|
|
|
|
Jeff Davis photo
Old Chatham . . .
Growth and a murky wet side of the
road, along with this old bridge show Chatham’s past just off of Highway
15-501 north of Pittsboro. The old roadbed has been around a long time and
still gives us remembrance of the way it used to be.
|
|
 |
|
Randall
Reflects
By Randall
Rigsbee
|
Program keeping music alive
in Chatham County
Launched last
month, a new program is teaching interested Chatham County
students in grades 3 through 8 how to play
banjo, guitar or fiddle.
The Sharpe Store Music (SSM)
Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program made its debut February
18 at Goldston United Methodist Church.
It sounds
like a terrific program. Not only is no prior music experience is
necessary, said Tim Tron, who organized the program in Chatham
County and is teaching the introductory fiddle class, it has a lot
of side benefits in addition to the musical instruction.
Tron, in a
conversation prior to the launch of the program, said those
benefits include instruction in a group setting, which can help
students overcome nerves; and it instills self-esteem and
confidence.
And a huge
benefit is it helps keep music alive, particularly a form of music
which inherently belongs to people and has been handed down from
generation to generation.
That’s
what this program is doing and Tim Tron, who learned of the
program while visiting the mountains, and all the other volunteers
affiliated with it here in Chatham County have done a very good
thing.
The
program, while in its infancy, already seems to be a success here,
with approximately 30 students enrolled.
Interest
in the JAM program is growing in other parts of the county, as
well., with the state of Virginia is considering implementing the
JAM program statewide, according to Tron.
A tribute,
in part, to Reno Sharpe, the beloved music-lover who operated the
renowned Sharpe Store, a gathering spot for musicians, the program
may branch out to include adults. The interest is certainly there,
Tron said.
The
program could use support, either monetarily or in the form of
donated instruments.
Here’s a
phone number to get more information about the program or to help
it out: 542-8401.
At
Liberty
By Milburn Gibbs
|
Forces of nature nothing to be complacent
about
A huge 8.8
earthquake hit central Chile on Saturday, February 27. It was one
of the strongest quakes ever recorded though the loss of life was
minimal considering the potential for deaths a quake of that
magnitude could have.
The quake
was centered near the city of Concepcion, Chile.
A tsunami
is a giant wave of water traveling at incredible speeds over
thousands of miles that is caused by earthquakes either on land or
in the sea.
This
tsunami was felt as far away as Australia, Hawaii, Mexico, Alaska,
California and much of the Pacific Ocean. There was, thankfully,
very little damage from the tsunami, which is a wall of water
(about six feet high in this case) that has blinding speed and can
range over thousands of miles, slowly losing strength as it
travels.
I remember
being in Hilo five years after a huge tsunami had totally washed
away the first four blocks of Hilo’s beach and waterfront on the
Big Island of Hawaii in the early 1960s.
I had a
friend who was vacationing when a tsunami hit the Samoa and Tonga
coasts a year ago when she was in eastern Asia. She said it was
the most helpless situation she was ever in. Fortunately, she was
able to have enough warning to make it to higher ground.
There is
often little warning when a tsunami is coming, although there is a
worldwide warning system that has helped alert potential areas
that could be devastated.
Nothing
can stop a tsunami except time and depleting energy.
In French
Polynesia, the Marquesas Islands had the largest wave reported
Saturday, where the water towered over 13 feet high.
The speed
of a tsunami can reach 600 miles per hour. One can easily see
where even prompt warnings are not enough time to reach higher
ground in some cases.
A 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami killed over 200,000 people who had some
warning.
Ships are
not immune to tsunamis though generally a boat is safer at sea
than in port where a direct hit can devastate large ships and
small boats alike.
My friend
who rode out the Samoan tsunami said it was the scariest moment of
her life. Luckily, she still has her life as she ran like the wind
to get inland in time.
Joe, java, mud . . . It’s all good
Movin'
Around ...
By Bob Wachs
Ann
Landers used to tell her readers to "wake up and smell the
coffee." Through the years I have taken that advice literally.
Today I’ve
gotten so good at it I can smell the coffee before I wake up . . .
I think.
Coffee,
I’m pretty sure, is one of the basic food groups. It is especially
good when the weather is cold . . . or hot . . . or sunny or
cloudy or windy or . . . well, pretty much anytime.
Except it
isn’t good when it’s cold . . . the coffee, that is.
My first
introduction to coffee was from my folks. They drank an instant
version called Sanka. I’m not sure it’s even made any more. I
haven’t seen it on the grocery shelves but I haven’t looked for
it, either, having found something I like better. I didn’t consume
large quantities of their coffee, having been deemed "too young"
to drink coffee.
Later in
my young life, having convinced my better half she would have a
life full of excitement if she changed her status from being an
acquaintance to being my better half, I dabbled a bit with coffee
once again. We didn’t have a coffee pot at our little home but Dan
McCrimmon had a really big one at his drug store on the busy main
street of bustling downtown Pittsboro.
In those
glory days I had a fulltime job on the local weekly newspaper (the
very one you’re reading now) and Dan’s was a mecca for all sorts
of things. There you could get information on all sorts of topics
and issues – local news, politics, religion, sports, the price of
eggs in China. It didn’t matter; it was all there.
And coffee
– the brewed kind. Actually I had gotten acquainted with Dan’s
coffee when I was a teenage soda jerk there. We made coffee; I
just don’t remember drinking it since chocolate milkshakes were
also on the menu.
In those
twenty-something days of my life, I’d belly up to the counter, ask
for a cup to go, and proceed to dump half a cow and eight shovels
of sugar into my order. No doubt, the introduction of the sugar
has helped make me the fine physical specimen I am today.
Later I
learned to cut back on half the sugar, eventually coming to the
conclusion in my mind that just as real men don’t eat quiche
(which is a bad thing . . . not the quiche, the not eating it)
they also don’t monkey up their coffee with sugar.
Pretty
soon, for whatever reason, I was cutting back on the moo-juice as
well. Guess it just seemed like a good idea, just like smoking
three packs of cigarettes seemed like a good idea when I was doing
that. Then one day came the glorious day when I just skipped the
cream or milk or powder version entirely.
I was
drinking coffee.
Since
then, I’m pretty sure that if all the money I have spent on coffee
in various forms and places were gathered in one place we could
balance the federal budget and still have a few cents left over
for a cup, even if it no longer goes for a dime.
Bottoms up.
Letter
Policy
Comments from our readers on issues and stories
are always welcome.
Letters to the editor should be typed,
double-spaced, and signed. Letters, which should be no longer than
300 words, may be edited for length and content.
All letters must be signed and authors must
include their address and telephone number (not to be published)
for verification.
Send letters to The Chatham News, P.O. Box 290,
Siler City, NC 27344; or The Chatham Record, P.O. Box 459,
Pittsboro, N.C. 27312.
|
|
