The long-awaited master plan for McCoy Farm and Gardens is now available to the public. Copies can be seen at the facility and at Walden Town Hall. The plan is also posted on the MFG website, www.mccoywalden.org.
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Hodgson Douglas Landscape Architects of Nashville was retained by the MFG board of directors in 2018 to lead the planning effort. The process was possible because of help from a generous grant from the Tucker Foundation.

The project team consisted of Richie Jones, Gretchen Mast and Katherine DeKrey of HDLA, and Charles Adams, Gene Adams, Linda Collins, Joe Davis, Sallie Ford, Andy Jones, Anne Leonard, Larson Mick, Mickey Robbins, Susan Snow and myself of MFG.

A critical element of the development process was defining a set of goals and guiding principles derived from the values, priorities, and objectives of the MFG board. Preservation, maintenance, education, recreation and sense of community arose as key guiding values for all decisions concerning the property. The aim was a written plan to balance the need for increasing event revenue with preserving and restoring the site’s history.
Five years of experience with hosting large and small crowds helped identify property capacity and use limits. Events and programmed activities are critical to the long-term success of MFG. Ongoing improvements to the property, event management, and marketing will increase usage. Continued growth and use will bring additional strains of revenue. Maintenance, parking, signage, circulation and building spaces are all considerations that must be addressed as use increases.

One of the primary goals of the master plan is to determine the optimal property capacity and develop strategies for successfully accommodating growth. Photos of existing features with maps and descriptions of their current uses show what pieces of the puzzle are available now and guide how these pieces can be supplemented or improved.

While continuing to work with HDLA on the plan, the board began to make improvements as projects were identified. Among those are: adding weather shields and HVAC to the pavilion; improving electric and water service to the pavilion; adding in-ground irrigation systems for the gardens; increasing parking capacity; refurbishing and expanding the Anderson Pike and Taft Highway entrances; repairing the cut-stone wall along Anderson Pike; installing efficient internal security gates; and constructing white three-board fences to help direct traffic and improve aesthetics.

The plan identifies other improvements needed. On the board’s priority list are refurbishing the barn and reconstructing the row of farm sheds near the barn and bordering what is defined in the plan as the “Education Lawn.” These sheds were important to the Bachman-McCoy families, and they are needed today for equipment storage. Once reproduced, they will help explain to visitors the part such buildings played in the operation of the working farm.

Among these sheds, Martha McCoy’s dilapidated smokehouse still stands. The smokehouse was, of necessity, small to confine the smoke used to cure and flavor hams. Sally McCoy Garland recalls that a shelf ran along the side wall from the front to the back of the structure. Martha would place hams rubbed with a salt mix on the shelf before wrapping the hams in a paper material and hanging them from the ceiling to cure. She built a fire on the floor so the smoke would rise to smoke the hams. Such stories and the rebuilt structures fulfill one of the goals to preserve the history of MFG and provide educational opportunities.

In addition to suggestions for improving existing features, the plan proposes construction of a large climate controlled space to accommodate crowds that the grounds can accommodate but that present buildings cannot. This need is defined by examples of large gatherings in the past: the MEF fundraiser; the traditional Memorial Day picnic; and big events where tents have had to be erected in case of inclement weather.

This is just one of the exciting ideas outlined in the MFG master plan. McCoy Farm and Gardens board of directors is committed to continuing improvements with the aid of our community. We hope you will enjoy seeing our plan and helping to implement the results. For more information, please visit www.mccoywalden.org.

by Karen Stone

Quarantined to our homes, we flopped around in our pajamas for the first weeks, but that indulgence got tiresome after a while. Then, realizing that this pandemic stall was going to last all summer, we searched our minds for something to bring meaning to each day. Amazingly, we got going with long put-off projects: cleaning out closets, painting, organizing papers, planting gardens, and such. Some of us pushed even harder, coming up with artistic additions to our houses and yards. Let’s look at some of these wonderful ideas that came to fruition.

If you and your family have produced an imaginative or functional addition to your lives, please share it here in the Mirror.  Email us at aritten@comcast.net. Inspire us with your creativity!


