Wednesday, June 4, 4
PM -- Happy Sixtieth Birthday Part and Annual Meeting. at the Pavilion, Wolf Laurel
Community Center.
All
on the mountain are invited to a birthday party for Wolf Laurel. How
about a piece of tasty birthday cake to start it off? We will lift
a glass of the beverage of your choice to Bud Edwards and all who have
built this community for sixty years. Perhaps a fresh mountain
breeze will blow out all the candles.
The
annual meeting of the Wolf Laurel Historical Society will follow with
reports on the Society’s activities in this birthday year and election
of officers for 2025.
This program is co-sponsored with the Wolf Laurel Property Owners Association.
Tuesday, July 9, 7
PM -- A History of Appalachian Music. at the Ebbs Chapel Performing Arts Center Auditorium.
Presented by William Ritter, Appalachian Musician and Songkeeper.
This program looks
back even before Wolf Laurel to when these mountains rang with the
sounds of ancient music. Passed down through voices in the fields,
in the kitchens, on the porch, with and without fiddle, guitar, or
banjo, the Southern Appalachians were the home to a musical tradition
that stretched back across the ocean to Ireland and Scotland and even
old England. Our program focuses on that music.
William Ritter was born and raised in these
mountains. He plays the fiddle and guitar, and sings the true
traditional music of the Southern Appalachians. He describes
himself as a “songkeeper” in the spirit of the “songcatcher”
tradition. During his time as a student at Appalachian State
University, William also made the connection between old-time
traditional music and heirloom seed saving, both of which are having a
renaissance. “Keepers of both traditions,” he notes, “carry
stories and memories,” their oral traditions. Today William raises
heirloom plants on his farm in Mitchell County and performs throughout
the Southern Appalachians. He will perform and share the stories
of many of those traditional songs and tunes to help us celebrate the
history of our region captured in its trademark music.
music.
This program is co-sponsored with the Ebbs Chapel Community Center
Note the evening time and day variation to accommodate our Upper Laurel neighbors and others who find evening more convenient.
Wednesday, August 7, 4 PM -- The Early Wilderness Days: Reminiscing the Young Wolf Laurel. at the Pavilion, Wolf Laurel
Community Center.
Guests: Suzanne Orbaugh, David Pendleton, and Mary Edwards. Interviewed by Jim Klumpp
In 1964, Wolf Laurel was a land for the young, eager to spend time in
the wilderness of the high mountains near their homes in
Tennessee. Bud Edwards’ first thought was a wilderness getaway for
him and his buddies. “Friends of Bud” they called
themselves. But soon, their enjoyment of the rugged wilderness led
Bud to import abandoned log cabins from North Carolina, Tennessee, and
Virginia to be reconstructed log-by-log by master craftsman Clay Jenkins
and his Southern Appalachian crew in what is today Settler’s Village
behind the Wolf Laurel Community Center. In those cabins where
their families could gather for weekends together, the Wolf Laurel
community was born.
Suzanne Orbaugh and David Pendleton were the young
children of Boots Duke and Barney Pendleton, two of those Friends of
Bud. They will remember those early days of their families at Wolf
Laurel, and the joys of young children with the freedom of the vast
wilderness. Our third guest, Mary Edwards, was not only Bud
Edwards’ lifemate, but his partner in the Wolf Laurel enterprise as
well, instrumental in transforming the kind of private domain of a few
families into a vibrant resort community where many came to find their
own happiness in this wild place. Jim Klumpp, co-author of A Treasure in the Appalachian Sky: A History of Wolf Laurel in Madison and Yancey Counties, North Carolina,
will interview these three early pioneers of Wolf Laurel who found
those days in the near-trackless mountains some of the most memorable of
their youth.
Wednesday, September 4, 4
PM -- The History of Skiing at Wolf Laurel: After Fifty Years, A New Era. at Hatley Pointe Ski Lodge.
Guests: Brenda Whitt, Johnny Goin, and Deborah Hatley. Interviewed by Jim Klumpp
Nothing exemplifies the continued evolution of Wolf Laurel after
sixty years like the revitalization of our ski resort. Skiing on
the open meadow of Big Stamp and within the Dude Ranch where Willis
Branch met Wolf Laurel Branch were part of Bud Edwards’ original vision
of Wolf Laurel. Skiing began in the early 1970s on our current
slopes. As a new era begins with Hatley Pointe Ski Area, we look
back at the history of the sport of skiing at Wolf Laurel and forward to
the new resort.
Our guests represent many experiences of Wolf Laurel Skiing. Brenda Whitt and her family skied Wolf Laurel slopes from nearly its first season. Johnny Goin
came early to assist Wolf Laurel Resort’s owner Fondren Mitchell in
managing the winter ski season. They will recall their two
perspectives on skiing during those early days. Deborah Hatley,
whose company is completing the rejuvenation of skiing at Wolf Laurel,
will celebrate the new era. Jim Klumpp will interview the
three. Bring your own stories of our dominant winter sport.
Hatley Pointe Ski Lodge is at 578 Valley View Circle in Wolf Laurel.
