Joe Dennis, seen here with his son, Kerry, will lead a "walking school bus" on a 40 minute walk to Davidson Elementary.

The calendar says Sept. 1.  The temperature says Oct. 1.  Quite a surprise to have to dig for a sweater yesterday but boy, it felt good!

Wednesday is the debut Walking Wednesday of the new school year, with Davidson Elementary having the first Wednesday of each month.  Keep an eye out for more kids biking and for parents leading “walking school buses” in the morning.  That’s walking school bus leader Joe Dennis at left, who will lead a train of any interested walkers who show up at the corner of North Downing Street and Concord Road Wednesday for the mile-and-a-half trek to the elementary school.  If you want to join him, departure is at 8:20 a.m. sharp!  (Paul Miller will lead a walking bus from Ashby and Lingle at about the same time as Joe.)  You can learn more about Walking Wednesdays on the Town of Davidson website.

Other news for today’s Around Davidson includes a Muchane summer reunion in Kenya; a welcome to a new couple, the Millikins, and their BIG plant at The Pines; a report on a late summer ice cream social; and a few noteworthy notes.

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS FOR RUTH AND HOSWELL MUCHANE

Planning a golden wedding anniversary for your parents is no small task especially when mom and dad live in Sigona, Kenya, which is located near Nairobi!  Davidson’s own Mur Muchane started planning with his four brothers two years ago to ensure that all family members could be there in person.  Among the nearly 700 attendees were Mur and Mary Muchane of Davidson with their sons, Michael and Mark; David and Christine Muchane of Washington, D.C. with their son, Eric; Gich and Salome Muchane of Cary, with their children, Kagwe and Karie; Ndungu Muchane who is single and lives in Los Angeles; and Ngugi and Jayne Muchane, who live in Sigona, Kenya, with their children, Karii and Koki.

Hoswell and Ruth Muchane in 1959.

The joyful celebration this past July of Hoswell and Ruth Muchane’s 50 years of marriage is wonderfully captured in Mur’s own words:

Ruth and Hoswell Muchane were married in 1959 at the Church of the Torch in Kikuyu. Scottish missionaries built the church in the early 1900s as the foundation of the Presbyterian Church in East Africa. The church is located next to the campus of Kikuyu Hospital. Each summer, Davidson College pre-med students do internships at the hospital under the tutelage of Jerry Putnam, Davidson College professor of biology, and local medical doctors.

The 50th wedding anniversary ceremony was held on Saturday, July 11, at Sigona Presbyterian Church. The day-long celebration featured musical presentations by church groups, choirs, and individuals, as well as other tributes and a lively African dance towards the end of the day. Mark, and his cousin, Eric, were the ring bearers during the church ceremony. Michael played the three movements of the “Little Concerto” by Franz Joseph Haydn on the piano while his cousins from Cary performed Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up.” The ceremony was officiated by several past moderators of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa along with the church minister, Rev. Elizabeth Kimani. Davidson College Presbyterian Church and Sigona Presbyterian Church have an active partnership. Working together, the churches have raised funds to build a child and youth development educational center at Sigona. The center houses a pre-school for orphaned children, a computer-training center and offers a variety of other vocational training courses.

...and exchanging rings at an anniversary ceremony this summer.

While in Kenya, the Muchanes squeezed in a safari to Maasai Mara and Lake Nakuru. Set in southwestern Kenya, the Maasai Mara is the northern end of the Serengeti game reserve in Tanzania. It is named for the Maasai, the ethnic group that inhabits most of the area, and the Mara River. The exceptional game was out in force during the Muchanes’ visit, and they even observed the start of the annual migration of wildebeest from the Serengeti. Lake Nakuru is considered an ornithologist’s paradise. In addition to millions of flamingoes, there are several hundred species of birds many of them endemic to the region.

