Sarah Banner was photographed with a smile while feeding her chickens on the Banner farm in Mount Airy. Keeping the livestock was one of the many chores women were required to do.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

Violet Taylor Helper from Shoals is pictured here standing in her tobacco field.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

The sunlight is illuminating this mountain woman spinning. Spinning and weaving were some of the most time-consuming jobs women had in the back country. This picture was taken from a photo belonging to The North Carolina Collection, University of NC Library at Chapel Hill.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

A young boy sits looking at photos while his mother works on some needlepoint.

Mount Airy Museum of Regional History

Life in the backcountry and foothills of North Carolina was hard. Most carved their living out of the land daily, toiling despite weather, aliments, or resources.

The common narrative of early North Carolina is of a man providing for his family; his wife and 2.5 kids. The women and children are seen as afterthoughts, only serving as supporting characters to the male storyline.

If we dive deeper we can see that history is not so black and white and that the fairer sex was heartier and more resilient than previously given credit for. In celebration of Women’s History Month take a deeper look into their lives.

Women settlers in Surry County braved the wilderness with their families to create a life. Finding fertile land, water, and space to hold livestock was of the utmost importance. Once settled, men secured their holdings and hunted for food, and women served as the keepers of the home, an extensive job.

These women were not only caretakers and cooks but also seamstresses, gardeners, healers, weavers, candle makers, farm hands and so much more. They worked from sun up to sun down to keep the household together.

On top of all this work, women had little to no rights. During this period women could not vote nor hold public office, had no money or wealth, could be subject to abuse with no justice, and legally had to identify with their husbands. Widows and unmarried women had more rights and privileges than that of the family wife.

It wasn’t until 1868 that women were allowed to own their property as they had as a single woman, with the assent of their husbands of course. The Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 secured women’s wages or inheritance as their own without the discretion of a male counterpart.

In 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. This, however, did not give African-American women the same rights, state laws still restricted Black Americans from voting via poll taxes and literary tests. It wasn’t until the 1960s that women gained the right to open bank accounts.

Colonial women carried the knowledge of their ancestors to this new world creating a diversified culture like no other. Surrounded by frontier and unknown foliage, these women often learned from the matriarchal native populations as to the makeup and usage of their new homesteads. They were not afraid to get their hands dirty, while still staying demure for the society in which they lived.

These silent stars built a society and a new country that could have never been without them. North Carolina and Surry County are full of inspirational stories of women who persevered, stood tall, and carved out a remarkable life. Stop by the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and learn some of their stories. Happy Women’s History Month.

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at eamorgan@northcarolinamuseum.org or by calling 336-786-4478 x229

Color, beauty, fragrance of hyacinths

A sure sign that early spring is here is the distinctive fragrance of hyacinths wafting their perfume through the mid-March breeze and across the front porch on a spring morning. Of all the flowers in early spring, the hyacinths have so very much to offer with their color, fragrance and delicate beauty. They add so much to the attributes of a spring morning to herald the day. Their pastel colors of pink, white, blue, lavender and red add a lot of color and aroma to the early days of the season of spring. The majesty of spring displays itself in beauty, fragrance and color and the daintiness to the season of spring.

The golden essence of daffodils

They are known by many names such as butter cups, narcissus, jonquils, daffodils; all of them reflect on the same varities of this golden early spring flower. Once daffodils are planted, they will come back again and again for generations and this qualifies them as a perennial of the past, present, and future. A bed of daffodils in the woodlands at Reynolda House on Reynolda road in Winston-Salem come up every spring and may have been planted there when R.J. Reynolds lived at Reynolda House. In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, daffodils bloom and multiply from many generations ago on former homesteads where the national park is today.

Daffodils are a flower with a continuing heritage that defines it as a heirloom flower. Many grow in old graveyards that were set out by past generations and still thrive every spring as silent memorials. As we ride down the country lanes in Surry, Stokes and Yadkin counties we see beds of daffodils mysteriously growing by the side of the road and off in the wooded area where old farm houses and homesteads once stood. It’s no mystery that they were planted by long-gone great-great-grandmas. Their roots are still deep enough in the ground to survive much so as the tough families that tamed those homesteads and even though they passed long ago, the amber daffodils are a colorful testimony of their rugged endurance as tough as those settlers.

Making a pot of quick chicken noodles

This is a colorful recipe for a meal of chicken and vegetable noodles that will make a meal in a pot. You will need a one pound package of boneless skinless chicken breasts, one 14 ounce jar of Heinz chicken gravy, one frozen pack of cauliflower, carrot, and broccoli combo, one teaspoon poultry seasoning, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper, one stick light margarine, and two cups uncooked medium egg noodles. Boil the chicken breasts in boiling water until tender and cut into half inch chunks. In a large pot, mix the chicken chunks, broth from chicken and add more water to cook the vegetables and noodles. Add the Heinz chicken gravy, light margarine, salt, pepper and noodles. Bring to a boil and lower heat and cook until vegetables and noodles are tender. Add extra salt and pepper if needed.

Skunks making rounds after a winter nap

Skunks are now celebrating the arrival of spring by prowling around and making their presence known by their famous scent. It is difficult to describe the oily spray from a skunk and their lingering odor. If your pets or you (heaven forbid) ever get sprayed by a skunk, do not take a bath in tomato juice, but use this simple solution to oxidize the obnoxious scent by mixing half cup of baking soda, two teaspoons Dawn or Palmolive and one quart of hydrogen peroxide. Mix together and apply to the pet or person. Avoid contact to eyes of pets and to a person’s hair because the peroxide may bleach the hair. Apply the mixture and let it soak in for five minutes and wipe it off. Pour out any mixture that is left over after the treatment. Rinse the mixture off with fresh water. This is much better and less expensive than a bath in a bucket of tomato juice!

Still two weeks of potato planting time

There are still plenty of days remaining in the second half of March. A row or bed of Irish potatoes can be set out and produce a harvest before the Dog Days of early July. There are quit a few varieties of potatoes available that include: Irish Cobbler, Kennebec, Red Pontiac, Yukon Gold, Rio Grand Russet and Norkotah Russet. Potatoes need to be set out before April arrives. They will thrive and sprout during April’s cool days. Prepare a furrow about 7 to 10 inches deep. Apply a layer of peat moss to the bottom of the furrow and place the seed potatoes about 10 inches deep for the potatoes to sprout and grow during the hundred day growing season. Side-dress the potatoes every 20 days with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Keep soil hilled up to potatoes as they continue to grow, flower, and develop spuds.

Two cycle engines need special attention

Don’t use gasoline with added ethanol in it in two cycle engines unless you add some ethanol- free oil treatment. A small bottle will treat one gallon of gasoline. You can purchase ethanol-free gasoline treatment at Home Depot or Lowe’s Home Improvement. You can also purchase ethanol-free gasoline at select gasoline stations. Another ethanol-free method is purchasing fuel for two cycle engines from hardwares, lawn mower service centers, and lawn equipment dealers. This product is available in one gallon cans.

Flower of the month of March: Red Hot Poker

This is a perennial that thrives in all four seasons of the year and blooms in late spring and during the summer and produces plenty of foliage as autumn turns into winter. It will thrive in large containers. It has bright red blooms and another variety has yellow-orange flowers that look like flames. They are easy to grow and can be fed once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food. If they get too tall, you can trim them back. They like a sunny location and they require very little special attention.

Whatever happened to kite flying during March?

Whatever happened to the art of making flying a kite with a long tail on a windy afternoon in the month of March? Kites in the 1950s costed a quarter and rolls of twine were a dime. The best and most durable kites were home made with a sheet of butcher paper and some sticks made with dogwood limbs, twine outlined the sticks and were glued to the butcher paper with glue made from a mixture of flour and water. The butcher paper would resist the strong March winds unlike the store-bought kites. We already got someone who worked at the cotton mill to give us a cone of twine that would be enough to fly a kite out of sight. On Saturday afternoons, fields and meadows were filled with homemade and store bought kites. As the wind picked up, tails made from rags would be added to other pieces already on the kites, to prevent them from turning flips and crashing into trees. Messages were written on paper sheets and a slit was made in the paper and then attached to the kite string and sent up to the kite and then shook from the string to travel to some distant destination. You can bring back yesterday’s kite making art, made not with butcher paper but with wrapping paper or shipping paper or the colorful comic strips of the Saturday Mount Airy News. Use dogwood twigs or sticks from an old kite. Glue paper to the sticks with Elmer’s Glue. Send your home-made kite on a maiden voyage!

Start annuals and perennials with Flower-Tone

Late March is the time to start annuals and perennials for a season of color, beauty and variety. Use a fine-textured potting food such as Flower-Tone organic flower food every month. This totally organic product comes in three and five pound plastic zippered bags. Flowers quickly respond to this finely textured organic flower food.

“Nine month indebtment.” A man who was late in paying his bills received the following reminder; “Your account has been on our books for over a year. We want to remind you that we have carried you longer than your mom did!”

“A slice of pie.” One afternoon the boss’ wife met him at the office. As both of them was going down the elevator, it stopped and a beautiful blond secretary got out and poked the boss in the ribs and said, “Hello Sweetie Pie.” The wife replied by saying, “I’m Mrs. Pie.”

“Crooked politicians.” A couple was touring the U.S. Capital in Washington, D.C. and their guide pointed out the Chaplain of Congress. They asked the guide, “What does he do? Does he pray for the Senate or the House?” The guide said, “No, he looks at both and prays for the U.S.”

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because he loves us.” – C.S. Lewis

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV) John 3:16

John 3:16 might be the most recognizable verse in Chrsistian history. It’s a verse that in our southern Christian culture is as American as hot dogs, apple pie, and baseball. And I think there is a good reason for that. John 3:16 sums up all of the word of God and all of the gospel. It explicitly states the gospel proper; that God came to save sinners. All of us were destined to perish. Because we exist in a broken world, but more than that because we are broken ourselves. And because of this we cannot save ourselves. We can do nothing.

Yet while we were yet sinners, God sent His Son to die for us. The beauty of the gospel is that we bring nothing to the table in regards to salvation; other than the sin that we are being saved from. So salvation is not by works in any shape or form as Paul makes abundantly clear in Ephesians 2. No, instead salvation is found alone in faith. Or as John 3:16 puts it, belief. Or as other parts of the Bible, and especially Jesus in his parables, by love. We fall in love with Jesus more than anything else. We put our faith and belief in Jesus’ salvation and love for us. And we let go of our own ability to satisfy our own desires and measure up in any real way. So John 3:16 makes it clear that we need saving and that God alone does that saving.

Notice the absolute beauty of who God is in this verse and yet how small it mentions our situation in comparison. We see the grandness of God, the generosity of God, the uniqueness of God, the eternality of God. And yet all that is mentioned of our wickedness or our brokenness is “perish.”

Now this does not mean that the brokenness of the world, our sin or its consequences are small. By no means is that the case and when we really read scripture we see this reality emphasized over and over again. Our fallenness, our brokenness, our sin, our rebellion, is huge, it is black, it is dark, it is heavy, it is destructive, it is horrific. But in comparison to the beauty, and love, and nature, and grace, and favor, and favor of the eternal God it is small. One of the beautiful realities we see in John 3:16 is just how big God and his salvation is and how small our sin and its consequences are in light of the gospel.

This should encourage us to worship God and to let go of the little happy-meal toy, aluminum foil things of this world. We cling too easily to breakable happinesses. But the bigness of God and his gospel can sustain that joy far greater. This also means that the brokenness of the world and our own brokenness are small in comparison to his goodness and grace if we would rest in them.

The story of the prodigal son teaches us that sometimes the miserable circumstances we find ourselves in, he was eating pig food in a pig pin, are of our own making, he wasted his money, and that of the brokenness of the world, there was a famine in the land. This son is suffering from his own brokenness and the brokenness of this imperfect world. And so here at the end I ask what our verse asks.

What are you going to believe in for real joy and real love and real fulfillment? Are you looking to something other than Christ to fulfill? But the reality is that He is enough. He can hold your joy; he is worth holding after; he is worth resting in. Do not rest or place your joy in your own ability or the things of this world; even the good things. Instead believe in Jesus and in this you will find eternal life.

A newly sworn-in North Carolina General Assembly and a fresh legislative session present an opportunity to significantly advance government transparency and the people’s right to know.

Coinciding serendipitously with Sunshine Week 2023 — March 13-19 — a bill has been filed that would vault our state from the bottom of the pile in government transparency.

The legislation — in the form of Senate Bill 254 — mirrors last session’s Government Transparency Act — with an important difference. Imprinting the bill with bipartisan sponsorship for the first time, Sen. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) has joined ranking Republican Sens. Norm Sanderson and Bill Rabon as primary sponsors of the bill. Putting the Government Transparency Act of 2023 on the legislative docket sets the stage for another showdown in the quest to allow public access to state and local government employee disciplinary records for the first time.

Compared the most robustly open states, this bill represents a modest step toward improving the public’s right to know. It only gives the public the right to see a “general description” of the reasons for a state or local government employee’s demotion, suspension, transfer, separation or termination. The bill stops far short of affording the public and press access to all personnel files of public employees the way the law allows in top open government states like Georgia, Ohio and Florida. In fact, more than 38 other states offer better access to disciplinary records than North Carolina does.

As we celebrate Sunshine Week, it’s worth pointing out that the Government Transparency Act is the best vehicle we’ve had in years to protect the public’s right to know, hold elected leaders and managers to account and expose wrongdoing when wrongdoing has happened.

The record is replete with stories of terminations or demotions — even crimes committed — that are reported but unexplained. A schools superintendent in Alamance County abruptly resigned and pocketed a large farewell check while the public is left in the dark. A preschool Title II reading teacher in Henderson County who was quietly passed along from school to school eventually was convicted of multiple child sex offenses and sent to prison for life — though his personnel file remains locked in a file cabinet. A police body cam or bystander’s smartphone may record a rogue cop’s excessive force and although there may be a disciplinary action by his superiors, the local newspaper reporter requesting documentation will confront a stone wall.

The North Carolina Press Association and its 173 members have been working for the passage of the Government Transparency Act since 2021 and we’ve advocated for improved access to personnel records for decades before that.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina, the North Carolina Association of Educators, the Teamsters Union and other opponents of Senate bill 254 will issue their usual canard about “fishing expeditions” and argue that public employees deserve due process protection. The bill takes care of the latter, guaranteeing employees an avenue of appeal before a disciplinary record is released.

To their credit, Sens. Sanderson, Rabon and Meyer and other friends of open government have not been cowed by the stale talking points designed to derail the Government Transparency Act.

It’s high time for North Carolina to join the ranks of the better-performing states when it comes to public records and government accountability. Enacting Senate Bill 254 is the way the General Assembly can do that.

NCPA president Bill Moss is editor and publisher of the Hendersonville Lightning. Phil Lucey is executive director of the NCPA.

Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a feature of The Mount Airy News, presenting commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

If students and staff are to achieve their full potential, schools must be safe and feel safe. Students who report feeling safe in school are more engaged in class, have higher academic achievement, and have lower rates of absenteeism, truancy, and behavioral issues. Staff members also benefit from safe schools. Those educators who report feeling safe in school are better able to focus on classroom activities, are more likely to remain in their positions, and are better equipped to teach and support students. Simply put, feeling safe in school is connected to achieving educational outcomes for students.

Safety is a top priority for the Surry County Schools Board of Education. This past fall, the Surry County Schools Board of Education set a goal to add additional elementary school resource officers to our elementary school campuses. For the past 10 years, we have made many safety improvements to all our brick-and-mortar campuses but feel it is necessary to have a uniformed law officer present at our elementary schools as much as possible.

As a result of this goal, we have been exploring multiple ideas from multiple funding sources. Earlier this year, the district announced that Surry County Schools had entered into an agreement with the Town of Pilot Mountain to place a full-time school resource officer (SRO) at Pilot Mountain Elementary School beginning Jan. 31. At the time of this publication, Sergeant Jason Chrismon has served at Pilot Mountain Elementary School for almost one month and has loved working with students and staff.

When asked about his experience so far, Sgt. Chrismon commented, “Being at Pilot Mountain Elementary has been a blessing, not just because I have a child that goes to school here, but because I get to build positive relationships, serve as a mentor to students, and work with the staff to continue to keep the school environment safe.” We are thankful to the Town of Pilot Mountain Commissioners for supporting this safety initiative and to have a community that supports safer schools.

On Monday, Feb. 6, the Surry County Commissioners approved the motion to match grant funding in order to add three new school resource officer positions and provide additional support to our two existing elementary SROs. By adding three new officers, there will now be a total of six school resource officers dedicated to keeping our elementary campuses safe. This would not be possible without the close relationship between the Surry County Commissioners, Surry County Sheriff’s Office, and Surry County Schools and the shared mission to keep schools safe. As we move forward, the Surry County Sheriff’s Office and Surry County Schools will work together to fill these positions and place officers this spring.

In Surry County Schools, school resource officers are valued members of our school communities and help promote a safe, supportive, and peaceful school environment. Through positive relationships with students and collaboration with school staff, SROs proactively address school safety issues and make an impact on the lives of our students. We are grateful for their dedication.

Life in the backcountry and foothills of North Carolina was hard. Most carved their living out of the land daily, toiling despite weather, aliments, or resources.

The common narrative of early North Carolina is of a man providing for his family; his wife and 2.5 kids. The women and children are seen as afterthoughts, only serving as supporting characters to the male storyline.

If we dive deeper we can see that history is not so black and white and that the fairer sex was heartier and more resilient than previously given credit for. In celebration of Women’s History Month take a deeper look into their lives.

Women settlers in Surry County braved the wilderness with their families to create a life. Finding fertile land, water, and space to hold livestock was of the utmost importance. Once settled, men secured their holdings and hunted for food, and women served as the keepers of the home, an extensive job.

These women were not only caretakers and cooks but also seamstresses, gardeners, healers, weavers, candle makers, farm hands and so much more. They worked from sun up to sun down to keep the household together.

On top of all this work, women had little to no rights. During this period women could not vote nor hold public office, had no money or wealth, could be subject to abuse with no justice, and legally had to identify with their husbands. Widows and unmarried women had more rights and privileges than that of the family wife.

It wasn’t until 1868 that women were allowed to own their property as they had as a single woman, with the assent of their husbands of course. The Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 secured women’s wages or inheritance as their own without the discretion of a male counterpart.

In 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. This, however, did not give African-American women the same rights, state laws still restricted Black Americans from voting via poll taxes and literary tests. It wasn’t until the 1960s that women gained the right to open bank accounts.

Colonial women carried the knowledge of their ancestors to this new world creating a diversified culture like no other. Surrounded by frontier and unknown foliage, these women often learned from the matriarchal native populations as to the makeup and usage of their new homesteads. They were not afraid to get their hands dirty, while still staying demure for the society in which they lived.

These silent stars built a society and a new country that could have never been without them. North Carolina and Surry County are full of inspirational stories of women who persevered, stood tall, and carved out a remarkable life. Stop by the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and learn some of their stories. Happy Women’s History Month.

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at eamorgan@northcarolinamuseum.org or by calling 336-786-4478 x229

Saint Patrick’s Day is Friday, March 17. Supermarkets such as Food Lion, Lowe’s Foods and Harris-Teeter now feature pots and containers of Kelly green shamrocks at a cost of around $3 or $4 a pot. They make very dining room table decorations. Shamrocks need indirect sunlight and do not overwater them. To water them, remove the decorative wrapping and place pot over the drain in the kitchen sink and then allow to drain for five or ten minutes and replace the wrap. After Saint Patrick’s Day, re-pot the shamrock in a larger container of potting medium and feed with Flower-Tone organic flower food. As the weather warms, place shamrock outside in a semi-sunny location. They can also be kept indoors in a semi-sunny location.

Month of the lion and lamb

We are now four days into the month of March and the arrival of spring is only 16 days away. That does not mean that warm weather is anywhere near. March can have a split personality and take on the behavior of a lion one day and a lamb the next. Snow is known to occur during the month and frost can be on the lawn any given morning. On the bright side of the month, there can be a few warm days when the trees begin to bud and shows signs of life.

Signs of spring around the lawn

The days are still getting longer by a minute each evening and Daylight Savings Time will arrive in just a few days. The hyacinths and jonquils are greening up and preparing to bloom. The wild onions are spiking up on the lawn and the dogwoods have a display of tiny buds as a preview of snowy white flowers in April. The awakening lawn shows hints of green and rose bushes have hints of life in them. Slowly the landscape is responding and preparing for spring’s arrival.

Saint Patrick’s Day green corned beef salad

This is a colorful salad to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day. You will need one and three fourths cups water, one three-ounce box of lime Jello, one cup of mayonnaise, one grated onion, one cup diced celery, four hard cooked eggs (diced), one can Libby’s corned beef (broken into small chunks). Bring water to a boil, add the Jello and mayonnaise. Stir and dissolve. Add the grated onion that has been run through the blender in grate mode. Add the diced celery and four diced hard-cooked eggs. Add the corned beef chunks. Mix all ingredients together in a square pan or dish. Refrigerate for several hours. Makes eight to ten servings. Keep in the refrigerator after serving.

It is not unusual to see bees scouting around in early March on a warm and rare March afternoon, even if it is just to stretch their wings and leave their hive or hollow or scout around for nectar. There are some early blooms of Carolina jasmine, hyacinths and jonquils. A bit of late winter weather lore says that if you see bees buzzing around in the month of March, expect cold, windy, and also some rainy conditions the next day.

Keeping Christmas cactus fed and watered

The Christmas cactus are still wintering over in the living room and awaiting their move to the deck in late April. As we move toward mid-March, they will need to be fed with Flower-Tone organic flower food once each month and a drink of water every ten days. It is the ideal time to add some cactus medium to the containers, if the foliage has any reddish color, move them away from their sunny location to another area of the room. Always use a plastic drip tray under the containers to prevent water damage.

The Carolina jasmine in the late winter

The Carolina Jasmine is a beautiful investment in all four seasons of the year. It has lush green foliage that forms a hedge of greenery and an array of fragrant yellow flowers several times a year. An advantage of jasmine is that it can be trimmed and shaped several times during different seasons of the year. The foliage is thick enough for birds to roost in during springtime and summer. Another bonus is you have something green and growing in all seasons.

Preparing for a season of the four o’clocks

Most hardwares and garden departments have racks of flower seeds that feature four o’clocks or you can order special varieties from Burpee or Park Seed catalogs. Packets in stores cost around $2. You can choose from red, white, yellow, pink and wine. Four o’clocks will thrive in any type of soil and will produce flowers from mid-May all the way until frost. The foliage is bright green and highlights the colorful blooms. They add color and greenery to any flower bed and make a nice border to the edge of the garden plot.

The American bee balm has awakened

The American bee balm plant is greening up after a winter on the back of the porch covered and protected by several sheets of cardboard and six plastic bags that shield it from the extremes of winter. On sunny days when temperatures are above freezing, the protective covering is removed to allow warmth of the sun to heat the balm up. It is now showing signs of renewed life on sunny March days.

Starting a row or bed of spring onion sets

As we move on into March a row or bed of spring onion sets can start off the garden season. A pound of onion sets costs around $3 and you can choose from red, yellow or white sets. Start them off in a furrow about five or six inches deep. Spread a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow and set the onion sets about four or five inches apart root side down and cover the sets with another layer of peat moss and then a layer of Garden-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade for solid soil contact. After the onions sprout keep hilling up soil on each side of the furrow and side-dress with Garden-Tone.Hill up onions each time you side-dress them.

Control wild onions by keeping them trimmed

Wild onions are making their appearance on the lawn for a season that will last until warm weather arrives. They have bulbs that reach deep down into the soil. The best way to control them is to use the weed trimmer and cut them back to ground level or mow them with the blade set near the ground. The wild onions are green which is the only positive attribute they have in their favor. Keeping them down to ground level will stunt their growth and make the lawn look much better.

English Alaska green peas will thrive in early spring

English garden peas are definitely a cool weather vegetable that doesn’t mind the cold soil of late winter and will usually provide a harvest in about two months. They are one of the few vegetables rich and good for the soil. This crop has few insects to bother them and not many weeds at this time of year. One pound of seed will sow a 50-foot row. They need no plant food and only a layer of peat moss to add texture to the soil. When sowing, have the choice of Green Arrow, Alaska, Wando, and masterpiece. Sow seed in a furrow 4 or 5inches deep and cover seed with a layer of peat moss and hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade for solid soil contact. As the peas grow, keep soil hilled up on each side of the row to give the peas plenty of support.

Enjoying front porch and hyacinth perfume

On an early March morning on the front porch with the sun shining down on colorful, fragrant, hyacinths emitting unforgettable fragrant perfume that wafts across the porch to our nostrils it is an aroma that speaks loudly of springtime just around the bend. Add this to a yard filled with robins and crows calling in the distance and a mug of freshly perked hot coffee all add to a wonderful pre-spring morning with the earnest of spring in the early march air!

Starting a row or bed of early spring greens

The soil of early March may be cool, but not too cool that a row or bed of spring greens can now be sown. Spring greens are sweeter than that planted in autumn and they will sprout and grow quickly. You can choose from a mixture of curly mustard, rape, kale, broddleaf, turnip, tender green, and spinach. Sow the seed in a furrow about two or three inches deep. Cover seed with a layer of peat moss and a layer of Garden-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade. As the greens sprout, continue to hill up soil on each side of the row. Side-dress every three weeks with Garden-Tone organic vegetable food.

“Kissing Artists.” Gary: “I want to be honest with you. You are not the first girl I’ve ever kissed.” Mary: “And I’ve got to be honest with you. You have got a whole lot to learn!”

“Bad Medicine.” Doctor: “Are you still taking that cough medicine I prescribed for you?” Patient: “No sir, I tasted it and decided I rather have the cough!”

“Wake up Call.” While the pastor was preaching, a man fell asleep. The pastor raised his voice and pounded on the pulpit, but the man would not wake up. Finally the pastor called on one of the deacons and said, “Go wake that man up.” The deacon responded, “Go wake him up yourself, you’re the one who preached him to sleep!”

There was a full moon of the evening of Tuesday, March 1. It will be the last full moon of winter and its name is Full Worm Moon. Daylight Savings Time begins on Sunday, March 12, at 2 a.m. eastern daylight time. Set your clocks forward one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. The moon reaches its last quarter on Tuesday, March 14. Saint Patrick’s Day will be Friday, March 17. Spring begins on Monday, March 20, but the first full day of spring occurs on Tuesday, March 21. There will be a new crescent moon on the western horizon on Tuesday evening. The moon reaches its first quarter on Tuesday, March 28.

The day of Saint Matthias was Friday, Feb. 24. Something very important is said to occur on his special day. On this day, the sap in the maples, hickories and mighty oaks is supposed to begin its long journey from the ground to the trunks, limbs and branches. As the sap makes the journey up the trees, it’s time for us to get out the pots and containers and clean them up, and replace hangers on the hanging baskets. You can also purchase vegetable seed and be ready to plant them when the season arrives. If you are curious about who Saint Matthias is, we know him as the disciple who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles.

Signs of a productive year of dogwoods

As we reach the last days of February, a limb check of the dogwoods trees reveal plenty of tiny bud tips that promise plenty of blooms in early April and the up coming season of Easter. As February comes to an end, some trees are showing hints of life and some of the maples have tiny buds as the sap slowly begins its rise up the tree trunks. We will gain an extra hour of daylight in two weeks as Daylight Savings Time returns. That extra hour of daylight, added to the extra minute of daylight we will receive each evening until June 21, will really help with the cool weather vegetable planting as we move on into the month of March. It’s not very hard to get used to that.

As February winds down, set out those onion sets

The weather in late February may be frightful, but if the soil is not frozen onion sets can be planted in the garden. Most hardwares have onion sets in stock, and you can choose from yellow, red, and white onion sets. They are sold by the pound. Even though the soil is cold, onions will thrive in winter soil. Prepare a furrow about five or six inches deep and apply a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow. Place the onion sets about three or four inches apart with the root side down and apply another layer of peat moss on top of the onion sets. Spread an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top of the second layer of peat moss. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp the soil down with the hoe blade for solid contact with the soil. Keep soil hilled up to the onion sets as they sprout and grow. Keep them side-dressed with Plant-Tone every three weeks and hill it into the soil.

Chickweed and Bermuda grass; opposites

Bermuda grass and chickweed are perennial weeds in the garden and both grow in the winter garden plot, but they are opposite in their growth patterns. The chickweed has shallow roots and grows in shallow ground. It is easy to pull up and get rid of. The Bermuda grass has a root system that runs deep into the soil and may reach a foot or more in length. Winter is the best time to pull it up by the long roots and throw it out of the garden, or better yet, place the roots in the garbage bin. The best way to get rid of any weeds is by pulling them up by the roots and throwing them out of the garden. Don’t use chemicals or weed killers in the vegetable garden.

