Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
Sawmills were an important business in a little community like Sugar Grove. Before trucks were available to haul heavy logs to the mills, the sawmill was moved to the area where the timber was being cut. Moving the mill around was quite a difficult task. In those days, the roads had many sharp curves, and the narrowness with steep grades created caution. There was a large platform called a carriage, which moved the log into the sawmill’s teeth. A large belt ran from the engine which in turn turned the circular saw.
The first cut into the log was that of the slab bark. The slab was then cut into firebox size and then fed into the engine’s firebox, which provided the steam to power the engine. One man’s job was to keep firing the engine. After each cut, the log was moved laterally, the distance corresponding to the thickness of the timber being cut.
Once the lumber was cut, it was on its way to the planer. Berlin Kiser owned a large planing mill. It is said that Berlin commented that he could always tell when lumber came from the Waggy Mill because it was cut perfectly.
Most of the demand for lumber came from the farmers. They were in need of building a new house or barn. Most houses were of the makeup of being two stories, with an added porch. Dwellings were of mostly pine in makeup. Huge trees were cut into uniform sizes, often with a rough cut for the exterior walls, or planed smooth for floors or furniture wood.
Timber and posts were used for buildings, shingles for the roofs, laths, boards and patterns for siding, and planks for the flooring.
Saw sharpening was a secret process, with the sharpener working in an isolated area. Today’s market calls for trucks to transport the logs to their respective locations. So, the community sawmill no longer exists.
Life’s little instructions include the following:
- Age is a number.
- Kindness matters.
- Grudges cause pain.
- Travel expands a person.
- One isn’t always right.
The fickle weather has confused the wearer of clothing. Dressing in layers has been the order of the day. Rain is desperately needed for the parched area. Hay makers are pretty well done with their first round of making hay.
This week’s quotes are as follows:
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” — Audrey Hepburn
“It has been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.” — Queen Elizabeth II
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — Pablo Picasso
“If you spend too much time thinking about one thing you never achieve anything.” — Bruce Lee
Sitting on the porch swing for a while is perhaps a thing if one wants to hear the “Talk of the Grove.”
Upon reading last week’s Sugar Grove column, the writer heard from Sandra McLaughlin who added some more information to those students receiving their high school education in Virginia since there was a lack of bus transportation to the Franklin High School. She also noted inclusion of her grandmother, Mabel Simmons Kiser, attending the Dayton, Virginia, school where she worked in the kitchen for her room and board. She noted that her skirts were A-lined while the girls who were monetarily endowed wore dresses with pleats. Her step-brother, H. Pink Bowers, also attended Bridgewater High school, where he roomed with a farmer to earn his room and board in order to continue his education. It was his senior year that he was elected president of his class. His classmates remained friends throughout the course of their lifetime, which is a very unusual occurrence.
Bill and Donna Arrington spent time at Corolla Beach, North Carolina, with Tiffany and Bruce Whitlock. They then went to Morgantown to celebrate Zeke Arrington’s fourth birthday. They had a good time.
Marleta Wimer, Terri Grogg, Claude Castleberry and Stephen Grogg were visitors of Rosalee Grogg.
The Coach Pitch tournaments are over with The Strike Force placing second. The players learned a lot as they progressed throughout the games.
St. John Lutheran Church’s lawn party was a huge success. A nice crowd enjoyed the many activities, good food, and the fellowship of neighbors and friends. Of course, the weather played a huge part in this!
Willard and Judy Rader and Kevin and Malintha Custer enjoyed a delicious luncheon picnic. They also visited with Benny and Linda Custer on Sunday in Verona, Virginia.
Clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- Birds don’t sweat, but they do pant.
- Oregon has the most ghost towns in the country.
- Crickets weigh less than a paper clip, but can jump over two feet.
- Fremont, Michigan, is home to Gerber, the baby food capital of the world.
- Smokey the Bear was rescued from a 1950 forest fire in New Mexico.
Birthdays include Junior Evick, 16th; Bill Nelson and Mary Child, 17th; Jaylee Brubeck, 18th; Carrol Mitchell, 19th; Jack Koontz and Alda Propst, 22nd; Jerry Wimer, 23rd; Benny Nesselrodt and Lester Propst, 24th; Donna Rader and Sheila Lambert, 25th; Marshall Harper, Mike Johnson, Bob Hurry and Don Vandevander, 26th; Amanda Kiser, 27th; Sunette Propst, 28th; Jeanie Koontz, 29th; and Polly Hartman. 30th.
Concerns for this week are many, and they are as follows: Charles Anderson, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Vernon “Fuzzy” Baldwin, Lynn Beatty, the Debbie Beal family, Marie Cole, Jed Conrad, Jeff Craig, the Jack Eye family, Mary Eye, Donna Fleisher, Lola Graham, Jordan Greathouse, Marvin Hartman, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Gary and Jackie Hills, Virgil Homan, Jr., Myrtle Hoover, Debbie Horst, Mike Jamison, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Danny Kimble, Dennis Kincaid, Kim Kline, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, Angela Lung, Linda Malcolm, Betty Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Neil McLaughlin, Melvin Moats, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Don Nilsen, Cheryl Paine, Barbara Parker, Sutton Parrack, the Charles Pennybacker family, the Walter Mahlon Pitsenbarger family, Shirley Pratt, Alda Propst, Kathy Propst, Linda Propst, Sheldon Propst, the Steve Propst family, K.D. Puffenbarger, Harley Propst, Jason Rexrode, Jimmy Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Donna Ruddle, John Ruddle, Annie Simmons, Barry and Phyllis Simmons, Davey Simmons, Erin Simmons, Robbie Sites, Ona Smith, Rosa Tichenor, Sandra Vandevander, Amy Vaus, Judy Williams and Margaret Wimer.
