Evince Magazine Feburary 2020

Spotting Exceptional Customer Service Christine Piper Page 7

Meditation Moment Page 8

Sharon Telisha Moore Leigg Photo Finish Page 14

Making Mom & Teachers Proud See Page 5

Page 2 January 2020

29

Days of Heart

Leap Year gives you an extra day.

But a healthy heart can give you extra years.

This February, we invite you to join us for 29 Days of Heart.

Each day, we’ll post an informative article to help you take charge of your heart health.  Learn a delicious new recipe  Explore the signs of heart disease  Challenge yourself with a new exercise  Discover things you never knew This month, it’s all about you and your heart.

Join us online today at SovahHealth.com Like us on Facebook to follow all 29 Days of Heart

February Contents

Photo by Lona Kokinda

3 Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

Sharon Telisha Moore Leigg pictured on the cover represents a long line of African-American women who have been writing since the mid-1800s—beginning at a time in history when it was dangerous to be authors.

Reading and writing was risky because it was illegal for African Americans to have those skills, but these women did it anyway. One book at a time they had their voices heard. Their tenacity paid off.

Read page 5.

Organizing your home can be a tedious proposition, but move forward with the tips on page 11. Mother Nature leads the way in persistence. Check out the clever picture in “The Wine Spot” on page 9 and read the article. Healthy eating is another venture into tenacity when so many other options are calling your taste buds.

Read page 13 for a delicious, nutrient-filled recipe for vegans and all of us. Thinking about going back to school?

Read page 13 “How I Made It Through” for inspiration on making it happen.

Finally, follow the example of the volunteers in “Photo Finish” on page 14. Become actively involved in your community by giving your time and talent.

With tenacity, we make our communities better one day at a time.

Sincerely,

5

Sharon Telisha Moore Leigg Making Mom & Teachers Proud

by Joyce Wilburn Essay on Watercolors by Kwon Fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg

6 Renovation Reality

by Carla Minosh 7 Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

by Mack Doss 8 Meditation Moment

by Casey Molloy Davis 9 The Wine Spot

by Dave Slayton 10 Calendar 11 Throw Out the Mess & Organize the Rest

by The Recycling Queen 12 Book Clubbing

Evvie Drake Starts Over

by Linda Holmes / review by Diane Adkins 13 Reflecting Forward / How I Made It Through

by Linda Lemery

Around the Table / Vegan Lemon Loaf

by Annelle Williams

Evince Magazine Page 3

THE

OICE OF TENACITY

CEO / Publisher Andrew Scott Brooks Editor Joyce Wilburn (434.799.3160) joycewilburn@gmail.com Associate Editors Jeanette Taylor • Larry Wilburn Contributing Writers

Diane Adkins, Tammy Bailey, Casey Molloy Davis, Mack Doss, Lewis Dumont, Mary Franklin, Karen Harris, Barbara Hopkins, Karan Johnson, Telisha Moore Leigg, Linda Lemery, C.B. Maddox, Carla Minosh, Bernadette Moore, Shelley Paschal, Recycling Queen, Dave Slayton, Joyce Wilburn, Annelle Williams

Art & Production Director Demont Design (Kim Demont) Finance Manager Cindy Yeatts (1.434.709.7349) Marketing Consultants For ad information contact a marketing consultant listed below.

Lee Vogler Director of Sales and Marketing (434.548.5335) lee@evince magazine.com

Sam Jackson Marketing Consultant sam@showcase magazine.com

14 Photo Finish On the Cover:

Photo of Sharon Telisha Moore Leigg by Michelle Dalton Photography.

Kim Demont (434.792.0612) demontdesign @verizon.net evince\i-’vin(t)s\ 1: to constitute outward evidence of 2: to display clearly: reveal syn see SHOW Deadline for submission of March stories, articles, and ads is Monday, February 17, at 5:00 p.m.

Submit stories, articles, and calendar items to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

Editorial Policies:

Evince is a free monthly magazine with news about entertainment and lifestyle in Danville and the surrounding area. We reserve the right to accept, reject and edit all submissions and advertisements.

