Girls With Grandmother Faces
Spring Fling ~ 2002
(latest
saga in the "Where in the World are the GWGF" series)
May 20-24
Eight Gables Inn,
Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Nestled
in the heart of the great Smoky Mountains
(Playing ~ "Hello Again, Hello")
Hello, My Friend, Hello
After months of anticipation and planning,
the big day finally arrived for the GWGF to gather for our annual
Spring Fling ......
this year at Eight Gables Inn in Gatlinburg. Those coming this
year (in no particular order) were Mary Frances, Kitty, Mattie,
Helen, Jama, Carolyn, Barbara G., Nellie Faye, Marian, Wanda,
Imogene, Nancy, Henrietta, Barbara J. and Earlene.
LaVerne had planned to come but became ill the day before
departure and had to cancel. There were so many who wanted
to be a part, but had conflicts this year, that I would not
attempt to name everyone. However, I know I would be forgiven
if I mentioned one particular beloved friend who was missed so
terribly much ..... Yolanda.
Yo was most certainly with us in spirit, but was too ill to
attempt this year's Fling.
Those on the planning committee for our 2002
fling were Kitty, Mattie, Helen, Imogene, Jama and Anna Joyce.
They all live close enough to each other and to Gatlinburg to be
able to get together often and to make plans onsite.
They made this a year to remember, and we are all most grateful.
This was only our second time, since the
first one in 1995, that we had our Spring Fling in some place
other than in the home
of one of the GWGF. (The first time was in 2000 at Seven Devils
in the mountains of North Carolina.) We're getting a
mite big for that ..... and then we must "shoo" the
husband of the household off somewhere else for the week.
(They've all been tolerant and supportive.)
The weather, usually a concern, was
wonderful all week. 'Though it started out very cool, it was
always sunny and
gradually warmed up until by Wednesday it was most pleasant.
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And here's the entire GWGF Spring Fling
bunch for this year.
Well, now, where are those pesky Caylor girls .... Earlene and
Barbara?
Oh, there they are peeking over the stair rail.... and will you
just look at those long skinny
white bodies?
front row ~ Mattie, Mary Frances, Kitty
second row ~ Carolyn, Jama, Helen with Barbara just behind
third row ~ Nellie Faye, Marian, Wanda
forth row ~ Imogene, Nancy, Henrietta
After hugs and chatter, finding our
roommates, unpacking and getting acquainted with our wonderful
bed and breakfast,
we walked down the hill .... and down another hill .... and
waited .... and waited some more .... in the cold, breezy air
for the trolly which was to be available to take us anywhere we
wanted to go and to bring us back. Little did we suspect
how time-consuming and inconvenient that would prove to be. After
that night, we took our cars wherever we went.
Dinner our first night was in Gatlinburg at the Cherokee Grill
where we celebrated Barbara J.'s birthday.
Back at Eight Gables, we found delicious
desserts set out for all guests, as was the case each night.
There was a beautiful parlor setting for us to gather and where
we had our devotionals each night. Marian led the
first night followed on the succeeding evenings by Mary Frances (well,
some of hers was serious), Barbara J. and Wanda.
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Marian and her beautiful dulcimer
music led us in our devotional time Monday night. We do so enjoy
singing special songs together.
(This was in one of the parlors at Eight Gables where we gathered
all week.)
I had decided to frame each person's picture
in a little mat as a memento for this year's fling.
GWGF in each room had their pictures on their door, and this
turned out to be a good thing.
Our rooms were all on the second floor .... a half-circle. I
couldn't find my own room without
looking at the pictures!
Breakfast each morning was a real treat and
beautifully served. The menu was different each day, and if
anyone
wanted something other than what was planned the chef happily
obliged!
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I can't decide ... is Earlene
clapping for joy at the prospect of breakfast or is she perhaps
getting ready to pray! .........
with Wanda, Mattie and Nancy
Tuesday was a busy day after breakfast as we
needed to get ready immediately to depart for the Wild Plum Tea
Room
where we had 11:00 reservations for lunch. Well, most of us got
lost on the way and were a little late .... it is out in
the
"boonie docks" .... but we had a delightful time. From
the Carson-Newman staff, our friends Suzanne, Jackie and Vickie
came up to join us for lunch. We celebrated still another
birthday as we all sang to Vickie. Quite oblivious to the many
people dining downstairs, we broke forth in song more than once,
singing "Amazing Grace" and C-N's alma mater.
The singing of "Amazing Grace" came about because our
friends from the C-N staff wanted to hear the story
of our singing at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge in 1995 .... for the
story CLICK HERE.