Megan Lyness Brings Fresh Meaning to Her Grandmother’s Jewelry
Costume jewelry: We’ve all got it lying in drawers or hanging on hooks. The “statement” look, the “minimalist” look, the “natural” look, goldtone, silvertone ... And when, sadly, we lose our grandmothers and mothers, the jewelry piles up. We struggle with what to do with these pieces, not wanting to throw treasured “ear bobs” or bracelets away. Usually these adornments get put into a box on a shelf where they are occasionally noted with a sigh.

This indecision hasn’t been the response of Megan Westbrook Lyness, however. Wanting to memorialize her dear late grandmother Jeffie Wilson, who treasured her trove of costume jewelry, Megan gathered Jeffie’s baubles, bangles, and beads. She pitched in some of her own jewels, and so did her mom, Milissa Gee. After consulting Pinterest for ideas, Megan decided to let her own creativity take control. She bought a mannequin from Hobby Lobby, sewed a demure skirt for it to bring dignity to the look, and then began swirling and twirling Jeffie’s pearl necklaces, gold chains, bracelets, watches, rings, using diagonal lines to bring vibrance to the effect. She bought strings of fake pearls at Walmart, separated the individual pieces, and hot-glued them to the mannequin in the gaps between the bracelets and necklaces. The effect is stunning! Megan’s husband, Dustin, agreed, appraising the work of art and saying, “Wow, amazing, Babe!” Milissa and Dick were so excited that they sent us the pic of the posh mannequin to include it in this story.
Jeffie’s jewels were especially loved by Megan because she and her sister, Lindsay, used to stay with Jeffie during the week and played dress up with her abundant beads and earrings, many with the dreaded pinching clips! They really loved wearing a certain pair of Jeffie’s favorites - a huge red resin circle with a big pearl dome in the center! Megan remembers how she and Lindsay would parade around in these fineries as Jeffie, sitting in her chair reading the paper with a magnifying glass, looked up to admire the fashion show. Lindsay told Megan, “I love all the pieces brought together to remind us of such fond memories of our grandmother.”

Debating the placement of the pearly objet d’art, Megan has considered mounting it on a canvas somehow or hanging it in her bathroom. Wherever the bedecked mannequin lands, it will bring joy, for its representation of Jeffie as well as for its charm.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” said the poet, and Megan Lyness has created a meaningful thing of beauty from articles that may have lost their lives when Jeffie lost hers. Now some of her flair and grace still delight. What an artful tribute!


Lounelle Draper Tackles Years of Glenn’s Musical Library and Photos
Our lovely neighbor Lounelle Draper had a very busy summer, organizing and distributing the trove of musical material that belonged to her late husband, Dr. Glenn Draper, who died in June of 2019 at almost 91. As you can imagine, this late Titan of chorales had amassed a tremendous collection of music in myriad forms during his many years of directing choral groups all over the South. As the first anniversary of Glenn’s death approached, Lounelle knew it was time to do something. She went into the job with two goals: culling/condensing and getting herself out of the house to deliver and mail this material locally and around the country.

To get a grasp of the extent of Lounelle’s task, you need to know that Dr. Draper had four offices, three in Chattanooga and one at home - each jammed with sheet music, CDs, DVDs, and photos.  All this accumulated during his direction of choirs and choruses for 55 years, from Florida (Miami Hurricane Singers at UF, Gainesville) to Chattanooga (Singing Mocs, Chattanooga Singers, First Presbyterian Church Choir) to North Carolina (the Lake Junaluska Singers from the Methodist Assembly). His choirs sang at the White House for Presidents Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. They sang for Prince Philip of Great Britain, on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” as well as international TV and radio shows. They went on lengthy European performing tours. These outstanding productions started early in Glenn’s career: While he served in the Army as a young man, he organized the military’s first choral presentation of Handel’s “Messiah.” And it progressed from there, growing exponentially, with each concert involving sheet music for all the singers and accompanists, as well as tons of photographs.

Lounelle laughed as she told us about Glenn’s vigor for all this, how he even auditioned people in airports for his choruses, as well as one man “on the side of the road” who turned out to be a stellar tenor!

When COVID-19 hit, Lounelle, stuck at home and totally stir crazy, wasn’t thriving on the isolation. She began organizing the hundreds of 8- by 10-inch photos plus CDs and DVDs. She either mailed or delivered them locally to the members of the group; she went just to the door, mind you, to avoid contamination. And as for mailing, she found the Signal Mountain Post Office to be practicing mask wearing and social distancing, so she mailed tons of packages.

