The Mountain Spirit - Nov./Dec. 1988

T h e M o u n t a in S p ir it:

The M agazine o f the Christian A ppalachian Project

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

V ol. V II, N o. 6

Contents Features 4

“ L ove Is W hat D oes I t ” by Jo e Foley A com bination of efforts resulted in a new hom e for D ennis M organ, an interesting m an who has become a focal point for some C A P workers.

12

G etting the C om m un ity In volved by M egan C orcoran

W yom ing Cross, p. 22

M cC reary C ounty, p. 16

W hen the Sam m ons family learned that two-year-old M isty had leukem ia, they went through some very tough times. By working together, the Floyd C ounty com m unity— including C A P —has helped the family face their problems.

16

G etting T h in gs D one in M cC reary C ounty by M argaret Gabriel M oving slowly, but methodically, C A P is starting new program s in M cC reary C ounty.

22

W yom ing Cross by G arry Barker Doug W ard sets out with his daughter, Stephanie, to Find the w atering hole that had been focal point of his younger days. As they hun t, D oug explains some of the way things were different “ back th e n .”

Departments 3 8 14 21

Dennis M organ, p. 4

From Our Founder Around the Project The CAP Closeup Letters

The November-December Theme The Mountain Spirit finishes each year with a look at different aspects of spirituality in the mountains and in C A P’s work. While the last two issues of the magazine have dealt with big plans for big programs, this month we look at smaller works that deal with one person or one family and have been motivated by Christ’s teaching in Matthew 25, “ Whenever you do this for the least of my children, you do it for m e.” O n the CO VER, Dennis Morgan and volunteer Bill Brunscheen (photo by Foley). O n the BACK COVER, winter ushers in a stark, startling beauty in the mountains (photo by Gabriel).

P ublished by the C hristian A ppalachian P roject. E d itor, M a rg aret G abriel. A d visory B oard, F ath er R alph W . Beiting; M ike M cL au g h lin ; Leslie B. L arsen; Bill Begley; R andolph Jo rd a n . G raphics C oordinator, D ebbie Fraley T u d o r. C ircu lation, Liz M iller. The Mountain Spirit is published six tim es a year. T h e an n u al subscription price is $5.00. Subscriptions an d o th er correspondence should be sent to The Mountain Spirit, C h ristian A ppalachian Project, 322 C rab O rch ard R o ad , L ancaster, K entucky 40446. C opy rig h t, 1988, the C hristian A ppalachian Project, Inc. All rights reserved. M em ber, C atholic Press A ssociation. T h e C h ristian A ppalachian Project is a non-profit C h ristian service organization o perating th roughout E astern K entucky. T h e project operates on the philosophy th at “ helping people help them selves” is the best approach to A ppalachian poverty.

From Our Founder

As I ponder these questions, events come out of the past that give guidance and light. I remember one time in the turbulant ’60s, when everybody seemed at odds with somebody, I was preaching outdoors in a small com­ munity in Pike County known as Robinson Creek. A good crowd of people listened to the talks, enjoyed the music, and were pleased with our visit to their community. One lady came over to me and began to talk. “You know, preacher,” she said, “there is one thought that bothers me. What if we get better houses, what if we had a regular doctor [at that time, doctors in Pike County were few and far between], what if we had a job for everyone and all the kids went to school? What if we got all these things and we still weren’t happy? What then?” The lady’s question is powerful and very real. A man in Galilee, nearly 2000 years ago, asked the same question. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and still is not at peace if he loses his soul? The ultimate source of our hap­ piness is not money or power. Hap­ piness comes from love and love needs a person in order to be fully satisfied. The most loving person any of us shall ever meet is the Son who so loved the world that He gave His life for us. Jesus, carpenter of Nazareth, Savior of the world, Son of God. N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

As I look back over more than 38 years of service in the mountains of Appalachia, I can detect the thread that runs through my life. Whenever I truly moved someone, it was when I brought Christ into the picture. Last Christmas, our CAP family was sharing Christmas baskets of food, clothing and toys with our friends who had precious little. One of the features of this sharing was an hour we all spent together in church, praying, singing, reading the scriptures and reflecting on them. When the hour had run its course and we were departing, a lady came up to me and said “Who do we thank for the fact that you are a priest, a minister of God?” I replied, “do you mean who do you thank for the clothes, the food and the toys?” “No,” she said, “I mean who do we thank because you brought us Jesus? You can get what’s in the basket from a store, but what you gave us was the notion that God loves us and we are his family, a no­ tion that we seldom get.” The next day I conducted the same kind of program in a com­ munity church in Magoffin County. As I stood out in the yard greeting people after the services, a man and his three sons came up to me. He ex­ plained that he was a Baptist preacher who took care of a small church in the area. He had learned that week that he had cancer. He was there to get a food basket, but God told him to come and ask me for a blessing, a prayer that he be healed or given the strength to bear his illness. I blessed him. Somehow, as that Baptist minister bowed his head and his children joined me, a Catholic priest, in prayer, I never felt more needed or appreciated as I did that moment. It was God that made the difference. He brought us all together in love. Spirituality is a very simple thing. It is not denominations or speaking in tongues or miracles or any other

Jo rd a n

In quiet moments, as day passes into evening, I sometimes find time to sit on my porch and watch the sun disappear behind the moun­ tains. Questions that were crowded out of mind in the pursuit of a busy day’s work surface and ask for solu­ tions. Was the day worthwhile? What made it important? Where did you get the strength and where will it come from tomorrow? Will you be able to change the picture into something fine and noble?

F ath er R alph B e itin g .

combination of good things. Spirituality, simply put, means love. Do we love God with all our mind, strength, power and soul? Do we put God in the first place in our life? Do we miss him as day changes into night and we sleep? I am convinced that what makes my day worthwhile and gives it pur­ pose and direction is the love of God that enters in. What has made CAP one of the most effective means of ending despair and loneliness in Ap­ palachia is not our various pro­ grams, but our excitement about Christ and sharing that love and ex­ citement with all the people we meet. For more than 30 years, CAP has stood and served when the easiest and, at times, apparently the wisest course, was to quit the struggle. We didn’t, and we won’t, because God is our friend, our father. We believe Him when He said “I will not leave you an orphan. I will be with you all days.” I can only pray that those of you who read this, who generously assist us in our many programs, will also pray for us and ask God to give us His spirit so that we, like his Son, can grow in wisdom and grace. 3

<eL ove is W h a t D oes I t ” by Joe Foley

D e n n is Morgan is a gentle man. Foley

He wades the creek behind his little house every day and each evening feeds the opossum that comes to his back step to visit. He beckons to the birds and squirrels with their own calls and nearly cries when anything is killed on the road. At each day’s twilight he sits on his front porch with his harmonica and trumpet and plays old and plain­ tive mountain ballads. But such was not always the case. According to those who know him well, he has had much, much wilder days. They tell of his renegade radio station rigged in a mountain enclave that played havoc on overhead air traffic communications and knocked a nearby licensed station off the air. And they tell of how the Federal Communications Commission and the FBI got after him for such practices. There is also talk of how he was nearly killed in a motorcycle accident and about the time he got shot. Dennis has, at times, been a man to avoid. But at 79, Dennis is gentle. He is also now a focus of the Christian Appalachian Project. For several years now, nearly every CAP volunteer serving in Floyd County has come to know Dennis. Until recently, he lived in a 15 foot pup trailer covered with a tarp and filled with all his earthly possesions. Volunteers would stop by to visit or to see if he needed to go to the grocery store for his total dietary fare of cashews, peanut butter, watermelons, apples, and bananas. Sometimes Dennis would answer the door; sometimes he would not. This went on for several years. Gradually, however, a consensus began to form that Dennis needed something more than just visitation. CAP volunteers and employees began to talk among themselves as to what could be done. The idea arose that better living conditions 4

D en n is M organ sits on the porch o f h is n ew h om e.

had to be arranged. Bill Brunscheen, a volunteer in the CAP elderly visitation program, took the idea and made it work. The small trailer where Dennis lived was terribly crowded with clothes, old jars, a small refrigerator, a bed, a chair, and everything else Dennis had collected for the over ten years he had lived there. When Dennis did open the door to The Mountain Spirit

CAP volunteers, any visiting was done either in the doorway or outside. There was hardly any room to stand in the trailer, let alone walk around. Dennis just sort of fell in when he entered the place. “Obviously the conditions in the trailer were horrible,” Bill Brunscheen said. “It was dirty, it was smelly and really small. It was just deplorable inside. Yet Dennis just seemed content with it. It was home for him.”