EVINCE MAGAZINE 753 Main St. Suite 3, Danville, VA 24541 For subscriptions to Evince, email info@evincemagazine.com.

Cost is $24 a year.

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© 2020 All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in whole or in part in any medium without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

Page  4 February 2020

Evince Magazine Page 5

E

vince writer and high school teacher, Sharon

Telisha Moore Leigg, entered kindergarten knowing how to read. That is a wonderful skill for a child, but there is a comical downside.

“The only consequence of reading a lot is that I also talked a lot,” admits the teacher of English and Japanese at George Washington High School. Laughing at herself, she continues, “In elementary school, I was sent into the hallway a lot because I talked constantly!”

On one occasion in fourth grade, that reprimand became a life-defining moment for the Southside Elementary School student because Marilyn Gunter, a language arts teacher, saw Sharon standing there and stopped to talk. A life-long friendship developed. “She taught me for three years and let me read anything I wanted including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. Then Mrs. Gunter took

Essay on Watercolors

by Kwon fiction by Telisha Moore Leigg Assignment: Write a memory of how art connects you to life.

I liked the watercolors best. I remember my mother, Mean Keisha, kept shuffling from one foot to another in her new, grey sneakers waiting with the other parent chaperones. We were at the Claude Crawford Art Museum, small but respectable about thirty miles outside our town of Boris, North Carolina. I could see Mean Keisha and Mama Mandy Blue both through the tinted bus window; kids were still on the bus and parents had gotten off. Mean Keisha was the one not smiling.

Later she said it was because as she says she don’t like no pictures you can’t hold and put in an album. She said she was afraid she would sneeze in this museum at some paintin’ as she called it, and then have to pay for something. Mean Keisha doesn’t like to be around things she can’t

Sharon Telisha Moore Leigg Making Mom & Teachers Proud

by Joyce Wilburn me to meet Maya Angelou!”

was from Japan.

She told me that learning Gunter’s positive Japanese influence would be easy.” complemented Acknowledging the foundation the falsehood in laid by Sharon’s that statement, mother who she was still read aloud to bitten by the her throughout “Japanese her childhood. bug” while “Because of my retaining her mother and Mrs. love of writing Gunter, I knew I’d and speaking be a teacher and English. A 2001 a writer,” says the Sharon finds a quiet moment at home master’s degree to work on a story. Photo by Michelle 1995 graduate of Dalton Photography in creative William & Mary writing from with a degree Warren Wilson in English and an endorsement in College in Asheville, North Carolina, Japanese. Explaining her passion and several writing workshops for the Japanese language, Sharon rounded out her academic continues, “My roommate in college education and gave her the tools to

pay for. She only came because Mama Mandy Blue made her.

There was a painting of blue and yellow flowers. I think they were flowers. In fact, art makes Mean Keisha mad, and abstract art makes her positively pissed. I won’t even get started on poetry. “Say what you mean,” she would say. “Draw a damn picture so someone can tell what it is,” she groused. And today, she was angry that she couldn’t smoke on the trip. Mama Mandy Blue gave her a stick of Doublemint gum, and Mean Keisha popped it too hard and too many times making others stare at her. Mean Keisha stared back.

Anyway, if Mean Keisha hated the museum, Mandy Blue was in heaven. She tapped her foot outside with the other parents waiting for it to open. The statues, the paintings, even the structure of the museum, she had researched and told me about them at least five times. She gave me twenty dollars pinned to the pocket inside my blue school jacket and told me not to lose it, but it was okay if I lost it, but try not to lose it because she was teaching me responsibility.

Mean Keisha just rolled her eyes.

That day outside the bus, Mama Mandy Blue waved to me grinning and rubbing her hands, and some kids on the bus behind me snickered.

be an author. She started writing fiction for Evince in 2010.

“I like to write about women and most (characters) are AfricanAmerican women so their voices will be heard in literature too,” she comments. Finding a quiet place to write with no interruptions is probably the hardest part of the creative process. She lists the possible sources of distractions: “Bernie and I have twelve-year-old twin boys who are mischievous and a cat who loves to chase the dog. It’s bedlam in my house!”

