News

LOCAL BRIEFS: Trinity celebrates 50th; DAV honors Mills River man

By Bill Moss, Published: August 15, 2015

Trinity celebrates 50th anniversary

Trinity Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 50th birthday with a Golden Jubilee Weekend on Aug. 22-23 featuring art, music and the return of a past minister.
Festivities will begin with an art exhibit at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in the fellowship hall and atrium of the church, at 900 Blythe Street. Artwork by nearly 40 members of the congregation will be on display in genres including photography, painting, drawing, stained glass, pottery, quilting, sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery and beading.
Following the art opening, the church will host a hymn festival in the sanctuary led by Mary Louise Bringle, a Trinity member and a hymn text writer whose works appear in the hymnals of numerous denominations in the U.S., Canada and Scotland; and Sally Ann Morris, a church musician and composer from Winston Salem. Both Bringle and Morris serve frequently as guest artists and clinicians in churches and conferences around the country, and have collaborated on numerous commissions for original hymns and anthems.
The hymn festival will include music in a wide variety of styles, from beloved older hymns to songs from the global church, spirituals, gospel, and praise music and feature the church’s own Stephen Klein on organ and piano and Robin Tolleson on percussion, along with guest musicians on saxophone and flute. Helena Margaret Wheless, granddaughter of congregation members Ray and Helen Dearborn, will offer liturgical dance. Participants in the hymn festival will have the opportunity to learn American Sign Language, signing for some of the works others sing.
On Sunday the church will welcome back to its pulpit the Rev. Dr. Thomas Blair, pastor of Trinity from 1999-2004. Now serving as pastor and head of staff at the Second Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, Blair is a graduate of Princeton Seminary and holds a doctor of ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Chartered in August 1965, the church first met in the Girl Scout hut in Edwards Park.
After that, the Presbytery purchased a house on Fifth Avenue West and members pitched in to make the building and grounds suitable for worship, Sunday school and church offices. The congregation soon outgrew the house and moved to its current location at 900 Blythe Street. Today’s congregation is nearly five times the size of the charter group.
A number of agencies in Henderson County trace their origins to leadership and participation from Trinity Presbyterian Church members, including the Blue Ridge Community Health Center, Feed the Kids Coalition, FISH of Henderson County, Mainstay, Thrive, the Trinity Preschool and most recently the Hendersonville Community Music Center.
The community is invited to participate in all of Trinity’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee Celebration.

Squadron commander and author to speak

Henderson County Public Library’s August Literary Lunch special highlights Ric Hunter’s historical fictional novel “Firehammer” at noon Thursday, Aug. 13, in the Kaplan Auditorium. Ric Hunter’s new novel “Firehammer” puts the reader in the cockpit of an F-4 aircraft during the evacuation of Saigon, in the last battle of the Vietnam War and the rescue of the SS Mayaguez and its crew.
A 27-year combat veteran of the Air Force and retired colonel, Hunter commanded an Eagle squadron and was a three-time Top Gun. After the terror attack on Sept. 11, 2001, he took over worldwide program management of the Air Force’s $50 million fighter aircraft flight simulator program, thus freeing young pilot staff officers to return to cockpit duties for the war on terror.
Bring lunch. The library provides water.

Concert Choir sets auditions

The Carolina Concert Choir will hold auditions for its 37th season throughout August.
The choir has slots for quality voices, especially tenors and basses, though all voice types are welcome.
“We look forward to welcoming new talent during our 2015-2016 season,” said Concert Choir President Judy Meinzer. “If you have an expressive voice and a passion for song, we invite you to schedule an audition soon.”
The audition process includes singing a prepared piece, pitch recall and sight reading. To schedule an audition, contact Professor Lawrence Doebler, artistic director/conductor, at 607-351-2585. For information about the Choir or to order tickets, visit carolinaconcertchoir.org.

DAV honors Mlls River man

Robert Scruggs of Mills River received the 2015 George H. Seal Memorial Trophy for extraordinary volunteerism during the 94th National Convention of the Disabled American Veterans Aug. 8-11 in Denver. Scruggs and Irene Sorah of Johnson City, Tenn., received the award.

“This year’s recipients demonstrate a patriotic sense of compassion and give tirelessly of themselves,” said Commander Ron F. Hope. “They represent the finest DAV has to offer in serving veterans.”

The prestigious award honors the best of thousands of remarkable volunteers who serve in the Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) Program. The awards are conferred in memory of George H. Seal, who was DAV’s Director of Membership and Voluntary Services and the leading organizer and administrator of DAV volunteer programs.