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READ ALL ABOUT IT

By Pettus L. Read

neighbors

Got milk?ennessee

makes it officialAs Tennessees legislature

continues to debate numer-ous last-minute bills dealingwith subjects from education

to the naming of bridges, it isgood to report that one pieceof legislation passed recentlyhas a refreshing content thatshould be welcomed by mostTennesseans.

It is Senate Bill 0912 andHouse Bill 0580, that wassigned by the governor April 2,making milk t he official bever-age of Tennessee.

Yes, thats right.That liquid that comes from

a cow and has g iven the major-ity of us strong bones since ourearly beginning, is the officialbeverage of the VolunteerState; ranking right up therewith the raccoon as the officialstate wild animal and the to-mato as the official fruit.

Im sure there are those whoare surprised and would havethought maybe somethingmade from corn or anothervegetative crop would havereceived some votes, but thelowly milk cows milk wasvoted the official beverageunanimously by both gov-ernmental bodies as the topchoice to represent our state.

Having come from a dairyfarm myself and with Junebeing celebrated for the 72ndyear as Dairy Month, it iscertainly appreciated by thiswriter that our state lead-ers saw fit to recognize milkas our official beverage. Aspecial thanks goes to District15 Senator Charlotte Burks,who is a farmer herself, andCookeville State Representa-tive Henry Fincher for car-rying this legislation to theirrespective chambers.

The farmers on 533 dairyfarms in this state, occupied bynearly 59,000 dairy cows, Imsure, would like to say thankyou for this vote of confidencefrom all the legislators. Withmore than 65 percent of themilk produced on Tennes-see farms in 2008 being usedand consumed in the form offluid milk, milk is an importantcommodity to all of us.

June is National DairyMonth and has been a majorcelebration within the Volun-teer State for many years. Thedairy industry has generated

billions of dollars over theyears to our economy andcontinues to do so. Last year,more than $194.6 million wasput back into Tennesseeseconomy by Tennessees dair yproduction.

In mid-May there were only533 dairy farms in Tennesseecompared to more than 900 atthe same time in the year 2000.Numbers and productioncontinue to decrease aroundthe state, but those Tennesseedairy farmers who remain stillproduce perhaps the safestfood product consumed in thiscountry.

From these dairy farmslocated in Tennessee, con-sumers receive a nutritious

product containing nine es-sential vitamins and minerals,including protein, calcium andvitamins A and D.

Seventy-one percent of ourmilk produced in this state ison family dairy farms that havefewer than 200 cows.

Tennesseans diets arelacking when it comes to goodnutrition. We only get halfthe amount of fruit and milkwe need to meet our dailyrequirements, says the U.S.Department of Agriculture. Bygetting three servings of dairyproducts a day, we can helpboost our nutritional needs.

So, pour yourself a largeglass of our official beverage,milk, and toast the farmers

who make it all po ssible.

mcinturffsellshomes@gmail.com

mcinturffsellshomes.biz

423-282-6168423-743-1024

CallMountainsWhen I go into that regionIm very aware of, and seem

to sense, the history. Its just

fascinating to me.

Colleen Trenwith

of the

y Eileen Rush

Staff Writerrush@erwinrecord.net

Although their rst journeys to FlagPond took place more than 100 yearsapart, Jennie Moore and Colleen Tren-with share many common loves.

One of the biggest binding ties for thesetwo women who have never met onea Presbyterian missionary, the other a

luegrass musician is a passion or theandscapes, culture and people o Ap-

palachia.Moore ell in love with Flag Pond at the

age of 30 and spent her li fetime workingto improve the lives of those around her.

Trenwith is a woman who found aninterest in Appalachia from the other sideof the world. Her story begins in Welling-ton, New Zealand, where the so t-spokenTrenwith and her lilting accent originate.

Livin on a PrayerWhile stories passed down through

enerations say that Jennie Moore cameto Flag Pond on the back of a horse byriding up a creek bed, Trenwith had amuch easier route.

