May PineStraw 2010 by PineStraw Magazine

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“I gotta tell ya, this really is the greatest bass fishing lake in the USA – bar none!” – Alan Warren, host of Alan Warren Outdoors, TV show.

“A bass fishing sanctuary that is unparalleled in North America.” -Ray Scott, founder of B.A.S.S.

“It was truly the bluegill fishing trip of several lifetimes, and I have been chasing them since I was very young. Those fish were astounding, unbelievable! The trip was way beyond my expectations, way beyond words!” – Jim Gronaw, writer for In-Fisherman magazine.

KING FISHER SOCIETY Fishing, Sporting Clays, Fine Dining, Live Jazz KINGFISHERSOCIETY.COM; 910-462-2324

May 2010

Volume 5, No. 5

FEATURES

50 A More Perfect Eden

Five Big Ideas — and bunches more — that could make home-sweethome even sweeter.

56 A Southern Prophet

By Mary Elle Hunter

How the rhetoric of Walter Hines Page changed the New South.

60 The Bait Box

By Claudia Watson

For a rookie fly-fisher, each catch takes her closer to home.

62 Story of a House

By Deborah Salomon

For Vermonters Julie and Bill Wick, it’s all about accessories.

70 The Garden Path DEPARTMENTS

Sweet Tea Chronicles Jim Dodson

8 15 17

PinePitch Cos and Effect Cos Barnes The Omnivorous Reader

20 23 24 27 31 33 38 41 44 47

Bookshelf Hitting Home Dale Nixon Vine Wisdom Robyn James The Kitchen Garden Jan Leitschuh Pleasures of Life Deborah Salomon Artist Amongst Us Ashley Wahl Birdwatch Susan Campbell The Sporting Life Tom Bryant Golftown Journal Lee Pace Thoughts From the Man Shed

36 78 80 95 104

Feats of Clay Jim Dalton PineBuzz Jack Dodson Calendar SandhillSeen The Accidental Astrologer

May 2010

Sue Brothers just couldn’t part with her Michigan garden — so she brought it here.

Stephen E. Smith

Geoff Cutler

Astrid Stellanova

107 PineNeedler 108 SouthWords 2

By Noah Salt

Mart Dickerson Kathryn Galloway

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PineStraw M A G A Z I N E Jim Dodson, Editor Andie Stuart Rose, Creative Director Kathryn Galloway, Graphic Designer Megan Shore, Graphic Designer Ashley Wahl, Editorial Assistant EDITORIAL

Deborah Salomon, Staff Writer Stephen E. Smith, Staff Writer Sara King, Proofreader Mary Novitsky, Proofreader PHOTOGRAPHERS

Glenn Dickerson Jeanne Paine Tim Sayer Hannah Sharpe CONTRIBUTORS

Cos Barnes Tom Bryant Susan Campbell Geoff Cutler Mart Dickerson Jack Dodson Kay Grismer Robyn James Pamela Powers January Jan Leitschuh Dale Nixon Lee Pace Frank Pierce Angie Tally Claudia Watson

David Woronoff, Publisher ADVERTISING SALES 910.693.2505

Pat Taylor, Advertising Director Ginny Kelly Patty Rea Bill Downey Terry Hartsell Marty Hefner Peggy Marsh Darlene McNeil-Smith Johnsie Tipton Karen Triplett ADVERTISING GRAPHIC DESIGN

Kathryn Galloway, B.J. Hill Mechelle Wood, Scott Yancey Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488

PineStraw Magazine 910.693.2467

145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue Southern Pines, NC 28387 pinestraw@thepilot.com www.pinestrawmag.com Â©Copyright 2010. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. PineStraw magazine is published by The Pilot LLC

SWEET TEA CHRONICLES

Andie’s Big Idea BY JIM DODSON

Five years ago,

Andie Stuart Rose decided it was time the Sandhills had a magazine devoted to Sandhills arts and entertainment. And who better to create such a thing than this 1976 graduate of Pinecrest High who went on to study art at East Carolina University then jumped straight into the magazine world, learning her craft at places like the Horchow Catalog, Texas Homes, and American Way Magazine. Andie was not only a major force behind the restoration of the Sunrise Theater, serving as president of the board that oversaw the theater’s transformation, but had worked behind the scenes of many public projects that had to do with the arts since her return to her hometown in the late 1990s. If you’ve ever admired the live decorated Christmas trees that adorn Southern Pines’ quaint streets every holiday season, for instance, that’s an Andie Rose big idea, too. There were those, of course, who believed a magazine devoted exclusively to coverage of the local arts and entertainment scenes wouldn’t fly. But with the enthusiastic support of local pub master and raconteur Neville Beamer, the first tabloid newsprint edition of PineStraw quietly appeared in area racks during the spring of 2005 with veteran newsman and Robbins native Brent Hackney serving as its editor and Maura Coulter assisting. “First, a word about what PineStraw will not be,” Hackney made clear in his first Editor’s Notebook. “It will not be a shopper consisting of shallow filler copy. It will not be a house organ or propaganda sheet for any person, business, organization, political party or interest group. This magazine from Day One will devote itself to journalism excellence. Month after month, our staff and contributing writers will proPineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

duce articles, features, personality profiles, graphic arts and columns that will inform you, entertain you, inspire you, surprise you, make you laugh and make you angry.” The magazine’s talented band of contributing writers included Beamer, David Carpenter, Stephen Smith, Jim Moriarity and Glenn Dickerson. After admiring a young local photographer’s work at an Arts Council exhibition, Andie phoned up Tim Sayer and invited him to become a PineStraw contributor, too. Incidentally, it was Hackney, who, sadly passed away in 2006, actually gave the magazine its name. “We were frankly a little stumped what to call it,” admits Andie. “The name ‘Kudzu’ was under consideration when I saw Brent on the street and he yelled to me in my car, ‘Hey, I’ve got the perfect name for a magazine. Let’s call it PineStraw!’ It was really that simple.” But the great ideas often are. The inaugural edition of PineStraw featured a memorable conversation with community pioneers Felton Capel and Voit Gilmore, recalling their successful efforts to integrate the Sunrise Theater in 1962, sparing Southern Pines and Moore County much of the tension experienced by other communities reluctantly integrating across the South. While David Carpenter mused artfully on matters near and dear to Southern culture, Neville Beamer’s “Over 21” column engaged readers from the beginning with tales from his many years as the majordomo for New York’s famed 21 Club. As the fledgling monthly took root, gaining a larger audience with every monthly edition, stories about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s relationship with Jim Boyd and enthusiastic writing about everything from collards to antique car collecting established PineStraw as the voice of arts and culture in the Sandhills. One evening in late June, only an hour or so after the conclusion of the 2005 U.S. Open, I went out for a farewell stroll around the former Boyd estate before I shoved off for my home in Maine and happened to bump into Brent Hackney and some other folks sitting on the terrace at Weymouth Center. The last time I’d seen Brent, I was the wideeyed news intern at the Greensboro Daily News and Record and he was the paper’s star Capital City bureau chief. He showed me some artwork for an upcoming issue of PineStraw magazine — a rendering of the Moore County Hounds by local artist Elizabeth Morrison Barron — and we had a fine time catching up on each other’s careers. In the 30 years since we’d last met, I’d worked at half a dozen award-winning magazines and was just concluding work on my seventh book. I was preparing to serve as Writer in Residence at a distinguished Virginia university and mulling over an offer from The Pilot to write a weekly Sunday essay.

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May 2010

SWEET TEA CHRONICLES

“You should definitely stick around the Sandhills,” Brent felt moved to say. “Who knows, maybe someday I can convince you to work for PineStraw, too.” I thanked him, congratulated him on his fine arts monthly, and went on my way. Funny how things work out. Almost two years to the day later, on a warm late spring afternoon in May 2007, I ventured up the stairs of the former mansion at 225 Bennett Street to introduce myself to Andie Rose in her overwarm attic publishing office. Over recent days, Pilot publisher David Woronoff had negotiated a deal to purchase PineStraw from Andie Rose and Neville Beamer. As part of the deal, Andie Rose agreed to join The Pilot organization and con-

Clockwise from top left: Maura Coulter, Andie Rose, Neville Beamer, Brent Hackney, Voit Gilmore, Felton Capel. tinue on as the magazine’s creative director. David had asked me to become the magazine’s editor. “If you and Andie hit it off,” new PineStraw publisher Woronoff said to me, “I’m thinking it could be a really productive team.” So I climbed the stairs that afternoon not really knowing what to expect. But something happened up there in Andie’s attic office. I noticed it right away. We seemed to have an uncanny chemistry, a natural shared enthusiasm for the rich possibilities of growing PineStraw into a major cultural force across the region. My initial contribution to the format was to try to enhance the narrative vision and writing quality and broaden the vision a wee bit to include more writing about traditional Mid South culture, including food and outdoor sports. Essays of the heart and clear-headed writing about the domestic passions of the Sandhills were also high on my list. Looking back on that afternoon interlude above Bennett Street, in almost no time flat, Andie was pulling out magazines she admired and showing me her intriguing ideas for upcoming editions. I began making notes and

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SWEET TEA CHRONICLES

giving her some of my ideas from many years on the magazine beat. To say we had a good chemistry perhaps doesn’t quite cover it. We not only liked each other but seemed to think eerily along the same lines about what a great local magazine it could be with the right mix of distinctive writing, superb art and design, and creative and fun ideas that articulated the values and interests of our region. Almost from the first day of our collaboration, I was convinced PineStraw would someday evolve into a glossy magazine that would permit Andie’s design brilliance to shine even brighter. A little over a year after we shook hands and became partners, we were pleased to roll out the “new look” PineStraw celebrating the “Muses of the Sandhills,” nine extraordinary women whose contributions — like Andie’s — make life here all the more special. My, how Andie’s Big Idea has grown. Today, two years further on, the magazine is four times the size it was just five years ago and our subscription base both inside and outside the county continues to grow at a healthy clip. On a fairly steady basis, I receive inquiries from old colleagues and editors of some fairly impressive magazines who seem to think we have some magical formula for connecting with our readers. I tell them there’s really no magic involved, only great chemistry and a continuing commitment to the values of excellence Andie and Neville and Brent and Maura established five years ago. To mark our fifth anniversary, we thought it only fitting to invite staff and friends and even online readers of the magazine to peer into the ether of tomorrow and give us their Big Ideas for the next five years — something that just might make ours a more perfect Eden in the Pines. Good ideas aren’t just the lifeblood of successful magazines, but also first-rate communities. We think you’ll enjoy reading some of our Big Ideas and encourage you to contribute some of your own. Finally this month, appropriately enough, with love and flowers bursting out all over the place, you’ll find our first astrological forecast tucked neatly into the back of the book, written by colorful lady from Windblow who knows her stars almost as well as she does her hair dyes. As Astrid Stellanova herself might say — speaking both for the staff at PineStraw and yours truly — we’re happier than a mama sow in fresh mud about how far Andie’s Big Idea has come. Your enthusiastic support and patronage is the reason we’ll continue to believe the stars are the limit. PS

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Art Smarties With school out, kids have time on their hands and parents have kids underfoot. Occupy them during Young Artists at the Roost, a week of artistic immersion at the Rooster’s Wife, Poplar Knight Spot in Historic Aberdeen. Art teachers Susan Baer and Beth Garrison will instruct outdoor workshops in landscape painting and other art forms for children in grades 2-12 June 2125. Registration until May 21. Tuition: $125-$150 includes all materials. Information and registration: (910) 295-1435 or bgarrison2@nc.rr.com

Porch Party

Splatters Matters Dr. Molly Gwinn will speak on “Artist as Force of Nature: Jackson Pollock,” at 10 a.m. on May 13 at Weymouth Center, part of the Fine Arts Lecture Series sponsored by the Arts Council of Moore County. The series continues at 10 a.m. on May 21 when Denise Drum Baker delves into “Environmental Earthworks: Robert Smithson, Christo and Andy Goldsworthy.” Reservations: (910) 692-2787.

The Rooster’s Wife Summer on the Porch series moves outdoors to the Postmaster’s House in Aberdeen at 6 p.m. on May 9 with DALA and Walter Strauss, followed by Eden Brent on May 16, Holy Ghost Tent Revival on May 23 and Bruce Molsky with Ale Moller and Jubal’s Kin on May 31. Rain location: 114 Knight St. Picnics encouraged. Bring blankets and chairs. Admission: $8 for adults, children under 12 free. Information: www.theroosterswife.org

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? A murderer! Also glorious food from Elliott’s on Linden, open beer and wine bar and all the suspense you can stomach when “Murder at Covington House!” a mystery dinner party comes to Covington House in Southern Pines at 6 p.m. on May 14 to benefit the Moore County Literacy Council. Dress in ’60s duds to find out whodunit. Tickets: $50 per person. Information and reservations: (910) 692-9643. ...................................................................................

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

The Broader Way Moore OnStage presents “On Broadway” – not just the George Benson hit, but a compilation of Broadway song and dance numbers from “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys,” “Mary Poppins” and others at 7:30 p.m. May 28-29 at Robert E. Lee Auditorium, Pinecrest High School. Tickets and information: (910) 692-7118.

Given the Circumstances Friends of Given Memorial Library and Tufts Archives will host Given on the Green from 7-10 p.m. on May 15 on the library grounds and beyond. The progressive-style dinner will include appetizers, entrees and desserts from fine area restaurants served in tents decorated by Sandhills designers. During the event, guests may vote for their favorite dish and décor. Organizers compare this soiree to Tavern on the Green in Manhattan’s Central Park which, like Pinehurst, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Elegance rules. Tickets: $75. Information: (910) 295-6022.

Jugtown: Following & Creating Tradition The ongoing tradition of Jugtown Pottery is celebrated on May 7 at Campbell House Galleries in Southern Pines with the opening of an exhibit of newly fired wares from potters Vernon, Pam, Travis and Bayle Owens, along with the handcrafted jewelry of Jennie Keatts. Vernon Owens is a recipient of the NC Folk Heritage Award and the NEA National Heritage Fellowship. Featured last fall in the groundbreaking PBS series “Craft in America,” Jugtown draws from a lineage as old as the Carolina hills, making pots that sing in earth tones of blue and gray, copper red and frogskin green. Opening reception from 6-8 p.m. May 7, exhibit through May 28. Information: (910) 692-2787.

Artsravaganza The stunning new $72 million 127,000 square-foot West Building, which opened April 24 at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, is billed as North Carolina’s gift to itself. Inside a stark metallic exterior the galleries glow with white light from specially engineered skylights. No engineering feat has been spared; even the floors are designed to fight feet fatigue. The museum’s permanent collection, including Rodin statuary, will reside here while the renovated East Building will host traveling exhibits and special events. Docent-led tours begin May 4. Lovely restaurant and gift shop, greenway walks, plazas with reflecting pools. Museum admission is free. Events, hours and details: www.ncartmuseum.org PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Numero Uno A winter’s tale is told. Time to shed layers and frolic on the grassy knoll adjacent to the Sunrise Theater in downtown Southern Pines. The first First Friday happens from 5 to 8:30 p.m. on May 7, featuring The Fairlanes rock ’n’ rollers. Free admission, children’s activities, food and beverages for sale. Information: www.firstfridaysouthernpines.com

May 2010

An In-Vinceable Evening Assured of being the biggest entertainment event of the year in the Sandhills, two-time CMA Entertainer of the Year and and Country Music Hall of Fame legend Vince Gill will perform a benefit concert for the First Tee of the Sandhills at the Pinehurst Aboretum, Saturday evening, May 29, rain or shine at 7:45 p.m. “Golf has always been a part of my life,” Gill told PineStraw in a recent phone interview, “and the idea of doing a concert in Pinehurst to benefit the local First Tee organization was something I just couldn’t say no to. It will be a fantastic evening — everyone in my band is looking forward to it.” Gill, a scratch golfer who plays “pretty much every day if I can find a way do it,” has long been a major supporter of youth golf programs. Since 1993, his annual charity tournament — The Vinny — has raised millions for junior programs in Tennessee for kids of all walks of life. “If music hadn't worked out for me the way it did,” he told us, “I have to think I would have found a way to have a career in the golf world some way or another. The people around golf are terrific folks, very generous. That’s why coming to Pinehurst that night will be so special to me and the band. We’re all crazy golfers — and Pinehurst is the home of golf. I hope everyone will come out and see us and support the kids there.” General admission tickets are $22.50, children under 12 half price. Various sponsorship and VIP packages (including backstage passes) available beginning at $75. Guests may bring blankets or chairs. Free parking and shuttle service to event site. For tickets and further information, please see www.ticketmaster.com or call (800) 745-3000.

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A Case of the Blues Crossover Sport Polocrosse is, virtually, lacrosse on horseback. The action-packed Australian sport will be played from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 1516 at the Pinehurst Harness Track. Both the Australian and American World Cup Teams will attend. Unfortunately, Prince Harry had a previous obligation. Free. Information: www.carolinapolocrosse.org

S.O.S. The historic cabin that houses the Sandhills Woman’s Exchange shop and café continues to struggle after a flood several years ago and other operating expenses. Now, just before they close for the summer, the exchange announces the Save the Cabin Spring Luncheon, with a social hour starting at 11:30 a.m. and lunch at noon on May 17 at the Pinehurst Member’s Club. After lunch Belk and the Coalition for Human Care will present a fashion show. Tickets: $27.50. Information: (910) 295-4677.

Local high school bands, including the North Moore Mustangs Band, plus renowned jazz saxophonist Reggie C. and The John Brown Quintet, are tuned up for Moore Jazz and Blues, a free concert from 2-7 p.m. on May 15 at the Arboretum at Wicker Park in Pinehurst. Picnic baskets welcome. Information: www.moorejazzandblues.com

Rat-a-tat-too The Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines will offer “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” May 6-10. This film is billed as an epic tale (in Swedish) of serial murder and corporate trickery spanning several continents and many generations. Those naughty Swedes do make interesting movies.

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May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

That’s What Friends Are For Wine, hors d’oeuvres and art make a toothsome threesome when Friend to Friend Crisis Services for Moore County hosts an art auction from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 13 at Transformation Studio East, 295 Pinehurst Ave., Southern Pines. A $20 donation (tax deductible) is suggested. Information: (910) 315-1787 or www.moorefriends.org

The New Golf Club Membership Longtime fans of the venerable Pine Needles and Mid Pines resorts have reason to be extra happy this golf season. For months rumors have circulated that the venerable resort, home of Dame Peggy Kirk Bell and host site of three U.S. Women’s Championships, might add a private golf membership program sometime in early 2010. Though a final initiation fee and dues structure has yet to be finalized, PineStraw is pleased to confirm that, beginning in June, the new Pine Needles Club will offer a reasonably priced membership program based on Sandhills, state, and national residencies. Members will not only enjoy preferred tee times and access to both celebrated Donald Ross golf courses at Pine Needles and sister Mid Pines Club, but also be entitled to major discounts on hotel rooms and lodge accommodations and all scheduled resort activities. For an invitation to a special membership information reception at 5:30 p.m. on May 26, please contact Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club at (910) 692-7111.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

COS AND EFFECT

Photograph By Hannah Sharpe

Our Enchanted Garden

BY COS BARNES t’s a magic garden,” I answered the woman when she exclaimed, “I never saw jasmine blooming in October.” And so it has seemed to be. The jasmine was still blooming in December. Planted at my church as a memorial to my late husband, the garden continues to delight and surprise us. The first hot summer after it was constructed, I purchased two butterfly bushes on sale. I planted one in my yard and one in the garden. Two days later the one in my yard had withered and died; the bush in the garden was surrounded by butterflies. The first winter, the Pink Perfection camellia was filled with buds; however, temperatures were so frigid I did not expect it to bloom. I went up to plant a pot of pansies to brighten the winter’s gloom. Two perfect pink camellias were waiting for me to pluck. One of my ministers who arrives earlier than I for services tells me two red cardinals have breakfast each morning at the bird feeder. The little birdhouse suspended from a tree limb hosts inhabitants each season. I was startled the first November to find one gardenia blossom — out of season — but sincerely welcomed. The garden is bordered by rows of crape myrtle trees. In the fall their leaves are vibrant oranges, golds and crimsons. I did not notice, but a friend called my attention to one lone leaf that hung on after the others had fallen, as if reluctant to leave. I experienced many setbacks while developing the garden the first spring. To

“I

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

cover a blank wall I planted climbing roses on trellises flanking a bench. By early summer the roses were diseased by scale insects. I sprayed the roses; in fact, I oversprayed them, and the hot sun caused further damage. The nurseryman advised me to remove them and let him coax them back to health. In their stead he planted two purple wisteria trees for the dedication ceremony but cautioned me to dig them up immediately or they would take permanent root. The jasmine the woman spoke of was planted to disguise a light post. It was blooming beautifully, creeping slowly up the post when caretakers inadvertently cut its roots with a weed trimmer. We planted another and carefully placed rocks around its base so it would not happen again. Each Christmas I light a small potted spruce tree. Two benches welcome anyone who wants to rest, meditate or simply commune with God and nature. My senior minister goes out there to work on sermons and get away from a ringing telephone, the children in our day school play there, brides have their portraits made, and one family tells me each Easter they take a family picture when the roses bloom. At the dedication on a flawless June morning, my children and grandchildren released scores of monarch and zebra butterflies, their wings of orange, yellow and black flashing in the sun as they floated skyward. A friend wrote me later, “I will never see another butterfly without thinking of that garden.” PS Cos Barnes, we’re thrilled to say, lives and writes in Southern Pines. She is a longtime contributor to PineStraw magazine.

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May 2010

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T H E O M N I VO R O U S R E A D E R

How Sam Became Mark An engaging biography of our most American of writers

BY STEPHEN E. SMITH

I once took a writ-

ing course from an elderly professor who claimed he had heard Mark Twain speak. “My father and I found seats on the front row of the lecture hall,” my professor said. “Twain walked out on stage puffing a cigar. He looked out at the audience, removed a folded sheet of paper from his jacket pocket and said, ‘I’d like to read you a serious poem.’”

According to my professor, the audience reacted to Twain’s announcement by laughing uproariously. Twain mentioned the poem a second time, and again the audience laughed. Finally, Twain crumpled up the paper and tossed it to the edge of the stage. “During the entire lecture I stared at that poem,” my professor said, “and when the lecture was over, my father led me from the hall without my having a chance to grab it. If only I’d reached out and ….” The above anecdote, true or otherwise, is a good illustration of how we understand Mark Twain. Most Americans have a dim, conventional, one-dimensional image of the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — the old riverboat pilot steady at the helm of a paddle wheeler while spouting aphorisms and witticisms: “A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain” or “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” Unfortunately, most of us are content with our inaccurate perception of Twain. Like Civil War buffs, we know a little bit about the subject and consider ourselves experts. Those of us ambitious enough to have read a Twain biography imagine ourselves scholars. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

And therein lies the problem. Every Twain biographer — and there are scores of them — has to establish a target audience: the illiterate, the casual reader, the mildly informed, the literary authority (contrive your own arbitrary genera), and while supplying the common-knowledge facts of Twain’s life, he must intermingle enough new information to hold the attention of a Ph.D. Fortunately, that’s exactly what Roy Morris, Jr. does in his Lighting Out for the Territory: How Samuel Clemens Headed West and Became Mark Twain. Morris’ biography may never be required reading in graduate English programs — no Twain scholar would condescend to read a popular biography — but it’s bound to be of interest to any reader, Ph.D.s included, who has a fascination with American literature. After all, it was Ernest Hemingway who cursed us with the oft repeated quote: “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.” The details of Twain’s early life are known to most literati. He abandoned his career as a riverboat pilot when the Civil War began (he detailed his adventures as an erstwhile Confederate cavalryman in his The Private History of a Campaign That Failed, which is certainly worth consulting as a complement to the Morris biography). Twain’s older brother Orion had wangled a patronage appointment in the Nevada Territory, and he and Samuel took a stagecoach west, a journey that would supply material for Twain’s bestselling Roughing It. While in the territories, Twain claimed to have skylarked as “a grocery clerk, a law student — for ‘an entire week’ — an apprentice blacksmith, a bookstore clerk, soda jerk in drugstores, ‘a tolerable printer,’ a miner, and a silver mill operator.” But his career as a writer didn’t begin until 1862 when he received a letter from the business manager of the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. “‘Eureka!’ he cried. He had struck gold at last, albeit of a very different grade than the kind he had been digging for all these months. He was paid $25 a week as a staff writer.

