEIDOSCOPE FAMILY SERIES. 4 – 5:30 p.m. Doug Berky’s No Show at the O’Neal School Activity Center, 3300 Airport Rd., Southern Pines. Tickets: $10 (ACMC members and O’Neal families); $12 (non-members). Information: (910) 692-2787 or www.mooreart.org.

March 28 SANDHILLS NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 7 p.m. Invasion: North Carolina’s native landscape is under attack by a diverse set of harmful invasive plant pests that cause both economic and ecological damage. Rick Iverson, a plant ecologist with the NC Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services, will discuss state programs designed to prevent the entry and contain the spread of invasive weeds, such as cogongrass, in North Carolina. Visitors welcome. Weymouth Woods, Sandhills Nature Preserve, 1024 Ft. Bragg Road, Southern Pines. Information: (910) 692-2167 or www.sandhillsnature.org.

March 28 - 29 TAR HEEL CUP MATCHES. 17th annual event sponsored through the Carolinas Golf Association. The Dormie Club, West End. Information: (910) 673-1000 or www.carolinasgolf.org.

March 29 SENIOR ACTIVITY. 11 a.m. Join the senior division as we travel to Carthage to enjoy lunch at the famous Pik n’ Pig. Their hickory smoked barbecue melts in your mouth.

Sports

ca l e n da r Depart from the Campbell House parking lot in Southern Pines. Cost: $2 (residents); $4 (nonresidents) includes transportation only. Information and registration: (910) 692-7376.

March 30 THE MET AT THE SUNRISE. 1 p.m. Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Natalie Dessay triumphed as the fragile heroine of Donizetti’s masterpiece on Opening Night of the 2007–08 season in Mary Zimmerman’s hit production. Now she returns to the role of the innocent young woman driven to madness, opposite Joseph Calleja, who sings her lover Edgar. Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. Tickets: www. sunrisetheater.org. Information: (910) 692-3611. CHILDREN’S STORY TIME. 1:30 – 2 p.m. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-6022. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Bring infants and toddlers (birth through 5 years) to join for stories, songs and fun. Then stay for playtime! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Ave. Information: www.sppl.net or (910) 692-8235. WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. Women Gone Wine! Featuring $4 wines by the glass and retro-glam jewelry by Lesley Anne Slisko. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Rd., Pinehurst. Information: (910) 295-5100 or www.villagewineshop.net.

March 30 – April 3 ARTour TO NEW YORK. Arts Council of Moore County presents an ARTour to New York City, featuring Anything Goes The Musical, New York Philharmonic conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibits Cezanne’s Card Players and Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand, and another Broadway show TBA. Information: (910) 692-2787 or www.mooreart.org.

March 31 ART CLASS. 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Deconstructing Abstraction in Acrylics with JJ Love. Class includes 30-minute lunch break. Cost: $130. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org. Key: Art Music/Concerts History Sports

Dance/Theater

Film

Literature/Speakers

Fun

cA l e n dA r MEET THE ARTIST. 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Meet Jane Casnellie at work in the Gallery. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Rd., Pinehurst. Information: www.hollyhocksartgallery. com or (910) 255-0665.

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ART CLASS. 6 – 9 p.m. Watercolor Techniques: Beginning to Intermediate with Mike D’Andrea. Cost: $80. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street, Aberdeen. Information: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org. FAYETTEVILLE ARTS COUNCIL LECTURE. 7 – 8 p.m. Illustration and the Cultural Icon, presented by Dwight Smith. 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville. Information: www.theartscouncil.com.

April 1 ART EXHIBIT & OPENING RECEPTION. 6 – 8 p.m. Featuring Ben Owen Pottery and William Mangum Art. Exhibit on display through April 29. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Information and schedule: (910) 6922787 or www.mooreart.org JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 – 10 p.m. Live jazz music and hors d’oeuvres., rain or shine. Admission: $8. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery, Riverton Road in Wagram. Information: (910) 369-0411.

