Life in Our Foothills, April 2017, Tryon Newsmedia, Tryon Daily Bulletin

life in our foothills

APRIL 2017

AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH Climbing the grade for a cancer cure

April 2017

CIAO, SALUDA!

Italian chefs welcomed in sister city 1

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

GIRLS LIKE HER

Pam Stone dishes on her new novel

PIMENTO PERFECTION

The cheese with Southern soul

Welcome to LIfe in Our Foothills

Meltdown A

former boss of mine, an older gentleman from Ahoskie, N.C., liked to say, breathlessly and dramatically, when asked why he moved to the western part of the state mid-career, “I came as soon as I heard!”

I’m like that with pimento cheese. I discovered it later in life, and since that magical first moment – a fried green tomato-bacon-pimento cheese-concoction – I’ve spent a lot of time wishing we had rendezvoused sooner.

To make up for lost time, I now make it a point to sample different pimento cheeses and recipes for anything involving the golden gooey goodness whenever I travel. Travel is defined as “anytime I leave my house.”

Do I have a board on Pinterest solely for pimento cheese recipes, a digital shrine of sorts? I might. Do I experiment with different recipes and use my family as guinea pigs? Probably. Do I reward myself for making it to Tuesday by ordering a big fat pimento cheese smothered bacon burger?

Guilty.

Can we not just admit that the lack of a Pimento Cheese Festival in these parts could be holding us back? (Organizers of the on-hold Blue Ridge BBQ Festival might want to take note. I have visions of a tiara-wearing Pimento Cheese Queen waving from a convertible in a parade…)

Anyway, imagine my excitement when the In Good Taste column, found on page 25, arrived in my inbox and it was all about pimento cheese! I thought I had died and gone to heaven, which is what I said, coincidentally, when I ate the burger pictured with the column, also coincidentally, when I made it all the way to Tuesday.

If you’ve never tried it, please do. While you’re enjoying your version of pimento cheese, also known as the “caviar of the South,” also be sure to enjoy the rest of this packed issue. The Art of the Horse project is coming back to town, we’ve had Italian chefs visit our little corner of the world, and we’ve got a revealing story featuring artwork that celebrates the wisdom and lived experiences of the elderly, as etched in their faces. And lots more!

Welcome to April!

APRIL 2017

General Manager Kevin Powell Editor Claire Sachse Contributors Shay Carlson Michelle Fleming Judy Heinrich Clare O’Sheel Carol Lynn Jackson Michael O’Hearn Mark Schmerling Steve Wong Marketing Magan Etheridge Trish Boyter Production Gwen Ring Shay Carlson Administration Erika Anton Distribution Jeff Allison Jamie Lewis Alex Greene

on the cover

Claire Sachse Managing Editor claire.sachse@tryondailybulletin.com 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 Magazine, 16. N. Trade St., Tryon, NC 28782, or email to claire.sachse@tryondailybulletin.com. Life In Our Foothills is available free of charge at locations throughout Polk County and the Upstate of South Carolina, and online at TryonDailyBulletin.com, and on Facebook @LIOFMagazine.

Subscriptions are available at a rate of $35 per year by calling 828-859-9151. To advertise, call 828-859-9151 or email advertise@lifeinourfoothills.com.

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

The ninth annual Climb to Conquer Cancer will be held April 29 on the Saluda Grade of Hwy. 176. Led by John Cash, at left in the yellow jersey, whose own parents and sister succumbed to cancer, the proceeds will benefit the Gibbs Cancer Center Survivorship Program.

See page 34 for details. Photo by Mark Schmerling.

In This Issue

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06 CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOOTHILLS FEATURED 08 Chamber Business Expo 10 Chase Away the Blues 20

FEATURES 14 Poetry Month in Tryon Lanier Library sponsors April poetry festival

15 A Little Italy in Saluda Saluda welcomes Carunchio, Italy as sister city

20 Girls Like Her 26

Pam Stone’s novel explores family relationships

26 Capturing the Internal Light Local artist to exhibit portraits of the elderly

30 Blazing the Trail AmeriCorps volunteers on their love of working outdoors

34 Climb to Conquer Cancer Tackles the Saluda Grade 4

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

In This Issue

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COLUMNS 12 Much Ado A story only a mother could love

25 In Good Taste

Homemade pimento cheese spread

36 Pebbles the Pony

Trusted in the Industry.

Rooted in the Community.

• SINCE 1931 •

A memory serves me well

APPOINTMENTS 35 Historic Steeplechase Boasts New Track, Larger Purse 39 A Life of Art & Horses 43 The Horses are Coming (Back) 47 Perfectly Paired & Appointed PARTING GLANCE 50 Blankets of Green Grass

EQUINE | FARM + RANCH | LIFE AUTO | HEALTH | BUSINESS TRYON 2536 LYNN RD, STE A | 828-859-6700 HENDERSONVILLE 225 6TH AVE W | 828-692-9171

pennyinsuranceagency.com

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Calendar

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t’s time to say goodbye to winter grays, pack away the coats and

bring out the sunscreen! Spring is here! And that means the return of azaleas, April Fool’s silliness, Steeplechase, and the always popular Go Fly A Kite Day. We’ve picked a bunch of spring activities suitable for the family, and even more can be found online at TryonDailyBulletin.com.

April 1, 12 p.m.

TRYON FOOL’S FEST Various locations, downtown Tryon Facebook: Tryon, NC April Fool’s Festival or downtowntryon.org April 1, 1 p.m.

GO FLY A KITE DAY Foothills Equestrian Nature Center 3381 Hunting Country Rd., Tryon 828-859-9021 or fence.org April 2, 3 p.m.

MUSIC IN LANDRUM Miles Hoffman, Viola and Fabio Parrini, Piano Landrum United Methodist Church 227 N. Howard Ave., Landrum Musicinlandrum.org

2017 TRYON BLOCK HOUSE STEEPLECHASE

April 4, 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.

TRYON GARDEN CLUB: SPRING WILDFLOWER WALK David Campbell Rare Species of Wildflowers Pearson’s Falls 2748 Pearson Falls Road, Saluda 828-749-3031 or Pearsonfalls.org April 7, 8 p.m.

GIBSON BROTHERS Award-winning bluegrass Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon 828-859-8322 or tryonarts.org April 8, 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.

FENCE COMMUNITY YARD SALE Foothills Equestrian Nature Center 3381 Hunting Country Rd., Tryon 828-859-9021 or fence.org Gibson Brothers

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Calendar April 8, 9 a.m.

12TH ANNUAL PAC WALK FOR PRESERVATION/ PAC 5K TRAIL RUN Foothills Equestrian Nature Center 3381 Hunting Country Rd., Tryon 828-859-9021 or fence.org April 10, 2 p.m.

CRAFTERNOON: STRING ART Once a month on the second Monday. The library provides all materials for free.

Saluda Library 44 W Main St., Saluda aderr@polklibrary.org or 828-749-2117 April 15, 12 - 5 p.m.

2017 TRYON BLOCK HOUSE STEEPLECHASE 6881 South NC Hwy. 9, Columbus 828-863-0480 or blockhouseraces.org April 18, 7 p.m.

TFAC STAGE DOOR SERIES: PURE POETRY Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon 828-859-8322 or tryonarts.org

Dark Corner Classic Car Show

April 27 & 29, 8 p.m.

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

JAMES GREGORY: FUNNIEST MAN IN AMERICA

Tony Award-winning play Tryon Little Theater 516 S Trade St., Tryon 828-859-2466 or tltinfo.org

Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon 828-859-8322 or tryonarts.org April 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

April 27, 7 p.m.

April 20, 6 - 8:30 p.m.

WINE AND PAINT NIGHT

April 28, 7:30 p.m.

SUNSET CONCERT GEOFF ACHISON

Foothills Equestrian Nature Center 3381 Hunting Country Rd., Tryon 828-859-9021 or fence.org

Tryon Fine Arts Center Amphitheater 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon 828-859-8322 or tryonarts.org

April 22, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m

April 28, 5 p.m.

SPRING ARTS & FLOWER FESTIVAL

GALLERY OPENING: EQUESTRIAN EXHIBIT

Tryon Arts & Crafts School 373 Harmon Field Rd., Tryon 828-859-8323

Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon 828-859-8322 or tryonarts.org

DARK CORNER CLASSIC CAR SHOW N. Trade Ave., Landrum April 30, 1-5 p.m.

