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 particular column is part of a monthly series on drug abuse prevention and treatment.

Impaired driving remains an issue that affects North Carolinians every day. On average, three in five people will be involved in a crash due to impaired driving in their lifetime. Impaired driving can have serious consequences, including injury and death. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2020), the number of teens involved in alcohol-related crashes, regardless of driver age, increased for the first time in five years to 1,014 after having decreased steadily from 1,194 in 2015 to 975 in 2019.

Similarly, in 2020 the number of teens injured in alcohol-related crashes rose to 484, breaking five straight years of decline. In 2020, teen fatalities in alcohol-related accidents jumped more than 250%, from nine fatalities in 2019 to 24 in 2020 (Centers for Disease Control, 2020). The 24 fatalities represent the highest number since 2011. Additionally, drugs other than alcohol are involved in about 16 percent of motor vehicle crashes. Impaired driving is entirely preventable. Know the facts and talk with your kids about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. There are many good times to discuss this information such as:

• When your child asks to borrow the car

• When you’re at the dinner table together

• When your child asks if he or she can ride with a friend to school/a concert/a party

• When you’re running weekend errands

• When you’re at the grocery store

• When you and your child are in the car together.

Remember, keep it low-key. Don’t worry, you don’t have to get everything across in one talk. Plan to have many short talks. Talk with your child. They really do hear you.

If you, or someone you know, would benefit from learning more about “Talk. They Hear You,” contact Charlotte Reeves, Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery Community Outreach Coordinator, at reevesc@co.surry.nc.us. Visit our website at surrycountycares.com for more information about substance use disorder and the many resources in our county.

Charlotte Reeves is the Community Outreach Coordinator for Surry County Substance Abuse Recovery Office. She may be reached at 336-401-8218 or reevesc@co.surry.nc.us.

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 such as watchmakers, cobblers, seamstresses, and milliners are not as common as they once were. Surry County has a long history of these forgotten trades and arts, including the art of crafting the shoe.

As a child growing up in Surry County, I hated shoes. My rural environment and lush grass begged for bare feet roaming; shoes were not at the top of my priority list, no matter how many snakes roamed my yard. However, as I grew older and became interested in my own personal brand of fashion, that changed. Shoes can make or break your day, with comfort and affordability being key.

Today we find ourselves roaming neatly lined rows of perfect boxes when we are in need of shoes. Our forefathers and mothers had slightly different experiences.

Shoemakers, cobblers, or cordwainers used to be sprinkled throughout Main streets and communities across the world. This handicraft was unique to the country or region with more than 15 different techniques for making shoes or foot coverings. Contrary to many popular fairy tales, cobblers crafted shoes by hand. Many craftsmen started out as apprentices at other cobblers’ shops, with each in a constant rotation of passing the craft onto the next generation. The many tools, machines, and materials took devotion and practice to master.

Sandals were some of the first styles of shoes created, followed by clogs and leather-bottomed shoes. Fur, leather, and wood were common materials for cobblers to use. Each shoe, during this early time, was hand-measured and created for each person individually. It wasn’t until the early 1800s that a machine was made to aid in the creation of shoes. Marc Brunel created a way to mass-produce boots for the British Army. Rubber soles didn’t appear on the scene until the late 1890s.

The Industrial Revolution changed the way we consumed many products, including shoes. Cheap labor, readily available resources, and rising consumerism helped evolve the “shoe” narrative. However, even during the changing times, families and individuals favored repairing shoes over buying new. Local cobblers and repair shops could replace soles, eyelets, and sides. They also repaired bags, purses, and other leather goods. Downtown Mount Airy had several shoe repair stores or cobblers through the years.

Belton Shoe store was one of those shops. In operation, for 86 years the Belton legacy included two generations of the Belton family using the craft. In their timespan, the cost of repairing shoes changed drastically. In 1971 a shoe repair could cost around $4.75, the same job in 1998 would have cost $28. The L.C. Belton Repair store was originally located on Virginia Street but moved to N. Main Street, near Snappy Lunch, where it remained until it closed in April 1998. Another name in shoe repair from the area was L.B Albertson Boot and Shoemaker, which was originally on North Main Street in 1895.Harold’s Shoe Shop 1933, and J.E Harrold Shoe Shop on Moore Avenue were some other notable names.

As with the column a few weeks ago about Watchmakers, it is hard to find a repair shop in a downtown atmosphere; Elkin, still boasts a repair shop on Main Street, Patti’s Leather & Shoe Repair. However, they are few and far-between. The U.S. has an organization named Shoe Service Institute of America (SSIA) which, before the pandemic, met annually to award prizes, talk about the shoe industry, and socialize. Like many other handy-crafts, the work was hard and rewarding, fueling life for many families across the region.

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

Enduring the hotties of Dog Days

Beginning next week we will begin to endure the hotties of Dog Days. They are usually the hottest days of the long hot summer. In summer, at grandmas Northampton County home, her hounds were nowhere to be found on the hot Dog Day afternoons. They would be under the house laying down on cool soil next to the foundation of the house. You would not see them until the sun went down and they came out to eat what was left over from the supper table. The explanation of Dog Days is they occur every summer from early July until into August. They are the days when Sirius, the dog star in Canis Major constellation follows the constellation of Orion across the summer sky from sunrise to sunset. Dogs may be mad because they are hot, but contrary to what grandma said, dogs do not go mad during Dog Days. Unlike humans, they don’t over do it, but discover a place where they can cool off on a sultry Dog Day afternoon. We should do what they do and find a place to cool off.

Cooling the birds on a summer afternoon

Spray the hot dogs with a hose and then dump water from the birdbath and refill them with fresh cool water every afternoon. Cool off hanging baskets and containers of summer annuals until water runs out of the holes in bottoms of the baskets and containers.

Benefits, relief in afternoon thunderstorms

Dog Day afternoons can also promote the arrival of some relief from the sultry heat in the form of a thunderstorm. An extra bonus is that the garden plot gets a cool down and harvest. Ground vegetables get a fresh drink of water from upstairs.

A search for wild blackberry patches

Usually after the Fourth of July, the wild blackberries harvest begins. They can be found along roadsides and fields in the Piedmont. Wild blackberries have that certain “wang” about them that makes them unforgettable. As kids growing up in eastern North Carolina, we would pick and sell them for a quarter a quart and neighbors would buy them quickly to make blackberry dumplings and preserves. We would take advantage of the berry harvest for several weeks to make a few dollars and fill a lot of tables with blackberries.

Tomato harvest is almost here

The week after the Fourth of July usually brings the first ripe tomatoes. The heat of Dog Day summer afternoons will promote the ripeness of the first of a long harvest. Keep the tomatoes side dressed and covered after applying an application of Tomato-Tone organic tomato food or Miracle-Gro liquid tomato food mixed with proper amount of water in a sprinkling can. Keeping soil hilled up to tomato plants will protect them from gusty summer storms and support them.

A quick remedy for blossom end rot

The heat can pave the way for blossom end rot on tomatoes as they begin to ripen. One way to prevent blossom end rot is to water the base of tomato plants with the water wand in spray mode. Another way is to mix two quarts of powdered lime (calcium carbonate) in a sprinkling can of water and apply it around the base of the tomatoes. Still another method is to side dress the tomatoes with Vigaro calcium enriched tomato food and then pull up soil on both sides of the row and spray a shower of water with the water wand around base of the plants.

Making a pan of fresh blackberry dumplings

With blueberries in season, a simple blueberry dumpling recipe will make a great dessert for a summer supper. You will need ten Hungry Jack biscuits cut into halves. Mix one quart of fresh blueberries, one stick light margarine (melted), one tablespoon vanilla, one tablespoon corn starch, half cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for two or three minutes. Place bottoms of biscuits in a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan or dish sprayed with Pam baking spray. Pour half of the blueberry mixture over the biscuit halves. Place the biscuit tops on the blueberry filled bottoms and pour the rest of the blueberry mixture over top of the biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees until biscuits are golden brown. Serve with ice cream, Cool Whip or dairy whipping cream.

Making nectar for hummingbird feeders

The heat will cause nectar to ferment in the hummingbird feeders in just a few days. Change the nectar at least once a week and try to keep the feeder out of direct sunlight. Don’t fill feeders completely but about half full and check how long it lasts. Honey suckles are finishing their cycle of blooms and hummers will be visiting the feeders more frequently. You can purchase nectar in half gallon plastic bottles ready mixed or in envelopes that is powdered and ready to mix with water with several drops of red food coloring. You can prepare several quarts at a time and store in the refrigerator.

Starting seeds for late autumn tomatoes

As the first of the tomatoes of summer reach harvest stage, it’s time to sow the seeds of tomatoes for the plants that will provide a harvest of late summer and mid-autumn tomatoes, and green tomatoes to store to ripen in the house or basement. The best tomato varities for a late tomato harvest are the determinate. Determinates are a bush type that require no cages or stakes or support and they produce most of their harvest over a shorter period. Indeterminate need cages and supports and produce a harvest over a longer time period which makes them ideal for summer gardens. Determinants are best for autumn and late summer because they produce tomatoes in a shorter amount of time. Some determinants are Better Boy, Celebrity, Rutgers, Marglobe, Homestead, Mountain Pride and Oregon Spring. Determinate seed started now will be ready to transplant into the garden in mid to late August.

Zinnia bed attracts butterflies and finches

The colorful zinnia bed is filled with multicolored blooms that attract a variety of butterflies, goldfinches, bumblebees and all types of birds. On hot Dog Day afternoons, the zinnias need a cool drink of water, but not the foliage because to water the foliage promotes powdery mildew and cucumber mosaic. Always water zinnias at the base of the plants preferably with the water wand so that you can place water at exactly where it is needed.

Attracting bees to cucumbers and squash

To attract bees and other pollinators to blooming squash and cucumbers, use a spray bottle such as window glass cleaner comes in, with four or five tablespoons of sugar mixed in the bottle and spray a mist directly on the foliage. This will attract more bees and other pollinators to the blooms and help produce a larger harvest.

Pinching off the spent rose blooms

The roses of summer are still in bloom and putting on a show of color and beauty. As the roses bloom and fade, keep pinching off spent blooms to promote new blooms as summer moves along. Water roses once each week if no rain falls. Feed every 15 days with Rose-Tone organic rose food. Spray to control leaf mites and Japanese beetles.

“Crazy is as crazy does.” Husband: “My wife talks to herself all the time, she must be crazy.” Psychiatrist: “That’s ridiculous, you wouldn’t be crazy just because you talked to yourself.” Husband: “Why not?” Psychiatrist: “Of course not, I talk to myself. Do you think I’m crazy?” Husband: “I wouldn’t say your crazy if you talked to yourself, but if you listened you would be.”

“Gift of cold hard cash.” The husband asked his wife what she would like for her birthday. After a moment of thought she said, “This year, I want some cold hard cash for a change.” The next day, her husband filled her request. He put $50 in quarters, dimes and nickles in a jar and filled the jar with water and placed it in the freezer. That night, he handed his wife the jar of cold, hard cash.

“Alarming.” Jan: “My father has everything, I don’t know what to buy for him.” Fran: “Get him a burglar alarm!”

Independence Day will be celebrated on Monday, July 4. The moon will enter its first quarter on Wednesday, July 6. There will be a full moon on Wednesday, July 20. This full moon of the month of July will be named “Full Buck Moon.” There will be a new moon on the evening of Thursday, July 28. The hotties of Dog Days begin on Sunday, July 3, and will continue until Thursday, August 11.

Purity and daintiness of Queen Anne’s Lace

The fields and meadows as well as the country roads of Surry County are adorned with tall strands of the dainty and tapestry of the magic of Queen Anne’s Lace. Queen Anne’s Lace is a native of Europe and has roots shaped like a carrot. We wonder how they arrived in America, and did the pilgrims bring them on the Mayflower? Another interesting question is: were the roots of the Queen Anne’s Lace edible? We do know that in England, it is also known as the “wild carrot.”

It grows wild over a large area of the United States and along the mainline in Milwaukee where the Milwaukee road “Hiawathas” used to run. All over the Mid-West the Queen Anne’s white lace flowers adorn the heartland. It is an heirloom across the southeast and used to adorn floral arrangements mixed with flowers from many flower gardens. My mother and Northampton County grandma gathered the lace with its long stems to use as fillers for their floral arrangements during summer to place on alter tables in their church. What a colorful combination of the tamed zinnias, marigolds, cosmos and dahlias adorned with the wild majesty and daintiness of the pure white Queen Anne’s Lace on a summer Sunday.

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.

The graduates of Mount Airy High School have finished their 13 years in public education graduating with more than $3.5 million in scholarship awards. Each graduate has had the chance to earn workforce credentials, college credits, and skills that will last a lifetime. Over 65% of our graduates participated in free college courses while in high school. This translates into an average savings of $6,700 each year that you would be paying in college tuition at a four year college. Over time this saves parents a lot of money. Congratulations to our graduates as they move forward to their next step of college, the military or the workplace.

Many of our graduates go to Surry Community College to finish out their two-year degree before they go into the workforce or onto a four-year college. Surry Community College is a great cost savings option as well as a way for students to decide which career path they want to pursue. Having a strong community college in our community is outstanding and a resource that all students should take advantage of exploring areas of interest or taking specific skill-developing courses.

Students also work on their workforce credentials and skills through Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses and assessments. Our high school students earned 480 credentials just this year and over 83% of Mount Airy High School students were proficient on CTE assessments. This is in comparison to 70% in our region. Seventy percent of our students achieved platinum, gold, and silver which shows that our students have the literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills that employers need in their workplace. Congratulations to Jason Dorsett, principal of Mount Airy High School, Olivia Sikes, CTE director, and the amazing team of CTE educators.

As we prepare the next generation of graduates, Mount Airy City Schools has been given almost $1.8 million to renovate our workforce development center through a statewide grant. This building was built in 1969 and has not had upgrades since then other than some paint and maintenance. We will have the opportunity to upgrade the HVAC, roof, walkway, and awnings. We will renovate the restrooms, create larger hallways, install an elevator, and make the overall environment accessible and inviting for all students and staff. Our county commissioners have contributed 5% of the overall costs to make sure we provide what is needed for our students.

This effort would not be possible without the leadership of our Board of Education and their foresight of our students’ futures. Our hope is to make improvements to the building, create access for handicapped individuals, and utilize up-to-date labs and equipment to prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow.

We have programs that include drones, aviation science, and Adobe. Mount Airy High School offers health science for all health related careers, food and nutrition, engineering through Project Lead the Way, 3D modeling, and graphic design. We have construction, woodworking, and have added sustainable agriculture. This addition will allow for leadership development and laboratory work with a greenhouse on the campus. Our students can help build sustainable solutions in agriculture for our community.

Mount Airy City Schools has launched the Mount Airy City Schools Educational Foundation and has raised more than $50,000. Donors in our community have pledged an additional $40,000 specifically to innovative programs in our school system because they believe in the future of our children. We know that you do as well.

As you talk with administrators, educators, and our Board of Education, encourage them in their work to make sure all of the Mount Airy community has the workers needed in the future. We hope that our students will see the amazing opportunities they have right here at home and continue to work and grow in Mount Airy. If you are interested in contributing to our innovative programs or would like to have more information please see our website at http://www.mtairy.k12.nc.us or call us at 336-786-8355.

I feel compelled to respond to the column titled “American Freedom on the line in November” published June 30 by Rob Schofield.

I must point out the content, discussion of the content, and conclusion of the content as an example of what has gone so badly wrong with the media platforms found in today’s landscape. Mr. Schofield doesn’t waste a lot of time sewing the seed of misinformation and discontent found so common in media commentary in today’s society. His first sentence states “The U.S. Supreme court ruling that Americans no longer have a constitutional right to control their own reproduction is a disaster of monumental proportions.”

In truth Americans have access to at least six different forms of reproduction control aside from abortion. One of those methods, commonly known as “the pill” has over 275 distinct varieties designed specifically to ensure their usage also works in concert with numerous other medical conditions to provide the best result. The American public has unfettered access to hundreds, if not thousands, of methods to “control their own reproduction.”

Mr. Schofield then proceeds to further the notion abortion is about control by “old well-off white men, who are unaffected by the ruling.” To support that notion he offers up the notion that “a huge majority don’t support the ruling that presumably overturned Roe v. Wade.” They can’t explain to us why the liberal bastion of the Supreme Court called Roe v. Wade bad law. She recognized that it was an issue best left to community to decide rather than forced on a national society.

What Mr. Schofield doesn’t bother to tell us that while the pools indicate a majority support of the right to choose, the scale of that support dwindles with the conditional results of choice. The same polls that indicate support for the right to choose, indicate support reduces to a mere 13% who support the choice extending beyond the time frame of the first three months of gestation. Accordingly what triggers the absolute outrage of abortion is the liberal tendency to continue a liberal stance to leftist extreme. 13% say they’re okay with abortion past the first three months even up to and including the actual beginning of the birthing process. The inverse suggest that 87% of Americans are not okay with the procedure beyond the scope of the first three months of gestation. That doesn’t sound like a lot of old well-off, old white men to me.

You see it’s always the extreme outlier that becomes the focus of attention. It’s sort of like airplanes; you only hear about the ones that crash, never mind the thousands which take off and land safely every day. Liberal thinking seems to be currently bent on the notion that the SCOTUS ruling marks the notion that we’ve lost the democracy guideline of majority rule and this issue is now the desire of the minority. They evidently haven’t heard about all the legislation crafted of late that is specifically designed to cater to minority cases.

Indeed that same public polling indicates the majority of Americans don’t have an issue with school prayer, the majority of Americans don’t believe that boys should be allowed to participate in girls athletic events, and a majority of Americans believe their rights come with responsibilities and finally, the majority of Americans understand choices made have consequences.

The same people who champion the choice of aborting after the three-month period of gestation are the same people who vilify people who made a choice not to vaccinate or not to wear mask. They reason people who made those choices were endangering the lives of others while rebuking the reality of the choice of abortion takes the life of the unborn. It is the rhetoric of those like Mr. Schofield which divides the country. Add in the hypocrisy of those in power going to their hair appointments when the rest of us weren’t allowed and had family gatherings at restaurants when the rest of us weren’t allowed and you have divisive conduct simply not matching the rhetoric. They just don’t or won’t own it. Too many old, well-off, white men they can blame, I suppose.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

This week I want to display the journey of Moses and God’s people into the Promised Land that initially started with a promise made to Abraham by God. Early in this column, it is essential to note that God has a promised land for each of us. Of course, that ultimate land of promise is in heaven with God in our very own mansion that has been built for us to reside in, but our promised land here on earth is found in the specific purpose He has laid out for each person individually.

You will see in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 the words of Moses to the Israelites as he prepared them for their Promised Land that was filled with a purpose for their descendants. The question posed here is what does God require of us as we journey toward that land, as we look toward residing in our purpose, or better stated, how to live a life that God desires us to live to the fullest?

As stated in the words of Moses is, five simple directives to fear God, please God, love God, serve God, and obey God. For the sake of space and time, I will not be able to go into deep detail about each of these points, but I can state that each of them can be found intertwined in the ten commandments found in Exodus 20 and echoed by Jesus in Matthew 22:35-40.

The verses in Matthew read this way, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

There is a commission that we are to have an attitude of fearing, pleasing, serving, and obeying, but there is something about true love that helps us bring the first four right in line with God’s will for our lives. Paul in 1 Timothy 1-5-7 states that the commandants of our life should be derived from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. This pure heart that Paul talks about gives us our genuine desire to please God through service to others. This direct obedience to God’s Word shows that we are not scared of God but possess a fear derived from reverence and respect. John tells us in 1 John 4:7-10, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

My friend God is love. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Fearing, pleasing, serving, obeying, and loving are simple requirements when we consider that God sent Christ to forsake it all for us to have freedom from the bondage of our sin. I have found that once we begin to understand 1 John 4, we begin not only to see why Deuteronomy is pertinent but you will begin to see the truth in Jesus’s answer to the lawyer in Matthew 22. That love should compel us to love others, which will result in a display of all the requirements needed to inhabit the promises from God. Jeremiah 29:11 states, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Love God, and I promise, friend, you will experience more than you can imagine.

May God bless you and keep you and allow his face to shine upon you and give you peace. God bless you!

Thank heaven for natural-born leaders like Frank Fleming, who was able to gather a roomful of supporters to help push forward his common-sense solution to refurbish and re-use an existing sign structure to promote his company’s move to a new location off of Route 52 (see “Crowd supports sign request” in the June 18 edition of The Mount Airy News).

