Friends LibGuide: Newsletters

The Friends newsletter is published monthly from February through October to highlight upcoming events by the group  and other related activities.  To view these newsletters, click on the link(s) found below.

Note:  Unfortunately, we no longer have a volunteer to write/publish the Friends newsletter each month. However, you can read a summary of each months activities below, starting with March 2018.

The Friends group provides significant support to the Imagination Ashe program offered by the Children's Department of Ashe Library.  To learn more about the program and what is currently happening, take a look at the Imagination Ashe newsletters below.

 

Our speaker in March was Susan Stafford Kelly - author of Carolina Classics, a series of essays on Southern life, as well as five novels: How Close We Come, Even Now, The Last of Something, Now You Know, and By Accident. 

Susan opened her presentation by talking about the importance of observing/recording details as a writer, quoting Henry James, “A writer notices everything.”  In that vein, she has for years kept notes on the varied and sundry things that catch her eye every day, covering anything from what it’s like to travel on I-40, to summer camp, to growing up in a small town, to someone who eats green peppers like an apple!

All her notes are filed in such categories as settings, food, camp, school, illnesses, flowers, holidays, religions and churches, which she says are not necessarily the same thing!  Over the years, those files have provided a wealth of topics and support material as she’s approached writing projects, including her novels and the collection of essays entitled, Carolina Classics. 

"I don't really write novels," says Kelly, "I collate them," referring to her reliance on all those files of notes.  She characterizes her novels as "domestic realism," because they are all about what happens in the house, the home, within the family; her first novel, for example, deals with the disappearance of a friend/family and the subsequent custody hearing that is all about making "choices between two  hard rights."

Kelly stopped writing novels in the 1950s and subsequently wrote and published Carolina Classics, which aptly demonstrates her skill at recording details and her personal reflections on southern life.  Her essays cover such things as honeysuckle, biking, mason jars, potlucks, porches, and more.

In her closing comments, Susan talked about her years of working at Our State magazine, where she is currently a free-lance writer.  With a circulation of about 180,000 across all 50 states, Our State is the second largest state magazine in the country, surpassed only by Texas Monthly.  According to Susan, southern beauty, culture, history, and food are passion points for Our State.

It was clear from this enjoyable presentation that Susan has a keen eye and regard for southern life, and we look forward to her next publication!  Susan Stafford Kelly was raised in Rutherfordton, NC. She attended UNC-Chapel Hill and earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College. She has three grown children and currently lives in Greensboro with her husband, Sterling.  Her books are available through Amazon.

 

Our speaker in April was Dr. Lynne Guitar - historian, cultural anthropologist, writer, and specialist in the history and culture of the Taíno, the Natives of the Greater Antilles.  Lynne graduated with highest honors from Michigan State University in 1989, earning dual B.A.s in Cultural Anthropology and Latin American History.  She was awarded a fellowship to Vanderbilt University, where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Colonial Latin American History. She was also awarded several graduate-student grants, including one that enabled her to study at the various archives in Spain for half a year, and a year-long Fulbright Fellowship to complete her doctoral research in the Dominican Republic in 1997-98, where she remained for the next 18 years.

According to Lynne, it is never too late to become a writer, and she has certainly taken many fascinating steps to get there!  Early contributing factors were her love of books, exposure to a foreign language, and interest in history - factors that gave her a driving thirst to learn more about other languages, peoples, and cultures.    “I loved history…reading about normal people of other cultures and other times.  Not just the elite, but real people, especially those who were innovators and adventurers.”

Personal drive compelled Lynne to read everything she could find in the early 1980s about Christopher Columbus, in order to learn more about the early history of the Americas.  That quest in turn led her to Santo Domingo in 1984 – and a 12-foot-high statue of  Anakaona, La Poetisa, in the Parque de los Indios. Intrigued by the statue, Lynne began to research Anakaona and her people, the Taino Indians of the Greater Antilles, and particularly the island of Hispaniola.  She learned that the Taino were the first Native Americans to encounter Columbus and his three ships in 1492 – that they were the first Native Americans to be enslaved by Europeans and the first to be exposed to the bacteria/viruses the Europeans brought with them.   

