Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

“Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.”

~ George MacDonald

 

Red, pink, all shades of flowers bloom in stores even on this pewter-sky icy day before Valentine’s weekend. As ever, I plan on waiting until the chocolate hearts get marked down after. HAPPY Valentine’s Day, Dear Reader! The weather may be frightful, even this weekend, but love and kindness chase the chill away.

Around our community, I see those attributes in action daily. The goodness in people who volunteer for our food pantry, the garden club, women’s club, senior center, community land trust, historical society, our railroad depot museum, and on and on. 

When we do little things to help one another, it becomes a huge, great thing. Community matters. At city council meeting Monday night, Saluda Community Land Trust’s board president, Gerard Pendergrast, gave a brief talk to enlighten city commissioners about what SCLT does (and has done) in and around this town (and more) and encouraged city and land trust to work closely together. As he said, most eloquently, we are all one. 

It wasn’t a fancy chest-beating brag at all, just from the heart, humble, and simple. Caring for our community and each other: now that’s love. 

• Saluda Living in Place (SLIP) will have Denise Young from the Alzheimer’s Association speak from personal and professional experience about this disease on February 19, 11-12, at Saluda Center, 64 Greenville Street. SLIP also has two new board members: Charlotte Lovett (who we know through her work with the community table) and Caleb Sanders. 
• Mountain Song, our community chorus, starts rehearsals on February 17 from 6:30-8 p.m. weekly at  Saluda Center.
• Mountain Page Theater is still looking for performers and crew to fill roles in Oliver! There’s also a need for a volunteer sound technician. Contact: ashleyonstage@gmail.com 
• Pearson’s Falls and Glen is closed to visitors until fall as restoration continues after Helene. 
• More Saluda Center happenings: February 24 is potluck/bingo night at 6 p.m., and Community Table is February 25 from 5-7 p.m. 
• In case you didn’t know, Saluda Center is a non-profit, donor-supported, volunteer-run organization that provides a gathering place, along with organizing activities to meet the needs of the Saluda community, with particular emphasis on the needs of seniors. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the Thrifty Barn might reopen soon; the Basement is now open on Fridays and Saturdays. 
• A big THANK YOU to the Saluda Woman’s Club and all who came to enjoy their first-annual scholarship fundraiser dinner! With two seatings for the special event, it took a huge amount of preparation and planning ahead. Two members spent long hours cooking Julia Child’s recipe for beef bourguignon, mashed potatoes with fresh thyme, and other delicious treats. Members and young folks from the high school helped serve. A scholarship recipient spoke of how the funds helped her; donation jars were stuffed full by generous folks. It was a lovely evening! 
• If you haven’t yet been in, the Saluda Library has reopened! Our librarian, Amelia, reports that while things are rearranged and the elevator has yet to be fixed, things are progressing. Alice says it is not too late to pick up a mini-art kit, create a tiny masterpiece, and get it back to the library for display this month. Yours truly did—instead of procrastination, I hauled the kit home (paints, brush and small canvas), and got a little painting turned in quickly. A fun project for cold weather—perhaps the pieces will be sold for a donation by whoever might want one–with money going to support the library? 

Saluda Sympathy goes to the Eargle family for the loss of Greer Eargle, a long-time builder and Realtor in and around our town and area. 

Happy February Birthday to: Wylie Rauschenbach, Wesley Pace, Ginny Jones, Pam Thompson, Catherine Raymond, Eva McCray, Ellen Rogers, Margaret Miller, Paul London, Ward Sandahl, Bill Klippel, Dwight Smith, Ingrid Sandahl, Fred Baisden, Duane Bateman, Ragan Thompson, Laura Williams, Susan McMasters, Mark Gardner, Cappy Rearick, Linda Seagroves, Irmy Chmielewski, Brian Lilburn, Edie Campbell, and Scott Pace. 

Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, (828) 817-6765, P.O. Box 331, Saluda, NC 28773, Facebook, or visit bonniebardos.com