Using some water wisdom in 2023

Whether we have any drought conditions in the 2023 garden this year or not, we still need to exercise water wisdom. There are many methods to use wisdom in the use and conservation of water. We can use water wisdom by applying a layer of peat moss in the bottom of furrows before sowing seeds and then applying another layer of peat moss on top of the seed before applying plant food. Peat moss is a good organic product that promotes moisture retention and improves soil texture. Keeping soil hilled up to plants as they grow also helps moisture retention in the row and gives plants more support as they grow.

When applying water, use a water wand in spray mode and apply water to the rows and not the middle of the rows. A water wand is a great water saving product that has many adjustable settings that range from shower, mist, stream, and full. Mulch plants with layers of hay, leaf or straw mulch and compost to hold in moisture. Use natural or organic foods instead of pelletized chemical fertilizers. Use liquid plant foods that you add water to before applying. Use several five gallon plastic buckets and collect rain water and use it in a spray can to water the rows. Keep lids on the buckets to protect water from evaporating until you need it. Water only when no moisture can be felt in the row and place water directly in the row and on the plants only. Every time a thunderstorm puts down a lot of rain, collect some rain in five gallon buckets because this water when applied in dry conditions in the garden. It will perk up the plants because this water is charged energy generated by a thunderstorm.

Stock up on organic Holly-Tone plant food

As we get closer to spring, build up your supply of the Holly-Tone family of organic plant, vegetable, and flower foods to boost your garden into an abundant season of production. Notice that we said food, not fertilizer. Gardens need to be fed not fertilized. The Holly-Tone organic family has been producing organic plant, flower, and vegetable foods for 94 years. You can purchase it in four- and ten-pound bags. A four-pound bag costs around $10. The four-pound bags are easier to handle in the garden. Their zippered bags makes them easy to apply and place the plant food directly into the furrows and rows with no smell or mess. You can choose from Holly-Tone, evergreen organic plant food, Rose-Tone organic rose food ,Tomato-Tone organic tomato food, Garden-Tone plant and herb food, Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and Flower-Tone organic flower food. These are all fine-textured organic foods that are easily absorbed into the soil for a quick response from plants, vegetables, and flowers. An application of a little bit goes a long way toward a productive harvest. It can also be easily side-dressed into the soil to feed vegetables all during the garden season.

Making a creamy smooth millionaire cake

Mix one Duncan Hines white cake mix according to directions on the box. Bake in a 13x9x2 baking pan sprayed with Pam spray. Use these other ingredients to make the cake: one eight ounce box of cream cheese, one cup milk, one box Jello vanilla instant pudding mix, one 20 ounce can crushed pineapple (drained), one tub of Cool Whip, four ounces of chopped pecans, small jar of red maraschino cherries, and one teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat softened cream cheese with half cup of milk until smooth. Add the instant pudding mix and half cup milk. Beat until smooth. Spread on top of the cooled cake. Spread the crushed pineapple and cherry halves on the pudding layer. Spread the Cool whip on top and sprinkle nuts on top of the cake. Place in refrigerator one hour or overnight. (Add the vanilla to the pudding mix).

Halo around a moon during the winter

As we reach the end of February, there is still a possibility of some snow. Even in March we can receive some hefty snow. Keep an eye on the full or near full moon. If it has a halo around it count the visible stars inside the halo. This could indicate the number of days before we can see some snow.

“Bad Listeners.” Marriage Counselor: “Do you enjoy talking to each other?” Married couple: “Oh yes, we enjoy talking to each other all right, but our problem is listening to each other.”

“Happily Ever After.” Wife: “Now that looks like a happy married couple.” Husband: “Don’t be too sure, my dear, they may be saying the same thing about us!”

“A Crook and a Crooked Lawyer.” Crook: “I’ve got a million dollars in cash in my bank account. Can you keep me from spending time in prison?” Lawyer: “Believe me, you will never go to prison with that kind of cash.” And sure enough, he did not go to prison with that kind of cash – he went to prison flat broke!

Pvt. Henry Wagoner advanced with his company across the German countryside near Aachen on a bitterly cold November day in 1944. “It rained and spit snow every day,” he said in his memoirs.

Shrapnel hit his head and he was knocked to the ground unconscious. Hours later he came to. The battle had moved on and two German soldiers loomed over him with a rifle. “Don’t move.”

The next several days were a swirl of disjointed memories: the soldiers helped him to walk when he was conscious and carried him when he was not; he was loaded in an ambulance, then a train; taken to a hospital in Dusseldorf; his hair was shorn; the shrapnel removed; Allied planes bombed the city.

They gave him a pencil and a postcard to write home.

“November 26th, Dear Myrtle, Just a few lines to let you know that I am well. Hope you are well and OK. I have been captured. I will close with all my love. Henry”

He wrote again on Christmas Day. “Hope you are having a good Christmas. Keep praying and keep your chin up.”

Little could he know but she did.

Myrtle Hill Wagoner lived in Mount Airy with her in-laws while Henry was deployed. She received a telegram from the War Department in November telling her Henry was missing but they didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

It would be January 31, 1945, before she knew for sure and February before Henry’s postcards reached her.

“God was with us all the time,” she said in her family memoirs. “I never gave up of not seeing him any more.”

The youngest of Everett and Siller (Beasley) Hill’s 12 children, she grew up on a farm about seven miles from Mount Airy. When they weren’t in school at Pine Ridge, the children helped raise the corn, tobacco, vegetables, hogs, cattle and chickens the family depended on.

In 1930, when she was 14, times got harder.

“Well, here comes the Depression and dry weather,” she said. “ We did not make anything on the farm, not even enough to pay bills.” In time, her mother encouraged her to try for a job at one of the town’s mills. She went every week for six weeks to ask for a job at the Renfro Mill on Willow Street and they finally said yes.

In 1936, at a ballgame with some friends, she “met this young and handsome boy” and they started to date on weekends and Wednesday nights. When, after three months “Henry asked me would I be his wife” she wasn’t sure she wanted to get married so she didn’t give him an answer that night. He had to wait until the next week.

But on Saturday, March 27, 1937, he worked his morning shift then borrowed his father’s car. Dressed in his best clothes he picked up Myrtle and two friends and drove to Hillsville, Virginia, where they got a license and were married in a minister’s house. Myrtle recalled they “stood on a sheepskin” and had a ring ceremony. Henry gave the minister $5, all the money he had.

The Wagoners attended a revival in 1937 when Myrtle responded to the minister’s invitation. A few weeks later they began attending Calvary Baptist Church and she was baptized in the river at Laurel Bluff. The event and her faith were clearly important to her as she recalled the loss of two infants. “We did not know why God was so displeased with our lives that we could not have a family.”

The hard-working couple lived frugally, paying $6 rent for a small house with no power or running water. They saved enough to buy two acres on Caudle Road for $300 in 1939. By September of the next year, they built a house for $1,000 with help from Federal Building and Loan. There was no power down that road at first, so they heated with wood and coal, and read by oil lamp. She did laundry with a washboard and tub and ironed with a flat iron heated by fire.

When power did reach them, she proudly recalls buying an electric iron and refrigerator.

Then Henry was drafted. She closed up the house and moved in with his parents.

Most of Henry’s memoirs focus on his time in the stalag. As the Allies advanced, the Nazis moved the POWs further from the front. He talked of cutting wood in the forests around the camp, being sent to the fields to plant and tend potatoes, of sleeping on straw mattresses, but through it all he carried a picture of Myrtle in his wallet.

In May 1945 the prisoners were marched for three days, carrying boiled potatoes for food and sleeping in barns along the way. They were taken to a bridge where they were met by American troops and the Germans surrendered.

Though Henry experienced poor health for years following the war, he and Myrtle built a good life together. They ran the grocery his father started years earlier on Bluemont Road and were active in their church.

We know this level of detail about the Wagoner’s love story because members of their family interviewed the couple and created two memoirs annotated with pictures from their 62 years together. The family recently shared scans of the memoirs and photos with the museum and donated a shadowbox of Henry’s WWII service memorabilia.

Such records are incredibly important in giving us a lasting and well-rounded idea of life for people of all social levels in the region. Yes, the lives and experiences of political and business leaders are important but that is only part of the story for any community.

Theirs is a story of everyday people, not celebrities or financially wealthy. They were the sort of people who keep our society moving and they seem to have been wealthy in love and admiration. The museum is so glad to have that important story -their hometown love story – as part of our collection.

Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a volunteer for the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History with 22 years in journalism before joining the museum. She and her family moved to Mount Airy in 2005 from Pennsylvania where she was also involved with museums and history tours.

The color and fragrant blooms of hyacinths

One of the earliest spring flowers to bloom is the hyacinth. Only the Carolina Jasmine blooms earlier. We like the pastel colors of Hyacinths in the hues of pink, blue, lavender, light red, yellow and white. Their fragrance is sweet perfume and a welcome scent as we weave our way toward winter’s final month.

Chickweed and Bermuda grass are opposite

Bermuda grass and chickweed are perennial weeds and both grow in the winter garden plot, but are opposite in their growth patterns. The chickweed has shallow roots and grows and thrives in shallow ground. It is easy to pull up by the roots and get rid of. The Bermuda grass has a root system that runs deep into the soil and reaches more than a foot in length. Winter is the best time to pull it up by the roots and throw it or better yet, place its roots in the garbage can. The best way to get rid of any weeds is by pulling them up by the roots and throwing them out of the garden. Don’t use chemicals or weed killers in the garden of vegetables or flowers.

Making a fresh apple sauce pound cake

Apples are great cake ingredients in every season of the year and especially in winter. The fresh grated apples in this cake makes it moist and flavorful. For this recipe, you will need two sticks of light margarine, one and a half cups of brown sugar, half cup white sugar, two large beaten eggs, two cups grated raw tart apples (such as McIntosh, Granny Smith or Winesap), pecans, one cup chopped golden raisins, one teaspoon of vanilla, and two teaspoons of lemon juice. Cream the light margarine, brown sugar, and the white sugar. Add the beaten eggs. Peel and core the apples. Slice them and run them through the blender in grate mode. Add two teaspoons of lemon juice to the grated apples. Add to the cake mixture. Mix plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, apple pie spices, and vanilla, and mix well. Add to the cake mixture. Mix in the chopped pecans which have been dusted with flour. Grease and flour a tube pan and cut a sheet of waxed paper to fit the bottom of the tube pan. Grease and flour the waxed paper. Make sure the sides and tube of pan are well greased and floured. Pour cake mixture into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until cake pulls away from sides and springs back up when touched. Cool for half hour before removing from pan. This cake is good fresh and even better as it ages a day or two. Keep the cake in a cake cover.

The sweet fragrance of Carolina Jasmine

The sweet fragrance of Carolina Jasmine is emitting its perfume from the edge of the garden. It is also attracting the first bees of the year in late winter as they exercise their wings and enjoy the yellow flowers and nectar. The flowers are highlighted by the dark green foliage. The jasmine blooms several times during the year and can be trimmed and shaped like a hedge as it grows during the seasons. They can be purchased at nurseries and garden centers.

There’s ice in the birdbath and mud holes

Ice in mud holes and bird baths makes it difficult for birds to find a water supply during late winter. As the temperatures rise during the day, empty the ice from birdbaths and refill with fresh water.

A few honey bees are active during late February

With the Carolina Jasmine, early hyacinths, and crocus, the bees are stretching their wings and leaving the hives and hollows in the late winter quest for sources of nectar. As the temperatures rise, we may see more of them. If you see many of them buzzing around in late February, cold windy, wet conditions may occur the next day. That means they will be in their hives balled up and staying warm and thriving on nectar they have stored up earlier.

The winter-hardy pansies are colorful

The dark green foliage and brilliant colors are a special display on the front porch and deck during winter. The familiar faces on these flowers adds another special touch on a cold morning. They will thrive until the warmer temperatures of late April or early May. They can then be replaced with the annuals of summer.

Do not overwater perennials, winter flowers

Perennials and winter flowers need some moisture in winter, but don’t overwater because too much water will cause the potting medium to freeze. Moisten the medium but do not let the water run out holes in bottom of the containers. Water sparingly twice each week. Use Flower-Tone organic flower food on the flowers and perennials of winter.

Down by the creek bank, frogs celebrate spring

The croakers down by the creek bank are celebrating each twilight and they are aware that spring is only 30 days away. The ground does not seem to freeze all that many days in winter and creeks don’t freeze that much and this may be why the frogs are more active down in the woodlands by the creek bank. Maybe they are like the robins, who have adapted themselves to the season of winter.

Filling feeders and emptying the birdbaths

The birds of winter are still looking for fresh drinks of water especially when there are no mud holes or rain for several days. We can be their water supply by emptying ice from the bird baths and refilling the bath with fresh water when the temperature rises above freezing. Add food to the feeders each day and help make their search for food easier for them.

Will we have any snow as February ends?

With spring a few weeks away and only a few days remaining in February, will we have any snow in the forecast? We would like to see more of the white stuff to cover the winter landscape. A snow would be good news for the garden plot, great news for the kids, and grand kids and bad news for insects, their eggs, and larvae and other garden pests. There is something exciting about expecting snow even as we move toward spring.

For this dish you will need one dozen chicken strips or tenders, Crisco oil, half cup water, three tablespoons corn starch, half teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon pepper, half cup of light brown sugar, half cup apple cider vinegar, one cup pineapple juice, two tablespoons soy sauce, one two ounce jar of pimentos (diced), half cup diced onions, one can pineapple tid bits, and two tablespoons catsup. Batter the chicken in flour, salt, and pepper and fry in Crisco oil. Drain oil from chicken. Add half a cup water and simmer for 15 minutes. Combine corn starch, salt, pepper, catsup, brown sugar, pineapple juice and soy sauce. Cook on medium heat until it thickens stirring constantly. Add pimentos, diced onion, and pineapple tidbits. Cook on medium for ten minutes stirring often. Boil a packet of Minute rice or Success rice and serve the sweet and sour chicken over the bed of cooked rice. You can use boneless pork tenderloin to prepare sweet and sour pork.

Not everything that grows in the garden glitters like gold. The garden is a mixing bowl of success and failure. One great attribute of every garden is that when a variety fails to meet our expectations, we can try another selection of the same type of vegetable. Some varieties just perform better than others in different gardens. Find the vegetables that perform well in your garden and stick with them. Just because a vegetable is new means nothing if it is not productive in your garden. We still use some vegetable varieties that my father used in his garden that are heirlooms that have proven themselves for generations. Trying new varieties in the garden is a slow-learning process and some varieties just do better than others. Sometimes you just don’t know what you have until you try something new. Repeating was said earlier, new is not necessarily better. Old rows are sometimes well plowed but still proven better!

Spring onions can now be started in garden

Most hardwares now have spring onion sets on their shelves. They can now be planted in the cold soil of the late February and early March garden. The ground of winter does not freeze that often and the onion sets will thrive in late winter soil. You can choose from red, yellow or white onion sets. One special organic ingredient that will give onion sets a large boost is to apply a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow before setting out the onion sets. After applying the peat moss, set the onions rootside down about three or four inches apart and cover sets with another layer of peat moss and then an application of Garden-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade for solid oil contact. The peat moss will retain moisture and improve texture of soil for root crop growth.

Extra hour of daylight arrives next month

We will gain an extra hour of daylight in the middle of March as Daylight Savings Time returns. That extra hour of daylight added to the extra minute we receive each evening until June 21, will really help with the cool weather vegetable planting as we move closer to the season of spring. It’s not hard to get used to that extra hour of daylight!

Stock up on Holly-Tone organic plant food

As we get closer to the season of spring, build up your supply of the Holly-Tone family of organic plant, vegetable, and flower foods. Their zippered bags makes them easy to apply and place directly into furrows and rows with no smell or mess. You can choose from Holly-Tone evergreen food, Rose-Tone organic rose food, Tomato-Tone organic tomato food, Flower-Tone organic flower food, Garden-Tone organic herb and plant food, and Garden-Tone organic vegetable food. These are all fine-textured organic foods that are easily absorbed into the soil for a quick boost for plants and flowers. An application of a little bit goes long way toward productive harvest. It can easily be side-dressed into the soil to feed vegetables.

“Goofy Golf.” Billie: “I’d move heaven and earth to improve my 110 score.” Willie: “Try moving heaven. You have moved plenty of earth around today.”

“Weight Loss!” There are only three things to give up if you want to lose weight; breakfast, dinner and supper.

“At the Raves.”Jo: “I had a hunch today. I got up at seven. I had $7 in my pocket. There were seven people at the lunch counter. There were seven horses in the race. I picked the seventh horse to win.” Flo: “So he came out the winner?” Jo: “No, he finished seventh!”

“The crazy funny bone.” Dan: “Ouch, I bumped my crazy bone.” Jan: “Oh well, comb your hair over it and it won’t show!”

A few days till day of the hearts

The day of hearts, flowers, and chocolates is a few days away. That is still plenty of time to find that very special Valentine gift. Most businesses and shops have plenty of gifts and most supermarkets have many floral arrangements and potted flowers. It’s definitely plenty of time to find that special Valentine gift

Keeping your vehicles wiper blades clean

The snow, sleet, and ice events combined with slush and road salts can have a negative effect on your vehicle’s wiper blades. Use a few paper towels and some glass cleaner to clean the blades once a week. Keep the windshield washer filled with a de-icer solution of spray that you can purchase in gallon containers. Keep a spray can of de-icer fluid under your car seat.

Halos and thunder in winter

In the cold of winter, it’s not unusual to hear thunder booming or see a “halo “around a full or near-full moon. Both may occur several times during winter. The is a result of colder air aloft that causes ice crystals to form a crystal ice “halo” around the moon. Thunder in winter occurs when warm air aloft meets with cold air on the surface and causes thunder in winter. In winter when thunder occurs snow, sleet, ice or frozen rain occurs within several days after thunder is heard.

Starting something red for Saint Valentine’s

February still has 19 days remaining and most of them will be cold. Not many vegetables can be planted during February except the winter hardy radish which will survive in cold temperatures and produce a harvest in about 50 days. Even in winter, radish seed have a germination rate of almost 100%. Choose from many varieties of radish seed packets that cost less than $2 per packet. You can choose from Cherry Belle, Cherriette, Cherry Bomb, Easter, Egg, Early Scarlet Globe, Crimson Giant, and Champion. Two seed packets will produce more than enough seed for a harvest. Even in cold temperatures, radish will germinate in about 14 days. You can sow them in a row or bed. Sow seed in a furrow about three inches deep. Place a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow. Thinly sow radish seed on top of the peat moss and cover seed with a layer of peat moss. Apply Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top of the peat moss and hill up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamp down soil with the hoe blade for good so contact with the soil. The layers of peat moss will provide great protection from ground freezes by absorbing moisture and promoting growth. Allow 50 days for a harvest even though the packet may state 40 days. We allow ten days for the seed to germinate, and then add 50 days for a harvest.

Making a Valentine chocolate dream pie

Anything with chocolate in it is a Valentine treat. This is a no-bake chocolate pie that is plenty creamy and will melt in your mouth. For this pie, you can use a nine-inch pie shell (baked and cooled) or a graham cracker crust. Other ingredients are two envelopes of Dream Whip whipped topping mix, two three ounce boxes of Jello Instant Chocolate pudding mix, one teaspoon vanilla, two and a third cups cold milk, half cup of chopped pecans, and one tub of Cool whip. Combine two envelopes of Dream whip with one cup of the cold milk and teaspoon of vanilla in a large bowl. Beat on high about six minutes until the Dream Whip thickens and forms peaks. Add the remaining milk and Jello instant pudding and chopped pecans. Blend together on low and then high for two and a half minutes. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell. Cool the pie in the refrigerator for four hours. Top the pie with the tub of Cool Whip. Keep the pie refrigerated until ready to serve.

The American bee balm protected on porch

The classic American bee balm survives during winter months by being protected by six or seven plastic bags and a double layer of card board to cover the bags. Both these protective items shield against freezes, ice, snow and sleet. A drink of water once a week is all they need because too much water will cause potting medium to freeze. The balm is cut back to about three inches tall so the plastic bags and cardboard can fit over top of them in the container. When temperatures rise above freezing, pull back the cardboard and bags so the bee balm can receive sunlight. Always replace bags and cardboard before sunset to protect balm from overnight freezes.

Keeping a check on the Christmas cactus

The containers of Christmas cactus are wintering over in the living room in a semi-sunny location. They are cascading over the sides of the containers. All of the five containers of cactus are looking well. They receive a drink of water every ten days and some Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month. They will be ready for their move to the deck in mid-May where they will spend mid-spring summer and early autumn.

Time to feed the lawn

As we approach the middle of February, the winter lawn is still dormant and mid – February is the best time to feed and apply lime to the lawn for the best results. Never use 10-10-10 fertilizer to apply to your lawn. Your lawn does not need pelletized chemicals but food that is especially formulated to feed lawns in a slow-release process and not some quick fix. Snow is possible in the middle of February and this will combine well with the slow release lawn food and soak the lawn food into the soil without washing it away. Spend the extra money and get a lawn food that will produce positive results over a long season.

Hearts reaching out to the birds of winter

As Valentine’s Day draws near give a heart-felt helping hand to the winter birds that visit the feeders in search of a meal and to the bird bath for a drink of water. Their search for food is much harder in winter when water freezes in the bird bath. Empty the ice from the bath and refill with fresh water when the temperature rises above freezing. Fill the feeders during the week and keep a count of birds as they visit the feeders and bird bath.

Asparagus and panda fern wintering over

As February reaches the halfway mark, the asparagus and panda ferns are wintering over in the living room in a semi-sunny area. They are green and growing in the environment of the living room. They develop long runners as they absorb rays of winter sunlight, we keep them trimmed back to promote growth. A drink of water every ten days and a handful of Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month keeps them healthy and green. They will be ready to move outside to the deck to a semi-sunny location in mid – April.

The robins of winter forecast nasty weather

It seems to us that robins are the birds of all seasons and not just signs of spring. In winter they visit the lawn almost every day in search of worms, grubs and insects. Their search always seems successful because they always have a meal in their mouths. In the dead of winter, they seem to sense that nasty weather is on the way. A few days ago, we saw an unusual number of about a hundred robins in the backyard pecking around for a meal. Next day, there was sleet and freezing rain with ice on the trees, but there were no robins on the lawn that day. Most likely they were hunkering down in a hollow tree or log or under the leaves of a barn, house, or out building. “As the north wind doth blow, where will the robin go? To the barn or the hollow, and the other robins will follow.” We learned that robins of winter make better weather predictors than the groundhogs in the burrows!

Starting a row or bed of leaf lettuce

A bed or row of leaf lettuce can now be sown to start the cold weather vegetable season. Lettuce packets in Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s Home Improvement cost less than $2 a packet and they contain many seed. You can choose from Iceberg, Green lce, Bibb, Limestone, Black Seeded Simpson, Red Sails, Grand Rapids Oak Leaf, Buttercrunch, Salad Bowl, and also Romaine. A harvest of lettuce takes about 50 days. In the cold February soil, always use peat moss in the bottom of the furrow before sowing the seed and then cover the seed with another layer of the peat moss to absorb moisture. Add a layer of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on top of the peat moss. Hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade. The seed should be sown in a furrow about three inches deep.

“Sleepwalking.” Jan: “My mother has trained herself to walk in her sleep every night.” Fran: “Why would she want to do that?” Jan: “To save time. This way she way she can get her exercise and her rest at the same time.”

“Medical Question.” What kind of people enjoy bad health? Answer: Doctors!

A bit of unwelcome green in the winter landscape

Weeds always seem to survive in winter’s most harsh conditions and endure despite the freezing temperatures. The chickweed, wild onions and Bermuda grass show up at this time of year and remain during winter. Chickweed is easy to get rid of because it has a shallow root system and can be pulled up with little effort and can be thrown out of the garden. Don’t even try to pull up wild onions, but use the weed trimmer to cut them down to ground level which will stunt their growth. Bermuda grass has a long and deep root system Winter months are an ideal time to pull them up by their roots and make sure to throw them out of the garden or better yet dump them in the trash bin.

The winter hardy pansies colorful in winter

The dark green foliage and brilliant colors are a special display on the front porch and deck during winter. The familiar faces on those flowers adds another special touch on a cold morning. They will thrive until the warmer temperature of of late April and early May. They can then be replaced with the annuals of summer.

Do not over water perennials or winter flowers

Perennials and winter flowers need some moisture in winter, but don’t over water them because too much water will cause the potting medium to freeze. Moisten the medium but do not let water run out of the holes in bottom of the pots or containers. Water sparingly twice a week. Use Flower-Tone organic flower food on the perennials and winter flowers once a month.

During the Surry Countians Continuing the Dream Event this year, we took the time to honor local Buffalo Soldiers from our community who have served their country. For those of you who may have missed out, allow me to fill you in.

Let’s start from the beginning. Who were the Buffalo Soldiers? African American men have fought in every American war, but it was the Civil War that changed how they served.

Because the Civil War took such a toll on military numbers as we fought amongst ourselves, it was obvious the military needed more trained men to fight. On July 28, 1866, the Army Reorganization Act authorized several new units, including two cavalry units (9th and 10th) and what became two infantry units (24th and 25th) comprised of African American men. More thn half of the “Civil War Colored Troops” signed on, and for the first time, African Americans were considered regular troops.

These units were primarily assembled to help rebuild the country after the war as well as assist in westward expansion in the United States. It is believed that Native Americans from Plains tribes are the ones who gave “Buffalo Soldiers” their name, but the exact reason for the name isn’t known. The soldier’s curly hair, which resembled a buffalo’s coat, or their fierce combat style, are the most popular guesses today, according to most historians.

There are records of gentlemen throughout North Carolina who served in the infantry and cavalry during this time. African-American men were the early protectors of national parks as well as rangers.

Because of their heroism, some Buffalo Soldiers were able to get better jobs, own property, and gain access to higher education. At the same time, some Buffalo Soldiers were lynched upon returning, truly not receiving a hero’s welcome home.

Buffalo Soldiers would go on to serve in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, and, of course, World War I. Once America joined in on World War I, two volunteer units comprised of African-Americans were formed: the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions. In total, 350,000 African Americans served in the war, including James Henry Taylor, who received medals of decoration as well as a Victory Medal and grew up here.

Another local man who served was Robert “Bob” Hughes Sr., who was born in Pilot Mountain and graduated from the school later known as J.J. Jones High School. He served from 1917–1918 as a Buffalo Soldier and saw the front lines in France. He also continued his legacy of service through his three sons, all of whom would serve as Buffalo Soldiers in World War II.

The oldest son, Walter William “Bill” Bell Hughes, graduated from J.J. Jones High and was accepted into the Agriculture and Technical College of North Carolina along with his youngest brother Robert, but they would be drafted before they could attend.

Instead, Walter went on to serve in the 365th Infantry (92nd Division) from November 1942 through April 1947. He was stationed at various locations and saw roughly six months of combat in Italy in 1945–1946, where he worked as a mechanic, fixing anything from tanks and jeeps to airplanes. Remarking on his time on the front line, he said, “I’m lucky to be alive; I got shot up like a rabbit.” He was honorably discharged with the rank of corporal following his service, and he returned home to Pilot Mountain.

The next son, James Katers “JK” Hughes, was drafted into the army in 1943, and he was notable for being posted in Okinawa, Japan. Throughout his service, he earned honors as a Riffle Marksman and Carbine TSWG Caliber.45 Expert. He even achieved the rank of Motor Sergeant before he was honorably discharged in 1947.

The third son, Robert Hughes II, unlike his brothers, was assigned to the Navy. He was drafted in 1944 and became a munitions soldier, working in transportation in California before moving on to helping load the ships with munitions. He was then promoted to the dangerous job of crane operator, and recalled, “The workers were told some of the munitions were duds and some were live, but we did not know which ones.” He was honorably discharged as well with the rank of Seaman 1st Class and returned home in 1946.

The Hughes family of Surry County aren’t the only Buffalo Soldiers from the area; brothers John and Fred Lovell served in WWII, as did five brothers born in Stokes County (Paul, Harrison, Louis, Edward, and Aaron Reynolds). These are just a few of the people from our own community who have served.

Buffalo soldiers came to an end in 1951 amidst the Korean War after President Truman issued executive order 9981, ending segregation in the military, but their history continues to live on. These soldiers have not only helped the United States become a vast nation and ultimately a global superpower, but they have also helped make our communities what they are today.