FOOTHILLS HUMANE SOCIETY ANIMAL FAIR Spiegel Farm 96 E. Frontage Rd., Campobello 828-863-4444 or foothillshumanesociety.org

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Foothills Featured

Chamber Business Expo

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Photos by Michael O’Hearn The Carolina Foothills Chamber of Commerce held its fourth annual Community and Business Expo at the Saluda Party Place and Event Center on Saturday, Feb. 25. Nearly 50 businesses signed up for the event, door prizes were given away, and attendees took home expo “swag.”

1. Brett Carpenter, Kim Hall, Amy Smith, Ronnie Reid, Lisa Rodriguez and Gerald McCool 2. Brittany Burdette (right) 3. Nadine Naujoks and Anita Trouteaud 4. Kathy Woodham, Jim Bross, Michelle Trofatter and Karol Young 5. Lori Field, Sandra Rhodes and James Boxerman 6. Barbara Bricker and Barbara Clark 7. Victoria Fitzgerald 8. Lisa Rodriguez, Becky Call and Jennifer Griffin 9. Ashley Crissone and Michaelle McKaig 10. Rita Motter, Crystal Laughter and Georgia Pack 11. Dr. Lonnie Lassiter and Eloise Johnson

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Foothills Featured

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Come Work With Us

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Foothills Featured

Chase Away the Blues Photos submitted by Michelle Fleming Tryon Fine Arts Center presented the sixth annual Chase Away the Blues, a night of non-stop music and dancing in three different venues, plus food and drinks, on March 4. Musicians included headliner Mac Arnold and Plate Full O’ Blues, Brandon Turner and Freddie Vanderford, Shane Pruitt and Tuesday’s Sermon and Daryle Ryce.

1. Frances and Shields Flynn, Pat Strother and Tammy Coleman 2. Jim and Kathy Wright 3. Cindy and Pete Viehman 4. Jim Cullen and Barbara McCracken 5. Jennifer and Brian Jones 6. Ron and Debbie Souther 7. Sally and Russ Rock 8. Gay and Scott Pleune and Marianne Carruth 9. Gaye and Phil Johnson 10. Lavin Cuddihee and Mike Gron 11. Scott and Karolyn Hooper 12. Helen Byrd, Jody McPherson and Pam McNeil 13. Fayssoux McLean and Brandon Turner 14. Daryle Rice, Becky Barnes and Susie Kocher 15. Cathy and Nick Fischer 16. Becky and Bill McCall 17. Krystal and Kevin Powell and Helen Byrd

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Foothills Featured

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Tryon Fine Arts Center presents

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J. Mark McVey Star of Broadway’s Les Miserables

Saturday, April 22 – 8 pm tickets: $35 Adult, $17 Student *

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“Mark McVey is simply the best!! … His vocal sound is superb, and his range is awesome.... Audiences adore him.”

– marvin hamlisch

season sponsor

event sponsor

34 Melrose Ave, Tryon 828-859-8322 tryonarts.org *plus 6.75% nc sales tax and ticketing fees

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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A STORY

only a mother COULD LOVE

WRITTEN BY STEVE WONG

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t took me two months, an act of vandalism at the old homestead, and a lot of soul searching, but I finally visited my mother’s grave. It was a cold February day, with gray dry skies, and I was miles away from home, yet in a strange sort of way, home again.

It was a weekday, a day when most people are at work, when life goes on, but on this day, I had pushed the pause button. I was the only living person in the cemetery, but the small Methodist church across the busy road had cars in the parking lot and people coming and going.

Mother’s grave still had bare red clay and plastic Christmas flowers in the vase. I stood at the foot of the plot and read the headstone over and over again.

When this column is published, I’ll get my monthly dose of ego jollies — minus one. I’ll see my byline and tell myself “as long as the editor at Life In Our Foothills magazine pays me something for my writing, I know it has some value to someone.” After all, I’ve said many times, freelance writing is always subject to acceptance. If it’s not good, they won’t buy it.

As usual, I’ll stop in at the magazine’s office to pick up a few extra copies for friends and family, but one stroke of my ego will not happen. My mother will not ask me for copies to give to her friends at the assisted living facility. She quietly passed away just before Christmas, leaving me with magazine articles that only a mother could love.

On the last day of February, Mother would have been 85 years old. She was a leap year baby, so we often joked that she was barely legal — depending on how you did the math. To celebrate, I would have undoubtedly taken her to a Chinese buffet for shrimp of every variety. I personally hate 12

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Chinese buffets and would put up a fuss to not eat at them — except on Mother’s birthday. Her birthday came around only once a year (or every four years), and if she wanted fantail shrimp aplenty, well fine, pass the soy sauce and get me another egg roll while you’re at the steamtable.

Like many people, I have not dealt with my mother’s death as well as I should. I’ve not been especially depressed or emotionally distraught.

I’ve just not dealt with it at all. We had the funeral, and I came home to get on with my life. I told myself…I just would not have to make the four-hour drive every other weekend to visit her.

I would not have to struggle to get her walker in my car. I would not have to park in the handicap parking space. I would not have to put birdseed in the feeder outside of her window. I would not have to remember to call her about every other day to “just check in and see how things were going.” It took me a few weeks to realize, the things I did for my mother were not expressions of my love for her.

They were expressions of her love for me. I realized this two months later when I finally found the wherewithal to visit her grave.

Mother had been in poor health in recent years, and though the telephone call in the middle of the night came as a surprise, it was not a shock. Heart disease, chronic lung congestion, diabetes, blindness, kidney failure had all taken their toll on her.

For many recent years, Mother had predicted “this year” would be her last year “here on this earth.” We all knew she was given to exaggeration and drama. It was part of her character.

Some would say her charm. That was just how Mary Ellen Kimbrell Wong Plattenburger rolled. Any story worth telling was worth telling again and again with a few extra details thrown in for good measure. I’ve searched out so many grains of truth in Mother’s stories, it’s no wonder that I’m totally addicted to salt.

I feel quite certain that I as I stood at the foot of her grave sorting out my thoughts and emotions, Mother was telling St. Peter… “And Steve came to visit me again today, just look down there, there he is again, he’s such a good son. Did you bring that magazine you write for again? I want Mr. Peter here to read what you wrote. Did you write about me again? How many copies do you have? Can you get me a few more?”

Mother, I came empty handed today. But your birthday is coming up soon, and I’m going to eat lunch at the biggest Chinese buffet I can find and think of you. I can’t stay too long today because I’ve got a deadline to write my column this month. My editor will fuss at me, if I’m late again. But, it’s all about you, Mother, and, yes, Mother, I’ll get you a few extra copies.

Steve Wong is a writer, living in the peach orchards of Upstate South Carolina. His columns are usually all about himself, written with the hope that others will find insight about themselves in his words. His mother was proud of him.

Contact him at Just4Wong@gmail.com.

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Sidney Lanier Poetry Festival

Poetry month IN TRYON ARTICLE SUBMITTED BY CLARE O’SHEEL

T

he Lanier Library is named for 19th century poet Sidney Lanier, so it is not unexpected to find a month’s worth—and a bit more—of poetry-themed events at the library during April’s Poetry Month.

April 1 marks the beginning of National Poetry Month, the closing of the Sidney Lanier Poetry Competition and the beginning of judging. Begun in 2008, the prestigious competition is open to North and South Carolina residents, with adult and school-age categories.

This year’s competition will be judged by local poet Kathy Ackerman, dean of Isothermal Community College’s School of Arts and Sciences, and author of Coal River Road. Ackerman will read from her work, and competition winners will be announced on Saturday, May 6, 4 p.m. at the library. A reception will follow.

The quarterly Literary Open Stage on Thursday, April 20, 7 p.m., is dedicated to the love of poetry. No original works this night; everyone who has a poem they love is invited to “take the mic” and share it.

The month continues with a writing workshop, “The Physiology of Sound,” with former North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers on Saturday, April 29, 10 a.m.

– 1 p.m., at the library.

Library events conclude on Thursday, May 11, and Friday, May 12 with current North Carolina Poet Laureate Shelby Stephenson. He will read from his work on 14

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

May 11 at 7 p.m. The following day he will conduct a workshop: “Writing the Living Life,” 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Both events take place at the library.

In addition, the Tryon Fine Arts Center will host “Pure Poetry: Readings by Area Writers,” Tuesday, April 18 at 7 p.m. Poets include Kathy Ackerman, Cathy Smith Bowers, Greg Lobas, Lee Mink, Nancy Holmes, David Riddle and Lee Stockdale.

With the exception of the poetry writing workshops, all events are free and open to the public. For more information, and to register for the workshops, visit lanierlib.org or stop in at the library, 72 Chestnut Street, Tryon. •

Sidney Lanier, namesake of Tryon’s Lanier Library, wears many hats reflective of the variety of pieces submitted for judging during National Poetry Month.