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May 2010

T H E O M N I VO R O U S R E A D E R

Twain had plenty to write about. Virginia City was wild and wooly and populated by prostitutes and gunslingers — “brave, reckless, men [who] traveled with their lives in their hands…. They killed each other on slight provocation, and hoped and expected to be killed themselves.” And Twain contributed to the mayhem by concocting stories — “stretchers,” Huck called them — to sell newspapers, including a bloody tale known as “The Dutch Nick’s Massacre,” in which he reported the slaughter of a mother and her seven children. Not a word of the story was true. Eventually, he lit out for Jackass Hill, which was located in Calaveras County, and it was there he happened upon the material for his “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” He predicted the story of the buckshot-engorged frog would jump around the world — and it did, establishing Twain as a popular writer. A year after the success of his jumping frog tale, Twain traveled to Hawaii, known then as the Sandwich Islands, where he happened upon the story of a handful of survivors from the sunken clipper ship Hornet. They had survived for forty-three days in a fifteen-foot-long life boat. Twain’s story, which ran in the Sacramento Union and was reprinted around the country, further bolstered his reputation. It wasn’t long before he was a popular lecturer, an avocation he would pursue off and on for the rest of his life. Morris notes that the transformation of Sam Clemens into Mark Twain occurred when Twain set about “rehabilitating himself (at least the frontier version of himself) in the single-minded interest of winning a girl — “the most perfect gem of womankind,” Twain told friends, “that ever I saw in my life — and I will stand by that remark till I die.” For better or worse, it was Livy Langdon who civilized the rough and ready frontiersman. Readers who are familiar with Mark Twain’s life will find little in the way of new information concerning the writer who was responsible for “all modern American literature.” But Morris’ prose is lively and amiable, and he sprinkles his chapters with anecdotes and an occasional obscure detail that even a discerning Twain scholar will likely find fascinating. PS Stephen E. Smith is a regular contributor to PineStraw. Contact him at travisses@hotmail.com.

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

FOXFIRE

2 Dickinson Court – 3 BR / 2 BA / Split Plan

LONGLEAF CC

225 Hunter Trail – 3 BR / 2 BA / Split Plan

PINEHURST

220 Lake Hills Road – 3 BR / 2 BA / Great Privacy

This inviting home has many pleasing features that include vaulted ceilings, corner log fireplace, entertainment niche and tons of storage. The palladium window adds lots of light into the master bedroom. The kitchen is located off the living room; perfect for grabbing a snack before gathering with the family! $229,000 Code 531

Elegant home in golf community. Features this home offers include a gourmet kitchen with granite counters and custom cabinetry, spacious master bedroom with a private bath, bright and open living areas, tile and hardwood flooring, Plantation blinds, beautifully landscaped and private yard and plenty of storage. This home is ready for you to move in! $315,000 Code 560

This fantastic home features a bright and open floor plan with a vaulted ceiling, hardwood floors and a gas fireplace. The kitchen offers granite counters, wood cabinetry, tile backsplash and a breakfast nook. The rest of the home includes a Carolina room with lots of windows, 2 guest bedrooms, a private master suite, and a large spacious deck overlooking the private backyard! $269,500 Code 620

www.2DickinsonCourt.com

www.225HunterTrail.com

www.220LakeHillsRoad.com

SEVEN LAKES NORTH

PINEHURST

SEVEN LAKES WEST

101 Pinecone Court – 3 BR / 2 BA / Split Plan

This spacious home has a lot to offer everyone in the family. Outside you’ll find a large deck perfect for BBQ’s and family games. Inside you’ll find a split plan that offers lots of privacy. This home also offers a well planned kitchen with a nook, living room with a gas fireplace, formal dining room and a bonus room on the upper level which is great for computer time or family movies! $214,900 Code 593

165 St. Andrews Drive – 3 BR / 2 BA / All Brick

This wonderful floor plan has many features that can be found through out this one of a kind home – a see through fireplace, vaulted ceilings, skylights, hardwood flooring and large windows just to name a few. The master bedroom offers privacy and a spa like bath while the guest bedrooms are tucked away. Outside you’ll find a large deck, a storage building and a fenced backyard! $329,500 Code 624

156 Simmons Drive – 3 BR / 3 BA / Water Front

This warm and inviting water front home is lake living at it’s best! It’s spacious floor plan is sure to please everyone with it’s formal dining room, Carolina room, living room and study. The master suite is found on the main level while the guest bedrooms are found on the upper level. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the water from the deck or boat dock! $750,000 Code 609

www.101PineconeCourt.com

www.165StAndrewsDrive.com

www.156SimmonsDrive.com

CARTHAGE

SEVEN LAKES NORTH

SEVEN LAKES SOUTH

109 Dundee Drive – 3 BR / 2 BA / Fenced Backyard

This lovely home is located in a great neighborhood on a large lot. You’ll have fun watching movies in the spacious living room and cooking family favorites in the functional kitchen. The dining room is bright and open. Relax in the master bath with it’s tile step-in shower. Entertain with friends or just listen to the birds on the back deck in the private fenced backyard! $136,000 Code 625

www.109DundeeDrive.com

ABERDEEN

335 Legacy Lakes Way – 4 BR / 4 BA / Lakeview Construction

109 Timber Drive – 3 BR / 2.5 BA / Water Front

This is the home you’ve been waiting for. This open and inviting floor plan takes full advantage of the lake views of Lake Timber. The home offers an inviting kitchen, a sunny Carolina room, spacious living room, a private den, 3 roomy bedrooms, formal dining room and large deck. Don’t forget the private dock and the mature landscaping! $299,000 Code 626

122 Cambridge Lane – 3 BR / 2.5 BA / Golf Front

This beautiful home is great for casual living as well as entertaining. Entertain in the formal living and dining room and then relax in the large family room or the roomy Carolina room. The functional kitchen is great for creating gourmet meals or just a quick dinner. The bedrooms are tucked away on one side while giving privacy to the rest of the house! $239,000 Code 617

www.109TimberDrive.com

www.122CambridgeLane.com

MID SOUTH CLUB

PINEHURST

414 Palmer Drive – 2 BR / 2.5 BA / Golf Front

This craftsman style home offers many upscale features: hardwood floors, granite countertops, beautiful moldings, tile flooring, a gas fireplace, 2 ½ car garage and lots of storage. This lovely home has an exceptional floor plan and is a must see to appreciate. This home is one of a kind! $425,000 Code 616

Fully furnished and stylishly decorated is what’s in store at this lodge unit. Some of the features include built –ins, gas log fireplace, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, and private master suite with luxurious spa-like bath. Don’t forget to take in the gorgeous golf views on the spacious balcony! $389,000 Code 606

www.335LegacyLakesWay.com

www.414PalmerDrive.com

30 N. Catalpa Lane – 5 BR / 4.5 BA / Cul-de-sac

Talk about space – this home has over 4,000 sq. ft. of living space for the whole family. This beautiful brick home offers a split floor plan for privacy, an inviting kitchen and living room on the main level, tile and hardwood flooring, large deck and lots of room for storage on the lower level along with a spacious family room! $375,000 Code 568

www.30CatalpaLane.com

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

www.MarthaGentry.com

BOOKSHELF

New Releases for May

BY KAY GRISMER AND ANGIE TALLY FOR THE COUNTRY BOOKSHOP FICTION – HARDCOVER THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST by Stieg Larsson. In the final novel in the trilogy, Lisbeth Salender plots revenge against the man who tried to kill her and the corrupt government institutions that nearly destroyed her life. INNOCENT by Scott Turow. After the mysterious death of Rusty’s wife, Rusty Sabich and Tommy Molto are pitted against each other after 20 years in the sequel to PRESUMED INNOCENT. MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER by Robin Oliveria. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine, a brilliant and headstrong midwife travels to Washington, D.C. to tend the legions of Civil War wounded. A QUESTION OF BELIEF by Donna Leon. Commissario Guido Brunetti’s greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, but instead, he must contend with the ingenious corruption, bureaucratic intransigence, and the stifling heat of a Venetian summer. STORM PREY by John Sandford. Investigator Lucas Davenport’s wife, surgeon Weather Karkinnen, becomes a target as the only surviving witness to the robbery of the hospital’s pharmacy ending in the murder of a co-worker. FICTION – PAPERBACK BY ACCIDENT by Susan Kelly. The Greensboro author and winner of the Carolina Novel Award presents the story of a year in the life of a woman after the death of her teenage son and the love she finds in his replacement. SUSAN KELLY will be at The Country Bookshop on Wednesday, May 19 at 4 p.m. CHANGE IN ALTITUDE by Anita Shreve. While on a climbing expedition to Mt. Kenya, a newlywed couple is caught up in a horrific accident and its aftermath.

May 2010

DUNE ROAD by Jane Green. The author of THE BEACH HOUSE tells the story of life in an exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around. INCREMENT by David Ignatius. When Harry Pappas discovers that an Iranian scientist who is sending the CIA secrets of the Iranian bomb program is in danger, he turns to a secret British spy team known as “The Increment” to get his agent out. SOUTH OF BROAD by Pat Conroy. Through two turbulent decades, a tightly knit group of high school outsiders helps a friend survive marriages, unrequited loves, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, as well as Charleston’s dark legacy of racism and class divisions. THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC by Richard Russo. The author of BRIDGE OF SIGHS presents the story of a marriage and of all the other ties that bind, from parents and in-laws to children and the promises of youth. NON-FICTION – HARDCOVER LAST CALL by Daniel Okrent. Okrent de-romanticizes the gangland explosion that Prohibition triggered, and examines the entire effect enforced temperance had on our social, political, and legal conventions. OPERATION MINCEMEAT: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre. The author of AGENT ZIGZAG offers an account of the most successful deception ever carried out in WWII: to convince the Nazis that the Allied forces were planning to attack southern Europe by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily. SPOKEN FROM THE HEART by Laura Bush. Laura Bush tells the story of her path from Midland, Texas, to the world stage as First Lady. She captures presidential life in the months after 9/11, and lifts the curtain

on what really happens inside the White House. THOMAS DAY by Patricia Phillips Marshall and Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll. Marshall, curator of decorative arts for the NC Museum of History, and Leimenstoll, professor of interior architecture at UNCGreensboro, tell the story of Thomas Day, a free man of color from Milton, N.C., who became the most successful cabinetmaker in NC — white or black. NON-FICTION – PAPERBACK FORDLANDIA by Greg Grandin. In the NYT Notable Book of the Year, Grandin chronicles the quixotic attempt to recreate small-town America in the heart of the Amazon. HORSE SOLDIERS by Doug Stanton. Stanton recreates the miseries and triumphs of specially trained mounted U.S. soldiers, deployed in the warravaged Afghanistan mountains to fight alongside the Northern Alliance against the Taliban. SATCHEL by Larry Tye. Tye tells the story of the legendary athlete Leroy “Satchel” Paige, an African-American pitcher in a segregated America who became a showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker. SHOWING UP FOR LIFE: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Sr. Gates shares the lessons he learned growing up during the Great Depression and continues to practice on the world stage as the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS by Tracy Kidder. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains recounts the story of Deo, the Burundian medical student who fled the Rwandan genocide and immigrated to the U.S. where he devotes his life to healing. UNDAUNTED HEART: The True Love Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General by Suzy Barile. Barile separates fact from lore as she tells the “shocking” story of

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

BOOKSHELF

the courtship and marriage of Ella Swain, daughter of the UNC president, to Union General Smith Atkins, whose troops occupied Chapel Hill during the Civil War. Suzy Barile will be at The Country Bookshop on Thursday, May 27 at 4 p.m. ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers. In the days after Hurricane Katrina, Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American businessman, traveled the flooded streets helping those he could. A week later, he abruptly disappeared. The author of What is the What explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria and the surreal atmosphere in New Orleans in which what happened to Zeitoun was possible. CHILDREN’S BOOKS SUPER SIMPLE SEWING and MAGIC PAINTING by Klutz Press. These fun new craft kits created especially for 4 to 8 year olds come complete with everything young artists need to create fun projects all by themselves. SOMEBODY EVERYBODY LISTENS TO by Suzanne Supplee. Teens who live plugged into their MP3 players will not be able to put down this fabulous new title featuring 17-year-old Retta Lee Jones. With a borrowed car, an old guitar and a notebook full of original songs, Retta sets out for Nashville with dreams of making it big. Retta’s story is full of real life ups and downs and is framed by real life bios of country music stars including Taylor Swift, Reba McIntyre and Dolly Parton. Fun summer reading for ages 14 and up. SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER by Stephenie Meyer. Fans of the Twilight saga will be on the edge of their seats until June 5 when this novella is released featuring Bree Tanner, a character first introduced in Eclipse. One dollar from the sale of each book will be donated to Red Cross efforts in Haiti and Chile, an organization most vampires would be sure to support! PS PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

THE COMPLETE TURN KEY DESIGN EXPERIENCE. Window Treatments Fine Furniture • Lighting Flooring • Antiques • Awnings Custom Upholstery • Art Renovations • Accessories

holly carter design interior design • antiques • fine furnishings

229 NE Broad St., Southern Pines, NC 28387 910.783.5711 • www.hollycarterdesign.com

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May 2010

HITTING HOME

I Was A Mother Just ask my little sister. Or maybe not

Thirteen-year-old Dale (left) and two-year-old baby sister Connie.

BY DALE NIXON

I was a mother before I was a mother. Just ask my sister, Connie.

I was 12 years old when she was born. Like every other kid, I wanted a puppy, but when Mother placed Connie in my arms for the first time, I knew she would make a much better pet. At least I figured we could house-train her. She had big, blue eyes, wispy blonde hair and soft, creamy skin. From the moment I saw her, the maternal instinct kicked in. The only time I left her was to go to school, and when I was at home I barely let her out of my sight. I dressed her up and played with her as if she were my favorite doll. I learned to do almost anything a mother could do. I changed diapers, warmed and fed bottles, bathed and rocked her to sleep. Every time she whimpered or reached out her arms to me, I picked her up. I carried her around on one hip as if she were a sack of potatoes until the day her feet touched the ground. Now when my back goes out, I call Connie to tease and tell her that my back problems came from those years of lugging her around. As my sister and I grew older, my parents gave me more and more responsibility. Since both our parents worked, they said I was to baby-sit Connie for the summers. So for several summers, if my friends wanted to spend time with me, they spent time with Connie, too. Connie proved to be a loyal sister. She never snitched on me and my friends. She didn’t tell them about the menthol Salem cigarettes we sneaked and smoked, or about the giggling fits we had over cute boys, or about…Whoa! I still don’t want my parents to know about that one. Although she had turned into my confidante and friend, I PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

still found myself acting like her mother. “Did you do your homework?” “Who are you going to the movies with?” “What time will you be home?” “Eat your peas.” Poor kid. She didn’t know who to listen to — her real mother or me. I cried when she didn’t make the school chorus and was jubilant when she made the basketball team. When she graduated from Appalachian State University and received her master’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, I was overwhelmed. I clapped longer and shed more tears than anyone else in the stands. She sure knew how to make a mother proud. My sister is now a responsible adult with a responsible career, but I find that I’m still telling her what to do. Just recently we went on a trip together, and I harassed her with phone calls meting out instructions. “Don’t forget your sunscreen. You should wear it every day.” “Pack your walking shoes so we can get a little exercise while we’re gone.” “Bring a sweater or a jacket because the evenings may be cool.” I hope she was grinning when she replied, “OK, Mama.” Each year at this time, she always sends me two cards. One says, “I love you, sister,” and the other one says, “Happy Mother’s Day.” And a Happy Mother’s Day to you too. PS Columnist Dale Nixon resides in Concord but enjoys a slice of heaven (disguised as a condominium) in the village of Pinehurst. You may contact her by e-mail at dalenixon@carolina.rr.com.

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May 2010

VINE WISDOM

To Your Good Health Drink up, a glass of wine is good for you

BY ROBYN JAMES

would drinking 8 bottles of wine a day. Wine, like anything else overdone, can harm your body in large quantities. The key is moderation.

Plato may have been

wiser than he knew when he said, “Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the Gods to man.” With increasing frequency, we have people coming into the store with instructions from their doctors to drink wine. How does wine affect your health? Among more than 13,000 men and women aged 30 to 70 who were tracked from 1976 to 1988, wine consumers had half the risk of dying than those who never drank wine. As the Washington Post reported, a label approved by the BATF gives some indication that wine can be a healthful drink. According to them on Feb. 6, 1999, “One label, approved yesterday by federal regulators, makes this suggestion: ‘The proud people who made this wine encourage you to consult your family doctor about the health effects of wine consumption.’” How does one drink wine healthfully? First off, wine, like any other item ingested, should be taken in moderation. Just like eating 8 pounds of chocolate a day is unhealthy, and 15 bags of potato chips for lunch will give bad results, so 24

The French Paradox – Helping Fight Heart Disease So, assuming you have a glass of wine with dinner every day, what benefits will this wine bring to your body? Research by UC-Davis has shown that the wine is reducing coronary heart disease incidence. This was known as the “French Paradox” for a while, because doctors couldn’t figure out why the cream-loving French weren’t dying from heart attacks frequently. Wine, it turns out, was the answer. What is wine doing? The wine is altering the blood lipid levels. It lowers the total cholesterol count, and raises the high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels. In essence, it keeps the blood vessels clean. In fact, research in Dec. 2001 showed how wine, especially red wine, keeps the arteries clear. Wine and Ulcer Prevention Newsweek reported in May 99 that a study showed how wine helps prevent ulcers. In a study of 1,800 people, the scientists tested for the presence of helico bacterpylori, which causes ulcer infections. Compared to non-drinkers, those who had one glass of wine a day had 7% fewer of these bacteria. Those who drink two glasses a day had 18%, and those who drank 3 or more glasses had 1/3 fewer bacteria. Wine and Cancer Studies show that wine helps fight cancer. Wine contains resveratrol, which helps suppress cancer. The red grapes that go into red wine also have bioflavonoids, which are antioxidants and help prevent cancer to begin with. Third, as a stress fighter, wine is also

May 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

VINE WISDOM

shown to help cancer patients by relaxing them and helping them fight their disease. Wine and Strokes Studies show that wine helps prevent strokes! Scientists figure that the alcohol breaks up blood clots and increases HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the bloodstream. This keeps the arteries clean. Wine as a Soother Wine has a calming influence, something which may seem incidental but should not be forgotten. The fact that a dinner is accompanied by a drink which helps the body relax and unwind can help the mental transition between work and relaxation. Also, people fighting other illnesses can combat them better when calm and focused. Wine and General Health Researchers have found that those who drink 1-3 glasses a day regularly are healthier than those who drink none, and also than those who drink more. The television program 60 Minutes has aired two programs on the French Paradox. The most recent program replayed some of the earlier footage, introduced with the comment by Morley Safer that “the good news for those of you who like to have a glass of wine with dinner is that science has not changed its mind. In fact, the evidence now, four years later, is even stronger.” A major highlight of the recent segment was the results of this year’s Copenhagen City Heart Study, “perhaps the most significant study to date on the relationship between health and alcohol,” according to Safer. “In conclusion,” Morten Gronbaek of the Institute for Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen and colleagues state, “our study shows that light and moderate wine drinking, in contrast with beer and spirits drinking, is associated with a strong dosedependent decrease in all-cause mortality, attributable to a decrease in mortality from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease as well as from other causes.” PS Robyn James is proprietor of The Wine Cellar and Tasting Room in Southern Pines. Contact her at winecellar@pinehurst.net.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

A Bit of Couture BB&T Bradford Wealth Management Brenner Real Estate Cameron & Company ConnectNC CoolSweats Dan Maples Design Dave Nicoll Photography Donnell "Buck" Adams, Jr., Attorney Dugan’s Pub Elaine’s Hairdressers Elliott’s on Linden EyeMax Optical FerrellGas Fidelity Bank Fifi’s Fine Resale Apparel First Bank First Citizens Bank FirstHealth of the Carolinas Flooring America of Pinehurst Fred Astaire Dance Studio Gentlemen’s Corner Given Memorial Library Green Gate Olive Oils Gunther Properties Heavenly Pines Fine Jewelry & Gifts Homewood Suites Horsin’ Around Gifts Jewels of Pinehurst Kirk Tours & Limousine Company Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour Le Chateau Design & Construction Lydia's Consignment Boutique Lyne’s Furniture Gallery Maxie’s Grill and Tap Room Muirfield Broadcasting Neighborhood Dry Cleaner Old Sport & Gallery Olde Towne Realty Olmsted Village Company Orthotics & Prostectics of Pinehurst Pate & Scarborough, LLP Pine Crest Inn Pinehurst Insurance Pinehurst Resort & Country Club Pinehurst Resort Realty Pizza Café Poppy’s Café & Sundry Prudential GOS RBC Bank ReMax Prime Properties Rhetson Co., Inc. Richard Mandell Golf Architecture Robert C. Barrett, CPA Sandhills Bowling Center Sandhills Golf Packages Sandhills Office Supply Staggard & Chao Architects Ten-Ya Terry Riney Agny The Darling House Pub The King’s Gifts & Collectibles The Magnolia Inn The Pilot The Potpourri The Village Wine Shop Tufts Archives Village of Pinehurst Villager Deli VocMed, Inc. WebWahoo Web Design Wells Fargo Home Mortgage WLHC-FM Life 103.1

THE KITCHEN GARDEN

Asparagus

Nothing says spring like crisp green spears in the garden BY JAN LEITSCHUH

Fiddling with the drip irrigation in

the garden this past late March, my husband straightened and called me over. He pointed proudly, and I followed his gaze to see the first stalks of asparagus shooting up from the earth. He knew I’d be happy this perennial spring delicacy had arrived. Snapping off the crisp early spears, I savored the pea-sweet flavor raw, right in the garden. Spring had finally sprung for me.