Cassandra Johnson is the programs and education director at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and loves to encourage others to find the history in the little day to day aspects of their lives from what roads we drive to work or to shopping.

The day of the Groundhog is celebrated Thursday, Feb. 2. Did the rodent see his shadow or not? It really makes zero difference because we still have six more weeks of winter (and maybe even more). The calendar says we have at least six more weeks of winter regardless of what Phil, the lazy groundhog, predicts. Spring may arrive on March 21, but the winter could remain for weeks after that. Groundhogs are poor excuses for weather prophets and they are false predictors at that. Their predictions are about as shallow as they are. The best predictors are the frogs down by the creek bank, active birds at the feeders and robins bouncing on the lawn, tiny buds on the dogwood trees, jonquils, hyacinths and crocus, crows cawing and doves cooling. They all point to the coming of spring without any predicting or boasting. The ground hogs are great pretenders and enemies of the garden.

Saint Valentines is less than two weeks away. There is a great selection still in the stores, shops and florists as well as supermarkets. Now is the time to order flowers in order to confirm their delivery. Most stores and shops have a complete inventory of cards, candies, fragrances, potted flowers, gift cards from businesses, shops and restaurants. There are still many Valentines to choose from, but don’t wait until the last minute, who knows, there may be a surprise snow on Valentine’s Day!

Red velvet pound cake for Saint Valentines Day

Valentine-red velvet pound cake will make a pretty centerpiece for the dining room table on Saint Valentine’s Day decorated with cream cheese, frosting and red cinnamon hearts. This is a cake that the whole family will enjoy and it’s easy to prepare. You will need a half cup of Crisco shortening, two sticks light margarine, three cups sugar, five large eggs, half cup of Hershey’s cocoa, one tablespoon vanilla, one fourth teaspoon salt, three cups of plain flour, one teaspoon baking powder, one cup milk, and four tablespoons red food coloring. Cream margarine and Crisco shortening, add sugar one cup at a time creaming well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add salts, vanilla and Hershey’s cocoa. Add the baking powder to plain flour. Add half the flour mixture to the batter, add half cup milk and mix well. Add rest of flour and milk and mix well on low speed. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan, place a piece of waxed paper cut to fit the bottom of the tube pan and grease and flour the waxed paper. Pour batter into the tube pan and bake for 90 minutes or until cake is firm and pulls loose from the sides and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake for half an hour and remove from pan, Make a cream cheese frosting for the completely cooled cake by mixing one three ounce pack of cream cheese, one stick light margarine, two cups of 10x confectioners powdered sugar, one teaspoon vanilla and half cup chopped pecans. Mix all ingredients well and spread over the cooled cake. Decorate cake with red cinnamon hearts. Keep cake in a cake cover. You can also use red sugar crystals to decorate cake.

As we begin the short month of February, we are waiting for several hefty snow falls. We are anxiously expecting it to cover the landscape with beautiful white blanket. It will be good news for the lawn and garden and also for the kids, but it will be bad news for wintering insects, harmful organisms and larvae of insect pests. It is exciting to just wait for the forecast of snow.

My mother was one of the world’s greatest snow lovers. In northeastern North Carolina when it snowed, she always made bowls of Carolina snow cream for as long as the snow covered the ground. There is nothing that tastes as cold as a dish of snow cream on a winter night. There are many recipes for snow cream but not many are in cookbooks, the recipe my mother used created a rich, creamy, thick, flavorful bowl of snow cream and today, we present her recipe. Beat for large eggs until fluffy. Add two and a half cups sugar and beat into the eggs. Add two large cans of evaporated milk and three cups milk, three teaspoons of real vanilla and a pinch of salt. If you prefer to make chocolate snow cream, add bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup to the mixture. If you prefer strawberry snow cream add a quart of fresh strawberries or a quart of frozen strawberries (thawed and run through blender in “grate” mode). Add berries to the snow cream mixture with a tablespoon of strawberry flavoring. After mixing all the ingredients together it’s time to harvest the snow to add to the mixture. Gather the snow from a clean, undisturbed, area and scrape off several inches and fill a large pot with clean, fluffy snow. Add the gathered snow to the mixture until it gets as thick as you desire. Eat very slowly because snow cream is very cold. Leftover snow cream can be frozen in the freezer. My mother always froze a batch for a summer treat on a Dog Day afternoon. Where was her favorite place to gather snow? On top of the coal pile in the backyard!

Debunking the legend of the first snowfall

The old urban legend that you should not eat any of the first snow fall of the year because of germs in the atmosphere where the snow falls from. This amounts to an old wives tales that has existed for generations and they amount to a bunch of bunk. My mother made snow cream from every snow that fell in winter. It was not any hazard to her health and she lived to be 90 years old. If snow does anything, it kills germs on the surface of the soil. It’s good to know those past generations had that much spare time and nothing better to do than concoct these foolish legends, that are no more than gloom and doom.

Robins, hyacinths, wild onions, herald spring

There are at least six more weeks of winter remaining, but subtle signs of spring are showing up on the lawn. The spikes of the bulbs of hyacinths are popping through the layers of crushed leaves and are a welcome hint of green as we move further into February. Another sign of spring are clusters of wild onions displaying themselves around the lawn. They are tough and will endure until the warm temperatures of mid-May. They can be trimmed to ground level with the weed trimmer to control their growth. A greater number of robins are covering the lawn in search of worms, grubs and other insects. Many are with us in all seasons of the year.

A bleeding heart bush is the perfect Valentine

A beautiful and practical perennial is the bleeding heart bush with crimson red hearts and white teardrops on each bloom. They will bloom every year from late spring and into mid summer. Most nurseries have them in stock and they make a nice Valentine gift. They can be purchased in a decorated foil container. In spring, they can be transplanted outside for many years of color and unusual beauty. It is a valentine that will continue to give.

Potted azaleas make great Valentines

Most florists, nurseries, and supermarkets have potted azaleas in foil wrapped pots and containers in full bloom for Saint Valentine’s Day. They can be enjoyed now and be transplanted outside when Spring arrives.

Panda and asparagus ferns wintering over

The panda and asparagus ferns are wintering over in a semi-sunny location in the living room. They grow quickly and we trim them back several times during the winter. This promotes their growth. They are fed once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food and receive a drink of water every ten days. Around the first of May, they will be moved to a semi-sunny location on the deck until mid-October.

“All in the mind.” Mandy explained to her best friend why she married Jimmie instead of Billy. She said, “When I was with Billy, I thought he was the most charming and witty person I had ever known.” Mandy’s Friend asked, “Then why didn’t you marry him?” Mandy replied, “Because when I’m with Jimmie, he makes me feel like I’m the most charming, witty and delightful person he ever met.”

“Puffed Up Preacher.” A preacher asked his wife,”How many great preachers do you think there are in America?” The wife replied, “I really don’t know, but it is probably one less than you think!”

A bit of February lore

The shortest month of the year has began. We start the month with a bit of cold weather lore. This lore says, “If February produces much snow, a fine, summer it doth bestow.” This is a positive thought to begin the month. Even though short, the month is capable of dumping quite a few inches of snow.

Making a strawberry jello fruit dessert

Strawberry desserts can be great in all four seasons of the year. This recipe is easy to prepare and is smooth and creamy. You will need one six ounce box of strawberry jello, one large can of crushed pineapples, one eight once box of cream cheese, one eight ounce cup sour cream, half cup of sugar, one tub of Cool Whip, half cup chopped pecans, and one can of Comstock strawberry pie filling. Add two cups boiling water to the box of jello and dissolve. Add one cup cold water and dissolve. Mix in crushed pineapple and strawberry pie filling into the jello. Place in the refrigerator overnight. Next day, whip the softened cream cheese, sour cream, Cool Whip and half cup sugar together and spread over jello mixture. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over top of the cream mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Groundhog Day or Candlemas (as we prefer to call it) was Thursday, Feb. 2. The full moon occurs on the evening of Sunday, Feb. 5. This moon will will be named Full Snow Moon. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is Sunday, Feb. 12. The moon reaches its last quarter on Monday, Feb. 13. Saint Valentine’s Day will be celebrated Tuesday, Feb. 14. President’s Day will be celebrated Monday, Feb. 20. The moon reaches new moon phase on Monday, Feb. 20. Mardi Gras begins on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Ash Wednesday is Wednesday, Feb. 22. George Washington’s birthday is Wednesday, Feb. 22. The moon reaches its first quarter on Monday, Feb. 27.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

With three-foot icicles hanging from the roof and the windows “frosted up,” we figured it was winter time, until one of Grandpa’s “old timey ice storms” came raging down from the mountain. From straight out of Hoot Owl Holler’ it came, (with teeth and claws) driven by a screaming wind that blew wind-snow sideways. In the dark north-facing bluffs, (where the sun don’t shine in winter time) green laurel leaves curled up into round tubes from the cold and the creek froze solid. Then we learned what winter was all about.

Survival was a matter of shelter, firewood, heavy quilts and last summer’s food stored in the cellar and (thank the Lord) we were “pretty well fixed.” We stuffed rags and newspapers in the door and window cracks to keep out the freezing wind. “Shut that door, young-uns’. You raised in a barn? You gonna’ freeze us all plumb to death.”

The warmest place in the house was beside the red-hot wood heater and after feeding the animals, milking the cow, “toting in” extra firewood and water from the spring, there we stayed until bedtime. Mama then piled every quilt we had on the beds. “If we don’t freeze to death first, we gonna’ smother under all that cover.” We dove into the ice-cold beds, shivered until we got warm, then slept the night away safe from harm. Come next morning, Pa re-fired the heater, broke ice in the water buckets and we shivered again until we got warm.

Except for normal everyday chores, our world was reduced to four walls and a window and from far down in the southern sky, winter’s sun warmed other people in other lands, as cold “like nobody ever seen before” settled into the high hills and deep valleys. We were socked in tight and it was hard to remember warm weather. Worst of all: there would be no more backwoods missions for a certain young scout and hunter until better weather.

Being afraid of falling on the ice and breaking something, the old folks stayed by the fire and day-dreamed of the warmer times of other days. My brother and I had no such problems; no way would we break anything; we were going to live forever and could hardly wait to get out there and slide on the ice.

Nothing but a few trees and a bob’ wire fence stood between our house and the mountain where the winds came from and we were straight in the line of fire. When the sun went down, so did the temperature and worst of all, the wind blew harder than ever and the bottom fell out of everything.

We did the chores early, ate supper, then “hit the sack” and listened to the wind as it rattled our windows and broke our woods. No way did anybody need to be out there. Come next morning, Pa told us, “She’d a’ blowed’ any harder last night, boys, we’d be livin’ down yonder in the holler’ this morning.” There was no longer any doubt in our minds: winter had come and it had come to stay; the hardest winter I ever seen.

Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

This month is Board Appreciation Month and I wrote this column last year. I feel it is worth publishing again with some slight updates. We appreciate our Board of Education. Mount Airy City Schools (MACS) has an amazing Board of Education (BOE). The members go above and beyond to volunteer their time in support of the superintendent and school district as well as listen to the direction of the community. This team of professionals attends two board meetings a month, many school events throughout the year, and statewide training sessions. The role of the board is:

– To provide vision and direction for the school system;

– To create policies in accordance with state law to establish standards, accountability, and evaluation of essential operations of the school district;

– To prepare the budget for presentation to the county commissioners;

– To hire, support, and evaluate the superintendent;

– To perform judicial functions by conducting hearings as appropriate.

– To advocate for the school district, staff, and especially the students in all interactions with other governmental entities and the public.

Our BOE does this for no pay and the members volunteer much of their time and energy. They allow the staff to oversee day-to-day operations within the district and make sure the superintendent and leadership team are supported. They are present and involved in the community and keep an ear to the heartbeat of the community. We know that they are champions for children. In their role, they support families and have the best interest of the school district in their hearts and their actions.

Our board chairman is Tim Matthews and he is a local pharmacist. Tim has served on the board for 26 years and his three children who are all Mount Airy City Schools graduates. Tim’s wife Sandy retired from working in MACS as an exceptional children’s teacher. Tim responds when asked about serving on the board, “the opportunity to serve, seeing a plan come together, and impacting future leaders” is a great way to enhance how MACS continues to grow and lead. He loves that Mount Airy City Schools is “willing to innovate, take a risk, and always puts the interests of students ahead of other concerns.”

Ben Cooke is a local business owner. He is married to Lone and graduated from MACS. Ben states that “making a difference in the lives of our students, however small it may be” motivates him to be a board member. He also says that he loves the “small community and family atmosphere” of our district as well as “knowing that our teachers love being in our school system.” Ben is always involved in activities throughout the district and his three children all attended MACS.

Wendy Carriker, Jayme Brant, Thomas Horton, Randy Moore, and Kyle Leonard are members of the board of education. Together they serve and lead from their seat on the board by supporting the future of the MACS district. The team of staff and board working together to make decisions is for the benefit of families in the Mount Airy Community.

Wendy Carriker served as the board chair for 14 years. She is married to Chip Carriker and has two daughters who graduated from MACS. She is an entrepreneur with her own business and she is often seen involved in our Blue Bear Cafe and Blue Bear Bus programs. She helps students understand how to begin their own business and have success serving others. “The fact that we are a small school system and that we are a family. I love that our staff and students truly care about each other and want the best for each other,” states Wendy.

A Mount Airy graduate and a district sales manager, Jayme Brant serves as vice chair on the board. She is married to Tim, they have two daughters and their daughters have been members of the State 1A Dual Champion (back to back) Team. “Belief that teaching is the hardest profession there is, but one of the most important” motivates her to be a board member as she understands “we have to continue to support teachers.”

Thomas Horton is married to Kristi Horton, one of MACS nurses, and has four children who have attended or are attending MACS. He is an enterprise engineer and wants to serve the community in his capacity on the school board. Thomas says his love for public service was instilled in him, “because my parents set an early example in life.”

When asked what motivates him to be a board member, Randy Moore states, “to continue my service for our children and community, making a difference.” He is married to Rita and has four children and five grandchildren. He retired from the army and was appointed to the board in 2020. You may see him around town at events with his military style vehicles.

Kyle Leonard was appointed to the board in 2018 and is married to Mary Alice. They have four children who attend or will be attending Mount Airy City Schools. Kyle is a wealth advisor and serves in the local community. Kyle said, “One thing I love about MACS is the close knit family culture we have. Being a small school district, we are able to innovate and provide a great educational experience for all our students.”

Collectively, our board helps set the direction of the district through their strategic plan. Over the years many initiatives have been led by the board working closely with the staff such as the building of the Community Central Office which has become a hub of community outreach in recent years. They have helped begin the first dual language program that has attracted many families and is a great workforce development effort with our graduates being fluent in two languages. They support administrators, teachers, and staff by building in step increases in salary, bonuses, along with a family and staff-friendly calendar.

The amazing arts programs, Career Technical Education, and grant-funded innovative programs are a hallmark of MACS and the board has provided the conditions and support for these to flourish. Families in the Mount Airy Community are in good hands with these board members. Many families have been attracted and retained due to the amazing programs and staff here in the district. Leadership from a strong board focused on children shows up in our community with one of the best districts in the state.

The MACS Board of Education members are champions for children. They have led during the most difficult era of modern day education and should be commended for bringing students back safely and continuing to support their growth and development. If you see these folks around town be sure and thank them for their service. If you would like to be part of this community of excellence and leadership visit http://www.mtairy.k12.nc.us . There is additional information about the board under the Board of Education tab on our website.

Winter’s longest month is almost over

Winter’s longest month now has only three days remaining. The month will soon be history followed by February, the shortest month of the year. Even though February is short it can be our snowiest month and perhaps our coldest month. As January comes down to its final days, the hyacinths, jonquils, and daffodils are preparing to produce spring flowers. Wild onions are showing up on the lawn and American violets now have heart-shaped leaves on them. Spring is over the horizon and 52 days away. There is still a batch of cold weather to deal with before and after spring arrives.

Groundhog day less than week away

The day is also known as candlemas in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Dutch have a custom of burning a candle all night as a signal that spring will be welcome. Spring is really the subject of Groundhog Day. If he sees his shadow that day we have six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, we still have six more weeks of winter. The groundhog is not much of a weather guru!

Getting rid of the creepy chickweed Grinch

The Grinch is green and ugly, and so is the chickweed that thrives during the winter months. It is green and ugly, but it is also easy to get rid of because it has shallow roots and practically grows only an inch or two beneath the soil. It is easy to pull up and throw out of the garden. Remove this pesky weed from the garden or rose bushes before it gets a head start. It is the easiest of weeds to get rid of.

We have gained a half hour of daylight

As the sunsets the wind-down of January, we will have gained a half hour of daylight since Dec. 21. It paves the way for a minute more of daylight each evening when the sunsets. We can continue to enjoy this increase every day until summer arrives and spring is a little more than 50 days away.

Preparing for the mowing season

The garden centers, hardwares, Home Depots, Walmart, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Ace Hardware already have lawn equipment displayed. If you need a new mower, now is the time to shop around for one and compare values. These shops have plenty of mowers waiting for you and you can choose the one that meets your needs. Check your sleeping mower during the last days of January. If your mower needs a tune-up, or some repair, now is the time to get your mower serviced. Most small engine repair shops are not as busy at this time of year. They will pick up your mower, service it, and return it to you for only a small fee. While it is being serviced, let them sharpen or replace the blade and check the battery and belts and get the mower ready for another season of dependable operation.

Making a butterscotch raw apple cake

Apples make great desserts in winter. This is a recipe that combines the caramel flavor of butterscotch with the tartness of raw apples and blended with chopped pecans for a wonderful winter treat. For this recipe, you will need one cup Crisco vegetable oil, two large eggs, two cups sugar, two and a half cups plain flour, three cups (seven or eight McIntosh or any tart apples), two three ounce boxes of Jello instant pudding, butterscotch flavor, one teaspoon pie spices, one teaspoon baking powder, one teaspoon baking soda, one teaspoon salt, one cup chopped pecans and one tablespoon vanilla flavoring. In a large bowl, add Crisco oil, eggs and sugar. In another bowl, mix plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and apple pie spices. Add to the sugar-oil mixture, and then add the chopped pecans. Peel the apples, cut into half inch cubes and run through the blender in “grate” mode and mix in a tablespoon of lemon juice. Add the apples to the mixture and the vanilla flavoring. Mix all the ingredients well. Spread the mixture into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish sprayed with Pam baking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Cool the cake completely. Mix the Jello butterscotch instant pudding mix according to the instructions on the Jello boxes. Spread the pudding on top of the cake. This cake can be prepared a day before you want to serve it. Top with whipping cream, Dream Whip or Cool Whip if you desire.

Applying dormant oil spray to fruit trees

The fruit trees and grape vines will remain dormant for several more weeks and can still be pruned and trimmed for better production and appearance. On a calm day as January ends, spray the trees and grapevines with a coating of dormant oil spray to protect them from aphids and insects or diseases. A bottle of oil spray mixed with the proper amount of water will coat most of the trees and grapevines with a shiny coat of spray. The oil will protect the trees and vines and will help harvest to be protected from diseases and insect pests. The job needs to be done before the middle of February when buds start to form. On a calm day with no wind or rain in the forecast, the oil spray will stick to the limbs and the sun will dry it into the limbs.

A bit of February lore

We have a bit of cold weather lore to kick off the month. This lore says, “If February produces much snow, a fine summer it will bestow.” This is a positive thought to begin the shortest month of the year. Even though short, the month is capable of dumping quit a few inches of snow. Even though summer is quit a few months away, its always a good thought on these days before February begins.

Seventeen more days to shop for your Valentine

It is getting closer to the season of hearts, flowers, candy and love. The stores and shops are bursting with plenty of hearts, flowers and Valentine gifts. On the last cold days of January, you can warm your heart by searching for and shopping for Valentine gifts for friends, sweethearts, husbands, wives, children and grand-children. No matter whether you purchase gifts , candy, perfume, gift certificates or cards, always include a small box of candy to enclose with the card or certificate, wrap with Valentine wrapping and place a bow on the box. This will make the gift extra special and a more expressive way to show love.

Getting rid of sticks, stones and litter

The lawn of mid-winter is bare, brown and at this time while it is still dormant, it is an opportune time to check for objects such as sticks, stones, obstacles and litter. These objects could get tangled in your mower blade later in the season. While the lawn is in the dormant stage, hidden objects can be discovered and retrieved and placed in the trash bin before they cause problems when you start the mowing season.

Strike is the best variety of green bean

When it comes to selecting the very best variety of green bean, Strike wins over all the rest of the green beans including the great favorite Top Crop. Strike is a great producer and totally string-less. They produce an abundance of quality beans all summer. They are long and pencil shaped and deliver clusters of beans when continually harvested. They will produce a harvest over several weeks instead of at one time. One of their attributes is that they grow upright and are easier to harvest. They can also be sown in late June to provide a second harvest. They are one of the best green beans for canning or freezing because of their uniform size and shape as well as their attractive color.

Keeping road salt rinsed from vehicles

Road salt in the winter really helps the highways to melt snow and ice but is not to good on your vehicle. After each snow or ice event, connect up the hose on a day when temperatures rise above freezing and rinse off all the salt. Also spray under the bottom of the vehicle to rinse off salt. Use a few paper towels and some glass cleaner to clean your vehicles wiper blades and windshield to clean away slush and salt.

Avoiding ice melt and salt on driveway

Using salt and ice melt on driveways can damage the grass on the lawn because the salts will run off with the water onto the lawn when it flows off the driveway. Use the snow shovel to remove the snow from the driveway. Grass has enough problems with the chemicals in many lawn fertilizers and so called turf builders.

If you use hoses to wash cars, fill birdbaths, or water perennials, always remember to disconnect the hoses and cover the faucets with the covers to prevent plumbing from freezing. Roll up the hoses and store them to keep water in them from freezing.

“Learning fast.” Officer: “Ma’am, I stopped you because you were going 80 mph.” Young lady: “Wow, that’s very neat! I just learned to drive yesterday!”

“Bad ride.” Fran: “I’ve got the worst kind of car trouble anyone could possibly have.” Jan: “What kind of trouble are you having?” Fran: “The motor wont start, and the payments won’t stop!”

The cardinal could be national Valentine bird

We can already see a natural Valentine on the front lawn on a mid-January morning when the colorful cardinals visit the feeders and birdbath. Frosty crystals with the winter sun shining on them and maybe a dusting of snow enhances the color of the cardinals. They are colorful in all four seasons but the white background of frost and snow creates a natural Valentine’s card. The cardinal could be the official bird for Saint Valentines Day.

Getting ready for a season of white stuff

Will we get much snow as we move on into the New Year? We are certainly hoping for a few hefty snowfalls and we know most children are also. Now is the time to get down to the serious expectation of some snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain and a wintry mix during January and February. Get the snow shovel out of storage or purchase one now because the best time to purchase them is when no snow is on the ground. Buy a new ice scraper or two and several cans of de-icer spray. Keep several flashlights handy in case the power goes off. Keep a few easy to prepare meals on hand and some sandwich ingredients and snacks for kids on snow days.

Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

Growth mindset includes helping students learn to work hard, keep trying, and learn from their failures. As Dr. Carol Dweck in The New Psychology of Success says, “We often ask ourselves when we face challenges, will we succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I be a winner or a loser?”

Painful experiences can be a setback but they do not have to define us. Each of us must overcome a fixed mindset where we think of ourselves as a certain person that doesn’t grow or change. The growth mindset says that our deficits can end up being our greatest strengths once we overcome them and grow to another level of maturity, skill, and passion. We also want to help our children develop this wise strategy for life.

Mount Airy City Schools (MACS) sets a high bar when it comes to academics, arts, and athletics using this growth mindset. The positive culture created in MACS is influenced by many factors. One of those is an environment where you can fail forward, learn from the failure, and come back as a resounding success. This is a personal attribute that is important for students to acquire before they face the adult world after leaving the guidance of K-12 schooling. MACS must provide an environment where students learn this important lesson and develop a winning attitude.

Dr. Dweck mentions a quote from John Wooden, a famous ball coach who says you only become a failure when you start to assign blame. We have to understand that we learn from failure and we learn to “fail forward.” This allows us to become more successful than imagined. We need to replace fixed mindset thinking such as “I’ve never been good at that and I never will, I’m not trying that if I’m going to fail, I always struggle with…” We can develop a “not yet” mentality and understand that a problem may not be solved “yet,” a weakness may not be overcome “yet,” or a skill is not developed “yet.” This changes a doomed future into a prospective positive one. It requires deliberate practice as a step in the right direction. The environment needs to allow for “risk-free” challenges to do better. If you fail then the encouragement is to get up and try again.

Children, when living in this environment of “fail forward,” will take risks, improve over time, and persevere toward success. Their improvement helps them grow strong and resilient. Educators, mentors, and parents can praise the effort and the determination over the natural talent and ability. “Hard work beats talent every time,” as we are reminded by several athletes such as Kevin Durant from the NBA. Students really need to hear how they are improving, be encouraged at how hard they are working, and be coached to be part of an amazing team accomplishing more together than apart. We can be careful how we choose our words, using terms such as, “You are growing and improving every day.” “Keep working hard and look how far you have come.” “To win is to be 1% better today than you were yesterday.” We need to remember growth is a way of thinking not a destination. Once we reach one milestone we can keep reaching toward the next goal. This can lead to a success that before we could not have imagined.

There are many ways this attitude is evident in Mount Airy City Schools. Our academic classes allow students to learn and improve skills through project-based and problem-based learning. This involves posing real world problems and situations and looking for solutions that often involve using science and mathematics skills as well as literacy. The problem-solving approach is similar to what students will use in careers after they graduate. These skills require sometimes not getting the correct answer right away but persevering until they have a workable solution with guidance from a teacher in the room.

Our robotics classes are great examples of this as we have competitive robotics teams beginning in fifth grade. The robotics teams are given a set of problems they need to solve through specific tasks completed by the robot. The robot runs that are programmed by students to accomplish these tasks look simple when they achieve their goal. But often, the precise robot runs take hours behind the scenes including many failed attempts. The students fail on a robot run, they reconfigure the robot based on their previous mistakes, and they find success after many tries. After failures once they are successful they gain points against competing teams. This led our middle school team, The Energetic Engineers, to win when they were competing against 36 teams in the most recent regional competition and both of our middle school robotics teams qualified for state finals. A former student said of the classes that used this mentality, “There is no such thing as failure, there is just an opportunity to get better.”

Another example of failing forward can be seen in our instrumental music programs. It takes hours of practice to be proficient when playing an instrument. Many fifth and sixth graders start out as beginners playing instruments. They may begin playing songs with five notes or less. If you’ve ever had a beginning musician you know they fail at sounding good for a while, but within a couple of years they are playing advanced musical compositions. Students often get the wrong notes to begin with or have the wrong embouchure. But, with daily practice and guidance concerning how to effectively play new notes, count complex rhythms, and develop strong breathing techniques they improve and the music matures and sounds beautiful.

Our recent state championship football win boasts another example of “failing forward.” Several of the interviewees after that game mentioned that lessons learned last year led to the wins this year. Mount Airy High School Football Head Coach, J.K. Adkins, stated, “Sometimes pain promotes growth as painful as that is. We identified the reasons why and we went to work, and the guys have done a tremendous job.” One of the players, Caleb Reid, mentioned the lessons of last year as well. “I think our composure has been better this season than last season. We’ve basically had no unsportsmanlike conduct penalties this year. We just go out there and play football, have fun, and do our job.” As the Mount Airy News says these efforts by the Mount Airy High School Bears will be immortalized forever.

MACS creates a winning culture by helping students to understand it’s ok to fail, as long as you fail forward. We can encourage students to develop a growth mindset that will do them well all of their lives. If you are interested in joining MACS please visit our website at https://www.mtairy.k12.nc.us.

Please allow me to clarify myself, before there’s any shots fired. As crazy and controversial as this message title sounds, I don’t mean you have any variety of beliefs to choose from as ways to get into Heaven. The one and only exclusive way you will ever get there is through Jesus Christ. John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes unto the Father, but by Me.” See also John 10:9, “I am the door: by Me if any one enters in, they shall be saved.” And Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

I have placed my entire faith upon Jesus Christ alone, for my eternal salvation and entrance into His Heaven. What the title of today’s message means is this; we may just barely be saved, and enter God’s city by His grace, our small faith, and only that: or we can enter His presence in a grand, joyful and abundant way. Join me as I attempt to explain this with the authority of God’s Word as my reason.