A LITTLE ITALY

Chef Dino Paganelli and Massimo Criscio visited Saluda in February as part of the Sister City program linking Saluda and Carunchio, Italy. Carunchio Mayor Gianfranco D’Isabella and a delegation of five Carunchio residents will be visiting Saluda this spring.

in Saluda

Saluda welcomes Carunchio, Italy as sister city WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL O’HEARN

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Italy in Saluda

Former guests of Massimo Criscio at his Palazzo Tour D’Eau in Carunchio hosted the Italian dinner at Lola’s Venue.

Pictured are Judy Ward, Chef Dino Paganelli, Frances Fairey, Bevie Hardy, Taylor Francisco, Judy Thompson, Debbie Thomas, Molly Thomas, Gloria Sullivan and Massimo Criscio.

C

arunchio, Italy, a small village in the Abruzzo region near the Adriatic Sea, recently became Saluda’s sister city thanks to an effort by Judy Thompson and the Saluda Sister City Initiative, a group of Saluda residents who have taken trips each year to Italy to bring Saluda and Carunchio together.

To further the friendship and share in cultural exchanges, Dino Paganelli, chef at Carunchio’s Abruzzo Cibus cooking school, and Massimo Criscio, CEO of Abruzzo Cibus and owner of the Palazzo Tour D’Eau, visited Saluda in February for a week during a tour the southeastern region of the United States.

Criscio and Paganelli pulled up in their Fiat to Thompson’s Grocery in Saluda and, like celebrities signing autographs, were greeted by Saluda residents during the hours leading up to the Italian dinner at Lola’s Venue in downtown Saluda.

Paganelli is soft-spoken, saying his English is not very good. He was humbled by those who greeted him, saying he is fascinated by the culture America has to offer.

Like an Italian James Bond, Criscio has a cool demeanor and likes to joke around with the people he meets. His ability to walk up to strangers in Thompson’s Grocery and instantly make friends is unmatched.

Thompson explained the purpose of the Sister City program as being a way for Saluda residents to expand their horizons and learn about another country.

“One of our top priori-

Italy in Saluda

Chef Dino Paganelli prepared an Italian dinner for former guests and potential future visitors to Carunchio, Italy at Ward’s Grill in Saluda on Friday, Feb. 17.

Thompson’s Grocery Store owner Clark Thompson and Chef Dino Paganelli spent the afternoon on Friday, Feb. 17 preparing a dinner featuring egg and cheese dumplings, pasta and tiramisu at Ward’s Grill in Saluda.

ties for the Sister City program is to help our Saluda students widen their view of the world by developing interactions with the school in Carunchio and by learning about Italy,” Thompson said. “Three groups of Saluda residents have gone to Carunchio in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The next trip is planned for 2018.”

According to Thompson, Saluda and Carunchio officially became sister cities in May 2016 when a group of Saluda residents went on a six-night vacation at the Palazzo Tour D’Eau. Thompson said Criscio and Paganelli conduct cultural tours of Carunchio with cooking classes and visits to Carunchio’s main attractions.

During the group’s visit in 2016, Thompson said former Saluda commissioner Lynn Cass and Carunchio Mayor Gianfranco D’Isabella pointed out commonalities between the two cities including location, altitude, latitude and climate.

“Backed by the flags of Italy, the United States, LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Italy in Saluda

Before returning to Carunchio, Dino and Massimo showed Thompson’s Grocery owner Clark Thompson how to make sausage with their pepe trito spice. The pair held a meet and greet session on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Thompson’s Grocery and gave customers the chance to try the sausage before buying it.

Carunchio and Saluda, the two formalized the relationship with a proclamation in both Italian and English that will be displayed in the Saluda City Hall,” Thompson explained. “Cass presented Carunchio with books picChef Dino Paganelli prepared a three-course meal with wine. turing Saluda environs and Egg and cheese dumplings drizzled with marinara sauce was celebrating its artistic heritage and D’Isabella presented served with a side of bread and oil as the first course. Paganelli her with a plaque commemo- demonstrated how to make the dumplings and Criscio, a certirating the joining.” Cass also fied sommelier, gave a wine tasting course before the meal. presented the mayor with a traditional Coon Dog Day in Charleston called Zero George festival shirt and invited all to Saluda and the theme was modern American for barbecue and sweet tea. cuisine,” Criscio said. “For the first Paganelli and Criscio arrived in time, we were on the other side of the Miami on Jan. 29 to embark on their table. We sat down and there was a chef three-week tour that concluded with waiting for us. This guy is top-notch! a week in Saluda. Criscio said their We managed to get in because we had travels took them to Amelia Island off a good recommendation and so we saw Florida’s Altantic coast, on to Savannah, the difference in how they do things.”

Ga., then to Hilton Head, S.C., and While in Saluda, Paganelli and finally up to Saluda.

Criscio stayed with Thompson, a for“We participated in a cooking school mer guest at the Palazzo Tour D’Eau in 18

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Italy in Saluda

Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden met with Massimo Criscio during his visit to Saluda in February.

Italy, at her house for the week. They frequented Thompson’s Store in downtown Saluda, owned by Pensacola, Fla. resident Clark Thompson.

“Saluda is such a beautiful place and it feels like time has stopped in this moment here,” Paganelli said. “This is the first time I have been to a small town in America.”

Criscio said he and Paganelli wanted to embrace the southern culture of America while visiting. Thompson said they tried barbecue at Green River Barbecue in Saluda and square-danced to bluegrass music at the Feed & Seed venue in Fletcher, N.C. “We had the sweet tea and the food is so different here than in Italy,” Criscio remarked. “If you want breakfast for dinner here, you get breakfast for dinner. If you want fast food, you get fast food. In Italy, lunch is between 12 and 12:45. If you miss it, you go hungry.”

Criscio and Paganelli held an Italian dinner during their stay in Saluda at Lola’s Venue above Thompson’s Grocery store. The dinner guests included Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden and Saluda commissioners Carolyn Ashburn and Mark Oxtoby.

Paganelli prepared a three-course dinner for the evening that included egg and cheese dumplings (pallote cacio e uova), a pasta dish featuring traditional Italian sausage with the pepe trito spice similar to paprika that originates in the Abruzzo region of Italy (mezze maniche con broccoli e sabiccia di pepe trito), and tiramisu.

The dinner began with the egg and cheese dumplings, as an appetizer drizzled with marinara sauce. The pasta followed, with spicy sausage infused with the regional Abruzzo pepe trito spices from Italy. The meal ended with the classic tiramisu dessert, with its chocolate and mocha flavors cooling down the palate.

Paganelli and Criscio returned home on Monday, Feb. 20 after doing a cooking demonstration at Thompson’s Store featuring their special sausage with the pepe trito spice. Thompson’s Store now sells the sausage, which is Charlie’s Sausage with the Abruzzo spices, for $5 per pound.

The Italians won’t be gone for long though, as Carunchio mayor D’Isabella and a delegation of five Carunchio residents will be arriving in Saluda this spring. • LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Girls Like Her

GIRLS LIKE Her Pam Stone’s novel explores family relationships

WRITTEN BY STEVE WONG

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s a man over 50, I could give a copy of Pam Stone’s first novel, Girls Like Her, to my octogenarian mother-in-law and to my teenage daughter and have no qualms about dissecting the book’s interlaced family drama with them over a covered-dish lunch after church on Sunday.

My mother-in-law would relate to one of the story’s main characters, Lissie, who after a lifetime of hard work, self-sacrifice, and common decency has decided to sell the old homestead in the Carolina Foothills in order to revisit pastoral England, a place that has held special in her heart since she was a young and carefree woman.

My daughter might reluctantly relate to Lizzie’s granddaughter, Kirsten, a teenager with the usual growing pains of not being popular at school, having parents on the verge of divorce, and not getting invited to the senior prom.

And despite Stone’s best efforts to present life from the male point of view, I may or may not relate to the men in the novel: a dutiful but emotionally distant son/ 20

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husband, a clinically depressed old man, a love-starved son-inlaw, or a failed-to-launch best friend.

Oh, the drama of it all, but all’s well that ends well… well, for the most part.

Stone, a syndicated newspaper columnist, sitcom actress, standup comic, and now novelist, has self-published her first work of fiction

Girls Like Her

and has accomplished what she set out to do — tell a story about an older woman that could be a “chick beach read.”

That it might be, but it is more, tackling a slew of family problems and finding answers that leave a bit of sand in your sandwich.

For the most part, it is a slice-of-life story about the Merriman family that lives in and around Asheville, N.C. Actually, make that several slices of life. At the heart of the story is the emotional conflict Lissie unintentionally stirs up when she announces her plans to sell the house.

