The talented duo of Ceille Baird and Jim Welch will present the program “Nature, Poetry, and Nature Scene Travel” at the Tryon Garden Club’s first meeting of the new year on Sept. 21, 2 p.m. at FENCE. The program is free and the public is welcome.

Ceille and Jim, who have been married 53 years, will combine their talents to create an engaging program. Cielle is a playwright, poet, storyteller and songwriter who loves to write and knows how to tell a story. Jim contributes behind the scenes stories from the SCETV series, “NatureScene.”

Jim was program director at SCETV for many years and then collaborated with Rudy Mancke to write and produce the series “NatureScene” for 25 years. Jim and Rudy hosted over 250 half hours of nature exploration traveling to all 50 states, the provinces of Canada, and parts of Europe and South America.

Ceille Baird Welch’s plays include children’s works “The Very First Milo Moose Day Celebration,” and “A Rainbow of a Different Color,” and adult dramas “On Wings Like A Paper Crane,” and “Day Porch.” Her poetry is included in “The Millennial Sampler of South Carolina Poetry,” and her writings are housed in the South Carolina Poetry Archives in the James B. Duke Library at Furman University.

While living in Columbia they were both huge supporters of the Richland Friends of the Library. Upon retirement they moved to some land on Huckleberry Ridge near Zirconia, N.C. bought by Ceille’s grandfather in 1917.

The Tryon Garden Club Meetings begin at 1 p.m., and snacks and refreshments are served at 1:30 p.m. Programs start promptly at 2 p.m. The public is invited. For those interested in joining the Tryon Garden Club, please write to P.O. Box 245, Tryon, NC 28782

FENCE is located at 3381 Hunting Country Road, Tryon. Directions to FENCE can be found at FENCE.org.

– article submitted by Lucy Brannon