Your Monthly News & Updates |
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“As a writer, I was guilty of focusing too much attention on the men responsible for the American Arts and Crafts movement,” says Bruce E. Johnson. However, in his latest book, Biltmore Industries & Tryon Toy-Makers, he spotlights two women who he thinks deserve greater recognition for their contributions to the art of woodworking.
Eleanor Vance (1869-1954) trained 10 years at the Cincinnati Art Academy but became
discouraged as the first female woodcarver in a male dominated profession. Charlotte Yale (1870- 1958) studied as a musician. They met at Moody Bible College and together moved to Asheville. From 1902 to 1943, they taught hundreds of young women and men to create wood bowls, trays, bookends, frames, furniture, and toys, first in Asheville’s Biltmore Industries and then in their Tryon cottage.
Their business, Tryon Toy-Makers, gained a national reputation for quality craftsmanship. In 1934, Eleanor Roosevelt arrived to buy toys for her grandchildren to place under the White House Christmas tree. Today, original toys are sought by museums and private collectors.
After ten years of research and writing, Bruce’s 200-page hardback volume brings together favorite stories as well as never-before-published information and photographs. More than insightful biographies of two enterprising women in challenging times, this is also the definitive illustrated guide for historians, curators, auctioneers, dealers, and collectors of Vance and Yale’s work.
The Vance and Yale tradition of hand crafted wood toys continues on Trade St. with Julia
Calhoun at her Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers.
You may want to ask Bruce about what happened to the hyphen in Tryon Toy-Makers.
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Please RSVP to attend the Volunteer Social by using the link here or by calling 828-859-9535.
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Bob is Back!
On August 2, we welcomed New Bob to the Lanier campus, thanks to the hard work of many.
We needed a crane to carefully move him from the truck to the ground that was prepared by our landscaping team for Bob’s legs to land in some newly mixed cement.
Karl Schwartz has crafted a beautiful giraffe in the style of Tryon Toymakers, and we are so grateful to him for his hard work creating Bob and his planning of Bob’s installation.
We are also grateful to Jesse with J&A Landscaping and his crew for their help in installing Bob.
We needed quite a crew to prepare his new home.
Be sure to come by and
admire new Bob—
and if you see Karl around town, thank him too!
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Membership Renewal Time
Is your membership about to expire? No need to come in to the library, just visit the library website by clicking on:
If you aren’t sure when your membership expires,
please contact the library at 828-859-9535.
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A Note from the Board President
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My mother was a great cook and way ahead of her time in so many ways. I grew up in Washington, DC and due to all the embassies- back then there were lots of international women with much to offer and some free time on their hands. Mom took French cooking lessons from one of these ladies - even before Julia published her first cookbook or had her TV show. So- I grew up eating high off the hog, so to speak.
Mom would sing while she cooked- all sorts of old songs- “Yes, We have No Bananas,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” “Mairzy Doats,” “Bye, Bye Blackbird,” “Anything Goes,” etc. So- now I am doing it, too. I mean the singing part- while I putter around in the kitchen- not the French cooking lessons. For easy and great French-inspired recipes, I swear by “French Food At Home” by Laura Calder (or really any of her cookbooks).
Sometimes Mom and I would go and have lunch out, and when I would get to the bottom of the glass and my straw would suck out the last of my soda and make that gurgling sound- she said I was singing the “drugstore blues.” Next time you get the straw making that sound- you, too, can be singing the drugstore blues.
Until next time, Vicky
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Book Lovers Meets September 2 @ 10 am
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Book Lovers - August 2023
The first Saturday of every month, avid readers meet at Lanier Library to discuss books they’ve enjoyed (or not)! It’s casual, enlightening, and there are no rules. Join the fun. Here are current favorites.
Fiction
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Who Cares for the Lost by C.S. Harris
The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley
Loot by Tania James
Code of the Hills by Chris Offutt
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki
Be Mine by Richard Ford
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Stories from Suffragette City by Fiona Davis and M.J. Rose
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Somebody's Fool by Richard Russo
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
All that is Mine I Carry with Me by William Landry
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Mystery
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camileri
The Fourth Enemy by Ann Perry
The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
Raven Black by Anne Cleeves
Silent Voices by Anne Cleeves
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
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The nonfiction book club will meet at 1:30 on September 10. They will discuss I Saw Death Coming by Kidada Williams.
The October meeting is on October 8 at 1:30. The October book is Cuba: An American History by Ada Ferrer.
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Below are the links to our July Acquisitions & Orders. Feel free to contact the library to put your name on the hold list for
any you would like to read.
And, as always, let us know if there is a book or DVD you think
would enhance the collection.
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The Art Thief
In his book The Art Thief, Michael Finkel uses his exceptional research and interviewing skills to bring together a thrilling story of "love, crime, and a dangerous obsession."
This true tale of an astonishing sequence of art thefts, lasting over a decade and taking place throughout Europe, is also one that explores subjects ranging from the psychology of acquisition to the security practices of museums and galleries, as well as the work of international detective agencies.
This book is as skillfully written as the finest novels, requiring great willpower to put it down. It was very late at night when I finally finished reading the author's fascinating closing text, "A Note on the Reporting". Get on the waiting list now at Lanier!
Reviewed by Frances Flynn
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Thank you to all who attended the Open House on Friday, August 11. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying the library. Special thanks to Green River Catering for the food and to board member Christine Vincent for coordinating such a fun event. |
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Waterscapes...
Steve Robbat’s program on Waterscapes began with a series of questions from him about gardens. He asked the attentive audience to share what makes their garden special. He went on to ask what people could add to their garden to make it magical. Steve’s company, Water Spirit, uses water features in landscaping to help create that magic and to connect the layers within
nature. He answered many questions from those who were looking to enhance their gardens with new features. Everyone left with a few new dreams for their outside living spaces.
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Lanier Library welcomes all library-friendly dogs & cats,
but asks that they remain
on leash or in their carriers at all times.
Meet Wally who
visited Lanier
with owner Meghan Young!
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Sandra's Shelf Display
The September book display will feature books by historian Bruce Johnson and others and will be: Celebrate Western North Carolina By Reading A Regional History.
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September Display Case
In September, author Bruce Johnson will fill the display case with artifacts and images about Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale, founders of the Tryon Toymakers.
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Thank You!
Thank you to Martha Strawn for her display on photographer Anne Noggle.
We hope you were
able to see the exhibits at TFAC and Tryon Arts and Crafts School!
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The Lanier Library Poetry Committee is pleased to introduce a poem of the month program. Each month we will be posting a different poem that we hope will inspire you. The poem will be in the monthly newsletter and posted at the library.
Please let us know what you think of each month's selection.
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September
by Helen Hunt Jackson
O golden month! How high thy gold is heaped!
The yellow birch-leaves shine like bright coins strung
On wands; the chestnut's yellow pennons tongue
To every wind its harvest challenge. Steeped
In yellow, still lie fields where wheat was reaped;
And yellow still the corn sheaves, stacked among
The yellow gourds, which from the earth have wrung
Her utmost gold. To highest boughs have leaped
The purple grape,—last thing to ripen, late
By very reason of its precious cost.
O Heart, remember, vintages are lost
If grapes do not for freezing night-dews wait.
Think, while thou sunnest thyself in Joy's estate,
Mayhap thou canst not ripen without frost!
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