She gave most the library of music books and sheet music to Dr. Kevin Ford, UC Foundation professor and director of Musical Activities at UTC and choir director at Second Presbyterian Church. She also gave Glenn’s full collection of Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony Chorale’s CDs and DVDs to a tenor in that group, Tom Hammett.

Still on a roll, Lounelle then organized and culled the four offices, getting them down to three, then two, then just the one at home. His packed filing cabinet included tax returns going back to the 1960s. Lounelle worked steadily, with the Lions’ Club Shred Day back in June as her deadline, and she made it! Now, only the essentials are stashed safely away in the cabinet.

Always active, she managed to get her daily walks even during the height of her purge. She felt inspired to be getting a handle on the situation, as well as making sure her sons Glenn Jr. and Dean wouldn’t have to do it “later.”

Many of us, with our houses stuffed to the brim, need to follow her example! Thanks, Lounelle Draper, for letting us know that a gigantic task such as the one you faced can be accomplished.


The Cleckners’ Smashing Schmear Idea
Three years ago, when Jessie and Paul Cleckner moved into their house on Crown Point West, Jessie wanted to do something to the brick exterior to jazz it up. Time elapsed with no update, however. Then COVID-19 hit and a long at-home summer loomed. Beckoning was the brick exterior project, and Jessie took to Pinterest for ideas. There she found videos on YouTube of DIY aficionados creating the greatest look - German “schmearing” - a lovely way to “age” brick with mortar. You’ve seen this finish on classy looking houses and wondered how the effect was achieved. With their pandemic project completed, the Cleckners know full well, having schmeared with the best of them, and their house is the envy of the neighborhood.

The schmear process involves lots of tile mortar, which the Cleckners made into a slurry of approximately 70/30, mortar to water. Then Paul put the concoction into grout piping bags, similar to bags for squeezing fancy cake frosting onto cakes. He piped the slurry onto the existing mortar and smeared it. They used gardening gloves to smear the mortar, but the fingertips tore and had to be taped back together repeatedly. Jessie said that the process was a lot messier than they’d expected, and that they had to get comfortable with imperfections. The further they went, the messier their presentation became. “We had to embrace the chaos,” Jessie said with a laugh.

How did the parents of three little girls, Eliza (5), Caroline (3), and Annie (18 months), get this job done, what with entertaining, feeding and keeping up with these little darlings? They worked hard for two weeks during the girls’ daily naptime and on weekends. During the Easter holiday, however, in a very intense work session (Jessie says Paul is a 0 mph to 1,000 m.p.h. person, and he was registering 1,000 at the time!), Eliza and Caroline managed to eat an entire bag of jellybeans, undetected!

In addition to the schmearing, Paul installed new stained wooden columns to support the porch, which has great looking furniture in place as well. The effect is dazzling!

The neighbors have been very interested in the transformation, with some wondering if the schmear was a primer with another coat of paint coming next. A realtor stopped by to get the name of the painter who had done the work. Others honked and gave a thumbs-up.

Friends have asked Jessie and Paul if they’d undertake the schmearing job again, and they just can’t decide. The project was very demanding - a “labor of love” - but satisfying as well. Congratulations to the Cleckner family, including Eliza, Caroline, and Annie, for this fantastic home renovation!

A Family Built Pond Brings Tranquility to Pages and Kids
We were alerted by a neighborhood walker that a family on Woodbine had built a marvelous pond in their yard and it would be “a great idea for a story for the Mirror” our buddy urged. When we investigated, we learned it was the Page family, our friend Carolyn and her husband, Jeff, and kids Ben, Chad, Brooke, and Bailee. We went over to see (and hear) the lovely pond and to visit with Jeff and get the scoop.

Like so many families, the Pages turned to yard work after the quarantine descended upon us. A lily of the valley infested flowerbed was the focus when Chad noted that the area was depressed and would make a good place for a pond. Jeff, an outdoorsman and third generation forester (his grandfather started the company Charles R. Page and Associates, with his father, Don, now minding the office, with Jeff at the helm – that is, in the woods.), saw Chad’s idea as a great project to keep the family occupied outside during the long summer. Carolyn, a physical therapist at Erlanger, embraced the idea as well, and, as her contribution to the project, cooked great meals to keep the workers energized.

Chad got busy researching the process, necessary supplies, cost, and requirements for koi to enliven the pond.

