December PineStraw 2022

SPRING SEMESTER 2023

Full semester and 8-week session curriculum classes begin January 9. Workforce Continuing Education classes begin throughout each semester.

at The Mews, 280 NW Broad Street, Downtown Southern Pines, NC 910.692.2744

at Village District, 400 Daniels Street, Raleigh, NC 919.467.1781

at Sawgrass Village, 310 Front Street Suite 815 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 904.834.7280

Talent, Technology & Teamwork!

Nicely remodeled, ranch-style 3 BR / 2.5 BA home in the Sandhurst South community. Offers a bright and open floorplan all on one level.

GOLF FRONT

PINEHURST • $125,000

Lovely lot located on quiet street in the pleasurable Forest Creek Golf Club.

PINEHURST • $225,000 25 BECKETT RIDGE Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team! NEW LISTING NEW LISTING

NEW CONSTRUCTION SOLD

PINEHURST • $569,900 40 SAINT ANDREWS DRIVE

Brand new, 4 BR / 3 BA home in a great Pinehurst neighborhood. Offering an incredibly open floorplan with lots of nice features and finishes!

WATERFRONT

UNDER CONTRACT UNDER CONTRACT

SEVEN LAKES WEST • $169,000 137 CALLIS CIRCLE

LARGE ¾ acre waterfront lot nestled closely on Lake Auman. Cleared and ready!

PINEHURST • $346,500

Charming, 3 BR / 2 BA home in a great Pinehurst neighborhood, Village Acres. Offering an open, bright floorplan with gleaming hardwood floors throughout, vaulted ceilings with a rustic finish, and a cozy fireplace!

Most Trusted Real Estate Team! UNDER CONTRACT

MCLENDON HILLS • $2,245,000 164 SADDLE RIDGE

Immaculate, 3 BR / 3 FULL BA / 2 HALF BA home on 7+ acres nestled in 1 of the most unique private equestrian communities in Moore County!

SEVEN LAKES WEST • $1,125,000 105 BANCROFT COURT

Luxurious, 4 BR / 4.5 BA home situated on a marvelously landscaped lot off the 4th green of the Beacon Ridge CC golf course.

PINEHURST • $885,000 110 HIGH POINT ROAD

Luxury Properties NEW CONSTRUCTION

PINEHURST • $650,000 16 LASSWADE DRIVE NEW LISTING NEW LISTING

WHISPERING PINES • $595,000 20 SPEARHEAD DRIVE

Stunning, custom brick 4 BR / 3.5 BA home in prime location. Brilliantly remodeled with lots of high-end finishes and exquisite detail throughout.

Moore County’s GOLF FRONT SOLD

Wonderful, 4 BR / 3 BA home in the Arrowstone neighborhood offering a vivid, open design with lots of fine finishes and detail throughout.

Wishing You A Wondrous Holiday Season!

As we close out 2022, the year of our Weymouth Wonderful 100, we want to thank you for your support in helping preserve this wonder-filled place for years to come.

Friends of Weymouth, Inc. Board of Directors

Ashley Van Camp, President; Denise Baker, Vice President; Andrew Lyons, Vice President & Treasurer; Marilyn Barrett, Secretary; Alan Butler; Mitch Capel; Dr. Miller Johnstone, III; Barb Keating; Glenda Kirby; Lucy Meldrum; Mike Owen; Joyce Pilewski; Pat Riviere-Seel; Andie Rose; Mike Sorenson; Kim Wade Staff

Katie Wyatt, Executive Director

Marianna Grasso, Director of Membership & Rentals Stephanie Ferguson, Administrative Assistant Holmes Hall, Interim Property Manager

Sully Whitely, Weymouth Equestrians Program Manager

MAGAZINE

Volume 18, No. 12

David Woronoff, Publisher david@thepilot.com

Andie Stuart Rose, Creative Director andiesouthernpines@gmail.com

Jim Moriarty, Editor jjmpinestraw@gmail.com

Miranda Glyder, Graphic Designer miranda@pinestrawmag.com

Alyssa Kennedy, Digital Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com

Emilee Phillips, Digital Content emilee@pinestrawmag.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jim Dodson, Deborah Salomon

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

John Gessner, Laura L. Gingerich, Tim Sayer

CONTRIBUTORS

Jenna Biter, Harry Blair, Tom Bryant, Susan Campbell, Bill Case, Mallory Cash, Wiley Cash, Tony Cross, Brianna Rolfe Cunningham, Mart Dickerson, Bill Fields, Meridith Martens, Jason Oliver Nixon, Mary Novitsky, Lee Pace, Todd Pusser, Joyce Reehling, Scott Sheffield, Rose Shewey, Stephen E. Smith, Angie Tally, Kimberly Daniels Taws, Daniel Wallace, Ashley Walshe, Claudia Watson, Amberly Glitz Weber

ADVERTISING SALES

Ginny Trigg, Advertising Director 910.693.2481 • ginny@thepilot.com Samantha Cunningham, 910.693.2505 Kathy Desmond, 910.693.2515 Jessica Galloway, 910. 693.2498 Terry Hartsell, 910.693.2513 Erika Leap, 910.693.2514

ADVERTISING GRAPHIC DESIGN

Mechelle Butler, Scott Yancey ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Rebah Dolbow • pilotads@thepilot.com PS

Henry Hogan, Finance Director 910.693.2497

Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488

SUBSCRIPTIONS 910.693.2488

OWNERS

Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff In memoriam Frank Daniels Jr. 145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387 www.pinestrawmag.com ©Copyright 2022. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. PineStraw magazine is published by The Pilot

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Home is where the best holiday memories are made. Gathered around the dining room table, curled up on a comfy sofa, or simply relaxing in the warmth of a cozy room. Before family arrives this season, prepare your home for the holidays with hand-crafted furniture, rugs and home decor all available at Green Front in Raleigh.

Miss Jan for Christmas

As she eats her Sunday morning breakfast, Miss Jan looks across the table at me and cheerfully remarks, “You look very nice. Why are you so dressed up?”

As usual, I have a silly answer ready.

“Actually, Jan, I’m planning to address Congress today. I’m proposing a constitutional amendment promoting universal kindness and the importance of using proper turn signals in traffic. Thought I should look my best.”

She laughs. “Good for you! I hope they listen!”

In fact, Wendy and I are just heading off to church. But this is a kind of game I play when Miss Jan comes to our house on weekends.

During the week, a lovely caregiver named Waletta looks after her needs at the independent senior living facility where Miss Jan lives, while her daughter, my busy wife, brings her groceries and takes her mom out to lunch at least once a week. She’s incredibly chatty with the waiters and a bit of an old flirt. Miss Jan is, too.

Every day is like Christmas when Miss Jan — as her art students called her — comes to our house. She eats her favorite foods, drinks a little wine, plays with Gracie, the dog, clips beautiful things out of magazines for her scrapbooks, and watches Love It or List It. As her world narrows down, she takes genuine pleasure in the smallest of things.

“I love bacon,” she declares that same Sunday morning. “And eggs, too. They are my favorite foods.”

I knew what was coming next. She tells me how, when she was a little girl growing up on a farm in rural Connecticut, her mother would make bacon and eggs gathered from the farm’s henhouse every Sunday morning. How Jack, the hired man, would sit at one end of the table, her father, the architect, at the other, and Mike, the dog, between, waiting for scraps to fall. She even slips into the stern Irish voice of her mother, admonishing her

daughters not to feed Mike. For it is a sin in the eyes of the Almighty to waste food.

I’ve heard this sweet story probably a hundred times over the past five or six years.

“I like that tie you’re wearing,” she declares next, buttering her biscuit. “Where did you get that?”

It came from a clothing shop in Edinburgh, Scotland, I explain, a Sinclair hunting tartan necktie I purchased for my daughter Maggie’s recent wedding.

Miss Jan beams, speaking in exclamation points. “That’s wonderful news! When did she get married?”

“Two weeks ago yesterday. Up in Maine.”

“Oh,” she sighs, “I love Maine. It’s my favorite place. We lived on the water.”

“I know. You and Bill had a very nice life there.”

This prompts her to tell me about their cottage on the water in Harpswell, where they watched boats come and go all day, and the harbor lights at night; about the little kids she taught about the importance of art; about the clear starry nights come winter. This opens the door to other memories. She tells me about the trips to Europe she took with Bill — to England, Germany and Switzerland; her favorite sights; the colorful characters they met.

“Switzerland was my favorite place.”

“How about Swiss chocolate?”

“Oh, I love Swiss chocolate. It’s my favorite!” She says this with an impish grin, like a little girl sneaking a piece from the cupboard.

She tells me more about Bill, who I knew for more than two decades. “He was quite a dancer, you know. He played the accordion beautifully. The girls loved hearing him play.”

Memories are like summer’s fireflies. They carry us through the darkness, but vanish too soon. She chuckles like Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. “I like you. You’re a really good guy. You make me laugh.”

“Just doing my job, ma’am.”

Not long ago, Miss Jan asked her daughter, “So who’s that funny man who stays in your house?” Perhaps she thought I

SIMPLE LIFE

was Jack, the hired man.

“That’s Jim, mom. We’ve been married 21 years.”

“Oh, right,” she said with a good Irish laugh. “I forgot. I really like him. He makes me laugh.”

According to the CDC, about 5.8 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease or some form of related dementia, including 5.6 million aged 65 and older, and about 200,000 under age 65.

Miss Jan is 84. Save for when she grumbles about having to take a shower and wash her hair — my wife’s weekly ordeal  — she seems remarkably happy, even a bit of a cheerful con artist. At dinner parties she will listen intently before nimbly joining the table’s flow of conversation, for the moment sounding like the wise, compassionate, opinionated and highly intelligent mother and social activist she was most of her life.

True, every year her boat seems to drift a little farther from the shore. But for now, at least, she seems to be holding her own, defying the outgoing tide, happy as a kid on Christmas morning on days when she’s with us.

Perhaps I cherish such days because they remind me how fleeting this life is, how short the time we are given. Miss Jan also reminds me of my own sweet Southern mother and her cheerful dance with this silent, insidious disease. She, too, was what I call a “happy forgetter.”

After my dad’s passing in 1996, I brought her and her halfblind yellow lab, Molly, to live with us in Maine. She delighted in the fiery leaves of autumn and the deep snows of winter. She

loved our big, crackling fire and the sight of the herd of white-tail deer I faithfully fed at the edge of the forest on frigid nights.

When her memory began to fail, we moved her to a fine independent living facility where she became the belle of the ball, squired around by a celebrated Episcopal bishop who’d marched across the bridge in Selma with M.L. King Jr.

One summer afternoon I drove her out to the seaside restaurant where she and my father always ate when they came to Maine to see their grandbabies.

As we sat drinking wine, she told me about the day she met my father, remembered their first date and commented that I laughed just like him.

“I sure miss him,” I admitted. “I bet you do, too.” He’d been gone for five years.

She sipped her wine and smiled. “You have no idea, sugar. But don’t worry. I’ll see him very soon.”

She sounded so sure. Two days later, she suffered a stroke and peacefully slipped away.

I have no idea how long Miss Jan will be with us. With our four kids grown up and scattered to the winds, it will probably just be the three of us again this Christmas. Five, counting the dog and cat whose names she can’t remember.

But having Miss Jan for Christmas will be perfect. She says it’s her favorite holiday ever. We have that in common.

Plus, I can always make her laugh. PS

Jim Dodson can be reached at jwdauthor@gmail.com.

$1,350,000

ected.

From our home to yours, happy holidays.

Scarlett Allison

Christine Barrett

Maureen Clark

Joy Blake Donat

Tracy Gibson

Keith Harris

Maribeth Hough

Ross Laton

Christian McCarthy

Melody Bell McClelland

Meredith Morski

Lesley Dacko Pacos

Brenda Sharpe

Kate Shinkwin

Susan Ulrich

PinePitch

Ride the Rails

With popcorn as a serendipitous side, recapture your holiday spirit with a free viewing of The Polar Express at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. For more info, go to www.sunrisetheater.com.

Love and Joy Come to You

And to your holiday concert too! Join the Moore County Choral Society from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11, for its 48th season and the holiday concert, “Love and Joy” at Owens Auditorium in the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Wassail not included. Information and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Weymouth Wonderland

Walking in a winter wonderland has never been more magical — or more convenient. From Dec. 2 - 4 enjoy candlelight carol ing, teddy bear teas, Santa Claus and more at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For additional info on each day’s festivities, go to www.weymouthcenter.org.

While Away The Hours

Auld Lang Syne for All

Pencil in downtown Southern Pines’ First Eve celebration and Pine Cone Drop on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., to ring in the New Year with live music, carnival games, face painting, and much more. The cone drops at 8 p.m. at the railway station in downtown Southern Pines.

If the holiday cheer is overwhelming, settle down for an opera inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. Follow three women as they grapple with their inner demons in this compelling drama adapted from the 1925 novel written by Woolf and performed by the Metropolitan Opera live in HD on Saturday, Dec.10, at 1 p.m., at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. For information, go to www.sunrisetheater.com.

Wintry Writings

In all the holiday hubbub, be sure to reserve some reading time for those bookworms on the nice list. At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7, current Weymouth writer-in-residence Valerie Nieman will read from her novel In the Lonely Backwater, a mystery in the Southern gothic tradition. Free admission. Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. For info go to: www.weymouthcenter.org.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It’s the sound of a nearly decade-old tradition that gets sweeter with time. On Sunday, Dec. 18, join a Moore County institution when Rev. Paul Murphy and his family perform their annual Christmas Concert at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. at the Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. For information, go to www.sunrisetheater.com.

Giddyup

The colorful annual Christmas Carriage Parade staged by the Moore Country Driving club will be Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m., give or take, in downtown Southern Pines. Come on, it’s a bunch of horses so if they’re a minute or two late, cut ‘em a break. It’s worth the wait.

Party in the Pines

O Tannenbaum

Break out your holiday spirit for the Pinehurst tree lighting at Tufts Memorial Park on Friday, Dec. 2, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They officially flip the switch at 6:30 p.m., but with vendors spreading holiday cheer and Santa on-site, there’s some Christmas cheer for the whole family. For more information, visit www.vopnc.org.

Calling all night owls. Break out your dancing shoes and shuffle off to The Carolina Hotel, 80 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst, at 8 p.m. on New Year’s Eve for a gourmet dinner buffet, dancing to The Band of Oz, a Champagne toast and a midnight breakfast buffet. Bring your best Shama Lama Ding Dong sashay to start 2023 on the right foot. For info: www. eventbrite.com/e/party-in-the-pines-tickets-464647592457.