Dennis Morgan, the Man Bill’s first and most important goal with Dennis was simply to be his friend. “I just spent time with him. I didn’t go in aggressively. What I thought was important was just to be present with him,” Bill said. “Father Beiting went out with me one day in the elderly program,” Bill said. “It was so important to Father to get back with the people because of his busy schedule. Every elderly household we went to, including some real poor ones up in Endicott and Spears Hollow, he just went in and sat down with the people. All he did was listen and hold their hand and encourage them and let them know how much they were loved by God and by us. I tried to do the same thing with Dennis.” As Bill’s year of volunteer service progressed from the fall into the winter months, he came to know Dennis more and more. Above all, Dennis Morgan is a mountain man. He has spent much of his life living in the open wilderness, sleeping under the tree cover and in caves. He knows the names of all the trees by heart, he collects and eats medicinal herbs, and he knows the ways of all the animals.

Bill listened to what Dennis had to say. “I like to be in the woods,” Dennis said, “in the timber. I’m like a squirrel, if there ain’t no timber, I don’t like to run there. I like to be out in the woods, like on top of the cliffs over there. I like to be up there and sit. I don’t get nothing on my mind. I feel quiet and I feel peaceful and I feel good. A little bird makes me just as happy as I want to be. I don’t care if there’s nobody in a hun­ dred miles, I’m just as happy as I can be. I always been that way,” Dennis said. “Nature, out in the woods, the wild woods, it’s the best part of life to me. “The foxes and the polecats and the opossums and the coons —they’re scared, afraid that a man will shoot ’em or hurt ’em or something,” Dennis said. “I feel like they do, that’s why I get out with them.” “I had two pet squirrels once. They’d crawl all in my pockets, and run up and down my arms. Oh, they loved to eat so good, the poor little things. They like peanut butter—geee-o!—as good as I do. Boy, I wish I was born with them out in the woods, so I could went up a tree and went in a hole with them.” A lot of people do not understand Dennis Morgan. “There are a lot of Dennis Morgan stories that float around this part of Kentucky,” Bill Brunscheen said. “In his younger days, because he spent so much time alone and was drifting into the woods and was apparently happy with the animals, people had a hard time relating. He cackles like a bird a lot of times and I think people tend to think he’s crazy or something,” Bill said. “But he’s not. He’s very sane and he’s very human.”

Foley

B efore D e n n is ’ h om e was co m p leted , h e liv e d in several d ifferen t stru ctures, in clu d in g th is sm all cam per.

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

5

McMichael

But there was a glitch. The property on which Dennis was living was owned by the Wheelwright Mining Company. When Bill contacted the com­ pany to see if a lease arrangement could be worked out with Dennis, the company informed him that the land on which Dennis was living would soon be needed for an expansion of the company’s operations. Not only did Dennis need a new trailer, he now needed a new place to put it.

The Hunt

For h is b irth d a y , C A P vo lu n teers took D en n is for a trip on C A P ’s h ou seb oat.

Sickness About 13 years ago, Dennis suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed one side of his body. After he was released from the hospital, he was put into a nursing home. It didn’t last. “He just decided he didn’t want it and he got up and walked out one day,” Bill said. It took Dennis two days to walk the 25 miles from the nursing home to where he had been stay­ ing in Price, Kentucky. He walked holding a crutch in front of him, pulling along the paralyzed side of his body. He slept by the mountain road­ side. When Dennis arrived back in Price, he found the place he had been staying before the stroke burned to the ground. “He came back to nothing,” Bill said. “He slept in a tent to begin with, then somebody gave him a van, so he slept in the van. He couldn’t drive it, because he’d never driven a car in his life.”

A Tricky Proposition Bill Brunscheen faced a difficult task. He knew that Dennis needed a better living situation, but he also knew that Dennis could very easily balk at someone trying to tell him how to live. He took an angle. He asked Dennis what he would most like God to give him at that particular moment. “I’d like a better place to live.” Bill quoted Dennis as saying. “I’d love to be able to take a bath.” The task had proven easier than Bill had thought. Bill told Dennis that perhaps the Christian Ap­ palachian Project could help find him another home. Maybe another trailer —a larger trailer —could be obtained and put on the same property. 6

Bill Brunscheen began to inquire around in the communities strung up and down Left Beaver Creek where Dennis had lived almost his entire life. He was hoping that perhaps someone who had for years known Dennis, or known of him, might donate or lease a small piece of property on which Dennis could live. There was a sense of urgency, but not extreme. His talks with the min­ ing company officials had gone well and he was pleased. “They really reassured me that they weren’t go­ ing to move him off without knowing that something good was going to happen to the man,” Bill said. “They genuinely did care what was going to happen to him.” The first person Bill was referred to said she couldn’t help with property, because she didn’t want to feel responsible for Dennis. She worried that because Dennis would be living next to her, she would always have to watch over him. Bill recounted, “I was walking out the door, and she said to me, ‘why did you have to come here to­ day. I can’t keep my mind off this now. I want to do something for him, he deserves it.’ She thought for a moment and then said, ‘G rade Newman —she has property and she’s a wonderful woman, and I bet you if you ask her, she’ll do something.’ ” “I got in the car,” Bill said, “drove up the road, found Gracie’s place and knocked on the door. As soon as I told her who I was and who I was visiting and what I hoped we could do, she just opened right up and said, without doubt, that she’d love to help.” With the property secured, Bill turned to find­ ing a way to get Dennis a larger trailer. He asked for a meeting with Mike Sanders, director of CAP’s Martin operations, and Darrell Combs, manager of CAP’s home repair crew in Martin. To Bill’s surprise, the three concluded that it would be cheaper to build Dennis a small house than it would to buy him a new trailer. There still would be a problem of financing, but nevertheless, a ten­ tative decision was made to proceed with the pro­ ject. From then on, things seemed to fall together. The Mountain Spirit

A Catholic priest from New Jersey, Father Giles Hayes, has regularly brought high-school boys to Eastern Kentucky to help with the work of the Christian Appalachian Project. During these visits, he became a friend to Dennis, and Dennis to him. When notified of what CAP was trying to do, he moved quickly. He pledged to provide the bulk of the funding for construction of the house. In mid-May, ground was broken. The site was 50 yards from Gracie Newman’s trailer in Hi Hat, Kentucky, about two miles up Left Beaver Creek from Price. The site suited Dennis just fine. “I don’t like nowhere but right here, down the road two miles and up the road two miles. Gracie’s chickens all come down here and eats out there. They’re pretty chickens, and great big ones, big enough to fry. But I wouldn’t eat a chicken.” Gracie Newman was also pleased. She feels she has made the right decision.

being able to do that for Dennis,” Bill Brunscheen said, speaking of the home repair crew. “It’s really part of what their ministry is.” Dennis would also drop by, often. “He was there about every day, highly anxious, wanting to get into his house,” said Donny Puckett, a member of the home repair crew. “He couldn’t wait until we actually built steps so he could just walk up and look for himself what we were doing. “It made me feel good in my heart that we made the man’s life a little richer, a little easier. I think God smiles upon a situation like this,” Donny said.

His New House Dennis now has a 12’ X 33’, three-room house. There is a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom. There is a porch on the front and there is a porch on the back.

“It was in my heart and I wanted to do it, because he was in need,” Gracie said. “If you don’t help people like Dennis and they’re put in front of you, you’re going to have to answer for it some­ day, that’s the way I feel about it.

“I give Dennis so much credit, and I thank God that he opened up to the volunteers of CAP and now to the people of the community,” Bill Brunscheen said. “I think he has a lot of love in his heart that he’s starting to share. He’s really letting people know a little bit more of who he is inside.

“Dennis has been in the community for years, and you look out and see somebody like that, and you think how easy it could be one of your family needing this help,” Gracie said. “I would hope that if mine ever got in that place that somebody would come through and help them. I don’t know, I might even myself get to that point that somebody might have to help me like that, and I hope they would have the compassion to help me.”

