Cable Country

06

Scott County Lavender

 Jun 08, 2007

Pat Osborne says lavender is the oldest herb known to man, and man, is she ever loving the lavender life!

Pat Osborne is partial to purple.

“Everybody says, what’s your favorite color”?, laughs Pat. “I said, you even have to ask? We live in a purple world here at Scott County Lavender”.

A passel of purple tassels wave in the wind and fill these fields. Like the color purple, this river valley is royal to her.

“Sold a business that I had owned for a few years and I was looking for something to do with my farm”, Pat explains. “I inherited the farm from my Dad. And I thought, you know there should be something that I could do on that farm myself”.

So, she looked into lavender.

“Being a gardener and an outdoors person”, continues Pat.."I thought gee, I wonder if it’ll grow in Scott County”.

Turns out, Scott County is a lavish location for lavender.

“Lavender likes to be dry”, Pat says. “It’s humid here but it doesn’t seem to bother the lavender. Lavender likes sandy soil and we have plenty of that here in this river bed we’re right by the Clinch River and we have a lot of sandy soil so it seems to thrive here. We grow seven varieties of lavender right now”.

Over 18,000 lavender plants spread out over 12 acres. And at the far end of the field, there’s a still. But, don’t call the Revenuers.

“We cut and distill our own lavender”, says Pat. “We have a still and we can distill 50 gallons of lavender at a time. And then we use that essential oil in making our products”.

They make over 50 different products from honey to bath products. Other varieties of lavender are used for bouquets and scented products like pillows and candles.

“Each variety of lavender that we grow here we do something different with it”, adds Pat. “Lavender has become more popular in the last several years, people are discovering the value of it”.

One of its main values is relaxation.

“Lavender has been proven scientifically to increase the alpha waves in the brain and the alpha waves are what help you relax and calm you”, explains Pat.

Pat says it sure calms the folks who frequent these fields. They come to breathe in the lavender air and get their lavender fix. It’s a fix that Pat aims to stay fixed upon.

“You can spend a day here on the lavender farm and it seems like everything is alright with the world”, she says with a smile. “This is the most pleasant job that I’ve ever had in my life because it’s so stress free. Just being here in the lavender and breathing it, it seems like everything is minor. It just changes your attitude. A lot of it, too is being on the farm that my father loved so much. But most of all, it’s just a sense of well being”.

Scott County Lavender will hold its first annual Lavender Festival on the farm next Saturday, June 16 from 9 a.m. til 6 p.m. which will include lavender oriented arts and crafts, lavender massages, a wine tasting, lots of food and live bluegrass and country music performed by area pickers. For more information on the festival or the lavender farm visit their website at http://www.scottcountylavender.com



Posted by Tim Cable

Mal & John Jam with Bob

 Jun 07, 2007

Musician John R. Hughes has played alongside his friend, Mal Cooper for almost 15 years. On Sunday June 3, John turned 85 and one of his birthday wishes was to have our own Bob Lewis join him and Mal for a little jam session. So, we packed up the Cable Country camera and Bob’s guitar, settled into Mal’s downstairs den and let the music roll. 



Posted by Tim Cable

Johnson’s Journey

 Jun 04, 2007

The Hands On Museum continues to be a hit, especially with school groups. Last year, over 65,000 visitors passed through its doors. Right now, if you go to the Hands On, you get a hands on history lesson about Johnson City. 

There’s excitement in the journey.

“This has been a real exciting exhibit for us”, says Director, Trish Patterson.

It’s Johnson’s Journey at the Hands On Museum.

“There was an opportunity for Hands On to help the city celebrate 150 years from the first train that stopped at Johnson’s Tank”, according to Trish.

Ah yes, Henry Johnson--the journey begins with him.

“Well, Henry Johnson was quite an entrepreneur”, Trish says. “Henry Johnson built the tank to get the trains to stop to water and while the train was stopped people could get off and shop and that started to make Johnson’s Tank a gathering place, a stopping place it grew into Johnson’s Depot and then finally became Johnson City”.

So the journey is a trip through time--through the city’s history--laid out on a timeline from one end to the other.

