In my last column, I described Lake Adger Friends, the social group at Lake Adger.

This past Saturday night, there was one of our annual socials at the home (actually the barn) of Kate and Mac Bond, who live in the equestrian community of the lake. Their barn was the ideal place for this social, because it provided a large area that was immune to the inclement weather of that evening.

Kate and Mac did an outstanding job of preparing for this event. There were hay bales to accommodate those individuals who neglected to remember to bring a folding chair, and the barn was immaculate. In addition, the two horses in the adjacent pasture provided the ideal bucolic setting.

Finally they provided outstanding beverages including the finest ales from Ashevilles premier brewery, the Wedge.&bsp; (Sorry! I had to get in a bit of free advertising.)

As the evenings beertender, I was able to have in depth conversations with some of the attendees, which were quite memorable. For example, the photograph of our hosts was taken by Helen Brady. &bsp;

Helen, a 92 year old half back (New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina), is the official photographer of Lake Adger Friends. She is most remembered for wearing out the band at our street dance a couple of summers ago. She also drives a silver sports car, and she is extremely proud of its 20-inch wheels.

I was severely chastised when I complimented her on her eighteen inch wheels!&bsp; She is an active bowler and is a member of the Photography Club.

Speaking of photographers and age, I also had a chance to chat with two of our youngest retirees, Jean-Jacques and Susan Benoist.&bsp; Jean-Jacques and Susan are obviously not from around here and, as have so many others, have come here from Florida, where they owned and operated an extremely successful commercial photography studio.

Since moving to Lake Adger, their artistic side has taken over, and they spend most of their time creating photographs truly deserving of the name art. They will be displaying their wares at the Saluda Spring Festival, and it is indeed a treat to view their handiwork.

I also had the opportunity to talk to Ruby Drew, whom I have known for some time, but was unaware that we had something in common other than living at Lake Adger. We are both retired academics. &bsp;

Dr. Ruby Drew is a retired professor from Western Carolina University who moved to Lake Adger with her husband, Gerry three years ago. Her career focused on persons with various kinds of communication problems associated with brain pathology (e.g., stroke/aphasia, cognitive deficits, traumatic brain injury). &bsp;

In retirement, Ruby directs a weekly free clinic in Asheville for persons who have had strokes with subsequent speech and language problems (aphasia, apraxia or dysarthria). &bsp;

The clinic is possible because of the support of Mission Hospitals, CarePartners (formerly Thoms Rehabilitation Hospital), MAHEC and Western Carolina University. Further, free therapy for persons who have run out of insurance could not happen without volunteers.&bsp; Several licensed Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) give their time a morning per week to serve 22-24 people with aphasia. The participants range in age from 25 to 75 years old. &bsp;

In addition, many untrained volunteers receive on-the-job training to provide services as well. Several Lake Adger residents have been involved with the clinic. Ann and Bob Regan have volunteered for two years and Brenda Saunders just started volunteering. &bsp;

The Regans primarily work with individuals who have limited speech output. Their enthusiastic approach effectively brings out the best in their participants. Brenda works with reading problems in a participant who has had several strokes.

The Lake Adger volunteers will give you a sales pitch about this being such a rewarding effort for volunteer hours. For further information visit&bsp; www.ashevilleaphasia.org.

At all of our socials, we collect donations for the Sunny View and Mill Spring Fire Departments. Kate and Mac insisted that we also add the Foothills Humane Society at this social, and nobody had any difficulty contributing to this deserving organization.&bsp; It is also worth mentioning that three Lake Adger residents are members of the Mill Spring Volunteer Fire Department, Guy Greaves and Sylvia and Chuck Green. All of us are grateful for their contributions.

Again, I hope I have provided you with a bit of the flavor of the Lake Adger Community and of its residents.&bsp; We are all happy to be in Polk County and hope that we can be good citizens by making a substantial contribution to this idyllic area.