Sagittarius

(November 22 – December 21)

We all know you’re the live wire of the zodiac. A hell of a party guest, too. But you’re so much more than a wildcard or a cheap thrill or a flaming hot mess. You’re kind, generous and far more sensitive than people realize. This month, Venus is in your sign until Dec. 9 and Jupiter is finally direct. Like it or not, you’ll be a magnet for love, money and luck. Just remember that your energy is precious. You get to choose who’s worthy of basking in it.

Tea leaf

“fortunes”

for the rest of you:

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19) Try aiming a bit higher.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) Do yourself a favor: Call it what it is.

Pisces (February 19 – March 20) The end isn’t always the end.

Aries (March 21 – April 19) You’ll be fine.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20) The jokes are getting a bit stale.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20) Normalize active listening.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22) Is it time to take out the trash?

Leo (July 23 – August 22) It’s all fun and games — or is it escapism?

Virgo (August 23 – September 22) Spice things up: Go for the two-ply.

Libra (September 23 – October 22) Consider an alternate route.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)

If it doesn’t bring you joy, then what are you even doing? PS

Zora Stellanova has been divining with tea leaves since Game of Thrones’ Starbucks cup mishap of 2019. While she’s not exactly a medium, she’s far from average. She lives in the N.C. foothills with her Sphynx cat, Lyla.

Cozy Up

A mellow mystery on the Outer Banks

Smile Beach may be a fictional spot on the imaginary Cattail Island, but in Smile Beach Murder, cozy mystery writer Alicia Bessette captures the real spirit of the Outer Banks, where the residents have a strong and often quirky sense of self-reliance and, at the same time, a profound need for community.

That connection is built around such places as the MotherVine Bookshop, Meek’s hardware store, the Cattail Crier office, the old lighthouse and inside the island natives’ homes, where the “inlanders” are referred to as dingbatters.

“Cattail Island is known for its beaches,” Bessette writes in the voice of her narrator. “The eastside ones evoke the covers of summer escape novels — windswept dunes sloping in fine sands, and beyond, the vast Atlantic. The westside beaches, including Smile Beach, feature the shallow, gentle waves of the Pamlico Sound. Unless of course there’s a storm.”

Callie Padgett, the protagonist, is a 38-year-old reporter freshly laid off from the Charlotte Times caught up in a storm of her own who has returned home to live with her uncle while she searches for another journalism job. She quickly gets swept up in a mystery when Eva Meeks, a beguiling eccentric whose family owns the local hardware store, is found lifeless at the base of the Cattail Lighthouse. Local police and others quickly label the death a suicide.

Callie is not convinced and begins her own sleuthing as a reporter hungry for a good story. We soon learn that Callie’s mother was found dead at the bottom of the same lighthouse 26 years earlier, an incident that prompted her to flee the island as soon as she was old enough.

Now she is back.

The feelings she has tried to bury for so many years resurface in a mystery about coming home, finding roots and finally get-

ting to a place where they bring pride and allow for reinvention of oneself.

Cozy mysteries are a sub-genre of crime fiction that leave out the violence, darkness and sex that often accompany more hardboiled whodunits. Always fast-paced, and sometimes lighthearted, they put readers in working detective mode trying to solve the pending conundrum alongside the protagonist.

In Smile Beach Murder, the launch of the Outer Banks Bookshop Mystery series, Callie vows to Summer, the 12-year-old daughter of Eva Meeks, that she will leave no clue unturned as she explores old haunts and new twists in this summertime narrative.

Bessette, a former newspaper reporter, poet and pianist who moved to the Outer Banks with her husband and fellow author Matthew Quick, gives a nod to mystery writers such as Mary Higgins Clark by having her protagonist work at the MotherVine Bookshop. The poetry and music come out in Bessette’s writing.

When Callie bangs on the door of a papered-up old storefront not far from the MotherVine, and encounters Toby Dodge, a former physical education teacher who moved to the island to open the Cattail Family Martial Arts School, Bessette writes: “His voice was musical, like if an upright bass could speak.” Elsewhere she writes, “Outside dusk leaked from the sky, pewter dripping into apricot . . . “

Bessette captures the sense of the Outer Banks from the very

beginning of the book. “This barrier island, nine miles long, is shaped like a cattail, whip thin except for the wide part, three miles across,” she writes. “The wide part’s where most of the dwellings are, bungalow-style rental cottages and modest cedar-shake stilt homes. The southern end of Cattail Island curves slightly westward, allowing a glimpse of the lighthouse even from where I sit in the Elder Tree.”

Whether we’re with Callie on the thick and all-knowing Spanish-moss-draped branches of the Elder Tree or on madcap adventures and treasure hunts, we smell the maritime forests, peer into the waters below the rickety fishing pier and get to know Cattail Island’s cast of flawed but lovable characters.

It’s easy to embrace Uncle Hudson, Ronnie and Antoinette, the bookstore owner — all members of a group that had adventures together in the Old Farts Van, a vehicle Hudson fixed up himself when he was a young surfer. Tin Man, the bookstore cat, is Insta-famous with a delightful Instagram account the whole town seems to follow.

We cheer Callie on as she climbs over the sharp, iron-speared gate to dig into the story that Pearleen, the wealthy woman in the mansion beyond the gate, and her dutiful nephew Whitman have kept to themselves for years. Indeed, she leads us to a big breakthrough — a reveal that truly is a surprise ending.

There are times when Callie breaks into buildings and ignores boundaries that typically would not be crossed by journalists. Then again, without her making quick assumptions, pushing boundaries and beating the police to the answer of whether the Cattail Lighthouse is cursed, we would lose access to an alluring mys tery that keeps us hunting for answers to the very end.  PS

Anne Blythe has been a reporter in North Carolina for more than three decades. She has covered city halls, higher education, the courts, crime, hurricanes, ice storms, droughts, floods, college sports, health care and many wonderful characters who make this state such an interesting place.

December Books

NONFICTION

Like a Rolling Stone, by Jann Wenner

The Rolling Stone founder, co-editor and publisher offers a memoir described by Bruce Springsteen as “touchingly honest” and “wonderfully deep.” Called the greatest editor of his generation, Wenner brings you inside the music, the politics and the lifestyle of a generation, an epoch of cultural change that swept America and beyond. He takes us into the life and work of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Bono and Springsteen, to name a few. He was instrumental in the careers of Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe and Annie Leibovitz. His journey took him to the Oval Office with his legendary interviews with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. From Jerry Garcia to the Dalai Lama, Aretha Franklin to Greta Thunberg, the people Wenner chose to be seen and heard in the pages of Rolling Stone tried to change American culture, values and morality.

Rare Birds True Style: Extraordinary Interiors, Personal Collections & Signature Looks, by Violet Naylor-Leyland

The private realms of well-known creatives reveal how unique personal style can color the home with a sense of history, autobiography and, above all else, magic. This lively book cel ebrates unique and inspiring British style and those who own it. Spanning generations — from Nicky Haslam to Alice Temperley, Beata Heuman and Luke Edward Hall — Rare Birds is an irresistible tour through the homes and wardrobes of some of England’s most celebrated contemporary talents, each with their own distinctive and unconventional taste.

A Few Collectors, by Pierre Le-Tan

An utterly charming book by the beloved Parisian artist Le-Tan, A Few Collectors is filled with dazzling illustrations and intriguing tales about often eccentric art collectors. Known for designing New Yorker magazine covers and collaborations with fashion houses, Le-Tan summons memories of inveterate collectors in this lavishly illustrated volume. He evokes fascinating, sometimes troubled figures through insightful and curious portraits. With 70 of his distinctive pen and ink drawings, the book details encounters in Paris, the Côte d’Azur, North Africa, London and New York, where Le-Tan’s subjects have amassed a range of treasures.

The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook, by

Huw

Richards

Following the success of Veg in One Bed and Grow Food for Free,

Richards shares his tried-and-tested approaches from his own garden so you can unearth your garden’s potential. With simple yet effective methods, such as nurturing healthy soil, optimizing space and following a planting plan, anyone can be a productive vegetable grower while working in harmony with nature. In addition to recommendations on good planning and infrastructure, Richards has tips for plenty of quick wins too, like how to attract beneficial pollinators. Every successful business has a strategy. Why not apply one to your vegetable patch?

POETRY

Jim Harrison: Complete Poems, by Jim Harrison

Introduced by activist and naturalist writer Terry Tempest Williams, this is the definitive collection from one of America’s iconic writers, containing every poem Harrison, who passed away in 2016, published over his 50-year career, as well as a section of previously unpublished “Last Poems.” The volume includes the nature-based lyrics of his early work; the high-velocity ghazals; a harrowing prose-poem “correspondence” with a Russian suicide; the riverine suites; fearless meditations inspired by the Zen monk Crazy Cloud; and a joyous conversation in haiku-like gems with friend and fellow poet Ted Kooser. Weaving throughout its pages are Harrison’s legendary passions and appetites, his love songs and lamentations and a clarion call to pay attention to the life you are actually living. Jim Harrison: Complete Poems confirms what Publishers Weekly called him, “an untrammeled renegade genius . . . a poet talking to you instead of around himself, while doing absolutely brilliant and outrageous things with language.”

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Ty’s Travels: Winter Wonderland, by Kelly Starling Lyons

Joining Biscuit, Amelia Bedelia and Little Bear, these tales are now a must-have for every learning-to-read shelf. Fun family adventures, lovable characters and accessible language make these the perfect choice for beginning readers. (Ages 4-6.)

The Corgi and the Queen, by Caroline Perry

On Queen Elizabeth’s 16th birthday, she didn’t ask for a car or a trip to a faraway land, she asked for a corgi puppy. That puppy, Susan, was the first in a long line of beloved pets that stayed by the queen’s side during her long reign. This is their story. (Ages 6-8.)

Through the North Pole Snow, by Polly Faber

When a little fox goes looking for dinner and meets a certain jolly old soul, they find something to fill the belly and something to warm the heart. This one is destined to become a new holiday classic. (Ages 4-8.)

Moo, Baa, La La La, by Sandra Boynton

Deck the halls with cows and holly! Boynton’s beloved cows are back and it’s time to celebrate Christmas in the barn. Sure to become a holiday favorite, Moo, Baa, La La La is the perfect way to celebrate with the littlest carolers. (Ages birth-2.)

The Replay, by Adam Skinner

Whether its baseball, basketball, golf or football, every sports fan has that favorite story they love to tell again and again. Relive 25 of the greatest moments in sports with this fun title that is perfect for that sport-loving young reader. (Ages 9-13.) PS

Compiled by Kimberly Daniels Taws and Angie Tally.

Chad Higby Presents DUNCRAIG MANOR

It all began in 1928, when Mrs. Helen A. Lohmann of New Ha ven, Connecticut, and her moth er, Quaker Oats heiress Mrs. J. H. Andrews, commissioned Alfred B. Yeomans to build an English Tudor Manor House in Southern Pines. Yeomans, a local designer and relative of the famous Boyd family of Wey mouth, Southern Pines, oversaw the project completed in 1930. The mag nificent home was later dubbed Dun craig Manor by the 2nd owners, Dr. & Mrs. George Matheson, who had ties to Duncraig Castle in Scotland.

Restorations were made in 2018 and 2019 by local crafts men and artisans to retain the original integrity of the design.

When walking the grounds, one will find many picturesque settings, in cluding a vine-weaved path that leads to a tea house and perfectly trimmed grass surrounding the lily pond.

Three separate living quar ters; the main house, an apartment above the garage, plus the carriage house. Located in the Highly de sirable Weymouth Heights area of Southern Pines.

Cards of Christmas Past

Ode to a lonely address book

Amid so many

uncertainties in the current world, there is an absolute truth: December is the loneliest month for one of my possessions.

Residing in a drawer where it seldom is disturbed, near some old keys and dull pencils, I’m sure my address book feels left out most of the time. But around the holidays — when the contents on its dog-eared pages used to be as essential as eggnog — it must be forlorn beyond consolation.

The state of my address book this time of year is, of course, related to both habit and technology. I still mail holiday greetings to some friends and relatives, but the list is much smaller than it once was. I know a few addresses from memory; others are in the contacts on my cell phone.

I felt quite mature not long ago when I visited a college communications department and, with time to kill before I spoke to a class, looked around the lobby before going upstairs. A display on the history of journalism included a Rolodex, an artifact of an earlier age.

Right out of college, I purchased a Rolodex at Austin Business Supply, a fancy one with a metal cover that went over the rotating spindle and a lock with one of those tiny keys that would go missing in a month. By the time I abandoned my Rolodex years later, it still had plenty of blank cards and wasn’t even in the same league with the bulging desktop index of a former boss in New York. He called in from the road once and asked me to find a number for someone. In flipping through his cards, I couldn’t help noticing how he handled those no longer with us: * DEAD * written in felt tip by their names.

My address book is nearly 25 years old, purchased not long after

the Moleskine notebooks came on the scene. The pages have come free from the binding; the elastic closure has been stretched to where it is like a belt four sizes too long. Inside the black paperboard cover fraying at both ends of its spine are names in and out of my life, relationships that ended and those that endure. If I were so inclined, there could be plenty of asterisks. The book even contains information foreshadowing its obsolescence — a password here, an email there, lines drawn through an old home number in the “H” section that no longer works.

Even though I’ll only send and receive a handful of cards this year, the tradition evokes lots of memories. Growing up, we often taped the cards above the double door to the dining room, where the scotch tape was certain to fail at least a few times. Sometimes they stood on top of a china closet or sideboard. Occasionally, they rested in a basket.

People tended to be predictable in the Christmas cards they sent. Some families chose one with a religious theme each year. You could count on birds from some and snowy scenes from others. I used to be fascinated by the envelopes that contained more than a card: the typed letters of what had gone on in a life in the preceding 12 months. We used to get missives from a divorced distant cousin that mentioned the activities of “Parents Without Partners.” To a kid, all the PWP updates seemed like TMI, even before there was such an acronym.

Mostly, though, it was a joy when the post office box was filled with cards from friends or family who thought enough to take the time to write them. It was a delight to receive a card from my mother even when she was north of 90, her handwriting nearly as neat as when she was a schoolgirl.

Retrieving my address book from its resting place not long ago, I was reminded that it had an accordion pocket. There were a couple of old business cards and return addresses torn off envelopes. In a pleasant surprise, there also were two partial books of attractive “Holiday Evergreens” Forever stamps. The longleaf pine version looks particularly like home and deserves to ensure passage of something better than a bill. PS

Southern Pines native Bill Fields, who writes about golf and other things, moved north in 1986 but hasn’t lost his accent.

Building Community

An artist and teacher, September Krueger finds connections through her practice

September Krueger’s intricate quilts and silk paintings use subtle, watery colors, delicate stitching, layered images and the unexpected juxtaposition of organic and designed shapes and lines. They honor the natural world: birds and plants, and the environments they share. And they are the work of an artist with a deep appreciation for her subject and her medium.

