Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in the May 21, 2015 issue of The Floyd Pres with a larger spread of photos. 

The turnout was good for the first annual Mother’s Day Brunch, a fundraiser for Springhouse Community School. School advisors, students and parents worked together to create festive table settings and prepare locally sourced food for the event, which was held at the Floyd EcoVillage. The menu included quiches, home fries, biscuits and gravy, bacon, dessert pastries and more.

Following the brunch, SHCS students performed, A Farmer’s Story, a crankie show that premiered at the Floyd Radio Show in the fall of 2014. The project was a school collaboration with the New River Land Trust and Radio Show hosts Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle. It was based on an interview that students conducted with local farmer Howard Dickerson, whose farm is under a conservation easement.

SHCS advisor Joe Klein spoke briefly about the school’s project and place-based model, which seeks to connect students with the history, culture and environment of their local community. This year students made weekly visits to the Skyline Nursing Home, where they did music, creative arts and some oral history interviews with residents, under the guidance of SHCS advisor Jenny Finn.

Local historian/musician Ricky Cox was the featured entertainment. He had the audience laughing with his reference to event signs in town. “My wife tells me my name is all over town. People probably think I’m running for Sheriff.”

Cox, who teaches English and Appalachian Studies at Radford University, presented a program on the traditional music of this region. He performed folk songs, giving background history on their type and origin. He also gave historical context to traditional instruments, including the fiddle and banjo.

Klein said feedback from attendees was positive. “People loved the food and several people expressed how happy they were to have the opportunity to hear Ricky Cox sing the old songs from this area.”

Read more about the Springhouse Community School HERE.

________Our World Tuesday