Trenwith rst traveled through thearea on the Old Asheville Highway,which winds itsel right past Rocky Forkand Flag Pond. She was on an excursion,exploring the area, when the sign for theennie Moore Memorial Presbyterian

Church caught her eye.I love that old road, she said of the

Old Asheville Highway. The (church)sign captured my imagination. I wantedto nd out more a out it. ... I imagined itwould e unique rom other Pres yterianchurches in the U.S., because its in themountains. Its a lovely little church.

The 62-year-old Trenwith is studyingthe Jennie Moore Church for a Religionin Appalachia course at East TennesseeState University. Trenwith grew up inthe Pres yterian tradition, so research-ing Pres yterianism in Appalachia was aspecial interest to her.

I felt very comfortable when I firstwent there, she said. I know enough tomaintain a quiet spirit.

Trenwith, an accomplished violinist,as played several times or the congre-

gation during Sunday services.Im happy to play as o ten as they

ike, she said.While Trenwith appreciates the sto-

r es surroun ng enn e oore an echurch that was dedicated in her honorn 1942, the New Zealand nativ is not

ithout her own interesting li e story.

with rst came to the Unitedates n 1971, at age 25. However, her

journe egan a ew years e ore that,

hen a musician named Mike Seeger

isited her home country.

Blam

e t on theery Hillbillies

ren

w was alr dy a mem er o a

luegrass and y the time Seeger came

to New Zealand in the 1960s.Our band, being the only bluegrass

and, accompanied him, she said.er band began with her husband,

who discovered a love for old time,ountry and luegrass music when herst watched the T V show, The Beverly

Hill illies. Her hus and taught himselto play the anjo. Trenwith, once a clas-

ical violinist, began to pick out fiddletunes by ear.

I saw it as a tech nical exercise, sheaid. I had to learn straight off of the re-ords. There was nothing written down.

I grew to love it.She quickly discovered a passion or

the mountain music that originated hal -way across the world.

After their tour with Seeger ended, hesked them to come to the United States.eeger hosted them in Nashville a nd took

them to multiple music festivals.We came over to see the music and

mmerse ourselves in the luegrass scenever here, to learn as much as we could,he said.

Thanks to Seeger, they ended upplaying with Bill Monroe, the celebratedFather of Bluegrass, on the Grand Ol

pry.When she met Monroe, she said she

ad no idea of how significant he was as amusician. Along the way she also ran into

ther well-known musicians, like SamBush, Kenny Baker and Earl Scruggs.

They were a similar age to us, so wegot on well with them, she said.

ow, in her Appalachian Studieslasses at East Tennessee State Univer-ity, shes learning about these legends

who were at one time just pals.

I didnt realize how signi cant thatwas at the time, she said.Upon returning home, she also wasle to tour with Slim Dusty known as

the Johnny Cash of Australia for twond a half years. She and her husbandlso began importing records from the

Southern United States, and continuedthe trend of learning music by ear.

There was no choice, she said. Itmakes or a pretty determined musician.

A ter her rst visit, Trenwith did notmake it ack again until 1990, when she

nd her husband brought their four sons.We drove right through here, she

aid o Erwin and the Old AshevilleHighway.

She had no idea then that 19 years

ater, she would be studying at ETSU, orhat s e wou d immerse hersel in the

rhythms o a small mountain church.

Im striking a alance o a sor ing allI can o Appalachian studies and Appa-achian culture and the music, ut I also

hink it would e eat to nish a det ETSU, Trenwith said. My future isbit uncertain, but its not like I need aegree for a career, at my age. Im doing itecause want to.

New Zealand native studies history

of Flag Ponds Jennie Moore Church

ColleenTrenwith,

above, hasenjoyed play-ing the fiddle

during Sundayervices at the

Jennie MooreMemorial

PresbyterianChurch. At

right, JennieMoore was in-strumental inministering tothe communi-

ties of RockyFork and Flag

Pond.

