Yes, this is the last Thursday in January 2011 and we quickly are coming up on Valentine’s Day with some favorite “love stories” to include in Around Davidson.  That being the case, it is best to catch up now with the holiday trips of the Faggs and Merrifields.  In addition we have an update on the Gilpin family.

Dave and Barbara Fagg

BABYSITTING IN ARKANSAS

Until recently, the four sons of Dave and Barbara Fagg all lived in North Carolina so the senior Faggs were able to see their children and grandchildren often.  Then, two years ago, their youngest, Jon, moved his wife, Amanda, and their three children from Raleigh to Fayetteville, Ark., taking a job as associate athletic director for the University of Arkansas … switching from the Wolfpack to the Razorbacks!

Since the University of Arkansas had a January date with Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, Barbara and Dave spent a week in Fayetteville taking care of Jon Madison (12) and twins, Reed and Ellie (9), while Jon and Amanda traveled to New Orleans for the football  festivities.  Due to fly from Charlotte on Dec. 31, the Faggs were delayed by tornadoes in Arkansas but got there in plenty of time to celebrate New Year’s Day with Jon and his family.

Sorry to report that the Arkansas Razorbacks did not come away with a Sugar Bowl win but the competition with the Buckeyes was enjoyed by all.  For Barbara and Dave, it gave them a wonderful excuse to spend a week with their grandchildren.  The family is very happy in Fayetteville. The children love their neighborhood and schools.  Amanda has taken a job as an aide in a local public school.

Barbara and Dave reluctantly packed their suitcases and flew home on Jan. 9 arriving in Charlotte just hours before our snow and ice.  Perfect timing to miss the tornadoes going west and the crippling snow returning east.

Enjoying a mini vacation in Barcelona are (l-r) Brian, Kelly and Peter Merrifield

HOLA! BARCELONA!

Christmas tradition for Jim and Ingrid Merrifield is to take the family on a trip after Christmas Day.  With their four children either working or in college, it is the one time when all can plan some vacation or school break.  Their daughter, Kelly (27), lives in Washington, D.C. and works with the Park Service as an historic preservationist.  Oldest son, David (25), has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and works for Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis.  Their younger sons, Peter (22) and Brian (20) are in college.  Peter is a senior at NCSU;  Brian is a junior at Colgate.

This year the family left on Dec. 26 taking the direct USAir flight to London.  There they visited with friends for a few days and enjoyed the Gauguin exhibit at the Tate Modern gallery. One afternoon the Merrifield fellas took in a rugby match at Twickenham Stadium.

Warmer temperatures greeted them later in the week when they continued to Barcelona on Dec. 29.  The found the city bright and beautiful. The family toured the major sites and were especially glad that Peter made good use of his Spanish skills.  Perhaps the highlight of their long New Year’s weekend in Spain was a cooking class they all participated in and then sat down and enjoyed the results of their labor with a delicious dinner.  The family returned to the States on Jan. 3.

Celebrating Jon Brock Gilpin's graduation from UNC-W are (l-r) Lisa and Dave Gilpin, Dad Jim, Jon Brock, Mom Shirley, Lauren Jackson Coplan with baby Sammy in sling

CATCHING UP WITH THE GILPINS

One of the benefits of living in one place for more than three decades is to see the one-time toddlers you knew grow up, marry and begin with toddlers of their own.  Such is the case of Lauren Jackson Coplan, daughter of Shirley Jackson Gilpin.  In fact, a call to Shirley about a flute performance brought me up to date not only on Lauren but also on Jon Brock Gilpin, the son of Shirley and Jim Gilpin, and Jim’s son, Dave Gilpin.

Where to start?  Shirley is well known as a flutist, teaching flute at Queens University and at her home in Davidson.  Jim Gilpin has owned Environmental Consult Co. (INENCO, Inc.) in Mooresville for the past 27 years.  Jon Brock Gilpin graduated from UNC-Wilmington last June with a degree in Business and Film Studies.  He continues to live in Wilmington and works as a free lance writer with a special interest in sports writing.

Jeff and Lauren Coplan celebrate Samantha's first birthday!

Dave Gilpin and his wife, Lisa, are attorneys and live in Ballantyne with their young sons, Zach and Liam.  Busy times when they all get together but especially when Lauren and her husband, Jeff Coplan, arrive from Nashville, Tenn., with their beautiful daughter, Samantha.  Sam or Sammy, as they call her, was born in November 2009 and this year everyone gathered in Tennessee to celebrate Thanksgiving and Sam’s first birthday – which fell on Thanksgiving Day.

A year old and Sammy is already thinking piano!

Born in 1969, Lauren grew up in Davidson surrounded by the flute music of her mother and the trumpet playing of her dad, Robert Jackson.  She began piano lessons at the age of five with Davidson’s Cynthia Lawing.  An accomplished piano student, Lauren left Davidson after high school to be in Boston and graduated from the College of Fine Arts at Boston University with a degree in piano performance.  She studied in the master’s program at Mannes College of Music in NYC and taught there on the music faculty for 12 years before moving with her Canadian husband, Jeff Coplan, to Nashville in 2007.

A music producer and song writer, Jeff’s move to Nashville with his family was to develop and produce the band Love and Theft which opened for Taylor Swift in 2009 and Tim McGraw in 2010.  Now that Love and Theft is well established, Jeff is working with a sister’s all-girl band, The Lunabelles.  Congratulations to Jeff on winning his first ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) award this year.

ASCAP awards. Spring 2010

Now Nashville – East Nashville, actually – is home for Jeff, Lauren and Samantha.  The slower pace of the south suits them perfectly. Jeff has a recording studio right in their backyard.  Lauren has joined the faculty of W.O. Smith Music School for low-income children and already has exceptional piano students.  She is also involved with the Chamber Music Society of Nashville, performs with musicians of the Nashville Symphony, does some lecture performance at Vanderbilt, is a pianist/organist for a neighborhood church and has private piano students as well.

Busy, fulfilling days for a most talented young former Davidsonian.  Lauren sums up her life as a wife, mother and performer so well with the following words:  “The only thing missing now is finding a bit more time for my own practicing and performances but each time I mourn those days when I could sit at the piano uninterrupted for hours on end, I easily think I wouldn’t trade my life now with Samantha for anything.  I have so much respect for mothers everywhere throughout time!  I now know the incredible blessings and joy it brings and also the daily self sacrifice, but what a beautiful, beautiful thing!”

Lauren, we are so glad to catch up with you, Jeff, Sammy and the rest of your family.  Do keep in touch.

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