Not long after the scrub oak was cleared from the bleak sands of Cottage Garden Farm five years ago — and well before the house was completed — I’d started the garden. One of the first things planted was asparagus. Digging six-inch holes in sand was easy. But while our native “terra” may not be so “firma,” it does lack some necessary nutrients. I chunked in a deep base of well-rotted horse manure compost to cover the phosphorus, potassium and trace minerals and, luckily, a good handful of lime, mixing well. Asparagus is not happy with our native soil pH, which is usually well below the bare-minimum 6.0 that asparagus can stand. Forming a cone of soil at the bottom of the hole, I placed the brittle-yet-rubbery crowns over that, backfilling about halfway with rich soil. As the spears grew, I filled in the holes with more compost. Fussy? Guilty. Any

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

long-lived perennial planting that delivers “spring tonic” veggies and will likely outlast me or my husband deserves special treatment. It was hard to wait a year to cut the new planting, but young asparagus needs to dig in, so to speak. Once the ferny young fronds were up, a thick straw mulch discouraged weeds. The following year, I was snapping off the fleshy eight-inch stalks every two or three days. Look for plump, hydrated stems that are not too woody at the base. Store cool — it is unwise to leave your purchase in a hot car during Suzie’s soccer game. This time of year, a bit of highly-prized local asparagus pops up at farmers markets, local restaurants, farm stands and now through the Sandhills Farm to Table Co-op. Track it down if you can. One source is local grower Gary Priest, of Priest Farms in Carthage. A commercial pioneer in local asparagus, Gary planted 100 crowns a few years back to see if it would grow well here. It did. Thought to have been grown in ancient Egypt and prized for its delicate taste and medicinal qualities for over 2,000 years, asparagus does well here in the light soils of the Sandhills. The next year Priest put in 5,000 crowns. The year after that, another 5,000 went in the ground. Last year, he put in 10,000 crowns. “And if the truck’s on time, I’ll put in 10,000 more on Wednesday,” he said in late March, “That’ll put me up to five acres.” Why such a bold investment in produce? “It was a niche market, and I wasn’t meeting the demand here,” he said. To prepare, cut off the bottom inch or two, if woody. Roast spears in the oven, as Priest and his neighbors do. Or steam lightly, stir-fry in olive oil and garlic, grill or place in a scant half-inch of water boiling in a fry pan. The asparagus is done when the tip wobbles when held upright, about 6-8 minutes. Serve over braising greens dressed with a little lemon, butter, Parmesan and/or broth-thinned Dijon mustard. Chopped asparagus is terrific in

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May 2010

THE KITCHEN GARDEN

quiches, or tossed with olive oil, garlic and pasta along with fresh spring herbs such as a little rosemary, oregano parsley and thyme. Extra asparagus freezes well.

Gary Priest and Neighbors’ Roasted Asparagus “There’s all kinds of fancy recipes, but this is an easy way,” he says. “Take a glass Pyrex dish. Put a piece of aluminum foil in it. Lay up to two pounds of spears in it. Drizzle olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese and roast about five minutes at 350 for crunchy, ten minutes for tender spears. “I can eat it twice a day.”

Lemon-Yogurt Asparagus Soup

“Tyler” Labrador Retriever Graphite on Canson Paper

Pamela Powers January FINE

ART

PORTRAITS

PETS

w w w. p a m e l a p o w e r s j a n u a r y. c o m • 9 1 0 . 6 9 2 . 0 5 0 5 28

May 2010

Ingredients: 1 pound fresh asparagus 3/4 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup vegetable broth 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt, pinch ground black pepper 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth 1 cup soy milk 1/2 cup yogurt 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Place asparagus and onion in a saucepan with 1/2 cup vegetable broth. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until the vegetables are tender. Reserve a few asparagus tips for garnish. Place remaining vegetable mixture in an electric blender and puree until smooth. Melt butter in the pan that was used for simmering the asparagus and onions. Stir while sprinkling flour, salt, and pepper into the butter. Do not let the flour brown. Allow the mixture to cook only 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth and increase the heat. Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil. Stir the vegetable puree and milk into the saucepan. Whisk yogurt into the mixture, followed by lemon juice. Stir until heated through, then ladle into bowls. Garnish with reserved asparagus tips. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired. From Allrecipes.com PS Jan Leitschuh is an avid kitchen gardener, a Moore County Master Gardener volunteer and co-organizer of the new Sandhills Farm to Table Cooperative. Anyone interested in local produce can check it out at www.SandhillsFarm2Table.com

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

APPAREL

SALONS & SPAS

CoolSweats Gentlemen’s Corner Putter Boy Shop The Faded Rose

Elaine’s Hairdressers Taylor David Salon Studio Fitness

BOUTIQUES

SERVICES

Eye Max Optical Boutique Green Gate Olive Oils Horsin’Around Le Faux Chateau Lyne’s Furniture Gallery Old Sport & Gallery Old Village Golf Shop Southern Chic The Potpurri The Village Wine Shop

FINE JEWELRY Gemma Gallery Appraisals & Repairs Jewels of Pinehurst

Brenner Real Estate Olde Towne Realty Hagan & Hagan GMAC Real Estate

RESTAURANTS & INNS Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour & Gift Shoppe Pine Crest Inn Restaurant & Pub Poppy’s Cafe & Sundry Sandhills Woman’s Exchange - Crafts & Lunch The Darling House Pub & Grill Ten-Ya Japanese & Sushi Bar The Magnolia Inn Restaurant & Bar Theo’s Taverna & Tapas Bar

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PLEASURES OF LIFE

Take it Outside, Please Eating out-of-doors makes any meal special

BY DEBORAH SALOMON

The cavemen

left this culinary inheritance: fire, fresh organic ingredients and alfresco dining.

Lordy, those caves got hot in the summer. Ever since the good old hunter-gatherer days, people have appreciated how much better food tastes outdoors, whether from a brown bag, a Hammacher Schlemmer-fitted picnic basket, knapsack, porch table, lunch box or tailgate. This phenomenon has been investigated by psychologists, physiologists, gastronomists, astronomers (dining under the stars), agronomists and little boys who don’t get yelled at for making a mess if they take their sandwiches and watermelon (spit those pits!) outside. My best outside is the beach. I would rise before dawn to pack a cooler-full of sandwiches Quiznos only dreams of. Count on a container of cruditiés for the grown-ups, carrot sticks for the kids, ranch dip for all. Dessert might be fresh peaches and homemade brownies, which pack well, or Devil Dogs, which pack even better. Sometimes we had chicken left over from the previous night’s barbecue, to be gnawed like a Neanderthal. On the way to the beach, we’d stop for a hot baguette, which was immediately pulled apart and devoured if I didn’t lock it in the trunk. By 10:30 a.m. all eyes strayed to the cooler. We never made noon. The Sandhills climate demands adjustments. Warm, sunny winter days preclude the dash to park benches, with deli sandwiches, in April. The walled garden at the Jefferson Hotel is delightful, as is the deck at Wolcott. But by June, AC beckons a perspiring Mother Nature indoors. Therefore, make hay in May. Paper or plastic? Colorful dishwasher-safe rigid plastic plates, bowls and glasses have more panache than disposables. Pretty is as pretty tastes: Let’s say you’re going to an outdoor concert where people will see what’s spread on the blanket — make that a flowery cotton quilt with fingertip terry towels for napkins. Roast small whole chickens with rosemary, garlic and

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

lemon juice. Cut into quarters and wrap in pink foil, which you begged from the florist when you bought a few stems to stick in a Perrier bottle. Take a loaf of the very best bread, to be cut on a board and spread with flavored whipped butter (chive is nice). Make finger salads by rolling grated vegetables barely moistened with dressing in soft bibb or garden lettuce leaves; secure with toothpicks. Bring single-serving wine bottles, straws, pound cake and berries. Tailgate picnics lend themselves to plainer fare but don’t stoop to hot dogs. Grill flavored chicken sausages (spinach/feta is nice) over a hibachi or portable gas grill. Stuff in a hoagie roll, dress with sauerkraut and grainy mustard. Make a quick multi-bean salad from rinsed and drained canned black, pinto, great northern and other beans. Fold in finely chopped red and yellow peppers, some celery, cilantro and red onion. Dress with a spicy bottled vinaigrette. Finish with sturdy zucchini bread and grapes. Hikers experience intense hunger satisfied best by protein. Invigorate them with freshly ground peanut butter (at Fresh Market and natural foods stores) and pepper jelly spread between thick slices of multi-grain bread. For dessert: a zipper bag of whole almonds, dried apricots and dark chocolate chips. Go easy on the meat at backyard or poolside barbecues. Mount a skewer-it-yourself kabob bar: marinated chunks of steak, boneless chicken, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, roma tomatoes, sweet onion. Long twisted-metal skewers with wooden handles work best. For fantastic s’mores, sandwich a marshmallow and square of imported dark chocolate between chocolate graham crackers. Lay in baking pan on side of grill, where heat is low. When chocolate has melted, lift with spatula onto plate and top with light whipped cream from an aerosol can. When serious summer sets in, do breakfast alfresco with melon and pineapple, sliced chilled hard-cooked eggs, smoked salmon, a few cheeses, sourdough toast and coffee. Once you’re in the habit, don’t let rain spoil alfresco. Sit on the porch and listen to its soothing sound while lunching on ripe tomato sandwiches, potato salad, home-squeezed lemonade and cookies. Because everything tastes better with fresh air. PS Deborah Salomon is a staff writer for PineStraw magazine. She can be reached at debsalomon@nc.rr.com.

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May 2010

A RT I S T A M O N G S T U S

Ancient Etchings

Photographs By Hannah Sharpe

A Carthage barber leaves his mark in stone

BY ASHLEY WAHL

“The toothpick is mightier than the

sword,” declares barber and budding artist Kevin Cagle as he runs his fingers over the high relief detail of an Old World image diligently etched in stone by a small wooden tool typically employed for oral hygiene.

He begins by tracing his digits over the face of the central figure, a fierce Mesoamerican sun god, then glides them along each of the intricate rings and glyphs that compose one of the most ancient, most accurate systems of dating known to man: the Aztec sundial, a descendant of the Mayan calendar. In the scanty yet sacred time between cutting hair and keeping up with his three boys, Cagle carved this archaic image into an oversized tile (roughly 29”x 29”) during the latter half of last year — with nothing save for an artist’s eye, a flat board, a slab of molding clay and, of course, a toothpick. “I don’t know exactly what all of their theories were,” the 35-yearold admits, studying the various symbols — images of beasts, reptiles, birds of prey and elements of nature — “but it sort of makes you wonder how they were able to do this so long ago.” He pauses, reflecting on the phenomenon for a moment before he continues. “Then again, they navigated by the stars. It’s probably stuff that would be common sense today if we just looked up once in a while.” Five years ago, Kevin finished his first high relief tile carving, a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Also colossal in size, the original took him two years to accomplish. His time was then spent learning how to duplicate it. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

“I’ve been teaching myself the mold process and, let me tell you, it’s been nothing but blood, sweat and tears for five years,” he confesses, his thick Southern drawl accompanied by a blend of both pride and humility. He gestures to his first Last Supper reproduction, cracking a sheepish grin. “But now I finally have pieces I can show.” During his trials, Kevin admits to having ruined dozens of the tiles. “By about the fourth or fifth time it’s pretty upsetting. Trust me when I say tears — I’m serious. And blood. And sweat. I’m serious.” Still, he laughs it off. Kevin has had no formal artistic training; he’s one of those rare, gifted souls that just “have it natural.” He accredits local stonemason and potter Terry Childress for giving him tips on the firing and glazing process and guidance along the way. But as far as getting started, Kevin has experienced what he calls “eureka” moments throughout his life, instances that have beckoned the artistic potential harboring within him to surface. Perhaps it’s in his blood. Cagle’s great-grandmother, who passed when Kevin was in his 20s, was an oil painter. With her eyesight waning, and perspective becoming increasingly difficult for her with age, great-grandma Cagle would call upon Kevin to draw subjects on her canvas. She must have spotted his potential early on. Someone else could see it, too. During his senior year of high school, Robyn Callcutt, an art teacher Kevin had never met before, approached him to ask if he’d agree to take her class; she had followed his artwork since kindergarten. Though he hadn’t taken an art class since he was a freshman, Kevin took up her offer. The year after he graduated, Cagle says, he “sat down and started tinkering with a piece of plaster,” a broken clown belonging to an old girlfriend. “It blew my mind what I carved out of it. I didn’t know I could do

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that,” he declares, with a smile as warm as a summer evening. Thus began Kevin’s obsession with carving. His medium, too, became clear after etching a botanical border around the rim of a platter made by Garry Nichols of Nichol’s Pottery. “When I did this for Nichols,” he says, gripping his fingers around the ash-glazed piece of pottery, “I knew right then and there what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to etch my work in stone cause that’s really what it is.” Desperate for more time to devote to his newfound craft (and aching to spend more of it with his kids), Cagle left his full-time job to pursue a career that would allow him to be more flexible. Inspired by his own barber, Kevin completed a program at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford. He’s been a man of the scissors since 2006. “I love being a barber; I just talk to everyone,” he says. “That’s been my biggest thing, I guess, other than my artistic abilities, being able to talk to people.” After cutting hair in Aberdeen for nearly three years, Cagle heard news of an opening at City Barber Shop in Carthage, his hometown. He jumped on the opportunity. Just off of Courthouse Square where he now works, Kevin gets to saunter the same streets that his ancestors did. He jokes that his family roots run deeper than those of the trees at the Courthouse. “There is something just really special about this town, I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s the same thing my great-grandparents found.” On his days off from the shop, Kevin retreats to his dear friend Nancy Kiser’s pottery studio to focus on tile and future goals. From Mexico to Italy, Cagle would love nothing more than to travel abroad to the places from which the works that inspired his art were spawned. Of course, he wouldn’t go without his three amigos, sons Addison, Brett and Jackson. “They’re my world,” he admits. Laughing, he gives the Last Supper tile a knock. “But I had to get us a ticket out of here first. Nobody was going to buy one for me.” In synch with the pop-culture craze for the Mayan calendar and its prophecy of a 2012 apocalypse, Cagle’s Mesoamerican tiles will be part of a limited edition. “I’m only going to do 2012 of them,” he quips. “So if they’re right, I’ve only got two years to sell them.” Though his two completed master works are well suited as backsplashes, mounted to

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A RT I S T A M O N G S T U S

walls or as shower décor, Kevin visualizes future works as being educational for kids. One such idea of his is to etch dinosaur fossils for museum use. “I want to bring it to where people can touch it. You can put your hands on it and see in more detail what it is,” he says of the fireproof, waterproof, rock-like final product. “Plus,” Kevin adds humbly, “my work will be here much longer than I will.” Hence, long after these pages disintegrate, burn or decay, Kevin Cagle’s ancient etchings will speak eloquently for themselves. Oh, wait — they already do. PS Ashley Wahl is a staff writer for PineStraw magazine and can be reached at ashley@pinestrawmag.com

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

F E AT S O F C L AY

Partners in the Dream

At this rambling Seagrove gallery, classical form and elegant whimsy have both found a home

BY JIM DALTON

Benjamin and Bonnie Burns

are finally living their dream. Benjamin was originally from Miami, Florida, and began to work with clay in classes at the Ceramic League of Miami, culminating in a teaching position there. It was a new direction for him, after trying several other professions, including the military, acting, real estate sales and general business. He says there were two reasons why he chose to become a full time studio potter. “First, it was the way Warren MacKenzie talked about his work and philosophy when I took a workshop with him, but ultimately it was Hurricane Andrew.” (MacKenzie is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, and is considered one of the major influences on American potters. He is credited with bringing the Japanese style of pottery to America, an influence that is easily seen in Benjamin Burns’ work. )

In 1992, Benjamin left the devastation of Hurricane Andrew behind, moved to Maggie Valley, and set a goal of having his own studio in five years. He studied at Haywood Community College, showing up at the teaching studio early and staying late every day, throwing pots until he “taught his hands to be successful.” He earned his degree in production crafts in 1995, and began selling work to gallery owners in the Maggie Valley area. He worked for five years as a production assistant at Pitter’s Potters in Maggie Valley. In 1997, he purchased a beautiful old rambling Victorian house in downtown Seagrove and opened

The Great White Oak Gallery, taking its name from one of the massive old trees in the yard. Benjamin’s work is traditional. He practices clean, consistent throwing; a unique glaze selection; and a commitment to functional forms. “I am always searching for that quality that survives time, that quality that combines the legacy of the traditional with the freedom of the contemporary,” he says. “I use the techniques and glazes of the past out of respect for their legacy, but with my eyes focused on the present. I am always testing new ideas and glazes to keep my work new and exciting.” His forms fascinate his customers. “The downside to making functional works of art is that I have to sometimes urge my customers to use my pottery!” Benjamin laughs. Benjamin is well known for his vivid glazes, with their deep rich colors reflecting the colors found in an old masters painting. His oxblood glaze (a copper red), rutile blue, iridescent green, and white over black combination all reflect this conscious and disciplined philosophy. When asked why he glazes in the copper red, a glaze which is notorious for being a difficult glaze to master, he smiles. “I do it just because everyone says reds are hard to get.” The results speak for themselves; his reds are deep, rich, vibrant, and consistent, and they testify to the results of a philosophy of conscious discipline. “With the influence of the Japanese masters, my intent is to make functional works of art, transforming the ordinary into the exceptional,” he says. Benjamin fires all of his work to 24000 F in a gas kiln behind his studio. He fires his pottery to this high temperature not only to bring out the richness of the glazes, but also to force the clay to become so hard that his pieces resist chipping and scratching, becoming works of art that you can use every day. Bonnie spent most of her formative years in Richmond, Va., with side trips to Randolph County to visit relatives. Her family roots go back to land grants in 1786. She started toward living her dream when she began painting pottery for Humble Mill Pottery in Seagrove. Having always loved painting, Bonnie has taken every opportunity to practice and develop her painting skills. “I never thought I could earn a living doing what I really wanted to do with my life,” Bonnie says. “I have finally been able to express myself in art, and I will do it until my life is over.”

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

F E AT S O F C L AY

Serendipitously, Bonnie was painting pottery just a few doors down from the old house with the big white oaks that Benjamin bought. He stopped in one day to borrow some tools, and the rest, as they say, “is history.” Bonnie describes Benjamin as “the man of her dreams,” and says that at this point her life is complete. The couple’s talents beautifully complement each others’ works. Her painted pieces are bright, light, and whimsical. You see the reflection of a free spirit, someone who loves life and enjoys it to the fullest. Bonnie’s work is spontaneous, whimsical, and a bit larger than life. She draws her inspiration from nature and loves to interpret natural things in her work. She throws some of her pieces on the wheel, but also hand builds some and makes tiles for backsplashes, counters and wall hangings. She works in porcelain and white stoneware clays; the light background sets off the rich colors and intricate detail of her flowers, birds, tree frogs, and other inspirations from nature. On my recent visit, I found both Benjamin and Bonnie on hands and knees, ripping up the old carpet in the gallery and preparing for a new hardwood floor. They, like many potters, do more than just throw pots. If remodeling is needed, they do it. If new shelves are needed, they build them. If a kiln needs to be repaired, they fix it. Ingenuity, persistence, and hard work are the keys to pottery success. Inside the gallery, Bonnie’s pieces are a riot of color and form, stimulating you to reach out and touch them and smile as you enjoy their fanciful designs. Her fish swim across the shelves, her dragonflies are so lifelike you can almost hear them buzz, and her still-life murals are so lifelike you could almost munch the apples. Benjamin arranges his pieces in orderly displays, sorted by color, and the elegance of each piece enhances its neighbors. His work demonstrates the marriage of form and function; there are no “please do not touch” signs in this gallery. This work is meant to be used, loved, and passed from generation to generation. Bonnie and Benjamin greet visitors warmly, invite you to look around at your leisure, and remain discreetly available without hovering. A gallery cat enhances the ambience of the gallery. As you visit with these artists, you know you are with folks who love what they do, and do it very well. PS Jim Dalton, whose wife is a Sandhills potter can be raeched at jim@lindadaltonpottery.com. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

B I R DWAT C H

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

BY SUSAN CAMPBELL

Here in

the pine forests of the Sandhills, we have one year-round resident that receives a lot of attention from birdwatchers and scientists alike: the red-cockaded woodpecker. This diminutive bird, smaller than a cardinal, gets its name from the two or three tiny red feathers on the side of the male’s head. Typically the cockade is hidden, tucked under the black feathers on the crown.

Red-cockadeds are one of eight species of woodpecker that can regularly be found in Moore County. But it is the only woodpecker in the world that uses live pines instead of taking advantage of the soft wood of snags. Although it can take up to three years to excavate a cavity in longleaf pine (the preferred host species), the protection that the tree’s sap provides from predators makes it well worth the effort. Rat snakes, one of our most common tree-climbing snakes, will not cross bark coated with pine sap. By regularly maintaining sap wells around the cavity opening, red-cockadeds secure their roosting spot, which is critical year-round since these birds are not migratory. These birds are unusual in that they live together in family groups. Four helpers (usually males from preceding generations) will assist the breeding pair, taking turns incubating and feeding young when they hatch in mid to late April. Three to four white eggs are laid by the female in the breeding male’s cavity and take 10-12 days

to hatch. The young are fed mostly insects for almost four weeks before they are ready to leave the nest. As they grow, like most woodpecker youngsters, they become very vocal, begging for food from the adults when they sense their approach. It is a very good thing that they are protected by a deep cavity, a sticky entrance and several protective adult birds since the nest becomes increasingly evident as the nestlings’ volume increases. Declared an endangered species in 1970, the red-cockaded was the victim of not only habitat loss but fire suppression and cavity competition as well. As human development has occurred throughout the red-cockadeds, range, very little open pine forest remains. Urban densities have resulted in little or no forest fires in a fire dominatedecosystem. Longleaf that survived vast logging operations in the 1800s and early 1900s was choked and shaded out in the absence of frequent burning. But with the advent of prescribed burning on not only public but private lands in the southeast and the replanting of longleaf pines, habitat for the birds has been increasing. One thing that has proven very significant for red-cockaded populations through its range has been artificial cavities. Techniques were developed in the late 1980s to drill woodpecker- like cavities in older pines to give the birds a boost. Red-cockadeds have really taken to these man-made cavities. In places such as here in the Sandhills Game Lands, the nest tree is now, more often than not, in an artificial cavity. Through ecosystem restoration and attention from a variety of landowners the species is recovering. The population here in our area, thanks to the partnership of Ft. Bragg, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Nature Conservancy, North Carolina State Parks as well as local conservation groups and landowners, hit their target of 368 groups of birds in

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Photograph by Michael McCloy

With its fate tied to the diminishing longleaf pine, this sovereign bird of the Sandhills is making a strong comeback

B I R DWAT C H

2006, five years ahead of schedule. One can encounter red-cockadeds at Sandhills Community College, several of the Pinehurst golf courses, Walthour Moss Foundation as well as neighborhoods around Southern Pines and Pinehurst. However, Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve is one of the best spots to visit to experience the birds in habitat very

Red-cockadeds are one of eight species of woodpecker that can regularly be found in Moore County. close to that of their ancestors. Regular burning on park property has created open pine savannahs which support countless species native to the longleaf-wiregrass ecosystem. Two family groups are currently active on the main section of the park, one of which is frequently near the Visitor’s Center and even feeds on suet at the bird feeding station behind the building. Hiking the trails at Weymouth you could readily encounter both woodpecker groups — or perhaps an elusive Bachman’s sparrow. Bachman’s, although small and drab, is yet another longleaf pine endemic and will be the subject of my next column. PS Susan would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. She 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, NC 28327. For more information, go to: http://www.fws.gov/ endangered/ factsheets/ woodpecker.pdf For information on the woodpeckers at Weymouth Woods SNP, call (910) 692-7142. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

T H E S P O RT I N G L I F E

Goin’ South

Spring brings a road trip of the heart, to find a wilderness that seems to disappear a little more each year BY TOM BRYANT

The camping trip wasn’t exactly planned.

It kind of evolved into a meandering, no hurry, almost without destination epic, that we would remember for a while. Our initial effort was to head south, escape some of North Carolina’s late winter weather and revisit some of my boyhood haunts. So early one March morning, Linda and I hooked up the little Airstream Bambi and cruised out of Southern Pines. First stop, Edisto Island in the South Carolina low country. Edisto is a little south of Charleston, located in a group of islands that includes Kiawah, Hilton Head, and one that I had the privilege of visiting in the winter of 1961, all expenses paid by Uncle Sam, Parris Island.

A morning’s catch...sea trout.

