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Touch
of Gray - May / June 2001
Andy
Lunde's whirlygigs much in demand
Knitting for babies a rewarding task
Collectibles
New board chair is world traveler
Andy
Lunde's
whirlygigs much in demand
Andy
Lunde is an 86-year old active and very busy resident of The
Fairways, Carolina Meadows assisted living center. You cannot
miss Andy’s apartment. If you follow the covered walkway
from CM’s Club Center to The Fairways, the first unit,
number 101, is Andy’s. By the entrance is his wooden
window box of perennials that he tends with loving care. Welcoming
you outside his apartment door is a fine example of Andy’s
woodworking skills - not a cigar store Indian but a charming
large as life comely French peasant girl.
Andy
was baptized Anders (both his parents were Norwegian) and
he was born and raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where his
father worked in an industrial plant.
These
were hard times, Andy recalls, as industry, including his
father’s employer, eventually moved away and there were
many unemployed. Andy won a scholarship to St. Lawrence University,
where he received his bachelor’s degree in sociology
in 1938 and became a teacher. He served in the army in World
War Two. After the War, he attended Columbia University, receiving
his master’s degree in 1948 and his doctorate in demography
in 1955. After a stint at University teaching, he joined the
US Public Health Service in Washington DC as a statistician
with the National Center for Health Statistics.
In
1967, he was asked to move to a new Public Health facility
in Research Triangle Park to head the Applied Statistics Training
Center (NCHS). His job was to train State health statisticians
in new ways to measure and use data for population analysis.
He continued to work at the RTP location for most of his governmental
career while living in Chapel Hill and becoming involved in
many public service capacities.
Kathy
Porter of the Senior Center’s RSVP program remembers
Andy for his many years of volunteering with the Retired Senior
Volunteer Program (RSVP) of the Orange County Department of
Aging since 1977. He served on RSVP’s Advisory Council
from 1982 to 1989. "He was my right hand man," Kathy
recalls. "He worked very hard for RSVP and he has always
given so much back to the community." He was also on
the board and served as vice president of the Botanical Garden
Foundation. He was a volunteer with the North Carolina Art
Society and served as its treasurer.
Andy
finally retired in 1979 and planned to continue living in
Chapel Hill. He wondered how he would keep himself busy without
his government work. He intended to continue his demographic
work as Adjunct Professor of biostatistics in UNC- Chapel
Hill, but he wanted more things to do in his leisure moments.
His
hobby had always been wood carving. His wife, Eleanor, gave
him a book on weather vanes and wondered if he would like
to try his hand at constructing those. In the book was a chapter
on whirligigs, which immediately attracted his attention.
Would it be possible to make those, he wondered.
What
are whirligigs, you might ask? A whirligig is a device, moved
by the wind, which whirls and turns around on its pivot. Most
whirligigs have been small, toy-like objects, often called
"wind-toys". Some are quite large, from full-sized
seagulls to huge contraptions to generate electricity. Many
are simple in design, with a person waving arms; others are
quite complicated, with several persons or animals activated
at the same time on several levels of operation. Whatever
its size or shape, the whirligig has two universal characteristics:
it has been created for the fun of it, and it gives pleasure
to those who see it.
Whirligigs
have been around for hundreds of years. Middle Age tapestries
show children playing with hobbyhorse whirligigs with 4-bladed
propellers at the end. George Washington, riding back to Mount
Vernon after the Revolution, brought some "whilagigs"
for Martha’s grandchildren in his saddlebags. In the
late 18th and early 19th centuries,
human figures waving their arms, swords, shovels and other
implements, were popular whirligigs. Then there were Indians
in canoes, mallards and other birds, and windmills.
Models
from these early periods are quite rare, because for the most
part they were designed and constructed by craftsmen whose
designs died with them. Later models were mass-produced and
widely distributed. Because they were made of wood and exposed
to the elements, they deteriorated with time.
Whirligig
construction was popular during the great Depression. In the
1930s, people with time on their hands, created simple whirligigs
to sell by the side of the road. Today, in Appalachia, the
tradition is carried on as a pastime and many craftspeople
create colorful mechanical whirligigs as a creative hobby.
Andy
tried to track down old models and see if he would reproduce
them. He traveled to the Crafts Museum in New York City to
study old versions. The early models he made did not seem
to work. The position of the arms was not correct. He finally
realized that the arms on his figures were in fact propellers
and before long he was making not only figures that moved
but birds with wings to fly. As he developed his skills —
and let his imagination play in making more and different
kinds of whirligigs - he thought he would get others interested.
