D4 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 ASHEVILLE CITIZEN-TIMES • CITIZEN-TIMES.C OMLIVING

BLACK MOUNTAIN —Nestled deep in thesouthern reaches ofBlack Mountain with theBlue Ridge Parkwayhovering in the far dis-tance, Mamie Hilliardfinds herself shelteredby her beloved log cabinand embraced by thepeace of the naturalworld.

In the near distance,she can look out on thesourwoods beginning tobloom “with their littlewhite things hangingdown.” She fondly notesthey’re the first ones thatturn a bright red, thebees make the very besthoney, and Black Moun-tain is known as the sour-wood town.

Whether she’s remi-niscing, exploring herworld or getting down tothe business at hand, you

instinctively know thatyou’re in the presence ofa memorable person, onewhose rhythm blends inperfectly with each andevery endeavor.

Looking back, sherecalls coming from thefarm in Tennessee toCamp Merri-Mac forgirls on Montreat Road.At the time, she was wellacquainted with animalsand nature but hadn’tbeen in touch with manypeople.

She was quite takenwith the mountains andher fellow campers andsoon discovered her par-ents had come here dur-ing their courtship. Infact, her daddy hadworked summers at BlueRidge Assembly. Nowthat the camp is co-ed,her grandsons are atMerri-Mac carrying onthe legacy. As a matter ofcourse, legacy and conti-nuity become two more

telling touchstones.“There are six of us

who live here in BlackMountain from thosecamp days and are still intouch, including AnnieHall.”

But it’s not as thoughshe’s always lived aneasily evolving life. Shemarried an army chap-lain, went around theworld with two childrenin tow and had a thirdchild in Heidelberg, Ger-many. You could justsimply say she’s devel-oped a highly centeredapproach over the years.A perspective that stoodher in good stead whenshe decided to become amember of the clergy.

At age 60, she wasordained at a Pentecostal

seminary during the timeshe and her husbandmoved to Chattanooga. Itall came about as sheenvisioned a spiritualcomponent to a master’sin social work. As a fifthgeneration Disciple ofChrist who came from along line of clergy andeducators, the Pentecos-tals gave words to herquest.

“Pentecostals feelthings. It comes from thePentecost when the spiritcame and everybodyspoke in their owntongue. That’s what Jesuspromised he would sendto comfort us. ‘I will notleave you comfortless.My spirit I leave withyou.’ That’s what theysay happened at Pente-

cost at the gatheringduring biblical times. It’sthe holy spirit that hap-pens in your heart andmine.”

It comes then as nosurprise that she wouldfind spirit in the cabinshe inherited from herfolks in 1985. It alsocomes as no surprise the106-year-old structure ismade of hard chestnutthat has lasted throughmany a season, and thatspirit extends to themountain people them-selves.

“Living here is in myDNA. It’s home becauseof the spirit that’s here.This house was built bypeople who were moun-tain people. I say thatbecause I love the moun-tain people. They’re au-thentic, they’re real.They don’t have roles toplay. You take up foreach other. You don’t talkabout it. You just knowyou do.

“The logs in this cabinwere cut by an old whip-saw cutting back andforth. I feel it in there. Ifeel the original folks and

my parents when I’m inhere because they all hadthe spirit. I feel a realheritage that’s beenloaned to me for a whileand I will pass on to mychildren. I’ve lived a lotof places with my armyhusband but this is aspecial place.”

In retirement, minis-tering only on occasionand on an individualbasis, she’s now writingpoetry and calling it “thechildren of my old age.”She thinks it comes fromwithin herself. She birthseach and every verse.Struggles but tries not tostruggle, to let it come toher. She once put aside apoem after two weeks,then sat by the fire andwrote it down in 10 min-utes. And it was good. Itsaid what she wanted tosay.

It goes without sayingshe finds something Pen-tecostal about the proc-ess. The spirit entering ata certain point and dwell-ing within. Some day shewill bind each and everypoem in a single volume.

All in good time.

Poetry and Pentecostal spirit in Black MountainMinister and poet Mamie Hilliardis retired, but engaged with hersurroundings, mountain people By Shelly Frome Special Black Mountain News

Mamie Hilliard

BLACK MOUNTAIN —Artists Libba Tracy andMary Soyenova com-bined talents to producethe monarch butterflymural on an outside wallof Black Mountain Cen-ter for the Arts.

The mural sets thestage for two weeks of“Bring Back the Mon-archs” awareness eventssponsored by BlackMountain Center for theArts from Sept. 18-Oct. 3,which is peak monarchmigration time.