The

lease see MOUNTAINS, Page 7-B

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THE ERWIN RECORD, Tuesday, June 2, 2009, Page 7-B

CHURCH NEWS & EVENTS4-H NEWSYouth events, fundraiser set

at Unicoi United Methodistnicoi United Methodist will hold sev-

eral youth events and invites the pu lic toattend.

Nothing But Nets is a sports tourna-ment to raise money to help children inAfrica. This is open to youth and adultsfrom our area. Tournaments include 3-on-

3 asket all, 6-on-6 soccer and 3-on-3horseshoes. Cost is $10 per team. Pizzaand ellowship ollow the tournaments ata cost o $4 per person. T e c urc woulove to see other local youth, adults andchurch youth groups attend.

lso on June 22 at 6 p.m., Erik Bledsoe,nationally recognized Christian recordingartist will hold a free concert (love offer-ing) at the New Li e Center at Unicoi Unit-ed Methodist Church. Bledsoe will e theopening act or an upcoming Steven MarkChapman concert in July.

lso, the church will host a hamburgerlunch fundraiser at the Ruritan Shed inUnicoi Sunday, June 7, from 11 a.m.-1:30p.m.

he event will raise money for youthmission trips to Texas (Hurricane Ike re-lie ) and Iowa (Cedar Rapids ooding re-ie t is su mmer.

Jehovahs Witnesses setconvention in Johnson City

ehovahs Witnesses are launching a vig-orous campaign to invite all to hear interest-ing discussions about the Bibles descriptionof what many people refer to as the end ot e wor d.

e ova s Witne sses wi o d t e 20 09

Keep on the Watch! District Conventionto be held at Freedom Hall Civic Center on

June 12-14 and June 19-21 in Jo nson City.T e t ree-day event in Jo nson City e-

ins Friday, June 12, at 9:20 a.m.Admission to t e convention is ree, and

no collections will be taken.A total of 93 Witness congregations from

ast Tennessee, South West Virginia, South-ast Kentucky and Western North Carolinaill be supporting this concerted effort to

ncrease awareness o t e conventions.

Fishery Community Churchets Vacation Bible Schoo

Fishery Community Church will hostacation Bible School June 7-12.The church is inviting children, ages 3

to 12, to pack their bags and hop on boardwith the theme of Boomerang Express: It

ll Comes Back to Jesus.The VBS will e held each night rom

6-8:30 p.m. at 501 Fishery Communityhurch Road. For more in ormation,

please ca ll 743-5791 or visit http:// shery-church.org. The Rev. Bryan L. Kent is thepastor of Fishery Community Church.

VBS set at Love C ape

Christian ChurchLove Chapel Christian Church will host

acation Bi le School June 8-12. Thetheme or this year is Crocodile Dock.

The time is 6:30-8:45 p.m., Mondaythrough Thursday. The closing programwill be on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Clas seswill be provided for ages 4 through fifth

rade. Van service will be provided. Forinformation, call 743-5890 or 743-5321.

From Staff Reports

Summer time is ast approaching andmany parents look for a fun, s afe and edu-cational experience in which their childcan participate. 4-H camp could be an op-tion.

T e C y e Austin 4-H Center nearGreeneville is a modern facility. The Cen-ter is nestled in he beautiful hills of EastTennessee and has a panoramic view ofthe Great Smoky Mountains. The camp isAAA accrediated by the American Camp-ing Association. The special programsthis summer for morning educational ad-venture is SET or Science, Engineeringand Technology. Youth will experience

using GPS Garmin units for geocashing,uild rockets, learn to make rockets ande an investigator a sort o CSI meetsL E.Afternoon activities include swimming,

shing boating, air-brush, crafts, volley-all, softbal l, ping-pong and much more.

Many Unicoi County citizens have spe-ial memories of attending 4-H Camp aschild. This year, applications from stu-ents or nancial assistance to attend

4-H Ca mp a s o u e .The Unicoi County Extension o ce is

eeking sponsors to help send a child toamp. If you would like to sponsor a child

to attend 4-H Camp, call Ty Petty at the4-H office at 743-9584.