“I’m glad to have met Dennis, because I’ve learned from him so much about what life is all about, to appreciate nature more, to appreciate animals more, to appreciate even the time alone where you can really be with yourself and learn and talk to God. It’s OK to be alone sometimes. I think Dennis is a lot more balanced in life than people might know him to be.”

Cooperation and Construction When word got out about what CAP, Gracie Newman, and Father Giles were doing for Dennis, others in the community began to respond. Residents in the Hi Hat area contributed a refrigerator, a bed and other furniture; the local magistrate provided county equipment to further clear the land; a local lumber yard gave CAP a considerable discount on the lumber used for the house . . . the list goes on. “I think a lot of times people don’t know how to take that first step,” Bill Brunscheen said. “They’re happy when someone like CAP comes in to organize.” The CAP home repair crew also had help in the actual construction of the house. Father Giles and some of his students in New Jersey came down to help with the exterior painting and ground clear­ ing. Not a day passed when members of the com­ munity or CAP workers didn’t drop by to see how the project was going or to offer a hand. “I saw so much joy coming out of their hearts, N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

When asked about his new house, about how it came about and about the people who built it, Dennis answered. “Love is what does it,” he said.

D en n is steers the D aniel Boone w a tch fu l ey e o f M ik e Sanders.

u n d er

the

Around the Project

by the C A P N ew s Service

CA P F inds a H om e For C harlie CLAY COUNTY-Recently, a farmer in West Virginia was looking for a good home for a Charolais bull, a blue ribbon winner in county and state fairs. The offices of Feed the Children in Oklahoma City told him that they knew of a fine home, and suggested that he call Charlie Deaton, manager of “Operation Sharing,” CAP’S in-kind donation distribution program. “I know someone who can take that bull,” Charlie told the Feed the Children staff, and called Frank Jones with the Daniel Boone Development Council. Frank said that he would, indeed, have good use for the bull, as he would be able to make him available to the farmers in his district that includes Clay, Rockcastle, Owsley and Jackson counties. “It costs anywhere from $25 to $75 to breed a cow,” Charlie ex­ plained. “The development council is able to let farmers use the bull, which they’ve named Charlie, at no cost.” Charlie said that makes more money available to family farm operations for feed and other necessities. He went on to say that in these tough times for farmers, the development council is working very hard to enable farmers to keep their heads above water. “In West Virginia, Charlie the Bull lived in kind of a small pen, so he had a hard time adjusting to the wide open spaces of Clay County, but I’ll tell you, he’s sure the hit of the Daniel Boone Development Council —or he is with the cows, anyway.”

P eace Corp V olun teers L earn A bout CA P BO U LD ER, CO —R ecently Susan Scott, manager of CAP’S elderly program, attended the Na­ 8

Charlie the Bull was donated to the D aniel Boone D evelopm ent Council through “ Operation Sharing,” C A P ’s in-kind donation distribution program.

tional Council of Returned Peace Corp Volunteers at Colorado State University. Susan, a returned Peace Corp Volunteer, used the oppor­ tunity to inform the RPC Vs about the Christian Appalachian Project and its work in Eastern Kentucky. The career fair was held on Satur­ day, and Susan set up a display booth, with a slide show, a map of Kentucky and pictures of CAP pro­ grams, to recruit volunteers. “I talked to a lot of people,” Susan said. “And I gave out about 20 applications. I hope that we may see some of those volunteers come to work with CAP.” Susan also spoke to the volunteer recruiter for the Peace Corp about referrals of volunteers to CAP. “Some people want to volunteer to help others, but sometimes they get cold feet about going overseas and doing without the basics, like elec­ tricity,” Susan explained. “Those people could be referred to us, and they would have the opportunity to serve people in less fortunate situa­ tions, but remain in the United States.”

W arehouse R eopens In Berea BEREA —The N ovem berDecember issue of The Mountain Spirit reported that a fire had destroyed the warehouse used to store merchandise for CAP’s six us­ ed clothing stores and the home of the workshop that produced 2,000 brooms a month for marketing by Christmas Ridge Handcrafts, CAP’s marketing division. Because of the generosity of donors and the dedication of workers, CAP was able to open a new warehouse on October 14 to replace the one that was lost. The 10,000 square foot steel building was constructed on the same site as the old building. The broom workshop, which was located temporarily in Mount Ver­ non less than two weeks after the fire, now has a larger work space and will be able to increase produc­ tion as the demand for CAP’s high quality brooms increases. (continued on page 9)

The Mountain Spirit

around the project . . . continued

In M em orial The CAP family of workers was shocked and saddened on September 15 when it learned that puchasing manager Jean Brown was killed during a robbery of the store her husband, Donald, owned and operated in rural Lincoln County. Longtime readers may recall Jean as the assistant editor of the “Ken­ tucky River S o u n d in g s ,” predecessor of The Mountain Spirit. The July-August 1988, edition of The Mountain Spirit included a col­ umn that Jean wrote about the joys and hardships involved in the educa­ tion of their son, Denny, who is deaf. A native of Lincoln County, Jean was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints in Somerset, where Donald is an officer of the con­ gregation. Dozens of Jean’s CAP co-workers attended her funeral at New Hope Church of God near her home in Lincoln County. David R. Cooke addressed her mourning family, friends and neighbors, mentioning her love and dedication to her fami­

ly and her church. “I don’t know about Sister Brown at work,” he said, “but I do know how much she loved CAP and each of you. Your dedication and deter­ mination to make this a better place to live made her work an important part of her life.” As CAP’s purchasing manager, Jean often listened to people’s com­ p laints about adm in istrativ e “snafus” or took responsibility for straightening out problems that she certainly didn’t have to deal with. She did, though. She did because she was willing to pitch in to make CAP the most effective, efficient organization it could be. Jean knew that if the “behind the scenes” departments did a good job, it would be possible for those on the front lines to completely dedicate themselves to their work, helping the people of Appalachia to help themselves. I’ve lost a dear friend in Jean, as have many of us. I think one of the things I’ll miss the most about her is how special she made me feel about myself. The fact that she always made me feel that I had brightened

In 1 9 82, J ea n served as C A P ’s C hristm as B asket co o rd in a to r. On d istr ib u tio n d a y , h er w ork ers presented her “ thank y o u ” flowers.

her day did a lot toward brightening mine. I suspect that she affected many people that way. I pray that Donald and their children, Durand, Donya and Den­ ny, will know how much we all love Jean and that they will have the strength they need to recall that “it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” -E d .

(continued from page 8)

Without a warehouse, the work spaces of CAP’s “Attics” were cramped, as they stored overflow clothing, despite having a trailer that was used to store as much clothing as possible. Although all of the clothing that was to be used dur­ ing the winter m onths was destroyed, friends from the local area and throughout the country supplied CAP the winter clothing needed to be made available at low prices to shoppers in the stores. The warehouse will store enough clothing to supply all of CAP’s stores, as well as storing items that are made available to other stores that are operated by organizations similar to CAP. N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

Christmas Ridge Handcrafts (C A P ’s m arketing division) has projected a record 65,000 sales o f it’s Christmas wreaths.

9

around the project . . . continued

K en tu ck y C oalition for the H om eless Sources ranging from the United States government to various private service and research agencies estimate that 100,000 to 750,000 people in this country are homeless. Although homelessness is thought to be a largely urban problem, the problem of rural homelessness is receiving much attention, too. The Kentucky Coalition for the Homeless is working to educate the public to the realities of rural homelessness. Their mission states in part, “Allowing our brothers, sisters and children to suffer the physical and psychological abuse of homelessness is a moral indictment of us a ll. . . as a statewide coalition, we intensify the power of our voices, our actions and our cause.” Through Terry Harmon, manager of its outreach program, CAP has become involved with the coalition, adding its voice to those of other organizations in the state that deal with the issue of homelessness. “The organization started in the more urban areas of Kentucky; Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky,” Terry said, but that in rural Kentucky the definition of homelessness also addresses inade­ quate housing and the issue of peo­ ple who have been displaced from their homes for various reasons. “One of the tasks of the coalition has been to seek grants and to disseminate information to places and organizations that are running shelters. I see one possible role for CAP in working with communities, teaching them the most efficient ways to use grant money.” Terry said that one of the biggest problems that he has to deal with is a lack of short-term or emergency housing in G arrard County. “There’s not much we can do except put people up in a low cost hotel for a few days, and the only hotel in 10

Lancaster is planning to close. I don’t know what I’ll do about it, but I do know that the solution to the problem is imminent. It’s out there, we just haven’t found it yet. “Like many other types of rural poverty, homelessness is less visible because it’s more transient. We find more people moving from town to town to town, because they don’t have any place else to go.”

