Original "Scout" - Article from the Davie County Blog

Original “Scout” to Appear at the Brock Center on Friday, March 23, 2012

The Davie County Arts Council’s Brock Players will have three more performances of their production of To Kill a Mockingbird on March 23rd, 24th and 25^th.  They will host a very special guest appearance at the Friday, March 23^rd performance.  Mary Badham, who played “Scout” in the film version with Gregory Peck, will be at that performance.

Scout and Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird

Patrons will see the Brock Players’ rendition of the play and then be privileged to hear Ms. Badham speak about the book and the play after that performance.  She will allow time to answer questions from the audience and then will be in the Brock’s Lobby to sign autographs.

50th Anniversary
This year marks the 50^th Anniversary of the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Mary Badham was chosen for the roll of “Scout” at the age of ten, with no prior acting experience.  She won an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.  At that time she was the youngest person ever to do so.  After To Kill a Mockingbird she appeared in two other films, This Property is Condemned with Robert Redford and Natalie Wood, and Let’s Kill Uncle.  She had television appearances on Dr. Kildare and Twilight Zonebefore retiring from acting to pursue her education as a teenager.

Over the years she maintained close contact with Gregory Peck, “Atticus”, and occasionally accompanied him on one-man-show lecture tours and award ceremonies.

Mary maintains a busy schedule lecturing to audiences internationally about the book and the film.  Her interest is in expanding knowledge about the film’s message of social injustice and to insure each generation of students can experience the film’s impact.

In April 1997 Mary had a vision to reunite the cast and creative team for a national satellite broadcast to United States schools.

Recently Mary was brought out of retirement to appear in the film Our Very Own with Allison Janney, Keith Carradine, and Jason Ritter.  This is out on DVD through Miramax/Disney.

Tickets Available
Tickets are available for all three performances.  Call or stop by the Box Office Monday through Friday from Noon until 5:00 p.m. (751-3000) to reserve a seat (Adult:  $15 /Student and Senior: $13.)  Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday’s performance starts at 3:00 p.m.  The only performance at which Ms. Badham will make an appearance is on Friday, March 23rd at 7:00 p.m.

Our thanks to Judge Jimmy Myers, Davie County Tourism, and Mr. Zach Wright for sponsoring Ms. Badham’s appearance.


This article was published in the Davie County Blog on March 23, 2012.

"Spring has Sprung"

"Don't Judge each day by the harvest you reap. 

But by the seeds that you plant."

Robert Louis Stevenson

Spring has sprung in the mountains in early March. These are my Mother's daffodils that she planted many years ago.

Article from the Davie County Blog - "To Kill a Mockingbird" Opening

Opening This Weekend ~ The Davie County Arts Council Presents “To Kill a Mockingbird”

“To Kill a Mockingbird” opens Friday evening, March 16th and runs for two weeks at the Brock Performing Center in historic downtown Mocksville.  The play has been adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name written by Harper Lee and published in 1960.

The play runs over the next 2 weekends with performances scheduled each Friday, Saturday at 7 PM and each Sunday at 3 PM.

Directed by Mollye Ann Maxner from the North Carolina School of the Arts, the cast includes some new faces and some old friends from the Brock Players.

A southern gothic novel set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is recognized as a classic in modern American literature.  While dealing with the serious issues of racism, rape, and lost innocence, the novel is play is renowned for its warmth and humor.

One critic explains the novel’s impact by writing, “In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism.”

Under the direction of Ms. Maxner, the Brock Players production brings the characters to life, striking a balance between the unjust consequences of racism and hate and the values of courage and integrity.

Brock Players Cast - To Kill a Mockingbird

Tickets are available at the Brock Performing Arts Center box office and tickets will be available at the ticket office before each performance.

Performance ScheduleFriday, March 16, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
Saturday, March 17, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
Sunday, March 18, 2012 @ 3:00 pm

Friday, March 23, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
Saturday, March 24, 2012 @ 7:00 pm
Sunday, March 25, 2012 @ 3:00 pm

This article was published in the Davie County Blog on March 16, 2012.

Girl Scouts 1912-2012

Happy Birthday Girl Scouts celebrating 100 years of Scouting that builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who can make the world a better place. Founder Juliette Gordon Low organized the first Girl Scout Troop in the USA on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Remembering my scout leader, Margaret Tate, and all the life skills and experiences in scouting that provided a way to act toward one another and the world. Once a girl scout always a girl scout - so “Do a good turn daily” and “Be prepared”.


As a young girl, earning a Girl Scout merit badge was motivational and fun. When a Girl Scout becomes a woman, those badges represent memories and still useful skills.  The photo above shows a few of my merit badges that I earned.

My friend, Barbara Helen, and I having fun taking pictures in a photo booth
on a Girl Scout trip to Asheville, North Carolina.

GRIEF IS LIKE A RIVER
By Cinthia G. Kelley

My grief is like a river,
I have to let it flow,
but I myself determine
just where the banks will go.

Some days the current takes me
in waves of guilt and pain,
but there are always quiet pools
where I can rest again.

I crash on rocks of anger;
my faith seems faint indeed,
but there are other swimmers
who know that what I need

Are loving hands to hold me
when the waters are too swift,
and someone kind to listen
when I just seem to drift.

Grief’s river is a process
of relinquishing the past.
By swimming in hope’s channels,
I’ll reach the shore at last.

Found this poem that reflected the process in my journey of dealing with with grief and loss this past year.   The message in this poem is filled with such hope and the determination of letting go and healing.