Bill Holbert – a Saluda treasure

Published 10:00 pm Thursday, June 12, 2014

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Bill Holbert, long-time Saluda beekeeper stands outside Holbert’s Bee Supply on Ozone Drive, back when it was first opened. (Photo by Bonnie J. Bardos)

Bill Holbert, long-time Saluda beekeeper stands outside Holbert’s Bee Supply on Ozone Drive, back when it was first opened. Photo by Bonnie J. Bardos
~ Maud Hart Lovelace,
Betsy-Tacy and Tib, 1941

Welcome to mid-June here in Saluda…gardens leap with lush growth, children play happily in the park, Saluda School teachers breath a sign of relief with summer vacation here. Drifting breezes carry scents of barbecue, honeysuckle, and garden roses. Bikes whir past, riders heading for Main Street. Summer’s on her way.
Last week, while shuffling and rooting through piles of photos, hunting one thing lead to another as is the case around here. I found pictures taken years ago for the Bulletin, so will share this picture of our beekeeper Bill Holbert taken when Holbert’s Bee Supply first opened on Ozone Drive. Being good-natured, he and son Phil put up with me stopping by with camera and notebook one morning. He’s a Saluda Treasure, indeed. The day my Pooh Bear headed for the Holberts’ pasture, winding his way directly toward their bee hives sticks in my memory: luckily the clueless pooch did not disturb the bees. We’re blessed to have some very special Saluda Treasures in our community.
Saluda Welcome Table is every Tuesday, with dinner served from 5:30-7 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Saluda United Methodist Church. All welcome; donations accepted.
Saluda Tailgate Market is open Friday from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the city parking lot off Main Street. Restaurants and many shops are open later on Friday evenings.
Mark Your Calendars: the fun and fabulous Art Trek Tryon open studio event happens the weekend of June 28-29. On Friday June 27 from 5-8 p.m. a preview party kicks off the weekend at Upstairs Artspace, 49 South Trade St., Tryon, N.C. beside the Tryon Theater. Participating artists all over Polk County and Landrum  will have work displayed in the gallery. All weekend, studios are open to the public. Saluda has several participating artists—Mark Gardner, Richard Baker, Jim Carson, Robin Kirby, and Bonnie Bardos. Please support local art, artists, and sponsoring businesses!
​Saluda Community Land Trust appreciates your volunteering or donations. ‘Walks in the Woods’ have begun, as has highway trash pick-up and Twin Lakes rental: information is listed on the SCLT website at saludaclt.org or call 828-749-1560. Board members are: Nancy Barnett- President, Don Clapp- Vice President, Mary Jo Wannamaker- Secretary, Chris Young- Treasurer, Nora Parks Anderson, Betsy Burdett, Cindy Hemenway, Will Nelson. Dave Prudhomme, Elena Robson, John Savage.
Top of the Grade Concerts at McCreery Park will be  from 7-9 p.m. on June 13 and June 27.
Happy June Birthday to Nancy Barnett, Verne Dawson, Peggy Ellwood, Anna Jackson, Charlie Jackson, Amy Violet Ford, Terry Arrington, Julie Arrington, and Jeremy Edwards.
Garden Tips: June is a good time to take rose cuttings, root them in moist sand, or stick cuttings in cut potatoes. I like to root geraniums, verbena, petunias to stick in pot plants for extra color, and to attract hummingbirds. Leave patches of clover in the yard for bees.
Saluda Tidbit: Did you know “Saluda” in Tsali Cherokee means “green corn river place”?
Thank you, dear readers, for your remarks and feedback about this column: it just makes my day knowing someone out there reads it. I want you to feel like you’re sitting out in the front porch swing drinking tea and enjoying birds and flowers with me, maybe peeking up at little Batman up in the porch eaves.
As ever, the goal is to make you feel like you’re enjoying a front porch visit and small town life in a friendly little mountain town called Saluda. You can contact me at bbardos@gmail.com; or 749-1153, visit my website at bonniebardos.com for more writing and art, or find me on facebook.

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