Lynne continued her focus on the Taino over the next 20 years – undertaking extensive educational/research pursuits.  She became a bilingual historian, cultural anthropologist, and specialist in the history and culture of the Taíno.  During that time, she lived, worked, and researched in the Dominican Republic; starred in documentaries about the Taino for the BBC, History Channel, and Discovery Channel; and published numerous professional articles and book chapters.

In 2015, she retired and moved back to the U.S., to write and publish her first works of historical fiction - the Taino Ni Rahu Series (Taino, Children of the Water).  These 10 bilingual (English and Spanish) books tell the adventures of Kayabo and Anani, a Taino brother and sister who live in the small fishing village of Kaleta, east of today’s Santo Domingo.  The books vividly tell about the Tainos’ beliefs and practices, and their daily lives before the arrival of Columbus and the Spaniards. 

Why the fascination with the Taino?  “Tainos were the most advanced indigenous people of the entire Caribbean by 1492 – particularly in terms of political organization, religion, art, and artisanry, agriculture, fishing and hunting techniques, and regional trade.  Their language was used as an inter-island and inter-regional trade language ...  scholars have said that they probably would have evolved into a nation as advanced as …the Aztec and Inca, if the Spanish Conquest had held off another 100 years.”

While the details of this presentation are too numerous to elaborate here, two key points should be noted about the Taino:  that they were not “primitive” and that they did not become extinct after the Spanish Conquest.

Although the Taino did use “primitive” tools made of stone and shell, “…their political systems and patterns of settlement were very advanced – many groups were at the point of evolving from chiefdom to nation-states.  The women wove beautiful white cotton cloth [and] made elegantly, carved wooden bowls, artfully decorated pottery, and other well-crafted items, which Taino men traded far and wide…Tainos were also very technologically advanced, although their advances were different than those of Europeans.”  They harnessed the “Technology of Nature” in the development/use of butterfly stone ax heads, which had two cutting edges; double-edged cutting techniques were used to down trees and to carve dugout canoes and larger trading boats. They used slash-and-burn techniques to clear large fields, created highly productive mounded gardens, and created irrigation canals to supply water in arid regions. 

As for extinction, Lynne’s research has led her to the conclusion that the Taino population, though decimated by exposure to European bacteria/viruses, did not die out completely as reported in earlier historical documentation.  It is true that the Taino had no inborn immunities to the bacteria/viruses they were exposed to and that 80-90% of the population died within two generations, from 1492 to the 1550s.  However, 10-20% did survive.  According to Lynne’s research …”there are thousands of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Jamacians, and Haitians…descended from the Taino.”

And what about Anakaona and the intriguing statue that started Lynne Guitar down the Taino path 35 years ago?  Well, it turns out that she was an important Taino leader - renowned for her beauty, poetry, and leadership and negotiation skills.  She also had a long-term love affair with Columbus's younger brother, Bartolome. 

Anakaona is now the subject of Lynne's current writing project - a historical fiction that will tell the story of the Spanish Conquest of Hispaniola from Anakaona's point of view and that will reveal more about the relationship between Anakaona and Bartolome.  Watch for this upcoming novel - and check out Lynne's Taino Ni Rahu Series (Taino, Children of the Water) of books at www.Amazon.com

Thanks, Lynne, for such an interesting presentation and for donating a set of the Taino Ni Rahu series to the Ashe Library! 

On April 28, the Friends held its reception for the winners of the Alyce P. Nadeau Poetry Contest.  This yearly contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, began its 2018 preparations in November 2017. With the help of several Friends, Poetry Contest Chair Karen Moll developed a list of three topics for the county’s fifth graders, both public and home schooled students, to choose and write about. The topics were:

   - If I Could Travel the World, Where Would I Go?

   - When I Grow Up

   - My Favorite Book

 

Thanks to the fifth grade teachers, almost 130 entries were received, and the difficult job of our judge, Diana Renfro, began. After many days of deliberation, she chose the top three winners. Teachers and parents were then contacted and invited to the reception on Saturday. Guest speaker Becky Stragand gave a most informative talk, urging the students to read a little bit of everything and to write, write, write! She then surprised the winners with gift bags containing journals for their use.

