Brilliant fall leaves

Fall is a beautiful time of year and a perfect time to dust off your cameras and get some shots of fall leaves.  The North Carolina leaves are slow to show their colors but Ohio is at its peak as your correspondent found last weekend during a trip to Cleveland.

Other residents of Davidson have had their suitcases packed and cameras in hand.  Sherman and Nancy Waite-Kahn toured England and Scotland while Russ and Nancy Gavitt stayed stateside.  We have their “trip reports” with photos today.  We also have news of Carol Barber’s recent trip to Kew Gardens, N.Y., to celebrate birthdays with her twin granddaughters.

Sherman and Nancy visiting Upton Hall, home of the British Horological Institute, located just outside London

TOURING WITH SHERMAN AND NANCY

Most residents of Davidson have seen Sherman Kahn zipping around town in his burgundy Scion with magnetic “posters” on the side advertising his Lake Norman Clock Service.  Sherman is the owner and operator of this unique service and tends ailing time pieces for anyone who calls.  Sherman, a medical doctor, moved to Davidson in 2001 with his wife, Nancy, when he retired in Winston-Salem as Director of Public Health for Forsyth County.

A person who always loved to “tinker,” Sherman had opportunity to work with antique clocks thanks to his wife and mother-in-law’s time pieces.  Self taught as a clock repairman, but with additional training from the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors group in Pennsylvania, Sherman’s hobby soon flourished into a business. (See more on the Lake Norman Clock Service home page)

So indeed it was a unique opportunity for Sherman and his wife, Nancy Waite-Kahn, to join 33 other clock and watch collectors and repair experts on a National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Tour of England and Scotland. This tour, organized and directed by a British watch collector, included five days in London touring the clock and watch collections of several museums, including the Clockmakers Museum.  On one of those days, Sherman joined other clock “aficionados” to ascend the towers of five London churches, including St. Martins in the Fields and St. Paul’s Cathedral, often climbing narrow wooden ladders to view the massive mechanisms and weights used to power these old tower clocks.

Watch (front and back)was made for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg in 1813 by Sigismund Rentschz, a watchmaker from Brunswick working in London.

Traveling north in England and Scotland, tour participants visited additional family estates and castles which displayed beautiful furnishings, paintings, and of course many clocks.  One of the favorite stops was the British Horological Institute, where the group not only viewed many prominent early British timepieces, but also had an opportunity to meet several notable British horologists.  (To save you a trip to the dictionary, “horology” is defined as (1) the science of measuring time, or (2) the art of making instruments for indicating time.) While learning about British clocks and watches, Nancy and Sherman were delighted to see up-close two watches made for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg (one of these two watches is shown, front and back, in the attached photos).

The remainder of the trip took the Kahns to Scotland where they stayed in Perth, visiting Dundee and Edinburgh.  En route back to London, they again visited museums and castles, and the towns of Manchester, Birmingham and Coventry.

Saying goodbye to tour participants, Sherman and Nancy flew to Belfast where they spent a few days on their own touring Northern Ireland, enjoying the homeland of Nancy’s ancestors.  They later traveled to Galway and the Connemara peninsula, ending the trip with a few days in Dublin.  They particularly enjoyed the beautiful scenery, good food and friendly people.

Hurricane Beach at the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

TRAVELS WITH THE GAVITTS

When you talk about River Run residents, Russ and Nancy Gavitt, you have to mention photography.  Both love outdoor photography and recently had a chance to add to their photo collection when they took a trip to Northern Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Maine and Northern Vermont.

Fall at Queechee Lakes gorge in Vermont

The Apostle Islands and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan have been on their wish list of places to visit for many years and their trip was not disappointing.  They were most enthusiastic about the vivid colors they found in the Pictured Rocks National Seashore and in the crystal clear water of Lake Superior.   They felt that the beauty there provided images that could not be captured anywhere else in America.

While in Michigan the Gavitts were able to stay two nights in the historic Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island in the bedroom designed personally by Jacqueline Kennedy.  The room afforded Nancy and Russ with wonderful views of the hotel gardens and Lake Huron.

What do Russ and Nancy do with all the photos they capture on their memory cards?  They have a “cottage industry” using the images on note cards and enlargements sold locally at Main Street Books, Homewood Suites, Cats on Main and in the Davidson College Bookstore on campus.  Next time you are at one of these businesses, stop and ask about the Gavitt photos.  You will be impressed!

Nora Chadwin gives her twin sister, Lucy, a hug as Lucy tries to float away with their birthday balloons.

HOORAY FOR GRANDCHILDREN

That is certainly the sentiment for Carol Barber!  Any excuse is a good one for Carol to travel to NYC and visit her twin granddaughters, Lucy and Nora, at their home in Kew Gardens, N.Y., and of course, to spend time with their parents, Dean Chadwin and Alleen Barber, Carol’s daughter.  The reason for last week’s visit was to help with the fourth birthday celebration of the twins.  It was a wonderful party with all the merriment that being four years old brings.  Now Carol is back at her cottage at The Pines with happy memories and a chance to put her feet up!

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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.