That announcement sends her middle-age daughter Leigh off the deep end in every way possible, making her unbearable to all… her daughter, her husband, her mother, her best friend. Unbeknownst to anyone until now, her childhood home literally means everything to Leigh and the very thought of not eventually inheriting it and living in it again sends her into a tailspin that sucks in everyone around her.

Meanwhile, her brother David, a photographer of moderate local success, is facing the end of his storybook marriage to a high-powered lawyer. He meets a new love interest, a feisty barmaid, when out of the blue, a horse bites and kicks him inflicting critical injury and pain. But out-of-the-blue pain and injury are part of life, and we all must deal with them as best we can — be it physical rehab or symbolically.

Oh, the drama of it all, but all’s well that ends well… well, for the most part.

PAM STONE We must learn to endure the pain (of marriages ending), we must accept the pain (of having an estranged and mentally fragile father), we must accept help from others (feisty barmaids, failed-to-launch best friends, cool uncles) to get through the pain, and we must work hard at overcoming the pain (make peace with loved ones, accept what you cannot change, keep a positive attitude). And with a little serendipitous luck, you might just get that old house, find LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Girls Like Her your true love, end a marriage on good terms, and feel the gentle sea breeze blow through your gray hair as you stand on the cliffs of English countryside.

Ah, but what about the years to come? Is there more story to tell? Anything is possible, and some things are probable.

The 359-page softcover book was first released in early February through Amazon, but was quickly pulled back because of too many typos that had escaped the copyeditors.

But typos are like other bumps in the road of life: we get over them and look to find the deeper meaning. Just like

Stone’s weekly column, Girls Like Her is an easy read that gives your mind a little something to chew on. It is relatable because we all have problems that are mostly solvable. It is insightful, humorous, touching, and solidly G rated.

Once again Stone has proven her worth when it comes to telling a good story. Girls Like Her is easy to enjoy by just about anyone. It has both well-rounded characters and depth of character that when combined are capable of overcoming life’s most challenging moments. In a real world that is often distasteful, this is a genteel soul, serving slices of life that are easy to digest.

GOBSMACKEDsuccess

h t i w MEMORIES

Popcorn and

BUT STILL JUST HORSING AROUND

Like her writing, Pam Stone is simple and direct in setting her life’s priorities. Despite being an accomplished actor, comedian, talk radio host, and writer, she is first and foremost an equestrian. If her new novel — Girls Like Her — becomes a bestseller, she will undoubtedly use the money to feed her horse habit.

“I consider myself to be a horsewoman first, and a writer, a very distant second or third,” she said recently sitting at ease in a folding canvas chair in her three-stall barn.

The big brown horse in the stall behind her was pawing at the shavings and trying to loop a rope over its head, something she found amazing, enchanting, charming, endearing.

“I would say that when I write for the public, especially with my column, I feel like I have very little to do with it. I just start typing and it comes quite quickly. I like my writ22

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

The Tryon Theatre women’s basketball coach Judy Watkins on the television sitcom Coach, through years which ranthe from 1989 to 1997.

ing to be economical and succinct because that’s the sort of reading I enjoy. I don’t care to get bogged down in endless, descriptive narratives. The less adverbs, the better.

Just get to the damn point!”

At 57 years old, Pam is at a good place in her life: Stone’s Throw Farm in Campobello. She spends as much time as possible on her 27.5-acre horse farm, doing what she loves most in the world: horsing around. More specifically, she favors competitive dressage with Dutch Warmblood horses. But her passion for horses comes at a price that she willingly pays with surprising ease and a bit of luck.

Her fame and fortune are the products of her natural comedic talent, which is probably very much related to her storytelling (writing and public speaking) ability. She is most well known for her role as the tall

Originally, Pam got the role because, she admits with a bit of professional guilt, she was in the right place at the right time and fit the need for a tall (6 foot, 1.5 inches), funny woman. She “got really, really lucky.” Her one-time guest spot tuned into a seven-year gig.

Before she dropped out of college, she worked as a waitress in Atlanta at The Punchline, a comedy club. After several months of serving cocktails, girlfriends noticed her wit and encouraged her to take it on stage.

She finally did, and her career in entertainment was born. People and the industry’s movers and shakers noticed, and she booked more and bigger stages. She started touring, and she finally moved from her native Georgia to Hollywood, Calif.,

Girls Like Her where the real action was.

But her work before, during, and even after television has always been her means to support her equestrian passion. That “other stuff pays the bills,” she said jokingly and in regards to her new book, added, “I hope that is the new horse fund.”

She admits she is rather lazy when it comes to working and early on in her life made decisions on how to make enough money with a career that would afford her the time to ride. Being a stand-up comic was a nearly perfect job description for her. She could make people laugh at night and ride horses during the day.

And making people laugh is easy for her.

After 15 years in California, trying to balance her entertainment career with her equestrian activities, Pam moved to South Carolina in

1999 to be part of the well established horse “Funnily enough,” she said, “the hardest lifestyle in the Carolina part was actually stopping. The story Foothills. Yet, still the poured out, projectile, nonstop, and I was limelight followed her. writing like a woman possessed.”

For five years she hosted a talk radio show — The PAM STONE Pam Stone Show— in Charlotte. She got behind her. her start in writing an The idea to write a novel about award-winning newspaper column an older woman with family issues at the encouragement of former is something that had been haunting publisher/editor of The Tryon Daily Pam for 10 years. From a marketBulletin, Jeff Byrd. Since then, her column has been picked up by seven ing perspective, she saw the need to write for and about older women other newspapers and she is read who still want to hold a real book in by a half million people weekly. As evidence to her natural talent, a “dif- their hands. It took her only about ficult column” for her write will take six weeks to write the book and that’s counting having to rewrite the as long as 20 minutes. She still does first seven chapters because of a comlive comedy, but only for corporate puter failure. events, (“piece of cake, fly in, fly “Funnily enough,” she said, “the out”) leaving the hectic days of clubs

Your View Awaits we’ll help you find it!

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Experienced agents licensed in both NC & SC • Members of NC Mountains MLS & Greenville MLS Active members of the community & sponsors of Tryon Beer Fest, Business Expo, Tryon International Film Festival & more LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

23

Girls Like Her hardest part was actually stopping. The story poured out, projectile, nonstop, and I was writing like a woman possessed. Every indoor moment was spent writing, some nights until 2 a.m. I was missing meals, writing through lunch, dinner, and when I finally went to bed, then a new idea would compel me to get back up and write it down.

I told Paul (my other half ), ‘Now I get why you hear about writers going on drunken binges or blowing their brains out.’ It was an all-consuming experience that wasn’t terribly pleasant. In fact, it was pretty draining. I was hugely relieved when it was finished.

“The funniest thing was that when I sat down to write this thing, my intention was just to knock out a fast-paced, summertime, chick beach-read. Light, fluffy, funny,

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

with a page-turning romance in the middle “... the book had affected them in such a of it. Within days it way that they were beginning to reconbecame very apparent sider relationships in their own lives, that that it was becoming far perhaps the way they had thought about more substantial than that as the characters bea parent, or sibling, or boyfriend, or ex came fleshed out. Each spouse needed to be re-examined... “ character became faced with pretty challenging PAM STONE emotional obstacles that they had to address a very similar thing: that the book which would affect not only themhad affected them in such a way that selves, but their relationships with they were beginning to reconsider others, and, in the process, learn relationships in their own lives, that that what they had always perceived perhaps the way they had thought as their personal truths, perhaps about a parent, or sibling, or boyweren’t true at all, which can be friend, or ex spouse needed to be either devastating or tremendously re-examined, and I just loved that. freeing.

It’s exactly what I was hoping for.”

“And when I began receiving Her readers are hoping for more, email from readers, I was goband she is just might give it to smacked as they seemed to be saying them. •

In Good Taste

e d a m Home

PIMENTO CHEESE SPREAD

WRITTEN BY CAROL LYNN JACKSON

F

or the purist, pimento cheese is a blend of shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos. For its simplicity, it provides a meaningful window into the working class lives of the Carolinas’ old south. Families living on $28 a week saw homemade pimento cheese sandwiches as the quick (three ingredients) and cheap (often government subsidized) way

to get off to work in industries, textiles for example, where there were no formal rest or meal breaks.

As the cheese spread traveled into the realm of picnics and garden parties, the purist version gets more cloudy as many of its New South “cousins” present a manufactured fluorescent hue and slimy texture. The oft-quoted North Carolina author Reynolds Price calls many tubbed brands,

“congealed insecticides.”

