Clayton, GA

Last Thanksgiving, I wrote about my old friend, Mr. Ed, an 88 year old World War II veteran who had just celebrated what we felt was his last Thanksgiving. His poor old body was worn out, but his mind was still good enough to give thanks for Christmas and to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

But, a couple of weeks ago, that tired body gave up the fight and Mr. Ed left us early in the morning.

His funeral was held on Wednesday morning in Gallatin, Tennessee. Visitation was the previous afternoon and hundreds of his friends and the residents of Gallatin who had known him and his family for 80 years gathered to pay their respects. His three children were there and most of their children were there,too. Everyone who could come dropped by to pay their respects. It was as it should be. A life well lived honored by those who cared.

Knowing Mr Ed was gone was sad. Seeing his widow - who had spent every night of their 68 years of marriage together except when he was away at war or she was in the hospital delivering their children - with him was sad. Hearing the stories of his long life from the lips of his grandchildren who said, "I wish I could hear him tell that story about Sam Houston just one more time" was sad. It was all sad, but underneath there was joy - a celebration of the life that this man lived...his contributions to the freedom of this country and to his community and to his family.

After the service, family and friends gathered under a tent that had been set up to provide shelter from the rain that had been falling steadily all morning. Funny thing...the rain stopped while the mourners left their cars and walked to the grave site. Over to the right stood four Veterans from the American Legion - all standing at attention and holding rifles. Three more were waiting patiently at the grave. Once the minister concluded his remarks, the Veterans removed the flag of our country from the casket and all three helped to fold it according to tradition. When they were finished, one moved quietly ouside the tent where he lifted a polished trumpet to his lips. The poignant notes of Taps floated above the cold cemetery as the American flag was presented to Mrs. Becky. "Ma'am, this flag is presented to you by a grateful nation." Then, the Vets standing across the way lifted their rifles in response to a command from their leader and fired a 21 gun salute to Mr. Ed.

The tears were flowing down my cheeks and also the cheeks of others who witnessed the ceremony. We weren't sad for Mr Ed - he's in a happier place. Perhaps we were grateful for his contribution to our country and those were tears of gratitude. Perhaps we were sad for ourselves - knowing we had lost another man who helped preserve our freedoms and those were tears of regret.

For many reasons, the tears flowed.

Thank you, Mr. Ed for being an example of a man who loves his God, his country and his family. Were that all men were more like you.

Sleep well.

Our local Rabun County Board of Realtors just passed a vote to change to Georgia MLS.

Till now we have had or own local system. The thought was only we could list the properties in our county in the MLS system so listing with a local agent was the only sensible solution for a seller.

We thought it a little irresponsible for an agent from another area to list because the local agents would not see it on our MLS system. Of course, I still believe it makes more sense to list with an agent that lives in the area of your property for sale, but sellers do have a choice.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out but it could open the market both ways in a positive manner.

When the market saw a slow down we saw more traffic from out of town agents bringing in customers to show property in our area but needing the local agent for all of the information.

My guess is when an agents own market recovers they again will be happy to send a client for a referral.

Lets just remember we are all in this together.

Is anyone else seeing their local MLS systems go away?

March 2009 Rabun County Events

2 Monday ANTIQUE AUCTION

Golden Memories Auction Company, 5 p.m.

www.goldenmemoriesauctions.com

10 Tuesday FULL MOON SUSPENSION HIKE AT TALLULAH GORGE

Tallulah Gorge State Park, 7 p.m.

www.gastateparks.org/info/tallulah

12 Thursday CLAYTON MUSIC, LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTS CLUB

Clayton Rock House, 2 pm

Guests and visitors welcome. For more info, please call Ron Arden, 706.212.0230.

14 Saturday CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK'S AT TIGER MOUNTAIN VINEYARDS

with Irish cheeses paired with six award-winning wines and Irish fiddling by Marie Dunkle and Kelly Smith.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission: $10 The winery is located at 2592 Old Highway 441, Tiger.