We planned to do a little fishing at Edisto, but Mother Nature had other ideas with a hard blowing northeaster keeping us inside for almost two days. We decided to head farther south to the bor- Sunset overlooking Chokoloskee Bay. der of Georgia and Florida and the Okefenokee Swamp. In the early ’80s, I made several canoe trips back into the swamp and was really interested to see how it had changed. The state of Georgia controlled access in those days, but late in the ’90s the federal government moved in and put the entire marshland under its ever-expanding umbrella. A few of the old-timers I talked with seemed to think that the place wasn’t the same and probably never would be under the federal overseers. So we decided to go look. Our campsite was about twenty miles from Folkston and the entrance to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Preserve. We used to call it simply The Swamp before it became like so many other of our wild areas and disappeared into what a lot of my fellow sportsmen think is a quagmire of federal regulations and rules. Maybe it’s a good thing, but I remember the good old days with more freedom and fewer authorities. The ride from our campground to Folkston was a lot like I remembered: sand, Hitching a ride on a creek leading into scrub pines, and palmetto bushes. On the outskirts of town is the east entrance to Chokoloskee Bay on our airboat. the park with a trek of about three miles until you reach the gate to pay the entrance fee. Since my earlier trips, the feds have built a visitor center where one can see “an award winning movie about the refuge to learn about what truly makes the Okefenokee special.” They even had a talking mannequin dressed in outdoor garb that reminded me of my good buddy, Bubba. The place was pretty, very touristy, and I guess if I hadn’t paddled across the swamp early on when the nearest thing to a welcome center and gift shop, i.e., Tshirt shop, was Pearl’s Bait and Tackle Emporium — “If we ain’t got it, the swamp don’t need it” — I would have thought the effort was well placed. Somehow, though, it seemed to me that all the falderaw was to satisfy tourists who only want to check one more park off The pier at our campground on the bay. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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their list. Let’s hope that the canoeing experience remains the same. It would give me a good excuse to limber up my old swamp paddle and check it out later. Our next two camping areas, the first at Wildwood, Florida, and the second a little below Lakeland, Florida, hammered home to us a phenomenon that we had heard of before but hadn’t actually observed firsthand. It was the winter migration of the snowbirds. Snowbirds are people from the frozen north, a little south of the Artic tundra, but not too far. Places like Canada, anywhere in Canada, lots of ’em from Michigan. We ran across a bunch from Ohio and groups from almost anywhere north of the Mason Dixon. Anyhow, these folks pack up house and hearth, grab cats and dogs, stuff everything in a camper, and as the first frost approaches, head to Florida. They usually camp for anywhere from three to six months or until the spring thaw, whichever comes first. These groups are thicker than a bunch of menhaden on their southern run, and they stick pretty much to themselves, basking in the warm Florida sun, maybe thinking (or trying not to) about their frozen homeland, watching the Weather Channel and reveling in the fact that they aren’t up there shoveling snow. We met several nice people, all a little wary when I first spoke to them but warming up when they realized I was a friendly Southerner. Our next two stops on the western coast were Ft. Meyers and Naples. Both were like camping on Biscayne Boulevard. A lot of traffic, a lot of people and not a lot of civilization. We left there in a hurry. At last, on a quiet Sunday, we pulled into Everglades City and our destination for the next week, Chokoloskee Island and the Chokoloskee Island Campground and Marina, or as Linda affectionately renamed it, “the fish camp.” It was a great spot, lots of fisher folks who went out in the bay about every morning and came back to the marina around suppertime to clean their catch, then sit around drinking beer and telling jokes on each other. A more congenial crew would be hard to find As a youngster in the early fifties, I came to Everglades City several times with my granddad to fish Chokoloskee Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands. He fished many winters there and made friends with Totch Brown, a local and, at that time, a very knowledgeable guide in the Everglades. Totch has since become something of a legend in the area with several books written about him and even a documentary done on his life by the University of Florida. I met

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

T H E S P O RT I N G L I F E

Totch a time or two in those early years and naturally wanted to see if his popularity carried forth after his death a few years back. I figured I would run across a few relatives and get the latest scoop. Relatives weren’t hard to find. His family includes a bunch of grandchildren, cousins, nephews and such, or as one fellow I talked with said, “If it comes to money in Everglades City, we’re all kind of related.” Many of them are employed running an airboat excursion company that claims to take you on a “real Everglades wilderness experience.” It also will relieve you of about hundred bucks per couple of traveling money. The ride, about an hour and a half, runs out to Totch’s bay island house (I really couldn’t believe this was the place we visited when I was a youth), then through the “back coun-

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

try,” a series of canals off the creek flowing into the bay, and then back to base camp or where they had taken your money. A fun ride? Maybe. A wilderness experience? I don’t think so. I really don’t think the Totch I remember would approve. The one place we visited that remains the same, or almost as I remembered, was the grand old Rod and Gun Club. It was established in the 1890s; and when I visited it in the fifties, it was private and my granddad was a member. He bought me lunch there one afternoon; and as a twelve-year- old, I thought I had really arrived. Today it is open to the general public, but the ambience remains the same. There’s a dark paneled bar and lobby with mounted fish and alligator skins adorning the walls and an adjacent dining room and a huge porch that overlooks a

creek flowing into Chokoloskee Bay. Linda and I enjoyed a delicious seafood lunch on that lovely screened porch. No wonder the club was one of Hemingway’s favorite places. There are sunsets and there are Gulf Coast sunsets, and the evening Linda and I sat out on the dock of the bay watching a fireball of an early spring sun sink into the gulf behind the mangrove islands, I thought back to my grandfather and the years he spent fishing in Florida, especially at Chokoloskee. Our trip this spring sadly did nothing to increase my love of the state; it’s not the same as the early days I remember. But I know my grandfather would be happy that I came back, if for nothing else, just for a look. PS Tom Bryant is a lifelong outdoorsman and PineStraw’s Sporting Life columnist.

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May 2010

G O L F TOW N J O U R NA L

Photo courtesy Linville Golf Club

Escape to Linville

BY LEE PACE

Back in the day when the summer-

time temperatures in the Sandhills inched into the 90s with humidity to match, before Willis Carrier’s apparatus for cooling air had become mainstream through the handy and affordable window unit, back when you could fire a niblick or a rifle down the fairways of Pinehurst No. 2 in July with no worry of striking golfer or squirrel, the place to be was Linville. Two hundred miles northwest from the sandy loam, longleaf pines, white clapboard sidings and green trim of Pinehurst was a mountain retreat almost like no other. Rocky outcroppings, rhododendron thickets and stylish buildings made of chestnut bark. “Spend the week in Linville and make it a real vacation,” Pinehurst proprietor Richard Tufts advised in a 1942 letter to golfers promoting the Carolinas Amateur Championship, set for Linville Golf Club. “You need the rest, and there is no better place than Linville to take it.” Pinehurst, Linville and Wilmington were three of the earliest bastions of golf in the state of North Carolina, and the names MacRae, Tufts and Ross are threads that tie them all together. The MacRae family of Wilmington was instrumental in the late 1800s of importing golf from its Scottish homeland, and after Donald MacRae Sr. developed extensive mining interests in the mountains, he believed a recreational menu that included golf would work well at the base of majestic Grandfather Mountain. MacRae and a partner named Sam Kelsey were officers in the Linville Land, Manufacturing and Mining Company, a corporation formed in 1888. Soon the company spent $22,000 to build the Eseeola Inn, which opened amid the fanfare of bagpipe music and oxen races during a lavish grand opening on July 4, 1892.

“The Eden of the United States, a Fairy Land without a peer,” crooned an early advertisement for Linville and the Eseeola. Linville originally had a 14-hole course that was redesigned and expanded to 18 in the mid-1920s by Donald Ross, another Scotsman ensconced at Pinehurst since 1901 as its head golf professional and who also made a tidy sum on the side in golf course design. The club and lodge were managed at one time by the Tufts family, who sent some of their staff when Pinehurst closed for the summer to work in Linville. Wilmington native Isaac Grainger, a leading official in the Rules of Golf and USGA president in 1954-55, remembered his first trip from the coast to Linville in the early 1900s. “By train from Wilmington to Goldsboro to Hickory to Lenoir and Edgemont, twenty-four hours, and then a six or seven hour drive by horse and buggy over the mountains at night,” he said. “That began a long series of exciting sojourns in the delightful spot which is synonymous with the name MacRae.” Hugh MacRae II, great-grandson of the Linville founder, remembers seeing Ross as a child of seven or eight. “He was a fine-looking man with a tweed cap and tweed suit and knickers and long stockings,” MacRae says. “He had a mustache. He was very pleasant and kindly. His Scottish brogue was very thick and difficult for a child to understand. He was very impressive.” Though Linville is more than four thousand miles from the western shores of Scotland, there’s more than a passing connection to the homeland of golf. Scots with names like Kirkcaldy served as early professionals. Today you can get a good breakfast or lunch just up the street at the Tartan Restaurant, and the Scottish Highland Games are an annual summertime staple. Sleep in on a Sunday morning at the Eseeola Lodge and you might be roused by the bagpipe music heralding services at the tiny Presbyterian chapel across the street. Today Linville Golf Club and Eseeola Lodge retain much of their old-world charm. There are neat rows of cottages lining the fairways to the first, second and 18th holes, each with the ubiquitous “Linville look” of chestnut bark siding. Grandmother Creek crosses the course a dozen times, and the fifth hole kisses against Lake Kawana, the seven-acre lake built for fishing and recreation. There are few bunkers on the course (two holes have no sand traps

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

G O L F TOW N J O U R NA L

at all), and the greens are small and quite the challenge. The blend of poa annua, bent, clover, blue and other indigenous strains are shaved to lightning quick speeds in the summer, and the dips and hollows around the putting surfaces make chipping and pitching a mental and physical test of planning the angles and then executing the idea. Architect Bobby Weed directed a restoration in the early 2000s that included improving the drainage, installing a new sprinkler system, realigning some tees and adding a fifth set of tees, giving the course markers ranging from 6959 yards to 4948. The original Eseeola Lodge (Eseeola is an Indian name for “river of cliffs”) burned down in 1936, and the lodge as it exists today was originally an appendage to the main facility that opened in 1929. For years the Linville season ended in early October, but in 2008 the resort remained open through the last week of the month to give visitors the chance to enjoy the Eseeola experience within the blanket of golds, rusts and oranges of the fall color season. But no matter what season you visit Linville, you’ll understand the sentiment found on a wooden sign behind the 13th green, “When we come to Linville, all troubles fade away.” Each of the 19 rooms and five suites in the lodge has a screen door opening onto a private balcony overlooking the lush grounds. On a summer afternoon during one of the valley’s frequent but fleeting showers, the keen visitor will tuck into the velvety linens and handmade quilts, enjoy the breeze from the ceiling fan and the screen door and tumble into a nirvana punctuated by the patter of the falling rain. The streams, ponds and lake on the resort campus are stocked with trout that form one of the mainstays of the Linville menu, overseen by the Parisian chef Patrick Maisonhaute. Trout almandine with a side of cheese polenta is one favorite at dinner time, and the Thursday night seafood buffet is renowned among guests and reviled by the shrimp and scallop population. There are fresh flowers on every table and piano music wafts in the background. “Little has changed at Linville from the early days,” MacRae says. “The first hole and 18th hole almost look exactly as they did in those days. You can drive back into Linville today and almost turn the clock back to the ’20s and ’30s.” PS Lee Pace, author of “Pinehurst Stories” is an award-winning sportswriter and a longtime resident of Chapel Hill. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

THOUGHTS FROM THE MAN SHED

Rifles and Rattlesnakes

How a pair of Eastern tenderfoots tried to conquer the West

BY GEOFF CUTLER

We hadn’t been out of the dust covered Volvo wagon more than a few minutes before John led us over to the corral and said, “Those are your horses, and in those saddle holsters there, those are your rifles.”

“Rifles? What do we do with them?” I asked, beaming from ear to ear. “You shoot coyotes and rattlesnakes with ’em; that’s what, and anything else that looks like it might be harassin my cattle.” Oh boy! This was going to fun! Beach was one of the young maverick faculty members at the boarding school I was telling you about a couple of issues ago, and he convinced my parents to let him take a buddy and me to the Canadian Rockies to hike for a couple of weeks. The plan was, we’d drive out to Banff, resting for a few days along the way in Chicago and then on to Montana, where another classmate, John Carroll lived. John’s family were cattle ranchers and owned a spread out there about the size of Rhode Island. I don’t know how or why John’s family found our little boarding school on the East Coast, but they did, and while at first we thought he looked, talked and acted kind of funny, John was a quick learner, tough, and a natural athlete. In a year’s time, he worked his way into everyone’s heart by picking up soccer, hockey and lacrosse, skills that would take the rest of us most of our youth. He became one of our top competitors, and nobody cared he was so bowlegged from riding horses, he looked ridiculous on skates. If you chased a puck into the corner with John, you’d find yourself flat on your butt. Those bow legs of his gave him a nice low center of gravity, a good thing when you’re on ice. It had been a long road for Beach. Hundreds of miles of driving on his own had tuckered him out by the time we reached The F&L ranch. Memory is a bit sticky on these early teenage years, but I think there were supposed to be two faculty members taking us on this summer trip. For some reason, we lost the other driver just before we were to head west, but so many plans had been laid, Beach didn’t want to disappoint us. He told my parents he could handle the driving by himself. This becomes important at the end of the story. So there we were, our transportation swishing their tails at flies, and I’m thinking, Dang! We’re going to shoot vermin and I’m going to put all that riflery training from camp to use. We city-slickers each had limited degrees of riding experience, but it was the rifles that really got us excited. Regular old cowboys, that’s what we were going to be! John’s mom clanged a triangle, calling us to dinner just like Hop Sing on Bonanza, and we headed in to eat. We’d wondered on the way out whether we’d eat Rocky Mountain oysters, and sure enough, that’s just what Mrs. Carroll PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

served us that first night. They all laughed at us trying to choke down this Western delicacy, and I’ve always wondered since whether they were plain old meatballs and the family was just fooling with us. John’s mom and dad were super nice, down to earth and decent. John’s dad had been outside in the hot sun so much of his life, his face was colored mahogany — cracked, lined and wrinkled like a piece of beef jerky. But he had a twinkle in his eye when he told John to take us out after dinner and check the herd. I wished I had a neat pair of cowboy boots like John. I felt kind of foolish in my Vasque climbers once the three of us had managed to mount our horses. John told us the neat thing about riding Western was the pommel. If we ever felt like we were going to fall off, he told us to grip with our legs as hard as we could and hold on tight to the pommel. He said the funny thing about riding a horse was, the faster you went, the easier it was to stay in the saddle. John let us walk the horses for a pace or two to get used to things, and then asked us if we were ready. “Sure,” we said, holding onto our reins and pommels for dear life. He yelled “giddy-up,” and all four horses took off like funny cars. Mr. Carroll was watching from the front porch, slapping his knee and having a good old guffaw as we shot out of sight across the prairie and into a setting sun, hooting and hollering, and scared out of our wits. The next thing we know, John yelled out, “There they are, those damn coyotes,” and he yanked out his rifle and started blasting. Sitting straight up in the saddle like Clint Eastwood or something, he was cocking and firing, but we didn’t see a thing. Not that it mattered since none of us were going to be shooting anything on account of pry bars couldn’t have pulled our hands off those pommels at the speed we were going. By the time our visit at the ranch came to an end, we were saddle sore and happy and none of us had fallen off a horse. We’d finally had a chance to fire our rifles…at an old pile of weather-beaten boards John said were full of rattlesnakes. But we didn’t kill any. We’d learned a little bit about steering cattle and horse-shoeing, we’d been fried crimson by the sun and we played war games in rafts on the river running through the ranch. We probably couldn’t have hired out as ranch hands, but we sure had fun and provided plenty of amusement for our hosts. We waved goodbye, saying we’d see John back at school in the fall. A couple of days later, we arrived in Banff. Backpacks on, and laden down with camping gear, we hiked off into the Canadian Rockies. We spent one night out there before having to turn around and hike back out. Poor Beach had worn himself so thin doing all the driving he came down with fever and chills. All our feet were blistered anyway, so when Beach was able, we boarded a plane and flew back East. PS Geoff Cutler is owner of Cutler Tree LLC in Southern Pines. He is a regular contributor to both The Pilot and PineStraw. He can be reached at geoffcutler@embarqmail.com.

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May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

This isn’t just about freckles “Pardon me, Little Misses, but those angel kisses sure are delightful.” I’ve heard it, they’ve all heard it, every freckle-faced girl-child playing with her Barbie doll, adorned in the most unnatural of pinks. But some of them prefer to cover them up, fake it, pile it, cake it on, create a facade with thick, opaque makeup to make certain every last one disappears. And some of them think they are flawed and tainted just because they are painted with tiny specks, tiny flecks of brown. Sun-seasoned with dapples — the skin of pale, organic apples.

May 2010

Dots decorate my face but I don’t wish to chase them away, conceal them, erase them, with cakey, fakey makeup. I choose to reveal them, embrace them. Connect them, reject them — I’ll collect my dots.

-Ashley Wahl

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

e know how you love life in these ancient Sandhills. We do, too. This place isn’t called North Carolina’s “Eden in the Pines” for nothing. But admit it. There’s something you wish we had here — a special event, a much-needed service, a significant sports organization, or maybe just something as simple as a Super Target or a 200-foot statue of the famous Pinehurst Putter Boy standing on the Traffic Circle directing visitors to the official Donald Ross Waterslide. Everything begins with a Big Idea, or a not-so-big-idea that simply evolves and changes and frequently improves with the passage of time. If the protracted civic debate over what to do with the Pinehurst Village Green tells us anything, it’s that our friends and neighbors are just full of ideas — not to mention passion on the subject. But Big Ideas are fun to contemplate. And sometimes they create real magic. Not so long ago, for example, the dream of hosting a major golf championship in the Home of American Golf was pretty much just that — the dream of a few golf-loving souls who believed Pinehurst deserved its major recognition. But people kept talking and eventually that dream materialized before our eyes. Ditto the recently concluded inaugural Palustris Arts Festival, which turned out to eclipse the best hopes and expectations of scores of visionary folks who worked for years to bring it off, setting the stage perhaps for an even larger and more ambitious festival next year. Suffice it to say, a similar process from Big Idea to functioning reality underscored the creation of Sandhills Community College, the restoration of the Sunrise Theater, the Fair Barn, the Carolina Horse Park, and basically every charity golf event that ever happens in Moore County. Being spring and our 5th anniversary to boot, we at PineStraw decided to whimsically kick off our shoes and tell you a few of our Big Ideas, if you will, for a more perfect Eden. We even invited friends of the magazine and online readers to let their imaginations roam free on the subject, and would be especially pleased to hear your Big Ideas, too. You just never know what might happen. Can’t you just see that giant Putterboy standing in the circle as you approach Eden in the Pines? Or on second thought, maybe not. But that Donald Ross Waterslide, however…

A MORE PERFECT

EDEN 50

May 2010

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OUR FIVE IDEA HOUNDS PHOTOGRAPHED BY TIM SAYER PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

If You Show It, They Will Come Ron Sutton loves movies. He knows you love movies, too. For several years it’s been the dream of the former American University media professor and American Film Institute veteran — not to mention several other local film aficionados — to bring a serious three-day film festival to the Sandhills. “Prior to now the cost involved in acquiring films, however, was a major stumbling block,” says Sutton. The recent development of digital film technology suddenly makes this a real possibility, with potentially great venues opening up all across the area.” As Sutton and others envision it, the Sunrise Theater and half a dozen other screening rooms would either concentrate on films and discussions of a popular thematic nature — golf-related or equestrian-themed movies, for example, or perhaps sports or nature films — or simply choose a specific genre that would give the festival its own unique flavor, short films by young filmmakers, say, or new documentaries. “Not only would it be a great economic engine for the Sandhills, drawing people here to fill hotels and restaurants, but a a terrific way to showcase the unique quality of life we enjoy. We could spread the venues out so that guests and locals alike would really get out and explore the county,” says Sutton. We can almost smell the popcorn.

Golf Renaissance, Anyone?

According to the National Golf Foundation, American participation in golf has been on a slow but steady decline for more than a decade. Record numbers of courses are shutting down. One reason, according to golf author and PineStraw editor Jim Dodson, is that as professional golf has grown into a corporate behemoth that operates on a global scale, the charm and appeal of the ordinary game the overwhelming majority of Americans came of age playing — the ideals which birthed Pinehurst and once stimulated broad popular growth of the game — have been lost in translation. Dodson’s remedy: The American Golf Festival, a late autumnal season-ending community-wide celebration designed to reconnect Tour players and ordinary fans to their shared love of the game. “Much like country music does with its popular Fanfest,” Dodson notes, “Pinehurst would be the perfect place for a community-wide celebration that allows golfers of every stripe to come here and mingle with the current and former stars of the game in the kind of relaxed atmosphere only the Sandhills can offer. Here’s a way for professional golfers not only to meet their fan base and give back to a game that has made many of them wealthy and famous — but also to stimulate the growth of the game for tomorrow.” He envisions a number of themed tournaments hosted by several areas clubs plus a pro-am featuring legends of the game, a chance to preview new equipment by the major equipment companies, live entertainment, a book fair and art sale, various lectures and special dinners — all aimed at perpetuating the stars and fans of tomorrow. “The idea is to put the fun and friendliness back into a game that has grown sadly preoccupied with money and fame, forgetting this is just a game. If the Tiger Woods fiasco says anything, it’s a cautionary tale about what happens when you forget where you came from — and abandon the ideals that made you a success in the first place. The Home of American Golf is the perfect place to begin golf’s renaissance and remind people of just that,” says Dodson. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

All Aboard The Pinecone Express Reminding us that train service in a bygone age linked the primary towns of the Sandhills, Given Memorial Library Executive Director Audrey Moriarity believes it’s high time Pinehurt, Southern Pines and Aberdeen had some form of public transportation — either a bus service on a regular timetable or, better yet, a circulating trolley that tourists and locals alike could simply hop on and off at designated spots. “It could either be like the famous Jitney of the Hamptons or a gas version of the beautiful electric street cars of New Orleans,” she says. “Given our heritage, I’d personally love to see a pair of antique-style trolleys that simultaneously made the loop from Pinehurst to Aberdeen to Southern Pines, early morning to late at night on weekends, picking up folks about every thirty minutes or so. Many of us would leave our cars at home, saving gas and encouraging conservation.” She envisions reasonably priced day or week passes that would enable locals and tourists alike to just jump on or off and go anywhere, with regular stops at designated hotels, resorts, and the downtown districts. The trolleys could also serve as mobile kiosks providing information about area restaurants, hotels, events and historic sights. Onboard advertising would help pay for the operation of trolleys and their upkeep. “I was talking to someone the other day who remembered what it was like just getting off the train in Aberdeen and wandering into town to find interesting shops and cafes. Part of the charm of our towns is that, in many ways, they retain the small town and village character that made them so unique. A trolley linking them would be very popular, I predict, and a nice link to the past — another reason for folks to come to the Sandhills.” Part of the fun, she adds, would be thinking up names for the trolleys. “I first thought PAT — as in ‘Pinehurst Area Transit’— but maybe we can come up with a more colorful name.” Might we suggest a couple of our favorites, The Pinecone Express or maybe The Niblick? “Not a bad start,” says the bus-loving librarian. “Let’s let the idea circulate a bit.”

Central Park South Arts Council director Chris Dunn, fresh off his triumphant debut of the Palustris Arts Festival, thinks now’s the time to give Southern Pines’ Downtown Park a major facelift, transforming it into what he playfully calls a “mini Central Park.” “With the removal of the old police station several years back, the park became a much more people-friendly green space,” says Dunn. “I’d like to see it become even more accessible to citizens and visitors alike by making it far more functional, an entire city block that may or may not include a new public building but would have an outdoor stage for concerts, a new playground with a water park, a larger rain shelter with more picnic tables, and even more space for the farmers market.” Countless studies have shown that well-utilized urban parks are a natural boon to local economies and often a barrier to crime. “As nice as it is,” he adds, “Downtown Park could easily become a more important community asset, an oasis of relaxation, play, exercise and entertainment.”

