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  Craft Demos and Tours March 13 Louis Salmon of Eatonton is a busy man. He works hard at the forge, swinging his heavy hammers, shaping the glowing iron beneath it. He is fashioning tools and art from iron. He will be working away at the 19th Century mill town of Scull Shoals on Saturday, March 13, re-creating one of the important crafts of the once extinct mill village. (-- He makes Neat Stuff, too!) The blacksmith shop held a central focus for the people of Scull Shoals in the 19th Century. In it, tools were made or repaired, mill equipment was designed and built, and everyday items like door hinges and latches, wall hooks, lantern holders, and cooking tools were made to order for the villagers. Today, only the stone foundations extend above the grass to show where the blacksmith shop stood. You can come on Saturday and watch Louis as he works. You can see the Blacksmith shop remains, stand by the Oconee River and imagine the sounds and smells of the people, cattle, horses and wagons as they lumbered over the covered wooden toll bridge. You can hear Tour Guides Bob and Deb Skarda or Ed Goff tell about the fascinating history of this important industrial site. Louis Salmon isn't the only craftsman you will see March 13th. There will be spinners, weavers, musicians, and of course, food to entertain and delight the visitors. The guided tours will begin at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm that Saturday. There will activities to see and a beautiful part of the Oconee National Forest to enjoy at the Scull Shoals! Louis has donated one of his Scull Shoals-made wrought iron fireplace pokers for us to raffle. You can buy tickets for the raffle at the ticket booth Saturday. Drawing is April 17th at the Jubilee. Spring Crowded with Events Already the springtime at Scull Shoals will be crowded, so make your plans to be there as often as you can. Here is the events calendar so far: March 13. Craft Demos and Guided Tours: blacksmith, spinner, possibly weavers and musicians. Food and fun for all at Scull Shoals!. April 3. Quarterly Board meeting in Greensboro. Place to be announced. April 10. Craft Demo and Guided Tours: basketry, weaving, and music. Fun at Scull Shoals. April 17. Downtown Greensboro Jubilee. Our Friends booth will sell Old Oconee Pins, T-shirts, wood turnings, and tickets for Scull Shoals fireplace poker, to raffle that afternoon. Maxine will be calling you to take a 2 or 3-hour shift at the booth that day, so plan to be there! May 8. Craft Demos and Guided Tours: 19th century crafts, and fun at Scull Shoals! If you know a crafter who will demonstrate at Scull Shoals for one of these tour days, please contact Maxine Singleton at 706-769-1777. We would like to have three or four each time. Farewell, Alice Curtis Alice Curtis, one of our most beloved Board members and long-time supporter of Scull Shoals passed away on January 25, 2004. She had been suffering from cancers, and finally her body couldn't continue to fight back. Alice was a vibrant, enthusiastic support of all things natural. She loved the out of doors, her horses and her farm, she was on several boards and commissions at local, state, and national levels. She and the Curtis Family Foundation gave some of the early financial support for the Friends of Scull Shoals educational efforts. Even after the diseases began to sap her strength, she graciously hosted the Board meeting in her home. At our Educational Center, the Friends of Scull Shoals will establish an Alice Curtis Memorial Garden, and all donations in her name will be applied to the land, development, and the 19th Century garden. A Memorial Wall in the garden will carry names of the donors. If you wish to make a donation to the Friends in Alice Curtis's name, please send your check to the Friends of Scull Shoals, P.O. Box 295, Greensboro, GA 30642. State-Wide Publicity for March Tours, Demos The Guide to Georgia, a state-wide publication for natives and visitors alike, is placed in Visitor Centers, and other visitor contacts. The March issue features an ad on our March 13th Scull Shoals Tours and Craft Demos, so take a look. We won the ad (or a reduced rate on it) in a silent auction at the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries (GAMG) meeting in Rome in February. Look for an increase in visitors