She and Bernie Leigg were married in 2005. In spite of the domestic mayhem, Sharon always finds time and space for reading and writing, even if it’s only ten minutes on the front porch at two in the morning. Mom and Mrs. Gunter would be so proud.

• Telisha Moore Leigg is a local African-American writer. For a listing of 100 greatest books by African-American female authors over the past 160 years, search Zora Canon named for the author Zora Neale Hurston.

We bought a picture postcard of flowers in the gift shop. Mean Keisha touched it like the postcard was the art and not what was on the wall. I was seven in the second grade then, and other kids were laughing and talking still on the bus, but away from me. Someone said, “Ask him. Go on!”

was none of their business anyway.

All, at seven, I could have told them was that Mama Mean Keisha don’t let me call her Mama, flinches from men, but likes me to hug her and will fight like a dog for me. Even at seven, I could tell that her life had been rough and unkind, yet she could still love me.

I had hot chocolate at the museum coffee shop. Amalee Jorsch, a pretty, dark-haired white girl leaned into me and said, “That your mama?” And I didn’t know which mama she meant at first, then thought about it. Oh yeah, she meant the black one, the one I looked the most like, not the white one, not Mama Mandy Blue.

I slumped in my charted bus seat.

Mama Mandy bought me a postcard with those flowers on it. “Yeah,” I said, in my mind not denying either, but not really claiming either one. For the first time I didn’t think this trip was going to turn out all right especially when Amalee says to Theresea Gordon, the black girl with hazel eyes, “My mama says….”

Very little good ever comes out of a child’s mouth starting with the phrase my mother says. And I love her, my mama, Mean Keisha. I knew what “my mama says” words were like, what they thought of the little black boy with the two mothers. It wasn’t good what they thought. I could have told them they weren’t lovers, but I didn’t know what lovers were then. And they weren’t. But that

And I love her, my mama, Mama Mandy Blue. I could have told them about Mandy Blue Eyes and her babies who died so sad choking for air that even Mean Keisha who doesn’t pray says we need to pray for them. How Mama Mandy Blue cries on their birthdays and says the ancient prayers for the dead her classics professor told her, but those prayers don’t bring them back. How her father left her alone and didn’t ever come around. Even at seven, I knew things. I could tell those kids how they took a life of sadness and loss and broke-glass, bleeding pain and made it to someplace in the light. But that ain’t their business either. So I don’t say how my room is blue, that Mean Keisha painted it not perfect, and I got a yellow blanket cover that Mama Mandy Blue crocheted... and how I want to sit with Amalee and Richard, Tavon, and even Theresea behind me, but not enough to leave my mamas.

Finally, the museum opens, and our teacher calls us to line up and walk with our parents. So I do.

Page 6 February 2020

The pink-poodle bathroom was at the top of the demolition list.

Renovation Reality

by Carla Minosh Unlike HGTV shows where home renovations are completed within thirty to sixty minutes, the Victorian house at the corner of Chestnut Place and Main Street in Danville has been under a transformation for nineteen years.

This series explores the truth of home renewal from someone who has been there and done that.

R

e-creating the appearance

of an exterior servants’

entrance required installing a double door that would open into a bathroom that had been added decades after the house was built. A pink bathtub had been installed adjacent to the wall where doors once stood.

Perfect! My goal was to depink-ify the house, and that bathroom was on the top of the demolition list. The hideous bathroom had a stained, acoustic-tile drop ceiling with a tacky, wrought-iron ball light from the 1970s. That was only the beginning of its dreadful appearance. The small room had pink wallpaper that was stained and peeling, pink tile from the floor to about chest level around the entire room and a corner closet behind the door that prevented the door from fully opening. The closet enclosed an unattractive drainpipe from the bathroom upstairs that could be seen in all its glory when the closet door was open. It also had an off-white 1980’s toilet and a pink metal-rimmed porcelain sink set in a Formica countertop on a pink cabinet. White, molded-glass wall sconces were mounted on either side

of the sink with electrical cords running down to wall outlets.

