March PineStraw 2015 by PineStraw Magazine

Come enjoy the Southern charm and relaxed sophistication of Pinehurst & Southern Pines

Jamie McDevitt, Broker/Owner 910.724.4455 JamieMcDevitt.com Jamie@JamieMcDevitt.com

Experience the Southern Pines lifestyleâ&#x20AC;Ś 497 Clearfield Lane offered at $469,000

107 NE Broad Street Southern Pines, NC

Invite us in. We’ll bring results.

140 Ridgeview Rd., Southern Pines Beautiful custom built 5 bedrooms, 5 full, 2 half bath home on 1.02 acres in Weymouth Heights. $1,050,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

401 Meyer Farm Rd., Forest Creek An extraordinary two level home with one of the best views in the county…golf view, golf front, and beautiful water view. $1,300,000. John McNeill 910.638.9158

3 Thunderbird Circle, Doral Woods Absolutely unique. Ideal inlaw quarters. Beautifully situated in Doral Woods. $389,000. Glen Theall 845.820.3276

28 Chestertown Rd., Forest Creek This exquisite home has all the features you want – including two lots for a total of 5.35 acres! $1,575,000. Linda Harte 910.992.1767

190 Linden Rd., Pinehurst Location, location! Ivy Pines Cottage in Old Town. PCC Membership. $389,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

305 Trails End Rd., Whispering Pines Beautifully maintained home with 7.2 acres and its own pond. Breathtaking views and complete privacy! $429,900. Bob Carmen 910.215.3764

1650 Youngs Rd., Southern Pines Country French & Old World charm greets you at 1650 Youngs Rd, one of the most beautifully conceived mansions on 10 striking acres in Southern Pines horse country $1,995,000. Inge Dahl 910.690.3531

165 Halcyon Drive, Southern Pines Classic brick ranch on large private lot. Many updates. $389,000. Sally Thomas 910.215.6937

355 SW Lake Forest Drive, Pinehurst Terrific waterfront views of Lake Pinehurst. Wood floors throughout. PCC Membership. $545,000. Glen Theall 845.820.3276

www.WRTAC.com

Suzanne Colmer Broker 910.639.9494

Bob Carmen Broker 910.215.3764

Linda Harte Broker 910.922.1767

Bob Brooks Broker 910.690.1575

Morgan Berkey Broker 910.691.9788

John McNeill Broker 910.638.9158

www.WRTAC.com

Debra Serino Brenner Broker / Owner 910.315.9051

115 Graham Road, Village of Pinehurst Private one acre setting, English gardens, gourmet kitchen. PCC Membership $529,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

15 Barrett Rd. E., Village of Pinehurst Totally renovated one level home on 1.29 acre private lot. Hardwoods throughout, dream kitchen. 3000+ SF. PCC Membership. $539,000. Suzanne Colmer 910.639.9494

20 Muster Branch Rd., Fairwoods on 7 Exquisite location, this hidden gem crowns the 6th and 4th fairways of the legendary Pinehurst No.2 course. $1,995,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

Cedar Hill – Arboretum – New Construction. 3 Car garage. 4 Bedrooms, 3 Bathrooms, Great Room and Bonus Room. $344,900. Linda Harte 910.992.1767

2 McQueen Place, Pinehurst Soaring ceilings, hardwood floors, expansive windows and a desirable open floor plan. Natural gas. PCC Membership. $448,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

3546 Youngs Rd., Southern Pines Location is everything and “Ripridge Farms”, overlooking the 4000 acre preserve of the Walthour Moss Foundation is as good as it gets! $1,250,000 Inge Dahl 910.690.3531

The Cottages at the Arboretum One level, maintenance free living with community clubhouse and pool. Granite, SS, hardwood floors. $270,000. Alex Reed 910.603.6997

1050 Inverness Rd., Southern Pines Totally updated. All brick ranch with Carolina Room and large deck. Fenced back yard. Very private. $325,900. Sally Thomas 910.215.6937

240 Midland Rd., Pinehurst This beauty crowns the signature 5th fairway on Legendary Pinehurst No.2. Walk or take your golf cart to the shops and restaurants in the Village of Pinehurst! $1,980,000. Debra Serino Brenner 910.315.9051

910-295-9040 • 30 Chinquapin Road, Village of Pinehurst, NC

Patti Mahood Broker 910.723.8803

Glen Theall Broker 845.820.3276

Sally Thomas Broker 910.215.6937

Alex Reed Broker 910.603.6997

Inge Dahl Broker 910.690.3531

It doesn’t take all day to get a massage ... unless, of course, you want it to.

A typical treatment at The Spa at Pinehurst usually lasts 50-80 minutes. But with spacious lounge areas, saunas, whirlpools, a swimming pool plus healthy snacks and smoothies, you can relax all day. So call the Spa to schedule an appointment that will benefit you long after your treatment ends.

Receive 20% off treatments Monday-Wednesday.

Located next to The Carolina Hotel • Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina • 855.318.6710 • pinehurst.com March 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

March 2015

Volume 11, No. 3

Features 66 Traditional Music Poetry by Ann Deagon

Departments

68 Memories of a Poetic Barnstormer

15 Simple Life

By Stephen E. Smith

Jim Dodson

Our new Poet Laureate from the eyes of those who know him best

18 PinePitch 21 Instagram Winners 23 Cos and Effect

70 The Moore You Never Knew By John Chappell

Cos Barnes

25 The Omnivorous Reader

Brian Lampkin

29 Bookshelf 33 Life of Jane

History is all around you if you know where to look

74 Steep Canyon Rangers By Ogi Overman The Grammy-winning Bluegrass band highlights this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Palustris Festival

78 Palustris Arts Festival Schedule 80 The State of Filmmaking By Gwenyfar Rohler

A guided walk through the history of North Carolina-based movies

84 Story of a House By Deborah Salomon

A unique modern house and a lifetime of memories

91 Almanac By Noah Salt

Yikes, the Ides of March and the garden to-do list

Jane Borden

37 Vine Wisdom Robyn James

39 The Kitchen Garden Jan Leitschuh

45 Out of the Blue Deborah Salomon

46 Sandhills Photo Club 49 Hometown Bill Fields

51 Birdwatch

Susan Campbell

53 Chasing Hornets Wiley Cash

55 Sporting Life Tom Bryant

61 Golftown Journal Lee Pace

92 February Calendar 109 Writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Notebook Sandra Redding

111 SandhillSeen 123 Thoughts from the Manshed Geoff Cutler

125 The Accidental Astrologer Astrid Stellanova

127 PineNeedler Mart Dickerson

128 SouthWords Sara Phile

Cover photograph and Photograph page by .J .ohn 6this March 2015 . . . . .G . .essner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Opulence of Southern Pines and DUXIANA at The Mews, 280 NW Broad Street, Downtown Southern Pines, NC 910.692.2744

at Cameron Village, 400 Daniels Street, Raleigh, NC 919.467.1781

www.OpulenceOfSouthernPines.com

Serving the Carolinas & More for 18 Years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Financing Available

Weymouth Heights: “Broadhearth”, a Southern Pines landmark, is situated on 2.4 beautifully maintained acres. More than 6,000 sq.ft. of elegant living space. Owned by one family for over 4 generations. 9+BRs/9+Full&1Half Bath. $1,700,000 Maureen Clark 910.315.1080

Knollwood Heights: “Homewood” a historic masterpiece! So-

phisticated Colonial Revival style home with more than 9,000 square feet of elegant living space. Estate includes 4.66 acres of lush landscape. Breathtaking details throughout. $1,590,000 Bill Smith 910.528.4090

Old Town Pinehurst: “Shadowlawn” - English tudor on

Knollwood Heights: Charming estate designed by Donald Ross in the 1920s. Leaded windows, wide plank oak flooring, 3-Frplcs, & 2BR/2BA Carriage house. 4BR/7.5BA. Broker/Owner. $1,445,000 Bill Smith 910.528.4090

National: Founder’s Point: The premier location in Pinehurst

No. 9! Overlooking the lake & 18th green of the Jack Nicklaus Course. An exquisite home offering comfortable elegance and fine interior/exterior architectural details. 4BR/4.5BA. $1,298,000 Maureen Clark 910.315.1080

Reynwood Subdivision: Country Estate with 18+acres. 4BR/3.5BA home, 3-car garage with upstairs apartment. Pool & Cabana. 3-Stall Barn and Equipment Storage. $1,150,000 Frank Sessoms 910.639.3099

Weymouth Heights: “The Roost” is a classic 1920’s cottage

45 Acre Horse Farm with Access to the Foundation

CCNC: Golf front home renovated with detail and quality.

Pinewild: Classic Executive Home overlooking Lake Pinewild.

Old Town Pinehurst: Masterful ground-up renovation of the former Rectory house. Gourmet kitchen, temperature controlled wine cellar, 5BR/5FBA/2HBA. Walk to Village! $995,000 Emily Hewson 910.315.3324

Weymouth Heights: “Birdwood” a French Country Cottage. 2-Firplaces, hardwood floors, real stucco exterior, slate roof, main level master suite. New kitchen w/top-of-the-line appliances, & opens to family room. 5BR/3.5BA. $799,000 Maureen Clark 910.315.1080

on 1.68 acres of lush grounds. Includes: main residence, guest house, pool, outdoor kitchen, bar, garage apartment, & seprate garden house. 3BR/3.5BA. $899,000 Maureen Clark 910.315.1080

All Kitchen Aid Stainless Steel appliances. Workroom/Storage, Heated Garden & Mud Room. 4BR/4BA. Lovely grounds. $799,000 Emily Hewson 910.315.3324

text “BHHSNC305” to 87778

over 1.5 private acres of lush grounds. Main residence plus a separate 2,200sf 3BR/3BA guest cottage. 6BR/7FBA/2HBA. $1,495,000 Emily Hewson 910.315.3324

$1,550,000. Could be split, House, Barn, Paddocks, 3-Bay Garage with Workshop. 14-Acres for $825,000 Debbie Darby 910.783.5193

Main level: Master Suite, Office, Formal Dining & Living Room, Carolina Room, Keeping Room, and spacious gourmet Kitchen. 3BR/3Full&2Half Baths. Bulk-head & Dock. $709,000 Kay Beran 910.315.3322

Download our free mobile app!

Southern Pines: 910.692.2635 • 105 W. Illinois Avenue • Southern Pines, NC 28387

March 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Pinehurt #6: Every room of this home is spectacular! Golf and water front views. Carolina Room and a screened porch covering a huge patio. Beautiful gardens, 3-car garage. 3BR/2.5BA. $580,000 Beverly Valutis 910.916.1313

CCNC: Ideal golf retreat overlooks Dogwood Course. More than 3,000 sq.ft. of living space. Great room enhanced with a vaulted ceiling, fireplace & window-wall. Screen Porch & Deck for entertaining. Four ensuite bedrooms. $500,000 Bill Smith 910.528.4090

Southern Pines: Charming two story, brick home, with a finished basement. Surrounded by a privacy fence and beautifully landscaped. Entertain in style with an outdoor kitchen, hot tub and in-ground pool. 4BR/4.5BA. $495,000 Bill Smith 910.528.4090

CCNC: All brick, traditional home built with quality by Bowness.

15-Acre Horse Farm: In-ground Pool, Center Isle Barn, Mulitple fenced Paddocks. Private and Quiet! 3BR/2BA. $465,000 Debbie Darby 910.783.5193

7 Lakes West: Build your dream home with magnificent 180 degree views of Lake Auman! Bulkhead, 2-Docks with boat lift & swim ladder in place. One-of-a-Kind offering! $370,000 Linda Criswell 910.783.7374

Highland Trails: Wonderful family home! Single level

Lamplighter Village in Pinehurst #6: Stunning interior with upgrades galore! Kitchen has maple cabinetry, Corian counters & black appliances. Private enlarged deck. PCC membership Courses 1 thru 9. 3BR/2BA. End unit with privacy. $315,000 Debbie Darby 910.783.5193

You Deserve This Home: “Periwinkle Cottage” is located on a quiet street near Horse Country, Weymouth Woods, & an easy walk to downtown Southern Pines. Relax & enjoy life in this meticulous 3Bdrm, 2Bath home built in 2010. Broker Owner. $275,000 Mav Hankey 910.603.3589

Legacy Lakes Condo: Unobstructed golf views from covered

Hidden Valley: Like New! 3Bdrm, 2Bath home in Hidden Valley subdivision, near schools. Built in 2001 on a corner lot. 9-Foot ceilings, brick & vinyl. Split bedroom plan with large rooms. Move-in Ready! $210,000 Frank Sessoms 910.639.3099

Location, Location, Location: 3Bdrm, 2Bath home with large Carolina Room, 2-car garage, double lot, .43 acres, Lake Pinehurst views. Pinehurst CC Membership available. $190,000 Marie O’Brien 910.528.5669

Great Room, Entry & Dining Room are spacious with 10’ smooth ceilings & deep crown mouldings. Other features: built-in cabinetry, wood burning fireplace & wet bar. 3BR/3BA. $465,000 Bonnie Baker 910.690.4705

living with more than 3,000 sq.ft. and an amazing lower level. Built in 2007. 5Bdrms, 3Baths. A must see! $339,000 Debbie Darby 910.783.5193

front porch. 4Bdrms (master suite - up & down), 3.5 Baths. Kitchen has granite, wood cabinetry, stainless appliances & hardwood floor. 2- Car Garage. $270,000 Eva Toney 910.638.0972

www.BBHSPRG.com We open Moore doors. Pinehurst: 910.295.5504 • 42 Chinquapin Road • Pinehurst, NC 28374 Berkshire Hathaway HomeSercies and the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices symbol are registered service marks of HomeServices of America, Inc.® Equal Housing Opportunity.Housing Opportunity.

H T R D I B A Y P P A H

S e u . r s s D

Join The Country Bookshop as we celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a special storytime

Friday, March 6 at 10:30 a.m.

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Don’t miss these upcoming Author Events! Wednesday March 4 from 5-6pm Denise Baker

Join us for the first Art Talk from Denise Baker. These talks are free and will take place every first Wednesday of the month from 5-6!

Tuesday, March 10 at 5:30pm JD (Dusty) Rhoades DEVILS AND DUST: A JACK KELLER NOVEL

Local favorite and Pilot contributor Dusty Rhoades will be at The Country Bookshop to celebrate the publication of the long-awaited fourth installment of the critically acclaimed series from award-nominated author J. D. Rhoades. Relentless bounty hunter Jack Keller returns in Devils and Dust and his quest takes him from a corrupt Mexican border town to a prison camp in the swamps of South Carolina and pits him against human traffickers, violent drug lords, and a vicious group of white supremacists perpetuating an evil as old as civilization itself in the name of God.

Saturday, March 21 at 1pm Charla Muller PRETTY TAKES PRACTICE

Muller’s first book 365 Nights landed her on Oprah. As she was launched into the public eye she had to come to the painful terms that being pretty takes a bit of attention and work and she was out of practice. This realization emerges in a bright, easy to read and hilarious memoir of the beauty wake up call and chronicles her poignant journey that tapped into and tested her values, her beliefs about beauty, her self-image, and, of course, her relationship with her mother.

Sunday, March 29 at 2pm Laurence Avery MOUNTAIN GRAVITY

Avery, a career professor at UNC Chapel Hill, will be joining musicians at The Country Bookshop to celebrate and read from his debut poetry collection.

Tuesday, April 7 at 5:30pm Kel Landis THE LITTLE BOOK OF DO

The Country Bookshop welcomes the MYP and professionals of all ages to a development series featuring speaker Kel Landis. Landis is a partner at Plexus Capital and previously served as the CEO of RBC Centura Bank and as a senior business and economic advisor to the Governor of North Carolina, the book is currently required reading for students at UNC School of Business.

Thursday April 9 at noon Ann B. Ross MISS JULIA LAYS DOWN THE LAW

Author of the popular Miss Julia series, Ann B. Ross is returning to the Country Bookshop for her latest book Miss Julia Lays Down the Law, where the steel magnolia has to solve the murder of a wealthy newcomer- whose bad attitude about Abbottsville leaves plenty of suspects.

The Country Bookshop

140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC 28387 • 910.692.3211 • www.thecountrybookshop.biz11

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

PineStraw

www.capefearvalley.com

M A G A Z I N E

Jim Dodson, Editor 910.693.2506 • jim@pinestrawmag.com Andie Stuart Rose, Art Director 910.693.2467 • andie@pinestrawmag.com Kira Schoenfelder, Graphic Designer 910.693.2508 • kira@pinestrawmag.com Lauren Shumaker, Graphic Designer 910.693.2469 • lauren@pinestrawmag.com

top perf rmer recognized as a

by The Joint Commission

an independent organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,500 healthcare organizations across the nation

contributing Editors Deborah Salomon, Staff Writer Stephen E. Smith, Staff Writer Mary Novitsky, Proofreader Sara King, Proofreader contributing Photographers John Gessner, Tim Sayer, Brandi Swarms Contributors Cos Barnes, Jane Borden, Tom Bryant, Susan Campbell, Wiley Cash, John Chappell, Geoff Cutler, Al Daniels, Annette Daniels, Ann Deagon, Mart Dickerson, Bill Fields, Robyn James, Melissa Johnson, Brian Lampkin, Jan Leitschuh, Meridith Martens, Ogi Overman, Lee Pace, Jeanne Paine, Sara Phile, Sandra Redding, Gwenyfar Rohler, Sally Ronalter, Raul Rubiera, Noah Salt, Astrid Stellanova

PS David Woronoff, Publisher Advertising Sales

Pat Taylor, Advertising Director

Choose a hospital that delivers exceptional care

Ginny Trigg, PineStraw Sales Coordinator 910.693.2481 • ginny@thepilot.com

If you were looking for a hospital that provided exceptional care, you could pour over graphs showing compliance with every measure of evidence-based care. Or you could do it the easy way. The Joint Commission, an independent organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,500 healthcare organizations across the nation, has done the work for you. Their Top Performer award recognizes hospitals providing exceptional care.

Deborah Fernsell, 910.693.2516 Terry Hartsell, 910.693.2513 Perry Loflin, 910.693.2514 Darlene McNeil-Smith, 910.693.2519 Johnsie Tipton, 910.693.2515

Cape Fear Valley has been recognized as a top performer in four areas: heart attack :: heart failure :: pneumonia :: surgical care A Joint Commission

top performer

Top Performer status means Cape Fear Valley Health provides the most up-to-date, scientifically based care as compared to anywhere in the country. And it’s right here in Fayetteville close to family and friends. When you choose Cape Fear Valley, you’re putting yourself in capeable hands.

Advertising Graphic Design

Kathryn Galloway 910.693.2509 • kathryn@thepilot.com Mechelle Butler, Maegan Lea, Scott Yancey Subscriptions & Circulation

Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488

PineStraw Magazine 145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue Southern Pines, NC 28387 pinestraw@thepilot.com www.pinestrawmag.com

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PINEHURST

$335,000

This lovely home is open and inviting with a two story foyer leading to a spacious great room with lots of windows and a charming kitchen features custom maple cabinets with plenty of room for family dining. Freshly painted interior and beautiful, newly finished hardwood floors throughout! The upper level fifth bedroom has its own private bath 5 BR / 3.5 BA 26 Deerwood Lane

PINEHURST

$460,000

PINEHURST

$959,000

$334,900

“Talent, Technology & TEAMWORK” Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team

Stunning custom home on Lake Pinewild in Pinewild Country Club with spectacular views of the lake! There is a bulkhead and dock for lake access. Fabulous light throughout the house from ceiling to floor windows in almost every room gives this wonderful home an almost magical feeling. Built by Blackman Builders, this was the 2003 Home of the Year. 3 BR / 5 BA 24 Loch Lomond Court

PINEHURST

$595,000

$258.000 $179,000 Southern Pines Pinehurst $199,900 Foxfire Lovely and pristine in Longleaf CC Lovely updated golf-front home Cute cottage w/nice renovations 3 BR / 2 BA 3 BR / 2 BA 4 BR / 4.5 BA www.205HunterTrail.com www.4DogwoodCourt.com www.17ChestnutLane.com

This lovely golf front property is located on the 15th fairway of the Tom Fazio designed golf course in Pinehurst #6 and was built by Terry Michael. This light and open home offers 14’ ceilings, deep crown molding and hardwood floors. Great room ceiling is coffered. There is a separate study/media room with built-in entertainment center and wired for surround sound. 4 BR / 3 Full & 2 Half BA 5 Shenecossett Lane

PINEWILD

Wonderful buy on this brick and Hardiplank golf front home in Pinewild located on one and a half lots. This property shares a well with the adjoining landowner for irrigation – big savings on your water bill! The owner has had a full home inspection and Bonville Construction has taken care of any issues. Freshly painted inside and out – ready to go. 4 BR /3.5 BA 7 Strathaven Lane

PINEHURST

$349,800

$585,000 Aberdeen $145,500 Pinehurst Fantastic, all-brick golf front home Cute home on large corner lot 4 BR / 3.5 BA 3 BR / 2 BA www.80LakewoodDrive.com www.110RavenswoodRoad.com

This gorgeous, all brick custom home built by Huckabee Home Construction and on the 15th tee and the 14th green of Pinehurst #1 course is located in popular Doral Woods. It is at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and has wonderful privacy. Upgrades include 10 ft. and 12 ft. ceilings on the first floor, hardwood floors, double crown molding, oversized windows with plantation shutters and a gourmet kitchen. 4 BR / 4.5 BA 15 Montclair Lane

This immaculate Lake Pinehurst Villa has the best location on the lake! Stunning views! This home has been updated and beautifully cared for and shows like a dream! The living room has vaulted ceiling and wide window wall, corner fireplace and accent lighting. Great kitchen with custom oak cabinets, cathedral ceiling, tile floor, tile countertops and backsplash and lots of storage. The outside features a large rear deck. 3 BR / 3 BA 3 Lake Villas Road

$329,000 $890,000 Longleaf CC $449,000 Pinehurst $239,000 CCNC Pinehurst $75,000 Pinehurst Custom Built Villa Overlooking Water Custom built all brick golf-front home Brick single story w/view of 17th green Covered porch & large fenced lot Updated Immaculate Golf View Condo 3 BR /$499,000 2 BA 4 BR / 4 Full & 2SOUTHERN Half Baths 3 BR / 2.5 BA $515,000 1 BR / 1 BA SEVEN LAKES WEST $499,000 3 BR / 2.5 BA SEVEN LAKE WEST PINES www.16SteeplechaseWay.com www.110HearthstoneRoad.com www.8RoyalDornoch.com www.210StAndrewsCondo.com www.1340BurningTreeRoad.com

$1,295,000 $189,000 Pinehurst $269,000 Pinehurst $475,000 Pinebluff 7 Lakes West $635,000 Pinehurst Stunning custom home in Fairwoods on 7 Charming brick ranch home GorgeoustownhomeintheheartoftheVillage Open plan, gourmet kitchen, pool & more! Stunning All Brick Water Front 4 BR / 4 BA & 2 Half BA 3 BR / 2 BA 3 BR / 2.5 BA 3 BR / 2.5 BA 3 BR / 4.5 BA Gorgeous custom built brick home on almost 6 acres in the gated community of Seven Live large in this beautiful water front ranch style home in the popular gated community With over three acres of prime property on Midland Road, this property has lots of potential www.170InverraryRoad.com www.105MastersWay.com www.6HollyHouse.com Lakes. Thiswww.135AndrewsDrive.com beautiful home has been custom decorated and the quality shows throughout! of Seven Lakes West. Enjoy stunning water views from the living room, kitchen,www.145SugarPineDrive.com master with over 2500 square feet of living space in the main house and almost 900 square feet Gourmet kitchen features upscale cabinetry, granite countertops, large furniture style butcher block, adjoining walk in pantry and room for a bar and wine storage. Each spacious bedroom has a private bath. 3 BR / 3.5 BA 364 Longleaf Drive

PINEHURST

bedroom and Carolina room. This home features a split bedroom plan, hardwood floors, crown molding and cathedral ceilings. The back of the home features a large two-tiered deck perfect for entertaining 3 BA / 2 BA 143 Vanore Road

$315,000

PINEHURST

$279,000

of living space in the charming guest cottage. The main house has a lot of character with hardwood floors, crown molding and French doors in the Carolina room. 2BA / 3 BA 1610 Midland Rd.

PINEHURST

$499,900

$269,900 $187,900 Pinehurst $185,000 Southern Pines $225,000 Pinebluff Pinehurst $375,000 Foxfire Great home in family- friendly neighborhood Stunning new construction condo Golf front new construction in The Pines Immaculate all-brick w/golf views Elegant & luxurious w/spacious rooms 5 BR / 3 BA 3 BR / 2.5 BA 3 BR / 2 BA 2 BR / 2 BA 4 BR / 3 BA www.23BerylCircle.com www.100CypressCircle.com www.153LaurelOakLane.com www.18ShamrockDrive.com www.10StantonCircle.com

Custom built by Bonville Construction, this charming, two story brick home is located on the This lovely one story custom home is located in Doral Woods on the 16th tee of the PineThis elegant all brick home is quintessential Pinehurst perfection! Located on an oversized, 15th hole of Pinehurst #5, overlooking both golf course and water. The floor plan is open hurst #1 course. Professionally landscaped, the curb appeal of this property is outstanding. beautifully landscaped lot in Old Town/Donald Ross area. The home has been completely Seven Lakesthree South Lakes West $298,000 Pinehurst Seven Lakes South $199,000 with great views everywhere in the house. Living room has a vaulted ceiling and 3 skylights, 2 There$241,000 is a large livingPinehurst room with stone fireplace that extends$895,000 to the ceiling, anSeven adjoining renovated and shows like a dream! The home features spacious bedrooms$279,500 each with its ceiling fans, accent lighting and a wood burning fireplace. Great kitchen with oversized bar – dining room and a sunny Carolina room. Just off the spacious kitchen and own private bath, formal living room and dining room, cozy family room with fireplace, and a Completely renovated golfprivate frontback home Wonderful 2-story home on cul-de-sac Gorgeous home inbrick the patio. Old Town family home w/private back yard Charming golfPinehurst front w/panoramic view isGreat perfect for entertaining! Country Club membership available for transfer. breakfast room is a large wonderful gourmet kitchen and informal dining area overlooking the very yard. BR / 3.5 BA 34 BRBR / 2.5 BA BA 3 BR / 3.5 BA 3 BR / 3.5 BA 4 BR / 3BA / 3.5 4 BR / 3 BA 3 BR / 2.53 BA 915 St. Andrews Drive 5 Eldorado Lane 275 Linden Road

www.122DevonshireAvenue.com

www.11GraysonLane.com

www.50OrangeRoad.com

www.108Rector.com

www.117OxfordCourt.com

View Floor Plans andTours Virtual of Our Listings andListings See ALL Moore Information County at View Floor Plans and Virtual of OurTours Listings and See ALL Moore County and Community Listings and Community Information at

www.MarthaGentry.com www.MarthaGentry.coM

Re/Max Prime Properties, 5 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst, NC 910-295-7100 • 800-214-9007

Military?!Check out our Military Advantage Program at www.MarthaGentry.com

Re/Max Prime Properties, 5 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst, NC 910-295-7100 • 800-214-9007

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simple life

Stuff Happens

By Jim Dodson

My wife, who feels about clutter

Illustration by Kira schoenfelder

more or less the way your average Sports Illustrated swimsuit model feels about an unexpected blizzard in July, recently joked that we should consider moving again in order to get rid of more “stuff.”

