Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: FRIDAY, July 9, 1993 TAG: 9307080145 SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY SOURCE: Donna Alvis-Banks DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
5 pounds of grease
12 quarts of soft water
1 box of alkali saponifier
Put the grease and water into a kettle and when melted, knock off the top of the box of saponifier and throw in box and all. Boil over a slow fire three or four hours until it becomes ropey, then throw in 10 cents' worth of Borax. Let it boil for half an hour, then throw in a handful of salt. Stir well. Put it into a tub to harden. Cut in pieces. Lay separately to dry. . . .
Your great-grandmother called it lye soap.
Lye, leached from wood ashes, is very caustic. Grandma threw the whole box of lye into the kettle when she made soap so she wouldn't have to touch the alkaline substance.
The lye-soap recipe (or "receipt," as it was called) is one of several on display at the Old Church Gallery, 110 Wilson St., Floyd. "In the Kitchen: Utensils and Receipts from the Last Century" is the current exhibit. You can see it Fridays, 1:30-4:30 p.m., or Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., through July 31.
The Old Church Gallery is a nonprofit cultural-arts organization that offers art shows, a quilting guild, book discussions and theater as well as historical exhibits.
Support for these activities comes from donations and fund-raisers like the one you won't want to miss Saturday night. It's a square dance with the Dry Hill Draggers of Franklin County.
One of the most popular old-time string bands in the region, the Dry Hill Draggers consists of Jimmy Boyd on banjo; Monroe Boyd, guitar; Benton Flippen, fiddle; and Clayton Hale, bass. Jimmy Boyd is lead guitarist and singer.
Since the musicians got together nearly 10 years ago, they have placed in several major music competitions, most recently first prize at the Mount Airy Fiddler's Convention in June.
The Draggers will play 8 p.m.-midnight Saturday at Floyd County High, so you can plan on four solid hours of flatfootin' fun. All proceeds from the $4 admission go to the Old Church Gallery. For more information about the dance, call 745-2885. For the gallery, call 745-2979.
\ MORE PICKING, MORE GRINNING: If you love old-time and bluegrass, you're in for a good time at the next jamboree of the New River Community College Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Club. It's Saturday, 7-10 p.m., at Dublin's New River Valley Fairgrounds.
Three lively bands will be there: Plum Sideways, Tom Barr and Band and Omega V.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome to help pay musicians' travel expenses. To find out more, call 674-3611 or 639-9507.
\ PLAY DAYS: Virginia Tech's Theater Arts-University Theater has two plays in production for the Summer Arts Festival '93.
"The Real Inspector Hound," a satire by Tom Stoppard ("Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead"), continues with its second run through Saturday. Curtain is at 8 tonight and Saturday in Squires Studio Theater.
Tennessee Williams' 1958 drama, "Suddenly Last Summer," opens for a second run Tuesday through July 17. The one-act play about a psychotic woman who torments those around her was made famous in the film by the same name starring Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
Curtain time is 8 each evening in Squires Studio Theater.
Admission to all Summer Arts Festival productions is free and first-come, first-served. Questions? Call 231-5200 or 231-5921.
\ ACHTUNG, ARTEESTS! A gathering of artists, live cello music and herbal refreshments are what you'll find at The Plant Plant in Christiansburg Saturday.
The local artists will be putting their interpretations of the floral landscape on canvas. The Plant Plant has beautiful gardens of flowers, shrubs, trees, herbs and water. Cellists Patrick Simpson and Jana Ruble of Blacksburg will provide musical inspiration.
Admission is free, and herbal food and beverages will be sold. The Plant Plant is at 1367 Barringer Mountain Road off U.S. 11 between Christiansburg and Blacksburg. Call 382-2653.
\ SOMETHING FISHY: The Mount Tabor Ruritans have a fish fry Saturday, 5-7 p.m., at the Mount Tabor Nursery School picnic shelter on Mount Tabor Road in Blacksburg. There'll be all-you-can-eat fish, fries, slaw, cake and drinks for $5 for adults or $3 for kids under 12. Proceeds support such Ruritan projects as college scholarships, 4-H, roadside cleanups and food-pantry donations. Call 961-3315.
\ MR. AND MRS. MCKENZIE: They don't mind if you call them Woody and Marcia.
The McKenzies have been making music together since they were married in 1983. These days, their two children, Keenan and Kara, are joining in.
The McKenzies will give a free concert for kids Saturday morning at 10 at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond; all kids are invited.
Parking is available across the street from West Campus Drive. If you have trouble finding the concert site, just look for the red balloons. In case of rain, the music moves indoors to Squires Student Center's Colonial Hall.
\ MEET KAZHIA KOLB: The artist has studied at Paris' Sorbonne, but her heart's in Floyd County now.
A display of Floyd landscapes by Kolb is the current exhibit - through July 25 - at the Lewis Miller Regional Art Center at Montgomery Museum in Christiansburg. Kolb's work explores the effect of light on color and form. Her paintings, in oil and watercolor, are colorful images of local scenes.
The museum will have a reception Sunday for the artist, starting at 2 p.m.
Admission to the museum at 300 S. Pepper St. is free. It's open Tuesday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., and Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Call 382-5644.
\ BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE: Even their names are beautiful: mourning cloak, tiger swallowtail, pearly eye, spring azure.
Poets have called butterflies "winged flowers" and "flying gems." Scientists say there are about 90,000 different kinds of butterflies and moths. They make up the second largest order of the animal kingdom, next to beetles.
Virginia Tech's Horticulture Gardens has a demonstration butterfly garden open to the public through September. The garden, at Washington Street and West Campus Drive in Blacksburg, is open sunrise to sunset. The tour is self-guided and markers note native species.
It's a project of the Horticulture Gardens, Tech's entomology department, the New River Valley Bird Club and the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Call 231-3001.