It’s sad, but true, that members of the community must resort to such public-pressure tactics because most city council officials appear to serve only as puppets for Mount Airy Downtown (MAD) – thereby making them incapable of thinking for themselves or paying attention to any reasonable requests brought before them from business interests outside the purview of MAD.

Fortunately, Commissioner Jon Cawley, a pro-business visionary for the whole of the city of Mount Airy, insisted on putting Mr. Fleming’s issue on the agenda of an upcoming (July 21) city council meeting. And Deborah Cochran, another well-known business-growth leader, issued a statement in support of an amendment to the existing sign ordinance that the city is standing behind to prevent Mr. Fleming from moving forward with his plans.

The hypocrisy of the city council’s behavior was subsequently highlighted by Commissioner Cawley, who noted that the extensive infrastructure street work required to support the creation of an Andy Griffith mural – another “downtown” project from the MAD playbook — was in violation of an existing city ordinance related to sidewalks and streets (see “Mural drawn into sign debate” in the June 23 edition of The Mount Airy News.)

Putting aside the fact that no one opposed the mural as another ‘Mayberry’ tourist attraction, its blanket approval demonstrates that the city is comfortable ignoring its own ordinances if/when a project is part of Mount Airy Downtown’s agenda. It also demonstrates, once again, the city’s lack of transparency vis-à-vis the cost to taxpayers for the sidewalk/street reconstruction needed to provide preferred positioning for the mural.

Hopefully, the City of Mount Airy will be much better served after the Nov. 8 general election – when narrowly focused “downtown only” council members have been replaced with elected officials able to think “outside the [MAD] box” in order to serve the interests of all citizens and businesses.

Over the past few years, I have been pondering once again JFK’s admonition to all of us to ask not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for our country. It seems to me that many Americans are takers, especially those who want more stuff no matter how much it takes away from others and destroys our environment.

Where have the givers gone, the ordinary people who volunteered for the Peace Corps or Americorps or invested time in Boys and Girls clubs and helping out local charities and other relief organizations? Maybe I am being too harsh because I care deeply about those I know who do give so unselfishly of themselves.

However, too many of us talk about rights all of the time, particularly the right to bear arms which allows the hateful and insane among us to use weapons of war to shoot up our malls, schools, and places of worship and to create a reign of terror in our society. What about our responsibilities to each other and our country? Why didn’t our forefathers craft a Bill of Responsibilities that we all should abide by to protect our safety and to work to ensure the common good of all Americans?

Summer is reunion time for many families. A chance to gather with cousins, share stories and laughter and make stronger connections with those who share a common heritage.

The Burke family reunion is happening this weekend. For some that means coming home. For others this will be the first time in the area.

Members of the Burke and associated families have been instrumental in building business in Mount Airy and Surry County for 150 years. Though he came from humble roots, by age 21, William Walter (WW) Burke established a thriving dry goods store on Main Street and steadily built an impressive real estate business besides.

His father, James Marion Burke, was born to Irish immigrants in 1845 in South Philadelphia, the same neighborhood the fictional Rocky Balboa rose from. Even then it was a neighborhood of people of modest and limited means, mostly Irish, Scots, and free Blacks, working the factories, docks, and train yards, hoping to save enough to move uptown to a better life.

His immigrant father, also named James, was a bootmaker and within a decade owned his own small shop. The family moved to a nicer part of town and both he and his brother were working by the time they were 16.

In October 1864 James, then a tinsmith, enlisted in Company E of the 1st New York Artillery and served for the duration of the Civil War, a decision that left him hard of hearing.

We will likely never know what attracted him to Mount Airy but by 1870 he was working in the Brower shoe factory, cutting leather.

At the same time Lucy Hayes, recently widowed, moved with her eight daughters to Mount Airy where there was work in the Brower Cotton Mill. The six older girls (13-24) worked. The entire family was illiterate.

One of the girls, 18-year-old Ida, met James, perhaps walking to work, perhaps at church, perhaps a social gathering. Regardless, they married and bought a house on Pender Street where they raised six children, including their first-born, WW.

James and Ida ensured their children received an education and learned marketable skills. WW seems to have been a determined and progressive businessman from a young age, barely 21 when he opened his store. In 1901 he was a charter member of the Young Men’s Commercial Club of Mount Airy. The organization included many of the people who would shape the region’s economy and business landscape for much of the 20th century.

By 1913, WW was able to afford a large house on Pine Street and one of the first “horseless carriages” in the county when he bought a Hupmobile.

When he married Lucy Bell Taylor in 1907, he joined a storied family with deep roots across the region — roots that twine through the War of 1812 and reach to several patriots in the American Revolution.

Many of Lucy’s extended family were college educated, counting physicians, members of the state General Assembly, and business owners as well as farmers with large operations.

Her father’s grandfather, William A. Taylor, settled in Henry County, Virginia. The town that grew up around his farm was called Taylorville for many years until the name was changed to Stuart for a Civil War general who’d also grown up locally.

Burke turned his hand to a number of business ventures. He was one of the founding partners of Renfro Hosiery but sold out his share. He also bought several properties beginning a generations-long family involvement in real estate development.

History is so much more than important dates and the towering figures who loom large in our collective past. It is the daily sacrifice, hard work, and contributions made by the women and men of our families across generations. The important work of building communities is made by those who live and work in them and the seeds of success are carried on the winds as children branch out from their roots to new challenges and new locations.

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.

Summer thunder: message of the trees

In the heat of a summer afternoon, the heat of the sweltering sun bears down on the leaves of oaks and maples and they respond by turning their leaves over to show their petticoats and send a subtle message that they are ready for some rain in the form of an afternoon thunderstorm. Later, the sun hides behind the clouds, thunder rolls, lightning flashes and a hefty rain falls; the leaves flip over to receive the fresh raindrops, and after the rain, there is a cool, refreshing breeze. The leaves are fresh, green, lively as well as upright as if thanking the creator for a wonderful shower of blessing and refreshing.

Vegetables need food, not fertilizers

Organic plant, flower and vegetable food is beneficial to soil as well as vegetables. Organics will dissolve quickly into soil and are finely textured and not pelletized and this promotes nutritional results. You can choose from Plant-Tone organic vegetable food, Tomato-Tone organic tomato food, Garden-Tone organic plant food, Flower-Tone organic flower food and Holly-Tone organic evergreen and azalea food. It is available in four- and ten-pound zippered bags. The four-pound bags are easier to handle and apply and can be sprinkled into the furrows and mixed easily into the soil when sowing seed.

Hoping for few Japanese beetles

As the heat of June increases, we hope the population of Japanese beetles will not increase. As Dog Days draw nearer, we should know what kind of beetle year this will be. If you see them appear, the first measure of control should be to place beetle traps in areas away from the garden and affected areas. If there is a huge infestation, spray a mist of liquid Sevin mixed with proper amount of water in a spray bottle. Allow the sun to dry the mist into the foliage.

Peat moss and Black Kow elixirs

These two organic products will give the garden an extra boost. Both are totally organic and will work wonders in warm summer soil. Black Kow is composted cow manure and comes in 25- and 50-pound bags. A 25-pound bag costs about $6. Peat moss comes in 3.5 cubic foot bales and costs about $12 per bale. Keep a bale on hand and place on seed in the furrow before you hill up soil on both sides of the furrow.

Heat up compost with grass clippings

Using residue from garden harvests, grass clippings and peelings of vegetables and other crops add extra heat to the compost and help decompose and break down the materials by bringing on the heat. Grass clippings also provide great mulch for summer vegetable crops.

Days of summer getting shorter

The days of summer are now getting shorter by one minute each evening now that summer has begun. This will continue til Dec. 21. It will be a while before we can see any difference because summer has just got started and the days of summer are long.

Staying ahead of summer weeds

The weeds in the summer garden do not take a vacation, but will continue to grow and choke out vegetable harvests. The best way to control them is to pull them up by the roots and throw them out of the garden. Those weeds have deep roots and pulling them up by the roots is the best way to destroy them.

Watching out for the deck umbrella

The warm afternoons of summer can trigger a thunderstorm that generates high winds that can blow over the deck umbrella and take the deck table over with it. If a thunderstorm is in the forecast, remove the umbrella. If you go on vacation always do these two things for peace of mind and protection: Remove deck umbrella and store it and switch off the refrigerator’s ice maker and don’t forget to switch it back on as soon as you return home.

Warm temperatures pave way for tougher grass

Warm June temperatures pave the way for tougher grass and this will make mowing a little harder. Make sure grass is dry from morning dew or a sudden shower. Never mow grass that is wet, but wait until the sun dries out the grass. Make sure the blade is sharp and adjusted to keep from cutting grass too low.

Warm days and nights cause tomato plants to bloom and form green tomatoes as we end June. Feed the tomatoes by applying Tomato-Tone organic tomato food on each side of the tomato row and hilling up soil to cover up the Tomato-Tone. Water with the wand in shower mode each week at the base of the tomato plants to prevent blossom end rot. Apply a layer of calcium carbonate (powdered lime) on each side of tomato vines when green tomatoes appear. Cover lime with soil on each side of the row. Water each week when no rain is forecast.

Making a creamy ranch squash casserole

The summer squash are now in season and this casserole is a great way to use some of them. You will need two or three pounds of yellow summer squash, one cup of diced onions, three fourth cup mayonnaise, two slightly beaten large eggs, one envelope crushed saltine crackers, five slices toasted crushed bread, one envelope Hidden Valley buttermilk ranch dressing (dry), one eight ounce package of finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one stick melted margarine, half teaspoon salt and half teaspoon pepper. Cook squash and onions until tender and drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix mayonnaise, beaten eggs, and crushed saltines, and ranch dressing and the finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Mash the squash and onion mixture and add to the mayonnaise mixture. Pour into a casserole dish sprayed with Pam baking spray. Mix melted light margarine with the toasted, crushed bread crumbs; heat and sprinkle over the squash mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbly.

Ethanol oil treatment on two cycle small engines

Ethanol is not good for two cycle small engines. When adding oil to the fuel, always add ethanol free oil treatment to the fuel to protect engines of weed trimmers, blowers and tillers as well as all small engines. You can purchase this additive at Home Depot, Lowe’s and most hardwares.

The blueberry harvest to begin

As June is at the close, the season of the blueberry is almost here and the harvest will run all the way into August. Unlike strawberries, it takes a lot of blueberries to compose a gallon, but their flavor in a blueberry pie or a cobbler or sonker makes them well worth the time and effort. Dog Days will soon be here, so the best thing to do is pick blueberries early in the morning before the sun heats things up. It takes patience to pick blueberries as well as a positive thinking attitude. A bit of wise advice — leave the kids with grandma because the patience of kids wear thin in the blueberry patch! One plus of blueberries is that they are easy to prepare and freeze. All you have to do is run cold in the sink. Pour a quart of blueberries in at a time in the water and remove the unripe berries that rise to the top with a tea strainer. Place berries in quart containers after draining the berries on a dry towel for a minute. Make sure berries are dry when placing in the plastic quart containers. Allow half an inch at the top of container before placing the lids. In winter, they will taste just like fresh berries.

Making a blueberry sweet dream dessert

This is a yummy recipe to think about when getting ready to make a blueberry picking visit worthwhile when you get back home. You will need one 21-ounce can of Comstock blueberry pie filling, one quart fresh blueberries, one eight ounce pack softened cream cheese, one tub of Cool Whip, two cups of graham cracker crumbs, one cup 10x powdered sugar, one cup sugar and two sticks light margarine. Run the graham crackers through the blender in “grate” mode and mix with two sticks of melted light margarine and spread in the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish or pan. Bake at 350 degrees for seven or eight minutes. Beat cream cheese and add powdered sugar. Spread over the graham crackers. Mix blueberry pie filling, fresh blueberries, one cup sugar and spread over the cream cheese mixture. Cover with Cool Whip or dairy whipping cream and serve. Keep refrigerated.

The heat and humidity of July’s Dog Days will begin in a few days. Now is the time to check out the Irish potato row or bed and see what’s under the vines. Dig under them lightly and don’t disturb the skins of the spuds. After harvest, spread a layer of powdered lime over the harvested potatoes to promote drying.

“Rock a bye baby.” Son: “Why is Dad singing so much to the baby tonight?” Mother: “He is trying to sing the baby to sleep.” Son: “If I were her, I’d pretend I was asleep.”

“Tailor made.” Customer: “I’m sorry, I wont be able to pay for this suit for two months.” Tailor: “Oh, that will be alright.” Customer: “When will the suit be ready?” Tailor: “In two months.”

“Fun pun:” “I’m going to put all my money into taxes — they are sure to go up.”

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

I want to start today by saying God wants you to know He is right there with you today and forever. Last week I said we would look at the splendor of God, and realizing he is right there with you is the first step in recognizing that splendor. The writer of Hebrews is clear in stating this point by first saying He will never leave you and then follows that with the wording of never forsaking you.

As I counsel people, I ask them to list their fears, worries, struggles, and most of all, their weaknesses. Very rarely do I find people with the same list. Some express identical words but very seldom do the causes behind those words look the same. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 12 that he had a thorn in his flesh that Satan used to try to keep him away from God, but in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul states this, “And he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

As I titled this article, I debated on calling it “Finding Strength in our Weakness,” but quickly realized that although strength can be drawn from our shortcomings, it is imperative first to accept that power into our lives.

The disciple Peter experiences God’s splendor in Matthew 14:22- 33 when Jesus invites him to walk out to him on top of the water. Peter does excellent at first because he keeps his eyes on the Son of God (God incarnate), but when he starts looking around, he begins to sink! Jesus does not allow him to go entirely under but instead pulls him up to ask about his faith. I hope you find it humbling today to know that Christ is there to catch you and even pull you up out of the sinking water of life. Peter was standing on solid water one minute and then sinking the next. His cry to Jesus was, “Save me!” Such a simple sentence in words, but so strong when we scream it with meaning.

One more time, I want you to remember that God wants you to know He is right there with you, waiting to hear not only your voice, but he wants your heart, your mind, and your soul to desire that He is the force in this sinking world to save you. So quickly, our heart says yes to the ways God tells us to face the things of this world, but our mind drifts to other means. Sometimes our mind knows that He is the only way, but that same mind becomes clouded with things of this world. We lose sight of the splendor.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2,” I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Today my friend I encourage you to seek God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. Look for Jesus and keep your eyes planted on him for your direction. Make a list of all your fears, worries, struggles, and most of all, your weaknesses, and one by one, give them to God, and he will set you on a path to strength. One last time, God wants you to know He is with you today and forever. May God bless you and allow His face to shine on you and give you peace. God bless you.

The first day of summer is only two days away and with the arrival of summer comes the expectation of evening thunderstorms that can be benefactors of the summer garden plot. Sometimes the thunderstorms on summer afternoons are the lifeblood of the garden and lawn during the heat and humidity of summer and the up and coming of Dog Days early in July. A summer thunderstorm has a certain aroma and freshness about it that perks up the garden and gives the lawn a sudden burst of energy. It gives the warm weather crops a boost as they head toward harvest stage. On a hot and humid day, after a thunderstorm, the air takes a turn for the better and is easier to breath.

Feeding the early roses of summer

The roses have bloomed all during the month of May and into June. They now need a boost of food to promote the blooms of summer. Pull off spent blooms and cut back any long canes. Feed the rose bushes with Rose-Tone organic rose food and water them to allow the food to soak into the soil. Water roses each week with the water wand in shower mode. Check roses for mites, insects and Japanese beetles and spray to control them.

Cucumbers hiding under the vines

The cucumbers are at harvest stage and they grow quickly in the warm temperatures of mid June. The foliage matches the color of the cucumbers as they hide under the spreading vines. Make a double effort to find them before they get to large to harvest and turn yellow. Use a rake to pull back the foliage and search under the leaves for the elusive cucumbers.

Feeding tomatoes for a harvest

Many tomato plants have already passed bloom stage and are forming tiny green tomatoes. Feed them now by side dressing them Tomato-Tone organic tomato food and hilling the food with soil on each side of the row. Water tomatoes at the base of the plants with the water wand in shower mode to prevent mildew when soil is dry and no rain is in the forecast. This will help prevent blossom end rot.

Grass clippings to heat up compost

Some vegetables have passed harvest stage and can be pulled up, mowed over or gathered up and placed in the compost bin or pile. Mowing season is in full swing and this is the time to save those clippings and add them to the compost bin to heat up and decompose garden residue. The summer sun shining down on the compost with the heat of the grass clippings will really make a huge difference in producing compost and mulch all summer long.

Protecting deck furniture from mildew

The thunderstorms of summer will promote mold and mildew on the deck furniture and table. You can prevent this from by mixing a half and half mix of water and chlorine bleach in a glass cleaner spray bottle and applying a spray directly on the deck furniture. Let the sun dry the mixture and the mold and mildew will disappear. You can also use this mixture on vinyl siding.

Use wisdom when watering zinnias

The days and nights of June are getting warmer and zinnias love this time of season. As the zinnias continue to grow and produce more foliage before they reach flower stage be careful when watering rows or beds. Do not spray the foliage because this causes powdery mildew on the leaves. Use a water wand and spray the base of the zinnias. This helps prevent the powder mildew and promote colorful flowers as the season progresses.

Making a creamy Moravian chicken pie

You will need a package of Pillsbury nine inch pie shells, four chicken breasts (cooked and de-boned and cut into chunks), two potatoes (boiled and cubed), one cup of chicken broth, two carrots (peeled, cooked and cubed), one teaspoon salt, three fourth teaspoon poultry seasoning, half teaspoon pepper, one fourth cup plain flour, one fourth cup evaporated milk and half stick light margarine. Mix all ingredients and pour into a pie shell and cover with the other pie crust, bind the edges and cut slits in top of crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes. Pie will serve four.

Starting second crop of green beans

With the first crop of green beans ready to harvest it’s time to start the second crop. With June’s warm days and nights, the second crop will quickly grow and be ready for a harvest in mid summer. Not many vegetables are as productive as green beans. Choose from the bush varities of Derby, Top Crop, Tenderette, Strike, Kentucky Wonder Bush and Blue Lake Bush. You can expect a harvest in 65 to 70 days.

Lima beans will quickly grow in warm June soil

Lima beans are a vegetable that quickly thrives in very warm temperatures. You can choose from varities of Henderson Bush, Thorogreen, Fordhook 242 and Dixie Butterpea. Most will require a 70- to 75-day maturity date. Once the beans sprout, apply Plant-Tone organic vegetable food on each side of the row and hill up soil on both sides of the row to cover the plant food. Water every week when no rain is in the forecast.

A beautiful product of the days of summer is the rainbow that appears in the eastern sky after a summer thunderstorm. They are especially beautiful when they appear in a background of dark gray clouds that make the rainbow glow with a bright sunshine reflecting of the clouds and giving an unusual glow to the brilliance of the bow in the clouds.

Late June and the arrival of fireflies

What is as rare as a day in June, except a June night filled with fireflies? We are hoping for a bountiful summer of the firefly. These amber tailed insects are one of the highlights of summer nights. Some years are better than others for them and we hope this will be their very brightest year. At my grandmas house in Northampton County when we were kids, she lived in the wide open country where there were no city lights or street lights, but plenty of lights from many thousands of fireflies or lighting bugs as she called them.

Starting late tomato plants from seed

As we move toward July, it’s time to begin a packet or two of late, late tomato plants for an early and a late autumn tomato harvest. The seeds of autumn tomatoes should be determinate varities such as Celebrity, Marglobe, Rutgers, Homestead and Early Girl. Determinant mean varities that will produce without necessarily having to install cages, stakes or other supports. They are great for autumn because you can cover plants with layers of straw or grass clippings. To start late tomatoes, use two medium sized pots (one quart size) and a bag of starting medium. Measure out enough of the medium to fill the quart pots and allow a handful of medium per pot to cover the seed. Add water to moisten the medium and fill the two pots within a half inch from the top. In one pot, sprinkle the seed of one variety and in other pot the seed of another variety and label the pots with tomato varities. Sprinkle seeds in pots and cover with potting medium. Water seed with a mist of water from a spray bottle everyday. Keep tomatoes away from direct sunlight such as a carport. In about ten days, they will have developed two leaves. Transplant to individual pots and water each day. They should be ready to transplant in garden plot in mid August. Keep pots out of direct sunlight.

Keeping birdbaths filled with cool water

The days are getting warmer and birds are active finding food and building nests. The summer sun heats up the water in the birdbaths and evaporates a lot of it. Empty water in afternoon and refill with cool fresh water. With a fresh water supply the birds will return many times during the day.