 

Pictured (left to right) - Diana Renfro, Karen
Moll, Becky Stragand

 

Diana Renfro announced the winners, who each received a framed certificate, a framed copy of their poem, and a cash prizes - $100 for first place, $50 place for second place, and $25 for third place. Winners were as follows:

 

- First place: Greyson Temple, Blue Ridge Elementary,
   Ms. Katie Absher, teacher, and parents Ed and April
   Temple

 - Second place: Isabella Farmer, Westwood Elementary
   Ms. Laura Absher, teacher, and parents Dustin and
   Myla Farmer.

 - Third place: Emily Eason, Blue Ridge Elementary
   Ms. Allison Shoemake, teacher, and parents Jeff and
   Marsha Eason.

 

                          Pictured (left to right): Diana Renfro, Isabella
                          Farmer, Greyson Temple,  Emily Eason,
                          and Beck Stragand)

 

 

Each student read their poem to the attentive audience.  The poems were read again by Judge Diana in an enhanced, more theatrical manner, once again very much enjoyed by the families and friends in attendance.

 

Many thanks to several Friends who provided much needed and welcomed assistance for this event: Carolyn Andreucci and her Special Events committee for the lovely decorations and delicious drinks and finger foods; greeters Nancy Yamashita, Susan Boyer and Marshall Boyer; Lenny Andreucci and Mike Yakel for room prep and clean up; photographer Joan Croteau for getting the individual and crowd shots that captured the event so well; Diana Renfro for her excellent work in judging the entries; and Becky Stragand for a very special and informative presentation, and a special thanks for the nice surprise gifts for the students. Additional thanks to those Friends who took time out of a very busy Saturday to attend our reception.

May marked the end of the 2017-2018 fiscal year, so it was fitting to hear from our President at that time.  His message, found below, also includes key financial data, reported by Treasurer Marshall Boyer at the May (Annual) meeting. 

 

President's Message:

As we wrap up our 2017-2018 fiscal year, I want to thank our Friends and our resident of Ashe County for
buying books and baskets. We were able to contribute $12,800 to Library programs and $2,500 to the
On The Same Page Literary Festival this past year.  That is a bit less than we have contributed in the past
to Library programs. The board attributes this to some voracious readers switching to e-books, rather
than buying real books at The Friends Corner. Is that a fact we can prove? No, but it is what we think
is happening.

At the same time, our book donations are still strong as people donate their home libraries to us. As
always, please judge for yourself if the book could be resold. If it is musty or wet, just throw it away.
We can't take the chance of bringing mold into the library where it could damage the breathing of our
volunteers or damage the books in the library.

As always, the best way Friends can help the Ashe County Public Library is by getting your own friends
and neighbors to join our organization. Get them to come down and browse the Friends Corner for used
books and baskets. Remind them that charity starts in their own home county. The Friends is a non-profit
organization so any money donations they make to us are tax deductible.

Thanks for all the Friends.

Clint Johnson
President

Speakers Jim and Karen Reynolds entertained us this month with the story of their cross-county flight in a vintage airplane. Katie King wrote about their experience in an article published earlier this year in Our State magazine.  An excerpt from that article follows; for the full article click on the link below. 

https://www.ourstate.com/alleghany-countys-fearless-flyers/

 

Allegheny County's Fearless Flyers 

Rain was leaking in through the roof of Jim and Karen Reynolds’s two-seater airplane. Waves of bad weather were sweeping through the United States as they touched down in Kelso, Washington, just after starting their cross-country journey back to North Carolina. It was March, and snow was still being blasted off the mountains with dynamite to prevent avalanches. The weather had already delayed their departure from Port Townsend by three or four days. With a faulty roof, a wet airplane, and strong wind and rain, Jim and Karen were stranded, at least for a few days. They planned to cross the Rocky Mountains to the north, taking the most direct route home...