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April 2 DINING IN THE DARK. 6:30 – 9 p.m. Join The MIRA Foundation USA for their 2nd Annual fund raiser to benefit children in need of guide dogs. Cost: $125. Country Club of North Carolina, 1600 Morganton Rd., Pinehurst. Information and reservations: (910) 944- 7757.

April 3 PINEHURST HARNESS TRACK SPRING MATINEE RACES. 1 p.m. Late morning: Tailgating; Opening Ceremonies: 1:00PM; Races begin 1:30 p.m. Annual Harness Races with trotters and pacers. Pinehurst Harness Track, Route 5, Pinehurst. Information: Sim Brown at (910) 603-5695.

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Art Galleries BROADHURST GALLERY, 2212 Midland Rd., Pinehurst, showcases works by nationally recognized artists such as Louis St. Lewis, Lula Smith, Shawn Morin, Rachel Clearfield, Judy Cox and Jason Craighead. Meet-the-artist opportunities are available. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. (910)295-4817, www.broadhurstgallery.com. ART GALLERY AT THE MARKET PLACE, 2160 Midland Road, Pinehurst, features original art by local artists Joan Williams, Deane Billings, Jeanette Sheehan, Mike D’Andrea, Janet Burdick, Nancy Yanchus, and Cele Bryant. Meet one of the artists Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (910)215-5963. ARTIST ALLEY features juried art and fine crafts from local and regional artists, 167 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. (910)692-6077. ARTISTS LEAGUE OF THE SANDHILLS, located at 129 Exchange St. in historic Aberdeen. Exhibit hours are noon-3 p.m., Monday-Saturday. (910)944-3979. THE CAMPBELL HOUSE GALLERIES, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines, is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, and every third weekend of the month from 2-4 p.m. (910)6924356, www.mooreart.org.

BUTLER ASSOCIATES PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISALS and ESTATE SERVICES Appraisals: Insurance, Charitable Donations, Equitable Distribution

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THE GALLERY AT SEVEN LAKES, a gallery dedicated to local artists. The Gallery is open on Wednesday and Thursday each week from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 1145 Seven Lakes Drive, The St. Mary Magdalen building. Just 9 miles from the Pinehurst Traffic Circle up 211. HASTINGS GALLERY is located in the Katharine L. Boyd Library at Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst. Gallery hours are 7:45 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 7:45 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; and 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. HOLLYHOCKS ART GALLERY, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst, features original artwork by local artists Diane Kraudelt, Carol Rotter, Mary Frey, Jean Frost, Sandy Scott and artist/ owner Jane Casnellie. Open Monday--Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (910)255-0665, www. hollyhocksartgallery.com. THE OLD SILK ROUTE, 113 West Main St., Aberdeen specializes in Asian original art, including silk paintings, tapestries, Buddhist Thangkas and Indian paper miniatures. Open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. (910)295-2055. SEAGROVE CANDLE COMPANY, 116 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines, showcases the arts and crafts of the Sandhills and Seagrove area. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, WednesdaySaturday, (910)695-0029.

CUTLER TREE

Tree Pruning • Removal Plant Site Consulting Stump Grinding • Shrub Care Tree Conservation for New Home Sites Free Estimates Geoffrey Cutler Fully Insured 910-692-7769 910-690-7657

SKY ART GALLERY, 602 Magnolia Dr., Aberdeen, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. (910)944-9440, www.skyartgallery.com. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

ca l e n da r Studio 590, located in a historic log cabin, is the working studio and gallery of artists Betty DiBartolomeo and Harry Neely. Studio 590 offers fine oil paintings, commissions and instruction. Studio 590 is located by the pond in the Dowd Cabin, 590 Dowd Circle in Pinehurst South. (910)639-9404. White Hill Gallery, 407 U.S. 15-501, Carthage, offers a variety of pottery. (910)947-6100. The Downtown Gallery (inside Flynne’s Coffee Bar)is located at 115 NE Broad St. in downtown Southern Pines. Ever-changing array of local and regional art, pottery and other handmade items. (910)693-1999. Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour, located at 25 Chinquapin Road in Pinehurst, is featuring local artist Nancy Campbell. Original oil and watercolor paintings are on display inside the tea shop. Open Tuesday - Saturday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (910)255-0100, www.ladybedfords.com.