“Pieces of thoughtfulness.” A tightwad was looking for a gift for a friend. Everything he saw was too expensive except for a glass vase that had been broken, which he could purchase for a small price. He asked the clerk to mail it to the friend, hoping the friend would think it got broken in the mail. The next week, he received a letter from the friend. The letter said, “Thanks for the vase, it was so thoughtful of you to wrap each piece separately.”

Trumpets and turmoil. A man complained to his landlord about renters in the apartment above him. Every night they stomp on the floor and shout until midnight. The landlord said, “Do they bother you?” The renter said, “No, not really, I practice on my trumpet until about that same time every night.”

Summer has always kicked off in June which just so happens to be National Great Outdoors Month. A classic spot in my mind that provides relaxation, fun, and adventure is none other than the local cave, Devil’s Den.

Devil’s Den is not some hole in the ground, it’s a local feature that has promoted tourism for more than a century, assisted in early navigation and transportation, potentially housed fugitives, inspired folklore and stories passed down over generations, provided habitat for a host of unique wildlife, and so much more.

The cave is hidden right off the Blue Ridge Parkway on the south-facing side of the mountain in neighboring Fancy Gap, Virginia, a few miles north of North Carolina. When I say Devil’s Den, most people only think of the cave system. In reality, the cave lies within the roughly 250-acre Devil’s Den Nature Preserve on top of Harris Mountain. To know the whole story though you truly have to start at the beginning.

Millions of years ago, the shifting of tectonic plates pushed rocks up into the Blue Ridge Mountains that we see today, and some rocks at Devil’s Den have been dated as being 600 million years old. The cave is unique in that it formed due to the collision of the Appalachian and Piedmont rock encrustations which means rocks forming the mountains hit rocks forming the hills. That collision is why some rocks stand 40-50 feet tall around the cave and some have created gaps big enough for us to fit in to explore. The rocks of the cave are also interesting as they are made up primarily of metamorphic schist and granite and also include features such as several solid bands of quartz.

Shifts in the earth have closed off certain passageways over time, and there is no real record of just how big or deep the cave is. What is well known is there is an old ladder leading down on the left side. You can also eventually exit the cave further down the mountain following the creek.

There’s more to the nature preserve than just the cave though, there are also hiking trails. Today you can take a short hike along the Good Spur Trail, which is actually a part of the roadbed for the original Good Spur Road. Before the creation of the Fancy Gap Highway, the passage up and down the mountain was extremely difficult.

As interest in traveling west picked up in the late 1700s, the need for roads that could handle wagon travel began to pick up. These early mountain roads would seem more like a dirt trail to us today, but they were a big difference at the time. Flower Gap Road, first officially documented in May of 1750, along with the Good Spur Road, which was first documented in 1786, were two of the earliest established mountain roads in the area.

Aside from families traveling west, these roads were also important to farmers such as Robert S. Harris, whose family gave Harris Mountain its name. Robert Harris once lived on the land that is now the Devil’s Den Nature Preserve, and remnants of his old farm home built in the late 1800s are still part of the property. The land was passed down eventually to Edward Harris Carlan who donated the land to the public.

When visiting the cave, it’s interesting to remember that tourism has been bringing people there for more than a hundred years, since the 1890s in fact. During this time, they even had guided tours down into the cave that allowed visitors to travel hundreds of feet down.

It became a tourism hot spot in the 1920s following the Hillsville courthouse massacre of 1912. It was rumored that members of the Allen Family hid out in the cave as the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency searched for them, but this was never confirmed. There have even been stories over the years that the Allen family left treasure down in the caves to keep some of their valuables safe from the law, but that story too has been left unconfirmed.

According to local legend, the cave helped to hide not just moonshine makers, but the moonshine itself. It has been said that the caves have been used as a drop-spot by moonshine sellers in the past. There are many other tales about the cave such as people going in never to return, but oddly enough no one has ever reported seeing supernatural creatures or “The Devil.” In fact, the site gets its name based on its rock formations more than anything.

Overall, this local recreation area is more than meets the eye. All along the property, you can enjoy a variety of wildlife from deer to rare salamanders and unique migrating songbirds. Even ten years ago, they still offered tours of the cave, and though that service is no longer available, the caves are still free to explore. The caves close in the winter, but they usually open up to the public May-November. I hope you all enjoy getting out this summer whether you drive out the parkway, hike, or explore.

Cassandra Johnson is the Director of Programs and Education at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She is a Carroll County native whose family has been exploring the Devil’s Den cave for generations.

And they said unto me, “The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days and fasted, and prayed before God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:3-4

A typical thought is that when something is broken, it can never be fixed. Some would say it is ruined. Others may say it will never be the same again, but with God, that is not the case. I want to start this column by saying there isn’t anything that God can’t fix, and I will go further to say that God takes broken pieces and makes everything beautiful.

God’s people and Jerusalem in Nehemiah are only one of many examples in the Bible of God taking brokenness and creating beauty. As you can see in Nehemiah 1:3-4, the book starts with an emotional Nehemiah, but as you read through the twelve chapters of the book of Nehemiah, you will see beauty, miracles, and God-filled people. It is my favorite book about this transformational brokenness to beauty.

The process to get all this started is easily found in Nehemiah 1:4, “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days and fasted, and prayed before God of heaven.”

It started with identifying the brokenness. This step can be challenging, I believe. If we are being honest, denial sometimes can be easier than admission. Think about it this way. You turn your car into a pole at the drive-through. You quickly look at the damage and start to reason how much damage has occurred. Anyone who has ever experienced this will know what I mean when I say ignoring the damage will lead to more problems.

When God incarnate came to planet Earth, Jesus found lots of damage that had been let go for way too long. Like Nehemiah’s perspective, we were broken, and God’s people needed to be fixed. This repair begins with us admitting that the dents, scrapes, and loose parts are present in our lives, and the master mechanic is Jesus. Listen to John 3:16-17, “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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved.”

Following Nehemiah’s truthful observation, next, we see the progression of steps. Take some time to mourn. God understands our emotions; after all, He created them, but then we have to hand them over to God. Fasting and praying is a whole topic in and of itself, but in short, it is our way as believers to give everything to God. It is the act of not letting anything distract us from what needs to be handed over to the One who can fix everything and make everything beautiful.

Listen to the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” The process is not in our control, not in our time, and not in our way.

These three statements might frustrate us, but it is the only way. God’s ways are higher than ours, and his thoughts are higher than ours. Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. Follow the process, and I promise you will experience the beauty that God will provide. Next week we will look closer at the splendor of our God, but until then, identify your broken pieces, hand them to God, and get prepared for the amazing things God will do in your life. God bless you.

This is in reference to the June 11 column of Their View, “No compromise on gun laws” by F. Paul Valone.

Spot on. Mr. Valone’s analysis of the two main knee-jerk “solutions” advocated by gun control zealots cuts to the chase. His path forward:

a. citing true gang violence statistics,

b. rescinding Marxist/Socialist policies of defunding the police and unrelenting narrative of “systemic racism,” and

c. desisting with Black Lives Matter (BLM) anti-family philosophy and anti-religious morality denigration

Until the long-term issues above are addressed, his deterrence suggestions to adopt a security model used in airports merits serious consideration. An additional security at schools having a Junior Reserve Officer Training Program (JROTC) is to arm both program instructors, since they, too, like volunteer teachers, have had training in open carry and gun safety.

Finally, yes, we do “need to act” as Biden pontificated with respect to mass shootings; not by politicizing the event, rather by:

b. removing Soros-placed District Attorneys,

c. automatically pronouncing death sentence without appeal on a surviving mass shooter, and

d. enforcing current gun laws.

Leave our 2nd Amendment Right alone.

On June 3 my Subaru stopped. The motor blew up, at the stop light in front of Scenic Subaru.

Two police officers and a sheriff’s deputy were there immediately. One of them said “don’t sweat the small stuff. God’s in charge.”

I want to thank these three men who helped us. My husband has cancer. I had him with me on way to oncology office. He’s very sick and the Scenic Subaru people were extra kind and helpful. Angels all around.

In this day and age, most people will rarely have to use the services of their local funeral home, which is something to be grateful for. But that wasn’t always the case, and the public’s interaction with these businesses used to be much more prevalent — funeral homes used to also function as a basic ambulance service, and provided an early form of life insurance.

Before the mid 1800s, the care of the recently deceased was left up to the family. It was up to them to build coffins and sometimes even dig the graves. Times were harsh, living and working conditions were poor, which led to high mortality rates. Families preparing their deceased loved ones for burial was a common occurrence.

Luckily, for much of recent history, these duties can be designated to funeral homes, allowing the family to mourn without the added trauma. However, preparing for funerals has not always been the sole duty of funeral homes; they have historically fulfilled other roles in their communities.

Starting in the 1800s, funeral homes also fulfilled the essential service of transporting the sick and injured, much like a modern emergency medical service. Before the Surry County EMS program began in 1974, many funeral homes in Surry County had their own ambulances. Though it may seem strange to us now, it was a practical choice, as funeral directors were already on call 24/7 for funeral purposes. More importantly, hearses could be easily adapted to both function as hearses and ambulances due to their design and their size.

One of the first records of a hearse in Mount Airy is from 1892. Totten and Poole funeral home, which would eventually become Moody’s funeral home, was the first to purchase a hearse for the community.

In 1935, Ashburn and Calloway Funeral Home, having recently moved into its remodeled building on Pine Street, replaced its old combination ambulance and funeral coach with a new Chrysler. The vehicle was picked up by co-owner JE Calloway in Ohio and driven back to Mount Airy, where it was put on display for the public to view. An advertisement for this car promoted that it was equipped with hot and cold running water, electric fans for the summer, heating for the winter, and all first aid equipment that could be needed.

Another local establishment, Hennis Funeral Home, located on North Main Street and opened in 1942, advertised its ambulance service in 1942 as being available day or night, and only costing $2.50 for calls within the city.

In 1938, Moody’s Funeral Home purchased a new $4,000 Buick ambulance. With 140 horsepower, it was finished with a solid leather interior and was air conditioned. Moody’s went beyond the conventional ambulance, and as of 1946, was also the Surry County and surrounding territory representative for the Air-Ambulance Service of Durham. The planes were advertised as the “first fully organized aerial ambulance service in the US.” The air ambulance was said to be able to transport the sick and injured to any part of the US within hours and had a nurse in attendance on all flights.

The community was also served by Mutual Burial Associations, an organization under which subscribers could pay a fee which would collectively go toward the funeral costs of the association’s members. Locally, the Harrison Mutual Burial Association operated out of both Hannah Funeral Home and Moody’s. In 1931, the association paid for at least 80 members’ funerals in 1931, each costing between $50-$100. (between $951 to almost $2,000 today). Membership for Harrison Mutual Burial Association was a 25 cent fee in 1936, up from 10 cents in 1932.

Moody’s in Mount Airy’s is the longest operating funeral home. Its origins date back to the 1870s, when Bob Totten operated a coffin and furniture business in Mount Airy. When E.A. Hannah moved to the area from Indiana, he purchased Totten’s business, officially starting the business that would become Moody’s in 1902.

Wade Moody began working at what was then called “E.A. Hannah Harness and Coffins” in 1915 at the age of just 19 with a salary of $25 a month. Less than a decade later, Moody would become co-owner of the business along with D.E. Nelson, before becoming sole owner in 1932. After World War II devastated an untold number of families, the home was staffed for the most part by veterans of both world wars. Wade Moody was known at the time for playing a leading role in the local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. As an article from 1948 states “Moody’s is not only an undertaker’s establishment but also the center of many civic affairs and ventures.” The business remains in the family to this day.

Katherine “Kat” Jackson is a staff member 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.

Fireflies light the June nights

There is a new glow to brighten the nights as the arrival of fireflies give new light to the June night. The fireflies flutter on the lawn signaling with their tail lights. We hope this will be an abundant year for them. Some summers, there seems to be more fireflies than usual and we are hoping this will be that kind of summer. One factor that seems to increase the presence of fireflies is when afternoon thunder showers occur.

Still time to plant four o’ clocks

The colorful four o’ clocks can still be planted in the warm soil of June. You can purchase packets of four o’ clock seed from garden departments, super markets, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Ace Hardware. Packets of seed cost around $2 and come in colors of red, yellow, white, pink and wine. They thrive in all types of soil and will bloom all the way until frost. Use some Flower-Tone organic flower food to get them off to a good start.

Verbenas will perform in hanging baskets

The verbena produces well in hanging baskets and an unusual characteristic of the verbena is the way it cascades over the sides of the hanging baskets and fills the inside and outside of the baskets with colorful blooms and foliage. Verbenas come in red, white, pink, purple and blue. Set about three plants well spaced out in each basket so they will have plenty of room and not become root bound. Feed them once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food and water each evening. They will bloom all summer long. Pinch off spent blooms to promote new blooms.

Investing in a part of American history

American bee balm plants are a part of American history and have been since the Revolutionary War. New England colonists used its leaves to make tea as a substitute after the Boston Tea Party when tea from England was thrown overboard into the Boston Harbor. American bee balm can be purchased from nurseries, hardware’s, garden departments as well as Lowe’s and Home Depot. If you buy one and re-pot it in a larger container, it will grow all summer long and produce plenty of leaves and pretty pink or lavender flowers. Perhaps you can make some bee balm tea from the leaves.

Time to purchase a durable weather wand

Hot, dry, humid days will soon be upon us as we move further into June. This means warm and dry soil and thirsty vegetable plants. Purchasing a durable water wand to use all summer long is a worthwhile investment that will really pep up your garden plot on hot summer days when no rain is forecast. An adjustable water wand has many settings such as stream, mist, spray, shower and pour. A wand can place irrigation in the exact place and amount without wasting water. The stream mode is a great way to water seed in the furrow before covering up seed with a hill of soil. A good water wand costs $12 to $14. The best feature of a water wand is you can place water where you need it and not waste water in the middle of the row.

Making a great moist chicken casserole

For this casserole, you will need four chicken breasts boiled until tender, remove skin, de-bone and cut into half inch chunks, one head or one pound bag of chopped broccoli, one large egg, one can Campbell’s cream of chicken soup, one eight ounce packet of parmesan cheese, one half cup mayonnaise, one fourth cup milk, small bag Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing. Cook broccoli until tender. Place cut up chicken chunks into a casserole dish sprayed with Pam baking spray and mixed with cooked broccoli. Mix cream of chicken soup, egg, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise and milk in a bowl and pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top casserole with the stuffing. Melt a stick and a half of light margarine and spread over the top of the stuffing. for at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Will serve five people.

Keeping an eye on Japanese beetles

As the days of June get warmer, it may pave the way for arrival of the Japanese beetles. We hope there will not be many of them this summer. Some years they are worse than others. They are enemies of roses, grapevines, green beans and foliage. Keep the beetle traps and liquid Sevin spray ready and control them as they make their appearance in your vegetable and flower garden. Place traps where they will draw the beetles to the traps and away from the vegetable and flower garden.

Planting portulaca in a tub or pot

It may be called desert rose, cactus flower, or rose moss. Whatever you call it, it is colorful and loves summer warmth. It blooms fresh and new every morning that the summer sun shines. The flowers are red, yellow, white, orange, pink, tan, wine, burgundy and bronze. It will be in bloom when you purchase it in six and nine packs. It can be planted in a large container or tub to produce a rainbow of color. As the foliage grows, it will cascade over the sides of the tub or container producing more flowers.

Impatiens also make colorful baskets

Of all the annuals of summer used to fill hanging baskets, impatiens make the best and most colorful as they cascade over the baskets and produce hundreds of colorful flowers. Plant only about three plants per basket to allow them to sprawl out. There are so many colors to choose from including red, white, pink, wine, salmon, bright orange and purple.

Taking care of the Christmas cactus

All the Christmas cactus are spending summer in a semi sunny location on the front porch. The containers are replenished with cactus medium and given a fresh drink of water each week. We feed them with Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month. If the cactus foliage turns reddish, this is a signal from the cactus that it is receiving too much sun and needs to be moved where it doesn’t receive to much direct sun.

Keep setting out a few tomatoes each week

To assure a harvest of tomatoes all summer long, set out a four pack of plants each week for as long as you can find healthy plants. Use calcium carbonate (powdered lime) in bottom of furrow when you set out the plants to prevent blossom end rot and feed with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food. Water base of the plants with the water wand on weeks when little rain is forecast. This will also prevent blossom end rot.

Stake or cage all peppers

All types of pepper plants will benefit from cages or stakes that will protect them from wind and summer storms. As peppers form, the cages and stakes will keep plants cleaner and easier to harvest.

Cooling off containers and the hanging baskets

The heat of the mid June sun shines down on the hanging baskets and containers all during the day, drying out the soil. Use the water wand in shower mode or a sprinkling can to apply water until it runs out the holes in the bottom of containers and baskets. Apply water in late afternoon or early evening.

Keep birds returning to the baths each day by refilling the baths with cool fresh water and emptying out the sun heated water from the all day sun. This keeps the water from being infested by egg laying insects and pollen and pollution as well as to provide fresh cool water to all types of birds.

Checking ferns of summer on the deck

The ferns are lush and green as they spend summer on the deck in a semi-sunny location. They need a drink of water each afternoon to refresh and cool them off. The panda and asparagus ferns need trimming each month to promote new growth. An application of Flower-Tone organic flower food each month gives them a boost.

“Pressing fact.” The husband came home and found his new bride crying. “I was pressing your new suit and burned a hole in the seat of your new pants.” “Forget it,” replied the husband. “Remember, I got an extra pair of pants for that suit.” “Yes, its lucky you have,” said his bride, “I used them to patch the hole!”

Doing the math. Duke: “How about lending me $50?” Luke: “Sorry, I can only lend you $25.” Duke: “But why not the $50?” Luke: “No, $25 only, that way its even, each one of us loses $25.”

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

As we open God’s Word to the book of Second Corinthians, we find the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. His letter carrier is Titus, an early Christian missionary and a student under Paul who has been asked to lead the Corinthian church. In his first letter to this church, he pointed out the problems, pressures, and struggles that resulted from the corrupt society that surrounded the lives of the people living in Corinth.

Regardless of the love Paul expressed to the Christians in First Corinthians, we find that some of these same Christians have been convinced by false teachers in Second Corinthians that Paul was fickle, proud, dishonest, and unqualified as an apostle. I think this is the appropriate time to include my title; there was more than meet the eyes of the church at Corinth. I am a firm believer that perception is reality to most people until reality becomes their perception. It is so easy to get caught up in the words and actions of others and dismiss the truth of what God wants to reveal to us each day.

I remember as a child, my parents and other mentors shared with me that I could not always trust the things people said and did. I also was taught that there is a difference between good things and God things. As I grew and matured, I attempted to keep these wise points in the back of my mind as I also kept Paul’s words in Hebrews 11 as a guide. Paul states in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Again, this is our call to walk by faith and not by the things we see. This verse is a difficult concept to grasp, and is probably why this group of Christians in Corinth listened to the false teachers and judged the qualifications of a man that directly had a conversation with Jesus Christ (Acts 9:1-19).

In my title, another idiom I wanted to use is, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

The Bible teaches us as we encounter people, situations, decisions, etc., that we should open those books and compare them to the book that is our accurate guide of truth. This approach opens the eyes of our heart and mind in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Just as his letter in Second Corinthians is written due to these false teachers, he gives this same warning to young Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Paul’s words to Timothy states, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch though in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of their ministry.”

So let me end by saying that there is indeed more than meets the eye in this world. We are inundated with news, information, rumors, messages, and conversations every day. Each comes with some level of truth, but our job as Christ-following believers is to seek if it is the truth.

Our ears will fail us, our hearts will deceive us, and our eyes will trick us, but there is one source that will never let us down. That source is God. Let me close with this final verse as I encourage you to see truth as you walk in faith; 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” God bless you!

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. Craftspeople and workers such as cobblers, seamstresses, milliners, and watchmakers/repairmen are not as common as they once were. Mount Airy has a long history of these forgotten trades and arts, especially watchmaking.

Watches have been dangled from and worn on our bodies for centuries. The term “watch” appears in a multitude of documents through the years. For example, sailors and hunting parties took turns on “watch.” Many cities and towns also had watchmen, whose job it was to keep time for the community. This profession helped to keep work shifts running smoothly; they served as one big community alarm clock.

Some sources suggest that the first portable watches appeared sometime in the 15th century. These spring-driven watches needed to be wound in order to keep time. Issues such as accuracy and longevity drove horologists, a term used to describe individuals who work on timepieces or apparatuses professionally, to continue tinkering with the technology of the mechanisms themselves.

