the Clayton Crawl: wine, food and music

A great combination for a VERY FUN event planned for Saturday, July 18, from 6 - 9 pm. Crawl all over downtown Clayton to taste fabulous food and wine and listen to great music!

Taste local wines from Rabun County's award winning vineyards, Tiger Mountain Vineyards and Persimmon Creek Vineyards, along with wines from around the world that are featured on the wine lists of local restaurants

Sample great food from Rabun County's best Restaurants in Rock House Park and Veterans Park

Live music by Robert Ray and David Fry

Buy your Clayton Crawl T-shirt for just $10. The $10 charge includes a souvenir glass (while supplies last). Get your tickets at Prater's on Main Street, Fromage & Other Fine Foods and Grapes & Beans. For more info, please contact Linda or Jenny at Fromageclayton@yahoo.com or call 706.982.1284.

Remember Don't Drink and Drive. . . Crawl (to your favorite accommodations)

Jewelry Sale May 4

Mountain Lakes Medical Center Auxiliary-Volunteers welcomes everyone to the fundraising Jewelry Event, Monday, May 4, 2009, in the Lobby of Mountain Lakes Medical Center Hospital in Clayton, GA.

This gigantic sale of an amazing fashionable collection of magnificent costume jewelry features all jewelry at $5.00 or less! Hundreds of all types of quality jewelry will be presented by Phantasia Jewelry for purchase. The public is warmly invited.

The MLMC Auxiliary, a non-profit organization raises funds to purchase needed equipment for the Hospital. One of the current projects is to purchase wheel chairs for the Hospital. The Auxiliary also donates countless hours of free work in the hospital all to better serve Clayton, Rabun County and the surrounding communities.

The jewelry extravaganza runs from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm on Monday, May 4th. Credit cards. debit cards, check and cash are welcome.

Mountain Lakes Medical Center is located in Clayton, on Ridgecrest Circle off Highway 76 West and Germany Road. For further information, please telephone 706 212-0230.

SECOND ANNUAL WILD AND WOOLLY WINE TASTING & AUTHOR-FIDDLER FESTIVAL

An intriguing and stellar line-up of writers, photographers, fiddlers and poets will help celebrate the month of May and the real beginning of spring in the Southern Appalachians with the 2009 Wild & Woolly Wine Tasting & Author-Fiddler Festival.

A benefit for the Georgia ForestWatch forest conservation organization, the festival is set for 10-5 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at Tiger Mountain Vineyards in Rabun County.

Count on a daylong appreciation of nature, local folkways, fine food and award-winning wine. And get set to lend your ears to presentations from colorful authors and some of the hottest mountain fiddlers in three states. Here is the line-up:

11 a.m. -- Mildred Greear, an environmental activist fierce in her love of family, the earth, and its diverse peoples. Moving Gone Dancing: A Book of Poetry that Took 87 Years to Write.
11:45 a.m. – George Ella Lyon, a “word weaver” and an activist in the fight to resist mountaintop coal removal. She found writing could be exciting, joyful, and comforting in itself. Don’t You Remember?
12:30 p.m. – Thomas Rain Crowe, one of the “Baby Beats,” and a most prolific Appalachian bard, translator, editor, publisher, recording artist and author of twelve books of original and translated works. The End of Eden: Writings of an Environmental Activist.
1- 3 p.m. – Wine tasting, hors d’oeuvres and fiddling by Scottish-style fiddler Marie Dunkle, Tiger, Georgia; old-timey fiddler Kelly Smith, Salem, South Carolina; and John Harper Duncan, maker of down-home Appalachian music, Asheville, North Carolina. Sampling of local and regional food fare, breads, butter, jam and cheeses coordinated by Cindy Halbkat of Sah-ka-na-ga Gardens.
3 p.m. – Kathryn Kolb, another dedicated environmental activist, seen by some critics as one of the best nature photographers in the country, brings us a timeless collection fine art images of natural forms and landscapes, mostly from the Southeast, in both color and black and white. Kathryn Kolb Photographs.
3:45 p.m. – John Lane, expert kayaker and educator who uses wilderness as a critical theme in his poetry, personal essays, and fiction. The Best of the Kudzu Telegraph.
4:20 p.m. – Janie P. Taylor, a Rabun County native who grew up in the lee of the vineyards, relates tales of days gone by. The Storyteller – Tales of Tiger Mountain.

See www.gafw.org for greater detail on the authors and their work and directions to the vineyards.

ForestWatch views this event as an “affordable fundraiser,” and asks for a $20 entry fee per each adult, good for the plant sale or authors and fiddlers, or both. Various items also will be raffled off, including art prints from local artist/photographers Pat Calderone and Peter McIntosh and outdoor gear from Patagonia. Signed copies of authors’ books also will be available for sale.
For further information and to secure advance tickets, call 706-635-8733 or click info@gafw.org, or review the website information at www.gafw.org or www.tigerwine.com.

dance to a Latin beat - Zumba!

Herbs of Spring

Herbs of Spring
Saturday May 9 , 2009, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Spend a glorious spring day with Patricia Kyritsi Howell in the forests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains learning about the many medicinal herbs that thrive in cool spring weather. An herb walk at a nearby forest trail will be followed by a lecture explaining the uses of the herbs seen. This a great class for herbal beginners, experienced herbalists and anyone interested in native plants of our region.