Tracy is an artist wholives in the flyover zoneof the monarchs in BlackMountain. She was in-spired by a New YorkTimes article a year agothat outlined the pendingcollapse of the migrationof monarch butterflies,which travel some 2,000miles to winter in Mex-ico.

She has combined herlove of art and nature inthe “Bring Back theMonarchs” awarenessevent.

“I was touched per-sonally by the article,and it seemed I had justbeen waiting for a pro-ject that I could combinemy love of art and na-ture and make a differ-ence,” Tracy said.

Tracy and Soyenovatraced the design on thecenter wall. It is a recre-ation of a watercolorpainting of Tracy’s. Itshows the monarch but-terfly with all its beauti-ful color combinations,and the ghost butterflieswho have perished.

“The mural is a won-derful way to wake peo-ple visually and alertthem to the critical na-ture of the vanishingMonarch butterflies,”said Gale Jackson, exec-utive director of the

Black Mountain Centerfor the Arts. “The muralis a way to use art toinform and attract peo-ple to participate in thetwo week awarenessevent coming up at thecenter. It also leads peo-ple to the exhibit in oneof galleries that is partof the project.”

Soyenova, a sign-maker, volunteered some18 hours of her time andtalent to help Tracy withthe mural.

“I was asked if Iwould help, and afterhearing about the pro-ject, I said yes,” shesaid. “This is Libba’sproject. I just assistedher.”

According to theWorld Wildlife Fund,fewer monarchs migrat-ed in 2013 than in anyyear since researchersbegan keeping recordssome two decades ago.The biggest influence inthe decline is loss ofhabitat and reduction ofmilkweed, the monarchs’primary food source,along North America’swestern shores.

“The migration isdefinitely proving to bean endangered biologicalphenomenon,” said Lin-coln Brower, leadingentomologist at SweetBriar College in Vir-

ginia. “The main culpritis now GMO herbicide-resistant corn and soy-bean crops and herbi-cides in the USA, whichleads to the wholesalekilling of the monarch’sprincipal food plant,common milkweed.”

This situation with themonarch butterfly isreversible even at thecritical stage that it hasreached. Tracy believesawareness is the key tosuccess, and is passion-ate about making thepublic more aware aboutthe vanishing Monarchs.

“This can be turnedaround for the butter-flies,” she said. “Peopleneed to know about thesituation and that thebutterflies are vanish-ing, and by plantingmilkweed seeds, andstopping the use of pesti-cides and herbicidesthey can help savethem.”

Robyn Gonzalez, an-other Black Mountainmural artist, stopped byto watch the painting ofthe mural.

“I love it,” she said. “Iget the message of themural immediately, andit is beautiful.”

The Black MountainCenter for the Arts is at225 W. State St. To learnmore, call 669-0930.

MEGAN BANNERMAN/SPECIAL TO THE BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS

Libba Tracy, left, and Mary Soyenova combined their talents to produce the mural on theoutside wall of Black Mountain Center for the Arts.

Mural kicks off Bring Backthe Monarchs campaignBy Barbara Hootman barbara@blackmountainnews.com

MEGAN BANNERMAN/SPECIAL TO THE BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS

The finished monarch butterfly mural is the prelude to the“Bring Back the Monarch” awareness campaign set forSeptember.

grown quickly to fill theneeds of those withoutproper food resourcesin the Valley. It distrib-utes produce that is“repurposed” or sal-vaged from farmers’fields, grocery storeshelves and food grownlocally through the Gar-dens that Give Program.

“We receive donatedfruits and vegetablesthrough the partner-ships with MANNAFoodBank, The Dr. JohnWilson CommunityGarden and other localgrowers that allow us toprovide the food to ourclients at no cost,” Cas-parian said. “We alsoseek funding to pur-chase additional nutri-tious necessities likewhole grains, beans andnuts. Our clients leavethe market with enoughfresh food to makehealthy meals for threeto four days.

“When we first start-ed, we were holding onemarket a week on Tues-day before the WelcomeTable at St. James Epis-copal Church (in BlackMountain). There wereabout 25 people whocame for the producethat we provided. Thenit quickly grew to 75families and then to 160people benefiting.

“Before we expandedBounty and Soul’s re-sources to another mar-ket, some 200 individ-uals were coming to getproduce once weekly.”

Bounty and Soulopened a second marketat the Blue Ridge Apart-ments in Black Moun-tain, where 75 residentsbenefit weekly. Forthose who cannot cometo the market but needhelp with food, a bag ofproduce is packed anddelivered to them.