Nature Centers Sandhills Horticultural Gardens (32 acres of gardens). The Sandhills Horticultural Gardens are handicapped-accessible. Daylight hours year-round. (910)695-3882. Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve (898 acres). 1024 Ft. Bragg Road, Southern Pines. (910)692-2167. VILLAGE ABORETUM. 35 acres of land adjoining the Village Hall on Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. (910) 295-1900.

Historical Sites Bethesda Church and Cemetery. Guided

tours for groups by appointment. 1020 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen. (910)944-1319. Bryant House and McLendon Cabin. Tours by appointment. (910)692-2051 or (910)673-0908. Carthage Historical Museum. Sundays, 2-5 p.m. or by appointment. Located at Rockingham and Saunders streets, Carthage. (910)947-2331. House in the Horseshoe. Open year-round. Hours vary. 288 Alston House Road (10 miles north of Carthage), Sanford. (910)947-2051. Malcolm Blue Farm and Museum. 1-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Group tours can be arranged by appointment. (910)944-7558 or (910)603-2739. North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday-Friday, at the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. (910)692-6261. Shaw House Property. Open 1-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday. (910)692-2051. Tufts Archives. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday. (910)295-3642. Union Station. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Located in downtown Aberdeen. (910)944-5902. Sandhills Woman’s Exchange Log Cabin Open 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. (910)295-4677 To add an event, send us an e-mail at pinestraw@thepilot.com by the first of the month prior to the event.

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March 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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SandhillSeen

Second Annual Dancing with the Sandhills Stars Sunday, January 30, 2011 Photographs by Al & Annette Daniels

Dawn Maser, Carrie Miller and Toni Washington

Marion and John Gaida

Kathie Parson and Justin Bode

Kim Cotty and Anne Collins

Dorothy Mason and Ed Hancharak

Ann Boyd Newman, Cynthia Eckard and Barbara Weeks

Kathee Dishner and Cindy Davis

Lauren Krahnert and Darrell Stone

Nikki Bowman, Sandy Lampros and Erica Peterson

Peggy Miller and Holly Floyd

Debbie Valenti, Susan Bristow and Lisa Tarlington

Sanford 

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SandhillSeen

Chinese New Year - At the home of Lucille and Jim Buck Fundraiser for Arts Council of Moore County Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Linda and Clarence Lindsey

Howard Schubert and Meridith Martens

Paul Bride and Lib Palmer Nelson Neil Cecelia & Bob Harding

Linda Lindsey, Jackie Garris and Marilyn Grube

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Nelson Neil, Jackie Garris, Marilyn & Jim Grube

Lucille and Jim Buck

2nd Annual

Affair of the Arts Dinner, Dance, Show

Pinehurst Fair Barn Friday, March 25 Music by

The Swing Street Band Tickets $25 + $10 dinner surcharge. All seats reserved. www.AffairOfTheArts.net

Tickets: 910-692-8839 - Hurry, seating limited! PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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SandhillSeen MCH Hunt Breakfast at Weymouth Honoring Dick Webb, MFH Photographs by Jeanne Paine Barbara and Dr. Lee Sedwick

Dick Webb, MFH

Bridget and Colin MacNair

Kim Cotty and Anne Collins

Tayloe Compton, Cameron Sadler

Bailey Mitchell, Savannah Russell, Kayela Smith, Halee Cunningham and Sarah Brown

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George & Danielle Veasy and Leonard Short