I Peter 4:16-19, “…For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” In answer to the questions this portion of Scripture asks; the end of those who will not obey the Gospel of God, and to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” for salvation, are “condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God…and they that believe not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on them,” John 3:18,36. At the day of judgment, the ungodly and the sinner will “appear” before God’s “great white throne” to be “judged every one according to their works:” their rejection of God’s salvation through Christ, and rejection of their sin. They will then be “cast into the lake of fire,” “there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” (Mark 9:43-47, Matt. 13:40-50, and Rev.20:11-15)

Now, to the statement of, “if the righteous scarcely be saved.” It is clear that the Almighty can fully save us from our sin, and the judgment. God imputes His righteousness upon us as we have faith in Him to save us, and as we turn to Him in repentance, are willing to receive Him as, and confess Jesus as our Lord. (Rom. 10:9-13, Hebrews 7:25) “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him…”

However, on our part, we can trust in Jesus for His mercy and salvation, but sometimes our faith is little, and our commitment weak: but it is enough. We can be scarcely saved, and remain a spiritual child; with little growth, and small faith, and minimal fruit. In other words, scarcely, hardy, or barely saved.

Consider I Corinthians 3:8-15, “…every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor …Now if any one build upon this foundation (which is Jesus Christ) gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble (speaking of spiritual value); every one’s work shall be made manifest: …for it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every one’s work of what sort it is. If any one’s work abide which they have built there upon, they shall receive a reward. If any one’s work shall be burned, they shall suffer loss: but they themselves shall be saved.”

By God’s grace there are those who will be saved, but will go in empty handed, and regretful for not being more faithful to our Lord. They will be blessed to be there in that place He’s prepared for us, scarcely saved, but saved none the less.

The exciting and preferred alternative to being scarcely saved and empty of reward is this; to have a big entrance; a celebrated arrival into the presence of our Beloved Lord. II Peter 1:2-13, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you may be partakers of the divine nature… giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We can do our Father’s will, and go into His heaven with abundant reward. The faithful will “bring forth fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty, and some and hundred,” Mark 4:20. II Cor. 9:6-11, “But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every one according as they purpose in their heart, so let them give; not grudgingly, nor of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you; that you always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work… and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causes through us thanksgiving to God.”

It’s your choice how you enter Heaven; scarcely, or abundantly; empty, or full. My wish for you is a blessed and prosperous year, physically and spiritually; as you love grows in the Lord, and as you walk with Him each day: then one day, have an abundant entrance into His presence.

PILOT MOUNTAIN — The Pilot Mountain Outreach Center has received $2,400 from the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation to help feed neighbors in their time of need. The Pilot Mountain Outreach Center will use the gift to purchase cereal for clients of the food pantry, officials there said.

Karen Caparolie, an Outreach Center director, expressed appreciation for this Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation gift, which will allow the organization to “provide a much-needed nutritious addition to our food distribution.”

The Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation is committed to supporting families facing food insecurity across its 10-state footprint. Established in 2001, the foundation provides financial support for programs and organizations dedicated to feeding local neighbors in the communities it serves. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded nearly $17 million in grants.

Spring bulbs getting ready to awaken

The bulbs of jonquils, hyacinths, crocus, daffodils and tulips are now under a bed of crushed leaves. In the next few days, apply a layer of bone meal or bulb booster on top of them. When we get a hefty snow, the melting snow will soak up the bone meal or bulb booster and take it deep into the soil and wake up the sleeping bulbs. By the end of January, they should begin to show tiny spikes of green peeking through the layer of crushed leaves.

Cold temperatures, frosty lawns, icy mud-holes

Freezing temperatures at night and crystals of frost on the lawn and roof in the morning and the cold wind blowing out of the north and maybe the forecast of some snow — January can bring a huge recipe of ingredients. We can have a few sunny days mixed in to make the month interesting. The temperatures during most of January’s days will rise above freezing and this is a blessing because it prevents the ground from freezing. In the Piedmont, we measure our snows in inches while in the midwest parts of the country, they measure snow in feet. In Minnesota when the last snow falls in April, some of the first snow of the season is at the bottom of the last snow that falls. Up north in New England, they receive their share of hefty snow also. A bit of weather lore for these areas of the country is, “if the weather of January is cold and gray, you can expect winter all the way into May.”

As January moves along we are looking forward to some January white stuff to whiten the winter landscape with the beauty that only snow can bring. A snow that makes trees crinkle and stars twinkle. A snow that covers the lawn, the garden plot, the woodlands and meadows and beautifies everything it touches. A wet snow that makes great snowmen and a bowl of Carolina snow cream. The kind of snow that makes the lawn look like diamonds when the street lights shines down on the snow. Snow brings a certain quietness to everything it comes in contact with. Snow has that certain quality that cleanses the earth and the environment and a magic that arrives with any amount of snow.

An abundant year for the 2023 four o’clocks

Hardwares, garden centers, seed shops, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Ace Hardware and most supermarkets have colorful racks that are filled with packets of flowers and vegetable seed. Pick up several packets of four o’ clocks while you are shopping. Four o’ clocks come in an assortment of colors that include red, white, yellow, pink and wine. They also come in speckled and marbled colors. All these colors stand brilliant in a dark green, lush foliage. Four o’ clocks will grow in all types of soil and bloom from May all the way until the first frost. Packets of four o’ clocks in stores cost less than $2 per packet. They can be sown in rows or large containers.

Buying a sled or snow dish before snow arrives

As we move toward the end January, the chances of a hefty snowfall are good. Most children and grandchildren are looking forward to enough snow to make a snowman, go sledding, and do snow angels on the new fallen snow, plus enjoying a few snow days. Many gardeners are looking forward for snow to cover the garden plot and the lawn in order to kill off wintering insects, weed seed, fungus and organisms in the soil. The hardwares, Walmart and other businesses are now well stocked with sleds, snowboards, snow dishes as well as shovels, de-icer, ice scrapers, snow melt and salt.

Making a sharp cheddar cheeseburger pie

On a cold January day, sharp cheddar cheese and ground round or chuck make a great cheeseburger pie. This pie has very few ingredients but all of them blend together to form a tasty pie that will make a meal. You will need one pound of ground round or chuck, one eight-ounce pack of finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one envelope of Recipe Secrets beefy onion soup mix, one and a half cups of milk, one cup of Bisquick, three large eggs and two tablespoons Heinz catsup. Boil the ground round or chuck until very tender, mash with a potato masher and add one envelope of Recipe Secrets beefy onion soup mix and boil for several minutes. Pour into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish that is sprayed with Pam baking spray. Stir in the Heinz catsup, spread the finely shredded cheese over the top of ground round or chuck mixture. Mix the Bisquick, eggs, milk until smooth and pour over the top of the shredded cheese. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool for five minutes. Will make eight servings.

Cranking up the riding mower

During winter months it’s always a great idea to start the riding lawn mower once a week and let it run until it warms up. Keep the mower filled with fuel to make starting easier. During each winter month, drive the mower around the lawn with the blade disengaged to engage all moving parts. Keep leaf blowers and weed trimmers fueled and start them once a week. A cover for the riding mower is a good investment and costs around $20. It’s always a good idea to keep engines operating during the winter. Wild onions are beginning to sprout on mid winter lawns and you will need the weed trimmer ready to run and trim the onions down to ground level to stunt their growth.

January can bring hard freezes to garden plot

During January, hard freezes are a possibility in the winter garden plot. This is not a bad situation because when the ground does freeze, the snow that falls will have a great chance to stick and stay longer to kill off insect eggs, larvae, and pests as well as weed seed. Frozen soil will also destroy many organisms and fungal diseases in the soil. My mother always said that when it gets cold enough for the soil to freeze, it is also cold enough to get rid of many germs that cause the flu and other viruses. There are plenty of hidden and good treasures and blessings in the cold hard freezes of winter.

Cardboard and plastic bags protect from freezes

During the month perennials such as American Bee Balm, Veronica and Forget-Me-Nots can be protected from hard freezes with cardboard and plastic grocery bags. Glue two pieces of cardboard together to cover the containers or pots of plants. Use for or five plastic grocery bags to cover the plants and the cardboard cover to cover the bags for two layers of protection. Next day when temperatures rise, remove covers to allow sunlight to reach the plants. Replace cardboard and plastic bags that evening before dark. Water very lightly once a week to protect the plants.

Early Valentine at edge of garden plot

As we pass the midway point of January, an unusual heart shaped green leaf appears as an early Valentine in the edge of the garden plot as well as an early heart in the foliage of the American Violet. Their glossy foliage is a herald of Saint Valentines Day and also a signal that spring is on its way. You can start a clump of American violets as a perennial on the porch or deck in a pot or container in a semi-sunny location with potting medium. In several weeks, the plant will produce blooms for almost a month. They will have lush, glossy foliage to continue into warm weather. They will thrive over winter and return every year.

Hyacinths are beginning to spike

The green spikes of the hyacinth are showing up as they appear through layers of crushed leaves as patches of green. They are now about three inches tall and an interesting sign of spring. In the next four or five weeks, they will be having flowers of red white yellow, purple, lavender and pink. They can now be boosted with handfuls of bone meal to promote blooms late next month.

One great reward about feeding birds during winter is that you never know what varieties will show up. Several times we have had crows to show up. One day they appeared and ate at the feeder and the next day we had an inch of snow. We don’t know if they were a sign of snow or not! We do know that crows seem to be more people-friendly than they used to be. Speaking of people-friendly, we think bluebirds are getting more adapted to people. We actually see them several times during the winter. They are really colorful and we wonder if they are like the robins who have adapted to our winters. Unlike the robins who sustain themselves on worms, grubs, and insects, the bluebirds visit the feeders and dine on seeds We certainly hope to see more of them in all the seasons of the year. We do not think it’s global warming, but that the bluebirds, like the robins, are just doing the math.

Three weeks until Saint Valentine’s

Saint Valentine’s Day is only three weeks away and there is still plenty of time to select those gifts for husbands, wives, children, and grandchildren and sweethearts. All the stores, supermarkets and florists have huge selections and choices of flowers, candies perfumes, and when all else fails gift certificates from favorite restaurants, and plastic gift cards from favorite shops.

Fruit trees and grapevines are dormant and late January through February is the opportune time to prune, shape, and trim them while the limbs and branches are bare. All of them are visible which makes pruning and shaping effective. Pruning not only makes harvesting easier, but also prepares the trees and vines to bear more

“Qualities of Life.” Pastor: “Does your husband believe in the afterlife?” Wife: (laughing as she replies) “You ask if he believes in life after death. Why, he doesn’t believe in life after supper.”

“Money, Honey.” Jonnie: “My wife never stops asking for money. Just last week, it was a hundred dollars; the week before it was $100; this week it was $300.” Donnie: “What does she do with all that money? Jonnie: “I don’t know, I never gave her any!”

“Adding Words.” After her husband died, his wife ordered a tombstone for him with the words, Rest in Peace. When she later found out her husband left her nothing in his will she requested to change the words on the stone, but the words had already been chiseled and could not be changed. “In that case,” she told the engraver, please add, “Till we meet again!”

The first members of the Galloway family emigrated from Scotland to North Carolina in 1783, and quickly established themselves as prominent figures in the local area. By the time Robert Richard “R.R.” Galloway, son of one of the original emigrants, was born in 1830, the family had become major land and business owners in the area.

Robert farmed a large section of land just outside of Mount Airy, alongside owning numerous businesses in town. When the city of Mount Airy was first incorporated, Robert served on the board of commissioners.

Robert would be married three times in all, first to Caroline Smith in 1849 (until her death in 1854), then to Mary Virginia Cardwell (from 1856 until her death in 1869), and to third wife Lucy Antoinette Blackwell (from 1874 until her death in 1894). Having originally lived on the outskirts of town, the family made the move into the city, believing it would benefit Mary Virginia’s health. Robert Galloway was the original owner of a house at 731 North Main Street. He lived in the house with his third wife, Lucy Blackwell Galloway. Before this, he had owned the house next door.

While married to Mary Virginia, the couple had four children. However, they would be met with grief when their daughter, Mary Kate, died at just 5 years, while Robert was away in the Civil War, in the role of a musician. Not long after he returned from the war, his wife also died. Some claim the father was haunted by the spirit of his daughter, and that a young, ghostly girl can be seen in the rooms where her father’s opera house used to reside.

Also while married to Mary Virginia, Robert Galloway built the Galloway Opera House. At the time that the building was being constructed, Galloway owned a planing mill (which turns wood into lumber), and oversaw the construction, acting as his own contractor.

Located at 420 North Main Street in downtown Mount Airy, the two-story building housed dry goods and general supplies on its ground floors, while located on the second floor of the building was the Galloway Opera House. The site was one of the first entertainment venues in Mount Airy.

The expansive opera house had seating for 500 guests, and during its heyday was the largest gathering room in the local area. Its size was made great use of, holding all kinds of events, from musical performances, traveling plays, graduations, political meetings, criminal trials, and church services. The theater operated from 1891 until 1909. When it opened on Jan. 6, 1891, the first performance was from the New York Theatre Company. Most theater companies passing through would spend a week or so performing at the opera house with numerous performances. The advertisement for Emma Warren Theatre Company, playing for one week at the Galloway Opera House in March 1897, in a different play every night, calls their show “strictly a clean show and nothing will be said or done to offend the most fastidious.” Admission was 25 cents.

The performance hall closed in 1909, and in 1912, the building was owned by the G. C. Lovill Company, a wholesaler which until then was located on the Prather block, and at the same time the stage from the second floor was removed.

In the early 1960s, the building became home to the Brannock and Hiatt Furniture Store, where the store remains to this day.

It is believed that throughout the building’s life as an opera house, the first floor was always used as various types of stores. At one point, Robert Richard’s son, R.J. Galloway, operated a store on the first floor of the same building which housed the opera house, selling everything from ladies dress goods, imported novelties, and fancy millinery.

R.J. Galloway, R.R’s son, was similarly touched by loss like his father. Married to Agnes Nutt, they had a daughter, also called Agnes. The young woman would attend Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, being a freshman there in 1926. Just with her aunt who passed away as a child, a ghost story has also popped up surrounding Agnes. The legend goes that Agnes’ ghost haunts the auditorium at the college, with various reasons given to her lingering presence, the most common being she committed suicide after being spurned by her lover. The fact that there’s evidence of her being alive and well until 1929, living in Mount Airy, until she passed away from tuberculosis does little to dissuade believers.

The Galloway family left a lasting impact on the community of Mount Airy. R. R. Galloway’s Opera House was a major Mount Airy institution for many years. Despite the family’s personal struggles, including the loss of loved ones, the legacy of Robert Richard Galloway and the Galloway family continues to be remembered through their contributions to the community and the historical significance of the Opera House.

Katherine “Kat” Jackson is an employee at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Australia she now lives in King and can be reached at the museum at 336-786-4478.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

With snow piled yea’ high and a freezing wind screaming down off the mountain, we were “snowed in” and “nobody was going nowhere,” especially after dark. Why? Nights outside were deadly and they came early in the cold hard days of January. Pa said, “You git lost out there at night, boy, you gonna’ be a goner.” On such days, it was hard to stay warm, even with the wood heater jumping a foot off the floor. It was the worst days of the year; days that tried the soul.

We read everything in the house and re-told the stories of old to keep from going insane. Meanwhile, cabin fever raged among the older people who were afraid to go outside where they might fall on the ice and break something. What did the rest of us do? We fed the animals, milked the cow, threw another log on the fire, settled in for the duration and daydreamed of the spring that was sure to come again someday.

Then, from out of the blue, (like a gift from the gods) colored seed catalogues came in the January mail; a breath of fresh air on the darkest of days; a life-saver for sure. So I read, “Faith will never die as long as colored seed catalogues are printed” and I was a believer if ever there was one. They became our bibles and on the cold snowy days, we “sot by the far,” read them dog-eared and daydreamed of all the good things we would grow with the coming of spring.

Seeds saved from last year were worth their weight in gold, but the great catalogue seeds promised the Moon, seemed to me. “Just buy some of our extra-special seeds and grow watermelons, tomatoes and cucumbers like never seen before. All you do is stick our magic seeds in the ground, get out of the way and let Mother Nature do her thing.”

Having very little money, we could never buy all the seeds we wanted, so we chose carefully. When the order came in the mail, the pictures on the seed packets looked even better than the catalogue pictures and promised even bigger and better stuff than we’d already planned. We would grow watermelons big as a number two wash tub, tomatoes big as a wash pan and cornstalks so high, you would have to climb a ladder to get an ear of fresh corn. We would grow so much good stuff, we might have to hire help to eat it all and might need a bigger wagon to haul it on.

As the cold winds howled outside, we stayed by the fire and counted our blessings. With new seeds on hand, we were ready to go and knew in our souls; this would be the best year yet.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

It’s gonna’ snow.

After a couple of cold sunny days in the new year, high thin clouds climbed into the sky over our western mountains; the direction most of our weather came from. As the day wore on, the whole sky became “smooth cloudy” and nobody had to tell us it was going to snow; we just knew and how did we know? Grandpa told us so, “Gonna’ come a big ‘un, boys, you wait and see.” Pa knew too, “See that sun back yonder? She’s a’ wadin’ snow.” As our older neighbor (Jim Smith) told Mama, “She’ll be coming over that mountain back yonder ‘afore morning.” (Mama said, “It did.”)

Sound traveled far in the cold air and we could hear neighbors chopping firewood a mile away and “Big Rigs” climbing Fancy Gap Mountain ten miles away. Our chickens scratched in the yard like there would be no tomorrow and the horse and cow grazed non-stop, because they too knew it was going to snow.

My brother and I “got in” firewood by the wheelbarrow loads, carried extra water from the spring, fed the animals, milked the cow and kept an eye on the sky all the while: hoping to see the first snowflake. Why? Everybody said, “Catch that first snowflake on your tongue and you’ll have good luck. (I saw many first snowflakes over the years, caught quite a few, but never that prized first one.)

As the day came to an end, still no snow, but we “kept watch” by shining Pa’s flashlight up into the dark sky. He told us, “You all run my new battrys’ down, boys, I’m gonna’ have me some hide.” (It was a threat we heard often about many things, but hardly ever did it amount to any loss of my precious hide.)

As the night wore on, we “tired out,” climbed into ice-cold beds, shivered until we got warm and (far in the night) we slept; with visions of deep snow dancing in our heads. Oh, the places we would go and the things we would do tomorrow, if only it would snow.

Come next morning, Pa called us and said, “The old woman’s pluckin’ her geese up yonder, boys, and them feathers is coming down.” We hit the ice-cold floor running and sure enough, huge white flakes were floating down on a world fast turning white. Finally, at long last, the snow came and we could hardly wait to get out there and go “where no man had ever gone before” in un-tracked snow.

Have you heard that old saying, “You are what you eat?” There’s some truth in that; since the things you consume are broken down by your body, and ultimately influence your body’s health. Good nutritious vitamin-rich foods will have a more positive impact; while high-fat and sugary foods tend to have a more negative effect on your body. In other words, “Negative input equals negative output;” and in contrast, “Positive input equals positive output.”

Today, let’s consider this parallel to the spiritual health of our soul, mind, and emotional happiness; which ultimately also affects our physical being. The answers for our balance and contentment are all found in the Word of God.

Each of us individually, and also as the body of Christ, together the Church, are in for God’s richest blessings simply by dwelling in Christ, and allowing His Spirit to guide us in obedience to our Abba. Each day of this life here on planet Earth can be lived in victory, if we are submissive to His wise plan and purpose. He has promised us abundance of life, and fullness of His joy, just for abiding in our life-source Jesus Christ.

John 15:1-16, “I Am the True Vine…Abide in Me, and I in you, as the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me…They that abide in Me, and I in them, the same bring forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing… Herein is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit… These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full… I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known to you… I have chosen you, and ordained you (Webster – to appoint, establish in a ministerial office), that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.”

See also, John 10:10 and Eph. 3:14-21, “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto Him be glory… Amen.”

Wow, do I love all those excellent adjectives adding extra emphasis on our Lord’s work in our lives for His Kingdom, here and now; and our destiny in the world to come. If we are with Him, there is no way we can fail to enjoy the fulfillment we’ll experience in the eternal day of reward. Presently we can know the satisfaction in fulfilling our purpose here in this life. We can as the Word says, “comprehend” some of what’s to come, as we yield to the powerful life-changing, character-shaping Word of God, and work of His Holy Spirit in our lives. As this previous scripture stated, “be filled with all the fullness of God.” Our souls will flourish, as we remain planted, embedded, immersed in Christ.

The opposite of a spirit-filled, healthy Christian life, is a life lived according to self-will, pride, and the lusts of the flesh for this world’s wares. We are taught in the scriptures to deny the flesh; to even mortify, or put to death the old sinful nature. Romans 8:13, “For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Read also Col. 3:1-10. Romans 13:11-14, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us…put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts.”

There is no joy in being in rebellion to God and His will for our life. Living according to His purpose brings a deep lasting joy because it is there that He may bless us to the fullest. As the psalmist declared, “my cup runs over.” Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them”. God our Father has appointed, and established us in Christ; set apart to do His holy work here on Earth, even as it is in Heaven. And He has equipped us with everything we need to accomplish His good will. I Tim. 4:7-8 and II Tim.3:15-17, “… exercise yourself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come… you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable… That the man of God may be perfect (complete, mature), thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Life here is much about investment. Here’s some options: we can waste the time allotted us by binge watching some far from wholesome show, or one of many other vain time consuming behaviors the world offers; you know, negative things. Or, on the positive side, how much more will we be benefited if we invested time in praying for, and doing God’s will; while being in constant fellowship with Jesus?

Yes, what about binging on Jesus? How much more could our soul prosper by choosing to read, study, and meditate in God’s Holy Word? Phil. 4:8-9 compels us, “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things…and the God of peace shall be with you.” Peace of mind, joy, fulfillment.

As time pushes forward, our collective technology advances at an ever-growing speed. Each year, new phones, computers, apps, and more are released, deeming their predecessors obsolete. It is so hard to stay ahead of the technology curve, that many consumers have adopted the “if it’s not broke don’t change it” rule. These advancements have also discarded some technologies and training as unnecessary. Things like watchmakers, cobblers, seamstresses, milliners, and stone carvers are not as common as they once were.

In this short series on lost arts, we’ve analyzed several different essential figures in our collective histories. One integral part of Surry County’s history is the North Carolina Granite Quarry. When quarry operations began in 1889 many talented individuals made their way to the foothills in search of secure work, one of those individuals was Big Jim.

Vincenzo “Big Jim” Alfano was an Italian immigrant born in Lazio, a region of Italy whose capital is Rome. He spent his youth in the small village of Lanzara with mountains and talented artisans. He began his unknown journey to Mount Airy, working as an apprentice to stone carvers in Lanzara, starting as early as 10 or 11 years old. During training, he worked on churches and cathedrals. At the age of 21 Vincenzo traveled to Egypt where he cut and dressed stone for two years, helping to construct/work on either the Assiut Barrage or Aswan Dams.

With experience and a little money in his pocket, the young carver boarded a ship to the Americas in 1907. The Ellis Island Foundation marks this year as the busiest for immigration to the states with 1.3 million people traveling to the USA in 1907. Determined to make a name for himself, Vincenzo landed in White Plains, New York working in monument shops.

On his return to Lanzara in 1908, he married his love Martha Avella of the same town. With few prospects in Italy, Vincenzo returned to the US, and Martha joined him two years later with their first child, Edward. The young couple finally settled in Philadelphia where the North Carolina Granite Quarry had an office. He was soon discovered for his talents by the quarry and was offered a job in Flat Rock, the world’s largest open-faced granite quarry.

With Martha and Edward in tow, the Alfano family traveled south with many other immigrant families to what is now known as the Granite City. Quarry expansions had begun and more workers were required to meet the growing demand for Mount Airy’s rock. The Thompson boarding house can still be seen on East Pine Street in front of the Quarry’s main entrance, and many families stayed here until they could raise funds to buy or rent their own homes. The Alfanos first stayed as tenants on the Old Merritt Farm. Vincenzo continued to excel in his carvings and workmanship and saved enough money to purchase his own home right next to the quarry at 719 East Main Street for $665. The family welcomed a second son in 1919 named Ugo.

Sometime before 1920, Vincenzo, or “Big Jim,” as he was now known, was blinded in one eye by rock chips. Despite being injured and without vision in one eye he continued to create astonishing works of art. During the depression, he was still making one dollar to everyone else’s 10 to 15 cents an hour. He created his intricate carving with just a hammer, chisel, and a “bushhammer.”

During his off time, he loved to listen to Opera either on the radio or from his extensive record collection, and he would host guests, feeding them Italian imported goods and wine from his own vineyard. The couple lived out the remainder of their days in Flat Rock, leaving their home to Ugo their youngest son. Some of the intricate carvings can still be seen at the home site, unfortunately, the building itself was lost to fire. Big Jim died on Dec. 4, 1947 just after welcoming his first grandchild into the world. His work can still be seen at the Mount Airy Post Office, Washington Monument, and Kitty Hawk. Martha and Vincenzo are both buried in Oakdale Cemetery under a granite carving created by their oldest son Edward.

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at eamorgan@northcarolinamuseum.org or by calling 336-786-4478 x229

Friday was The Day of Epiphany

The Day of Epiphany is also known as the Twelfth Night, Twelfth Day of Christmas and Old Christmas. The word “Epiphany” means to show, to reveal or to enlighten. On the church calendar, it marks the end of Advent and the beginning of Epiphany. It commemorates the day the Christ Child was revealed to the Wise Men from the East from Mesopotamia or Persia after their long journey across the desert. Jesus, at this time could have been 2 years old and his family in Bethlehem living in a house when the Wise Men arrived in Bethlehem.

Getting ready for the season of the heart

All the stores and shops are now adorning themselves with pink, red, and white as they prepare for Saint Valentine’s Day next month. The shelves are filled with racks of Valentine cards, candy displays, party supplies and floral arrangements and of course, there are plenty of gift cards. It’s not too early to order flowers from the florist if you would like to have them deliver them. Floral sections at supermarkets also feature roses during the month of January. Browse around on a cold winter day and check out all the offerings for Saint Valentines Day. Restaurants also have gift certificates that make nice Valentine gifts.

How much snow can we expect in January?

Will January 2023 be a month when we can expect quit a bit of snow? In past years we have not received as many January snows as we usually do. We don’t think it has anything to with global warming, but weather patterns seem different and temperatures don’t drop as much as they did a decade ago. Most of our snows now are produced during February. We could use a few snows whether they arrive in January or February. We need to remember that it doesn’t have to be very cold to snow if the temperatures aloft are ideal for snow. The cold usually comes after the ground is covered with snow. We do need several hefty snows to add trace elements to the soil and to kill off wintering insect pests and eggs. Snow is also needed to fight off viruses and germs in the air. Kids also need a snow break and some time to exercise and play in the snow. The garden plot also needs the snow so the sod will freeze a few times before spring arrives.

Keeping the scent of Christmas around

You can still savor the scent of Christmas even though Christmas is over. All you have to do is cut a sprig or two of spruce or fir from the old Christmas tree or greenery and place them in a vase or jar of water and set in a sunny location in the home. It will give out a fresh scent in the weeks to come. It will help relieve some after Christmas blahs.

The 195th edition of Blum’s Almanacs is now on sale at local hardwares. This is not only a useful planting guide but has much information, fishing calendars, recipes, moon phases, sunrise and sunset times and health information. There are lists of all the holidays and special days of the year plus garden information and plant zones. Plenty of information for every day of the year.

Plenty of robins on lawn in January

The robins used to be a sign of spring but now they seem to be with us every month of the year. The winter weather does not seem to have any adverse effects on them and they definitely seem to be well-fed. As they bounce around the lawn, the ground is not frozen and they are pecking around for worms and grubs. Their color is good and they are not shivering. They seem to have adapted to our Southern winters. They certainly have plenty of places to hunker down and take shelter. In the woods, they have hollow logs and trees. They also roost in outbuildings, in barns, under eaves of houses, in wood piles and in leaf piles. We enjoy them in winter and we believe they are surviving and doing well and not many are flying to Southern climates. They have acclimatized themselves and are no worse off in doing so.

Stocking up on plant food for spring garden

It’s still quite a few weeks away from the season of the garden, but it is not too early to stock up on plant foods that are organic and good not only for vegetables but also give the soil a boost as well. You can buy the Holly-Tone family of organic plant foods in four- and ten-pound bags at hardwares, garden centers, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Ace Hardware. You can choose from special blends such as Tomato-Tone, Garden-Tone, Plant-Tone. Flower-Tone, Rose-Tone and Holly-Tone for evergreens and azaleas. Four-pound bags are easier to handle in the garden and a bag costs less than $10. You save money when you purchase the ten-pound bags. They are totally organic and easy to apply. They absorb quickly into the soil and feed over a lengthy period. It is packaged in zippered plastic bags that are resealable and you just shake and pour from the zippered slot. You can purchase a bag a week and store in a cool, dry place and it will be there when the garden season starts. It has been proven in gardens for almost a hundred years. It has organic nutrients to promote growth of flowers and vegetables. Vegetables respond quickly to it.