Except I’m pretty sure she wasn’t joking. Over the past decade, we’ve moved our household twice, and it’s amazing the stuff we managed to unload — unused furniture and clothes, old children’s toys, rugs, extra work tools, lawn furniture, out-of-date appliances, mismatched china and kitchenware, disabled lamps, horrible artwork, and a blue million — OK, at least several hundred — of my books and other stuff nobody in their right mind would ever want, but weirdly did, at the two yard sales the aforementioned anti-clutter activist conducted in our driveway in my enthusiastic absence. Somewhere I read that moving three times is the equivalent of having your house burn to the ground. If that’s the case, we should be living out of doors under the stars by now given all the stuff that’s disappeared from our lives. With the arrival of yet another March — the traditional start of baseball spring training to some sporting minds, spring cleaning season to Others Who Shall Not Be Named — I can see that familiar glint in her eye as she steely appraises the den where we innocently sit watching an episode of Outlander, taking a mental inventory of things that must soon go. With our nest officially empty and the urge to downsize and simplify taking an even stronger grip of her uncluttered mind, everything in our lives is suddenly up for review or is already being reduced before my eyes. This includes, but is not limited to, daily caloric intake, unworn articles of clothing, any household item that has not been used within the past nine months, and possibly even husbands. Call me crazy, but sometimes I secretly fear my very person could be next, deemed unessential and taken out one morning with the big green recycle bin and left to be picked up at the curb. Not long ago, after all, I heard a middle-aged female author on the radio talking with unfettered delight about how after “two marriages and one family and several houses full of incredible amounts of stuff,” she found herself a spare and cozy apartment in an upscale part of town, and decorated it with minimalist brio — “everything was simple and white, without a single piece of clutter.” When a group of her middle-aged friends dropped in to see the new place, and I quote, “They had a completely visceral reaction to it, an epiphany of sorts, an overwhelming urge to do the same in their lives — to

liberate themselves from all the stuff in their lives! The problem, of course, is husbands and children. They collect stuff like human magnets. What a woman really wants is no clutter! At our age,” she added triumphantly, “it’s far better than sex!” On a similar distressing note, a colleague relates that a close friend of hers cleverly encouraged her outdoorsy husband to expand his domain to the man shed out back — then slowly began moving his personal “stuff” out there a little at a time until there was no trace of the poor fellow anywhere in his own house. In effect, she quietly erased him. My colleague laughed chillingly as she told me this story, casually letting drop that her own husband’s duck-hunting decoys, pipe racks, hunting magazines and other traditional material evidence of an average middle-aged male’s existence is quietly on its way out to the back forty, presumably without the unlucky sod even noticing. Soon there will be no trace that he was ever there. Do I not have a moral obligation as a fellow member of the male species, the Brotherhood of Ordinary Stuff Gatherers, to try to warn him? After all, stuff happens. On the other hand, when it comes to a determined wife with springtime decluttering on her mind, it may simply be each man for himself. Thus before I and my few remaining personal belongings get the same bum’s rush to the curb, this got me thinking about my own domestic situation, taking a hard look at the “stuff” that’s accumulated over the years in my modest home office, my sacred inner sanctum where I keep all sorts of things that speak of my presence on this planet and mean the world to nobody but me and quite possibly my dog Mulligan. One man’s keepsakes, in other words, may simply be his wife’s weekly Saturday morning run to the Habitat ReStore. Mind you, I’m not that much of a collector of anything, per se, unless you care to count the fifty or so crest-bearing golf caps I’ve picked up from a forty-odd-year walk through the noble and ancient game; maybe several hundred remaining essential books ranging from ancient mythology to modern gardening that I simply couldn’t bear to part with this side of a nuclear emergency; a rug admittedly only Mulligan the dog and I truly like; a comfortable if somewhat ratty reading chair rescued from a second-hand shop; a set of swell pirate bookends; several romantically themed reading lamps (a blue-coat soldier, another made from the shafts of vintage golf clubs, a third made of faux “classic” boyhood adventure books) nobody but a hacker of a certain seniority or a precocious 6-year-old boy weaned on R. Kipling could truly ever appreciate; various framed photographs of scorecards and old golf pals both living and departed; posters from my own long-forgotten book tours; a Hindu prayer goddess; a carved African fertility head; two large pincushion boards crammed with old tournament badges;

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

simple life

beloved snapshots of my young children and my first car; scraps of favorite quotes and verse collected at random; old train tickets; theater stubs, etc.; three full sets of golf clubs I can’t seem to let go; four rescued houseplants; and a large growler jug from a local brewery bearing the face of a Medieval Green Man where I’m secretly saving spare pocket change for a trip to Norway’s fabled fjords some summer in the distant future. In terms of personal “stuff,” that’s about all I’ve really got left — one small office oasis crammed to the gunwales with items that hold absolutely no value to the world at large, providing no offense to anyone except possibly someone who has delusional adult fantasies of a spotless white house. To the untrained eye, these things may appear to be nothing more than disorderly collection of pointless male clutter, but I assure you there is purpose under heaven to all this surviving stuff. Albert Einstein, the theoretical German physicist who inspired a generation of hair stylists and developed the Theory of Relativity, pointed out that if a cluttered desk is the sign of a busy mind at work, what then does a desk empty of anything say about its owner? All things being relative, I aspire to follow this path, yet I fear a new and bolder front in the household war against my remaining stuff may be about to open along with the windows for an infusion of fresh spring air. Item One: Last month’s issue of Real Simple seems to be worryingly displayed everywhere I look these days, bearing the telltale headline “De-Clutter Your Home and Life Now!”— a working manifesto if I’ve ever heard one for the average middle-aged woman who harbors secret dreams of a spotless and husband-free pad of her own. Item Two: In the interest of a serener inner self, Madame lights a tropicalscented candle and does deep yoga meditation every morning in the living room, which has been as thoroughly stripped of tchotchkes and as diligently scrubbed as a CIA safe house. Just the other morning as I shuffled past

the open door, making for coffee in my old L.L. Bean robe, I could swear I overheard her calmly chanting: “Those goofy pirate bookends must go . . . the Green Man jug, too. Those goofy pirate bookends must go . . .” Also, possibly on direct order from the uncluttered bosses at Real Simple, she took it upon herself at winter’s end to clean out the storage unit where decades of my work papers, extra books and copies of almost every magazine I’ve written for in forty years is safely archived and collecting dust. “It’s time we do something with all of this — get it organized into at least something resembling contained chaos,” she declared last Saturday morning (rather insensitively, I thought) from the doorway of my sacred inner sanctum, where I sat smoking one of my oldest pipes and musing on the face of my Hindu prayer goddess. I count at least thirty boxes now stacked in the mud room outside my office door, the only objects remaining between my wife and a better life. Naturally she has a plan of attack. She is a woman who could teach orderly behavior to a convention of anarchists. She would enjoy that beyond measure, too. “We’ll save only those papers that are essential and shred everything else. Then we’ll scan your magazine articles and get rid of all those unnecessary magazines. You probably don’t need a third of those old books, either, by the way.” It doesn’t take an Albert Einstein to see where this is headed. My inner sanctum lies directly in her path to a happier life, my stuff’s days are as numbered as the graying hairs on my head. I haven’t seen her this happy since Goodwill offered her a personalized donation parking spot. Perhaps I shall simply take my beloved Green Man coin jug and quietly head off to the curb to await the recycling man, getting an early jump on my long-dreamed journey to a Norwegian fjord. PS Contact editor Jim Dodson at jim@pinestrawmag.com.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PinePitch Such Sweet Sorrow

This month, a week before the Ides of March, Sunrise Theater presents Bolshoi Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet, live in HD. On Sunday, March 8, at 1 p.m., experience the flashing rapiers and music animato of Sergei Prokofiev’s “drambalet” (dramatized ballet) as if seated in the front row of Moscow’s historic opera house, champagne or mimosa in hand. Among the world’s oldest and most renowned opera companies, Bolshoi delivers masterful choreography and athletic prowess. Add its virtuoso orchestra and you get pure magic. Tickets: $20; $15 (ages 12 and under). Sunrise Theater, 250 Northwest Broad Street, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8501 or www.sunrisetheater.com.

An Irregular Moon by Sara V. King

In An Irregular Moon deeply engaging young adult mystery by local author Sara King — this magazine’s redoubtable proof reader and short fiction contributor — a policeman named Frank Willis returns with his children to his family’s hometown of Kenton, N.C., in the aftermath of a family break-up. What seems to be a rural paradise soon becomes a hotbed of murder and racial violence seen through the eyes of the young folks caught up in the drama. “I wanted this book to be available on Kindle because it coincides with the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. In the story, which takes place in 1963-64, there is a scene where an all-white restaurant is integrated.” Given the racially charged events of the past year, King admits, her e-book has more relevance than even she realized. “Who would have dreamed fifty years later we would be having these intense debates about race,” she marvels. Her tale of a family piecing itself back together and young folks coming of age under the light of an irregular moon is — indeed — its own marvel. Readers can read more and purchase online through Amazon.com. Simply go to the website and type in the book’s title. It is free for Kindle subscribers.

Show on the Rhoades

On Tuesday, March 10, at 5:30 p.m., Dusty Rhoades will celebrate the release of Devils and Dust, the fourth installment of his critically acclaimed Jack Keller southern crime series. Author and longtime contributor of The Pilot newspaper, Rhoades breathes to life a world where human traffickers, violent drug lords and a vicious group of white supremacists make us root for his bounty hunting champion once again. The Country Bookshop, 140 Northwest Broad Street, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3211 or www.thecountrybookshop.biz.

String Theory

Radford University Music Professor Dr. Robert Trent, also a prize-winning classical guitar soloist, will perform on the campus of Sandhills Community College on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m., when the moon is full and the night begs for mystery and wonder. No matter what instrument Trent plays — modern guitar, Renaissance lute, early 19th century French guitar or 10-string double-necked J.G. Scherzer reproduction — the strings will oblige. Prepare to be dazzled. Free and open to the public. (www.sandhills.edu.) In addition to the concert, Trent will conduct a masterclass, same day, at 3 p.m. Interested masterclass participants can contact Ryan Book at (910) 695-3828 or email him at booka@ sandhills.edu (Subject: Trent Masterclass). Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Pinch and a Dash

In the spirit of St. Patty’s Day, wear green (and loads of it) for the annual Shamrock ’n’ Roll road race on Saturday, March 14, where you’ll spot more beards than clovers and enough glitter to dust the entire county. Includes Leprechaun Leap (1-mile fun run), 5K and 10K races, and Lucky Charms Costume Contest. Registration and packet pick-up begin at 7 a.m. Awards to follow race. Could be your lucky day. Race benefits teachers and students of Moore County Schools. Whispering Pines Police Station, 14 Hardee Lane, Whispering Pines. Info: www.shamrocknrollrace.com.

Carol of the Dinner Bells

On Thursday, March 12, to whet your appetite for a little Beethoven, Bach and Brahms, a pre-concert dinner presented by the Moore County Chapter of the North Carolina Symphony will be served at 5 p.m. to celebrate music education in Moore County. Savory remarks by music director Grant Llewellyn plus sweet music by Union Pines High School Orchestra students Kea McKibben and Emma Short. For concert ticket holders, dinner is $50. No concert ticket?: $85 (includes dinner and concert). RSVP by March 2. Pinehurst Country Club, 1 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst. Info: (877) 627-6724 or ncsymphony.org/ pinehurstdinner.

Fiddle-Dee-Dee

They say everyone’s Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day, when the beer flows green, luck runs hot and the air smells of corned beef and cabbage. If you disagree, wait and see how the sprightly music of classical guitarist Danny Infantino and violinist Seren Lyerly moves you on Tuesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. Danny began studying guitar at age 14 with jazz finger-style guitarist Howard Morgen and has worked with such renowned musical legends as the late Ellie Greenwich and recording master Bob Ludwig. Celtic concert includes traditional sing-along. No fool’s gold here. We’re talking about the end of the rainbow. Tickets: $15; $10 (members and students). Weymouth Center, 555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6926261 or www.weymouthcenter.org.

Soul Music

As French philosopher Voltaire once put it, poetry is the music of the soul. On Saturday, March 21, one day after the vernal equinox, the soul will sing a three-part harmony when Weymouth hosts three N.C. Poet Laureates for North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sam Ragan Day. Award-winning poet and champion of the arts, Ragan was editor and publisher of The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines for nearly three decades. Come celebrate North Carolina’s literary godfather and delight in the gentle cadences of his successors, Shelby Stephenson among them. Free and open to the public. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Tickets: (910) 692-2787. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org.

League or Extraordinary Givers The Junior League of Moore County will host a Spring Charity Gala and Silent Auction at the Pinehurst Members Club on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. Semi-formal event features live music by the Swing Street Little Big Band, cash bar and delectable nosh. Tickets: $50. All proceeds benefit Moore County women and children at risk. Info: www.jlmcnc.org.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Instagram Winners

Congratulations to our March Instagram winners! This months theme was:

“How many people can you get in a “Group Selfie?” #pinestrawcontest

Next months theme:

Everyone has a favorite chair, show us yours (with you or someone else in it). Submit your photo on Instagram using the hashtag #pinestrawcontest (submissions needed by Monday, March 16th)

New Instagram themes every month! Follow us @pinestrawmag PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

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Shelby Stephenson and Stephen E. Smith By Cos Barnes

With that melodious voice that de-

Photograph by Denise Baker

notes farmer, singer, poet and scholar, Shelby Stephenson accepted his role as the state’s poet laureate with characteristic humility and charm. He was installed in the House of Representatives Chamber of the State Capitol on Monday, February 2 before a crowd of the literary community, state officials, friends and colleagues, as well as Gov. Pat McCrory, with whom Stephenson bantered back and forth in friendly conversation.

Stephenson was heard to say, “I should’ve brought my guitar.’’ The governor briefly stated he had made a mistake when he selected someone else for poet laureate earlier that year. Susan Kluttz, secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, read the list of the selection committee and emphasized the time and effort they spent reading the works and studying the contributions of the nominees. Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina’s 2012–2014 poet laureate, did a dramatic reading in honor of Stephenson, and Stephenson, a Johnson County native, read from his book Fiddledeedee, which was recently reissued by Press 53 of Winston-Salem. The welcome and invitation to the reception, which followed in the rotunda, were given by Wayne Martin, executive director of the North Carolina Arts Council. Stephenson taught at Pembroke University and was editor of its literary magazine for thirty years. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina, Pittsburgh University and the University of Wisconsin. PS Cos Barnes is a longtime contributor to PineStraw magazine. She can be contacted at cosbarnes@nc.rr.com.

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The Omnivorous Reader

Last Tango in West Appleton Darkly comic, The Last Days of Video takes us deeply into the minds — and souls — of true film junkies

By Brian L ampkin

Technological

advancement always leaves the crumbled remains of a culture it has decimated. “The more humanity advances, the more it is degraded,” Flaubert wrote, and surely he was presciently thinking of the death of the VHS video when he penned it. Writer Jeremy Hawkins lived through the demise of the video store — he spent ten years working at the much-loved VisArt Video in Carrboro — and survived to write the comic novel The Last Days of Video (Soft Skull Press, 2015, $15.95). Hawkins, like most video/bookstore/record clerks, is insanely knowledgeable about his chosen line of work. One of the great pleasures of the novel is the vast display of film arcana; the reader can enjoy the use of both popular and obscure film references with confidence in the writer’s command of his subject. When the characters in Last Days carry on about the relative worth of director John Cassavetes (“Pierce thinks Cassavetes is overrated. Not visually stimulating.”), or Night of the Living Dead (“That’s Romero’s first zombie movie. Dawn of the Dead is better.”), you know that their opinions, no matter how obnoxious, are well-earned. There is of course a cliché at work here: The too smart, too hip, too drunk social outcasts who populate cafes and cultural outlets like video

stores are common comic fodder. Hawkins knows he’s working over well-worn ground, and he walks the fields with nods of respect for the genre. Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity is the most apparent reference, and Hawkins is up-front (an early chapter is called “Why Fidelity”) about the sampling. Every chapter is a clever reworking of a movie title, and sometimes the chapters splice the storylines and motifs from the movie into the narrative of the book. When that happens effectively, like in the chapter called “The Discreet Charm of Clarissa Wheat,” the novel deepens. More often, the chapters are simply clever and fun (“Y Tu Tabitha Tambien”) or sometimes uninspired (“Jeff and Waring’s Excellent Adventure”). But fun is not to be underrated! The Last Days of Video is never less than a joy to read, probably because Hawkins’ outsized love for movies infects every page. Could I list for you every film or actor mentioned in the novel? No, I would overwhelm my limited word count before I got through the third chapter. Let me just say that this is the only novel I know in which being called “Ed Begley Jr.” works as a withering insult. Still, Hawkins’ characters are full of life or, if you will, anti-life. We’re tempted to think of them as locked in the false reality of their film world, but really they are locked in the false reality of Hawkins’ fictional world. Novels are no more “real” than films, and it’s a subtle trick that Hawkins plays on us by playing off the unreal film world against the perceived real world of West Appleton, North Carolina — a fictionalized Chapel Hill/Carrboro. Waring Wax, the owner of Star Video in downtown West Appleton, is a misanthropic know-it-all who lacks a single social grace. He’s Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces, except he adheres to classic film instead of classical philosophy. Waring makes pronouncements about film, but at least the films he hates are still loved for the fact that they are films. People he just hates, though there is something like happiness in Waring’s dressing

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The Omnivorous Reader

down of an entitled, pompous customer. “‘People like you amaze me . . . I’ve seen you skishing around on your bicycle, with all your bicycle buddies. Bragging at the Open Eye about your workouts, your four-by-four hundreds, your ten-by-ten millions, or whatever, in your tight sweaty shorts. . . . And thank you for this opportunity, because it’s been a while, but I think it’s time for our ‘firing a customer’ dance.” Another lost customer. But the book is really about Alaura Eden, the longtime Star Video manager and the reason the store has survived into the 21st century. Alaura is the center of the city — the person whose spirit and nature seem to personify the youthful hope for a college town’s everyday life. Everyone loves Alaura, even Waring in his own way. It’s only Alaura who is not satisfied with Alaura. She’s a seeker, always looking for a religious experience that will reveal a way to true happiness. Eventually she winds up in the cultish, money-obsessed “Reality Center” and must be saved by her low-rent, embarrassing video store family of choice. But these are the last days of video, so the end is preordained. Hawkins cares enough for his characters to help us see them through the dark room and back into the light. And like Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights, this is the story of how outsiders make an intentional community care about what the straight world might think of them. Other issues arise — gentrification, the perils of fame, the precipice of the creative mind — but they are handled lightly. Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue is a novel about a dying record store in Oakland, California, which expands the story into serious concerns of our times. Hawkins is more content with containing the story in its comic narrative of the lives of a few video store clerks. Jeremy Hawkins has moved on from video clerkdom and now works at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. I hope his co-workers understand that he is listening in, taking notes, preparing a new novel on another institution facing extinction, though he tells me he’s working on a novel about our drowning education system. Hawkins has an M.F.A. from UNC Wilmington, where he studied with Clyde Edgerton, whom Hawkins credits with being “singlehandedly responsible for anything good in this novel.” The book launch party for The Last Days of Video will be held on March 10 at Flyleaf Books, but look for Hawkins at bookstores across North Carolina as he tours the state throughout the spring. PS Brian Lampkin is an owner of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, N.C.

March 2015 P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

B oo k s h e l f

March Books

How Caesar met his end and good advice for friends

Beware, my friends, the Ides of

March. Dictators and autocrats across the globe fear March 15 with an irrational distrust of everyone within stabbing distance. For most of us run-of-the-mill citizens, the day merely passes us by with a barely recognizable longing for dramatic change at the top, or perhaps a metaphorical sideways glance at our best friends and their true intentions toward us. We think of it as the one day a year for an examination of trust with a healthy skeptical eye. The best book on the untimely end of Julius Caesar himself? Let’s make a case for Michael Parenti’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People’s History of Ancient Rome (New Press, 2004, $17.95). Parenti reexamines the myths of Roman society and comes down heavily on the side of the people against the excesses of the wealthy and powerful, while also offering a detailed and entertaining account of Caesar’s death. Backstabbers unite! Ironic, isn’t it, that your unbearable backstabbing pain is best relieved by more backstabbing. Peter Mole’s Acupuncture for Body, Mind & Spirit (Singing Dragon, 2014, $18.95) is an excellent overview of the theory and practice of acupuncture. Mole is the dean of the College of Integrated Medicine in England,

and this book will go a long way toward convincing you to give the needle a try. Now if only your backstabbing friend could be treated so simply with a taste of his own medicine. Cheryl Strayed might be able to help with an unkind friend. She is a multifaceted writer who has published a novel, Torch; a memoir, Wild; and most recently a book that evades classification, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (Vintage, 2013, $15.95). Strayed, who inherited the online advice column that was published by the literary website The Rumpus, says with confidence that she was, “totally unqualified for this gig.” Yet she delivers the most gut-wrenching and beautiful responses to people whose letters can range from a sentence to pages of deep description on how their lives have run off the rails. There’s plenty of backstabbing, sorrow, loneliness, insecurity and doubt riddling the letters to Sugar, and often Sugar writes back with some amount of the same. That’s the thing . . . Sugar isn’t there to just tell people how to be better or make things better. She tells her readers about how she has also lived through the same types of things, a taboo among advice columnists. Dear Sugar will both make you cry and give you faith that we’ll all be OK again on the other side of whatever it is we are facing. Sarah Waters has a new novel: The Paying Guests (Riverhead Books, 2014, $28.95) and it’s filled with “shifting loyalties,” but we really know that means lots of backstabbing. In an earlier novel (that we recommend if you haven’t read it), Fingersmith (Riverhead Books, 2002, $16), not a single scene is brightly lit. Every part of the book takes place in the nether regions of 19th Century England, from the muddy, dank streets of London to a gloomy and damp estate in the

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countryside and an ancient, terrifying sanitarium. Everything is dim, a little dirty, and not to be trusted. Fingersmith concerns the plot of a “family” of swindlers intent on separating a young heiress from her money. It’s a complicated plan, a “long-con,” in which neither they, nor we as readers, can ever know if a person is who he seems. The overwhelming sense is one of wilting suffocation with only the faintest glimmers of hope in the gloom. At its heart, it’s the story of two young women struggling to overcome the pasts they’ve inherited and, perhaps, falling in love with each other in the meantime. Or, maybe not. We don’t mean to single out England for excessive skullduggery, but Peter Ackroyd’s latest novel, Three Brothers (Nan A. Talese, 2014, $26.95), dips us into the grittiness that is early-1960s London. Memories of wartime devastation compete with new freedoms in the pre-dawn of the Age of Aquarius. Ghosts of a more ancient London reach into the lives of three vastly different brothers whose stories lurch and weave through this novel. Ackroyd takes readers inside the crackling hustle of Fleet Street journalism and into the sordid backbiting schemes of London’s slumlords. It’s not the gleaming London of 2015, but another dig below the modern city’s surface by master author-archeologist Peter Ackroyd. Of course not every perception of backstabbing is based in reality. Paranoia is the conjoined twin of backstabbing, which is a terrible image of unending retribution. Our great American paranoid, Richard Nixon, is exposed in John Dean’s The Nixon Defense (Viking, 2014, $35). Dean’s Nixon was consistently sure everyone was out to get him, and Nixon’s enemies list was long and odd and eventually old friend John Dean was at the top of the list. Surely, Nixon must have uttered the words, “Et tu, John,” though the Nixon tapes reveal a rhyming and much more profane epitaph was probably used. And finally, if this is your first foray into the world of backbiting and double-crossing, it might behoove you to take a look at Michael Soussan’s memoir Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy (Nation Books, 2010, $16.99). Occupying an odd bit of shelf space somewhere between political coming-of-age memoir and guerilla-style takedown of an idealized institution, this account of one man’s experiences working with the U.N.’s Oil-For-Food program in the late 1990s will sell you down the river faster than you can say “kickbacks and subsidies.” There you have it, PineStraw readers. Walk carefully through the month with an eye out for what’s coming up behind you, and breathe a sigh of relief when the clock strikes midnight on the morning of March 16. PS Scuppernong Books Staff: Steve Mitchell, Brian Etling, Kira Larson, Brian Lampkin and Dave White.

March 2015 P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A Winning LegAcy Charles Decatur Cunningham Jr. loved golf. Decatur began playing golf when he was 5 and played on the UNC golf team. He was a Greensboro Country Club champion. He won many Carolina Yarn Association golf tournaments. And he played golf until just weeks before he died Jan. 12 at the age of 88. Decatur also loved Greensboro College.

To contribute, send your check payable to Greensboro College, with “Cunningham Endowment” in the memo line, to: Greensboro College Office of Institutional Advancement 815 W. Market St. Greensboro, NC 27401 If you would like more information, please contact: Michelle Davis, VP/Chief Advancement Officer 336-272-7102, ext. 5332 michelle.davis@greensboro.edu

www.greensboro.edu

He grew up just a hard 5-iron shot away from the campus. His grandmother, sister, aunt, and numerous other relatives attended there. He served on the college’s Board of Visitors from 1995 to 2009, and he was honorary chairman of the college’s 16th Annual Jim Locke Memorial Golf Tournament in 2005. Now, Decatur’s friends and family seek to honor his memory with a permanent endowment that encompasses those two great loves: the Charles Decatur Cunningham Jr. Golf Program Endowment at Greensboro College. Proceeds from the endowment will support the ongoing needs and activities of the college’s golf program. That program has shone not only on the course, with national titles for the men’s team in 2000 and 2011, but also academically, with an academic national championship in 2013 and 15 All-America Scholars since 1965. Through this opportunity to contribute, you can help keep the program strong on and off the field while honoring a man who loved his sport and his community.

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Life of Jane

Comedy Traffic School Life’s a cruel joke. Get your tickets early

By Jane Borden

Illustration by Meridith Martens

You may wonder,

since I am a comedian, why I chose to attend a Comedy Traffic School instead of a standard-issue Traffic School. You may also wonder why I faced this choice in the first place. The answer to the latter, of course, is because I received a ticket, which was similar to every vehicular citation ever issued in history, in that it wasn’t my fault. Then I was given the option of paying an additional $100 to the system, and contributing a day of my life to a traffic school; in exchange, the transgression would be expunged from my record rather than reported to my insurance provider. The choice is obvious. There are roughly 1,100 traffic schools in Los Angeles County alone.

