Author: absolutelyalleghany

Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention

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This weekend marks the 21th anniversary of the Alleghany County Fiddlers Convention.  A fundraiser for the Sparta Fire Department and the Alleghany County fairgrounds, the festival brings in some of the best musicians in the area and often from abroad.  The festivities kick off at 5:00 pm on Friday, July 17th.  Events begin on Saturday at 10:00 am and wrap up around 11:30 pm.

1st Alleghany Fiddlers Convention 1995

1st Alleghany Fiddlers Convention 1995

Alleghany County has a rich history of traditional music.  Whether you taste leans toward bluegrass or old-time music, you are certain to find that taste satisfied in Sparta this weekend.

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For more information click here

Arvie Perry – CJ Hardware

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For those that lean toward a nostalgic view of life, it is often difficult to reconcile a desire to view life through the rearview mirror against the current and future realities.  We sometimes cling to the past with the hope that the “good ole days” will circle back around.

Businesses aren’t immune to this mindset.  Their challenge is to hold to those past practices that generated their success while adapting to the future.  Arvie Perry continues to demonstrate this adaptable mindset in both his personal and professional roles.

Arvie is a native of Alleghany County in its purest form.  He was born at Alleghany Memorial Hospital and has lived in the area his whole life.  He spent 28 years as a mason laying brick, block and stone.  Masonry is a vocation that requires repetitive movements, heavy lifting, and exposure to all types of weather.  By 2008, Arvie was facing surgery and described himself as “worn out.”  An opportunity to change careers presented itself in the form of CJ Hardware.

CJ Hardware was opened in 1950 by its namesake, Clarence J. Hendrix.  The store passed from Clarence to his son, Roger and then on to Jackie Billings.  In 2008, as Arvie was looking for a change, the store became available.

As Arvie and Jackie worked out the details of the transition, Arvie spent many evenings and Saturdays learning about the hardware business.  Arvie’s wife, Lynn, came on board to help with the administrative duties.  Lynn setup the bookkeeping and payroll system.  She handled much of the stock orders which are now almost completely web based.  Arvie says without a hint of doubt that he could never made it all work without Lynn.

CJ’s continues to maintain the look and feel of a traditional hardware store.  A bench out front encourages loafers to sit a while.  The smell of livestock feed and fertilizer feels the air.  Muskrat traps, hand tools and fence posts are available.  Chain saws can be bought, serviced or sharpened.  As a member of the Southern States Coop, the store offers those that farm for a living or as a hobby just about anything they need.

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It is not unusual for customers to have to step over or around one of two large German Shepherds that hangout in the store.  The dogs generally ignore the resident cat, CJ.  Arvie considers the store pet friendly and describes how virtually every type of pet has wandered the aisles at some point in time.  He tells of a customer who brought in a chick in the hopes of the store’s staff diagnosing the chick’s aliment.

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When asked what others, especially those who don’t know him well, would be surprised to know about Arvie, one of his employees said that although “Arvie can come across as gruff and tough, he is actually very caring.”  He points out that Arvie is quick to offer help to any number of local charitable and community groups.

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Arvie Perry has struck a near perfect balance of holding to traditions while embracing a changing business and social environment.  He has surrounded himself with those that can help him make CJ Hardware successful.  His two sons, Jacob and Derek, assist customers and manned the computer.  Bilingual staff assists Spanish speaking patrons and help them feel welcome.  Practical advice on a wide range of farm and garden activity is given freely.  Customer service is a value that is demonstrated as opposed to one that is simply talked about.

CJ Hardware is a 1950s store firmly aware of what it takes to succeed in 2015.  While the store is stocked with a fascinating mixture of goods for sale, adaptability and innovation are the most valuable commodities found at CJs.  But those aren’t tucked away on a shelf – Arvie and his staff display them every day in a way that is Absolutely Alleghany.