At
his own expense he published and copyrighted, with the aid
of his artist son, Tony, fifty copies of a book called Whirligigs:
Design and Construction. This included line illustrations
and exact instructions as to how to plan and make working
whirligigs of many shapes and sizes, ranging from traditional
figures like the Cardinal Bird to more complex themes like
a Flying Witch and a Churning Woman.
He
sent review copies to all the craft magazines. Southern Living’s
adjunct publication, Arts & Crafts, commented editorially.
800 copies sold. Mother Earth News asked for 5000 copies.
He did not have that many so they arranged for full-scale
printing. His book was a hit. Three more highly successful
books followed, books in which he suggested ways of developing
many new and original whirligigs.
As
Andy’s fame spread, he became a popular visitor on Roy
Underhill’s "The Woodwright’s Shop" on
PBS originating out of UNC-TV. Andy recalls his first program
in which he showed off his whirligigs at the old television
studios on the State campus. Andy later participated in a
number of UNC-TVs Festival programs.
There
is no limit to the designs that can be made. Everyone can
create new designs or adapt old ones. Some of Andy’s
more popular ones are old American motifs: the Indian in Canoe,
the soldier waving his Sword. His Woman Churning is an adaptation
from an old North Carolina model. "You can get ideas
from visits to folk art museums and from books containing
illustrations of antique whirligigs. But often the best idea
is that that comes almost unbidden to the mind, the original
creative inspiration that can be translated into a working
whirligig. Whirligigs created from these fresh ideas are truly
part of a great American tradition," Andy comments.
Through
his four books — now being reprinted for an even bigger
audience worldwide by Dover Publications — he has done
much to revive the old art of making whirligigs. But he went
a step further than the early craftsmen did by proposing new
and inventive forms of whirligigs.
Andy
tells me you can locate all four of his Dover books on the
Internet. Go on the worldwide web to amazon.com under "Lunde"
or "Whirligigs".
Andy
no longer creates whirligigs to special order, though he still
exhibits on consignment at the Summerhill Gallery in Eastgate
in Chapel Hill. One of his latest, which he called The Whirligig
of Politics 2000 — Tug of War, featured four moving figures,
Bush, Gore, Hillary and Lazio with the ghost of Bill Clinton
hovering over the scene, and was recently sold there.
Soon
after his wife, Eleanor, died in 1998 Andy developed serious
problems in his legs which affected his balance and made it
difficult to get up should he fall. He was advised that he
should no longer live alone. His future looked bleak. His
doctor told him about the recently completed $3.2 million
Assisted Living showplace, The Fairways, at Carolina Meadows.
The Fairways was developed as a Wellness model of Assisted
Living with the aid of AAHSA — the American Association
of Homes and Services for the Aging and incorporated many
new features including more spacious living and kitchen quarters,
more homelike rooms and furnishings to each occupant’s
own tastes. He decided to look into the possibility of moving
there.
"It
was a hard year, but then things changed," he told me. "A
social worker from Carolina Meadows, Laurie Ray, took the
time to come by and talk with me and told me I would be able
to set up my unit just as I wanted it to continue my work,"
Andy commented.
"It
was she who encouraged me to continue my woodcarving, something
I've always enjoyed. I do all my preparatory work here in
my apartment at The Fairways. Karen Wolfe from the Activities
staff makes sure I have plenty of drafting paper to sketch
on and extension cords for tools I can use for wood carving
in my apartment. She told me they don't mind all the wood
chips on the floor - that's what vacuum cleaners are for!"
"My
daughter moved my tools from my former home to her farm in
Chatham County some 17 miles to the west, north of Pittsboro.
So I can use them there on my weekly visits." He saves
the more delicate finish work and painting for back home at
The Fairways.
Anders
Lunde is a different man from the one who first arrived at
The Fairways in 1999. These days, he's busy and content. He
walks every morning, on Mondays and Thursdays he takes a water
exercise class in the Pool, he serves on the Residents Association
Council as Precinct Representative and has just been re-elected
for a second term. On Wednesdays he goes to his daughter's
farm to work on his woodcarving, He is also a good painter
and is a member of the Carolina Meadows Art Guild. His works
are on display in the Guild’s monthly Exhibit in CM’s
Club Center. Paintings which he currently shows there are
from Cape Cod in the 70s and early 80s.
