This one-hour production features a script based on stories collected from veterans in the region, including those from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, as well as stories from those on the home front. Hear from a British immigrant who joined the merchant marines in WWI. Join Captain Langston in his flight with the Vigilantes. Read the letters sent from service members during their time abroad. Musical guest: The Jonesborough Rhythm Express. Original Performance Date: July
Written by Jules Corriere with Anne G'Fellers-Mason, Linda Poland, Catherine Yael Serota
Music Direction and Accompaniment by Brett McCluskey
Sound Engineer Jared Christian
Stage Manager Phyllis Fabozzi
Sound Effects by Gary Degner
StoryTown AmeriCorps Assistant Ian Kirkpatrick
Edited by Wayne Winkler
Theme Song by Heather McCluskey
Aired on: WETS 89.5 FM Johnson City, Tennessee
SPONSORED BY
Tennessee Arts Commission
The Wild Women of Jonesborough
Gary and Sandee Degner
Rae Dee O'Lufver
McKinney Center
Town of Jonesborough
Episode Sponsored by Heather McCluskey
JULES
Coming to you from Jonesborough, Tennessee, the Storytelling Capital of the World, and broadcasting from the historic McKinney Center, it’s StoryTown, Jonesborough’s original storytelling radio show. I’m Jules Corriere, and I’ll be your host tonight.
KATY
And I’m Katy Rosolowski, your co-host for this evening filled with customs, trades, and traditions.
JULES
There are so many cultural traditions in our region, as well as time honored trades, so this show will bring to life just a few of them, but maybe just enough to let you feel like you know us a little better.
KATY
We could honestly devote an entire series to all the traditions people have shared with us, and I’m sure we’ve got enough for another show next season.
JULES
We do, Katy. As always, we are so grateful for all of the StoryTown Brigade members who go around in our community collecting the stories from our neighbors. All of the stories you hear in our shows come from real people.
KATY
Jules, before we get started, we should thank our sponsors for making our show possible. It’s not really a tradition, but The Tennessee Arts Commission has been so supportive of our work for many years, and we want to give them a special thank you.
JULES
We’d also like to thank the Wild Women of Jonesborough and Gary and Sandy Degner, as well as our individual supporters who helped us during our fund drive.
KATY
We also want to thank our music guests who will be here a bit later in the show. We’ve got Rheva and Keegan with us tonight, and they will be playing some traditional Celtic and old time music, fitting perfectly into our theme tonight.
JULES
Now, it’s time for the stories. I am particularly connected to this first one we’re sharing tonight. I did an interview with Anita a few years ago in the New Halifax neighborhood in Jonesborough. She was getting close to one-hundred years old. I was fortunate enough to have many opportunities to sit with her and listen to some of the century of memories she held. She has since passed, but her stories are still here to guide us, remind us, and make us smile. She carried on a family tradition, and passed it down to her own children, who continue to pass it on.
SABRA
Music was a tradition in my family. I was born in 1917, and went to school in Amsterdam, New York. In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, I learned to play piano and pump organ, and became a classically trained dancer and acrobat. Music was always in our home, we were either playing it or dancing to it or both. My father was a banjo player, and I often played with his band, The Mohawk Valley Entertainers, in pubs and at square dances. Occasionally, my mother, Hazel, would play the chords so I could dance with my boyfriend. Otherwise, he was dancing with other girls. After I graduated in 1934, I danced in clubs around New York, clubs, pubs, hotels, and also did acrobatics. This was before all the technology we have today, and dancing was entertainment. I did all kinds of dancing. No one could match my arabesque. I often paid for my dance lessons by playing the piano for the dance studio. Yes, a live piano player at a dance studio, because we didn’t have all these devices. I WAS the music. And I’m so glad I passed my love for music and the arts on to my children. The banjo my father played is now played by my son, Terry. You might know him as Alderman Countermine. And the acrobatic skills I have, those were passed down to my daughter, Phyllis, who teaches Yoga at the Jonesborough Senior Center. Music, dance, it’s all still a family tradition.
KATY
What a lovely story from Anita Countermine.
JULES
Katy, if I asked you to think of an old trade, maybe one that flourished here years ago but isn’t practiced anymore, what comes to mind?
KATY
Um, Moonshine?
JULES
Well, it is an old trade, and it’s still practiced. But what else might come to mind?
KATY
Well, I’d say the first that come to mind after moonshine of course, would be a Blacksmith and a livery stable.