The late 18th century saw new technologies invented that aided in the cutting and manufacturing of time structural pieces that make watches work. Wristwatches entered the scene early, with Queen Elizabeth the first being gifted an arm watch in 1571, however wristwatches as we know them were not that common until military men began to wear them just after the First World War. Imagine, having to pull out a pocket watch on the battlefield.

After this time, almost everyone would have had a timepiece, and it was no easy job keeping the mechanisms working. At one time, after WW2, Mount Airy alone had more than 21 watchmakers. One of the more famed watchmakers from Mount Airy was Foye Lester Dawson (1923-2006).

Dawson owned and operated his own watch shop on Virginia Street in Downtown Mount Airy. Dawson’s Watch Repair Shop was in operation for 34 years. Inside you could see him with eyes sharp, working diligently over a timepiece illuminated by the work lamp he kept on his desk.

Dawson learned the horology trade through the North Carolina School of Watchmaking in Greensboro. After WW2 the U.S. Army offered training in various occupations for disabled veterans, watchmaking being one of those programs. He began his long career working in another shop for 23 years before venturing out on his own. His career in the watchmaking business lasted for 57 years. He was the longest, as well as the last, licensed watchmaker in Mount Airy.

While finding watchmakers on your Main Street is now uncommon, they still can be found. Several organizations still teach the art of horology, training up a generation of makers. The American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute is dedicated to continuing the long history of horologists in the United States. North Carolina also has two chapters of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors that hold meetings to keep this history alive.

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, extension 229.

The strawberry harvest grand finale

The strawberry harvest in Surry County is its the final days. There may still be enough time for one more visit to a field near you to pick some for shortcake or to freeze for next winter. Call before you go to make sure they still have berries available.

Pathway to summer harvest begins

The nights and days of late spring are warm and soil temperatures are ready for all warm weather vegetables. As we enter June, it is the ideal time to plant squash and cucumbers for a harvest in 65 days. They will sprout and grow quickly in warm June soil. Set out a few tomato plants each week for as long as you can find healthy plants and set out different varities for an extended summer harvest.

Warm nights and first fireflies of the season

As the nights continue to get warmer and the summer thundershowers appear each evening, conditions should improve for the arrival of fireflies to light up the sky at eventide. Perhaps this will be an abundant season for the fireflies. They seem to be more plentiful some years than others. Sometimes we wonder if light pollution causes many of them to migrate to wide open country. We notice that the best opportunity to see an abundance of fireflies is to ride down a country back road, turn off the vehicles lights and see a field swarming with fireflies. Nothing is more beautiful in summertime than an evening filled with fireflies. During all of the month of June this year, we are going to spend several minutes each evening doing a firefly count and record our findings for the month. We will let you know in the July Garden Plot the results of the count.

Planting seeds of late cucumbers and squash

As we move into June, the time to plant late crops of squash and cucumbers is now so you can enjoy a harvest in late summer. Great cucumber varities for late cucumbers are Marketmore 76, Poinsett 76, Straight Eight, Long Green and Ashley. Early Prolific Straight is the best late squash variety. Keep late squash and cucumbers watered with the water wand in shower mode on humid days with no rain in the forecast.

Enjoying a container of Dragon Wing begonias

The Dragon Wing is the most beautiful of all begonias. They have glossy, dark green oblong foliage and are adorned with clusters of hot pink or red blooms. The Dragon Wing sprawls out of its container like an umbrella and showers itself with massive clusters of colorful blooms. They continually bloom all the way until frost. You will need a large container of potting medium to accompany this high production, colorful begonia. Feed it with Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month for summer long beauty.

Prevent tomato blossom end rot

As tomato plants continue to grow, prevent blossom end rot by applying calcium carbonate (lime) on both sides of the plants and hill up soil on both sides of the row to cover the powdered lime and retain moisture. When you feed the plants, use Vigaro tomato food with enriched calcium. You can purchase it in two pound bags at Home Depot. Hill up soil on both sides of the row after you apply Vigaro with enriched calcium.

Feed your vegetables and flowers organic foods

Improve flower and vegetable production and growth with organic plant foods such as Plant-Tone, Garden-Tone, Tomato-Tone, Flower-Tone, Holly-Tone for evergreens and azaleas, Rose-Tone for rose bushes. These products are available in four- and ten-pound plastic zippered bags. The four-pound bags are lightweight and the zippered bags make them easy and clean to apply to plants and flowers. It is fine textured and the adjustable zipper allows you to apply the food right where you want it and the amount you desire right into the furrow with no excess or mess. These products have proven themselves organically in gardens for well over 130 years. The products have fine non pelletized texture and absorb quickly into the soil.

Starting a row of green beans

The very best and most productive of green bean varities is defiantly the Strike. They are a bush type that will produce a long harvest. The beans are pencil shaped and totally string-less and have a maturity date of about 65 days. The best feature of these beans is you can sow a couple of rows now and follow up with another row in July for late summer harvest. These beans are productive and will yield beans for several weeks. A pound will sow a 50-foot row or two 4×8 beds.

Setting out heat performance tomatoes

There are hundreds tomato varieties in all sizes, shapes, colors and types and a few of them perform and produce better than all the other hundreds, especially when it comes to performing in the heat and humidity of summer. When we were growing up as kids in eastern North Carolina, there were certainly not as many varities of tomatoes as there are today. My father only planted three varities and they were Homestead, Marglobe and Rutgers. He set them about two and a half feet apart, placed no cages or stakes around them but allowed them to sprawl. When they developed green tomatoes, he would apply long leaf pine straw around them so ripe tomatoes would not be muddy at harvest. He harvested bushels of tomatoes on a hundred foot row. These were not potted green house plants but tomato slips sold in bundles of a hundred at the local hardware, raised by local farmers. Good hot weather tomatoes are Homestead, Rutgers, Marglobe, Big Boy, Park’s Whopper, Mortgage Lifter and Celebrity. These tomato varities will endure the heat and humidity of summer and provide a late summer harvest. Feed late tomatoes with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food once a month and these proven tomato varities should produce a harvest late into summer. Use the water wand to keep base of plants moist.

Making a summer sweet apple sonker

This is an easy sonker with a crust made of raisin bread slices. Peel and core 10 fresh apples. Cut the apples into half-inch chunks, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the apple cubes. Mix in one cup sugar and half cup light brown sugar to cubed apples. Add one teaspoon apple pie spices, half cup milk, one stick light margarine, two teaspoons of corn starch, one teaspoon vanilla flavoring and half teaspoon cinnamon. Boil the apple mixture until apples are tender and the mixture thickens. Spray the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan or dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or more if necessary. Make a sauce for the sonker by mixing one cup milk, half cup sugar, one teaspoon apple pie spices, one teaspoon vanilla. Mix all ingredients together to a boil on medium heat. Mix half cup cold water in a glass with three teaspoons of cornstarch. Pour a little of corn starch mixture at a time into sauce mixture until sauce gets thick as you desire. Pour sauce over the sonker.

The sweet essence of honeysuckle perfume fills the air at twilight and the scent emits from the rear of the garden plot to the front porch. It is very easy to breath in this pleasing scent as it wafts its way into the nostrils. No other wildflower can compare to the essence of honeysuckles in the air of June, on a late spring evening.

The nights and days are now warm, pleasant and consistent. The Christmas cactus are now ready for a move from the sunny living room to the back deck to spend spring, summer and early autumn. The secret of blooms at Christmas time lies on the time spent outside in the warmth of spring and summer. Outside, they prefer a semi-sunny location with zero direct sunlight. They need water every 10 days and Flower-Tone organic flower food once a month.

“Marriage Rebate.” Groom: “Pastor, do you believe it is right for one man to profit from another man’s mistake?” Pastor: “Most certainly not.” Groom: “Good, then do you mind returning the hundred dollar bill I gave you for marrying me and my wife last year?”

A “grave” situation. A young man had a job with a company where he had to work late at night. In going home one late night, he found a shortcut through the graveyard that was near his home. One night when he was very tired, he accidentally fell into a freshly dug grave. At first, he was not very concerned until he realized he could not get out because the hole was too deep and he panicked. Finally he became exhausted, sat down in the corner of the hole and fell asleep. Shortly thereafter, another man decided to take a shortcut and fell into the same grave. He also went to a great effort to get out but could not. Then he moved around in the grave and stepped on the man who was asleep. The first man suddenly woke up and shouted to the other man, “you can’t get out of here,” but he did!

The almanac for the month of June 2022

Sunday, June 5 is Pentecost Sunday. The moon reaches its first quarter on Tuesday, June 7. There will be a full moon on Tuesday, June 14. The name of this moon is Full Strawberry Moon. Flag Day will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 14. Fathers Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 19. The moon reaches its last quarter on Monday, June 20. The first day of summer will be on June 21. The new moon of June will occur on Tuesday, June 28.

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 particular column is part of a monthly series on drug abuse prevention and treatment.

Underage drinking occurs when someone under the legal drinking age consumes alcohol. In the United States, the minimum legal drinking age (is 21 years old (Centers for Disease Control, 2022). Over the past several decades, scientific understanding and knowledge of the dangers of underage drinking have increased substantially. Underage drinking is associated with various negative consequences for children and can affect and endanger the lives of those around them.

Children who drink alcohol are more likely to:

• Use drugs. Binge drinking is something that youth are often known to do. It is defined as the consumption of an excessive amount of alcohol in a short period of time. Frequent binge drinkers (nearly 1 million high school students nationwide) are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, including using other drugs such as marijuana and cocaine.

• Get bad grades. Children who use alcohol have higher rates of academic problems and poor school performance compared with nondrinkers.

• Suffer injury and/or death. Injuries due to accidents (such as car wrecks), physical disabilities and diseases, and the effects of possible overdoses are among the health-related consequences of teenage substance abuse. Disproportionate numbers of youth involved with alcohol and other drugs face an increased risk of death through suicide, homicide, accident, and illness.

• Experience mental health issues. Mental health problems such as depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal, and other psychosocial dysfunctions frequently are linked to alcohol and substance use among adolescents.

Youth who use alcohol and/or other substances are at higher risk than nonusers for mental health problems, including depression, conduct problems, personality disorders, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and suicide. Motivation and psychosexual/emotional development also may be influenced (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1998).

• Engage in risky sexual activity. Young people who use alcohol are more likely to be sexually active at earlier ages, to have sexual intercourse more often, and to have unprotected sex.

• Make bad decisions. Drinking lowers inhibitions and increases the chances that children will engage in risky behavior or do something that they will regret when they are sober.

• Have health problems. Young people who drink are more likely to have health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders.

Having a plan to avoid alcohol can help children make better choices. Talk with your child about what they would do if faced with a decision about alcohol, such as texting a code word to a family member or practicing how they’ll say “no thanks.” Remember, keep it low-key. Don’t worry, you don’t have to get everything across in one talk. Plan to have many short talks. “Talk. They really do hear you.”

If you, or someone you know, would benefit from learning more about “Talk. They Hear You,” contact Charlotte Reeves, Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery Community Outreach Coordinator, at reevesc@co.surry.nc.us. Visit our website at surrycountycares.com for more information about substance use disorder and the many resources in our County.

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.

All students in the community deserve excellent education opportunities. As school districts compete for students, an unusual approach is found in Mount Airy to embrace all students no matter where they attend school. Mount Airy City Schools (MACS) believes that every single child in its community deserves to be prepared to graduate with the work-force and problem-solving skills necessary to succeed. This is regardless of whether they attend a private school, charter school, homeschool, or innovative traditional public school.

“Choosing Mount Airy City Schools is the best decision we have made for our child,” states a homeschooling family who has partnered with the system. In a recent visit from The Innovation Project (TIP), a non-profit organization that supports 17 school districts across the state, Mount Airy City Schools shared its collective vision. TIP has provided tools to districts that help them reach all children in their community with tools such as locating homeschool networks, gathering addresses, and contacts for homeschool families. TIP believes as a core value that every child is capable of reaching their full potential regardless of where they attend school. TIP has helped Mount Airy schools succeed in this endeavor. Mount Airy partners with many homeschoolers and has brought back more than 50% of students who have chosen charter school previously. This non-judgmental approach helps families make good decisions about where to attend school and helps create a family-school partnership creating success for their children.

On this visit to Mount Airy, attendees from 12 other school districts embraced the vision of creating a “hub of the community” in our schools. The group saw this in action starting with a visit to the Community Central Office. This office was recently renovated with money from the Surry County Board of Commissioners creating a control center over the past two years where meals, technology, and supplies were taken out to families during COVID. The office brings a lot of partners into this space including Surry Sunrise Rotary, The Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, and other community groups creating a beehive of activity in the office serving others. TIP attendees toured this facility seeing where backpacks are filled and stored, food is taken in and sent out to families, and a presence of Surry Community College exists teaching college courses on our campus.

TIP and Mount Airy have been long-time partners working on innovative initiatives. One most recent was the beginning of a “micro-school” for thecity This is a small, 20-member school that allows students to learn at home most of the week. These students meet virtually with a certified teacher each day and come together once a week to conduct a “place-based” lesson. This hybrid approach helps students learn science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics lessons together such as planting a flower garden, cooking a meal, learning to swim, visiting the Greensboro Science Center, and spending time with the Surry Arts Council. During the TIP visit, students from the micro-school were on campus and showed the attendees their lesson that included creating a playground on paper, measuring and building a 3D model of the playground before bringing their ideas to life and sharing those out.

Visitors were so impressed that they wanted logistical information to see if a micro-school would work for them. One third grade micro-school parent noted, “Jackson truly loves the micro school. It has helped his reading improve over the last couple months. When I have any questions, his teacher is always quick to answer. I would recommend the MACS Micro-School to anyone. Not only is it a great school, but it has become a family and I truly appreciate his teacher for being so good to my child.”

Another component the city school’s vision to be the hub of the community was the description of the free summer enrichment experiences. In addition to typical summer school and athletic camps, Mount Airy offers more than 50 STEAM enrichment experiences. Over half of the students in the district attend a summer opportunity. This helps minimize the notorious summer slide and keeps students and families engaged with the school family. Program offerings include Baking Bears Camp, Camp for Mad Scientist, Preparing College Applications Camp, and many other engaging themes for students.

Our tour group made its way through the Blue Bear Bus that is used throughout the year and the summer to take STEAM on the road. The Blue Bear Bus, a vision of Polly Long and Jon Doss, takes technology, wifi, hands-on STEAM activities, meals, and love to the neighborhoods. When children see the Blue Bear Bus coming they know a day of fun is ahead. Attendees were extremely interested in this innovation and looked to replicate it in their communities.

The group then headed to Mount Airy High School where STEAM teacher Garrett Howlett and students showcased the Aviation Science and Drone program. Students shared all of the companies in the community that use drones and held a drone demonstration. Students Allie Bowers, George Kriek, Owen Greenstreet, and Jesse Bilyeu have earned their Part 107 small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) Pilot’s License. They can now fly drones for commercial purposes. Various administrators and teachers from other districts were excited and impressed to see how the students are prepared for careers.

The trip concluded with a visit to the Blue Bear Cafe, where students from the Occupational Course of Study class served cookies and specialty drinks. Student speakers shared their recent trip to Wilmington where they attended a TIP event and were tasked with the challenge of informing school districts how schools could improve. They shared testimonials of how powerful it is for students to be able to share strategies and ideas with district leaders to impact change in their own district. The Blue Bear Cafe also houses the entrepreneurship program that allows students to become entrepreneurs in high school. These students are part of the YESurry competition where they can pitch their idea to a pretend funder. The winning pitch does in fact receive thousands of dollars to begin their business. This partnership was made possible by a connection to NC State through TIP. Curriculum was provided between NC State and Will Pfitzner, a local entrepreneur who has also taught the class. Mount Airy City Schools visited NC State to see their entrepreneur lab and program and has one of the first high school entrepreneur programs in the state.

This event at the Blue Bear Cafe brought to life the joint mission of TIP and Mount Airy schools to make sure students’ voices are at the center of conversations and that innovative programs that are unique and different change districts for the positive. This event highlighted the impact of school districts, families, and community partners working together so that every child will graduate prepared to enter the workforce and live a life filled with success.

There’s been another school shooting, which Mr. Biden and the left will blame on guns. But America has always had lots of guns, mostly without school shootings, at least until about 2016. Since then they are increasingly frequent, but why? What’s changed?

One thing that’s changed is TV and video game violence. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), TV violence has doubled in recent years, and correlates well with increasing firearm violence in the US. Most shooters have been adolescents, whose favorite dramas (CSI, NCIS, ‘How to Get Away With Murder’) became increasingly violent between 2000 and 2018. APPC concluded that ‘…just as entertainment media contributed to the uptake of cigarettes among vulnerable youth, our findings suggest that it may be doing the same for guns.’

So Hollywood’s dramas encourage violence, and the film industry may need to be censored, as Judge (Robert) Bork suggested. But Democrat politicians won’t tell you that, because (a) Hollywood gives them lots of money, and (b) like overcontrolling politicians elsewhere (Castro, Stalin, Hitler)leftist-Democrats prefer to blame violence on guns. They plan to repeal the Second Amendment and confiscate them.

A well-deserved and resounding “thank you” to the City of Mount Airy, including officials Mayor Ron Niland and City Manager Stan Farmer, and all participating organizations and individuals for this year’s finely orchestrated Memorial Day event held on Monday, May 30.

A town like Mount Airy has produced many American patriots who are serving, or have served, in the U.S. Armed Forces. Like most families, mine is rich with active-duty members or veterans, both living and deceased — including my father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, sister, aunts, uncles, and cousins too numerous to count – who have served honorably to help maintain the many freedoms we take for granted, and which remain the envy of other countries not our own.

A special shout-out, as well, to the Mount Airy News for its comprehensive coverage of the Memorial Day event to honor all military heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.

On Memorial Day we remember those who have died in military service to this nation, its allies, and ideals. We think of rows of white marble crosses, cemeteries decorated with small fluttering flags. We think of the sacrifices made, our eyes welling with tears and our throats growing tight at the thought of the young men and women who pay the price for our collective freedoms.

They have made it possible for us to enjoy life in our hometowns. As they struggle in the hardships of the frontline, we move through a mundane world, complaining about price hikes, or how our favorite team lost the game. In America we are so insulated from the horrors of war it’s sometimes easy to forget the realities our service personnel deal with on a daily basis. We find out about their deaths days or weeks later.

The Korean War was a vicious conflict almost lost in a century of influential military actions and tremendous economic growth. But 70 years ago hundreds of young men and women from this region served in those unforgiving hills. Today we remember a few who never returned.

What began as a civil war between communist North Korea and the Democratic south soon boiled over into what many people saw as a proxy war between the USSR and the USA. The third major military engagement in 35 years, the Korean War raged in a land most knew little about.

All the while life continued on the home front. Here is a look at what was happening back home, here in Surry County, along with significant events related to the war.

June 25, 1950 – Soviet-backed North Korean soldiers invade the Western-allied Republic of Korea. The North Carolina congressional delegation unanimously supports President Harry Truman’s orders to deploy troops.

What began as a civil war between the Communist north and the Democratic south, soon boiled over into what many people saw as a proxy war between the USSR and the USA. The third major military engagement in 35 years, the Korean Conflict raged in a land most knew little about …. All the while, life continued on the home front.

August 1950 – The Central Telephone Company, based in Mount Airy, is granted permission to raise rates across the region from Mount Airy to Boonville, North Wilkesboro to Yadkinville.

The Bright Leaf Drive-In opens, dramatically changing the local teenage social scene.

A polio outbreak has shuttered Wythe County, Virginia, causing the town’s baseball team to withdraw from the Blue Ridge League. The Bassett, Virginia, team steps in as the deep-seeded rivalry between Mount Airy’s Graniteers and Elkin’s Blanketeers keeps fans riveted.

The Surry County Selective Service Board reopens its office in the courthouse. They ask all to “register immediately after their (18th) birthday” and those who are already registered to update their information if they have moved or married since.

The local National Guard heavy artillery unit, the 426th, is given a 30-notice for mobilization.

American is returning to the battlefield.

Surry County men were not part of the first call in the draft for the Korean conflict. There had been a delay in getting the office reactivated but would be expected to send draftees in the second call.

Some, however, were already there.

Sgt James Crouse, 21, Marine, killed Sept 26. – State Highway Patrolman JP Rhyne of Mount Airy knocked on Claude and Gladys Crouse’ door with news no parent wants to hear. The family home was just across the Alleghany County line in Ennice. He was the eldest of the Crouse’ four children, named for his grandfather, Jim Crouse, who lived at Fisher’s River near Lowgap on old Hwy 89. He’d already served three years in the Marines and reenlisted in November.