R ain b ow R esp ite Care C enter R eopens RENFRO VALLEY-The Rain­ bow Respite Care Center, at the Family Life Center in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, reopened on June 1, 1988. After operating as a part time program during the summers of 1986 and 1987, the home opened as a full time program when Judy Harrison and her family moved to Lexington earlier this year. The center is designed to offer short-term residential care to children, teens and adults with men­ tal and physical disabilities. This promotes healthier family situations by encouraging families to use periodic respite, allowing time for rest, personal renewal and relaxa­ tion.

“Families with disabled members are under a great deal of additional stress,” explained Pat Montgomery, manager of the center. “And the respite care home is designed to eliminate some of that.” Participants receive therapeutic, educational and recreational ac­ tivities while in the program. “We follow through on anything the family is working on, including behavior management, feeding techniques and daily therapeutic re­ quirements,” said Pat. “We also have planned activities for our peo­ ple, including arts and crafts, pic­ nics, hiking, swimming, movies, music shows, dances, fishing and special trips.” Some of the referrals for respite come directly from the families, and some come from agencies such as Comprehensive Care, the agency in the area that deals with mental health issues. “We recently signed a contract with the Cumberland River Valley C om prehensive Care Center,” Pat said. “That will give us eight more counties that we can serve in the Appalachian area. “We believe that if families use planned, periodic respite,” she con­ tinued, “it will help the families be better able to care for their loved ones and the o th er fam ily members.”

T h e R a in b o w R esp ite C are H o m e co n tin u es the p a rticip a n ts th era p eu tic, ed u ca tio n a l and recrea tio n a l a c tiv itie s d u rin g th eir stay at the cen ter.

The Mountain Spirit

around the project . . . continued

A Christmas g ift that blesses Appalachia and brings yo u tax-free in ­ come? K eith Gilbertson, manager o f C A P ’s Christmas basket program, always manages to keep the spirit o f Christmas alive, even w hen surrounded b y thousands o f boxes, as w ell as problem s.

C hristm as B askets T o In clu d e School Supplies LANCASTER —The emphasis on education and literacy in the state of Kentucky has influenced Keith Gilbertson to ask for school supplies to include with families’ Christmas baskets this year. Keith, who was a librarian before becoming a CAP volunteer and then manager of the Christmas basket program, believes that new school supplies could be just the kind of encouragement that a marginal student needs to ex­ perience success in the classroom. “A new box of crayons or some sharp pencils in a new pencil bag may not seem like much to you and me, but kids set a great store by those things.” Keith would like to appeal to readers of The Mountain Spirit to send school supplies so that workers could include some in each child’s Christmas basket this year. The Christmas basket program will provide for over 2000 families N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

and elderly people in ten counties this year. Almost nine hundred of the families have sponsors, and many sponsors also provide gifts for the elderly. Basket sponsors are groups and individuals, some of whom have been sponsors for several years. Many tell the Christmas basket workers that sponsoring a family in Appalachia is one of the most special parts of their holiday. In addition to gifts, each family will receive food needed to prepare three meals on Christmas day (and to allow for some left-overs, of course!). Keith says that in these last few weeks before Christmas, they are still in need of assorted new gifts to give to families for which they have not been able to find sponsors. If you are interested in giving school supplies to a child for Christmas, please send crayons, pencils, notebooks, or folders to: CAP Christmas Basket Program 322 Crab Orchard Road Lancaster, KY 40446

Yes —a Gift Annuity! It’s really very simple. You in­ vest in our work, and in return we pay you at a guaranteed rate for the rest of your life. A portion of the income is tax-free. Write today for your free copy of “Giving Through Gift Annuities” by filling out the coupon below and enclosing it in the envelope provided in this issue of The Mountain Spirit. Clip Here

Please send, without obliga­ tion, my free copy of “Giving Through Gift Annuities.” NAME____________________ ADDRESS________________ CITY ____________________ STATE, ZIP______________

11

Getting the Community Involved Im agine your two-year-old daughter diagnosed as having leukemia. Now imagine not having the money you need to get your daughter to Lexington’s University of Kentucky Medical Center, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from your home, every two weeks and sometimes more if emergencies came up. Most of us are lucky. We can imagine it, but we don’t have to live it. This is just the beginning of the story behind Lawrence and Lucy Sammons of Garrett, Ken­ tucky, in Floyd County. Their youngest daughter, Misty Lee Sammons, was diagnosed with leukemia in July, 1987. Since then, their lives have been filled with worry, stress and depression. When The Mountain Spirit visited the Sam­ mons’ home, a quaint plank house surrounded by mountains, Lawrence and Lucy were a little ner­ vous when they started to tell of their plight. “I get all choked up when I talk about it,” said Lawrence when he began to recall the tale. He lit a cigarrette, and as the fine blue smoke drifted past his face, he began speaking again. “I was unemployed, and had no source of income when our baby was diagnosed.” Lucy talked about how rough it was, because they had no transportation and no income. Throughout this horrible time in the Sammons’ life, they didn’t give up hope. They found some relief with the Cancer Society when it paid them five cents per mile when they traveled on their bi­ weekly trips to Lexington. Mrs. Sammons explain­ ed, though, that they received this reimbursement six months after the trip, so the financial strain was always immediate. For twelve months the Sammons suffered. Their strength was running out. Then Mrs. Sam­ mons wrote a letter to CAP’s emergency assistance program asking for help. What they needed most was a car to get back and forth to Lexington, as it cost the Sammons between $100 and $125 every trip. Renting an automobile from a local auto sales outlet was proving to be a financial burden they could no longer carry.

M isty L ee Sam m ons

12

When Donna Yellen, manager of CAP’s emergency assistance, small farms and Christmas basket programs in Martin, received the letter, she The Mountain Spirit

story and photos by Megan Corcoran

shared it with Mike Sanders, director of CAP’S Martin operations. Mike wanted to get the Sam­ mons’ an automobile. After visiting the Sammons, Mike called upon Marlow Tackett, a entertainer from nearby Pikeville, who offered to perform a benefit concert for Misty at the Mountain Chris­ tian Academy. The philosophy behind the concert was to get the community involved, instead of just obtaining a car at an auction without any com­ munity action behind it. A sparse but energetic crowd turned out for the evening concert, dancing and singing under the stars. Money from ticket sales, combined with flyer advertisement donations made by local businesses, the Martin Youth Center’s “Bike-AThon” for Misty, and private donations totaled over $1,050.00. While trying to find a good used car, Father Ralph Beiting was able to find a donated automobile for the Sammons family. Asked how they feel now that they have their own car and don’t have to depend on other people, Lawrence said, “you see that big TV over there, it feels like you all took that off the top of my head,” then he went on to say, “words cannot express the relief you have brought to us, you all are good people, and we thank you.” Mr. Sammons talked about when Mike Sanders called to tell them about the car they had located. “I wanted to let CAP take the money they raised to give it to other people who needed it, because

M isty gets a h u g from h er b ig sister.

all we really needed was the car, that’s all we could ask for, and Mr. Sanders, well, he said that all that money was ours.” Mr. Sammons worked for a funeral home for 11 years. When Misty was diagnosed, he was out of work, and for 13 months he and his family had to deal with unbelievable stresses. Now, Lawrence is working under a Job Partnership Training Act program in Floyd County at the health depart­ ment. They have a car and emergency money. Now, the Sammons family can sleep at night.

T h e Sam m ons fa m ily and th e car that C A P h elp ed them p urch ase.

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

13

The C A P Closeup

o

3

~a

H

Brenda plays the organ, teaches Sunday School, sings solos and directs the choir at the Church of Jesus Christ in Lancaster.

S piritual leaders come in all sizes, shapes and forms. Some are broadcast on radio and television worldwide, while others, like Brenda Thornton, take us gently by the hand and help guide us through each day.

