Priceless Historical Heirlooms Return To Great Smoky Mountains

Dan Lawson heirlooms return to the Smokies.

Dan Lawson heirlooms return to the Smokies.

Priceless Historical Heirlooms Return To Great Smoky Mountains. Millions of national park visitors visit the Dan Lawson homestead in Cades Cove each year. Generations of people young and old have marveled and wondered what life was like in the Smokies over 100 years ago. Dan Lawson and his wife Sidney carved out a life in the once isolated valley and raised a family. The Lawson’s passed on family heirlooms that have been in safe keeping with their family.

Descendant Robin Derryberry from Chattanooga recently donated items to be preserved by the Smoky Mountain National Park in the Collections Preservation Center in Townsend, TN. The donated items include the Lawson family bible, wedding portraits, assorted family photographs and a chest of drawers.

“Cades Cove played such a huge role in my family’s history,” said Robin Derryberry. “While the items donated were important to us, we realized as a family that they deserved to be in a place where they could be enjoyed by the public and more importantly, preserved for future generations. We know these artifacts are in wonderful hands and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

The Lawson’s were leaders in the Cades Cove Methodist Church. Sidney worked to educate the children of the Cove lifting them up from a lifetime of ignorance. Their home along with several out buildings is found at the junction with Hyatt Lane after passing the Cable Mill historic area.

“We are thrilled to have these pieces as a part of the permanent park collection,” said Museum Curator Baird Todd. “It is rare treasure for us to have the full history behind the artifacts in our collections. This opportunity allows us to preserve and share a much richer story.”

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park Bans Backcountry Campfires

Great Smoky Mountains National Park bans backcountry campfires. Park officials have placed the ban due to recent drought like conditions in the mountains and surrounding area. These conditions sharply increase the chances for wildfires starting and spreading. Backcountry visitors should expect the ban to remain in place until conditions change.

Only people enjoying trail shelters and backcountry campsites will be affected by this ban for now. Front country camp sites like Cades Cove, Cosby, Elkmont, and Smokemont are still allowed to use the fire rings at campsites. Picnickers can continue to enjoy charcoal grills for now also. Visitors are advised to use extreme caution with fire and always be sure and use water to extinguish them. The use of backpacking stoves with pre-packaged gas canisters is currently still allowed in the backcountry.

“The park is experiencing abnormally dry and moderate drought conditions throughout the park,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “With little rain and hot, dry conditions predicted over the next week, it is imperative that we reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires.”

Finding  drinking water may also be difficult for hikers and backpackers. Some locations that still have running springs have significantly reduced water flow. If flowing, a quart – sized bottle may take over five minutes to fill. The water sources at campsites 5, 16, 26  and Mollies Ridge Shelter are currently bone dry.

When entering the backcountry use your head and plan your route to maximize available water sources whenever possible. If you know you are heading into a dry area carry as much extra water as you can. Unseasonably high temperatures continue to dry out the region and heat stroke is a real possibility.

Symptoms of Heat Stroke

  • Throbbing headache.
  • Dizziness and light-headedness.
  • Lack of sweating despite the heat.
  • Red, hot, and dry skin.
  • Muscle weakness or cramps.
  • Nausea and vomiting.
  • Rapid heartbeat, which may be either strong or weak.
  • Rapid, shallow breathing
Source material AMA and GSMNP

Smoky Mountain Poets

Smoky Mountain Poets. These mountains have inspired generations to express themselves through songs, deeds and words. Remarkable words that transcend the passage of time and speak to each new generation. So much so that a Smoky Mountain poet laureate was commissioned in the early 20th century.

Ella V. Costner was honored to be the first and only Smoky Mountain poet laureate. Costner (1894-1982) was born in Cosby and grew up on Crying Creek near the Gabes Mountain Trailhead. After her stint as an Army nurse in Pearl Harbor and Guam, she returned to Newport, Tennessee and published several books of poems and essays. Ella’s final resting place can be found in the hills she loved on a short walk up the Snake Den Ridge trail in Cosby.

“There are moments in the lives of some men, so fraught with emotion and beauty, as to make one weep no matter how often one reads or thinks of them.” Ella V. Costner, from the Lamp in the Cabin.

Others have followed in Ella’s footsteps and we are thrilled to share their love of the Smoky Mountain with you here.

I want to spend my summer days with you.