Seed packets displayed in garden departments

It is early in the month of January and a sign of the spring and summer garden is now appearing in seed shops, garden centers, hardwares, Walmart, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware. The seed racks are filled with packets of colorful flowers and vegetable seeds for the up and coming garden season. It may be early but you can purchase seed packets and stock them in a box in a dry place. Buy several packets each week and select the varieties and colors of flowers you want to plant in your flower beds and also the packets of vegetables that you plan to plant. They will not spoil. Make sure you buy packets that state on the label “packed for the 2023 garden season.”

Plow Monday: A New England tradition.

Plow Monday occurs in New England on Monday, Jan. 9. This day always occurs on the Monday that follows Epiphany. For New England farmers, it is the end of the Christmas holiday and the farmers return to their twelvehour schedules. It is now back to full time work and chores to begin another season of farming.

Another bit of weather lore

This is some crazy weather lore to begin the year of 2023. This bit of lore says that if rains much the first days after Christmas, it will be a wet year. My grandma in Northampton County had a different view on this piece of weather lore. Her view was that for the first 12 days after Christmas her prediction was each of the 12 days represented one month of the year and that day’s weather would determine the type of weather that month would bring. The first 12 days would predict what manner of weather would occur over next 12 months. We really think both these predictions are a bunch of crazy weather lore and certainly have no credible merits

Building up the immune system

The sun does shine quite often during the cold month of January, and we need these rays of ultraviolet warmth to build up our immune systems and protect us from viruses and germs. All you need to do is cuddle up with a toboggan, warm coat or blanket and a cup of hot black coffee. The front porch with a bright winter sun shining on you is a great way to spend some afternoon time on a winter day. The sun that shines today, on tomorrow may turn dark and gray. Harden your body to the warmth of the sun on a winter day.

Getting ready for a season of white stuff

Will we get much show as we move into the new year? We are certainly hoping for a few hefty snowfalls and we know that most children are. Now is the time to get down to the serious business of expectation of some snow, sleet, ice and freezing rain during January and February. Get the snow shovel ready or purchase one now. The time to by a snow shovel is when there is no snow on the ground. Buy a new ice scraper, de-icer fluid for the windshield washer and several spray cans of de-icer. Keep a few flashlights handy in case the power goes out. Have a few cans of easy food to prepare and some sandwich ingredients for quick meals if kids have snow days.

“A Lesson from Snowflakes.” We could all learn a lesson from tiny snowflakes. No two of them are alike, but observe how well they work together on a major task like tying up traffic on Interstate 40, Interstate 17 and US 52!

“Boring speaker.” During a long lecture, the speaker was interrupted five times by a listener in the balcony saying, “Speak louder, speak louder.” A man on the front row stood up and shouted, “What’s the matter, can’t you hear?” “No, I can’t hear” said the man in the balcony. The man on the front row said ” Well then, be thankful and shut up!”

New Years Day was Sunday, Jan. 1. There will be a full moon on the night of Friday, Jan. 6. and this moon will be named “Full Wolf Moon.” Friday, Jan.6 will also be the Day of Epiphany or Twelfth Night or “Old Christmas.” The moon will reach its last quarter on Saturday, Jan. 14. Elvis Presley’s birthday was celebrated on Sunday, Jan. 8. There will be a new moon on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 21. Martin Luther King’s birthday will be celebrated on Monday, Jan. 16. Benjamin Franklin’s birthday will be Tuesday, Jan. 17. The moon reaches its first quarter on Saturday, Jan. 28.

Here we are in January 2023 already! Just a short while ago we closed the chapter on 2022, right? Well, just like the media likes to look back over the past year’s events, I would like to remember the evidence of the goodness of God in this past year.

Yes, we came through trials, which the Lord gave us grace sufficient to bear. I and my family said our farewells for now to Daddy, as his maker called him home to Heaven, into the presence of the Lord; God is good! I have also ministered at several funerals of other dear friends and family in Christ, who were carried to their eternal reward; God is good! There were some family members, friends, and acquaintances, along with myself, who caught, then recovered from the COVID virus; God is good!

Through it all we experienced the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father, the comfort of the comforter, and the sweet friendship of our abiding Savior Jesus Christ. Life is often hard, but God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good! I would like to say, along with the psalmist in Psalm 89:1, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.”

I’d like to bring to remembrance again, our recent celebration of Christmas, and consider God’s great and gracious gifts to you and I. Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Chapter 7, verse 14 tells us that another name for this child would be Emmanuel, which means God with us! We probably all have this one memorized, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes upon Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

It was because of God’s great love for His creature, mankind, that He gave us a precious baby boy. A baby boy who was God with us. Look back again at the previous names He is called. Meditate for a while on their meanings. Each and every need you and I have in life can be satisfied within Him. Jesus came as God’s gift, to bring us out of our darkness; out of our utter brokenness, and teach us the way to God. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). To think about that kind of God love, that led Him to give such an immeasurably valuable Gift should amaze us constantly, without end. There is great overwhelming joy in knowing you have been given, and have received the most priceless present one could ever possess.

Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:15-18 tells us this is “the gift of righteousness,” and that it is “a free gift.” Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace (God’s unmerited love and favor towards us) are you saved by faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not by works.”

“Free” means that you can’t buy it. You can’t do enough good works to earn it. We must also realize that even the faith you and I have towards Him is a gift of God. Consider Romans 12:3, …“God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.” But, a gift can only benefit the intended receiver if the intended receiver will accept it. Only those who will receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ, can receive the “free gift” of eternal life. Only those who will accept the present of the Savior can come to the Father in Heaven. Sadly many reject it. The Gift is offered. All we need do is believe Him, and receive Him. If you haven’t already, say yes by asking Him for it.

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, (paraphrased) “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is your speaking with, you would ask of Me, and I would give you living water… Whoever drinks of the living water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the living water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of living water springing up into everlasting life.”

Jesus is the fountain, and the Holy Spirit is that living water. Acts 10:45, “…ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Oh what a gift. God’s own Spirit living inside of us, giving us eternal life, is a most valuable, kind and gracious gift.

II Cor. 9:15, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” Words are not enough to tell of the perfection of the Gift. It is beyond describing, although it is good and right to attempt to, because it is a gift that is so excellent, and so abundant that it should be shared with the whole human race. James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.”

If He is the Father of lights, who are the lights? The answer is, you and I. We are created in Christ Jesus. Made in the image of God who is light, we can shine forth His righteous light and love in this world we live in. Be His illuminators, to expel the darkness and share the hope of God’s gift. The gift and the giver are so worthy of our praise that we should give Him a gift.

“What gift can I give Him? I will give Him my heart.” Our hearts and our lives in worship of our Lord are the best we can present to Him who has gifted us with everything that is good and perfect. May we continually give Him thanks. May our lives constantly give Him glory and honor all the day long: better yet, all this year long. Cherish the gifts.

Living ornaments in trees deck the lawn

The trees around the lawn may be bare in December, but you can adorn them with lots of color and activity. All you have to do is keep the feeders filled with bird seed and keep plenty of fresh water in the bird baths. Empty the ice each morning from the baths and refill with fresh water when temperatures rise above freezing. You can attract colorful birds such as cardinals, junkos, blue jays, chickadees, mocking birds and sparrows. You may even attract a few bluebirds and visiting crows. Keep feeders and baths filled each day and you can enjoy living ornaments on bare limbs celebrating the season of Christmas.

Candy orange slices an old-fashioned favorite

Orange candy slices are a favorite old-fashioned gummy treat that have been around for well over 100 years. Most of them sold today are individually wrapped and sold from wooden kegs in country stores in clear plastic wrap or plastic pound bags. They still have that distinctive orange flavor and you can usually find them all during the year but especially at Christmas. Today, you can find not only orange slices but flavors of lemon, cherry and lime slices.

Making old-fashioned orange slice pound cake

This cake recipe is a taste of old-fashioned orange slice goodness. It has a lot of ingredients but it is a great tasting cake with plenty of flavor. To prepare this cake, you will need two sticks of light margarine, two cups of sugar, four large eggs, one cup of golden seedless raisins, one cup chopped pecans, one pound of candy orange slices (cut into very tiny pieces), three and half cups plain flour, one teaspoon of baking powder, half cup buttermilk, one teaspoon orange extract, two cups 10x powdered sugar, one can flaked coconut and one cup of orange juice. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and set aside. Dredge golden raisins, chopped pecans and orange slice pieces in one cup of plain flour. Dissolve the baking powder in the buttermilk. Mix the other two and a half cups of flour, and all the other ingredients except the orange juice and powdered sugar. Grease and flour a tube pan and then line bottom of pan with a layer of waxed paper and grease and flour the waxed paper. Make sure sides of pan and tube are well-greased and floured. Bake at 300 degrees for two hours or until cake springs back when touched. Cool for at least 45 minutes and remove from the pan. Mix the cup of orange juice and two cups of powdered sugar and pour over the cake. Let cake stand in a covered cake container over night. It will yield twenty servings. Decorate with candy orange slices.

The old-fashioned sticky taste of peanut brittle

Peanut brittle has the taste of an old-fashioned Christmas. We remember our Aunt Florence making this concoction as a treat at Christmas when were were kids. She made hers with eastern North Carolina parched peanuts. She gathered them from fields after the harvest. After the harvest, lose peanuts would be lying all over the fields and farmers would allow neighbors to help themselves to them. Aunt Florence used Karo corn syrup and a double portion of parched peanuts in her brittle. Commercial peanut brittle in the 1950s was also very sticky. There is an improvement in 21st century peanut brittle because it has a corn starch coating and is not sticky but crisp. Some of today’s best is produced in Norfolk, Virginia by Old Dominion peanut company. Virginia is one of America’s largest peanut growers along with Georgia. Suffolk, Virginia has a large peanut storage facility for Planter’s Peanuts. Today’s peanut brittle is melt-in-your-mouth, addictive and still a Christmas tradition.

Making a batch of Christmas peanut brittle

Peanut brittle is simple and easy to prepare with only a few ingredients. For this recipe, you can use Planter’s canned peanuts or a bag of raw peanuts parched in the oven in their shells. You will need one cup sugar, one cup peanuts, half cup dark Karo corn syrup, half cup water, one teaspoon of real vanilla extract, one teaspoon baking soda. Combine all ingredients except the baking soda in a pot or sauce pan and cook on medium heat for two minutes, stirring to prevent it from sticking. Add the baking soda and stir well. Pour onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Cool and then break into pieces. Place in a tin, or covered container. Dust with a sprinkle of corn starch to avoid sticky on brittle.

Daddy’s gift of Christmas pocket knives

From my early boyhood days my daddy would always buy me a pocket knife for Christmas each year and it became a tradition. After graduating from high school and later moving to Winston-Salem, he continued that tradition of giving a pocket knife each Christmas because he knew I used them at work. Every year, before Christmas he would go over the state line to Emporia, Virginia, to an old fashioned hardware and find just the right knife. As the years went by I wore out many of these knives. In 1989 he bought his last knife for me. It was a Case three blader. Dad died in 1990, and I still have that knife as a precious memory. Daddy’s gifts of useful gifts of pocket knives and a father’s love.

Searching for real spirit of Santa Claus

This is a real life event as told by a beloved neighbor named Marye who passed away in 2004. She told me of this special event in the years before she died. See if you believe in the spirit of Santa Claus after reading her story.

This event in Marye’s life occurred when she was raising four children on her own. It was Christmas Eve. She had finished her work and cashed her paycheck, bought groceries, paid her bills, and bought what Christmas she could for her kids as much as she could afford. Early on Christmas Eve, she explained to her children and hoped they understood — she told them she wished she could provide more toys then Santa was going to bring next morning. She told them that she loved them, and that she had done the very best she could, because she really desired better for her children.

At 11:30 p.m., there was a knock on the door. She wondered who it could be knocking at that time of night, and especially on Christmas Eve. She went to the door and peeped to see who it was. She was shocked to see a man in a Santa suit with several boxes and bags scattered around him. As she opened the door, the man did not introduce himself, but said to her, “I know you’re having it rough trying to raise four kids. I felt led to do something to make Christmas merry for all of them.” He shook her hand, wished them a Merry Christmas and walked off into the night.

Marye took all the bags and boxes inside. The boxes and bags contained the very items she had wanted to buy for her children. Who was this man? We believe as Marye said in telling of this event, which is one of my favorite Christmas stories, that she believed he was the spirit of Christmas, a guardian angel so to speak, that came to answer the need of a loving and caring mother with a serious need at Christmas. Ah, yes, Angels-God’s messengers. They come on to the scene, entertain us unawares, and without much fanfare, and then they disappear into the night, leaving us to ponder their visitation. Marye is now in the presence of these heavenly messengers and yes, now she knows the one who came as “Santa” more than 60 years ago Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning in Northampton County

We always spent Christmas Eve at home and Christmas morning after Santa came, we would spend Christmas Day at grandma’s house in Northampton County. Here are a few Christmas treasures we remember about Christmas morning in Northampton County. 1) Collard greens that were cooked in an iron wash-pot seasoned with country ham. 2) Red Ryder air rifles. 3) Cap pistols with rolls of caps that would be powerful enough to sting your arms. 4) Real candles lighting a room. 5) Pallets full of cousins filling the floor. 6) Presents under a fresh cut cedar tree. 7) Grandma watching grandkids open presents she had bought at the five and dime store. 8) Presents that were wrapped and had Christmas seals on them and no fancy bows or wraps but tissue wrap in the colors of red, green, white and blue. They were wrapped just as they came from the store with no boxes or bows. But oh how beautiful they all looked pilled under that red heart cedar. As we move through the journey of life, we discover it is the simple things we remember and treasure most of all.

Merry Christmas to all our readers

We wish all of our Garden Plot readers of The Mount Airy News, The Yadkin Ripple and The Stokes News a very wonderful and Merry Christmas filled with love, joy and peace. It is our pleasure to write the column each week and share it with all of you. We thank these newspapers for publishing the column each week plus all of you who read it and we send our best to you.

Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

The Angel said he not only brought them good tidings but tidings of great joy. We read this scripture every Christmas and what joy do we have? At Thanksgiving what are we thankful for? I believe we should be thankful year round for Christmas and what God has done for us.

What is Christmas to you? Is it one time of year that you can feel warm and fussy inside about giving someone something? Is Christmas a time that we have turned into a ritual of doing the same thing, eating, sharing gifts with family and friends that we can’t afford to buy and the gifts we buy the receiver doesn’t need? Do we feel guilty if we don’t buy our children what they want and their wants become bigger each year? Where does it end? Don’t know if there will be an end but, the cost will come to reality soon after New Year’s when the bills come in.

You might be thinking right now, “well, Ronnie must be an old scrooge.” No, I’m not. I have some great memories of Christmas when I was growing up with a loving Mom and Dad. Also have great Christmas memories of Brenda and I with Keith and Kevin when they were growing up. But, can anyone reading this confess that Christmas has always been centered on what God has done for us? Has it always been celebrated in the gift God gave to mankind?

I wonder what Christmas means to a mother who has lost her husband who must take care of three or four children, working every day, never quite getting everything done, never making ends meet? What does Christmas mean to her? I wonder what Christmas means to a family in a foreign land that just heard about Jesus by a missionary? They are barely surviving and know nothing of shopping malls or Christmas trees. What does Christmas mean to them? I wonder what it means to missionaries who have spent their whole lives away from families and friends, who are sacrificing so much to take the gospel message to others who have never heard it? What does Christmas mean to them?

Sometimes I get the feeling that we are like the folks who decided to throw a party to honor a special friend. They sent out invitations, decorated the hall and had the food catered. All the people came together on time but to their surprise, the guest of honor was not there. Finally, they made the embarrassing discovery that no one had ever invited the guest of honor.

I wonder if that happens at Christmas time. Do we go through all the decorating and buying presents and preparing elaborate meals but somehow forgot to invite the guest of honor? Jesus is the reason for the season. It’s God’s gift to mankind. So we should say Glory to God in the highest.

It’s all about John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. Have you ask Christ into your life? There is no greater gift, no greater joy in knowing for sure that you will spend eternity with the Lord Jesus and have the forgiveness of sins. Do it today because tomorrow could be too late. Hebrew 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

From Brenda and I, we pray that you and your family have a safe and Christ filled Christmas.

The season of Christmas time is drawing near and Christmas Eve is only a little more than a week away. The approaching days before Christmas are always filled with excitement and expectations as we look forward to all the events that lead up to Christmas. It is our hope that the season of Christmas will always be near and dear to all of you and be filled with memories of love, joy and peace!

Two of winters longest nights

Two of the longest nights of the year will be with us in only a few days from now. On Wednesday, Dec. 21, we will experience the longest night of the year as winter begins. One bright spot of winter’s longest night is that for the next six months after this night, we will enjoy one minute of extra day light each evening. The second of longest nights in the minds of children occurs on the night of Christmas Eve which is Saturday, Dec. 24. To excited children and also many parents excited we can understand why this would be the longest night of the year!

Legend of the Christmas apple

Apples have always been a part of Christmas treats and also of Christmas desserts and decorations. In Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, they decorate mantels, tables, and windows with apples and other fruits. Apples grow in almost every state in America. Their long shelf life paves the way for them to be an important part of many Christmas traditions and customs. One apple tradition says that if you check the apple tree on Christmas Day and the sun shines through its branches, the harvest of next season will be abundant.

Red Delicious apples make Santa decorations

Red Delicious apples are as red as Santa’s suit and here is how to make a Red Delicious “Santa” centerpiece for the coffee table or to give to kids and grandkids. For each Santa, you will need one Red Delicious apple, a bag of cotton candy which is available at must supermarkets, a pack of roley poley craft eyes, small Santa hats and orange and red M&Ms. Glue the eyes on the apple, glue a red M&M for the mouth and an orange M&M for the nose Use cotton candy or real cotton to form a nose, beard and moustache and for around middle of the apple. Make a hat with a piece of red felt or purchase a small Santa hat at a craft shop. Place the Santa in a foil pie pan. Circle it with greenery and several small candy canes and Christmas Hershey’s kisses.

Making a colorful Christmas Waldorf salad

Apples and Waldorf salad go together like peaches and cream. The apples that add tartness to Waldorf salad are McIntosh apples peeled and cut into half-inch cubes stirred into two teaspoons of lemon juice and three teaspoons of sugar. Add one jar of drained red maraschino cherries and one jar of green maraschino cherries, cut the cherries into halves, one can Bartlett pears cut into cubes, one can mixed fruits, one can fruit cocktail, drained. Mix all fruits together and add one three ounce box of Jello instant vanilla pudding mix, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one teaspoon apple pie spices, one tub of Cool Whip and fold into the fruit mixture. Keep refrigerated.

A journey back to the old general store

On the top of the hill from grandma’s Northampton County house, there was a general store that had a post office with a row of mailboxes in it and a fish market that was open all day each Friday. Fish and oysters were delivered fresh from the coast. One person cleaned the fish as they were ordered, wrapped them in sheets of newspapers and placed them in a bag. Collard greens, sweet potatoes and other produce were displayed outside the store. Fresh eggs, country hams, side meat, fatback meat, bacon slabs and fresh cut meats. There were cloth bags of flour and cornmeal in twenty five pound bags. A soda pop cooler featured bottles of soda for a nickel. A candy counter was there with a large selection to choose from.

The outside parking in front of the store was not paved or covered with gravel but completely covered with pop bottle caps. We remember the ordeal of walking on them with bare feet in the summer months. This type of store is a vanishing breed but still survives today if you search a bit to discover them. We are fortunate to have some in our area including Main Street Mount Airy, Virginia Produce in Cana, Virginia, Mast General Store on Trade Street in Winston-Salem and Ronnie’s Country Store on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem, and John Brown’s Country Store in King. All these vintage stores feature many special Christmas treats at Christmas with old fashioned candies, fruit cakes, hams, special items available to stir up Christmas cravings.

Searching for the spirit of Santa Clause

While growing up in eastern North Carolina in the 1950s, many events at Christmastime centered around a small Baptist Church. We took part in kids’ Christmas plays and Sunday School parties and get-togethers. The highlight of the Christmas celebration was on the Sunday night before Christmas when the Adult Christmas pageant was presented. As a “grand finale,” Santa would appear and pass out treat bags of goodies to kids and adults. The Men’s Brotherhood was always responsible for seeing to it that Santa was there.

On this event, the would-be Santa had the flu. This presented a huge problem for the Men’s Brotherhood and they turned to my father for a solution. Dad pondered the situation, and my mother suggested that he ask uncle Jesse if he would be “Santa” for us. Uncle Jesse consented to be our “Santa.” Uncle Jesse loved kids but he had no kids of his own. Uncle Jesse was not a member of our church. At that time, he was known take a little “toddy for the body.” On the night of the pageant, he was red-faced and jolly so he made a great Santa.

The other Baptist down the street was also having their Christmas event. Uncle Jesse dressed in his Santa suit and was driving his 1953 Plymouth down by the other church, windows down and shouting, “Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas.” That congregation thought he was their Santa, but he drove right on by still shouting “Merry Christmas Ho, Ho.”

Uncle Jesse (Santa) arrived at the church and walked in with the same “Ho Ho, Ho.” All the kids thought, “Surely he’s the real Santa we’ve never heard that voice before!” If they had gotten a little closer, they would have smelled Christmas “toddy” and a “nip” in the Christmas air. “Santa” passed out treat bags and left the church with several “Ho, Ho, Hos.” Uncle Jesse died at Christmas time in 1988. Inside his hospital room was a small decorated Christmas tree placed there by my mother.

Christmas tree memories: The perfect tree

Picking just the right Christmas tree was always an important task each year. As my brothers and I grow up in eastern North Carolina, we romped and fished along the Roanoke River. After Halloween, our thoughts turned toward Christmas. We would search the paths and trails along the river and seek out what we thought was the perfect tree. After a long and exhaustive search, we found a beautiful red-heart cedar. We marked it so we would know its location. When the time came to cut it in mid-December, we cut the tree and brought it home. It was definitely not perfect, because we discovered it had two tops on it. My mother knew just what to do to solve the problem, she took a roll of black tape and rolled it around the twin tops and placed a star in the tree to top it off.

Candles part of Christmas decor

At grandma’s backwoods home in Northampton County, there was no electricity, no running water or indoor plumbing. At Christmas time the house had the smell of candles, oil lamps and burning wood. The house glowed with light from oil lamps and candles in every room. The Christmas tree glowed, not with lights but but with holly with red berries, mistletoe with white berries, strings of popcorn, popcorn balls, long leaf pine cones, running cedar and paper chains. Candles glowed in the living room, but strangely enough no candles were on the kitchen table. We always thought it was because there would be so many relatives around the table, the lighted candles would always be a hazard. For memories of an old-fashioned Christmas, we like to light a few candles, especially votive candles and enjoy the glow and smell from them.

At Christmas, our uncles at grandma’s house would always make a bucket of egg nog on Christmas Day. They used fresh eggs from grandma’s hen house. The finished product was always golden yellow as a result of the fresh eggs. They had their own special recipe that included two and a half dozen beaten eggs, one and a half gallons of milk, four cups of sugar, three teaspoons of real vanilla, two teaspoons of nutmeg, two teaspoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of cloves and four teaspoons of rum flavoring. The uncles always used plenty of real rum!

Christmas hard mix triggers childhood memories

One of the great memories of Christmas past and present is the Christmas hard and filled mixes of fruity, spicy and peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen. Each piece tastes like Christmas of long ago. Brach’s still produces this special treat every Christmas. This special mix can be purchased at many country stores and produce markets in our area. It is there and displayed in five gallon wooden kegs that you can scoop out and bag yourself.

The season of Christmastime is getting closer

The season of Christmas time is drawing very near and Christmas Eve is only a little more than a week away. The approaching days before Christmas are always filled with excitement and expectations as we look forward to all the events that lead up to Christmas. It is our hope that the season of Christmas will always be near and dear to all of you and be filled with memories of love, joy and peace!

Two of winters longest nights of the year

Two of the longest nights of the year will be with us in only a few days from now. On Wednesday, Dec. 21, we will experience the longest night of the year as winter begins. One bright spot of winter’s longest night is that for the next six months after this night, we will enjoy one minute of extra day light each evening. The second of longest nights in the minds of children occurs on the night of Christmas Eve which is Saturday, Dec. 24. To excited children, and also many parents, we can understand why this would be the longest night of the year!

Checking out legend of the Christmas apple

Apples have always been a part of Christmas treats and also of Christmas desserts and decorations. In Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, they decorate mantels, tables, and windows with apples and other fruits. Apples grow in almost every state in America. Their long shelf life paves the way for them to be an important part of many Christmas traditions and customs. One apple tradition says that if you check the apple tree on Christmas Day and the sun shines through it’s branches, the harvest of next season will be abundant.

Red Delicious apples make Santa decorations

Red Delicious apples are as red as Santa’s suit and here is how to make a Red Delicious “Santa” centerpiece for the coffee table or to give to kids and grand kids. For each Santa, you will need one Red Delicious apple, a bag of cotton candy which is available at must supermarkets, a pack of roley poley craft eyes, small Santa hats and orange and red M&M’s. Glue the eyes on the apple, glue a red M&M for the mouth and an orange M&M for the nose. Use cotton candy or real cotton to form a nose, beard and moustache and for around the middle of the apple. Make a hat with a piece of red felt or purchase small Santa hat at a craft shop. Place the Santa in a foil pie pan. Circle it with greenery and several small candy canes and Christmas Hershey’s kisses.

Making a colorful Christmas Waldorf salad

Apples and Waldorf salad go together like peaches and cream. The apples that add tartness to Waldorf salad are McIntosh apples peeled and cubed into half inch cubes stirred into two teaspoons of lemon juice and three teaspoons of sugar. Add one jar of drained red maraschino cherries and one jar of green maraschino cherries, cut the cherries into halves, one can Bartlett pears cut into cubes, one can mixed fruits, one can fruit cocktail, drained. Mix all fruits together and add one three ounce box of Jello instant vanilla pudding mix, one teaspoon vanilla extract, one teaspoon apple pie spices, one tub of Cool Whip and fold into the fruit mixture. Keep refrigerated.

A journey back to the old general store

On the top of the hill from grandma’s Northampton County house, there was a general store that had a post office with a row of mailboxes in it and a fish market that was open all day each Friday. Fish and oysters were delivered fresh from the coast. One person cleaned the fish as they were ordered, wrapped them in sheets of newspapers and placed them in a bag. Collard greens, sweet potatoes and other produce were displayed outside the store. Fresh eggs, country hams, side meat, fatback meat, bacon slabs and fresh cut meats. There were cloth bags of flour and cornmeal in twenty five pound bags. A soda pop cooler featured bottles of soda for a nickel. A candy counter was there with a large selection to choose from. The outside parking in front of the store was not paved or covered with gravel but completely covered with pop bottle caps. We remember the ordeal of walking on them with bare feet in the summer months. This type of store is a vanishing breed but still survives today if you search a bit to discover them. We are fortunate to have some in our area including Main Street Mount Airy, Virginia Produce in Cana, Virginia, Mast General Store on Trade Street in Winston-Salem and Ronnie’s Country Store on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem. John Brown’s Country Store in King. All these vintage stores feature many special Christmas treats at Christmas with old fashioned candies, fruit cakes, hams, special items available to stir up Christmas cravings.

Searching for the spirit of Santa Clause

While growing up in eastern North Carolina in the 1950’s, many events at Christmastime centered around a small Baptist Church. We took part in kids Christmas plays and Sunday School parties and get-togethers. The highlight of the Christmas celebration was on the Sunday night before Christmas when the Adult Christmas pageant was presented. As a “grand finale”, Santa would appear and pass out treat bags of goodies to kids and adults. The Men’s Brotherhood was always responsible for seeing to it that Santa was there. On this event, the would be Santa had the flu. This presented a huge problem for the Men’s Brotherhood and they turned to my father for a solution. Dad pondered the situation, and my mother suggested that he ask uncle Jesse if he would be “Santa” for us. Uncle Jesse consented to be our “Santa”. Uncle Jesse loved kids but he had no kids of his own. Uncle Jesse was not a member of our church. At that time, he was known take a little “toddy for the body.” On the night of the pageant, he was red-faced and jolly so he made a great Santa. The other Baptist down the street was also having their Christmas event. Uncle Jesse dressed in his Santa suit and was driving his 1953 Plymouth down by the other church, windows down and shouting. “Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas.” That congregation thought he was their Santa, but he drove right on by still shouting “Merry Christmas Ho, Ho.” Uncle Jesse (Santa) arrived at the church and walked in with the same “Ho Ho, Ho.” All the kids thought, “Surely he’s the real Santa we’ve never heard that voice before!” If they had gotten a little closer, they would have smelled Christmas “toddy” and a “nip” in the Christmas air. “Santa” passed out treat bags and left the church with several” Ho, Ho, Ho’s.” Uncle Jesse died at Christmas time in 1988. Inside his hospital room was a small decorated Christmas tree placed there by my mother.

