Life In Our Foothills February 2021

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

life IN OUR

FOOTHILLS February 2021

Gayle and Scott Lane

An adventure of a lifetime

February 2021

The Romance of Roses

Stories of Love

Making Things Happen

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FROM THE EDITOR

F

ebruary is a month that emphasizes love. Love between a husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, even two friends. In this month’s Life in Our Foothills, we will highlight the love of couples and the love of all things in between. Moreover, we’re going to recognize the adoration of the simpler things in life. The things often skimmed over.

Paul Zimmerman found his love of the modest rose in California and settled in his gardens here in the Carolinas. Of course, the rose is a symbol of love, but digging deeper into the mass of petals and thorns, Paul finds that the rose is also a symbol of many other emotions through their various natures.

Kevin Powell General Manager

life

Since the Valentine month focuses on the sweet romance of two people in love, we’re sharing with readers five very special love stories of the community’s adored couples.

From sailboats to Europe to a simple high school football game, love can be found everywhere possible.

On the cover IN OUR

A passion for the community is what drove David Staley to become a doer, a man who makes things happen. Youth, locally and throughout North Carolina, is where his heart lies. In his founding of Unity in the Community of the Foothills, a place was born where people can come to share their love, as well.

life IN OUR

LIFE IN OUR FOOTH

FOOTHILLS February 2021

ILLS

Love, adoration, passion––let’s recognize it this month and continue throughout the rest of 2021 to act as though it’s Valentine’s Day. Let’s not wait to celebrate love. Instead, let’s bask in its magnificence for the many months to come.

Gayle and ScovettntuLreaofnaelifetime An ad

February 2021

The Romance of Roses

Stories of love

Making Things Happen

Stories of Love

Scott and Gayle Lane (Story on page 17)

Photo by Macy Cochran

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

$4.95

By Macy Cochran Contributor, Guest Editor, and recent graduate ready to take on the world

Staff

life IN OUR

General Manager Kevin Powell Graphic Design Jullia Zeleskey

Administration Courtney Smith

Marketing Ben Bouser

Distribution Jeff Allison Jamie Lewis

FOOTHILLS Life in Our Foothills is published monthly by Tryon Newsmedia LLC. Life in Our Foothills is a registered trademark. All contents herein are the sole property of Tryon Newsmedia LLC. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Please address all correspondence (including, but not limited to, letters, story ideas and requests to reprint materials) to Editor, Life in Our Foothills, 16. N. Trade St., Tryon, NC 28782, or email to kevin.powell@ tryondailybulletin.com. Life in Our Foothills is available free of charge at locations throughout Polk County and Upstate South Carolina, and online at www.tryondailybulletin.com. Subscriptions are available for $30 per year by calling 828-859-9151.

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Contributors Mark Levin, Writer and Photographer

Mark is retired from a career in education. In addition to the classroom he has had a lifetime of experiences earning a buck as a photographer, videographer, author, musician and camp director. You can follow his blog about people and places in the foothills at www.FoothillsFaces. com or check out his new podcast he enjoys with a friend of 50 years at www.garyandmark.com.

Vincent Verrecchio, Writer and Photographer

When not working in advertising as a copywriter, art director, photographer, creative director, and agency owner, Vince was on a horse with a camera in his hand somewhere in North America, Europe, or Africa.

Now lightly retired from advertising, for more than 40 years, he writes about whatever strikes his fancy, looks for interesting photos everywhere and wanders the Foothills on a horse.

Macy Cochran, Writer and Photographer

Macy Cochran is a recent graduate from North Greenville University with a degree in English. She is a lover of books, coffee, hang gliding and binge watching sitcoms from the 90’s. As a creative writer, she often spends her time working on her novels, poetry and short stories.

Jullia Zeleskey, Photographer and Graphic Designer

Jullia has always had an passion for art and design. These two interests have blossomed into a career she can enjoy on a daily basis.

As a photographer, her keen eye for that unique shot are showcased in the Tryon Daily Bulletin, Life in Our Foothills and Visitors Bulletin magazines. Most weekends, she can be found spending time outdoors hiking or mountain biking a trail off the beaten path or sipping a vanilla latte.

Pebbles, Writer

Pebbles is the “spokespony” for HERD, or Helping Equines Regain Dignity, a local nonprofit that saves equines from dire conditions and in many cases slaughter. She dictates her monthly columns about her adventures, and what a rescue organization does, to Heather Freeman.