JULES
I’d agree, Katy. Those businesses were part of Jonesborough’s past on Main Street, but one of those is still practiced, not only in Jonesborough, but in several places throughout the tri-cities. I’m talking about Blacksmiths.
KATY
Really? Like, banging red-hot metal on an anvil with a hammer kind of blacksmith?
JULES
That’s exactly the kind of blacksmith I’m talking about. Still practicing this trade, some are blacksmiths at historical sites, some are artists, some create tools for today, such as handmade knives. But they all still practice this time-honored trade, and they shared with us a little bit about their work in this modern world.
STEPHEN
Jamie Tyree is known as the Clinkerman, and is a blacksmith on a small farmstead located in the foot hills of Limestone, Tennessee, USA. In addition to sustainable small scale farming, he says, “we happen to love historic vernacular architecture and natural building. We also have a blacksmith shop!”
SFX: Hammer on anvil
STEPHEN
Jamie's blacksmith items are heirloom museum quality historic recreations. These are actually quite relevant in Tennessee’s oldest town. We have so many historic homes and buildings. When any f them are in need of restoration, Jamie is the person to go to. Even if you don’t own a historic home, but you want to see what Jamie creates, you can check out his Etsy shop, named Clinkerman.
JULES
Jamie isn’t the only blacksmith around here either. Right in Jonesborough, we have Brandon Franklin, of the Franklin Forge. He is here tonight to tell us all about his work, so help me welcome him to the stage, everyone.
BRANDON and JULES
Do 5 minute interview
KATY
Wow. What fascinating work. Thank you so much, Brandon, for sharing this with us! It’s always so interesting to discover that trades and customs around us.
CATHERINE
And I always think it’s interesting to see how similar some of our trades and customs are to those in different parts of the country. When I recently stepped through the door at Boone Street Market in Jonesborough, I remembered Cardamone’s Grocery Store in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
In 1945, it was the anchor at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Maple Street, just one block from my single-family house on Tenth Avenue and Maple Street. Ninth Avenue and Maple Street marked the beginning of the Italian neighborhood that stretched for many blocks as well as the beginning of another world.
It was a world of duplex homes lived in by large Italian families who had recently come to the United States. Families with names like Zinni, De Pietro, Guglielino, Fondozi, DeLuca and D’Angelo. The men, for the most part, worked in one of the many factories that were a part of the landscape along the Schuylkill River, west of Philadelphia. Others worked in stone quarries. Still others were “in service” to wealthy families as chauffeurs or maids.
The modest duplex homes all along Maple Street were interspersed with family-owner businesses: shoemaker, barber shop, grocery store, bakeries, and a small hardware store. The wives at home were working as well: as hairdressers, bakers, laundry ladies, and babysitters.
One Italian family, the Cardamones, had arrived in Conshohocken in 1880 from the Italian port of Naples, through New York City. It is likely they already had relatives in that small town. Their son, Jeremiah (Jerry), was born in 1899. As soon as he could, he opened the grocery store that I remember so well from my childhood.
That small store, no larger than the Boone Street Market, sold all the provisions the neighborhood housewives sought. Jerry, who was Mr. Cardamone to me, stood behind the worn butcher cutting block next to the meat case.
PHYLLIS
If any of the ladie’s grocery lists included one pound of ground beef, my husband, Jerry, selected a piece of beef, cut it in smaller pieces and ground it right there. When he weighed it, it was nearly exactly one pound. Every time.
CATHERINE
Mr. Cardamone’s wife, a stern, no-nonsense buxom Italian woman, took care of the rest of the store.
PHYLLIS
My customers DID NOT pick items from the shelves! I waited on each housewife in order. I’d pluck canned pineapple, jars of grape jelly and cans of Crisco from shelves. My long-handled “grabber” reached the top shelves to Del Monte beans, Hunt’s tomatoes all the way to the lower shelves of Spam, as the neighborhood ladies read from their lists. It was definitely NOT self-service!
CATHERINE
Boone Street Market in Jonesborough comes close to this 70-year-old memory. The market anchors the corner of Sabin and Boone Streets where an Esso gas station has been repurposed as a one-stop grocery. There are no first-generation Italian proprietors like Mr. and Mrs. Cardamone behind the counter, but there are knowledgeable staff people there to help with choosing foods that are sustainably grown or produced by small businesses within 100 miles.
