Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021 - 5

LETTERS
MEMORIES OF TOCCOA
Joan Vannorsdall's May/June " Our Blue Ridge
Towns " column meant so much to me. My
father, Paul Phillips (deceased) enlisted in the
paratrooper training school in Toccoa at the
start of World War II. He was only 18, and had
never been in a plane, much less jumped out
of one.
Jump ahead to his first jump over France,
where he landed in a tree and broke his leg,
only to be hidden in a barn while he healed
and then attempted to walk toward reuniting
with his unit. When he reached it, he was
admitted to the hospital. While there, he
received word that his father, only 42, had
died of a heart attack; my father was given
an Honorable Discharge to return home to
Greenville, South Carolina to help his mother
raise his five siblings.
In 1998, my husband and I took my dad
and mom to the mountains on vacation.
We did not tell Dad we were taking him to
Toccoa, and when he realized we were, he got
teary-eyed. We ate lunch at the Toccoa diner
and got directions to the site of the training
camp. Other customers came over and
thanked my dad for his service, and bought
his lunch.
The visit to the old training camp brought
back a lot of memories for my dad as he
pointed out the barracks, the mess tent and
other things, as if he were reliving things.
My dad passed away several years after
that and I am so thankful we made the trip.
Thanks again to Joan Vannorsdall for sharing
the history of the paratrooper training camp at
Currahee Mountain.
-Kay Phillips Posey, Tallahassee, Florida
MOLLY, ERMA AND
NUGGETS OF LIFE
I just finished reading your September/October
issue, and wanted to tell you how much I
enjoyed Molly Dugger Brennan's column
" There's Gold in Them There Hills. "
Not only did she craft a lovely word picture
of fall days in the Shenandoah Valley, but she
added a wonderful, whimsical twist of humor
that had me laughing out loud when she began
describing celebration of birthdays. I could
relate because I'm probably about the same
age as she is!
I just had to write to tell you that her article
made my day, and gave me an encouraging
way to look at each coming birthday! I love
Molly's style of writing: self-transparent,
humorous, with nuggets of wisdom, a la Erma
Bombeck.
Molly makes everyday events that we all
share a memorable, enjoyable, uplifting and
humorous experience!
I hope you'll continue to feature her writing
in your future magazines. Thank you, Molly,
and thank you, Blue Ridge Country magazine!
-Betsy Blackburn, Lewisville, North Carolina
CONTRIBUTORS
Angela Minor
(Indoors, UpCountry Quick Guide) is a
contributing editor and writer of travel and
nature articles for regional and national
publications including Alabama Living, Kentucky
Monthly, Nevada Magazine, Oklahoma Today,
OKRA, American Wild Magazine and others.
She's the " Park Watch " Beat Writer for 10,000
Birds; and she created and authors the Bird
Watcher's Digest state park birding series.
Ginny Neil
(de Graauw profile, Singing in the Garden) is a
contributing editor. She lives with her husband
on a farm in the Appalachian Mountains. Her
work has appeared in Grit, Country Magazine
and elsewhere. When she's not writing or
drawing for magazines, she writes dramas for
the Christian drama service, Skit Guys, and
sends picture book manuscripts off in the hopes
of being a published children's author someday.
Follow her at thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com.
Cathryn McCue
(Nature and land use notes in Country
Roads) has been learning and writing about
environmental issues in the South for more
than two decades, first as a reporter with the
Roanoke Times, then as the communications
lead with the Southern Environmental Law
Center and Appalachian Voices. She is
currently with the Office for Sustainability at
the University of Virginia.
Leonard Adkins
(The Good Walk) has completed five
Appalachian Trail traverses. His 20 books
include " Hiking and Traveling the Blue Ridge
Parkway; " and " All About the Appalachian
Trail " (grades 4-8) was the Silver Award
Winner in the 2021 Independent Book
Publisher Association's Ben Franklin Award.
Paraphrasing an American humorist, Adkins
lives by the motto, " I never met a trail I didn't
like. "
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 5
http://thesingingfarmwife.blogspot.com
Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country November/December 2021
