Highlands History

Band Together

Highlands String Quartet in 1887

This year’s Highlands Olde Mountain Christmas Parade will be swinging to the beat of a cherished town tradition.

Teachers of the Arts did cartwheels when Education’s Bigwigs in Washington announced a few years ago that the Arts were steeped in higher-level thinking.

At last, music, visual and performing arts were recognized as more than just an hour of recess.

But wait a sec! Does that mean music is like, math? Yep, it even has math in it. And so does visual art. Tons of it. And problemsolving galore. Try figuring out the relationship of dotted eighth and sixteenth notes in a measure of 5/4 time. When drawing a hallway in perspective, better have a ruler handy and an understanding of proportion and vanishing points (which weren’t even figured out until the 1400s). This is why the Greeks gave the Arts equal status with Math, Philosophy, Science. And we’re just now getting around to reappreciating the importance of all that.

Highlands can bust a few buttons on its vest, because it has always been a strong supporter of the Arts. In 1954 fanfare trumpeted from our mountaintop when the first band program at Highlands School was initiated. It wobbled a bit and was righted in 1989 as an unconditional, fully-orchestrated band. Its director, Kathy Teem, began in a trailer with an ensemble of 13 students. Imagine the honks and squawks reverberating around a 20’x30’ portable. It was like a babe’s first wail followed by hiccups, farts, and coos – then harmonies and rat-a-tats of melodious sounds in a mere four weeks...okay, four months...well, just in time for a Christmas parade anyway.

By year 2000 the band would grow to over 200 middle and high school members. The school, students, and parents were thrilled with this accomplishment.

But in 1989 it was the town of Highlands that benefited most. The Christmas Parade (initiated by the Highlands Merchant Association) heretofore had been fun to see. However, it sounded like a silent, shuffling dirge. But when the Highlands School Band’s bass and snare drums kicked off their cadence, cornets and clarinets chiming in, the whole town snapped to attention, a smile on every face, a toe tapping in every shoe.

So when you see the local bands marching down Main Street in this year’s Christmas Parade, cheer them on. They are an amazing group of young people. Each will believe to their life’s end that Band wasn’t just a music group. It was a family.

Learn more about Highlands families by reading Ran Shaffner’s Heart of the Blue Ridge, a remarkable tome borrowable at local libraries and purchasable through highlandshistory.com. For more information, visit hhs@highlandshistory.com.

by Donna Rhodes

Highlands’ Early Years

Angie Jenkins’ new book casts a warm light upon a Highlands that’s long past, before it slips beyond the collective memory.

Angie Jenkins

Compiled by Angie Jenkins, Memories of Highlands’ Early Years…Stories by Native Highlanders, is a brand-new book containing first-person accounts of growing up here, as well as tales of earlier times gleaned from the old folks at home. It makes a wonderful Christmas present for anyone interested in “Old Highlands,” with lots of local color, funny stories, and touching reminiscences.

Like Angie’s two earlier tomes, it’s full of vintage photos, but unlike them the images are smaller and interspersed among the text, to make room for all the wonderful stories. All together there are 18 contributions from Brysons and Wilsons; Crisps and Crowes; and other worthies, some of whom I actually knew, though I’m younger than I look.

‘Tis the Season, so let’s focus on Yuletide tales.

Are you surprised that almost everyone in Memories of Highlands’ Early Years says how much colder and snowier winters used to be? That Aladdin’s Cave on the Hill, The Highlands Variety Store (1925-1983), operated first by Angie’s grandparents and then by Angie’s dad, Alan Lewis, features in multiple recollections. Perhaps because Santa made his one-and-only Highlands appearance at the five-and-dime, and all the local school children would troop in to make sure The Big Man in Red understood exactly what was required under the tree.

Back then—O halcyon days!—folks did most of their shopping on Christmas Eve, so Mr. Lewis would stay open late and was a font of good advice for clueless husbands and fathers deciding on gifts.

Whether growing up in town or on farms in Horse Cove or Shortoff, there wasn’t much extra for presents at year’s end.

“Christmas was slim,,” recalls Virginia Vinson Bryson, while the late Edna Phillips Bryson tells how local women got together to raise money so that every child in the community at least got a bag with an orange, candy and a toy.

Families trudged through the snow in search of *the* perfect tree to cut down and bring home.