Book courtesy of The Country Bookshop Bench courtesy of Lowes Home Improvement

Seventh Inning Scratch Like a million American kids, PineStraw publisher David Woronoff grew up worshipping baseball. “I was your basic decent arm, decent glove, and weak bat — a classic utility guy who played every position,” he says. “I never made it beyond Pony League ball but old dreams die hard.” Which perhaps explains his quest to bring a minor league baseball team from the celebrated Coastal Plains League to Armory Field on Morganton Road in Southern Pines. The wooden bat league features current college all-stars hoping to snag the attention of Major League scouts and become the big leaguers of tomorrow. With successful league teams currently operating in Asheboro and Fayetteville, Woronoff figures a Sandhills team would be a natural rival to both and a huge summertime crowd pleaser, not to mention a boon to the local economy at a traditionally “quiet” time of the year. With a typical admission starting around $5, plenty of great food, cold beer in designated areas, and promotional giveaways, it’s the ideal family entertainment value. “Study after study have shown that the number-one complaint of visitors and residents alike is having nothing to do after dark. Well, here it is — classic baseball the way it used to be played. It would only strengthen our sense of community.” League officials recently toured the Morganton Road site and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the idea. “We’ve already got most of the infrastructure in place — a workable field, ample parking, easy access, even a water tower we could make a fantastic mascot,” Woronoff evangelizes. Come again, Pee Wee? “I’d like to call them either the Chiggers or the Red Bugs. Can’t you just picture the seventh inning scratch? I bet we’d really get under opponents’ skins for sure — especially when they see our tower in right field!”

AND MORE GREAT

IDEAS Eye on the Sandhills “I think we need a gigantic Ferris wheel like the one in London, the London Eye. If you put it in the right place you could just go up, up, up and see everything in the county. Wouldn’t that be awesome? I bet people would come from everywhere to ride it” Bonnie Johnson, The Country Bookshop

12 Holes, No Waiting “I think every golf course in the Sandhills except possibly Pinehurst No. 2 should be

made a 12-hole affair. That would significantly speed up play, cost a great deal less, and leave more room for creative enterprises. We could be called the Home of American Golf and the 12-hole golf course!” John Dempsey, President, Sandhills Community College

Drive-in Cinemagic “We really need a drive-in theater. They used to be all over America and even one here, but I say let’s bring the drive-in movie back. Families would love it and so would the rest of us.” Anthony Parks, The Ice Cream Shop

Annie, Get Your Gun “Love to see the Pinehurst Gun Club resurrected. You could put it out toward Foxfire and feature world-class trap, skeet, and sporting clays competition. We could have the Annie Oakley Open with ladies from all over the world competing. The major gun manufacturers would love to be sponsors. Tufts, after all, started the shooting club before he did golf.” Tom Bryant, Outdoors Editor, PineStraw magazine

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Sticks and Stones “I’d like to create a community-wide arts project that would involve everyone in Moore County. Here’s how it would work: Everyone would bring a painted stick or stone of some kind to the field behind the Campbell House, making a contribution to a huge sculpture in a 3-D box, a stick figure that represents everyone’s individuality but stresses the importance of community involvement.” Denise Baker, Art Professor, Sandhills Community College

To Market, To Market “A beautifully designed full-time covered farmers market would be a huge hit in this area, a place where you could buy fresh produce and meats and fresh flowers every day of the week. That would also remind us of the importance of eating local farm produced foods and the importance of sustainable agriculture. The health of our families is so important!” Michelle Peele

Amen, Brother “I’d like to see a pulpit exchange in which every church and synagogue exchanges ministers. We’d not only learn a great deal about each other’s spiritual viewpoints but undoubtedly grow closer as a community of faith. Probably hear some terrific sermons, too.” Tom Allen, Minister of Education, First Baptist Church, Southern Pines, PineStraw contributor

Bike Paths, Si’l Vous Plait? “I’d love to see a network of dedicated bike paths that would let you ride safely all over the county. We could even have special community bikes that locals and visitors could use free of charge, just like they have in Paris.” Andie Rose, Creative Director, PineStraw magazine

Connections “I’d love to see all of our parks and nature walkways connected. A complete countywide metropark system with interconnected greenway trails that connect all the communities with opportunities for walking and biking would be a great asset to our area.” Linda Parson, Vice President, Moore County Chamber of Commerce

Green Miniature Tigers Wanted “It’s my understanding that miniature golf started in Pinehurst way back in the 1920s. It’s amazing to me that we’re the golf capital of America but we don’t even have miniature golf. We need one here!” Lori Pry, mom of Nick and Madi, real estate broker

Let’s Eat Y’all “I think we need a major food festival. Bringing everyone into the streets of our towns on a given weekend would be a blast — celebrating every heritage and style of cooking imaginable, with demonstrations and free samples and special events, maybe even celebrity chefs.” Hunter Hess, Old South Diner and Maxie’s

Now Read This “A monthly Reading Series that brought writers of national and international stature to Moore County — and involved everyone in the county reading and discussing their books — would be a wonderful thing, a fantastic addition to the cultural landscape around here. I’d also like a Writers in the School Program that would bring graduate writing students into the public schools to work directly with students.” Claire Ruggles, Executive Director, Northern Moore Family Resource Center

Haunting Possibilities “Every town has its skeletons and spirits. I’ve always thought we needed a ghost tour for the village of Pinehurst — something locals and visitors alike could have fun with. It would also teach us all a little more about our history, how we got to be the Eden in the Pines.” Janeen Driscoll, Director of Public Relations, Pinehurst Resort

Performance Matters “A Performance Learning Center is a small, non-traditional high school geared toward students who are not succeeding in a traditional high school setting. The PLC is an excellent option for students who may not be succeeding in their current school or who are at risk of dropping out. That would help our community life tremendously.” Andie Korte, Communities in Schools

Meditate Yourself “My humble idea for making our ‘Eden in the Pines’ a little more special is that more and more of our old and young should go out in the early morning to our lovely green parks and practice the slow, rhythmic, circular movements of the ancient Chinese martial art of t’ai chi. So many golf lovers would see their swing and putting improve beyond belief. They should also sit down and meditate on the wide Buddhist aphorism: ‘Sitting quietly, doing nothing / Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.’ Even on our manicured courses!” Mohsin Ali, former Reuters correspondent and Indian sage

Mind the Left, Please “Mandatory comprehensive training on how to ‘yield to the left’ on Broad Street.” Chris Smithson. Southern Pines Town Council

One Big Block Party “Every year, maybe in the spring, I think we should have block parties happening all over the Sandhills on the same day. It’s so cool having older residents meet new people and families. It makes life so much nicer when you get to know your neighbors!” Mav Hankey, Southern Pines resident

If a River Runs Through It “Every Eden needs a river meandering delightfully through it, from one end of the county to the other. The new ‘lazy river’ would be a bonanza for builders of all sorts and recreational boaters, providing waterside real estate and an improved economic and cultural life for the county.” Pat Taylor, Advertising Director, The Pilot

Sandhills Chautauqua “We live in the most culturally diverse county in North Carolina — maybe America. It’s the ideal place for a Sandhills Chautauqua, a two-week gathering of outstanding and PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

thought-provoking speakers and thinkers who would bring a world of ideas to us every summer.” Tom Stewart, Old Sport Gallery and Books

Hold That Trash “For county, town and village municipalities to designate a law enforcement effort aimed solely at ticketing/arresting litterbugs! It’s getting ugly out there!” Wendy Stone Russell

One Man’s Treasure “We think having a county-wide treasure hunt would be a blast, one that would keep all us kids busy this summer. It would get people out learning about the history of the county but also learning what is out there. We are working on this now, ‘The Great Aberdeen Treasure Hunt,’ but it would be even better if the whole county took part!” Bryant House staff, Aberdeen

Please Send Cash, Clean Socks “Summer camp for grownups — a long weekend with camping, canoes, kayaks, campfires, stories, songs and simple crafts. No electricity — solar showers. No mirrors or makeup. And yep, gender specific until the final cookout! A co-ed dance would follow the cookout.” Janet Kenworthy, Poplar Knight Spot Gallery owner and The Rooster’s Wife

Amped Up “I think a small outdoor ampitheater would be ideal, something that could facilitate live music as well as a movie screen for outdoor movies in the summer months. I think a good location would be Southern Pines Park.” Faith Manning

Yard Food “Edible landscaping for food production. If done — dare we use the word organically — such an effort will help boost soil health and our local economy with food and jobs for design professionals.” Maureen Sutton PS

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May 2010

A Southern Prophet BY MARY ELLE HUNTER

Aberdeen’s Walter Hines Page became a visionary voice in the struggle to educate the emerging New South — and save the “forgotten man”

May 2010

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pride swelled up in me that I, too, was a part of this land, had roots deep in it, felt it, understood it, believed in it…” These were the thoughts of Walter Hines Page as he returned to North Carolina from working in the North as a newspaperman early in his career. Page, whose family name is indelibly linked with the town of Aberdeen, became a staunch advocate for post Civil-War reforms in agriculture, education and industry. Born with a gift and a passion for self-expression, his flair with words both spoken and written resulted in an outstanding career as an eminent journalist and publisher, climaxed by his appointment as the United States ambassador to the Court of St. James in England in the early part of the 20th century. As a small boy growing up in Cary, Page had watched the unloading of coffins from trains, as fallen heroes of the Confederate forces were brought home to rest. Near the end of the Civil War, his family’s residence was taken over by Union soldiers, but the Pages were allowed to live in the upstairs section of the house. A younger sister of Walter’s in later years wondered if in fact these childhood experiences instilled in him a marked feeling of responsibility to try to help correct the desolation caused by the war.. His father, Frank Page, was a hard-headed practical farmer and businessman. His mother was a cultured gentlewoman devoted to learning, who introduced her son to his lifelong love of books. Walter Page’s boyhood was a simple one, spent wandering barefoot in the woods, fishing in nearby streams and hunting with his own rifle. Schooled at home by his mother until he was ten years old, Walter had glimpses of town life on family trips to Raleigh, where he marveled at the Greek revival stone Capitol building, the wide streets and big houses. Beginning his formal education at a North Carolina military academy, Walter studied at Trinity College (the predecessor of Duke University), as well as at Randolph Macon College in Virginia, where he excelled in Latin and Greek. Then he was selected as one of the first twenty graduate students at Johns Hopkins University, winning a fellowship in Greek. The classical world, however, began to lose its fascination for him, and in his restlessness to find his niche, he turned to teaching in Kentucky and then to journalism in Missouri and New York. As part of his experience writing for newspapers, he traveled across the country reporting on and comparing conditions in the Midwest, the North and the South. In one of his pieces written in 1881, Page prophetically commented, “The new south cannot build up its civilization…by pressing blindly forward in the new paths that are now open. Through the proper fusion of the old and the new, the south enjoys a chance for greatness that is almost unparalleled in history.” While Page had been pursuing his collegiate studies and his early journalistic career, his father had moved the family to Aberdeen. There Frank Page and his other sons started creating a substantial

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

May 24, 1913: Walter Hines Page (1855 - 1918) American ambassador, as he arrives in London at Euston. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

set of family enterprises, including sawmills, lumbering, railroad and banking interests — their own contribution to the redevelopment of the region. In 1883, acting on his fervent desire to be a part of the process of rejuvenating the South, Page came back to North Carolina, bought a defunct newspaper in Raleigh, and began, through the use of the printed word, the task of what is today known as “economic development.” His optimism and enthusiasm knew no bounds, as he hoped to help modernize the region. At Walter’s suggestion a group of like-minded young men in Raleigh formed a club, called the Watauga Club. They came to the conclusion that the greatest need in North Carolina was the establishment of an industrial school, for instruction in “wood-work, mining, metallurgy, practical agriculture and in such other branches of industrial education as may be deemed expedient.” From that idea was generated the institution now known as North Carolina State University. Page and two of his fellow club members were untiring in their efforts, lobbying the state legislature in order to get the state moving toward a more modern economy. Unfortunately, however, his editorial advocacy of social and political reforms in the State Chronicle aroused local animosity. This coupled with the difficulty of transplanting his metropolitan journalistic style to the area resulted in failure for Page’s venture, and he returned to New York City. However, the problems of the South and in particular of his home state were never far from his mind, and he frequently traveled to North Carolina and nearby states, doing whatever he could to make sure the region was not left behind. At the turn of the century, Walter Hines Page was one of the chief proponents of the movement for public schools in the South. He actively served on various educational committees at the national level, and appeared as principal speaker at colleges and education events throughout the region. PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hines Page (Photo from the Moore County Historical Association)

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May 2010

A commencement speech given at an institution now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May of 1897 decried the antebellum ideal of education for the privileged few. Page’s remarks made history, giving the cause of southern education a necessary phrase on which to build. “The Forgotten Man,” the title of his dissertation, provided an inescapable image of the essential need. Back in New York, Page had joined the staff of The Forum, a monthly journal. Under his editorial leadership the publication became one of the most entertaining and influential reviews of its time. A few years later, he took over what was undoubtedly the most prestigious journal in the United States — the Atlantic Monthly. In his position as editor, Page achieved national attention, turning around a magazine whose fortunes had been slipping. Page went on to become one of the founding partners of Doubleday Page & Co., book publishers, and among the authors whose work he promoted were Booker T. Washington, Joel Chandler Harris and Ellen Glasgow. The firm also published World’s Work, a magazine whose format foreshadowed news magazines like Time and Newsweek, in that, contrary to popular style, it contained no fiction, and was filled with photographs, conveying vivid impressions of current events and the contemporary scene.

Turning his attention increasingly to public affairs and foreign policy, and through his work with a number of boards of philanthropic institutions, Page became associated with business and political leaders, such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. While visiting in Atlanta, he was introduced to Woodrow Wilson, and the two men were viewed by many as fellow Southern expatriates. He became a backer of Wilson’s presidential candidacy and after Wilson’s election, he advised the president on staff appointments. President Wilson named Page ambassador to the Court of St. James in 1913, and for the next five years, Page served in that capacity. Called “the friend of Britain in her sorest need,” the native son of North Carolina nevertheless made himself increasingly unpopular with the Wilson administration, as war broke out in Europe. When the World War I started in 1914, Wilson and Page had differing viewpoints on the conflict. Wilson was firmly entrenched in neutrality, while in Page’s opinion the war was an assault on democratic civilization and the United States should intervene. Throughout the neutrality period, Page constantly appealed for American involvement but his ideas were discounted as being too pro-British. He was glad when the

President Wilson named Page ambassador to the Court of St. James in 1913...

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

United States finally entered the war in 1917 and was particularly pleased that Wilson’s war message took the same tone that he had taken earlier. As evidence of Walter Hines Page’s devotion to the British cause in World War I, a plaque in his honor rests in Westminster Abbey in London. Some years later, his younger sister, Mary E. Page, a longtime Aberdeen resident, wrote in A Short Biography of Walter Hines Page: “When the war came on with its heavy duties and responsibilities and sadness, his work became unbearably heavy, and he began to break under the strain. He was a tireless worker and could not be persuaded to resign and come home until he became seriously ill.” Page’s failing health finally necessitated his resignation, and on October 2, 1918 Page left London for the journey home. Burton J. Hendrick’s biography, The Life and Letters of Walter Hines Page, describes the Atlantic voyage on the Olympia as a “race with death,” culminating with Page’s being carried off the ship on a stretcher upon its arrival in New York. Too ill to continue his journey to the home which he had built in Pinehurst for his retirement before leaving for London, he was hospitalized and then, “The American air seemed to act like a tonic on Page. In a short time, he showed much improvement, and his recovery seemed not impossible so far as his spirits and his mind were concerned…” However, the improvement was only temporary. Hendrick’s account continues, “It was therefore decided to grant his strongest wish and take him to North Carolina. He

arrived in Pinehurst on December 12th so weak that his son, Frank, had to carry him in his arms from the train. ‘Well, Frank,’ said Page with a slightly triumphant smile, ‘I did get here after all, didn’t I?’ He lingered for a few days and died at 8 o’clock in the evening on December 21st in his sixty-fourth year. He was as much of a war casualty as was his nephew Allison Page, who lost his life with his face to the German guns in Belleau Wood.” The life of Walter Hines Page has continuing significance as one of the South’s soundest prophets, as he sought to bridge the conflicts of a turbulent period in American history. More than that, he authored three books — The Rebuilding of Old Commonwealths (1902), A Publisher’s Confession (1905) and The Southerner (1909) — and his journalistic writings are numerous, as well. However, according to his biographers, it is his letters, so rich in literary and human quality and so full of his own special brand of whimsical humor, that stand as Page’s most enduring contribution to American literature. Other Page legacies can be found at the Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro, and a Walter Hines Page Research Professor of Literature fellowship at Duke University. Scholarships in the name of Walter Hines Page are awarded by the local branch of the English-Speaking Union for teachers to study abroad, as well as those awarded in the United Kingdom for teachers to study in the United States and Canada. Buried in Aberdeen’s Old Bethesda Cemetery, in the town in which his family played such a vital role, Walter Hines Page remains one of the most outstanding men of his time. PS

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May 2010

BY CLAUDIA WATSON

suspect I’ll get some ridicule for this — given the hearty laughter I received when I told this to a group of guys over lunch — but I talk to fish. Not all fish, just the ones I am lucky enough to catch. I have fond memories of my dad taking my sister and me out to fish at a nearby lake as young girls. He’d bait the hooks on our spinner rods and help us cast. When we’d reel in a sunfish, I’d plead with him to get it off the hook and into the water as I consoled it. Some things still hold true today. During my college years in Florida, I’d often spend weekends at my grandparents’ beachfront home outside Sarasota. One of their favorite fishing spots was a broad point that jutted out into the fast waters of an inlet. The point was not accessible by vehicle, so we trudged the half-mile up the beach toting our gear and a red Old-Pal bait box and then surf-fished the riptides for hours. What they caught they’d put in a bucket for dinner. By comparison, the fish I caught were lucky; they were told how beautiful they were and how much I enjoyed landing them, and then I’d remove the hook and toss them back into the Gulf while my grandparents shook their heads in disbelief. As Grandad got older, he would take the easy walk down the causeway pier so he could be near his beloved fish. He’d plant a fresh Tiparillo between his teeth and ramble on about life with me while talking to the fish that teased his line. A retired salesman, he saw the opportunity in everything — and fishing, like life, was filled with plenty of opportunities. He would often remind me that you never knew what was on the end of the line, so just relax and enjoy the moment. When he got ill and could not fish, he told me to take his gear and that red bait box. I could not find it in my heart to do so and did not while he was living his days in a wheelchair with little hope of returning to

May 2010

his favorite fishing spots. By then I was living in Virginia and had little time or inclination to fish. But during my last visit to my grandparents’ home in 1983, when their health was failing, Grandad asked me again to go to the garage, look through his things, and take what I wanted. Reluctantly, I opened the small storage closet, moved some items aside and found his fishing gear where he had stashed it years earlier. I lingered, not wanting to disturb his arrangement, and recalled the times we had shared fishing. I left it all except for the red bait box, which I took, in tears. Recently, I found the old bait box and tried to open it. It resisted, as if to tell me that I had neglected fishing too long, so now I had to work for the privilege. The salt air and time had taken a toll on the hinges, but with some perseverance I was able to open it to reveal things as Grandad had left them — some line, lead sinkers, an array of stout hooks, lures, and a small assortment of flies. Among the flies were a couple of colorful Mickey Finns, a Royal Coachmen, blue-winged olives, ants and a beautiful green drake with speckled gossamer wings and three graceful tails. As I sat with the old bait box, I was overcome with a flood of memories and a great desire to find a special place to use those flies again.

n a beautiful morning last summer, the sky was just waking as my husband and I arrived at one of our favorite spots — a place near Valle Crucis where the serpentine path of the Watauga River narrows and rushes around river rocks and boulders. The ancient sugar maple and hickory trees stand guard over the river in a silent conspiracy as they test our ability to keep our lines out of the limbs and in the stream. As I stepped onto the moss-covered rocks and into the river, I looked upstream toward a red-roofed barn. A man emerged from the veil of fog walking the river’s edge as if he knew every rocky ledge and pool hidden below the surface. His effortless roll-cast ended as a trout jumped to meet his well-presented fly. While he worked his way toward me I caught my breath; the resemblance to my

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Illustration by Frank Pierce

For a rookie in the stream, wisdom comes one beloved fly — and encounter — at a time

grandfather was uncanny. I watched, intrigued. The old man looked at me and asked if he could proceed around my fishing spot. Nodding yes, I asked, “Hey, what are you fishing?” “Wooly bugger.” “Well, I noticed you’ve had some luck upstream. Looks like you know this place,” I suggested. “So how long have you been out this morning?” “Oh, ’bout since dawn, so three hours. I usually get in up there beyond the red-roofed barn and work my way down to the bridge and back if my luck holds,” he explained. “Pretty spot,” he said as his eyes focused on a submerged tree limb. “Been fishin’ this part for ’bout 30 years, sometimes twice a week.” Then in an instant, he effortlessly snagged a large wild brown trout from the still water surrounding the tree limb. I raised my eyes, skeptical of his continued luck. He quickly netted the trout, mumbling to it as he released it. He didn’t have a fishing vest or any other gear, just his fly-rod, which he used like a natural extension of his arm. The old-timer’s skill was second nature. “I’ve fished here a lot and don’t have much to show for it,” I offered. “From what I’ve seen it’s been non-stop for you. So what’s your secret?” “Well, I just have fun. I don’t worry ’bout all the other stuff,” he said while checking the fly. “Hum,” he grunted, holding up the wooly bugger. “Afraid this is getting a bit worn-out, but it’ll keep working ’til it falls off and then I’ll just call it a day.” “Do you have any others?” I asked while looking at the halfeaten bait on the end of his line. He just shook his head while tying a fresh knot. “Well, you’re welcome to look at my fly box. Take what you need.” He looked at me, curling his lips downwards, “No thanks. You’re new at this, aren’t ya?” Feeling embarrassed that I reeked of being a fly-fishing rookie, I nodded. “Well, dear, let me tell you something. Don’t get all caught up in it; it’s meant to be fun. You like to fish?” “Yes, always loved it, fished since I was a kid, but fly-fishing can be frustrating,” I sighed, wishing I could cross the stream and walk the remainder of his day’s journey with him. “Well, have some patience, watch your line, but relax and enjoy it — and just talk to ’em,” he said with a reassuring smile. I gulped at the growing knot in my throat; it was if I was hearing the voice of my dearly-missed grandad.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

The old fisherman nodded goodbye, moving on — rounding the turn in the river and disappearing, as peacefully as he’d arrived.

ater in the week, my husband and I found a new spot farther down river. Pulling on our waders, we slogged through the tall brush skirting the river’s edge. When we kibitzed about fly selection he eagerly suggested I use one of Grandad’s flies from the old bait box that I’d packed as a good luck talisman. “Are you crazy? I can’t do that,” I shrieked. “What if I lose it?” He gave me a “think about it” look and walked upstream to the quiet water under the willows. I took the old red bait box from a canvas bag full of supplies, opened its scratched lid, and lifted the cherished green drake from the spot my grandad had placed it nearly 30 years ago and carefully tied it to my line. Moving into the fast water of a riffle under the cover of paper birch trees, I adjusted my cap, took a long breath and cast. My eyes did not have time to adjust to the shadows moving in the current when it happened, instantly — a strike. I finally landed the pretty rainbow. Then, with its mouth agape and its eyes glaring up at me, I quietly reassured it, unhooking it and gently releasing it — connecting my cherished memories and the old man’s sage advice in one precious moment. For the record, I caught nearly a dozen trout that afternoon, including my first wild brown, on one of Grandad’s old black ants.

his spring we will return to the Watauga for a quick respite as the maples and tulip poplars unfurl their leaves. In the early morning stillness we will pull on fleece jackets and hip waders and start the day’s adventure. And this time I’ll eagerly pull out one of Grandad’s favored flies from the old red bait box and lovingly tie it to the line. Then, just before I cast, I’ll look upstream as the morning fog pulls away from the river. I’ll be looking for that old man. PS

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May 2010

S TO RY O F A H O U S E

Furnishing the Details Vermont Horsewoman on a Treasure Hunt

BY DEBORAH SALOMON • PHOTOGRAPHS BY GLENN DICKERSON ouses age like women. A nip here, a tuck there, a few tasteful accessories and fresh paint extend beauty indefinitely. Major surgery of the highest caliber had already been performed when Bill and Julie Wick purchased a 100-year-old dowager near downtown Southern Pines owned by the Sadler, Dickerson, Sebastian, Hagan and other families. Much of the original land parcel where goats roamed and vegetables grew had been sold off. Spaces had been opened up. Dreamy kitchen and bathrooms were in place. The Carolina garden planted in dogwood, camellias, crape myrtle, holly, Bradford pear and azaleas could be the setting for a romance novel, circa Roaring Twenties, when the village was a destination for socialites and literary lions. But, because the Wicks’ primary residence was an 18th century farmhouse in Vermont, they needed everything. Julie’s skill in finding outstanding pieces at grab-and-go prices transformed a house architecturally apart from its neighbors into a formal – but eminently comfortable – residence with Old World overtones. The stucco exterior, glass front door panels and eyebrow windows suggest Spain, if not Provence or Tuscany. “From the first, I thought this house had a European flair so we gravitated to a French look,” Julie says. “I realized that we could combine the formal with our own sense of informality in a pleasing way.”