Oh, the options! About 70 percent of them are either Internet or home-study programs. But I couldn’t face the shame and injustice of this punishment alone. Of the remaining, roughly a third have the word comedy somewhere in the title, and I immediately thought, Well, that’s for me. Perhaps it was curiosity that drew me, a compulsion to discern what Comedy Traffic School could possibly be. Was it simply a school that took place inside a comedy club, i.e. if I perused the list with a keener eye, would I also find Library Traffic Schools and Car Wash Traffic Schools? Or were they a way for comedy clubs, always on the brink of closing, to make cash because who in their right mind wouldn’t sign up for the comedic option of traffic school? Or perhaps

this would actually be a comedy show, with a standup delivering jokes among instructions. If so, how funny is a traffic-schoolcomic required to be? Then, with terror, I imagined a fourth, esoteric option: All of life is a cruel joke, including this class, so thanks for the money. Honestly, however, I know why I signed up for the class. Because I am eternally deluded by optimism. “I like comedy! Geez, I am a comic! Well, duh, this class is for me.” My rose-colored glasses fog my memories of almost never finding traditionally defined “comedy” funny, precisely because I’m a comic, who’s become completely desensitized from enjoying the art form she creates. But I like my optimism too much to complain of the persisting short-term memory it engenders, so I’ll just move forward with the story. The moment I walked into the dark, dank chuckle hut, I realized the rashness of my classroom choice. There was a greater chance we’d hear the sound of Bill Cosby confessing than the sound of laughter inside this room today. A chuckle hut, by the way, is what alternative comedians, improvisers and all purveyors of the independent-comedy scene call two-drink-minimum clubs, the venues that spread across the country in the 1980s during the standup boom. They have names like Giggles, The Laugh Factory, SplitSiders, Dr. Grins, the Funny Farm, and, of course, The Chuckle Hut. Many of these clubs — particularly in mid-market cities too small to also support an alternative scene — are excellent and successful venues, which bring in top nationally-touring talent. But it still feels like you’ve time traveled to 1983 just by walking through the door. Larger-than-life caricature illustrations of Jay Leno and Jerry Seinfeld adorn the walls along with framed, autographed blackand-white headshots of middling comedians, many of whom are now dead. Chuckle huts are shrines to standup, and something about that has always seemed anathema to the genre. As a fan and purveyor of comedy, I am torn between two impulses regarding its reception. On one hand, I want the art form to be recognized and praised. On the other hand I know that whenever comedy stops being the bastard child of theater, it will fail to achieve its goal of sucking

March 2015 P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Life of Jane

the wind out of recognition and praise. The moment it’s not a sick monster, it loses the ability to point out that we’re all sick monsters. For this reason, chuckle huts make me uncomfortable. Mostly, though, this morning, it was the smell of stale beer. The dim, smelly club did, however, seem a fitting environment for us students, a collection of petty criminals, trapped for eight hours on a weekend as punishment for misbehavior. We were the Breakfast Club of Pasadena. But before we had a chance to discern which of us was the brain, athlete, basket case or princess, our instructor whizzed into the room, full of verve and commiseration, full of energetic empathy. She called us her children and scanned the crowd for repeat customers and familiar faces, securing the detention analogy in my mind. She asked, when we left at day’s end, not to joke that, “I hope I never see you again,” because that hurts her feelings. Further, she explained she likely would see many of us again, that in fact she usually has at least one repeat customer per class. For her, this was a point of pride rather than a failure, an irony I found very funny. It was the only humor I enjoyed that day. She was not, as it goes, funny, and neither was her instruction. But she was cool. And laid back. And brassy, one of my favorite character traits, as well as conspiratorial, another attribute always welcome at my table. She let us know that, for better or worse, we were all in this together. First we went around the room introducing ourselves and explaining what we were in for. Whoever had spent the most money on his or her ticket would be announced the winner. The $360 I’d forked over was half of what some had paid. I felt better already. Then she dove into the instruction. And I actually learned a lot, including a few interesting and surprising tidbits. Apparently it is legal to turn left on red if both streets are one-way: fascinating. She even gave us an auto body shop suggestion. Hers was a full-service class. But, again, I would not call it funny. I don’t remember anyone laughing, ever. Beyond her generally-joshing-around attitude, she delivered only one joke, which she announced in advance as her only joke. It was something about how you shouldn’t eat sushi at a stop sign, because you don’t wanna roll — get it? I found myself desperate to know this woman’s history, if she had started as a comic and, failing, decided to run the club’s traffic school, or if she had come to the club as a civilian traffic-law expert, or if it had always been her dream to mother misfits. One thing was certain: She loved her job and seemed happy. Certainly we were at least less bored than we would have been in a standard-issue traffic school. Also, I definitely got a feel for her voice, which is something many comics never learn to convey. And she did command the room. I still think of her whenever I illegally pull into a turn lane early, “because if you wait until you reach the legal entrance, it’ll be full of all the cars behind you who broke the law and then whaddya gonna do? But it is illegal, it is, and you need to know.” I think what I attended was not a Comedy Traffic School so much as a Commiseration Traffic School. But I’m also not sure those are different things. We were misfits who’d gathered to share in our collective screw ups, in a place where we knew we wouldn’t be judged, and furthermore we’d all paid to be there. How is that different from a comedy club? All of life is a cruel joke, including this show, so thanks for the money. Maybe our teacher’s love of repeat customers was merely an acknowledgement that, no matter how much we try to rehabilitate, we’re all sick monsters. Surely no one is more qualified to make such a grandiose assessment than the lowly instructor at a smelly, lame traffic school. As it turns out, the only difference between Comedy Traffic School and a comedy show is that, during the former, I never laughed. So, if you think about it, it was very cutting edge. PS Jane Borden is a Greensboro native living in Los Angeles, and the author of the much acclaimed memoir I Totally Meant to Do That. Follow her at twitter.com/JaneBorden. JaneBorden.com, CorporateJuggernaut.com, I Totally Meant to Do That is in bookstores now. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

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V i n e W i s d om

The Art of Wine

Original works that brand some of the best wines

By Robyn James

There are few things that inspire pas-

Photograph by Brandi Swarms

sion in people more than wine and art. Combine the two and you have a force to be reckoned with.

While there are certainly dozens of wineries that honor artists with works of art on their label, it was the Baron Philippe de Rothschild, of Château Mouton who led the charge beginning in 1945. When I was in the wholesale wine business some years ago, I had the privilege of meeting his daughter, Philippine de Rothschild who had written a book about the labels on Château Mouton Rothschild bottles over the past decades. In an industry that believes consistency in labeling is key to brand recognition, the baron was a rogue. A huge art aficionado, he commissioned an army of artists to design a different work of art for each vintage of his wine. The agreement was that the artist could submit whatever they wanted (often incorporating the ram from the family crest) but the baron had the right to reject whatever didn’t suit him. No money changed hands; each artist was paid with cases of Château Mouton from the vintage he illustrated. The lineup is a serious Who’s Who in the art world. Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Jean Hugo, Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall and many, many more jumped at the chance to participate. I am still in proud possession of a bottle of the 1982 Château Mouton that was designed by not an artist, but the famous movie director John Huston, a personal friend of the baron. Today, many wineries have followed in his footsteps, with beautiful works of art presented on their labels. Ernesto Catena, the owner of Tikal winery in Argentina, had his good friend and artist Ariel Mlynarzewicz design a beautiful, ethereal illustration of a couple dancing hand in hand to celebrate the marriage of the two grapes, malbec and bonarda, that he blends into his Tikal Patriota.

Ferrari-Carano, one of Sonoma’s most picturesque, quality wineries, also tips its hat to the art world. Ferrari Carano Tresor, a fabulous blend of Bordeaux varietals, is adorned with a gorgeous modernistic skyscape painted with ninety-five colors. It is Italian artist Marco Sassone’s original serigraph, Tramonto.

Ferrari-Carano Tresor, Sonoma, 2011, Approx. $56

“The 2011 Tresor is a strong effort. It offers a dense ruby/purple color as well as a fresh, lively, black currant and black cherry-scented bouquet displaying a touch of incense and background oak. The wine hits the palate with an impressive display of rich, ripe, pure fruit, no hollowness or herbaceousness, well-integrated wood, and a medium to full-bodied, stylish, complex mouthfeel. Drink it over the following 10—15 years.” Rated 90+ Points, Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate David Phinney, the original winemaker and owner of the acclaimed Napa Valley winery The Prisoner, never doubted what his label would portray. When he was only 12 years old, his artistically inclined parents gave him an etching by Spanish artist Francisco De Goya (1746—1828) titled La Petite Prisonier. The etching is as deep and ominous as the gorgeous field blend of grapes in the bottle.

The Prisoner Red Wine, Napa, 2013, Approx. $50

“The 2013 Proprietary Red Blend The Prisoner is a creative blend of 44 percent zinfandel, 20 percent cabernet sauvignon, 16 percent petite sirah, as well as syrah, grenache and charbono. This dense, full-bodied, opulent red reveals gutsy, rich, peppery, meaty, blackberry, blackcurrant and licorice notes. A savory, lusty, heady red, it begs for a grilled steak or a big, juicy hamburger. Drink it over the next 4—5 years.” Rated 92 Points, Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate PS

Tikal Patriota Mendoza, 2012, Approx. $20

“A rich red, packed with concentrated flavors of blackberry, dark plum and mocha, featuring plenty of dark chocolate notes. Offers a ripe texture, with creamy accents and hints of savory herb on the long finish. Drink now through 2020.” Rated 91 Points, No. 45 On Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines Of The Year

Robyn James is proprietor of The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room in Southern Pines. Contact her at robynajames@gmail.com.

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T h e k i t c h e n ga r d e n

What if I Don’t Garden? The story of a community that helps itself

By Jan Leitschuh

Everyone has his or her blind spot. Mine

is growing food.

Much as my personal fantasies envision a Sandhills dotted with old-fashioned Victory gardens, fecund backyards burgeoning with sunshine, health, compost, fresh vegetables and fruits, reality indicates that only a portion of folks will actually garden for taste and table. Luckily, there is terrific local food for all. The fresh produce scene in this area has blossomed over the last eight years, with multiple fine farmers markets, award-winning chefs demanding only the freshest ingredients and, my personal favorite, the member-owned subscription box program Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative (SF2T). This is a love poem to SF2T, now — amazingly, to me — in its sixth year! It’s a heartening story of a community coming together to solve a number of its own issues. “We’re all in this together” is an underlying theme and tagline. In this tale, everybody wins. Who doesn’t love Sandhills strawberries, fresh-cut spring asparagus, sugar snap peas, a variety of lettuces, spinach, cabbage, kale, arugula and other greens, juicy summer peaches and vine-ripened tomatoes? Blueberries, beets, sweet corn, green beans, raspberries, cucumbers, melons, blackberries, okra, squash, grapes, staples like onions, carrots, herbs and more — the cornucopia of the Sandhills is ours at the click of a mouse. It’s a community story that also reflects a number of dour facts. Over half of U.S. adults are overweight, for example, and 25 percent of its children

are obese. Our diets include many processed items formulated for addictive taste and profit, rather than nutrition and health. Yet nutritionists tell us that five to nine vegetables and fruits a day are needed for good health. On the farm side, our producers are aging out. Who will they pass their knowledge to when they retire if the family farm is not profitable? Will the farm be sold off for development? Do we want to leave farming to massive multinational operations — or to our neighbors? Did you know that in the early 2000s, North Carolina led the nation in loss of farmland? That’s worth repeating — “led the nation in loss of farmland.” When tobacco subsidies collapsed, so did many family farms. And Moore County was tied for third in farmland loss for North Carolina. Thus, we stood at the apex of a very unfortunate pyramid. Row crops such as corn, small grains and soybeans did not yield the profit-per-acre and pay the property taxes as tobacco did. Growing produce could save the farm, but what good is a truckload of, say, ripe cantaloupes if there isn’t a waiting market for the product? Time, tide and fresh produce wait for no man. “The best way to keep the family farm is to keep it profitable,” says John Blue, the sixth generation to farm Highlander Farms of Carthage, and one of SF2T’s original board members. A stable and predictable market for fresh produce was needed. It was 2009 when Fenton Wilkinson shopped around his idea for a community-owned food cooperative. He thought this co-op should be coowned by the three main parties involved: farmer-producers, subscribers and staff — normally competing interests. All would have board representation. All would work together to meet the others’ needs.

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March 2015 P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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He’d offered it around before, but this time the concept grabbed the interest of Tim Emmert, then community development planner for the county. Emmert offered to hold some open meetings to see if the idea would catch on in the community at large. Enough people showed up to offer their opinion that the project looked possible. Seed money was needed. I helped secure the initial chunk, a legacy gift of $10,000, but more was needed. The Moore County commissioners undertook the submission of a $30,000 RAFIUSA grant for this potential project. RAFI is the Rural Advancement Foundation International, through the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund. Joey Raczkowski, then county planning director, and Taylor Williams, of the Moore County Cooperative Extension, led that effort in front of the board. The county received and oversaw the grant for the fledgling project. Williams also introduced us to key farmers, who immediately grasped the possibility and formed the core of the co-op’s production team. Approximately 400 charter members signed on, giving farmers a tangible hope of action. It was happening! At Fenton’s request, I came on board in 2009 as co-founder, producer/crop coordinator and weekly box designer, newsletter editor, producer maven, marketing and customer service helper, flyer-tacker-upper, box packer, food safety point person, floor sweeper and whatever else needed doing. Wilkinson, as general manager, created structures, guided operations, software, financials and also did most of the above too. There were plenty of delayed paychecks and eighty hour weeks for us that first year! Luckily, the broader community turned out to support the effort, recognizing the opportunity to “grow its own.” Volunteers poured in to help pack boxes, hand out boxes, man gathering sites, manage other volunteers. People signed up for subscriptions, ensuring the program’s launch. They continue to appear each spring, ensuring the program’s continuance. From the beginning, the co-op has shared the love with the community. Packed boxes are delivered to some thirty “gathering sites” throughout the Sandhills: schools, tiny businesses, churches. Each site earns $2 a box for their school or church project. Last year, over $43,000 went right back into the Sandhills community through this venue. Instead of selling trans-fat-laden cookie dough, schools were now hawking local produce subscriptions for their PTAs and PTOs. The Vass site, for example, raises funds for its marching band, the Vikings. Aberdeen Elementary uses the money for children and school gardens. The Southern Pines Elementary PTA bought audio-visual equipment for school use. Churches fund food

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March 2015 P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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bank donations, sponsor families in need, fund mission trips. A separate “WorkPlace Wellness” program is championed by larger local businesses to promote employee health, including such major players as FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Sandhills Pediatrics, Sandhills Community College, Aberdeen Town Hall, Situs, and others. In 2013, Wilkinson turned over the reins of co-op general manager to Steve Peters, of Southern Pines, who has continued the community expansion on all fronts. “For those of you who don’t garden, you can leave the growing to your Sandhills producers, who are pros,” Peters says with a grin. An online artisinal market offers specialty farmstead items such as grass-fed and pastured meats, fresh cheeses, raw honey, bakery, bulk and organic produce and a variety of jarred delights from local farms. This bounty is delivered with the weekly or biweekly produce box to one’s gathering site, where neighbors pick up their children, have a cup of coffee, exchange recipes, swap out produce and/or partake in a food tasting or demo. A weekly newsletter, box flyers and a Pinterest page offer seasonal recipes for box ingredients. Subscribers also meet their farmers through weekly stories of the farm, at a popular annual meeting and taste testing in March, as well as the popular harvest hoedown for the year’s volunteers. In addition to eating the best of the Sandhills, subscribers are preserving the local family farms by giving them a stable, predictable market. “It helps the farmers,” says Blue. “It really does.” Further benefits include a securing local greenspace for wildlife, giving the next generation the option of growing good food, creating jobs and strongly boosting the local economy — a dollar spent locally, say several studies, circulates on average seven times before exiting the community. With gross sales well over half a million last year, the co-op applies a lot of “grease” to the community wheels! “It’s neighbors feeding neighbors,” as the other tagline goes. Beyond subscription sales, well over three tons of produce — which the farmers are paid for — gets donated to local food banks each year. It’s a great example of what a community can do by pulling together. Subscribers can choose from multiple box options, prices and subscription lengths. For more info, visit the website SandhillsFarm2Table.com or call (910) 722-1623. PS

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Jan Leitschuh is a local gardener, avid eater of fresh produce and co—founder of the Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Out of the Blue

Muses Bearing Gifts Looking for art in all the wrong places

By Deborah Salomon

With advanced

genetic testing and manipulation, with “designer” babies on the drawing board, nobody can say for sure if an artsy gene exists. When two concert pianists have a child who plays well, is it nature or nurture? Why does the major-league pitcher’s kid sport such a good arm? How about the mathematician’s daughter daunted by algebra?

The art world harbors two types: doers and admirers. Each is equally passionate — and necessary; what good is a painting that nobody likes, let alone buys or builds museums to display? The Guggenheims, please remember, made their money in mining and smelting; the Medicis, investment banking. I am a great and slightly knowledgeable admirer who cannot trace a single artsy leaf on my family tree. Come to think of it, my affection developed along wildly different lines. Take paintings. My mother’s favorite possession was an oversized and rather garish print of Van Gogh’s wheatfields at harvest. It hung over the sofa in the small Manhattan apartment where I grew up. While recuperating from rheumatic fever I lay on the couch looking up, transported to sunny Provence, like Mary Poppins’ charges jumping into the chalk sidewalk scene Bert created. I fell in love with everything Van Gogh, especially after reading Irving Stone’s Lust for Life, which painted a glamorous portrait of the disturbed artist. This appreciation blanketed all Impressionists: their lives so colorful — mine so drab. Van Gogh remains with me still. When I write of peasant food I channel his murky Potato Eaters, with grotesque faces huddled around a table. Give me irises in a pottery jug over roses or orchids any day. Picasso made the list through a coffee-table retrospective by famed photographer David Douglas Duncan. Such a bad boy, that Spanish iconoclast! I invented raunchy captions for his deconstructed figures. The fascination paid off. Ten years ago I earned the chance to review Picasso Erotique, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts — the only North American museum brave enough to mount this triple-X rated yet magnificent retrospective. I was in heaven. Likewise Chagall, whom I wrote about from a child’s perspective. My adoration of Renaissance art and architecture grew from convenience, maybe laziness. At Duke, with a six-course load per semester, at least one had to be easy. The arts building was behind my dorm. I can’t draw a smiley face. But

art history classes (in a dark room, illuminated by slides) began at 8 a.m. The lectures made sense. I learned all manner of trivia, including why the hand of Michelangelo’s David turns awkwardly inward. (Block of marble not wide enough for natural position). Imagine the surprise when my diploma revealed a double major in English and (undeclared) art history. Imagine the embarrassment thirty years later when I broke into tears entering the Great Chamber of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, recalling that it was constructed, in the 14th century, over water, without a single support column. My first movie-star crush happened at age 9, when my mother (what could she have been thinking?) took me to see Laurence Olivier’s Academy Award-winning Hamlet. Handsome beyond belief, Olivier’s melancholy Dane had me devouring Shakespeare in grade 5, in case I ever met Sir Dreamy. Along the way, I discovered that the Bard goes down easier if read aloud. Subsequently, I ploughed through Wuthering Heights and every other story Olivier brought to life. Then, consumed by jealousy, I took on Gone With the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire starring his wife, Vivien Leigh. My second crush landed hard on Mario Lanza — therefore opera. I still adore opera and laugh at its high-brow image, knowing the genre was intended as mass-market entertainment — the same audience that laps up Downton Abbey and Dallas. To this day, I get chills from the melodic, rousing overture to Die Fledermaus. YouTube it, and believe. Two early-teen summers I attended Transylvania Music Camp, now the Brevard Music Festival, where campers were immersed in classical music. I played piano only slightly better than I drew smiley faces but sang my way into the chorus. Besides hiking, ping-pong, canasta and softball, we hung out in the concert pavilion, listening to guest musicians rehearse — “We” being me and the Romanesque 16-year-old son of the concertmaster. Mozart appealed because his work seemed so mathematical. My mother was a math teacher. I despised math until I met Mozart. Hmm. Coincidence? Chromosomes? Hormones . . . or, as Peter Sellers maintained, just being there? Who knows? Better to find Shakespeare through a pre-teen crush, hum Rigoletto with a chubby Italian tenor from North Philly than never to hum Rigoletto at all. Because one should not be suspicious of muses bearing gifts, whoever sent them. PS Deborah Salomon is a staff writer for PineStraw and The Pilot. She may be reached at debsalomon@nc.rr.com.

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CLASS A WINNERS

2 3 1

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

CLASS B WINNERS

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Hom e town

Remembering No. 44

Photo Courtesy Bob and Dianne Broyles and publicty shot from UNC Sports Information department

When ACC basketball and Larry Miller meant spring had returned to North Carolina

By Bill Fields

During elementary school I was more

aware of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, than Carthage, North Carolina, even though the former was hundreds of miles from Moore County and shouldn’t have been in my vocabulary. There is a two-word explanation: Larry Miller.

Miller was a basketball god, a star at Carolina from 1965 through 1968, and I heard radio announcer Bill “Mouth of the South” Currie mention Miller’s hometown dozens of times when the Tar Heels took the court in pale blue and white led by No. 44. I was a kid who wore out his tennis shoes before outgrowing them and moped, when, aprés a rare Sandhills snow, the backyard court was muddied so much that any dribble belonged in a Curly Neal routine. Decades before Hoop Dreams came out I had ’em in the worst way. And in the basketball belt, where the game was on the same rung as tobacco and barbecue-as-a-noun on the ladder of regional identity, I wasn’t alone. From fall to spring after school, until parents on dusky porches around the block shouted us home for supper, we played — three-on-three if there were enough of us and H-O-R-S-E, Around the World or Twenty-One if not. My first goal was attached to an old swing set whose supports didn’t encourage a slashing Miller-like drive to the basket. Neither did its replacement, a length of utility pole my father coaxed out of a telephone-company friend who installed it. That stanchion was so sturdy Hurricane Hazel couldn’t have swayed it. Limited by war injuries, Dad couldn’t play basketball, but he helped fuel my love for it by telling me about seeing Oscar Robertson from the nosebleed seats in Reynolds Coliseum at the 1958 Dixie Classic months before I was born. We lived and died with Currie’s (and later Woody Durham’s) calls of Carolina

contests and relished the weekly Atlantic Coast Conference game on television. When UCLA and Houston played the “Game of the Century” in the Astrodome on January 20, 1968, nothing could have budged us from the TV. In the spring of ’68, when Miller and other collegians played a barnstorming exhibition at the Pinehurst gym, Dad waited in a long line to buy me a $3 faux-action photograph of my hero autographed in thick Magic Marker. On a Friday the 13th in February 1970, after Miller, then in the American Basketball Association, had been traded to the Carolina Cougars, Dad took me to Dorton Arena in Raleigh to see the Cougars play. I bought a $6 souvenir ABA red-whiteand-blue basketball that I used until it popped a couple of years later, around the time I listened to Miller’s record 67-point performance in Greensboro on March 18, 1972. That summer, between seventh and eighth grade, I got to meet Miller when I attended the Carolina Cougars basketball camp at Guilford College. He even coached my team at the end-of-camp game. I scored a point or two at the most, but life couldn’t have been better. I was convinced that with the camp experience and all the hours I spent playing I would make the junior-high team. I wasn’t tall or fast, but I could shoot and was a decent defender. But when tryouts were held, it seemed as if all the coach had us do for two days was run suicide sprints and do agility drills. There was little basketball. It was like he was judging our French by asking us to speak Spanish. I still played some after that, but the only time with a whistle and clock would be intramural games at college. Come early March I remember those days when the ACC Tournament was everything, when I was mad about basketball, and the swish of a good shot was the best sound in the world. Larry Miller, I read last year, lives quietly in the town that still rolls so easily off my tongue. PS Southern Pines native Bill Fields never lived on Connecticut Avenue but has lived in the actual Connecticut for a long time.

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

B I R D WA T C H

Return of the Ruby-throateds A true sign of spring

By Susan Campbell

The most welcome

Photograph by debra Regula

herald of springtime might well be the sight of the first male ruby-throated hummingbird you catch out of the corner of your eye hovering around your yard in early April. No other bird can compare to these tiny dynamos when it comes to their brilliant plumage, belligerent attitude and playful antics. Their annual return from the wintering grounds as far south as Costa Rica signals that warm days and an abundance of flowering plants are just around the corner.

The shimmering ruby-throated is the only species of hummingbird that breeds east of the Appalachians. It is commonly found from late March through early October in our area and can also be spotted in a variety of habitats from the mountains to the coast. Males, who are easy to spot with their distinctive rubyred throat patches (called gorgets), return to set up territories about two weeks ahead of females, often coming back to the very same spot summer after summer. Not surpisingly, a significant percentage of ruby-throated adults breed within their natal area. Although generations may utilize the same general neighborhood, they are solitary creatures. Females, cryptically colored with iridescent green and white plumage, rear the young alone. The task requires approximately six weeks of dedicated work at the nest, tending first the eggs and then the nestlings until they are independent. Two young are typically produced from tiny white eggs the size of black-eyed peas. Some females may even produce two sets of young per season in the Carolinas. In the Piedmont, the first young ruby-throateds begin to leave the nest around mid-June The immature males lack the bright gorgets of their fathers, looking far more like their mothers until late winter. But nonetheless they are very feisty little birds. They seem ready to antagonize each other from the minute they leave the nest and will commonly pick fights with adults as well as

larger species of birds. Why are they so aggressive? It may have to do with more limited food resources in the Eastern U.S., but until some grad student or ornithologist undertakes a big study, we simply won’t know. Female rubythroateds can be just as aggressive as males. Given that they are actually some 20 percent larger in size, the females definitely have the advantage when a conflict arises. Hummingbirds’ way of life requires a high energy diet. Flight speeds upward of fifty miles per hour are not uncommon. They obviously need to consume an enormous amount of protein per day, which means gobbling down lots of tiny insects, spiders and mites. Despite their love for sugar-water feeders, ruby-throateds actually spend most of their time foraging in thick vegetation, scouring leaves and stems for a variety of arthropods. Invariably some prey items are swallowed right along with the nectar from the brightly colored blooms they visit. Optimum hummingbird habitat therefore includes not only a variety of colorful plants with tubular blooms, but minimal use of pesticides — ensuring good insect diversity. Of course now is the time to put out your sugar-water feeder to attract the attention of incoming local ruby-throateds. When hanging your feeder, consider not only whether you can see it but also whether it’s in a place where hummingbirds can easily spot it. And the more feeders you add, the more hummingbirds you will attract. Just be sure to clean and refill the feeders regularly. When daytime temperatures climb above 70, they will require attention every three to five days or the solution will begin to ferment. Simply empty, scrub with hot water and a bottle brush and then refill. Detergents are best avoided since they often leave residue on the plastic portions of the feeder that the birds can detect. Use of a periodic 10 percent bleach solution may be necessary. To read more about hummingbirds in the state, especially vagrant species, and for a cornucopia of links to other hummingbird sites, click on www.naturalsciences.org/nchummers. PS Send your wildlife sightings and photos to Susan Campbell, who can be contacted by email at susan@ncaves.com, by phone at (910) 949-3207 or by mail at 144 Pine Ridge Drive, Whispering Pines, N.C. 28327.

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

C h asing h orn e ts

The All-Stars Cometh — Again This time, with a new father’s hand, the Big O just can’t refuse me

By Wiley Cash

On February 10, 1991, while

Photograph by Andrew D. Bernstein

Patriot missiles intercepted Scuds over the desert in Kuwait, I sat mid-court at the NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina. My buddy’s father worked at one of the downtown hotel chains, and that morning I learned some heart-stopping news: A hotel executive had a few extra tickets, and he’d given them to my friend’s father.

Operation Desert Storm, which had begun twenty-five days earlier, was in full swing. It was my generation’s first of many experiences with war in the Middle East, although it would be another decade before words like “terrorism” and “religious extremism” would become part of our cultural lexicon. On that afternoon in 1991, the only sign that the United States was at war were the metal detectors everyone was required to pass through before gaining entrance to the Charlotte Coliseum, home of the Hornets. If you’d never been to a basketball game at “The Hive,” perhaps you wouldn’t have thought anything of being asked to empty your pockets before being waved through the doors, but I’d been to several Hornets games, and the presence of metal detectors wasn’t the only noticeable difference. There was a palpable energy that made the game distinct from any sporting event I’ve ever attended; “magical” is the only word I can use to describe it. There have been many golden eras in American professional basketball, but I would argue there has never been a moment where more possibility was both promised and delivered upon than during the 1990–1991 NBA season. To look at the roster of the 1991 All-Star Game is to see 83 percent of the Dream Team that would dazzle the world at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, a team many consider to be the greatest sports team ever assembled: On the East were Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing; on the West were Magic Johnson, Chris Mullin, Karl Malone, Clyde Drexler, David Robinson and John Stockton. A few notable players who were also on the 1991 All-Star roster: Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and James Worthy. To put this in perspective, twelve of the twenty-six players in Charlotte that day were named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary Team in 1996, meaning they were considered among the fifty greatest to ever play the game. The 1991 All-Star Game also marked defining moments in three legendary NBA careers. In June, Michael Jordan’s Bulls would beat the Lakers to win the first of six championships that would single-out Jordan as the most prominent athlete of that decade and the next. In November, Magic Johnson, whose Showtime Lakers had signified both the style and excess of the 1980s, would hold a press conference to announce that he’d contracted HIV. An injury-addled Larry

Bird, who’d long been Magic’s rival and had recently become his dear friend, would retire at the end of the season before reluctantly joining the Dream Team that summer. I understood the power of the celebrity on the floor, but it hadn’t yet dawned on me that it would also attract celebrity to the game, at least “celebrity” as the term is understood by 13-year-old boys. In the middle of the first quarter, a Michael Jordan dunk brought the local crowd to its feet, and I immediately recognized a distinct voice intermingled with the cheers. I looked down my row and spotted Ed Lover from Yo! MTV Raps, and I did what all star-struck boys would do in that situation: I took my game program down to Mr. Lover and asked him to sign it, and then I took a moment and looked around me and wished I hadn’t spotted him. A few months earlier I’d taped an HBO documentary called History of the NBA, and the more I scanned the crowd the more I realized I was in the company of the very history I’d memorized after watching the tape a couple dozen times. Seated behind Ed Lover was Houston Rockets great Calvin Murphy, who at 5’9” is the shortest player ever to be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. I asked him to sign my program, and he happily obliged. After that, I couldn’t stop scanning the stands and approaching NBA icons for autographs: legendary Celtics John Havlicek, Bill Russell and Bob Cousy; Bob Pettit, the only player aside from Kobe Bryant (who was 12 at the time) to be named MVP of four All-Star games; Dave Cowens, one of the shortest centers in NBA history and a man who’d go on to coach the Hornets for three seasons beginning in 1996; and many others. And then I looked across the coliseum and saw the man whose signature would become my Holy Grail: Oscar Robertson. I approached the notoriously prickly “Big O” with my hands shaking, my pen and the game program trembling as if the wind was attempting to blow them from my hands, and I asked if he’d give me his signature. His response? “Get out of the way, kid. I’m trying to watch the game.” As the 2014–2015 All-Star Weekend draws closer, Charlotte is looking forward to 2017 with the hopes that the city will be awarded its second AllStar Game. League Commissioner Adam Silver has stated with certainty that Charlotte will once again host the NBA’s big weekend; it’s just a matter of when. Like the city of Charlotte, I’ll spend the next two years looking forward to the 2017 All-Star Weekend. I plan to dust off my 1991 game program, stand in line to pass through the metal detectors, and, once inside, scan the stands for “Big O.” The only difference is that I won’t be the same nervous, pimply-faced 13-yearold boy. I’ll be a nervous, bearded 39-year-old man. But I’ll have my 2-year-old daughter there to back me up, and Mr. Robertson, I doubt you’ll be able to tell us both no. PS Wiley Cash is a New York Times best-selling author whose second novel, This Dark Road to Mercy, was released in January 2014. He lives in Wilmington.

