Warm sunny days bring bright pansy faces!
Wow! Two days of warm sunny weather at the end of January! How nice to see gym shorts and t-shirts all around town. But be mindful of Mother Nature. She will be sure to send us a few more wintry blasts to make use of Christmas mittens and scarves.
Holiday gatherings make us remember how much we cherish time spent with families. Today Around Davidson focuses on Davidsonians June Robb and Karen Myers who as adults found new family members. We also highlight two younger Davidsonians, Jason McRee and Kate Barger, who have come “home to roost.”
SECRETS REVEALED
"Sisters are like different flowers from the same garden," as Karen Myers (center) found out when first meeting her Engdahl siblings (l-r) Donna, Anita, Deborah and Brenda.
Imagine the shock, surprise and sheer delight in suddenly finding out that you have four sisters? That is what happened to Karen Myers last year. Her story was recently told in the Charlotte Observer and recounted how last summer Karen, now 65 years old, found the obituary of her father, Leroy Engdahl, whom she had never met. The obituary included the names of his four daughters. Karen wrote to each resulting in a Christmas time meeting this month in North Carolina – an Engdahl girls’ reunion.
Brenda Engdahl came from Houston, TX. Anita Engdahl Goodman from Beaumont, TX, and Donna Engdahl Hampton from Dallas. Deborah Engdahl Hencke traveled from Pepperell, MA. How excited they were to learn about their oldest sister, Karen, and now plan to see a lot more of each other – even thinking about a cruise later this year.
Karen was able to share the good news of her newest grandchild, Henry Wiatt Myers, who was born on September 17, 2011. Henry, the youngest of Karen’s sons, Andrew, and his wife, Jessica, joins Jackson (11), Katie (9), and Sammy (5) at their home in Warrenton, VA. Lots to celebrate for Karen Myers!
From l-r, Five devoted sisters: Heather deVries, currently retired and cruising the West Coast on a sailboat, Honor Wayne of Norfolk, England, Gerry Wright of Somerset, England, Linda Kiggell of Shropshire, England, and June Robb of Davidson.
June Robb
For June Robb, it was just the reverse from Karen. June and her three sisters, Heather, Gerry and Linda, suddenly realized that there was a fifth sister in 2002. In June’s own words: “My father was previously married and had a daughter, Honor; then he married my mother and had another four daughters. We were never told about his previous marriage and the fact that we had another sister until a few years ago. My father’s cousin, Graham, sent my sister, Gerry, a copy of the family tree, not realizing that we didn’t know about my father’s first marriage and subsequent child.”
“My father, at that time, was no longer living, and my mother explained that she had been sworn to secrecy – for some reason we cannot fathom! We then were able to trace Honor through the family records centre in London and my two sisters living in England immediately met up with her. She has become a firm fixture in the family ever since, settling into her new role as big sister as if she had always been part of our lives. She knew nothing about her father’s family so it was a big surprise to find out she had four sisters who really wanted her in our family. It has been eight years now and we email each other every day.”
It is somehow very remarkable that two residents of our small town could share stories that are so similar and that make us sit back and delight in their good fortune! Hooray for sisters!
HOME TO ROOST
A number of our young people have grown up in Davidson, gone off to college, found employment elsewhere and then are drawn back to their roots. Something about small town living appeals to so many of us. Jason McRee and Kate Barger were classmates in preschool, elementary school in Davidson, junior high at Alexander and high school at North Mecklenburg High School. Each went on to North Carolina State University.
Jason McRee has his "arms full" with four year old Jack (l) and seven year old Will
Let’s hear from Jason
Jason McRee, younger son of Leonard and Beverly McRee of Davidson, received a degree in Forestry Management and soon landed a job in South Carolina with the State Environmental Agency. For the past five years he has been employed as the Environmental Manager for Waste Management (the largest trash and recycling company in the world) covering Western NC and SC with a main office in Gastonia, but as many young people these days, can work from anywhere as long as his laptop is nearby.
Wanting to be closer to family, Jason moved back to Davidson last summer with his sons, Will (7) and Jack (4). It is a perfect match to be closer to grandparents (“Pops and Nonna”) and to his brother, Jon, sister-in-law Beth, and their children, Lily Grace (9), Sophie (7) and Ben (6). Jason and his sons enjoy camping, kayaking on the lake, and getting involved in boy scouts.
Couldn’t help but ask Jason to share one special memory of growing up in Davidson. Without hesitation he spoke about Ball Day/Town Day back in the 1980’s when you played baseball at McEver Field all day, visited the concession stand for a treat of hot dogs and now-or-laters but still had time between games to walk to the Town Green and enjoy the Town Day activities of cupcake walks, fried fish, games and the always favorite egg drop from the extended fire truck’s hook and ladder. Lots of eggs well scrambled on the participants and pavement but every now and then one would be caught without even a crack in the shell! Great memories!
Right at home in Davidson is Kate Barger
Travels with Kate
Kate Barger, older daughter of Hugh and Brenda Barger of Davidson, earned an undergraduate degree at NCSU and received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from NC State’s Vet School in 2002. After a post graduate year in poultry health in Mexico City at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), Kate took a position with Cobb-Vantress, a division of Tyson and moved to Arkansas where she provided veterinary and technical support to local poultry farms and to companies in Mexico and Central America. Two and one half years ago, Kate was delighted to take a job with the company’s European Division and live in a tiny village near Colchester, England. During these months, she was able to travel through much of the British Isles, Europe, and even parts of Africa.
Lots of travel to Holland gives Kate a chance to visit the Keukenhof Gardens
With a new job description and a chance to locate back in the States, Kate has “landed” in Davidson once more and is living in the New Neighborhood. It is good that she enjoys travel since her new job within Cobb covers poultry health and animal well-being for their global operations in the USA, Europe and Brazil. When not keeping an eye on chickens, Kate enjoys photography, hiking and biking. She misses the footpaths of rural England but is delighted to reconnect with friends in Davidson, walk the greenways and bicycle in the surrounding area.
A favorite memory of Kate’s goes back a few years when she remembers going to the M&M Soda Shop for an orangeade and Murray taking her to the back to watch him squeeze the oranges for her favorite drink. She also has fond memories of hot summer days at The Swimming Hole when Davidson Ice and Fuel brought BIG chunks of ice to cool the top inches of the pool. Lots of tales to tell about “earlier days” in our town!
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Have news for Around Davidson? Write to Brenda Barger at hbarger@bellsouth.net.
