An early touch of spring!

Hope each of you has recovered from Sunday night’s Oscar ceremonies and are ready for “Leap Day” tomorrow.  Apparently there will be a number of special sales concentrating on the number “29,” such as hotel rooms for $29 and $29 store coupons.  Be sure to watch the newspaper ads and the Internet promotions.  We all could use gas for $2.29 a gallon … but it looks like that won’t happen for a while.

For today, however, while thinking about Leap Year, you can join in the observation of National Pancake Day by visiting IHOP for a free short stack of their famous buttermilk pancakes.  All IHOP asks in return is a voluntary donation to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.  This is the 7^th year IHOP has served free pancakes on Feb. 29 raising almost $8 million dollars for charities.

Around Davidson today visits with a few pink flamingos, brings news from our Acting Postmistress Sheri Cole, hears from Sylvia Schnople about her five weeks in Bali, and reminds gardeners about spring planting.

A Touch of Pink for Carol Quillen

A TOUCH OF PINK FOR PRESIDENT QUILLEN

Those pesky pink birds with the long necks have gone “high brow” today adorning the lovely lawn in front of Davidson College’s President’ home.  Someone paid the big bucks ($20) to have Carol Quillen’s yard “flocked.”  Nice touch from an admirer or two who put their dollars together for a good cause.  Connor House on the Davidson Campus is raising money for Friends for an Earlier Breast Cancer Test (FRIENDS), their annual fund raiser which culminates with a dinner on March 24. Email connorbosombuddies@gmail.com to find out how to “flock” a friend or neighbor. It is a sure way to get smiles from passers-by.  (LINK to 2/23 AD)

POST OFFICE PLANTS AND PARKING

Real McCoy Landscaping trimmed all the plants

Improving an Eyesore?

What a surprise earlier this month to see Jonathan McCoy of “Real McCoy Landscapes and Lighting” trimming the plants on the south side of our Davidson Post Office.  It turns out that the east side of the post office is maintained by the town but the south side is the responsibility of the post office.  Jonathan has had the landscaping contract for only a few months but got right to work trimming the shrubs and pollarding the hollies (a system in which the upper branches of a tree are removed, promoting a dense head of foliage and branches) up against the building.

The north side of the parking lot is for postal customers only.

A mini conference with Jonathan and our Acting Postmaster Sheri Cole regarding the landscaping was very informative.  Jonathan would like to improve the looks of the parking lot entrance (who wouldn’t?).  Sheri has no funds (no surprise!).  How about an Eagle Scout project to solve the problem?  Daniel Griffeth, a scout in Davidson’s Boy Scout Troop 58, would like to address not only the landscaping in his Eagle proposal but also install a Flag Disposal box under the flag pole.  Residents needing to discard a torn or tattered American flag could place it in the box for later burning by the scouts.  Hats off to Daniel for these good ideas.  Around Davidson will keep you up to date on his plans and progress.

Davidson will soon have a "fleet" of these trucks

Parking and Saturday Hours

We all know that the U.S. Post Office is not operating in the black but for safety and cost effectiveness of its rural route carriers, it will soon supply those small white postal panel trucks to staff making home deliveries.  Sheri Cole commented that to make room for the trucks in the postal parking lot on the west side of our post office, the rural carriers will need to park all day in spaces now set aside for postal patrons.  The dumpster has been moved creating additional parking  but approximately five of these spaces will be taken up by the carriers’ personal cars.  We can all live with that Monday through Friday but Saturday morning the parking lot at the post office becomes gridlock when residents who want to check on mail compete with customers for the Farmer’s Market.

Sure we all can be patient or come later in the day but the downside of this dilemma is that our post office is seeing declining revenue during the 10-1 Saturday window hours.  What next?  Probably no more Saturday hours.  Hard to have our cake and eat it too.  Perhaps NOT parking in post office spaces while attending the Davidson Farmer’s Market would be a good strategy and a help to those needing to buy stamps or send a parcel and to keep our Saturday post office “counter” hours.

In-between touring temples, Sylvia got to see the beautiful terraced rice paddies in Bali.

BALI HIGH

Remember the tune “Bali High” from South Pacific?  Sylvia Schnople knows it well having just returned from five weeks of a “high” of theater workshops in Bali.  (Bali, with a capital city of Denpasar, lies in the South Pacific between Java and Lombok.)  Sylvia, a theatre teacher in the Catawba County Schools, traveled with Dell Arte’ International, a professional theatre and theatre training program located in Blue Lake, CA.  She applied to the program a year ago and was accepted for group of 16 theater professionals from the US, Canada, India and Denmark who spent their time in Bali studying shadow puppetry, mask carving, Balinese dance and culture.  In addition to daily classes in dance and puppetry, they also participated in workshops with noted Balinese theater historians, carvers and faculty from New York University.

Balinese shadow puppets

Now Sylvia is working on incorporating puppets and masks into a project that will begin in the fall touring schools, libraries and other interested parties – including summer camps in the Lake Norman and Catawba County area.  Already she has held a workshop on what she learned in Bali.  Sylvia teaches theater in Catawba County’s Bunker Hill High School and River Bend Middle School.  She commutes daily and in her own words, “loves the moments when I turn onto Exit 30!”  For the past 12 years she has taught in the Catawba County Schools and before that was on the theater faculty at Austin Peay State University and Tennessee State University.  Originally from Madison, N.C., Sylvia is married to Joey Schnople who works for Scholastic Education.  They and their two dogs, Jack and Peeps, have called Davidson home for only a year but like being involved in town activities including the Farmer’s Market and Know Your Farms local food program.  Both have completed Davidson Civics 101. Local theater is a favorite past time as is kayaking on the lake.

Sylvia now owns this mask which was carved and blessed in Bali.

Joey is already active in designing sound for the Davidson Community Players.  Look soon for Sylvia’s name in connection with theater in Davidson.  We welcome this talented couple to our town.

THOUGHTS OF SPRING

These almost balmy late February days make one think about spring planting.  Garden shops are promoting fertilizer and mulch to spruce up our grass and shrubs.  Bedding plants will soon be available but area horticulturists remind us that the last anticipated frost date for our area is April 15.  Prepare your garden beds and planters by turning over the soil, adding lime as needed, working in compost and getting ready for spring.  Vegetables like potatoes, sugar snaps, lettuces and spinach can go in early but flowering bedding plants need to wait on the Horticulture Club’s spring sale at North Mecklenburg High School scheduled for Saturday, April 21, from 8-12 school’s greenhouse.

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