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T h e sporting l i f e

My Mr. Remington

At 80 years young, my good friend George is still shooting his age

By Tom Bryant

America’s great gunmakers are more than indus-

trial entities. They are centers of exacting craftsmanship and precision engineering, and they are truly living legends. American gunmakers built not only the guns that won the Wild West but the guns that won both World Wars, and which today delight demanding sportsmen the world over. — K.D. Kirkland, American’s Premier Gunmakers, Remington

Photograph by tom bryant

hen I was the ripe old age of 10, my grandfather gave me a little Remington .22 rifle. I think he was tired of listening to me complain about my parents not getting me a BB gun for Christmas. I can remember him saying, after I complained for the 400th time, “Son, all you can do with a BB gun is kill little song birds or more importantly (shades of the classic movie, A Christmas Story) shoot your eye out.” He then gave me the Remington .22, with the caveat that the rifle had to stay with him on the farm and he would accompany me for the first several times squirrel hunting. Thus began my love affair with Remington guns. Imagine my surprise when I learned that my neighbor and good friend, George, worked his entire career with Remington Arms, joining the company right out of college in 1956 and retiring from Remington/DuPont in 1990. As George so aptly put it the evening he joined me to talk about his long, interesting career with the company, “It was quite a ride. I met some mighty good folks along the way.” If you’re lucky, in your lifetime you might meet two or three people with the fantastic personality of George. He’s the guy who has never met a

stranger. He has a way of listening that makes a person feel as if, whatever the conversation, it’s the most important in the world. It’s no wonder that Remington, once hiring George right out of college, had the good sense to keep him around for 35 years. George is 80 years young and plays golf two or three times a week. When he’s not playing golf, he walks a route in the neighborhood that covers about two miles. “Keeps my heart running,” he said. It took me a while to get George to commit to an interview. He’s naturally modest and said right off the bat as we sat in front of the fireplace in the den where I had a blazing fire, “I had a lot of help in my career, my family especially.” George has been married to his lovely bride, Joan, for sixty years. He has four children, three boys and a girl, and five grandchildren, three boys and two girls. It was easy to see, as we sat there and he talked about his career with Remington, his devotion to his family. His face took on a glow and his eyes twinkled. “Tom, during my career with Remington I moved seven times; and usually when the company wanted me at a new location, they wanted me there next week; therefore, the stress of moving fell right on the shoulders of Joan and the children. But you know what? I believe it made for more rounded personalities for the kids. They’ve turned out great. “I was a day student, lived at home during my college years, and decided to get a double major in math and engineering. When I graduated, I had an offer from DuPont to work in their fiber plant in Richmond. I was a manager/trainee. Unfortunately, the economy tanked and the company began laying off people. When our manager called us in one morning, there were six of us manager/trainees, and I expected the worst. “The fellow said, ‘Folks, I’ve got some bad news. Things are not good here, and I’ve got only one job for you guys and it’s with Remington, our gun division in upstate New York.’” George looked at me, smiled and said, “I raised my hand before any of

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T h e sporting l i f e

the rest could and said I’ll take it. The next week I was in Ilion, New York, home of Eliphalet Remington, the creator of what would become this country’s oldest gun manufacturing company, Remington Arms.” I asked George what one of his most memorable times with the company was. “Tom, there was a bunch but one kind of stands out. My plant manager came to me one day and said, ‘George, we’re going to build a new shotgun, the 1100. I want you to be in charge of the assembly of 200 test guns. Run them through and report.’” The Remington model 1100 semi-automatic

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George at a young age. shotgun was one of the first designed with the help of computers. “The tolerances were so exact,” George said as he leaned over the hassock that was between us, “I knew if anything was wrong, it would show up immediately. We put those 200 guns together, ran them through test after test, which included live firing, and not a gun misfired. The manager came to my office door shortly after I finished the program, peered around the corner and said, ‘Well, how did it go?’ I told him, we’ve got ourselves a winner. Not a gun failed!”

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T h e sporting l i f e

Continuing, George recalls that, “When I went over the details of the test with the plant manager, I told him that everything was in place. All the men were together for the assembly, now all we needed was a foreman. The manager looked at me kind of funny but didn’t say anything. I repeated to him that we needed a foreman. He said, ‘Well, we’ve got one.’ Do I know him? I asked. ‘You ought to,’ he replied, ‘It’s you.’ “So that required another move back to Ilion, where I became supervisor for final assembly of all guns.” “Wow, George, what a job!” “Yep, partner,” he replied in his quiet, unassuming way. “But I had some great people to help.” “What next?” I asked “Well, a couple of years later, one of the vicepresidents of the executive office was touring the plant and I was sort of giving him the grand show when he said, ‘George, I need your help again.’ Oh no, I thought. “‘We want you to take over the ammunition plant out in Arkansas. We’ve got some personnel problems and you’re the man to handle them.’ A couple of weeks later I was in Arkansas, and Joan and the kids had to follow.” “Is that where you were when you retired?” I asked. “Nope, toward the end, DuPont sold the Remington division to a private equity firm out of New York. The new company executives told me I could keep the same position as always, but I didn’t want to move to New York City. So when DuPont said I could stay on with them at their corporate headquarters, I jumped at the chance. You know what? They appointed me director of employee relations for the entire company. And that’s where I stayed until I retired, and we moved to Southern Pines, and I got serious about golf.” George is pretty serious about our area’s major sport, and at the young age of 80, he can still shoot his age. “Well, got to run, partner,” he said as he got up and stretched. “It’s been fun. Thanks for your time.” I walked George out to his car and waved as he backed out the driveway. There is a word, one word to describe this gentleman who spent the evening with me; and as I glanced up and noticed the half moon with a ring around it and thought the weather is going to change tomorrow, the word came to me. Satisfied. That’s what George is, he’s satisfied. He’s proud of his family and proud of the job he did for Remington; but more than that, he’s satisfied with his life. Not many people can say that. PS Tom Bryant, a Southern Pines resident, is a lifelong outdoorsman and PineStraw’s Sporting Life columnist.

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Old Golf Shop

Introducing The Culture of Golf

Antique and Historic art, artifacts, prints, autographs, clothing, balls, clubs, trophies, flags, silver, gold, tees, bronzes, statuary, medals, tournament prizes.

Founded in 1970. 41 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst, NC 28374 • 910-420-8440 • Wednesday thru Saturday or by appointment. 60

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

G o l f town J o u rna l

1955 PGA Show

That was the year that was — a great one in golf burgeoning interest in golf, concocted a series of ridiculous rules to confuse and confound Lucy and Ethel. Only their plan backfires when the Merchandise girls recruit Demaret’s help in playing a pseudoShow completed its sixty-second golf game replete with asking “May I?” before teeing off and hitting a shot called the “over the running in late January in Orlando shoulder left-handed whirling stymie.” with more than ten miles of show Considerable buzz around the reigning U.S. aisles and one million square feet Amateur champion. Despite her son’s winning the 1954 U.S. of exhibit space. Some 40,000 Amateur at the Country Club of Detroit, Doris attendees, including golfers the Palmer expressed concern to Pinehurst owner and USGA official Richard Tufts that young ilk of Bubba Watson and Graeme Arnold planned to turn professional. “I’m McDowell, checked out high tech sorry to hear that, Mrs. Palmer,” Tufts replied. “With that swing of his he’ll never make it on range-finders that vibrate when you tour.” Yet here young Arnold might have been hone in on the flagstick . . . hybrid in the winter of 1955, a newly minted tour pro, Arnold Palmer and his father Deacon on traveling the circuit with his young bride, the clubs with adjustable sole plates to the 9th hole of Pinehurst No. 2 in 1954. former Winifred Walzer: lean, athletic, bright help cure slices and hooks . . . puteyes, engaging smile, svelte looking in a cotton shirt, tan pants and oxford shoes. ter grips designed in camouflage patterns in the colors of Soon Mr. Tufts and other doubters would be proven wrong. Way wrong. A table of guys from New York handing out free copies and signing up new subscribthe Seattle and New England Super Bowl teams. ers for a new sports magazine that had just been introduced in August 1954. This annual conclave of the golf industry started in 1954 in Dunedin, Time magazine patriarch Henry Luce began thinking in the early 1950s that Florida, the home from 1945-62 of the PGA of America, when a handful of golf the burgeoning world of sports might be ready for a weekly full-color sports merchandisers assembled in the parking lot at Dunedin Country Club during a magazine. Thus a meeting of editors at Pine Lakes Golf Club in Myrtle Beach series of PGA winter tournaments. in April 1954 launched the battle plan for Sports Illustrated. The inaugural issue Just imagine what actually was or might have been on display at the second in August 1954 featured Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Matthews, and the PGA Merchandise Show in the winter of 1955, exactly sixty years ago: second cover was a golf theme — a photo of dozens of colorful golf bags leaning A long line to examine and hit the new Wilson Staff golf ball. on posts, presumably on the first tee of a country club. It had been nearly half a century since the last major development in golf A little man in a tweed jacket signing books. ball technology, the introduction in the early 1900s of a ball made by wrapHerbert Warren Wind was a Yale and Cambridge educated writer who’d just ping elastic around a rubber core and encasing it in gutta percha. Now, in left The New Yorker magazine to join the SI staff, primarily to cover golf. In 1948 1954, the Wilson Sporting Goods Company introduced the Wilson Staff he’d written The Story of American Golf, an interesting and thorough account of ball — the first “distance” ball and the inaugural salvo in what still rages today the game tracing its growth in America from John Reid building a three-hole layas the eternal quest for five more yards off the tee. Wilson touted its new ball out in New York in 1888. In 1954 he’d just come out with The Complete Golfer, as traveling “40 percent faster than the clubface” at impact and had golfers an anthology of the best golf stories from Darwin to Wodehouse to Rice, and he like Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and Patty Berg using it in competition. Soon might well have attended the show to sign books with the same articulate and other manufactures entered the fray, but it would not be until the 1980s when graceful cursive to match his distinctive writing style. the Acushnet Company introduced a balata ball that its Titleist brand would All manner of manufacturers hawking their clothing wares. reign supreme in the ball wars. Foot Joy produced golf shoes with fringed kiltie-shaped tongues that covered A flurry of interest over that newfangled box that brought colored moving pictures the laces, ostensibly as a mud flap of sorts, and they were all the rage in the and sound into every living room. 1950s. French sportswear maker René Lacoste had been selling white cotton RCA introduced its new 21-inch color television in 1954 and in ’55 would sell shirts with tiny crocodile emblems on the chest to tennis players since the 1930s, 20,000 of them, and the USGA might have promoted the fact that just the year but as the popularity of golf grew, his company began offering them in a variety before, its U.S. Open at Baltusrol had been televised nationally for the first time. of colors, matching increasingly bold colors of trousers and shorts. In 1952, the The I Love Lucy television show featured golf great Jimmy Demaret in a May shirts were exported to the United States and advertised as “the status symbol of 1954 episode. That’s the one where Ricky and Fred, hoping to spurn their wives’ the competent sportsman.” Munsingwear immediately countered in 1954 with

By Lee Pace

photograph from the Tufts archives

The PGA

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March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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plans for a $5 golf shirt — featuring a penguin logo placed specifically on the right side pocket to avoid interference with swing. Pro golfers Julius Boros from the men’s tour and Peggy Kirk Bell from the ladies’ tour promoting their golf resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Boros came from Connecticut and Peggy from Ohio to discover the wonders of the Pinehurst and Sandhills golf scene in the late 1940s, their common denominator being the daughter of the Cosgrove family that ran Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club. Peggy was a golf pal of Buttons Cosgrove and Julius her husband, and in 1953 the families pooled their resources to buy Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, with Boros promoting it from the pro tour and Peggy and new husband, Bullet, running it. The Bells eventually bought their partners out and today still own Pine Needles, site of three U.S. Women’s Opens. A putter exhibition by an Alabama touring pro named Otey Crisman. None other than the president of the United States had built a practice putting green on the White House lawn in 1954, so amped up was Dwight Eisenhower on the game of golf. What better way to ride the president’s coattails than to promote one of the era’s most popular and unique putters? Crisman was putting badly in the mid1940s on the pro tour with the typical blade putter and discovered his touch and aim were greatly improved with a mallet-shaped head made of soft aluminum. He added a hickory shaft and leather grip, commissioned the manufacture of them in quantity, and found plenty of buyers among tour and club pros. Masters and PGA champion Jack Burke Jr. was among his devotees, and by 1957 onethird of the Masters field was using an Otey. A company called E-Z-GO giving demos to its battery-powered golf carts. Brothers Billy and Bev Dolan created a new company in their garage in Augusta, Georgia, the day after Bev got out of the military in June 1954. They used military surplus 24-volt motors which in earlier lives had operated wing flaps on the B-17 and ran them on a 36-volt battery. This effort to build a cart to carry golf bags on the course followed earlier efforts by a Californian named Merle Williams, whose experiments with electric buggies during gas rationing in World War II evolved into a forerunner of the modern golf cart. Of course, the golf cart proved to be a huge success, sadly to the detriment of the caddie trade, and sixty years later, a golf cart was displayed at The Show that cost $87,000 and has a refrigerator installed. It’s hard to comprehend what might be the hot news item in the year 2075. PS Lee Pace’s book, The Golden Age of Pinehurst — The Story of the Rebirth of No. 2, is available online or on site at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club.

The first round after a great round starts here. The Ryder Cup Lounge Just off the porch of the historic Carolina Hotel, the Ryder Cup offers a generous selection of draft beers, scotch and bourbon as well as a mouth-watering menu with everything from Lobster Crab Cake Sliders to Backyard Rib Stacks. So after your last putt drops, pick up a glass at the Ryder Cup.

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March 2015

Traditional Music

Not so much hunched as swollen to the shape of his greatcoat, guitar case in his fist, the busker paces street lamp to shut shop door wall to light, light to wall the six feet — all he’ll ever get — of a cage he’s made himself, a cage he knows as well as the leopard and as little what he is doing in it. Marchmont Street. Midnight. Near Russell Square tube. Rain. Every now and again he stoops, plucks at the coinless pavement, paces. I pass on the other side. Two years I have paced between a dead man and a wall I cannot break, making what music I can. I gnaw myself like any leopard. I have sharp teeth. Tonight I try to remember old men at Galax, at Fiddler’s Grove: how they lay their boards on the grass a foot and a half square, how they clog, flat-foot, stomp, and hoe-down, how their arms flop like puppets jigging the wind, how their appledoll faces hang grinning year after year after year.

— Ann Deagon

Photographs by John Gessner 66

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Memories of a

Poetic Barnstormer The friends of Shelby Stephenson, North Carolina’s new poet laureate, finally have their say

By Stephen E. Smith Shelby Stephenson, North Carolina’s new poet laureate, and I have been friends for forty years. We met in the mid-’70s at a gathering of the NC Writers’ Conference in Southern Pines. At the time, we were both publishing in literary magazines and in a year or two our first books appeared. During the next twenty years, we did what the late James Dickey called “barnstorming for poetry,” traveling across the state to give readings and entertaining audience, large and small, with an occasional Hank Williams tune. After all that hanging out together, I came to think of Shelby as family, a brother. So I find myself in the position of having too much to tell. Half a lifetime of shared experience doing what we love is simply incommunicable. But, ah, me, the stories we could tell. . . . When Shelby and his wife, Linda, moved to Johnston County, we exchanged the occasional email or phone call, and we saw each other at poetry gatherings. But I’ve never felt compelled to write or call to discuss the state of the world or even the trifling difficulties we’ve experienced in our lives. I instinctively know what Shelby feels and thinks; there’s no need to discuss it. One truth I will share — Shelby Stephenson has made me laugh a thousand times. What more can one expect from a heart-wise brother? Beyond that, I’ll let my betters bear witness:

Clyde Edgerton is the author of

twelve books of prose. He teaches at UNCW.

In the fall of 1977, I started teaching in the education department at Campbell College, and over the Christmas break I wrote my first short story but didn’t tell anybody. I immediately stumbled onto the poetry of Shelby Stephenson, who was teaching across campus in the English department. Shelby’s poetry rang a bell — there was the language and places and people of my rural NC upbringing. I met Shelby and lo, another bell was rung. Here was a man who talked the language I grew up with, but especially: He wrote it. He (and Mark Twain) helped me understand that that language was not only worthy, but precise, musical and precious in a way that does not have to be cloying and cute. Shelby and I started jogging together during our time on campus. I had put together another short story or two but didn’t have the confidence to talk to anyone about my secret writing. We ran along a long dirt road and I finally felt comfortable enough with this real live poet, this bright-eyed, warm, let-me-tell-you-something-and then-you-tell-me-something new friend — finally felt comfortable enough to say, “I’ve written a few short stories.” Shelby was all over my new venture. I was knocked down with his generosity. What new writer could ask for anything more than a (slightly) older writer to show intense interest in his or her work? Shelby asked to read a story, critiqued it, told me where to send it (The Lyricist) and then mentored me and supported me during my first years of writing fiction. He got me my first publication. I was also just starting to play banjo and Shelby played guitar, and he and Nin, his wife, knew all the old songs. Here was somebody I could listen to, talk to, and sing with. I found Shelby at the right time for me — as untold new writers have found him. We have been so lucky to have his encouragement, his music — just as the world is lucky to have his poetry.

Sally Buckner is the author of Strawberry Harvest and editor of Word and Witness: 100 Years of North Carolina Poetry.

Every time a new state poet laureate is announced, North Carolina’s literary community responds, usually with deep enthusiasm. Who wouldn’t respond favorably when Sam Ragan, once dubbed North Carolina’s Literary Godfather, takes the office? Or Fred Chappell, who has garnered a wallful of state and national literary awards? Or Kathryn Stripling Byer, who brought to life the voices of lonesome mountain women as well as modern citizens trying to come to terms with racism? Or Cathy Smith-Bowers, with an enviable record of national publication? Or Joseph Bathanti, who has dedicated much of his professional life to giving voice to those too often voiceless: prisoners, the homeless, abused spouses? So when Shelby Stephenson was named as our newest poet laureate, the hills and valleys (and Facebook and email) across the state fairly rang with unalloyed approval. “Shelby is North Carolina’s Homer!” enthused one voice. Kevin Watson, publisher, commented that “Shelby has the spirit of North Carolina coursing through his veins.” Kathryn Stripling Byer: “Shelby gives voice to his place and its people and does so unashamedly, with passion and precision, and, yes, with real country music.” Poet Nancy Dillingham, “Yes, so deserved — such an unassuming, dedicated writer.” Such accolades are not unexpected for one who has just been awarded one of his state’s highest honors (as well as the N.C. Award for Literature in 2001 and, last fall, induction into the N.C. Literary Hall of Fame). Less expected were the dozens of comments flooding email and Facebook, phrased in different ways, but all translating into Hooray! Shelby’s just such a darned good guy! As one who has been honored to count Shelby a friend since we enjoyed dinner at the Southern Pines home he shared with his wife, Linda, more than thirty years ago, I can heartily second that acclamation. Since the other guests included writers, too — Fred and Susan Chappell, Stephen Smith, Anna Wooten-Hawkins and Tom Hawkins — naturally the conversation often centered on writing. But without an ounce of ego, just a shared love of language and the way it flourishes in this, which novelist Doris Betts termed, “the writingest state.” I had already read Shelby’s hog killing poems, knew how he preserved the dailiness of life in his native Benson. And his prose poem Recognition offers lines which could serve as his creed: “I’m an ordinary man. I am with you in the shade . . . . My frayed feelings swell and swallow up the least utterance reaching out where the road and the water move together.” Indeed.

Joseph Bathanti is the author of seven books of

poetry and four books of prose. He served as North Carolina Poet Laureate 2012—2014.

Last year, around this time, while I was still the poet laureate of North Carolina, I was asked by Kevin Watson to supply a blurb for Fiddledeedee, Shelby Stephenson’s extraordinary series of psalm-like lyrics — what Grace Cavalieri, in her 2002 interview with Shelby, called a “book-length opera” — that Press 53 so beautifully reissued under its imprint this fall. In contemplating my task, I realized that Shelby’s voice — the sound and pitch, the love that beats so steadily for everything in it — rings steadily in my head, that I conjure it at will when I write, that it travels with me, as it does with anyone with whom he comes in contact. I realized as well how much he and his poems — how much he and Linda, their marriage and the literal music that marriage has produced — has meant to me since I first met him about thirty years ago at Saint Andrews College in Laurinburg. How kind he was; how kind he remains. This is what I said in my blurb and it strikes me now in the wake of Shelby’s appointment as North Carolina’s new poet laureate as almost clairvoyant. “Shelby Stephenson can walk out his back door — even in his sleep, it seems, so tithed to the land is his subconscious — and see what lies hidden before our very eyes: in the roods and plowsoles, the tree bark and creek beds, in his beloved spectra ancestors forever singing in his head. He writes about the mystery of the dirt — what it yields, what it reclaims — with more precision and prescience than any poet I can think of. I can hear him now, whispering his sacramental litany, his invocation: ‘it is nothing but a song — the long journey home.’ Fiddledeedee is Shelby at his best. Blessed be his wholly liturgical verse — the bard, the very voice, of North Carolina.” Blurbs are notoriously hyperbolic, but I do not think I exaggerated a bit. If anything, I held back. What I did not say, but I think is implicit, as clear as his poems, is that he was born to be North Carolina’s poet laureate. Born in a plank house, the son of tobacco farmers, Paul and Maytle Stephenson of western Johnston County — we will never have another poet laureate so steeped in the lore and history and sacrosanctity of our soil — he truly is the voice of North Carolina, its psalmist, if you will Shelby and I unbelievably enough spent two or so years together in Pittsburgh, the town I was born and grew up in. While I was in the seventh and eighth grades at Sacred Heart School, a little less than two miles down the avenue, he was studying for his master’s degree in English literature at the University of Pittsburgh, my one-day alma mater, in 1966 and ’67. Our paths surely would have crossed. In fact, I would follow in his footsteps, receiving some years later my master’s in English literature from Pitt and inexplicably come under the spell of Shelby’s favorite professor there, Harry J. Mooney, my favorite as well. In an email, some years back, Shelby said: “Harry Mooney was something out of this world and in it . . . I’m not sure I ever told him I took a sophomore English course with Dan Patterson at Chapel Hill and we got to Faulkner and Patterson said — the subject was The Bear — ‘Here’s a handout: Go home and paste it in your bathroom, right where you’ll see it — this genealogy of the McCaslin family — and study it.’ I did that and what he no doubt intended did not take. I hardly knew what a bathroom was . . . I was bored to know anything how the family might fit in his — Patterson’s — longing to teach me. With Mooney all that clicked right in. Snug. And I was old enough — I had left AT&T and courting Nin, this was 1966 — and I could feel Mooney’s vibes: Family’s almost everything. [Harry J. Mooney’s] patience I won’t forget. To teach like that.” I felt Shelby’s “vibes” before I even met him, apprenticing unwittingly to him, lo, nearly half a century ago on the streets of Pittsburgh — and now, today, in our second shared home, North Carolina. I will not forget his patience and, ah yes, “to teach like that,” to teach like Shelby.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Marsha Warren was

director of the NC Writers’ Network from 1987–1996. In 1991 she joined the Paul Green Foundation and serves as its director.

Anyone who has “experienced” Shelby knows what I’m about to say. His mind is a miracle without conventional filters. He allows himself to think widely and wildly and often about old times. His thought process is so unique that a mundane thing, like asking him, as director of the Paul Green Foundation, to be on a conference call with other trustees, turns into a colorful story from his life — “Just put in the code, Shelby, and you’ll be connected . . . ” “Sounds like a winner to me: When I learned to drive I drove a Farmall Cub and I put it in 3rd gear instead of first and I hit a post which held up the tobacco barn shelter. I await the time I try to make the conference call. “We got a party line when I was 14. I had never talked on a telephone. One day at school our principal Mr. Woodlief called me in his office. I was scared. He told me I had a phone call and handed me the phone and I said Hello in the wrong end. He said, ‘Shelby, turn it around.’ And in a day or so Jerry Johnson who lived across the creek called me and said, ‘Shelb, I’ve got to blow the dust out of this party line — could you lay your end in the trash can.’ And for a split I thought he was serious. “About that Cub — we had mules until I was in the seventh grade — as long as we had the Cub the tie-rod on the right front wheel was bent. Oh, Oh, Oh. And my main brother Paul went from the Cub to bigger tractors and finally started Stephenson’s Bar-B-Q in 1958.” Shelby pulls out the Southern in me. Although I was born and raised in Ohio, my parents were from Kentucky and West Virginia. Then when we moved to North Carolina fifty-four years ago, it felt like I was coming home in a way and Shelby and his poetry have kept me here. I said his mind is a miracle and thus his writing. How fortunate we are to have him share his life through his writing with the great state of North Carolina as its poet laureate. “[The family] lived for 14 years in the Plankhouse — all my early memories in it and around it. So that’s why Nin and I restored it. The brick house was built in ’52. Year road was paved. Governor Scott, we all said, paved the road. Year Hank was to die at the end of 1952. I learned poems from his songs: ‘I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry,’ ‘Cold Cold Heart,’ ‘Your Cheating Heart,’ ‘I Saw the Light,’ and so on. He wrote hundreds. Sang from pain. Died at 29.” We’re all in for a wild and wonderful ride for the next two years.

Fred Chappell is the author of more than 30

books of prose and poetry. He served as NC Poet Laureate 1997—2002.

Kevin Watson at Press 53 is reissuing Shelby Stephenson’s first collection, Fiddledeedee. Now at the time of Shelby’s installation as poet laureate of North Carolina, this is a most auspicious event. His very first book shows this poet at full throttle, hitting the notes high and hard and lonesome, celebrating the glories that attend his powers. Here is the tale that Kevin said Shelby told. Shelby and I were present at some literary do in Atlanta and he came to my room and read aloud the first seventeen pages of that inaugural book. When he asked for my reaction I am supposed to have replied, “Why me, O Lord?” Never happened. That’s our boy telling a tale, a folktale, in fact, the kind he likes best. Shelby is folk. He writes me notes complaining that the latest issue of Poetry magazine has no martins in it. I suppose these days he is giving them a pass on tobacco worms, but maybe he is letting them off too easy. We have all sorts of poets in our state of every degree of sophistication, book learning, and street smarts. But the bedrock of our literary geology is folk material and Shelby makes certain we don’t forget that fact. If he doesn’t want us to get above our raisin’, it’s because he knows that if we do, we’re lost. With Shub as laureate, I’m certain that we’re not lost.