You will learn:

About the ecology of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Basic field botany techniques for identifying plants.
The medicinal uses of over twenty herbs of spring.

For more details about this and other classes, visit www.wildhealingherbs.com
Location: The Center on Warwoman, Pinnacle Drive and Warwoman Road, Clayton, GA 30525.
Cost is 45.00. Pre-registration is required. Visa/MasterCard accepted. Call 706-746-5485 or e-mail info@wildhealingherbs.com

RGNS MADFest April 24-25

Barbara Taylor Brown Book Signing

Sat April 25th
Noon to 2PM, during Celebrate Clayton

Barbara Brown Taylor will be signing An Altar in the World

Rev Taylor was at Prater's 3 years ago with her book Leaving Church. Rev Taylor spent fifteen years in parish ministry and was named one of the twelve most effective preachers in the English speaking world by Baylor University in 1996. She became a professor of religion at Piedmont College in 1998 and also teaches spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. Still a priest in the Episcopal church, Taylor has traveled the world in pursuit of sacred wisdom, finding most of what she needed in her own backyard. She lives on a working organic farm in Habersham county with her husband, Ed.

Prater Books
34 N Main St
Clayton GA
706-212-0014

Spring Wildflower Hike at Hambidge

Enjoy an easy hike led by Louis Schweizer in the beautiful Cove Forest and learn about the native wildflowers of Rabun County. Meet at Hambidge at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 21. The hike will take approximately 2 hours. Cost is $5 per person. Free for Hambidge members. www.hambidge.org
Call Debra Sanders 706.746.7324 to register for the hike or for more information.

Spring Classes at the Globe Gallery

Join the fun!

April 20th - BOOKBINDING for Art books - 6:00 – 8:00 pm – Monday – Fee: $20.
Instructional workshops on a variety of techniques for making handmade books with Peggy McBride.
All tools and basic materials supplied. Bring your own tools/paper, if desired.
May 9th - CLAY BIRDS II Workshop - 2:00-5:00 pm – Saturday – Fee: $45.
Whimsical Birds-on-a-Stick for your garden with local artist, Jean Stewart
April 20th – MOLDMAKING FOR PMC – 2:00 -4:00 pm – Monday – Fee: $25.
Debi Snyder will assist us in making cold molds for use in future Precious Metal Clay (PMC) classes and experiment with non-metal
clays to learn new layering, rolling and cutting techniques to incorporate into silver clay in a future class.
May 7 - BRONZE PMC - 5:30-7:30 pm – Thursday - Fee: -$65.
May 14 - BRONZE PMC - 5:30-7:30 pm – Thursday - Fee: -$65.

PMC classes are all taught by Debi Snyder, local silversmith. Fee includes all supplies, clay and small kit of tools to make a unique silver jewelry piece. We will sculpt, mold, fire and finish our pieces. The kit is yours to keep for future classes. (Previous PMC students get a reduced rate.)
NOTE: Please call ahead for the silver and bronze classes so we will have enough supplies for everyone.

Globe Gallery is located just off 76 East at the corner of Highway 441. Look for the round Globe sign and green steps. Hours open: Thursday-Saturday 10-6 & Sunday 10-4

2nd Annual "Tee Off for CASA" Golf Tournament

The 2nd Annual "Tee Off for CASA" Golf Tournament to benefit Mountain Circuit CASA will be held on Tuesday, May 12, at the Orchard Golf and Country Club.
Call (706) 886-1098 to register to play, sponsor a hole, or contribute gifts for tee bags or prizes.

Tallulah Gorge Grill opens for season!

The Tallulah Gorge Grill
is opening for our Third Season!
April 2
Thursday - Monday
11:00 serving Lunch
706-754-9149
Dinner
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
will begin in May

Rabun Ramble Road Race July 4

Join runners from across the US for the 3rd annual Rabun Ramble Road Race, which will be held on Saturday, July 4 2009 at 7:30 a.m. at the Lake Rabun Pavilion (1897 Lake Rabun Road, Lakemont Ga. 30552) 475 runners entered the 2008 race, with 250 race day entrants alone -- so come on out, even on race day, and enjoy the run!

Applications and information available are at www.rabunramble.com or you can call Sandy O’Brien at 706-782-7043.

Spring Pottery Show and Sale at Hambidge:Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau

Hambidge Presents Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau

Pottery lovers can head to the Hambidge Center in the Northeast Georgia mountains beginning in April to enjoy the Spring Pottery Show & Sale, from April 18 – June 20. This year’s exhibition, Clay Works from Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, starts on Friday, April 17 with an Opening Reception from 5 to 7 p.m. and runs through June 20.

The Clay Works show is curated by Maggie McMahon and features the works of TJ Edwards, Sharon Farrelly, Ginger Freeman, Robert Harvey, Megan Kieffer, Kay Livesey, Jessica Lowe, Maggie McMahon, Victoria Minor, Vince Pitelka, Jean Pitts, Marisa Recchia, Claire Reishman, Archie Stapleton, Merissa Tobler, Nancy Wallace and Jody Windus.

Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Directions:
From Clayton take Highway 441 north to Dillard. Just inside the city limits, take a left on Betty’s Creek Road and proceed 3.5 miles to the sign and entrance on your right. 105 Hambidge Court, Rabun Gap, Georgia 30568. The mailing address is PO Box 399, Rabun Gap, Georgia 30568. call 706-746-5718 or visit online

Art & Soul