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CJ map

CJ Hardware is located 124 Memorial Drive, Sparta, NC

336-372-4299

Storytellers – Terri Ingalls, ReVonda Crow, and Vicki Byrd

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One of our first methods of communications was through storytelling.  Whether told around a campfire, kitchen table, or at bedtime, stories help to reinforce cultural values and assist in creating a sense of who we are as individuals and a group.  While we tend to think of stories as spoken narratives, songs, symbols and art also “tell” stories of who we are.

Stories also help us make sense of those occurrences that seem to defy explanation.  For example, virtual every culture has a creation story.  Most have a story that describes why the sun rises in the morning, travels across the sky, and then sets in the evening.  Stories seek to make life less complicated.

Terri Ingalls, Vicki Byrd, and ReVonda Crow are professional storytellers from Surry and Wilkes Counties.  As members of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild and the Surry County Storytelling Guild, they work closely to develop each other and enhance their skills.

Terri Ingalls

Terri Ingalls

Terri Ingalls has worked as a flight attendant, travel agent, media buyer, theatre subscription office manager, and professional actor at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.  She left a 15-year stint as an administrative assistant at the North Carolina School of the Arts to concentrate on writing, and was a 2001 and 2011 recipient of a Regional Artist Project Grant from The Arts Council of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Terri became interested in storytelling and in 2005 helped create the Surry County Storytelling Guild.  She has told stories for the Northwest Regional Library system, Ridgecrest Retirement Community, the Cherry Orchard Theatre (in Ararat, VA), and at Bud Break (Surry County’s inaugural wine festival).  As part of the NC Arts Council 2nd Saturday Celebrations, she told stories at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville, NC and Horne Creek Living Historical Farm (a 45-minute original work created for them on the history of Horne Creek).  She also performed original works at a national woman’s conference in Greensboro.  The summer of 2010 Terri created a one-woman show titled “Pearl, Your Mother,” which premiered at the Cherry Orchard Theatre. In 2011, She was commissioned by the Gilmer-Smith Foundation to research and tell the life story of Gertrude Smith, creator of the Foundation and a legendary eccentric.  That 45-minute work premiered at the Gertrude Smith House in Mount Airy in September 2011 at the Preservation NC’s Annual Conference.

ReVonda Crow

ReVonda Crow

ReVonda Crow has lived in the Blue Ridge Mountains since 1989. Raised in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, she moved west to attend ASU where she received a BA in cultural anthropology. While teaching English in China, ReVonda wove stories into her classroom presentations, a method she continued while teaching back home at Wilkes Community College.

Revonda has also told at a variety of venues, such as music, heritage, and storytelling festivals; the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum; and retirement homes. Her organizational skills have been put to good use in event planning and coordination of those events.

ReVonda enjoys telling Brer Rabbit stories, ghost stories, stories with a twist, and local history and cultural tales that appeal to both adults and children. Plans are in the works for ReVonda to be storytelling in Ireland this fall.

Vicki Byrd

Vicki Byrd

Vicki Byrd recently retired after 31 years of teaching elementary aged children in the public school system.  She often entertained her students with stories of “the goofy things I did while in school.”  Her teaching career spanned five different systems.

Vicki has attended storytelling workshops by Connie Regan-Blake and David Holt.  She credits the Surry County Guild as helping her grow and develop her skills.

Vicki’s storytelling resume includes stories told at Tellabration, Horn Creek Farm, the Cancer Survivor Dinner at Cedarbrook Country Club, Wilkes County Schools, Elkin City Schools, Ocracoke Preservation Museum on Ocracoke Island, and the Carroll County (Va.) Agricultural Fair.  She has also participated in a storytelling workshop on Ocracoke Island.

These talented and entertaining ladies will bring their program to Sparta on July 11, 2015.  The family-friendly event will begin at 6:00 pm at Crouse Park.