There were also pink soap dishes and pink towel bars. The monstrous pink bathtub was surrounded with pink square tiles and was anchored by a large louvered-door closet and the radiator was covered with a pink cover. The pink linoleumcovered floor moved when anyone walked on it because the toilet’s wax seal had deteriorated years ago. Clearly, the subfloor was rotting. Oh, even the woodwork was painted pink. Imagine our surprise upon removing the first layer of wallpaper and discovering the original pink wallpaper with poodles dressed in pink waiting at the beauty parlor, Chez Chic.

Once demolition was complete, we opened up the bricked-in exterior entrance. A pair of double doors found in the attic fit perfectly into the doorway making us wonder if they were the original doors for that entrance. Though it is a bit strange to have a set of double doors in a bathroom, we made it work with the new design.

It actually looks quite natural.

From the exterior, they work perfectly. Because we will never use this as an entrance, we did not re-install the cast-iron stairs that in the past would have allowed the servants access to the house. The little porch is more of a balcony now than a true entrance. Best of all, the pink bathroom is history.

(to be continued)

Evince Magazine Page 7

Spotting Exceptional Customer Service

by Mack Doss

After spending years in customer service I am always on the lookout for those who show exceptional service. I did not need to look far.

Christine Piper “Piper” at Lil Pizza My Heart, 112 Westover Drive, Danville, exemplifies characteristics of one who does just that!

A while back I was there for lunch and asked if they served barbecue chicken pizza which is my favorite. Last week I was there again for lunch and Piper remembered me. Within minutes of my arrival she came to my table with my favorite barbecue chicken pizza. Thanks, Piper. Your customer service skills did not go unnoticed.

Evince and the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce want to encourage and recognize exceptional customer service. When someone gives you exceptional service, please let us know. In 300 words or less, tell us what happened. Email your story to joycewilburn@ gmail.com or chamber@dpchamber.org.

Page 8 February 2020

Meditation Moment

by Casey Molloy Davis, RYT

Last May I If we are able to graduated from be patient in our dental hygiene pursuits, we can school. That cultivate a calmer journey was and kinder inner one of the most dialogue. We all challenging, have moments exhausting, and of self-doubt, rewarding pursuits disappointment, I have undertaken. and During the start of discouragement. our senior year, Sometimes we feel our professor like we take one presented a TED step forward and Talks video on two steps back. what it means Understanding to have grit. that it is okay for To me, grit is things to take the unwavering longer to unfold determination than we had hoped, The poses and breathing practiced in yoga are intended to prepare and motivation usually presents the body to sit comfortably in to press on, a series of events meditation. Photo by Clark Davis. regardless of that is ultimately setbacks. It means gritting your even better for us than our teeth and putting one foot in front original plan. It is vital that we of the other as you work hard be tenacious. The pace of life to achieve your goals. Tenacity has steadily accelerated over then, can be seen as a balance the past few decades, and we between grit and patience. have come to expect immediate results. However, if we force progress upon ourselves, we add an element of stress that can only be resolved by simply having patience with the process.

Have confidence that things will turn out as they should and view any mishaps that disrupt the process as learning opportunities.

There are always opportunities to practice grit and patience as we become more tenacious.

If we are able to implement this perspective, then we will appreciate and be proud of our efforts, and the result will be that much more gratifying.

We’re

on Danville!

Janet Donna Holley • Gibson Owner Owner

HOLLEY & GibsOn REALTY COMPANY

339 Piney Forest Rd., Danville, VA 24540

Office: (434) 791-2400 Fax: (434) 791-2122 Visit our website at

www.holleyandgibsonrealty.com

Evince Magazine Page 9

The Wine Spot

Cabernet Sauvignon root, “It demands a vineyard with good drainage because it doesn’t like having its feet wet.” A humorous way of saying, “If a vine has too easy access to the water table, it won’t grow as many roots and it’ll, well, drink too much (we’ve all been there). The result: plenty of fat, characterless grapes.” (Vinepair.com, Why Does Bad Soil Make for Great Wine? By Emily Bell.) The same reasoning holds true for soil. When the soil is rich, the roots do not struggle. In poor soil, roots have to work harder, “ramifying,” or branching off, to gather nutrients. Not only does this increase the surface area of root-tosoil—meaning more nutrients ultimately get to the grape.”

