The Mail Box - September, 1986

Issue: September, 1986

Dear Mountain Laurel,
In reference to the August 1986 issue of The Mountain Laurel, "My First and Last Trip to the Pinnacles" and Miss Eunice Lipscomb.  I taught with Miss Eunice Lipscomb at Bassett High School from 1953 until her retirement around 1958. She learned to drive an automobile and went and lived with her brother at Crew, Virginia. She died about five years ago in her nineties. She sent me a Christmas card every year until her death in spite of being blind. She was a good teacher and a true friend. The grit she showed in being the end one on the Pinnacle was just like her!!!

Sincerely,

Bertha P. Coates
Stuart, VA

Dear Mountain Laurel,
I want to correct the date my mother, Mrs. Lelia Lovell wrote Our Little Farm In The Virginia Woods. The story was written in 1929 instead of 1922. Thank you for publishing the story.

Very Sincerely,

Mrs. J.M. Wimmer, Sr.

Dear Ms. Thigpen,
Would you believe, one of your "Good Ole Boys" that strayed gave me a subscription to your publication. I really look forward to each exciting issue and cannot thank him enough. I to am originally from Virginia and strayed some 25 years ago. Hopefully, I will be returning in 1987 for good. Rest assured I will continue my subscription to your paper. Keep up the good work, Susan.

Sincerely,

J.L. Turner
Juneau, Ak 99801

Dear Publisher and Editor,
Enclosed is our check for 3-year subscription to The Mountain Laurel. We enjoyed reading the June and July, 1986 editions while we were visiting family in Floyd, Virginia during the 4th of July Week.

Your journal adds to the natural beauty of the mountain scenery and people. It is entertaining and informative, and we don't want to miss any future issues.

Sincerely,

J & T Goughenour
Muscatine, Iowa

Editor:
Having grown up in the hills of Tennessee where one grandfather was a farmer/blacksmith and the other a farmer/ cabinet maker, I thoroughly enjoy your paper. I was particularly interested in the information on Snowville in the August "Backroads" section. As a scout leader I have passed through Snowville many times over the past several years going to and from the Blue Ridge Scout Reservation which is located along route 693 roughly between Snowville and Hiwassee. I felt there was some rich heritage in the town's past due to the age of some of the buildings.

The area on and around the 16,000 acre reservation near Hiwassee has an interesting past, also. There were three active industries over the years that brought many people to the area. The oldest probably was lumbering with its camps for the lumberjacks, and at one time iron mining made the area around Max Creek a busy place. The iron processing furnaces still stands at the entrance to Camp Powhatan (one of two Boy Scout camps on the reservation).

The third industry, pigment mining left the scars of open-pit mining. A short hike from the entrance road to Camp Powhatan will take you to the "Grand Canyon" of Pulaski County. If you sit down for a rest there, you may find the seat of your jeans displaying several colors of a rainbow.

Speaking for those of us who love the mountains and Backroads as a relief from today's somewhat hectic life I hope your paper continues to prosper.

Sincerely,

N. Galbreath
Ridgeway, VA

Dear Sirs,
I have enjoyed and looked forward to The Mountain Laurel each month for a year. I read it from front to back, sometimes the same day it comes. I am keeping them all and from time to time look back over them. So many stories in them remind me of my own childhood days and home back in the 30's. I was born January 16, 1930 and can remember things that happened at 3 years old. My Dad, James G. Logwood worked at the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Mill in Covington, Va. as a watchman. We moved to the country, Rt. 18, Potts Creek, in 1936 onto a 50 acre farm. At first we had no electricity or running water. It was real country but my two brothers and sister and I loved it. We had a cow, pigs, chickens and when Granddad Ben Hudson came to live in the house below ours there were 2 horses to help farm the land and what fun we had with all of these creatures. Ours was a happy childhood and I look back on those days with fond memories.

Enclosed are 2 pictures. The Humpback Bridge is still there and we use to go swimming and have picnics there.

Falling Springs is also above Covington, Va. and is very pretty to see and especially in the winter when it freezes. Hope you can use one or both pictures. Please return them to me. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Earl A. Burley
Rt. 1
Big Island, Va 24526