See www.tigerwine.com or call 706-782-4777 for more details.

14 Saturday PRE ST.PATRICK'S DAY GREEN WINE DINNER

The Beechwood Inn

www.beechwoodinn.ws

14-15 Saturday & Sunday SOUTHERN LITERARY TRAIL "TRAILFEST '09"

Rearden Theater-Rabun Gap Nacoochee School, Lillian E. Smith Center, Rabun County

Historical Society. This tri-state festival celebrating internationally renowned writers and

playwrights of the twentieth century who were inspired by their communities kicks off in March.

The Lillian E. Smith home in Clayton is one of seven sites in Georgia selected for the Southern

Literary Trail. TRAILFEST 09 EVENTS: Talks and panels by Lillian Smith scholars including Rose

Gladney, editor of How Am I to Be Heard, a volume of Smith's letters and Will Brantley, author of

FEMININE SENSE in SOUTHERN MEMOIR (winner of the Eudora Welty Prize); tours of the Lillian

Smith homesite, gravesite, and house museum; tours of the surviving cottages of Smith's Laurel

Falls Camp; and screenings of documentaries about Smith. Festival organizers in Alabama,

Mississippi and Georgia invite you to join an unforgettable experience.

www.southernliterarytrail.org, www.lillianesmith.org

15 Sunday OPENING OF WHITE WATER SEASON ON THE CHATTOOGA RIVER

The Wild and Scenic Chattooga is the first river to offer whitewater paddling trips each spring and

boasts the longest white water paddling season in the US.

16 Monday - ANTIQUE AUCTION

Golden Memories Auction Company, 5 p.m.

www.goldenmemoriesauctions.com 706.746.6924

17 Tuesday - ST. PATRICK'S DAY BEER DINNER

Lake Rabun Hotel

Great Irish cuisine with beer pairings and lively Irish music. www.lakerabunhotel.com

17 Tuesday ST. PATRICK'S DAY CONCERT

Center on Warwoman

Featuring Marie Dunkle on Fiddle. 7 p.m. $5.00 Admission

21-22 Saturday & Sunday ANNUAL GEORGIA WINE HIGHWAY WEEKEND

Hosted by the Winegrowers Association of Georgia. Wineries and affiliate members each have

their own unique open-house, with many offering food and wine pairings, music, barrel and library

wine tastings, discounts, drawings and other special attractions. Ten member Georgia wineries -

including Tiger Mountain and Persimmon Creek in Rabun County. www.georgiawine.org

21 Saturday GEORGIA WINE HIGHWAY CELEBRATION DINNER

The Beechwood Inn

www.beechwoodinn.ws

21 Saturday HISTORIC ROCK HIKE AT TALLULAH GORGE

Tallulah Gorge State Park, 10 a.m., sign up in advance

www.gastateparks.org/info/tallulah

24 Tuesday GIGANTIC BOOKS ARE FUN SALE

Mountain Lakes Medical Center, 9 am - 4 pm

A fundraising benefit for Mountain Lakes Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary. For more info, please

call Ron Arden, 706.212.0230.

27-29 Friday, Saturday, Sunday "CRIMES OF THE HEART"

Dillard Playhouse Theatre

Presented by the North Georgia Community Players. A comedy play set in a small southern town,

Hazelhurst, Mississippi, written by Beth Henley. Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7:00 and

Sunday matinees are at 3:00 PM. Adults/$10, children under 12/$5. Continues April 3 - 5. Ticket

line: 706.212.2500. www.ngcommunityplayers.com

27-29 Friday, Saturday, Sunday UPPER SCHOOL SPRING PRODUCTION: MUSICAL REVIEW

Rearden Theater, Rabun Gap Nacoochee School, Rabun Gap

28 Saturday "A TASTE OF BRAZIL"

Glen Ella Springs Inn & Meeting Place, 5:30 pm

Third in a series of "foods from around the world." Innkeeper Luciiana (Luci) Kivett celebrates her