We knew we had "mystery guests"
coming to join us on Tuesday evening for our candlelight dinner,
and I, for one,
spent a lot of time guessing. I did know who I most would like to
be there ...... and I got my wish! Tuesday evening was
one of the "biggies" for me and, indeed, for all of us.
Fessor and Ann came up to join us for the evening.
Ramsey and Pat also came. It was so much fun to be with all of
them, and the dinner was as delicious as promised.
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Candlelight Dinner on Tuesday
evening at Eight Gables
... and what gal wouldn't enjoy dinner even more with that good-looking
guy serving!
Jama, Barbara J. and Helen
After dinner, we gathered in the comfortable
parlor where Eight Gables has a wonderful grand piano. Mary
Frances
presented a hilarious operatic rendition of "Old Mother
Hubbard," playing it to the hilt. Ann, with equally somber
expressions, accompanied Mary Frances on the piano, joining in
vocally at times. Fessor, who had been sitting close
to Ann, all of a sudden also joined in with his booming voice and
shocked us into even more laughter!
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Our beloved "Fessor"
Charles Jones and Ann came to be with us on Tuesday evening for
the Candlelight Dinner,
an evening of fellowship and the hilarious "show" by
Mary Frances. Both joined in with her.
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At the end
of the evening on Tuesday, Fessor led us in the "Benediction,"
"The Lord Bless You and Keep You" ...... our special
song!
How blessed we are to be able still to have "our"
Fessor join in with us after 50 years.
Before the evening was over on Tuesday,
Fessor led all of us in singing "The Lord Bless You and Keep
You."
We were all deeply moved. Need I say more !!!
At breakfast on Wednesday morn, we
celebrated Jama's birthday. It was special in other ways, too
....
Jama was able to spend more time with us and was able to stay
over for one night.
Nellie Faye led us that morning in an all-too-brief
session on the art of making illuminated letters, a beautiful way
of drawing letters which she studied in Calligraphy classes.
By noon we gathered up the box lunches that
had been prepared for each of us by Eight Gables and headed out
to Cades Cove. It was warm and beautiful and the afternoon was
most enjoyable .... however long the journey there
and back was. We found a nice place at the picnic grounds, where
we also discovered a relaxing mountain stream,
before taking the driving tour through the scenic cove.
Thursday morning we had a scavenger hunt.
Our SF planners had gone to great lengths to hide many little
objects
around the back and to one side at Eight Gables. It was a lot of
fun as we competed
to see who could find the most. A list of clues was then read
off, and we had to decide if we had
found that object. Everything was eventually found except a pair
of sunglasses tucked into
an evergreen tree in plain view.
The SF planners also had the idea this year
of a white elephant sale/silent auction. This, too, was great fun
and
we kept outbidding each other for, in most cases, something
someone else didn't want or, at least, could do without.
That wasn't always the case however; some things turned out to be
treasures!
Late Thursday afternoon, some left for a
little shopping in Pigeon Forge and others lounged around till
dinner time.
Later we all met at the Chop House at Five Oaks for an early
dinner as we were due to be at the Louise Mandrell Show
by 7:00. Her show was truly spectacular, and we were introduced
as a group and asked to stand.
On our final night back in the parlor we had
another special time of singing. We sang a song that seems to
have more
meaning as the years roll by: "Precious Memories." We
certainly do have them ..... and we're still making them!
After breakfast on Friday morning, it was
time to pack, check out and say our "farewells" for
awhile. We could hardly
believe how fast our time together had gone!
Eight Gables Inn, and our stay there, would
not have been the same were it not for Kim and Don Cason, owners.
They made us feel so comfortable and "at home," as did
their staff. A few years ago, they felt a "calling" to
change
their careers, buy the inn and move to Gatlinburg in order to
spend more time together and with their two children,
who are now teenagers. The inn truly has the right atmosphere for
the GWGF and people like us!
All week, because of the grandeur of the
scenery, a poem I learned many decades ago kept running through
my mind.
The poem is "God's World" by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Because I feel it is appropriate, I'm quoting a few random
lines from her poem here:
"O world, I cannot hold thee close
enough! .....
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag and all but cry
with colour! .....
Lord, I do fear Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year;
....."
I've omitted many comments and details about
this year's SF because it will be told in the pictures,
with the appropriate captions, on the following pages. Click
below for "the rest of the story."
"The Lord Bless You and Keep You" ...................."God Be With You Until We Meet Again"
I'd love it if you would sign my guest book ... click on my picture.
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Harding
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