From an early age, Krueger loved to draw. She studied textiles as an undergraduate in Philadelphia with the idea of becoming a fashion designer, but her graduate work at East Carolina University between 2007 and 2010 opened her eyes to the potential of textiles as an artistic medium, inspiring her to “develop layers of information on woven cloth.”

A kimono she made at ECU was the turning point. She was on familiar ground when it came to the sewing and structure of the garment, but found herself pulled in a new direction with the fabric itself and the stories it told. “All of the motifs were of cloth that had been batiked,” says Krueger, referring to the artistic process of using wax-resistant dye to create patterns, “and all of the batiked imagery related to religion, which comes up a lot in thinking about myself and my family.” From that point forward, function took a back seat, she says: “‘Wearable’ became less and less important.”

Krueger uses silk and other fluid fabrics in her work today, enabling her to “build up the surface in so many ways, almost like a collage artist,” often using repeated motifs like a small bird or a leaf. These also show up in her finely wrought woodblock prints.

Central to Krueger’s artistic calling, she says, is an instinct to share it and use it to build community. As director of lifelong learning at Wilmington’s Cameron Art Museum since 2020, one of her central goals is to open the museum’s offerings to new populations. Paradoxically, she says, the pandemic might have helped with that effort, because people who might not have taken themselves to the museum in ordinary times were compelled to visit

ART OF THE STATE

ART OF THE STATE

virtually. Krueger’s community focus goes beyond Wilmington. In Kinston, for example, she and Anne Brennan, a fellow artist and the executive director of the Cameron Art Museum, designed tile mosaics for installation in Kinston Music Park. They were inspired by the work of iconic North Carolina artist Romare Bearden, known for his work in collage, and created it together with the young women of a community development organization called The Gate.

In addition, Krueger’s work as head of the art department at Southeastern Community College, where she has been a teacher since 2011, takes her to nearby Whiteville regularly. “I found a community immediately here in Wilmington, between the university and the community college. I found that there are outstanding artists in our community college system,” Krueger says. “And I also met people who were at different stages of life and were going back to study and figure out what they might want to do . . . Art connects them all.” PS

This is an excerpt from Art of the State: Celebrating the Art of North Carolina , published by UNC Press.

ART OF THE STATE

Punch and Bottles

Sipping solutions for the holidays

The year is winding down, but not before you’re inundated with commercials, songs, television shows, parades, parties and all things holiday. Overwhelmed much? Hopefully I can take a little pressure off by suggesting that just-right bottle of booze for someone you deem worthy or, if you happen to be playing host, some advice on how to make a killer punch. While most of these spirits and liqueurs might be unfamiliar to you (and the recipient), all of them are damn tasty — and under $30. I’ve sampled them more often than I care to admit, but all in the spirit of looking out for you, dear reader.

BOTTLES

Elijah Craig Single Barrel Bourbon, $29

I prefer rye over bourbon whiskey, but there are always excep tions. This is one of them. I like this bourbon neat, but there’s nothing wrong with whipping up an old fashioned with it either. Most of the spirits I order online are from Astor Wines and Spirits at astorwines.com. One great thing about this website is they go in depth on their “staff picks” and give you a rundown on why they think a spirit is worthy of your dollar. Here’s what they had to say about this delicious bourbon: “Sipping it neat allows the beautiful bouquet to release notes of bananas Foster, coconut, vanilla, and brown sugar. The palate reveals sweet grains, caramel, vanilla, baking spices, and a hint of citrus to keep it fresh. It’s just as delicious on the rocks. And because the price won’t break the bank, it’s a guilt-free whiskey for cocktails. This

is my go-to bourbon for everything! Give it a try, it will quickly become yours, too.”

Giffard Caribbean Pineapple Liqueur,

$29

I first fell in love with Giffard’s pineapple liqueur a few years back, but now I have a slight obsession with it. Try it on its own before mixing it — you’ll taste what I mean. Stupid good. Add this to margaritas, or any sour. Have it with sparkling water for a nice low ABV treat (the Caribbean Pineapple has a low 20 percent alcohol by volume). Or, put a dash in your next stir-fry dish. OK, I got that idea from Astor. Order it online because our ABC stores consider it a special order and you’d be required to buy more than one.

Plantation 5 Yr. Barbados Rum, $29 Rum, in my humble opinion, is underrated. The Plantation 5 Yr. is a great entry-level rum for someone who isn’t familiar with good rum. It’s excellent neat, on the rocks, or in a cocktail. I think some fans of bourbon would get a kick out of going halfand-half with the 5 Yr. in their next old fashioned. Plantation has lots of great rums — some much higher in price — which is why this makes a fun gift for the uninitiated.

SIPS

Fulton Club Punch

This punch is out of The Aviary: Holiday Cocktails. I’m a sucker for punch, especially around the holidays. A little elbow grease before your guests arrive, then coast into being the host. You can find these spirits at, you guessed it, Astor Wines and Spirits. This recipe serves 8-10 people, so double the specs if necessary.

Ingredients

3 medium-sized navel oranges

240 grams sugar

1 large, ripe pineapple

1 bottle chardonnay

45 grams Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac

44 grams Rhine Hall Cherry Brandy

26 grams Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao

22 grams Smith & Cross Rum

Peel the oranges using a vegetable peeler, taking care to remove as little of the white pith as possible. Reserve the peeled fruit for juicing. In a small bowl, combine the orange peels and sugar. Muddle the mixture with a cocktail muddler or the end of a rolling pin. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, muddling and stirring periodically. Meanwhile, peel the pineapple, remove the core, and chop into small chunks. Add the pineapple chunks to the orange peel mixture, muddling and mixing to thoroughly incorporate. Allow to sit for at least another 30 minutes, muddling and stirring periodically.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining liquid ingredients, stirring to mix thoroughly. Pour this mixture over the pineapple mixture, stirring to dissolve sugar completely. Allow this to marinate for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer, pushing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Transfer to a glass bottle or other non-reactive airtight container and transfer to the refrigerator to chill thoroughly.

Raspberry Cardamom Ice Block

Reserved peeled oranges (3 medium-sized navel oranges)

Place the cardamom pods onto a cutting board or countertop. Using a small saucepan, crush the pods lightly, then place them into the saucepan. Toast the cracked cardamom over medium heat until fragrant. Add the water, raspberries, and sugar and increase the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and set a smaller bowl inside it. Juice the oranges. Remove the raspberry mixture from the heat and add the orange juice, stirring to combine. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the bowl set over ice, discarding solids. Allow the mixture to chill completely, then transfer it to a cake pan, baking dish, large mixing bowl, or other large vessel that will fit in your freezer. Freeze until completely solid. Reserve.

To Assemble and Serve:

Ingredients

5 whole cardamom pods

500 grams water

350 grams fresh raspberries

158 grams sugar

Chill 2 bottles of sparkling white wine. Place the block of raspberry cardamom ice into a punch bowl or other large serving vessel. Pour the punch base down the side of the bowl. Aadd the bottles of sparkling wine, taking care to pour slowly. Gently stir the mixture to incorporate thoroughly. Ladle into individual glasses and serve immediately. PS

Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail cater ing company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

LET HOWELL’S MASONRY BE ON YOUR NICE LIST

Rules of Regifting

Already have an Elvis necktie, but know someone who’d love one? Perhaps a ceramic giraffe doesn’t fit your décor, but your cousin collects them. Do you really need another cinnamon-apple candle? Put it in that snowman gift bag from three Christmases ago and it’s a wrap.

Regifting is the art (and tact) of giving something away that was given to you, something you couldn’t use, didn’t need, or wasn’t your cup of tea — neither cup nor tea.

December, the season when we haul out the holly, brings back the memory of my first regifting experience, before the word was part of the urban lexicon. My wife, Beverly, and I had become engaged. A cousin gave us a lovely silver-plated nut dish as a wedding gift. There was a note card — “Edgar and Carol, congratulations on 50 years of marriage.” The card was signed, “Norman and Sue.”

How sweet of Norm and Sue to remember that momentous occasion with such a thoughtful gift. How sorry I was that Cousin Carol and husband, Edgar, never had the opportunity to fill that silver-plated dish with the butter mints we put in it.

Let’s be honest. You, too, have a box or a bin or a drawer with socks and scarves, gadgets and gizmos, knick-knacks that, well, you know it’s the thought that counts, but you said to yourself,

“Maybe they could have thought of something else.”

Surely there’s nothing amiss with regifting. Shouldn’t it make us feel at least as virtuous as recycling? We have all received items, whether carefully thought out or purchased at the last minute, that were duplicates or something we didn’t need. Long after our wedding gift from Cousin Carol and Edgar, I suspect we’ve been the recipients of a few other gifts, especially at Christmas, pulled from a drawer stocked with candles, foaming soap and lotion, tea towels and potholders. But, hey, lots of folks enjoy candles and potholders. And who doesn’t like to wash their hands with lemon verbena-scented soap?

There is a certain etiquette involved in proper regifting. First — and this very important — be careful not to regift to the person who gave you the gift in the first place. That breaks all the rules and you end up with a crate full of eggs on your face. And you might not get invited to their Christmas party again.

Second, never hand someone a gift and tell them it’s a regift. “A friend gave me this for my birthday but I already have two onion keepers and I thought you might enjoy one.” There are things in life that are better left unsaid. Another egg-worthy faux pas.

Third, regifting expired food is a major no-no. Suppose you find a box of Harry and David’s Moose Munch in your pantry. Check the expiration date before you toss it in a basket with other regifts.

Like all human endeavors, there are regifting boundaries that should not be crossed. No heirlooms, like that afghan your greatgrandmother crocheted. No puzzles with a missing piece, that’s just wrong. And, on general principles, no CDs of Perry Como’s Christmas hits.

In a pinch, a nice candle or an unopened canister of tea is fine, but don’t become the neighborhood regifting king or queen. Put some time and thought into the regift, even if it’s been sitting in that drawer forever. Rewrap or rebag, even if you reuse a regifted bag and tissue — but don’t forget to take those name tags off. And mind your manners. Be grateful, for whatever you receive. At some point a friend thought enough to give you something, and at some point, you thought enough of someone else to pass it on. It’s another way of reminding you that someone considers you a friend, and you them. In the end, boxes and bags aside, that’s the gift that keeps on giving. PS

The Littlest Stocking

When I was a child and my parents were in that special hell reserved for people who are “in-between houses,” I had the great fortune of living with my Grandma and Grandpa for several months. I can tell you they weren’t too happy about it, but my older sister and I thought it had all worked out quite nicely. It was only a mile or so away but it might as well have been another universe.

I won’t say I was Grandma’s favorite, but at the time I was the baby of a whole slew of cousins. Together Grandma and I conspired to keep my mother uninformed of all my transgressions, most involving disputes with my sister that always ended badly, the occasional lapses in my toilet training, and my forays into the forbidden — Grandpa’s office, the delicious pantry, and the totally mystifying medicine cabinet. She handled me in the best possible way. She bribed me with M&Ms.

Half of the perimeter of Grandma’s kitchen was lined with a countertop and a metal Dwyer unit. She would put me on the counter and I could walk from the refrigerator, step down into the sinks, and hike the rest of the way to the end of the peninsula. From my perch on the counter I watched her peel potatoes, tissue thin, with a paring knife, while she called out the names of the birds that came to her feeders and birdbaths.

Anytime I got caught by Mom with wet trainers or a handful of hair I had been forced to yank out of my sister’s head, I would run to my co-conspirator and she would set me on the counter and dry my tears. Then she would whisper to me, “If you look very hard, you will find what I have hidden in the cabinet for you.” I’d search behind the teacups, under the bag of rolled oats, around the Postum, or behind the bacon grease can until, they there were! M&Ms.

This process was repeated many times during my stay with Grandma and Grandpa. I got faster, and she became more and more cunning. She enjoyed hiding them, but never as much as I enjoyed finding them. I savored them, first crunching a few furiously, then holding some in my mouth until the candy shell melted. I even invented a beverage that I continued to prepare for years, putting a handful of M&Ms in the bottom of a glass and filling it with the mysteriously warm and bubbly water at Grandma’s house.

After our new house was finished and we left Grandma’s, we still spent the night on the rare occasions when Mom and Dad went out. One of those times was the night of the annual Christmas party where Dad worked. My sister and I packed our jammies and toothbrushes and couldn’t wait to snuggle in Grandma’s bed, piled in thick quilts and flannel sheets, so foreign from our own. I dressed for the season, sporting my brand new bright red Buster Brown twin set. Mom agreed to the sweaters, but when I put the pressure on for my pair of matching red socks, she balked.

Mom was no pushover, but I know an ensemble when I see it, and I had to have them. I begged, whined and pleaded and finally, she relented. So off we went to Grandma’s, me stylish in all red. The next day, at home, I discovered that I only had one of my socks. I was not about to tell Mom, so I hid the survivor in the back of my drawer and didn’t mention it.

Every Christmas Eve, my sister and I participated in our Sunday School program and afterward went to Grandma and Grandpa’s for dinner and the chaotic joy of gifts. This year my aunt and uncle and their kids, who didn’t have to go to any old Christmas program, were already there, along with my childless and fearsome aunt who lived at Grandma’s. We rushed into the house, stamping snow from our church shoes and smelling the feast of ham and pies. Our heathen cousins had gotten right to the business of

PLEASURES OF LIFE

shaking boxes and locating the packages with their names on them. But, when we arrived, we were ordered directly to the table. No side trips to the tree for us.

You see, my fearsome aunt’s specialty was torture. She deliberately and perversely slowed the process, ordering people to their spots according to her intricate seating pattern. When she ate, she took tiny bites and chewed them 2,000 times. She made us tell about the Christmas program. She asked us how school was going — what kind of person cares about school on Christmas Eve? We were grilled on what we wanted for Christmas and on and on while we kids stared at each other, our eyes glazed over with anticipation. Then, she offered coffee and des sert, painstakingly cutting geometrically precise slices. When the adults finally finished we ran to the front parlor only to hear a loud voice behind us say, “We can’t leave the kitchen like this!” and we turned to face piles of dirty plates, cups, saucers and pans filling the sinks. My fearsome aunt leered with pleasure.

Hours later, it seemed, pushed nearly to the breaking point, we were ushered into the parlor, where beneath the tree were hundreds of presents. It was so exciting when one of the cousins got something cool and you just knew you were next. Finally, when all the boxes were opened and wrapping papers and ribbons were strewn everywhere and all that waiting was over, Grandma stood up and said, “Oh, I forgot. There is one more thing. Audrey, there is something for you on the tree that you have to find.”