Christmas tree memories: The perfect tree

Picking just the right Christmas tree was always an important task each year. As my brothers and I grow up in eastern North Carolina. We romped and fished along the Roanoke River! After Halloween, our thoughts turned toward Christmas. We would search the paths and trails along the river and seek out what we thought was the perfect tree. After a long and exhaustive search, we found a beautiful red-heart cedar. We marked it so we would know its location. When the time came to cut it in mid-December, we cut the tree and brought it home. It was definitely not perfect, because we discovered it had two tops on it. My mother knew just what to do to solve the problem, she took a roll of black tape and rolled it around the twin tops and placed a star in the tree to top it off.

Candles are a huge part of Christmas decor

At grandma’s backwoods home in Northampton County, there was no electricity, no running water or indoor plumbing. At Christmastime the house had the smell of candles, oil lamps and burning wood. The house glowed with light from oil lamps and candles in every room. The Christmas tree glowed, not with lights but but with holly with red berries, mistletoe with white berries, strings of popcorn, popcorn balls, long leaf pine cones, running cedar and paper chains. Candles glowed in the living room, but strangely enough no candles were on the kitchen table. We always thought it was because there would be so many relatives around the table, the lighted candles would always be a hazard. For memories of an old-fashioned Christmas, we like to light a few candles, especially votive candles and enjoy the glow and smell from them.

Making country egg nog at Christmastime

At Christmas, our uncles at grandmas house would always make a bucket of egg nog on Christmas Day. They used fresh eggs from grandmas hen house. The finished product was always golden yellow as a result of the fresh eggs. They had their own special recipe that included two and a half dozen beaten eggs, one and a half gallons of milk, four cups of sugar, three teaspoons of real vanilla, two teaspoons of nutmeg, two teaspoons of cinnamon, one teaspoon of cloves and four teaspoons of rum flavoring. The uncles always used plenty of real rum!

Christmas hard mix triggers childhood memories

One of the great memories of Christmas past and present is the Christmas hard and filled mixes of fruity, spicy and peppermint, spearmint and wintergreen. Each piece tastes like Christmas of long ago. Brach’s still produces this special treat every Christmas. This special mix can be purchased at many country stores and produce markets in our area. It is there and displayed in five gallon wooden kegs that you can scoop out and bag yourself.

It’s that time of year again to buy a tree, blow the dust off the Christmas lights, and hang the stockings with care and all the other necessary stuff; listen to your kids tell you what they want Santa to bring them although you trip over every toy you might think of when you get home from work; and for going to the in-laws, company parties and don’t forget Grandma’s house.

I heard a story about a woman who was doing her last-minute Christmas shopping at a crowded mall. She was tired of fighting the crowds. She was tired of standing in lines. She was tired of fighting her way down long aisles looking for a gift that had sold out days before. Her arms were full of bulky packages when the elevator door opened full of shoppers. The people in the elevator tightened up to allow a small space for her and her load.

As the doors closed she blurted out, “Whoever is responsible for this whole Christmas thing ought to be arrested, strung up, and shot!” A few others nodded their heads or grunted in agreement. Then from somewhere in the back of the elevator came a soft single voice that said, “Don’t worry. They already crucified Him.”

We need to remember who is responsible for Christmas. 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Propitiation means satisfaction. Because God is a holy God, His anger and justice burns against sin. And He has sworn that sin will be punished. There must be a satisfactory payment for sin. But God said in a sense, if I punish man for his sin, man will die and go to Hell. On the other hand, if I don’t punish man for his sin, my justice will never be satisfied. So God, became our substitute. He would take the sin of mankind upon Himself in the agony and blood of the cross, a righteous judgment and substitute for sin.

It’s our Lord who is responsible for giving eternal life to those that believe. It’s our Lord Jesus who is responsible for giving us mercy instead of death because He loves us. It’s our responsibility to praise Him, thank Him no matter how busy we get at Christmas or any other time.

There is always that question that separates Christians from non-Christians no matter what time of the year is. Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Non-Christians would say “yes” because they are basically good they will get into heaven. Evolution teaches that mankind is basically good and as we develop we continue to improve and become better people. Liberal “Christianity” teaches the social gospel, that through our own good efforts we can make this into a good world.

The truth of the Bible teaches different. Psalm 53:2.God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. 3. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Don’t say that a loving God is going to send you to Hell, He’s not. The thing that’s going to send you to Hell is that you’re a sinner and you don’t want to admit it. (J. Vernon McGee)

It’s my prayer that those who are lost would receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ this Christmas. No matter how old you are or how young, God hears the prayer of repentance from the heart of a sinner. Don’t put it off another day. There is no better time than right now because, if you should die today, tomorrow would be too late.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Ask Christ into your life if you haven’t. Do it today. Romans 10: 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

The old saying, “Woman’s work is never done” was a fact of life in the backwoods of the Blue Ridge Mountains of yesterday and if we could take a look, what might we find? She was Queen of her Castle (such as it was) and a hard-working soul who “kept” the house, chopped the firewood, worked the fields along-side her man, raised the kids and cooked the meals; (three a day, 365 days a year).

She washed clothes in a number two washtub over an out-door fire, ironed them with a flat-iron heated on the wood-burning cookstove, grew the garden, stored food for winter and shot the shotgun as good as any man; sometimes at her man.

Her word was “law” and anyone who crossed her path better have some heavy back-up or there would be H… to pay. She taught her kids “why and what for” with no more than a certain look that could burn a hole in a two-by-four. When she laid that look on her man, he looked up in the sky and asked his Maker, “Lord, what have I done now?”

Her only rest came at the end of the day; well after dark when all the work was done and all the kids were safe in bed. Only then could she kick back in her rocking chair, relax, wonder what was left undone and what tomorrow would bring. Whatever the case, she knew that with coming of the morn’, she would be ready to “go to war” once again and “fight the good fight” all over again.

Who might this wonder woman be? Maybe our Mama, our Grandmama, or other kin, who led the way to whatever we are today; a true mountain woman; a legend in her own time. So, let’s be proud of her and know, “they don’t make ‘em like her anymore and without her, you and I might not even be here today.”

Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

When some Christians have troubles or some health issue, a few fellow Christians ask themselves, “I wonder what he or she did to cause this pain and suffering?” This question was always asked in the Old Testament days more so than it is asked today. The book of Job is a great example of this very thing. The Bible says that Job was perfect and upright and one that feared God. Not only was Job a just man but, God had blessed him with riches, seven sons and three daughters. Job even took sacrifices of burnt offering before the Lord to pay for his family’s sins. So there was not another man like Job in all the world at that time or maybe never will be other than Christ Himself according to the Bible.

Job is a fascinating account of a man of God of long ago. Job’s suffering was one of tremendous pain and heartache. It all starts with a conversation between God and Satan. God asks Satan where had he been and Satan told God in Job 1:7 going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

You might remember what the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Satan wants to cause Job sickness and sorrows. He wants you and I to have sickness and sorrows. He really wants to kill each of us but God won’t allow it until our time is finished here on this Earth. So Satan can’t touch God’s children unless God allows it.

Job 1:8 1 says And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Satan then says, you have built a wall of protection around your servant Job and all that he has. I can’t get to him but, if I could he would curse you to your face! God says OK, you may do anything you want to Job but you can’t kill him. Keep this in mind about this man called Job. He never knew why bad things were about happen to him and neither do we.

Question: Will we find out one day why we had all these different troubles in our life? I believe when we see Jesus and the Bible says in 1 John 3:2 but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. I don’t think our troubles here will matter anymore.

Satan within hours had wiped out all of Job’s livestock, riches and servants except for the four that brought the bad news to Job about his loss. Also Satan had killed his family except for his wife. Everything that God had blessed Job with was gone.

What did Job do? He says in Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. After all of Job’s loss of everything he had including his family he still trusted in the God but, again Satan steps into Job’s life and struck him with a sickness near death. Job’s wife tells him to curse God and let Him kill you!

Three of Job’s friends came to comfort him and sit with him. But, they judged him by saying, Job must be a wicked man and God is punishing him for his sin. Job responded to them was something like this; I believe God is just and powerful as you do. I am not a hypocrite and I know of no sin between me and God. I would argue my case with God but I cannot find Him. Nevertheless, I will trust Him for He will justify me either in this life or in the life to come. It took a great deal of faith for Job to defend God’s judgment during his circumstances.

How about you, how about me? Can we trust God throughout all of our trials, troubles and sickness? I believe very few would have that kind of faith because many would question God and some would have turned from their faith in Him. God is completely sovereign in His dealings with His people and will never permit anything to come in the life of a Christian that is not for their own good and God’s glory. God does not have to explain His ways to us. It is enough for us to know that He cares and that He never makes a mistake. We don’t live by explanations, we live by promises.

Don’t know that I would have the faith of Job if I lost all my family and everything else but, I pray that God would give all of us enough to make it through this life and just to hear His words as He says, well done good and faithful servant. Adrian Rodgers said “Faith is not accepting from God what you want, faith is accepting from God what He gives.” It’s not my choice and I’m sure it’s not yours to have troubles but it is our choice to trust God with all. I would hope we all would say as King David did in. Psalm 28:7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him.

This time of year, Main Street here in Mount Airy sees a lot of foot traffic as people are shopping for the holiday. I always add a few books to my Christmas wish list, which made me realize I can’t remember a holiday where I wasn’t buying or receiving a book as a gift.

Bookstores today often include much more than just books. Some have built-in cafes to get specialty coffees and treats, trinkets and novelty gifts, games and toys, and a wide variety of things. As I walked Main Street this past weekend to start my shopping, I began to wonder what it would have been like to shop in a local bookstore 100 years, 75 years, or even 50 years ago? What types of things would it have sold? Who would have owned the businesses? What role did they serve in the community? Well, after plenty of research, let me paint you a picture.

J.D. Jenkins came to Mount Airy and opened his bookstore in the early 1880s right on Main Street. He experienced several years of success, and by 1892, joined up with another gentleman, L.S. Hadley. He built a two-story brick building next door for him to sell groceries, and even splurged to put down brick pavement in front of the two shops. Jenkins was not only a socialite and business-minded bookseller, but he was also a stationer. A stationer was someone who sold stationary at this time, or paper, ink, and tools used for writing. After gaining access to the train, many shops were expanding inventory options, and Jenkins was no exception. By 1900 he was even selling sewing machines in his bookstore.

As we move into the 1900s, J.D. Jenkins’ Book Store wasn’t the only bookstore on Main Street to offer luxury items. Moore’s Book Store liked to boast in the newspaper about offering “fancy goods of any kind.” In addition to a variety of books, it sold tobacco and cigars, stationery such as high-end writing paper and postcards, and even reading glasses from Hawkes Crystalized Lenses. They even advertised special days where someone would come in to test your eyes and adjust your glasses for you.

As we move into the 1910s to 1930s, a new bookstore, Creed’s Book Store (or J.W. Creed Book Store), came onto the scene. This shop was owned by A.E. Creed and would have been located between Franklin and Pine heading south (to the left of Snappy Lunch if you are facing the front of the shop.) The building was also conveniently located next to the Times-Leader newspaper building.

Creed’s Book Store carried books and stationery naturally, but also directly sold school books and supplies, as well as a variety of other items. The store burned down in June of 1931, sadly, and many damaged items were auctioned each night at the Marion Music House next door. Thankfully, the owners were able to rebuild, and soon after was able to resume selling the normal stock of magazines, newspapers, books, novelties and gifts, along with cigars and tobacco, guns, ammunition, and sporting goods.

By this time the Mount Airy Times had set up shop on Main Street, and would want to get in on the book selling. The Time’s Book Store operated in the front part of the Time’s office building on Main Street next to Wolfe’s Drug Store. The store was an extension of the paper and sold stationary and office supplies upon its opening in 1934. During their grand opening, they claimed in the paper to offer “…typewriters and filing systems for the business men; legal forms of all description for the attorneys and magistrates; and cardboard in all colors and sizes for the teachers and pupils of the various schools.” Many advertisements of the time marketed them as more of an office supply store than any kind of bookstore we would recognize today, but they still experienced years of success through the 1960s.

Hinkle’s Book Store followed and was a part of a chain of stores that originated in downtown Winston-Salem in 1925 by founder Sanford Hinkle. The store was the premier book supplier from the early 1960s to the 1980s.

This has in no way been a comprehensive list of all of the bookstores on Main Street throughout history, but hopefully offered insight by looking into some of the most well-known ones. In present-day, we have had a range of booksellers and for most of us today, Pages Books and Coffee comes to mind. In many ways, local bookstores throughout the years provided a way for us to educate and entertain ourselves, stay connected, advance our skills and professions, and even treat ourselves and our loved ones from time to time.

You may not be able to get your eyes checked or buy some ammunition at a local bookstore today, but for most of us, a coffee, a fun trinket, and Wi-Fi are a pretty sweet deal. I hope many of you consider shopping local this year when you can, to not only support your community, but to help continue preserving local traditions and history as well.

Cassandra Johnson is the programs and education director at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History and loves to encourage others to find the history in the little day to day aspects of their lives from what roads we drive to work or to shopping.

Pearl Harbor remembrance: A day of infamy

This “day of infamy” as President Roosevelt referred to this event will be remembered on Wednesday, Dec. 7. It was 81 years ago that the empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The attack occurred just before 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning. It was a day of infamy that started at 7:55 a.m. on a peaceful morning in Hawaii with 350 planes involved in the surprise attack. Over 300 planes we destroyed and and 20 naval ships were destroyed including eight battleships. More than 2,400 military personnel and civilians died in the attack.

This day in history should always be remembered and the souls that lost their lives that fateful morning. We need to always keep our guard up and never allow such an event to ever happen again — always remember Pearl Harbor and the families who lost their loved ones on that fateful morning.

Mistletoe tops out the mighty oak trees

As the mighty oaks and hardwoods are finally shedding their leaves, they reveal clumps of greenery in their very tops as the mistletoe adorns their limbs. The mysterious mistletoe crowns the tops of the hardwoods. It is definitely out of the reach of most mortals. Only the brave and adventurous souls will attempt to harvest the elusive mistletoe.

The curious mistletoe has long held the traditions of romance and healing and a cure to neutralize poisons and certain other ailments. The old English custom of placing sprigs of mistletoe on the door sills and ceilings or every room gave men (as well as women) power to kiss everyone in the house.

Mistletoe is a mystery within itself, and it is a miracle it even exists. Its very propagation depends on the mighty oaks and other hardwoods as they become sustainers of life for the mistletoe which is a parasite. It thrives from the nutrients of the hardwoods. With the development of many acres of woodlands, mistletoe is not the commonplace greenery it was in the 20th century, but the mystique of it is still there. In the 1800s J. A. Sterry wrote, “A privilege tis to know to exercise time-honored rights when Christmas fires steam and glow, when loving lips may pout, although with other lips they oft unite – Tis merry neath the mistletoe!”

Celebrating with holly and ivy

How happy the holly tree looks, and how strong she stands like a sentinel all year long. Neither dry summer heat, nor cold winter hail can make that bright warrior tremble or quail. She has beamed all the year, but bright scarlet she will glow when the ground glitters white with the fresh fallen snow.

Holly is an ancient symbol of Christmas decorations with its glassy green leaves and bright red berries. Holly is common in the Eastern and Central United States and in areas east of the Mississippi River. The red berries are called “drupes” and only the female trees produce berries. Male trees must be in the area where the female trees can produce berries. The red berries are also named “winter berries.” The early Christians used holly as decorations because it is evergreen and eternal just as Christmas is a celebration of new life and life eternal.

You can not only deck the halls with boughs of holly, but also with strands of ivy. Ivy has long runners that can be used for decorating doorways mantels, window sills, and also to construct a natural advent wreath or wrapped around votive candles. There are more than 15 species of ivy. It is a running vine that creeps along the ground and also climbs walls and up chimneys and climbs the trunks of trees.

Picking out a live Christmas tree

As December arrives, so do the Christmas tree lots come alive and bright green and many area churches also have Christmas tree lots as fundraisers. Local supermarkets also have great line up of live Christmas trees. Follow a few easy steps to select your perfect tree for your family. 1) Let the whole family have a part in selecting the tree. 2) Check cut bottom of tree; it should be yellow and fresh-cut. 3) The tree should smell fresh. 4) Bend a limb or two, they should be springy. 5) Bounce the tree, if needles fall off, don’t buy that tree. 6) The tree should be dark green in color. 7) When you bring the tree home, soak the bottom of the tree in a tub of cold water for 24 hours. 8) Place the tree in a stand that will allow you to water the tree. 9) A cared-for tree will last over a month. 10) Never leave a tree lit when leaving the home.

Enjoying aroma of a Douglas Fir Christmas tree

Your tree may not be real, but you can still enjoy the fragrance of spruce or fir in your home. We are aware that you can purchase spray cans of tree scents, but the very best way to enjoy aroma of spruce and fir is to go to the Christmas tree lot purchase some trimmings from Christmas trees and decorate mantels and windows for a fresh evergreen smell. Pay these hard workers well for the clippings. These folks work long, cold, hard hours and deserve your support.

A nip in the air and a freeze on the ground

The nights are getting colder and there is a certain nip in the air that paves the way for frosty nights and soon the first of the hard freezes. This is not all bad news because the cold weather vegetables will benefit from the cold soil and actually be sweetened by the frost. When the soil freezes, it will kill off wintering insects and destroy some of their eggs and larvae. All the cold weather crops have a layer of crushed leaves on them as a protective blanket.

Making an easy, moist Christmas salad

This is an easy and colorful fruit salad to prepare for a Christmas meal and it only takes five minutes to prepare. You will need one can of pineapple chunks (drained), one can of fruit cocktail (drained), one can pears (diced), one can diced peaches (drained), one jar red maraschino cherries (drained), one jar green maraschino cherries (drained), two cups miniature marshmallows, one teaspoon orange extract, one tablespoon banana flavoring, one boxy (3 oz.) instant pistachio pudding mix, one tub of Cool Whip. Mix all fruits together. Add marshmallows, flavorings, pudding and Cool whip. Stir together for a minute. Cool in refrigerator several hours. Keep in the refrigerator after serving.

Bon bons and dark chocolate creme drops

As the Christmas season nears, we see the arrival of old fashioned dark chocolate creme drops with their familiar cone shapes and melt in your math flavor of dark chocolate coating and creamy vanilla filling. They are a once a year favorite from Christmas past that comes alive every year at Christmas time. Another old fashioned Christmas treat is coconut bon bons in their colors of chocolate, pink, white and yellow filled with sweet grated coconut forming Christmas flavor balls. They are featured at many country stores all during Christmas season.

Family Tree. A neighbor was boasting about his ancestors who came over on the Mayflower. The farmer got bored with all that bragging and said, “That’s too sad, in my business we always say, the older the seed, the worse the crop.”

Bald spot. The little boy told the barber while getting his first haircut, “I want my hair out like my dad’s with a hole on top,” he instructed the barber.

Empty pot shot. There was a man who shot an arrow into the air — and missed!

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day will be Wednesday, Dec. 7. There will also be a full moon on Wednesday, Dec. 7, and it will be known as “Full Cold Moon.” The moon reaches its last quarter on Friday, Dec. 16. Wright Brothers Day will be Saturday, Dec. 17. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, Dec. 18. Winter begins on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The new moon of December occurs on the evening of Friday, Dec. 23. Christmas Eve will be Saturday, Dec. 24. Christmas Day will be Sunday, Dec. 25. The moon reaches its first quarter on Thursday, Dec. 29. New Year’s Eve will be Saturday, Dec. 31.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

If you traveled the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains back in the day, you probably met him, unless he wished otherwise. He was corn-fed, creek-baptized, lean as a fishing pole, wore clod-hopper shoes, bib overalls, a black floppy hat, grew a long black beard, carried a huge shotgun and was “mean as a snake when messed with,” so it was said.

But, he also had a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off his back if you were in need, or maybe just for the heck of it.

He was a man of the land who knew when it would rain, when it would snow, when fish would bite best, what kind and where. His hand-shake was his bond and he brewed the best corn likker’ on God’s Green Earth. “Them Revenoors” were the enemy and he liked nothing better than matching wits with “Them Devils.” By the time they stumbled on his still place, the still was long-gone and he was already cooking in another holler.

He was king of his castle, (such as it was) and a mean hickory switch kept his kids on the straight and narrow. When they asked “why,” he said, “Because I said so.” He chopped wood with a double-bladed axe, hunted, fished, and grew corn in the same fields his ancestors dug out of the woods at the beginning of time.

His foxhounds were his pride and joy and many were the nights he listened to Old Blue chase a fox three miles away in the mountainside: the best music known to mankind. “Old Betsy” was his shotgun and his best friend; he hunted with it; ate with it, and when Mama went on the warpath, he slept with it. At Christmas time, he made his own fireworks by shooting Old Betsy in the air at nothing.

Any doubts about him being a tough old bird went away on the last day of December, when he and his pals “took on a bait” of their “favorite beverage” and celebrated the coming of the New Year by skinny-dipping in an ice-cold creek at the stroke of midnight. (Each and all thanked their Lord for the big bonfire burning nearby.)

Who might this legend be? He could very well be my pa or your pa, or maybe our grandpa or great-grandpa; a rough, tough man from the hills who was afraid of nothing but his wife. He had no desire to see the world because he already lived in Paradise and spent his entire life within sight of the place he was born. One of his greatest joys was watching the seasons change, and the one he liked best began when the wild geese flew north in early February, which told him spring was coming again to his precious land.

Let’s hope and pray that maybe, just maybe, some of his traits have been “handed down” through the years and let’s never forget the legend who came before us: to whom we owe so much; a dyed-in-the-wool Mountain Man.

Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

Public schools in Surry County are strong. We have three great school systems including Mount Airy City Schools, Elkin City Schools, and Surry County Schools.

The Gallup Poll has polled parents across the US as to their satisfaction with public schools. The satisfaction rate hit an all-time high in 1999 with 83% and remains high in 2022 with 73%. Parents in general remain largely satisfied with the excellence provided in public schools (Gallup, 2021, K-12 Parents Remain Largely Satisfied with Child’s Education).

The John Locke survey of parents in North Carolina shows well over half of the parents in the state are satisfied with their public schools and over 70% of North Carolinians are choosing public schools (https://www.johnlocke.org/what-do-north-carolina-parents-think-about-education-and-their-schools/). Most polls are showing that generally the public feel good about public schools but want to make sure the schools address some key issues, one of those being safety.

Mount Airy City Schools has a comprehensive safety plan that we outlined earlier in this series of articles. The update I will address this month deals with how that safety plan is rolling out. We have many updates that are important in which we need parents and the community to partner with us. We have buzz-in systems at each front door and we generally ask folks to stay out of the building unless there is an appointment to come in the building. We ask for your ID if you do enter the building. We use an ID system that does a quick check and gives you a visitors pass. This helps our students and staff know that you are an approved visitor on the campus.

Each of our schools have created a School Emergency Response Team (SERT) plan where key individuals within each campus have a role to play in the event of an incident. Some of these roles are safety officer, operations person, communications person, transportation person, etc. The incident could be something such as a fire in the kitchen, a gas leak outside the building, an unknown person on campus, or an upset individual in the office. Any incident may call for a safety plan to be used. We also know that often there are weather-related incidents where the electricity or water have gone out in the school. We must be prepared no matter what the occurrence.

Our goal in working with the county emergency management, our local law enforcement, outside safety experts, and our staff is to execute the Standard Response Protocol (SRP). Your help with understanding the SRP and explaining it to your children and grandchildren will go a long way in keeping them calm in an emergency.

The Standard Response Protocol is based on the response to any given situation not on individual scenario. It demands a specific vocabulary but also allows for great flexibility. The premise is simple – these five specific actions can be performed during an incident. When communicating these, the action is labeled with a “Term of Art” and is then followed by a “Directive.” Execution of the action is performed by active participants.

Hold is followed by the Directive: “In Your Room or Area” and is the protocol used when hallways need to be kept clear of occupants.

Secure is followed by the Directive: “Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors” and is the protocol used to safeguard people within the building.

Lockdown is followed by “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight” and is the protocol used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place.

Evacuate may be followed by a location, and is used to move people from one location to a different location in or out of the building.

Shelter, State the Hazard, and Safety Strategy for group and self-protection.

We need your help in making sure you and your child understand the terminology described above. We know that it is unlikely for us to have a safety event as schools have put a lot of things in place to deter any safety concerns, but in the event there is a safety situation we want your child to feel safe and supported. We were able to conduct our first safety drills this fall in which there was a scenario played out in your child’s school. This allowed for the school to run their safety plan using their personnel and resources available at the time.

Students and staff were placed under “hold” and “lockdown” to develop muscle memory in the event of a real situation. I am happy to report that all schools were successful during the drill. The drill helped us identify areas where we are strong and areas where we can make improvements. Our local law enforcement participated in the drills and will continue to support us throughout the year in our comprehensive safety plan.

In the winter, we will continue with a drill using “secure.” This is used if there is an incident outside of the school building in the community and it doesn’t appear to be a threat. It would allow us to keep our building secure and not let anyone in or out during this time. It allows what is occurring inside the building to continue. The Mount Airy Police Department are typically who let us know of any community situation that would require a “secure” command. The activities inside the building can continue as normal during this command. In the winter, each campus will also be conducting safety table top drills with the local police department and outside safety experts. This allows for a more complex safety drill and opportunities for key people to develop muscle memory for their role.

Lastly, the spring will contain a more complex safety drill that might occur during arrival, dismissal, class changes, recess, and/or lunch. This drill will be a bit more difficult because of the students being in various places around the campus, but nonetheless an important time to practice safety. We believe that our staff and students will handle it like champs and they will be ready in case there is a situation that arises during the year.

John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin and was a Pharisee. Sanhedrin was the equivalent of our US Supreme Court. He was the cream of the crop of Israel so to speak. The 70 members came from the chief priests, scribes, and elders. They made religious decisions and laws of the land. So Nicodemus was as religious as you could get in Jesus day. He knew all the beliefs and had a hand in making those decisions into law for Israel.

There has been a lot said about Nicodemus and these passages, but I believe that Nicodemus was investigating the words of Jesus not so much for himself at the time although I believe Nicodemus ended up believing the words of Jesus. But, I also believe he was concerned about the people of Israel because, after all he was one of those on the council that made the laws of religion and an interrupter of the Old Testament. He believed the Bible but most Jews couldn’t see that Jesus was the Messiah to come.

Many today can’t see that prophecy is being fulfilled right before their eyes but it is. The investigation and open mind of Nicodemus lead him to being saved I believe, but the truth is it was a divine meeting set up by our Lord. I also believe that if Nicodemus hadn’t come to Jesus at night or in secret, he could have been scolded by the other leaders by not having a witness with him and may have never heard the saving words of Jesus. He could have been thrown out of the council altogether I believe.

Jesus statement; John 3:3 Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus response was a logical one with; Verse 4 How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Nicodemus was eliminating the simplest explanation. But, Jesus explains exactly what it takes to be saved, born again. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

There are many explanations on these verses but let’s look at Jesus words close in verses 5, 6. Many believe be born of water means to being born of a woman, the fluid or water that the baby is carried in the mother. Makes since you must be born human. Many believe what Jesus meant about born of water was speaking of the Word of God which is referred to all through the Bible as water. (John 4:4) (John 7:37-39). Makes since because we must hear Gods word to be saved. Some believe that Jesus meant you must be baptized in the Holy Spirit. That makes since also because God sends the Holy Spirit to live in those who ask Him into their life.

So, I say it takes all the above. Jesus said in this same chapter 3 that for God so love the world, he came to this earth as a human born of a woman. The spirit of God in the flesh as a man called Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to be born again. This is also the reason Jesus said That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. We are born in the flesh to mend the relationship with God because of sin. We hear Gods word, it draws us by His love. If we ask Him into our life we receive the Holy Spirit that that seals us and gives us a new identity with God that we belong to Him through Jesus. So, we are born again when we receive the Holy Spirit. We are born with a choice, we hear Gods word as a choice and we receive Him as our choice. What eternal choice have you made? Jesus didn’t make salvation complicated. He made it your choice.

