The Mountain Laurel
The Journal of Mountain Life

Visit us on FaceBookGenerations of Memories
from the
Heart of the Blue Ridge


The Mail Box - April, 1987

Issue: April, 1987


Dear Ms. Susan Thigpen,
I love your Mountain Laurel, it's just like taking a journey back into my childhood days. I read it, then let others read it, but I do keep them. I want them to read again when I get homesick for the things that used to be.

Please send me "Mountain Memories" March, 1983 through February, 1984. Thank you! Also if you still have any left of the older ones up until 1985, I would love to order those too. Let me know.

A reader and subscriber,

Ms. S. Melton
Independence, Virginia

Dear Ms. Melton,
I'm sorry, but we don't have any back issues left to send. This was one of the most important reasons for printing, 'Mountain Memories". We hope to print more collections in the future.

Susan Thigpen, Editor


Dear "Friends", (we think of you that way)
I plan to renew my subscription soon, after a trip to our library in town to "Xerox" a copy of the order blank. (I do not wish to mutilate my copy.)

We enjoyed the Backroads packet which arrived in time for our trip over Thanksgiving week. We drove to Meadows of Dan on a day when it was wrapped in a mantle of gauzy fog/mist. We made it through town and stopped at a delightful store to ask directions to your newspaper offices.

We're still enjoying the apple butter made by: Us'ens & Co., Rt. 2, Box 106. What a delightful young woman was minding the store!

We did not find you. The fog was too thick to risk getting lost. We will return. The rush of the Dan River was beautiful (through the wooden deck we stood upon).

Thanks again,

Mrs. A.L. Bachelder
Jackson, Mississippi


Dear Susan,
A friend here in Michigan recently introduced me to "The Mountain Laurel". Certainly she was correct in saying that it is a delight.

Typical of a dear friend, she shared her "Mountain Laurel Seed" with me. I am planting by enclosing my check for a subscription. Please also send Collection #1 of the Laurel Library. I would appreciate the collection as soon as possible as we plan to visit our "beloved Virginia" the first week in April.

Thank you,

C. Redding
Marshall, Michigan


Dear Mountain Laurel,
I just love The Mountain Laurel paper. It reminds me of my childhood days; the things that I did, and the way that we lived. I was born in Patrick County, Virginia. I lived there until I got married in 1930. So I just can't do without my little Mountain Laurel

Lots of Luck to you folks,

J.G. Aron
Winston-Salem, North Carolina


The Mountain Laurel,
We look forward to each issue. Read from cover to cover. Always enjoy the old stories, "the receipets" I enjoy too and Backroad tours. Been on some tours and plan on more, "be the Lords will". We both enjoy nature and beautiful scenery. Our children and grandchildren enjoy also, plus our friends. We've enjoyed the book, "The Man That Moved a Mountain." Read 3 or 4 times. Have two copies loaned to friends now. I also loan our paper once in a while, but I prefer to keep all our copies.

I have already subscribed for some of our friends and relatives. Enclosing a check for some dear friends for their birthdays.

Thanks,

E. & B. Quesenberry
East Dublin, Georgia


Dear Editor,
I was introduced to your wonderful paper "The Mountain Laurel" while visiting in Taylorsville, N.C. I enjoy your paper and its articles so much as they bring back many memories of my childhood. I was born in Madison County, VA. and raised in Rappahannock County, VA. which is in the northern section of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I especially enjoyed your article of Tanning hides as my grandfather Alpheus Hawkins had a tannery during the Civil War.

Please accept my renewal with best wishes for continued growth and success.

N. H. Kaleo
Baltimore, Maryland


Dear Susan,
Please send me Collection #1 from "The Laurel Library" and collection #2, the special Mountain Memories. We enjoy your paper. A relaxing few hours from the hectic daily newspaper.

My husband's parents were born and raised in Patrick County, Virginia in Stuart. It's nice we can hear about the area. We visit it often and will stop and visit your office if we can.

Most Sincerely,

I. F. Martin
Bridgewater, New Jersey


Dear Susan,
I want to say thanks for the Sunshine you send to me each month. The Mountain Laurel is the greatest. It's like a step back in childhood. A fresh drink of water out of a gourd dipper, from a fresh cold mountain spring free flowing. I thank God for your ever effort. Keep up the good work.

Love you all,

E. Goodson
Danville, VA


Hi Everyone who receives the Mountain Laurel,
I enjoy the paper so much. In the early '30's I nursed a lady up in the Blue Ridge Mts. of Virginia. A Mrs. Sumner. She had a son, Lemual, called Lem and a daughter. The daughter was named Lorria. This was during the Depression Days. She was a wonderful lady. She went to rest while I was there. Keep up the good paper. It brings back precious memories.

God Bless You All,

Ms. L. C. Moote
Beavercreek, Ohio