Now you know I had never even looked at the tree, just at everything underneath it. Hanging in the front, pushed back in the dark center, was my red sock, dangling from a ribbon, heavy and full. Grandpa handed it down to me, and I untied the ribbon and out spilled the most perfect candy in the whole world, a special stock ing full of wonderful memories. PS

Sandhills Photography Club: Ten Finalists of the Public Competition

The Sandhills Photography Club held a public photo contest this year and we received 90 entries from 54 photographers who were not members of our photography club. With this open photography contest, we hoped to reach new people in the community and make more photography lovers aware of our club. Sandhills Photography Club is based in Pinehurst and we offer many activities including education, outings, workshops, and competitions. These are the ten finalists and each was awarded a free year’s membership to Sandhills Photography Club. Please go to our website to learn more: www.sandhillsphotoclub.org

Honorable Mention Can We Play Now?! by

Honorable Mention The Farrier’s Hands by Steven Long

Honorable Mention A Matter of Perspective by Sandra Lee Blake

Honorable Mention

5 Sails Vancouver, by Delores Muller

Honorable Mention Sunflower by Drew Trenholm

Honorable Mention Kalk Bay, South Africa by

Get started at schwab.com/southernpines

OUT OF THE BLUE

Holiday Healing

A season in need of warm and fuzzy

No surprise that “the holiday season” descended on stores before the first Halloween pumpkin went under the knife. Merchants know that inflation will quickly gobble up dollars earmarked for gifts, parties, travel. Charities may suffer. Good causes will falter. Santa’s bag may be lighter, and New Year’s Eve won’t feature prime rib and Champagne.

Still, people crave this annual reprieve, es pecially after two holiday seasons dampened by COVID and its spin-offs.

We deserve some warm and fuzzy.

To be fair, holidays that comprise the “season” are unrelated, save for proximity. Christmas, of course, has deep and abiding religious significance, which no slapstick flick can trivialize. Yet it has been commercialized beyond belief — not all bad, many non-believers believe, since events bring people together, create memories.

Secular Christmas, it’s called — a perfect oxymoron.

Hanukkah, also falling in December, joined the trio big-time during the ’70s, swept in by diversity awareness, gobbled up by Jewish families like mine, with children who felt left out. Its symbols — candles, coins, food fried in oil — appeared for eight days, often culminating in a sizable gift on the last night.

Hanukkah commemorates a military victory, freedom of religion and a miracle whereby oil sufficient to illuminate the altar lamp for one day lasted eight.

Inspiring, significant, hardly warm and fuzzy.

Kwanzaa, which falls after Christmas, celebrates African American history and culture. The observance, initiated in 1966 after the Watts rebellion, is based on African harvest festivals.

Candles are lit, special foods served, small gifts exchanged but, according to website definitions, Kwanzaa is non-religious and non-political.

My gut says this year we really, really need a holiday season. The world is in terrible shape. Cruel winter descends on a Ukraine with uncertain power, heat, water, food. A drought in Somalia forces mothers to trek hundreds of miles, often burying their infants by the dusty road. In Nigeria, catastrophic floods sweep away crops and farm animals. This year, we can’t dismiss these unthinkables as “over there.” Over here antisemitism has come roaring back, along with gun massacres in churches, supermarkets and, most horrific, schools. Run-up to midterm elections brought out the worst in politicians and their often rabid followers. Truth has been mocked. The nuclear threat changes everything, everywhere.

Of course other holiday seasons have weathered hard times. The Battle of the Bulge was fought at Christmas time. Bob Hope entertained U.S. troops in Vietnam. On Thanksgiving good souls feed and warm the ever-increasing homeless population. But I feel something ominous looming, a shift affecting lives and customs heretofore immune. I feel almost like Ebenezer Scrooge upon viewing a Christmas without Tiny Tim.

Or, maybe this downer will awaken gratitude for whatever remains.

So light the candles, trim the tree, fry the latkes, sip the eggnog, wrap the gifts, hug the kids, hum the carols and bring on the warm-and-fuzzy because this holiday season, however defined, we desperately need it. PS

Deborah Salomon is a contributing writer for PineStraw and The Pilot . She may be reached at debsalomon@nc.rr.com.

An Uncommon Visitor

The feisty purple finch is in the hood

If you happen to be maintaining a bird feeding station over the next few months, you will want to be on the lookout for an uncommon winter visitor: the purple finch. These feisty little birds are common to our north but some years, when their numbers surge as a result of above average reproductive success, they head further to the south following the breeding season.

It seems that spruce budworms were abundant in boreal forests in June and July, and this resulted in a bumper crop of baby finches. Like most of our songbirds, nestling purple finches require lots of caterpillars to grow into strong fledglings. The family groups merged into wintering flocks sometime in the last couple of months and are working their way southward, as they always do. Given their numbers, purple finches will spread much farther throughout the eastern half of the United States than they normally would. They’ve already been spotted in forests and at feeders in North Carolina.

Purple finches are robust birds that are larger than the chickadees and titmice, which they often associate with during the cooler months. They appear most similar to our ever-present house finches. Male purple finches are not really “purple” as their name would imply. They are more of a raspberry color. In addition to their coloring, they have a distinct whitish eye stripe and heavier bills than their cousins. Females and immature males that lack color can be overlooked as just another little brown bird at your feeder. But note that they are more aggressive and have that distinctive eyebrow. As so many of our

winter feeder visitors do, purple finches love black oil sunflower. But they also will come to nyjer, or “thistle seed.” They, like goldfinches, find this tiny but highly fatty seed irresistible.

Away from feeders, purple finches feed on the seeds from conifers to tulip poplar, maple seeds to ragweed, and even dandelions. They may mix in with local house finches at feeding stations or simply with wintering sparrows in brushy habitat. These birds crush seeds and fruits using their powerful bills and strong tongues. The nut inside is consumed completely; therefore, purple finches are considered to be predatory and not dispersal agents, as many birds are.

You may notice a flock as a result of the males chorusing at the tops of trees. Purple finch song is distinguished by a fast rising and falling series of up to two dozen notes. Interestingly, males may incorporate bits of songs sung by other species where they breed. It is not that rare to hear American goldfinch or rufous-sided towhee notes mixed in.

If purple finches learn to efficiently find food as well as avoid predators, they can live a relatively long time for a small bird. The oldest known individual was documented as living over eight and a half years. It was a banded bird — recaptured right here in North Carolina. PS

Susan Campbell would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photographs at susan@ncaves.com.

Spy in the Woods

With camera traps, every day is like Christmas

Dappled sunlight, filtered by a canopy of oak and pine, illuminates the trail that snakes along the edge of Eagle Branch Creek. The raucous calls of a red-shouldered hawk pierce the crisp fall air as I walk quietly toward a camera that I had mounted to the side of a tree next to the small creek. Every two months for the past three years, I have made the same woodland trek to check this camera, simply to satisfy my curiosity as to what animals are found in the woods so close to my childhood home in Eagle Springs.

Camera trap photograph of a gray fox.

Most wild animals, especially mammals, are extremely wary of humans. They see, hear or smell us long before we are aware of their presence. Many species are nocturnal and are only active when the cover of darkness masks their movements. As such, it can be nearly impossible to observe wild animals in their natural habitat. To remedy this, I use a weatherproof camera trap that can be left in the woods for long periods of time, and is capable of recording images day and night. A motion-activated sensor attached to the camera records photos or video of any animal that passes by.

The concept of camera trap photography has been around for over 100 years, when pioneering nature photographer George Shiras used a crude, but complex, remote system of trip wires and flashes fired by exploding magnesium powder, to record images of animals along

the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan. The resulting photographs, published in National Geographic Magazine in 1913, became instant sensations. Since that time, the use of camera traps (also known as trail cameras, game cameras, remote cameras, etc.) has increased exponentially, with hundreds of models now commercially available in a wide range of budgets. I use inexpensive Browning trail cameras to record high-definition video as well as custom-built camera traps that house my Canon DSLR cameras for professional quality images.

Camera traps are used for a variety of applications and have become essential tools for many nature enthusiasts, from zoologists who want to monitor rare species in remote tropical jungles, to hunters hoping to bag a

trophy buck on local game lands, to naturalists wanting to learn what animals visit their backyards.

Finally arriving at the camera, I sit down next to the tree and remove a small laptop from my backpack. Pulling the memory card from the camera trap, I insert it inside the portable computer. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I wait with eager anticipation for what surprises the camera might hold.

Over the three years that the camera has remained at this spot, it has recorded a remarkable diversity of wildlife. Opossums, raccoons, grey squirrels, cottontail rabbits and whitetailed deer are seen nearly every day and night throughout the year. More surprising was a nearly-black, striped skunk seen nosing through the leaf litter one cold December night. In a lifetime of exploring the woods of Moore County, I have only observed the pungent mammals on two other occasions.

Another surprise was the large, heavily spotted bobcat that made a near daily appearance in front of the camera one April.

Once, the camera recorded a video clip of a pair of river otters playfully sliding down the muddy creek bank and splashing into the water. More recently, for a period of several afternoons in July, when temperatures hovered well north of 90 degrees, a barred owl would land next to the creek, lay down on the ground and stretch its wings far out to the side, arch its head back and close its eyes, seemingly soaking in the sun.

By far, the rarest and most unusual animal recorded here over the last three years was a long-tailed weasel. From conversations I have had with local elderly farmers, weasels were apparently much more common 60 or 70 years ago, when their raids of chicken coops drew much consternation. They are rarely encountered now in the Sandhills. The short video clip of a weasel bounding right to left across the frame on a late summer evening provides tantalizing proof that the miniature carnivores still exist here. I have yet to see a live one with my own eyes.

Finally, the memory card finishes downloading. Leaning back against the tree, I thumb through the 80 videos that the camera has captured over the past two months. Once again, raccoons, opossums and deer make up most of the video captures. The highlight is a pair of gray foxes that wandered by the camera in the middle of the afternoon, with noses to the ground.

Copying the videos to my hard drive, I clear the memory card and reinsert it into the camera along with a fresh supply of batteries. It will be another two months before I check the camera again, but I am already counting the days until I can discover what new marvels it may hold. PS

Naturalist and photographer Todd Pusser grew up in Eagle Springs. He works to docu ment the extraordinary diversity of life both near and far. His images can be found at www.ToddPusser.com.

That Sinking Feeling

When your world goes sideways

It’s a golf shot, as Ebenezer Scrooge might say apropos of the holiday season, that reeks of an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato.

All is right with the world — the sun is warm, the sky is crystalline, the perfume of freshly mown grass permeates the air. The foursome’s in high gear — the bets are made, the jabs are flying, the competitive juices flowing. One-fifty to the green, nice lie, pull the 7-iron, imagine crisp contact and visualize a perfect ball flight, a waggle, a trigger, good extension, sweet tempo . . .

And then a nauseating clunk.

Instead of boring high into the wild blue yonder, the ball flies out of the right corner of your field of vision, into oblivion and certain death.

Silence from the guys.

Golf’s version of Armageddon: the shank.

It happens to the best of them.

Webb Simpson was on the eighth hole at Medinah on the final day of the 2012 Ryder Cup. He needed to hit what he termed would be a “smash 8,” got a little ahead of the ball and shanked it way right, in the direction of the fourth hole.

“I did the math and figured out that was about where Tiger was,” Simpson says. “I thought they’d have to move all those people and make a big scene. It would make no sense to Tiger, and he’d have this on me for the rest of my life. We were in the locker room afterward and Tiger came up to me and said he had a question.

“He said, ‘The wind was tricky today. Where was it blow-

ing on eight?’ He was smiling. I knew he had me. We still talk about that.”

Ian Poulter has hit more shanks than he cares to remember, many of them on the biggest stages in golf. There was the el hosel while in contention at the 2015 Honda Classic, the duck slice at the 2017 Players Championship and the wide right in front of an unforgiving gallery at the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open. You can find them on YouTube if you care to venture into that cauldron of horrors.

“I’ve had a number of them at inopportune times,” says Poulter, who’s actually a good sport in talking about a shot that many golfers refuse to address by the s-word name. “I’ve hit a shank on almost every par-3 at Augusta. I tend to move my head slightly forward and my weight gets a little too close to the ball.”

Jack Nicklaus hit a shank on the 12th hole in the 1964 Masters that flew so far right, it didn’t even get wet in Rae’s Creek as it crossed the fairway.

“I’ll never forget the tension in my right arm,” Nicklaus says. “When I swung, my right arm just dominated. It never broke down.”

Johnny Miller hit a shank in the 1972 Crosby Clambake and it haunted him for years. When he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont the following year, he played the back nine while

shooting a 63 with one swing thought, “Don’t shank it.”

Miller says the hardest shot in golf is the one after a shank.

“The clubface looks the size of a pea while the hosel looks as big as an elephant,” Miller says. “I contended in tournaments probably 50 times after that, and every time I was worried about shanking.”

Tommy Bolt was once playing in a pro-am with a man who was very nervous on the first tee. He managed to get his first drive in play, but he shanked his second shot. Bolt gave him a word of advice, but he shanked his next shot as well. Bolt gave him something else to try, but the result was yet another shank.

“Tommy, what should I do?” the man wailed.

“Pards, just aim to the left and allow for it,” Bolt said.

Charles Smith was warming up on the practice tee before his semifinal match in the 1960 North and South Amateur at Pinehurst. He hit a shank with his wedge. Then another. Then another.

“Your hands start to sweat and you get that awful feeling in your stomach,” Smith says.

Smith refused to pull the wedge out of the bag the rest of the day. From a hundred yards in, he either hit a choke-down 9-iron or a hooded sand wedge all day. He won the match and went on to collect the title the next day.

“I wasn’t going to risk hitting a shank,” Smith says. “God, what an awful feeling.”

Former PGA champion Jerry Barber designed and manufactured a line of irons that were supposedly shank-proof. Instead of having a round hosel connecting the clubface and shaft, the front of the hosel was flattened. So even if you con nected hosel-to-ball, the ball presumably would go forward instead of sideways. The company is now out of business, but the 800 number used two decades ago still gets calls from the afflicted.

Purvis Ferree, the longtime head professional at Old Town Club in WinstonSalem, was hounded by the shanks in older age as his swing flattened with the inevitable rounding of the body and less-

ening of flexibility. He eventually played with two of Barber’s “Golden Touch” wedges, a no-shank 7-iron for chipping, and a bag full of fairway woods.

“Father was such a wonderful teacher, but the shank almost reduced him to a spectator,” says son Jim, himself a club professional and tour pro on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. “There were times he could not hit a solid golf shot. One day at Roaring Gap, he gave his irons away to a caddie when he got to shanking.”

