Ruritan Fish Fry

If you are in Blacksburg on the second Saturday of the month from May through October you can enjoy community fellowship and a fish fry at the Mt Tabor Ruritan Club's monthly event behind Slusshers Chapel in MT Tabor.  Dinner is served from 5 until 7 P. M.

His craft is Instrumental

  Clinton Smith is a multi-talented craftsman. When he got to most people's retirement age he just sat down; not to retire but to craft stringed instruments.  And that has been a major focus for him for the past 11 years.

In just over a decade he has made 111 fiddles, 20 mandolins,  and eight banjos. He hasn't just assembled the instruments from kits; sometime he has started with the tree. He does buy strings but even the metal frame of the banjos are crafted in Clinton's shop.  I asked where the metal frame came from, expecting he would tell me the name of a supplier.  His answer; "from an old car transmission."  He not only is a wood worker but a metal craftsman
as well!







Clinton carefully selects the wood for the sides of the instruments and crafts them on a historic band saw that his father gave him.

                                                                          




(The band saw came from the shop of a Mr. Long
for which the community of Long Shop (in Montgomery County, VA. was named.  The saw has the date of February 27, 1900 welded on it.)

Clinton researched the process of instrument making and settled on a pamphlet  that he refers to frequently. He made a template that is used for all of his full-size fiddles. The template actually works for the fiddles without "ears" which he calls the "guitfiddle."

A metal template is added to make the "ears" which are on most fiddles and violins.
In his research Clinton found that Stradivarius actually made guitfiddles as well as conventional violins. Guitar fiddles are describe as instruments played in medieval times







Clinton proudly shares that Jeff Michael of the Big Country Bluegrass Band plays one of his guitfiddles.  And when I sought more information about Jeff Michael, I learned he had recorded under the Hay Holler Records label from Blacksburg, VA.


According to Clinton the "Ears" on a conventional fiddle make a convenient place to make wood joints in the sides. Since the guitfiddle doesn't have those breaks, a long clear piece of wood is needed to surround the instrument.

 The back of each instrument  is a work of art.

The finished
instruments are as colorful as a bouquet of flowers, especially when displayed on one of his wife Ann's hand-made quilts.


In the picture you may be able to recognize a left-hand fiddle.  Clinton couldn't find a chin piece for the lefty so he made one and from then on he has made all the chin pieces.

Clinton says he doesn't play but likes to get his instruments into the hands of those who do. That seems to be working to; the banjo he showed me was the last one and it was waiting for its owner to pick it up; I didn't see a mandolin, and about 60 of his fiddles are making music.

About Grist Mill Wheels

I wrote an earlier blog about McDonalds Mill. Ensuing discussions focused on the actual grinding stone wheels because I wondered where and how they were cut. My sources of information were my Dad, Bill Absher, Clinton Smith, and Buford Long. Each had a reason to be somewhat knowledgeable on the subject; Dad because he grew up next to the mill and worked with a lot of craftsmen, Clinton because he is a long term resident of Brush Mountain, and Buford because his Dad and cousin had a hand in mill wheel production.

As I understand it, there are only two seams of stone that make top quality grist wheels; one runs along the ridge of Brush Mountain and the other might be in Africa.  Brush Mountain Mill wheels are supposedly the best in the U.S. and have been sent all over the country and may have been exported.

Buford's father, Gilbert Long, helped remove the overburden with a team of horses to allow the stones to be quarried. The stone is like a sand stone of sharp and hard quartz pebbles.  There were several families that knew the trade of hammering out mill wheels; Shealor, Surface, Saville, and Hurt were names I heard. Dad worked with the Surface brothers; one was Fred ( I had a class mate that may have been his son, Freddie , that was killed in a car accident soon after we graduated).

Billie Hurt is Buford"s cousin and as of last week was still alive in a rest home near Rocky Mount. Supposedly he is the last remaining gist stone cutter.

I had a class mate. Roger Saville.  I need to remember to ask him about Doug Saville who was supposed to have been one of the better known craftsmen.

Many used up or flawed grist wheels can be seen in the Brush Mountain area like the one Clinton Smith embeded in his stone wall to greet visitors to his home.

I asked Dad where the quarries were. His response: "I did know but it wasn't important to me at the time." That's one reason I'm writing this blog; to record information that didn't seem important enough when it was happening but helps us understand our history. Help by adding to this blog.

Blacksburg's, Beautiful, Bountiful, Blooms

A drive around Blacksburg can be a colorful cruise.

Brilliant Colors!

Great variety!

A red rhododendron.

And that's just a sample of the foliage along Harding Road!

Blacksburg Farmers Market

Interested in locally grown produce? 

You don’t have to wait until beans and ”taters” are in. You can find, salad greens, home canned produce, and baked goods as soon as  it opens at the Blacksburg Farmers’ Market.  Also available are grass-fed beef (have a healthy lunch at this booth), plants, flowers, as well as woodcrafts, candles, etc.  You might even find yummy fried pies, made right there on the spot! 

The Market is located at the corner of Roanoke and Draper Streets, just one block off Main Street in downtown Blacksburg. There you’ll find a new covered pavilion that  is open on Wed. 2-6 and Sat. 9-2 from April through October.