The Taste of Tenacity

by Dave Slayton

a member of the Master Court of Sommeliers

T

o help plants grow and be productive we must assist them with water, nutrients, and sunlight and eliminate competitors like weeds, right? Apparently this is not the case when growing grapes for wine.

Why does the grapevine do this? Emily says, “In one of nature’s neater hat tricks, a struggling vine still instinctively knows its best chances for reproduction are the grapes themselves. And even if it doesn’t have as many grapes for birds to eat, it has delicious, nutrient-rich grapes.” Ideally, before the birds consume the grapes containing seeds that will be deposited elsewhere for reproduction, we collect some that we hope will be made into wine.

The Winery-Sage.com blog and other sources say that to grow grapes for wine the roots need to engage in a struggle, “Wine grapevines are unlike most other commercially cultivated crops where water, fertilizer, sun and soil are all optimized to give the highest yield possible. The goal of higher-end wine-grape growers is not to produce the most fruit but to produce the best fruit and to do that, the vine needs to struggle a little.”

An instructor in a class once said of the

To produce the best grapes, the vine roots need to struggle a little. Photo by Dave Slayton

Now you know why many wine labels honor Mother Nature. C’est vrai!

Page 10 February 2020

February Calendar Abbreviation Key

• AU=Averett University, 434.791.5600 www.averett.edu • DMFAH=Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, 975 Main St. 434.793.5644 www.danvillemuseum.org • DSC=Danville Science Center, 677 Craghead St. 434.791.5160 www.dsc.smv.org • PA=Piedmont Arts, 215 Starling Ave, Martinsville 276.632.3221 www.PiedmontArts.org • The Prizery=700 Bruce St., South Boston, 434.572.8339, www.prizery.com

Ongoing

Guided Walking Tours: Millionaires Row, Holbrook Street and Tobacco Warehouse District. Danville Historical Society. www.danvillehistory. org. 434.770.1974.

DMFAH: self-guided audio tours.

Brosville Library: 11948 Martinsville Highway www.pcplib.org 434.685.1285 Danville Public Library: 511 Patton St. readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5195 DPL Westover Branch: 94 Clifton St. www.readdanvilleva.org 434.799.5152 Gretna Library: 207 A Coffey Street, www.pcplib.org 434.656.2579 Gunn Memorial, Caswell County Public Library: 118 Main St, Yanceyville, NC www.caswellcounty. gov/library 336.694.6241 Halifax County Public Library: 177 South Main St. halifaxcountylibrary.org 434.476.3357 History Research Center and Library: 340 Whitehead St,, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.8931 Mt. Hermon Library: 4058 Franklin Turnpike www.pcplib.org 434.835.0326 Pittsylvania County Public Main Library: 24 Military Drive, Chatham www.pcplib.org 434.432.3271 South Boston Public Library: 509 Broad St. 434.5575.4228 www.halifaxcountylibrary.org

Ongoing

From Virginia to Parliament: Photos and commentary celebrate the 100th anniversary of Danvillian Lady Nancy Langhorne Astor’s election to the British Parliament. Langhorne House Museum, 117 Broad St. Danville free 2-5pm Saturdays or by appointment 434.793.6472

February 1 (thru May 24)

Camilla Williams Exhibit: Williams was born in Danville and

became the first African American to sing in a major American opera company in NYC. Exhibit will feature her opera costumes including Madame Butterfly. DMFAH

February 1 (thru March 28) Winter Market: Farmers’ Market Danville Community Market 629 Craghead St. Saturdays 9am-1pm

February 1

Annual Story Telling Festival: DMFAH 10am-2pm free

February 4

Travis Williams Presentation: Chief Flight Instructor at AU; free and open to the public AU multipurpose room in the Student Center 204 Woodland Dr. second floor

February 5

Healthy Eating for Healthy Living: presented

by Jennifer Dietz a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator; The Wednesday Club, 1002 Main St. Danville free + open to the public 3:45pm www.TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org

February 8 & 9

Free Admission Weekend: DMFAH

February 11

Welcome to Medicare Educational Seminar: This seminar explains Medicare and the coverage options available including: supplements, Advantage Plans and Part D prescription drug coverage. Seminar and refreshment sponsored by Humana. 5:30pm Ballou Park Sr. Center, 760 West Main St. Danville Call 434799.5216 to register.

