This week Cathy McClanahan took me for a day hike on the Appalachian Trail in Tazwell County above Burke's Garden. We found vivid tree fungi of the brightest orange.
Some history of the church in this area
The Church News reported 175 members of the church living in Burke's Garden in 1843, with Jedediah M. Grant appointed to preside over the Virginia Conference--as mission districts were then known. Missionaries serving in Virginia during this time usually traveled without "purse or scrip," meaning that they had to rely on the hospitality of the local people for food and lodging. Missionaries found it easier to live this principle in the rural areas rather than in the cities because of the hospitality of the country people, resulting in a predominantly rural membership.
In 1857 missionary David O. Rideout reported that "'Mormonism' is spreading in this county [Tazewell County] fast amidst great persecution." He reported being tarred and feathered while attempting to spread the gospel. Missionary work stopped at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 and did not resume until the Reconstruction era.
J. Golden Kimball was called as president of the Southern States Mission from 1891 to 1894 and labored in several rural Virginia counties. http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/print/58732/United-States-Information-Virginia.ht...
Cathy is making great effort to take me on this hike in all four seasons so I can see the change and beauties of nature. In winter the trees were bare, the ground covered with ice and snow.
[See blog post: December 22, 2011]
Luna moth with a five inch wing span that I brought home from girl's camp.
Another beautiful speciman of the south.
Cathy McClanahan
Stalwart Relief Soceity President of Richlands Branch.
Born in Buchanan County...daughter of a coal miner.
Professional educator and life long learner...who loves her dogs, history, and hiking.
Indeed, one of the brightest and yet most humble people I have ever met.
What a priviledge it is to have become her friend.
Sage Hill Road, Virginia