Pebbles and Heather can be reached through HerdRescue.org

LIFE OUR FOOTHILLS 6 6 LIFE IN IN OUR FOOTHILLS

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Contents 10 The Romance of Roses 17 Stories of Love Five couples share how their love has stood the test of time

28 Making things happen David Staley and Unity in the Community

40 The Story of Maui Pebbles

46 Red Velvet Cookies Quick Bites

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Making Things Happen Photo by Mark Levin

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24

Green River BBQ Photo by Macy Cochran

17

Stories of Love

28

10

40

The story of Maui

A Love for Jewelry Photo by Macy CochranPaul Zimmerman Photo by Paul Zimmerman

47 Parting Glance

Gliding above your safe space

48 Marketplace 50 Ad Index FEBRUARY 2021

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The Romance of Roses

Paul Zimmerman

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Writer Macy Cochran, Photographer Macy Cochran and Paul Zimmerman Roses come in every color except blue, growing anywhere in the world with ease.

Valentine’s Day for Paul’s wife, Pam, doesn’t involve him showering her with flowers; he simply spreads out his arms offering her 4,000 square feet of gardens.

On Paul Zimmerman’s rural property on the edge of the woods, there are 300 rose bushes and over 1,000 daffodil bulbs. There, the husband and wife enjoy nearly year-round rose blossoms, bees, butterflies, and birds.

Paul calls himself a full-time garden designer and consultant. But first, he mowed lawns down in Miami where he grew up. Afterwards, he moved to L.A. where he met his wife, and there, he worked as a stand-up comedian, then he worked for ABC as a writer. Paul’s past set him up well for his current love of roses and all that would stem from them.

Paul does what he calls “a great accidental career.”

Working in showbusiness, he decided to take some time off, and during that window, he became intrigued by roses. Interesting, considering he never once grew up around gardens.

“They have that charm and beauty,” he says, though he truly loves plants of all kinds.

So he stuck a few rose plants in the ground and let

them grow, also getting involved with the American Rose Society and falling in love. He later offered his neighbor a hand in trimming his rose bush, and before long, Paul was getting paid for his advice and labor in his other neighbors’ rose gardens.

“Within a year, I had two employees and was working in sixty or seventy gardens a week,” Paul says.

His career as a garden designer and master of roses grew wildly.

“Pam says when I get involved in something, I go over the top.”

Paul ended up co-founding the Tinsel Town Rose Society in California and eventually got involved working in celebrities’ gardens, designing and planning with them.

Currently, the Paul Zimmerman Rose YouTube channel has just hit four-million views, mostly thanks to Paul’s fantastic background in camera work and entertainment, giving him the ability to grab an audience’s attention.

Locally, he started his business Ashdown Roses but moved on to bigger ventures in ’09. Writing and consulting kept him busy, and he now is an independent consultant to the Biltmore Estates in Asheville.

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Paul Zimmerman holding a full bloom rose .

He spent a lot of his time writing blogs about roses for the Taunt&Press magazine, giving Paul the idea to write an entire book about roses.

In 2013, he published Every Day Roses, combining two of his hobbies: roses and writing.

“I wanted to write a book about caring for roses and show people they’re easy to grow, which is the whole philosophy about the book,” Paul states. The book has been quite the success, even giving Paul the privilege of winning a literary award based on his knowledge of gardening. Readers can now find his book on Kindle and can learn immensely about caring for roses on his YouTube channel.

“I wrote this book for the general gardener who’s afraid of roses and thought they were too difficult. That’s the thread through everything I do,” he says.

Paul goes on, “Roses are simply a blooming shrub.

“The rose––you can go back to old writings and read about them. They’re woven through history. They just charmed people, and that’s the romance of it.”

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Roses could be used for medicine in the past, even keeping pirates from getting scabies.

“He’s passed away now, but the person who inspired me was Peter Beales,” Paul says. “We became friends in England, and he’d learned about me. Peter taught me a lot, and he was public with his approval of me. He even wrote the forward to my book.”

Another inspiration of Paul’s is Pite Oudolf, a man who has an interesting garden style, almost a prairie style, as Paul says.

Spring through Autumn, the blossoms on the rose bushes are so thick that the fence is hardly visible. Photo submitted by Paul Zimmerman

Photo submitted by Paul Zimmerman

Inside Paul’s book, you’ll find pages upon pages of various rose plant pictures

The remnants of last Autumns rose blooms are still hanging on late in the winter.

Paul’s ancestors in Holland were gardeners, intense ones, at that. “So it’s in my blood,” he says. Recalling their family history, his parents weren’t surprised at all with Paul’s endeavor.

The creativity of it, the clients, working with what they want––that’s the best part for Paul.

“This is the kind of job you don’t retire from,” he claims.

With only a two-year degree that is completely unrelated to gardening, Paul came to be the rose master he is by being self-taught and mentored.

When planting is a passion, no degree is necessary.

Campobello, South Carolina, is the perfect place for Paul and his wife to live. Pam has land for her horses, and Paul has acres upon acres for his gardens. The Foothills were calling Pam all

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the way across the country when she and Paul lived in L.A. So she bought land in the Foothills and told her husband that she wants to settle in the Carolinas.