B renda T h orn ton A Guiding H and

by the C A P News Service

Brenda coordinates CAP’S grant program. She administers grant funds, distributes funds to reci­ pients, accepts applications, handles cor­ respondence, makes visits, receives follow-up reports and makes recommendations to the grant committee. But that isn’t all that Brenda does. She coordinates CAP’S daily prayer time. She is a familiar sight in CAP’S hallways, at least once a month, carrying her trusty yellow legal pad, hunt­ ing for “volunteers” to lead morning prayers. “I really like CAP,” Brenda said. “It’s the first place I ever came that each employee had the time or the opportunity set aside for prayers.” She schedules for a month in advance, and it’s due to her diligence that she never comes away empty handed. “There’s a certain warmth in me to be part of chapel,” Brenda said. “I really love announcing the prayer letters that we receive here at CAP, and corresponding with them.” Brenda keeps on file the names of all the people that write to CAP ask­ ing for prayers, and she tries to answer many of

14

The Mountain Spirit

the letters herself, to try to give encouragement. “I treat them as a friend,” she explained, “and I even tell them that if they need someone to talk with, to call me —I’m always willing to listen.” If someone is having a bad problem, Brenda will often contact a minister of their denomination who serves in their area, and ask them to make a visit. “Even if our services don’t go as far as aiding them physically,” Brenda explained, “our spiritual ser­ vices go beyond the Appalachian region.” Brenda has been married to her husband, Earl, for seventeen years. Earl works at IBM in Lex­ ington and is a minister to a small congregation at the Church of Jesus Christ in Lancaster. They have five sons, Earl Jr., 20; Jeffrey, 16; Michael, 15; Demond, 11; and William, 7. Brenda’s nieces, Angela, 18, and Naquita, 7 months, and nephew Jeremy, 19 months, also live with the family. Brenda has a full schedule outside of CAP as a mother and a minister’s wife, as she plays the organ for the church, sings solos, directs the choir, teaches Sunday School and makes home visits, to name a few of her responsibilities. She is a licensed minister herself, and sometimes delivers the Sun­ day sermons. Their children attend the worship services, take up offerings and sometimes sing for the church. “Demond said that William, the youngest, will be a preacher someday,” Brenda said. “He loves to talk in the mike, so he’s always willing to sing.”

CAP Archives

Brenda and Earl have a live broadcast on

B ren da T h o rn to n

WRSL radio in Lancaster every Sunday. Brenda sings and Earl delivers a sermon, and sometimes other churches visit with a message and song. “We received some letters from a young man who is in the Casey County jail and had heard our broad­ cast,” Brenda said. “We went to visit him and took him a Bible and some Sunday school books. When we left, he reached out and hugged Earl and cried.” Brenda and Earl must feel that they are not busy enough —they have decided to adopt a child. “A young child,” Brenda said, “black or bi-racial. I have my order in for a little girl that I can dress up in pretty clothes, after five boys!” Their social worker has informed them that it could take from one year to five years on the waiting list, but they are already building onto their home in prepara­ tion for their new arrival. “I feel blessed to be a part of CAP,” Brenda said. “I am able to express my Christianity even more by going out and meeting the needs of the people.

One o f Brenda’s groups is the Cranks Creek Survival Center in Harlan C ounty.

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

“Even though CAP is a non-denominational orgainzation” she continued, “it seems like we all come together in agreement that Christ lives and he died for us, he blesses and he saves. There are Pentecostals, Catholics, Baptists, Mormans and people of other denominations that work at CAP, but they all come together as a family —a praying fam ily-and we all have faith that God can do and God is able to do anything.” 15

G etting T h in gs D on e In M cC reary C ou n ty

b y M argaret G ab riel

T h e E agle C h ild D ev e lo p m e n t C en ter en rolls th ree, four and fiv e year olds in the area. R ig h t, the terrain in M cC reary C o u n ty is b ea u tifu l, b u t rugged.

16

The Mountain Spirit

J a c k Morris. “Preacher Pud” (also known as Father Howlin). Casey Sterr. Father Beiting. Ellen Burke. Bill Watson. Sister Jean McAuliffe. Jean Barnes. Joe and Denise Gahafer, Con­ gressman Hal Rogers. Bill Singleton. The cooperation of many people, not all of them named here, can be credited with CAP’s presence in McCreary County, one of the newest additions to the CAP service area in Eastern Ken­ tucky. Tracing CAP’s beginnings in the county means following a circuitous network, asking one person about his or her work, which leads to men­ tion of another person and another and another and another . . . “It was Jack Morris and the grant program that got CAP started in the county,” states human development director Ellen Burke, referring to the grants that CAP makes to other organizations do­ ing similar work in the mountains. Father Carroll Howlin, pastor of Good Shepherd Chapel in Whitley City, the county seat, applied for a grant from CAP and Father Beiting, introducing CAP to the area, Ellen recalled. “We met Bill Singleton when we were working in our economic development study last year,” said Frank Clark, senior director of economic development. In 1987, Frank completed a study of the economic situation in Eastern Kentucky in order to determine CAP’s role in the economic development of Appalachian Kentucky. Mc­ Creary was one of the counties included in the report, and Bill Singleton, who owns a business in the county, is one of the people who supplied CAP with much reference material for the study. “McCreary is contiguous to Pulaski County and a place of great need, so it was a very logical place to go with a used clothing facility,” recalled Bill

Watson, director of economic development, who has been instrumental in the planning of an Attic store in McCreary County. Whoever was involved, in whatever capacity, the cooperation means a CAP presence in a coun­ ty that has a great need for CAP’s services. McCreary is located on the Kentucky-Tennessee line, in the heart of the Daniel Boone National Forest, sixty miles due south of the administrative offices in. Lancaster. While the dense forest scenery is very beautiful, it works as a liability for the county, because the largest portion of the land in the county is owned by the federal government and therefore is exempt to local taxes. This fact is one of several reasons that can be cited for the county’s standing as one of the neediest counties in one of the neediest states in the country. As much as five years ago, CAP became aware of the needs in McCreary County and began to in­ vestigate the possibility of establishing a used clothing store in the county. In the past, CAP has used this type of presence in new counties because, in addition to filling the need that people have for good, affordable clothing, people who work in the stores are able to meet people on a “neighbor-toneighbor” basis, learning of other needs of the county and what services CAP might be able to provide. In McCreary County, however, the Sisters of St. Joseph who work at Good Shepherd Chapel and the McCreary Christian Care Center (see The Mountain Spirit, March-April, 1988), have been working to meet this need, in addition to many others. CAP has proposed to supply the sisters with the clothes they need, and the church will supply the building and the volunteer staff to operate the store. Although the project is still in the planning stages, and the right building in the

Miller

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

17

right location has not been found yet, the coopera­ tion of CAP and other workers in the county will set a firm foundation for outreach programs that can grow out of the Attic. The entire economic development department, not just the Attics, has gotten involved in Mc­ Creary County through the study that was com­ pleted by Frank Clark in 1987. The four counties analyzed, one of which was McCreary, were selected on the basis of their high unemployment rates, low per capita income and geographic loca­ tion in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Although all four of the counties in the study have severe problems, the statistics in McCreary Coun­ ty were the most startling of the four. Per capita income in $4852 (compared to $10,232 in Ken­ tucky and $12,2772 in the United States). The ad­ justed unemployment rate is 54.6% (compared to 29.04% in Kentucky and 7.2% in the United States). According to Frank, the statistics are responsi­ ble for McCreary County’s inclusion in the 1987 CAP report. “We got involved with trying to understand what the needs were for economic development. We made contact with the Area Development District that suggested contacts within McCreary County.” As the study went on, CAP became identified to the citizens as an organization that might be able to help the county make strides forward and help people start the necessary changes in education and economics. “We were asked by the Southern Kentucky Economic Development Council to assist in the evaluation of an aircraft engine repair business plan,” Frank said. The project led to more contacts and participa­ tion in other community projects at the request of political and civic leaders. Currently, CAP serves as consultant to county leaders in its application for grant money from the Economic Development Association. “If some EDA money becomes available to the county, they’ll use it to plan the needed goals and strategies for economic develop­ ment,” according to Frank. Again, CAP has been asked to serve as a consultant to county leaders as they plan these strategies. “The county judge has appointed a planning group to develop these short term strategies. We were named as one of the members of the planning group, primarily for matching grant purposes, but we will be an active member of that function,” Frank explained. He said that another contact they made through 18

the work on the economic development report was a local doctor who introduced CAP to the prin­ cipal of the high school. “We presented him with our plan for a student enterprise program and had a very favorable reaction.” The student enterprise program will work with students, teaching them the theories, along with the practicalities, of starting a small business. Students will first study and analyze the local economy and identify business possibilities for the community. From there, they will move to for­ mulating a business plan, including identification of possible funding sources, and then will work toward establishing and operating a viable business. The principal believes that the students enter­ prise program will fit very well with the boom of the tourism industry that is expected in McCreary County when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes the construction of the Big South Fork National Recreation Area. “He would like to integrate it with an existing business program that they operate in the school, and he sees it as truly a way to help create some jobs for some kids and for some other people in the county,” Frank said. “We were pleased with the level of interest that he seemed to have. All we have to do now is find the money to get that pro­ gram initially funded.” With such bleak economic statistics, it follows that the education statistics would be equally arThe Mountain Spirit

L eft to right; L iz H a rd en , B ren da P erry , S an d y S ton e, P at K u ll, and D en ise G ahafer w ork ed togeth er on an ou th o u se for B r en d a ’s fa m ily .