“Oh, it’s a pretty big undertaking the space is 5,000 square feet”, says Exhibit & Outreach Coordinator, Franci Sloan. “This is an in house exhibit which means we built the whole thing ourselves”.

With help from the community and ETSU.

“A graduate program in early childhood education took it as a class project”, adds Trish.

Start your journey at Johnson’s Tank--then move on down to the Beehive Department Store where you can pretend to be a shopper or the storekeeper. At the Blue Plum Post Office..

“They get to draw a commemorative stamp”, Franci says.

To the right, there’s a real wall of fame.

“History mystery wall that they can see people who’ve been important and they can follow the clues to solve the history mystery”, says Trish.

There’s a colossal walk through caboose.

“Put on an engineer cap and pretend that they are riding in the caboose”, says Franci.

Track your way through the quilt trail and a then and now photo gallery and you find yourself at the fountain. The city agreed to allow the museum to display the old Lady of the Fountain statue.

“Who once stood down in Fountain Square”, Trish adds.

Watch a model of the old Tweetsie Railroad train track its way around the bend and if you have a favorite story or memory of Johnson City, you can share that by writing it down at the storytelling desk.

Franci reads one of the notes scribbled down by a visitor: “I can remember coming to King’s Department Store as a little girl to get my Girl Scout uniform”.

The journey ends with a trip to the future of Johnson City.

“That’s called the Blue Plum Village”, says Franci. “It’s kind of up to the children to create what they think Johnson City’s future will be like to use their imaginations and creativity”.

In the Blue Plum Village, you can try your turn at what they call plasma cars.

“It runs on momentum and friction”, Franci says. “So you put your feet on the car and you turn the handle and it’s propelled by your friction”.

On display until mid September, Johnson’s Journey is quite a hands on history lesson.

“The museum’s mission is to provide interactive exhibits, displays, outreach activities in the arts, sciences and humanities”, according to Trish. “But, this gave us the opportunity to do a lot with humanities, with history in an interactive way”.

“Sometimes you know I have to stop and think, wow, I can’t believe we took this empty space and transformed it into this interactive history lesson for kids”, says Franci.

And the lesson’s for all kids--from one to 92.

“Hands On is for learners of all ages, Tim”, Trish laughs. 



Posted by Tim Cable

Captain Wally

 Jun 01, 2007

Several days back, we told you about the Watauga Lake Experience. Meet the man who guided many of the visitors during that experience. Say aye aye to Captain Wally. 

Call him, Captain if you want to.

“Well, I am a Captain”, laughs Wally Bender.

Wally calls his pontoon boat, The Toybox.

“I’ve had this boat for the last six years”, he says.

He skippered boats through the waters of the Florida Keys for years and then charted his course for Northeast Tennessee.

“I came up here six years ago and drove around the lake and called my son and said, I’ve found a new home”, Wally remembers.

These days, you’ll catch him cruising Lake Watauga..a tour boat captain taking folks out on excursions where they can sightsee, enjoy a sunset cruise, take pictures, swim, kayak or fish.

“It’s been fun I enjoy it”, says Wally. “I do it during the Summer months only. The reason I do it is because I have a dog and I decided that if I’m going to work, I’m going to have my dog with me so she is my first mate and we have a good time”.

Another reason he does it is: he’s a history buff. He’s fascinated by the historic story of the town of Old Butler.

“I love history and I love things that are different than the metropolitan areas”, Wally says. “And to have a town under the water here has got to be something that a lot of people had to live through, some of them have gotten used to it some of them I’m sure have not. For the folks that owned the property under the water, I’m sure they felt like they were giving up something they didn’t want to”.

He’ll steer you to the spots right over the old town.

“When they decided to move the town, they took it up a little valley up to the right up here”, Wally points out.

He’ll sail you to the spot where the Watauga River feeds in.

“I think the interesting thing about the Watauga River is that it actually starts at Grandfather Mountain”, he adds.

Life is good in the Captain’s chair.

“I love meeting people”, he says. “I enjoy getting new perspective of things">

Yep, from this Captain’s perspective, playtime in The Toybox may never come ashore.

If you’re interested in taking part in one of Captain Wally’s many activities, give him a call at 423-768-2548. 



Posted by Tim Cable

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