I entered the market with list in hand. Marcelo was ready to guide me. We ventured through Southwestern Chicken Pot Pie from the Pot Pie Company in the freezer, past JoBo’s Locally Roasted Coffee and breads from Farm House Gallery and Mountain View, around to the back coolers to select one of the heads of hydroponically-grown lettuce from Green Pasture Farm.
Another glass-fronted case displayed a selection of regional cheeses that included a variety of goat cheeses from Ziegenwald Dairy as well as cheddar cheeses from Ashe County, North Carolina. I picked out my favorite: garlic cheddar. Next I had to choose crackers. Should I select Firehook Crackers or Roots and Branches offerings? So many decisions!
I had almost everything in my basket that I needed for dinner. The last item was butternut squash soup made daily right there in the market. I had more than enough for a dinner for two.
Then I passed the tray of apples that were not on my list. Of course, a crunchy Pink Lady apple from Buffalo Trail Orchards could top the greens. What a feast I carried home. It matched my memories of Cardamone’s store.
PHYLLIS
It’s good to be remembered, and to know some traditions live on.
CATHERINE
In this Jonesborough community, all of us are “immigrants,” including the people who work and volunteer in the Boone Street Market. David from Western North Carolina, Emily from Texas, Marcelo from Bolivia and myself from Pennsylvania, by way of Atlanta. We bring our stories, our traditions, sometimes long buried, to our new land. We share them in this small community and create new stories to share with one another.
JULES
Thank you, for that story from Nancy Kavanaugh. If you’re just tuning in, you’re listening to StoryTown, Jonesborough’s original storytelling radio show on WETS 89.5 FM out of Johnson City, Tennessee.
BRETT
Plays 30 seconds of Nordic Folk Music or Viking Metal.
JULES
And we’re back. And so excited to have Rheva and Keegan with us tonight. It’s their very first time on StoryTown, so let’s give them a big welcome.
RHEVA and KEEGAN play 2 songs.
JULES
Talk about traditions, I can hear generations playing through the two of you. They’ll be back a little later in the show to share with us some more of their traditional Celtic sounds.
KATY
They were just great. Well, coming up next is one of our favorite traditional segments. We’ve got Anne G’Fellers-Mason of the Heritage Alliance in a segment we like to call,
ALL
Ask the Historian!
ANNE
Thanks, Katie. I love walking down Main Street Jonesborough and imagining what it looked like one hundred years ago. What did it sound like? What did it taste like? What did it smell like? Okay, I can probably imagine some of those smells, or maybe I don’t want to imagine them. Either way, every building on Main Street tells a story. And it’s not just the buildings; it’s the ground they stand on, too. Some of the stores from Jonesborough’s past are long gone, but their legacy lives on. The legacy of their shop keeps lives on, too. Jonesborough’s first merchant was David Deaderick.
TIM
Some of my fellow shop keeps might disagree with that title, but you need not go round asking them. I know the truth.
ANNE
Colonel Deaderick, it’s an honor to have you with us here this evening. Please, tell us about your business and your many wares.
TIM
I moved to Jonesborough in 1783 from Winchester, Virginia. There wasn’t much here then. A dirt road, some trees, and a log courthouse. I set up shop right here on the corner of Main and Cherokee. Course, the roads were called Market and First Cross Street then. I built my house on the hill right behind me. Lots of people were moving to Jonesborough then, and I was soon able to expand my growing business to Greeneville. Things were going so well, I ran this advertisement in the Knoxville Gazette on July 14, 1792.
ADAM
“David Deadrick hath just returned from Philadelphia and Baltimore and is now opening for sale his stores in Jonesborough and Greeneville a very handsome and general assortment of goods, consisting of Fine and Coarse Broadcloths, Velvets . . .Black Satins . . .a handsome assortment of Chintzes, Calicos, and Printed Linens . . .Files, Sheep Shears, Knives and Forks . . .Scythes, Steel Spectacle Cases, Bibles, Testaments, Spelling Books . . .Ointment, Camphor, Anderson’s Pills, Hopper’s Pills, Loaf Sugar, Coffee, Tea . . .a few cases of Gin...”
TIM
Of prime quality.
ADAM
“ . . .and a great variety of other articles too numerous to enumerate, all of which he will dispose of on such terms as he flatters himself cannot fail of giving general satisfaction, for skins, beeswax and flax as usual. Cash given for best otter, Black and Gray Fox, Raccoon, Wildcat, Muskrat and Mink Skins.”