„ I.I ; ■H H resting. Fewer than 50% of the ninth grade students in McCreary County will complete their education. Only 28 % of the adults over the age of 25 have finished high school, and although it is difficult to measure with complete accuracy, the number of non-reading adults is above the nation­ al average. The severity of this situation is multiplied because the lack of interest in education has a tendency to pass from generation to generation. “Just look at the families in Jean’s school,” Ellen said. “Twenty-four kids, and only two of their parents have high school diplomas. Only one has a job. Those are not just statistics. Those are families we’re working with.” “Jean’s school” is officially known as Eagle Child Development Center, the newest of CAP’s seven child development centers.

in McCreary County, it started with a needs assessment of the area. The study indicated the child development centers were, indeed, a signifi­ cant need, especially outside of Whitley City, which is served by three Head Start programs. Through her operation of the “PACT” (Parents And Children Together) van, a van packed with children’s toys, books and games that travels to different parts of McCreary County, Sister Jean McAuliffe identified the area around the Eagle Elementary School as one that would be a good area for CAP to establish a center. The support that CAP has received in establishing the Eagle Child Development Center has been overwhelming. With the assistance of U.S. Representative Harold Rogers, CAP received permission from the national forest service to use federal land for the center. Rather than construct­ ing a building, CAP was able to purchase a double-wide trailer at a reduced price. Ellen is pleased with the mobility of the trailer, saying that if for some reason CAP would want or have to move, there is no capital investment at Eagle. A grant from the Kentucky Social Welfare Founda­ tion provided the playground equipment and fence that was needed for state licensing. Labor for the playground construction was provided by local volunteers and parents of children who at­ tend the center. “It all worked out,” said Ellen. “When we were doing the assessment, we found many needy families in that area, and by so many people work­ ing together, we’ve been able to get things moving. The school and the superintendent have been ex­ cellent, and I think we’re well-received. I know Jean is well-received. That’s the key. She’s such a pleasant, non-threatening, accepting person and families see that right away.”

CAP has long recognized that a strong pre­ school experience establishes a good foundation for a child’s success in public school. Thousands of children have attended CAP child development centers, learning the pre-reading and pre-math skills that they need, as their teachers also work to provide the children healthy self-images. As the years tick by, CAP has found that its original suspicions were correct: if children are introduced to the joy and wonder of learning at an early age, they will be more successful in school and will be more apt to understand that a good education is critical to a good start in life.

Before she became the manager of the Eagle Child Development Center, Jean Barnes was the head teacher at the Children’s Discovery Center, CAP’s center in Somerset. “I’ve always heard how bad things were in McCreary County, but people here are good people. I’ve learned a lot from them, and hopefully they’re learning a lot from us.”

When CAP first considered beginning a center

Ellen told of a situation that underlined how ex-

N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

19

Gabriel

struction, but “their determination to help over­ came the shortcomings. It all went well, though, and nobody got frustrated. I didn’t get frustrated that they weren’t doing the right job, and they didn’t get frustrated because they didn’t know how to hammer a nail. Everyone was very easy about it, because they knew what the end result would be.”

H ead Teacher K ay Drake reviews shapes w ith a three year old student.

cited parents are about the availability of a child development center for their children. “The first day we had school, Jean went to a house to pick up a little girl she’d signed up, and there was another little girl there. The mom said, ‘Oh, I heard you were going to have some kids at school, and I wanted my little girl to go, so I brought her over here.’ We could only take a limited number at first, because we were starting in the kindergarten room of the elementary school. Well, Jean couldn’t take off without the little girl after her mother had gone to so much trouble, so we were at least one child over our limit that first day of school. That’s how interested the parents are in getting a good start in school for their kids.” Early last year, a group of CAP volunteers spent several Saturdays traveling to McCreary County to work with volunteers from Good Shepherd on home repair projects in the area. A volunteer who accompanied Bill Watson on one of the trips he made while investigating locations for used clothing stores learned of the need for workers in home repair and put Father Howlin in touch with Casey Sterr, a volunteer who had been working in CAP’s home repair program.

Except for Casey, none of the volunteers involv­ ed in the McCreary County project worked in CAP’s home repair program; they worked in child development centers, teen centers and with the elderly. “The volunteers got to get out and do something different,” Casey said, “something physical. The thing about home repair is that you can see something tangibly done. You can go and see an empty lot with no outhouse, and when you leave that day, there is an outhouse. In child development, you know that you’ve touched that child, but you don’t see it. That’s what’s neat about home repair.” The need that has been demonstrated for home repair in McCreary County has assured that it will be the next county to receive a full scale home repair program when funds and staff allow. CAP’s move into McCreary County has been well-planned and well-orchestrated. CAP staff have worked in conjunction with existing pro­ grams in order to avoid needless duplication of services. “I’d like to see us do more in McCreary,” Ellen said, “but that’s something we have to work on as a team and really look at ‘what is the overall pic­ ture?’ “It’s been slow, we’ve been slow to build rela­ tionships, and it took us almost a year to get the child development center going, but it’s been a building year for us in terms of relationships and working with the system. Our work with the school system helps Frank work with the school system, and because we’re all working together, that’s the way things will get done.”

According to Casey, the work went a little slower than it would have if his crews had been made up of people who were experienced in con­ 20

LeBrun

Under Casey’s direction and that of Joe and Denise Gahafer, the volunteers who worked with Father Howlin, groups of twelve or more volunteers covered windows with plastic, con­ structed outhouses and, in one case, volunteers helped construct a new home for a family. In order to achieve as much as possible in a day, the group broke up into three or four crews, and they all took off for different parts of the county.

m ade frien d s w ith C A P ’s v o lu n teers.

The Mountain Spirit

Letters It’s a grand magazine, and we all look forward to it. I would like to write a “proper letter to the paper” sometime, but twixt a 91 year old feisty mother, a two-acre veggie lot, and all our kids-and-fosters (22 at the last count and ALL on vacation in July), may it wait till the sno’flakes fall. I wish you gallons of good luck and a millyun good wishes and m’love. A ndy Marshall New London, N H

The Mountain Spirit is beautifully written and presents a loving and sensitive picture of the mountain folk. I always feel as if I have had a heart-warming visit with you all when I have read each issue. Keep up your wonderful work and may God bless you richly. Mr. C. Austin Dawson Southold N Y

I enjoy your magazine very much. We all need to be reminded now and then of the trouble and suffering that goes on in even this so called af­ fluent land. I would have used the word “poor” perhaps instead of “troubled,” but I believe many of these people, though they may not have material things, are richer in heritage than some of us will ever be. They are closer to God and nature, and they uphold their stan­ dards. Keep up your good work with the exceptions. Mrs. Egon Priebe Watsonville, CA

people, their needs and their great pride in their accomplishments. I do keep you all in my prayers. Sister Rosanna Flanagan Grosse Pointe Farms, M I

I manage “Share A Home” for the elderly in Charolotte, North Carolina. My ladies enjoy The Mountain Spirit so much. They comment on how great it is to know that people still care about those who are less fortunate than we are. We pray for CAP and ask God’s blessings on all. Mrs. Willie G. Barrow Charotte, NC

