So last Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at 10pm, I’m getting in the car loaded up with my last run of papers headed to Rock Hill, SC, Charlotte, NC, Davidson, NC, Asheboro, NC, and eventually Seagrove, NC – all the time knowing I’m racing the clock against another winter storm of sleet and snow. The Weather Channel said that it will be raining in Charlotte until 3am and then changing to sleet as the temps drop down to 32 degrees and below. At that point I’d only be halfway done with the delivery.
We always like to have the paper completely delivered by the first Friday of the month so that all the communities that host art walks will have fresh copies of Carolina Arts. The last three months have been challenging to get that job done. You might say weather challenged.
When I got in the car at 10pm in Bonneau, SC – headquarters of Shoestring Publishing Company – the temp was 45 degrees. It was hard to believe it was going to be below 32 in Charlotte, but as I headed to Columbia, SC, on I-26 and then toward Rock Hill, on I-77 – the further I traveled north the temps just kept dropping one and two degrees at a time. By the time I reached the outskirts of Charlotte it was 34 degrees and it was going to take 3 hours to finish and then I’d be heading more north – eventually east, but the real kicker was I’d have to cross over Hwy. 64 from I-85 in Lexington, NC, to Asheboro. Halfway along Hwy. 64 there are some pretty big hills to cross over and in the past I’ve noticed that the temps really drop in that area. That was my big concern and I was right.
The temps stayed 34 degrees through Charlotte, Davidson, NC, and on I-85 headed towards Lexington – occasionally dropping to 33 degrees at times. At one point on I-85 I saw lots of flashing blue and red lights up ahead and the first thing I thought of was “black ice”. The traffic slowed and sure enough in a stretch of a mile several cars had gone off the road and all sorts of emergency vehicles were giving assistance, but the temp was 34 as I passed by. The temps must have dropped for a while in that stretch of the highway. I must have missed that by 30 minutes or an hour.
I finally make it on to Hwy. 64 and the temp is 33 degrees and it starts to sleet – oh boy. By the time I’m at the top of those hills the sleet is starting to collect on the road by an inch or two and I still expected the temps to drop. What’s a newspaper delivery boy to do?
Well, I did grow up in Michigan and I did my fair share of driving in snow, sleet and ice. I pulled off the road and waited for the next semi to come by and I pulled in behind it. That truck plowed the way over the top of the hills for me and on the other side of the hills it was 34 degrees and just raining. I pulled into Asheboro around 6:30am Friday morning, knowing that the sun would be coming up in 30 minutes – hoping the temps would never go below 34 and in fact be rising, as from then on I would be traveling south all the way to South Carolina where you can pretty much count on a 10 degree difference – warmer.
I really dodged a bullet. In Asheboro, I went to drop off papers at the W.H. Moring Jr. Arts Center on Sunset Avenue and it was sleeting there – back on Hwy. 64 in Asheboro at the McDonalds where I usually have breakfast it was just rain. That’s how close I was to real trouble. Cars were pulling into the McDonalds coming from the North with several inches of snow or sleet on them. Next stop, the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove – heading south.
While eating my breakfast a USPS mailman came in for breakfast too and I had to think – whether rain, sleet, snow, scorching heat, tropical storms – Carolina Arts must be delivered. And, I’m the sucker stuck with that job. Don’t get me wrong, I love my monthly adventures, it’s just that sometimes they’re too much of an adventure and I’m not as young as I was when I first started. So I headed to Seagrove, NC – the Center of Pottery in North Carolina – a new moniker I’m using for Seagrove. You see, Seagrove is also near the geographical center of North Carolina.
After dropping off papers at the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove I’m officially finished – except for the four hour drive back to Bonneau. It’s always a relief and although it was raining cats and dogs and still a nasty 34 degrees I was up for some extra credit – so I drove to one of the newly opened NC Visitor Centers to check it out. I also needed a port in a storm – if you get my meaning.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has opened two new Visitor Centers, located within 5 miles of the geographic center of North Carolina along both sides of the US 220 corridor (the future I-73, I-74) in Randolph County just south of Seagrove.
In North Carolina the visitor centers open at 8am, an hour before they do in South Carolina so I didn’t have to wait at all to see what they had to offer. I was curious as this center is different from other NC Visitor Centers as it was being run by a commercial business.
I had a good look around, talked with the two women working there – they were friendly and informative and on the ball enough to realize after a bit of conversation that I seemed to know more about the area than the average person passing by. I identified myself and told them of my concerns that as a commercial operation that they may operate like a chamber of commerce – only providing info about paid members – not telling the whole story of the area to folks who didn’t know to ask about certain things. I was contacted myself about paying a fee to leave copies of Carolina Arts at the centers, but had to pass as we can’t afford to pay anyone to leave papers for distribution. Why else would I be delivering the papers myself? Ask any newspaper publisher you know if they deliver their paper.
I understand that the State of North Carolina, like every other state in America, is hurting for funding and realize that if it wasn’t for these centers being planned years ago and in the process of being built – might not have been built, but I hope when the economy turns and NC recovers they won’t let private business take over the lead point in telling the state’s tourism story – under a “pay you play” system. At least I hope the taxpayers of North Carolina won’t let that be the case. It’s too important a job to be put in the hands of bottom line business minds – who will soon wonder if they can get away with coin operated toilet paper dispensers.
