Monte Sano Civic Association

Monte Sano Civic Association
Newsletter
Vol. 61, No. 1
To preserve, protect, and enhance the quality of life on Monte Sano mountain
For the latest news, visit us on the web at www.montesano.org/msca
Membership Meeting and Potluck Supper, Tuesday,
April 21, 6:00 pm, Monte Sano Park Lodge
Hello MSCA Members and Mountain Residents!
I am excited to serve our wonderful community as your President this
year. The goal of our civic association, which has been active for over 60
years, is to preserve, protect, and enhance the quality of life on Monte
Sano Mountain. The Board and I are going to work with the many
mountain groups and organizations to uphold these words. Through our
quarterly newsletters, emails, website, and Facebook page, we hope to
keep the mountain informed and involved.
We welcome all to join us for our potluck suppers and listen to guest
speakers talk about community and city issues. The 2015-2016 Directory is
being finalized, and we are working to get it to you very soon. Our next
potluck supper will be Tuesday, April 21th with dinner at 6:00, speaker at
6:30, at the Monte Sano State Park Lodge. Please bring a dish to share.
Drinks, paper plates and eating utensils will be provided.
The annual community-wide yard sale will be held Saturday, May 9th.
We are going to try something new this year and have the yard sale at the
Monte Sano Elementary School parking lot. We look forward to seeing all
of you at these upcoming events.
The MSCA Board and I welcome your comments and suggestions!
Walter Keener, President, MSCA
March 2015
Welcome Beth Wilder
Beth Wilder, elected to the Huntsville
School Board for District 2 in August 2014,
will be our guest speaker at the Spring
Potluck. Wilder earned bachelor's and
master's degrees from The University of
Florida. She was a project manager with
the St. Johns River Water Management
District before becoming a full-time mom
and substitute teacher.
She is a committee chair and PTA
member at Blossomwood Elementary
School, a developer and coordinator of
Club Panther, and Neighborhood
Community Watch Area Leader. Wilder
has also organized school year art and
music lessons and summer learning camps
at Mt. View Baptist Church, created a
Spanish Club at Huntsville Middle School,
advised other schools on forming
enrichment clubs, and led the effort to
restore neighborhood voting precincts that
were switched to Monte Sano. She is
married to Jeff Lower and has one
daughter.
Meet the MSCA Board for 2015
L to R: Anna DiPlacido, Secretary
Bobbie Graham, Newsletter
Angie Kephart, Adopt-a-Mile
Walter Keener, President
Jennie Otto, Parliamentarian/Historian
Kem Robertson, Hospitality
Joe Dombrowski, Liaison/Special Projects
Mackie Bethay, Membership
Bob Crook, Treasurer
Not Shown:
Dennis Madsen, Vice-President
Monte Sano Community Garden
Prepares for 5th Year
This year will mark the 5th growing season for the
Monte Sano Community Garden! We are grateful to
Channel 19 for the use of the property and to KT
Bothwell and Maggie Patrick for getting us started.
All plots are taken for this year, but please contact
Jennifer Elam or Karen McLean, or send email to
[email protected] if you
wish to be placed on a waiting list.
The mission of the Garden is to provide space for
the Monte Sano community to garden together,
creating a place where we can teach and inspire one
another in ways of organic gardening.
As we strengthen community bonds, the garden
helps find ways to add to the varieties of food we
offer our families and to become more self-sufficient.
We will strive to work to enhance the beauty of our The Shrider Family enjoys the recent snow: Kenny,
lovely mountain and to cultivate a space where we Lyric, Kade, Karson, Adrian, and puppy, Poppy
can gather with our friends and families to foster
Congratulations
environmental stewardship, rejuvenation, and
recreation through the joys of gardening.