The Creswell’s was always cedar: “Daddy said if it scratched, we would leave it alone,” remembers Mary Anne Calloway Creswell. Once that standoffish fir was set up, it was decorated with homemade ornaments such as, “sycamore balls covered with foil…carefully removed from cigarette packs. We thought they were gorgeous.” Mary Anne recalls that, “Mama started baking in early December: fruit cake, cookies, cakes, candy, fudge and divinity.” When it comes to thrift, Hazel Edwards Rogers has them beaten. She recalls that not only did her family make their own decorations for the tree, her mother (Hazel Althea Hedden Edwards) made her own glue for the paper chains! Take that, Martha Stewart! Still, on Christmas Eve, there was always a sparkler for each child. “As soon as it was dark, we got to go outside and light them. We thought they lit up the whole sky.”

by Stuart Ferguson, Local Historian, Co-Owner Shakespeare & Company

Mighty Locomotive That Does

Cashiers Historical Society’s ongoing labors provide a vivid link to the early days of southern Jackson County.

Much like The Little Engine That Could, or in this case the Mighty Locomotive That Does, Cashiers Historical Society efficiently, effectively, and with great enthusiasm engages the community in their mission to reflect on and preserve our area’s past, all while celebrating and preserving our rich cultural history and diverse natural beauty.

You can visit their lovely campus any time of year to enjoy the serene and beautiful outdoor spaces and walking trails. During the season, which begins next Memorial Day, you can tour the historic buildings on the grounds.

The Zachary-Tolbert House is an architectural gem that remains virtually unchanged from when it was built in the 1840s.

Likewise, Colonel John’s Cabin is the oldest structure in Jackson County. The Hampton Schoolhouse is a carefully renovated authentic structure that offers a glimpse into early education.

In addition to preserving and maintaining these historic buildings, CHS continues to have a positive impact within the community offering a wide range of activities that provide opportunities for fun, enjoyment, and education.

Their annual Designer Showhouse is their largest fundraiser and has become one of the most enjoyed and anticipated events of the year, providing residents and visitors a chance to visit some of our area’s most prestigious homes.

They host Founders Day for third and fourth grade students from Blue Ridge School, Summit Charter School, and area home schooled students. Adult educational activities include their annual Jan Wyatt Symposium and Mountain Heritage Lecture Series.

CHS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that accomplishes a lot with their limited budget. With your help they will continue to bring history alive.

by Mary Jane McCall

LIFESTYLES & WELLNESS

Pages 124-132

Love is a funny thing.

The circumstances have to be just right for it to appear. For some it happens in an instant, while for others it deepens over time.

And, what occurs when a guy in his mid-40’s raising two young boys encounters love at first sight with a quiet young woman 11 years his junior?

Helene and Ricky Siegel fell fast for each other after connecting at a “meet and greet” party when they were living in Atlanta.

Helene had not meant to attend, but en route to the airport to pick up a friend, she realized the event was on the way and decided to stop.

When she arrived, she couldn’t help but notice Ricky, who was giving out name tags.

Helene remembered feeling an intense, chemical reaction. “I really wanted to get to know him. He had such nice energy and was physically attractive, very cool, and outgoing.”

As to Ricky, well let’s just say he was smitten at once.

He recalls thinking, “she was very, very cute, and she had a shyness about her that was very appealing.” He gave her his card, and three days later she called. That was November 1989, and though they spoke several times during December, it was January 1990 before they had their first date.

At the time, Helene was selling HMOs and considering a move to Seattle. Ricky was consumed building his landscape business while struggling to raise his sons, then 10 and 12.

Their feelings for each other developed swiftly – the relationship was

Helene and Ricky Siegel

Love Will

Find Its Way

The passion that Helene and Ricky fell for one another was swift, and they’ve kept it simmering over the decades.

clearly earmarked for success. Within three months Helene moved in with Ricky and the boys. That year they bought a house together and in December got married in Rancho Mirage in Southern California. Since then, the partnership has been marked by a complicated blend and balance of love, devotion, and two successful business ventures.

Soon after their wedding, Helene joined Ricky in the landscape business as comptroller and took over the floriculture branch of the company – concerning herself with the ordering and planting of flowers for hundreds of clients. Though the business thrived, by 1996, they knew they wanted to leave Atlanta and the busy highways that consumed too many of their hours. They yearned for the smalltown atmosphere of Highlands which they had grown to know and love during vacations.

When Ricky’s offer to purchase the 4 ½ Street Inn was accepted, they sold their landscape business and moved to Highlands.

Together they ran the B&B for 20 years, Helene in charge of

Ricky and Helene Siegel, 1993

the bookkeeping, housekeeping, and cooking while Ricky was responsible for maintenance and grounds operations.

The couple recounts those years as some of the most wonderful of their lives – at times challenging, yet always solidifying the relationship. They’re proud of their family and their place in Highlands as active participants in community organizations.