Jaki Shelton Green is the author of Dead on

Arrival, Conjure Blues, Singing A Tree Into Dance, Breath of the Song, Feeding the Light. In 2014 she was inducted into the NC Literary Hall of Fame. “The more closely the author thinks of why he wrote, the more he comes to regard his imagination as a kind of self-generating cement which glued his facts together, and his emotions as a kind of obscure designer of those facts. Reluctantly, he comes to the conclusion that to account for his book is to account for his life.” — Richard Wright Shelby shows up in my life as the uncle or older cousin visiting for Sunday dinner bringing gifts that bear witness to our shared “Southern sensibilities.” One day Shelby called me to talk about the story of July, the Slave girl. I was privileged and humbled to sit and listen to the whispers beneath ancestral floorboards and the rattling of coffin nails. I am grateful for our friendship which continues to teach me how our stories are beautifully juxtaposed and strike a graceful note together. His poetry educates through its rare combination of deep erudition, vivid prose, and profound humanity. By giving breath to July, Shelby weaves intricate mosaics of narrative that ultimately becomes about betrayal and the complex moral landscape of internal war. Shelby Stephenson has shown me through this journey with July how to inspire, conjure dignity, and how to remain open and honest to the solace that comes when the story holds us accountable. These are lessons I cherish in my friendship with Shelby as we stand for more and more possibilities of story that nudge our profound understanding of how alive the past can be. PS

History is all around us — if you just know where to look By John Chappell • Illustrations by Harry Blair

Ancient hills: Rising at first gradually from Carthage, then more and more, roll foothills of the Uwharries, at 500 million years, are truly ancient. For decades geologists contended they were the continent’s oldest mountains. Hiking trails inside the town limits of Robbins along the coursing waters of Bear Creek could easily be taken for sections of the Appalachian Trail, yet they are hardly a mile from Town Hall, the post office and the downtown business district.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

The lost commons of Southern Pines:

Distant seas: Farther south, long ago, you’d reach

the beach. Shops and parking lot at Town & Country flattened and covered up acres of ancient sand dunes — all that was left of a sea that lapped shores hundreds of millions of years ago. As late as the 1940s people drove miles to wander among those dunes, spread picnics as if Pinehurst were only minutes away from the Outer Banks. Here and there in rural parts of the Sandhills, though only in small spots, one or another of these geological relics survives, but this most spectacular one is gone. Still today, most anywhere in the Sandhills, you can dig up shark’s teeth.

Hidden spaces, secret rooms: There are mysteries in

many a mansion in Pinehurst and Southern Pines. They were built in the days before Prohibition, and when at the end of The Great War brought Johnny marching home — after he’d seen Paree — the 18th Amendment was added to the Constitution drying the nation. Not everybody thought that was a good idea, and to this day houses with secret cupboards and even entire rooms survive in both towns. What might look only like part of a patterned wall, even in an ordinary upstairs painted room (as in one Southern Pines home), opens easily to reveal a large hidden space when a nail head is pressed with the point of an ice pick. In one sprawling village home in Pinehurst, twisting one of the coat hooks in a main floor closet releases the catch for a door opening to a large secret room. Perhaps at a time precious spirits and stores of wine bottles once remained safely concealed in such places. The secret spaces are discreet, saying nothing. Theirs are not the only surprises. One Pinehurst home has a full pipe organ in the basement. Didn’t know that, did you?

When railroad engineer James Tyrant Patrick took a notion to turn pine barrens halfway down the line between New York and Miami into a mid-South resort he’d call Southern Pines, he didn’t like the idea of private drives for every lot. Instead, he drew up city blocks with central commons: squares at the center of every block from Broad up to Ridge, and only one drive entering on each side — one from each street, and one from each avenue. He named avenues after Northern states, his sales territory. Tyrant planned for property owners to drive their horse and carriage rigs into the common square for central stabling and parking, keeping things neat. That layout would also allow for much larger lots for houses. It just didn’t work out. Original buyers bid for and gobbled up the squares and parts to make their lots deeper, so none of the blocks today still have a central commons. One thing some still do have, here and there, are old longleaf pine trees slashed at base for sap collection — sometimes their old iron hooks can be seen still screwed to the trunk above the slash — a vestige of the once-thriving turpentine trade.

They came through Carthage:

Piedmont meets coastal plain at Carthage, where spreading oaks and longleaf pines together rise along a route traveled at times by Cornwallis, then Washington. Future President Andrew Johnson opened his tailor shop there before moving first to South Carolina, then Tennessee. The great-great-great grandmother of former Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was sold as a slave on the courthouse steps. Now he’s secretary of transportation. Just up the way, in what became Elise, then Hemp, now Robbins, Carolina Quakers and potters were helping runaways escape to freedom in the North. George Washington, visiting his cousin George Glascock — Moore County’s first clerk of court — went hunting with him about a mile south of Courthouse Hill. They took a deer that day.

A Duke ESP research lab in a Southern Pines basement: Hardly a mile away, a researcher working

with J.B. Rhine and others in a new field they called parapsychology was studying alleged poltergeist phenomena and testing subjects to see if any had the power to move physical objects by force of mind: psychokinesis. William Ed Cox constructed an elaborate automated laboratory in the basement of his home on New Hampshire Avenue. Test subjects would, at the touch of a button, release BBs down a long chute, willing them to go to side A, or side B. Later, Cox would weigh the results to determine whether one side or the other’s weight exceeded pure chance predictions, constituting a “win.” Cox gave keys to his volunteer subjects so they could enter the lab at unexpected times to release the chute. This was meant to exclude any possibility of Cox influencing the results by mental force of his own, but had the unintended result of leaving the tests uncontrolled and unmonitored. His findings were published in monographs and in the Journal of Psychical Research. Cox was also an accomplished magician, and a friend of famed Wallace the Magician of Durham. He often performed at town Halloween carnivals dressed in flowing Chinese robes.

Father Goose flocks to Carthage:

William Lishman’s efforts to teach waterfowl new migration patterns by imprinting flocks on ultralight aircraft, getting them to follow him at low speed on winter migrations south from Canada, were celebrated in the movie Fly Away Home. One southbound journey found an ultralight leader and flock flying late heading into weather as they passed over Courthouse Square in Carthage. A quickly arranged “permission to land” transformed Roland Gilliam’s airfield from Gilliam-McConnell to GilliamMcConnell International Airfield when pilot, plane and geese bedded down for a night. Bet you didn’t know that.

When Hollywood went wide-screen, CinemaScope came to Broad Street: The Princess

Theatre on East Broad, with its stage house and fly gallery, turned to movies as vaudeville went out. Charles Piquet bought it along with the much larger Pinehurst Theatre in the center of the village, and screened top level films at his renamed Carolina Theater. His brother was a Hollywood studio executive, so Piquet never had to fight distribution battles to get films he wanted. There was no concession stand, no popcorn and no drinks. Piquet had tickets printed for each show by the Globe Ticket Company in Atlanta with numbered seats, just like Broadway. His was the second theater in all of North Carolina, right behind Charlotte, to install the wide curved screen, anamorphic CinemaScope lens, and six-channel sound required to show The Robe. Next was Beyond the 12-Mile Reef and on and on. The Carolina survives today as Theatre Antiques, still preserving his box office with a few of those long tickets and some of the posters. Much less remains of the interior of the Pinehurst Theatre, its balconies, stage, orchestra pit, dressing rooms — all ripped away to turn the inside into a shopping mall. But if you don’t go inside, you won’t know; it still looks like a theater from the outside — where retired Gen. George Catlett Marshall saw plays and where actor James Bateman played before changing his name to Henry Gibson.

Séances, crystal balls, and ghosts on-the-air: In

the 1950s, Tom O’Neal showed up every week at the downtown studios of WEEB on New Hampshire Avenue in Southern Pines to deliver a fiveinch reel of magnetic tape. On it was the latest episode of his nationally franchised spiritualist radio program. He regularly wrote, produced, and recorded it a few blocks away in a specially set up séance room at his palatial home on Connecticut Avenue. There, microphone in center of table, O’Neal recorded views, instructions and gatherings of fellow true believers in the survival of personality after death. His programs dealt with psychic abilities, ghosts and hauntings, divination, dreaming, mental telepathy and other paranormal topics. One told how to build a magic mirror by reversing the convex glass from an old oval or round picture frame to a concave and coating the back with asphaltum paint. You were to use it for “scrying” — gazing into its hollow blackness until images began to appear. Mine never worked.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

No talc mine on Talc Mine Road, and no talc either: Moore

County industry is usually associated with agriculture, textile mills, small production facilities in the furniture and rug trade, and the well-known traditional pottery. Less well-known is the county’s mining history, going back to the days when this state was the chief source of the nation’s gold. There are still mines along Cabin Creek in the Robbins area that closed when mining gold at $35 an ounce proved unprofitable. Today amateurs pan the streams, claiming they “see enough color” to make the effort worth their while. Until fairly recently, two mining companies were shipping an amorphous aluminum silicate called pyrophyllite all over the world, mining it near Robbins and Glendon. Today, Standard Mineral Company’s two mines work every day, and the company claims to have a hundred years of proven reserves in the ground. Yes, there’s a road called Talc Mine Road on the edge of Robbins, but there’s no talc mine on that road and never has been. There’s never been any talc found anywhere in the county, for that matter. The Standard Mineral Company original mine and plant are on that road, however. People started calling it a talc mine, because the slippery white minerals look similar. “We know it’s not talc, it’s pyrophyllite,” Robbins folk say with a grin. “But talc is easier to spell.”

The day 1,000 mourners, Congress, and the French Nation paid tribute in Carthage: From

August 1914 until the spring of 1917 the U.S. stayed out of the Great War raging in Europe. One man, James Rogers McConnell, head of the Carthage Board of Trade and a graduate of the University of Virginia, stood on Courthouse Hill one day thinking how he could nearly see all the way to Fayetteville, named for the marquis who’d come from France to the aid of Washington, and how the nation of France had come to our help at Yorktown. He left for France as a volunteer, driving an ambulance and plunging into combat so risky he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for valor though a foreigner. He wanted to do more, and with other Americans learned to fly and entered aerial combat in the world’s first fighter planes. He and other American volunteer fighter pilots organized what became the famous Lafayette Escadrille. McConnell wrote of his adventures in a book, Flying for France, and was the last American pilot to lose his life before America entered the war. The thousand crowded Carthage for his funeral, though his body was removed for burial on French soil. Today, twin cannons flank a stele beside the courthouse, a tribute sent by the Congress of the United States. At the airfield Roland Gilliam built and named for this hero visitors can see a bronze plaque expressing gratitude and signed simply “France.”

Rolling dice, roulette wheels and cards on the table: Casino gambling was never legal here, but that doesn’t mean

The lost trolley line to Pinehurst:

People heading to Pinehurst, whether coming south from Boston or New York City, or up from somewhere in Florida, had to be met at the train station in Southern Pines. Back in 1895 James Tufts thought rather than horse and buggy, he’d run a trolley line from that station to Pinehurst. He rejected the idea of a cable car, given the sandy nature of the soil, and didn’t want horse-drawn trolleys either. He built an electrified trolley line, the Pinehurst Electric Railroad, that eventually had seven heated trolley cars running every hour and a half between the Southern Pines station and Pinehurst. He ran a spur line to the golf club, and another to the Piney Woods Hotel in Southern Pines, eventually having nine miles of trolley tracks — until somebody irked residents of Southern Pines by posting a Pinehurst Junction sign at the train station. Town fathers citing accidents starting taking up trolley tracks in town, and that was the beginning of the end. You can still follow the old trolley route, though. It’s the reason there’s a double road running from the railroad station to Pinehurst.

it didn’t go on. A popular spot for years was the Dunes Club, near the present Carolina Eye on Midland Road. In the outer rooms there was a sort of nightclub, with live performers every week, and advertisements in local papers as to who was playing the Dunes. One week it would be a dance duo, another would feature a singing sensation. The Dunes was a dining and dancing dinner club. In the front room, that is. But, there was the green curtain. Past the green curtain was another room, and in that room you’d find roulette wheels, blackjack tables, poker and baccarat — as much a full casino as any in Vegas. There was one rule, a deal every sheriff insisted on: No local could lose money. That was reserved for visitors. Locals were permitted past the curtain only to accompany visitors, people from out-of-town, somewhere else. Losses were handed back discreetly hand to hand upon exit, and it was understood that if you lived here, you didn’t go back there. What? You didn’t know that? PS

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Steep Canyon

Rangers By Ogi Overman

Photographs by John Gessner

othing about the Steep Canyon Rangers fits the mold. They might easily have had a few laughs and a few memories and taken their respective degrees from UNC Chapel Hill and become businessmen, lawyers, accountants, teachers or, God forbid, journalists. But musicians? Crimony, not only were none of them music majors, but when they got together, none of them could actually play an instrument much past a G, C and D progression. Oh, Graham Sharp did play a mean saxophone, but when’s the last time you heard a sax in a bluegrass band? In the late-’90s when college boys were listening to Hootie and the Blowfish, Sharp picked up a banjo, and he and guitarist/vocalist Woody Platt and bull bassist Charles R. Humphrey III started fiddling around some. Never mind that they didn’t have a fiddle; that would come a bit later in the person of Nicky Sanders. And Platt’s friend from Brevard, Mike Guggino, who was attending UNC Asheville, saw them playing at a party and thought, “Hmm, that looks like fun,” and went out and bought a mandolin so he could join the “band.” But they were having fun, which is, after all, the point of playing music. And, because they had a strong work ethic and liked each other, they were getting better. Finally, they had worked up enough tunes — mainly old bluegrass instrumental standards like “Orange Blossom Special” and “Foggy Mountain Breakdown” — to get a real gig. Then, on the way to the gig they realized they didn’t have a name. It so happened that one or more of them was keen on a California craft brew made by Humes Brewing called Steep Canyon Stout, which may have worked for an indie rock or grunge band, but not a bluegrass outfit. So, they ditched the “Stout,” likely going through “Boys” and “Ramblers” and “Cats,” before settling on “Rangers.” Thus was born the Steep Canyon Rangers. Make that the Grammy-winning, International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year-winning, Carnegie Hall- and White House-playing Steep Canyon Rangers. Yes, that would be the one that sometimes includes a second banjoist, Steve Martin, who also does a little comedy on the side. I mean, you can’t get there from here. But obviously you can, and they are the proof. And if further proof be needed of what fifteen-plus years of constant practice will do, the Steep Canyon Rangers will be appearing as the marquee act at this year’s Palustris Arts Festival. They will hit the stage of the R.E. Lee Auditorium at Southern Pines’ Pinecrest High School at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 27. The festival runs through Sunday, March 29. “I’ve had my eye on them basically since we started the festival in 2011,” says Chris Dunn, who is the director of the Arts Council of Moore County. “But at that time they were touring with Steve Martin and simply out of our price range.” Dunn says the festival always tries to make sure their headliner has some North Carolina connection. “These guys fit the bill perfectly,” he says. “I’m just thrilled to get them. They are a big name in bluegrass right now.” Indeed, the case could be made that they are the hottest act in the expanding world of bluegrass today. In fact, they are one of the primary reasons that it is expanding. They have deftly defined their niche by adding drums, percussion PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

and pedal steel to some of their recordings, particularly their latest release, Tell The Ones I Love. They are also not afraid to add female voices, notably Edie Brickell (who is currently collaborating with Martin on a Broadway musical) or the Dixie Chicks. They even have played with decidedly nonbluegrass guest artists such as, um, Sir Paul McCartney. And they have done all this without completely offending the bluegrass purists by respecting the high, lonesome bluegrass traditions laid down by Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, the Stanley Brothers and other pioneers. It’s a fine line and they walk it well. Of their place on the spectrum of purity vs. innovation, they seem not too concerned where they fall. Says banjoist/vocalist Graham Sharp, “When we play in North Carolina, we’re considered progressive, but when we play Colorado, we’re considered traditional. So I guess it’s in the eye of the beholder.” Then adds, “While we’ve focused on the traditional bluegrass market, we’ve always had an eye out for music lovers in general. And that has served us well.” Another factor that separates the Steep Canyon Rangers from the pack is that almost all their material is original. Sharp, who is their principle — but by no means only — songwriter, says that early on they took some sage advice that paved the way for future success. “A friend who was already an established musician told us that if we were

going to be a band we would need our own songs,” recalls Sharp, “and we never questioned that. Writing never seemed out of the ordinary. Once we got out among other bands, we learned it was something we could do that would kind of distinguish us from all these other great bands you hear at festivals. And I think our writing has gotten better over time.” During those formative years, harmony vocals were not high on their list of priorities. “We were just trying to learn to play,” says Sharp with a laugh. “Harmony was not something that came naturally. But we had some friends in the area, like Russell Johnson of the Grass Cats; Joe Snipes, a teacher in Chatham County; and a mandolin player, John Hicks, who taught us what harmony was all about. Once we figured it out, we started working hard on it. We listened to the great ones a lot, groups like IIIrd Tyme Out, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver and J.D. Crowe.” And, as their writing, playing and singing has gotten better, so have the accolades. A harbinger of things to come was their first IBMA award as the Emerging Artist of the Year in 2006. Three nominations in various categories followed, until they snagged the big prize in 2011 as IBMA Entertainer of the Year. Not coincidentally, that was the year they were touring with Steve Martin. Their album with him, Rare Bird Alert, was also nominated for a Grammy that year. Then, as if to prove they were not merely riding

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Martin’s coattails, they won the 2012 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album for Nobody Knows You. As most bluegrass groups do when the festival circuit shuts down for winter, they just finished recording an album, so new it is yet unnamed. Produced by the legendary Jerry Douglas, it marks their fifth for the Rounder label, after four for Rebel Records, one for Bonfire Records, preceded by their 2001 indie debut, Old Dreams and New Dreams. Their latest is slated for release to coincide with their own festival, held the second week of September at the Brevard Music Center. Meanwhile, they were a late addition to MerleFest, held at Wilkes Community College the last weekend of April. They will perform Sunday afternoon on the Hillside Stage. “With their relentless touring schedule, we are lucky that we take place in March, before the summer festival season heats up,” notes Dunn, who has been with the Arts Council since 1995. The Palustris Arts Festival is patterned after the famous Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., but more specifically, the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, which features local artists and organizations tied directly to the area. Dunn’s goal is 5,000 attendees over the three days. For the schedule of events or further information call (910) 692-2787, go to www.palustrisfestival.com or www.steepcanyon.com. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

March 27 - 29 The Palustris Festival presents a variety of events showcasing the visual, literary and performing arts in Pinehurst, Southern Pines and the Aberdeen area.

Steep Canyon Rangers Fri., March 27 • 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $30 in advance / $35 day of and at door. Tickets available for purchase online at etix.com or at the Arts Council offices (Campbell House, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines). R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines, 910-692-2787, www.MooreArt.org

Cinema’s House of Seven Gables Sat., March 28 • 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. • Free

Lois Holt and Ron Layne will present a lecture on what makes a Hollywood icon. How do some cinema stars transcend their own era to capture imaginations and intellects across time? Cinema’s House of Seven Gables profiles seven widely varied films that secured Clark Gable’s status as a major film star — one whose forays into film engaged him with a range of starlets whose own careers were enhanced by Gable’s presence with them on celluloid. Clement Dining Room, Dempsey Student Center, Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst, 910-2464109, www.Sandhills.edu

Union Pines Bands in Concert Sat., March 28 • 3:30 – 5 p.m. • Free

Directed by Rob Hill, Union Pines Bands are consistent awardwinners in marching and concert competitions. For this concert, the Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will each perform their state-level contest music. The finale will be all three groups combining to play their marching music that garnered Union Pines many awards from this past fall. Don’t miss this chance to see and hear some high quality band music by a group of very talented local young musicians. Bring a chair, blanket and picnic. Downtown Park, 145 SE Broad Street, Southern Pines, 910-6903789, www.UnionPinesBand.org

Sing! Sing! Sing! A Celebration of the Voice

Sat., March 28 • 7 – 8:30 p.m. • Tickets: $10 per person (Free for children under 5)

Choirs scheduled to perform: Rod Brower & Together-N-Unity Gospel Choir, Methodist University Chorale, Moore County Choral Society Children’s Choir, Pinecrest High School Chamber Ensemble. All ages will enjoy this event showcasing a variety of talent in the choral arts. R.E. Lee Auditorium at Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines, 910-692-6554 x7103, www.PinecrestChoral.org

O. Henry: His Surprise Endings . . . and Beginnings, by Dr. Elliot Engel

Sun., March 29 • 3 – 5 p.m. • Free, but tickets are required, and available at the Library. Few authors have suffered more undeserved neglect than O.Henry. Using anecdotes, analysis and large doses of humor, Dr. Engel brings to life this remarkable short-story writer who was born William Sydney Porter in Greensboro and who achieved worldwide acclaim during his short, turbulent lifetime. Dr. Elliot Engel has taught at UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State and Duke University, and has lectured across the country and around the world. He is the author of ten books published in England, Japan and the U.S., and his articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Newsweek. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines, 910-692-8235, www.sppl.net

Palmis Trio

Sun., March, 29 • 3 p.m. • $15 per person (Free for Weymouth members & children 12 & under) The Palmis Trio was formed in 2013 when the musicians played together on a tour in the USA. The result was so successful (and fun) that the musicians decided to start playing together regularly. The Palmis Trio is a truly international ensemble. Cellist Pamela Smits is from Holland, pianist Sabine Simon is from Germany, and clarinetist Allan Ware is from the USA. All three musicians are active teachers with extensive experience in giving master classes. Their chamber music program at Weymouth will include Beethoven, Brahms and Zemlinsky. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines, 910-692-6261, www.WeymouthCenter.org

Pinecrest Choral Department presents “Sing! Sing! Sing! A Celebration of the Voice,” a special choral concert that will feature different types of singing groups from around North Carolina.

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Fiber Arts by the Lake

Arts in the Arboretum

The Sandhills Quilters Guild and Aberdeen Parks & Recreation present a display of fiber arts created by local artists. Included are works from international, national and regional award-winning artists. Members of the guild will be on-site at the Aberdeen Recreation Station with “Make & Take” kits to assist individuals who want to try their hands in creating a fabric postcard. There will be a $3 charge for each “Make & Take” kit. Aberdeen Recreation Station (Aberdeen Lake Park), 301 Lake Park Crossing, Aberdeen, 910-315-2080, www.SandhillsQuilters.org

Take a guided nature tour through the Arboretum with a variety of performers and artists in action along the way. Tours begin at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and will begin at the Timmel Pavilion.

Suzy Morgan Paintings and Charles and Linda Riggs Pottery

Pottery Experience

Suzy Morgan is a self-taught painter and loves it with a passion. Her style falls somewhere between the looseness of impressionism and the straight lines of realism. As she states, “It’s just a joy to paint almost every day.”

Linda and Jim Dalton will offer studio tours, question and answer sessions and casual discussions of how pottery is made and sold. All events are geared to adults and children of all ages. Pottery will be on display and available for purchase.

Fri., Sat., March 27–28 • 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. • Free

Fri., Sat., Sun., March 27–29 • 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. • Free

Charlie and Linda Riggs work together to create a variety of decorative types of pottery. Most of their work is thrown by Charlie, who takes time to make a very smooth surface that will later be polished with terra sigillata. These pots are then finished with one of the smoke-fired techniques that results in a shiny unglazed surface brilliant with the colors of saggar firing, the bold blacks and whites of naked raku, or the subtle marks of horsehair and ferric chloride. Linda hand-builds sculptural bowls, trays, animals and jewelry which are later finished with one of her specialty techniques — saggar firing or naked raku. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines, 910-692-2787, www.MooreArt.org

Paintings for Palustris Art Exhibit

Fri., Sat., March 27–28 • 10 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. • Free Sun., March 29 • 14:30 – 9:30 p.m. • Free Fri., March 27 - Preview Party — 5–7 p.m. • Free Visit Hollyhocks Art Gallery and enjoy the special preview party for a Palustris art exhibit, Paintings for Palustris, complete with wine and appetizers. Hollyhocks Art Gallery has a fine reputation and has been successfully operating for over ten years. The Gallery features an eclectic and exciting mix of work by owner Jane Casnellie and award-winning artists from North and South Carolina, including Linda Griffin, Diane Kraudelt, Jessie Mackay, Julie Messerschmidt and Charlie Roberts. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst, 910-2550665, www.hollyhocksartgallery.com

Sat., March 28 • 10 a.m. • Free

From 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., guests of all ages are invited to explore their own creativity in the Meadow Lawn by creating nature inspired crafts. Materials will be provided. There will also be performances throughout the day, featuring stories, songs and dance. In the event of rain, all activities will be in the Pinehurst Assembly Hall. Walking shoes are recommended. Village Arboretum, 395 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst, 910-2958656, www.vopnc.org

Fri., Sat., Sun., March 27–29 • 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. • Free

Daily Schedule: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Gallery will be open each day for browsing and shopping. Demonstrations of throwing and hand building will be offered on request. 10 a.m. & 2 p.m. Hands-on Pottery Experiences (limit of 6 per session, advanced reservations required) Participants may choose an unglazed pot from a selection of different shapes to glaze themselves and fire as a raku pot, or fire as a horsehair piece. Finished pieces will be ready to take home at the end of the session. $30 per person. Linda Dalton Pottery, 250 Oakhurst Vista, West End, 910-9475325, www.lindadaltonpottery.com

Double Takes: By the Square Foot

Fri., Sat., Sun., March 27–29 • 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. • Free Eye Candy Gallery, in partnership with the Sandhills Photography Club, is collaborating with area artists to present Double Takes: By the Square Foot. This popular annual juried exhibit seeks to showcase photography as fine art and to demonstrate the interconnected inspiration between photography and art. An opening reception for the public will take place on Wed., March 25 from 6–9 p.m. The exhibit will remain on display until April 25. Eye Candy Gallery, 275 NE Broad Street, Southern Pines, 910246-2266, www.eye-candy-gallery.com PS

The State of Filmmaking As a stunning new exhibition reveals, all 100 counties of North Carolina have starred in more than 3,000 films and TV shows shot in the Old North State since 1912

Photographs from the N.C. Museum of History

“Oh! A real story. Intrigue! Danger! New outfits! And it’s mine, mine, mine, all mine, a ha ha ha ha . . . (to camera) Oh, come on, please, you think Ted Koppel never gets excited?” Miss Piggy, Muppets From Space

By Gwenyfar Rohler

n one sentence, Camille Hunt, registrar at the North Carolina Museum of History, sums up the vast leaps of filmmaking technology in the last one hundred years: Once a special occasion that involved getting dressed up to go to the one theater in town, she points out, movie-going has evolved in such a way that it’s now possible to watch a movie anywhere — even through the display screen of your phone. Arguably, since the printing press, few other inventions have influenced as many lives as motion picture technology. We are standing in the Starring North Carolina! exhibit that opened at the Raleigh museum in November, which is located right next door to our historic State Capitol building. For two and a half years, Hunt and a team of nearly twenty others have worked to produce this ambitious exhibit, which celebrates our state’s rich history of filmmaking and spans over one hundred years. “We had an exhibit on Gone With the Wind,” says Hunt, recalling the genesis of the idea. “We had costumes, Vivien Leigh costumes, Clark Gable costumes, Vivien Leigh’s Oscar, costume sketches, production sketches . . . This was about the same time Iron Man 3 was being filmed; The Hunger Games had come out.” Hunt found herself asking colleagues, “What else might have happened? We should do an exhibit on North Carolina film.” Behind us on a big screen, a clip from Muppets From Space ends and part of the pilot episode of Sleepy Hollow cues up. There are a couple of rows of theater seats bolted to the floor from the old Galaxy Cinema in Cary. “It was interesting to work with the studios to get permission to use the clips,” Hunt says, grinning. “Oh, this is my favorite scene from Bull Durham!” I turn to her as the players circle the pitcher’s mound in the throes of crisis. “Nobody knows what to get Jimmy and Millie for the wedding!” We both laugh and nod. Hunt’s lovely dark hair frames a face that, at least when she talks about movies, smiles constantly all the way to her twinkling eyes. “We figure this is one of the most iconic North Carolina-made movies, and it is unique in that it was made in North Carolina and set in North Carolina. That’s kind of rare because a lot of the time North Carolina stands in for another place, so it’s neat when we get to be the star as well, you know?” The 1988 film, starring Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins, was produced by N.C. native Thom Mount and put North Carolina and a minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls, on the map. Hunt recalls that while researching the exhibit she and one of the curators, Katie Edwards,

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

commented that it felt like “the more we found, the more we found. We would meet a person, and they would say, ‘Oh! You have to talk to soand-so!’ Everyone we talked to was passionate about the project. It’s clear that people in North Carolina are super proud of the industry.” And what’s not to be proud of? Our résumé includes: Iron Man 3, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Dirty Dancing, The Last of the Mohicans, Being There, Safe Haven, The Secret Life of Bees, Dawson’s Creek, Homeland, Matlock, Blue Velvet, Cat’s Eye . . . and 2,988 more films currently celebrated in the exhibit. Like many North Carolinians, and specifically Wilmingtonians, I am well-versed in the litany: Dino De Laurentiis came here for Firestarter with Drew Barrymore in 1983. He so enjoyed burning Orton Plantation for the film and was taken with our low cost of business and the possibilities that a right-to-work state (as opposed to a state where unions were strong) offered a movie producer — that he built a studio here. The rest, as they say, is history. But according to Hunt, filmmaking in N.C. actually began in 1912. “We found that productions had gone back over one-hundred years — the earliest we found was a 1912 production called The Heart of Esmeralda, which was filmed in the mountains.” It was at The Esmeralda Inn, near Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. The Inn has had quite a strong film connection since then: apparently it became a hide-away spot for silent film stars like Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson, Douglas Fairbanks and Clark Gable. Screenwriters went there for retreats, and Lew Wallace claimed to have finished the script for Ben-Hur in room No. 9. After a lull that lasted a couple of decades, the film industry rediscovered the Inn and, among other films in the area, Dirty Dancing, the coming of age classic with Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, landed here. When the Inn was restored following a fire in 1997, the dance floor from the film was installed in the lobby. (Am I the only woman in the world who quivers at the thought of twirling my way across Johnny Castle’s dance floor? I can’t be.) Behind us a black-and-white silent movie clip is playing on a continuous loop. “We get into the N.C. connection to filmmaking [with] silent films in 1921.” Hunt gestures to The Lost Colony film made in Manteo. This film was the foundation and inspiration for The Lost Colony play that Paul Green would write and produce in 1937. “Part of what I find interesting about this is that the writer and director were both women, and at the time that was unusual —”

In Starring North Carolina!, see a mask from the 1990 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which was filmed in North Carolina. Loan courtesy of the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, Wilmington, N.C.