Monte Sano Makos—7th out of 18
Teams for 2014 Season
Monte Sano Makos are looking forward to
swimming against five very competitive teams in the
B League this season. We haven't competed with
these teams in a dual format meet for about ten
years. It should be a fun and rewarding dual meet
season. The schedule will be as follows:
Celebrate the 45th Annual Earth Day
Festival and Farmer’s Market
Sunday, April 19 from Noon to 5 pm
Music from “Wolves a Howlin” and others;
Food; Conservation Groups and Outdoor
Exhibitors; and much more!
Full agenda for Earth Day will be available on the
MSCA Website April 1.
Continued on page 3
Page 2
June 3—At Sherwood School
June 10—Home against Mt. Carmel
June 13—Candy Meet w/ Sharon Johnston—Sat AM
June 17—At Sharon Johnston
June 24— Home against Hampton Cove
July 1—Home against Mt. Carmel
July 11-12—City Meet
Please come and support the Makos at their home
meets. Makos Café will be serving delicious food at
those meets. More information will be forthcoming.
If you have any questions about the swim team, please
contact Stacy Condon and Jennifer St. John at
[email protected].
Thanks to the community for all your support in
making Monte Sano Makos a very successful swim
team over the years. GO MAKOS!
Coach Sara Stoddard
Sampling of Earth Day Programs
A Message from
Community Watch
Soos Weber
Mountain Medicine: “The Herbal Remedies of Tommie
Bass” with Darryl Patton, Southern Herbalist
Darryl’s book is a loving tribute to a great herbalist
(Tommie Bass), full of beautiful color photos of the
plants he used and details on the way the plants are used
and prepared. Some of you may have met Tommie in the
mid 1980’s when I invited him to
Earth Days at Burritt. Now
Darryl is one of the few herbalists
that have learned the old
traditions of Appalachian
Mountain Men and he does
programs all over N. America
east of the Mississippi. His book
will be available for purchase.
Raptor Show: The Alabama Wildlife Center
The oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center
caring for more than 3,000 injured and orphaned wild
creatures each year will kick off
Earth Day with the Raptor
Show. This will be a great
adventure for families to see
these birds of prey up close and
personal. In the afternoon, we
will have a raptor released back
into the wild at the Picnic
Area’s Scenic Overlook.
Rhonda Britton, Alabama/Auburn Extension Service
Rhonda will be doing a program on Rain barrel
Harvesting of Water—for the dry months on Monte
Sano. She will have a few rain barrels for sale at $40 at
the workshop. She will also bring Waterwheels, a selfcontained exhibit trailer with programs and computers to
learn about water conservation.
Thank you to the many volunteers who drive
patrols throughout the neighborhood. We are
fortunate on Monte Sano to have just two access
points, as this likely discourages thieves from
targeting our community, but we are not
immune. Use common sense around the home to
protect your belongings:




Keep car doors locked.

To help road safety, please trim bushes that
obstruct line of sight.
Use good lighting.
Don’t let newspapers pile up.
Have neighbors check on your property.
while you are out of town.
Email us at [email protected] if
you would like to volunteer an hour a month to
do a patrol, or if you have any information that
you want to pass on..
Mountain-Wide Yard Sale
Sat., May 9, 8:00 to 12:00
Monte Sano Elementary School
Cleaning out your attic, garage, closet, or
basement? Join other Monte Sano residents at the
annual Mountain-Wide Yard Sale on May 9.
Remember, one person’s junk may become
another person’s treasure.
This year the Sale will be at the School where a
Food Truck will be selling drinks, hot dogs,
hamburgers, and other items. A limited number of
tables will be
available and will be
furnished on a firstTurn In Old Paint and Electronics
come, first-served
basis.
During the Yard Sale, the Solid Waste Disposal Authority
(SWDA) will be taking old paints and electronics—TVs
MSCA Board
and Computers—from 8 until 12 on Sat., May 9. This is
members
will be
your chance to clean out your closets and garage to get
available to collect
rid of this stuff. Please do not bring paints in glass
any dues that have
containers. The disposal truck for these items will be
not been paid, to sign up new members, and to
located at the Little Green Store parking lot. For more
answer questions.
information, please call SWDA at 256-880-6054.