The process was plain and simple: dig, dig, dig! Jeff, Chad, Brooke, and Bailee got busy with shovels, picks, and wheelbarrow to transport the dug dirt to the backyard, where they would use it later for a berm for hydrangeas. After two months of digging, when the hole was 9- by 13- by 4-feet deep (dimensions that would hold the volume of water to sustain up to 10 koi), they trimmed the roots to avoid puncturing the 20- by 25-foot rubber liner that would be placed on top of a felt liner that they put over the raw dirt. They placed the rubber liner in the middle of the pond and spread it out, keeping it as flat as possible. The next step was putting pea gravel on the bottom of the pond and on a 4-foot seating area around the pond. Sadly, during these final steps in the process, Chad broke his arm in a skateboarding accident, and Jeff called their neighbor Charlie Winchester over to help finish the work. Charlie had just finished a great project of his own and was happy to pitch in.

Fortunately, through his forestry work, Jeff had access to approximately 500 big river rocks needed to line the sides and edge of the pond. He and Charlie began placing them, “like a giant set of Legos,” in Jeff’s words, alternately, to let gravity do its work. At the higher end of the pond, they built the rocks up to around four feet high to allow for a waterfall to flow from it.

Then, machinery entered this bucolic picture in the form of an electrical filter and pump, a “skimmer box.” The filter keeps the water oxygenated for koi. A 2-inch underground plastic pipe runs from the filter, under the seating area, to the waterfall, which pours water forcefully into the pond with a beautiful rushing sound. The bubbles made when the water hits the surface of the pond generate the oxygen for the koi.

The next step in the process was to install black hardware cloth around the circumference of the pond to keep predators like raccoons from stealing the fish.

Finally, it was time to fill the big hole with water. Jeff located a spring in Dade County, Ga., for the water - fresh with no chlorine - and borrowed a 500-gallon tank to transport it. The pond required 1,000 gallons to fill it and over three hours to pump that amount of water. Waterlilies, Japanese iris, and four lovely koi completed the pond’s look.

Now, Carolyn, Jeff, Ben, Chad, Brooke, and Bailee can enjoy the ambiance of rushing water and splashing koi in their own landlocked front yard. The Page pond is a wonder, a family effort that will forever be a bright memory in the summer of 2020, a summer when COVID-19 kept us close to home and close to family.
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by Anne Rittenberry

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Our grab-and-go bags have proven so popular that we will continue this service until we reopen to the public. All you need to do is send us an email with the age and gender of your children (babies through rising fifth-graders), your name, and your library card number; we will pick out some books that we hope you will enjoy. Then we'll notify you when they're ready to pick up. You may also request specific books from our catalog.

Below are brief reviews of some of our newer books that you may want to try.

Picture Books:

• Preaching to the Chickens by Jabari Asim tells the story of the early years of a young man who grew up to be the late Civil Rights leader, Georgia congressman John Lewis. Raised on a farm in Alabama, Lewis tended a flock of chickens and preached to them, imitating the sermons he heard each Sunday and hoping someday to inspire others with his own words. E. B. Lewis’ lovely watercolors illustrate this joyful text. (ages 5-8)
• In Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom, a boy who fears his first day in school goes on a trip in his grandfather’s time machine and learns what it means to be brave. (age 4-8)
• Bunnies on the Bus by Philip Ardagh is a fun read-aloud adventure about the mayhem caused by some lively bunnies. (ages 3-7)
• Catch That Chicken by Nigerian writer Atinuke tells the story of Lami, the best chicken catcher in her village where the contributions of everyone matter. (ages 2-5)
• Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl introduces readers to Mabel, whose parents run the Mermaid Hotel where the Madame comes to stay. The young girl and the old woman meet and eventually a bond develops between them and sparks some remarkably interesting—if imaginary—adventures. (ages 5-8)
• Choo-Choo School by Amy Krouse Rosenthal stars seven train cars as they experience their first day of school and learn that working hard, playing fair, and being kind are all the rules they will need. (ages 3-7)
• Noodle Bear by Mark Gravas is about friendship and stars a bear who loves noodles. When he wakes from hibernation and can find no noodles, he sets off to seek his fortune (and some noodles) but learns that sharing the thing you love with the friends you care about is the more important than all the noodles in the world. (ages 3-7)
• The Pirates Are Coming by John Condon takes “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” to extremes. Tom gets so excited about his job as lookout that he imagines danger when it’s not there. But when it is … (ages 3-7)
• Soaked by Abi Cushman is another book starring a bear, this time a grumpy one who hates the idea of getting wet in a rainstorm. When his friends all have fun in the shower, bear at first thinks they are nuts, but eventually learns that he can have a good time in any type of weather. (ages 3-7)

Children's Activity:

• Author Grace Lin has written lots of children’s books for a variety of ages. We have six here at the Library that you may check out and three more coming soon. You can also enjoy Lin on her YouTube channel where she reads from her books and also gives some art lessons.
  