Actor Kevin Costner wore this bomber jacket in the 1988 movie Bull Durham, which was filmed in North Carolina. Loan courtesy of Thom Mount.

Ricky Bobby’s No. 26 Wonder Bread race car from the 2006 movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The 2006 Chevrolet, currently on view in the museum lobby, is on loan from International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama, and from Shell Oil. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

I interrupt Hunt. “It still is.” “No, you’re right,” she nods. “It still is.” We turn another corner and are greeted by the black-and-white screen movie clip of two men talking at a piano. “This is Pitch a Boogie Woogie, which was made in Greenville in the 1940s.” Featuring an all-African-American cast that includes a lot of Greenville locals and some big name touring dancers and musicians of the era, Hunt explains that, originally, “the movie was mostly shown in AfricanAmerican theaters in the Greenville area.” It was lost and almost forgotten until a print was discovered while restoring the Roxy Theatre in Greenville. “A professor at ECU, Alex Albright, had rediscovered the film and took charge of getting it resurrected. They did a re-release in 1986,” Hunt elaborates. Watching the clips run I feel as if I’m at an early screening from Cine Noir, the African-American Independent Film Festival (now renamed the North Carolina Black Film Festival). That same excitement and verve of independent storytelling comes through on the screen. But before I can get too proud of the strong heritage of African-American art in our state, I am reminded of the flip side of our history by a copy of The Clansman, a novel by Thomas F. Dixon, in a display case. It was turned into a film by D.W. Griffith titled The Birth of a Nation. “The author was from here,” Hunt reminds me. “Yeah, Thomas F. Dixon . . .” I trail off thinking about Birth of a Nation (which he co-wrote the screenplay for) and the sequel, The Fall of a Nation, which he wrote and directed. Two sides of the early N.C. filmmaking coin jingle in my head. “Here we enter the heart of the exhibit: modern movies!” Hunt almost squeals with delight. Again, expecting to start with Firestarter or Cat’s Eye, I am surprised that instead we are at the 1956 Grace Kelly film The Swan, as part of an interactive display on Biltmore Estate’s many uses as a filming location. “It was the last movie she made before she became a princess,” Hunt smiles as she lifts a section of the 2-D Biltmore House to reveal the information. Apparently one of Elvis’ last movies was also made in N.C.: Speedway (1968), co-starring Nancy Sinatra. Speaking of Elvis, the costume Earl Owensby wore in his tribute film Living Legend: The King of Rock and Roll (1980) is on display on a mannequin in a glass case. The film also co-stared Ginger Alden, Elvis’ fiancée at the time of his death. “I’m so glad to see you included Earl Owensby,” I comment to Hunt. “We love him!” She gushes. “Everyone we talked to . . . the film commissioner at the time . . . Bill Vassar at Screen Gems . . . everyone said, ‘You have to include Earl Owensby. He was the pioneer of movie-making in North Carolina. He was just a guy who wanted to make movies and he did.’” That’s probably the simplest description of Owensby possible. He wasn’t just a kid with a camera and a dream. Known as the “Dixie DeMille” in the 1970s, he built a 200-acre studio facility with eight sound stages, a water tank for filming, an airport runway, and now an on-site hotel for housing cast and crew. He didn’t come from an old movie-making family in California. He was a North Carolina boy who came home from the Marine Corps and decided he wanted to make movies. In the next few decades, he would write, direct, act in and produce over forty feature films through Earl Owensby Studios, just outside the small town of Shelby, North Carolina. Behind us is the display commemorating the De Laurentiis and Capra connection to Wilmington. “This was Frank Capra’s desk, which is housed at Screen Gems.” Hunt points out the magazine on the desk with a cover shot of Orton Plantation, noting that it was the inspiration for bringing Capra, Jr. and De Laurentiis to the area for Firestarter. Ahh, here we are on familiar ground, I think. Cocktail napkins with dark blue writing commemorate the union of Betty and Jake . . . I look up to see Alan Alda’s picture smiling at me. “Oh my gosh! It’s party favors from the wedding in Betsy’s Wedding!” I exclaim. “Yeah, and to me that’s another interesting thing about movie-making,” says Hunt. “Some company had to make these — and that’s another industry that feeds into the filmmaking companies.” She is preaching to the choir on this one. All I can think about is the number of times book rentals to film productions have paid the mortgage or payroll for the bookstore I own. “This is the desk from Crimes of the Heart . . .” Hunt begins to explain another

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

artifact to me. “Madeline’s desk!” I interrupt, again, searching the signage for explanation. “Yes, there, it’s from John Bankson.” Bankson is local props master in the film industry, and after the film this desk had gone to live in his teenage daughter’s room. Hunt gives me a surprised look and nods. “We had to wait until she went to college before we could pick up the desk.” I had warned Hunt at the beginning that part of this was going to feel like old home week for me. But as we wind our way through various Wilmingtonians featured in the exhibit, Jeff McKay, Jayme Bednarczyk and Jeff Goodwin, I just swell with pride at their recognition. Hunt steers us into a part of the exhibit about how the movie-going experience has changed over the years. “These are seats from a segregated theater in Carrboro,” she begins, adding that the exhibit also talks about “tri-racial segregation, which a lot of people don’t know about.” She points to a picture of the exterior of a movie theater in Robeson County. “Whites, blacks and American Indians . . . this is the one where you can see the three doors.” It starts to feel like every time I get lost in the adulation of the glamour of the film world, something here snaps me back to reality and the darker side of our history. We pass out of that room and into the final room of the exhibit with more recent films, and I am startled that the only nod to The Crow (1994) is a framed promotional poster on the wall. I ask, because it was one of our darker moments when Brandon Lee lost his life on the set. Hunt explains that they had trouble finding artifacts from it, and that there are so many films to celebrate it would difficult to do large displays of all of them. She’s right. We haven’t even begun the Nicholas Sparks era of filming or any of the days of Capeside or Tree Hill High. Large display cases filled with costumes, props and signed memorabilia fill the center of the room. As we move forward, another case with Sleepy Hollow materials looms ahead. “Have you seen it?” Hunt asks me. “Actually, they were filming an episode in my bookstore yesterday.” “Really?” she asks. I nod. “Well, it’s a very book-oriented show.” “Who was there?” she inquires. “The leads,” I answer, ready to leave it there. But I cave and give in to her pleading look. “Tom Mison was there. He’s very charming and very smart and very generous in real life.” She grins and ducks her head a bit. Then we get back to the serious work looking at the overwhelming number of films and TV shows that have flooded the state since 1984. “And we didn’t even have room to include made-for-TV movies” she points out. I had almost forgotten about the genre that dominated the entertainment industry in my childhood and is now virtually extinct. But the coup de grâce is an interactive screen at the end. “We have found films made in every one of the one hundred counties in the state,” Hunt informs me with pride. It’s really impressive; you touch a county on the state map and a screen pops up with a list of films made there. “Have any of our state legislators seen this?” I ask. After all, the museum is located right next door to the North Carolina General Assembly. “Because the myth is that film money only goes to Wilmington and Charlotte . . . but this blows that out of the water.” “Well, we don’t have any way of tracking if they’ve been here or not,” Hunt replies diplomatically. “I hope they do come see this. Everyone should see this. What a way to show the real impact that film has here.” “And has for one hundred years. It’s still going,” Hunt agrees. “We wanted to celebrate it — all of it.” PS

Starring North Carolina! highlights films, television shows, and actors from the state. Andy Griffith is best known for his roles in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. The last three seasons of Matlock were filmed in Wilmington.

Starring North Carolina! is on display now through September 7. The North Carolina Museum of History is located at 5 East Edenton Street, Raleigh. Information: (919) 807-7900 or ncmuseumofhistory.org. Gwenyfar Rohler spends her days managing her family’s bookstore on Front Street in Wilmington. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

S t o r y o f a h o us e

Life Under a Flat-Top Roof As his widow prepares to say goodbye to the modernist house that Tom Hayes designed and built, memories abide and history speaks By Deborah Salomon Photographs by John Gessner

n 1958, the house that architect Tom Hayes designed for his family answered to avant-garde modernist — no surprise, since modernism reflected his training at the N.C. State School of Design, parent to a movement attracting attention nationwide. A half-century later that house with a flat roof and bridge to the front door still stands apart from Georgians, Colonials, Federalists and ersatz Arts & Crafts/Prairie residences spread across wooded Weymouth. “Lots of people don’t know how to live in a house like this,” says Cleon Hayes, the architect’s widow. “But it was what Tom believed in.” “Tom had strong opinions,” adds Calvin Howell, Tom’s classmate, then partner for 30 years. “He set his mind in a direction and went in that direction.” Tom died in 1987, just a year after extending the kitchen and master bedroom. Now, as Cleon sorts and distributes art, furnishings, collections and memorabilia in preparation for a move to Penick Village, she admits, “This was my only house. I will miss it.”

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Cleon grew up living with relatives in a big, rambling traditional homestead in Durham, as families recovering from the Great Depression often did. She met Tom through a friend, at the beach. Cleon studied liberal arts at Greensboro College while Tom, a handsome football player, chafed to join the Army. They married when she was 19, before Tom finished his degree in architectural engineering, later in architecture, just as colleagues Edward Lowenstein, George Matsumoto and others were making waves with North Carolina modernism.

outhern architecture of the 1950s clung to brick ranches with screened breezeways for average families, imposing Tudors or Taras for country-clubbers. Yet, after World War II, “People were ready for something different, something strong,” notes Southern Pines architect Lynn Anderson, who worked with Tom in the late 1970s Lowenstein had an entrée to Greensboro society through his father-in-law, textile tycoon Moses Cone. A good thing, since modernism appealed to people of wealth and, more important, daring. Out with broadloom, crown moldings and chintz upholstery. In with wood, glass, stone and open spaces. The style proved revolutionary — yet practical. “Ours was a (relatively) affordable house at that time because of the simple construction,” says daughter Christian Hayes-Smith, who grew up

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

on Massachusetts Avenue. The flat roof enabled greater interior flexibility. Wood-paneled walls required no painting. Wide porches and decks helped during summers before central air conditioning. Orientation maximized light. “Tom liked to sit in the living room and watch how the sun cast shadows,” Cleon recalls. Christian continues: “Everybody remarked on our flat roof, but it never leaked.” The coolest part, she adds, was the bridge between the walkway and front door, necessary for a house situated on a downslope. Not many kids can play troll at home.

f Frank Lloyd Wright could preach a similar Gospel in the Midwest, proselytizers from Raleigh worked on infiltrating the South. Resorts were logical targets since clients accept startling ideas better in a vacation home. Thus did Lowenstein send Tom Hayes and his young family to Southern Pines, to oversee construction of several commissions. They lived in a garage apartment. The town differed vastly, then to now. Not much had happened architecturally since the Aymar Embury ’20s. Downtown remained small, year-round population sparse, homes traditional. But Tom saw potential. “He was definitely ambitious,” Lynn Anderson remembers. “Tom wanted a firm that produced only contemporary work. This makes the whole design an abstraction, like a piece of modern art.” First, Tom and Cleon needed a house. Every architect needs a house, if only to showcase his ideas. The real estate agent found two possible lots. “It was a very hot day,” Cleon says. “The one in Knollwood was all pine trees. But this one had oaks as well, much cooler,” besides being better located. The topography dictated a street-level main floor and above-ground lower floor. Cleon participated in design decisions financed by an Army loan. Tom’s floor plan featured a living-dining room the length of the house with fireplace and

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

long wall of sliding glass doors allowing nature’s palette access to the interior; brown structural beams, mahogany-paneled walls and contrasting brick throughout; intricate parquet floors, dark cabinetry and furnishings. Even the low, square coffee table has an inlaid wood chevron-patterned surface. Sofas are brown velvet, other fabrics muted hues. A cloud-like white Greek flokati rug brightens and defines the seating space populated with chairs, tables and lamps (one from a Vermont glassblower) of many periods and styles. An antique étagère holds Cleon’s collection of painted eggshells and crystal jugs. “We liked old things,” Cleon says. Christian, her brother and their friends played here, storing toys in a low cabinet attached to the windowless north wall. At the other end, ladderback chairs with woven straw seats surround a Founders-style dining table with simple, almost Scandinavian lines, while a country pine server holds Cleon’s silver tea set — polished but rarely used. In November, Cleon hosted her final Thanksgiving at this table, with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchild. The added-on kitchen with wraparound windows feels more comfortable than glamorous. Cleon watches deer through the uncovered glass. Pots hang overhead. She shudders at granite countertops and similar accoutrements of contemporary kitchens. The master bedroom headboard is a carved wood Indian screen attached to the wall mirroring Far Eastern motifs elsewhere. Art is everywhere, much from local sources, including Dani Devins and Glen Rounds. Masks, guinea hens, collages, hounds, still life hang every which-where. A soffit shelf displays pottery made especially for them by Ben Owen Sr. Except for the flokati, rugs are faded Persian crimson and blues. “I like them threadbare,” Cleon tells visitors. “In my whole life, I’ve bought only one new rug.”

odernism as interpreted by Tom Hayes, with Howell and other partners, attracted both residential and commercial clients. They designed Pinecrest High School, Union Pines High School, buildings at Sandhills Community College and the First Baptist Church of Southern Pines, among others. How special Christian Hayes-Smith felt, attending high school and getting married in buildings designed by her father. At least a dozen homes bearing Tom’s imprint survive in Moore County, including one on nearby Hill Road. The long-term value of modernism, however, has not been decided. “It was an extreme style that swept the country, with (George) Matsumoto the instigator,” Calvin Howell says. Did its significance survive? Howell blames poor maintenance for some decline. Renovations, including roof pitches, have altered the original lines. Computer-generated plans and synthetic building materials don’t suit the mode, he says. Yet a flat-roofed house in Raleigh recently won an architectural award. At the very least, the Hayes home survives as an artifact: “ . . . the flexibility, the sense of space, the width and breadth of it,” Lynn Anderson reflects. “This makes (modernist) homes more livable because they are good places to be.” Cleon Hayes agrees, after living happily under a flat roof for fifty-seven years. “There’s a lot of Tom in this house, a lot of memories. I would rather have lived here than in a palace.” PS PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015

h o m e st y l e s

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Tabletop, Home Accessories, Custom Upholstered Furniture, Jewelry & Accessories, Personalized Gifts and Monogramming Available.

111West Main Street, Aberdeen Tuesday - Saturday 10 to 5 910-944-1181 www.one11main.com

March 2015P�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A L M A N A C

March n

By Noah Salt

March’s Garden To-Do List

The garden awaits, and there’s plenty to do. Let’s get to it, people. • This is the last good time to trim off dead wood from shrubs and perennials. • Rake out over-wintered flower and vegetable beds, weed and add composted material to improve the soil. If you haven’t done so in the past, send soil samples for testing. Check your local garden center for recommended resources. • This is a great time to visit public gardens to see elements of early spring and to gain useful insights on planting schemes and design. • Feed roses with organic blend of cottonseed meal and composted manure. • Time to plan cold-loving vegetables such as radishes, spinach, Asian greens, lettuce, broccoli, parsley and early peas. • Harden off tomatoes, peppers and eggplant by moving them outdoors to a cold frame. You may safely plant them in the garden after final frost, which generally happens in most of the state between April 10–20. • Early March is really the last good time to transplant perennials and plant trees and shrubs before autumn. • Do an inventory of your garden shed, repair tools and organize equipment. Now’s the time to get your lawn mower tuned up, even as you apply an early spring organic fertilizer.

Imagination, new and strange In every age, can turn the year; Can shift the poles and lightly change The mood of men, the world’s career. The lovely lines above constitute the final stanza of one of our favorite poems — Imagination — by the Scottish playwright and poet John Davidson, who drowned at age 51 in the ocean off England’s Land’s End on March 23, 1909, allegedly a suicide. Though he was greatly admired by the likes of William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, Davidson’s life was turbulent and wracked by poverty and frustration. After failing as a playwright he turned to light verse and found his voice, becoming an admired balladeer and eventually inspiring a younger generation of poets belonging to the so-called modern age, like Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot. The month of March is famous for its own brand of turbulence — our biggest snowstorms often come, violent rains that herald a change of season, the mythical Ides of March, and so forth — yet March strikes us as a month when the human imagination yearns to be freed from its winter quarters and turned loose in a dozen directions at once. The gardener sees new life exploding from the Earth and is suddenly brimming with ideas that can “change the year” and lighten the “mood of men.” House sales rise with the mercury, birdsong sets loose raptures of anticipation, young men’s hearts turn to love, and — well, we could go on and on. The possibilities are only as limited as one’s imagination. As John Davidson reminds us with his elegy: There is a dish to hold the sea, A brazier to contain the Sun, A compass for the galaxy, A voice to wake the dead and done! So welcome, Spring. Welcome indeed.

Dream Gardens New feet within my garden go New fingers stir the sod; A troubadour upon the elm Betrays the solitude. New children play upon the green, New weary sleep below; And still the pensive spring returns, And still the punctual snow! — Emily Dickinson, 1881

To see a garden in your dreams, filled with evergreen and flowers, according to experts on the subject, denotes great peace of mind and comfort. If you dream of walking on a well-kept lawn, you are in for an occasion of joy and prosperity. Raking and weeding suggests work still to be done, while to dream of using a lawn mower means you may soon be engaged in a tedious social function — after you finish up the lawn first, of course. To dream of seeing flowers in bloom and full color signifies pleasure and gain, while dreaming of walking through a park with your lover simply means you will be happily married for a very long time.

Arts Entertainment C a l e n da r

Classical Guitar Concert

Art Show

6–7

•

ROOSTER’S WIFE. 6:46 p.m. Annie Sellick and the Hot Club of Nashville. The Rooster’s Wife at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Admission: $12. Info: (910) 944-7502 or www.roosterswife.org.

Monday, March 2

•

FINE ARTS FESTIVAL. 5 p.m. 19th Annual Young People’s Fine Arts Festival. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-2787 or www.mooreart.org.

•

READ ACROSS AMERICA. Celebrate with a Dr. Seuss photo booth and interactive stations. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

• • Art

Music/Concerts

•

Dance/Theater

Sunday, March 1

Key:

Music Education

•

CHAMBER MUSIC. 8 – 10 p.m. “Four Seasons in the Sandhills.” Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-2787 or www. mooreart.org.

Tuesday, March 3

•

BABY BUNNIES STORYTIME. 10:30 a.m. Parents and children will be engaged in early literary practices. Baby bunnies storytime is for ages birth to 18 months. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net. BEGINNERS DANCE CLASS. 6:30 p.m. • Come try the Rumba, a slow romantic Latin dance, and have some fun with the Swing! No pre-registration necessary. Cost: $10 cash. Pinehurst Dance

• • Film

Literature/Speakers

• • Fun

History

•

Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

Wednesday, March 4

•

ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Colored pencil on PastelMat with Betty Hendrix. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

TAX HELP. 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. A.A.R.P. will be available on Wednesdays and Saturdays through April 15. Clients must register onsite, and there are no prior appointments by phone. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

•

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Join us for stories, songs, and fun, and then stay for play-

Sports

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ca l e n d a r

Theater Production

The Kennedys

•

ART TALK. 5 - 6 p.m. Denise Baker will present. Free and open to the public. The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3211.

Thursday, March 5

•

STORYTIME. 10:30 a.m. Calling all 3 – 5-year-olds and their parents for stories followed by a craft. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. BALLROOM FOR BEGINNERS. 6:30 p.m. • Carolina Pines Chapter of USA Dance invites you

time! Storytime is for infants and toddlers (ages birth through 5 years). Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

Paintings for Palustris 3/

to learn to dance the Tango. $10 per person. Class held at Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

will last 30-45 minutes. Weymouth Woods, 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910)692-2167 or www.ncparks.gov.

ROOSTER’S WIFE. 8 p.m. Jeanne Jolly at The Cameo Art House Theater. The Rooster’s Wife at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Admission: $15. Info: (910) 944-7502 or www.roosterswife.org.

ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Scratchboard and Pen & Ink with Kate Lagaly. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

Friday March 6

•

COVERED IN CAMOUFLAGE. 10 a.m. Learn about camouflage as we read a book, play some games, and make a craft. Geared towards 3-to-5 year-olds and meant for parents to do with their children. Program Key:

• • Art

Music/Concerts

The MeT March 14th 12:55pm Rossini’s La Donna del Lago Bolshoi BalleT March 8th 1:00-4:30pm Romeo & Juliet

•

Dance/Theater

•

Friday, March 6 – 7

•

CONCERT. 7 p.m. Dr. Robert Trent, Radford University - Classical guitarist in concert. Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Free admission. Info: (910) 692-6185.

• • Film

TICKETS ThE MET $27

Available Online, at the Box Office or Over the Phone

Literature/Speakers

• • Fun

History

•

Sports

For a complete list of show times

visit sunrisetheater.org or call

910-692-8501.

250 NW Broad Street Southern Pines, NC 28387

all

(336) 272-4400 or visit www.pestmgt.com

for more information.

ca l e n d a r

Saturday, March 7

•

MEET THE ARTIST. 12 – 3 p.m. Come visit with Jane Casnellie. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 255-0665 or www.hollhocksartgallery.com.

•

JUNIOR LEAGUE FUNDRAISER. 7 p.m. Semiformal with live music and silent auction. All proceeds benefit women and children at risk. Tickets: $50. Pinehurst Members Club, Pinehurst. Info/tickets: www. jlmcnc.org.

Don’t let your home become their home... We offer solutions for · General Pests · Bed Bugs · Wildlife · Mosquitos · Moisture · Termites

Protecting what matters to you for over 30 years.

•

MUSIC. Jen Hillard performs. The Wine Cellar, 241A NE Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3066.

Saturday, March 7 – 8

•

CAMELLIA FESTIVAL. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The 69th Festival will feature well-known speakers, expanded events, displays, art and children’s activities. Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd. (Route 301), Fayetteville. Free to Garden members. All other visitors pay Garden admission. Info: (910) 486-0221.

Sunday, March 8

•

BALLET. 1 p.m. Bolshoi Ballet’s presentation of Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. Tickets are $20. Sunrise Theater, 250 Northwest Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8501 or www.sunrisetheater.com.

•

FILM SERIES. 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman gives his final screen performance in this taut adaptation of John le Carré’s 2008 spy novel. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6928235 or www.sppl.net.

•

ART SHOW. 4 – 6 p.m. This show will highlight the artwork of full members of the Artists League of the Sandhills. The exhibition and sale continues through Tuesday, March 24. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

ROOSTER’S WIFE. 6:46 p.m. The Gravy Boys and 10 String Symphony. The Rooster’s Wife at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Admission: $12. Info: (910) 944-7502 or www.roosterswife.org.

Monday, March 9

•

SANDHILLS PHOTO CLUB MEETING. 7 p.m. Program: Speaker. Hannah Theater Center. The O’Neal School, 3300 Airport Road, Southern Pines. Guests welcome. Info: www.sandhillsphotoclub.org

Tuesday, March 10

•

••• • •

Key: Art Music/Concerts Film Literature/Speakers Sports

• • •

Dance/Theater Fun History

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Knock Out Colon Cancer!

WE FEEL R E A L LY L U C K Y TO C A L L T H I S NEIGHBORHOOD HOME.

We Just know you will too. JOIN US for LUNCH on MARCH 19th

With Pinehurst Surgical’s General Surgery Specialists • Routine colonoscopy screenings are important for anyone over the age of 50. • If you have a positive family history of colon cancer, begin colonoscopies at age 40 or 10 years before the age your family member was diagnosed with colon cancer.

• If you have a personal history of colon polyps you should have colonoscopies on a regular basis, as directed by your physician.

Join us at 10:30 am for our March luncheon at Penick Village. With 50 years of excellence behind us, enjoy a great neighborhood of new friends and a carefree lifestyle, more opportunities

• If you have rectal bleeding you should seek treatment by your physician. A colonoscopy may be recommended.

to do the things you love, and peace of mind for you and your family. To RSVP, call soon as space is limited, at (910) 692-0449.

Fabian E. Alzamora, MD, FACS | H. Willy Chu, MD | John M. Fessenden, MD David W. Grantham, MD, FACS | Amelia M. Jeyapalan, MD, FACS R. Clayton Steiner, MD, FACS | Raymond G. Washington, Jr., MD, FACS

A Faith-Based Not For Profit Continuing Care Retirement Community

500 East Rhode Island Ave. | Southern Pines, NC www.penickvillage.org | (910) 692-0300

5 FirstVillage Drive • Pinehurst, NC 28374 910-420-3078 • www.pinehurstsurgical.com encore

BARGAIN BOX II NON-PROFIT THRIFT SHOP

Bene fits Moore Cou nty Charities & Nursi ng Schol arship s for SCC Stude nts Donations Accepted During Regular Business Hours

Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm 7299-A, 15-501 in Eastwood (Behind Wylie’s Golf Cart) 910-235-5221

EMMANUEL EPISCOPAL

THRIFT SHOP

177 NE BROAD ST. SOUTHERN PINES (910) 692-8962

Staffed by Helpful & Friendly Volunteers

Spring is in Full Swing! Stop by for Bargains Galore! Shopping Hours: Tues, Thurs & Sat 9 to 4 Donations: Mon, Wed 9 to 12 Benefit Moore County Charities

Buying Vintage

Sunshine Antique & Mercantile Company

and Military Watches

Buy, Sell or Trade Specializing in Primitive & Country Furnishings

ROLEX & TUDOR Especially 1950s-1980s era GMT & SUBMARINER WARPATH MILITARY COLLECTIBLES

Thursday- Saturday 10 to 5 Monday-Wednesday by appointment or chance 115 N. Sycamore St., Aberdeen, NC (919) 995-3488 shop • (919) 673-9388 or (919) 673-9387 cells

Antiques & Newtiques 5336 NC Hwy 211, West End, NC 27376 (at the traffic light)

910-673-2065

www.westendpastimes.com

Spring Clearance Sale!

