[simple_slideshow]
The “City with a Soul” will soon unveil a gem rich with the history of Locust. For the past six months, the Locust Historical Society has been hard at work beautifying their new home for housing and displaying historical artifacts from the Locust area.
“We hope this will be an enduring contribution to the community that will continue when we are long gone and our children’s grandchildren are here,” said Bill Tucker, chairperson. Continue reading
Christy Wood and Denise Venaton stand in the “Broads for a Cause” booth where all items sold benefit the battered women’s shelter. PHOTOS BY MICHELLE WATERS
Albemarle Marketplace is not just a store for antique lovers and collectors. It is a place of hope. Sisters Christy Wood and Denise Venaton are now collecting toiletries and other items for the battered women’s shelter, Esther House, located in Albemarle.
Amidst the aisles of antiques and collectibles, the sisters of Albemarle Marketplace have another goal. They want to provide hope to local battered and abused women through Broads for a Cause. Continue reading
The Jones Brothers stand holding an early photo of them performing together when they began in 1962.
The Jones Brothers, a local bluegrass legendary duo from Stanfield, will celebrate their 50 years of playing bluegrass music together at the Mother’s Day weekend show in Denton, N.C, at the Doyle Lawson Bluegrass Festival.
The brothers began their career together in 1962, but have been playing and pickin’ instruments since their early years.
Bruce Jones the older of the brothers was born in 1930 in Union County and his younger brother, Lee followed along nine years later in 1939. “We’re just as country as you can get,” laughed Lee.
In the beginning, the majority of their shows were on top of concession stands at drive-in theaters, where the audiences would honk their horns in applause. It was after playing at a Fiddlers Convention in Denver, N.C. where they took first prize in all categories that they crossed over into professional bluegrass.
Both brothers began playing instruments at a young age. Bruce picked up the guitar when he was eight years old and has been playing for more than 60 years. When Lee was 10 years old, his older brother bought him a guitar, but his interest didn’t spark for several more years—he cared more about girls than guitars. “I later discovered I could get more girls by playing the guitar,” joked Lee. Continue reading
[simple_slideshow]
Green Pieces Recycling visited Fun-N-Learning Daycare in Locust recently to teach the children about what it means to recycle trash and take care of the earth. Fun-N-Learning uses Green Pieces services at the center and felt it would be a good way to show the children why they collect daily items to recycle. Green Pieces showed his recycling truck, how to crush and break down recyclables, and where it goes once it leaves businesses, homes, and community. His mascot “Binny” the Recycling Bin came out to enjoy the festivities as well. The children spent the week talking about recycling in honor of Earth Day.
Nature photographer enthusiast, Jan C. Braumann, captured a photo of a beautiful Bald Eagle resting on a fence during a rain shower last Wednesday afternoon. “This was a rare opportunity to see a Bald Eagle in Midland for me and was such a treat.” Braumann’s friends, Jane and Ralp Soots from Midland, called him up to see the eagle, which had been sitting on the fence since early that morning.
Strawberries are early this season, according to the North Carolina Strawberry Association, but are ripe for the picking at many local strawberry farms. Mike, also known as “Paw Paw” Williams and his four-year-old grandson, Brycen Williams spent the morning picking and sampling strawberries at Piedmont Produce, where a bucket of strawberries is $12 or you can pick your own for $10.
Hot, Hot, Hot
While there are still plenty of things to do in the garden, even during this hot weather, let’s take a moment to consider ourselves. High temperatures and humidity have created dangerous heat indexes and Code Orange days in the past few weeks.
Since it is only just past the middle of July, the weather isn’t going to get cooler for a while. Garden early in the morning and follow the shade around as the sun gets higher. Or go out in the early evening. Don’t take chances.
Slather on some sunblock. Wear a hat. Take a bottle of water outside with you and remember to drink some every so often. Plan rest breaks in between projects.
Your plants will get extra thirsty as we approach the dog days of summer. Be sure they get plenty to drink as well. Possibly move the more tender plants that are in pots to areas where they get part shade during the day. If you have a plant that is getting too much sun, you can use a tarp to create shade for it, if it can’t be moved.
Watch out for whiteflies right now. They appear to be mold on the plant but if you shake them, they fly up. They love hibiscus, lantana and gardenias as a snack.
When you see this, and yellow leaves on your plants, cut those branches back and be sure to discard so they don’t spread. You can spray plants with insecticidal oils to get rid of these pests. Spray in the morning—and watch your vegetables for these too.
This is a good time to clean up the garden. Get rid of old plants which have died. Do some mulching to get ready for some fall flowers to perk up your garden. Wait until later, maybe September, to prune roses.
But no matter what you decide to do outside, be careful. It’s better to look at gardening on TV and in magazines and plan for cooler weather than to get heat stroke.
Photo and Story by Joyce Lavene
Stella Day wows the crowd
The Town of Locust turned out in a big way for little Stella Griffin who is six years old and has acute leukemia. She has already begun chemo treatments. Her friends, neighbors and strangers alike have been working on her behalf to help her family with medical bills and whatever else they need. Saturday was Stella Day in Locust. Teams of motorcycles donated money to ride to Morrow Mountain after taking time to talk with Stella there. The afternoon crowds moved to the Town Center where many people had locks of their hair dyed purple to show their support for her. Money for everything from daylilies to food and bouncing house fees were donated to help Stella and her family.
Stella took it all in with the air of a princess wearing a purple hat and matching dress. She smiled at everyone and was gracious to all. There were few dry eyes after prayers were offered for her health. It was an event that won’t be forgotten soon in the community.
Story and Photos by Joyce Lavene
Q. Congratulations on your new book! Tell us about it.
A. It’s a children’s book about butterflies and other bugs. I collaborated with a friend, Nana Samanishvili on the book. It was written by my brother-in-law Ronald Blandon who is a writer and educator and it is called Wings of Friendship. It is done by Trafford Publishing.
Q. Have you ever done anything like this before?
A. No. I’ve been an artist and done pieces that are on display in the Czech Republic, Poland and the former Soviet Socialist Republic. I also had a show in New Jersey. Now I have have some pieces on display at The Daily Grind in Locust.
Q. Was it hard illustrating the book?
A. You know it was challenging. to draw all the butterflies with faces and characteristics. They had to be cute for the children’s book. It took three years. But I would love to do more. I love the story in this one about the butterflies protecting the little white butterfly. Children will learn about differences and find out how butterflies start out. I hope they like it.
Q. So Locust is your new home. How long have you lived here?
A. More than four years. I moved here from New Jersey with my husband. Before that, I came from Tbilisi in the country of Georgia. I studied at the Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow. My daughter is 19 and she lives here too. She drew the logo on the coffee shop door.
Q. Do you like living here?
A. I like it very much. Life is calm here and people are beautiful—very sweet. There is beautiful scenery and I feel closer to nature. There isn’t as much concrete. I can go to Charlotte for theater, ballet and opera.
Q. What’s next for you?
A. I will have a booksigning at The Daily Grind on March 12 at 11 am. and I will keep teaching piano at Charlotte Academy of Music.
What’s new in the January 19 Weekly Post?
Scams and how to avoid them
Church break-ins solved
Locust Public Works
Hinson Endowment
and more!
To subscribe – 704-888-1229 – The Weekly Post is YOUR hometown paper!