Back in L.A., there were sirens, traffic, and helicopters. Now, he rarely hears an airplane fly over his rural cabin. Their first night in their home far off the road in Campobello, the only furniture in their house was a bed they dragged into the living room.

“It was so quiet, and we kept hearing a humming noise,” Paul reflects. “It was the darn refrigerator.”

They’d simply been too deep in the noise of a city to have ever heard the buzzing of an appliance. Here in the Foothills, Paul can now

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Now days, he can work in his rose gardens peacefully.

The thorns? “You learn to work around them. It’s part of the nature that roses are.”

Paul often refers to a quote by Abraham Lincoln who said, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

The rose is a simple plant, despite it’s rumored reputation of being a difficult flower to grow. But the rose, in reality, can do whatever the gardener pleases. They can climb, spread, sit low to the ground or high in full bushes.

It’s the rose that never got lost in history but thrived long before Romeo and Juliet’s reference. And it’s the rose that symbolizes love today after hundreds of years.

The best rose out there, Paul believes, is the one blooming that day.

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In the wintertime, this garden is quite bare, but what was Paul’s first garden on his property is in the springtime a lavish rose garden.

Photo subm itted by Paul Zimme rman

Photo submitted by Paul Zimmerman 16

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L

Stories of Love D

iving into the Valentine month, we’re offering readers a glimpse into the love stories of some people we all know and adore. From childhood crushes to bad pick-up lines, these stories all end the same way: with two people in love.

Mark and Marianne Blazer reveal that friendship is the most genuine path to love.

Scott and Gayle Lane show us that marriage is the very beginning to an adventure that lasts a lifetime.

Peter and Tara McDonald all us to see love can blossom in middle school and grow into a beautiful life.

Alan and Harriet Peoples convey an oldfashioned romance that will live on for centuries.

Lastly, Jimmy and Debbie Camp show us how an awkward moment can turn into a lifetime of happiness.

Novelist Nicholas Sparks once wrote, “The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.”

If you observe close enough, you’ll find that there’s love in just about everything.

Sailing into Love all over the World Mark and Marianne Blazer’s Writer & Photographer Macy Cochran Wedding Date: September 1, 1983 “A woman from Austria falling in love with a man from Rhode Island on this little spec in the ocean?

What are the chances of that happening? She was my destiny all along,” Mark says about his wife of 37 years.

They began their adventure together when they were in the Virgin Islands, both on their sail boats when they were once strangers to each other.

Marianne says, “We were sailing towards each other one day, and his boat was named ‘Rainbow,’ and I thought it was beautiful, so I took a picture of it. A few weeks later, his boat appeared beside mine in the

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marina.”

She knocked on his door to show him the picture, and he invited her in. “Had I known at the time that he was a professional photographer, I wouldn’t have shown him the picture,” Marianne says with a laugh.

But at this time, Mark was married, and Marianne had a British boyfriend. So Mark and his wife became friends with Marianne and her boyfriend, going out to eat and going on trips together.

“Once,” Mark says, “the four of us went to Europe together, but since my wife had our new baby, all she did was sleep, and Marianne’s boyfriend only drank beer and slept, so the two of us went to all the museums together, seeing all the sights.”

Not long after the European trip, Mark’s wife left him, and Marianne broke up with her boyfriend.

Six months later, the two decided to get married.

Since they had known each other for years prior, they didn’t feel the need to date. What was there to get to know?

When reflecting on whether they began falling in love in Europe, Marianne says, “We’re still trying to figure that out.”

But the moment Mark knew Marianne was the love of his life was more of a feeling an instance.

There was simply no one else he wanted to spend time with, and to this day, they do absolutely everything together.

“I couldn’t get enough,” he says.

Marianne explains, though, reminding Mark of the moment he knew she was the one––“A friend of mine came back from India and held out his fist to me, saying ‘Guess what’s inside my hand.’ And my answer was ‘A hundred elephants.’ I was right.”

In return for guessing correctly, her friend handed her a small bean that opened up to reveal one-hundred tiny elephants carved out of ivory and told her that she has to offer the same question to someone else. Later, she said to Mark, “What’s inside my hand?”

And his answer was, “A hundred elephants.”

That’s how he knew she was the one, and ever since, they’ve traveled the world together as photographers, started a family, and settled in Saluda with their precious Orchard Inn. But their love story is far from over.

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An Adventure of a Lifetime Scott and Gayle Lane Writer & Photographer Macy Cochran

Wedding Date: August 15, 1981 In 1977, Scott and Gayle Lane were just a couple of college freshmen at orientation, passing glances across the room.

As fate would have it, the two embarrassed freshmen ended up in the same room together once again with their friends’ introducing them to each other.