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For more information contact the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce at 336-372-5473 or visit http://visitalleghanync.com/

Kim Caudill – Main Street Coordinator – Sparta Revitalization Committee

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In social theory, framing is a schema of interpretation, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes, that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events.  – – – Erving Goffman

Social theory tells us that we frame issues and events that arise as either problems or opportunities.  This goes well beyond whether we view the glass as half empty or half full.  Regardless of either perspective, there is still just a half filled glass in front of us.  Folks like Kim Caudill look at the glass and skip the half empty/half full question.  Instead they decide there is room for more, then set out to fill the glass to the rim.

Kim grew up a Louisburg, NC, a small town about an hour northeast of Raleigh.  She still carries a hint of an accent that is unique to those counties along the Virginia/North Carolina line in the Roanoke River Basin.  Her family was in the interior decorating business and often vacationed in the mountains.  Kim went on to graduate from Louisburg College and then Atlantic Christian College, now known as Barton College.  Marriage followed then a son.  She went back to graduate school at East Carolina University, balancing family and work responsibilities with night and weekend classes.

Her family settled in to a down east county and made their home in the community of Beautancus.  She taught school at the elementary level and they raised their son.  Then part of the fluid left her glass.

Faced with a divorce and her son joining the military, Kim was challenged by a new life and whether to frame this change as a problem or opportunity.  She opted for “opportunity” and contacted the  Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).  One of DoDEA’s functions is to furnish teachers to military service members around the world.  Kim applied and was accepted for service.  She soon found herself in Germany.

ausfahrt-s-300x220Being tossed into a new culture again generated the problem/opportunity dilemma.  Of course language was an issue.  Kim noticed that as they traveled the autobahn there was a blue sign with an arrow that pointed to “Ausfahrt.”  Kim remarked to her driver that the best she could tell, just about every exit off the autobahn led to Ausfahrt.  The driver explained to Kim that “Ausfahrt” was German for “exit.”  Kim realized quickly that part of filling her glass was to learn the basics of German.

Kim spent six years in Germany.  She enjoyed the ease of travel between the European countries.  She tells of driving trips to France and pottery shopping in Poland and a spring break in Greece.  Trips home to North Carolina were worked around the school calendar, with most trips falling on her summer or Christmas breaks.

After six years Kim returned to the United States and recalled those childhood trips to the North Carolina mountains.  She settled for a while in Ashe County, and taught school near Galax, Virginia and Moravian Falls, NC.  When a teaching job came open at Glade Creek Elementary, she moved to Alleghany County.  Along the way she married Laurel Springs resident, Bill Caudill.  After nine years at Glade Creek, she recently retired from teaching after almost 30 years in the classroom.

SRC Main Street Coordinator Kim Caudill

SRC Main Street Coordinator
Kim Caudill

Retirement brought Kim another opportunity.  Once again she topped off her glass, this time by being named Main Street Coordinator with the Sparta Revitalization Committee.  An admitted extrovert, Kim looks forward to meeting the Main Street merchants and working to promote activities in and around Sparta.

Some view Sparta and Alleghany County’s cups as half empty and others as half full.  If her actions in the past are indicative of her future initiative, Kim Caudill will work to fill those cups to overflowing.

Novelist Sharyn McCrumb

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mccrumb 001The Grassroots Arts Project welcomes awarding winning novelist Sharyn McCrumb to Sparta on Thursday, June 18th for two appearances.  The Alleghany County Library will host a reception and book signing at 1:00 pm at the library.  At 7:00 pm, Ms. McCrumb will offer a presentation on Appalachian culture at the Alleghany Campus of Wilkes Community College located at 115 Atwood Street, Sparta.  Alleghany JAM with kick off the program with a musical performance from 6:30 – 7:00 pm.

Ms. McCrumbs recent historic novel, Kings Mountain, tells the story of the Overmountain Men and their victory over British loyalists at American Revolution’s Battle of Kings Mountain.

For more information contact 336-372-5573 or grassrootspromo@gmail.com

This presentation is funded by the Grassroots Arts Project of the Arts Guild and supported by the North Carolina Arts Council.