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Today’s Email Announcements

Florence Art School & McFarland Host Book Launch for Local Author Doug Munroe on Saturday, 11/18

November 3, 2017

(West Jefferson, NC) Local nurseryman and author Doug Munroe has written his first book, The Trees of Ashe Count, North Carolina.  Munroe is known for his maple syrup business, Waterfall Farm, which has been featured in WNC MagazineCarolina Country, and the New York Times.

Munroe, who grew up near Charlotte, craved life in the mountains and purchased a 35 acre farm near Clifton in 1976.  He was 25 years old.

In ensuing years, his ornamental tree nursery business boomed and he raised a family.  A few years ago he took up sugaring as a hobby, tapping trees in his back yard and boiling down the sap.  The hobby evolved into a business, and Waterfall Farm, with about 450 taps and several hundred trees, is one of only a very few commercial syrup operations in the Southeast.

His book, brought out by McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, of Jefferson, describes in detail the common, uncommon, and extinct species of trees that thrive (or thrived) in Ashe County.  Munroe also discusses maple syrup production, the tree nursery business, and the lore and value of heritage apple trees.  Richly illustrated, it includes 165 color photographs (the trees and their leaves), on heavy, glossy paper stock.

The book launch is open to everyone, begins at 12:30, and will run until approximately 2:30 at the Florence Thomas Art School in downtown West Jefferson.  The author will be autographing books, and McFarland will have copies on sale at the special launch price of $24 (tax included).  Refreshments will be provided.

The Florence Thomas Art School may be contacted at 336-846-3827.  McFarland can be reached at 336-246-4460 or online at www.mcfarlandpub.com.

FOR INFO ABOUT THE BOOK, THE AUTHOR, OR PUBLISHER:

Beth H. Cox: bcox@mcfarlandpub.com/  336-246-4460

FOR INFO ABOUT THE EVENT OR FLORENCE THOMAS ART SCHOOL:

336-846-3827info@florencethomasartschool.org

 

Blowing Rock: A Sense of Place, 11/9

Thursday, November 9, 2017
11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Free for members, suggested donation of $5 for non-members.

Is Blowing Rock unique? Is it historic? Does the area convey a sense of place? Historian Trent Margrif will explore these and other topics in his presentation. With the themes of BRAHM’s exhibition The Village of Blowing Rock: Exploring Our History as a guide, Margrif will share rare photos and unique oral histories, and provide general observations of the community. Having scanned 10,000 images from the collections of the Blowing Rock Historical Society and as the author of Blowing Rock Revisited, Trent will offer an in-depth focus on community life in a mountain resort town. His past employment with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other non-profit historic preservation organizations also provides a perspective that places Blowing Rock in a larger context of heritage conservation locally, nationally, and even internationally. His talk will provide possible answers to the past, present, and potential futures of Blowing Rock.

About the Speaker
A native of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Trent Margrif received his undergraduate degree in history from Michigan State University and his master’s degree in historic preservation from Eastern Michigan University. He is the former director of nonprofit historic preservation organizations in Delaware, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin and has completed historic surveys for the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and various state governments. Margrif has taught courses at Appalachian State University since 2010 on historic green buildings, public history, and science fiction. He received the Rennie W. Brantz Award for Outstanding Teaching in the First Year Seminar in 2014. He lives in Vilas, NC, with his wife, Dr. Andrea Burns, and two young daughters.