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“We kind of started to look for each other on campus,” Scott claims. Then, six weeks later, what they call their “first date” was a trip off campus to Gayle’s old high school. Scott escorted her to the 50-yard line on the football field so she could give away her homecoming crown, and a few short years later, they were married.

And so their adventure began.

The newlyweds moved to New York City for Scott’s graduate school, and for the next 37 years of marriage, they were off to their many other adventures.

Scott says, “We’ve done everything from honeymooning on a sailboat, journeying around the Bahamas, to riding elephants in Thailand.”

Over the years, Scott and Gayle have lived

in Switzerland, allowing them to travel all over Europe. Together, they’ve trekked through rice fields of China, chased monkeys in Japan, hiked the Himalayas, and camped in cars out west.

“Starting off,” Scott says, “it was obvious we were a unit. We started and just never stopped.”

“I know of no moment that we knew we were each other’s,” Gayle says.

Scott believes that old cliché is the best way to describe his and Gayle’s relationship: “You complete me.” He says, “We’re complete opposites. Yin and Yang. I’d fly off if it weren’t for her being my anchor.

We make a solid team, and we’re in love. To have a life partner and be in love? We’re lucky to have it all in one package.”

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FEBRUARY 2021

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A Childhood Crush

Peter and Tara McDonald Writer & Photographer Macy Cochran Wedding Date: December 15, 2007 When they were just kids, Peter was young middleschool boy with a crush on the prettiest girl around: Tara, a tenth-grader in high school.

Did his crush fizzle out? Not so much. And it certainly sparked back to life when Tara showed up in the youth group of the church his dad pastored.

“It was very uncool for a high schooler to date a middle schooler, so she wasn’t that interested in me, I thought,” Peter says of his schoolboy crush.

A couple years later when the two were friends in the youth group, Tara’s best friend was dating Peter’s older brother. You wouldn’t call it love at first sight. Peter argues that Tara thought he was just a chubby kid at her school 22

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and now teases her about being a shallow teenager who wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

Tara says, “The very first time I met him, I was immediately attracted to him, however he was a little chubby, and he was a middle schooler which made him uncool.”

Flashforward a few years later and Peter is in great shape, down sixty pounds, and “really good looking,” he claims. “But I’ve always thought Tara was beautiful. She has red hair that makes people jealous.”

“When we met a few years later in youth group, the attraction was still there,” Tara says. “I remember trying to find ways to get to hang out with him.” Even as freespirited teenagers, Tara often found herself praying for her future with Peter.

After nearly three years of dating, Peter and Tara married on a rainy, sleeting, sunny, snowy day. They were barely nineteen and twenty years old at the time, yet they were determined to prove wrong their families who didn’t believe in the love these two shared. High school sweethearts soon became the confidant couple who has leaned on each other through every thick and thin situation.

Peter says, “I think time and our story has proven them wrong. We’re more in love today than we were sixteen years ago.”

Tara adds, “Being so young when we got married, we were some of the very few who were married in college which was a little strange.” In a crowd of more than 2,500 people, it wasn’t uncommon for these two to be the only married couple there.

Sixteen years later, Peter and Tara have two boys who they adore. They’ve taken road trips across the country.

They have also done mission work as far away as Israel.

“One of the highlights of our marriage,” says Peter, “was being in the land where Jesus lived.”

But as Tara recalls, their first adventure together was when they were newlyweds and had no dining room table.

“We had our first meal––lasagna––sitting on the floor at the coffee table.”

Today, Peter says, “Tara is the strongest woman I know. She is honest, loyal, faithful, true and real.”

And Tara still lives every day with the mindset of a young bride: “I get to spend forever with my best friend!”

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An Old Fashioned Romance

Alan and Harriet Peoples Writer & Photographer Macy Cochran Wedding Date: July 1983 Their first, full introduction was on December 5, 1981 at a foot race called the Hickory Autumn Classic in Hickory, North Carolina.

“My pickup line was, ‘I play principal. What do you play?’” Alan says, 37 years after they married in July, two years after meeting. The pickup line worked, though Harriet always called it silly.

So after the race, Alan went home and thought, “I want to take her out to dinner.”

Alan had one problem, though. He’d forgotten Harriet’s name and number. His solution came from the phone bill he had paid that previous Friday which had the number on it from the Hickory Autumn Classic. There, he tracked down the woman he would soon marry.

The two went to a restaurant called White Horse for their first date, no longer minding the time as they chatted about the hundreds of things they had in common.

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They were both principals; they both loved English; soon thereafter, they both fell deeply in love with each other.

Their reservation was for 7PM, and what felt like a couple of hours later, the waiter asked Alan if he’d like his bill.

“Why? What time do you close?” he said.

“At one.”

Reflecting on that night, Alan says, “We talked for five hours and fifty minutes and had no idea how long it had been. It was a time for us to wander into each other’s souls.”

After months and months of dating, growing closer, and paying two-hundred dollar phone bills from late night calls, the two got married.

