The winning entry, "Franny La Poulet" by Cresset Christian Academy, in the state fair's Farm Animal Frenzy 2009 contest.

Last weekend marked the closing for the 10-day run of the North Carolina State Fair.  Did any of our readers get to Raleigh for the big event?  What could be better than elephant ears, turkey drumsticks, deep fried moon pies, demolition derbies, sheep, goats, cows and chickens, to mention but a few of the attractions.  We are particularly impressed with the “Farm Animal Frenzy” contest, for which schools must assemble an animal out of a sawhorse.  This year’s theme was “recycled materials” and the winning chicken (see photo) used slide-projector-bulb eyes, with plastic shopping bags woven into “features”.  Wouldn’t it be fun to see an entry from our neck of the woods?  Click here to see all the entries.  The Midway will empty your pockets of change but the lure of “whack-a-mole” is pure State Fair fun!

Yes, State Fair means fall is in the air.  Today Around Davidson brings you notes about fall basketball for Davidson College women, a humorous fall report on the Laurie Ann Dennis dilemma, and literary notes of some importance about John Hart and Rosa Shand Cumming.

DC ROUNDBALL AND THEIR NO. 1 FAN

Watch out for Nyra Brannan of The Pines.  She is the No. 1 fan for the Davidson College Women’s Basketball Team. Give her a few minutes and she will talk you into attending a game, buying a T-shirt or season’s tickets and probably having lunch or dinner with the girls.  How wonderful to have a fan like Nyra cheering for you!

Making an appearance at The Pines were the members of the Davidson College women's basketball team with their coach, Annette Watts (front row right) and No. 1 fan, Nyra Brannan (back row, 3d from right).

Nyra got “hooked” on women’s basketball at Davidson some five years ago.  She encouraged others to attend the games and finally got Pines’ Executive Director Eddie Muller enthused enough to drive the retirement community’s bus to home games.  Now an ever larger group of residents don their team t-shirts and make the trip to Baker Sports Complex to enjoy the games.  There are no assigned seats but most sit behind the team to cheer them on.

Last Thursday evening The Pines hosted a “Meet the Girls” event when team coach, Annette Watts, brought the women’s team to the Davidson Room.  She introduced each player as well as the other coaches before punch and cookies were served.  Residents got to visit with the players and coaches with lots of hugs and well wishes exchanged for the upcoming season which begins with an exhibition game on November 8 at 2 p.m. against Winthrop.

The girls on the team are as enthusiastic about Nyra as she is about them.  It is just one more instance of a caring person making a difference.  Go, Nyra!

LAURIE ANN MEETS LAURIE ANN

What’s in a name?  Plenty! Especially if another person has the same name as yours, same middle name, lives in the same small town, moved here from a much colder climate, has school age children, plays the piano just like you, is active in many organizations, uses the same pharmacy, same doctor and even has the same dark hair and attractive smile!

Laurie David (at left) met Laurie Joe at the Barger farm. They both enjoyed learning all that they share in common!

But wait!  Only one writes for DavidsonNews.net!!  That is Laurie Dennis of McConnell.  The other Laurie Dennis lives off East Rocky River Road just beyond the town limit.  Both these ladies have a middle name of “Ann” and have been called Laurie Ann by maternal grandmothers.  One has two children; one has four.  They keep crossing paths with Davidson Walks, Davidson Parks and Rec, and other community activities.

What to do?  Gotta go back to the archives of 30 years ago when well-known brothers in our area, Bob and Fred Washam, each married a Sarah and to avoid confusion wisely adopted wifely names of “Sarah-Bob” and “Sarah-Fred.”  We can do that:  Laurie Ann Dennis of McConnell is married to Joe Dennis, Davidson College Professor, and has two children, Christy, 12, and Kerry, 10.  We will call her “Laurie-Joe.”

Laurie Ann Dennis of Rocky Hollow Road is married to David Dennis, a water quality assessor for Mecklenburg County. They have four sons, David Dennis III, Evan, Justin and Trevor, ranging in age from 15 months to 7 years.  We will call her “Laurie-David.”

Everybody clear?  Study the photo of these two Laurie Ann’s and smile.  You will see them both around town involved in their children’s lives and in community activities.  Just remember:  You can’t go wrong.  When you see one, just greet her with a “Hi, Laurie” – or if you are really good, try “Laurie-Joe” or “Laurie-David!”

LITERARY NOTES

John Hart in the News

Award-winning author John Hart

Around Davidson on Oct. 20 mentioned we would bring results of John Hart’s nomination for an award in London.  Kudos to this young award-winning author who received the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award in London on Oct. 21, less than a week after speaking at the Combined Book Clubs of Davidson Tea held at The Pines.

The Steel Dagger Award recognizes a good thriller.  In awarding the prize to John Hart for his latest novel, “The Last Child,” the Crime Writers’ Association said it was an “accomplished and ambitious piece of Southern Gothic…a cracking and original story.”  We couldn’t agree more. The prize carries a monetary award of 2,000 British pounds.  Congratulations to John, a Davidson College graduate, and more importantly a relative of Davidson residents Mark Stanback, Nancy Popkin and Judy Johnson.  We are proud of John!

Novello Honors Rosa Shand

October is synonymous with the Novello Festival in Charlotte.  This year the Novello Festival Press named five Carolina authors as finalists for the 2010 Novello Literary Award.  One of the five is our very own Rosa Shand Cumming.  In a departure from previous years when a single Carolina author’s work was chosen, the committee this year will publish an anthology with submissions from Rosa and four other writers.  The 2010 anthology will include fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Rosa Shand Cumming

Rosa’s selections will be chosen from a collection of stories set in Africa (primarily in Uganda), called “When, After Dark, on a Road Outside Kampala.”  These stories are all fiction but based on experiences Rosa had while living in Uganda with her family from 1961-1971 in the decade following the country’s independence.

As Rosa commented, “The sixties was a lively decade to be in Africa (or perhaps anywhere). Americans read the African news and wondered how we could possibly survive. Africans read the American news and wondered how we could possibly return to the United States. We lived through transformations: the first year under the British, the next eight years under Obote (years of independence and of, it often seemed, great creativity, in a spot where persons from the ‘first, second, and third’ worlds were acting rather cooperatively), and finally, the last year under the madness of Amin. Nevertheless, we always felt the years spent at the University of East Africa (Makerere) – with so many of its members drawn from far-flung corners of the world – was the most cosmopolitan spot on earth. Possibly it’s still that way.”

Congratulations to Rosa on her Novello honor.  How amazing it is that we have so many residents with such varied talents living in Davidson!

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