Another Durham-based oft-referenced food author and chef, Sara Foster, offers the three-ingredient pimento cheese with a few added twists: cream cheese, apple cider vinegar and honey. For my version, shared here, I add yet another two ingredients as I like my cheese spreads, if not savory, to at least have a little kick. •

MANNA CABANNA PIMENTO CHEESE SPREAD (YIELDS 4 CUPS) INGREDIENTS: 8 oz. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated. (avoid pre-grated, it’s too dry) ¼ c. softened cream cheese (2 oz.) pulled into several pieces

PREPARATION:

½ c. jarred pimento or other roasted peppers, finely diced 3 T. Duke’s Mayonnaise 1 T. Apple Cider Vinegar

1. In a large mixing bowl, place the cheddar cheese in an even layer.

Scatter the cream cheese, pimentos, mayonnaise and remaining ingredients over the cheddar cheese. Using a mixing paddle or spatula, mix until smooth and spreadable, about 1½ minutes.

1 T. Honey Pinch of dried chile flakes and pinch of smoked paprika Salt and pepper to taste

2. Transfer the pimento cheese into a glass container or bowl, cover tightly and store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

25

CAPTURING THE INTERNAL

Janet Orselli

Local Artist to Exhibit Portraits of Elderly WRITTEN BY STEVE WONG

W

hen Janet Orselli draws the portrait of a senior citizen playing BINGO at The Meeting Place Senior Center just outside of Columbus, there is more attention given to hearing the letters and numbers being called out than to the image she is creating. Actually, the subjects of her work pretty much just ignore her.

“B-13,” is called out loud and clear, and old eyes and hands scan the oversized cards.

If a player has a B-13, he or she slides the red-tinted plastic window closed and hopes that eventually there will be a winning row of numbers. Janet glances up at her subject and down at her drawing paper repeatedly as she sketches. She uses artists charcoal sticks to quickly render the deep wrinkles, the sagging skin, the age spots, the thinning hair.

“BINGO,” someone says in a loud voice, and the game is over. There are no prizes, just bragging rights, but it keeps the mind humming along and everyone has the opportunity to socialize. A new game will start as soon as everyone opens their windows.

The models don’t move all that much, so Janet is able to continue her portrait work as the gamers play game after game. She might

spend most of the time on one portrait; she might draw several. It all depends on whether or not she is capturing what she calls “individual essence, an internal light.”

And when she does Janet Orselli capture that essence, that internal light, the portrait tells a story of a life well lived.

“I love faces and what they reveal,” the artist wrote in a statement. “I love the capacity of the face to hold an infinite amount of expressions.

I love the attempt to capture a momentary individual essence and discover the person being drawn. I love the character inherent in a well-lived face. I love when the act of drawing becomes a meditative process allowing me to connect mind, body and emotion to reach something beyond what I expect or know.

Although many of the faces are of those that could be labeled ‘seniors’ -- their age is not important. The faces are all of people generous in spirit that have allowed me to spend time with LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

27

Janet Orselli

In a culture obsessed with youth, Orselli’s portraits instead focus on character, strength, vitality, joy, persistance and purpose.

them. Through this process I have come to know myself better and see how connected we all are. I am very grateful!”

For the past few months, as part of a grant-funded project, Janet has been drawing the portraits of the elderly at The Meeting Place and her mother’s home, Ridge Rest Assisted Living. The end result will be a public art exhibit of her work at the Tryon Depot Room, weekdays, April 7-30.

Janet was one of several North Carolina artists chosen to receive funding from The Arts Council of Henderson County, in collaboration with the Transylvania Community Arts Council, and the Tryon Fine Arts Center in Polk County. These $1,000 or less grants were awarded to artists planning projects that have artistic merit and promise to advance the career of the artist or 28

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

collaborating group. Janet used the money to buy supplies. The exhibit will open with a free and public reception on Friday, April 7, 5-8 p.m.

“I hope that people viewing the exhibit will experience the qualities of character, strength, vitality, joy, persistence or purpose in a well-lived face,” she said. “In our culture, which is so obsessed with the young – the power and wisdom of age is rarely recognized or valued. I hope that people can see and appreciate those unseen qualities through this project. Much of my inspiration originates from being a student at Adawehi in Columbus, N.C. where I live amongst a group of people who inspire me to look deeper for the beauty that is frequently overlooked. I desire that people not be tied to searching for likenesses, but be

open to being surprised and have fun looking for themselves or others like in a ‘personger’ hunt. All the works will be titled the same, (Luminary, with a number) to signify that everyone is connected - yet also thankfully unique in expression.”

Oddly, drawing portraits is not what Janet normally does. Normally, she creates installations of found objects, meaning she finds all sorts of often-seemingly useless stuff and arranges it artfully in a gallery. She has a master’s degree in fine art from Clemson University and has been an artist in residence at Anderson Ranch in Colorado; Spring Island, S.C.; and Kaiserslautern, Germany.

She has received many grants and was awarded a national Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship in 2005. She has

Janet Orselli had large-scale mixed-media installations in major museums in Charleston, New York City, Chicago, Montana, Indiana State and Florida State University.

But living in Adawehi, “a place for health and healing,” and leading Akula Foundation Reminiscence Groups for the elderly has pointed her in a different artistic direction.

“I am currently furthering my development by setting off in a new artistic direction,” she said. “Until more recently I focused predominantly on three-dimensional work - assemblage and mixed media

installations. Change has been knocking at my door, and this past year I finally answered the door. I am excitedly drawing once more - seeking to capture an individual essence, an internal light in portrait form.”

She readily admits she is not totally confident with her new direction and is unable to label her work in ways such as “abstract,” “realism,” or “impressionism.”

“I think of my work as being as original as I can be,” she said. “What comes natural to me. Not intent to capture likeness, but to be authentic. To capture the moment. To let the drawing tell me

where to go. I don’t know when I start where the art will go. I like the excitement of the process. I’m not good at being perfect, but I am flexible to what comes, and sometimes that is better than anything I could have imagined.”

Charley Pittman, 71, of Pea Ridge, didn’t yell “BINGO” the day that Janet drew his portrait. He agreed to let her draw him, but he paid her no mind, as she sat across the table from him drawing page after page of sketches.

“I like what she is doing,” he said in between games. “It doesn’t bother me.

I hope it helps her out in the long run, in her career. I admire anybody who can do that kind of work,” said the retired fiberglass worker. “They (his wife and other seniors) like the way she does,” he added, however, Charley had yet to take notice of his portrait.

A new game was about to begin, and Janet was ready…

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

29

AmeriCorps Volunteers

l i a r T

BLAZING THE

Polk County’s AmeriCorps volunteers on their love for working outdoors WRITTEN BY MICHAEL O’HEARN

W

ithin Polk County, AmeriCorps members are serving the community by providing education and environmental assistance and volunteering their time at organizations like the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) or county offices like the Polk County Recreation Department.

Members of the AmeriCorps organization across the nation volunteer to work with their communities and their environments.

Founded in 1994, AmeriCorps was created by the Corporation for National 30

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

and Community Service. It engages more than 80,000 Americans in service projects in 21,600 communities across the nation in nonprofits, schools, public agencies and community and faithbased groups.

AmeriCorps has six focus areas including disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures and veterans and military families.

Seth Young is the trails coordinator with the Polk County Recreation Department and, when he is not in his Mill Spring Ag Center office, he is

somewhere in the county creating paths or remarking boundaries and surveying existing trails. He works with Alex Kazer and Amy DeCamp, two other AmeriCorps volunteers in the Project Conserve program, at the Mill Spring Ag Center.

“I grew up being outside a lot because there wasn’t really a whole lot going on in my hometown,” Young recalled of his rural Pennsylvania home.

“I grew to love and enjoy being out in nature and, after graduating high school, I knew I wanted to do something in the conservation or outdoor

AmeriCorps Volunteers

recreation field.”

Young graduated from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and majored in geography and environmental science. He also minored in geographic information systems (GIS) and interned with the Maine Appalachian Trail Club.

After college, Young received two positions in West Virginia and Montana as a conservationist and worked to construct and re-mark trails before signing up for a nine-month position as Polk County’s trails coordinator through AmeriCorps.

Britney Tatters, a Fletcher, N.C. native, is the volunteer education coordinator for FENCE as part of a nine-month commitment with the nonprofit organization in Tryon. Tatters was hired last September and works primarily with K-5 students in the Polk County Schools system.

Working in the community is a key facet to AmeriCorps, Tatters explained, and the program offers several options for college students and graduates right out of college.