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montesanovillage.com or montesanovillage.org. Add the
Village phone number to your contact list - 256-4177706. If you have any questions, email the Village at
[email protected].
Love Where You Live? Why
Contributions for the development phase or to
Leave? Age in Place and Make Your Current
become a Founder ($20) can be mailed to Monte Sano
Home Your Retirement Destination!
Village, P.O. Box 10077, Huntsville, AL 35801. We
Monte Sano Village is making progress toward hope you’ll consider becoming a volunteer or a donor.
opening its services to mountain residents. Over the
Village volunteers have developed a survey to
past months, the Village has incorporated and
determine the needs of and volunteer opportunities for
secured a website, a telephone, and a mailing
our residents. The survey will be ready for the
address. Committees are hard at work preparing for community to give feedback at the Spring Civic
this “aging in place” retirement destination (our
Association Potluck. If you would like to volunteer to
own homes) to become a reality in our own
help with the survey, please let us know.
community.
We look forward to having the participation of the
You can keep up with the Village’s development entire community as we seek to fulfill our mission:
progress by visiting the website at
A membership-based, non-profit
organization supporting the efforts of mountain
Monte Sano Baptist Church News residents to remain in their homes for as long as possible
by enhancing a vibrant, inter-generational
New Youth Leader
community and by connecting
neighbors with a network of services and resources.
Monte Sano Baptist Church is excited to announce
Monte Sano Village
Update
the creation of a Youth Leader position. Aubrey
What would you like to have the Village offer? How
Evans, a longtime mountain resident, has joined the
would
you like to volunteer? The survey will be a great
staff of the church as Youth Leader and is leading a
opportunity to gather this information. We are eager to
small group time on Sunday mornings at 10:30 as
hear from you.
well as Wednesday evenings at 6:00. We would
love for your youth to join us and be part of this
exciting time at our church.
MS United Methodist Church Programs
Parents’ Night Out
MSBC will be hosting a Parents’ Night Out on
Saturday, March 14th, from 6:00-9:00. All ages of
children welcome. A snack will be provided. There
will be an adult keeping babies/toddlers. This is a
fundraiser for the youth group’s mission trip to
Costa Rica this summer.
Easter Season Services
Wednesday Night dinners continue: 5:30 pm in the fellowship
hall. Check web page (msumc.net) for details.
Lenten Study: “24 hours that Changed the World,” Sunday
mornings from 10 to 10:45 am in the Agape Class.
New Young Adult Class: Young Adult Sunday School Class,
Pastor Dale Clem, at 10 am. On Thursday mornings, Rev. Ed
Soule teaches this class at 10 am in the library.
Friday, April 3rd @ 6:00 pm
Good Friday Tenebrae Service in Church Sanctuary
Small Group Women's Bible Study: Please contact Angie
Kephart at 256-783-0185 or desithedog@yahoo,com for
details.
Sunday, April 5th @ 6:30 am
Community Sunrise Service at Monte Sano State Park
Amphitheater
Holy Land Trip: If you are interested in going to the Holy
Land in January, 2016, come to an informational meeting,
Sunday March 8 at 4:00 pm at the church.
Easter Festival with egg hunt, crafts, games, and tons of
Sunday, April 5th @ 10:30 am
surprises for the children, Saturday, April 4, 1:00 pm.
Easter Worship Service in Church Sanctuary. The
Lord’s Supper will be observed at end of service.
Please see montesano.org website for MSUMC
Everyone is welcome. Please join us as we worship the
Lent and Easter Services.
risen Lord Jesus Christ.
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Charles Farley’s New Book Released
In February, The Ardent Writer Press announced the publication
of The Hotel Monte Sano, a historical novel by Huntsville’s awardwinning author, Charles Farley. During its brief history, from 1887
until its closing in 1900, the Hotel served as one of America’s most
opulent resorts. Anointed as the “Saratoga of the South” by its
proud owners, the hostelry provided a summer playground for some
of the period’s richest industrialists, the Goulds, the Astors, and the
Vanderbilts.