May 2010

Which means an undulating ivory-upholstered contemporary sofa (showroom sample from High Point) in the midst of delicate antique tables and a carved fireplace. An attic converted to a fairytale nursery playroom. A basement apartment with contemporary furniture, black bathroom fixtures and electronic gaming equipment. Most unusual: an outbuilding transformed into a dining/living room. Julie calls it her “party house.” Like Yankees before them, the Wicks came to Southern Pines on horseback. Julie has ridden since girlhood. Bill’s family owned horses – and he plays golf. During the late 1970s the couple lived in Chapel Hill while Julie studied for a master’s degree in radio/TV/film, then worked at WUNC radio and WRAL-TV. They came to Southern Pines once, for golf, and were impressed by the equestrian community. Eventually, their daughters took up riding. “We got into it together,” Julie says. Back in Vermont the family purchased a horse farm, hired a trainer and joined the circuit. After a decade, however, Julie tired of “having to take a sledge hammer to the (frozen) barn door in January.” Their children were grown. Bill, a financial analyst, can conduct his business electronically. So in 2006 they returned to Southern Pines to look for a winter home. “I was struck by the friendliness of the horse people – and other people, too,” Julie recalls.

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A melange of Southern grace and European flair, the Wick home in Southern Pines is filled with reclaimed treasures. Inset: Vermonters Bill and Julie Wick, with Abby, in their Carolina garden.

At one end of the dining house stands an inlaid table — bought for a song. The Oriental carpet on the sitting area of the dining house (below) cost $25 at a yard sale. They found a rental cottage and suitable boarding for one horse. (The others remained in Vermont.) After two winters Julie and Bill were ready to buy. Nothing seemed quite right. Then, “I was driving down (Illinois Avenue) at 5 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon when I noticed an odd For Sale sign,” Julie says. Several Realtors stood outside with their clients. Julie and her broker stopped. The sign posted by the bank indicated that the house was in foreclosure. They went inside, where Julie experienced that wow moment. “As I walked through the house I could picture my family visiting. With the apartment downstairs (and the attic) they would have privacy. There was even a room for Bill’s office.” Recent renovations had left the house in near move-in condition. She called Bill in Vermont, and, without him seeing the house, bid over the asking price which, because of the circumstances, was affordable. “Fine with me…she’s the house person,” Bill says. Their bid was accepted. Next challenge: To ready her acquisition in two months for a party for neighbors, real estate personnel and friends. This house feels massive, a result of dark hardwood floors, mullioned windows, coffered ceilings, stained glass, thick plaster walls, mahogany doors and banisters, high ceilings and carved trim. Light pours in from untreated windows. The layout is unusual: Polished wood columns separate the living room from a wide galleria with marble floors which, before enclosure, neighbors remember as a front porch. Chair groupings form several distinct conversation areas in the galleria and living room. Julie converted one of three second-floor bedrooms into a study with bookshelves and a window-seat daybed. The master suite opens into the Wicks’ reading room – originally a sleeping porch, she believes. Julie points out details on a pair of wall sconces which identify them, perhaps, as original Tiffany. Here stand cushy twin arm chairs with ottomans. “This way we can both read with good natural light,” Julie says. The Rococo master bathroom with stained glass window, more columns, gold accents and brass hardware is a bit much — but fits the house. Julie, who would never choose a Roman motif, has acclimated. The first time she saw the finished attic Julie thought of her granddaughAbby, the dachshund rescue, like the Wicks’ furnishings, suns ter. What a perfect, sunny spot for girly toys – especially the furnished doll house she found at a flea market at the Pinehurst Fair Barn. outside the dining/party house. The kitchen and “party house” put an exclamation mark after her first “Wow.”

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Above: Furnishings for the airy, light guest bedroom were snatched and matched in a day. Below:The reading room adjacent to the master bedroom has great light, comfortable chairs for both Julie and Bill.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

The sunny finished attic became a playroom/bedroom for the Wicks’ granddaughter. The dollhouse was purchased at a flea market, to benefit animal rescue organizations. At 28-by-12 feet the kitchen-breakfast area with two sinks, two ovens, an island, industrial gas range and wine refrigerator is not only Tuscan but aerobic, although Julie finds the appliance arrangement cuts traffic. The enlarged kitchen meant relocating the dining room to a small space, now Bill’s office. Which left that mystery outbuilding across from the back door: This, Julie believes, was where one owner kept his dogs. Now, with a slate floor and eyebrow windows to match those in the main house, the building serves as a dining/entertaining center. Filling these rooms quickly for bottom dollar was an adventure. “I got into the tag sale culture and decided to furnish it with what I found here — there’s fabulous stuff,” a result of liquidating fine estates, Julie discovered. Her guide to Moore County tag sales, auctions, consignment and second-hand shops was Joyce Tickle, a Wilmington interior designer and friend. Their finds approach incredible. Julie points to a graceful 18th century French desk purchased at Fifi’s for $300. “When I got it home I pulled out the drawer and found a receipt from an antique shop in Boca Raton (Fla.) for $3,000.” Other pieces were equally surprising: Jacobean chairs, a library table from Carthage ($75), bureaus, large and small case pieces from Karen’s Attic in Southern Pines or Adam’s Thrift Shop in Pinebluff and, especially, paintings. One, a Vermeer look-alike still life, cost $35. The 12seater claw-foot dining room table of inlaid woods was under $500 at A Touch of Couture in Pinehurst. A 10-by-12 foot pastel Oriental on the dining-house floor cost $25 at a yard sale in Pinebluff. They furnished the master bedroom in a single day. Tickle advised light, airy neutral colors to play off the dark woods. She recalls a foray to Cameron. “I saw a lady in an antique shop push a table forward and put a reduced price tag on it.” The lovely farm table was $50. “I’ll take it,” Tickle snapped, knowing it was perfect for the breakfast end of the kitchen. Lamps are one-of-a-kind from a shop in Aberdeen, or lucky matches from T.J.Maxx. The chase was half the fun. “I’d hear Joyce off in another part

May 2010

of the store making that noise like she’d found something,” Julie remembers. It was also a learning curve. “I’ve found a new me, a me I didn’t know was there,” Julie says. “I discovered a decorating sense. I saw a piece and imagined how it would go with pieces already there.” Two of those pieces are family heirlooms. Julie’s grandfather was a New England timepiece dealer. Her inheritance included 19th century Merriman & Birge and Simon Willard wall clocks – handsome showpieces in the galleria and living room. Everything stands together well. The house functions as planned when the Wick children and grandchildren visit. At a recent dinner party, guests had cocktails around the kitchen island before walking across the walled patio to the dining house lit by candles and warmed by a fire in the gas stove. The quest is over. Julie found all the right things – but not too many. Her treasures are displayed in a minimalist fashion for optimum appreciation. “I’m a little bit sad now after the frenzy of filling up the house,” is her only regret. Otherwise, “There’s something gracious about this house. I didn’t expect to want to be in Southern Pines fulltime,” Julie says. “But the people, the beauty of the town and our house got inside me. This is a really satisfying way to live.” PS

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For a video of the Wicks’ enchanted Carolina garden check out our Web site at pinestrawmag.com or friend us on Facebook.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Home Style

“

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Home Style

BY ASHLEY WAHL PHOTOS BY HANNAH SHARPE

s the earth slowly emerges from winter’s col-

orless cocoon — a familiar hope fluttering within us — spring brings new life. Before our eyes, the world blossoms and blushes with color, our noses delight in its fresh fragrances, and the buzzing and twittering of long-silenced critters are music to our ears. What better time to get our hands dirty, begin a vegetable garden, and reap all the tasty benefits of its wholesome labors? PS

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A Movable Feast A

BY NOAH SALT PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT MCKENZIE

decade ago, when Sue and Stu Brothers began planning their retirement move from Freemont, Michigan, to the newly built home they have at Pinehurst No. 6., Sue Brothers suffered a case of what might be politely termed “gardener’s anxiety,” a bittersweet ache that comes with leaving something familiar and beloved for the sweet unknown. Their new home, perched on an acre of land backing up to the Meyer’s Farm property in Pinehurst, was essentially a blank landscape canvas of sand and longleaf pine with a few crape myrtles and holly bushes for color. “I truly didn’t know what would grow and thrive here,” Sue confides. “It was like becoming a beginning gardener all over.” But she certainly knew what she had back in Freemont: a spectacular garden she’d spent more than three decades creating with plants that came from her grandmother Elsie Herringa’s own home garden in Grand Rapids. “My grandmother’s garden was massive and magical. That’s where I had my first garden patch around age six and where I fell in love with being on

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Use the Pinehurst-Southern Pines Area Association of Realtors’® website for complete information on properties listed for sale in Moore County, Find a Moore County Realtor®, Real Estate Information and Tools and much, much more.

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

my hands and knees in the dirt,” explains Sue, a former teacher and school principal. “My grandmother was from Sweden and simply lived for her garden, which eventually covered every side of her house and the borders as well. She passed her love of that garden along to me and to my sisters Barb and Marilyn.” Not surprisingly, many of the flowering shrubs and perennials that filled Sue’s garden in Freemont first flowered in her grandmother’s Grand Rapids garden, including blankets of daisies, wild phlox, scores of Asiatic and ornamental daylilies, Northern lupines, and a pair of magnificent hydrangea bushes that eventually bordered her entire property. “In short,” says Sue, “everywhere I looked in my garden was a flower or shrub that had a story, some kind of family significance. It was like our family history written in flowers.” After 35 years in the same house, the idea of leaving all of that behind proved a daunting proposition. Prior to their move here in the autumn of 2001, however, Sue diligently researched Sandhills gardening and made special trips down to reconnoiter area nurseries. She also read books on North Carolina horticulture and spoke with area gardeners. “As exciting as it was to think we were starting completely from scratch,” she allows, “the idea of leaving my Michigan garden behind just kept me

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

sort of, well, procrastinating. Finally, poor Stu said to me that he was moving to Pinehurst — that I would be welcome to come down and visit. But he was ready to say goodbye to Michigan winters.” That’s when it came to her how to avoid saying goodbye to her beloved Michigan garden completely. The answer was to take something of it with her — a movable feast, if you will, of family flowers and shrubs. “When I told Stu I wanted to take some of my plants with me,” she recalls with a laugh, “he told me That was fine — just not to try to take too many of them.” As summer waned and fall came on, Sue began digging up her favorite plants and putting them in pots with little Popsicle sticks to identify them. “Every time Stu came home from the office or the golf course, I’m afraid, the line of pots was longer.” When she finally stopped digging and potting there were between 400 and 500 pots of plants ready to make the trip to North Carolina. “Obviously I couldn’t put them on a moving truck so I went out and rented a UHaul truck for $32,” Sue remembered one late spring afternoon as she walked a visitor down a winding stone path into a garden that was exploding with May blooms. “That was the best $32 I ever spent.” The haul included daylilies and Asiatic cousins from her Michigan garden, loads of phlox, all of her award-

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

CUTLER TREE

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

There’s a drought tolerant, deer resistant, humming bird and butterfly attracting garden waiting for adoption just down Highway #1 in Aberdeen. It’s owned and tended by friendly local folks, who have been gardening in the sand for 6 decades, and who love nothing better than finding good homes for their plants. So come choose a garden and learn how to grow it and become the envy of all who haven’t found us yet. Your hard earned dollars will stay in the neighborhood, and you may take home some wonderful new friends. You’ll also find all the accoutrements to prepare a proper bed and provide nourishment for your new adoptees, along with all the advice you might need to make your new friends healthy and happy. Come by and take the tour, you’re sure to find something you haven’t seen before.

www.aberdeenflorist.com 500 US Highway #1 South Aberdeen, NC 28315

910.944.7469 PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

winning peonies, several varieties of yarrow, various kinds of astilbe and blazing star liatris, purple coneflowers, pink and purple bell flowers, Siberian iris that had come to her from her late sister Marilyn, her two favorite lilacs (one white, one lavender), Michigan sedum, the aforementioned Northern lupines, even a rose bush given to her by a favorite bus driver during her own official retirement party. Colleagues from school were invited to give her potted plants for her new Southern garden, and did so by the pot load. Before she was finished, Sue had filled a 12-foot U-haul from front to back, top to bottom, with her potted plants, bound for their new Sandhills home. “By then everything was dormant. Most of the pots just looked like pots of dirt,” she says. “We off-loaded the pots down here and set them back in the woods for the balance of the winter, giving them water every week or so. Ironically, it was an unusually warm winter that year and within several weeks I had green shoots coming up — new growth. We had to get the new garden space ready a little quicker than we had planned.” Stu, a golf-loving former executive for Gerber Foods with a flair for artistic design, did his part by designing the layout of Sue’s new Sandhills garden and laying down six tons of winding stone pathways over a year and a half. He also constructed several stone retaining walls containing 2-foot beds of organically enhanced soil that made Sue’s transplants thrive. “Just about everything but the lupines made the transition from Michigan to North Carolina,” Sue explains — pointing

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

out how providing her Michigan plants a new home was the first challenge and educating herself was the second. “I took myself over to Sandhills Horticultural Gardens and filled two notebooks just looking at plants and how they grew here,” she explains. “That was a tremendous asset to have for someone new to this region. Learning the hard way not to construct a flower bed directly under a longleaf pine, for instance, was part of my gardening re-education plan.” Over the next few years, she and Stu built new beds and moved plants around, adding an important “bone” structure to her new garden with native camellia, azaleas, wax myrtle, sweet olive, gardenia, hollies and laurels. Next came evergreens for winter interest. “When my winter daphne bloomed for the first time,” Sue says, “I nearly died of joy.” Today, nearly a decade after the Great U-Haul Garden Move, Sue Brothers’ movable feast is thriving. As her pair of “imported” lilacs and Southern azaleas begin to fade and May arrives at Maison de Fleurs (the name she and Stu aptly chose for their home and gardens,) her Asiatic lilies and Michigan iris will just be opening their showy display, prelude to a floral explosion that will drift well into the Sandhills summer. “Things quiet down then and I get back to work in the dirt,” Sue relates. “All gardens are an evolutionary thing, a work in progress, and I certainly love mine — what it’s become, what it teaches me about the life of plants, God’s creations and the constant pleasure it gives me the way my grandmother’s garden gave her. I still talk to her there on a regular basis.” PS

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May 2010

PineBuzzz

Internet sites, indie music and film well worth checking out

BY JACK DODSON

BARTLETT. BECAUSE EVERY TREE IS A FAMILY TREE. Today, more than ever, property value is as much about your landscape as it is your home. The trees and shrubs that grow along with you and your family are valuable assets that deserve care and protection. For over 100 years, Bartlett Tree Experts has led both the science and services that make your landscape thrive. No matter the size or scope of your needs, our arborists bring a rare mix of groundbreaking research, global resources and a local service approach to every task at hand. Trees add so much value to our lives. And Bartlett adds even more value to your trees.

For the life of your trees.

PRUNING FERTILIZATION REMOVAL PEST & DISEASE MANAGEMENT CALL 877 BARTLETT 877.227.8538 OR VISIT BARTLETT.COM

May 2010

Films Worth a Second Look Great Buddy Movies

The classic Buddy film — featuring two or more guys on a comedy caper or stake-out, usually polar opposites in disposition and social behavior — is a tried and true staple of Hollywood, though after a recent viewing of “Hot Tub Time Machine” we kind of wonder if the genre of Buddy films might not be in big trouble. True, “The Hangover” had its raunchy charms, and we found much to like about allmale hormonal anthems like “She’s Out of My League,” “Wedding Crashers,” “Knocked Up,” and odd moments in Judd Apatow’s darkly personal “Funny People.” But then along came “Cop Out” with Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan and comedy buddies never looked so inane — or proved the point of some critics. “To punish women for their desire for equality, the Buddy film pushes them out of the center of the narrative and replaces the traditional central romantic relationship between a man and a woman with a buddy relationship between two men,” writes Philippa Gates in the Journal of Popular Film and Television — a fairly common view, alas, from some in the post-feminist world of film criticism. Still, when a Buddy film works, even the gals can enjoy a glimpse of the way the arrested male psyche operates under stress. Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, even Newman and Redford — a.k.a. “Butch and Sundance” — proved the formula is a thing of beauty when the chemistry and writing come together.

Which brings us to a Buddy film just out on DVD and not to be missed. Recently released “I Love You, Man” says it all right in the title. It’s about a guy, Paul Rudd, who is so devoted to his girlfriend he has no male friends. He also happens to be getting married. With no best man, he sets out on a reckless quest to secure a best friend and therein lies both the comedy and a surprisingly thoughtful meditation on the meaning of fraternal friendship. Jason Segel, of “How I Met Your Mother” TV fame, stars alongside Rudd, providing an all-male, hetero-chemistry that’s nearly as endearing as that of Hope and Crosby at their Road film best. Herewith, our short list must-see all-time great Buddy films, all of which are on DVD: “The Road to Morocco.” Hope and Crosby at their exotic best. “The Odd Couple.” Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in domestic un-tranquillity. “Grumpy Old Men.” A brilliant reprise of their roles. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Newman and Redford live hard and die fast in this classic western Buddyfest. “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” A pair of metalhead slackers travel through time. “Lethal Weapon.” First of the Mel and Danny franchise. “48 Hours.” Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte at their best. “Some Like it Hot.” Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon do drag on the run from the mob. “The Blues Brothers.” Good laughs, great music, on a mission from God. “The Man Who Would Be King.” John Huston’s brilliant 1975 classic make of a Rudyard Kipling short story with Sean Connery and Michael Caine.

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PINE BUZZZ

Philly’s Idiosyncratic Rockers “Shame, Shame” by Dr. Dog

There’s something about the quirky, slightly off-kilter garage-band sound of the Philadelphia-based acoustic rockers Dr. Dog that makes them, in a word, irresistible. Their sound is not overly weird but it’s also not your typical indie rock feel, either. Lead singer Scott McMicken’s watery voice sounds a trifle trained and raspy, the electric guitar clangs over the rhythmic piano like a classic ’60’s jam song, and the surprisingly sweet chaotic melodies bump along in unexpected ways both beautiful and authentic, and sometimes a little jolting. “Shame, Shame” is the popular band’s sixth album, which means they are wily veterans at producing a distinctive sound Rolling Stone recently heralded as a successful throwback reminiscent of the three “B’s” of classic rock and roll: the Beatles, the Beach Boys and The Band. True enough, “Shame, Shame” features elements of all three inspirations with maybe a little Flaming Lips and Spoon thrown in for updated seasoning. After years of recording at home, the band is savvy enough to leave their music unpolished and full of surprises, with light-hearted vocal harmonies and unexpected instrumental segues that sound as if they might have been an impromptu creation in the garage. Sometimes, seems to be the message, everything falls into place. “Shame, Shame” is anything but. You can’t go the rest of your life without hearing these cuts: Track 2: Shadow People Track 5: Where’d All the Time Go? Track 12 (bonus track on the deluxe version): It

A Thousand Words Times a Day “The Lens” blogs.nytimes.com

Many feel the finest things about the Internet come in visual form, that the movePineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ment toward multimedia and video-based content works best online. By that simple criteria, The New York Times blog “The Lens” is pioneering that movement at the speed of a camera shutter. It’s one thousand words multiple times a day. Ostensibly just a photojournalism blog, a running photographic documentation of the state of the world, “The Lens” simply gathers and presents staff photographs from The New York Times, Reuters photography, Getty Images and other photo organizations all in one place. In the process, it takes on some of the biggest issues and events of our time while focusing on the minutiae of human life around the world. It’s not just photos, either. Occasionally “The Lens” offers viewers a provocative news video or a voiceover interview with compelling images. There are also themes and specific projects that explore the world in a more intimate fashion. One recent outstanding project, for example, offered a collection of images taken from a staff photographer’s camera phone in Moscow. Who knew, you may find yourself asking, that a simple camera phone

could take such beautiful and arresting photos? It’s not what you get from a quick Google of “Moscow,” to be sure, and because of that, The New York Times provides a blueprint for what other evolving “new media” should do best — provide professional creative content that supplements and enhances one’s understanding of news coverage. I like to check in with “The Lens” almost every day, literally to “see” what’s new in the world. Looking back through old posts can keep you entertained for hours. If it’s true a picture is worth a thousand words, “The Lens” is a thousand words multiplied by a day. Its content can lift your mood or raise your awareness about an issue you didn’t know even existed. PS

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May 2010

PITTSBORO FIRST SUNDAY 12 – 4 p.m. Historic Pittsboro pittsboroshops.com

SUNRISE FILM: The Last Station 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501 or www.sunrisetheater.com

SUNRISE FILM: The Last Station 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501 or www.sunrisetheater.com

DRESSAGE The Harness Track (910) 3155959 SUNRISE FILM 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501 SUMMER ON THE PORCH Postmaster's House (910) 944-7502 AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES 2:30 p.m. (910) 692-8235

SUMMER ON THE PORCH Postmaster's House (910) 944-7502 EDDIE BARRETT ORCHESTRA 4 - 6:30 p.m. VFW Post (910) 692-3772 LP TATE SPRING CLASSIC Carolina Horse Park, Raeford (919) 6372958

GOLF TOURNAMENT (910) 673-1000 SUMMER ON THE PORCH (910) 944-7502 JACKSON’S GREATEST HITS (910) 295-2257 MOORE COUNTY CONCERT BAND 2 p.m. Carolina Hotel www.moorecountyband. com

TEA TALK & ETIQUETTE: For Mothers & Daughters 2 p.m. Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour (910) 255-0100

SCC JAZZ BAND OUTDOOR CONCERT 6:30 p.m. Sandhills Community College (910) 695-3829

SAVE THE CABIN: Sandhills Woman’s Exchange Fashion Show and Luncheon 11:30 a.m. (910) 295-4677