TIM
I was more than willing to work with anyone to come to a fair price, but of course I couldn’t be giving stuff away. It costs money to bring all these goods from Philadelphia. I once had to pay John Gifford 64 pounds, 6 shillings, and 6 pence for “hawling 3,007 lbs. from Philadelphia to Jonesborough.” Jonesborough and its fine people are well worth the expense, though. In addition to keeping shop, I served my community. I was a trustee of Martin Academy, one of the first schools in town. I also served as postmaster for a time. I oversaw the construction of the 1794 courthouse. It was made of log, “built two stories high, with the courtroom above, reached by a double flight of steps on the outside. The lower story was fitted up and used, for a time at least, as a jail.” I also oversaw the construction of the next courthouse in 1820. The 1820 building was the first brick courthouse we had. I figured I had a pretty good view of things from my store right here. In my spare time I represented Washington and Carter counties in the Senate of the Tennessee General Assembly.
I married my wife Margaret when I first got here, and we had several children, including David Anderson Deaderick. He took over the store after I passed away in 1823. I’m buried up there in the old Town cemetery. On my tombstone it says, “He was that noblest work of God, an honest man.
ANNE
David Deaderick was known far and wide for his wares and his business acumen. David Anderson Deaderick certainly followed in his father’s mercantile footsteps. The brick building at the corner of Main and Cherokee is where the Deaderick store used to be. The original store is gone now, but the Chester Inn is still around. It’s been around since 1797. The Chester family maintained it for a long time, but they occasionally needed help. In the 1820s, the inn was known as the Bell Tavern and it was being managed by . . .
MARCY
Me! My name is Mrs. Theodotia Vance. I want to welcome you all to my table. This your first time dining with us at the Bell Tavern? You are in for a treat. I keep the best table in town. When Dr. Chester moved west, he left this Inn in the care of his son John, but John, he had his studies to tend to. John wanted the inn looked after, so he hired on my late husband, Mr. David G. Vance and I to keep the Inn running for him. Sadly, Mr. Vance passed away. John could have taken the Inn back, but he knew my fortitude. He knew I was up for the task of keeping the inn running. This building has a history, and I was not going to let him down. You may have seen my advertisement in the paper?
GUERRY
“Bell Tavern, Mrs. Theodotia Vance, Widow of David G. Vance, deceased, most respectfully informs the public that she will continue to keep a public house at the sign of the Bell in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She hopes to be able, with assistance of her son, to give general satisfaction to those who may give her a call. Her table will be inferior to none in this section of the country. Plenty of good provender will be provided for horses, and trusty hostlers will be in readiness to attend to them. As the strictest attention will be paid to travelers and others, the liberal encouragement which the house had hitherto received is further solicited. Grateful for past favors, her utmost exertions will be made to render to all comfortable who may favor her with their custom.”
MARCY
I always have had a way with words, and a way with food. Who’s hungry? Cost is on a sliding scale. You want to eat cheap; I do have gruel, cold or warm. Either way, it’s hardy stuff, will get you back on your feet and on the road for your travels. I have a nice assortment of meats, cheeses, vegetables. Today we have roast goose, tastes good with the peas, or the beans. We also have some calves’ feet jelly for after your meal, if you’d like some? I’ll have the kitchen bring it in.
ANNE
Maybe we skip the calves’ foot jelly?
MARCY
You do not know what you’re missing.
ANNE
This time, I’m really okay with that. There were so many other businesses in Jonesborough, too.
STEFANIE
Like James Cousins and his barbershop on Courthouse Square. The Herald & Tribune advised, “Go to the barbershop of J.C. Cousins, west end of Court House next to the office of A.C. Collins, Esquire, if you want shaving, hair cutting, or hair dying done cheap and in style.” Mr. Cousins also operated a candy store in town, which was unfortunately robbed, along with another candy store in 1871. Maybe this was why he got into local politics? J.C. Cousins was one of the first African Americans to run for office in Jonesborough with James Bailey in 1874. He ran for Trustee and Mr. Bailey ran for Register.