“AmeriCorps is taking time to do service for a community where you live or have been thinking about moving to,” Tatters explained. “It involves a lot of hands-on work in the community and the environment. You can visit the AmeriCorps website and apply to areas based on particular interests and their topics are broad, meaning there are lots of areas to choose from.”

In addition to visiting area schools, Tatters also plans educational events at FENCE and is working on this year’s summer camp, which revolves around equestrian activities, art and environmental engagements.

“These activities really engage kids with their environment and gives them learning opportunities, educational hikes and a chance to visit with some of our awesome animals,” Tatters explained.

Michael McClure was hired in February as a volunteer outreach coordinator with FENCE through AmeriCorps. McClure echoed Tatters by saying he decided to volunteer with AmeriCorps in order to discover what he wanted to do in the environmental field post-college.

A University of North Carolina Chapel Hill graduate, McClure works for FENCE to build new volunteer groups for the organization’s ther-

“These activities really engage kids with their environment and gives them learning opportunities, educational hikes and a chance to visit with some of our awesome animals. “ BRITNEY TATTERS

(photos submitted) LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

31

AmeriCorps Volunteers

Some of the Polk County AmeriCorps Volunteers

Michael McClure 32

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Seth Young

Amy Schmitte

Britney Tatters

AmeriCorps Volunteers

About AMERICORPS B

ecause both AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps are both committed to service and offer fulltime opportunities, AmeriCorps is often referred to as “the domestic Peace Corps.” Peace Corps assignments are all overseas and AmeriCorps members serve only in the United States.

Students looking to eliminate their student loan balance can work fill-time at an eligible nonprofit or government agency while making steady student loan payments for 10 years, according to the Corporation for National Community & Service (CNCS) website.

Part-time and summer positions do not qualify and students must be making payments while serving.

A person is eligible for selection for the national service program if the person is, or will be, 18 years old during the calendar year they apply but is no more than 24 years old. Students who have received their high school diploma or did not graduate high school and received an equivalent degree are also qualified, according to the CNCS website.

All members enrolled in an AmeriCorps program receive a modest living allowance while some programs provide volunteers with housing, according to CNCS website.

Assignments in AmeriCorps typically last between 10 and 12 months. Some members decide to serve more than one term. For more information and to apply for an assignment, visit the AmeriCorps website at www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps.

apeutic riding, gardening and trail programs and recounted visiting the Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) website to explore his options in the field.

“It’s a good way for me to practice what I want to do as a career in the community,” McClure explained. “It’s also a good way to ease into a career. The CTNC website has a bunch of different positions available.”

Amy Schmitte, FENCE’s nature coordinator, has worked with FENCE for two, 11-month periods with AmeriCorps.

She graduated from the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

“I wanted to move after graduating college because I wanted to do something in conservation biology,” Schmitte recounted. “After completing two 11-month terms, I decided to stay on for another term.” • LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

33

Climb to Conquer Cancer

CLIMB TO CONQUER CANCER TACKLES THE SALUDA GRADE WRITTEN BY MARK SCHMERLING John Cash is fighting a war against cancer, the disease that claimed the lives of both his parents, and of his sister.

“I would love to see cancer cured in my lifetime,” proclaimed the Landrum resident, who, with his wife Diane, owns Nature’s Storehouse, a health food and natural supplement store in Tryon.

Since 2009, Cash has backed up his words with his annual Climb to Conquer Cancer bicycle rides in Polk County, to the tune of raising over $60,000 for the Gibbs Cancer Center’s Survivorship Program in Spartanburg.

Gibbs is completing a similar facility in Greer.

This year’s Climb to Conquer Cancer, set for Saturday, April 29, will feature 10 trips up and down the famous

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Saluda Grade on U.S. Hwy. 176. Each “lap” from Tryon gains some 1,000 feet of elevation, or some 10,000 feet of elevation total, and over 80 miles, for the maximum 10 round trips that Cash and some others will ride.

This year’s ride will begin outside Caro Mi Dining Room. Former professional cycling racers George and Rich Hincapie have indicated they’ll ride with Cash and others. Expect other current or former pro cyclists to also ride.

Riders should arrive on site between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m., with clip-in at 8. Donations, made to Gibbs Cancer Center Survivorship Program, can be dropped off at the ride site, or at Nature’s Storehouse, 427 South Trade Street, Tryon, or mailed to the store. Donors need not participate in

the ride, but all riders are encouraged to join.

Cash notes that early screening by Gibbs Cancer Center is responsible for high survival rates from various types of cancer in this region.

For more information, call John Cash at 828-859-6356. •

BOASTS NEW TRACK, LARGER PURSE

T

ickets are now on sale for the Tryon Block House Races, the historic steeplechase of the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club. The 71st annual race, set for Saturday, April 15, 2017, will debut at a new equestrian track in Columbus, N.C. and feature a $150,000 purse, nearly double last year’s winnings.

For decades, this action-packed, equestrian competition has drawn thousands of spectators to the largest tailgate party in Polk County, N.C. Now under the management of the Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC), the races have the added support, resources and infrastructure of an international equestrian organization, attracting a more competitive field of jockeys, as well as a larger audience.

NEW COURSE AND VENUE Over the past 70 years, the races have grown from their humble origins at Harmon Field to the course at the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center, which has a C-level rating from the National Steeplechase Association. This year, the Tryon Block House Races are being held at a new equestrian facility on Highway 9, in Columbus, N.C., equipped with an A-level rating.

The new venue can accommodate more than twice the spectators than in previous years. In addition, the races will now run clockwise instead of counterclockwise, which holds true to the races’ European origins, providing a unique experience for jockeys in the U.S. The improved course layout is attractive to riders with its soft footing and rolling hills. It also has a wide and even course, which is preferred by jockeys. Fans are rewarded with greater visibility of the track and much larger parking spaces.

NEW PARTNERS, BIGGER PURSE For the past three years, TIEC has been the feature race sponsor for The Tryon Block House Races, enabling TR&HC to increase its purse by $30,000 and bringing the 2016 purse to $80,000. Now, with the TR&HC and TIEC partnership comes an even bigger purse, $150,000, the largest in the event’s history. The nearly doubled prize purse is guaranteed to attract more riders to the event, which means more horses in the field and higher stakes for spectators to enjoy.

OLD AND NEW ENTERTAINMENT As the oldest running Steeplechase in the state of North Carolina, its consistent and strong attendance demonstrates that attendees enjoy the event’s longstanding tradition. Those traditions are expected to continue. For 70 years, the annual hat and tailgate contests have sparked playful competition among neighbors, families, and friends alike. The “Go to hell” pants contest will be back again, enticing ladies and gentlemen to wear their favorite “loud” pants.

But, new traditions will also start this year.

TIEC is adding additional entertainment to enhance the spectator experience. Some of the new features include a sky-diving exhibition, live musical entertainment, a kids’ activity area, and paintball shooting lanes. All activities are free with admission to the event.

For more information on the 2017 Tryon Block House Races, visit www.tryon.com. Tickets as well as information about tailgate parking are available online at www.blockhouseraces. com or by calling 828-863-0480. •

APPOINTMENTS

HISTORIC STEEPLECHASE

Pebbles the Pony

A MEMORY

serves

ME WELL WRITTEN BY PEBBLES (THE HERD RESCUE MASCOT) PHOTO SUBMITTED

T

hank goodness memory is a powerful thing in one’s life, or I would not be here to welcome you to my world within Helping Equines Regain Dignity, known as HERD Rescue.

If a Shetland pony that looked just like me – gorgeous with a chocolate dappled coat and very blonde mane and tail – had not taken great care of little Miss Heather B, I would already have been served on a dinner plate in some far-off land.

Oh, I forgot to mention that my look-alike pony twin lived over five decades ago; Heather wants me to keep that part vague. Her first pony rides were supervised by adoring grandmothers Edna and Jeanette, who lived in the same house together for over 30 years. They picked their grandchildren up from school and took them on outings including the pony rides. They preferred watching the weekly event from their comfy blue Cadillac, windows up to keep the smell of ponies and the flies at bay.

Let me introduce myself. I am four years young Pebbles. I have already reared a foal and cheated death after a very harrowing close call in a

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

kill pen. Some in my family were not so lucky, but I am getting ahead of myself.

Thanks to Facebook, I captured the attention of Heather one evening while she was at her computer working eight plus hours north of home in Washington, D.C. When no one stepped up at “last call,” she bailed me from Kaufman Kill Pen-Ship, a final stop before a long trailer ride to central Mexico for slaughter. I was saved for $375 on PayPal and then Heather had to find quarantine and a ride northeast for me. All this was a big learning curve for us both. She had never saved a horse so far from home and had only recently begun participating on Facebook on a personal level to help horses.