I have been a contributer to CAP for about 20 years and take pride in the work you are doing. * I had the privilege of touring your facilities in 1983 with my husband George, who is now deceased. I was very impressed with everyone I met and with all that I saw. Keep sending The Mountain Spirit. I especially enjoyed the MayJune 1987 issue about “The Dulcimer Man” by Moira Ambrose. The dulcimer has worked its way to Acadiana, known as Cajan County, and I am blessed to have a dulcimer and am learning to play some songs on it. I love the sound of mountain music. Nelia T. Myrhaugen Lafayette, LA

other Appalachians may not be so dramatic, but every individual men­ tioned in The Mountain Spirit has benefited by the loving care and help of CAP. Julie C. Bulger Dunnellow, FL

When considering the overwhelm­ ing state of poverty, starvation and total destitution throughout the world, it’s comforting to know that your caring and love is taking care of many here at home —USA. This p h ilan th ro p ic society sometimes turns its eyes to the out­ side world and neglects our own problems here at home. Carry on!!! Stanley Wade Framingham, MA

I sure don’t want to miss any issues of your magazine. It gets bet­ ter as time goes on. And we enjoy all the stories —even the ones some peo­ ple objected to. We always thought we’d visit your mountains and your “projects,” but we never got there, and now we don’t travel, so we appreciate hear­ ing about it all more than ever. It’s too bad our national welfare program can’t be set up to help peo­ ple help themselves like you folks do. Mrs. Ralph Peters Shawnee, OK

Letters to the editor are welcome.

I really appreciate The Mountain Spirit. I’ve been sending donations for about ten years now, and small though they be, I know they help some. It is so nice to get to know the Novem ber-D ecem ber 1988

Your May-June 1988 issue tells the touching story of a young woman’s determination, in spite of tremendous efforts, to reach her almost impossible goal in life. Sarah Swisher is a poignantly beautiful person. The accomplishments of

They should not exceed 150 words in length, and we reserve the right to edit them fo r space. Address letters to The Mountain Spirit, Christian Appalachian Project, 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, Kentucky 40446. 21

Craven

by Garry Barker “ xTLre A you sure there really is such a place, Dad?” Stephanie Ward asked impishly. “We’ve been down every farm road and logging trail for fifty miles. We can’t even find the river, much less a place where you can drive across.” Doug Ward grinned. “This new road and the bridge are throwing me off some. It’s here. I’ve just got to find something familiar to get my bearings. It has been over thirty years, you know.” “Did people really used to just drive right across the river?” asked Stephanie. “That was the only way to get to the other side,” smiled Doug. “That’s why crossings were so important. Shallow places where you could ford the river when it wasn’t too high.” He chuckled. “Of course, Wyoming Cross was also the swimming hole, car wash, and the place where you went on Sunday to see the girls in 22

bathing suits.” “And the boys,” said Stephanie. Doug shrugged. “We never wore shirts anyhow, and I don’t think I ever knew anybody who owned real swimming trunks. We just went in wearing our jeans.” He grinned. “Usually, I did take my shoes and socks off.” “You swam in that nasty old river?” Stephanie made a face. “It wasn’t always so nasty,” Doug said softly. “When I was a kid, there wasn’t a swimming pool. We swam in farm ponds, creeks, or the good old Licking River. Those of us who could swim at all. Most couldn’t.” He drove slowly across the new, high bridge which connected the two counties. “The crossing would have to be upstream,” Doug said quietly, “and there’d be a little store on the Bath County The Mountain Spirit

side. And a gravel road.” He pulled into a farm drive to turn around. “Did you really wreck a truck and then try to tell everybody a tree fell on it?” asked Stephanie. “Really, Dad. That’s pretty stupid.” “I just was in the back of the truck,” said Doug, “and I went along with the lie to keep from being beat half to death.” He chuckled. “I knew we’d get caught, and it was sort of a relief when they finally found out the truth.” He braked suddenly. “There.” A half overgrown road to the right vanished back down the hill. “That’s got to be the highway.” “I wouldn’t call it a highway.” Stephanie said dryly. “You would have in 1956,” grinned Doug. He eased the Chevrolet down the incline, limbs brushing against the sides. In places, the blacktop was broken and washed away. Doug carefully guided the car across the potholes and gently downhill. After a quarter of a mile he stopped. “There it is,” he said softly. Below them was the Licking River, yellow and stagnant, sluggishly rippling across the shallows which once had been the Wyoming crossing. Rutted tracks were evidence of where the road had once run, down into the water and back out on the other side. “Looks deep,” shuddered Stephanie. “You could only cross when the river was down,” said Doug. “After a rain you couldn’t. Couldn’t anytime, unless you were in something that sat pretty tall.” He smiled. “Cars didn’t drag the ground back then, kid. We rode up where you could see where you were going.” Doug shut off the engine. “God,” he whispered. “Used to be, you could come here on a Sunday afternoon and there’d be a hundred people scattered all over. All ages. Some washing cars, some swimming, some fishing, some just watching and getting a little sunshine. The older ones were totally covered up. Sunbonnets and straw hats, long dresses and overalls. Even the young ones were pretty covered up, by your standards. Back then, bathing suits didn’t show much.” N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

“I’ve seen pictures,” grinned Stephanie. “The girls would all get together a little upstream there and giggle a lot. Pose some, even back then, so we’d all drool. The boys would try to dive or swing out on grapevines and drop in, trying to show off a little. Kind of the way you dive now out at the pool.” He smiled. “We were so white. The boys were all brown from the waist up, from working out in the fields, but our legs were pasty white. Even the girls mostly just had brown arms.” “No tanning beds back then,” grinned Stephanie. Doug laughed. “Most of us didn’t even have a television, much less a tanning bed. And being brown all over, back then, wasn’t the social asset it is today. A girl who was well tanned had probably been working in the tobacco patch. A lot of them wore hats and long sleeves so they’d look like the rich girls who didn’t have to work.” “You all were weird,” said Stephanie, smiling. “Yep,” grinned Doug. “As weird as you all are today. We all wanted to be just alike.” Stephanie studied the rippling water. “So just what was it you all did that time?” she asked. “Drive across there and then have a wreck on the other side?” Doug sighed. “We’d been playing baseball and got real hot and sweaty. Buck Gilson had his daddy’s new pickup, a green ’56 Chevy, so we all decided to pile in and come to Wyoming Cross. Three up in the cab, four or five in the back. My brother Bud and me, the Osborne boys, two or three others. That’s when Bud didn’t have any choice but to let me tag along.” “I won’t go anywhere with my brother,” Stephanie said firmly. “That’s basically how Bud felt about it, too,” grinned Doug. “But that Sunday they needed me to play third base. Anyway, we all loaded into that truck and headed this direction. Buck was doing eighty or ninety most of the way.” “On that road?” asked Stephanie. “On that road,” Doug said grimly. “We were hanging on for dear life. We could see the black marks in every curve after we slid around it. I 23

“I was sitting on the side that flip p ed up when we turned over. So I ju s t fle w y real easy-like, about fifteen feet up in the air. ”

was praying, and I think everybody else was too. I’ve never been so glad to get somewhere alive as I was that day when Buck pulled up right about here in that truck. I took off my shoes and socks and left them in the truck and waded around a while. Looked at the girls.” “How old were you?” asked Stephanie. “Maybe twelve or thirteen,” said Doug. “Old enough to be interested, but too young to know what it was that interested me so much.” He grinned. “I know. We were stupid back then. The sex education classes I had were in the barn or the poolroom.” He chuckled. “I remember when I was in the fifth grade. Miss Belle was teaching us how to draw, and then I was drawing men and women looking just alike except for the hair. Miss Belle got pretty exasperated and finally made Juanita Gilliam stand up. Then she said ‘Look at her. She’s got curves.’ I looked until poor old Juanita turned bright red. The other girls caught up with Juanita two or three years later, but from that day on, I drew girls different. And thought about them differently.” “I’ll bet,” grinned Stephanie. “Anyway,” Doug continued, “that Sunday we splashed around for about an hour until Buck got bored and wanted to show off that new truck. He gathered us all up and drove right out in the river. It was a little high that day, almost halfway up the door. Buck nor any of us knew about brakes and how if they got wet, they didn’t work. Buck gunned the truck up that bank over there, slinging mud and water all over, and held her wide open. That little road goes about two hundred yards, then runs into another one. Either way, it’s a square turn.” Doug stopped for breath, remembering. “We were doing probably seventy when Buck slapped the brake pedal. Of course, the brakes were wet, wouldn’t work, and there we were headed straight for a big mudbank. Buck was a pretty good driver, so he gave it a try. He geared down as much as he could, and then tried to spin the truck around and slide through a right turn. Almost made it. But, we skidded off the other 24