So when 15 year-old Sophie Franklin arrives there with her
family in the summer of 1882, she doesn't know what to expect, but
it isn’t a handsome stable boy named Jude and his African
American friend, Smokey; and a butchered body, bleeding to death
under the hotel’s boardwalk!
Shocked and afraid, Sophie’s mother wants to pack the family
back to New York. So Sophie can stay and continue her romance
with Jude, she and Jude and Smokey set out to find the murderer.
What they find instead is a Gothic maze of Jim Crow bigots,
Yankee carpetbaggers, pistol-packing gamblers, menacing ghosts,
and revenge seekers determined to settle a Civil War grudge not so
long since passed.
Charles Farley lives in Huntsville, a few blocks from the site
of the Hotel Monte Sano. This is his fifth book. His debut title,
Soul of the Man: Bobby “Blue” Bland, was hailed by a variety of
critics and reviewers. And his popular Florida Mystery Trilogy—
Secrets of San Blas, Secrets of St. Vincent, and Secrets of St. Joe—
has consistently received five-star ratings by online reviewers
everywhere. His website is: www.charlesfarley.com.
In developing the book,
Farley is grateful for help
from local historians like
Jane Barr of the Monte Sano
Historical Association, B.
Susanna Leberman of the
Huntsville-Madison County
Public Library, Stephanie
Timberlake of Burritt on the
Mountain, and Kent Wilborn
and Brian Moore of the
Monte Sano State Park, as well as many neighbors and friends who
added tales and tidbits of lore passed down through their families
and from early mountain settlers. “It’s been a fun and rewarding
project, he says, “and I hope everyone enjoys it.”
The book is available in paperback and hardback at the Little
Green Store on Monte Sano and at the Monte Sano Park office.
State History Meet has
Monte Sano Speaker
John Allen has been invited to
speak at the 68th meeting of the
Alabama Historical Association
in Mobile on April 10th. His
topic will be Jones M. Withers,
who was born in Huntsville,
graduated from West Point,
fought in the Indian War, the
Mexican War, the Civil War, and
was a popular mayor of Mobile.
The conference will be held at
the History Museum of Mobile.
Jones M. Withers, 1814-1890
Page 5
My Trip to Xi’an China
Kyle Siegrist
Culture Shock
Culture shock is the only way to describe my first few days in
Xi’an China---the crowds, the noise, the traffic, the confusion, the
different norms of privacy and personal space, the language that I
could not speak or understand or read or whose characters I could
not even recognize.
I was in Xi’an from the beginning of September to the middle
of December, 2014 as a visiting professor of mathematics at
Northwestern Polytechnic University. The opportunity to visit
Xi’an dropped in my lap, because a professor from NPU visited
UAH the previous spring and extended the invitation. The timing
was perfect for me since I had retired from UAH in 2013.
Xi’an is in central China and is best known for the terra cotta
warriors and horses unearthed from the vast tomb area of China’s
“first emperor.” Xi’an is a city of about seven million, huge by
our standards, but just medium-sized compared to the mega-cities
of Beijing and Shanghai (with populations well over 20 million).
What I Loved
The People
The Chinese people are among the most social and gracious
that I have ever met. My Chinese colleagues at the university
always wanted to make sure that I was happy, comfortable, and
had everything that I needed. The kindness of strangers was also
remarkable. Once I was trying to find a particular store, and a
young woman who spoke English and realized that I was lost and
confused, asked if she could help. She did not just give me
directions, she actually walked with me to the store, a good 20
minute trip. In every park or patch of green space you see people
dancing, singing, playing sports, and exercising.
The History and Culture
The tomb area of Emperor Qinshihuang (200 BC) is Xi’an’s
most famous attraction, and with good reason. The pits that
contain the thousands of terra cotta warriors and soldiers are of
such an enormous size that it is difficult to fully appreciate until
you see the site in person. The detail of the soldiers and horses,
each individually crafted,
is stunning.