So, first I got marked ‘safe and sold’ on my Facebook posting. Then I was chased around the crowded pen to catch me so I could get a Coggins test and health certificate for more travel to who knows where. Men ran me around with red flags until I could gallop no more. I passed the examination. Then a nice rescue lady, Jessica Palmer of Shepherd Mountain Horse Rescue, came to get me out of this hellish nightmare and onto her

trailer, which was filled with “dirty load” horses she was picking up to send to her rescue. Let me be clear, I was being transported, not shipped like my unfortunate sister Goldie. She did not get saved and was only three and a pretty 34-inch tall palomino.

I arrived at Jessica’s farm and immediately won her affections. She wrote Heather saying how I was a pistol with a fun-loving personality, but that I was now sick with a temperature, snotty nose and in truth I was feeling very punk. The vet was summoned to help me recover with antibiotics and a prescription for a month’s rest at Shepherd Mountain.

Jessica of course sent photos of the adorable me, and informed Heather that my worm count was also terrible and steps had to be taken to address this once I became strong enough to deal with this parasite cleansing effort.

Finally, about six weeks later, I was full of life again and it is time to be loaded back into another horse trailer to head east to my new home. I arrived to HERD and was welcomed by Heather and her husband Scott right at sunset. I was ready to stretch my legs and take a good roll after a full day’s journey. After being shown to my new accommodations, a safely fenced pasture with a run-in shed full of fragrant pine shavings, I trot around with my head held high. I am home and will win over everyone here that meets me. I spied three dogs, several curious cats, two parrots in the open greenhouse and horses in the distance. Look who is watching me now, Pebbles the magnificent, who has cheated death and will become the ambassador to all who come to visit, including my new HERD volunteer Cheryl Hoffman, who will be my person. She will help me adjust to this new place and my duties. Catch me if you can, Cheryl. Boy I love this game!

To learn more about Helping Equines Regain Dignity visit www.herdrescue.org •

DERBY PIE

(Off to the Races for Pebbles and easy to make.)

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup flour 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips 1 frozen unbaked pie crust (thaw to room temperature)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine softened room temperature butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the 2 eggs and vanilla and continue to mix well.

2. Next add salt and flour, and mix well again.

3. Fold in pecans and chips.

4. Pour mixture into unbaked pie crust and bake in middle rack of oven at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

5. Let cool for 1-2 hours before slicing. Great with fresh whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

37

Joan MacIntyre

Joan and her portrait of Sarah Holmberg on Savannah (photo by Judy Heinrich)

A LIFE OF ART & WRITTEN BY JUDY HEINRICH

M

any horse people claim to have been born with the horse gene: a driving desire to have horses in our lives even without any obvious connection to them through family or surroundings. Most of us who surrender to that passion consider ourselves lucky if we can support our horse habit financially through whatever career we pursue or fall into.

Tryon resident Joan MacIntyre is extra

lucky. She was blessed not just with the love of horses but also with a genuine talent for bringing them to life through art. She has not only supported herself through award-winning equine portraiture for her entire life, almost the only employment she’s ever had besides painting horses has been riding them.

Joan spent most of her young life in Mamaroneck and New Rochelle, N.Y. Some of her earliest memories are of waiting with her LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

39

Joan MacIntyre

mother for the milkman’s horse or the fire department’s team to come by. She also remembers a man who offered rides up and down the street in a Governess Cart for 25 cents.

Joan’s first riding experiences were at local pony rings where the ponies were loose and under the rider’s control rather than being hooked up to a circular sweep. Then she really learned to ride at Shady Acres Farm in Mamaroneck, which came to school each Tuesday to pick up kids, take them for a lesson, and drive them back home, all for $1.

Joan continued to take lessons in riding, driving and jumping, and showed on American Saddlebreds, Morgans and Arabs for many years, including at the National Show at Harrisburg, Pa. She was also invited to join the Beaufort Junior Hunt in Pennsylvania when she was about 15.

Joan was fortunate to attend New Rochelle High School, which had a total of 2,000 students and an entire wing dedicated to art programs. “It was almost an art academy,” she recalls. “The high school kind of pointed you toward a career where they thought you should go. I was designated as ‘college bound’ and had eight periods of art a week, with whole terms just on perspective and lettering. By 10th grade they were teaching us to paint in oil.”

Joan says that most of the art students who graduated from New Rochelle High went right to Madison Avenue and became commercial artists. She chose to attend the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia, and later the Phoenix School of Art in Scottsdale, Ariz., because she’d always wanted to go out west.

While living out west she was introduced by a trainer to the Wrigley family of chewing gum fame and fortune. The Wrigleys owned all of California’s 27-mile long Catalina Island, where they bred working Arabs for their ranch work and roping. Joan ended up working for them and marrying one of their 40

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

trainers. She spent four years riding in shows for the tourists on the island, and painting the Wrigleys’ horses for them. She also continued to paint for clients she had from back east.

When her marriage ended in divorce Joan moved to Arcadia, Calif., where she had a cousin. She had never had much interest in horseracing or Thoroughbreds but she started going to races at Santa Anita and now says, “Racing has been ‘it’ for me ever since.” Joan even owned some young TBs herself, of the “cheap, claiming horse” variety, while in California.

She also met Jane Hart and Dee Black, both now of Tryon, while in California. She got involved with Los Altos Hounds in Santa Clara County through them and became the hunt’s official painter. “I had a big following there,” Joan says. “One of my Chronicle of the Horse covers was of the master at Los Altos.”

Joan continued to ride in California, eventually switching from English to Western, which she used on round-ups in cattle country. She also made four trips to Tryon to visit her daughter, Jana Hinely, and liked

Joan in her early 20s in a show on Catalina Island. (submitted photo)

Joan MacIntyre

it so much she eventually moved here about 15 years ago. “I’ve never regretted it – the only things I’ve missed were the beaches and the racing, not the crowds or taxes.”

(Joan also has a son, Jeffrey Sargent, who carries on the artistic tradition by making large sculptures for Disney and Universal City.)

While Joan has changed locations throughout her life, she has never stopped painting. She sold her first painting, a head portrait of a horse named “Imp,” for $3 when she was 13. She sold her first “real portrait,” a commission, for $35 when she was 18. “And I’ve done pretty well with commissions since then,” she says with a smile.

Joan has not only made her living with her art, she’s recognized as one of the foremost equine artists in the country. Her work has been

featured in a wide variety of equine publications and been on the cover of several, including Keeneland Magazine, from Kentucky’s legendary Keeneland Racecourse, as well as California Thoroughbred, Thoroughbred Magazine, Driving Digest, and seven covers for Chronicle of the Horse.

Joan has won numerous awards in major equine art shows, including Best of Show in the Washington State Equine Show, in which she still participates, and in the Harness Tracks of America Show.

Of course she continues with the bedrock of her career, commissioned portraits. One of her recent ones was of the leading North American Thoroughbred sire, Head portrait of Showdown, owned by the writer’s husTapit, commissioned by the man- band (photo by Judy Heinrich). ager of Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky., where Tapit stands at

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

41

Joan MacIntyre

Joan’s commissioned portrait of Acclamation. (submitted photo)

stud. She also did a commissioned portrait of Acclamation, the 2011 Eclipse Award finalist and American Champion Older Male Horse. And she has painted the dam and greatdams of Arrowgate, who recently bested California Chrome in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup. Maybe not as memorable to Joan but close to my own heart is the head portrait she did of my husband’s Quarter Horse, Showdown, for his birthday more than a decade ago. She continues to do portraits on commission locally, as well as across the country, specializing in horses, dogs and other animals. She also enjoys painting foxhunting and racing scenes, and was the official artist for the Block House Steeplechase for several years.

Joan collaborated with friend and fellow artist Sarah Holmberg on one of the life-sized horses for the 2016 “Art of the Horse” project produced by Our Carolina Foothills.

Theirs was the high-bid winner when the horses were auctioned off for the project’s finale.

At 85, Joan no longer rides or has her own horses, but she can always get a fix through her daughter, her friends, and the Green Creek Hounds, for which her husband, Jerry Dove, is a road whip.

When I mentioned to Joan that I thought she was lucky to have had both her life and her living revolve around horses, she readily agreed. “I do feel lucky. I’ve never had to have an 8-to-5 job, I’ve been able to get by doing what I like.