Crouse was the first Alleghany County soldier to die in Korea. More than 177,000 North Carolinians served in the war, with 784 killed and 201 listed as either prisoners of war or missing in action.

January 1951 – Mount Airy breaks ground for the Reeves Memorial Community Center.

The Surry County Chapter of the Gold Star Mothers is founded, an organization for mothers of soldiers killed in action. The Mount Airy News reported more than 50 county mothers were known to be eligible from World War II losses at the time.

Corp. Winfred Nelson Dawson, Jr., 18, Air Force, killed Jan. 1 – One of nine children born to Winfred and Nellie Dawson of Ararat, Virginia, he was part of the storied 335th Fighter Squadron.

August 1951 – Mount Airy’s First Baptist congregation launches a major building program.

Pvt. Samuel Carlise Hamlin, 21, Army, Killed Nov. 21 – Part of Gen. MacArthur’s 1st Cavalry, Hamlin was posthumously awarded the Silver Star “for gallantry in action” in the Chorwon region of Korea.

April 1953 – Surry authorities struggle to bring a rabies epidemic under control.

Pvt. Merlin Marshall, 21, Army Medic, Missing in Action April 18 – One of the region’s last casualties, Merlin was last seen attending his fallen comrades of the 7th Infantry Division. His remains were never recovered, and he was presumed dead the next year. The White Plains High School graduate is remembered in the National Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu where the names of nearly 30,000 military personnel Missing in Action or Lost at Sea are inscribed.

May 1, 1953 – Mount Airy’s Martin Memorial Hospital is destroyed by fire.

The war was fierce but stagnant much of the time as troops dug in to hold ground, often in brutally cold temperatures, sometimes as low as 25 degrees below zero. Hostilities dragged on until July 1953 when an armistice was signed, and an uneasy peace was reached.

Often called the Forgotten War, the war seems lost in history between the better-known WWII and Vietnam. It is time we remember. The Mount Airy Museum of Regional History has very little information about anything to do with the Korean War and those who served.

If you have photos, letters, mementos, or family stories about people who served in this war, consider contacting curator Amy Snyder. Such items can be scanned or recorded so future generations understand the price of freedom.

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.

Most varities of corn require a growing season of 90 days and should be planted early in June to assure a harvest by mid-August. You can choose from Golden Queen, Silver Queen, Kandy Corn, Early Sunglow, Butterfruit, How-Sweet-It-Is, Chief and Golden Bantam. Sow at least three rows for pollination from bees and wind. Make sure the three rows are the same variety. Sow seeds in furrows about four inches deep. Sow seed four per hill and 10 to 12 inches apart. Spread a layer of peat moss in the furrow and sow corn seed on top of the peat moss. Apply another layer of peat moss on top of the seed. Apply an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and hill up soil on both sides of the furrow. Tamp down top of the row with the hoe blade for good contact with the soil. Allow enough room between rows to cultivate and control weeds and keep soil hilled up for support from the wind and storms. You will need room between rows over a 90-day period to control Japanese beetles and ear worms as the season progresses. Side dress the corn with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food every three weeks. When corn sprouts, thin to two plants per hill. Keep soil hilled up to the corn as it continues to grow week by week. Add some calcium carbonate (powdered lime) when corn gets a foot tall and hill soil over the lime.

Planting in June will keep garden in tune

All crops that love warm weather will thrive and survive in the warmth of the June garden plot soil. All vegetables will respond quickly to the warm days and nights. Set out tomato plants every week in small numbers for as long as plants are available and healthy. A four pack a week will extend the tomato harvest all summer long. Try as many different varities as you can find for a varied harvest. One of the best attributes of an abundant harvest of tomatoes is the opportunity to share their bounty with others.

Peppers are as tropical to the garden plot as vegetables can get. June is the absolute best time to set out pepper plants. Set out sweet bells such as California Wonder, Big Bertha, Keystone, Candy Apple, Great Stuff and Parks Whopper II, as well as Candy Bell, and least we forget, the famous Door Knob! Set the sweet bells out this week on a warm June day. Keep hot pepper varities a distance away from sweet bell peppers. Set peppers at least two feet apart. Stake and cage them for extra support and protection from thunderstorms and strong winds. Keep soiled hilled up around pepper plants for extra support and feed every three weeks with Garden-Tone or Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Water every week when rain is not in the forecast. Apply calcium carbonate when peppers reach one foot tall.

Lima beans also need warm days and nights to produce a mid-summer harvest. You can choose from Fordhook 242, Henderson Bush, Thurogreen and Dixie Butterpea. Sow lima beans in a furrow about three or four inches deep. Place peat moss in bottom of the furrow and sow seeds on top of the peat moss. Place peat moss on top of the seed and apply an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamp down soil on top of the hilled up soil for good contact with the soil. Feed the lima beans every three weeks with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up the soil on both sides of the row after feeding with Plant-Tone. Water top of row each week if no rain is in the forecast.

Setting out a full row of tomato plants

The main harvest of tomato plants should be set out in the next few days for a bountiful harvest. There are so very many to choose from including Big Boy, Better Bow, Early Girl, Oregon Spring, Marglobe, Rutgers, Homestead, Beefy Boy, Beefsteak, Mortgage Lifter, Parks Whopper, Cherokee Purple, Mountain Pride, Roma, Yellow Jubilee. Plant tomato plants in a furrow five or six inches deep. Add a layer of peat moss and a handful of Black Kow composted cow manure to the furrow, and then mix in an application of Tomato-Tone organic tomato food. Set the tomato plant and add another handful of peat moss before hilling up soil all around the tomato plant. When tomato plants are well established in about three weeks, apply Vigaro tomato food with enriched calcium on each side of the tomato row and hill up the Vigaro on each side of the row to cover it up. Every three weeks apply a layer of Tomato-Tone organic tomato food. Hill up soil on each side of the row after applying Tomato-Tone. When the plants reach one foot tall, apply calcium carbonate on each side o the row and pull up soil up on each side of tomatoes to cover the lime. Water around the base of the tomato plants with water wand in spray mode when there is no rain.

Adjustable water wand-a good investment

With warmer days and nights and some days without any raindrops in the forecast, an adjustable water wand is a good investment. A wand will pay rich dividends and boost production in the garden plot. They cost around $12 to $14 and have adjustable settings of spray, shower, mist and an off and on switch. Never drag the hose with the wand attached because you could break the spring attachment on the wand.

End of May brings fireflies

There are a few flickers of yellow in the backyard and on the edge of the garden plot as we get close to the end of May. As June makes its way to the scene, a few more warm evenings will bring an abundance of them. We hope this will be a bright and productive year for them. To really appreciate the glow of fireflies, you have to drive down a Surry County country lane where there is not much traffic and no street light. Stop, turn off the lights, and enjoy an extra special light show.

Get Japanese beetle traps ready

The nights and days are warming up and soon June will be here with the start of a few humid days and perhaps the arrival of the dastardly Japanese beetles as they make their appearance on lawns, rose bushes, grapevines and foliage of flowers and vegetables. We hope there will not be many this year. Now is the time to clean and prepare the traps and purchase a few baits and lures. As soon as you see the first beetles, place a trap away from where you see them to draw them to the traps. One advantage of beetle trap is to draw beetles away from garden, roses, grapevines and foliage and into the traps. If we have a large infestation, spray lightly with liquid Sevin. Use a glass cleaner spray bottle mixed with water and Sevin to apply a light mist. Kill beetles in the traps by boiling a pot of water, pour it in a bucket and dip the trap of beetles into the bucket of boiling water. Pour hot water and the beetles on the driveway to avoid killing grass on the lawn. Birds will eat beetles. Invest in a durable two-piece plastic trap with a screw on plastic container to catch beetles. Unlike the plastic bag traps that blow all over the place, the durable traps will last for years and you don’t have to replace those fragile bags or dispose of them.

The roses put on a show all during May and as we get ready to enter June, its time to feed them as they get ready for another round of blooms for summer. Pinch off spent blooms and feed the roses with an application of Rose-Tone organic rose food that you can purchase in four-pound bags with a plastic zip lock bag and loaded with an organic boost of nutrients to boost foliage. A little goes a long way.

Organic food for summer annuals

A four pound plastic bag of Flower-Tone organic flower food will provide flowers of all types a boost of vital nutrients. Apply several tablespoons in each container of annuals or perennials and stir into the medium. It is finely textured and absorbs and gives quick response. The zip block bags makes the food easy to apply. Feed the flowers once a month all summer long.

Late cucumbers should be planted now

To extend the cucumber harvest later into summer, a late row or bed should be planted within the next week. Best hot weather varities are Marketmore 76, Poinsett 76, Ashley, Long Green and Straight Eight.

Cooling off hanging baskets, pots

The flowers in hanging baskets, pots and containers are responding to the May afternoons. They quickly dry out in their containers as the sun heats up their pots as well as the soil inside them. Water them each evening before sunset and water until the water runs out the hole in the bottom of baskets and containers.

“Back seat driving.” A man was driving the car with his wife in the back seat. The car stalled on the railroad track. An Amtrak train was roaring toward the vehicle. The man’s wife screamed, “Go on, speed it up!” Her husband replied, “You’ve been driving all day from the back seat. I’ve got my end over the track, see what you can do with your end!”

America needs to start enforcing the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution as it is written, not as it has been obscenely misconstrued by the NRA and the firearm manufacturing lobby.

The first words are “a well regulated militia.” North Carolina has several well-regulated militias within its borders. You will find them at Camp LeJeune, Cherry Point MCAS, Seymour Johnson, AFB, and Ft. Bragg to name a few.

Just the ones that I mentioned probably have more assault weapons than the rest of North Carolina’s citizens, but in today’s environment that could well be argumentative. If you go to those well regulated militias you will find that those weapons are all under lock and key when they are not in use. Ammunition for those weapons are stored in a separate secure location. Large quantities are usually stored in explosive bunkers for safety.

All ammunition for assault weapons in the United States can be purchased by the assault weapon owners but should be delivered to the closest law enforcement location for secure storage, just like the militias. The ammunition should be kept by law enforcement in the owner’s name and they could come in and check it out in the amounts that they need for a purpose and the location where it is to be expended noted. The expension of large quantities should be observed, just like in the militias. The expended shells should be accounted for, just like it is in the militias.

Well regulated militias examine their members mentally, physically and morally before they are allowed to join. Those accepted are required to take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States in order to become members. They are then trained in the safety, maintenance and use of weapons of war.

Well regulated militias are much more than having an ID card and owning a bunch of weapons. I believe that governors, county commissioners, sheriffs, city mayors, city manager, police chiefs and others can and should regulate the ammunition for assault weapons and that it would not infringe on the right of the people to bear arms.

The example is the actions of the well regulated militias that has been necessary for the security of a free state and has kept it free time after time. Control the ammunition, just like the well regulated militias. This is written by a man that has qualified many times as an expert with several assault weapons and expended thousands of rounds through them as a member of a well regulated militia.

Our children and grandchildren need to be students at school not targets on an open range.

We are all in shock with the news of yet another mass shooting. This time in Uvalde, Texas. Then the news this morning (Wednesday, May 25) of a fight at a Circle K on Rockford Street that ended with someone dying from a gunshot wound.

What can we agree on? How do we react, or better act?

I think we can agree that more legislation is not the answer.

We have laws on the books that are not easy to enforce. It’s complicated.

We may have some agreement that background checks, sales of high-capacity magazines and the need for the average citizen to own a military style tactical weapon might be a small step in the right direction. However, the problem seems to be more personal.

It starts with us. Can we, as a member of society, slow down the anger? Anger fuels divisiveness. We seem to spend more time, as with our politics, throwing stones at the other political party in order to gain leverage. What would happen if we woke up every day looking for something positive to share and do — like Giving to Second Harvest Food Bank at Chick fil A. Wednesday, May 25? Making sure our children are taken to places such as Reeves Community Center, Surry Arts Council happenings, open air concerts on Market Street, the park, the library, activities in one of our 188 local churches and more?

Parents, you don’t have to repeat the failures and short comings of your past. You have the unique power to make positive change. In small ways at first, but the more you do, the more you learn and the better your life and those around you can be.

So I challenge you to act.

Fire prevention is a worthwhile endeavor; and maintaining a top-notch fire department like we have in Mount Airy is a necessary and appropriate expense that should be borne by all city taxpayers. With that understanding, I read with interest the article “Fire-suppression grants to aid downtown housing” that appeared in the April 28 issue of The Mount Airy News.

The city’s newly developed initiative – creatively tagged the “Downtown Fire Suppression Life & Safety Grant Program” — is little more than an open spigot to steadily pour taxpayer-funded handouts (er, “grant awards”) into the wallets of select downtown business owners who choose to renovate the upper-floors of their buildings to create residential rental units. In a nutshell, the city will pay up to $35,000 of a portion of the each qualifying owner’s costs to install, as part of their new-construction or remodeling expenses, the sophisticated sprinkler system that is required, by code, for residential units.

The program was promoted as one designed to save and protect lives and historic property (make that lives and property within the Downtown Fire District only) while incentivizing downtown residential development. Using a combination of fear tactics and concessionary projections, the proposed program was quickly passed during the April 21 meeting of the city council — despite the fact that, at that meeting, nobody could say exactly how much money would ultimately be paid to business owners, which part of the budget would be used to fund the handouts, or whether or not there is an end date to this creatively marketed give-away program. Talk about fiscal mismanagement.

Fast forward two weeks: the proposed city budget for the next fiscal year was shared with city council members at the May 19 meeting; and, as reported in the May 21 issue of The Mount Airy News, $105,000 has been earmarked for the “grant” program. How was that arbitrary amount determined? Seems like three eligible owners have already applied for their full handout (3 x $35,000 = $105,000).

More importantly, given the propensity of the city to simply ignore its own budgeted numbers when those numbers prove inconvenient, taxpayers can expect the initial $105,000 to grow exponentially as more and more prospective landlords demand their piece of the promised pie. The Downtown Fire District includes more than 100 properties. Assuming, very conservatively, an average “grant award” of only half the allowed maximum to eligible applicants, the city is primed to give away $875,000 to 50 business owners, $1.3 million to 75 owners, $1.75 million to 100 owners, and so on.

Why should hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of city tax dollars be given to scores of downtown business owners to help them cover their code-compliance costs when they decide to voluntarily improve their property in order to make more money from rental income?

City officials justified this latest corporate welfare caper by touting the increased tax benefits that will come to the city. That may be so – but only if you define a good investment as waiting multiple decades to fully recover the total amount of money forked over.

Business owners – both within and without the Downtown Fire District — should shoulder their own costs for ensuring that their facilities meet or exceed all code requirements appropriate for their stated use and necessary to protect themselves and others from fire and other hazards. Rather than tossing cash at these owners, city officials should have encouraged them to do what they’d tell the rest of us to do – go to a bank and take out a loan!

Often History, with a capital H, is seen as highly academic. We, as humans, often overlook or dismiss day to day activities as historical; we discard little moments like fool’s gold to make way for the 24 karat events that are televised, tweeted, posted, and spread in mass media without truly seeing that these little experiences sometimes shine brighter.

Through the years, The Mount Airy News has documented the big and the small detailing the life of its readers and beyond. Vintage copies of the newspaper are treasure chests of local history. Some copies have small sections titled “Looking Back” that detail events from 25 and 50 years ago, much like the “Our History” columns do today. Here are some findings from the 1972 May issues.

Originally published May 16, 1947, 25 years ago in 1972, and 75 years ago this month, one blurb read: “Joe Dobson has sold his café business, operated as Main Street Grill to Neil Hennis and Lum Robertson who are now in charge of the place. Dobson is now spending this week catching up on fishing in the local stream.” With no Facebook to check in on our friends, local residents were informed via the newspaper. Social gatherings and events were shared in print, just as we do today. In an issue published on May 2, 1972, an observation was noted that on May 4, 1922 “Miss Fulton, Hedrick, and Bacon of the high school faculty and Mrs. Moorefield and children are camping at White Sulphur Springs.” A simple camping trip that is now 100 years was immortalized in print. Friends and family used this information to plan visits and outings. Granted this is much slower than our instant messaging now but it still got the job done.

Sometimes the news was so shocking that it was published outside the local sector. On May 23, 1947, a piece was entered about Sheffield, England. “Entering a dentist’s office to have a tooth pulled, George Henry Davison, 60, was given an anesthetic. He woke up a few minutes later with his teeth intact and found the dentist dead. He had suffered a heart attack.” After 25 years this type of story was still in favor to be printed.

Another story, originally printed on May 4, 1922, and is now 100 years old communicated that “The brick building on Moore Avenue formerly occupied by Billie Kings Cleaning and Pressing Business has been leased by J.L Banner and turned into an ice cream factory.” Now, if that’s not newsworthy, I don’t know what is.

So many other stories and community events have been recorded for all to see. If you ever find yourself wanting to step back in time and see what everyday folks in our area were interested in all you need to do is browse the newspaper archives, most of which are available online.

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

A container, pot or tube of portulaca

The unusual and colorful portulaca, which is also known as cactus rose, desert rose, rose moss and cactus flower, features colors of red, yellow, pink, orange, tan, wine and white. The plants are small and will sprawl over the sides of their containers and you can plant them close together. They are sun-loving plants and absorb plenty of sunlight each day. On cloudy and rainy days, not many of them will bloom. Different flowers bloom each morning for a varied display of colors. For the portulaca, you can use cactus medium instead of fine potting medium. Feed them with Flower-Tone organic flower food each month and water them when rain is not in the forecast for several days. My Northampton County grandma always had a tub of rose moss on her front porch that bloomed all summer long.

The Irish potato row may have new potatoes

The Irish potato row or bed should now have plenty of lush green foliage and also some white blooms which may signal that there are some new potatoes under the vines at the bottom of the hills. Do not disturb the hills, but scratch around and harvest one or two from several hills. Don’t peel them but place in a pot and cover with water. Boil until you can stick a fork through them. Add salt, pepper and half stick light margarine. Serve with a bowl of green beans.

Strawberry harvest still in progress

The strawberry harvest in Surry County still has about two weeks remaining. There is time to harvest a few gallons of fresh strawberries to freeze for winter enjoyment. Don’t allow the season to pass by without freezing some strawberries. You can pick your own or purchase them already picked if you call ahead. Ready-picked costs about a dollar more per gallon. They are defiantly worth the time and effort.

Strawberries: ingredients of this crumble

For this recipe you will need one quart of fresh strawberries, capped and cut into quarters and coated with three-fourths cup sugar and one-fourth cup plain flour. Stir together and pour into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish or pan sprayed with Pam bakers spray. Mix the plain flour and one cup sugar and one stick of light margarine. Beat mixture until it is crumbly. Add one-fourth cup milk and a teaspoon of strawberry flavoring. Mix with a large spoon and spread over the strawberry mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, covering the baking dish or pan with a layer of aluminum foil. Remove foil after 30 minutes and bake until the crumbs are light brown. This recipe makes six servings.

Warm days and nights pave way for tomatoes

With days and nights beginning to warm up, a row of tomato plants can be safely set out. They will thrive in the warm May temperatures. When you purchase tomato plants, buy those that do not have blooms on them or that have very long stems, and please do not buy plants with green tomatoes already on them, they are born losers and have been pampered and already produced. Buy strong, healthy plants with olive green stems that will adapt well to your garden soil. Choose from proven varities such as Big Boy, Better Boy, Early Girl, Rutgers, Marglobe, Homestead, Mountain Pride, Celebrity, Parks Whopper, Beefsteak, Beefy Boy, Mortgage Lifter and Pink Girl. Use great organic plant foods like Tomato-Tone organic tomato food and Dr. Earth tomato food and Alaska Fish Emulsion. Add a handful of calcium carbonate (powdered lime) to each tomato plant to prevent blossom end rot as the plants develop. Set plants about 18 to 24 inches apart in a 5- or 6-inch deep furrow and hill up soil on both sides of the row. About every three weeks, side dress the tomato plants with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food. Apply a handful in the furrow when setting out individual tomato plants. You can also give tomato food with enriched calcium to prevent blossom end rot.

We are reaching further in the month of May and the days and nights are getting warmer and soil temperatures are getting ideal for planting and sowing warm weather vegetables. The risk of frost has passed and warm weather is consistent. Any vegetable related to warm temperatures can now be planted in the spring garden plot.

