What a surprise to find several Monarch caterpillars dining on my Butterfly Weed plant today while working in my flower beds.

Rooten Tooten Red Day Lillies

My "ROOTEN TOOTEN RED" day lilies put on a show this year!

Apple Picking Time

What a beautiful day in Banner Elk for harvesting the Wolf River apples.  These apples are mainly used in cooking. The apples from this tree planted by Dad many years ago will make delicious applesauce, cakes, and pies.

From the Mountaintop: The Edgar Tufts Story Cast

Lees McRae Summer Theatre
Edgar Tufts Cast list (Order of Appearance)

Anna Tufts - Burlene Franklin

Young Edgar - John Christopher

Carrie Voncannon - Geana Anderson Welter

Edgar Tufts - Matt Flocco

Addie - Amanda Tate Vergara

Secretary/Washington and  Lee - Nancy Dosher

Classmate One - Justin  Bulla

Classmate Two - Robert Guenther

Washington and Lee Professor - Dick Larsen

Secretary Hamden/Sydney - Stacey Trivett

Bessie Hall Tufts - AnnElese Galleo

Mrs. Hicks - Burlene Franklin

Conductor - Steve Hill

Mr. Hicks - Bob Haas

Miss Moody -  Presnell Smith

Miss Hodges - Angela Hodges

Mr. Presnell - Robert Guenther

Shepherd Dugger - James Taylor

Ike Banner - John Thomas Oaks

Anna Guignard -  Carringer Russell

Miss Norwood - tacey Trivett

Pansy -  Garrett

Nettie - Marley Vergara

Mr. Rominger - Steve Hill

Preston - Will  Garrett

Gertie - Kaelin Braverman

Rose - Eriana Fidler

George - Jacob Vergara

Young Edgar Hall - Keller Best

Mrs. Lowe - Nina Albert

Williams Cummings Tate - Joshua Yoder

Maude Tate - Payton Moledor

Charles Voncannon - Ben Vergara

Man Who’s been shot 1 - Robert Guenther

Drunk Man - Justin Bulla

Mr. Switzer - Dick  Larsen

Miss Shook - Barbara Hosbein

Mountain Jack - Robert Guenther

Mountain Jills: Jessica Presnell Smith, Payton Franklin, Amanda Tate Vergara, Stacey    Trivett

Young Emma - Kaelin  Braverman

Young Pansy -  Izabelle Garrett

Adult Pansy - Jessica Presnell Smith

Adult Emma - Nancy Dosher

Young Margaret Tufts - Eriana Fidler

Dr. Archer - Dick Larsen

Rich Guy - Steve Hill

Man Who’s Been shot 2 - John Thomas  Oaks

Mary Breckenridge Tufts - Payton Franklin

Edgar Hall Tufts - Justin Bulla

Mary Martin Sloop - Alice Johnson

Older MargaretTufts - Jessica Presnell Smith

Townspersons: - Dan Akerblom, Beth Allison,  Martha Burnes

‘Man of La Mancha’ provokes and delights in Little Theatre production

By Lynn Felder Winston-Salem Journal May 4, 2019

“Man of La Mancha” debuted on Broadway more than 50 years ago, during a time of political unrest and cultural upheaval in the U.S. That year, the Voting Rights Act passed, the Vietnam War was accelerating, Medicare and Medicaid were established, and Bob Dylan went electric.

The same musical opened to a packed and appreciative house Friday night against the backdrop of voting rights battles, another war somewhere, health care squabbles and Dylan still touring.

How can this musical feel so fresh when our ideals have undergone so many stalemates? It’s a sneaky show, really. It leaves us racked with sadness, reeling from ambiguity — and humming “The Impossible Dream.” Oh, and it’s pretty funny, too.

I think that’s the answer. The music is gorgeous, timeless — placeless too. Composer Mitch Leigh borrows from flamenco and classical guitar to transport us to Spain or Morocco or … La Mancha. Then he brings in the trumpet and the haunting clarinet, the ethereal piccolo, the vast and sweeping implications of the French horn.

Dale Wasserman based “Man of La Mancha” on his own non-musical teleplay, “I, Don Quixote” (1959), distilled from the 17th-century Cervantes novel, and Joe Darion wrote the lyrics.

The orchestra, led by David Lane is fine, but a sound technician is needed to turn up the vocal mics. Too often the very good band overwhelmed the singers.

The lead actors are spectacular, seemingly born to play these parts.

Chuck King, as Cervantes/Don Quixote, brings one of the finest voices in community theater to the role. When he swings into the first big number, “Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote),” with Ken Ashford as his squire/sidekick Sancho, you know that you’re in for a rollicking ride. The song is just rousing, and you’re ready to join Don Quixote on his quest, regardless of how wrong-headed and deluded it may be.

Ashford is splendid as Sancho, playing the comic servant with a raspy whine, twisted lip and twinkling eyes. He gets to shine on “I Really Like Him” and “A Little Gossip.”

Christine Gorelick is terrific as Aldonza/Dulcinea. It’s a tough role physically as she is handled by the Muleteers, a band of rough men; and emotionally, as she is whipsawed from hardened scullery maid to the object of Quixote’s adoration back to disillusioned viragos and ultimately idealist. Her introductory song, “It’s All the Same,” with the Muleteers is a bawdy delight.

Act I ends with King’s full-throated rendition of “The Impossible Dream,” and it’s impossible to resist his lure of delusion.

The ensemble players are all good, lively actors and singers, and the chorus numbers are gorgeous to hear.

Mark Pirolo directs and draws fine performances from everyone.

There are disturbing scenes: Dulcinea’s abduction and Quixote’s “cure,” with spectacular costuming, credited to Tara Raczenski.

The show is full of inspiration and terrible ambiguity, with a particularly seductive argument for idealism over pragmatism.

But when the full cast blend voice and band on the final “Impossible Dream,” it’s easy to see why “Man of La Mancha” — a show about a crazy old man with delusions of glory and nobility — won five Tonys in 1965 and why it still moves audiences today.