LINDA
Don’t forget about the Cone brothers. You can’t talk about business in Jonesborough without mentioning them. In 1853, merchants Herman Cone and his brother-in-law Jacob Adler arrived in Jonesborough with a small, covered wagon. Cone and Adler, two Jewish immigrants from Bavaria (Germany), had tried to set up shop in Virginia but had met with discrimination. They moved their families with what little they had to Jonesborough and started a new chapter. The Town welcomed them and the merchants established a very successful business across the street from the Chester Inn on Main Street. They sold a number of things including ready to wear clothing.
CAST
Gasp!
LINDA
Which was a wild concept in the mid-1800s. The families moved to Baltimore in 1873, but the Cone family sent money back to Jonesborough that summer during the cholera epidemic. The Cone family also sent money to the Town in the 1980s to help construct the Visitor’s Center and Town Hall. Herman’s sons Moses and Caesar Cone started a textile empire in Greensboro, North Carolina, and his daughters Calribel and Etta Cone donated their personal art collection to the Baltimore Museum of Art. Their collection takes up an entire wing.
ANNE
You also had merchants like J.T. Whitlock who did annual fashion shows and kept the favorite colors and hat and dress sizes of all the local schoolteachers on file. He knew their time was precious. And you had R.M. May and sons, whose names you can still barely make out on the ghost sign at the top of Noelle’s. And then there was Buddy Gresham down at the Gresham hotel, but that’s a whole other story. Today’s Jonesborough merchants carry on a proud tradition. Next time you’re downtown, pop in and get to know your local shop keeps a little better.
JULES
Thank you, Anne. We always look at Jonesborough a little more closely because of you.
KATY
Jules, I am so excited. We’re heard about grocers, merchants, blacksmiths, musicians, but we have the cuddliest of stories coming up next. I’m talking about Cari Jarman and her sheep, or are they goats? They are so adorable, I can’t wait to hear all about the goat farm she runs with her husband, Jay!
WENDY
If you had told me nine years ago that I was going to move here and raise Angora goats with my husband and start making yarn and dyeing yarn and spinning yarn, I would have told you that you were crazy.
BRETT
But in 2011, we moved up here after coming for storytelling year after year. The Countermines, and Sam Burke, and Bob Riser, these were people I became friends with when I got my degree at ETSU.
WENDY
We stayed with Terry and Sandy Countermine during storytelling. When we finally moved here, we already had a community. Then, we met people who were part of the fiber world.
BRETT
People who raise sheep and Alpaca.
WENDY
That was something completely new and different for me. It was not even on the radar. It couldn’t have happened in another area because fiber and cloth and weaving is a thing here that goes back generations. You don’t find that in Washington, D.C. where I was raised. People didn’t raise sheep.
BRETT
Well, we raise Angora goats now.
WENDY
They’re very different from the picture most people get in their heads about goats. Our goats look more like sheep. Their fiber is very, very long and curly, and they have big horns. Our biggest male is about 175 pounds. They’re big animals. And just like any other animal, everybody has their own personality.
BRETT
One thing to say about this. You don’t choose the goat life. The goat life chooses you.
WENDY
Yeah, some people are cat people, some are dog people. We’re goat people.
BRETT
We shear them twice a year, and each shearing -- depending on the size of the goat and the type of their fiber, we get between four and ten pounds of fiber off of each goat each time we shear.
WENDY
The spring shearing is usually more, because they’ve been really growing over the winter to keep them warm.
BRETT
Some of them are more curly, some are more wavy. Some have silky, baby-fine hair, and some are more thick.
WENDY
One of our older males has got the softest hair, like you’d shear off of a baby goat.
BRETT
They’re goofy. It’s like having 150-pound dogs in the backyard. And each has its own personality.
WENDY
Tucker will eat everybody’s food if you let him. Amelia won’t eat orange peel out of Jay’s hand. He has to put it in her bowl because she doesn’t want to touch where his glove was. Archie is the littlest. He thinks he should be in charge of everybody in his group and they smack him down every day, but he doesn’t care. He’s like little Napoleon.
BRETT
In our bigger group, we have two males and two females, and they rotate who’s in charge. Charlie can put everybody in their place except for Ellie. Amelia can put everybody in their place except for Tucker.
WENDY
Tucker thinks he’s in charge of everybody, but he’s not in charge of anybody.
BRETT
Every time we shear, we have to reestablish ranks again because they’re prey animals. They don’t wanna get close enough to smell you, so they rely on sight.
WENDY
Well, all of a sudden everybody looks different on shearing day.
MIRIAM
Baaaa. “I don’t know you.
CALVIN
Baaa! Who are you?