“You can say all kinds of things you want about how you know someone is the one, but it’s in your heart,” Alan says.

“When she would leave, it’d always be empty. No matter where she went, my heart was empty when she was gone.”

At the time Harriet and Alan met, Alan was already dating a girl from Tryon. There were other girls here and there, but none like Harriet. So Alan gave Harriet a rose a never called another girl again.

“I always wanted someone like her,” he says.

“Tall. Long hair. Big eyes. I don’t know what I fell in love with first.”

The best part about being married to Harriet, he claims, is that there’s always someone there who loves you the way you love them. There’s always someone there who has your back, who loves and supports you.

Every year, he writes his one and only soulmate a love letter and gives it to her on Christmas, telling her what he’s thankful for about her.

Telling her that every Christmas until their last, he will be there.

Forever.

Alan’s message to his precious Harriet: The White House date was still the best day of my life.

––Love, Alan X - TCA 20-21 Artist Series 4 - FOOTHILLS

Color 1-2 Pg Ad - Gilbert Kalish copy.pdf

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11:06 AM

An Awkward Love Story Jimmy (Hambone) and Debbie Camp Wedding Date: August 13, 1977 “My Mama made my wedding dress,” Debbie Camp says, reflecting on her wedding back in 1977, one of the best days of her and her husband’s life. But it began in the summer of ’72 when she was working at Morrow’s Drugstore in downtown Landrum where Mocha’s Mug is currently. She was fourteen years old and he was a seventeen-year-old high school graduate, going by two names: Jimmy and Hambone.

“I knew a Jimmy and I knew a Hambone, but I didn’t know they were the same person!” Debbie says.

Hambone worked right near Debbie, and the two would spend time together while he helped her out at work sometimes. At times, Hambone would even ask Debbie for advice about his girlfriends. But they both agree that it wasn’t love at first sight for them. At the time they met, Hambone had a girlfriend and Debbie thought of him as only a friend. As their friendship grew, though, his feelings began to change, and one

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September night when the two were working till close, Hambone gave Debbie a ride to the Landrum/ Chapman football game.

“In my mind,” she says, “it was only a ride, but to him, it was a date!”

After that awkward evening, Debbie invited Hambone to her house for dinner on October 5 to clear up the confusion, and they now consider October 5th the anniversary of their first date.

Five years later, Hambone and Debbie got married, but it wasn’t long after they began dating that Hambone told his mom Debbie was the girl he wanted to marry one day. He took Debbie to a drivein restaurant and told her, hand-in-hand, “I love you.” Debbie responded, however, “Well, I’m glad,” now looking back on her comment and laughing.

Though she had deep feelings for Hambone, it wasn’t until she was in college and exposed to other guys that she realized she’d already found the man of her dreams.

After a year and a half engagement, they tied the knot and can now both agree that the very best part of being married to each other is getting to share life with each other’s best friend.

Debbie claims, “When the preacher said ‘for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer…’ we had no idea what was in front of us, but we really meant it.”

While there have been storms to be weathered in their marriage, there has always been sunshine on the other side.

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David in the program office at Zion Grove AME Zion Church. The Tryon Rotary Club has sponsored college tours for the youth group.

Youth group members and volunteer Patricia Miller at their gardens.

Making Things Happen David Staley and Unity in the Community Writer & Photographer Mark Levin (additional photos supplied by David Staley) Years ago, I was told a bit of wisdom by my dad who said, “There are three kinds of people in this world. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened.”

David Staley of the Pea Ridge Community in Polk County is one of those folks who make things happen.

David didn’t start out to be a community activist.

But he did know the youth in his community needed something wholesome to do. In 2007 with just a few ideas and no money, David founded Unity in the Community of the Foothills. He has never looked back and the community and all of Polk County have reaped the benefits.

In those first months, the program started by offering “Saturday Night Live” as a means of giving youth an outlet that would keep them entertained

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and “off the streets.” The program is based at Zion Grove AME Zion Church on Pea Ridge Road, but even in the beginning there were other area churches that were involved.

There was no fundraising. David found ways to keep the program doors open with limited funds.

The program was emerging as a premier opportunity for youth. It wasn’t long after that the programs expanded to include adults. Eleanor Miller of Tryon helped David write his first grant proposal which went to the Polk County Community Foundation.

Elizabeth Nager and the team at PCCF saw great potential in David and Unity in the Community of the Foothills, and his first grant request was approved. David says Elizabeth and the Polk County Community Foundation have continued to be a huge part of their success and continue to offer support every year.

David in the youth group’s garden which includes herbs, beehives, and more.

David stands in front of Zion Grove AME Zion Church in the Pea Ridge section of Polk County. David’s father, Robroy, was the pastor at this church for many years.