SANDHILLS NATURAL HISTORY MEETING 7 p.m. Weymouth Woods Auditorium (910) 692-2167

MORGAN SILLS 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. Weymouth Center (910) 692-6261 PATRICK COUGHLIN 3:30 p.m. Given Memorial Library (910) 295-6022 COOKING CLASS 5:30 p.m. Elliotts (910) 295-3663 SUNRISE FILM 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME 3 – 4 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library (910) 692-8235

LECTURE SERIES 10 a.m. Weymouth Center (910) 692-2787 MEET THE AUTHOR 2 – 4 p.m. (910) 692 3211 OLDIES & GOODIES 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (910) 692-8235 COOKING CLASS 5:30 p.m. Elliotts (910) 295-3663 ART AUCTION 6 – 8 p.m. (910) 538-6643

THE MET AT THE SUNRISE 6 p.m. (910) 692-8501 or sunrisetheater.org

SUNRISE FILM: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501 or www.sunrisetheater.com

WOMEN OF WEYMOUTH 11:30 a.m. Weymouth Center (910) 692-6261 or www.weymouthcenter.org

SCC STUDENT ART SHOW 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Sandhills Community College (910) 695-3831 PRESCHOOL STORYTIME 3:30 – 4 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library (910) 692-8235 WINE TASTING 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. The Village Wine Shop (910) 295-5100

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MOORE LUNCHEON 11:30 a.m. (910) 944-9611 WEYMOUTH BOYD BOOK CLUB 2 p.m. Weymouth Center (910) 692-6261 PIZZA WITH PIZZAZZ 5 – 6 p.m. Southern Pines Library(910) 692-8235

STREETS AT SOUTHPOINT 8:45 a.m. – 5 p.m. Meet Kirk Tours at Lowes Food, Olmsted Village (910) 295 – 2257

MEET THE AUTHOR 4 p.m. Country Bookshop(910) 692 3211

KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663 SANDHILLS SPRING CLASSIC Carolina Horse Park (919) 637-2958

MEET THE AUTHOR 4 p.m. (910) 692-3211 KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663 DINNER ON THE FARM Elliotts on Linden (910) 215-0775

CAMERON ANTIQUES FAIR 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (910) 245-7001 TACK AND BAKE SALE. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (910) 639-2482 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. (910) 295-3663 THE MET AT THE SUNRISE: Armida 1 p.m. (910) 692-8501 JUNIOR LEAGUE OYSTERFEST 4 – 8 p.m. OPEN MIC NIGHT 6:45 – 9 p.m. (910) 693-1999 DURHAM BULLS BASEBALL 4:30 p.m. Join (910) 295-2257 FIRST FRIDAY 5 – 8 p.m. Broad Street www.firstfridaysouthernpines.com ART EXHIBIT & OPENING RECEPTION 6 – 8 p.m. Campbell House Galleries (910) 692-2787 UNCORKED Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663 CARTHAGE BUGGY FESTIVAL Courthouse Square (910) 947-2331 DRESSAGE IN THE SANDHILLS The Harness Track, Pinehurst (910) 315-5959

CARTHAGE BUGGY FESTIVAL Courthouse Square (910) 947-2331 DRESSAGE IN THE SANDHILLS The Harness Track (910) 315-5959 SPRING FLING FESTIVAL 12 – 6 p.m. Cypress Bend Vineyards (910) 369-0411 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP 12 p.m. & 2 p.m. Elliotts (910) 295-3663 KEEP MOORE BEAUTIFUL 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Mid Pines (910) 947-3478 SUNRISE FILM 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. (910) 692-8501

PINEHURST RESORT'S HISTORIC WALKING TOUR AND TEA 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. (910) 235-8415 JAZZY FRIDAYS 7 – 10 p.m. (910) 369-0411 UNCORKED Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663 CAROLINA 200 Rockingham Speedway, (910) 205-8800 LP TATE SPRING CLASSIC Carolina Horse Park, Raeford (919) 637-2958 SPANISH WINE TASTING 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Village Wine Shop (910) 295-5100

MOORE JAZZ AND BLUES 2 – 7 p.m. NC POETRY SOCIETY AWARDS (910) 692-6261 NC SYMPHONY 8 p.m. (877) 627-6724 CAROLINA PHILHARMONIC 2:30 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. SPRING CLASSIC (919) 637-2958 GIVEN ON THE GREEN 7 – 10 p.m. (910) 295-6022. DOCK HOP 4:30 – 7 p.m. (910) 673-2949. OPEN MIC NIGHT 6:45 – 9 p.m. (910) 6931999.

SANDHILLS SPRING CLASSIC Carolina Horse Park (919) 637-2958

FINE ARTS LECTURE SERIES 10 a.m. Weymouth Center (910) 692-2787

KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663

WINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Village Wine Shop (910) 295-5100 UNCORKED Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663

CAROLINA PHILHARMONIC 7:00 p.m. (910) 687-4746 CAROLINA CLASSIC 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Pinehurst Harness Track (910) 315-2175

250 NW Broad St. Southern Pines • 692-3611 www.sunrisetheater.org Box Office 910-692-3611 Administrative Office 910-692-8501

May Movie & Event Schedule

FIRST FRIDAY Free Live Concert on the Sunrise Greenspace

May 7, 5-8pm The Fairlanes Family friendly music, food, beer & wine! Bring your beach blanket! MET OPERA LIVE IN HD

ARMIDA

starring Renee Fleming

May 1 at 1pm Reserved seating $20. Call 910-692-8501 or visit sunrisetheater.org

ARMIDA ENCORE Wed May 12 at 6pm Tickets $20 at the door MOVIES Evening $7.00, Matinee $6.00 Children under 12 - $5.00

THE LAST STATION Helen Mirren & Christopher Plummer April 29 - May 3 at 7:30 pm May 2 at 2:30 & 7:30 pm

CREATION JAZZY FRIDAYS 7 - 10 p.m. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery (910) 369-0411 LINDA DALTON POTTERY SPRING OPEN HOUSE 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. www.lindadaltonpottery.com MOORE ON STAGE PRESENTS: “On Broadway” 7:30 p.m Robert E. Lee Auditorium, Pinecrest High School (910) 692-7118

LINDA DALTON POTTERY SPRING OPEN HOUSE 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. www.lindadaltonpottery.com MOORE ON STAGE PRESENTS: “On Broadway” 7:30 p.m Robert E. Lee Auditorium (910) 692-7118 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden (910) 295-3663 VINCE GILL IN CONCERT 7:45 p.m. Village Arboretum, Pinehurst (910) 295-1900

Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany May 6 and 10 at 7:30 pm May 8 & 9 at 2:30, 5 & 7:30pm

GHOST WRITER Starring Ewan McGregor May 13, 14 & 17 at 7:30pm May 15 & 16 at 2:30, 5 & 7:30 pm

CITY ISLAND Starring Andy Garcia May 20, 21 & 24 at 7:30pm May 23 at 2:30, 5 & 7:30pm

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO May 27, 28 & 31 at 7:30pm May 29 & 30 at 2:30, 5 & 7:30pm

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Resale Retail Retail Resale

CA L E N DA R

May 1 CAMERON ANTIQUES FAIR. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Antiques and collectibles from more than 300 dealers on display in village shops and along streets in the Historic District of Cameron. For more information, please call (910) 245-7001 or visit www.antiquesofcameron.com.

Resurfacing for existing concrete Specializing in garage floors

HEALING HEARTS EQUINE RESCUE HORSE TACK AND BAKE SALE. 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. 1st Saturday each month at N.C. Storage off Yadkin Road. For more information, please call (910) 639-2482. KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP: Definitely Your Mamma’s Recipes. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FREE SATURDAY TASTING: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663.

B efo re

THE MET AT THE SUNRISE: Armida. 1 p.m. Live in HD. Reserved seating tickets required. For tickets and more information, please call (910) 692-8501 or visit sunrisetheater.org. The Sunsire Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. JUNIOR LEAGUE OYSTERFEST. 4 – 8 p.m. St. Joseph’s of the Pines presents the Junior League of Moore County’s 3rd Annual Oysterfest. Catering by Rhett’s and featuring music by House Call. Chairs and picnic blankets welcome. Tickets are $5 in advance/$7 day of event. Free admission for kids 12 and younger. Downtown Southern Pines on the corner of S Bennett St and W New York Ave. For tickets and more information, please visit www.jlmcnc.org.

Af ter

Garage Floors • Walkways • Patios • Driveways • Showrooms • Warehouses • And more 3 years Residential Warranty - Skid Resistant - Resists Black Tire Marks, Oils, Gasoline, All Household Chemicals & Most Corrosives

Phone/Fax 910-295-3821 • Cell 910-315-4901

OPEN MIC NIGHT. 6:45 – 9 p.m. Bring your instruments, voices or just your ears for a taste of great local music and coffee. Flynne’s Coffee Bar, 115 NE Broad Street, Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 693-1999.

May 2 PITTSBORO FIRST SUNDAY. 12 – 4 p.m. Explore the unique shops, galleries and wonderful local eateries of Historic Pittsboro. Local artists and craftsfolk will have tables set up with their unique offerings and fans of Beggars & Choosers can shop to your heart's content at their long awaited spring sale event. For an idea of the variety of participating artists, visit pittsboroshops.com for more information.

May 2 – 3 SUNRISE FILM: The Last Station. Starring Helen Mirren & Christopher Plummer. Sunday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Sunsire Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines.

May 4 TEA TALK & ETIQUETTE: For Mothers & Daughters. 2 p.m. Helen O.Von Salzen, M.Ed presents Tea Talk at Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour, 25 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst. Cost: $24. Includes tea, sampler, scones, sweets and a favor. For reservations and further information, please call (910) 255-0100.

May 5 SCC STUDENT ART SHOW: Opening Reception. 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 21st Annual Student Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Exclusively Carrying… RUGS & CARPETS

Located in Pinehurst, 585 Hwy 5 | 295-2293

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May 2010

CA L E N DA R

Look Great and Pay Less $1.00 off any $5.00

purchase with this ad! • Miss Hallie’s Clothing Cottage • Cris & Florrie’s Boutique • Sullivan Shop • The Bargain Barn

SANDHILLS/MOORE COALITION RESALE SHOPS 1117 W. Pennsylvania Ave. Southern Pines

Shop Hours: Tues - Fri 10-4 & Sat 9-12 Donations are appreciated with pick up available for large items.

www.sandhillscoalition.org

Art Show. Exhibit runs through July 31. 21st Annual Student Art Show at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 695-3831. PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3:30 – 4 p.m. Infants and toddlers welcome at the Southern Pines Public Library for stories, songs and fun. 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-8235. CINCO DE MAYO WINE TASTING AND RIBBON CUTTING. 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. Try a wine from Mexico in addition to spring and summertime favorites. Bring your own wine glass to this free event at The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-5100.

May 6 MORGAN SILLS CONCERT. 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. A New York based cabaret artist who grew up in Southern Pines returns to Weymouth for a “Morgan Sings Hammerstein” matinee and fundraiser. Tickets: $30. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For reservations and ticket information, please call (910) 692-6261. SPEAKER PATRICK COUGHLIN. 3:30 p.m. Patrick Coughlin, President and CEO of Moore County Chamber of Commerce, will discuss some of the hot topics of Moore County including BRAC and county water issues. Event is free and open to the public at Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-6022 or visit givenmemoriallibrary.net. KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS: Caribbean Night. 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. $45. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. SUNRISE FILM: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 7:30 p.m. The Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines. WINE TASTING: Pinot Noir. Sandhills Winery, 145 West Plaza Drive, Unit L, Seven Lakes. For more information, please call (910) 673-2949.

May 7 DURHAM BULLS BASEBALL. 4:30 p.m. Join Kirk Tours at Lowes Food, Olmsted Village and depart for Durham to watch the Bulls battle the Scranton Yankees. Cost: $44. For more information, please call (910) 295-2257. FIRST FRIDAY. 5 – 8 p.m. Food, beverages and live entertainment from rock ’n roll band The Fairlanes. Free admission to this family-friendly event held at the grassy knoll adjacent to the Sunrise Theater, Broad Street, Southern Pines. For more information, visit www.firstfridaysouthernpines.com. ART EXHIBIT & OPENING RECEPTION. 6 – 8 p.m. Featuring artwork by Jugtown Pottery and Jeannie Lorette Keats Jewelry. Exhibit to run for entire month. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For schedule and more information, please call (910) 692-2787. UNCORKED: Rated versus Unrated. See if you can guess the rating that your favorite wine magazine gave each wine. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

CA L E N DA R

May 7 – 8 CARTHAGE BUGGY FESTIVAL. The Buggy Festival recognizes Carthage and the Tyson & Jones Buggy Factory that operated in the 1800's and early 1900's. A BBQ Cook-off in Nancy Kiser Park will be held Friday from 6 – 10 p.m. Buggies will be on display on Saturday from 9 a.m. – 9 p.m., in addition to continuous entertainment, arts and crafts, antiques, great food and, of course, the car show. Carthage downtown area, Courthouse Square. For more information, please call (910) 947-2331.

May 7 – 9 DRESSAGE IN THE SANDHILLS. All day. The Harness Track, Route 5, Village of Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 315-5959.

May 8 5th ANNUAL SPRING FLING FESTIVAL. 12 – 6 p.m. Live music, arts & crafts and food vendors. Free Admission. Cypress Bend Vineyards, 21904 Riverton Road, Wagram. For more information, please call (910) 369-0411. KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP: Strawberry Salsa. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FREE SATURDAY TASTING: Whites from Spain. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. KEEP MOORE BEAUTIFUL: Annual Marge Owings Memorial Golf Tournament. Held at Mid Pines on Midland Road. Registration from 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. Shotgun starts at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Entry fee applies and includes 18-hole round, green and cart fees, lunch and on-the-course beverages and snacks. Gift packet for every player includes four complimentary green fees at Mid Pines. For more information, please call (910) 947-3478.

May 8 – 9 SUNRISE FILM: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 2:30 & 7:30 p.m. The Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines.

May 9 SUMMER ON THE PORCH MUSIC SERIES. Postmaster's House, 204 E. South Street, Aberdeen. For more information, please call (910) 944-7502 or visit www.theroosterswife.org. SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE MOVIES. 2:30 p.m. The Princess and the Frog (rated G) for grades 3 – 5. Set in the 1920s jazz age in New Orleans the film puts a heart-warming animated twist on the old Brothers Grimm frog-prince fairy tale. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-8235.

May 10 SCC JAZZ BAND OUTDOOR CONCERT. 6:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. In the event of rain, concert moves to Owens Auditorium. Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 695-3829. SUNRISE FILM: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 7:30 p.m. The Sunsire Theater, 250 NW Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

CA L E N DA R Broad St., Southern Pines.

May 12

Showcase Home Community

PRESCHOOL STORYTIME. 3 – 4 p.m. Infants and toddlers welcome at the Southern Pines Public Library for stories, songs and fun. 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-8235. THE MET AT THE SUNRISE: Armida encore. 6 p.m. Live in HD. Tickets $20 at the door. For more information, please call (910) 692-8501 or visit sunrisetheater.org. The Sunrise Theater, 250 NW Broad St., Southern Pines.

May 13 FINE ARTS LECTURE SERIES. 10 a.m. Dr. Molly Gwinn, "Artist as Force of Nature: Jackson Pollack". Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For reservations and more information, please call the Arts Council of Moore County at (910) 692-2787.

Front Porches. Winding Sidewalks. Community Gathering Places. -

Clubhouse Fitness Center Playground Pool

Open House Daily 10am – 5pm

MEET THE AUTHOR: HENRY WINKLER. 2 – 4 p.m. HENRY WINKLER (aka ‘The Fonz’) shares A Brand New Me!, the 17th and final installment in his Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever children’s series, based on his early struggles with dyslexia. This is a ticketed event and fund-raiser for the Moore County Literacy Council and will be held at the O’Neal School Auditorium, Southern Pines. Seating is limited. For more information, call The Country Bookshop at (910) 692 3211. OLDIES & GOODIES FILM SERIES PRESENTS: The Palm Beach Story. 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. The 1942 romantic comedy stars Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, and Rudy Vallee. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-8235. KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS: Let’s Salsa. 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. $45. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FRIEND TO FRIEND ART AUCTION. 6 – 8 p.m. Silent auction will be held to benefit Friend to Friend. Includes wine, hors d’oeuvres and work by local artists. Transformation Studio East. Tickets: $20. For more information, please call (910) 5386643.

From Midland Road turn at the Longleaf Light onto South Knoll Rd, 1/4 Mile on the Left. Si ng l e F am il y Re si denc e s fr om $3 5 0 ,0 0 0

Ma in ten anc e Fr ee Co tt ag e H om es f ro m $ 2 9 5, 0 0 0

Winner of 3 MCHBA Awards

WINE TASTING: Riesling. Sandhills Winery, 145 West Plaza Drive, Unit L, Seven Lakes. For more information, please call (910) 673-2949.

May 13 – 15 CAROLINA 200. Rockingham Speedway, 2152 N US Hwy 1. For tickets or more information, please call (910) 205-8800 or visit www.rockinghamspeedway.com.

May 13 – 16 LP TATE SPRING CLASSIC. Week 1 of “Springtime in the Pines.” USEF "A" rated hunter/jumper show at Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Road, Raeford. For more information, please call or email Andrew Ellis at (919) 637-2958 or equitalk@aol.com.

May 14

910.295.9040 910.725.1319 www.TheArboretumSP.com Natural Gas Community

May 2010

PINEHURST RESORT'S HISTORIC WALKING TOUR AND TEA. 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Discover the stories of Pinehurst's history and enjoy the traditions of classic high tea at one of America's Historic Landmarks. $25/person. Space is limited.

For reservations, please call (910) 235-8415. JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 – 10 p.m. Event held rain or shine. Live jazz music, hors d'oeuvres. Admission is $8/person. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery, Riverton Road in Wagram. For more information, please call (910) 369-0411. SPANISH WINE TASTING. 6 – 8:30 p.m. Bring your own wine glass. Cost: $7. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-5100. UNCORKED: Known versus Unknown. Sway away from mainstream brands and try something you’ve never heard of. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663.

May 15 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP: Canning Strawberry Jelly. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FREE SATURDAY TASTING: Lagers from around the world. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. MOORE JAZZ AND BLUES. 2 – 7 p.m. Bring your blankets and picnic baskets, and enjoy a wonderful afternoon of world-class jazz performances at the lovely Arboretum at Wicker Park in Pinehurst. Concert features North Moore Mustangs band and renowned Jazz Saxophonist, Reggie C. The John Brown Quintet will headline. For more information, visit www.moorejazzandblues.com. NC POETRY SOCIETY AWARDS CEREMONY. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-6261 or visit www.weymouthcenter.org. NC SYMPHONY: American Classics. 8 p.m. Featuring Shana Blake Hill, soprano. Program includes Bernstein, Ives, Curry, Williams, Mizesko and Copland. Robert E. Lee Auditorium, Pinecrest High School, Southern Pines. For more information or to order tickets, please call the North Carolina Symphony Box Office at (877) 627-6724. ONE-DAY TOURNAMENT. Sponsored through the Carolinas Golf Association. Longleaf Country Club. For additional information, please call (910) 673-1000 or visit www.carolinasgolf.org. THE CAROLINA PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER MUSIC. 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. “Asian Delicacies,” featuring Ishii, Debussy, Tchaikovsky and traditional Korean songs. General Admission: $25, Senior/Military: $20, Students: free. Founders Hall, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 300 Dundee Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 687-4746 or (910) 400-5070 or visit www.CarolinaPhil.org. GIVEN ON THE GREEN. 7 – 10 p.m. An elegant evening on the Village Green showcasing fine foods, spirits and entertainment. Awards will be presented to the favorite tent, appetizer, entrée and dessert. Tickets: $75. Event will be held on the grounds of the Given Memorial Library & Tufts Archives, 150 Cherokee Road Pinehurst. For tickets and more information, please call (910) 2956022. DOCK HOP. 4:30 – 7 p.m. Meet at Johnson’s Point at 4:30 p.m. and eat, drink and be merry while hopping from dock to dock on Lake Auman, Seven Lakes West. Tickets: $25. For more information, please call (910) 673-2949.

Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

DINING GUIDE

Celebrate The Local Farmer 910.246.3510 140 E. New Hampshire Avenue Downtown Southern Pines Serving Dinner Tuesday-Sunday

www.ashtens.com

DINING GUIDE

MOORE COUNTY

FARMERS MARKET Tomatoes & Strawberries Fruits, Veggies, Jams, Meats, Flowers & Plants

Mondays- FirstHealth (Fitness Center) 170 Memorial Dr â&#x20AC;¢ Pinehurst 2pm-6pm

Will be open through October 25th

Thursdays- Morganton Rd (Armory Sports Complex) Southern Pines 9am-1pm

Saturdays - Downtown Southern Pines Broad St & New York Ave 8am-Noon Will be open through October 30th

Call 947-3752 or 690-9520 for more information. On the web: Google Moore County Farmers Market Local Harvest Visit us on facebook!

CA L E N DA R OPEN MIC NIGHT. 6:45 – 9 p.m. Bring your instruments, voices or just your ears for a taste of great local music and coffee. Flynne’s Coffee Bar, 115 NE Broad Street, Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 693-1999.

WINE TASTING: J. Lohr Tasting. Sandhills Winery, 145 West Plaza Drive, Unit L, Seven Lakes. For more information, please call (910) 673-2949.

May 20 – 23

May 15 – 16 CAROLINA POLOCROSSE CLUB. 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. Pinehurst Harness Track, Route 5, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 875-4814.

May 16 SUMMER ON THE PORCH MUSIC SERIES. Postmaster's House, 204 E. South Street, Aberdeen. For more information, please call (910) 944-7502 or visit www.theroosterswife.org. EDDIE BARRETT ORCHESTRA. 4 - 6:30 p.m. Eddie Barrett and the Goodman Legacy Orchestra will perform at the VFW Post, 615 S. Page Street, Southern Pines. Cover Charge: $5. For more information, please call (910) 692-3772.

May 17 WOMEN OF WEYMOUTH. 11:30 a.m. Strawberry Festival. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-6261 or visit www.weymouthcenter.org. SAVE THE CABIN: Sandhills Woman’s Exchange Fashion Show and Luncheon at the Pinehurst Members Club. 11:30 a.m. Fashion show by Belk and Coalition for Human Care. Tickets: $27.50. For tickets and more information, please call (910) 295-4677.

May 18 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MOORE LUNCHEON. 11:30 a.m. Robert Wittman MPH, Director of Moore County Health Department will speak at The Table on the Green, Midland Country Club. For reservations and more information, please call Charlotte Gallagher at (910) 944-9611. WEYMOUTH BOYD BOOK CLUB. 2 p.m. Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-6261 or visit www.weymouthcenter.org. PIZZA WITH PIZZAZZ. 5 – 6 p.m. Students grades 6 – 8 are invited to experience “Weird Science” and enjoy free pizza. Learn how to make ordinary raisins dance, create a hurricane in a bottle, and make a geyser from Diet Coke and Mentos! Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-8235.

SANDHILLS SPRING CLASSIC. Week 2 of “Springtime in the Pines.” USEF "A" rated hunter/jumper show at Carolina Horse Park. For more information, please call or email Andrew Ellis at (919) 637-2958 or equitalk@aol.com.

May 21 FINE ARTS LECTURE SERIES. 10 a.m. Denise Drum Baker, "Environmental Earthworks: Robert Smithson, Christo and Andy Goldsworthy." Weymouth Center, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Please call the Arts Council of Moore County at (910) 692-2787 for reservations. WINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD. 6 – 8:30 p.m. Bring your own wine glass. Cost: $7. The Village Wine Shop, 80 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-5100. UNCORKED: Blind Tasting Syrah. Try four different Syrah’s, each from a different winegrowing region. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663.