side of the road, hit a bunch of wet sand, and the truck just flipped.” He shook his head and grinned. “It was slow motion. It seemed to me like it took forever. That truck just stopped and rolled, real slow, over onto its side. I was sitting on the side that flipped up when we turned over. So I just flew, real easy-like, about fifteen feet up in the air. Somehow, I cleared that bank, went over a barbed wire fence, and landed on my face about twenty feet up in a cornfield. The corn was about shoulder high.” “Stephanie shuddered. “Were you hurt?” “Naw,” laughed Doug. “Addled. And sort of in shock. I guess I laid there about ten minutes, or longer. It was all sort of a daze. Then I crawled back down a row of corn to look over the bank and see what had happened. You never saw such a crowd. I don’t know where they all came from, but I swear fifty people were there. Some woman was screaming about bodies flying everywhere, and about ten men were cussing and trying to pick up the truck. I crawled down off that bank to watch ’em, and when I stepped in the gravel, I realized my shoes and socks were missing. I found the shoes over in the grass, but I couldn’t find my socks.” “Why did you even care about socks?” asked Stephanie. “I don’t know,” laughed Dough. “But somehow right then, it seemed awful important to me to find my socks. I saw Bud, cussing like a teamster and trying to pick that truck up, went over and tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he knew where my socks was at. He turned around and looked at me, like I was a ghost, and pretty soon everybody else stopped trying to lift the truck and stood gawking at me. Bud finally got his speech back. ‘You ain’t under there,’ was about all he could croak out.” “ ‘I know that,’ I said. ‘But where’s my socks?’ ” Doug chuckled happily. “Then Bud and Buck started cussing me. They’d thought I was under the truck, dead.” “You ought to be glad they were worried about you,” said Stephanie. The Mountain Spirit

“They were more worried about what was going to happen to them if they’d gone and killed me,” laughed Doug. “They were so glad to see me alive that they almost beat me to death.” “Did anybody get hurt?” asked Stephanie. “Kenny Osborne got cut across the nose when the bumper jack hit him,” said Doug. “Other than that, all we got was scared.” He shook his head. “Somebody brought an old John Deere tractor and a chain, and we pulled the truck back up on its wheels. The back window had popped out, and the top was caved in.” “So that’s when you all made up the lie about a tree falling on it,” grinned Stephanie. “That was Buck’s idea,” said Doug. “He sort of stole the truck out of the barn to start with, and he knew Ben Gilson was going to throw a fit, so he tried to come up with some tale to explain it.” He shrugged and smiled. “Buck and Bud figured I’d be the one who wouldn’t go along with it, so they got me off to the side and threatened to kill me if I told. I allowed as how they’d never get away with it, but if they wanted to try, I’d go along with them but only if on the way home Buck wouldn’t go over twenty miles an hour. By then, I’d had more excitement than I wanted. “We tried to put the back window back in,” continued Doug. “Then we sort of popped the roof back up a little and went back to the river to wash off the mud. By then, that crazy woman had already told everybody how I’d flown up over the fence and that bank, like Superman, so I was sort of a hero.” “And you liked that,” grinned Stephanie. “Sure did,” smiled Doug. “I sat on a fender and let everybody look at me. Especially Edna Watson.” “Your first girlfriend.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “The one who ran you down in the cow pasture and gave you a kiss.” “Edna had curves, too,” grinned Doug. “Like Juanita.” He chuckled. “Edna lives somewhere close to here. Got five kids now, I think. She got married when she was fourteen.” N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1988

“Fourteen?” Stephanie stared in disbelief. “That wasn’t unusual back then,” Doug said quietly. “Most of the girls I went to grade school with didn’t go to high school. They got married. Half the boys quit after eighth grade and started farming.” “Why?” asked Stephanie. “That’s the way it was,” said Doug. He studied the river for a long time, then reached for the ignition. “That’s today’s history lesson,” Doug said wearily. “Another episode from the life and times of your tired old daddy.” He carefully turned the car around and worked back up the steep hillside to the main highway, paused, then accelerated out onto the pavement. Stephanie settled down and stretched. “Why’d you really bring me out here?” she asked softly. “You could have come by yourself if all you wanted to do was sit and remember old girlfriends.” “Just a history lesson,” said Doug, smiling. “A close up look at how it was in the olden days.” “Seriously, Dad,” persisted Stephanie. “Why?” “You ask too many questions,” grinned Doug. “But, you always have, from the time you could talk.” “You used to answer my questions,” said Stephanie. Doug let off the gas and smiled, shook his head wearily, and tried to find words. “I guess I just wanted to share something with you,” he said. “The crossing back there was a social center for people all across this end of the county. Maybe I’m getting senile and starting to live in the past. I really don’t know.” Doug stared straight ahead. “The way it is now, and the way you and your friends have grown up, is so different than it was when I was a kid. It’s better, mostly, but sometimes I think you miss out on some things.” “Like swimming in that filthy river?” asked Stephanie. “Like that river being too dirty now for swimming,” Doug said grimly. “We had to make our own fun. There wasn’t all the organized 25

“ T h a t’s progress, ” smiled Doug. eeFrom hillbilly to redneck to preppy in three generations. ”

recreation.” “You’d kill me,” said Stephanie, “if I got in a truck with somebody and did what you were just telling me about.” “Probably,” chuckled Doug. “The same way my father would have killed me if he’d ever found out the whole truth.” “I don’t lie to you,” Stephanie said softly. Doug shrugged. “Pm a little more reasonable than my father was about teenagers. I was one, and I don’t think he ever got to go through that stage. He had to work from the time he was seven or eight.” “So did you,” said Stephanie. “Yes. But it was different. I had a father. Daddy didn’t.” Doug slowed for an intersection. “And you haven’t really had a father either, have you?” “Every other weekend,” grinned Stephanie. “Is that what you’re worried about? We got over the divorce business a long time ago, Dad. I’ve spent a lot more time with you than any of my friends spend with their fathers.” “Really?” Doug smiled wearily. “I guess I know that, but it’s always hard to believe. I always feel a little guilty.” “And I don’t go around driving trucks through rivers, either,” said Stephanie. “We’re a little more civilized now, you know. Even in Creech County, we’ve got a pool.” Doug chuckled. “They had one when I was a kid, but I never had the money or time to go to it. It was for town kids. Like you.” “I’m sorry I’m not a good redneck,” grinned Stephanie. “That’s progress,” smiled Doug. “From hillbilly to redneck to preppy in three generations.” “I’m not a preppy,” said Stephanie, “and you’re not a redneck.” “Oh, I was,” said Doug. “Still am, in lots of ways. I grew up right in the middle of it, participated in things like shooting road signs and turning over outhouses, bought beer from the bootlegger and got into fights on Saturday night.” 26

“Not really,” said Stephanie. “Really,” grinned Doug. “Except I also was reading, writing, and planning all the time to go to school and get out of it. But even back then, I didn’t think anybody else was better than my friends. Just different. I still can sort of slip in and out of their world.” “You do start talking just like the rednecks when you’re here,” Stephanie said dryly. “Old habits,” said Doug. “And I really do love beer and hounds and trucks.” “When I leave here,” said Stephanie, “I’m not ever coming back.” “Yes, you will,” smiled Doug. “Maybe you’ll come back with a different outlook, but you’ll come back. If for nothing else, you’ll want to remind yourself of where you came from.” “I doubt it,” said Stephanie. Doug chuckled. “When I was eighteen and ready to go off to college, I felt the exact same way. You’ll outgrow that. Maybe someday you’ll drive one of your children around and show them all the places you used to hang out. Tell them about all the foolish things you did.” They rode in silence for five minutes. “There is one thing, Dad,” Stephanie said solemnly, “that I really, really want to know.” “Sounds important,” said Doug. “It is. Really.” Doug twisted to stare at her serious expression. “Well, what is it?” Stephanie grinned. “Did you ever, ever find your socks?” *

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