David Staley FEBRUARY 2021

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Board members Reverend Theodore Kelly, Terri Palmer, and Unity Director David Staley.

Board members with David in the amphitheater named in memory of his brother.

Board members Faye Jones, Cassandra Kelly, and Cassandra Whiteside.

Julia Logan has been a board member for ten years.

Youth group members Kendall McEntyre, Kristofer Littlejohn, Kiera Littlejohn, and Khristian Littlejohn.

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

And with David’s new-found success as a grant writer, he has also found continuing support from other programs including the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Winston-Salem, Dogwood Health Trust, Asheville), and Gateway Wellness Foundation, Marion.

David also feels fortunate to have found assistance from Marianne Carruth. Marianne, the Executive Director at Tryon Fine Arts Center says of David, “I always look forward to the opportunity to work with David. He’s a nice guy and is always looking for a way to help out.

I appreciate his positive energy and creativity to make this community a better place.”

Other local groups have also stepped forward to offer help. The Tryon Rotary Club has sponsored college tours to help introduce the concept that going to college is a real possibility for the youth group, and Tryon Presbyterian Church has also offered support. It takes a village to raise a child and the Polk County community has stepped forward.

Today’s Unity in the Community program involves not only grade-school children but adults well into their 80s. In a normal year, the program touches the lives of hundreds of individuals with many of those participants taking advantage of multiple program opportunities. Like everything else, the Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a lot of program changes. But David Staley isn’t one to let that keep him down. He knows that the community has come to depend on the program in a variety of ways. With each program challenge, he has found ways to work around the activity to find a way to make it work or come up with alternatives, and this included working around the pandemic.

Heading to the cars

Youth group member Kiera Littlejohn is ready to bring some joy with her basket deliveries.

David Staley giving last-minute instructions before volunteers load dozens of baskets into the waiting cars.

Volunteers packing fruit and vegetable baskets for delivery.

FEBRUARY 2021

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Polk County Youth at USC-Upstate. College Tour and Globing Warming Seminar photo submitted by David Staley

Tryon Rotary Club sponsors College for Youth photo submitted by David Staley

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

John Paul McIntyre, Director of Summer Enrichment Camp and Unity Seeds Youth Group photo submitted by David Staley

Programs have evolved over the past and changed as needs have changed. Every program has its own metrics for measuring success and all are based on the program’s mission statement which, in part states, “Committed to make a difference in the lives of people we invest in. We empower people to recognize their potential and use the power that exists within each of them to reach their potential.” It’s obvious from talking with David and board members that Unity in the Community of the Foothills is a powerhouse of goodness in Polk County.

This includes an active youth group, a summer enrichment camp, senior health fair, an adult prom, food drives, food deliveries and holiday gatherings.

David had arranged to have his youth group plant a thousand trees right when the pandemic put a shadow over their plans. It didn’t matter. Those trees got planted.

David works a lot of part-time jobs to give him the time and freedom to devote to Unity in the Community of the Foothills. He does not earn a salary. He’s helped by a strong Board that provides volunteers, advice, and support. He’s thrilled to have John Paul McIntyre take on the role of summer camp and enrichment director and Cecelia Miller there to help with the youth program and the greenhouse and herb garden (Yes, they do that too!).

For David, this amounts to more than a full-time job. And it’s a job he loves. David lives for it. He shines when he talks about what the program has meant to participants of all ages. He is in it for the long haul.

David has a lot of preachers in his family, but that is not his calling. But his Unity in the Community ministry is just as important. And the work he does on a daily basis has and will continue to pay huge benefits to those involved. He has enjoyed a life well spent and looks forward to many years ahead of doing the same.

As David says, he wants his events to be something to give people hope and something to look forward to.

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UITC.Youth Group at their Herb Garden photo submitted by David Staley

UITC.Summer Enrichment Camp photo submitted by David Staley

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

UITC-Herbalist and Assistant Director Youth Group, Cecelia Miller photo submitted by David Staley

UITC Board Members sponsor Praising in the Park submitted by David Staley

For More Info To find out more about Unity in the Community of the Foothills, check out their website at: https://www.uitcfoothills.org and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/ UnityinthecommunityFoothills You can contact David Staley at: info@ uitcfoothills.org.

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UITC.Board Members Enjoying the Annual Adult Prom

Unity Seeds Youth Group photo submitted by David Staley

UITC Host Heart to Heart Gala photo submitted

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Leon and Jackie Godlock with Keynote Speaker, Dr. Robert Jackson and Carlotta Jackson photo submitted by David Staley

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Making Things Happen

Elizabeth Nager, President & CEO of Polk County Community Foundation

The Polk County Community Foundation has been pleased to support David Staley and the Unity in the Community’s growth for more than a decade.

One of our early grants helped the organization formally transition from a coalition of eight churches to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The IRS recognition of Unity in the Community was critical to help Unity expand its programs by making it eligible for tax deductible donations. This helps Unity receive support from individuals and regional funders as well as the Polk County Community Foundation.