American history in a bee balm plant

The American bee balm is an important part of early American history that lives today in the form of the American bee balm plant. You can purchase open at most nurseries and garden departments. Buy a larger container to transplant it in a bag of fine potting medium because it will grow quickly in the warm weather of late spring. Some have pink blooms and the taller varities have lavender blooms. Birds will love their seeds and tea can be made from the leaves.

The front porch on a spring morning

The front porch on a spring morning with a piece of toast and a cup of coffee is a great way to start a day. The aroma of sweet honeysuckles and the first annuals of summer getting ready to bloom and trees greening up for a long summer. The birds are plenty active at the feeder and the birdbath and also searching for nesting materials. The sun warms up the Carolina blue sky. It is a great privilege to breathe in that fresh air of spring. Is there anything as rare and wonderful as a warm, sunny spring morning?

Planting a row or bed of cucumbers

Cucumbers love warm nights and also warm May soil to get them off to a good start. They perform well in beds or rows. You can choose from many varities. Choose from Ashley, Long Green, Straight Eight, Boston Pickler, Eureka, Goliath, Sweet Slice, Summer Dance, Muncher, Marketmore, Diva, Poinsett 76, Bush Pickler and Armenian. Most cucumber varities will produce a harvest in 60 to 70 days. Its a good idea to plant a row or bed now and another row or bed in about two weeks from now to extend your harvest. Sow cucumber seed in a furrow about four inches deep. Apply a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow. Sow four seeds per hill about a foot apart. Cover the seeds with another layer of peat moss or Black Kow composted cow manure and then an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamp down soil on top of hill for good soil contact. When seeds sprout, they develop two leaves. Thin the plants to two per hill. Feed by side dressing every two weeks with Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Keep soil hilled up on both sides of the row after feeding. Water with water wand in spray mode each week if no rain is in the forecast.

Planting hills of summer squash

A row or beds of summer squash will produce a harvest in 50 to 60 days. Squash will produce a large harvest in a short period of time. We like to can plenty of them because in winter they make great sonkers as well as casseroles and squash fritters. You can choose from the straight neck or crookneck varities. We prefer the straight necks because they have smaller and less seed and are more suitable for canning. Another factor is they don’t have as much moisture in them as crooknecks and they are also much meatier which makes them ideal for sonkers. In squash varities, you can choose from yellow crookneck, Early Prolific Straight neck, Saffron Straight neck or Enterprise Straight neck. Plant squash in a furrow about four inches deep. Apply a layer of peat moss in the bottom of the furrow and sow seed on top of the peat moss. Sow four seeds per hill about a foot-and-a-half apart. Cover seed with another layer of peat moss and an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food. Hill soil up on each side of the row and tamp the soil on top of the hill down for good soil contact. When the squash plants develop two leaves, thin them to two plants per hill. Apply Plant-Tone or Garden-Tone organic vegetable food on each side of the row and hill up soil to cover the plant food. Water each week with the water wand on spray mode if no rain is in the forecast.

-“Last minute prayer.” The cruise ship was sinking and the captain shouted, “Does anybody on board know how to pray?” A minister on board said, “I do.” “Good,” said the captain, “You start praying, the rest of us will put on life jackets. We are one jacket short.”

-“May I have this dance?” A clumsy and rather awkward high school freshman finally got up enough nerve to ask a cute girl to prom. “I never dance with children,” said the cute snob. The freshman gave her a critical look and said, “Please forgive me, I did not realize you were pregnant.”

-“Getting your act together.” Patient: “Doctor, I’m worried, I think I’m a curtain.” Doctor: “Stop worrying, pull yourself together.”

This is in reference to the Saturday, May 14, 2020 article “Voter fraud adherents to speak” and letter to the editor “Reader decries political ‘histrionics’.”

Both items have the same theme – election integrity. Regardless of political affiliation, it has become apparent that state legislatures need to take action. Part of citizenship is the responsibility to select those who will govern their respective local, sate, U.S. congressional, and once every four years refer to the Electoral College who their preferred candidate is to govern the country. We the people cannot abrogate our duty on this; otherwise, there effectively is no vote – as clearly evidenced in undemocratically governed countries.

The question of integrity in all forms of elections; to wit: Stacey Abrams (gubernatorial), Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump (presidential), has been – regardless of political party affiliation – percolating to the boiling point. This alone should enjoin the state legislatures to remove the kettle from the heat and seriously investigate the unquelled perception of election fraud and/or hanky panky tactics.

Yes, it will cost money to do this; however, not to do so invites continued voter apathy, unrest, and ultimately federal government meddling in states’ constitutional responsibility under Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 pertaining to “governance of the people, by the people, for the people” (Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863, Gettysburg).

It is time to resolve the issues of voter databases, voter identification at the polls/absentee ballots, and methodology plus procedures for gathering and counting the votes.

A large, four-story building stands on the corner of North Main and East Oak Street in downtown Mount Airy, at 252 North Main Street. The building has occupied this corner for more than a century and has withstood all the changes that have occurred on the streets surrounding it.

Now known as the Main Oak building, and constructed sometime between 1905 and 1910, it has gone through countless renovations and changes, yet still retains many of its original details, such as its arched windows on the upper floor and its iconic, large storefront windows.

One of its early incarnations was as the F. L. Smith Hardware store. With the town of Mount Airy in boom and various industries springing up, there was high demand in the town for building supplies. As such, hardware stores became ubiquitous along Main Street. F. L Smith Hardware benefited greatly from all this new industry. The building then changed hands to Holcomb Hardware, and then over to Midkiff Hardware.

Its owner, John H Midkiff knew the building well, having been a resident of Mount Airy for the previous 21 years, and was an employee of F. L. Smith Hardware. In this incarnation, the store sold everything from wagons to tobacco and farming supplies. Under John Midkiff’s ownership, the store expanded, adding on a large storage warehouse located at the rear of the store, and also installed a modern (for its era) sprinkler system on the four floors of the building, making it the first store in town to have this fire prevention method.

Along with the flourishing business that the building housed, it also saw its share of the darker side of life. During the 1920s, Dr Harvey R. Hege’s practice was located on the second floor of the building, with Holcomb Hardware below. The dentist had lived and practiced in Mount Airy for more than 25 years and was by all accounts had many connections to the community and was very well respected.

Dr. Hege also flourished professionally. With the addition of a new X-ray machine in his office, the Mount Airy News wrote in a 1921 article that “with this addition to his already modernly equipped office Dr. Hege can now boast of one of the most completely equipped dental parlors in the state.”

However, what the dentist would become notorious for was his involvement in the murder of Curry Thomas, a Virginia farmer, in 1936. Just one month before his death, Thomas had married his wife Elise, who had previously worked for Dr. Hege at his practice. When they received a package in the mail, the couple assumed it was a wedding present. Instead, when they opened it, they set off the bomb that was inside, killing Thomas and severely injuring Elise.

Clues from the crime scene eventually led investigators in northwestern North Carolina, and to Dr. Hege. The dentist owned the very same typewriter which police were able to work out had written the shipping label of the deadly package. It is also said that Dr. Hege went right downstairs from his office and bought the materials for the package from Midkiff Hardware.

Dr. Hege denied all involvement and claimed he was away fishing at the time the package was sent, but his alibi soon proved false, and he was arrested.

However, before the case was brought to trial, Dr. Hege committed suicide in jail.

Legend has it that this unassuming building was at one time home to Mount Airy’s only speakeasy. In order to gain access, visitors were said to have to make their way to the top floor via a freight elevator. Not a sophisticated piece of machinery by any standard, the elevator was operated by a rope which would start and stop it. Once the rope had hopefully been pulled at the right moment to get out onto the third floor, visitors would be greeted by a small hallway, with a door with a small slot in it at the end of the hall. If the person looking through this slot approved of you, you were let in.

The elevator was the only way in or out of this building, so one night, when a party in the speakeasy was in full swing, and the rope for the elevator came loose, stranding the elevator in the basement, the visitors had no exit. There was no phone on this floor, in keeping with the secrecy of speakeasy and the cover story of it being used for storage, so the party-goers resorted to opening a window and yelling into the street for help. Unfortunately, the late hour meant the only ones still out on the street were the same people they were hiding from; the cops. We don’t hear any stories of the speakeasy after this point, but we can guess what happened.

Today, the building still stands on its corner, watching the hustle and bustle of Main Street. While the stories about the building have largely faded away, the building remains solid and standing, a testament to its varied history.

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

Surry strawberry season now heads full steam

The warm morning of mid-May, the sweet perfume of honeysuckles, the sounds of the birds, plus the aroma of fresh red strawberries beckon us to that special strawberry field on a country road in Surry County. Several gallons of beautiful berries are waiting for us to pick! The is nothing quite like the red tint and sweet aroma of freshly picked strawberries on your fingertips. It is always fun to go berry picking in the morning when the air is fresh, the warm sun shines down and the scent of honeysuckles and strawberries fill the countryside. This seems to be the best time to pick with no distractions. If you don’t have time to pick berries, you can always call ahead and place an order and they will have them ready when you arrive. It costs about a dollar more per gallon if they pick berries for you, but still well worth the price.

Strawberry cappers make processing easier

With a strawberry capper, you can dig the cap out of the berry without any damage to the fruit. You can purchase one at a pick-your-own field for about a dollar or at most kitchen specialty shops. They are a great investment that makes processing strawberries easier as well as cleaner.

Freezing strawberries for year-round use

Strawberries are the easiest fruit to freeze and they taste almost as good as fresh in the winter. To freeze the berries, begin the process as soon as you bring them home from the field. For best results, always use plastic quart containers instead of bags to better protect and preserve the berries. Never run any water over the strawberries because this destroys the tiny seed on the berries and also makes berries mushy. Process one quart at a time, by capping the green caps and place in a one quart pan. Fill one side of the sink with cold water and gently place one quart of berries in the water and then drain them on a dry towel before placing the berries in a plastic quart container. Avoid pressing or mashing the berries. Make sure lids are tightly sealed to avoid freezer burn. Repeat process quart by quart and immediately place in freezer.

To make a strawberry refrigerator pie

This is an easy pie to prepare and is especially great while strawberries are in season. You will need one box of vanilla wafers, two sticks light margarine, one and a half cups 10x powdered sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, one tablespoon strawberry flavoring, two large eggs, one quart fresh cut up strawberries, one pint dairy whipping cream. Run the box of vanilla wafers through the blender in grate mode. In a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan or dish, spread half the vanilla wafers. Cream the 10x powdered sugar and light margarine. Add eggs one at a time and beat well, add vanilla and strawberry flavoring (and a little milk if necessary). Spread the mixture over bottom layer of grated vanilla wafers. Mix the quart of fresh chopped strawberries with half a cup of sugar (not powdered but cane sugar). Spread the strawberries over the top of the pie mixture. Sprinkle remaining grated vanilla wafer crumbs on top of the pie. Place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight. Cut pies in squares.

A step ahead of pollen

The dusty yellow tree pollen covers the driveway, carport, and vehicles and the porch. It reaches into nostrils and promotes sneezes and wheezes and makes a dusty mess as it sticks to everything it touches. Keep the leaf blower and water hose handy as well as a bottle of spray glass cleaner. Blow the porch, carport and vehicles off every day and rinse pollen off the vehicles. Clean the windshields with glass cleaner and wipe inside the doors of vehicles and wipe the engine with a spray of Armor-All. The pollen season will extend all the way into the month of June.

We are in the midst of Blackberry Winter

The season of Blackberry Winter is still in progress which means we may still have a few more cool nights to deal with. We celebrated Saint Dunstan’s Day last week, and he says that the cool nights of May are past and the norm will be warmer days and nights. If Dunstan is right, he will have to override Blackberry Winter. We believe Dunstan has been dead too long and Blackberry Winter is still very much alive and the blooms are still white. The nights are still cool because the fire flies have not arrived. Their flickering amber lights will let us know when warm nights are here to stay. It is then that all warm weather vegetables can be planted.

The sweet aroma of wild honeysuckles wafts its way across the fields, meadows and country roads of Surry County. What a sweet perfume they emit! Stop along a country lane in Surry County and gather a bunch and bring them home to place in a bud vase so that sweet scent can waft its way through the house and delight the nostrils and promote sweet dreams.

Awaiting the arrival of springs fireflies

Now that we have reached the halfway point of the merry month of May and almost the middle of Blackberry Winter the season of the glowing fireflies cannot be that far away. There are some years we see more fireflies than others. We believe wet summers and late springs have adverse effects on fireflies. We definitely don’t think it is global warming, but it could be the human factor of using too many pesticides and chemicals or sprays. We are hoping they overcome these situations and that this will be a great and a bright season for them. Their flickering tail lights are a welcome sign of spring and all God’s children need to know how to catch a firefly and also learn what they smell like.

Keep hummingbird feeders filled up

Even with the honeysuckles in bloom, it is a great idea to keep hummingbird feeders filled so that you can keep hummers in the area of your home and also they will have an alternative food supply of nectar for a quick sip. You can make your own nectar with one cup sugar and one and a half cups water and several drops of red food coloring. You can also buy ready-to-use nectar in half gallon bottles and a powdered mix in envelopes that you mix with water. Check the feeders every three days and fill with fresh nectar to avoid fermentation.

Rows or beds of green beans can be planted

Green beans are one of America’s most popular vegetables and their are so many varities of them to choose from. They can be planted throughout the spring and summer with a harvest date of 60 to 70 days to produce a crop. Green beans can be used fresh in many recipes and casseroles and be canned and frozen for meals from the garden all winter long. The most popular of green beans are the bush varities and you can choose them in varities of Derby, Top Crop, Strike, Tenderette, Blue Lake, Bush, Kentucky Wonder Bush and White Half Runners. You can also choose from pole varities that require a longer number of days until harvest. Plant green beans in a furrow about four inches deep. Fill furrow with a layer of peat moss and sow seeds on top of the peat moss. Apply an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and a layer of Black Kow composted cow manure and hill up soil on both sides of the furrow and tamp down soil with the hoe blade for good contact with the soil.

The spring dynasty of weed is beginning

With the arrival of mid-May comes the debut of the season of pesky weeds in the garden plot as they begin their destructive task. You can stay ahead of the weed population by pulling weeds up by the roots and throwing them out of the garden. Get rid of morning glories while they are young and have not developed long root systems. Pull up Bermuda grass, nut grass, crab grass and lambs quarters before they get out of hand. Weeds deprive plants of vital nutrients and choke out their growth. Do not use harmful weed killers, but use your two hands to get rid of the weed population.

The beauty of the Full Flower Moon

The full moon of May will occur on Monday, May 16, and this full moon will be named Full Flower Moon. It will be eclipsed on the Sunday night before and also early that Monday morning, an event that will last four hours and 19 minutes in its entirety and begin at 9:26 p.m. Sunday, and end at 2:30 a.m. Monday.

Here we go again — the same old conspiracy theories of voter fraud and voting machines that Trump and his mafia have repeated over and over to brainwash his cult.

I am so discouraged that so many of our Surry County citizens do not believe truth and facts. I have been voting for more than 60 years and have voted for both Democrats and Republicans. I have always trusted our citizens who work so hard at the polls protecting and defending our right to vote.

Thank you Michella Huff for being an honest, hard-working and reliable citizen dedicating so much time to making sure we have rights and privileges to cast our vote, and also for standing up to such political histrionics.

We must all speak out against hate and deception.

This is in reference to the article by Ryan Kelly, “Federal injunction sole path to voting machine audit” in the Saturday, May 7, edition.

I, one among many, saw a presentation concerning 2020 voting in Surry County. Had Ms. Michella Huff (county board of elections chair) attended the meeting, I believe she would fully understand the purported “explosion” by Keith Senter (Republican party chair) during their meeting about voting concerns – primarily with voting machines.

There were actual photographs which showed a fingertip chip hidden on the motherboard of a machine. As stated in the referenced article, current communications technology makes the machine susceptible to surreptitious hacking which could then taint the results. Although the chip in the photographs was not purported to be from one of the machines within Surry County, the inference is that like-machines could be so “infected.” Hence, the request to have an audit of the machines. Unfortunately, it appears that no machine audit directed by Federal Court Order will ensue until a statistically, major loss occurs in the next presidential voting cycle.

Actually, voting machines are only one aspect of 2020 voting issues within Surry County. A statistical forensic investigation into voting data, showed that although reliably “red,” there were statistically too many “blue” votes for the number of registered democrats.

Additionally, during the presentation, actual voter registration data sets from Surry County were shown. Data input into registration rolls showed multiple voting ID numbers given to a single person. For example, I could have two ID’s, one for Harmon and another for Harman, depending on who inputted/updated the information into the database. Also, funeral homes are not required by law to notify the Election Board of deaths; ergo, the database doesn’t get scrubbed.

It appears the only solution to reinstate integrity for our democratic institution of voting is for each state to take on the gargantuan task to conduct in-dept audits of entire voting processes: tabulation, citizen voter databases, and collection of paper ballots.

I recently viewed an online recording of the Mount Airy city council meeting of April 21.

It felt a bit like watching the Academy Awards – with the slap!

As the meeting edged close to a scheduled discussion of the now well-known Uncorked drama, Commissioner Marie Wood spoke out of turn to inappropriately chastise Commissioner Jon Cawley for, among other council sins, having dared to mention Uncorked – which, until then, had apparently remained a secret known only to a few select individuals – including members of the planning committee, a few cherry-picked commissioners, and probably some others with council-approved top secret clearance that would entitle them to know how and why the local Uncorked business had become intrinsically linked to a requested change in a city ordinance. (Apparently, Wood forgot that the Business-Which-Cannot-Be-Named had initially been referenced, out loud, by a city employee – whose own name shall be withheld for fear that he, too, could be publicly censured.)

A bit later in the meeting, Wood’s verbal slap was bolstered by Commissioner Steve Yokeley, who said he resented the insinuation that board members don’t do their homework.

Once the Oscar-worthy feigned indignation performances by Wood and Yokeley were out of the way, Commissioner Cawley addressed the elephant in the room – which is the lack of transparency that seems to be consistently applied to council proceedings in order to guarantee a pre-determined vote on key issues. Clearly, in the case of “Uncorked-gate,” not every commissioner had been given all the same background information (including implications and relevant potential consequences) that is supposed to help inform their vote. Indeed, the limited information provided to Cawley made no mention of Uncorked — or the fact that that establishment stood to potentially benefit from the ordinance change that was being promulgated.

I believe the only reason such secret, underhanded shenanigans are permitted to plague our local governing body is so the council can continue its ‘hide and slide’ decision-making process – whereby bits and pieces of relevant information are conveniently hidden, omitted, or purposefully withheld from one or more commissioners so the others can easily slide their preferred outcome through the voting process. No vote should be taken unless and until all commissioners are working from the exact same script.

Kudos to Commissioner Cawley for once again standing up for truth and transparency. And shame on the mayor for not showing the leadership required to demand, effective immediately, that all background information and/or recommendations shared with all council members be exactly the same – with no seemingly calculated omissions of relevant factors.

Government does not get any bigger than when it controls what its citizens must do with their own body. That is not small government. That is not conservative government. That is totalitarian government.

Rebuke the Republican-sought totalitarian government!

With spring time comes tourists returning during the warm season. As much as I love to see families enjoying Main Street, the visitors I most look forward to are actually the thousands of birds who stop by. Many of us enjoy seeing new birds at our feeders, like tiny warblers and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Blue Grosbeaks, and even Scarlet Tanagers.

More than a hundred species of birds migrate through and to our region every spring, and though we all enjoy seeing the new addition to our feeder or on a walk, watching these birds has a rich history in our community. Did you know that International Migratory Bird Day is celebrated every year on the second Saturday of May? This holiday is celebrated all throughout North and South America, and North Carolina is certainly no exception.

This region is important to migrating birds during both the spring and fall. During the spring, thousands of birds leave their winter homes, ranging from South America all the way up to the far southern states of the US, and head north, hoping to find plenty of food and a good nesting spot. During their fall migration, we see other types of birds migrating from the north to find warmer weather during the cool seasons.

These birds come through this region for many reasons. We are a part of a long-known migration route for many birds, and some use the mountains to help navigate. The mountains and waterways also provide lots of food and nesting opportunities, and even events such as storms bring them through the area.

The movements of these birds have been noted for hundreds of years in this region. More than 350 years ago, the Saura tribe was known to hunt migrating birds for food, tools, and to wear. Some of those birds you can still see today, such as Thrush (Swainson’s and Wood are both still popular here) or maybe even a Snow Goose if you are very lucky nowadays. Not all of the birds they would have observed are still around today, though, with the infamous passenger pigeon being the prime example.