Jan Van Fossen and Susan Gaines

Craig Stokes

Dottie Greenleaf, Tiffany Teeter, Edie Overly and Christiane Rowley

Peter and Corine Loganbach

Terry Cook, Danila Devins, Charlie Cook and Dr. Doug Jackson

Ray Owen

SandhillSeen

Ella Patrick, Alex Griswold, Bayle Owens, Daniel Wake, Kris Wahl

MCH Hunt Ball - CCNC

Mel & Angela Royal, Lincoln & Cameron Sadler, John Huganin, Tayloe Compton, Helen Kalevas and Todd Dickinson

Honoring Dick Webb, MFH Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Daniel Nesser and Landon Russell

Reg Miller and Doreen Schlicht

Lucille & Jim Buck

Dominick & Cindy Pagnotta and Marret & Huling Poston Danielle & Dr. George Veasey

Donna & Tex Griffin

Mickey & George Wirtz Arlene & Maj. Gen. Sidney Shachnow

Nancy Corkery, Dick Webb, MFH and Anne Webb

David & Christine Raley

Peter & Corine Longanbach

Shellie Sommerson and Neil Schwartzberg

Katie & Dick Walsh

Ashley Van Camp and Charlie Coulter

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T h o u g h ts f r o m T h e M a n S h e d

A Boy and His Dog Goodbye, Addidas Final Rendezvous

By Geoff Cutler

’d have written about her for the family anyway, so if you’ll indulge me, I’ll share her story with you, too. She came to us in August of 1997, a one-year-old Curly Coated Retriever named Allie. Wife Brooke and daughter Whitney had been out to the Moore County Dog Show, and her owners were selling her on account of, while her parents were both champions, Allie, or “Addidas Final Rendezvous,” had “issues.” Turns out the main issue was that she didn’t like to show. Her owners had high hopes Allie — a perfect specimen of the breed — would preen and prance her way to doggy stardom, winning ribbons and trophies galore. But every time they attempted to transport Allie to a competitive venue, she knew where she was going and went berserk inside her cage. By the time they arrived at their destination, Allie was in such a dither, she couldn’t show anything. When Brooke and Whitney came upon her, there she was, no ribbons of glory adorning her cage, just a FOR SALE sign. Papers were signed, money exchanged hands, and Allie came home to live with us. I was sitting on the front porch when they pulled in. Allie jumped down out of the car and took off toward the neighbor’s house. I asked Brooke what her name was, and yelled out, “Allie, come.” I’ve owned dogs all my life, and what happened next I’ll never forget. She turned immediately and ran right to me, came up the porch steps, sat down beside me, and gave my face a lick as if I’d owned and trained her from the day she was born. She sat there without moving until I got up to go into the house as if she knew exactly what I expected of her. I’d never seen anything like it. As she settled into the family, which took another five minutes or so, I couldn’t help but wonder, how does this dog know she is with us to stay? She’d been living in a pen for her first year, only let out to be terrorized because she knew she had to go perform, and we have her for all of an hour and she knows she’s just been given a new lease on life and it’s to be a permanent one? Much later, we were watching the Westminster dog show on television and when a Curly Coated Retriever was danced around the ring, one of the announcers said about the breed, “They are hysterically intelligent.” Oh! I thought, so that’s it. Then we found out what Allie really wanted out of life. My son, Will, about seven years old at the time, gave her a tennis ball. And so began a story about a boy and his dog. She loved us all, there’s no doubt about that. When we came home, she showed her excitement by furiously wagging her tail, and her upper jowls