As Helene said: “We are grateful for the people we met, whose lives we touched, whose lives touched us. Being part of the boys’ lives and having grandchildren was more than I could ever have expected. It has been rewarding and enlightening. We have had a great life together; I don’t know that it could have been better.”

by Marlene Osteen

Give yourself some “paychecks” for retirement

During your working years, you’ve probably met the costs of living through your salary. But once you retire, where will the money come from? Is there a way to give yourself a “paycheck” for retirement?

There is indeed – but you’ll have to do a good job of managing your available income sources. Here are some moves that can help:

Accept dividends and interest payments. Instead of automatically reinvesting all your dividends and interest payments into your portfolio – which is an excellent strategy for building wealth – you might want to begin receiving these payments as part of your income. Keep in mind, though, that companies can lower or discontinue dividends at any time. However, it’s also true that some companies have consistently paid, and even increased, dividends over many years, and even decades.

Choose an appropriate withdrawal rate. Once you’re retired, you’ll likely need to begin withdrawing from your investment accounts. But you’ll need to avoid taking out too much early in your retirement – you don’t want to risk outliving your portfolio. For many people in their mid-60s, a 4 percent annual withdrawal rate is a good starting point, but everyone’s situation is different, and your ideal rate will depend on several factors: your age, the size of your portfolio, other sources of income, and so on. Once you turn 72, you’ll be required to take at least a minimum amount from your traditional IRA and 401(k), but you can choose to withdraw more, if necessary.

Maximize your Social Security. You have significant control over the amounts you’ll receive from Social Security. You can begin taking these payments at age 62, but they will be much larger if you wait until your full retirement age, which will likely be between 66 and 67. (You will receive the maximum amount if you wait until you reach 70.) So, if you

think you have enough income from other sources, you might decide to delay taking Social Security – but if you need the money, you may not be able to wait. And here’s something else to think about: If your spouse had considerably higher earnings than you did, you may be eligible for spousal benefits.

Consider an annuity. You might want to consider purchasing an annuity that provides lifetime payments. Some annuities are even indexed for inflation, meaning payments will increase or decrease each year, keeping pace with the Consumer Price Index. Annuities are not suitable for everyone, though, so, before investing in one, you should consult with a financial professional who is familiar with your situation.*

Finally, don’t rule out the possibility of earned income. Just because you’ve retired from your full-time job doesn’t mean you can’t work in some capacity, perhaps by doing some part-time work or consulting or even opening your own small business.

Look at all these ideas when thinking about putting together an income plan for your retirement. You may find that your diligence will pay off.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Edward Jones, Member SIPC

Todd Holder

Deeper Rest in Long Winter Nights

If you’re feeling the stress of Covid, are you taking it out on your teeth?

Ashby Underwood-Garner and Chad Garner

Are you a teeth-clencher? My dentist told me that during the pandemic he’s seen many patients with cracked teeth.

The stressors of the day build up and people tend to clench and grind their teeth at night to release stress and this is sometimes called TMJ dysfunction.

What does your jaw reveal about your overall health?

A beautiful face is a relaxed face. Ease in our expression says we are carefree. But what makes us frown, when it takes twice as many muscles as smiling, and as such, twice as much energy?

Grinding teeth and jaw pain are not just for the dentist. A good bodywork and yoga therapist can address the muscles involved – the long-held knots in the head, neck and shoulders.

The TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint) is the most active joint in the body and the most powerful. Issues of the jaw can also involve communication, nourishment, choice, and indecision. When there is chronic imbalance, this can be the source of headaches, speech impediments, and limited expression.

It’s no wonder that since March 2020, much of humanity has been on a scale from “inconvenienced to nervous wreck.” Communities and families are strained because of inconsistent Covid protocol measures and beliefs around the proper actions that will make the world normal again.

At night, our bodies resolve stress while sleeping, tossing and turning, clenching and releasing. We can sometimes wake up more fatigued than rested.

The human nervous system needs consistency as we are creatures of habit. People like to know what is happening next. It’s nearly impossible for a person to make an easy decision right now.

“Where to go, who to be with, whether to go visit family, and will I need a mask,“ are all questions that can have a different answer in different conditions.

Weighing all of the options to chart a course daily is causing some of us to grind our teeth. Wars, plagues, and pandemics have challenged humans from the earliest days but community, love, and connection have always brought people through.

Our New Structural Yoga Series begins Monday, January 10th with Chad Garner, Advanced Rolf Practitioner. Contact Yoga Highlands Studio to register or schedule a Private Movement Session to address your needs – (828) 526-8880.

by Ashby Underwood-Garner Yoga Therapist, Rolf Practitioner Owner of Yoga Highlands