In one celebrated story they still tell around Old Town, Purvis went out for a regular match with Malcolm McLean, the trucking magnate and owner of Pinehurst Resort for a decade in the 1970s. The bet was that if McLean could win any one hole, he won the match. On the first hole, Ferree shanked several shots around the green and wound up in the very divot he made with his first shank. He picked up and conceded the hole and the match to McLean.

Jim Ferree was a club professional in Pittsburgh in the 1980s when one of his members, a doctor, saved his golf game by acquiring a set of the Barber irons. When the member read in Golf World that Barber’s company was going out of business, Ferree helped him acquire a backup set in case something happened to the original clubs. Several months later, Ferree was at the doctor’s home for a cocktail party and wondered if the man still had the irons. The doctor led Ferree into a walk-in vault in his bedroom, where the irons were tucked away along with his wife’s jewels and furs.

Just goes to show you the lengths a man will go to protect his cure to the abominable shank. If you’ve never hit one, count your blessings. If you have, please don’t let this harmless little narra tive pollute your mind the next time you address a 100-yard approach. PS

Lee Pace has written about golf in the Sandhills for three decades. His newest book, Good Walks — Rediscovering the Soul of Golf at 18 Top Carolinas Courses, is available at area bookstores and through UNC Press.

FINE ITALIAN DINING | HOUSE-MADE PASTAS AND BREADS MADE DAILY

Born amid the storied walls of the historic Magnolia Inn in the heart of Pinehurst Village, Villaggio Ristorante promises an exquisite fine dining experience second to none. Live music every weekend on the patio in weather-permitting months. For diners only.

Tue, Wed & Thur: 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. | Fri & Sat: 5 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Reservations required | reservations@villaggioristorante.net

65 Magnolia Road, Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina 910.235.8950 • villaggioristorante.net

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Small Prayer

We see this ground as if through a spaceship’s faceted metal eye. Having seen the blue round as small as a child’s ball, having solved just enough of mystery to be lost in what we think we know. We’ve thought to play with it, to make the planet smaller yet.

Now we do with it what we will, forgetting how its vastness left us speechless, worshipping. We lose forest and furrow where we began. And the kindred animals have begun to leave. The water’s gone that married time and loved the stone into a canyon’s grace. We’ve forgotten how to stay — how to say: this place.

Let the earth grow large enough again that only clouds and stories can encircle it entire. Let rockets land for good, satellites fall dumb, and wires unspan enough that distances grow wide to dwarf our wars. May mystery loom large enough again to answer prayers and keep us.

Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding

Simple and elegant holiday brunch ideas

Festive meals among family and friends are the most magical of holiday traditions. Give me a Christmas brunch and I’ll be as joyful as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Land of Sweets.

If you are blessed with young children on Christmas morning, you know that an early pot of coffee or a cup of tea is the most you’ll have time for until the presents are unwrapped and ooohed and aaahed at. Or, if you’re celebrating among grown-ups, an unrushed, peaceful start to the day can be a grand idea.

All of which makes Christmas brunch an excellent choice on one of the brightest, most colorful and cheerful days of the year.

To spend less time in the kitchen and more time in the moment, with the people you love, gather inspiration from these simple, eye-catching dishes that require few ingredients and even less time to prepare.

GinGerbread douGhnuts with a maretto ChoColate Glaze

Doughnuts should be a staple in every brunch spread, no doubt about it. A basic doughnut recipe can be adjusted easily to feature the flavors of the season. To transform ordinary doughnuts into a winter holiday treat, simply add gingerbread spice mix to the dough and, once baked and cooled off, dip in melted white chocolate infused with amaretto. Sprinkle with crushed almonds and sparkling sugar to add a touch of winter magic to your buffet.

eGGnoG Chia Parfait

A spectacular make-ahead option for Christmas morning is eggnog chia parfait. Nothing says Christmas more than eggnog for breakfast! To every one cup of liquid, add 1/4 cup of chia seeds; allow to rest for a few minutes, stir and refrigerate overnight. Layer with müesli, chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate mousse, compote, jam or fresh fruit of your choice and top with whipped cream. The possibilities are endless, so let your creativity run wild.

Yorkshire PuddinG breakfast bake

A take on the traditional Yorkshire pudding (which is similar to the American popover), this is a simple yet striking — not to mention scrumptious and satisfying — dish to serve your family and friends on Christmas morning. The base is made with just eggs, flour and milk, and takes minutes to whip up; add any breakfast ingredients of your choice, such as bacon, sausages or tomatoes and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the egg mixture is cooked through.

Green shakshuka with PoaChed eGGs

Traditional shakshuka is not just a feast for the eye, it’s an incredibly aromatic dish for all those who have a penchant for Mediterranean spices. To mix it up, try a green version of shakshuka. Instead of the tomato base, use layers of green vegetable, such as leafy greens, zucchini, broccoli and peas, then season with green harissa, paprika and cumin. Finish by cracking eggs right into the skillet and cook until the whites are set. Serve with toasted bread.

Potato waffles with smoked salmon

Potato waffles are a fabulously sophisticated alternative to ordinary hash browns. To save time preparing a hash brown mixture, you can use previously frozen potato puffs or even a leftover mashed potato mix. Potato waffles will cook in minutes and make a hearty base for a variety of toppings. Smoked salmon with a dollop of crème fraîche garnished with capers and roe is a holiday-worthy combination. Or, you might find your own favorite mélange.

winter Pavlova with Clementines

Pavlovas are quite the showstoppers and require few ingredients to make, mainly just egg-whites and sugar. While pavlovas can be a bit temperamental (you want to beat the eggs just right), they are exquisitely light and airy compositions that can be made a day in advance and dressed up with cream and fruit right before serving. Top your pavlova with whipped cream, curd and any seasonal fruit of your choice, such as clementines, oranges, figs, pomegranate or pear. PS

The ForgoTTen Boyd

The story of an exceptional kid

“T

he best of that whole Boyd bunch was Dan, the one who was killed in a motorcycle accident in San Francisco,” Glen Rounds said while lounging in his front yard on a sunny spring afternoon 30 years ago. He was parsing the James Boyd family, the “first family” of Southern Pines, the clan responsible for many of the aesthetic and cultural pleasures our quaint hometown offers.

“The older son, Jim, was something of an oddball,” Rounds continued, “but Dan . . . Dan was an exceptional kid.”

When Rounds spoke, I listened. Intently. In addition to authoring 100 children’s books and receiving a slew of state and national awards for his writing and illustrating, Rounds had his arthritic fingers on the pulse of Southern Pines. He knew what there was to know about everyone in town worth knowing about, and he served up his edgy opinions freely and with an occasional sprig of rancor and a dash of humor. Any praise, however slight, he might lavish on Daniel Boyd, the second son of historical novelist James Boyd and his wife, Katharine, was a high recommendation indeed and worthy of investigation.

“Dan was awarded the Silver Star during the Battle of the Bulge,” Rounds went on, “and when he got back in town, he never once mentioned it.”

I knew nothing of Dan Boyd, so during my next visit to the Southern Pines Library, I plundered through fusty back issues of The Pilot bound in bulky, outsized volumes, and discovered the January 1, 1959, front page headline: “Daniel Boyd Killed in California Last Tuesday in Traffic Accident.”

The timeworn newsprint was crumbling and much of the story was missing, but the essential facts were there: “Daniel Lamont Boyd, 34, the son of Mrs. James Boyd of Southern Pines, was fatally injured Tuesday of last week (Dec. 23, 1958) in San Francisco, where he had made his home.” Boyd was homeward bound from the city center when a car crossed the yellow center line and struck his “motor bike” (a lightweight scooter of some variety, possibly a Vespa) headon. Dan was transported to the hospital, where he died without regaining consciousness.

The article also noted that Katharine Boyd, publisher of The Pilot, flew to San Francisco as soon as she received word of her son’s death, and that “News of the tragic accident was received with great sorrow in the community.” Although Dan hadn’t lived in Southern Pines in several years, he had “maintained earlier friendships with many people.”

If Rounds wasn't exactly correct about the motorcycle, he was spot on when it came to Boyd’s military record. Dan served with the 60th Engineering, 35th Infantry Unit,

which fought from Normandy, through the battles for SaintLô and the Bulge — 78 years ago this month — to the end of the European campaign. It was during the Battle of the Bulge that Dan distinguished himself and was awarded a Purple Heart and the Silver Star for gallantry under fire.

The Army doesn’t retain records detailing the courageous actions of individuals who have been awarded the Silver Star, but the Friday, Feb. 9, 1945 issue of The Pilot reprinted an official press release:

“Corporal Daniel L. Boyd, 34677486, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, for gallantry in action near France on 13th December 1944.

“During the crossing of the River near , Corporal Boyd was in charge of an assault boat operating in a sector which was subjected to intense machine gun fire from enemy emplacements located only 150 yards from the river. When he saw a nearby boat capsize in mid-stream after receiving a burst of machine fire, he immediately paddled his boat to the scene and rescued five heavily clothed soldiers from drowning in the swift current. After he had brought the men to the friendly shore, he started to assist them to an aid station when one of the men collapsed as a result of a wound he had suffered. Corporal Boyd placed

him in a sheltered position, administered first aid, and then continued to the aid station with the other men. Finding a shortage of medi cal personnel, he personally returned to the wounded man he had left behind, in the face of withering enemy fire, and with the aid of a litter bearer, succeeded in evacuating his comrade.

Corporal Boyd’s intrepid deeds and resourceful performance in the face of heavy odds were responsible for saving the lives of five of his comrades and are in accord with the finest tradition of the United State Army.”

The January 1959 Pilot notes that “With fighting going on across the river where American units were isolated, Boyd went out, found one of the engineers’ boats and, under heavy fire, ferried across sufficient men to win the action.”

Valor in military service was nothing new to the Boyd family. Novelist James Boyd Sr. served as an ambulance driver in France during World War I, and Dan’s cousin, Seaman 1st Class John Boyd, who had grown up in what is now the Campbell House, died in the Battle for Guadalcanal when the USS Barton, the destroyer on which he was serving, was sunk in a night action in November 1942.

My curiosity concerning Dan Boyd’s life and death might have ended there, but Rounds’ recommendation resonated with me whenever I attended a cultural and social event held at the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. A few years later, I was researching James Boyd’s relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sherwood Anderson in the Firestone Library at Princeton and the Southern Historical Collection at UNC when I happened upon letters from Dan to his parents, chatty missives about life at boarding school, football games and, oddly enough, railroads. His letters were peppered with allusions to the trains and drawings of locomotives.

The mystery of Dan Boyd’s life unraveled further when Dotty Starling, Weymouth’s dedicated archivist, lent me a copy of An Oral History of Weymouth. Published in 2004, the history gathered the reminiscences of friends of the Boyd family and the recollections of longtime employees. Many of the details of Dan Boyd’s short life are revealed in those collected memories.

I learned that in the ’20s and ’30s, the James and Jackson Boyd children had grown up together, playing in the pasture behind Weymouth, riding horses, and sharing in the privileges afforded by their parents’ wealth. They all attended kindergarten and elementary school at the private Ark school, initially located

on the corner of Ridge Street and Connecticut Avenue on the Weymouth property. (The foundation of the school is still clearly visible, a giant magnolia rising from what must have been the building’s basement.)

Longtime Pilot reporter and editor Mary Evelyn de Nissoff remembered her days attending the Ark in a 2001 interview: “Two English ladies ran it. In the morning they welcomed the children with a handshake and had a cup of tea with them before classes began. In the afternoons the children went down into the basement where there were iron cots . . . where the teachers read aloud to them.” All three of James and Katharine’s children, Jim Jr., Dan and Nancy, the youngest, attended classes with Mary Evelyn. “They (the Boyd children) rode, of course. They were into horses and they smelled of horses. Nancy didn’t, but Dan did.”

A life of privilege notwithstanding, the Boyd household was not always a peaceable kingdom. Jim Jr. and Dan, brothers of very different temperaments, often argued, and their mother had difficulty maintaining domestic harmony. In a scrapbook preserved in the Weymouth Archives, an unidentified family poet recorded the domestic discord in rhymed iambic pentameter:

Thus while Dan offers up his soul To knowledge and each day grows thinner, James lies in bed and eats his dinner; And while Dan toils o’er Latin grammar James turns out mediocre verses Of fulsome amatory tone And sends them round to all the nurses.”

If Jim Jr. lacked motivation, Dan was obsessed — with trains. He decorated his room with railroad posters, collected electric trains, and snapped hundreds of photos of art deco diesel and steam locomotives — massive pufferbellies with all the machinery bolted to their boilers — which are now preserved and cataloged in the Weymouth Archives with other Boyd family papers. The anonymous family poet also offers a prediction:

That some day, trudging down the track In broken hat and hobo’s breeches, He’ll [Jim Jr.] hear a train behind his back Come rattling over frogs and switches And, looking up as it goes past, See seated in his private car The road’s vice-president, D. Boyd, Smoking a fifty-cent cigar!”

Dan and Jim Jr. were eventually shuffled off to Millbrook School, an academy for students in grades 9-12 located in Millbrook, New York. During those years, they wrote letters to their parents that conveyed a strong sense of family and a guarded affection for one another. Dan wrote about trains and drew loco motives on Millbrook stationery letterhead.

After completing their studies at Millbrook, Dan matricu lated at Princeton, his father’s alma mater, while Jim Jr. at tended UNC. When the war interrupted their studies, Jim

joined the Coast Guard and Dan enlisted in the Army and fought in decisive battles in Europe. After the war, the brothers completed their degrees and Dan married Rhoda Whitridge in 1948 and went west to work with the Southern Pacific Railroad in Eugene, Oregon, even tually settling in San Francisco.

In 2002, Weymouth board member Bea O’Rand interviewed longtime Southern Pines luminary Voit Gilmore, who knew the Dan Boyd family well in the 1950s: “We knew of his connection with his very generous work with the arts council and arts groups in San Francisco. We knew the exact street where he was on his motorbike and got hit. Every time I go by that intersection now, it just breaks my heart that that happened. It was a steep hill on Polk where you come up and go over. The problem always is that if the traffic light goes against you and you’re going up the hill you have a terrible time, you need to get over to the middle of the intersection which is what he did and got hit because of a car.”

Flossie Carpenter, a longtime employee of Katharine Boyd’s, re called the effect Dan’s death had on his mother: “Now that’s when Mrs. Boyd went off, the morning that she got the message that he had been killed. Her mind was no more good. She tried to do but she couldn’t. . . . She stayed that way for about three years.”

Mary Evelyn de Nissoff, who suffered tragedy in her own life, keenly comprehended Katharine’s suffering. “ . . . I can understand what she was going through. She never got over it, because it leaves this great hole in your stomach that is never filled up.”