would rise, which showed her teeth in what was clearly a dog smile. But from then on, the deepest recesses of her heart were reserved for Will. They became inseparable. When Will and his pals played basketball, Allie trotted back and forth around their court. When they hit baseballs, Allie played the field and brought the balls back to the batter. When they tossed a Frisbee, Allie played, too, and could catch the disk just as well as they could. At Halloween, Will dressed Allie in the Southern Pines Recreational Basketball League’s jersey and put sneaker dog booties on her, and they would trick or treat together. We never had to worry about Allie roaming off on her own because she never left his side. Around they went collecting candy from the neighborhood. When they went out into Weymouth Woods to build forts and play in the creeks, Allie would go right along and come back covered in mud. Sometimes, Will hooked a long leash to Allie’s collar, and he would climb on his skateboard and Allie would take off down the road. Nights after we had a good snowstorm, the neighborhood kids would sled down Steelman Road, a treacherously steep snow course, and Allie would chase them to the bottom of the hill, slipping and sliding the whole way, and then she’d walk back to the top and do it all over again. And then he would do with her what she liked best. Throw her a ball or hit it with a golf club, and Allie would bring it back to him every time and drop it at his feet. Hour after hour they played this game, neither of them tiring. It was something to watch and warmed the cockles of my heart. This went on right up until Will went off to college. By then, Allie had gotten on in years and spent a good deal of her time sleeping under the farm table in our living room. Every time Will called, he always asked how Allie was doing, and he fretted that one time we wouldn’t be able to say, “She’s just fine.” Her hind legs were failing her, but otherwise, she stayed amazingly healthy and had kept a good appetite. She’d go outside and do her thing and come in with enough energy to chase the cats away from her food, and she’d check Will’s room every day to see if maybe by chance he’d come home and she hadn’t noticed. And when he did come home for breaks, Allie perked up like a puppy again and they were happy to be together until he had to leave, and he would lie on the floor to give her what he thought would be the last long hug and kiss. Allie had a stroke the other night, and we rushed her immediately to the Small Animal Emergency Services. We weren’t going to let her suffer for one more minute than she had to. The folks at the emergency service were wonderful, and as Allie took her last breaths, we hugged her tight and a single tear spilled out of her eye and trickled down her cheek. That same horrible day, I got in contact with a breeder of Curly Coated Retrievers in Atlanta. We’re on the list for a black male puppy, born last week. If for some reason, it falls through, we’ll go to the local shelter. PS Geoff Cutler is owner of Cutler Tree LLC in Southern Pines. He is a regular contributor to both The Pilot and PineStraw. He can be reached at geoffcutler@embarqmail.com.

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Resale Retail

Pisces

(feb . 20 - March 20) Bless your lucky charms, Child . dreaming is about as useless as a grave robber in a crematorium if you don’t have the gumption to make your fantasies real (which, no offense, honey, I’m not so sure that you do) . Try not to overindulge on the 10th lest you care to ﬁnd yourself in a situation that’s stickier than soda syrup . oh, and at the end of the month, prepare to be caught up in the middle of a cosmic tug-of-war . remember, the distance to the next milepost depends on the mud in the road, Baby Cakes .

Aries (March 21 - April 20)

That voice inside your head doesn’t mean you’re crazy, Sweetie. (If it did, I’d be battier than Tammy Faye Baker’s lashes.) Listen to your gut for guidance, especially on the 4th when the new moon has you itchier than a case of the pinworms for a little change of pace. On the 15th, new ideas will be sizzling in your brain like a litter of beerbattered hushpuppies — don’t let them get away, Hon. As my Aunty Pearl used to say, “The bullfrog never makes a mistake when he starts to sing.” Taurus (April 21 - May 21)

For the love of lump crab, you’re flakier than a puff pastry this month, Sugar Britches. Inflate your floaties on the 9th when Mercury floods you with so many thoughts you’re liable to plumb drown if you aren’t careful. There’s no turning back on the 11th when you begin to plow a path to a new opportunity. Just remember, your actions may have a domino effect on those around you. Still, you can’t tell much about chicken pie until you get through the crust, Tootsie. Gemini (May 22 - June 21)

Watch out when you’re getting what you want. Fattened hogs ain’t in luck. Although you’re itchy as eczema for a bit of spontaneity on the 9th, don’t take too big a start to jump a ditch, Sweetie. On the 13th, you’ll find yourself in a bigger bind than irritable bowels after a prune juice smoothie — if you can ride it out until the 15th, a solution will be clear as Crystal Light. The rabbit thinks experience costs too much if you get it from a trap. Remember that. Cancer (June 22 - July 23)