to Scull Shoals from around the state as a result of the ad and the accompanying feature. Goal: Pay of Loan by May 21st One of the Board of Directors' major goals at the Feb 25th meeting was to pay off the outstanding loan on the Educational Center property before its one-year anniversary. Treasurer Gale Farlow's figures show an outstanding balance on the loan of $2,880. Now is the time to consider a gift to the non-profit Friends, to help remove this debt. Remember that your donations to the Friends of Scull Shoals are tax-deductible! You can help us buy an acre for $1,100; half-acre for $550; a quarter-acre for $225, or an eighth-acre for $113. Choose your size, and send your generous check to the Friends of Scull Shoals, Inc., P.O. Box 295, Greensboro, GA 30642. Old Oconee Pins, T-shirts, for Sale Thanks to the artistic talent and generosity of Bob Skarda, there is a supply of Old Oconee Pins for sale to benefit the Friends. Check out the web site for descriptions, photographs, and prices: www.scullshoals.org. Bob has the pins, so contact him at the address on the website, or get them at the Friends booth at the Greensboro Jubilee. Our Friends T-shirts are selling well. If you would like a fine 50-50 cotton blend T-shirt in Heather Green with the Scull Shoals logo, send your size and a check for $16.00 ($13 for the shirt, $3 for postage) to Jack Wynn, 3052 St. Charles Ave, Gainesville, GA 30504. We'll put your shirt the mail. We now have XL (5), L (7), M (1), Youth L (4) and Youth M (3). Sorry, no XXL's are left in this batch, but we will see that there are plenty in the next order, if you let us know you want them. Crafters Needed for April and May Tours To add interest to the tours and bring more people in to see the old mill town, we are providing craft demonstrations at each of our Second Saturday events. If you know of weavers, basket makers, potters, quilters, leather workers or other crafts people who will come, please contact Maxine Singleton at 706-769-1777. What about the Blacksmith Shop? The Blacksmith Shop held a central focus for the people of Scull Shoals. In it, tools were made or repaired, mill equipment was designed and built, and everyday items like door hinges and latches, lantern holders, and cooking tools were made for the villagers. Today, only the stone foundations extend above the grass to show where it stood. How do we know where the blacksmith shop was? There are at least four pieces of evidence used to identify the site. They come from divergent sources. The first came from Greene County Historian, the late E. H. Armor, who pointed out the blacksmith shop ruins for us, as his father had done for him. The second clue came from Dr. Ervan Garrison's Geophysics students from the Univer-sity of Georgia. They learned to use ground pene-trating radar and proton magnetometers in the village. They found two places with high iron concentrations around the blacksmith shop: one inside, and the other outside the stone foundations. This suggested that a great deal of iron working may have taken place there, both inside and out. The third clue came when one of those same University students dug a small post hole within the foundations and found lots of cinders, such as would come from a forge. Fourth, the historic records mention that the blacksmith also collected tolls from people crossing the wooden covered bridge over the Oconee River in downtown Scull Shoals. The stone building foundation is adjacent to the intersection where roads from Maxey's, Penfield, and Greensboro join to cross the river towards Watkinsville, High Shoals, and Madison. So, by a "preponderance of evidence" it seems highly likely that those silent stones enclose the remains of this important part of Scull Shoals' industrial history! The blacksmith shop is only one of several structures we have learned about through historic research, archaeology, and oral history interviews. Board of Directors meet in Atlanta The Friends Board met at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology, Wednesday, February 25. Oconee District Ranger Bill Nightingale and Forest Heritage Program Manager John Mayer were our FS liaisons. Board members Maxine Singleton, Jack Wynn, Ellen Whitaker and Cindy Bowden attended, as did guests Joe Messinger of AXA, and Rebecca Born of IPST and UGA. Major points covered by the Board included: A