High School Graduation Congratulations

(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Congratulations are in order for my son’s friend Cally Womick who graduates this evening from Gray Stone Day School, a charter school located on the campus of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina. An Honor student at Gray Stone, Cally will be attending Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in the Fall on a full academic scholarship. Cally is the daughter of Chip and Sharon Womick of Ramseur, North Carolina.

Tony Williamson



I was down in Chapel Hill on Friday to move my son out of his dorm at UNC and took the time to stop by the Carolina Inn to see old classmate and mandolin virtuoso Tony Williamson play with his son Rad Andy and the Tony Williamson Band. They play a sort of blluegrass-jazz-blues-fusion that is pretty cool, especially on a warm Spring Carolina afternoon. For info about Tony and his music, check out http://www.mandolincentral.com/.



(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Raising Vegetables


My father’s cousin Thomas Routh and his wife Lula Mae live just down the road from us in Grays Chapel. In their late eighties, Thomas and Lula Mae grow a large vegetable garden each year from which they sell fresh produce at the local farmer’s market in Asheboro. Doing all the work themselves, they grow plants in their greenhouse from seed, prepare their ground, plant their plants, do all the harvesting, and sell the fresh vegetables at the market. I caught them Saturday morning as they were finishing up planting tomatoes. This year, they have about 750 tomato plants. That’s a lot of tomatoes. Of course, they also will have squash, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, corn, plants and canned goods too. Lula Mae said last year she kept track of the green beans they picked, and the total came to 2300 lbs.



(photographs copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)