Now there are threeBounty and Soul-spon-sored produce marketsin Black Mountainweekly. The Blue RidgeMarket is open 1:30-2:30p.m. Mondays at theBlue Ridge Apartments,for all of the residents.The Open Market oper-ates 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tues-days at St. James Epis-copal Church at 424 W.State St.

The Children andFriends Market is 3-5p.m. Tuesdays at theChildren and FriendsEnrichment Center,3126 U.S. 70, for theparents and children atthe day care.

Making a realdifference

Diane Moore hascome to the Open Mar-ket at St. James Episco-pal Church for close to ayear.

“The fresh producemakes a big differenceto me,” she said. “I amdiabetic and live on afixed income. It reallyhelps out. The food dem-

onstrations have a lot ofgood information. Ihave learned things thatI wouldn’t have evereven thought about.”

Liz Dohy, director ofChildren and Friends,says the market is mak-ing a difference in chil-dren and their parents’nutritional lives.

“The weekly marketis going really well,” shesaid. “The children aregetting hands on experi-ence with healthy eatingand get to help pick outfoods to take home.There is lots of one-on-one talk about goodnutrition.

“Our kids refer to themarket as going gro-cery shopping. Themarket is making adifference in the par-ents’ lives. They get tohave a supply of freshfruits and vegetablesthat they might not havebeen able to afford. Weare really glad to havethe market at Childrenand Friends.”

A core of 18 volun-teers makes Bounty andSoul capable of provid-ing so many people inthe Valley with freshproduce.

“They are a phenom-enal group, and some ofthem have been with mesince day one,” Caspar-ian said. “I couldn’t dothis without them. Theyare literally the fiber ofBounty and Soul. Theyload and unload trucks,display the food, helpparticipants select foodand assist in educatingthem about proper nu-trition.”

Along with the mar-kets, Bounty and Soulalso provides cookingdemonstrations, healthand wellness classesand easy to follow low-budget recipes.

“I hold a cookingdemonstration for asfew as five people,”Casparian said. “Usu-ally, there are around 50people now since theclass has become pop-ular. What we do makesa difference. We areinspiring and empower-ing people to make bet-ter and more sustain-able choices.

“We develop commu-nity among our clients.They are never made tofeel that what they re-ceive is charity. As aresult so many of themstep up and volunteerand give back fromthemselves.”

Bounty and Soul alsopartners with FeedingAmerica’s Back-PackProgram and helps localchildren and their fam-

ilies get the nutritionand easy to preparefoods they need for aweekend.

Jenny Curry attend-ed the Open Market atSt. James EpiscopalChurch and says it madea big difference in herfamily having freshproduce.

“I have twins who arealmost 18 years old, andthey have illnesses thatrequire fresh foods,”she said. “My daughtercan’t eat any packagedfoods. I couldn’t havebought the fresh vegeta-bles that both of my kidshave to have without thehelp from Bounty andSoul. It is absolutely awonderful program.”

Expansion plansBounty and Soul

wants to expand itsoriginal goal to reachmore people and bringthe health and wellnessmovement to more com-munities in need, whilecontinuing to serve theneeds of people in theSwannanoa Valley.

Bounty and Soul hasacquired a truck and isin the process of retro-fitting it to be able totake the fresh marketon the road. Most of the$25,000 grant receivedfrom the Diocese ofWestern North Carolina-Human Hurt and HopeFund will be spent onthe project.

“We plan to set upmobile markets inareas, rural and city,that have limited accessto fresh food options,”Casparian said. “Wearen’t just providinghealthy food. The Boun-ty and Soul MobileFresh Market will buildnutrition awareness andcommunity in a suppor-tive interactive environ-ment at each destina-tion.”

The most recentcommunity outreachprogram initiated byBounty and Soul is theU-Grow Garden pilotproject. It’s purpose isto educate and assistgardeners in growingtheir own food. Mastergardener Bob Wardwelland Dana HardemanOglesby, a student atWarren Wilson Collegeare serving as mentorsto the two U-Grow Gar-deners currently partic-ipating.

Casparian hopes thatBounty and Soul canserve as a model thatcan be implemented incommunities every-where there is need forhealthy food and nutri-tional resources.

NUTRITIONContinued from Page D1

SPECIAL TO THE BLACK MOUNTAIN NEWS

Volunteers unload Bounty and Soul food donations.

Product: ASHBrd PubDate: 09-02-2014 Zone: ACT Edition: 1 Page: Features-A User: shaghani Time: 09-01-2014 17:15 Color: CMYK