The rooster makes more racket than the hen that laid the eggs. (Don’t act like you don’t know what that means, Sweetie.) Although you’ll feel spicier than Cajun mayo on the 4th when the new moon illuminates a new opportunity, do be sure to look before you leap. Otherwise, you’re liable to be in more jeopardy than Alex Trebek’s mustache to a pair of throatless shears. When Mercury goes retrograde on the 30th, it may be time for a little personal re-evaluation. Loading a wagon with hay ain’t the quickest way to get religion, Sugar. Leo (July 23 - Aug. 23)

Slow and steady wins the race? My foot. Things look sweeter than rice pudding in the love department for you this month, Hambone. Just be sure to keep an open mind on the 6th lest you and your beau find yourselves in a pickle that’s greasier than grandpa’s pomade. The full moon on the 19th will help you to focus enough to line your ducks up. I say take advantage of that energy before you feel as drained as an old car battery. You know what they say, “Don’t get caught with your pants down, Darling.” Virgo (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23)

For the love of pickled pigs feet, Child, you’re bolder than a brandy snifter this month! (Too bad you’re as confused as a baby in a topless bar to boot.) Although a disagreement on the 13th may evolve into a situation that’s stickier than

salt-water taffy, biting your tongue may be the quick fix. Mercury will have you feeling as ornery as an Irishman in a dry county on the 18th. Get over yourself, Toots. And for Pete’s sake, don’t try to rake up the family secrets of every sausage you eat. Libra (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23)

Fry my bacon brown! Venus has you hotter than a pot of she-crab soup on the first of the month, Hon. Share the love. Otherwise, that feeling is as pointless as an ashtray on a crotch rocket. You may dance your way into some risky business on the 9th. Don’t sweat it. A hole in your britches may let in a heap of uneasiness — it can also teach you to sew. Pluto will have you picking at an old scab like it’s a doggone dulcimer around the 20th. Before healing others, heal yourself, Child. Scorpio (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)

Well can my yams! Change bigger than Charlie Sheen’s slush fund is heading your way faster than Jackie Chan can chop liver. Too bad you can’t hurry up the good times by waiting for them. On the 13th, Mercury will give you the gumption you need to confront an acquaintance about serving you the short end of the stick. A full purse ain’t half as good as an empty one is bad. A little initiative can go a long way, Darling. Your life doesn’t have to be as stale as an open box of Cocoa Krispies. Sagittarius (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21)

I’ll be an uncle’s knuckle. Mercury will have your mind sizzling like a beer-battered beef fajita on the 9th. Luckily, you’re charming enough that people will listen to all the poppycock you’ll find necessary to gab about. The spring equinox on the 20th might have your fuse shorter than a leprechaun’s pinky, but that doesn’t mean you have to blow up. A crow is a first-rate hand to thin corn. Do what you love, and good fortune will follow. Capricorn (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20)

You’re greener than tomatillos if you think soft ground don’t tell a heap of tales. Learn from others this month, Sugar, especially on the 3rd, when a friend you know stumbles into a briar patch of troubles. (I tell you, trying to understand some folks is like guessing at the direction of a rat hole underground.) Say what you mean on the 14th before Mars tempts you into a situation that’s stickier than goose grease. If you play your cards right, you’ll be pleased as a pickle by the month’s end, Dumpling. Aquarius (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19)

The humdrum of everyday life has you itchier than a wool peignoir to dig your fingers into something new. The universe is looking out for you, Buttercup. I’m just afraid those ideas of yours require more time to marinate. Nonetheless, you’ll have an opportunity to take action on the 20th in conjunction with the spring equinox — try not to botch it up. Tomorrow’s ashcake is better than last Sunday’s pudding. Open your eyes to a new way of seeing things, Sweetheart. PS

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2011

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southwords

Hello, Universe Is anyone listening?