As a family, the Boyds participated in bettering the community in which they lived. Katharine contributed anonymously to the education of many local children. The family gave us the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve with its 7 miles of hiking trails and visitor center and exhibits, contributed to the Southern Pines Library, maintained what is now the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, and provided funds for the Boyd Library at Sandhills Community College. They worked to beautify the town and protect the pines that line our streets and shade our homes. The oldest living longleaf pine — its seed germinated in 1548, a survivor now of what was once the largest ecosystem in North America — thrives still on the Weymouth property.

In 2002, Rhoda Boyd, Dan’s widow, was driving with her granddaughter outside San Francisco when a redwood fell on her car, killing her instantly. Her granddaughter survived without injury. Dan and Rhoda Boyd are interred in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in San Mateo County, California, far from Dan’s childhood home.

On that spring afternoon 30 years ago, Rounds, who knew something about humor and its understated uses, continued laud ing Dan Boyd, offering up examples of his keen wit and artistic nature. As the afternoon wore on, the Southern Pines Middle School dismissed, and crowds of children began wandering up Ridge Street.

“Let’s go inside and have a drink to Dan Boyd,” Rounds suggested. “I don’t like to sit out here when these kids go by. They make too much noise.” Then he smiled. “But I’ll tell you what: When they’re gone, I go out and pick up their pencils.” PS

Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. He’s the recipient of the Poetry Northwest Young Poet’s Prize, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Prize for poetry and four North Carolina Press Awards.

Through RoseColored Glass

The art of working with stained glass

An oversized sheet of white craft paper unrolls across the worktable. “So, what I do,” Sarah Cawn says, her voice trailing off, distracted by a half-open box. “This is a big lamp I’m supposed to repair.” She lifts a cardboard flap and fingers the dome of a Tiffany-style glass shade.

“OK,” she says, gathering herself to explain the process of making beautiful things with stained glass. “This one I just finished.” She points to a drawing on unfurled paper. The contours of wavy-edged poppies and their swan-like stems arc through rectangles configured like the eight windowpanes they represent.

A gilded light casts itself across the drawing. Cawn points at the studio ceiling. “When we built the house, I had the builder box up the skylight so I could put that in there,” she says, her head tipped back. Above her a glass cupola of yellows and browns, trimmed in a filigree of rose and sea foam, warms the drawing below, willing it from the second dimension into the third.

Each section of the drawing, from the size of a button to the palm of a hand, whether it represents a petal, stem or sliver of background, wears a number as its name tag, all the way through 332, like a grown-up’s paint-by-number.

Cawn starts with the obvious. “I roll paper out and cut off as long a piece as I need.” She traces an index finger around each rectangle. “I had already drawn out the perimeters of each window, then put it up over there.” She points to a blank wall on the far side of the studio, half hidden by a table crowded with a collection of glass baubles: iridescent charms reminiscent of abalone, an amber chest overgrown with irises, a heart-shaped box, stacks of colored glass sheets, and a retro lampshade turned on its head.

She plucks the heart-shaped box from the menagerie like a client perusing the wares at a fine arts bazaar. “This is something that I inherited from somebody that got out of the business,” she says, holding the red vessel up to the light. “I thought if I fixed it, maybe I could — I don’t know.” Cawn turns the box over in her hand and inspects the soldering. She wrinkles her nose.

“It looks kinds of crummy, though. I don’t re ally want to sell it, so I probably should just junk

it.” She sets the box down. “I just don’t feel right about selling something that isn’t mine.”

Cawn thumbs through colored glass sheets as if they’re playing cards, and she’s searching for the right one to start building a hand. Clack, clack. Each glass sheet is a different color, striated like the hard insides of a geode. Clack. There are emeralds and milky jades, electric blues and smoky blacks. One sheet is a galaxy of amethyst and mulberry; another swirls angrily like the eye of Jupiter, but in the soft nudes of a conch shell’s aperture.

“I thought it would be fun if I put them together like a patch work and make cool wall hangings,” she rearranges the pieces like they’re quilt squares, thinking out loud, “if I do the colors right.”

A scarlet macaw perched at the opposite end of the studio stares past Cawn at the half-hidden wall. The bird isn’t real — Cawn made it of glass — but it occupies the space of a live macaw, giving the impression, from the periphery, that it might squawk in its own colorful language.

She points back to the wall where she has tacked up the paper and penciled in the poppy design. “I’m going to be honest now, for the poppies — I do have an overhead.” She describes adjusting the projector until the blooms cast onto the paper create a convincing field of flowers, then she traces the pencil lines with black marker to finalize the design.

Cawn began making stained glass 40 years ago, give or take, at a Maryland shop (whose name she can’t remember and which has since closed) and has, ever since, been polishing her process as if it was, itself, a panel of stained glass.

“For me, it was like a drug,” she says with a shrug. “My husband made me a little workbench down in the basement and, at 10 o’clock at night, he’d go, ‘Are you coming to bed?’”

Through their moves to California, then throughout the Research Triangle in North Carolina, Cawn packed up her glass and tools — marked with a band of cheetah-print tape — and taken her craft with her.

In San Ramon, California, her studio was half the garage. “In the wintertime, I’d have to keep the big glass pieces in the house, so they’d be warm,” she says, explaining that glass can shatter when its temperature rapidly rises or falls.

When the Cawns moved to Cary in the early ’90s, Sarah got her first real studio, but it was on the third floor. She crosses her eyes and groans, “Ughhhhhh,” imagining herself carrying sheets of heavy glass up three flights of stairs. They built their current house, a stone hideaway tucked into the woods just outside of downtown Raleigh, in 1996, and Cawn’s studio is a bonus room above, not in, the garage. An arched windowpane of wispy lines and pastel orbs over the front door welcomes guests into their

home and silently announces the workshop upstairs.

“It started here,” Cawn says of her business, Sarah’s Glass Art, taking off. “In the ’90s everybody wanted stained-glass windows above their bathtub or around their door.” She grins sheepishly. “If I was lucky, they did both.”

Stained glass, and the inspiration for it, infuses the property like a visual perfume. Outside, in the backyard, tangerine, fiery red and pale pink koi glint like glass shards in the afternoon sun as they circle an ornamental pond. One fish resembling a golden dragon, with his trailing whiskers and billowing fins, swims near the surface, as if it were a water-bound Icarus waiting to be immortalized in glass like the scarlet macaw.

Later, the Cawns built a second studio, this one detached from the house, where Sarah makes fused glass, a craft she picked up two decades ago. It’s also where she teaches students to work with stained glass, something she started last year.

With the poppy pattern complete, Cawn traces a copy. “Some people take it to Kinkos, or some place that will copy it, but I don’t know how accurate that will be, so I’ve just never done that,”

she says. “And I know, I’ve been told, ‘You’d save yourself a lot of time.’” She waggles an index finger. But why fix what’s not broken?

Keeping the original pattern as a template, she fits a jig — a de vice reminiscent of a picture frame — around the drawn window panes and fixes the jig to the worktable. It is the stage where all the pieces will come together. “Nothing’s going to turn out square if you don’t put a border around it,” she says. “If it’s not square, it will look like crap.”

Cawn cuts apart the copied pattern so she can trace each piece of the design onto glass (black marker on light colors and silver marker on darks), then she cuts the glass itself. To demonstrate, she pretends to trace a shape onto a spare sheet of emerald glass, the color she used for the poppy stems.

Cawn looks up as a schnauzer tears around the corner into the studio, nails clacking against the hardwood floor, legs spinning out. “She’s not really cute because she’s shaved now,” says Cawn, apologizing for Schatzi’s shorn summer coat. She reaches down to pat the gray head. “She’s gotten really finicky, so I say, ‘Just shave her. It’s not a fashion show.’” The 13-year-old dog wiggles her

stubby tail, then retreats to a plush bed in the corner.

“OK, they’re all cut out, and they all fit nicely,” Cawn says, back behind the worktable. She pulls out a spool of copper foil tape and demonstrates lining the edges of cut glass. “You do this all the way around the glass, and you overlap it by a 1/4 inch at the end.”

Cawn smooths the foil, so the entire edge is neatly covered, and a thin line of copper shows on the face and back sides of the glass. The dark patina of the copper will give the stained glass its signature edge. “You do this on all your pieces,” Cawn says. In this case, all 332.

Soldering comes next, then the patina, then a wax and polish to shine the panel. “You take your wax, shake it, pour a little on, wipe it all over, let it dry, and then you buff it with a rag, and you’re done.” She tosses a rag on the table.

“I used to hate waxing and polishing, but it’s such an important part. It’s the finishing touch, and they go, ‘Ohhhhhhh.’” Cawn puts her hands to her cheeks and opens her mouth, mimicking happy customers and, in a way, herself. “To me, there’s just a magical quality about glass.” PS

Shop for Sarah Cawn’s glass art at One of a Kind Gallery, in Pinehurst.

Jenna Biter is a writer and military wife in the Sandhills. She can be reached at jennabiter@protonmail.com.

Touch of the Orient

Aberdeen’s John W. Graham House is a colorful work of art

In the late 1990s, Bart Boudreaux was living in Beijing, China, with his wife, Lynel, when a friend invited him to visit Pinehurst.

“It was a lot different back then,” says Boudreaux, a Louisiana native whose work in the oil business had taken him all over the globe. “Very quiet, calm. Not much traffic. That’s what we were looking for . . . especially coming from China.”

Of course, the world-class golf was part of the draw. “Unmatched,” says Boudreaux.

Life in Pinehurst became the pin on the narrowing horizon. In 2012, the couple bought and restored one of the 1895 James Walker Tufts cottages (The Woodbine) in

Old Town Pinehurst, where the couple have lived since Bart’s retirement in 2015.

But this isn’t a story about that house, nor is it a story about Pinehurst. Ultimately, this is a marriage story. It begins with one man’s love of old houses.

“I can’t explain it,” says Boudreaux, trying to put his passion for restoration into words. “I needed to find something to do outside of golf.”

Perhaps his time in New Orleans influenced his taste for old houses. “Not everyone’s cup of tea,” he admits.

Regardless, buying and restoring them became his accidental pastime. In addition to the Pinehurst home, Boudreaux revamped the house next door (another one of Tufts’ original 38 cottages), renovated a 1930s Sears Roebuck on Dundee Road, then flipped one, two, three more fixer-uppers, all in Pinehurst.

Which brings us to his seventh and most recent project: a 1909 Victorian in downtown Aberdeen.

Situated on a spacious corner lot on High Street, the sage green double-pile with the classical Tuscan columns and wraparound porch once belonged to John W. Graham, son-in-law of Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad founder John Blue. The exterior is grand yet understated, with an air of timelessness and restraint typical of Colonial Revival architecture. Boudreaux bought the National Register property in February of 2021 and devoted one year to its transformation.

“It’s got tremendous character,” he says, noting the 10-foot ceilings and crown molding, the butler’s pantry, the two-story semi-octagonal bay, original dogwood wallpaper in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and five charming fireplaces throughout.

An original stained-glass window defines the nook beneath the half-turn staircase. Natural light floods every inch of the 2,500-square-foot space. Upstairs, transom windows above bedroom doors offer charm and function.

“I fell in love,” he says.

Heart pine flooring was repaired and restored. Old doors and tiger oak mantels, once hidden beneath layers of paint, are now among the home’s most striking features. Ditto the banister, stairs and newel caps.

“Almost killed me,” says Boudreaux of all the stripping. He did what he could himself and hired help to do the rest.

Boudreaux upgraded and reconfigured the kitchen, reintroducing an old entrance and constructing a small island with salvaged beadboard. He retiled and revamped existing baths (one full and one half); added a full bath upstairs; installed new cabinetry and quartz countertops; tinted origi

nal windows; exposed a bit of brick; updated plumbing, electrical wiring and appliances; replaced ductwork; and insulated the crawl space.

But he didn’t stop there.

Throughout the house, period-appropriate light fixtures (complete with ceiling medallions), fabric and furniture complement the architecture.

“I just love the search for antiques,” he says, which is how he crossed paths with interior designer Jane Fairbanks of The Old Hardware Antiques in Cameron. “I know what I like. Jane’s got it.”

Fairbanks helped Boudreaux outfit two of his Pinehurst homes in American country décor. “What he truly loves,” says the designer.

The interior of the Graham house is distinctly different. It’s an amalgam of color, texture and Victorian-era furnishings with a heavy emphasis on Oriental antiques —a marriage of tastes, his and hers. Flash back to China in the late 1990s.

“The oil company I worked for allowed us to transport one shipping container full of Chinese furniture back to the States on their nickel,” says Boudreaux.

Lynel, who worked as the assistant general manager at the Hilton Beijing, loaded up on ornate altar tables, hand-painted cabinets and intricate Chinese artwork — textiles in particular. Bart took Fairbanks to sift through the haul, in storage for over 20 years. Forgotten treasures were promptly dusted.

“They sort of became the inspiration for everything,” says Fairbanks.

Especially the colors. In the front parlor, coral walls pop against crisp white molding and creamcolored beadboard wainscoting. A hand-embroidered silk opera collar is framed and displayed on the wall above the staircase. Asian accent chairs covered in pagoda-themed fabric flank the fireplace, and a pair of wooden foo dogs (Chinese guardian lions) draw the eye to the quarter-sawn tiger oak mantel.

Beneath the stained-glass, a hinged easel frame displays photos of original homeowners John W. Graham, a cashier and officer of the Bank of Aberdeen, and his bride, Kate Blue Graham.

One wonders what Kate might think of the vibrant paint and forbidden stitch embroidery.

Beyond yellow pine pocket doors — “massive and heavy as led,” adds Fairbanks — coral walls spill into the living room, where a silk rug and custom curtains soften the space with delicate pink hues. This is where worlds begin to collide in a surprising way: an American country cherry corner cupboard (1840s), for instance, opposite a Chinese wedding cabinet featuring traditional brass hardware and a hand-painted imperial dragon.

For Lynel, each piece has a story, like the statuette of Guan Yin (female Buddha), positioned between the living and dining rooms.

“I bought her in a Beijing dirt market from a little blind man,” Lynel recalls. The vendor assured her that the wooden figure was quite old.

“Lǎo de, lǎo de,” he repeated.

It wasn’t. The Buddha split in half a few weeks later.

“Sounded like a gunshot,” Lynel says between bouts of laughter. “She was new, made to look old . . . but I love her anyway.”

In the upstairs hallway, a teak altar table paired with a carved wooden screen make a bold and elaborate statement. The walls? Georgian Green by Benjamin Moore.