Lying, just you and I, underneath a true blue sky.
Listening to the hum of the June bugs as we talk about all the things we love.
We can watch the dreamy clouds drift on by as we wait on the shooting stars that will – one by one, erase even our deepest scars. 
We’ll smile as the young fawns pass by and at the bear cubs as they play – silent to the thought our tomorrows and our yesterdays.

I want to spend my summer days with you.

In the hills that I call home, wrapped up in the Smokies haze, among the beautiful places where I roam and play.

Yes, I want to spend my summer days with you, doing what lovers do and dreaming of a love that’s true….

Because it won’t be long til autumn steals the days away and my blue sky slowly fades to gray.

Written by Kristi Parsons

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Smoky Mountain Goldenrod

Smoky Mountain Goldenrod. Of all the wildflowers that grace the fields in late summer and fall, probably none is more misunderstood than goldenrod.  Thought to be the cause of fall hay fever and other sinus problems, goldenrod instead is both an autumn or late summer beauty as well as a healer.  Indeed, its Latin name, solidago, can be translated as “making whole.”

A member of the aster family and native to North America, goldenrods occur in over 100 species and have been introduced to South America, Europe, and Asia.  Domesticated varieties have also been developed for flower gardens.

All varieties grow from large woody rhizomes that form clumps of flowers, typically 3 feet tall with a spread of 1.5 feet.  Goldenrod prefers an airy, sunny location in a meadow or field with good drainage. Its moisture needs are fairly modest, allowing it to tolerate both drought and poor soils, even East Tennessee clay.  Moreover, goldenrod is free from most plant diseases, but can develop rust or powdery mildew in rainy weather, especially if the plants do not have good air circulation. Consequently, spacing is an important consideration when planting goldenrod.

Insect pests are no problem for goldenrod.  Rather goldenrod attracts a wide variety of butterflies, bees, and wasps and so makes an excellent addition to a pollinator garden as well as providing its rich dusky to bright yellow blooms at a time when other flowers are fading.  Some types of flies do deposit their eggs in goldenrod stems, which then develop bulbous galls in which the larvae feed.  However, these galls do not harm the plant.

Native Americans and settlers made a tea from goldenrod leaves to treat sore throats, toothaches, colds, flu, inflammation, and kidney-urinary tract infections.

But what about the accusations that goldenrod causes sinus problems.  This arises from the fact that ragweed produces its pollen at the same time that goldenrod blooms.  The air-borne ragweed pollen can stick to the tacky goldenrod leaves that may even be some distance away, creating the impression that goldenrod is culprit.  So it’s a good idea to keep ragweed far away from goldenrod.  Otherwise, goldenrod makes a nearly trouble-free addition to our flower and pollinator gardens.

HeySmokies.com is honored to have Carl Parsons as a contributing writer. Carl is Deputy Editor for Storyteller Magazine, a member of the Writers’ Guild of Sevier County, TN, and a Tennessee Master Gardener.

Great Smoky Mountains Fantastic Fall Foliage Forecasted

Great Smoky Mountains Fantastic Fall Foliage Forecasted. Leaf peeping is always a Smoky Mountain special event! A fantastic display of fall foliage is predicted for The Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding areas.

Experts expect Mother Nature to dance a fiery flamenco across the Smokies, flinging her cloak of many colors and blazing a trail through Tennessee and North Carolina. All this is due, in part, to the unusually warm and wet conditions experienced in the mountains from spring through mid-summer and closer to normal rainfall in late July, according to a quote by Beverly Collis, Western Carolina University’s autumnal analyzer and fall color calculator. Collins, a professor of biology at WCU, utilizes her knowledge of forest ecology with weather trends to calculate the potential for a color-filled leaf-peeping season in the Western portion of North Carolina where color can appear, in some species, such as sumac and sourwood, in early September. According to Collins the long-term forecast that extends through October calls for average precipitation and warmer –than normal temperatures, “and, if the forecast holds, we should have our typical bright colors this year,” Collins was quoted as saying.  However, color change is linked to cooler nights which result in less chlorophyll (green color) production in leaves, and Collins noted that if the forecast holds and those cooler nights are delayed, peak color might hold off until the last weekend of October in regions that are about 2,000 feet in elevations. And, Collins warned that big storms or a hurricane, which might send strong winds and heavy rains inland, could strip the leaves off the trees ahead of schedule.

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