The Muchanes spent most of the month of July in Kenya.  What wonderful memories they have of a wonderful visit and family reunion.  Mark and Michael will have lots to share with their classmates as they start school with Mark in kindergarten at Davidson Elementary and Michael a seventh grader at Woodlawn.  Mur is the executive director of IT services at Davidson College while Mary is the college’s director of grants and contracts.  Thanks for sharing your travels with Around Davidson.

HEARD IT ON THE ‘GRAPEVINE’

The Pines Retirement Community continues to be a wonderful source of news items.

Bob and Karalee Millikin's vine won't help Jack reach a giant, but it has produced more than 700 tasty tomatoes.

Today Around Davidson visited the “grapevine” of new residents Karalee and Bob Millikin.  This couple moved from Mooresville to The Pines last March and chose a ground floor apartment that faced east for two reasons.  First it was a good spot for constructing a small pond adjacent to their patio complete with fish and water lilies.  Second it was a satisfactory location for a small garden.

The pond was completed late spring and christened with a June Pond Party attended by more than 90 residents who enjoyed popcorn and lemonade while admiring the bubbling water.  The garden area is attractively planted but no one notices since all eyes are on the grapevine of grape tomatoes reaching 168 1/4″ (yes, we measured last week!) to the upstairs balcony of resident Sally Erickson (who does have picking rights).  Perhaps it can be documented to surpass the Guinness record holder of twelve feet.

The small tomato plant came from somewhere south of Huntersville on Route 115 and was carefully planted with a dose of Osmocote.  Staked by Bob with numerous circular frames, it is thriving with additional infrequent Miracle-Gro watering by Karalee.  Although the plant fell over once due to wind and some 100 green grape tomatoes fell off, the Millikins have kept count of the tasty, red ripened ones and the tally is well into the 700′s.  With not a yellow leaf to be seen and dozens of tomatoes ripening, the harvest number is sure to grow to near 800 before frost.

Congratulations to the Millikins and their “grapevine/beanstalk!”  Bob is a retired clinical social worker with the VA in Salisbury.  The couple, who have lived in our area since 1989, have a son in Granite Falls and a daughter and granddaughter in Charlotte.  Welcome to The Pines.

Enjoying ice cream on a Sunday afternoon are Polly Medearis and her daughter, Jean Johnston.

A SUMMERTIME TREAT

Cassi Goforth, Activity Director for Health Care at The Pines, always has good ideas for end-of-the-summer fun.  This past Sunday residents and their families were invited to enjoy ice cream sundaes while listening to area crooner, Charles Domiter, sing Frank Sinatra songs.  A large group gathered for fellowship and good eating!  What a nice way to celebrate the last days of August.

NOTEWORTHY NOTES

For Love of Water

Readers of the Oak Row Report for September will want to know that tomorrow evening’s screening of the 2008 film, “Flow: For Love of Water,” has been postponed.  Gill Holland, Jr., the son of Davidson residents Gill and Siri Holland, plans to screen and discuss this documentary next semester.  Gill is the co-producer of this film that examines the global politics of water, pollution and human rights.  We will alert you when we have a new date for this event.

For Love of Reading

For a small community, Davidson has a bountiful number of book clubs.  Jan Blodgett, archivist for Davidson College, would like to have a copy of each club’s annual program; Betty Reinke of Main Street Books, would like to have a list of chosen books to keep on hand (with 10 percent discount for club members); and Kathy Cox (coxkathy@bellsouth.net) would like to know the current president/chairperson of each club.  Since most book clubs are meeting this month to plan for their 2009-2010 year, be sure to get in touch with Jan, Betty and Kathy.

Also note that Thursday, Oct. 15, is the 13th Annual Combined Book Clubs of Davidson Tea to be held at The Pines at 3 p.m.  Well known novelist and 1988 Davidson College graduate John Hart is the speaker.  Be sure to mark this date on your calendars.

Send us your news

Have news for Brenda? Write to her at hbarger@bellsouth.net.