MIRIAM
Baaaa. So, we’re gonna have to figure out who’s in charge.
WENDY
And that can be a very traumatic thing to watch for a human. The first time we sheared, and they were beating each other up, I cried and cried and cried.
BRETT
Every once in a while, one of ‘em would hit the other one right on the head.
WENDY
You know if you cut your head, it bleeds like crazy even though the cut is teeny tiny. Well, it just killed me to look and see blood pouring down Amelia’s face. I mean, she’s got the little bitty cut. She was fine in 20 minutes, but it’s very stressful.
BRETT
Males will try to hook each other’s legs with their horns and well, it could end up breaking a leg.
WENDY
So, we came up with a preventive measure. We call it the “P-V-C pipe of shame.”
BRETT
We take a piece of P-V-C pipe and we duct tape it and zip tie it across the males’ horns so that they can’t hurt one another. They can bang heads all day long, but they can’t actually really break a leg.
WENDY
It looks silly -- especially in the wintertime because we put coats on them. So, the boys are walking around with these coats that look like circus tent stripes and then they got this piece of P-V-C pipe duct taped to their horns, but it keeps me from crying.
BRETT
We have seven, but it wasn’t on purpose. We don’t have plans on getting any more.
WENDY
Well, we had the goats. Then I had to get it spun. I have it spun at a mill, because there’s just entirely too much to spin on my own, but I did learn how to do it, so I could talk to my customers about the yarn, and how it behaves. There’s a fiber mill in, uh, north Georgia that works with me very closely and spins the most beautiful yarn.
BRETT
The first time we went down there, we took 80 fleeces. I don’t just put my fiber in. I buy wool from certain friends who raise certain breeds of sheep and then my friends Louise and Joan raise Alpacas, whose fiber is long enough to put with mine.
WENDY
Charlie’s fleece -- I can tell you, if I line them up, I can tell you which one is which by the looks. But if I couldn’t see them, I could still tell you, because I can smell them and know who’s who. They each have a different scent to them.
BRETT
Cari, don’t cry. I mean it.
WENDY
I won’t. I promise.
BRETT
I don’t believe you. Quick, tell them about the process.
WENDY
OK. So, there’s different sheep fleeces that I mix in certain ratios. Then, I know what kind of yarn I’m gonna get back and how many plies it is and how much wool is in it and how crimpy it is and what it would be best used for.
BRETT
We went through the milliner and matched up these two sheep fleeces, this one Alpaca fleece and these four Mohair go into this one batch -- and out of that, we’re gonna get a really nice sock yarn, very fine with a super twist and a lot of bounce to it.
WENDY
So we kind of tailor it. Now we’ve been working together long enough, she knows what I like and somehow we don’t have to have those detailed conversations. I trust what she’s gonna do. When it comes back, I dye it or leave it natural, depending on how much time I have. I’ve got a spot in the Mill Springs Makers Market. I’m June Bug Farms. Come down and see me.
BRETT
She might even show you pictures of our goats.
KATY
I do want to see those pictures. But I really want you to show me some Charlie yarn so I can smell it.
JULES
Oh, great, she’s crying again. If you’re just tuning in you’re listening to StoryTown, Jonesborogh’s original storytelling radio show on WETS 89.5 FM out of Johnson City, Tennessee.
BRETT
Plays 30 seconds of Swedish hip hop.
JULES
And we are back! And so are Rheva and Keegan.
RHEVA AND KEEGAN play 2 songs.
JULES
Thank you so much. What a treat this was. I hope you two join us again.
KATY
Jules, a little earlier we heard about the goat farm, and about Cari’s friend Lorraine with the Alpaca farm. We’ll, coming up next is a story about that Alpaca farm!
STEFANIE
STEFANIE
Out in Greeneville, near the Cherokee National Forest, you’ll find Sandy Sgrillo nestled on 2 acres of land along with fifteen of the sweetest Llamas in Tennessee. Sandy runs the Wandering Llamas.
PHYLLIS
What is Wandering Llamas?