By Sherry Nemmers

Why me? Why this? Why now? Why do bad things happen? Universal questions demand answers from the universe.

Could someone please help us out down here? Hello? Can you hear me now? I ask. No answer. Bad connection. Silence. Until I drove thirteen hours with a cat. Not for fun. (Dogs, fun, cats, not.) Didn’t plan on the drive. Crisis. Not a good driver. Nighttime. No sense of direction. I’m lost leaving my driveway. How not fun was it? Never turned on music. Only stopped for gas. No GPS. No idea where I was. No idea how to get “there.” But, I did get there. Maybe God drove, a little like Holly Hunter in “Broadcast News.” Can’t explain it. That’s when I got my faith back. My companion, the cat, slept the entire trip, changed positions twice, never said a word. Equally mystifying. Ironically, when I lost my faith three years ago, cats were involved. I’d rescued a dying stray cat. Spent eight weeks, 24/7, eyedropper feeding with meds. Didn’t even like that cat. But I was grateful to save a life. Thanked God every night for the chance. The dying cat lived, and found a good home. Eight weeks later my own best kitty, the love of my life, died within eleven days at the hands of “good” vets. Was this karma? How could this happen? I blamed myself because I couldn’t change the vets’ negligence, or the outcome. I finally blamed God. If there’s a God, I thought, He wins, with or without me. So it doesn’t matter. When I lost my faith, I lost my judgment. I lost my way. More bad things happened. Health, wealth, love or epic world disasters, God knows there are reasons to lose faith. Or try to find it again. Fortunately, the universe provides as many faiths as reasons to find one. Believe me, I’ve been looking. And I’m not alone. From acupuncture to zen, psychics or old-time religion, there’s help out there, somewhere. There has to be. Or maybe it’s within, as spirit guides say. (But where? Where’s the GPS for that?) Recently, a friend invited me to his favorite Baptist Church. I was brought to the altar to seek additional help. There was much wailing.

“These people know how to worship,” he whispered. Another friend took me to an event: “Walk in the Word Bus Tour,” 18 cities, including Asheville. God on the road. The evening sizzled with live rock, videos, CDs for sale. After (too) much Christian rock, those with truly unbearable problems were asked to stand up. I didn’t, I couldn’t. “God knows you’re standing,” my friend said. Their message was persuasive: The worse things are, the better. Another crushing blow? That’s good, they said, that’s great. There’s strength in weakness. Coincidentally (are there coincidences?), the next evening, a friend took me to a Nichiren Buddhist home meeting. “Be happy,” they said. “The more obstacles, the better. Embrace them.” They chant “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,” which sounds like bees humming. (Nice bees.) “Chanting removes fear,” they say. “Rise above the problem. Trust ‘Myoho’ (mystic law).” Eyes open to the Gohonzon (object of devotion, a scrolled mandala as home shrine), one chants for enlightenment, to change destiny, even to get what one desires. Four shared themes: a) the worse, the better; b) faith, practice, study; c) spread the word; d) raise money. (Tithing is traditional in keeping faith.) Those who study Feng Shui (“wind and water”) seek the harmonious flow of energy or “chi” through an environment, for health, wealth, happiness. First step, remove clutter. (Sigh.) To practice yoga is to breathe. Step on the mat. Stretch. Be present. “Namaste.” For a quick prayer, click an e-mail lifeline: “Whatever God brings you to, He brings you through.” Or try this Catholic hotline: “Thanks for calling Your Father’s House. To speak with God, press 1. Jesus, press 2.The Holy Spirit, press 3. Another Higher Being, press 4. For emergency assistance dial 1-900 GOD WHY ME (toll call).” Friends, strangers, books, beliefs, golf, horses, signs: Who knows how the truth will appear, if things happen for a reason, where help will be found? I have no answers. Just a thought: Act as if you trust your God. It’s about heart. And find the right connection. PS Sherry Nemmers is an award-winning writer who divides her time between the Sandhills and New York. Illustration by Pamela Powers January

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