20% Off 819 Hope Mills Road, Fayetteville Ed Hicks (910) 425-7000 edhicks82@aol.com • warpathmilitaria.com

All antiques, architectural elements & patio furniture

Sale ends Memorial Day

RAILSIDE

ARCHITECTURAL & ANTIQUES 123 EXCHANGE ST., ABERDEEN • 910-690-3089 • Wed - Sat 11 to 5

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•

ART CLASS. 1 – 3:30 p.m. Watercolor on Gesso with Irene Dobson. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org. AUTHOR TO THE BOOKSHOP. 5:30 p.m. • Dusty Rhoades will celebrate the publication of the longawaited fourth installment of the critically acclaimed series, Devils and Dust: A Jack Keller Novel. The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3211.

Sign up for a playful adventure at Discovery Place KIDS-Rockingham. With exciting new themes, your child CAN have fun, be creative, experiment and make new friends.

SPECIAL MEMBER DISCOUNTS discoveryplaceKIDS.org 233 E. Washington St l Rockingham NC 28379 910.997.5266 x300

BEGINNERS DANCE CLASS. 6:30 p.m. • Learn some new moves for your slow dancing and

the exciting Cha Cha! No pre-registration necessary. Cost: $10 cash. Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

Wednesday, March 11

•

ART CLASS. 1 – 3:30 p.m. Watercolor on Gesso with Irene Dobson. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Join us for stories, songs, and fun, and then stay for playtime! Storytime is for infants and toddlers (ages birth through 5 years). Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net. FRIENDS OF WEYMOUTH. 5 – 6:30 p.m. • Annual Meeting & Reception. Weymouth Center

for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

Thursday, March 12

•

STORYTIME. 10:30 a.m. Calling all 3 – 5-year-olds and their parents for stories followed by a craft. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst.

•

GUEST SPEAKER. 3:30 p.m. Lt. Gen. Robert D. Springer will speak about his time serving as commander of the 322nd Airlift Division. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910)-295-6022. BALLROOM FOR BEGINNERS. 6:30 p.m. • Carolina Pines Chapter of USA Dance invites you

to learn to dance Foxtrot and Salsa! $10 per person. Class held at Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

•

SYMPHONY DINNER. 8 p.m. Celebrate music education with dinner and a concert by the N.C. Symphony Orchestra. Pinehurst Country Club, 1 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst. Info: (877) 627-6724 or www.ncsymphony.org/pinehurstdinner.

Friday, March 13

•

ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Advanced Gelli Printing with Pat Halligan. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 9443979 or www.artistleague.org.

••• • •

Key: Art Music/Concerts Film Literature/Speakers Sports

• • •

Dance/Theater Fun History

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Saturday, March 14

•

SHAMROCK N’ ROLL. 8 a.m. 1 Mile, 5K and 10K races. Whispering Pines Police Station, 14 Hardee Lane, Whispering Pines. Info: http://www. shamrocknrollrace.com.

•

CRAFT SHOW. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Springtime Holiday Shoppe Art & Craft Show. National Guard Armory, 500 West Morganton Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 528-7052.

•

MEET THE ARTIST. 12 – 3 p.m. Come visit with Charlie Roberts. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 255-0665 or www.hollhocksartgallery.com.

•

OPERA. 12:55 p.m. Rossini’s La Donna del Lago — Met Premiere. Tickets are $27. Sunrise Theater, 250 Northwest Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6928501 or www.sunrisetheater.com.

Sunday, March 15

•MUSIC. Puncho Forrest performs. The Wine Cellar, 241A NE Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910)

•

KID’S MOVIE. 2:30 p.m. When a criminal plot threatens the hi-tech metropolis of San Fransokyo, brilliant young robotics whiz Hiro Hamada leaps into action with his tech-savvy friends and his robot companion Baymax. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

692-3066.

•

ST. PATRICK’S DAY. Stop in the Library for special self-led crafts and activities to celebrate this holiday. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

•

SPECIAL STORYTIME. The North Carolina Symphony will be visiting to host a musical storytime, then children will be allowed to have hands-on time with an instrument “petting zoo.” Preschoolers of all ages are invited. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

ROOSTER’S WIFE. 6:46 p.m. Margo and the Pricetags. The Rooster’s Wife at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Admission: $12. Info: (910) 944-7502 or www.roosterswife.org.

Monday, March 16

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WOMEN OF WEYMOUTH. 9:30 – 11 a.m. Program: Bunky the Bee Man. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

•

FAMILY FUN NIGHT. 5:30 p.m. Re-create features of Angry Birds. Children in grades K-5 and their families are invited to this program. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

CONCERT. 7:30 p.m. This concert will feature the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra performing side-by-side with the Cumberland County Youth Orchestra. Free. Huff Concert Hall, Methodist University. Info: (910)433-4690 or www.fayettevillesymphony.org.

Tuesday, March 17

•

Saturday, March 14 – 15

•MUSIC CONCERT. Youth Music Festival ST. PATRICK’S DAY DANCE! 7-10 p.m. Competition and Concert. Weymouth Center for • Carolina Pines Chapter of USA Dance invites you for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., an evening of fun, music and dancing. Cost: $11 cash at door. Elks Lodge, Country Club Circle, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 331-9965.

Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org. Key:

• • Art

Music/Concerts

•

LUNCH WITH LEGENDS. 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. • Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Moore

Dance/Theater

• • Film

Literature/Speakers

• • Fun

History

•

Sports

p i n ese r v i ces IN-HOME CARE SERVICES

COTE

TIMEWORKS Watch & Clock Specialist

What Makes You Tick?

Clock and Watch Sales and Repair

www.CoteTimeworks.com

910.303.8346

106 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines

Giving families

a brighter future with

compassionate home care. 24 hour, 7 days a week availability

NC Licensed & Nationally Accredited Home Care Agency

780 NW Broad Street • Suite 410 Southern Pines, NC

910-246-0586

28 Years in Business

TracTor Service No job too small.

Gravel Driveways • Stone Clay • Sand • Top Soil Lawn Maintenance Residential / Acreage / Farms

Serving the Sandhills Todd Peters 910-315-3404

Practicing the 3 C’s Care • Compassion • Comfort • Interactive Caregiving™ • Personal Care • Companionship Services • Home Safety Technology

(910) 246-8000 10677 Hwy 15-501 Southern Pines Southernpines-594.comfortkeepers.com Most offices independently owned and operated

By the Project By the Hour

Interested in Advertising?

Call for appointment

Pinehurst

910-315-3206 vickieaumaninteriors@yahoo.com

Call 910.692.7271

W o r s h i p D i r ect o r y

He is Risen !

Holy Week

MAUNDY THURSDAY, April 2 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service 5:45 P.M. Seder Meal and Service Reservations Required for Meal

Easter Sunday Service - 10:30 am 16433 US Hwy 15-501 S. • Aberdeen 910-281-2055

Bethesda Presbyterian Church Everyone Welcome

Palm Sunday - March 29th • 11am Easter Egg Hunt - March 29th • 4pm Maundy Thursday - April 2nd • 7pm Easter Service - Sunday, April 5 • 11am 1002 N. Sandhills Blvd. (US 1) Aberdeen, NC

910-944-1319 • www.bethesdapres.net

The Community Congregational Church United Church of Christ, Inc.

GOOD FRIDAY, April 3 12:00 Noon Good Friday Service HOLY SATURDAY, April 4 1:00 P.M. Kids Easter Egg Hunt

2015

Easter Worship SERVICES

EASTER SUNDAY, April 5 6:30 A.M. Sunrise Service at The Carolina Hotel 8:15 A.M. Communion Service 9:30 A.M. Family Service 11:00 A.M. Traditional Service

SundAy RAdIo BRoAdCAStS WIOZ 550AM • 8:00am or WHLC 103.1FM • 8:30am

The Village Chapel

An Interdenominational Christian Community

10 Azalea Road • Pinehurst 910-295-6003 www.tvcpinehurst.com

Join us as we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

EMMANUEL EPISOCPAL CHURCH 350 E. Massachusetts Avenue Southern Pines, NC 28387

(910) 692-3171 • www.emmanuel-parish.org

Holy Week and Easter Schedule Palm Sunday: March 29 7:30 a.m. Rite I Service/Holy Eucharist 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Rite II Services/ Holy Eucharist

Stations of the Cross:

Invites you to join us for Maundy Thursday Worship Service 7:00pm with communion

Tenebrae Service:

Wednesday, April 1, 6:00 p.m.

Easter Worship Service 11:00am with communion

Maundy Thursday Service/Holy Eucharist:

Services conducted by the Rev. Michael C. Dubbs

Good Friday Service:

141 N. Bennett Street Southern Pines, NC 28387 910-692-8468

Sunday, April 5, 6:00 a.m. The Great Vigil of Easter/Holy Eucharist Breakfast and Egg Hunt following the Vigil Service 9:00 a.m. Rite II Service/Holy Eucharist, 11:00 a.m. Rite II Service/Holy Eucharist

www.communitycongregational.org cccspnc@outlook.com

Monday, March 30 & Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m.

April 2, 6:00 p.m.

Friday, April 3, Noon

Easter Sunday:

March 2015P��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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County, it is a luncheon with the program of live portrayals of historic women from American history. Pinehurst Country Club, 1 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 673-2330 or www.lwvmc.org.

•

JAMES BOYD BOOK CLUB. 2 p.m. Remembering Randall, by Mary Von Schrader Jarrell. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org.

•

CITIZEN’S ACADEMY. 6 – 8 p.m. A session conducted by the Southern Pines Planning Department. Attendees will get a behind the scenes look at the Information Technology and Geographic Information System Department. Info: 910-692-8235. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

BEGINNERS DANCE CLASS. 6:30 p.m. • Learn the basics for the lovely elegant Waltz! No

pre-registration necessary. Cost: $10 cash. Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

•

IRISH MUSIC. 7 – 8 p.m. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at Weymouth with music by Danny Infantino and Seren Lyerly. There will be traditional sign-along as well. Price: $10/members and students, $15/non-members. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

Wednesday, March 18

HORSE COMPETITION. Come watch Top Level • EDUCATION CONCERT. 10 a.m. Join the International horses and riders compete in the triathlon • N.C. Symphony for a music education session. There of the horse world. Free admission. Runs through the will also be a session at 12:45 p.m. Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines. Info: www.ncsymphony.org.

KELLY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP. 11:30 a.m. • Benefits the Sandhills Children’s Center. Pinehurst No. 8, 100 Centennial Blvd., Pinehurst. $200 per player. Info: www.SandhillsChildrensCenter.org.

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Join • us for stories, songs, and fun, and then stay for play-

time! Storytime is for infants and toddlers (ages birth through 5 years). Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

Maundy Thursday 7pm Good Friday 7pm Easter Morning 11am

275 Knox Lane • West End, NC 27376 910-673-4341 • www.westendpres.church

Visit Our Church Website for Holy Week and Easter Mass Schedules

www.st-anthony-of-padua.org

Special Event Lenten Mission with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal March 9-11 St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Located at the corner of Ashe & Vermont • Southern Pines

910-692-6613 • www.st-anthony-of-padua.org

canvas, paint, brushes, palette, an easel and instruction will be provided. Fee: $20 per member; $25 for nonmember. Limited to 16 attendees. Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd, Fayetteville. Info: (910) 486- 0221 x 20 or info@capefearbg.org.

BALLROOM FOR BEGINNERS. 6:30 p.m. • Carolina Pines Chapter of USA Dance invites you to

learn to dance Rumba and Swing! $10 per person. Class held at Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

Friday, March 20

Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst.

Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra will provide the music, and the Cape Fear Regional Theatre will provide the visuals. Fayetteville State University, 1200 Murchison Road, Fayetteville. Info: (910)433-4690 or www.fayettevillesymphony.org.

STORYTIME. 10:30 a.m. Calling all 3 – 5-year-olds • •THEATER PRODUCTION. 7:30 p.m. Amadeus, and their parents for stories followed by a craft. Given a play based on the 1984 critically acclaimed movie. The FINE ARTS LECTURE SERIES. 10 a.m. • “American Families, the Peales of Philadelphia”

Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Call 692-2787 for tickets. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

• • Art

Music/Concerts

•

Dance/Theater

W o r s h i p D i r ect o r y

Holy Week Services

WINE & WHIMSY. 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Enjoy a • glass of wine or beer while painting your masterpiece. A

Thursday, March 19

Key:

West End Presbyterian Church

22nd. Info: www.carolinahorsepark.com.

Saturday, March 21

•THE ART OF BONSAI. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. The his• • • • • Film

Literature/Speakers

Fun

History

Sports

Services Each Sunday 9:00am Mid-Week Lenten Services Wednesday 7:00pm

Holy Week ServiceS March 29th • 9am | Palm Sunday Service April 1st • 7pm | Maundy Thursday Service at St. James Lutheran Church, Southern Pines

April 2nd • 7pm | Good Friday Easter Service April 5th • 9am | Easter Sunday Service

St. Paul

Lutheran Church 910-949-2345 stpaullutheranchurchsandhills@gmail.com 3253 Niagara-Carthage Road Whispering Pines, NC 28327 www.stpaullutheransandhills.com

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tory of bonsai, types of plants to use, containers, bonsai soil and tools needed, along with how to prune and style a tree. Students plant a Japanese maple sapling to take home. Members: $40. Non-members: $45. Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd., Fayetteville. Info: (910) 486-0221 x 20.

•MEET THE ARTIST. 12 – 3 p.m. Come visit with Jane Casnellie. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905

241A NE Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3066.

Sunday, March 22

BRIDAL OPEN HOUSE. 1 – 4 p.m. • Photographers, florists, wedding vendors on site. Magnolia Inn, Pinehurst.

•

Linden Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 255-0665 or www.hollhocksartgallery.com.

•

AUTHOR TO THE BOOKSHOP. 1 p.m. Charla Muller with her book, Pretty Takes Practice. The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3211.

•

NC POETRY SOCIETY. Sam Ragan Day. This year three NC Poet Laureates will be attending including current Poet Laureate Shelby Stephenson. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Call 692-2787 for tickets. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

•

THEATER PRODUCTION. 7:30 p.m. Amadeus, a play based on the 1984 critically acclaimed movie. The Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra will provide the music, and the Cape Fear Regional Theatre will provide the visuals. Pinecrest High School, 250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines. Info: (910)433-4690 or www.fayettevillesymphony.org.

MOORE COUNTY CONCERT BAND PERFORMS. 2 p.m. Musical Director David Seiberling has chosen a program of traditional Irish folk tunes. The concert is free and open to the public. Grand Ballroom, Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst. Info: www.moorecountyband.com.

Art

Music/Concerts

Dance/Theater

Film

BEGINNERS DANCE CLASS. 6:30 p.m. • Come try the exciting and dramatic Tango! No

pre-registration necessary. Cost: $10 cash. Pinehurst Dance Studio, Pinehurst Executive Center, 300 Hwy 5, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 331-9965.

Wednesday, March 25

•ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Landscape on ANIMAL SIGNS. 3 p.m. Learn how to identify aniSanded Paper/Using Pastel Under-Painting with • mals based on the signs they leave behind. Weymouth Betty Hendrix The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Woods, 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910)692-2167 or www.ncparks.gov.

•

ROOSTER’S WIFE. 6:46 p.m. The Kennedys: Nanci Griffith Tribute Show. The Rooster’s Wife at the Poplar Knight Spot, 114 Knight St., Aberdeen. Admission: $20 donation. Info: (910) 944-7502 or www.roosterswife.org.

Tuesday, March 24

•

•MUSIC. Tim Wilson performs. The Wine Cellar, • • • • • Key:

•

ART CLASS. 10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Advanced Alcohol Ink Techniques with Sandy Scott. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

Literature/Speakers

• • Fun

History

Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

Thursday, March 26

•

ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Follow the Leader with Joan Williams. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

Sports

dining guide

195 american fusion cuisine supporting local farmers

lunch tues-sat 11-3 dinner wed-sat 5:30-9:30 chef prem nath

195 bell avenue southern pines 910.692.7110 www.195americanfusion.com

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

dining guide

Our British Heritage Celebration 25th Annual

Come enjoy our Italian Atmosphere for great food with friends and family!

is going on now through

St. Patrick’s Day!

Scottish Bridies • Cornish Pasties Roast Beef n’ Yorkshire Pudding Scotch Eggs • Steak n’ Kidney Pie Irish Beef Stew • Corned Beef n’ Cabbage Specials Change Daily Check out our web page www.TheSquiresPub.com

Tues., Wed., & Thurs. Fri. & Sat. Sun. & Mon. 5pm to 9pm 5pm to 10pm Closed

1720 US 1 South Southern Pines, NC 910-695-1161

We accept reservations. 515 S.E. Broad St | Southern Pines, NC 28387 910-725-1868 | www.curtscucina.com

St. Patrick’s Day Live Traditional Irish Music with Casey O’Reilly

Restaurant Authentic Thai Cusine

The BeST

“Corned Beef & Cabbage” in the area! Served all day on St. Patty’s Day!

A Local Downtown Southern Pines Favorite for Lunch and Dinner

U.S. Hwy 1 South & 15-501 1404 Sandhills Blvd. Aberdeen, NC 28315

Open 7 Days

Smoke Free Environment

Lunch

Tuesday - Friday 11:30am - 2:30pm Sunday 11:30am - 2:30pm

Dinner

Monday - Sunday 5:00pm - 9:30pm See our menu on MooCo under Oriental Restaurants

To advertise, call 910-693-7271

155 NE Broad Street Southern Pines, NC 910.692.4766 belltreetavern.com

(910) 944-9299 Carryout and Vegetarian Dishes

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STORYTIME. 10:30 a.m. Calling all 3 – 5 year olds and their parents for stories followed by a craft. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst.

•

WINE TASTING. 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. “A Toast to Education.” This event is sponsored by Alpha Delta Kappa/Beta Zeta Chapter to raise money for college scholarship recipients. Magnolia Inn, 65 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. Tickets are $25.00. Info: (910) 690-9236.

•

SPRING BARN DANCE. 6 – 10 p.m. Benefits Prancing Horse Therapeutic Horseback Riding Center. Music by King Curtiss. Fair Barn, 200 Beulah Hill Road South, Pinehurst. Tickets $50 per person. Info: (910) 246-3202 or www.prancing-horse.org.

Friday, March 27

•

ART EXHIBIT. 5 – 7 p.m. Paintings for Palustris. Celebrate the Palustris Festival. Exhibit runs through April. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 255-0665 or www.hollhocksartgallery.com.

•PALUSTRIS CONCERT. 7:30 – 9 p.m. The Steep Canyon Rangers will headline. Pinecrest High School,

250 Voit Gilmore Lane, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 6922787 or www.palustrisfestival.com.

Saturday, March 28

•

ART CLASS. 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Follow the Leader with Joan Williams. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

through classroom and fieldwork activities. Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd, Fayetteville. Info: (910) 486-0221 x 20 or info@capefearbg.org.

•

ART CLASS. 1 – 3 p.m. Discovering Acrylics for Beginners with Pat McMahon. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

FORAY FOR FROGS. 7 p.m. Join us for a hike down to the creek to listen for calling frogs and toads. Weymouth Woods, 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910)692-2167 or www.ncparks.gov.

•

MUSIC. WC Big Sale performs. The Wine Cellar, 241A NE Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3066.

•

FROGS AND FROG CALLS. 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. This workshop will familiarize attendees with frogs. Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd., Fayetteville. Info: (910) 486-0221 x 20 or info@capefearbg.org.

Sunday, March 29

•

AUTHOR TO THE BOOKSHOP. 2 p.m. Laurence Avery with, Mountain Gravity. Avery, a career professor at UNC Chapel Hill, will be joining musicians at The Country Bookshop to celebrate and read from his debut poetry collection. The Country Bookshop, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-3211.

Tuesday, March 31

•

AUTHOR EVENT. 3 p.m. A presentation by author and scholar Dr. Elliot Engle titled “O. Henry: His Surprise Endings…and Beginnings.” Free event, tickets required. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

•

ART CLASS. 1 – 3 p.m. Discovering Acrylics for Beginners with Pat McMahon. The Exchange Street Gallery of Fine Art, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979 or www.artistleague.org.

•

CONCERT. 3 p.m. Palmis Trio with Allen Ware on clarinet. $15 non-members. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Call 692-2787 for tickets. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org.

•

MUSICIANS JAM SESSION. 7 – 9 p.m. Free. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 East Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Call 692-2787 for tickets. Info: (910) 692-6261 or www. weymouthcenter.org.

Monday, March 30

•

AQUATIC PROJECT. 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. This workshop emphasizes aquatic wildlife and ecosystems Key:

• • Art

Music/Concerts

•

Dance/Theater

• • Film

4 Courses

Literature/Speakers

2 Clubs

• • Fun

History

•

Sports

YOUR Membership!

Clapp Brothers Tractor & Implement

The Club of the Sandhills

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

4 Championship Golf Courses

Unlimited Golf at All Four Courses Unlimited Complimentary PGA Golf Instruction Swimming Pool & Fitness Center Access Exceptional Meeting Space for 10 - 345 Guests

Beautiful Wedding Venues Experienced Event Planner & Culinary Team Lodgings at CCWP Golf Courses Open To The Public For Membership, Events & Accommodations 910.949.4332

ACTive DUTY Military Discounts on All Memberships

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No entrance fees • Own your own home Age in place with all levels of care • World class medical minutes away Onsite Wake Forest Baptist Health Clinic

Beyond Expectations

IMPECCABLY PINEWILD 27 Glasgow Drive • $688,800 Pristene golf front home with top-notch features and upgrades throughout. This 4200sf custom home has comfortable flow and thoughtful design for any lifestyle. Contact listing agents for more details and showing appointments.

Kim Stout 910-528-2008 Rebecca cummingS 910-315-4141

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Saturday, April 18

•

CLENNY CREEK DAY. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The Friends of the Bryant House, a volunteer group for these two structures, is planning a fun day of vendors, food, items for sale, tours of the 1820s era Bryant House and the 1760s era cabin. The buildings are at 3361 Mt. Carmel Road, Carthage.

Art Galleries

ABOUT ART GALLERY inside The Market Place Midland Bistro Building, 2160 Midland Road, Pinehurst. The gallery features local artists. Open Monday-Friday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. (910) 215-596. Artist GAlleRy OF SOUTHERN PINES, 167 E. New Hampshire Avenue., Southern Pines. Features art and fine crafts from more than 60 North Carolina artists. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. (910) 692-6077. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange St. in historic Aberdeen. Exhibit hours are noon – 3 p.m., Monday-Saturday. (910) 944-3979. Broadhurst Gallery, 2212 Midland Road, 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 available. Monday-Friday (closed Wednesday), 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m and special appointments. (910)

295-4817, www.broadhurstgallery.com. The Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Avenue., Southern Pines. MondayFriday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and every third weekend of the month from 2 – 4 p.m. (910) 692-4356, www. mooreart.org. The Downtown Gallery inside Cup of Flow, 115 NE Broad St., Southern Pines. Everchanging array of local and regional art, pottery and other handmade items. (910) 693-1999. Exchange Street Gallery, Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange Street in historic Aberdeen. “It’s Southern, Ya’ll,” works of Pat McMahon and Betty DiBartolomeo. September 2-28. Regular hours noon to 3:00, Monday-Saturday. (910) 944-3979. The Gallery at Seven Lakes at the St. Mary Magdalene building, 1145 Seven Lakes Drive. Just nine miles from the Pinehurst Traffic Circle up 211, this gallery is dedicated to local artists. Wednesday-Thursday 1 – 4 p.m.

winning artists, Diane Kraudelt, Linda Griffin, Jessie MacKay, Julie Messerschmidt, Charles Roberts, and artist/owner, Jane Casnellie. MondaySaturday 10:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. (910) 255-0665, www.hollyhocksartgallery.com. Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour, 21 Chinquapin Road, Pinehurst. Features local artists. Tuesday-Saturday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. (910) 2550100, www.ladybedfords.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. Monday, Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (910) 295-2055. SANDHILLS WOMAN’S EXCHANGE, 15 Azalea Road, Pinehurst. All merchandise at the Exchange is handmade by consignors who live in the community. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Lunch served 11.30 a.m – 2 p.m. (910) 295-4677. Seagrove Candle Company, 116 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Showcases art of the Sandhills and Seagrove area. Monday, WednesdaySaturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., (910) 695-0029.

Hastings Gallery in the Katharine L. Boyd Library at Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst. Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday 7:45 a.m. – 9 p.m., Friday 7:45 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

SKY Art Gallery, 602 Magnolia Dr., Aberdeen. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (910) 944-9440, www. skyartgallery.com.

HOLLYHOCKS ART GALLERY, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst. Features artwork by local award

Studio 590 by the pond in Dowd Cabin, 590 Dowd Circle, Pinehurst. This historic log cabin is the work-

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ing studio and gallery of artists Betty DiBartolomeo and Harry Neely. Fine oil paintings, commissions and instruction. (910) 639-9404.

2 – 5 p.m. or by appointment. Located at Rockingham and Saunders streets, Carthage. (9 10) 947-2331. House in the Horseshoe. Open year-round. Hours vary. 288 Alston House Road (10 miles north of Carthage), Sanford. (910) 947-2051.

White Hill Gallery, 407 U.S. 15-501, Carthage, offers a variety of pottery. (910) 947-6100.

Nature Centers

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.

Sandhills Horticultural Gardens (32 acres of gardens). The Sandhills Horticultural Gardens are handicapped-accessible. Daylight hours year-round. (910) 695-3882.

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 Avenue., Southern Pines. (910) 692-6261.

Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve (898 acres). 1024 Fort Bragg Road, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2167.

Shaw House. Open 1 – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. (910) 692-2051.

VILLAGE ARBORETUM. 35 acres of land adjoining the Village Hall on Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. (910) 295-1900.

Tufts Archives. 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., MondayFriday, and 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Saturday. (910) 295-3642.

Historical Sites

Union Station. Open 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Located in downtown Aberdeen. (910) 944-5902.

Bethesda Church and Cemetery. Guided tours for groups by appointment. 1020 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen. (910) 944-1319.

Sandhills Woman’s Exchange Log Cabin. Open 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. (910) 295-4677. PS

Bryant House and McLendon Cabin. Tours by appointment. (910) 692-2051 or (910) 673-0908.

To add an event, email us at pinestraw.calendar@ gmail.com by the first of the month prior to the event. Or go to www.thepilot.com and add the event to our online calendar.