Yes,
Fairways is my home," he adds. "I have my own definition
of assisted living: It is the freedom to continue doing what
I still enjoy. It means I can go on with my former activities
like writing, painting, woodcarving and whirligig-making,"
he smiles. "It helps me continue my usual way of life
to every possible extent. We are not through yet." --
Des Reilly
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Knitting
for babies a rewarding task
Anne
Reed has always been a knitter. She learned how from her grandmother
seventy years ago. Before moving to Carolina Meadows in 1992,
she owned and managed an art needlework shop in Fayetteville.
She has taught knitting to others both in the shop and elsewhere
for many years.
While
computer browsing on the Internet three years ago, Anne discovered
an international organization called Knitting for Children.
At that time the group was knitting garments for 50 children
living in a group home in Kentucky. By now the group numbers
700 dedicated knitters. Anne and her fellow-members knit caps,
booties, sweaters and blankets for children in premature and
intensive care nurseries, as well as for older children, in
Parkland Hospital, Dallas,Texas, Lubbock Medical Center in
Texas, the University of Kentucky Hospital, and in a Home
for Wayward Children in Maine. Anne has designed a special
cap with ribbing for premature babies to help secure the hats
on their tiny heads.
Recently
the group sponsored a poor young couple who had a nine-year-old
daughter and then delivered quadruplets. Thanks to Anne and
her colleagues, each family member received a knitted blanket
plus sweaters and knitted layettes for all four babies.
"Knitting
is the greatest tension relaxer I know," comments Anne.
"You can let the world go by and forget all your problems.
And it’s a great feeling to know that you are knitting
for babies who can use your help."
Many
Carolina Meadows residents love to knit for their grandchildren
and often for their great-grandchildren too. But there are
others, who like Anne, have found ways to bring joy to others
less fortunate through their knitted gifts.
Marj
Vaiden moved to Carolina Meadows six years ago from Wayne,
New Jersey, where she was an active volunteer with the Chilton
Hospital Auxiliary. One of the Auxiliary projects was to give
each newborn a colorful hand-knitted cap on discharge. On
settling into Carolina Meadows, Marj continued to produce
the little caps that she mailed back to New Jersey.
One
day a Carolina Meadows friend mentioned that the Women’s
Circle Group of University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill
was involved in collecting baby caps to send to their Medical
Benevolent Fund. They ship the hats, along with medical equipment,
to Presbyterian overseas clinics and hospitals in Africa,
Haiti and Nepal. In the past four years approximately 2,000
caps have been sent.
Marj
joined this Group and continued to make her favorite baby
hats. The Church group purchases the variegated all-colors
yarn, for the hats, but friends also give Marj their knitting
left-overs. "It doesn't take much yarn to make a baby's hat,"
she explains. In the past four years she has completed 125
caps for the overseas fund, plus a blanket.
Although
she does all kinds of needlework -- quilting, bargello, counted
cross-stitch -- it's the baby hats that this Knitting Lady
carries to the numerous meetings, classes and entertainment
events she attends at Carolina Meadows. "Knitting the hats
is so easy and almost automatic," she explains. "They involve
no counting or thinking."
Two
other Carolina Meadows residents, Jane Ragland and Bobbie
Wilkerson, also members of University Presbyterian Church,
are also involved in the cap knitting project. In the past
five years, Jane, who has just completed a two-year term as
President of the Residents Association, has knit 150 hats
for the Fund. No idle hands at Carolina Meadows! -- Jean Harned
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Collectibles
Downsizing
may be a necessary aspect of moving into a Continuing Care
Retirement Community such as Carolina Meadows, but cherished
collections are often brought with us as a link to places
we’ve lived or visited or because they are heirlooms
that reflect beauty we’re still adding to our lives.
They come in all sizes, and their scope is as broad as imagination
itself. It was discovered that a breakfront located in our
Club Center lobby was suitable for displaying our collections
in 1997. Since then, on a monthly basis, one or more collections
have graced those shelves as a means of sharing what someone
has made, purchased or found that piqued an interest.
Lois
and Bert Morhart were the first to share their Royal Doultan
and other porcelain figurine collection. It was put together
over many years with representations from English Staffordshire
and Royal Doultan, German Dresden, and Paragon fine bone china.
Lois and Bert lived in Pennsylvania before moving to Carolina
and have become active participants in many groups of the
community. Lois chairs the Meadowsingers, a mixed choral group
much enjoyed both by participants and listeners, while Bert
serves as Treasurer of Carolina Meadows Residents Association.