But there is so much
more to Xi’an. At various
times during China’s long
history, it was the capital
city. (Because of its
location in central China,
Xi’an was easier to defend
than costal cities such as
Beijing.) The old city wall, 40 feet high and seven miles long, has
been restored, and inside are beautiful temple areas (Buddhist and
Muslim), wonderful museums, stunning architecture, and of
course, the crazy tourist areas. The picture below shows the gold
roof of the Guangren (Buddhist) Temple, taken from the top of
the old city wall.
What I Didn’t Like
Air Quality
Like most large cities
in China, the air quality
in Xi’an was at times
very poor, particularly in
the winter months when
the coal-fired steam
plants are running. There
were days in Xi’an when the visibility was like a foggy day on
Monte Sano, except that the haze was not fog, but polluted air.
The new campus of NPU, where I taught my courses, is in the
The Food
countryside and surrounded by stunning mountains. Yet often the
The quantity and variety of food in Xi’an is amazing, and food mountains were completely invisible because of the haze.
seemed to be everywhere---at the stores, at street markets, and
The Traffic
sold from carts by street vendors. There were vegetables and
It’s hard to describe the traffic in Xi’an. The streets are
fruits that I did not recognize, barrels of live fish, huge hunks of
crammed
with every kind of vehicle---trucks, busses, cars,
meat, baskets of gains and spices.
scooters,
bicycles,
bicycles with carts. There seem to be few
. The staple food in Shaanxi province, where Xi’an is located, is
formal
rules
of
the
road; rather the traffic becomes a selfnoodles, not rice. I had a
organizing
system
that
moves through a combination of
bewildering variety of noodle
aggression and honking. Pedestrians are at the bottom of this
dishes during my visit, and all
Darwinian chain, so crossing a busy multi-lane street was sheer
were wonderful. Moreover,
terror for me.
the local food is incredibly
A vehicle (anything from a scooter to a bus) will come right at
cheap. A very nice noodle dish
you,
without slowing down, and expect you to move out of the
at the campus cafeteria or at
way.
You cannot simply step off of a bus, because there is a good
one of the many tiny
chance
that a scooter will come zipping through the tiny space
restaurants that you find on
between
the bus and the sidewalk. If you do get to the sidewalk in
just about every street would
one piece, you are still not safe, since cars and scooters routinely
typically cost about 10 RMB, less than $2. The picture shows
drive on the sidewalks.
one of my typical lunches at the university.
Combining my two favorites---people and food---were four
wonderful dinners given by my Chinese university colleagues in Political Observations
honor of the foreign teachers. All were characterized by myriad
If the most important word in political discourse in the US is
courses of incredible food, communal dining with chopsticks, a
freedom, the most important corresponding word in China would
dozen or so toasts, each with one sip of wine, and finally a
be harmony. Dating to ancient Confucian and Buddhist teaching,
parting gift.
Page 6
James O’Shaughnessy
A Prosperous Huntsvillian of the Industrial Era
Jane Barr
James O’Shaughnessy was born in Dublin, Ireland 1841. He came with his parents and
brother Michael to Cincinnati and later moved to New York. In 1871 he married Lucy
Waterbury, daughter of Judge Nelson J. Waterbury, a gentleman of wealth and influence.
O’Shaughnessy was a cotton and real estate broker, seaport and railroad developer, coowner of Huntsville Hotel, owner of Huntsville Opera House, Hotel Monte Sano , and
Monte Sano Railway and Turnpike. For a summer home, he purchased the Robert Fearn
home on Monte Sano in 1885. When it burned in 1890, O’Shaughnessy built his QueenAnne style home in the general area. The 325-acre estate was named Mountain Villa.
In 1849 Cornelius Vanderbilt signed a contract with the Nicaraguan government. It
granted the Accessory Transit Company, which Vanderbilt controlled, the exclusive right
to build a canal, and gave the company administration of a temporary trade route. The
route quickly became a main avenue of trade between New York and San Francisco.