“Now, it has been ‘chicken-and-feathers’ at times,” she joked. “But I’ve had my painting, I’ve been paid for riding a bit, and I’ve made a couple of dollars selling a horse once in a while. In one form or another, horses have always supported me.” • 42

March April 2017 2017LIFE LIFEININOUR OURFOOTHILLS FOOTHILLS

The Art of the Horse

Quilting Bea, created by artist Lee Barker, is one of 16 horses designed during the 2016 Art of the Horse initiative by Our Carolina Foothills. The horse is on display at Swiftwater Farm in Mill Spring and was bought by Daaryl and David Nelms at an auction in August 2016 at the Tryon International Equestrian Center.

THE HORSES ARE COMING Our Carolina Foothills to launch 2018 Art of the Horse initiative in April WRITTEN BY MICHAEL O’HEARN; PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL O’HEARN AND CLAIRE SACHSE

B

ack in May 2015, Mindy Wiener and Suzanne Strickland had the idea to bring the community’s artists together to create something unique tied in with the equestrian history of the Foothills region.

Strickland and Wiener, with their non-profit marketing organization Our Carolina Foothills, recruited artists to

create life-size fiberglass horse sculptures to be placed in Saluda, Tryon, Columbus and Landrum.

Sixteen decorated horses in three thoroughbred stances went on display around the community from April to September 2016 before being auctioned off at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. These horses turned heads and the project evolved LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

43

The Art of the Horse

Lee Barker, artist, met with Daaryl and David Nelms who bought the fiberglass horse she created named Quilting Bea at Swiftwater Farm in Mill Spring. The Nelms, owners of Swiftwater Farm, said they bought the horse because of the different organizations painted on it and said they are interested in promoting area organizations in the community.

Patty Shedlow, owner of China Farm in Campobello, bought Marie-Christine de Tarragon’s International Directions horse and said she plans to sponsor one of the 30 horses created for the 2018 Art of the Horse initiative.

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April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

into a scavenger hunt to find the best horse in the area.

Our Carolina Foothills announced in February they are bringing the Art of the Horse back in April 2017 to coincide with the World Equestrian Games (WEG) coming to TIEC in September 2018. An auction of the 30 horses created during the second initiative is scheduled for October 2018.

According to Wiener, director of Our Carolina Foothills, the theme for the 2018 initiative is “One World, One Vision” and the initiative will kick off on April 14 at TIEC during the Tryon Block House Races Kickoff Cocktail Party.

The artists are free to paint and decorate their horses however they wish.

“This year’s Art of the Horse will offer five different horse stances,” Wiener said. “We have increased the options of horse bodies to reflect the expanded selection of riding disciplines that will be offered in our area during WEG.” Our Carolina Foothills plans to have 30 horses on display during 2018 from Saluda to Landrum and the surrounding area. According to Carol Browning, volunteer with Our Carolina Foothills, the auction of the horses in 2016’s Art of the Horse initiative yielded more than $83,000. Artists received 25 percent of the proceeds on their horses while Our Carolina Foothills received 75 percent to promote the small towns in the Carolina Foothills through marketing campaigns and events.

To sign up as an artist or sponsor, contact Wiener at mindy@ourcarolinafoothills.com or visit ourcarolinafoothills.com. •

The Art of the Horse

“This year’s Art of the Horse will offer five different horse stances. We have increased the options of horse bodies to reflect the expanded selection of riding disciplines that will be offered in our area during WEG.” MINDY WIENER

LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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Perfect Pair

Appointments Award presentation with (l-r) Judge Roger Smith, Sharon Decker of TIEC, Judges Linden Wiesman Ryan, Snowden Clarke, and Tom Cadier, and event organizer Carolyn Cadier.

PERFECTLY PAIRED & WRITTEN BY JUDY HEINRICH PHOTOS BY ERIK OLSEN

T

ryon resident Jana Hinely and her longtime partner Calli made the hometown crowd proud by winning the tough Appointments Class during the inaugural Festival of the Hunt held at Tryon International Equestrian Center this past November. “Appointments� refers to all the little details on how traditional foxhunters are to be dressed and equipped, as well as how their horses should be groomed and tacked up.

The Appointments Class took place on the

final, Championship day of the five-day festival.

The finals were preceded by a Welcome Hunt on Tuesday and judged hunts on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, across either Green Creek Hounds or Tryon Hounds country, and led alternatively by the Green Creek Hounds, Tryon Hounds, and the visiting Shakerag Hounds of Georgia.

Riding as judges among the hunt participants on the three judged days were local foxhunters Roger Smith and Thomas Cadier, both LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

47

Perfect Pair

Going over a coop with brush during the Field Hunter Championships.

of Green Creek Hounds, along with Snowden Clarke from Middleburg, Va., and Linden Wiesman Ryan from Blue Ridge, Va. who is not just a foxhunter but a Bronze Medalist with the U.S. Eventing Team at the 2000 Olympics.

“The judges rode with us to watch the horses’ manners, how they jumped, and how they acted around the hounds,” says Jana, who rides with the Green Creek Hounds. “There was also an award each day for ‘Best Turn Out,’ which meant you had to wear all the correct clothes each day.” Something Jana thought would be a challenge – getting brown field boots – she actually found in the correct size and for a bargain price at Re-Ride.

After the three days of judged hunting, Jana and Calli were among the pairs chosen to compete in the Field Hunter Championships, which took place in TIEC’s Derby Field. The Appointments 48

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Class was held before the championship rounds were ridden.

Of course both horse and rider had to be correctly “appointed,” which included among other things, a sewn-in bridle with a Pelham bit, no saddle pad, a leather girth and old-fashioned stirrups with no stirrup pads. Horses had to have braided manes and tails, with a prescribed number of braids in the mane.

Jana had to carry a silver flask with sherry in it and have a traditional sandwich box attached to her saddle, complete with traditional sandwich.

Jana’s was thinly sliced chicken on white bread with butter, halved in triangles with crusts cut off. And not only did the judges unwrap it to check it, one actually took a bite.

The results of the Appointments Class weren’t announced until the end of the entire competition, which meant Jana and the other finalists had

to quickly switch tack into something more modern and safer for the jumping rounds.

“We had to jump in a group around an outside course, and then the final six had to jump individually. Halfway through that second round you had to stop, open a gate while mounted, dismount and lead the horse through, shut the gate, then lead the horse to a log and line the horse up to remount, all while carrying your hunt whip.”

When the placings were announced, Jana had come in fifth out of nine competitors for the overall Field Hunter Championship, and was thrilled to hear her name announced as the Appointments winner. “I had done a lot of research on the various traditions because that’s what the judges were basing their scores on,” Jana said. “And there were some really great competitors, including a rider in top hat and tails.”

Perfect Pair

BACKSTORY: JANA & CALLI While Jana is undoubtedly proud of her horse’s most recent accomplishment, it isn’t the first time Calli has proved her worth.

First, she is a somewhat atypical breed for a foxhunting horse – an American Saddlebred – and she was bought by Jana as a 6-yearold out of a killer sale 13 years ago. She was a very fit 18 years old at the Field Hunter Championships.

Local steeplechase fans may remember Jana and Calli taking second place in the first “Foxhunters Cup” amateur race at the Block House a few years ago – losing only to a stakes-winning Thoroughbred.

In the race’s second year the pair came in third, with Calli once again as the fastest non-Thoroughbred in the race. They have also competed in a Green Creek Hounds Horse Show, done a few dressage tests, and trail ride regularly.

“She is definitely my horse of a lifetime,” Jana says.

“She’s willing and tough, and will go across anything.

“Once when I was riding as a guest with a hunt in Kentucky, the masters were concerned about her because they were jumping 3’9” and 4’ fences. We rode up on a jump where a couple of the Hunt members couldn’t get their horses across and Calli just flew by and leaped over it like it was nothing. The master rode up to me and said, ‘I guess I can stop worrying about you two.’”

“Calli loves the hunting and I swear she’d go without me,” Jana says. “She actually has! I’ve come off on a hunt and she has just run on ahead, back to the first flight – not to the trailers, but up to where the hounds were.”

So once again, congratulations to Jana and Calli – not just for their most recent win, but for finding each other and achieving a partnership that’s an inspiration and truly a perfect pairing. •

Galloping through the water obstacle during the Finals.

22336 Asheville Hwy Landrum SC

864-457-4115

www.hensonbuildingmaterials.com LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

49

Parting Glance

BLANKETS OF Photo by Polk County Recreation

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f it were not for the snow we received back in January, it could be debated if winter ever came for its annual visit this year. We all know that spring is here when you see kids hustling up and down a blanket of green grass at Harmon Field.

April 2017 LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS

Sights like this can be seen every Saturday morning through late May. So no matter what the groundhog’s vision for the future is, seeing this tells you for sure that Old Man Winter has packed his bags for at least eight or nine months.

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LIFE IN OUR FOOTHILLS April 2017

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