Bedrooms are handsomely outfitted. For one, an 1840s maple rope bed with curly

maple headboard. A four-poster bed in another. The third features a faux curly maple queen anchored by an early 1840s blanket chest. Mounted oriental hair pins and an embroidered baby bib (and matching shoes) add color and whimsy.

“It’s just amazing how things can come from so many places and end up working so well together,” Fairbanks says.

The designer played a major role in bringing Bart’s vision for the house to life. “Big time,” he emphasizes.

All parties seem equally delighted by how it turned out. In the past, Boudreaux’s modus operandi has been to revamp and resell. But the John W. Graham house is a keeper.

“Our Pinehurst house is on the market,” he explains.

Towns and dreams change. Bart and Lynel are moving back to Louisiana to be closer to family. The house on High Street will be their vacation home.

“Aberdeen is having a bit of a Renaissance, don’t you think?” says Lynel.

Bart’s golf clubs are there waiting. The house itself — a harmonious blend of tastes — is a labor of love ready to be enjoyed. PS

Ashley Walshe, the former editor of O.Henry, lives up country and is dreaming up her next grand adventure.

ALMANAC

December

December is a frosted window, a singing kettle, the busying of hands.

Beyond the glass, the breath of winter settles upon the still earth like a blanket of glittering lace. The garden withers. The air grows bitter. The cold sucks the life from the glistening landscape.

Yet, for a few precious hours, the wild ones stir.

As the sun thaws the silvery earth, critters emerge from their hideaways.

Birds flit from feeder to swinging feeder.

Deer feast on turkey tail mushrooms; paw for acorns; chomp on chicory and sunchoke roots.

Mice sniff out seeds. Rabbits munch on winter buds. Hawks watch from the naked trees above.

Inside, time is measured by cups of tea — earthy, dark and sweet. The fire crackles. The kettle sings. Quiet hands ache to make things: Sourdough loaves studded with walnuts and dried figs.

Gingersnap cookies thick with blackstrap molasses.

Stovetop potpourri swirling with pine, orange and warming spices.

Winter wreaths woven with wild grape and honeysuckle vines.

Beyond the window, night comes early. The air grows frosty. Critters disappear with the dwindling light.

You stoke the fire, tend the kettle, nurture an ancient knowing growing wilder in your winter bones.

Long Nights Moon

The Cold Moon rises on Thursday, Dec. 8. Also called the Long Nights Moon and the Moon Before Yule, this month’s full and luminous wonder will share the limelight with a bright and strikingly visible Mars. With the Red Planet at opposition (meaning the Earth is positioned between it and the sun), Mars will appear brighter than all the stars.

Speaking of lustrous marvels, the Geminids meteor shower will peak on Dec. 13 and 14, il luminating the night sky with up to 120 meteors per hour. As its name suggests, this celestial pageant will emanate from the constellation Gemini, but here’s a hint: Just look up.

The final meteor shower of 2022 happens in tandem with the winter solstice on Dec. 21 — the longest night of the year. Although it’s hardly as eventful as the aforementioned Geminids, a dark sky makes conditions favorable for the Ursids, a minor shower that peaks with up to 10 meteors per hour.

May your nights be merry and bright. And your New Year, full of light.

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

Where the Sunchokes Shine

’Tis the season for Jerusalem artichokes, which are not, in fact, from The Holy City. Nor are they artichokes. These tasty tubers, also known as sunroots, sunchokes, wild sunflowers and earth apples, were first cultivated by indigenous peoples. When Italian settlers discovered this yellow-flowering plant, they dubbed it girasole, the Italian word for sunflower. The blossoms do look a bit like sunflowers, but they are actually more like daisies. Anyway, “girasole” became “Jerusalem” over time. You know how it goes.

Assuming the ground isn’t frozen, the tubers can be harvested all winter. Then what?

Scrub them, slice them and toss them with oil and spices.

Roast them until tender. Sauté them with garlic. Pan-fry them with butter and sage. You’ll figure it out.

A root by any other name would taste as savory and sweet. PS

arts & entertainment

Although conscientious effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date information, all events are subject to change and errors can occur! Please call to verify times, costs, status and location before planning or attending any events.

DECEMBER EVENTS

Thursday, December 1

HOLIDAY CLASSIC MOVIE. 7 p.m. Elf Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Friday, December 2

WEYMOUTH WONDERLAND. 5 p.m. Enjoy the Weymouth Wonderland Holiday Festival. There will be three days of events from Dec. 2 - 4. Visit the website for more information on each day. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

TREE LIGHTING. 5 - 7:30 p.m. Bring your family and friends for music, holiday cheer and the chance to see Santa. The official lighting of the tree is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Vendors will be on-site with food and beverages available for purchase. This is a free event. Tufts Memorial Park, 1 Village Green Road W., Pinehurst. Info: www.vopnc.org.

SANTA’S WORKSHOP. 5:30 - 7 p.m. Children 12 and under are invited for fun holi day crafts and games. Don’t forget to bring a cam era for pictures with Santa. Stay afterward for our “Flashlight Candy Hunt.” Children must be accompanied by an adult. Free event. Memorial Park, 210 Memorial Park Court, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

THEATER PRODUCTION. The Encore Center will present Sanders Family Christmas. There will be more performances on Dec. 3 - 4 and Dec. 9 - 11. Encore Center, 160 E. New

Christmas Parade

Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. Info and tick ets: www.encorecenter.net.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS FANTASTIC. 7 - 9 p.m. Grab some hot cider or hot cocoa and cruise with us to the most impressive Christmas light displays. Bring the whole family and sing Christmas carols or play Christmas trivia on the way. This trolley cruise will run every Friday in December. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Southern Pines Brewing Company, 565 Air Tool Drive, Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

LATE NIGHT TROLLEY. 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. Games, comedy, drinks and fun. This cruise kicks off at Divine Lounge and crawls to some of the best bars in the Sandhills. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Divine Lounge, 390 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Saturday, December 3

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA. 9 - 11 a.m. Sandhills Woman’s Exchange will present their “Breakfast with Santa.” Pancakes and bacon will be served and holiday stories will be read. Seating is limited. Tickets are $30 for adults; $10 for ages 6 and up, and free for ages 5 and under. Sandhills Woman’s Exchange, 15 Azalea Road, Pinehurst. Info and reservations: (910) 295-4677 or www.sandhillswe.org.

KID’S SATURDAY. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Come in for a “Winter Wonderland” drop-in activity day. There will also be a snowball fight. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

CHRISTMAS PARADE. 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Enjoy local marching bands, activities and more at the Southern Pines Christmas Parade. Santa Claus will make an appearance. Downtown

Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

HOLLY JOLLY TROLLEY. 1 - 1:45 p.m. Games, comedy, drinks and fun. This cruise kicks off at Divine Lounge and crawls to some of the best bars in the Sandhills. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. This trolley cruise will run every Saturday in December. Divine Lounge, 390 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

HOLIDAY CRAFTERNOON. 2 p.m. Learn how to make bookish ornaments and leave with projects to keep or give away as gifts. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.sppl.net.

DICKENS’ CHRISTMAS TROLLEY. 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Sing along and cruise the historic scenery of the village of Pinehurst. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. This trolley cruise will run every Saturday in December. Pine Crest Inn, 50 Dogwood Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

HORSE SHOW. Sedgefield at the Park Winter Classic NCHJA “C” H/J show. The show continues through Dec. 4. Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Road, Raeford. Info: www.carolinahorsepark.com.

REINBEER GAMES. 5 - 6:30 p.m. We’ll make one stop at a local brewery and play all kinds of fun and silly drinking games while driving around town. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. This trolley cruise will run every Saturday in December. Southern Pines Brewing Company, 565 Air Tool Drive, Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

DRAG SHOW. 7 p.m. The Divas of December Drag show in conjunction with Sandhills Pride. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Sunday, December 4

OPEN HOUSE. 1 - 4 p.m. Celebrate Christmas the old-fashioned way by visiting the 1820s Bryant House and 1760s McLendon Cabin. There will be cider and cookies along with live music. Free admission. Bryant House, 3361 Mount Carmel Road, Carthage. Info: (910) 692-2051 or www.moorehistory.com.

TOUR OF HOMES. 1 - 5:30 p.m. Tour six unique homes decked out with holiday finery during the 43rd annual Episcopal Day School Candlelight Tour of Homes. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

WRITING GROUP. 3 p.m. Interested in creating fiction, nonfiction, poetry or comics? Connect with other writers and artists, chat about your craft and get feedback on your work. All levels are welcome. The session will meet at the library. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: lholden@sppl.net.

ANNIVERSARY BASH. 3 - 7 p.m. Come join us to help celebrate 10 years of serving the Sandhills with fine wine and craft beer. We will be hosting a raffle, handing out door prizes and tasting over 40 holiday wines and seasonal brews. There will be an array of local vendors sharing their crafts. Triangle Wine Co., 144 Brucewood Road, Southern Pines. Info: www.trianglewineco.com.

HOLIDAY CONCERT. 4 p.m. The Sandhills Community College Music Department presents its annual holiday concert full of new and traditional holiday tunes. Free admission. Owens Auditorium at Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.sandhills.edu.

Tuesday, December 6

BRAIN FITNESS. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to a Brain Fitness class. Eve Gaskell will be the instructor. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

TEEN WRITING CLUB. 4 p.m. Are you in terested in creative writing and storytelling, connecting with other writers and getting feedback on your work? Join us for the “Teen Creative Writing Club.” Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.sppl.net or email: kbroughey@sppl.net.

Wednesday, December 7

FIRE SAFETY. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Adults 55 and older can learn helpful safety tips that can save your life. Class is led by the Southern Pines Fire Department. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

WRITER IN RESIDENCE. 5:30 p.m. Valerie Nieman, current writer-in-residence, will read from her latest novel, In the Lonely Backwater, a mystery in the Southern gothic tradition. Free admission. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

HOLIDAY POPS. 7:30 p.m. Enjoy a cherished local tradition of music featuring a Broadway star. There will be another performance on Dec. 8. Carolina Philharmonic, 5 Market Square, Pinehurst. Info: www.carolinaphil.org.

Thursday, December 8

OPEN HOUSE. 1 - 4 p.m. Come see the dec orated Shaw House, Garner House and Sanders Cabin. There will be tours only on Dec. 8 – 9, and Dec. 10 there will be tours and refreshments. Free admission. Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-2051 or

CALENDAR

12.16

cruise will run every Saturday in December. Southern Pines Brewing Company, 565 Air Tool Drive, Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

LIVE MUSIC. 7 - 10 p.m. Enjoy live music courtesy of Jacob Eubanks. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.hatchetbrewing.com.

STAND UP COMEDY. 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. Join us for our headliner comedian. The cruise starts at Divine Lounge and stops include The Island Bar and Hooka. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Divine Lounge, 390 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Nutcracker Tea Party

www.moorehistory.com.

GATHERING AT GIVEN. 3:30 p.m. Erin Durkee, department chair of culinary and pastry arts at Sandhills Community College, will be serving up some tips and tricks just in time for the holidays. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

HOLIDAY CLASSIC MOVIE. 7 p.m. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Friday, December 9

LIVE THEATER. 7 p.m. A Christmas Carol. There will be more performances on Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 11 at 3 p.m. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Saturday, December 10

CRAFT DAYS. Children and their families can come by the library for “Drop-in Craft Days” and work on crafts at their own pace. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

CARRIAGE PARADE. 1 p.m. Enjoy the annual Christmas Carriage Parade staged by the Moore Country Driving Club on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. in downtown Southern Pines. Be patient if they’re a minute or two late, they’re only horses.

LEARN AND PLAY. 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Come in for an open play date with your toddler or preschooler where there will be developmental toys and puzzles as well as early literacy tips on display for parents and caregivers to incorporate into their daily activities. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

MET OPERA. 1 p.m. The Hours, live in HD. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

HOLIDAY MURDER MYSTERY. 7 - 9 p.m. Join us for a fun-filled evening as we fig ure out who killed Grandma. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. This trolley

Sunday, December 11

CLASSICAL MUSIC SUNDAYS. 2 p.m. Matt Palmer, guitarist, performs. Tickets are $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

HOLIDAY CONCERT. 7 - 9 p.m. Moore County Choral Society presents its 48th season of fine choral music with a holiday con cert, “Love and Joy.” Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Monday, December 12

PHOTO CLUB. 6 p.m. The Sandhills Photography Club annual holiday dinner will include the installation of the 2023 officers and presentation of the Stoffel Awards. Pinewild Country Club, 85 Glasgow Drive, Pinehurst. Info: www.sandhillsphotoclub.org.

STUDIO GHIBLI FEST. 7 p.m. Ponyo Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Wednesday, December 14

WHITEHALL BOOK CLUB. 2 p.m. Southern Pines Public Library’s book club for adults meets to discuss this month’s book. The book club is open to the public. Whitehall Property, 490 Pee Dee Road, Southern Pines. Info: mmiller@sppl.net.

Thursday, December 15

READ BETWEEN THE PINES. 5 p.m. SPPL’s book club for adults meets to discuss this month’s book. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. To join email: mhoward@sppl.net.

Friday, December 16

SENIOR TRIP. 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older can enjoy a trip to the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Koka Booth Amphitheater in Cary. Cost is $32 for residents of Southern Pines and $45 for non-residents. Attendees will depart from the Campbell House playground parking lot, 450 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

NUTCRACKER TEA PARTY. 5 p.m. Join us for our Nutcracker tea party. Enjoy a pastry buffet and fresh tea from the local Ladybug

CALENDAR

Farm while watching our students perform our very own version of The Nutcracker. We will have clogging, jazz, ballet, tap, acro and hip-hop in this 50-minute production. Tea party attire encouraged. Limited seating. Encore Center, 160 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.tix.com/ticket-sales/encorepac/6988.

Saturday, December 17

LATE NIGHT TROLLEY. 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. It’s our late night Christmas variety show, ugly sweater style. Hop on for a jolly good time. Stops include The Island Bar and Hooka. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Divine Lounge, 390 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Sunday, December 18

MINI MARKET. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Enjoy shopping, food trucks and live music. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. CONCERT. 2 and 7 p.m. Murphy Family Christmas Concert. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Tuesday, December 20

BRAIN FITNESS. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to a Brain Fitness class. Eve Gaskell will be the instructor. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info:

(910) 692-7376.

Santa Visit

TEEN WRITING CLUB. 4 p.m. Are you interested in creative writing and storytelling, connecting with other writers and getting feed back on your work? Join us for the Teen Creative Writing Club. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info:

Homestyles

www.sppl.net or email: kbroughey@sppl.net.

TRIVIA NIGHT. 6 p.m. Enjoy trivia all about Christmas. The Sly Fox Pub, 795 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.theslyfoxpub.com.