  

Juvenile Fiction:

• Ada Twist and the Perilous Pants by Andrea Beaty is a spin-off of the picture books starring Rosie Revere, Ada Twist, and Iggy Peck. In this volume Scientist Ada seeks to discover how far a balloon can float. (ages 6-9)
• Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters by Andrea Beaty is another new chapter book starring Rosie’s friends Ada and Iggy. Rosie learns about the power of teamwork in this STEM-based series. (ages 6-9)
  
  

Juvenile Nonfiction:

• It’s a Numbers Game: The Math Behind the Perfect Bounce Pass, the Buzzer-Beating Bank Shot, and So Much More by James Buckley will treat kids to lots of fun-to-learn facts about basketball while imparting some math knowledge at the same time. (ages 8-12)
• The Lost Book Of Adventure: From the Notebooks of the Unknown Adventurer by Teddy Keen purports to be the journal found by the author on a trip to the Amazon. In it are details of extraordinary explorations along with advice on such outdoor activities as how to build a treehouse and what to do when encountering a poisonous snake. (ages 9-12

As our region begins to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage businesses and community members to continue to follow governmental requirements and CDC guidelines to keep their employees and our residents safe from exposure to the virus. 
 
Our leaders and medical staffs continue to monitor the situation and partner with local government and public health offices in the effort to slow the transmission of the virus. 
 
While our emergency departments, primary and specialty care, urgent care, and emergency surgery services remain in operation, you will begin to see other services, such as elective procedures, gradually return over the next couple of weeks. Rest assured, we are still taking every precaution to reduce transmission of the virus within our hospitals and offices to mitigate the spread of the virus through the communities we serve. 
 
Our facilities remain safe as our employees are also following the CDC guidelines for healthcare workers and patients. You may notice certain restrictions, such as screening at entrances, limited visitation policies, and the use of personal protective equipment, are still in place at our facilities and offices. 
 
We encourage individuals to seek medical care in the event there is a medical emergency or if medical treatment is needed. We also have alternative options like telehealth for qualified appointments. Please don’t hesitate to contact our facilities if you have any questions about your appointments or medical care. 
 
Our advice to the community remains the same during the pandemic. Those who exhibit mild symptoms of COVID-19 should self-quarantine at home and maintain distance from family members who are not experiencing symptoms. Continue these precautions until 72 hours after symptoms have resolved (typically 10-14 days). If you have a fever of 100.4 or above OR respiratory symptoms, call your healthcare provider. If you do not have a healthcare provider, call the closest urgent care center. Please call ahead to the facility so care teams can ensure the safety of their providers, other patients, and you. If you have a medical emergency and need to call 911, notify the dispatcher that you have a respiratory illness. If possible, put on a face mask before help arrives.
 
We want to extend our sincerest appreciation to our staffs who continue to provide medical care to our patients, as well as to first responders and law enforcement serving on the frontlines, and area residents doing their part to prevent the spread of the virus. We also want to thank the hundreds of businesses, organizations, groups and individuals who donated supplies, meals, time, and monetary contributions to support our operations and healthcare heroes. We are extremely grateful for these many gifts and could not do the work we are doing now without the generous assistance of our community.

For the latest information about our policies and scheduling information for surgeries or procedures, visit the sites below:

• www.chattmd.org
• www.erlanger.org/coronavirus
• www.memorial.org/coronavirus
• www.parkridgehealth.com/covid-19 

For information about COVID-19 testing in your region, please call these numbers:

• Alabama Public Health – 888-264-2256
• Georgia Department of Public Health – 844-442-2681
• Hamilton County Health Department – 423-209-8383
• North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services – 866-462-3821
• Tennessee Department of Health – 877-857-2945