4-H camp sponsors sought

From Staff Reports

The 32nd annual Unicoi County 4-HModel Car Contest was held April 23 atErwin Motors. The Model Car Contesthas een sponsore y the local For

ealership or the past 32 years.The county winners are as ollows: Ex-

plorer ( ourth gra e) First place, HannahJones, Love Cha pel; secon place, TylerHamby, Unicoi and Scottie Argabrite,Love Chapel third place.

Other participants were Thomas Big-ersta , Hannah Honeycutt, Jathaniel

tockfelt, Kaitlynn McInturff, BaileyMaupin and Justin Laughren. UCMS di-vision: First place, Alex Lamie; secondplace, A ey T rue an t hir place Chan-

ra E ney. Other participants were Jor-an Metca , T atc er Keever, Bar ara

Tripp, Lincoln Hensley, Allison Taylor,atie Larimer, Jaco T. Ingram, Seanollins, Austin Ingram an Laura Rog-rs.

Model Car Contest winners announced

The winners and participants pose in front of Erwin Motors.

4-Hers part c pate nannual Clover Bowl

Fom ta Reports

Several local 4-H mem ers recentlyparticipated in school, county and re-gional 4-H Clover Bowl Contests.

The 4-H Clover Bowl is a quiz owlontest similar to a game show. Teamsonsist of four members who buzz in andnswer questions about 4-H, Tennessee,griculture, environment, or family andonsumer science.

The team that won the county contestin each grade traveled to The Universityof Tennessee on May 14 for the EasternRegion 4-H Clover Bowl Contest.

The 4-H mem ers competed againstnearly 20 teams rom 33 counties.

Their preparation and studying paido as all three Unicoi County teamsplaced. Fifth and sixth grades placedthird at region, and fourth grade placed

fth.

Fourth grade, first place,Rock Creek Elemen-tary, Mrs. Ingram, KristenBlizard, Savannah Comer,Dakota Ollis,ThomasSpringer; secondplace: Unicoi Elemen-tary, Ms. Sparks, BreannaBanner,Cassie Foster,ChaseMcNabb, Brooke Rose,

Garrett Yarber. Thirdplace: Temple Hill Elemen-tary, Mrs. Peterson,AshleyEdwards,CourtneyHarris,Noah Higgins,JessieStamey, Caylee Tilson

Fifth grade, first place: Mrs.Lamie, Alex Lamie, IsaacLewis, Trey Parsley, Abbey

rue, Gabriel Thomas (al-ternate); second place: Mrs.Wilson, Daniel Hicks, JacobLance, Carter Powers, Noah

Wagner,Stephanie Richardson(alternate); third place: Mr.

Scott, Lincoln Hensley, SethLucas, Kirsten Phillips, Katlyn

Phillips,Will Collins (alter-

nate) and Mrs. Bishop, DelaniBailey, Brandon Cauldwell,Zack Jefson,Colton Myers.

ixth grade, first place: Mrs. Grindstaff, Destinie Hayes, Adam Hill, Jacob In-ram, Griffin Porche, Nick Fain (alternate), Tiffany Lauren (alternate); second place:

Mrs. Longcrier, Emory Hampton, Loraleia Norman, Kevin Sams, Jared Sanchez, D.J. Whitson (alternate), Austin Williams (alternate); third place: Mrs. Laws, DeannaCooper, Sierra Frosley, Ashleigh Helton, Nathaniel Holmes, Mandy Nutter (alter-nate) and third place: Mrs. Lynch, Dara Carney-Nedelman, Kaitlyn Holsclaw, WillHubbard, William Simerly , Iris Fregoso (alternate).

hes also ound an inter-est in studying the old time

ddle players of East Ten-.

I love the hymns, shesaid. I listened to the music

rom this area or years.owever, learning mu-sic from halfway across theworld is almost less daunt-ing than jumping in, feet

rst, here in the Appala-chians.

I was a it intimidatedy the whole thing, she

said.er rst year here she

said she barely scratchedthe surface.

