The Mail Box - July, 1991

Issue: July, 1991

Mountain Laurel,
We enjoy your little paper and feel its need greatly in this hustle-bustle rat race generation.

What is needed most right now is the history of our early day pioneers found in [such books as] the History of Southwest Virginia 1746-1786 and then 1777-1870 by Summers. This is something our public schools never told or taught us about early day history of our country. Instead it was Europe and its statues and totally boring to many.

I became acquainted with this history working out my family's genealogy. In the book mentioned in the Revolutionary War and Civil War, I find many names of my people and friends' background that had been lost to us.

Mrs. F. Lane
Walla Walla, Washington

Dear Mt. Laurel,
Please renew my subscription to The Mountain Laurel. I enjoy this paper very much. I love to travel in Virginia and stop at all the quaint places.

I also have a hobby I enjoy. I take pictures and slides of churches. One of my favorites is the big church in Meadows of Dan, Virginia.

I do hope your paper will never stop being printed. I was born in Newport News, Virginia and I enjoy all of Virginia. The scenes of the Parkway and the small towns are beautiful. The stories you print are very interesting. Thank you,

Ms. F. Ritter
Robbins, North Carolina

Dear Readers,
The church Ms. Ritter describes is probably the Meadows of Dan Baptist Church located at the intersection of the Blue Ridge Parkway and US Highway 58. We hear from many people who have the hobby of photography and painting landscapes. The Blue Ridge is chocked full of beautiful scenes and we keep this in mind when we do our BACKROADS tours.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

Dear Ms. Heafner,
Sorry I'm not using the form from The Mountain Laurel to renew my subscription. I pass my Mountain Laurel on to my mother and the form would cut out a whole half a page.

Please renew my subscription and send a complimentary copy (Tennessee).

Mrs. G. Lehnherr
Rochester, Minnesota

Hi,
To all the folks at The Mountain Laurel. We really enjoy reading the paper. As I have written before, I'm originally from Va. and when the paper comes that takes up the rest of my day. I sit down and read it from cover to cover most of the time. If I have to go away I take it with me and read it in the car. I don't drive so I can just relax and read my paper.

It makes me hungry just to read about some of the southern cooking and if I get too hungry for the food I just get out my old iron pot and cook up some pinto beans, or get out my cast iron frying pan and fry me up some mustard greens. I have in my freezer some I have carried from Virginia when I was down visiting all my relatives down there.

I live in the country here. In my spare time I do crafts, crochet, knit and make patchwork quilts. When I come south I carry crocheting or knitting or sewing with me to do while riding in the car. That way I can get a lot of work done.

Your paper brings back so many memories when I was growing up in Virginia. I liked reading where you wrote there are no paths anymore. That brought back memories when I was a kid and my brothers and I would walk most everywhere we went. We had a path to the spring. We had to carry water and the spring was quite a ways from the house. The spring house was near the spring and milk was put there so the cold water could run through from the spring and keep the milk cold. We always had fresh milk, butter and buttermilk. There was a path to different neighbors, also to the store and a path to school.

I went back to the old home place and nothing looked the same and the little piece of land where I own has all grown up. No path where we used to walk and run through the fields - everything had grown up so you couldn't even get through. We still have our memories. No one can take that away and with your paper, we can read about them.

We used to go out every fall and gather hazelnuts, white and black walnuts and chinquapins. I remember we used to put the hazelnuts and walnuts upon the flat roof of our house till they got seasoned and dried. Then we took them down before winter set in. Then we would crack the walnuts with a hammer and flat iron, being careful not to hit our fingers.

Well, guess I've rambled on long enough. Really enjoy the paper. Keep up the good work.

Thanks.
Mrs. W. Powell
Plymouth, New York

Mountain Laurel,
I've read your Mountain Laurel and found it very interesting. Enclosed check for one year subscription. Please send a complimentary copy to my friend in Ohio.

Thank you very much.

Mrs. F. Haber
Silvis, Illinois

Dear Susan,
I just wanted you to know just how much I enjoy The Mountain Laurel. I read everything in there two or three times. I was born and raised in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia.

I live in North Carolina now, but I go back to West Virginia every year and spend the summer. I didn't go this year because I fell and broke my leg in April. I hope to go before cold weather. Most of my close relatives live in West Virginia and Virginia.

I hope you will continue on publishing The Mountain Laurel.

Your faithful friend,

Mrs. H. Moon
Greenville, North Carolina

Dear Mrs. Moon,
I'm glad you enjoy The Mountain Laurel and sorry to hear that you broke your leg. I'm sure all our readers join me in wishing you a speedy recovery and another visit "home" to the mountains soon.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

Mountain Laurel,
I found a paper dated 1984 for your paper. I liked the paper very much and was wanting to know how much it would be today?

O.H. Conner
Roanoke, Virginia

Dear Readers,
It amazes and pleases us to find out that papers that old are still in circulation and being read.

Susan Thigpen, Editor