Carthage Historical Museum. Sundays, Key:

• • Art

Music/Concerts

•

Dance/Theater

• • Film

Literature/Speakers

O’NEAL SUMMER FUN Register Online

ONealSchool.org

A Variety of Summer Day Camps for Youth of All Ages 910-692-6920 • Southern Pines, NC

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Upcoming Events

The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: Marry an English major. — Stephen E. Ambrose

March 8 (Sunday, 3–5 p.m.). Sable Books’ International Women’s Day Reading. Scuppernong Books, Greensboro. Celebrate women and, yes, aging with music, discussions and readings by Barbara Kenyon, Hillsborough Poet Laureate; Trudi Young Taylor, author of Breasts Don’t Lie; Debra Kaufman, author of The Next Moment; and Sheryl Rider, plus other Greensboro contributors to Letters for My Little Sister. Info: scuppernongbooks.com March 14 (Saturday, 7 p.m.). Reading/discussion by Joseph Bathanti and Gilda Morina Syverson. Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh. Former N. C. Poet Laureate joins an artist, teacher and memoirist to instruct — and reminisce — about the writing process. Info: quailridgebooks.com March 19 (Thursday, 3–4 p.m.). Humorist and storytelling scholar extraordinaire Elliot Engel channels William Sydney Porter as part of The Explorations for Adults Series with a talk on O.Henry: His Surprise Endings . . . and Beginnings, Southern Pines Public Library, 170 West Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines. Free, but tickets required. Info: (910) 692-8235 or sppl.net March 19–22 (Thursday through Sunday) Table Rock Spring Studio 2015: Writing Retreat on N.C.’s Inner Banks. Time to write, explore nature and enjoy the area around the Scuppernong River in Columbia, where writers will share their work in sessions led by Georgeann Eubanks. Some scholarships available. Info: minnowmedia.net April 18 (Saturday, all day). North Carolina Writers’ Network Spring Conference 2015, UNCG. Intensive fiction, nonfiction and poetry workshops, faculty readings, open mic sessions and so much more. Info: ncwn.com

Congratulations

O, the shamrock, the green, immortal shamrock! Chosen leaf for bard and chief, Old Erin’s native shamrock. — Thomas Moore

Honoring St. Patrick’s Day, Wake Forest University Press has released The Shack: Irish Poets in the Foothills and the Mountains (wfupress.wfu.edu.) . . . Big Cactus, the latest novel by prolific novelist Sylvia Wilkinson, of

Durham, combines desert scenery with Southern humor. Free excerpt at owlcanyonpress.com . . . In Front Row, Section D, Greensboro writer John Hitchcock shares the thrills and chills of viewing Greensboro wrestling matches from the 1960s–1980s . . . Amazon’s Best Books includes Travels in Vermeer: A Memoir by Michael White, director of the Creative Writing Program at UNC Wilmington. . . . Hotel Worthy, Val Nieman’s just-released book of poetry, received high praise from distinguished poet, Sarah Lindsay “At last, a book that states clearly the purpose of life.” Press53.com Prime Number Magazine announces 2015 contest prizes for top three entries in Poetry, Short Fiction and Creative Nonfiction. Deadline: March 31, 2015. Guidelines: primenumbermagazine.com

Writing Lesson

The voices that guide my writing life are older than I am — the umbilical cord forever unwinding and yet tethered to and dependent on a place called home. — Jill McCorkle

Never mind the flap. To everybody’s relief, Gov. Pat McCrory named Shelby Stephenson of Benson North Carolina’s eighth Poet Laureate, commending his plans to “work with helping nursing home residents express themselves through poetry.” “This is great news for North Carolina,” Ed Southern, executive director of the North Carolina Writers’ Network, wrote. “Our state and its writers could wish for no better ambassador.” Kathryn Stripling Byer, former State Poet Laureate, describes Stephenson as “A singer, an old-time raconteur, a poet attuned to the rhythms of our state and its people. And for those who keep saying they don’t like poetry, just wait till you hear Shelby. You will change your mind in a flash.” A professor of English and editor of Pembroke magazine until 2010, Stephenson’s writing includes poems about possums, mules, tractors and a slave girl. “My early teachers were the thirty-five foxhounds my father hunted,” he explains. “The trees and streams, fields, the world of my childhood — all that folklore — those are my subjects.” An accomplished musician, former radio announcer and a farmer, his magnanimous grin, generous spirit and laid-back attitude help students and fellow poets find their authentic voices by advising them to do as he does: Write about what you know. PS Avoid getting pinched; wear green on St. Patrick’s Day! Keep me updated on writer happenings. sanredd@earthlink.net. Greensboro writer Sandra Redding’s novel, Naomi Wise: A Cautionary Tale, is a riveting story about heartbreak and hope in a Quaker community.

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Keith & Ginny Thomasson

SandhillSeen Moore County Hounds Hunt, a nd Hunt Breakfast at Weymouth Center Saturday, January 24, 2014 Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Peter & Corine Longanbach, Helen & Charles DuBose

Tia Chick, Landon Nesser, Mike & Irene Russell

Fran Gertz, Wayne Moore, Anne Thompson

Laura Lindamood, Charlie & Terry Cook, Ray Owen

Mike Paget and hunt field Craig Stokes, Rick Thompson

Dennis Paules, Norm Minery

Susan & Tom Howe, Joanie Bowden

Leonard Short, Ellen Stone, Dr. Doug Jackson Neal Schwartzberg, Leigh Allen, George & Mickey Wirtz

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s u mm e r c amps

Summer Safari Summer Camp

At St. John Paul II School For rising Pre-K (4) through rising 6th graders. Running June 8th through July 2nd

2922 Camp Easter Rd, Southern Pines, NC

910-692-6241

www.sjp2catholicschool.com

FOR MORE SUMMER CAMP INFORMATION, CLICK ON THE SUMMER CAMPS AD ON

www.thepilot.com

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen

Cathy Roofe, Cynthia Strickland

Women Helping Women Luncheon Friend to Friend Tuesday, January 27, 2014 Photographs by Al & Annette Daniels

Paula Youngblood, Lise Descoteaux, Linda Howden Olive Johnson, Judy Gilmore, Sarah Johnson, Nancy Kaeser

Tess Gillespie, Deirdre Newton, Mary Scott Arnold

Cyndie Burnett, Babette Glauner, Lynda Moegling, Maritza Webb

Marcia Krasicky, Joanne Kilpatrick, Stephanie Hillard Sarah Johnson, Bonnie McGowan, Anne Friesen, Enola Lineberger

Pam Bradley, Judy Dickerson, Elaine Dubel, Joyce Reehling, Linda Lewis, Joan Carter

Susie Buchanan, Marilyn Neely, Veronica Sanchez Nancy Reib, Debbie Smith, Sarah Hargrove, Kathleen Ford, Cathy Benjamin

Jean Thomas, Beverly Harper, M.J. Pizzella, Mary Sessoms

Nancy Reib, Cathy Benjamin

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen

Alan & Rhonda Dretel

Moore County Hounds Formal Hunting December 2014 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; February 2015 Photographs by Jeanne Paine

The Hunt Field

Dick Webb, Cameron Sadler

Wayne Moore

Stephen Later

Mike Russell, Dr. Jock Tate, Wayne Moore Lefreda Williams

Dr. Fred McCashin

Angela Royal, Cameron Sadler Roz Brownback, Alicia Rosser, Peter Brownback, Mike Rosser

Mel Wyatt

Colin MacNair

115

The

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Now Serving Weekend Lunch Buffets: Saturday Lunch Buffet- 11 to 2 Sunday Brunch Buffet- 11 to 2

Authentic German Music LIVE! EVERY TUESDAY 157 East New Hampshire Ave. Southern Pines, North Carolina 28387 910.725.0691

T-TH 5 to 9 • F 5 to 9:30 Sat 11 to 9:30 • Sun 11 to 9

New Showroom Samples are Here! HUGE DISCOUNTS on Fabulous Designer Furniture & Accessories

416 S. Elm St. High Point, NC 27260 • 336.887.1315 10:00am - 5:00pm Monday - Saturday M/C, Visa, AMEX, Discover

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March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Amity Aldridge, Tracy Gibson

SandhillSeen

Carol and Susan Morgan

Finery Fair Professional Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Network Thursday, February 12, 2014

Photographs by Al & Annette Daniels Janine Cone, Laura Zink

Samantha Smith, Debbie Fox

Faye Riddle, Lisa Geddie

Patty Rea, Marilyn Neely, Danaka Bunch, Julie Tampa

Edith Holland, Faye Lippard

Charli Thyne

Sue Deutsch

Tony Vrba

Sherry Sharon

Pat Phillips

Angel Smith, Danaka Bunch

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a r ts & C u l t u r e

DR. JIM and

CAROL SHORES

MARCH 27th and 28th CHRIST COMMUNITY CHURCH 220 Campground Rd

(1.5 miles North of the Pinehurst Circle off of Hwy 15-501)

910.215.8099

The cost is $25 per couple

Limited childcare available $10 per child For more information contact: marriage@cccpinehurst.org or Sign Up on the CCC website: www.cccpinehurst.org

PRESENTS

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

BERLIOZ’S BEWITCHING THUR, APR 9 | 8PM MASTERPIECE Messiaen: The forgotten offerings Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 5 Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

March 19–22, 2015 Festival of Art and Flowers North Carolina Museum of Art Presenting 45 floral masterpieces inspired by the NCMA’s permanent collection and created by world-class floral designers

Visit ncartmuseum.org for schedule, details, and tickets.

APPALACHIAN SPRING

SAT, MAY 2 | 8PM

One of the most beloved pieces in the American repertoire — join us for this blockbuster season finale! Tickets are also available in Southern Pines at: Campbell House | 482 E. Connecticut Avenue The Country Bookshop | 140 NW Broad Street

LEE AUDITORIUM, PINECREST HIGH SCHOOL, SOUTHERN PINES

Tickets selling fast — Buy Now! 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh (919) 715-5923

118

ncsymphony.org | 877.627.6724

See participating sponsors at ncsymphony.org/contribute

March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen

Franklin Dean aka Willie, Susan Lee

MCLC Executive Director “Queen Beedazzled” Beth Daniels

11th Annual Spelling Bee for Literacy Sunday, February 8, 2014 Photographs by Al & Annette Daniels

The “Hospital Clowns” team

Miss Moore County, Sami McDaniel; Miss Teen Moore County, Morgan Hendrix Carol and Tim Burgess Tricia Wood, Cheryl Futrell, Julie Tampa, Gail Cummins

The O’Neal “O’Neologists” team - Jackie Cavallini, Heather Weeks, Jordan Wolfe

Myrna Spencer (Cookie), Mary Scott Arnold ( Dancer), Ed Renner (Numbers)

Master of Pronunciation Bob Howell

Sandy Waterkotte, Sierra Hawkins, Karen Reese-May

The Pilot “McPilots” team - John Nagy, Ginny Trigg, David Bailey

The Linden Lodge “Stigmabusters” team - Nadine Yingling, Chris Laughlin, Sr., Marianne Kernan

Karen Bobango, Mary Wittenstrom, Judi Giles, Cathy Miles, Laurel MacLennan

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a r ts & C u l t u r e

WINTER/SPRING 2015 CLASSES OIL and ACRYLIC

FOLLOW THE LEADER - (OIL) Joan Williams – Thurs., March 26, 10:00-3:30 $75 no discount - Supplies included. FOLLOW THE LEADER - (OIL) Joan Williams – Sat., March 28, 10:00-3:30 $75 no discount - Supplies included. DISCOVERING ACRYLICS FOR BEGINNERS Pat McMahon – Monday/Tuesday, March 30, 31, 1:00-3:00 $40 COLOR AND LIGHT – (NOVICE AND UP) Diane Kraudelt - Monday, April 20, 9:30-3:30 $50 DISCOVERING IMPRESSIONISTIC JOY AND PASSION THROUGH COLOR (OIL) Laine Francis - Monday/Tuesday May 4, 5 10:00-3:00 $80 ABSTRACTING ACRYLICS Deborah Kline – Monday, May 18, 10:00-3:00 $40 OIL PAINTING WITH COURTNEY Courtney Herndon – Wednesday/Thursday, May 20, 21, 9:00-3:30, $110

WATERCOLOR

WATERCOLOR ON GESSO Irene Dobson – Tuesday/Wednesday, March 10, 11, 1:00-3:30 $50 BEGINNING/INTERMEDIATE WATERCOLOR Sandy Scott – Wednesday/Thursday, May 20, 21, 10:30-3:30 $80

COLORED PENCIL and PASTEL

COLORED PENCIL ON PASTELMAT Betty Hendrix - Wednesday, March 4, - 10:00-4:00 $55 LANDSCAPE ON SANDED PAPER/USING PASTEL UNDER-PAINTING Betty Hendrix - Wednesday, March 25, - 10:00-4:00 $50

OTHER MEDIUMS

SCRATCHBOARD AND PEN & INK Kate Lagaly - Friday, March 6, 10:00-3:30 $47 ADVANCED GELLI PRINTING Pat Halligan – Friday, March 13, 10:00-3:00 $40 ADVANCED ALCOHOL INK TECHNIQUES Sandy Scott – Tuesday, March 24, 10:30-3:30 $40 GO WITH THE FLOW-BASIC ALCOHOL INK Pam Griner – Saturday, April 11, 12:00-3:00 $40 Supplies Included. ALCOHOL INK AND BEYOND Sandy Scott – Wednesday, May 13, 10:30-3:30 $40 ADVANCED ALCOHOL INK TECHNIQUES Sandy Scott – Thursday, May 14, 10:30-3:30 $40

WORKSHOPS 2015

APRIL 13 - 15 – “BEYOND THE PHOTOGRAPH” OILS, Mark Kevin Horton $463 AUGUST 17 - 20 – “PUSHING THE ENVELOPE IN WATERCOLOR” - Mel Stabin $590

LERY EET GAL R T S E G ” EXCHAN r the Arts

fo “March isg Reception

Openin • 4-6pm March 8 rch 24

gh Ma ns throu Show ru

120

Check us out & register at www.artistleague.org 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen • 944-3979

2014-2015

Bolshoi Ballet Series Live CAPTURED in HD from MOSCOW SUNDAYS at 1:00pm

March 8th Romeo and Juliet April 19th

Ivan the Terrible TICKETS: $20 & $15 (12 & Under) GROUP TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR ALL SHOWS

The Sunrise Theater | 910.692.8501 250 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines, NC

The Sunrise Preservation Group is a 501(c)(3) Tax-Deductible, Non-Profit Organization

GET TIX! EMAIL: information@sunrisetheater.com | www.SunriseTheater.org

March 2015 i��PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

5400 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC 28311 William F. Bethune Center for Visual Arts DavidMcCuneGallery.org

the drawings and paintings of

February 13 April 15, 2015 exhibition’s premier sponsor: Janet Parks gallery hours: Tuesday–Friday: 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Saturday: 12:00–4:00 p.m., and by appointment Closed Sunday, Monday and school breaks 910-630-7000

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March 2015 i�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T h o u g h ts F r o m T h e M a n s h e d

A Boy Goes To The Movies By Geoff Cutler

A few days before Christmas, I happened to

be walking by the Sunrise Theater and couldn’t help but notice the school buses lined up one after the other down Broad Street. It was late morning, and I remembered that the theater was showing the movie Polar Express to the children of Aberdeen Elementary School. I stopped to take a peek.

The little ones wore their pajamas, and the theater manager was dressed as a conductor. Apparently, each child had been given a golden ticket, a small bag of popcorn, and a bottle of water when they arrived to see the show. I didn’t get to see that because the show had ended by the time I got there. The children were putting on their jackets and were lining up in groups to get on their buses for the return ride to school. I watched line after orderly line come out of the theater, and it was plain to see by the excitement on their faces that the children had had a wonderful time. I remember that same feeling when we were taken to the movie theater for the first time. The show was Mary Poppins, and when we had each gotten a small bag of popcorn and a drink, we walked into the theater for the first time. I remember thinking how huge it was, like being inside a cavern or something. When we found our seats and sat down, there was the big white screen taking up the whole front of the auditorium. Then the lights went down and the picture began. It was all flashing white light and color and music playing loudly and singing giants before us. And we didn’t even eat our popcorn at first because our mouths were wide open in amazement. I hoped for at least a few of the children who came to the theater to see Polar Express, that maybe it was their first time seeing a movie at the theater, and that they felt the same kind of wild excitement we did. Later, we were taken to see The Sound of Music with Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews. Very nice. Good music, but I didn’t understand the parts about Nazi Germany. I left the theater like a lot of other young boys . . . with a crush on Liesl. And then West Side Story, and True Grit. These movies were my first exposure to violence, and I remember of the latter wanting so much for Rooster Cogburn to take vengeance for Mattie and fill Tom Chaney and Lucky Ned Pepper full of holes. The next time I went the movies, it was with a friend from school. His father took us to see Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever. This had to be

every kid’s dream come true. To see their first James Bond film. So cool, and what a car! I swore that I’d have Bond’s red Mach-1 fastback as soon as I was old enough to get my license, even if I had to mow every yard in Boston to get the money. There’s one more movie to mention, because after I saw it, I stayed away from the theater for a while. This time, another friend’s father thought it would be OK if my buddy and I went to see The Exorcist. We were in eighth grade, and the plan was for my buddy’s father to drop us at the theater, and we would walk back to his house afterward. This was my first movie without parental supervision. I’d read the book at school during exam week. Every minute of free time between exams, I raced through this novel. So I knew what to expect with the movie. The movie was scarier than the book. A lot scarier. But it wasn’t the movie, scary as it was, that got me. After it was over, we left the theater into a lightly blowing snowfall. A few inches of powder already lay on the ground, and our walk took us through the Boston Common. Apparently, we’d seen the late show because the pathways through the park were virtually empty of others. We walked alone, our steps slowing between the streetlamps. Streetlamps exactly like those in Georgetown that are depicted in the movie. This was one of the neatest twists of the movie. Light is generally thought to, among other things, mean safety. But in The Exorcist, that notion is scrapped. The lighting and camera work make light seem somehow dark, heavy, foreboding. Nothing is lit properly or completely. All light, especially the Georgetown streetlamps, are caught in a way so that there’s no sanctuary to be found. Rather, light haunts like the dark. The streetlamps in the Boston Common that night, with the snow swirling around them, seemed to put off that same unnaturally muted glow. You wanted to stay away from them. A very backward and creepy sensation. By the time we cleared the Common, and proceeded into Beacon Hill, where my friend’s father owned a Lewisburg Square townhouse, we were both scared witless. We walked up the cobblestone sidewalk to the front of his house and there was the final streetlamp, just outside. I looked up at the townhouse and might as well have been standing outside of Regan MacNeil’s. The only thing missing was Father Merrin, hat down low over his face, limping up the cobblestones behind us. In the lobby of the Sunrise, as I watched the schoolchildren board their buses, these are the things that popped into my head. PS Geoff can be reached at geoffcutler@embarqmail.com.

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March 2015 i�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T h e A c c i d e n ta l A st r o l o g e r

Go Green, Tar Children By Astrid Stellanova

March’s stars

Here we are at the whoopee start of spring, but also entering the favored month for war-mongering Romans. A conundrum. No wonder you might feel discombobulated. Sure spring is fun, but the Ides of March spelled doom for Julius Caesar. This month marks celebrations like St. Patrick’s Day — and due south, good ole Savannah is second only to N.Y.C. for rocking that green-beer, Irish spring, shamrock-waving day. Celebrate that first green leaf on the tree, Tar Children, Irish, Roman, Patagonian, or whatever and wherever you may be.

Pisces (February 19–March 20) You ain’t immortal, but you may find yourself feeling like it. This is the month for you to enjoy and celebrate your good health and good genes, lucky favors your sign enjoys. Like most of us, you know it’s easier to grow older than to grow wiser. But you are now walking in high cotton as you move through your birth month. Enjoy the slow thaw after a hard winter and a feeling of personal deliverance from something you’ve been carrying. Let it go — little fish, you may be stuck in the ice but you ain’t frozen no more. Like the rest of us, you wish you could stop hearing that song in your head. (“Let it go, let it go!”) This is a year when you give the world something it needs — a little light and kindness. No big burdens to carry anymore — just good cheer and celebration. Aries (March 21–April 19) It’s impossible to repress that Aries cocksure feeling that Lady Luck is always going to load the dice in your favor. Odds like the house, Sugar, and you know it. But let’s face it — you’d rather be playing the tables even when you’re losing than lying around thinking about world problems. The thing is, you can change a lot of what ails the world if you harness those gifts you haven’t used so much lately. Taurus (April 20–May 20) Grandpa tells me he wanted to be just senile enough to forget his tax problems. And his doctor’s advice to eat broccoli and exercise more. There’s something you need to forget, Child, and there should be enough going on to help you get to a happier state of oblivion. Somebody long forgotten, a body you never expected to see again, shows up in your life again. And you won’t believe why. Be happy — it’s a second chance for a do-over that needs doing all over again. Gemini (May 21–June 20) You’re a little like my favorite customer at the beauty shop who said she started out with nothing and has managed to hold on to most of it. Humor and a genius for money will get you where you want to go this month. That humor will also get you an offer for friendship and bonding that will make you rich in new ways. Take care of something for your family that is a small effort, but that only you can do, and you will reap the reward. Cancer (June 21–July 22) The new season ahead is a breather. You’ve been under the gun and now you get a break. There’s a little reward you’ve been thinking about, and you deserve it. Get your head together, even if you feel like your body ain’t, and splurge on a massage, pedicure, new hairdo — or all three. That’s what Astrid does — if my hair ain’t right, nothing else is. Leo (July 23–August 22) Honey, I don’t remember being so absent-minded. But absent-mindedness is one trait you might want to develop — you remember things you would be better off forgetting. Forgetting and forgiving are not your strong suits, but this is 2015 and you can grow, Leo. On the outside, all looks fine with you, including your hair color. Now get that inner turmoil tamped down and let your outside match your inside.

Virgo (August 23–September 22) It is true you admire the early bird for getting the worm. But the second rat nabs the cheese. That is my boyfriend Beau’s claim to fame — he is almost always the crafty one who gets the prize. You have the ability for being the stealthiest one and that is exactly what most people don’t know about — obviously, which is why it is such a talent. It will come in handy this month, Sugar, and you will get to the cheese first. Libra (September 23–October 22) Your dogma could run over your karma if you don’t consider that your point of view ain’t the only one in town. Seriously, Star Child, you get a little full of your fine self and so listen up to Astrid. Librans make for the best friend in the world — loyal, kind, generous, but they always think they know what is best and do get bossy. You are not the boss of the Universe. Check that impulse, and allow the world to love you for some of your finer traits. Scorpio (October 23–November 21) A universal S.O.S. to all Scorpios could be needed right about now, given what Astrid sees in the stars. And here is the message: Give of yourselves and your multitude of talents in the most generous way you know how. The universe has been extremely good to you. Repay the favor. You may not know it yet, but it will pay you returns you never even imagined. Sagittarius (November 22–December 21) You’re sitting at the checker board alone while everybody else is off playing Truth or Dare, right? Aw, Honey, don’t feel bad, because the stars have a lot of fun in store for you this month. And, by the way, prepare for more than one adventure that will cause you to need a change of wardrobe. Orange ain’t the new black, Honey, and that ain’t what I mean, either. Capricorn (December 22–January 19) Sometimes it’s easier to meet a true love or find a good time than for you to meet expenses, and your sense of extravagance may have finally gotten you into a trap. My recommendation is to keep enjoying your sense of discovery — good for you, Honey — but the stars say you will have to save just a teensy bit more if you want to go for that one big bucket list item. Bucket lists require a few bucks as a general rule. But a sense of adventure don’t have to always be expensive — for some Star Children, it can begin with a walk across the street for coffee with a new friend. Aquarius (January 20–February 18) Your dreamed-of comeback (whether it’s a job, a lost love, or an old skill) may very well require you actually go somewhere and risk something. Like Grandpa says, you ain’t making a comeback when you ain’t been anywhere. This is an excellent year for your dreams coming true. Get off the sofa; you may be just one bag of chips away from the lunch/date/interview of your life. PS For years, Astrid Stellanova owned and operated Curl Up and Dye Beauty Salon in the boondocks of North Carolina until arthritic fingers and her popular astrological readings provoked a new career path.

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March 2015 i�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

March PineNeedler ACROSS 1 Irritate the skin 6 Strong force 10 Sail’s need 14 Do work 15 Canal 16 Singing voice 17 Sky blue 18 Small licorice treats 19 Howl with laughter 20 Allot (with “out”) 21 Spots on TV 22 Show to slice sandwich meat 24 Pops 26 Long trip 27 Roman orator 30 Retirement assoc. 31 In a tilted position 32 Birch-like tree 33 Uncle_____ 36 Polish folk dance 37 Slide on snow 38 Overly fat 40 Finale 41 Unclothed 43 Burnt sienna 44 Killed 45 5 group 46 On the ship 49 Thorned flower 50 Cat 51 Doctoral degree

52 56 57 59 60 61 62 63 64 65

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DOWN 1 Chowder ingredient 2 Fog 3 Adjoin 4 Open deck 5 Bard’s before 6 Curves 7 Colored part of eye 8 Eve’s beginning 9 Renew 10 Santa __ (Columbus’ ship) 11 With 12 Musty 13 Right-winger, in Britain 21 Hubbub 23 Dazed conditions, after watching a clock 25 Person from Arkansas 26 Uninteresting 27 Cloak 28 Phone text picture 29 Frigid 30 Lopsided 32 Bidden 33 Labor Day month 34 East land mass

Themeless

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Fault Cargo ship What a poem has Quit a poker hand City play area Small particle

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37 38 40 Finale 41 unclothed 6 energy 43 burnt sienna 10 sail's need Sudoku: 9 5 1 7 2 6 44 Killed 14 do work Fill in the grid so every row, every group 45 5 6 153x3Canal column and every box contain 1 the singing numbers voice 1-9. 46 on the ship 16 8 6 5 49 thorned 9 3 flower 17 sky-blue 18 small licorice treats 4 50 Cat 2 1 5 3 howl with106laughter 51 doctoral degree Puzzle19 answers on page Mart Dickerson lives Southern Pines"out") 8 3 6 (with 52 saucer 20 inallot and would welcome any suggestions spots She oncan tV 21 masters. 56 spoken from her fellow puzzle 7 4 2 be reached at gdickerson@nc.rr.com. 22 show to slice sandwich meat 57 Gone 4 2 59 8 Female1singer ___ apple 24 Pops 60 Green citrus fruit 26 long trip 7 1 8 61 student residence 27 roman orator 30 ret. assn. 3 2 4 9 1 6 62 Performer 31 In a tilted position 63 elk's cousin 32 birch-like tree 64 ox harness PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2015 127 33 uncle_____ 65 Jabs

southwords

Peppermints

By Sara Phile

I was trying with all my 6-year-old willpower to sit still, but my body and mind rebelled.

Will the man in the front of the room ever stop talking? I wondered. We had already been there for what seemed like hours, and Grammy had said something about ice cream after lunch. I couldn’t stop thinking about Moose Tracks. Nestled in between my brother, who was 5, and my baby sister, 2, I glanced down the row past my parents to see my gramps, his eyes twinkling as they caught my own. He winked, dug his hand into his trouser pockets and pulled out a roll of peppermint Certs. After pulling the wrapper down to expose the next glossy mint, he passed the roll to me. I grinned. Gramps knew exactly what I needed. “I want one!” my brother exclaimed when he saw the mints. My mom glared at us from down the pew. My sister’s pudgy hand reached up to grab at the Certs as drool dripped from her mouth onto her smocked dress. I pulled the next Cert out of the roll and handed it to my brother. “Don’t chew on it,” I said in my responsible big sister voice. My sister was too young for hard candy and would probably choke, or at least that’s what Dad had said before. I ignored her outstretched hands and handed the mints back to Gramps. The church service droned on, but the peppermint Cert added a bit of focus, a bit of clarity and sweetness to my 6-year-old mind. This incident would evolve into a common practice over the coming years. Fast-forward to when I was about 16. Same church. Same family. Same pew. I may have been dozing off from having stayed up too late the previous night, or staring

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off into space thinking about that cute boy who had yet to notice me, when Gramps would pass me his roll of Certs. I took one or two, then passed them down the row to my siblings and cousins. Gramps’ Certs became a ritual. If for some reason they were not passed down the pews, the church service felt a little off. Since Gramps introduced me to the wonders of Certs, all things peppermint have detailed my life. Mint tea in the evenings. Peppermint bark during Christmas season. Peppermint ice cream after dinner. Peppermint patties and mint mochas anytime (and all the time). Eating peppermints says, to me, “Here, relax, yet focus.” I have used mints through college and grad school and swore that they helped me focus on biology tests, presentations and English essay exams. They may not have worked on that one algebra test, but that’s another story for another time. Now, I give mints to my own students before they take tests. Some students love it — and remind me about “the mints” if I ever forget. Others roll their eyes when I make an exaggerated ritual out of passing them out, two for everyone. “If you feel your clarity and focus start to dwindle, holler and I will bring you another one. Wait, don’t holler. Just raise your hand,” I say. Typical and mundane as they might seem, mints are a part of my life — and help me keep Gramps’ memory alive. He passed away two years ago. Carrying around Certs in my purse reminds me of his generous spirit, his twinkling eyes, and the way he always knew exactly what I needed. As I relish in the cool sweetness, I journey back to that hard church pew of my youth and grin. PS Sara “Renee” Phile is a writer, English teacher, mint dispenser, and mother of two boys with minty fresh breath.

March 2015 i�� PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Illustration by Meridith Martens

Mundane as they may seem, mints are an essential part of my life — and now, of my students’

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