This year I feel as thoughIm going deeper into theculture and meeting morepeople, she said.

ow, however, she com-pares it to eing like a kidn a can y store. T erere man more resources

to feed her interests in themusical styles of Appala-chia.

Ive always elt verymuch at home when I ar-rive over here, she said.I just dont eel my age, Iguess. I still have a sense oadventure.

Give Me thatOld Time Religion

Jennie Moore, too, musthave had a sense o adven-ture.

n April 24, 1924, Moorewrote about her own ex-periences at Rocky Fork,where she helped to founda school in 1903.

More than 20 years ago

I came to Rocky Fork ora stay o three months, soyou can see Ive extendedmy time. We egan with oneroom a combined schooland church house. We weretold we could get together13 pupils (all we could ac-cept), ut on our rst open-ing day we had 24, and 58

y the end o three months.The next year ... we had aneight-month school, with98 pupils seated on boxes,crates and nail kegs. Mr.Louis Gentry gave us land,and the men went into the

orest or lum er. Every-ody helped, and some othe men labored for 52 daysto give us better quarters.One little boy gave us twocents, the first money re-ceived. With this I oughta postage stamp, and theletter it carried rought us

ack a reply with $45 to-ward the good cause.

The stories and words ofJennie Moore, echoing outfrom the gray stone churchnestled quietly in a remotespot o o the Old AshevilleHighway, with the SouthIndian Creek owing e-side it, are just one aspecto F a g Pon s i stor y t a tTrenwith loves.

Ive read the historyof how the Presbyterianscame to this region, shesaid. I am so impressedwith how determined theywere to spread the Gospel.When I go into that regionIm very aware o , andseem to sense, the history.Its just fascinating to me. Itseems to be a pocket wherea lot of things have hap-pened, and a communitythat is rich in education.

In a report that Trenwithwrote a out t e c urc ,which was esta lished in1901, she descri es some oher reasons for focusing onthe Jennie Moore church.

It is a small mountain

church with a ascinatinghistory, which has servedthe people in the ruralcommunity o Flag Pondand Rocky Fork well, andhas not only managed to ac-commodate and preservethe culture of the moun-tain folk, but it has greatlyenriched the community

since its inception in 1901,Trenwith writes.

The oldest member ofhe present Jennie Moore

Memorial Pres yterianChurch, Louise Treadway,old the story o Jennie

Moores arrival to Tren-with.There wasnt anything

but a creek bed, Treadwaysaid. No roads or bridges,just a wagon trail whichcame up rom Erwin. Theysent her to start a school.She came into just a wilder-ness ... at just a young age.

In her own way, Tren-with also traveled into awilderness. From half-way across the world, shebegan to immerse her-sel in a culture and placecompletely oreign to her.Choosing to attend collegein her 60s was stepping into

e wi erness. P aying erfiddle for an unfamiliar

church congregation wasnother unknown.All those unknowns have

ed to a deep understand-ing and care or and o thepeople o the Jennie MooreMemorial Pres yterianChurch.

Trenwith writes towardshe end of her report, Theennie Moore Church is notypical of all Presbyterian

churches in many ways,ut rom its inception until

he present day, has main-aine a o t e qua ity,he appreciation o higher

education, alanced andwell grounded theology,balanced and well ground-ed mountain culture and

sense o place in the moun-ains which is now the em-odiment o the vision and

oundational work o all ohe Pres yterian pioneers,oth clergy and missionar-

ies, who first walked androde their horses into Ap-palachia with the Word ofGod.

Continued from Page 4-A

MOUNTAINS

he Erw n-based Range chool o Dance w ll hold a dance product ont tled Take W th Us Fr day, June 5, at 7: p.m. at Un co ounty

gh chool. Above, dancers complete the rout ne rcus. P cturedare, rom le t: ront row, able Arrowood and H llary Edwards; secondrow, Em ly Woods, Taylor helton, Lex s Morley, arr e Fraz er and Jes-sica Keller; and third row: Erin Tinker, Abby Woods and Whitney Dayton.

GOTTA DANCE!