Early European settlers also observed and hunted migrating birds, more than 250 years ago. Moravian settlers were recorded as being especially fascinated with “exotic” migrants such as the Whippoorwills, which “calls only at night;” a fascination many of us here still share. They also relied on migrating birds as a food source, such as wild geese and the passenger pigeon. They would go from hunting these passenger pigeons by the thousands each winter to witnessing their extinction. In the fall of 1760, men in Wachovia hunted 1,200-1,800 pigeons in a single hunt one night. Here in Surry County in 1842, a flock roosting over four square miles stayed 17 nights. By the late 1800s, they would be gone from North Carolina. By 1914, the last passenger pigeon, which was kept in the Cincinnati zoo, died and the species was gone forever.

Modern groups would soon follow in the footsteps of past bird migration observers, but with the hope of conserving species rather than for hunting. In 1902, the Audubon Society of North Carolina was founded, and during this time, bird watching became a popular hobby as concern for losing species grew. Soon after, with the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway here and a rising interest in parks, the Carolina Bird Club was founded in 1937. This initial club had members from all over the state, including Winston-Salem and surrounding communities, and they were dedicated to studying and conserving birds.

Bird watching is still a beloved hobby in this region, and the number of groups and opportunities has only grown. One of our most prominent groups is the Forsythe chapter of the Audubon Society, and they notably do migrating hawk counts every fall throughout the region, but the Pilot Mountain watch is a personal favorite. Every year, starting in September, counters will be out at Pilot, counting migrating hawks and birds of prey as they fly south. A few rare finds, such as Northern Harriers, have been seen, but broad-winged hawks are what we get the most of. Every year, thousands of these birds pass by Pilot, and with the local record being more than 10,000 passing by in a single day in 1993.

For centuries, the people of Surry County and the surrounding communities have watched these birds as they migrate through. Over the years, the intent has changed from hunting for nutrition to watching and conservation, but one thing hasn’t changed — we are simply fascinated with them. So, set up a backyard feeder or get out to a local park this spring (and fall) because you never know what new bird could be visiting.

Cassandra Johnson is the director of programs and education at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History. She has been an avid bird-watcher for more than 10 years.

Before the nights of May get warmer, we have to go through “Blackberry Winter.” This is the time when wild blackberries are white with blooms along the fields, meadows, and country roads of Surry County. As they bloom for the next two or three weeks, we can expect a few more chilly days and nights.

A trip to the Surry strawberry patch

The scent of the wild honeysuckle mingled with the sweet aroma of strawberries emitting from fields of pick-your-own strawberry farms in the rolling hills of Surry County on a May morning is an experience to remember. Whether you pick your own or buy them ready-picked, it is a fun place to visit. There is something extra special about picking your own berries and being close to them and getting the stain and aroma on your fingertips.

Total eclipse of moon is May 15-16

A total eclipse on the moon will occur on Sunday and Monday, May 15-16, and it is an event that will last from 9:26 p.m. Sunday until 1:55 a.m. Monday. The length of the lunar event will be four hours and 19 minutes. The eclipse will be visible all over North America and begins at 9:26 p.m. Sunday night, Eastern Daylight Savings Time, when the moon enters the penumbra and at 10:27 p.m. the moon enters the umbra. The moon leaves the umbra at 1:55 a.m. Monday. The moon leaves the penumbra at 2:50 a.m.. Totality will last one hour and 24 minutes. The eclipse ends at 2:50 a.m. Monday. In referring to the penumbra, which is the Latin word for “Shadow” or the darkest part of the shadow where the light is completely blocked. The umbra is the area not only some but all the light is blocked.

We kick of the 2022 season of the strawberry harvest with a strawberry cream salad. You will need two quarts of fresh strawberries, two three-ounce boxes strawberry Jello, two cups boiling water, one cup cottage cheese, one pint dairy whipping cream, one cup sugar, one teaspoon strawberry flavoring. Cap and cut strawberries into halves. Stir the berries into one cup sugar. Dissolve Jello into two cups water and one teaspoon of strawberry flavoring. Chill the Jello in refrigerator until it is slightly thickened. Stir in the strawberries and cottage cheese. Beat dairy whipping cream until thick. Fold whipped cream with tablespoon of sugar added to it and fold the whipped cream into the Jello mixture. Pour into a bowl sprayed with Pam. Chill in refrigerator until firm. Makes eight servings. Keep salad refrigerated.

The sweet perfume of honeysuckles

The first warm evenings of May evokes the fresh scent of the wild honeysuckles and their blossoms wafting in the twilight breezes. The white and coral blooms are things of beauty. In the twilight air of the deck, they are a treat to the nostrils. Pick a bud vase of honeysuckle blossoms and place them in the kitchen, den or bedroom for a sweet spring perfume.

The nights of May are now beginning to have a hint of warmth. This is good news for the warm weather vegetable crops. Frost danger should be a thing of the past. Green beans in such varities as the Top Crop, Strike, Tenderette, Kentucky Wonder Bush, Blue Lake Bush and Derby can now be planted. Wait another ten days to plant squash, cucumbers, pepper, tomato plants and egg plants. By that time, soil temperatures will be consistent and warm and so will the nights.

Starting a container or a pot of Coleus

Coleus or Josephs coat adorns any deck or porch with a coat of many colors. Coleus comes in colors of pink, cream, maroon, yellow, mint green, red, purple and lavender. The colors are framed in a mostly green border. As they continue to grow, they produce stems of very light purple flowers. When you continue to pinch these flowers off more leaves begin to form and you will have plenty of foliage till frost.

Planting summer squash for sonkers

If you live in Surry County, you are no stranger to sonkers because they are a tradition as well as a treat. My mother-in-law, a native of Surry County, made squash sonkers with a layer of biscuit dough and fresh summer squash, milk (evaporated), butter, vanilla, sugar and thickened with corn starch. It was unforgettable and we still remember its wonderful flavor. You can use many fruits and a few vegetables such as squash and sweet potatoes to make sonkers. We think squash make the best because they are so unique. The very first sonkers made way back when, were probably made from squash simply because they were so available and everyone had plenty of them. You can use canned squash to make them all year long. The season for planting summer squash is almost here with the soil warming up. Several varieties of summer squash make better sonkers than others. The best varities for sonkers are the straight-necks simply because they are meaty with less moisture. Several varities that meet these conditions are Early Prolific straight-necks, Saffron by Burpee Seed, Enterprise by Park Seed. These are all straight-neck varities and they can be split and seeds removed easily for a more tasty sonker, meaty, without seed or much water. Better squash make tastier sonkers. Long live the sonker!

Make waves with the wave petunias

Of all the petunias, the wave variety is the best, especially the hot pinks. These waves are available in several colors including white. They produce bountiful hanging baskets of continual blooms that cascade over the sides of the baskets. You can also set several out in large pots or containers. Feed them with Flower-Tone organic flower food once each month. As they finish their bloom stage, pinch of spent blooms to promote new blooms. As the season advances, trim off long runners to strengthen blooms for a longer season.

Warm soil will cause potato vines to grow and also attract Colorado potato beetles. If you detect any, spray a mist of Sevin spray directly on the foliage. Check soil underneath the vines to see if any potatoes are forming. Pull the soil up to the base of the plants on each side of the furrow.

Planting a piece of true American history

The American Bee Balm plant has been an important plant in our country’s history since before the revolutionary war. It’s leaves were used as a substitute for tea after British tea was dumped from their ships into the Boston Harbor in the Boston Tea Party. This act was done in protest to British taxation as well as British dominance. American colonist boiled the leaves of the bee balm to make a form of tea. It most likely was a common plant that grew wild in the New England woodlands. You can plant a piece of American history on your front porch and enjoy pretty pink or lavender flowers and mint green leaves all spring and summer and perhaps make some bee balm tea. Most nurseries, garden shops, hardwares, Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Ace Hardware have it. Transplant them from the small pot they came in to a larger container filled with a fine textured potting medium. It will grow fast after being transplanted. Feed it with Flower-Tone organic flower food once each month. Some varities will grow taller than others. You can winter them over by trimming them back and move to a protected area on the porch and cover with a towel on freezing nights. We have one that is several years old and produces new foliage every spring. We believe the American colonists used the taller varities.

Setting out a few early tomato plants

It is still a little early for setting out the bulk of the tomato plants harvest because nights are still inconsistently cool, but a few varities such as Early Girl, Celebrity and Oregon Spring which are determinants can be set out for an early harvest. Set out only what you can cover for warmth at night. You will need just a few because in a few more weeks, you can set out the main harvest of tomatoes. You can stake the early tomatoes and cover with plastic bags (clear). Cut clear plastic bags and cover soil around base of plants to promote warmth in the soil. Anchor bags with a layer of soil. Feed with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food.

“Doing the math.” On the first day of school the teacher of the first grade said, “If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers.” A small voice from the back of the room said, “How will that help?”

“Not me.” The preacher said, “Prepare to meet thy maker. Every single member of this congregation is going to die.” One man in the congregation seemed to enjoy the preachers words, “What’s so funny?” the pastor asked. The man answered, “I’m not a member of this congregation.”

“Sign me up, sir!” Army recruiter: “What do you mean you want to join the army? You’re still in high school, you are only an infant!” Teenager: “Yes, sir, I want to join the infantry.”

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 particular column is part of a monthly series on drug abuse prevention and treatment.

Parents have a significant influence in their children’s decisions to experiment with alcohol and other drugs. One of the most influential factors during a child’s adolescence is maintaining a strong, open relationship with a parent. When parents create supportive and nurturing environments, children make better decisions. Though it may not always seem like it, children really hear their parents’ concerns, which is why it’s important that parents discuss the risks of using alcohol and other drugs.

It’s better to talk before children are exposed to alcohol and other drugs. If you talk to your kids directly and honestly, they are more likely to respect your rules and advice about alcohol and drug use. When parents talk with their children early and often about alcohol and other drugs, they can protect their children from many of the high-risk behaviors associated with using these drugs.

Some children may try alcohol or other drugs at a very young age, so it is never too early to talk to your children about this. Children as young as 9 years old already start viewing alcohol in a more positive way, and approximately 3,300 kids, as young as 12 years old, try marijuana each day. Additionally, about five in 10 kids as young as 12 obtain prescription pain relievers for nonmedical purposes. The earlier you start talking, the better.

The older kids get, the more likely they’ll try alcohol or drugs. About 10% of 12-year-olds say they have tried alcohol, but by age 15, that number jumps to 50%. Additionally, by the time they are seniors, almost 70% of high school students will have tried alcohol, half will have taken an illegal drug, and more than 20% will have used a prescription drug for a nonmedical purpose. The sooner you talk to your children about alcohol and other drugs, the greater chance you have of influencing their decisions about drinking and substance use.

Not talking about alcohol and other drugs still sends kids a message. Kids don’t always have all the facts when it comes to alcohol and other drugs. If parents don’t talk about the risks of underage drinking and substance use, their kids might not see any harm in trying alcohol and other substances. Having a conversation allows parents to set clear rules about what they expect from their kids when it comes to alcohol and other drugs.

If you, or someone you know, would benefit from learning more about “Talk. They Hear You,” start by contacting Charlotte Reeves, Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery Community Outreach Coordinator, at reevesc@co.surry.nc.us. Visit the website at surrycountycares.com for more information about substance use disorder and the many resources in Surry County.

“The ‘Y’ described as ‘the finest in the South,’ will be open to public inspection at the formal opening and the YMCA officials cordially invite the people of Mount Airy, Surry County, North Carolina, and Virginia to attend the long-awaited event. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend.” Mount Airy News, May 2, 1952.

May 4, marks 70 years since the Reeves YMCA center opened for the first time near downtown Mount Airy.

The recreation site located at 113 S Renfro Street has boasted decades of programming for children and adults alike. Families all over Surry County and beyond have used the resources of this community gathering place to stay in shape, participate in group sports, and cool off on hot summer days.

John M. Reeves, a Mount Airy native, donated $150,000 to a local YMCA project that was being promoted by J.F. Yokley within the county. This campaign began in 1943 and received attention and donors from all over the Mount Airy community and surrounding towns and communities.

The groundbreaking for the building happened seven years later. Some news articles consider Dec. 20, 1950, as the official date; others say Jan. 30, 1951. Regardless of the start date, this new project was projected to contain some of the newest technology and modern designs. The original building plans outlined a four-story structure; these were soon changed because of the availability of materials and other resources due to war-time constraints.

In February of 1952, the Reeves YMCA was granted a charter from the national organization, allowing the YMCA organization to run the center, while Reeves Community Center still owned the facility. The following months saw multiple news articles about the community center’s programs, staff, facilities, and funding. A large formal opening for the facilities was held on May 4, 1952, at 3 p.m. and this celebration even included a large parade down Main Street where many kids rode their bicycles. The project total came in at around $600,000 and had a lot to show for it.

Once opened, Reeves housed a state-of-the-art snack bar that served sandwiches and soft drinks, a dining space, and a fully equipped kitchen. The 10 Brunswick bowling alleys, a leader in the bowling industry, cost 10 cents for kids willing to set their pins, 15 cents for league games, and 20 cents for normal recreation. Two outdoor pools offered swimming and exercise and countless other equipment was added to the gymnasium and other rec rooms.

Through the years, some things have changed. In 1984, $1 million was raised to renovate the then 32-year-old building. The bowling lanes, snack bar, and kitchen were removed, as well as other edits helped to keep Reeves up to date on more modern recreation trends. In 1995 one of the two pools was enclosed to create an all-weather swimming facility.

Sometime during the 1970s, the original agreement with the YMCA was dropped and Reeves Community Center was self-operated. In 2005 the City of Mount Airy incorporated the Reeves Community Center under the umbrella of the Mount Airy Parks and Recreation. Today the center boasts more than 60,000 square feet of recreation space, including basketball courts, pools, cycling rooms, a sauna, and more. The facility is still offering group events, such as camps during the summer. Stop by sometime this week and say happy anniversary or simply get your sweat on.

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, extension 229.

Buds of wild blackberries prelude “Blackberry Winter”

The tiny buds on the wild blackberry vines along country roads in Surry County are a prelude that makes us aware that we are on the verge on an annual “Blackberry Winter.” This will be in full swing at the end of next week and be with us until almost the last week of May. This is sort of the last hoorah for cool weather and uncomfortable nights even though the heavy frosts and ground freezes are not a threat. Snow is certainly no threat. In a few more weeks, nights will begin to warm up and the weather will be warmer at nights and make sowing of warm weather vegetables favorable and safe.

Pollen season in full swing

The dusty yellow pollen of one tree variety after another fills the eyes and nostrils with the dusty substance. The pollen is so fine that it reaches the inside of vehicle doors and under the hoods of cars and coats windshields. Keep the hose and leaf blower handy. Rinse the car each day and blow the pollen from porches and carports to keep from tracking into the house. Wipe pollen from inside the vehicle door panels. Use glass cleaner to keep windshields front and back cleared of pollen.

Planting a packet of the amazing moon flower

The pure white blooms of the moon flower open and bloom at night. An amazing thing about the moon flower is that the flower will open while you are watching it at twilight time each evening and bloom for only one night. Ever night, new blooms will take their place. Many strange pollinators and night flying insects visit the flowers during the night. Packets of moon flowers cost around $2. Plant the moon flower seed in a large container of fine potting medium near a porch post or pillar so the flowers vine can climb up the post or pillar. They resemble a huge morning glory and emit an unusual aroma that attracts nighttime pollinators. Plant about four or five seed per container and thin to three when they sprout. Feed monthly with Flower-Tone organic flower food.

Don’t worry about any remaining frost

There may be a couple of scattered frosts, but nothing killing or even to be concerned about. May will bring some cool nights but not many freezing temperatures. Wait until closer to the end of the month of May to plant most warm weather vegetables. You can gamble with a few tomato plants and a row of green beans and a couple of hills of squash and cucumbers, but wait until temperatures become warmer and more consistent later in the month.

Starting a row or bed of early green beans

Its not too early to plant a row or bed of green beans to see if you can enjoy an early harvest. Top Crop or Strike are good varities to sow for an early row or bed. Plant seed in a furrow about 3 to 4 inches deep and apply a layer of peat moss, then sow the seed and top with another layer of peat moss. Apply an application of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food and hill up soil on both sides of the row and then tamp down with the hoe blade. In the “Blackberry Winter” soil of early May, green beans may take longer to sprout, but be patient with them, they will be worth waiting for.

Summer annual flowers can be planted

Summer annual flowers especially, those set out in containers and pots or hanging baskets, can now be planted in potting medium and will thrive because most of them will be on porches and decks and will receive some protection from the small amount of cooler weather we have remaining. If you plant flower seed, the soil will be warmer by the time the seeds sprout.

Ethanol oil additive in two-cycle engines

Leaf blowers, weed trimmers and weed eaters need ethanol-free fuel or ethanol-free oil treatment additive to add to the fuel. Gasoline with added ethanol can be a hazard to two-cycle engines and cause damage to these engines. If you don’t use ethanol-free gasoline in two-cycle engines, you can use ethanol fuel treatment that comes in three ounce bottles that you add to a gallon of gasoline. Most hardwares sell ethanol-free fuel in one gallon containers that is ready to use.

Moving ferns for spring and summer

The ferns have spent all fall and winter in the sunny living room and this week is the time to move them to a semi-sunny location on the deck. They will need a few handfuls of potting medium and a trim to get them on their way to a successful spring and summer. You can now purchase panda and asparagus ferns in small containers as well Boston ferns and transfer them to larger containers after you bring them home and allow them to grow outside during spring and summer and then bring them inside to winter over in a semi sunny location.

Keeping birdbaths and feeders filled

As we get more warm days and plenty of sunshine, keep plenty of fresh water in the birdbath and replenish the feeders often. Birds are building nests, searching for nesting materials, visiting the baths and feeders often. We hope they will build a nest near your home so you can watch them.

As we reach the first of May, the season of the Piedmont strawberry harvest is almost here. The season officially gets on the way the week after Mother’s Day and that is only a week away. A few fields have already opened and in Surry County, many will open in the next seven days. Plan now for a visit to a pick-your-own field near your area and enjoy strawberries all season long.

Kicking off the strawberry season with a strawberry-banana salad with simple and colorful ingredients. You will need two three-ounce boxes of strawberry Jello, one cup boiling water, one a half-quart of fresh strawberries, four bananas (diced with a few drops of lemon drops added), half cup chopped pecans, one carton of sour cream, one cup sugar. Dissolve the boxes of Jello in the boiling water, add the fresh strawberries (cut in halves), the diced bananas, sugar and chopped pecans. Pour half the mixture into a tube pan, chill in refrigerator until firm. Spread the sour cream and then cover with the remaining Jello mixture and chill in the refrigerator until firm. Makes six to eight servings. Keep refrigerated.

Do strawberries have caps or hulls?

The answer to this question is simple. Strawberries have caps. You do not hull strawberries, but you remove the little green caps from them. This is properly done with a strawberry caper which can be purchased where you buy your strawberries for around a dollar each. Kitchen departments at Target, Walmart and hardwares feature capers. They make capping berries much easier than using a knife and certainly not as messy. Every strawberry lover should have a couple of them in the kitchen drawer. They are a great investment. Buy several to give to friends and family.

Keeping an eye on blackberries bloom

The blackberries are now in full bloom along roadsides, fields and meadows as they cover Surry County with their snow white blooms. Mark and take note of the areas where they are abundant. During the next two months, they will develop green berries, then red, and around the last of June or the first of July, the berries will be black and ready to harvest. Many will be along country roadsides and easy to pick, just watch out for the briers, remember the other name for a wild blackberry is “briarberry.”

What’s that smell? Its the skunk coming out of hibernation and wondering around. No animal has such a long-range scent as a skunk that sprays the area. Even when a motorist hits one on the highway, the scent can be smelled for half a mile. We have an unusual recipe if by any remote chance your dog or cat or (heaven forbid), a family member gets a spray from a skunk. Grandma’s Northampton County recipe for skunk spray was tomato juice which is a mild remedy and not too effective. She used it on her hounds which was on rare occasions. It seems like the local paper mill out stank the skunk population! This surefire skunk deodorizer is a good scent remedy for dogs, cats and people. Mix one-fourth cup baking soda, one tablespoon dish detergent and one quart of hydrogen peroxide. Mix in a two litter bottle and shake gently to mix. Apply to the affected areas, avoiding the eyes. Do not place lid on bottle and mix only what you think you need. Discard the rest after application. Use it like you would soap and avoid direct sunlight. Lather up affected area, wait five minutes and have the animal or person, wipe and dry. A special note: The reason to avoid direct sunlight is the peroxide will bleach the hair of dogs, cats, and yes, people.