Trudie
and Ed Kastner have an extensive collection of Clowns of every
size, shape and material imaginable. Their collection now
graces several rooms in their home on shelves and tucked inside
desk pigeonholes or even on walls. Porcelain "Emmet" clowns
show his trademark sad expression while others add a lift
to the spirit in their nonsensical antics. Trudie says, "The
collection almost grew by itself as family and friends added
pieces they found in out-of-the-way places."
Southwestern
Indian jewelry was collected by Martha and the late Henry
Brandis. It is all Navaho and Zuni craft work purchased over
a six-year period as Martha and Henry drove through the southwest.
Their son, Henry Brandis III wrote in 1998 when it was displayed
that, "Generally the Navaho work is characterized by the use
of larger pieces of turquoise and coral, with much of the
turquoise in its nugget form rather than polished stones.
The Navaho complement the stones with extensive and elegant
silver work. The larger bracelets are worn by men, and Navaho
bracelets are especially heavy with silver. Necklaces such
as the squash blossom necklaces are worn by men and women.
Heishi necklaces of smooth, cylindrical turquoise or shell
beads are particularly favored by men. The Zuni stone work
is usually more delicate, using petit point and needle point
arrangements in symmetric designs of small stones, or exquisite
inlaid mosaics of turquoise, coral, jet, and shell."
Our
staff members have joined us in sharing their collections,
one of which was Judie Haraszti’s outstanding display
of her hand-crafted porcelain pottery. Judie’s daytime
job here at Carolina Meadows is administrative assistant to
our dining services director, Mark Maxwell. Judie began throwing
pots in the ‘60s at East Carolina University, where she
received her Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees. She
is an exhibiting member of Carolina Designer Craftsmen, a
nationally recognized craft guild, and sells to galleries
all over the country. Her pots are porcelain and have carved
designs using the ancient technique of Korean Mishima. They
are hand-thrown, trimmed, designed, bisque fired, then waxed,
glazed and fired again.
Longtime
Chapel Hill residents June and David Basile who now live at
Carolina Meadows have a large collection of Creches. June
wrote about them as follows: "Fifty years ago, while living
in Cuenca, Ecuador, the center of the Panama hat industry,
we bought a nativity made of that same straw and began our
collection. While living in South America and traveling elsewhere
abroad, our choice of souvenirs was a local, usually native,
depiction of the nativity. Materials used might be straw,
brass, crystal, papier mache, or porcelain. We were particularly
interested in the artist’s conception of the Holy Family,
and the evidence of the culture of the different countries
as revealed by the artist".
We
enjoy our own and other’s collections and invite you
to take a look at what’s new in the breakfront when you
come to visit at Carolina Meadows. -- Betty
A. Kent
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New
board chair is
world traveler
When she is not escorting a local group
on a weekend jaunt to Bermuda, you will find Jean Holcomb,
an attractive lady with a winning smile, in her Viking Travel
office in the Village Plaza shopping center on Elliott Road
in Chapel Hill.
Recently
named President of the Board of Directors of Carolina Meadows,
Jean has served as a hard working Director of the Meadows
through almost half of its 15 years of existence. "One
of Jean’s strengths is in communication, which is evident
from the success of Viking Travel and her past participation
on our Board. She has been of invaluable help to us in her
specialty, the Marketing area, but she has been ready to help
with advice and guidance in all areas of our operations during
our years of growth," Rob Boening, CM’s Executive
Director, commented.
"I
have always been struck by the vitality and energy of the
residents of Carolina Meadows, " she told me recently.
"It is such a happy place, a remarkable community, that
seems to bring out a sense of joy." Despite her busy
travel schedule, and her membership on the boards of several
national travel organizations, she hopes to spend more time
meeting informally with Carolina Meadows residents in the
coming year. "I am, indeed, looking forward to enhanced
communication between the Board and the residents through
a series of informal forums that the Board has recently proposed,"
she added.
"What
do you think of our future prospects?" I asked her. "Can
we hold our leadership position among continuing care communities
despite increased local as well as national competition?"
Jean feels that Carolina Meadows is well positioned in the
market place. "While I am President," she added,
"I look forward to working with staff and residents to
see that Carolina Meadows remains on the cutting edge to deal
with the changing face of its constituency. I am confident
that we will more than hold our own," she concluded.