May 22 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP: Strawberry Breakfast Chop with Black Pepper Scramble. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FREE SATURDAY TASTING: Rose’. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. THE CAROLINA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: "Concerto Extravaganza." 7:00 p.m. Featuring Koussevitsky, Bartok, Mascagni, Bach, Ewazen. General Admission: $25, Senior/Military: $20, Students: free. Main Sanctuary, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, 300 Dundee Road, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 687-4746 or (910) 400-5070 or visit wwww.CarolinaPhil.org.

May 22 – 23 CAROLINA CLASSIC WELSH SHOW. 8 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Pinehurst Harness Track, Route 5, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 315-2175.

May 23

May 19 MEET THE AUTHOR: Susan Kelly. 4 p.m. Winner of the Carolina Novel Award, Kelly presents her new novel, By Accident, the story of a year in the life of a woman after the death of her teenage son and the love she finds in his replacement. The Country Bookshop, 140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692 3211.

May 20 KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS: Glorious Pizza. 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. $45. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663.

ONE-DAY TOURNAMENT. Sponsored through the Carolinas Golf Association. Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club. For additional information, please call (910) 673-1000 or visit www.carolinasgolf.org. SUMMER ON THE PORCH MUSIC SERIES. Postmaster's House, 204 E. South Street, Aberdeen. For more information please call (910) 944-7502 or visit www.theroosterswife.org. JACKSON’S GREATEST HITS. Join Kirk Tours on a trip to Myrtle Beach for a tribute to the legend that every Michael fan must see. Dinner will be included at the Original Captain Benjamin’s. Cost: $105. For reservations and information, please call (910) 295-2257.

Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Sanford

CA L E N DA R

May 24

Sandy Woods Farm off Linden Road. Limited space. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available at Elliott's. For more information, please call (910) 215-0775.

SANDHILLS NATURAL HISTORY MEETING. 7 p.m. Potluck! Bring your favorite dish and a natural history item or no more than five photos to share. Visitors are welcome. Weymouth Woods Auditorium, 1024 Ft. Bragg Rd., Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-2167 or visit www.sandhillsnature.org.

WINE TASTING: Great Blends. Sandhills Winery, 145 West Plaza Drive, Unit L, Seven Lakes. For more information, please call (910) 673-2949.

May 25

May 28

STREETS AT SOUTHPOINT. 8:45 a.m. – 5 p.m. Meet Kirk Tours at Lowes Food, Olmsted Village and depart for a day of shopping at the Streets of Southpoint. Cost: $105. For more information and reservations, please call (910) 295 – 2257.

JAZZY FRIDAYS. 7 - 10 p.m. Event held rain or shine. Live jazz music, hors d'oeuvres. Admission is $8/person. Cypress Bend Vineyards & Winery, Riverton Road in Wagram. For more information, please call (910) 369-0411.

May 27

May 28 – 29

MEET THE AUTHOR: Suzy Barile. 4 p.m. Barile chronicles the story of the famous courtship and marriage of Ella Swain and Smith Atkins in Undaunted Heart: The True Love Story of a Southern Belle and a Yankee General. 140 NW Broad Street, Southern Pines. For more information, please call (910) 692-3211. KITCHEN ESSENCE COOKING CLASS: Sandwich is Royalty. 5:30 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. $45. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. DINNER ON THE FARM. Mark Elliott, owner and chef of Elliott's on Linden, is taking dinner to the field to support the Sandhills Children's Center. Elliott and his sous chefs will prepare a 4-course dinner under the trees at

LINDA DALTON POTTERY SPRING OPEN HOUSE. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Register to win a $300 piece of pottery. For photos and more information, please visit www.lindadaltonpottery.com

May 28 – 30 MOORE ON STAGE PRESENTS: “On Broadway.” May 28 & 29 at 7:30 p.m., May 30 at 2 p.m. Song and dance from “Wicked,” “Jersey Boys,” “Mary Poppins” and many more of your favorite Broadway shows will be the theme of this production conceived by Rita and Gary Taylor. Robert E. Lee Auditorium, Pinecrest High School, Southern Pines. For tickets and additional information, please call (910) 692-7118.

May 29 KITCHEN ESSENCE FREE WORKSHOP: Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumb Pie. 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. FREE SATURDAY TASTING: Easy Drinking Reds. Elliotts on Linden, 905 Linden Rd, Pinehurst. For more information, please call (910) 295-3663. VINCE GILL IN CONCERT. Gates open at 5 p.m., concert to start at 7:45 p.m. at the Village Arboretum in Pinehurst. Proceeds will benefit the local chapter of The First Tee. General Admission: $25, VIP: $75-$125. Tickets available through Ticketmaster.com. For more information, please call (910) 295-1900.

May 30 MOORE COUNTY CONCERT BAND. 2 p.m. Free event. Cardinal Ballroom, Carolina Hotel, Pinehurst Resort, Village of Pinehurst. For more information please visit www.moorecountyband.com.

Art Galleries The Old Silk Route, 113 West Main St., Aberdeen specializes in Asian original art, including silk paintings, tapestries, Buddhist Thangkas and Indian paper miniatures. Open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11 am until 4 pm. (910) 295-2055. Art Gallery at the Market Place Restaurant Building at 2160 Midland Road, Pinehurst, features

Key: Art Literature Children Dance Film Fun Health History Music Nature Speaker Sports Theater Tour Tasteful

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CA L E N DA R original art by local artists Joan Williams, Deane Billings, Jeanette Sheehan, Mike D’Andrea, Janet Burdick, Nancy Yanchus, and Cele Bryant. Meet one of the artists Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (910) 215-5963. Artist Alley features juried art and fine crafts from local and regional artists, 167 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., MondaySaturday. (910) 692-6077. Artists League of the Sandhills, located at 129 Exchange St. in historic Aberdeen. Exhibit hours are noon-3 p.m., Monday-Saturday. (910) 9443979. Broadhurst Gallery, 2212 Midland Rd., Pinehurst, showcases works by nationally recognized artists such as Louis St. Lewis, Lula Smith, Shawn Morin, Rachel Clearfield, Judy Cox, and Jason Craighead. Meet-the-artist opportunities are available. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. (910) 295-4817, www.broadhurstgallery.com. The Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines, is open 9 a.m.5 p.m., Monday-Friday, and every third weekend of the month from 2-4 p.m. (910) 692-4356, www.mooreart.org. The Downtown Gallery (inside Flynne’s Coffee Bar) is located at 115 NE Broad St. in downtown Southern Pines. Ever-changing array of local and regional art, pottery and other handmade items. (910) 693-1999. Hastings Gallery is located in the Katharine L. Boyd Library at Sandhills Community College, Pinehurst. Gallery hours are 7:45 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 7:45 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; and 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Hollyhocks Art Gallery, 905 Linden Road, Pinehurst, features original artwork by local artists Diane Kraudelt, Irene McFarland, Karen Meredith,

Susan Edquist and artist/owner Jane Casnellie. Daily 10:30am to 9:30pm and Sunday evenings 6pm-9:30pm. (910) 255-0665, www.hollyhocksartgallery.com. Lady Bedford’s Tea Parlour, located at 25 Chinquapin Road in Pinehurst, is featuring local artist Nancy Campbell. Original oil and watercolor paintings are on display. Open Tuesday - Saturday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (910) 255-0100, www.ladybedfords.com The Gallery at Seven Lakes, a gallery dedicated to local artists. The Gallery is open on Wednesday and Thursday each week from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. 1145 Seven Lakes Drive, The St. Mary Magdalen building. Just 9 miles from the Pinehurst Traffic circle up 211. Seagrove Candle Company, 116 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines, showcases the arts and crafts of the Sandhills and Seagrove area. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday, Wednesday-Saturday, (910) 6950029. SKY Art Gallery, 602 Magnolia Dr., Aberdeen, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. (910) 9449440, www.skyartgallery.com. White Hill Gallery, 407 U.S. 15-501, Carthage, offers a variety of pottery. (910) 947-6100.

Nature Centers Sandhills Horticultural Gardens (32 acres of gardens). The Sandhills Horticultural Gardens are handicapped-accessible. Daylight hours year-round. (910)695-3882. Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve (898 acres). 1024 Ft. Bragg Road, Southern Pines. (910) 692-2167.

Historical Sites Bethesda Church and Cemetery. Guided tours for groups by appointment. 1020 Bethesda Road, Aberdeen. (910) 944-1319. Bryant House and McLendon Cabin. Tours by appointment. (910) 692-2051 or (910) 673-0908. Carthage Historical Museum. Sundays, 2-5 p.m. or by appointment. Located at Rockingham and Saunders streets, Carthage. (910) 947-2331. House in the Horseshoe. Open year-round. Hours vary. 288 Alston House Road (10 miles north of Carthage), Sanford. (910) 947-2051. Malcolm Blue Farm and Museum. 1-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Group tours can be arranged by appointment. (910) 944-7558 or (910) 6032739. North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday-Friday, at the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. (910) 692-6261. Shaw House Property. Open 1-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday. (910) 692-2051. Tufts Archives. 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday. (910) 2953642. Union Station. Open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Located in downtown Aberdeen. (910) 944-5902. ——————————————————— To add an event, send us an e-mail at pinestraw@thepilot.com by May1, 2010.

PINENEEDLER ANSWERS Puzzle answers from page 107 O A S T

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

Always Accepting Quality Consignments Estate Settlement Services

Leland Little

AUCTION&ESTATE SALES With Fidelity And Dispatch

LTD

Three Piece Scottish Sterling Silver Dessert Service, to be sold June 19, 2010

Contact: Nancy Blount, CES NCFL #7452

Telephone 919.644.1243 â&#x2122;¦ 910.947.1863 WWW.LLAUCTIONS.COM

620 Cornerstone Ct., Hillsborough, NC 27278

May 2010

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen “April in Paris” Habitat for Humanity Spring Gala Photographs by Al & Annette Daniels Joe & Crystal Brown, Nick Brown, Stephanie Carter, Sydney Wood, Charles Pope

Felice and Helen Schillaci, Cav and Chuck Peterson

Franceska Aaron

Mary O’Malley

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Kathy Wilford, Elizabeth Koeckert

Barbara Sickenberger

Jimmie Hapner

Jamie Luzar

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May 2010

Direct Line

Rick Phillips

910-695-5795

Associate Broker

Email: rphillips@pinehurst.net

Serving the Pinehurst Area for 35 Years Homes-Condominiums-LandInvestments Golf Course Communities 19 Chinquapin Road Pinehurst Village Next to BB&T (910) 295-6300

May 2010

110 High Point Road

180 Ridgewood Road

Pine Grove Village, 3200+ SF 4 BR, 2 1/2 BA $469,500

Pinehurst #3 Course, 3200+ SF 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA $543,500

15 McDonald Road

285 Quail Run

Near Old Town Pinehurst 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA $269,500

Clarendon Gardens, 3700+ SF 3 BR, 4 1/2 BA $379,800

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen Stoneybrook Gala Pinehurst Country Club

Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Andy & Rachel Golden, Dr. George Veasy, Danielle Veasy, Mike Hardin

Jackie Garris, Nelson Neil

Michelle Miller, John Taws, Lisa Youngclaus

Linn & John Burgess

Sally Brown

Ralph Ronalter

Linda Lindsey

Beth Dowd, Phoebe Walsh Robertson

Lucille & Jim Buck

Wendy Hopper, Stephen later

Elizabeth Palmer, Paul Bride

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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May 2010

SandhillSeen Stoneybrook Steeplechase Carolina Horse Park

Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Nick & Effie Ellis

Drs. Jock & Kathryn Tate

Joanie Thiele, Jim Granito

Meghan Jones. Maureen Wainwright, Phoebe W. Robertson

Paul Harkness

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Doris Beamer and Habby Haberstroh

Bonnie Root

Barbara Hess and Neville Beamer

Trent Freeman

Maureen and Liam Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara

Josh and Shannon Weston

Audrey Moriarty and David Young

Heather Fino and Ericka Ayarza

Kim and William Sobat Cecilia Mitchell

Marcie Haberstroh, Tracy Frye and Joey Rouse Mart and Glenn Dickerson

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BY ASTRID STELLANOVA

Taurus (4.20 – 5.20) As stubborn as a donkey’s derriere, the fixed nature of your earth sign makes it difficult for you to try new things. Listen, Sweetie, don’t hold your pennies so tight that Abe Lincoln hollers. Besides, a pinch of spontaneity never laid anybody up. When Venus beckons you to indulge in material pleasures in the beginning of the month, like that specialty coffee you’re always too cheap to order or that ring you’ve been eyeballing on that home shopping network, go hog wild. At the very least, Cakeface, consider trying something new with that coiffure of yours — your friends are beginning to think you’re boring.

GEMINI (May 21 – June 20) Born with the gift of the gab, you’re just about as full of wind as a corn-eating horse. (Trust me, I married one once.) Since April 18, Mercury’s retrograde has been triggering your wanderlust ways to lead you into a situation that’s stickier than pine sap on a park bench. Honey, don’t let the tail wag the dog — start yakking your way out of there faster than green grass though a goose! Things will settle around May 11. After that, try taking my Aunty Pearl’s advice and plug your pie-hole for a while, it could take you far.

CANCER (June 21 – July 22)

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Ruled by the fiery sun, you’re used to shining brighter than Grandma’s linoleum floors after a spring-cleaning. Though it might not be your month to sparkle, there’s no need to get your skivvies in a twist about it. Hang in there until the Full Moon on the 27th. Whether you’ve got a golf swing as pretty as pie or a fashion sense that puts Victoria Beckham to shame, people will be tripping over their lips to compliment your superiority once again. Just try not to get bigheaded about it, Dear — it’s really not a good look for you.

I’d be about as happy as a tick on a scrap-fed dog to have your birthstone. Heck, I’d swap zodiacs with you for it if only I were prudish enough to fit the mold. Just kidding, Sweetie. Don’t let me ruffle up your feathers. May’s a good month for you. As Mercury shifts into its rightful course, life will be just about as dandy as blackberry flapjacks at a Sunday brunch. Assuming, of course, that you’ve ever been invited to something like that.

LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22) Ruled by the whimsical Venus, you strive for life to be as jolly as a toddler with a fist full of lollypops. Well, Sunshine, you don’t have to stop being yourself for people to think you’re the berries! As my Aunty Pearl used to tell me, a whistling woman and a crowing hen never come to a very good end. With the New Moon on the 14th giving you an extra hunk of confidence, you’ll finally have the gall to speak what’s on your mind. If you want, ask your Honey Bun out dancing. Don’t worry — they’ll be so tickled they’ll barely notice your two left feet!

SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21) The clashing of Saturn and Uranus at April’s end has caused your emotions to be rockier than Jessica Simpson’s love life. Luckily, with the resilience of teriyaki deer meat, you’ve managed to persevere. Treat yourself to a massage, Sweetie. Around May 8, just before Mercury’s shift, things will start lining up for you like a Soul Train at a summertime wedding reception. Like Daddy Foote used to say, the sun doesn’t shine on the same dog’s tail all the time!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21) With your ruling planet Jupiter igniting your zest for life, you’ll find yourself feeling like a young barnyard chicken, particularly after the 14th when you meet a group of people who seem as swell as a baby’s dimples. Although trust is a much-admired virtue of Sagittarians, remember that every dog has a few fleas. If someone tinkles on your leg and calls it rain, for Pete’s sake, Honey, don’t buy it!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22- Jan 19)

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) You’re a couple of sandwiches shy of a picnic, but that’s what reading all those books will do to you! Hate to break it to you, Smarty, but that quest of yours to understand all the world’s wonders is about as useful as living in an igloo in the middle of a Carolina summer. Lucky for you, with your ruling planet Saturn shifting back toward earth at the month’s end, your love life is bound to become spicier than deep-fried chicken curry. If that ain’t the distraction you need, I don’t know what is.

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

You’ve got to be getting tired of going to bed with the chickens, Sweetie. The New Moon on the 14th will help you peel yourself away from that reality show you’re so embarrassed to admit watching. Instead, spend the evening downtown with a group of close friends you haven’t seen in a coon’s age. Maybe you could even split that slice of “Better Than Necking” cake you keep rain checking. Either way, your unexpected presence will just dill their pickles.

Busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest, sooner or later you’re going to poop out like cow-patty bingo. As Saturn makes its shift on the 30th, you’ll realize that sometimes you’ve got to slow down and sniff the dang petunias. The thing you’ve been striving for is about to bop you in the face like a hillbilly after a shot of White Lightning! Despite what your crazy imagination may have led you to believe, you don’t have super powers, Hon. Translation: The sooner you sweep your ego under the rug and ask for help once in a cotton-picking while the better off you’ll be! Once you do, life will be as sweet as Momma’s peach cobbler and a scoop of ice cream. But you’d be wise to hang on to your britches when Neptune turns retrograde at the end of the month — otherwise that ice cream is liable to be Rocky Road.

ARIES (Mar 21- Apr 19) My great Aunt Ruby, twice removed, was an Aries — voice like a songbird, arms like a lumberjack. Needless to say, I know the type. With Mars continuing to stream forward and Venus’ soon anticipated presence, you’re just about as hunky-dory as a fried chicken sandwich at a barbecue stand. With the New Moon on the 14th, you may be eager to pull a stunt that’s crazier than an Evel Knievel gig. Just remember, no matter how many shades of pink you turn afterward, your friends will still claim you. Probably. Astrid Stellanova, 55, owned and operated Curl Up and Dye Beauty Salon in Windblow, NC for many years until arthritic fingers and her popular astrological readings opened up a new career path. Feel free to contact Astrid for insights on your personal stars or hair advice for any occasion at astridstellanova@rocketmail.com.

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

May PineNeedler B M Y

ACROSS 1. Crude group? 5. Noncommittal answer 10. “60 Minutes” network 13. A chorus line 14. Arctic ___ 15. Fuel piece 16. Tart 17. Burn 18. “Major” animal 19. Small sleep accommodations 21. Leeway 23. 1951 N.L. Rookie of the Year 24. A very large profit 25. Cling 28. Congers 29. Highway headaches 32. Scheduled to arrive 35. Too soon 36. Mother, ___I? 37. Quick trip 39. Blonde’s secret, maybe 40. Coconut libation 42. “Not this” 44. Greetings 45. Dashes 48. BLT must-have 49. Dawn goddess 50. Sleeping Beauty’s name 54. Slope wear 55. Virginia Fallon, or Mike Haney, i.e. 57. Detective, at times 58. Heavy reading 59. Agassi

ART DICKERSON

Sudoku Fill in the grid so 60. “___ quam videri” (North Carolina’s motto) 61. Aberdeen-toCameron direction 62. Stoneybrook charger 63. Act DOWN 1. Brewer’s oven 2. Farm equipment 3. Small case 4. Hushpuppy ingredient 5. Sauntered 6. Litmus reddeners 7. Cravings 8. Work the grocery checkout

PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

9. Foes 10. Literally, “dwarf dog,” or Beth Dowd’s champ 11. It holds water 12. Street talk 15. Ringlets 20. Resembling a tree trunk 22. “___ or nothing” 24. Lake Turkana locale 25. Lying, maybe 26. Heavy cart 27. “Catch!” 30. Leaves out 31. Pale 32. Kind of exhaust 33. Annul 34. Flight data, briefly

37. Racing’s Logano, Neville’s Rouse, Rat Pack comic Bishop, i.e. 38. Portioned out 40. Jipijapa hats 41. Ran the Board 42. Not these... 43. “___ Town Too” (1981 hit) 45. Hurriedness 46. “Gold” potato 47. Choice 48. Sandhills County 50. Jekyll’s alter ego 51. “___ on Down the Road” 52. Awake with the sun 53. Snow mobile? 56. Picnic pest

every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1-9.

6 4 5 9 4 8 3 6 4 1 8 5 9 2 6 1 1 7 3 9 4 2 7 Puzzle answers on page 93

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S O U T H WO R D S

Mommy Talk

BY KATHRYN GALLOWAY

ne year ago, I met the second love of my life. He was 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 22 inches of pure joy. Like any other first-time mom, I was completely clueless upon his arrival. Of course, you can read all the books and articles that you like, but when it comes down to it, it’s 100 percent instinct and plenty of “WHAT THE HECK DO I DO NOW?” moments. Because how is anyone supposed to know what normal baby poop looks like? Before embarking on this new adventure in maternity, I spent five years in an intense interior architecture program in which I developed a plethora of terms and discourse related to design that carried me through to graduation and into the working world. Indeed, with every new occupation, there is a new set of vocabulary to learn and add to. The same goes for mommy-hood. The words and phrases that I now formulate and spill out into the public ear, sometimes inadvertently, are things that never would have entered my normal realm of thought before. When my son came down with a bout of norovirus, I found myself describing, in detail, the disgusting projections to anyone willing to listen usually resulting in an awkward smirk as I crossed the “T.M.I” line. To me, however, this is perfectly normal dialogue. Actually, I was a bit confused as to why I didn’t get more response or feedback. I guess it was the wrong audience. My favorite phrases are the ones that only my husband, my son and I can understand. “Is that a dirty dydy?”, “Ready for a splash-splash?” and my favorite, “Ducka Ducka Da?”, which is his sweet attempt at conversation to whoever will talk back. I find myself repeating the latter constantly in an attempt to make him repeat it and then I realize that it is perhaps better for his development if I ask him to repeat actual words and proper sentences. But who can resist baby talk? If it makes them smile, keep it up! I’ll do anything to see him grin, too. Even if it means subjecting myself to countless hours of “The Wiggles,” who are usually my guaranteed babysitters in times of dire need. Crying is of course inevitable but in an effort to lessen that, I tried singing numerous numbers of tunes, ranging from Lady Gaga to TV theme

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songs. “Bonanza” was a hit and so was whistling the tune of the “Andy Griffith Show.” But I hit the jackpot when I tried James Brown’s “I Got You.” As soon as he hears “OW!”, his eyes light up and I get a glimpse of those eight pearly whites. For 2 minutes and 46 seconds, all is well with the world. Never did I think that I would sing that song so many times in a day. The words are permanently fixed in my mind. I envision him performing it in his 3rd grade talent show. This desire for constant dry eyes is nothing new. No mom likes to hear screaming and having to wipe tears. For me, though, I think it stems from my memories of a happy childhood. My mom is the best. Green eggs and ham for St. Patty’s Day breakfasts, birthday gift scavenger hunts, Valentine’s Day surprises, being involved in all of my and my two brothers’ active lifestyles, and no matter what, throughout the years, being a shoulder to cry on and my best friend. Luckily for me, my mom is just a phone call (and a 15-minute drive) away. She answers all my questions, calms my concerns and is my voice of reason and knowledge for all things baby (and life) related. I’d love to review our phone bills to count up all the minutes of imparted wisdom. Her patience surpasses normal levels and like her mom, her kindness and generosity are unparalleled. Our mother-daughter exchange over the years is ever growing and she more than anyone has given me the keys to this secret discourse called motherhood. I guess that, all in all, moms have a language all their own. Oftentimes not making the most sense, and other times making some a little nauseous. However, of all the words in that language, I think the best are the unspoken ones. The part of the language that’s created when a smiling face greets you in the mornings; The part that makes your heart ache when you get the very first hug and kiss; the part that makes you proud when he takes his first step; the part that’s developed when you first get to look into those beautiful blue eyes. I can’t fathom how it will feel to hear “I love you, Mommy” for the first time. I’m not sure if there is a word to describe that. PS Kathryn Galloway is a graphic designer for The Pilot and PineStraw magazine.

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PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Illustration by Pamela Powers January

Between generations, ours is a secret language of love