The last few days of November

Only a few more days and November will be over. It is hard to believe the season of Christmas is only one month from now. As the month of November comes to a close, let us keep the spirit of Thanksgiving alive and do not allow the Christmas rush to snatch it away. Please keep that attitude of thanks and praise for every day of life, for family and friends and all the blessings we receive and enjoy.

Hard freezes as November ends

Indian Summer is coming to an end and the nights are becoming frosty. The hard freezes are not far away. Ice in the mud holes will be a morning event. All cool weather vegetables will benefit from hard freezes and suffer no ill effects because they are protected with a layer of crushed leaves. It will not be very long until the ground will be cold enough for snow to fall and stick to the ground. Who knows, we may have a white Christmas!

Sunday will be the first day of Advent

Sunday, Nov. 28, will be the first Sunday of Advent which begins the time of preparation of the season of Christmas. It is time to place the Moravian star on the porch and keep it lit all night every night until the Day of Epiphany which occurs on Friday, Jan. 6. As you get out your Christmas decorations, unpack your lighted Christmas candles and light them each night as Advent season begins on Sunday. As we begin the holy season of Advent, the illuminated candles and Moravian star lights the way to celebrate the birth of Jesus and acknowledges the fact that he is the light of the world.

Poinsettias in supermarkets and stores

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the poinsettias are on display in garden centers, supermarkets, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Food Lion, Lowe’s Foods, Harris Teeter, nurseries and hardwares. Poinsettias come in colors of red, white, pink, orange and mint green. Purchase them in large containers so you can adorn them with bows and Christmas foil with large bows. Christmas ornaments can also be placed on them. They are tropical so keep them in a warm place away from direct sunlight. Water lightly once a week.

Christmas cactus are in full bloom

Unlike poinsettias that have to be pampered, the Christmas cactus thrives on the front porch all summer and prepares itself for Christmas all year long and rewards us with colorful blooms just before Christmas as they spend late autumn, winter and early spring in the semi-sunny living room. All they need is some good cactus medium, a small drink of water each week and a few tablespoons of Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month. After they finish their blooms, remove them when they begin to fall off.

It is cane time for the rose bushes

Prepare the roses for winter by pruning back the long canes and dead heading all spent blooms and hips. Dig around the base of the bushes and apply a cup full of Rose-Tone organic rose food and a layer of crushed leaves around the base of the roses. Cutting back the canes will prevent ice and snow damage and improve the appearance of the bushes.

Simplicity in a pot of fresh collards

Now that the Thanksgiving meals are over, it’s time for some down to earth nutrition from a bowl of fresh collard greens, touched by the frost and sweetened by its influence. Collards perform well in the acid soil of the Piedmont, but the coastal loamy soil of the Coastal Plains in northeastern and Southern North Carolina is where collards grow as large as hedge bushes. In Dunn they till and grow some of the largest collards in the state and some people even produce them in their front yards. Northampton County also produces some hefty collards. My mother and grandmother cooked plenty of collards during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On the days after Thanksgiving, the supper meal would be collards seasoned with ham bone, yellow cornbread and pinto beans. Across the Roanoke River in Roanoke Rapids the sidewalks, parking lots as well as service stations were lined with the greenery of collards. Area farmers sold collard heads in front of stores and businesses. The huge collard heads sold for between a dollar to a dollar and a half per collard head.

Getting darker early; staying dark longer

Daylight Savings Time ended earlier this month and we lost an hour of daylight and we are still losing a minute each evening and that adds up to plenty of darkness. There is a light at the end of the tunnel because after Dec. 21, we will begin to see a minute more of daylight each evening. It will be about six weeks before we can see much difference.

A hydrogen peroxide perk for winter overs

For a little extra energy and a quick pepper upper for plants wintering over in the home, add a few drops of hydrogen peroxide to the water before pouring on the plants each week as you water plants. An ounce per gallon is not too much.

An easy snack for winter birds

This is an easy snack for birds that will visit your lawn this late autumn and winter. Mix a jar of peanut butter with a jar of yellow corn meal and a jar of bird seed. Fill a foil pie pan with this mix and place it on the lawn near the bird bath.

Decorating with colorful holly and ivy

“The holly and the ivy, when they are both fully grown. Of all the trees that grow in the wood, the holly wears the crown.” “The holly bears a berry as red as any blood. And Mary bore sweet Jesus to do all sinners good.” “The holly bears a bark as bitter as any gall. Mary bore sweet Jesus, For to redeem us all.” Holly and ivy are both evergreens and have long been traditional decorations of Christmas.

“But give me holly, bold and jolly. Prickly shining holly; pluck me holly leaf and berry For Christmas when we make

merry.”- Christina Rossetti. Check the Garden Plot next week for more about the holly and the ivy as we usher in the season of Christmastime.

Making a bowl of sweet carrot ambrosia

With the Christmas holidays less than a month away, this is an unusual recipe for ambrosia with a new twist of vegetables as well as fruits. The grated carrots give this ambrosia added texture. You will need one small bag of carrots (grated), one can crushed pineapple, (drained), two cups miniature marshmallows, one cup flaked coconut, one small jar red maraschino cherries, one cup chopped green seedless grapes, one cup golden raisins, four tablespoons sugar, one tablespoon orange extract, one cup of sour cream, one tablespoon vanilla extract. Wash, peel and grate carrots in blender in grate mode, mix all other ingredients and chill in the refrigerator overnight. After serving, keep the ambrosia in refrigerator.

“Practice What You Preach.” A preacher once asked an actor why he had such a large audience, while he as a preacher had such a small congregation at his church. The actor told the preacher, “I act as if I believe what I say, while you preach as if you do not believe what you preach.”

“Downhill Drive!”Angry customer: “I thought you said this was a good car. It won’t go uphill.” Used car dealer: “I said, on the level, it’s a good car.”

“Night owl student.” Student: “I’m very tired, I was up until midnight doing my homework.” Teacher: “At what time did you begin?” Student: “At 11:55 p.m.”

Telephone directories were once a staple in every household across the United States and the world. The need for telephone directories has diminished in recent years with the prevalence of smartphones, largely because people are able to find business phone numbers by using the internet. In the US, current rules mean that mobile phone numbers cannot be included in telephone directories.

Some people still regularly rely on the books, such as historians, many of whom use the directories as research tools. While looking through the archive of telephone directories in Mount Airy, we can find a wealth of information and get a glimpse into the lives of those who lived in the area.

Through these phone books we can gather information that might not be available elsewhere, such as the names of spouses, occupation and place of employment, and where they lived. Typically, anyone over the age of 18 was listed in the directory. In researching local history, we can use directories to find out when businesses were established, where they were located or moved locations.

The first telephone directory dates back to 1878. Published in Connecticut, the directory listed only 50 contact details and took up a single page. Before the advent of telephones, directories were already in existence, but would merely list addresses. Additionally, early directories did not list its entries alphabetically but instead numerically.

In the early years of telephones, callers would merely provide switchboard operators with the name of whoever they were trying to get into contact with, and because of the limited number of telephones and the localized nature of telephone exchanges at the time, the operator already knew the number to reach every telephone.

It was not until 1879 when Dr. Moses Greeley Parker, a medical doctor in Massachusetts, made the argument for both including phone numbers and ordering these directories in alphabetical order by last name. This was during an outbreak of measles, with many switchboard operators being unable to work which put a strain on the telephone system. The new form of phone books meant the general public could find what number they needed to be connected to, rather than relying on the switchboard operator’s knowledge.

Before Mount Airy had phone books, Branson’s Business Directory was published. In the late 1800s, the Reverend Levi Branson hired more than 100 people to go throughout North Carolina to canvas businesses and compile a list of their locations. Businesses included churches, hotels, mills, teachers, mines, doctors, factories, and others, listed with their respective post offices and proprietors’ names. Sections of the book were divided up via county, and copies sold for $5.

Giving a glimpse into life in Surry County at the time, the 1890 Branson’s Business Directory provides the limited window as to when the Mount Airy Superior Court was open: “..meets seventh Monday after the first Monday in March and September, and the second Monday before the first Monday in November.”

The earliest General Directory of Mount Airy did not list phone numbers but rather it was a street directory. One section listed streets, the individual addresses and who or what entity resided there. Another section had an alphabetical listing of residents in the city along with their home address and occupation. Lastly, businesses were listed by their type such as barber shop, produce dealer or ice manufacturer in addition to their address.

The first telephone directory for this area is believed to be the 1917 directory from the Mount Airy Telephone Company, only 12 pages long, compared to later versions which could easily be over 200 pages in length.

The South East Public Service Company Telephone Directory of 1935 covered Mount Airy, Pilot Mountain, Rural Hall and Dobson. The first section of the book is taken up with “General Information for Telephone Users,” including How to Speak (“in answering calls, do not say ‘Hello,’ but announce your name or the name of your firm”). Due to the company only covering the local area, there was no need for area codes, as such, the phone numbers listed only had up to four digits. To contact the Mount Airy Furniture Company, located on Factory Street, you merely had to dial ‘1’, while the Mount Airy Granite Corp’s phone number was 9.

Other telephone directories published in the area include Miller’s telephone directory, which was published in Mount Airy from 1928 up to the mid 1960s, and Mullin-Kille Con Survey books from the late ’60s to the early ‘70s. Mullin-Kille phone directories were published in various towns and cities across the country. Like other telephone directories, they included listings for businesses and individuals as well as advertisements for local businesses. The directory branded itself as being “a numerical telephone directory and a complete buyers’ guide, and a classified business directory with special listings for nationally advertised brands.” As with other directories of its time, married women were listed alongside their husband’s name, except for “Married women engaged in some responsible occupation are listed individually in addition to their regular listing with the husband.”

Telephone directories are a valuable resource to locating people in the historical record when other sources are no longer around. Although seemingly mundane, everyday objects, they capture a moment in time just as a photograph would. However, while photographs fade with time, these sturdy, factual and comprehensive books remain an almost indestructible artifact of history.

Katherine “Kat” Jackson is an employee at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. Originally from Australia she now lives in King. She can be reached at the museum at 336-786-4478.

The only way to stay ahead of the leaf harvest is by raking, blowing, and vacuuming to the compost pile or din or by starting a pile of crushed leaves to use as a blanket for rose bushes and warmth for rows of cool weather vegetables. You can also run the mower over the leaves can and reduce their volume for the compost pile or bin.

Plenty of greenery still around

Even though there is a lot of brown, tan, and gray around in the middle of November, there is quite a bit of green that remains in the woodlands and along the roads and highways. The short leaf pines highlight the maples and birch trees that have already shed their leaves, the cedars and short leaf pines highlight the gray bark of the birch trees. Wild honeysuckle vines climb along ditch banks and up the trunks of bare trees and floors of woodlands. Greenery in all forms is welcome wherever it is found in every season. The Siberian kale is producing its own shade of green, as well as turnip, broccoli collards, mustard, cabbage and onion sets. The deck and porch still have plenty of perennials and pansy foliage adorning their containers. Our eyes can focus on all kinds of greenery as we approach the cold of the winter.

Plenty of time to lime

November is the opportune time to apply pelletized lime to the lawn. November is the best time to apply pelletized lime because November with its autumn rain, heavy frosts and possibly some snow will soak the pellets into the sod and prevent them from washing away. The possibility of sleet, snow, and ice in December will further dissolve the pellets deeper into the soil.

Ice in mud holes as well as the birdbath

The cold nights of November can freeze water in mud holes as well as bird baths, but a hard ground freeze may still be more than a month away. Frozen water in mud holes and bird baths make it hard for birds to find water. After the temperatures rise above freezing, empty the ice from the bird bath and replace with clean, fresh water. This will make life a bit easier for birds in the cold days leading into winter.

Enjoying the last of Indian Summer days

From now until the week of Thanksgiving, we still have days of Indian Summer that remain comfortable even though the nights may be much cooler with plenty of frosty mornings. Most of nature is preparing for a long winter nap. The garden is definitely not in nap mode with the greenery of Siberian kale, turnips, onion sets, curly mustard greens, collards broccoli and cabbage heading toward a harvest. Layers of crushed leaves will blanket the soil and protect the cool weather vegetables.

Season of heavy recycling on its way

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away and this kicks off a season of six weeks of generating a lot of trash that could be placed in the recycling carts. You can recycle all bottles, cans, plastic, milk, cartons, soft drink bottles, metal cans, card board boxes and containers, toilet tissue tubes and paper towel tubes, newspapers (bundled), and aluminum soft drink cans. Every item you recycle will prevent filling up landfills and will promote a healthier environment for our children and grandchildren.

Robins remain with us through the cold

Robins seem to have adapted to southern winters because we continually see them in all the months of the year. The ground does not freeze that often and robins can find a steady diet of food. They have plenty of places to winter over in and under barns and out buildings and in hollow trees, logs, and under the eaves of houses. They can also shelter themselves in piles of leaves and hay. The temperatures are not that freezing during the whole winter. They are around all winter and are not shivering, in fact their color is good and they seem to be well-fed active and healthy.

Making a tuna macaroni meat loaf

This is a mid-November great main dish for a cool evening and it has plenty of color and flavor. You will need one can of evaporated milk, three fourth cup of water, one and a half cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one stick light margarine, one and a half cups grated bread crumbs (run through blender in “grate” mode), one fourth cup diced onion, two ounce jar of diced pimentos (drained), two cans of tuna, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper three cups of cooked and drained macaroni and three large beaten eggs. Combine evaporated milk, water, cheese and margarine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the cheese melts, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add crushed bread crumbs that have been grated in the blender, add diced onion and pimentos, tuna, salt and pepper. Stir the cooked macaroni and beaten eggs into tuna mixture. Pour into a 13x9x2 inch baking pan or dish sprayed with Pam Baking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for one hour and a half or until loaf is firm. Cool slightly and cut into squares. Makes eight servings.

It may be a very small chance, but not any huge impossibility that some flakes of snow could occur in November. It has happened before but not very often. If and when it does occur, our mountains see the most of it and even then it is not heavy. The soil is still quite warm and even if a snow does fall, it will be short lived and melt fairly quickly. Remember: it does not take too many flakes of snow to generate excitement and in the middle of November, all of us could use that kind of excitement. Bring on a bit of white stuff!

The month to buy Christmas cactus

As we move into mid- November, Christmas cactus pots and containers in festive colors are being displayed at Food Lion, Lowe’s Foods, Harris Teeter, Walmart, Home Depot, Ace Hardware, Lowe’s Home Improvement and most hardwares and nurseries. Most are in full bloom and you can select the colors you desire, you can choose from red, white, pink and coral. They come in small or medium pots. As the cactus complete their bloom cycle, they can be transplanted to a larger container and purchase a bag of Miracle-Gro citrus and cactus starting medium that comes in an orange bag. This will prepare them for many Christmases to come. Feed the cactus in winter by feeding them once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food and water lightly every ten days. All winter, keep cactus in a semi-sunny location. Use a plastic drip pan under the cactus container to prevent water from dripping on floor or carpet.

Winter wonderland of Siberian kale

Siberian Kale is a cole family vegetable that has its own color, texture and beauty that reflects the coming of winter. The deep emerald green and dainty texture of its leaves when frost touches them is unforgettable beauty as it thrives in mid-November temperatures. Kale is one of America’s most popular greens because of its sweetness and tender leaves. They blend well in salads or as a pot of greens. Siberian Kale can be harvested even when snow is on the ground.

Grandma’s hand grated fresh coconut

The easy way to prepare any thing with coconut in it is to purchase flakes or frozen grated coconut. My Northampton County grandma prepared her coconut for Thanksgiving and Christmas the old fashioned way. She always took the extra time to prepare fresh coconut. She would buy fresh, whole coconuts that were about the size of cantaloupe. Her process of preparing the coconuts started by punching three holes in the “eyes” of the coconut so she could drain the milk and reserve it because that would be the main ingredient of her coconut icing. When added to the hand-grated coconut, it would enhance the flavor to a whole new level. An axe or hammer was used to break open the coconuts into chunks. The next step was to separate the shell from the coconut “meat.” After this, the the “meat” of the coconut had to have a peeling removed to prepare the coconut “meat” for grating. This was a labor intensive task. The most labor intensive task of all was still ahead and that was hand grating the coconut chunks with a metal grater. A large pan would catch the coconut flakes as they came from the grater. Today, this process is much easier because you can run the coconut chunks through the blender in grate mode. After the grating process, the coconut was ready to be made into fresh coconut cake or coconut pies. These cakes and pies were special because fresh grated coconuts mixed with coconut milk makes the most moist cake in the world.

“Lost and Found.” Jan: “Did anyone here lose a roll of bills with a rubber band around them?” Dan: “Yes, I did.” Jan: “Well, I found the rubber band.”

“A sad song.” Jack: ” I spent $100,000 on voice lessons learning how to sing.” Zack: “I would like for you to meet my brother.” Jack: “Why? Is he a singer too?” Zack: “No but he’s a lawyer and he may be able to get your $100,000 back.”

The looks and feelings of Thanksgiving

It looks a lot like Thanksgiving and the cool autumn air has the feeling of Thanksgiving. The lawns have been turned golden brown by Jack Frost. Most leaves have fallen from the trees except for the stubborn oaks. The garden is in nap mode and only the cool weather vegetables remain active. The cardinals and chickadees have already visited the feeder for their pre-Thanksgiving meal. The aroma of turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie floats through the neighborhood. The kids are playing in the street because there is not much traffic. Thanksgiving is a time of reflecting and relaxing before the Christmas rush and think about the upcoming season of Advent. Don’t allow the rush to overwhelm you. Use this season of Thanksgiving to enjoy family. Take special time to enjoy and be thankful for the blessings of health and strength during this year.

Corn bread is popular on November tables

During November when the harvest of turnips, mustard greens, collards and Siberian kale is in progress, cornbread becomes a staple at the autumn tables. There are two types of cornbread; one of them is baked and the other is fried in patties or cakes. Corn bread can be prepared with yellow or white cornmeal. Both are great, but the yellow is sweeter and a bit moister. We believe corn bread becomes more popular during November as the cool weather vegetables are harvested and cornbread becomes a major ingredient in cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving. My Northampton County grandma always baked her cornbread in the oven on a large wood stove with yellow corn meal, buttermilk, eggs, sugar, and butter. My mother prepared her cornbread on the stove top in a cast iron frying pan. There are many recipes for cornbread and this one is like my grandma prepared in her wood stove oven: Two cups of yellow cornmeal, one cup plain flour, two teaspoons baking powder, three tablespoons sugar, one teaspoon salt, two large eggs, one cup of buttermilk, two sticks melted butter of light margarine and half teaspoon black pepper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix yellow cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and pepper. Add eggs and buttermilk. Mix all ingredients well. Spray a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with Pam baking spray. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Cut into squares.

Seasonings that make cooking much easier

McCormick’s certainly makes baking apple and pumpkin pies easier with their combination of spices in one container in the products of pumpkin pie and apple pie spices with all the essential spices already pre- mixed. Another great seasoning mix is poultry seasoning for fried chicken, gravy and dressing. As you prepare spaghetti, McCormick’s Italian seasoning, oregano and other spices make spaghetti easy to prepare.

A great way to decorate the dining room table for Thanksgiving and Christmas is to use decorative, glossy large paper plates instead of place mats. Use the glossy plates that have Thanksgiving and Christmas art themes during the holidays. An eight pack costs less than $5s. On Valentines Day, you can buy Valentine plates for Saint Valentine’s. Large paper plates can be inserted in them. Add a few candles to match your plates and you will have a nice table setting at very small price.

Purchasing a Moravian star for Christmas

The season of Advent will begin in a few more days and now is a great time purchase a unique Christmas decoration. They are easy to assemble, durable, weatherproof and simply beautiful. They are available at Moravian book stores, Gullians book stores and Salem Gifts on Hanes Mall Boulevard in Winston-Salem. Nothing makes a Christmas statement like a Moravian star shining all through the night.

Vermont Country Store is unusual

One of America’s best mail order general stores, and it produces catalogs all year long, is the Vermont Country Store. They feature items from days gone by and also practical and unusual items. One of their special items is “Blue Willow” dinnerware. They have a huge selection of old fashioned candies, clothing, jams, jellies and takes as well as cookies. The covers on their catalogs are truly works of art especially their Christmas catalogs. You can request one of their catalogs at this address, Vermont Country Store, P.O. Box 6998 Rutland VT 05702-6998.

Making a cherry banana nutbread cake

This is a great recipe for bread loaves or cakes for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It is moist with the bananas in it. You will need a half cup of light margarine, one cup and a half of sugar, two large eggs, four mashed bananas mixed with the juice of one lemon, one teaspoon of baking soda, two cups of plain flour, half cup of chopped pecans, half cup of chopped chocolate chips, half cup of red maraschino cherries, and one teaspoon real vanilla extract. Cream the margarine and sugar, add the eggs and beat well. Add the mashed bananas and lemon juice, add all the other ingredients, place in two small loaf pans or one tube pan. Line the bottoms of pan or pans with piece of waxed paper trimmed to fit. Spray bottom of pans with Pam baking spray apply the waxed paper and spray the pan, waxed paper and sides with Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until firm and springy. Cool before removing from pans. Wrap in Glad or Saran clear plastic wrap. This will keep them moist and fresh.

Thanksgiving at grandma’s

Thanksgiving was always very special at grandma’s house in Northampton County. It always started the night before with pallets all over the house and every room filled with grandchildren. There was a huge sawdust pile behind her house and we would see who could roll down it the fastest. A huge woods was behind the sawdust pile and we would go there with our Red Ryder air rifles and have a shooting good time when things got boring, we would shoot at each other! The Thanksgiving meal was served all day long on a large round table with a turntable on top where the food was placed, when you wanted certain foods, you would spin the turntable to locate the food and serve yourself. Both layers of the table were covered with oil cloth and held on the table with thumb tacks. Food would remain on the table all day and the table would be covered with a huge linen tablecloth. A stack of plates was on the kitchen counter along with tableware and pie plates for desserts. After the meal, the table became an all day walk-in buffet. All the parents, aunts and uncles and other relatives brought favorite foods and desserts. The large table was an unforgettable sight with all those family favorite recipes. Adults always dined first and then the children. Wow! Things have really changed since the 1950s! All during the afternoon, family members and friends would sit on the porch and snack on food and desserts from the table or take naps. My grandma would take a nap because she had been up and running since 4:30 a.m.

Take time to enjoy food, family, togetherness

After reading the above paragraphs, you can see that Thanksgiving of yesteryear used to be much simpler and less complicated. In today’s 21st century, we need to get back to a much simpler lifestyle and take the time to enjoy life’s simple pleasures and the joys of everyday events. There are so many blessings all around us that we seem to take for granted or have become unaware of. Take precious time on this Thanksgiving, a special time to enjoy family, relatives and special friends in this year of Thanksgiving 2022. Who knows what another year will bring?

The Pilgrims Thanksgiving in year 1623

In the year 1620, 14 of the 18 women who came over on the Mayflower died that winter. Next spring, the ship, “Fortune” arrived at Plymouth with 44 new arrivals and short on supplies, food and clothing. This taxed the already short supply of food for the Pilgrims. Gov. Bradford had to enforce daily rations because they had to supply the Fortune with rations for their return voyage to England. The year of 1621 became a year of food shortage for the Pilgrims. The year of 1623 was a challenging year for them. After the corn was planted, there was no rain for weeks and the corn was stunted. Gov. Bradford called for a fast and prayer on a certain day. That fast lasted for nine hours. Next day, a rain fell and it rained for 14 days. It was what Gov. Bradford called “a gentle rain.” The corn quickly recovered. The governor called for a day of Thanksgiving, not a feast but a July day of returning thanks for the beautiful corn harvest. Never taking the blessings of God lightly. “Bless the Lord, O my soul and an that is within me bless His holy name.” Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not his benefits.” (Psalm 103: 1 and 2.)

Best wishes and a wonderful Thanksgiving to all our readers of the Garden Plot in Mount Airy News, Stokes News, and the Yadkin Ripple. We wish you all abundant joy, good health, and all the blessings of God’s love and care.

Pumpkin pie for week of Thanksgiving

Pumpkin pie is great in autumn and really traditional at Thanksgiving. There are more recipes for pumpkin pies than any other. This one is very good and simple to prepare. You will need three cups of canned pumpkin, one cup of sugar, half cup light brown sugar, one fourth teaspoon salt, three tablespoons plain flour, one and a half teaspoons pumpkin pie seasoning, two lightly beaten eggs, one teaspoon vanilla extract and one can evaporated milk. Mix pumpkin, brown sugar sugar, salt, flour and pumpkin spice. Add beaten eggs to the mixture and mix well. Add evaporated milk and vanilla extract. Mix well and pour into two unbaked 9-inch pie shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until firm. For a topping (optional), mix one cup light brown sugar, half cup plain flour and half stick melted light margarine. Mix well and spread on pies.

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

By November, the crops were in, the hog was killed, the tobacco was sold and (after being broke all summer) we had money again. To celebrate, Mama fired up the wood cook stove and invited kinfolks in for a Thanksgiving Day Dinner.

On the big day, they came by the car loads; drooling with anticipation, and why? They knew nobody left Mama’s table hungry. The house was jam-packed and with so many people talking at the same time, you could not hear yourself think. Even so, I learned what a good crop year it had been, who grew the biggest hog, how bad the winter would be, whose car pulled Bate’s Hill in high gear, who wound up in jail, what for and who had “the best derned’ fox hound on God’s Green Earth, and that was just the men folks.

I’d had nothing to eat for at least a week (seemed to me) and was just about to “meet my Maker,” when Mama said, “Come and get it, you all.” Never would you believe the variety of foods she had laid out on the eatin’ table: fried chicken, ham, white-sop gravy, green beans, pinto beans, cornfield peas, cornbread, mashed ‘taters, baked sweet ‘taters, lemonade, Kool Aid, perked coffee, pumpkin and apple pies, cakes to write home about and her special biscuits that floated in the air, I swear. Once again, she had done herself good.

The men-folks ate “first table,” while the kids ate anywhere they could. Everybody “put it down the hatch” like there would be no tomorrow and when “full to the brim,” they cleared out and the women folks “took their turn.” When they “ate their fill,” they cleaned up, washed the dishes and talked about how good little Jimmy was doing in school, who sewed the best quilt, who canned what for winter, swapped recipes and gossiped about the women not there.

Meanwhile, back to the men. With bellies now full, they smoked, chewed, dipped, took a little nip from a fruit jar hidden out back and told big lies that were sworn to be the Gospel truth. The younger kids? They played hide and seek, cowboys and Indians and ran wild in the woods. The older girls primped in front of the mirror and talked about boys, while the older boys “rolled their own” cigarettes out behind the barn, cussed and talked about girls. Me? Never had I seen the like and I took it all in.

Late in the day, everybody loaded up, headed for home and all agreed, “It had been the best Thanksgiving Day Dinner ever” and come next year, they would do it all over again. Me? It was a sad ending to a perfect day; a day that would not be coming back for a whole year. If I had my way, every day would be Thanksgiving day.

Two thousand people packed the bleachers at Mount Airy’s Floyd Poore Park for a chilly October homecoming game in 1952. It had been a rough year for the Bears as injuries took out critical players and the losses piled up. Their hopes of a shot at the Class AA conference title had died the week before.

Local legend, Coach Wally Shelton, was pragmatic as ever when he told a Mount Airy News reporter, “We’d like to win this one.”

The team had four games left in the season, but this was the final home game. The team was also set to lose a class of strong players as Dick Belton, Sonny Cashwell, Bill Gruble, Frank Kurtz, Hugh Talley were seniors.

The crowd was excited. Mineral Springs was known for its aerial game, but the Bears had Belton and Cashwell, a duo that seemed charmed in game after game as the ball repeatedly found its mark. And the injuries seemed to be behind them.

The News favored Mount Airy 21-13. They were wrong.

The Granite Bears, with a defensive line on its best game and offense in overdrive would fight their way to a 39-12 victory.

The energy from the home crowd must have been a real boost that night. Football is king on Friday nights. And homecoming games in particular draw more than just family and friends as people often make special effort to show up that week.

The game is just the beginning because Homecoming, of all sporting events, has its own royalty; the Homecoming Queen and her attendants.

In the ‘40s and ‘50s at least, that court of young ladies was chosen by the members of the football team. Then the girls, themselves, voted which of them would be queen. The museum holds several photos of girls so chosen: Ivylyn Sparger, Beulah High, 1946; Yvonne Vaughn, Mount Airy High, 1957; Maxine King, JJ Jones High, 1962, Joy Dale Simmons, East Surry High, 1968.