STEFANIE
I’m so glad you asked because I’ve always wanted to tell a Llama story! About twenty years ago, Sandy came to this area pretty regularly to go hiking and destress from her very busy job as a limousine driver to the stars in Miami. After about ten years in the limo business and 6 trips to northeast Tennessee, she decided to pack up and move here. On one of her earlier trips, she went on a Llama trek hike, and when she came back and wanted to do it again, she discovered the company that led the Llama treks had gone out of business. So, she decided to start one herself. It took her about three years to find the perfect property, that had the best views and the best ground for raising Llamas. She said she didn’t even know what to do to start, and didn’t even know where to buy a Llama, but it wasn’t long before she did the research and found out and bought her first Llama. Then two more, and pretty soon, she had five. now she was ready to start. She ran her company with five Llamas for the first couple of years, and then as the business began to grow, so did her Llama family. She now has fifteen Llamas, and four different trails. You can contact Sandy to go on a Llama hike, and you can even choose your own Llama. She has pictures and little bios of each one of her llamas on thewanderingllamas.com. and they are so cute. They each have their own stories about where they came from, some were rescues, some are retired from being lodge animals. The classics have short hair. The surry have long curly hair that turn into dreadlocks, those are her favorite. The silkies are show llamas, Sandy says it takes hours and hours to brush them out and everything sticks to their fur like Velcro. But they are so sweet. The old Llama that likes to greet people as they arrive is part llama and part guanaco, a wild version of a llama like you see in South America. He looks a little different, he bottom teeth just out, and he has a real camel look.
At Wandering Llama, you get to take one of these Llamas out on a hike with you. You’ll each have your own Llama, and a guide of course, be taken on a two hour hike through the most beautiful countryside. Some trails have creeks that you can cross. Others are all dry. You can do a Llama trek and Yoga Hike. You can do a Llama Trek with a wine and cheese picnic. It just sounds like too much fun.
Sandy says all of her Llamas have their own personalities, and are sort of like cats. They like to sit around, cuddle, and they are very curious. If you have a purse or a book in your hand, they will nose around it to see what it is. But don’t worry, they are strictly vegetarians, so they won’t ever try to take a bite out of you. They are sweet and funny, and easier to walk than a dog.
She also allows you to rent a Llama for photo ops for special events and even weddings. For those, Sandy drives them in the Llamasine. That’s right, she’s gone from being a limousine driver to a llamasine driver, and couldn’t be happier about it.
KATY
Thank you Stefanie, for that Illaminating story. It made a great Yarn. Get it?
SADIE
Sheep’s yarn, Llama yarn, it’s all pretty wonderful yarn to me. My auntie is one of Jonesborough’s Knotty Ladies.
ADAM
Sadie, you shouldn’t say such things about your aunt.
SADIE
She’s a KNOTTY lady, with a K. K-N-O-T-T-Y. She’s not a naughty lady, like on Santa’s naughty list.
ADAM
Ah, OK, I get it. I’m very relieved.
KATY
So are we all, Adam!
SADIE
So she’s a Knotty lady, with a K, and this is a group in Jonesborough that gets together and knits, and spins wool into yarn, and make all kinds of things with Yarn. Sometimes, they do things called Yarn Bombing, and that’s the most fun.
ADAM
Yarn Bombing? Sadie, you’ll have to explain this one to us non-yarn people.
SADIE
Sure. Well, one time, the Knotty Ladies knitted a bunch of pieces and covered the benches and some of the monuments downtown. They “Yarn Bombed” them. And this other time, They covered half the town in purple knitted pieces. That was for cancer awareness.
JONATHAN
I helped them Yarn Bomb the Chester Inn.
ADAM
You covered the whole Chester Inn?
SADIE
No, just the whole balcony.
JONATHAN
We also covered part of the Storytelling Center.
SADIE
We got the lamp posts, too.
JONATHAN
And a lot of doorways.
SADIE
It looked like the town was wearing little scarves and knit caps.
ADAM
Sadie, I think it sounds like the Knotty ladies with a K might just be a little bit of the other naughty, too.
SADIE
Maybe. But I can’t wait until I get to be an official Knotty Lady. With a K.
ADAM
I have no doubt you’ll join them sooner than you think.
KATY
Well, I think it’s time to move away from these naughty stories about the Knotty ladies we can move from soft textiles to Masons now, with our very own Ian Kirkpatrick, to share a little bit about the Masons with us.
IAN
You know, I rode a goat once at the Masonic Lodge.
CALVIN
I’ve heard of the Masons! They used to meet where the Lollipop Shop is now.
NANCY
Oh! I love lollipops!