O’Shaughnessy mortgaged his holdings in Alabama to William Anderson of Cincinnati
to invest with Vanderbilt in the Nicaraguan Canal. The U .S. government had agreed to go
with the Canal and had U.S. Navy personnel surveying. (Jane Barr’s neighbor, Nellie
Craddick, said her grandfather was one of the navy surveyors.) When the SpanishAmerican War broke out, after which the U.S. decided to go with the Panama Canal,
O’Shaughnessy lost his investment.
The Anderson family had no interest in O’Shaughnessy’s Mountain Villa; it was
abandoned. Most of the doors, windows, and staircase of the house were purchased by
Judge Shelby who was building his home on Shelby Avenue around 1927. The shell of the
house collapsed and was removed by M S State Park personnel. An archaeological
excavation was done on the site in 1995. It was listed in the Alabama Register of
Landmarks and Heritage 1996 and a historical marker was erected.
James died 1914 at the Hotel Cumberland, New York City, where he lived. He was
survived by his wife and son, Nelson. His great-granddaughter, Betty O’Shaughnessy, a
former Chanel model and fashion icon, married the noted French interior decorator,
Francois Catroux. Ironically, Betty’s home is the Catroux Villa in a mountainous area of
South France, Provence! And the U.S. Government is reconsidering the Nicaraguan
Canal!
Continuation of Kyle Siegrist article from p. 6
the Chinese believe in harmonious, orderly relations between
leaders and citizens, between husbands and wives, and between
parents and children. Individual liberty takes a back seat.
China has freedom of religion, for example, but religious
practice is only allowed at recognized churches and temples.
Proselytizing on a street corner would get you in big trouble in a
hurry. Similarly, freedom of expression is allowed, but only up to
the point where social order is threatened (as judged by the
leaders, of course).
On the other hand, I saw no homeless persons in Xi’an and
almost no beggars. Almost everyone, it seemed, had a job, a place
to live, enough food to eat, and medical care. I felt completely
safe, even in the poorer, grungier areas of the city.
For me personally, I felt the heavy hand of government most
acutely though restrictions on the Internet. Browsing the web was
a mystifying experience. I could often get to articles on the Hong
Kong democracy protests, which were happening while I was
there, but I could never get to a New York Times article, even one
about tennis or college football. I assumed, probably correctly,
that my e-mail and phone calls were monitored.
James O’Shaughnessy
at the Hotel Monte Sano entrance
All societies, including ours, struggle with the proper mix of
social order and harmony, on the one hand, and individual
liberty on the other. It’s always interesting to visit other
countries and see how that balance plays out.
A Great Experience
In any event, the good things far exceeded the bad ones for
me. My visit to Xi’an, China was one of the best experiences of
my life, and I would love to return. If you want to learn more
about my trip, and see lots of pictures, please visit my Xi’an
blog at http://www.randomservices.org/blog/.
The grand
entrance to
the new
campus of
NPU, located
about 25
miles from the
central city.
Page 7
Return Services Requested
Monte Sano Civic Association
PO Box 10077
Huntsville, AL 35801
Monte Sano Civic Association Board of Directors — 2015
2015 Board - [email protected]
President - Walter Keener - [email protected]
Vice President - Dennis Madsen - [email protected]
Secretary - Anna DiPlacido - [email protected]
Treasurer - Bob Crook - [email protected]
Membership - Mackie Bethay - [email protected]
Directory - Dennis Madsen - [email protected]
Newsletter - Bobbie Graham - [email protected]
Hospitality - Kem Robertson - [email protected]
Liaison / Special Projects - Joe Dombrowski - [email protected]
Parlimentarian / Historian - Jennie Otto - [email protected]
Adopt-A-Mile Lead - Angie Kephart - [email protected]
Communications - Walter Keener - [email protected]
Community Bulletin Board: www.montesano.org
MSCA Board email: www.montesano.org/msca/board
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MonteSanoCivicAssociation
Page 8