February 12

February 28

February 15

Cars & Coffee: Social time with classic cars, muscle cars, sports cars, etc. Crema & Vine, 1009 Main St. Danville 9-10:30am 434.548.9862 Crossing of the Dan Commemoration: Halifax County Historical Society free 10am The Prizery 434.579.0083 Barks & Kisses: fundraiser for SPCA of Pittsylvania County; The Community Center of Chatham, Main St. live music by the Laura Ellis Group, heavy hors d’oeuvres, raffle, cash bar $25 advance/$20 at the door 8-11pm 434.724.7519

Empty Bowls: This is a fundraiser for God’s Storehouse in Danville and an international grassroots effort to fight hunger. Tickets include a simple meal of soup, bread and water. A bowl made by local artisans at GWHS or the DMFAH can be kept as a reminder of all the empty bowls in our community.

Tickets are $20 or $25 after Feb. 21 at God’s Storehouse, Karen’s Hallmark, Commonwealth Home Health Care on Piney Forest Rd. www.godsstorehouse. org, Facebook, 434.493.3663

Plan Ahead

March 3

February 16

Gal-entine’s Day: celebrate lady friends 1-3pm Crema & Vine, 1009 Main St. Danville free

Socks in the Frying Pan: A multiawards winning trio from County Clare on the West Coast of Ireland, their dynamic vocal harmonies, virtuosic musical ability and on stage wit make them one of the most sought-after groups in Irish music today. $8-$28 The Prizery 7:30pm

February 19

March 4

Books on Life for the Young & Old: a presentation by author Hunter Darden The Wednesday Club, 1002 Main St. Danville 3:15pm coffee/3:45 program free www.

TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org

Smokestack Theatre Company Presents: a program at The Wednesday Club, 1002 Main St. Danville free open to the public 3:15pm coffee/3:45pm program www.TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org

February 20

The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine: Danville Concert Association GWHS Auditorium, 107 Broad St. Danville 7:30pm $25 adult/$10 youth www.danvilleconcert. org 434.792.9242

February 24 (thru March 30)

Meet & Greet Danville Police: presented by Chief Scott Booth The Wednesday Club, 102 Main St. Danville free 3:15 coffee/3:45 program www.

TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org

Forms in Clay: pottery class on Mondays 6:30-9pm $95 for DMFAH members/$105 for others Call 434.792.5355 to register.

February 14

Tickling Ivory in All Genres: presented by Telly Tucker free The Wednesday Club, 1002 Main St. Danville 3:15pm coffee/3:45pm program www.TheWedClubDanvilleVa.org

Valentine’s Day Show: The Little Theatre of Danville DMFAH 8pm Riverview Rotary Valentine’s Dance: Stratford Conference Center, 149 Old Piney Forest Road, Danville 8pm-midnight $35 person; heavy hors d’oeuvres 434.251.6078

February 2020

S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

February 26

March 7

Danville Symphony Winter Pops Concert: A Tribute to John Williams: Star Wars, E.T. Adventures, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and more.

7:30 p.m. George Washington H.S Auditorium, 701 Broad St. Danville free www.danvillesymphony.net

The deadline for submitting information for the March calendar is Monday, February 17, at 5:00 p.m. Please send just the basic information following the format on these pages to joycewilburn@gmail.com.

Evince Magazine Page 11

Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History proudly presents

January 12 - May 24, 2020 Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday • 10am - 5pm Sunday • 2 - 5pm Admission:

Adults / $10 • Seniors (62+) / $8

Ticket price includes full access to museum and other exhibits.

Students / $4 • Age 7- College Children 6 and under / Free Members, Military, DoC / Free

The Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History would like to announce the Camilla Williams exhibition, made possible through a generous Make More Happen Grant from the Danville Regional Foundation. The Camilla Williams exhibition highlights the relationship this New York City Opera diva had with her hometown Danville, and explores the difficult path to fame in a racially divided South during the Civil Rights protests.