HOLIDAY PRODUCTION. 7 - 8:20 p.m. The Uprising Theatre Company presents its third annual holiday production, an inventive re-creation of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. The Village Chapel, 10 Azalea Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Wednesday, December 21

MUSIC JAM. 12 - 1 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to grab some “Found Sounds” from around the house and join the jam session. Wooden spoons, coffee cans, chopsticks, boxes of mac-n-cheese, etc. Bring them to the party as we make music and move together to favorite songs and awesome drumbeats. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

Thursday, December 22

HOLIDAY MOVIE. 6:30 p.m. Polar Express Free movie. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Saturday, December 24

SANTA VISIT. 2 - 4 p.m. Santa will make an appearance for any last minute Christmas requests. The Sly Fox Pub, 795 S.W. Broad St.,

Southern Pines. Info: www.theslyfoxpub.com.

Tuesday, December 27

MUSICIANS’ JAM SESSION. 6 - 9 p.m. Bring your own instrument and beverage or just come and enjoy the music. Attendees must have the COVID vaccination. Free admission, registra tion required. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

Thursday, December 29

DOUGLASS CENTER BOOK CLUB. 10:30 a.m. Multiple copies of the selected book are available for checkout at the library. The Douglass Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: mmiller@sppl.net.

Saturday, December 31

ANNUAL DINNER. The Sly Fox will be having its 12th annual chicken and waffle dinner. Cost is $40 per person. The Sly Fox Pub, 795 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.theslyfoxpub.com.

FIRST EVE. 6 - 8 p.m. Bring family and friends for a winter wonderland as we ring in the New Year early. The event will feature live music, carnival games, face painting and much more. The Pinecone Drop is at 8 p.m. Downtown Southern Pines.

NEW YEAR’S CRUISE. 7 - 9 p.m. Ring in the New Year with the best party in town. This

CALENDAR

will be a Steampunk-style party as we stop at the best breweries in the Sandhills. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Southern Pines Brewing Company, 565 Air Tool Drive, Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE BASH. 7 - 10 p.m. Enjoy live music by The Simpletones. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.hatchetbrewing.com.

PARTY IN THE PINES. 8 p.m. Join us for the “Party in the Pines” featuring The Band of Oz and a gourmet dinner buffet. Enjoy dancing, party favors, a Champagne toast at midnight and a midnight breakfast buffet. The Carolina Hotel, 80 Carolina Vista Dr., Pinehurst. Info: www.eventbrite.com/e/ party-in-the-pines-tickets-464647592457.

TROLLEY BELL. 9:30 - 11:30 p.m. Ring in the New Year Steampunk style. Jump on the best party in town. Stops will be at The Island Bar and Hooka. Brought to you by the Sandhills Trolley Company. Divine Lounge, 390 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

ART SHOW. 6 - 8 p.m. Beginning Jan. 6, the Arts Council of Moore County presents its exhibit “Cloth, Canvas and Clay.” The show will

Dining guiDe

New Year's Eve Bash

remain on display through Feb. 18. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.mooreart.org.

WEEKLY EVENTS Mondays

WORKOUTS. 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to get their workout on. Open Monday through Friday. Cost for six months: $15/resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave.,

Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

SING FOR FUN. 9 - 10 a.m. Adults 55 and older can sing for fun while reaping the physi cal and mental benefits of a choir experience. Learn various songs from all genres. Cost per month is $36 for residents and $52 for nonresidents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

STRETCH AND MOVE. 10 - 11 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to do a gentle, low-impact dance with inspirational music. Cost is $36 for residents and $52 for non-residents per month. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

STRENGTH AND BALANCE WORKOUT. 11 - 11:45 a.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to enjoy a brisk workout that focuses on balance and strength. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

GAME ON. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. You and your friends are invited to come out and play various games such as corn hole, badminton, table tennis, shuffleboard, trivia games and more. Each week enjoy a different activity to keep you moving and thinking. Compete with friends and make new ones all for free. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern

CALENDAR

Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

SOUTHERN SOUL LINE DANCING. 6 p.m. No experience necessary, put on your comfy shoes and groove to some funky tunes with funk master Terry Julius. For adults 55 and older. Cost is $6 for Southern Pines residents and $9 for non-residents. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

Tuesdays

PLAYFUL LEARNING. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Come for a drop-in, open playtime for ages 0 - 3 years to interact with other children and have educational playtime. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

HATHA YOGA. 10 - 11 a.m. For adults 55 and older. Increase your flexibility, balance, stability and muscle tone while learning the basic yoga principles of alignment and breathing. You may gain strength, improve circulation and reduce chronic pain as we practice gentle yoga postures and mindfulness. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern

Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

BABY RHYMES. 10:30 a.m. “Baby Rhymes” is specially designed for the youngest learners (birth- 2) and their caregivers. Repetition and comforting movements make this story time perfect for early development and brain growth. There will be a duplicate session at 11 a.m. Dates this month are Dec. 6 and 13. An active library card is required. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

HEALING YOGA. 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Adults 55 and older can try an entry-level class, for a mind and body workout that fuses dance moves with gentle aerobics, tai chi and yoga. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

GAME DAY. 12 p.m. Enjoy bid whist and other cool games all in the company of great friends. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

TAI CHI. 1 p.m. Come learn tai chi. There is no age limit and the classes are open to the public. Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Station, 301 Lake Park Crossing, Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-7275.

SPARK STORYTIME. 2:30 p.m. This “Spark

Start the new year off by taking an inspiring art class or work shop. On January 8, visit the League and watch our instructors as they demonstrate the various mediums that they will be teaching - then register for the classes that interest you. There will demonstrations and information in Drawing, Pastel, Colored Pencil, Oil, Cold Wax, Watercolor, Gouache, Silkscreen, Silk Painting, Acrylic, Fluid Acrylic Pour ing, Alcohol Ink, Mixed Medium, and Collage. Learn something new, advance your current skills, and discover the benefits and

Storytime” at Fire Station 82 is for ages birth through 2 and kids will have a chance to see fire trucks. Dates this month are Dec. 6 and 13. Fire Station 82, 500 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

TABLE TENNIS. 7 - 9 p.m. Enjoy playing this exciting game every Tuesday. Cost for six months is $15 for residents of Southern Pines and $30 for non-residents. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

Wednesdays

CHAIR YOGA. 10 - 11 a.m. For adults 55 and older. Help offset body aches encountered with desk work. This is an accessible yoga class for bod ies not able to easily get up from or down to the floor. Do standing or sitting in a chair. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

LEARN AND PLAY. 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Come in for an open play date with your toddler or preschooler where there will be developmental toys and puzzles as well as early literacy tips on display for parents and caregivers to incorporate into their daily activities. Dates this month are

CALENDAR

new ways to get your daily exercise and care for yourself? Try line dancing. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

SLOW AND STRETCHY. 12 - 1 p.m. Adults 55 and older can flow through yoga poses slowly and intentionally, stretching everything from your head to your toes. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

CHAIR VOLLEYBALL. 1 - 2 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Get fit while having fun. Free to participate. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

LINE DANCING. 12 - 1 p.m. Looking for

BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

LIBRARY PROGRAM. 3:30 p.m. At The Library After School (ATLAS) is an after-school program for children ages kindergarten through second grade who enjoy activities, crafts, stories and learning. Dates this month will be Dec. 7 and 14. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

TAI CHI. 6:30 p.m. Come learn tai chi. There is no age limit and the classes are open to the public. Cost is $10 per class. Seven Lakes West Community Center, 556 Longleaf Drive, Seven Lakes. Info: (910) 400-5646.

YOGA. 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Grab your yoga mat and head to Hatchet for a yoga session with Brady. Session cost is $10 and includes a pint of our DILLIGAF lager. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.hatchetbrewing.com.

Thursdays

Mid-State Furniture of Carthage Judy Ferguson

403 Monroe St. Downtown Carthage 910-947-3739

Yoga 910-241-4506 GeneracNC.com NC Whole-Home Standby Generators

The Crystal Coast........... It’s more fun to play out of our sand. I can help you find the perfect coastal home. judyferguson@kw.com (252) 342-8239 Based in Pinehurst and Emerald Isle

“producer only” vendors within a 50-mile radius providing fresh, local and seasonal produce, fruits, pasture meats, eggs, potting plants, cut flowers and local honey. Crafts, baked goods, jams and jellies are also available. Market is located at the Armory Sports Complex, 604 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines.

GIVEN STORY TIME. 10 a.m. Wonderful volunteers share their love of reading. Stop by and join the fun. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

MUSIC AND MOTION. 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Does your toddler like to move and groove? Join us for outdoor “Music and Motion” to get those wiggles out and work on gross and fine motor skills. For 2 – 5-year-olds. Dates this month are Dec. 1, 8 and 15. An active library card is required. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net.

ADAPTIVE YOGA. 12 - 1 p.m. Adults 55 and older can enjoy yoga that meets you where you are. We’ll be creating a sense of balance and ease by slowly increasing your range of motion and mobility while maintaining your natural abilities. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

CHESS AND MAHJONG. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. All levels welcome. Douglass

Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

CABIN TOURS. 1 - 4 p.m. The Moore County Historical Association’s Shaw House grounds, cabins and gift shop are open for tours and visits. The restored tobacco barn features the history of children’s roles in the industry. Docents are ready to host you and the cabins are open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Shaw House, 110 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-2051 or www.moorehistory.com.

ORCHESTRA REHEARSALS. 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. The Moore Philharmonic Orchestra has weekly rehearsals. Membership is open to youth and adult community members and there is no fee to join. Wellard Hall at Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.mporchestra.com or email moorephilharmonicorchestra@gmail.com.

TRIVIA NIGHT. 7 - 9 p.m. Come enjoy a beer and some trivia. Hatchet Brewing Company, 490 S.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.hatchetbrewing.com.

Fridays

AEROBIC DANCE. 9 - 10 a.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy this low to moderate-impact class with energizing music for an overall cardio and strength workout. Free of charge. Douglass

Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

TAP CLASS. 10 - 11:30 a.m. For adults 55 and older. All levels welcome. Cost per class: $15/resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

RESTORATIVE YOGA. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Practice gentle movements to improve well-being, alleviate pain and increase circulation. Bring your own mat. Free of charge. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

LINE DANCING. 3 - 4 p.m. For adults 55 and older. If you’re interested in learning dance moves and building confidence on the dance floor, this class is for you. Leave your inhibitions at the door and join in. Cost is: $36 for residents and $52 for non-residents per month. Cost is for a monthly membership. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376. PS

SandhillSeen

Joint Meeting of Pinehurst/Sandhills Reciprocity Group, P.E.O. Community Presbyterian Church, Pinehurst Monday, October 17, 2022

SandhillSeen

Arts Council of Moore Countyʼs Art Show: Textures & Clay Reception Campbell House Friday, October 7, 2022

Photographs by Diane McKay

SandhillSeen

North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame Induction Weymouth Center for The Arts & Humanities Sunday, October 16, 2022

SandhillSeen

Arts Council Passages & Perspective Reception Campbell House Friday, November 4, 2022 Photographs by Diane McKay

Welcoming Christians of All Denominations

8:15am 9:30am 11:00am 8:15am 9:30am Communion Service Family Service Traditional Service

Communion Service Family Service Traditional Service

8:15am 9:30am 11:00am Nursery is provided for all services. Join us to discover what makes us unique.

Three Distinct Sunday Worship Services Azalea Road • Pinehurst • 910-295-6003 w.tvcpinehurst.com www.facebook.com/tvcpinehurst

SandhillSeen

Cameron Antiques Street Fair Cameron’s Historic Main Street Saturday, November 5, 2022 Photographs by

Puzzle answers on page 117 Mart Dickerson lives in Southern Pines and welcomes suggestions from her fellow puzzle masters. She can be reached at martaroonie@gmail.com.

Modern Conveniences

And the wisdom of the ages

Newly married, the pressure to be everything — wife, fashionista, hostess extraordinaire — had never been greater. J.P. and I were just hours away from our first dinner party, and already I hated the way my trendy beaded bracelets kept lassoing me to the kitchen cabinet handles. There was a reason my grandmother Wilma never wore fancy jewelry while entertaining, but I couldn’t worry about it now. The turkey was roasting in the oven, and I had rolls to make.

“Can I do anything?” J.P. called from the living room.

The last thing I needed was interference. Better to keep him occupied with details. “Set the table!” I yelled.

As I entered the pantry for flour, a box of Wilma’s cookware caught my eye. After her death, the box had been passed to me. But, as much as I’d adored her, Wilma had always done things the hard way. Tonight I didn’t have the time to fool with old-fashioned gadgets. In fact, this box was already taking up way too much space in my pantry. Sadly, many of Wilma’s things would probably have to go.

“Forgive me, Grandma,” I whispered, “but this occasion calls for modern convenience.”

The voice I suddenly heard was loving but wary: Better be careful.

My new planetary action mixer boasted beaters that rotated on their axis just like the Earth, and a mixer head that turned the opposite way. All this with a 1.3-horsepower motor. I wasn’t sure what any of that meant, but it sounded absolutely essential.

What it meant, I learned after I innocently stuck a spatula into the bowl as the mixer ran, was that it could fling objects, e.g., that same spatula, back at my face with a force strong enough to send Elon Musk’s Starship to the planet Mars and back again. Now I was the one seeing stars.

Didn’t I warn you?

“Everything OK in there?” J.P. shouted from the living room. “Hey, there’s a new space documentary on Nova tonight. Want to watch it?”

This was the last thing I needed to hear. “Are you kidding me?” I yelled back. “We’ve got people coming over, remember?”

Head throbbing, I retreated to the pantry and grabbed Wilma’s stout wooden spoon so I could mix the ingredients by hand. Then I looked down at my previously sparkly pink sweater. It was white with flour.

I heard that little voice again. Wilma. Might I recommend an apron?

I rifled back through the box and pulled out her red-checkered apron. Hardly haute couture, but I didn’t care. Once I put away the dough to rise, it was time to grate some cheese for the potato casserole. By now I was long overdue for some magic from my new food processor.

Do you really have time for that?

Sure enough, when I saw the shredding disk, I realized I had no idea how to attach it to the motor shaft. I gave up. “So much for modern conveniences.”

It’s OK, dear. Try my handheld grater.

“How’s it going?” J.P. called out. “Anything else I can do?

“Remember that box in the pantry? Bring it in here.”

“I thought you were donating that stuff,” he said, carrying Wilma’s cookware.

Now, now. Not so fast, dear.

I jerked off my bracelets and tossed them aside. “Are you kidding? The only thing I’m giving away are these stupid bracelets.” PS

Ashley Memory lives in southwestern Randolph County, and when she’s not blowing up the kitchen, she’s outside hollering for the dogs.