Broad smiles, arms cradling a bouquet of flowers, sometimes a crown crafted of aluminum foil, they embody an ideal of smalltown wholesomeness and joy.

But beyond the game and the dance, Homecoming is a loaded word with so many meanings.

The mayor of Raleigh put out a call for all North Carolinians who had moved away to come to the “Home-Coming Jubilee and Reunion” at the 50th State Fair in October 1910.

“Thousands … have migrated to all parts of the country,” said the Mount Airy News article. “This state has played a great part in the winning of the west and in the development of all sections….People from the Old North State have set their mark everywhere but have never lost their love for their mother state.”

In 1919, as the unspeakable horrors of World War I ground to a close and sons, husbands, and brothers began to return, the Red Cross organized parades, community picnics, and band concerts to celebrate. Dressed in their uniforms and marching in formation, Surry’s levy of returning military personnel moved down Main Street as flags and bunting fluttered in the breeze and residents turned out to cheer their return.

On a smaller scale, homecomings have been organized in churches for 200 years. Sometimes they have been an annual call for parishioners to return once the summer labor in the field was done or to bring families back to a routine now that summer vacations were over. Sometimes they are used for a special occasion such as a significant anniversary celebration when members who’ve moved from the area are invited ‘home’ to celebrate with their spiritual family.

And, perhaps the warmest use of the phrase is something that is an African-American tradition. Homecoming (or Home-going) celebrations when a loved one passes away mark the sunrise and sunset of their days and generally include a celebration of the person’s life and impact as was the case for Lurenda Ellen Moore Berry.

“She was a respected church and community leader known for her kindness, creativity, generosity and wonderful cooking skills. Every visitor was a welcomed guest with whom she shared food, wisdom and encouragement.”

The program from her Homecoming details all she did in the Pinnacle community and in her own family, helping to raise her siblings after her parents died, her own family, and children she adopted.

“She strongly believed in the adage, ‘Let the life I’ve lived speak for me.”

As you read about the lady you are left with a sure sense that she truly had a homecoming.

I hope that wherever you find your Homecoming this year and as we look toward the holidays, that it is a good one filled with warmth and the love of home.

Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a volunteer for the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History with 22 years in journalism before joining the museum. She and her family moved to Mount Airy in 2005 from Pennsylvania where she was also involved with museums and history tours.

The royal beauty of autumn pansies

Plenty of color from mid-autumn and all the way through the winter is the beauty that pansies provide. An array of colors from lavender, cream, purple, wine yellow, orange, white, tan, bronze, burgundy and pink and combined with plenty of dark glossy green foliage to add more contrast to their colors. Pansies are tough as well as winter hardy and they produce floral beauty no matter how cold the weather gets. They will produce blooms even when snow falls. In the cold of late November and all through the winter, limit the amount of water you use on them because this will cause potting medium to freeze in the containers. Many hardwares, garden centers, nurseries, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Ace Hardware have plenty of the pansies in stock and in full bloom. Use a few handfuls of peat moss in the potting medium when planting pansies to promote moisture retention. Buy a bag of pansy booster to give pansies a great start. Pansies are available in six- and nine-packs and come in assorted colors and varieties. They can be planted on the porch or deck. Water lightly once every week.

November prime time for Christmas cactus

The semi-sunny living room is now getting ready to glow with the colors of red, white, pink and coral of the Christmas cactus plants in full bloom. You can purchase Christmas cactus in full bloom at Food Lion, Lowe’s Foods, Harris Teeter, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement and at most nurseries. You can purchase them in small or medium containers. After you bring them home and they finish their bloom cycle, you will need to transplant the cactus to a larger container to promote long term growth. Buy a bag of Miracle-Gro citrus and cactus medium to start the cactus off for many seasons of growth. If you already have a Christmas cactus, you can root a cactus to share with friends and relatives. Just cut off a piece of the foliage and place it in a 16-ounce clear soft drink bottle and keep the bottle filled with water and place the bottle in a semi-sunny location inside the home. In six to eight weeks it will produce a root system and can be transplanted to a container of cactus medium. Always use cactus medium for better results and continued growth.

The perennial beauty of coral bells

The holy season of Christmas will be ringing its way in next month and the coral bells ring in all four seasons of the year from the front porch and back deck. They have beautiful foliage that covers their containers. Several times during the summer they produce red “bells” on long stems. You can also purchase coral bells in a purple color. The red is prettier but the purple is a lot tougher as well as bushier but both perform well through all four seasons.

Enjoy the crisp November calm

Splendor rides on the crisp breezes of November. It is certainly a time of calm as nature is in a slow down mode as we see the subtle signs that winter is slowly approaching — the Carolina blue skies, puffy marshmallow clouds and the soft sound of the leaves falling on the lawn. Brown leaves form a new carpet on the lawn. The birch trees are empty and leaving their silver gray trunks bare and glowing against a background of dark green red heart cedars, short leaf pines and honeysuckle vines that highlight the Piedmont woodlands. It is surely a time to enjoy the calm and crisp, fresh air of the days of November, frosty mornings and natural quietness.

The season of Dark Thirty is here

Daylight Savings Time has departed for another year and darkness comes an hour earlier each evening and we are still losing a minute of daylight each evening and will continue to do so until Dec. 21. It is always more difficult to get used to losing that hour of daylight. Winter is five weeks away, but losing that hour of daylight will make it seem much closer.

This has been the week of All Saints Rest

Since last Wednesday, Aug. 2, the week of All Saints Rest has been celebrated. The Swedish immigrants in New England used the first week in November as a time to rest at the end of the harvest. This would probably be the last few days before New England’s cold weather would set in. This would be a few day’s rest before the chores of the up and coming winter. Americans could learn a worthwhile lesson from these Swedish ancestors and take advantage of a few days rest before the rush of the Christmas season begins. We need to reflect on this Thanksgiving season and God’s blessings upon us. We need to be careful and not be overwhelmed by materialism and commercialism of the Christmas season, but rest and relax and concentrate on the blessings of the past year.

Some weather lore for Saint Martin’s Day

Saint Martin’s Day will be Friday, Nov. 11. On his day, it is said that we will have cold weather this winter if the leaves are still hanging on the grapevines and trees. We do know the grapevines have lost their leaves but the mighty oaks are hanging on to many of their leaves. Many of them will fall by Thanksgiving and some may just hang on for a cold Saint Martin’s winter (heaven forbid!)

Lime pellets great for November lawn

As the temperatures of November get cooler, it is a great opportunity to apply a layer of lime pellets to the late autumn lawn. Lime pellets perform well on the lawns of late autumn. The frost, rains, and possible snowfall will aid in dissolving the pellets in the soil and prevent pellets from washing away. A heavy snow will soak the pellets deep in the soil.

Ice forming in the November birdbath

Frosty November mornings bring a layer of ice to the birdbaths. As the sun warms things up a bit empty the ice and refill the bird bath with fresh water. Fill the feeders also and the birds will continue to visit the lawn every day.

Harvest mixes for Thanksgiving candy dish

The center of the dining room table can be adorned with a dish of November harvest candy such as Hershey’s harvest Kisses in autumn colors, old fashioned candy com, harvest M&M’s, creme pumpkins, and Indian candy corn. Add a few jack-be-little pumpkins and several ears of Indian corn for a colorful Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Making a trip to the turnip patch

Nothing hints of autumn like turnips from the late autumn garden. The cool November nights promote growth of hefty turnips and the cool soil gives them extra sweetness. The turnips are reaching harvest stage. They are one of the easiest vegetables to prepare. Just wash and peel the turnips and dice into half inch chunks and you can stick a fork through them. Remove from heat, drain most of the water, add a stick of light margarine, salt and pepper (to taste), one tablespoon of sugar or two tablespoons of white Karo corn syrup and two teaspoons of Bacon-bits. Mash with a potato masher or mix with the mixer. Turnips make great leftovers and can be fried or microwaved.

Broccoli, cabbage and collards in fall garden

The cool soil in the November garden will cause the cole family of vegetables to thrive and turn the late autumn into a beautiful shade of emerald green. They perform well because in the cool November days, they have very few insect enemies. Feed them every three weeks with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Keep soil hilled up on both sides of the row. As soil grows colder, spread a layer of crushed leaves in middle of the rows.

A few warm days during November

Early November still has some warm days remaining. You can take advantage of them to continue to rake in the leaf harvest and adding them to the compost pile or bin.

“The heavenly way!” Church visitor: “So what denomination are you?” Minister: “I’m a Baptist.” Visitor: “So you’re one of the narrow minded bunch that believes you are the only group that is going to make it to heaven?” Minister: “I’m even more narrow-minded than that. I don’t believe all our group is going to make it!”

“All alike.” All husbands are alike. They have different faces so their wives can tell them apart!

The moon reached its first quarter on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Daylight Savings Time will end at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6. There will be a full moon on Tuesday, Nov. 8. This full moon will be named “Full Beaver Moon.” Election Day will be on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Veteran’s Day will be Friday, Nov. 11. The moon will reach its last quarter on Wednesday, Nov. 16. The new moon of November will occur on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 23. Thanksgiving Day will be Thursday, Nov. 24. The moon will reach its first quarter on Wednesday, Nov. 30, with November starting and ending with the moon in its first quarter phase.

Daylight Savings Time comes to an end

As of two o’clock am. Sunday, Nov. 6, Daylight Savings Time will end and we will return to standard time for the next six months and gain darker evenings and longer nights as well as shorter days. As the sun sets earlier, the temperature will begin to get more nippy each evening.

“Full Beaver Moon” will be November 8th

The full moon of November will occur on the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 8. This moon will be named “Full Beaver Moon.” The full moon will rise over the eastern horizon and with Eastern Standard Time now in effect. It will be bright when it rises into a cold and hopefully very clear late autumn sky. Enjoy this moon before going to bed that evening.

Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County.

Mount Airy City Schools (MACS) attracts families at a more consistent rate than most any other school district in the state. In a recent report by The Innovation Project (https://tipnc.org/), MACS had attracted more than 93% of its market share this year compared to 90.2% of their market share of families in 2020. This basically means that everyone that lives near MACS and has children is choosing our district to attend.

The state data is a good way to compare this percentage. Out of North Carolina’s students that could attend public schools, 77.7% do attend public schools. This is down from 79.4% in 2020. Public charter students account for 6.7% of all students, private schools also hold 6.5% of eligible students, and homeschool is up slightly from 8.3% of students in 2020 to 9.1% in 2022. So, MACS is about 16% higher than the state in attracting students to traditional public schools.

There are several reasons why families choose us. Academics are strong, workforce development is key, innovation makes us unique and different from anyone else, athletics are high performing, and the arts are required throughout the K-12 experience. These are a few of the reasons why we continue to attract students year after year. Once families are with us they rarely leave us which is a great indicator of our success. The number one reason our families choose us is our staff. Our teachers and administrators go the extra mile every day to make sure students’ needs are met and they create a winning culture.

Today, I plan to talk about the staff, academics and workforce development, innovation, athletics and the arts. Our staff is constantly improving and reflecting on its own leadership development. We have 15% of our eligible staff members working on the National Board Certification. This is a difficult certification that shows staff to be among the best in the nation. This portfolio of work helps staff members provide the best educational strategies and support for all students. Many of our staff members are working on master’s degrees in various areas along with several attaining their doctoral degree. When our EVAAS was made public last year 100% of our academic areas were in green or blue showing that our teachers were growing all students at a tremendous rate.

Workforce development is key. The state is developing the attributes all children should be able to demonstrate upon graduation. These attributes were developed in combination with industry. These attributes in a portrait of a graduate (https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/operation-polaris/portrait-graduate) include adaptability, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, empathy, learners mindset and personal responsibility. MACS is developing our own matrix for what this would look like in each grade level. For example, as ninth graders all of our students take a financial literacy course that teaches students personal responsibility in finance. The topics covered range from economics, personal finance, income and education, money management and financial planning. This course is required for graduation as well as a requirement for our students to take career and technical courses in high school. Each school will have various ways to teach this graduate skills.

Athletics are high performing in our district because of the consistency of our athletic directors and coaches. We currently are leading the conference in all fall sports at the high school level. For instance, volleyball has won the conference tournament for the second straight year in a row. Families know that athletics teach students life skills such as developing strong team work, growing leadership skills, and communicating well with others. There is a place for all athletes within our school system from golf, to cross-country, to tennis, to soccer and everything in between. We believe the 20 sports we offer allows all talents and abilities a chance to compete. Having a winning culture with sports is reflective of your overall programs in a school and shows us why many families choose us.

We are known across the state for innovation, which is creating new and different solutions to problems that help benefit students. We have a dual-language immersion program, Chinese language and culture program, North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities (NCASA) competitions at middle school as well as the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at high school. Our new sustainable agriculture program has baby quails that will help students understand sustainability through animals, along with our goals to have students learn to grow their own food. We want to create a variety of choices for students and help everyone succeed. Families love our menu of options when comparing schools to attend.

The arts are required for our students from kindergarten through high school with arts being part of the elective rotation K-5 as well as after school programs available such as Melody Makers. Once students rise to the middle school level they have the opportunity to take middle school chorus, band, and visual arts. The high school requires arts credits as part of a comprehensive curriculum that develops well-rounded young adults. Our program offerings of band, chorus, theater, and visual arts have many pathways for students to pursue. Since I was the band director for over a decade here in the system it is near and dear to my heart. Many of our graduates go on to have careers in the arts.

The multiple programs, success academics, workforce development, innovation, athletics, arts, and amazing staff all work together to create an option that nearly 100% of our community is choosing. At an age where school choice gives parents the most options with homeschool, charter, and private, our community is still choosing traditional public. We will forever be grateful for the support of our community that provides us amazing resources to develop a private school feel in a public school setting. We know why families choose MACS; find out how your child can join the winning team by visiting www.mtairy.k12.nc.us.

For families wishing to better understand what MACS has to offer them and for current families wishing to see what is found at the next school, visit https://bit.ly/AboutMACS21-22 There you will find a brochure highlighting many opportunities found in our system. Anyone wishing to schedule a tour can visit http://bit.ly/MACStour.

The foothills of North Carolina are a treasure trove of mystery and excitement for many who pass through them. These paths are where nature and history collide in the best ways. Growing up among the hills holds some of my fondest memories, outings downtown, playing in creeks, and so much more sprinkle my memories.

One of the places I treasured visiting the most was the two-story granite art “deco” United States Post Office in Mount Airy. The majestic double staircase leads guests into a foyer that could come straight out of the silver screen. The floral bronze grills grace the tops of the ornate post office boxes that hold mail for citizens, but for a child, they were gateways of mystery.

Aside from the beauty and mystery, this post office holds a lot of history. The lot at the southwest corner of South Main and Pine streets once held the Jenkins hotel. The hotel operated from the 1910s to 1920s, but by 1922 the Fire Insurance Sanborn Maps showed the lot empty. A small filling station sat within the lot that is now the post office parking lot.

Before being placed on South Main, the Mount Airy post office was housed in different locations throughout the city. One source suggests that Mr. Perkins’ Hotel, known as the Blue Ridge Hotel later, received the mail for a time. It then was potentially moved to Laurel Bluff and back to South Main.

In January 1932, plans were reviewed by Postmaster J.B Sparger for a new and elaborate post office. For over a decade before these plans, the town of Mount Airy had been vying for a more modern facility. The architect who won out was George Berryman of Raleigh. Construction companies bid on the job with Algernon Blair of Montgomery, Alabama. securing the job with a bid of $98,000. The land was purchased for $25,000 by the government leaving $130,000 of the $155,000 budget left for the building itself.

Originally the building was only supposed to be faced with the native Mount Airy granite, but citizens petitioned the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., to amend the plans. Main Street was growing and more streets were being opened up and developed, the town wanted the post office to stand as a monument of the granite city. The petition was approved and granite was set to encapsulate the new structure, raising the final construction price tag to $125.000.

On Oct. 3, 1932 a program was held to lay the cornerstone for the new post office. The time capsule holds the names of officials, officers, club members, and other important documents. Civil War veteran Colonel Z.T Smith placed the copper box in the structure, with J.D Sargent, president of the NC Granite Corporation, sealing it in place. The building was finished by 1933, with offices on the second floor and space to grow.

The Mount Airy United States Post Office has resided at 111 South Main street for 89 years. Next time you are downtown, stop by the site and take in its historic grandeur, you won’t be sorry you did.

Emily Morgan is the guest services manager at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She and her family live in Westfield. She can be reached at eamorgan@northcarolinamuseum.org or by calling 336-786-4478 x229

Halloween and frost on the pumpkin

The season of Halloween is only two days from now. The autumn air has that certain nip that is traditional as Halloween draws near. We have had several frosts to kick off Halloween and the autumn lawn has a carpet of leaves on it. The green of the lawn is beginning to have a brownish tint highlighting it. Soon we will have the first killing frost and some hard freezes. We have had several scattered frosts but none that are considered “killing frosts.” The frosts that knock out the warm weather garden usually occur in mid-November. We are getting scattered frost that sweetens the collards and a dusting on the rooftops. It will not harm the pumpkins and there are plenty of them this year.

Bringing in the late tomato harvest

Before a killing frost arrives gather all the green tomatoes from the vines and wrap them in sheets of newspapers and place them in box lids or shallow boxes and store them in a warm dry area and cover with whole newspaper sections. Check them once a week for ripeness. If you have a lot of room in the basement you can leave green tomatoes on the vines and hang them on the joists in the basement ceiling to ripen there. Check them often and harvest them as they ripen.

Celebrate Halloween by placing a pumpkin crisp on the table for the night of Halloween. This crunchy dessert has simple ingredients and contains plenty of pumpkin. You will need two cups of fresh or canned pumpkin, one large can of evaporated milk, one cup sugar, half cup light brown sugar, one tablespoon McCormick pumpkin spices, one tablespoon vanilla extract, two sticks light margarine, three beaten eggs, one box yellow cake mix, half cup chopped pecans, one teaspoon orange extract. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan with Crisco Shortening and then flour the pan. Line the pan with a sheet of waxed paper. Spray the waxed paper with Pam baking spray. Mix the pumpkin, white sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin pie spices, vanilla extract, orange extract and beaten eggs. Mix all these ingredients together. Spread the box of cake mix over the pumpkin mixture and spread it out to cover the pumpkin. Sprinkle the pecans and golden raisins over the dry cake mix. Drizzle the two sticks of melted margarine over the dry cake mix. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Cool the cake completely. Turn cake from pan onto a cookie sheet or a cake board. The layer of pecans and raisins becomes the bottom crust. Frost the crisp with this topping: one eight ounce box of cream cheese, two cups of 1ox powdered sugar, one cup of Cool Whip, one teaspoon vanilla extract.

A bowl of witches brew

You can make this unusual brew for a harvest festival or Halloween carnival. It is tasty and unusual because of its purple color and taste. Make this punch in a large pot or a canner and serve it from a punch bowl. For this recipe, mix three envelopes of Crystal Light Concord grape powdered drink mix, one bottle Welch’s grape juice, one 46 ounce can pineapple juice, one 46 ounce can of water. Two 2-liter bottles of Fanta grape soda, two 2-liter bottles of Sprite (regular or diet). To serve the brew, mix half the punch base mixed with half Fanta and half Sprite. Use this formula to prepare the brew as it is replenished. Make an ice ring or two the night before by mixing two quarts of water in a pitcher and pouring it into a tube pan and freezing overnight. Run a little warm water over bottom of tube pan to loosen the ice ring from the pan. You can also freeze a bottle of grape Fanta to make ice rings. If you would like a clear ice ring, use bottles of Sprite.

Chicken stew on an October night

Chicken stew does not have to be prepared in a black iron pot to be enjoyed. You can make it for your household in an eight-quart pot. A great chicken stew can be prepared in your kitchen. You will need six or eight bone-in chicken breasts boiled until tender. Bone-in breasts are better because it makes a broth for the stew. When the chicken is done, remove the skin and bones; return the broth and chicken to the pot, and add a little more water to the broth and boil until meat begins to shred (this causes chicken to be in every bite of the stew.) When the chicken reaches this stage, add four sticks of light margarine and allow it to simmer for four or five minutes. Add two cans of evaporated milk and six cups of Vitamin D whole milk (nothing low-fat here!). Simmer for four or five minutes on medium low heat. Add two cans of chicken gravy and simmer four or five minutes. Add one teaspoon pepper, two teaspoons of salt, two teaspoons of McCormick poultry seasoning. Taste and add more of these seasonings to stew if desired. Keep the heat on medium low and mix a glass of cold water with four or five teaspoons of corn starch and stir until it is milky. Add a little at a time until stew reaches the thickness you are satisfied with. If stew is too thick add milk or water.

Pansies are flowers with a personality

Colorful jewels of the porch and deck during autumn and winter months are the pansies that have faces that resemble the face of a poodle. Pansies are tough and winter hardy. Along with their colorful flowers they feature dark evergreen foliage that enhances their flowers. They are tough enough to produce flowers when snow is on the ground. Pansy plants are available now and all the months of autumn and winter. They will produce flowers and foliage until early spring. They come in colors of burgundy, purple, lavender, pink, white, bronze and tan. They can be planted in rows, beds, pots and containers. Use Flower-Tone organic flower food, pansy booster and peat moss mixed with potting medium to get pansies on their way to a long and colorful autumn and winter and brighten winter bushes.

Still time to plant spring bulbs

There is still plenty of time to set out the spring bulbs of jonquil, hyacinth, crocus, daffodil, narcissus, tulips and snowdrops. They can be set out from now until the ground freezes. Place the bulbs root down in a furrow or hole about six to eight inches deep. Place a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow or hole. Place bulbs root-side down and apply another layer of peat moss. Place a layer of Bulb Booster or bone meal on the peat moss and cover with of top soil and potting medium. Before the ground freezes cover the row or bed with a layer of crushed leaves. Water lightly once each week.

Setting out ornamental kale and cabbage

Ornamental cabbage and kale can add color to the winter porch in the dead of winter and all they need is a little layer of protection from the extremes of winter freezes. Keep a couple of towels handy and cover the cabbage and kale at night to keep them from freezing. Keep containers of cabbage near the rear of the porch. Ornamental cabbage come in colors of purple, pink, cream, lavender mint green and yellow. You can plant them in containers that summer annuals were growing in. Feed with Flower-Tone organic flower food each month and lightly water weekly.

Thunder at this time of the year is not that unusual, most of the time when thunder is heard in late autumn, it is short-lived and not severe. The humidity is low and the sound of thunder is caused by instability in the air. During the final days of hurricane season, we may have some thunder and lightning with these systems.

“A cocky situation.” Customer: “Do you have any cockroaches?” Sporting goods store owner: “Yes, I sell them to fishermen.” Customer: “I would like to purchase 20,000 of them.” Store owner:”What do you want with 20,000 cockroaches?” Customer: “I’m moving tomorrow and my lease says I must leave the condo in the condition it was in when I moved there.”

“A full tank citizen.” Citizen: “Hello, is this the city gas works?” Mayor: “No, this is the mayor’s office.” Citizen: “I didn’t miss it by much, did I?”

“Nay, Nay!” “About the only thing right you get from the horse’s mouth is his laugh!”

Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

For those of us who grew up in these mountains, there was never a doubt about where our next meal was coming from — be it meat, vegetables or fruit — it either came from garden, the fields or the hog pen. We’ve come a long way since and seldom do we even think about where our food comes from. We just mosey down to the local super market and choose our fancy from a wide variety of foods from all over the world, available all year long. Being an old timer who knows the score, let me say, “Things were not always that way.”

When I was a young pup growing up, every family I knew (come spring of the year) bought a young pig that had to be “slopped” twice a day. It was also fed corn and other foods the whole summer long and by late fall, it had grown into a huge fat hog that could hardly walk; the fatter the better. Why? The more fat, the more lard, which folks used for cooking every day of the year. Nobody wanted a skinny hog at hog-killing time

Came a frosty November morn’, Pa built a roaring fire under the scalding vat full of water. When it got hot, he shot the hog with a .22 rifle, (one bullet right between the eyes) and cut its throat with the butcher knife to “bleed it out.” (While all that was going on, I found other things to do in other places.)

We then loaded the hog onto the sled, hauled it to the vat, rolled it into the hot water to scald it so the hair would loosen, then scraped it off with butcher knives. Pa then inserted a hefty stick (sharpened at both ends) into the tendons of both back legs and with his “block and tackle,” hung the hog upside down from a tree limb, then he went to work.

Using his butcher knife, he split it open right down the middle, cleaned it out, washed it out, then lowered it to some planks on the ground. Then (with chopping axe and butcher knife) he whittled out hams, shoulders, back-bones and ribs, side-meat and tenderloin right there in broad daylight. He “salted down” most of the meat in the meat-box, but we ground some with a hand-powered meat grinder clamped to the kitchen table. Mama then seasoned it, fried it, canned it and it became canned homemade sausage stored in the cellar for winter time; some of the best food on God’s green earth.

On hog killing day, our whole hill smelled like raw meat and I could not bear the thoughts of eating anything that smelled that bad. At the end of the day, (tired and worn) we went to bed; thankful it was over, but knowing when winter time came, nobody would go hungry on our hill.

Come next morning, Mama cured the bad-smell problem with the smells of breakfast cooking on the wood cook stove; a stack of buckwheat pancakes yea’ high, white-sop gravy, home-grown eggs, “perked” coffee and best of all; fresh fried tenderloin; surely food from the gods. It was one of the few days of the year when nobody had to roust me out of bed; I hit the floor running, all by myself.

In II Chronicles 7:13-22, we see a list of requirements God gave to His people Israel; for Him to hear their prayers, forgive their sin, and bring them healing as a nation. These conditions for His help, and their reviving was dependent upon God’s people returning in obedience to God, their sovereign King.

I believe that if we, the people of God living here on this earth today, will hear and obey this same list of requirements; that we too can enjoy personal, community, and national revival. But will we hear and obey?

I believe that our God will chasten and correct us to the point of wanting to return to Him, if we don’t freely choose to. In other words, I believe He’ll make us want to fully return to Him; and want to let go of this corrupt old world. Let’s read, and heed the Holy Scriptures. “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence (plague or disease) among My people; If My people, which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

We’ll come back to the last verse shortly. God will have His way with His bride, the church. Ephesians 5:25-27 tells us, “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

It’s evident and obvious that the church isn’t close to this virtuous character, and of chaste behavior toward her Lord right now. But, God will chasten, correct, and cleanse us; in order to perfect us; for our own good, and for His good pleasure.

You may ask, “How will God correct us?” Has anyone been observing the current events around our country, and around the globe lately? Our Scripture portion gave evidence of His correction through drought, crop failure, destroyed harvest, and plagues or disease.

Consider also these Scriptures dealing with the Lord using hurricanes (tempest), floods, tornadoes (whirlwind), earthquakes, wildfires, stormy wind, and hail, to turn us again to Him. (Job 37:9-13, 38:22-23, Psalm 46:1-3, 83:15-16, 148:8, Amos 4:6-9). And how about the C-virus or any of its variants? Hebrews 12:11-13 says, “Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: none the less, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness…Therefore…make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” Hosea 6:1-2, “ Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us.”

Doesn’t it seem odd that God would say, “My people, which are called by My name” need to “turn from their wicked ways.” This isn’t just about the Jews and the Old Testament. It applies also to so many professing New Testament Christians since the early days of the church.

Consider the letter to believers in James 4:8-9, “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” And again, Jesus’ strong messages of warning and call to repentance to the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2–3. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-24, ”No man can serve two masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon (the wealth of this world).”

God will not allow us to straddle this fence. We must choose, Him or the world. I John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world…For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (To try to have both is spiritual adultery) And the world passes away, and the lusts there of; but he that does the will of God abides forever.”

Please read all this appeal to the church in II Corinthians 6:14-7:1, “…what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? … And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them; and I will walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

There are many idols in our times now, even as there were in those days. We even call them by that name: sports idols, movie, TV and music idols… Anything and anyone who receives our affections or adoration in competition with, or in place of the one true God is a false god; is an idol. Romans 12:1-2 pleads with us to “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God…And be not conformed to this world (pressed and shaped to it’s mold): but be transformed” (by God). With His indwelling Spirit, we have full access to this beautiful change in character! The answer is to be in Christ. (II Cor. 5:17). The motive is our love for Him, Who is to be chosen above all else.

By our humbling ourselves, and praying, and seeking God’s face, and turning from the ways that God calls wicked, He then replies, “Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place” (II Chronicles 7:15). Psalm 84:1-13, …”Turn us, O God of our salvation… Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?”

© 2018 The Mount Airy News