For more information call: 434-793-5644, or email: C.B. Maddox: cb@danvillemuseum.org

www.danvillemuseum.org • Sincere thanks to our sponsors:

Page 12 February 2020

Book Clubbing a review by Diane Adkins

Evvie Drake Starts Over

by Linda Holmes

It’s not a spoiler to tell you that in the prologue of this book, we see Evvie Drake loading her car with wads of cash and her suitcase, ready to leave her husband.

Her phone rings and she learns he has just been killed in a car accident. That’s not the typical way to start a romance novel.

Linda Holmes is best known as the host of the NPR show Pop Culture Happy Hour. This is her first novel, and despite the dark beginning, it’s a smart, funny book. If you’ve heard Holmes on the radio, you know she’s quick-witted and that translates to “snap” in the dialogue. The characters sound like real people. Even better, they seem to be people you’d enjoy knowing.

The book is set in small-town Maine, where no one knows that Evvie’s husband, Tim, a well-liked doctor, was emotionally abusive to her. Her dad, Frank, doesn’t know. Her best friend, Andy, doesn’t either. Evvie cannot bring herself to tell the truth about her marriage, now that Tim is dead, and that sets up one of the central conflicts in the book.

Andy suggests that his high-school friend and former major league baseball star pitcher Dean Tenney could move into an apartment Evvie has in her house, and she agrees primarily because she needs the money. Dean is in town to escape the scrutiny of the press and public over his failed career. He has developed a case of the “yips”—a non-technical term denoting a sudden loss of the ability to do something a person has mastered.

In Dean’s case, he can no longer pitch a baseball over the plate successfully.

Holmes said in an interview, “I think everybody has that moment where they think, ‘What I thought my life was going to be is not quite what it’s going to be.’ And those are both very difficult moments, and moments that lead you to something that’s more true.” Dean and Evvie are both on paths of discovery, trying to come to terms with their pasts while finding a way forward.

This is, in short, a love story for grown-ups with humor, warmth, and (sorry, Dean) perfect pitch.

Diane S. Adkins is a retired Director of the Pittsylvania County Library System.

Next month, we will look at the Zora Canon—a list of the one hundred best books by African-American women authors as chosen by the editors of Zora.

Evince Magazine Page 13

Reflecting Forward How I Made It Through

by Linda Lemery

H

before and did

ow I ever extra work to

made it “In the middle bring up my

through my of difficulty lies grades. We did first baccalaureate rotations to degree is opportunity.” put theory into nothing short – Albert Einstein practice. I also of miraculous. worked part-time I was a very “Never, never quit.” to put food on strong student – Paraphrased from my apartment in high-school Winston Churchill table and gas English, literature, in my car. and writing, Although I ranked near the bottom but my dad told me college of that incredibly smart class, I had to prepare me to support persisted and graduated. myself. As an extreme introvert, I avoided any form of speaking When I entered the field, I to groups, so I ruled out English discovered that struggling to jobs like teaching and entered survive the incredibly intense applied science instead. I went to training was worth it. I worked community college and worked hard, kept learning, filled part-time as an EKG tech in a knowledge gaps, worked in hometown hospital that had a multiple states, rose through the medical technology program. ranks, and eventually took on the From observing the people in challenge of teaching medical the lab, I thought I could work as laboratory technician courses at a med tech and support myself. a community college. I still could The education coordinator told not bear to talk in front of people. me what courses to take (after Guided by a partially-formed, graduating from community intuitive model and with help and college) at a public university in encouragement from a mentor, order to transfer to the hometown I became comfortable over time hospital’s medical technology with presenting to classes. That school for my senior year. What led to presenting at state and I didn’t know at the time was that regional levels, volunteering on that hospital’s med tech program national committees, eventually ranked third in the state. The chairing one of those committees expected performance levels were and continuing to evolve into a a universe beyond the grades I’d achieved in science courses. I was lifelong learner. in way over my head.

This slice-of-life story shows how tenacity was key to surviving For that internship year, our and even all-female thriving under class of eight very difficult students lived, conditions. I’ve breathed, and applied that sweated medical now-articulated technology.

