What is Steve Weaver doing on his knees in the Davidson Public Library? The answer can be found below...

It may be raining today but just think of the past weekend with it wonderful warm sunshine and blue skies.  How perfect for the FLW College Bass Fishing Tournament.  Hard to remember when our Town Green was so covered with big rigs!  (Just wish they had a tournament for adults – maybe just seniors – who love to fish.)  Glad they brought their own Porta-Jons, too, since the library’s bathrooms were closed.

Today Around Davidson has a note about the Davidson Library’s bathroom renovation, a reminder about this Friday’s musical interlude with Cynthia Lawing and Harriette Line Thompson and a visit with Judy Schuh and her sister, Ellen Boso.  Also we need to congratulate David Boraks and his staff for the wonderful new site page for DavidsonNews.net.  Things just keep getting better as we strive to make Davidson News the “best local news source” for each of you.

DUO PIANOS – NOT TO BE MISSED

Most of our readers probably know about Davidson College’s monthly musical interludes performed during the “lunch hour” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Tyler-Tallman Hall of the Sloan Music Center on campus.

Harriette Line Thompson

This month’s interlude is a must for your Friday the 13th schedule.  Our own Cynthia Lawing will perform works for duo piano with Charlotte’s Harriette Line Thompson.

Who is Harriette?  She is an amazing 85-year old who still performs as a pianist and runs marathons!  She also is a lifelong Arts advocate, the devoted wife of retired Judge Sydnor Thompson and mother of five children, one of whom is Kathy Line, a Davidson College graduate.  (And retired Judge Thompson is active as well, handling mediation and arbitration every day in his office at Parker, Poe and Bernstein.) Check out her bio link on a Queens University website.

So be sure to mark this Friday on your calendar to catch this “dynamic duo” playing classical music on duo pianos.  This event is free and open to the public.  See you there.

BATHROOM DUTY

Davidson has always had a public library.  The books have lived in various locations – most recently where Artisan Builders is located – before moving into a permanent spot on the Town Green.  Opened in 1995, our Davidson Public Library is a restful place to browse the latest best sellers, read a magazine or reserve computer time.  The bathrooms, however, have not held up well and their unsanitary appearance caused much comment.

Steve Weaver (l) and Jeff Mullis, sub-contractors for Burgess Supply in Huntersville, spent a week putting a new tile floor in the Davidson Library.

Money is tight for the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County (PLCMC) system but after considerable “nagging” from interested citizens in our town, they agreed to pay more than half of the bathroom renovation costs if our Town, Davidson College and the library’s endowment would contribute the remaining dollars and/or labor.  Hooray!  Later this week stop by our library and admire  the new porcelain floor tiles (from Burgess Supply in Huntersville – the lead photo with this story is of tilers Steve Weaver and Jeff Mullis), sinks and countertops (courtesy of Davidson College) and stall partitions (from Burgess Sales and Supply in Charlotte).  What a difference not only for library patrons but also for those who need restrooms during the many events on the Green. Now you can jump for joy every time you flush!!

(And just a note about the interesting cost sharing mentioned above.  Our library sits on college land.  The building belongs to the town.  PLCMC rents the building from the town and owns the books and furnishings.  Our town raised more money than needed in 1995 to augment the building costs and placed the extra dollars in the Foundation for the Carolinas, making possible annually many upgrades to our facility, with permission from an Endowment Board chaired by John Kelton.  Sound confusing?  It is.  But the bottom line is to say thank you to our library staff and patrons for their patience doing without bathrooms for the past 10 days, thanks to the college, town and endowment committee for their support of this project and special thanks to PLCMC for finding considerable cash for this renovation.  Also no need to worry, the walls will be painted very soon to make the job complete.)

SISTER ACT

What fun for Judy Schuh, recently retired, to have her sister, Ellen Boso, visit for ten days and be free to entertain her as well as celebrate Ellen’s birthday.  Judy and Ellen grew up in Indianapolis, daughters of Hal and Linea Swigart.  Judy married Merle Schuh and moved to Davidson in 1975 when Merle took a job teaching at Davidson College.  Ellen married Fred Boso and has lived near Indianapolis, in Fishers, IN, for the past 20 years.

Ellen Boso (l) and Judy Schuh spent a wonderful week catching up as only sisters can.

Shortly after arriving in Davidson, Merle and Judy took Ellen and Fred to Charleston for the Halloween weekend.  They enjoyed marvelous sunny weather, took in all the sights, and found a Ghost Tour of the Battery area on Halloween most interesting.  Returning to Davidson, Ellen and Fred were entertained by numerous friends and took advantage of our warm temperatures to have a picnic at the Lake Campus of the college.

A highlight for Ellen and Fred was spending three evenings last week at the Sprint car races held at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  Fred previously was a member of Outlaw racing so he particularly enjoyed reliving the “glory days” of speeding around the track.

Always it is fun to have family visit and especially now that Ellen and Judy and their husbands are all retired, these four can plan each day however they wish!

NOTEWORTHY NOTE

Kudos to David Boraks who started DavidsonNews.net a few years ago when he saw the need for a better informed  citizenry in our town.  Has he succeeded?  Very, very well.  Almost daily someone is added to the hundreds of readers – someone who mentions that they just found the site and how delighted they are to add it to their computer favorites.  Now the site is upgraded making it easier to follow stories, access specific news items quickly and include more eye catching visuals.

Can DavidsonNews.net please everyone?  Not a chance – but for those among our readers who take one look at the new web page and express discontent, remember that change is hard.  Give yourself a few weeks to become familiar with the placement of content and you will be able to join the vast number of readers who continue to applaud the fine job David and his staff are doing.

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