The Mail Box - April, 1992

Issue: April, 1992

Dear Editors of Mountain Laurel
Please renew my subscription. I love your magazine though it does make me "homesick" for Marion and my mother's family. My mother was Willie May Culbert Ogihie - daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Culbert (Evelyn Jessee). If I have any cousins or other relatives, I would really like to hear from them. Please write.

Thank you.

Frances O. Culbertson
306 Cloveway Drive
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

P.S. I went all the way to California and married a Culbertson!

Dear Ms. Thigpen,
My husband and I enjoy The Mountain Laurel so much. My husband's people came from Patrick County and Shooting Creek. My husband's grandfather was a teacher and he wrote a history of the Lemon family.

This subscription is for my cousin and his wife and if the next issue isn't due right away, could you send them a back issue real soon? I just spent a nice couple of days with them and I want to thank them with this gift.

R. Lemon
Bluefield, West Virginia

Mrs. Thigpen:
Thank you for sharing your love of the Blue Ridge people.

May our mountain heritage and culture continue to be preserved through people who share their stories with The Mountain Laurel.

R.H. Draper
Titusville, Florida

Dear Readers,
I'm sure you remember a story in The Mountain Laurel a few months ago that was an interview with P.A. Early of Wytheville, Virginia.

We thought you would like to know that Mr. Early is in the hospital miles away from home. As I sat down to send him a card, I also thought you might like to have his address to send one too. It always helps to know people are thinking about you.

You can send a card to:
P.A. Early
Building 77, V.A. Medical Center
Salem, Virginia 24153.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

Dear Susan,
Just received my Mountain Laurel for February. Better late than never. I hope things will improve and you can get back on schedule again. I've been re-reading some of my old issues and always enjoy them.

I think I've solved the fish "tail". The head is 9 inches long, its body is 36 inches long, and its tail is 27 inches long, making the fish a total of 72 inches or 6 feet. That's a pretty good size fish.

I hope to take the BACKROADS tour in a few weeks. Do you have a tour that covers Backbone Rock near Damascus? I have tours that go thru Damascus but none that goes to Backbone Rock. It's a beautiful place and has a small campground near by. I've camped there several times. Do you still have copies of the new collection of Backroad Tours? I have the first one you printed. They are no longer mentioned in The Mountain Laurel.

Thanks for a wonderful little paper.

R. Vernon
Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Dear Readers,
We have heard from several of you about the fish riddle and everyone has come up with the same overall measurement of 72 inches, so that must be the right answer. The first one to respond was W.E. Weaman of Patrick Springs, Virginia. Old time riddles like this are a lot of fun. If you remember any of them, send them to us and we will print them for everyone's enjoyment.

We have never had a Backroad Tour to Backbone Rock before but it sounds interesting. The next time we are in the area, we will try to find it and it may become a future Backroad.

We have sold out of the first collection of Backroad Tours, but we still have copies of the second, "The Backroads of Southwest Virginia". It contains 14 tours that go through every one of the 19 counties of Southwest Virginia. Like the first collection, it contains 32 pages with no advertising and may be ordered from The Mountain Laurel for $2.75.

Susan Thigpen, Editor

The following letter was in response to a phone call from Ms. Gordon asking if we knew anything about a Chum Cemetery in Carroll County. We couldn't find anything about the cemetery, but gave her a name of a man who might be able to help her.

Dear Susan,
About Chum: I wrote to Mr. Alderman and found out he did not know. He was kind enough to send the name of a lady whose grandmother was an older sister of my grandfather and I am endeavoring to contact her.

Thank you, dear friend, the magazine gets better every month. I really enjoyed that article by Mr. Goad.

K. Gordon
Aberdeen, North Carolina

Dear Susan,
Again I am subscribing to The Mountain Laurel to share with a family member. It is a perfect gift.

When we first received the paper, my husband could tell me and still does who some of these people were and now that I have read Grapevine Telegraph [February 1992 issue], I boast that I recognize these names. Mrs. Fisher is my mother's sister and I remember some of these times. It gave me a sudden pang in the heart remembering.

The magazine is read from cover to cover. We laugh at its arrival. When one of us lays it down the other picks it up.

Could you possibly send Mrs. Kidd this last issue so she might read about our aunt? She's our last aunt and living at 92.

Mr. Johnson couldn't have put it better. Visiting for a week with our aunt and her neighbors was a joyous time.

Thank you!

Mrs. McGrady
Bland, Virginia