Unity in the Community, under David Staley’s leadership, has developed several successful, grant-funded programs for youth and adults.

One particularly popular event, the adult prom, attracts residents from all across Polk County who enjoy celebrating a prom “do-over” with their friends and neighbors.

We value the emphasis on intentionally building community connections by gathering people of all ages and backgrounds with similar interests for free events. We are pleased to have

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funded a variety of free community events like heart healthy inspiring and educational presentations, musical evenings at Rogers Park, gardening education, and computer lessons for seniors.

One of the Foundation’s signature grant programs is a Seasonal Cheer program. We are proud of Unity’s use of grant funds for a free Seasonal Cheer dinner. Unity used the grant funds to host a seated dinner for those who may have needed a little cheer and welcome in the holiday season. The diners were taken care of by youth who volunteered as waiters and entertained with live music.

David Staley has actively participated in nonprofit leadership conferences funded by the Foundation to support David in his challenging role of a volunteer leader of a nonprofit running events. One of Unity’s strengths is organizing many volunteers to accomplish its mission.

-Elizabeth Nager, President & CEO, Polk County Community Foundation

FEBRUARY 2021

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Appointments

The Story of Maui

By Pebbles There she stood, head down, a nursing foal clinging to her side. This four-year-old pinto mare was so thin the wind could have blown her over.

If not purchased today, the heartless people who currently owned her would load her onto the slaughter truck bound for Mexico. Her four-

Maui on adoption day with Carol Smith and Beth Harrill 40

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

month-old foal would be left to fend for itself. Most colts in these places die within three days of dehydration and exposure to more dominant horses in the kill pens. Foals under six months cannot join their mothers on the death ride heading due southwest.

No doubt about it, we had to get them out of there. The downtrodden pair were loaded into a trailer bound for our rescue. First stop was quarantine and an appointment with Dr. Perry Parks. We loved the wonderful tan buckskin coloring on the pinto pony mare and decided to call her Maui. She possessed a dainty head and sweet eyes. Maui was easy to handle and well-mannered for the vet during her examination.

By contrast her little foal whom we named Gema was dark brown in color and untrusting of people. She was not accustomed to the human touch. Closer examination revealed she had a small hernia we would need to have repaired when she was healthy enough to endure surgery. Even with this issue, Gema was in far better shape than her mother. Nursing her foal without proper feed and care had drained the life out of Maui.

Her weight and condition put her in the code red danger zone. Dr. Parks suggested we wean the foal early to help Maui recover.

Maui and her recovery in HERD

After a few days of settling into their temporary home, Gema was moved to the pasture across from Maui. She had the company of a young mini pony. The two youngsters became friends quickly, kicking up their heels to run and play. Gema adjusted well.

Poor Maui stood with her head down, still looking so exhausted and defeated. She nibbled at her feed and watched her baby playing across from her with disinterest. I was very worried. Her spirits were crushed. It seemed she had nothing left to give.

Maui had lost herself.

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Maui after Beth Harrill’s beauty update

After six weeks of quarantine and refeeding, we thought it was the best idea to move Maui to be a companion for a quiet horse. We believed a change of scenery and a new friend might perk her up. As luck would have it, Bridget Davenport called my mistress, Heather Freeman, and asked if HERD had a companion horse that needed a place for the winter months. This was music to our ears.

The Davenports had formerly been neighbors of ours in Campobello. We knew they took excellent care of their horses. Their family owned an elderly partially blind gelding that needed a sweet non fussy companion.

Maui fit the bill perfectly. She was still thin, but now a safer weight and fully vaccinated. The Davenports would need to provide her with a blanket on cold nights, but otherwise she was ready for her new babysitter role.

As anticipated, it was an ideal arrangement.

Maui had an easy, safe friend. She had nothing asked of her other than to report to breakfast and dinner service daily.

At the end of six months, the Davenports moved the older gelding to a retirement facility.

Maui went with him short term. Spring was returning to North Carolina and Maui was in good weight. Her new coat was more striking.

The contrast of dark smoky buckskin against bright white was far more dramatic. She had blossomed; a real head turner compared to the horse we saved with one foot in the grave.

Maui moved to another foster mom, Kailey Greene of Rutherfordton. This large pony was not a model student under saddle. Clearly, she had not been ridden in her short life. It was decided the best decision was to send Maui to trainer Marcus Smith, who has helped HERD with other horses that were more challenging to start when not broke to ride.

Appointments 42

The Hoofbeats of the Carolina Foothills

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Maui prior to being saved by HERD

This was a wise decision. Maui loved this trainer’s style of long trail rides, creek crossings and regular change of scenery. She thrived in his care. Wading chest high to cross deep water was no problem for this brave pony. She was fine carrying a camping pack for one ride, and then being the lead horse on the next adventure. In just two months, Maui was ready for refining her appearance and finding her a new home.