Prepare. model (see Those other Work efficiently. left) in so many seven women situations. raised the Anticipate problems.

Tenacity is what science kept me in the achievement bar Accept challenges. to heights I’d game every time.

Locate resources. never aspired About the Author: to or even When she’s not Persist. imagined. They wondering how she had far better ever managed to Manage solutions. accomplish (fill-ingrade point the-blank), Linda Ask for help. averages than Lemery llemery@ I did and were averett.edu works as Contribute. better prepared Circulation Manager in the sciences. at Averett University’s Find ways Mary B. Blount I dug in and to love work.

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by Annelle Williams I know it’s February and I should be writing about love potions, chocolate hearts and ways to win your love through his/her stomach, but I’ve had other important things on my mind. Since before Thanksgiving I’ve cooked for just about every kind of special diet I know--vegetarian, gluten free, alpha gal, lactose intolerant, and then just a few picky eaters who didn’t like pecans, or eggs or even mashed potatoes. Sometimes I looked around the table and had a little bit of everything, but we all made it with full bellies and happy hearts.

In January we had vegan friends visiting from California. I don’t have to google that word anymore. I know it means no animal products—none.

We wanted to go out to lunch, but even after spending time on the internet researching menus, I couldn’t find anything nearby that suited me, so I went to Pinterest. Below is a recipe we prepared together. It was really delicious. You don’t have to wait for vegan visitors to share it with friends and family.

Vegan Lemon Loaf (adapted from chocolate covered katie) 2 cups gluten-free flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup almond milk

1/2 cup vanilla almond-milk yogurt 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice zest of large lemon 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Whisk the liquid ingredients in another bowl to combine. Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir just until evenly mixed. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Mix 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1 tablespoon almond milk and drizzle over cooled cake.

Questions or comments?

Email me: AnnelleWilliams@comcast.net I look forward to hearing from you!

Page 14 February 2020

Photo Finish Sixty volunteers at SOVAH Health work to make life more pleasant for patients. In 2019, they donated 13,690 hours. Mack Doss explains why he volunteers: “It’s simple – I believe when you show others that you care and show compassion for them you are not only making a difference in their lives but in your life as well. SOVAH Health Danville provides me the opportunity to do that!” Von Wellington followed a few of the volunteers on a Tuesday morning in January.

Here is what he saw.

Mack Doss and Sharon Hedrick chat for a few minutes before heading to the hospital’s information desk.

Harriett Price, Callie Brandon, and Juanita Hardy create puppets for the children who are patients at the hospital.

There is also a knit and crochet workshop that supplies booties for newborns.

Rev. David Turbyfill, pastor at Schoolfield Baptist Church, is one of seven chaplains who are available when patients and their families need comfort.

Volunteer Brenda Adkins sets up a display of Valentine items in the hospital gift shop.

Photos by Von Wellington For more info visit www.vonwellington photography.com or call 434.770.3553. See more pictures on Facebook.

Ann Campbell and Margaret Cardwell discuss paper work with Volunteer Coordinator Darlene Hankins. Ann and Margaret volunteer in the Surgical Patient Information and Waiting area. Darlene has been the Volunteer Coordinator for many years and welcomes all to apply for a volunteer position. Contact her at 434.799.7743 or Darlene.Hankins@LPNT.net. In Martinsville, contact Debbie.Peters@ LPNT.net or 276.666.7608.

Volunteer Joyce Wray helps a customer with a purchase in the gift shop.

Sherdene Clark and Lillie Pritchett work behind the desk in the surgical waiting area.

Betty Robertson makes bouquets in the Martinsville SOVAH gift shop.

Clara Harper enjoys delivering flowers to the hospital patients.

Volunteer Marie Garrett pushes the hospitality cart to the patients at the Martinsville SOVAH.

Volunteer Audrey Davis welcomes visitors to the Martinsville SOVAH. Betty Burnette happily pushes the Hospitality Cart full of magazines, newspapers, puzzles, and other things to entertain patients. She also works in the surgical patient information area.

Evince Magazine Page 15

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Page Page 16 16February February 2020 2020