“Praying and driving.” One friend said to another friend, “You drive the car, and I will pray.” The other friend said, “What’s the matter, don’t you trust my driving?” The praying man said, “Don’t you trust my praying?”

“Clean sweep.” A wife came home from a political rally and told her husband, “Everything is going great, we are going to sweep the country.” Her husband said, “Why don’t you start with the kitchen?”

“Rev. Longwind.” “We call our pastor Reverend.” “What do you call yours?” “Neverend!”

Today, May 1, is known as May Day. Cinco De Mayo is celebrated on Thursday, May 5. The moon reaches its first quarter on Sunday, May 8. Mother’s Day is celebrated Sunday, May 8. A total eclipse of the moon will occur on the night of May 15, and will be viable in much of the United States including North Carolina. The beginning is around 9:30 p.m. and will last until 2:52 a.m. May 16. The moon will be full on Monday, May 16. The name of the moon will be “Full Flower Moon.” Armed Forces Day will be Saturday, May 21. The moon reaches its last quarter on Sunday, May 22. Memorial Day will be Monday, May 30. The moon reaches its new moon phase on Monday, May 30.

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

Tucked between the campuses of Surry Central High School and Surry Community College lies an unassuming plot of land that has the power to grow into a powerful educational tool.

The site is the future location of a new Live Animal Lab, further solidifying the partnership between Surry County Schools and Surry Community College. The facility will be used by teachers at Surry Central High School in the Animal Science program and instructors at Surry Community College in the Animal Science degree program to offer hands-on instruction on raising calves, goats, piglets, and other small animals. Students from the high school and college will receive valuable training in the field of animal science in this cooperative lab.

While at the groundbreaking, I had the opportunity to speak with students from both programs and the excitement was immeasurable. The Surry Central FFA attended in their corduroy jackets and regaled me with stories about their classroom lessons, and how they will be further enriched by having the opportunity for additional hands-on instruction. One student, in particular, Morgan Hodges mentioned that students will get to experience the “real-world scenario of operating a farm which is going to be crucial to lifelong career success.”

This statement struck me. Though Morgan will be graduating this year and not get to experience the lab for herself, she was passionate about the project. She understood the impact this lab will have on future students and help shape their career aspirations. Other students felt the same, most emphasizing the opportunity for hands-on learning and putting concepts learned in class into practice.

It is my belief that this facility will serve as an inspiration to our students and future farmers. This facility will give them the chance to test concepts, gain real-world knowledge, and expose them to career opportunities they may not have thought about previously. Agriculture is still the number one industry in Surry County and the state of North Carolina, which makes this project an investment in the future of the industry.

I’d like to thank Dr. David Shockley and everyone at Surry Community College for their shared vision on this project, along with our team at Surry Central High School. The hard work of everyone involved in this project is going to truly make a difference in the lives of students and our community.

Surry County Schools is seeking additional funding to complete the agriculture barn project. If you would like to get involved to help make this vision a reality, please contact Ashley Mills, managing director of the Surry County Schools Educational Foundation at 336-386-8211 or by email at millsa@surry.k12.nc.us. The agriculture barn will undoubtedly mean a great deal to both agriculture programs at Surry Central High School and Surry Community College, the FFA, and the community.

Overlooked and taken for granted, it surrounds us in our daily lives. Often viewed as a messy and potentially stinky or costly necessity, it keeps us healthy and promotes cleanliness — plumbing!

Indoor plumbing in the United States is a relatively new innovation. Here in Mount Airy, it took many years and set-backs to give us the water quantity and quality we have today.

Water is a finite resource; the fresh water on Earth today is the same water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago. The water cycle recycles the fresh water across and above the surface of the Earth; it evaporates, condensates, and precipitates.

Water is also one of the few substances that can exist in the three states of matter; solid as ice, liquid as water, and gas as water vapor. Earth is 75% water and of that percentage only about 3% of it is potable. Aquifers are a water bearing layer of rock sandwiched between other rock layers that are watertight and under pressure. When a well is dug, it taps into an aquifer and the unequal pressure forces the water to the surface. There are six artesian wells in the Lambsburg, Virginia, area. Springs on the other hand are naturally occurring instances of water rising to the surface and one such local spring is White Sulphur Springs.

Before the implementation of plumbing, early settlers would gather water from wells, ponds, or streams to use for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. Often, people would get sick from stagnant water due to the buildup of bacteria.

When nature called, the closest tree or quickly dug hole did the trick. Later, outhouses were developed. Always located downwind from the house and away from water sources, the outhouse gave shelter, privacy, and cleanliness for people to do their business. To wipe, people would use corn cobs, lambs ear, or the trusty pages out of an old magazine before rolls of toilet paper as we know it were invented.

The extent of indoor plumbing at this point was a chamber pot, which had to be emptied every day. It took many years for all homes in the United States to get indoor plumbing, and many homes in rural areas were still using outhouses well into the late 1900s.

A dependable supply system for water in Mount Airy took years to establish; a city sitting atop granite made for a challenge. In 1903, the city purchased water from a deep well owned by the Rucker-Witt Tobacco Company. Soon it was discovered it could not sufficiently supply water to the city and in 1904 construction began on a town well. This well could not meet the needs of the community as well, so a watershed (a land area that channels water from rain and snow to moving bodies of water such as creeks, streams, and rivers that eventually makes it to outflow points like reservoirs, bays, and the ocean) located on Creasey’s Branch, was chosen.

A dam was built at the location and a pipe line was laid to carry the water to a holding tank in town. This worked until 1910 and a new dam location, at Tumbling Rock Branch, was chosen to supply water. In 1913, the first water filter plant was built. Due to substantial drought during the 1920s, the city decided to tap water from Lovills Creek to add to the water supply, since it was the best source of water.

The City of Mount Airy operates two surface water treatment facilities. Operation at S.L Spencer Water Treatment Plant began in the late 1920s and is located along Lovills Creek. Operation at Doggett Water Plant began in 1970 and is located along Stewarts Creek, the largest water source for Mount Airy. There are 200 miles of water lines and 150 miles of sewer lines in the city.

When you walk down the street, take a walk along the Greenway, cook, do laundry, or go to the restroom, consider the pipes running beneath and how they bring fresh, local, clean water to you.

Justyn Kissam is originally from Winston-Salem and now lives in Mount Airy. She works at the Surry Arts Council.

Dogwood winter reaches its end

The Dogwood winter has come to an end and the month of April has almost reached its end. Most of the dogwood petals have fallen from the trees like an April shower. As they have fallen, the trees reveal tiny green leaves and the tiny center where the flowers were will become red berries in autumn. Now that dogwood winter is over, so is the heavy frost mostly over. We may have a few scattered frosts and a few more cold nights, so don’t plant any warm weather vegetable crops yet.

Daphne’s do well as perennials in containers

We are glad that Daphne are perennials, not because their blooms are very beautiful, but so is their light green foliage. The variety named October Stonecrop produces rose pink flowers that enhance the grayish green foliage. They may need a layer container in a semi-sunny location away from direct sunlight for best blooms and foliage. It is beautiful in all seasons. You can purchase them at most nurseries and many garden shops and hardware’s. Transplant them to larger containers filled with fine textured potting medium as soon as you bring it home. Feed once a month with Flower-Tone organic flower food. Water once a week.

There are enough hummingbirds now arriving to fill the feeders. We think that by the end of next week most of them will be here. You can purchase nectar that is ready. Made in half gallon bottles or in packets and boxes that you mix with water. You can mix your own nectar with a half and half mix of sugar and food water with several drops of red food coloring. Change leftover nectar every five days. You can also use bottled water to make nectar.

Hilling up the row or bed of Irish potatoes

The crop of Irish potatoes is now up and own its way and as the month of May begins next week, you can side dress the row or bed of potatoes with an application of Plant-tone organic plant food and then hill up soil on both sides of the potatoes for support and feeding. Water with the water wand in spray mode every week when no rain falls. Keep an eye out for Colorado potato beetles.

Getting ready to plant summer annuals

The annuals of impatiens, petunias, begonias, portulaca, geraniums, zinnias, vincas, salvia, verbena, coleus, cosmos, poppies, marigolds, clown flowers, Japanese lanterns, bachelor buttons, sunflowers, and a host of others are ready to plant. Use one cubic foot bags of flower potting medium such as Sta-Green flower potting soil that is available in bright yellow one cubic foot bags at Lowe’s Home Improvement and Home Depot. Another good medium is Miracle-Gro flower soil in one cubic foot food bags. Great flower medium has no chips, bark, or sawdust in it. It has the ingredients to give hanging baskets, pots, containers and all annuals and perennials a good start.

Gambling on Early Girl tomatoes

As we move toward May, there will still be some cold nights, but hopefully no killing frosts. Tomato plants have been available at hardwares as well as garden departments for more than a month. At this time of season, a gamble on several tomato plants such as Early Girl are an acceptable risk worth taking. Don’t set out a whole row but only three or four plants that you can cover at night and uncover each day. Wait until after the middle of May to set out the bulk of the tomato crops when nights are warm and consistent.

The season to plant annuals in hanging baskets

As we approach the merry month of May, hanging baskets need to be started and some annuals perform much better than others in hanging baskets. The very best are those that grow over and not up in the baskets. When they cascade over the sides, they create a bouquet of blooms. Great choices for hanging baskets are impatiens, verbena, wave petunias, and the begonias. Place only two or three plants per basket to allow room for them to spread out. Water baskets often because the summer sun shines down on the baskets all day and dries them out. Water until water runs out of the hole in the bottom of the basket. Water them every evening at sunset.

Starting a container of Dragon Wing

We love this variety of begonia. It has proved itself the past five years. It is so different from all other types of begonias because of its oblong foliage that reaches four or five inches long, and they are in clusters with plenty of multiple blooms that grow among the shiny foliage. They spread out and cover the container all day long all summer long. Their blooms are deep pink and really highlight those oblong leaves with blotches of color.

A large container of portulaca

This colorful cactus-like flower is also known as desert rose, rose moss, and cactus rose. It is a distant cousin to the cactus family and performs well in larger containers and it can also be planted in a large tub with holes punched in the bottom. Most are in full bloom when you purchase them so that you can choose the color combinations that you like. The plants are so small that you can plant them close together for a real cluster of color all summer long. Plant them about five inches apart. One of their unusual features is they have new blooms each day, and on cloudy days, not as many will reach full bloom stage.

A row or bed of zinnias can now be planted

Packets of zinnias can now be purchased in every color of the rainbow except blue. They cost less than $2 per packet. Zinnias will thrive in all types of soil and will produce blooms until frost. They attract plenty of birds and butterflies. Dig a furrow about three or four inches deep. Apply a layer of peat moss in bottom of furrow, sow seed, cover with another layer of peat moss and apply an application of Flower-tone organic flower food and hill up soil on each side of the furrow and tamp down with the hoe blade for good soil contact.

Checking the Irish potatoes and spring onions

The Irish potato and spring onions are now thriving in the mid spring garden and both need an application of Plant-Tone organic plant food on each side of the row and extra soil hilled up on both sides of the row. They could use a drink of water from the water wand in shower mode on weeks when no rain is forecast.

Easy does it puffy sour cream muffins

This is a quick bread for a cool spring evening that the whole family will enjoy with only a few ingredients and easy to prepare. You will need two cups of Bisquick, one stick light melted margarine, one cup sour cream. Coat a muffin pan with Pam baking spray. Melt margarine, mix with Bisquick and sour cream and stir well. Spoon the bread mixture into muffin tin to make sure each is half full. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Will make about 12 muffins.

Something beautiful and something blue

Blue is an unusual color for flowers and all blue flowers are beautiful and unusual. Luckily, there are two blue varities that are both perennials and they are forget me nots and periwinkles and a close third to Veronica. Their tiny blue flowers stand out in a dark green background of foliage that closely resembles ground cover. They perform well in containers placed toward the back of the porch or deck away from direct sunlight. You can start them from seed, then transplant to small pots, and lastly to larger containers.

April has almost showered its way out

April 2022 has reached its grand finale with less than a week remaining. The season of Jack Frost will soon reach the back door also. We may have a few cool nights remaining in the month, but most of the heavy frosts are over for the season. Fickle April will soon have to make way for the consistent gardening month of May.

“Wrong song.” “I think we need a new song this morning,” the pastor told the song leader. “My sermon this morning is on gossip, and I don’t think ‘I love to tell the story’ is the appropriate song.”

“Footprint.” Teacher: “Joey, you have your shoes on the wrong feet.” Joey: “But these are the only feet I have.”

“Test for the teacher.” Student: “Would you punish someone for something they did not do?” Teacher: “Certainly not.” Student: “Good, because I did not do my homework.”

Mount Airy is always in the paper with something about the Spencer’s property, Andy Griffin, or taking people’s property by some means. They worry about tourism and these people come to town on some of the roughest roads in the state .

I’ve driven on gravel roads that weren’t as rough as the ones in town. It’s pathetic that they spend all this money on ways to upfit the Spencer’s property when the roads around town aren’t much better than a pig path.

The sidewalks are just as bad as the roads. They need to spend some money on the roads and sidewalks instead of blowing it on senseless hopes and dreams.

I read with interest the article “Cawley concerned about beer, wine in rest area” in the April 20 edition of The Mount Airy News.

In principle, I have no problem with selling wine to folks who decide to rest their weary bones in the Loftis Plaza. Personally, though, I would not be interested in inadvertently smelling stale human waste from the public restrooms while sipping a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps, if structurally feasible, the owners of Uncorked would be better off thinking about building a small deck off the back of their delightful store or creating a snazzy Rooftop Lounge like the owners of the space-squeezed Horton Hotel, in Boone, have done.

That being said, the bigger issue highlighted in the article is the apparent lack of inclusion and transparency that continues to plague the current city council – which seems to be comprised of a majority of group-thinking puppets who feel their main job is to do the bidding of the downtown power elite rather than serve the interests of the entire city.

It’s distressing, but not surprising, that so many issues put forward for a vote are neither fully understood nor evaluated by all five commissioners and the mayor. Is there no executive summary or SWOT analysis developed and shared in advance with each member of the city council before an issue is brought to the floor for discussion and vote? If not, why not?

Hopefully, the upcoming election will be instrumental in helping to reframe the city council into a body of elected officials who will study issues carefully, think independently, and then base their decisions on the actual merits of proposals put forward.

As they say, all politics is local.

If, like me, you’re currently displeased with the shape our country’s in, then do not vote for candidates in the upcoming Mount Airy City Council election who are affiliated with the Democrat party – because local office-holders typically support and mirror the policies/activities of their same-party counterparts at the state and national levels.

If we’ve learned anything from Joe Biden’s radical-left administration about the Democrats’ view of finances, it’s that budgets don’t matter – because if there’s not enough money to pay for their pet projects, they simply print more Franklins or raise taxes on the middle class. For a left-leaning office-holder in Mount Airy, the only option would be to raise taxes.

Joe Zalescik, current candidate for South Ward Commissioner in our local election, is a registered Democrat (per the voter files of Surry County’s Board of Elections, as of April 18); and he was appointed commissioner-at-large seven months ago.

Last Sunday, I read in the Mount Airy News that Joe Zalescik said the city budget was $15 million more than it actually is … and then, when that error was brought to his attention, he casually brushed it off as a “minor mistake.” News flash: being $15 million off the mark is not a ‘minor mistake’ — it’s gross incompetence for a sitting commissioner to be so inexcusably clueless about the city’s budget; and it raises a red flag about his ability to be financially responsible with city taxpayer funds.

Zalescik then tried to deflect the significance of his blunder by noting that everyone makes mistakes and that certain detractors in town were “…looking for anything to criticize me.” Hmmm, sounds like another Joe (Biden, that is) when he blames Vladimir Putin for inflation.

It’s also noteworthy that, immediately prior to the kick-off of the current local election, Zalescik and Commissioner Steve Yokeley (who nominated Zalescik for the commissioner seat he now holds) engaged in a behind-the-scenes ‘switcheroo’ deal relating to territorial representation so that both could better pursue their personal political agenda.

Finally, a few weeks ago, Zalescik flooded the local voter market with a jam-packed direct-mail solicitation that included an ‘absentee ballot’ application. Talk about taking electioneering cues direct from the Democratic playbook.

By now you’ve probably guessed I’m a fiscally conservative Republican. What you may not know is that I’ve lived in Mount Airy, proudly and happily, for the past 10 years – having been born and raised in the City of Brotherly Love, where radical Democratic shenanigans is a highly-evolved art form and as culturally pervasive as soft pretzels, cheesesteaks, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

With the upcoming city council election in Mount Airy, we voters have an opportunity to clean house. Let’s rid the City Council of all those whose first allegiance is to themselves or possibly the radical left-leaning fringe of the Democrat party, which is rapidly ruining the nation. Let’s rid the city council of all those who lie, distort reality, and/or provide pathetic excuses to obscure their inability or unwillingness to manage our tax dollars wisely. And let’s rid the city council of all those who engage in secret backroom deals.

Please join me in the primary and general elections (May 17 and Nov. 8, respectively) to vote for candidates whose words and deeds demonstrate their honesty, transparency, fiscal responsibility, and commitment to building a better future for Mount Airy.

Easter, no matter when it falls, marks the coming of spring and has been celebrated with exuberance for centuries. Many bits of farm wisdom revolve around “the signs” and Easter is an important milepost in the signs.

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox which means the earliest it can happen is March 22 and the latest is April 25 in any given year — prime planting time for a number of garden staples.

The Herbalist Almanac of 1931, from the Dault and Lucy Sawyers homeplace in Shoalsm advised under the heading, “When to Plant, Harvest, etc. By the Moon and Moon Signs” that the lucky days for April that year were the second and third which were noted to be the best days to marry that month. That was Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

“Plant Irish potatoes, bed sweet potatoes, put out onion sets, sow onion seeds, beets, turnips, carrots, parsnips radishes, artichokes and peanuts on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 13th and 14th,” it continued. Soil was considered to be the most fertile on Good Friday according to wide-spread folk wisdom of the time.

Although the region had members of the Jewish faith, and, presumably, other non-Christian religious faiths from Colonial times, the vast majority of people across Surry, Stokes, Carroll in Virginia, and other counties of the area identified as some form of Christian. The earliest newspapers we have from the region give a great deal of ink to Easter folklore and religious reporting.

As Holy Week approached, newspapers of the region carried reporting on special worship services, commercial sales, community events, and outings.

In the early- to mid-20th century the churches of Mount Airy coordinated union Good Friday services, moving between churches from one year to the next and all the pastors taking a role in the three-hour services. In April 1943, when so many local men and women were engaged in the Second World War, the words spoken from the cross were presented as lessons on pardon, human care, loneliness, and human need.

Easter Sunday, of course, was, and still is, a heavily attended church service. The Elkin Times ran an article on April 15, 1897 about the Moravian tradition of musicians greeting Easter morn with brass instruments calling worshippers to the cemetery in the chill dark hours to commemorate the empty tomb. “The procedure of the service is so timed,” it read, “that the musico-prayerful (sic) rejoicing reaches its highest expression just as the sun rises.”

Other denominations tended to have quieter and later services with everyone wearing their literal ‘Sunday Best.’ Many letters and news articles from the 1800s through the 1950s indicate Easter services involved more music or other changes to the usual Sunday services.

“Rev. G.M. Burcham preached to 800 people at the Rock House on the Brushies, five miles from Jonesville last Sunday,” reported The Elkin Times April, 22, 1897. Though we find such reports over several years, we can’t find clear explanations of what this place was or where it was.

The holiday drew adult children to celebrate with family whether they were traveling in from a new home in Greensboro or Tennessee or coming from Salem Academy or Fort Bragg. Such trips were often noted in the Mount Airy News or Elkin Tribune.

If Holy Week involved more-than-usual time in church, Easter Monday took a turn to the secular. The Danville Reporter noted in 1909 a Stokes County superstition that working on Easter Monday would mean the loss of a cow so folks played with determination.

“Easter Monday promises to be more largely observed this year than usual in this part of the state,” reported the Twin-City Sentinel on April 9, 1914. “The events in different parts of the country will bring the people together for a day of social intercourse and can hardly fail to do good in that it will make the people realize more fully their oneness and engender a spirit of good fellowship.”

Kate Rauhauser-Smith is a local freelance writer, researcher, and genealogist.

© 2018 The Mount Airy News