Much like preparing a beauty contestant for a first pageant, HERD volunteer trainer Beth Harrill has talent for this endeavor. She also has a knack for picking a horse’s true talent for the performance category in the contest.

She showcases each horse in a most flattering light. With Maui, we knew she was not a fan of repetitive ring work. This young mare loves the great outdoors and unchartered new territories to explore. Trail riding is her talent of choice.

She pricks her lovely ears forward, eyes bright, to see what is down the next path.

FEBRUARY 2021

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Maui with her new partner Carol Smith

With Beth in the saddle, Maui never met a cow, zebra or emu she did not like. She took spooky creatures all in stride, both two- and four-legged. Videos were produced of all her challenge encounters, including water obstacles, showing Maui’s bravery. These testimonials were posted as Maui was officially listed for adoption.

It was no surprise to us that 20 people responded wanting to come meet this pretty mare.

A lovely woman named Carol Smith came to meet Maui. The connection between them was obvious. They both beamed with delight.

A good match, these two loved the same thing, trail riding to explore the Carolinas. Maui was adopted immediately. She was christened with a new name, Folly and moved to Florence, SC. Gema, her daughter, remains in our rescue.

We are hoping she too will end up with a storybook happy ending, finding the love of her life when it comes time to leave our herd.

Fearless Maui wading through the water

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Pear & Apple

Cobbler

Ingredients • 2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch slices • 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into • ½ inch slices • 1 teaspoon lemon juice • ⅓ cup maple syrup • 2 tablespoons melted butter

Topping • 1 cup rolled oats • ½ of chopped walnuts or pecans • 1 cup brown sugar • ½ cup melted butter • ½ cup all-purpose flour • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Toss pears and apple pieces with lemon juice together in a bowl until coated; spread into a 9x9inch baking dish. Pour maple syrup and 2 tablespoons melted butter over pear and apple mixture; toss to coat.

Mix oats, nuts, brown sugar, 1/2 cup melted butter, flour, and cinnamon together in a bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle over pear mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven until crust is golden and pears are tender, about 45 minutes. Serves for four and is excellent with ice cream or whipped cream as a garnish.

FEBRUARY 2021

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Quick Bites

Red Velvet Cookies Ingredients • 2 c. all-purpose flour • 1/2 c. Dutch process cocoa powder • 1 tsp. baking soda • 1 tsp. kosher salt • 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature • 3/4 c. packed brown sugar • 1/2 c. granulated sugar • 1 large egg • 1 tsp. red gel paste food coloring • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract • 1 12-oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Directions Heat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

Using electric mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugars until combined. Add egg, food coloring and vanilla and mix until just combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop heaping spoonfuls of dough onto prepared sheets, spacing 1½ inches apart.

Bake cookies, rotating positions of pans on racks halfway through, until darker around edges, 9 to 12 minutes total.

Let cool 5 minutes on pans, then slide parchment (and cookies) onto wire rack and let cool at least 5 minutes more before serving.

goodhousekeeping.com

Parting Glance

Gliding above your safe space

By Macy Cochran My New Year’s resolution is a mixture of growth and love and bettering myself, so in order to grow, you must fearlessly jump and trust the wind will catch you. So to welcome in 2021 and despite my fear of falling, I decided to take the leap and try my hand at hang gliding.

Miraculously I survived my flight at 1,500 feet through the skies of near Lenoir, NC. A lesson learned: you’ll never see the sky’s stunning view of Earth if you don’t leap off the safe ground of your comfort zone.

Happy February, and heres to a kind, New Year!

FEBRUARY 2021

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

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FEBRUARY 2021

49

Advertiser Index Ashworth Financial

21

Parkside Dental

41

Carolina Storage Solutions

47

Parsec Financial

5

Carruths Furniture

45

Penny Insurance

33

Cason Builders Supply

50

Polk County Transportation

15

Ravan Earthworks

33

Claussen Walters Realty

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Congregational Church of Tryon

15

ServiceMaster of Polk County

45

Dr. Jonathan Lowry, DDS

39

SG Power & Equipment

50

Hensons Building Supply

23

Southside Smokehouse

19

Hospice of the Carolina Foothills

51

St Luke’s Hospital

3

iBrow Mircroblading Studio

27

Strauss Attorneys

19

JB Trees

41

The Sanctuary at Red Bell Run

41

Tryon Builders

29

Lake Pointe Landing

7

McFarland Funeral Chapel & Crematory

35

Tryon Concert Association

25

Miracle Working Clean

23

Tryon Garden Club

39

Tryon Presbyterian Church

39

White Oak Village

37

New View Realty Odean Keever & Associates Real Estate

2 27