Jean
is not new to leadership roles. In 1985 she became the first
woman President of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce,
and in the early 90’s was one of the first women Rotarians
in Chapel Hill. She recalls that in the 70’s, during
the period when she gave 16 years of service to leadership
in Girl Scouting, she was honored as Chapel Hill/Carrboro
Mother of the Year while serving on the Founding Board of
the Chapel Hill Preservation Society.
Following
graduate work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Jean
and her husband George moved first to Omaha, where George
taught in the Medical School of Creighton University. The
next transition was the opportunity for George to join the
faculty at UNC-CH in 1957. The Holcombs had three daughters,
Kaia, Ellen and Carolyn, al three of whom graduated from UNC
here in Chapel Hill.
After
almost twenty years of volunteer work in the community, Jean,
with daughters Ellen and Carolyn, founded Viking Travel. Kaia,
the eldest, is a specialist in autism and is associated with
the TEACCH program at UNC’s Department of Psychiatry.
Growth
through continuing education and appreciation of peoples and
cultures worldwide have long been a focus of Jean’s life.
At about age eight, her father presented her with a globe
of the world and encouraged her to read stories about children
in different countries. As a rising college senior she made
her first trip to Europe, sailing out of New York on the Queen
Mary.
Graduate
School at the University of Wisconsin presented the opportunity
to research the Relevance of Debate in the young United Nations.
This entailed visits to UN Headquarters in New York City and
listening to debates in the General Assembly. She believed
then, as she still does, that the way to world peace is to
understand other peoples and their cultures.
Viking
Travel is 100% family owned, and is now run by Jean and her
daughter, Ellen Holcomb Harris. In the last twenty-two years
Viking has expanded to three locations, Village Plaza, Fearrington
Village and Hillsborough. A professional, full-service agency,
Viking provides personalized planning for corporate, leisure
and individual travelers. The agency stresses personalized
service and calls on the experience of their own travel, plus
the knowledge of colleagues in the US and abroad, to come
up with the best advice on itineraries, accommodations and
dining for American travelers. "We like to think that
we partner with the best people in the business, in order
to provide a quality travel experience, at the lowest possible
cost," was how Jean summed it up.
Education
is still a key factor in the Viking Travel operation. Jean,
Ellen and Carolyn are all three Certified Travel Counselors
(CTC), a five year program of the Institute of Certified Travel
Associates in Wellesley, MA. Further study and travel have
also won Jean the title of Master Cruise Counselor. Serving
the traveler and the traveling community finds Jean currently
on the travel advisory boards of the Sonesta Hotel Corporation,
Cruise West (a small ship Cruise Line) and the Carolina Chapter
of the American Society of Travel Agents. She has been honored
with a lifetime membership on the advisory board of Traveling
Times, a worldwide travel magazine.
Viking
added a new feature four years ago by becoming a representative
office of American Express Travel Services. This association
enables the traveler to purchase foreign currency, as well
as USD travelers checks, rent cell phones for travel in the
US and abroad, in addition to purchasing air and train tickets,
cruises, tours, hotel, villa and B&B accommodations and
car rentals both domestically and in foreign locations.
Jean’s
colorful quarterly newsletter, The Viking Traveler, is read
with interest by her many friends. The latest (Spring, 2001)
issue is full of news of upcoming travel opportunities. Very
popular over many years, for instance, have been Jean’s
Holiday Theatre trips to London. Last summer, Jean escorted
a local group traveling by barge and ballooning in France
in what was billed as the First Carolina House Party on the
l’Abercrombie. In December, all twenty Chapel Hill participants
gathered for a reunion in Fearrington Village at the homes
of Mary and Tom Kerrigan and Bob and Connie Eby to swap pictures
and recollections of the wines and cheeses of Burgandy.
This
summer, Jean — known to her five grandchildren as Mor-Mor
(mother’s mother in Danish) - will embark with them on
a Scandinavian heritage cruise on Holland America’s newest
cruise liner, the ms Amsterdam, from London, England, arriving
in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 5. Enroute, there will be
visits to Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallin
and Bornholm.
When
I visited her recently she was wrapping up the final details
of a weeklong trip to Ireland for the Chapel Hill Senior Center.
"What about that foot and mouth disease outbreak?"
I asked. "There’s absolutely no problem, "
she emphasized. "Though walking on grazing lands is obviously
restricted, theatres, parks, castle grounds, monuments, even
Stonehenge, are opening on schedule. Food is plentiful and
menus are varied. The Irish and the British are ready as always
to welcome their overseas cousins." -- Des Reilly
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