Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Hope each of you is sporting a wee bit of green so you don’t get pinched! Perfect weather for any outdoor activity or even lounging indoors looking out at the budding trees and sprouting dandelions.
Happy news today about Peter and Boo Hess’s first visit to their granddaughter as well as happy smiles for Clara Gerdes as she performs at the piano in Greenville and Sanford, N.C. In addition there is a report of a road trip to Amelia Island by a few Davidsonians and a note about an upcoming golf tournament honoring Dick Sanderson.
Clara Gerdes is right at home on the piano bench!
A MARVELOUS MUSICAL TALENT
Congratulations to Clara Gerdes, daughter of Mary Womble and Philipp Gerdes of Dogwood Lane. Fourteen-year-old Clara competed last weekend in the East Carolina University Pre-College Young Artist Competition playing three compositions for the piano including a Bach Fugue, a Samuel Barber Nocturne, and an Etude “The Tempest” by Sergei Lyapunov. Clara was up against more than a dozen other 13-14 year old students playing three pieces of their choosing as long as the playing time did not exceed 12 minutes.
Based on her playing of the three pieces, Clara was awarded first prize as well as being announced as the winner of the best performance of a composition by an American composer (Barber) and winner of the ECU Keyboard Alumni Prize for the best performance of a single composition (Lyapunov Etude). Talk about a clean sweep! How exciting!
Following the Saturday competition, Clara and her family drove to Sanford where she performed the Bach D minor concerto that evening with the Sanford Symphony under the baton of Tara Villa. (Tara, who also conducts the Davidson College Symphony, is in her second year with the Sanford Symphony and had invited Clara to play with them.) And did we mention that Clara repeated the performance the next afternoon – again in Sanford with the symphony.
The good news – in addition to the honors for Clara – is that she and her family got to spend the night in Sanford with her grandmother, Jane Barringer (Mary Womble’s mother). Her mother and dad were there as well as her sisters, Martha (12) and Georgia (6) and her uncle came with his family from Washington, D.C. It was an exciting weekend for all the family.
Kudos to Clara for her outstanding piano performances – of course, without a sheet of music in front of her. Hardly nervous, she has been well coached by Davidsonian Cynthia Lawing and it showed. Clara practices piano a few hours each days but also finds time for cello lessons with Alan Black and organ lessons with Jane Cain. Quite a talent! When not at her studies or music lessons, she enjoys biking, running and photography. We expect to hear a lot more about Clara and her future successes.
A happy Peter Hess holding his granddaughter, Ana Lucia, while Mom Karina looks on
MEET ANA LUCIA
Around Davidson introduced Ana Lucia Hess, daughter of Karina and Jamie Hess, with a baby announcement back before Christmas. But since this beautiful young lady and her parents live in La Paz, Bolivia, grandparents Boo and Peter Hess had to wait until spring break at Davidson College before they were free to travel to South America and see Ana Lucia in person.
Not too hard to guess that “Ana Lu” already has her Grandpa Peter wound around her little finger. Grandma Boo reported that Peter was dubbed the “baby whisperer” during their week in La Paz since he had the magic touch to calm her down when she was the least bit fretful. (Sort of amazing that Peter didn’t smuggle her in his backpack upon their return to Davidson.)
Peter and Boo Hess went from visiting on Skype to visiting in person!
This was Boo and Peter’s first trip to Bolivia and they loved the city of La Paz, the highest capital in the world with the airport at 14,000 feet. The city itself is about 11-12,000 feet so the altitude takes a bit of getting used to. Boo mentioned that the sun is very bright, the air pristine and the sky SO blue. She and Peter were pleased to find no pollution, no traffic noise, beautiful mountains, cobbled streets and paved highways in the city. Despite their travel time being in the rainy season, the Hesses found beautiful weather whenever they were outside and were delighted to be introduced to Bolivia.
Now Grandma Boo and Grandpa Peter have to wait a few months before seeing their first grandchild again – but in the meantime, they stay in touch many times a week via Skype. How wonderful is modern technology?
Brian Cotter drove down to support his Dad Tom as a judge for the show
MUSEUM QUALITY ART (That Rolls Down the Road)
Mention old cars, fine cars, fast cars – cars in general – and you have to think of Davidson resident Tom Cotter. A member of the Board of Directors for the 16th Annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Tom has been talking this renowned car show for years so neighbor, Hugh Barger, just had to take a road trip south to Florida to check it out last weekend. The festivities included a 50 mile parade of cars around Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach on Friday, an auction on Saturday and a display of over 300 cars covering 100 years of motoring on Sunday. The auction and Sunday display took place on the grounds and golf course of the Ritz Carlton of Amelia Island. Strolling the acres of vintage Maseratis, Duesenbergs, Cadillacs, Allards and Packards in the bright Florida sunshine with temperatures nearing 80 degrees, one could not help but admire the time and expense required to refurbish these beautiful vehicles.
Ready to test drive a Bugatti Veyron - just don't ask the price!
Visiting with the owners and listening to their tales of finding cars in barns, painstakingly restoring them and now driving them for pleasure was fascinating. No chance to test drive one of these “museum pieces,” but Saturday’s showing of current Aston Martins, Rolls Royces, Maybachs and Ferraris welcomed test drives! Hard to go 190 mph. on the country lanes of Amelia Island but hey! one can dream!
Hats off to Tom Cotter for the long hours and hard work organizing this marvelous car show. It was nice to visit with Tom and Pat’s son, Brian, who had driven down from Wake Forest University for the weekend. Need information about the 2012 Concours d’Elegance, just stop Tom and ask him. (Or check his latest articles about “Cunninghams” posted online in the NYTimes on March 11 and March 13, 2011.)
Thanks to Deborah Young for this "Save the Date" featuring (l-r) Amy, Trey, Dick, Dawn and Melissa
NOTEWORTHY NOTE
Lots of sales and benefits coming up in the next weeks but we picked one today for you to “Save the Date.” It is the 7th Annual Dick Sanderson “Driving4Life” golf tournament and dinner to be held April 28 at the River Run Country Club. This event was started by friends of Dick Sanderson after his 2004 diagnosis of ALS. Dick, his wife, Dawn, and their three children continue to be an inspiration to us all with their positive outlook. Chair of the event is Greg O’Brien who reminds us that people can get more information and register on the web page: dicksandersondriving4life.org.
Send us your news
Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.