IAN:
And before that, we met at the old Salt House. Yeah, there sure is a lot of history at Rhea Lodge. Can you believe we’re the 47th oldest lodge in the state! Well, we were going to be 46. At least, that’s what Andrew Jackson wrote on our dispensation. But by the time we got our charter to work, someone else had claimed 46 so we became Rhea Lodge #47.
CALVIN
Wait? Andrew Jackson, the President?
IAN
The very one! In 1823, when we were chartered, Andrew Jackson was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Tennessee, Free and Accepted Masons. That gave him the power to establish new lodges, and we are the only lodge still running in the state that has his signature on both our dispensation and our charter! And now, we’re coming up on our 200th Anniversary!
NANCY
That’s really cool, but what about the food?
IAN
Oh, you want to know about food? Come by one of our famous steak and gravy dinners! Tickets are only $8, and the money goes to support our charities.
NANCY
Mmmm. Steak and gravy! Delicious!
CALVIN
Did you say the masons do charity work too? I thought they were a secret society trying to take over the world?
IAN
We... have our rituals for initiation. But all that secret society stuff comes from the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1800s, right around the time our lodge started. Dan Brown can sure write a script, but that’s all it is. A script. Masonic lodges are made up of local community members that want to help each other out. Our Widows and Orphans fund helps the relatives of deceased members in times of trouble. And there are appendant bodies within masonry that have other charities. The Knights Templar have the Eye Foundation; the Scottish Rite has a program that gives shoes to kids who can’t afford them; and the Shriners are well known for their Children’s hospital.
CALVIN
Well, if the masons do such good work, why would someone be against them?
IAN
You wanna know my theory? I think they weren’t invited to the Knife and Fork degree.
NANCY
The Knife and Fork degree?
IAN
The biggest secret in Masonry. It’s what we call dinner at the lodge.
CALVIN
Yum!
NANCY
Ok, but what if women want to get involved with your charity work? Don’t the masons only allow men in the lodge?
IAN
There are female appendant bodies too! The Order of the Eastern Star is open to all wives and female relatives of members of the masonic fraternity. If you don’t mind travelling a bit, the Amaranth in Mosheim allows all women who want to join. And in Kingsport, Mrs. (Charles M.) Susan Thames will be installed in October as the Supreme Worthy President of the Supreme Assembly, Social Order of the Beaceant. That’s the national female organization that helps out with the Knight Templar Eye Foundation.
NANCY
AND?!
IAN
She makes her potato salad for every meeting.
NANCY
Hey Robert, do you want to get married?
IAN
Oh, Nancy. I don’t think my wife would like that.
NANCY
Shoot! Well, you can definitely expect me at the next steak and gravy dinner!
MIRIAM
Food is a tradition, for sure. We had a lot of company. All the time. Especially on weekends. Often, company would come on weekends, and we never quite knew when they were leaving. IN fact, many times we knew they weren’t about to leave until being asked to join us for Sunday dinner. See, the smell in the house was too good to leave.
Mom would start the sauce simmering about 2:30 in the afternoon. By 5:00, if it was warm and the windows were open, we’d have a neighbor or two, or maybe a friend of my brother’s, hanging around, making small talk, waiting for the invitation. Of course, it was always offered. Spaghetti night. Enough for our family plus anyone else. This is likely a leftover from the days when a stray solider or visiting foreign military officer would come home with my dad. My mom always made more than enough. There was always plenty for everyone on Spaghetti night. Spaghetti and loaves of mom’s special garlic bread.
These days, I am the stray wanderer with my own little family. coming over to the house once in a while on Sundays, to see if it is cooking on the stove.
I know now what our friends felt, when they walked in the door to that aroma, so many years ago. It is true. It is hard to leave. You do want to stay until the last minute, before she says “Come and get your salad” to the rest of the family, hoping that when she does, there are extra plates at the table. Of course, there are. And a booster chair for the baby and a chair at the corner of the table for our toddler, and my husband and I scrunched together and happy, around the family table, having Sunday dinner with the ___.
KATY
That’s all the time we have in our show tonight. We’d like to thank The Tennessee Arts Commission, The Wild Women of Jonesborough, and Gary and Sandee Degner.
JULES
And especially you, our audience It’s so great to see you out there! Be sure to tune in on the last Wednesday of the month at 8PM on WETS 89.5 FM and on wets.org on HD channel 1 and also on the StoryTown Podcast on demand. Thank you so much for coming out tonight. And be sure to share your own traditions and customs with your family. Pass it on!