Finance Team will create a budget for the year, based on expected income and expenditures. Cindy and Joe will look into Board and Liability insurance, both critical to FoSS. A goal was set to pay off the Ed. Center land loan before the May 21st anniversary. A Planning Team will propose other short-term goals for this year to present in April. Low paying membership numbers mean we must needs revisit old members and recruit new ones to keep the organization viable. Board plans to expand it size; they also discussed Board duties. Three-person team will devise Board Roles and Committees (Rebecca, Ed, and Jack). Board plans to invite more community members to next meeting. We will request Volunteer Handbooks from the Forest Service and distribute them. Jack and Maxine listed events planned for Spring, and the rest of the year. We will seek grant support for events. The emphasis will be on teachers and outreach to schools, though grants. Events will raise awareness, then we can charge for service to schools and public. Maxine heads plans for Greensboro Jubilee April 17; Rebecca will do papermaking demonstration there. March 13, April 10, May 8 tours are planned with crafter demos each time. Bill recommended putting tours, crafters, and Jubilee on FS, COFIA, and FoSS websites. We will provide the Ranger with use figures from our activities. Bill said plans are still on to pave Scull Shoals road; this will bring in more people. Board discussed hiring a summer intern to help organization, write grant proposals. Our long-term planning will include Allen Stovall's 1984 Feasibility Study. FS may remove the fee tube at site; it is not bringing in enough money to justify costs. Next Board Meeting will be on Saturday, April 3, 2004, in Greensboro. The location will be announced later. New Mission Statement? One of the considerations of the Board was the clarification of our Mission Statement: what are we about? Here is a possible new version: The Friends of Scull Shoals Inc. is a non-profit partner with the U.S. Forest Service, whose mission is to ensure continued sound stewardship of the resources of Scull Shoals through rigorous academic research, preservation, and public education. If you have other views, thoughts or ideas to contribute to this Mission Statement, please contact any of the Board members. Know your Board of Directors Officers and Board of the Friends of Scull Shoals, Inc. for 2004 are: Officers: Co-President: Maxine Singleton, Watkinsville, 706-769-1777. mskullshoals@aol.com Co-President: Dr. Jack T. Wynn, Gainesville, 770-536-2564. mfjtwynn@bellsouth.net Secretary: Ellen Whitaker, Watkinsville, 706-583-0665. ellen@terry.uga.edu Treasurer: Gale Farlow, Greensboro, 706-467-3352. jgf1@plantationcable.net Board Members: Jimmy Alexander, Hiawassee, 706-896-2000. Cindy Bowden, Atlanta, 404-894-7840. Ed Goff, Greensboro, 706-467-0870. Jim Hunt, Greensboro, 706-467-2880. Martha Jones, Greensboro, 706-467-3011. Carolyn R. Parker, Greensboro, 706-467-2684. Dr. Mark Reinberger, Athens, 706-542-0061. The Board may elect new members from time to time, and they may rotate off of the Board at three year intervals. The Board of Directors meets quarterly. The General Membership meets at least annually. The last Annual Meeting was held at Scull Shoals during the October 11, Community Reunion Festival, when certificates were given. Grant Proposals Planned for Fall, Winter Friends of Scull Shoals will cooperate with the American Museum of Papermaking in a series of community learning activities this year. They will include programs, exhibits, craft demonstrations, and other activities at Scull Shoals and at the Museum. Financial support is sought from grants.. Town Planning, from Pegs and Timber through Bricks and Mortar; Women's Work in the Early Industrial Age; African Americans in Scull Shoals Industry and Community; and Papermaking in the Early 19th Century are the principal topics of these programs. Later proposals are to involve Teacher Workshops at the Museum and at Scull Shoals, developing a Teacher Handbook on Papermaking at Scull Shoals during the war of 1812. All of these workshops will be keyed to the new QCC content requirements for public schools in Georgia This
newsletter is published by and for the non-profit Friends of Scull
Shoals, Inc., P.O. Box 295, Greensboro, GA 30642.
Questions? mfjtwynn@bellsouth.net |