I don’t know how much if any the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources is involved with NCDOT visitor centers, but I hope they have some say about the materials offered in those centers. I hope they can convince the state legislators that they don’t want that info to be limited to only those who can pay for it. North Carolina has too much to offer to work on that system. I hope they don’t go over to the dark side.
While visiting the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources’ website to get their link I noticed a publication they have available called, Homegrown Handmade, Art Roads & Farm Trails of North Carolina. It looks like it could be a valuable book for discovering arts and good food in NC. And, I’m giving them the plug – at no charge. That’s a hint, NC.
Well I had a nice visit at the Visitor Center, but wished it wasn’t raining so hard – I would have liked to check out the scenic lookout area of the center. I had been getting soaked all night and I didn’t see that getting soaked again would do me any good. I was finally dry after my stay in the VC.
Once back in the car I noticed it was 9:15am. I’m usually heading out of Seagrove by 7:30am – well before any of the potteries are open, but I wondered – Bulldog Pottery is just off the next exit – maybe they’re already knocking around the studio. I called and asked when they opened – the person who answered said 10am. I asked if it was Bruce Gholson and said who I was and it was Ed Henneke – Samantha Henneke’s father and he said come on over. So I headed that way. I’ve talked with Ed several times.
A work by Bruce Gholson
In less than 10 minutes I was there and got to see Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke’s new working studio, have a nice cup of hot tea and honey, and some good conversation about the new visitor centers and happenings in Seagrove. They were leasing space with several other potteries at the visitor centers. I noticed a piece of their pottery there but never imagined they had to pay to have it there. Such is the world under the current economy.
By the time I was leaving, their first customer of the day was arriving and I headed off to McCanless Pottery on my way to Whynot Pottery hoping their road was being unfrozen by all this rain. At McCanless I got a tour of his operation, which was impressive. Will Ravenel (my friend in Greensboro, NC, and sometime Seagrove visiting companion) and I had talked with Will McCanless at the last Celebration of Seagrove Potters about the crystalline glaze he does on some of his pottery – it’s a very interesting process and looks great on his pottery. You can see some images of the crystalline glaze effects on his website (www.mccanlesspottery.com).
A work by Will McCanless
Will McCanless is an intense kind of guy and after talking with him that day I wished he was also a blogging potter, but I think his plate is full – no pun intended. He told me he’s about to open a new pottery shop in downtown Seagrove offering works by a variety of Seagrove potters. This should be a wonderful new addition to the Seagrove pottery scene.
Saying downtown Seagrove may seem a stretch to some, but compared to the town I live near – it’s a downtown or if you like – village center.
OK – on to Whynot Pottery to visit Meredith and Mark Heywood. When I got to the driveway, sure enough the rain had done its job – the road was clear of ice and snow, but their was a closed sign up on their main sign. Darn! I figured they might be taking the day off to do something else – what better day to take off, but I’m the curious type so I called and got Mark on the phone and he said come on in. They had placed the closed sign up there so people wouldn’t try and drive down the frozen driveway and end up taking a swim in their pond.
I was greeted with the excuse that I had just missed a pie or something of the sort. I asked if there was any of that pineapple upside down cake I’ve read about on her blog and was told I’d have to give notice for that – so I settled for good conversation instead. You see, sometimes the unplanned adventures just don’t pay off the same as planned visits. Frankly, I don’t need any pie or cake – I wouldn’t turn most offers down – that’s obvious, but good conversation – I’ll drive 12 hours in rain or sleet for that.
Works from Whynot Pottery
We talked about the new visitor centers, they too were leasing space there and the exhibit Meredith is organizing entitled, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, which will be presented at the Campbell House Galleries of the Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, from Oct. 1 – 29, 2010.
Meredith and Mark set up shop in Seagrove when there were only 12 potteries operating, so they are a great resource on the history of the area and its development to being one of the largest concentrations of potteries in the country. At one point mostly traditional pottery, but now offering some of the finest contemporary pottery being made in the Carolinas – as you’ll be able to see if you visit the NC Pottery Center’s new exhibit, New Generation of Seagrove Potters, featuring works by fifteen Seagrove area potters all under age 40, from Feb. 12 through Apr. 10, 2010.
But, before long it was getting late – it was still raining cats and dogs and I still had a four hour drive ahead of me and I was beginning to feel the week of driving weighing heavily on me. So, I headed to Seagrove and back on to Hwy. 220 pointed toward South Carolina. But, before I left the area I stopped once more at the new southbound Visitor Center – I mean that’s what they’re for, right? – they want you to visit don’t they?
Four and a half hours later I was pulling into Bonneau just before dark – the rain had finally stopped as I left I-95 in Manning, SC.
If you’ve been keeping track, this 20 hour day was spent on four interstate highways (I-26, I-77, I-85, and I-95) and one future interstate highway – I-73, I-74. I think in my next life I’ll apply to be a truck driver. I hope they make more money.
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