Brazilian heritage with a festive menu sure to excite your palate. www.glenella.com

28 Saturday WINE DINNER - GUEST VINTNER TBA

Lake Rabun Hotel

www.lakerabunhotel.com

28 Saturday CALIFORNIA-MEDITERRANEAN DINNER

The Beechwood Inn

www.beechwoodinn.ws

28 & 30 Saturday & Monday ANTIQUE AUCTION

Golden Memories Auction Company

www.goldenmemoriesauctions.com

Ongoing:

• Exhibit at the Rabun County Historical Society: "Lillian Smith: Miss Lil and her Rabun County Neighbors" continuing through the month of March, in honor of the Southern Literary Trail.
• Exhibit at the Georgia Heritage Center for the Arts: Three Woman Show by friends Kiki Williamson, Kerri Hirsch and Samantha Vinke
• Classes at the Globe Gallery
• Classes at the Center on Warwoman
• Classes with Libby Matthews at Brushdance Studio

The sun is shining.

The sky is blue.

We're in the mountains.

Wish you were here,too!

Seriously, this is a great weekend to hop in the car and ride up to Georgia's Mountain Lakes. The leaves aren't yet on the trees and you can see forever!

If you would like to ride through and see Waterfall at Lake Burton - let me know. I'll be here all weekend.

Take 985 toward Gainesville and keep on coming to Clayton. Take a left onto Ga Highway 76 and head west for 10 miles. You'll cross over a bridge over Lake Burton and then Waterfall will be on your right.

Hope to see you!

Spring Comes To The Mountains of NE Georgia

My first spring spent in Rabun County was heralded with the blooming of one tree in particular that I'd never seen before. Covered in small white blossoms, the trees were obviously native because they were sprinkled all over the faces of the mountains. Since no other trees yet had any leaves and nothing else was yet blooming, I began to ask my newly made acquaintances about the tree.The first lady I asked told me it was a wild plum. Now, I've seen wild plums before and know that they tend to be more bushy, but I thanked her and went on my way.

The next fellow told me that trees covered in white blossoms were dogwoods. Now, I definitely knew better than that. Having lived in the south all my life, not only do I know a dogwood when it is blooming, I can tell a dogwood tree from the others in the forest even when it is as bare as a new born baby's bottom. I can also relate to you the story of how Jesus toted a cross made of wood from a dogwood tree and show you the flowers with the marks of the stigmata and the crown of thorns in the middle to prove it!

So, I knew it wasn't a dogwood tree.

Then, the fellow at the nursery told me it was a wild cherry. That made a little better sense, but it still didn't look like any wild cherry or derivative thereof that I'd ever seen and I pride myself on knowing my blooming trees!

A few days later, I was visiting with the owner of a local business. We were sitting outside admiring the fine spring weather and I looked across the cove to see a wonderful specimen of the blooming tree standing starkly amidst the still bare trucks and branches of the rest of the forest.

I told her of my travails in trying to learn the identity of the tree. She looked at me and said clearly, "Why, that's a Sarvis tree."

"A 'Sarvis' Tree?", I repeated.

"Yes, a Sarvis Tree."

You see, years ago, before the days of telephones, there was very little way of getting the news out to all the mountain folks. Many of them would have spent the entire winter in or around their cabins with no way to get news of the local community. Some may have even lost track of the exact date. Easter being so mecurial and moving from date to date from year to year, was a difficult Sunday to keep track of, but the folks who wanted to start off the year 'right', definitely did not want to miss the Easter service.

So, the 'Sarvis' tree acted as a sign to all the mountain residents that it was time to attend the Easter service (pronounced 'sarvis' here in the mountains).

When the Sarvis tree blooms, put on your Easter bonnet and get to church 'cause Spring is here and Easter can't be far away!