Clinton Smith's hidden talent.

Clinton Smith's talent is hidden only from the standpoint that you've got to know where you are going to find him. Do you know how to get to Sunny Side in Montgomery County, VA? If you do that is a good starting point.  Or do you know about Glade,  Longshop,  Nutter's Store? If you don't know about those reference points you'd better start with Prices Fork or Blacksburg, VA.

From wherever you start, to find Clinton and Ann you must drive up the side of Brush Mountain, through well managed timber that looks like a National Forest into the Smith clearing. From that point Clinton's talent is no longer hidden. The Smith house was built by Clinton out of logs he cut and sawed, rocks he gathered and "masoned" into walls. The house is a striking display of this man's many talents. I came to see the musical instruments he has made; I found so much more!

I intend to write more at another time, but for now I want to record  some things I remember. Clinton is 77 years old. He started making  instruments about 11 years ago after his declining health forced him  to look for a job he could do while setting down. He has made 8 banjos, 20 mandolins, and 111 fiddles( including a few "guitfiddles").

I want to write about Clinton's work but I also want to write about the man. I was awed by the man of many experiences and talents that has seen so much of life and has the excitement of a young man starting out on a new adventure. I think every day has been an adventure for Clinton.

He was the second born of ten children to Grayton and Ruby Hamilton Smith.  He had three brothers and six sisters. He worked at many jobs to make a living. He built houses, tried being a brick mason, operated a saw mill, made wood burning stoves and more.

I'm anxious  to write more about Clinton and his work in the future.  Clinton Smith is burned in my memory as one of the most unforgettable personalities I've ever met. I want to do justice as I introduce him to you.

Mountains dress for Mother's Day

I drove through the Appalachians the week before Mother's Day and I thought, "they are all dressed up for Mother's Day!" The variegated verde provided an eye easing backdrop for the ornamentation of the showy white locust blooms, and the occasional Palownia tree. I've learned to play a game with myself, trying to spot the Palownia blooms since a forester, Don Graves,  introduced me to the exotic tree. Palownia's light purple color stands out with almost inverted cones of color.
I understand the plant originated in China and is appreciated for its fast growing production of wood that has a high strength to weight ratio. It is an honored tree in the far East and its wood is valued for making musical instruments. Don told me that a timber buyer would visit a particular tree several times before purchasing it. The buyer would know how the trunk would be sectioned into usable wood before it was harvested.  It has been a tree of choice for mine reclamation purposes. With all the positive things, some say the tree is ugly after it finishes blooming. Leaves can be huge and some consider it an invasive specie.

The fringe of the forest are adorned as well with azaleas, rhododendron and redbuds. Redbud trees have mostly transitioned from its brilliant pinkish-purple to heart shaped leaves-appropriate for the season, no!

May we all honor our mothers or mother's memories with such a display of affection!

Back Road Trip and Back

There are many back roads but in Montgomery County there is the Back Road. We have a map in the Cozy Cottage that describes the county in the late 1700s and it shows the Back Road running along the base of Brush Mountain in a north west direction and somewhat parallel to a trail identified as the Indian Road.

State Route 785 roughly follows the Indian Road along the North Fork of the Roanoke River from Luster's Gate to Catawba.  Our Cozy Cottage is on Harding Road which is also  SR785 just out of Blacksburg

A circle trip covering both of these historic trails can make a  pleasant casual outing or fill an afternoon with photo opportunities of country scenes. It is a short trip towards town to the intersection of Harding and Patrick Henry Drive. Patrick Henry connects to North Main Street. By traveling north on N. Main you will find Mt. Tabor Road which connects with the Back Road.  While it is not clear where one road starts and the other begins , once you navigate the first big curve crossing Mill Creek you know you are on the Back Road.

A short circle can be selected by turning down Dry Run. But continuing down the road increases the photo opportunities.

Even the rare straight stretches can fill your lenses with colorful contrast...

... a brown bromsedge covered hill contrasts with the green

meadow...

... or if horses or homes attract your fancy, there will be something to add to your photographic album.

We started our circle back by turning down Gallion Ridge.   A surprise awaits on Gallion Ridge; a French B&B.

This gravel connector leads you to a panoramic view of the upper Roanoke Valley and directs you onto 785 at a point to get a good view of the Yost's log house and McDonald's Mill.

The road passes many marked and unmarked

 historic landmarks as it meanders towards

Luster's Gate. The old Grubb's House must have a

 lot of stories. It appears old enough to have

been there when the road was the Indian Road.

The log store was operated by Walter Bennet and Bax Johnson was often there according to my dad. This was a place to buy supplies or visit with Bax. You get the impression farmers didn't need many supplies!

You know you are making a circle when you see another non functioning mill that was fed by Mill Creek, the same one crossed near the start of the Back Road. The old map identifies it as Bennet's Mill.

This attractive home was formerly a school until consolidation. You can see it was well built as you observe the straight lines of the old school.

You can complete the circle by continuing on by the old cheese plant, up the mountain, around Ryan's Curve( or Craig's Bend) , passing the Bug Shop to Wrights Way and the Cozy Cottage.

There are many places of interest neither photographed nor described in this blog. That means we will just have to make the loop again!