In The Grove
News of Seagrove and Surrounding Communities
February 2011
Events Calendar
February
1 someone, the Seagrove Potters of Historic
Seagrove Town Council
Meeting - 7:30 p.m. Meeting
will take place in Seagrove
Public Library
11 & 12
Valentine’s Day on Busbee
Road presented by the
Seagrove Potters of Historic
Busbee Road
19 & 20
Winterfest - Several Seagrove
area pottery shops and the
Museum of N.C. Traditional
Pottery will participate
25 through April 30
“Tea Time: Series I” at the
North Carolina Pottery Center.
Artist reception February 25
from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
March
8 serve refreshments and feature
Seagrove Town Council
Meeting - 7:30 p.m.
25 & 26
Catawba Valley Pottery &
Antiques Festival in Hickory -
Several Seagrove area potters
will participate
To list your events in future
issues of “In the Grove,”
contact Rhonda McCanless at
(336) 879-6950 or
professional_page@rtmc.net
Happy
Valentine’s
Day!
Visit In the Grove’s Facebook page for updates and additional photos - www.facebook.com/IntheGrove
Volume 2, Issue 1
Valentine’s Day on Busbee Road
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If made by Sandra O’Quinn and will feature heart-
you’re looking for a gift for your special shaped bowls, along with a new kiln load of
pottery.
Busbee Road will have a Valentine’s event on Cady Clay Works will feature heart-
February 11 & 12. themed clay wall pieces.
Ten shops, which include three museums, a Original Owens Pottery will have pieces
jeweler, a blacksmith and a wide variety of other made in their signature Owens Red Glaze, along
handmade crafts, will be with a fresh supply of dinnerware.
participating in the event on Moore Pots Pottery will feature animals,
Busbee Road in the Westmoore including elephants, chickens, goats and lions.
community. Vases, jars and face jugs from the
Ben Owen Pottery will latest firing will also
feature Chinese Red pieces. be available.
Chris Luther Pottery will Jugtown Pottery
feature large vases, will serve
bottles, teapots and smaller complimentary dark
functional wares in a chocolate, and will have
variety of layered colors. Copper Red, Peach Bloom
Chris will be and Lavender glazed pieces from a new kiln
demonstrating on load, featuring vases, tumblers, yunomis and
February 12. teapots.
Westmoore Pottery will serve JLK Jewelry at
refreshments and be decorated Jugtown will feature new
for the holiday. Pottery with a romantic jewelry with red
heart theme will be featured. stones and other new
Hickory Hill Pottery will creations in a variety of
colors.
their Mauve, and Mauve and White For more information
glazes, and handmade large and small about the event and the
cake pans. Seagrove Potters of Historic
Mill Creek Forge will have Busbee Road, including links
several items, including hooks to individual Web sites, visit
and hangers made around a www.potteryofbusbeeroad.com.
heart theme.
O’Quinn Pottery will Photos contributed by individual artists and used
have light refreshments with permission, or provided by “In the Grove.
In this issue
Ÿ Uwharrie Crystalline New
Location
Ÿ Winterfest
Ÿ “Tea Time” at NCPC
Ÿ Jugtown Pottery
Ÿ Pottery Junction
Ÿ Town Council Meeting
Jugtown Pottery Pottery Junction

Uwharrie Crystalline Pottery will have
a grand opening at their new location at
126 East Avenue in
Seagrove on
February 5 from 9
a.m. until 5 p.m.
To help
celebrate the event,
potters William and
Pamela Kennedy
will serve a chili
lunch and have a
kiln opening.
The new shop is
just a few yards away from the old shop,
but will provide more room for the potters
to expand their business and display their
wares. They look forward to doing more
Raku firings in the future thanks to a new
permanent location for the Raku kiln.
For more information, contact
Uwharrie Crystalline at (336) 873-7532.
Several Seagrove area pottery shops
will be participating in Winterfest at
individual shops on February 19 & 20.
Participating potters will have newly
stocked shelves with items made after the
busy holiday season. Many will debut
new shapes, colors and designs. Various
potters will serve refreshments and
perform pottery demonstrations.
The Museum of N.C. Traditional
Pottery will hold an open house for the
Jugtown Pottery is
rich with history and
tradition. The Owens
family – Vernon, Pam,
Travis and Bayle – keep
up the Jugtown tradition
by continuing to make
pots that adhere to the
Busbee aesthetic, while
incorporating their own
individual styles.
That aesthetic came
out of the N.C. pottery L - R: Bobby Owen, Pam Owen,
tradition, according to Vernon Owen, Bayle Owen and
Pam. The potters at Travis Owen
Jugtown make their
wares using full continuous lines to create Rufus Owen, James Owen and J.W.
classic shapes and made-to-use forms, said Teague, all of which had their own wheels
Pam.
Jacques and Juliana Busbee founded
Jugtown Pottery in 1917 after finding an
event on Saturday, February 11 from 9
a.m. until 5 p.m. Light refreshments will
be served.
Visit the museum for more
information, or contact them at (336) 873-
7887 or ncpottery122@embarqmail.com.
437 N. Broad Street
Seagrove, NC 27341
The North Carolina Pottery Center (336) 873-8066
(NCPC) will host “Tea Time: Series I”
from February 25 until April 30. An artist
reception will be held on February 26 from
3:30 – 5:30 p.m.
DIRTWORKS
The NCPC is partnering with The POTTERY
Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences,
Greenhill Center for NC Arts, Grovewood CONTEMPORARY
Gallery, Cedar Creek Gallery, NC Crafts
Gallery and Penland School of Crafts to
ART POTTERY
host the exhibition.
Functional North Carolina teapots and DAN TRIECE - POTTER
tea cups made by over 70 potters from
across the state, including several from 1226 HIGHWAY 705, SEAGROVE
Seagrove, will be featured for the event. (336) 873-8979
A “High Tea” will be offered during
the reception, which will allow visitors the
Dover Pottery
321 Dover Pottery Drive, Seagrove
chance to sample teas and tea finger foods.
(910) 464-3586
Dewey’s Bakery in Winston Salem, and
Todd and Holland Tea Merchants from
Forest Park, Illinois will sponsor the Open
reception, which is free and open to the Tues. - Sat.
public. 10 a.m.
The NCPC is open Tuesday through until
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more 5 p.m.
information, call (336) 873-8430 or visit
www.ncpotterycenter.org.
www.doverpots.com
Upton Accounting, Inc.
Professional Accounting Service
Seagrove Professional Village
orange pie dish and 508 North Broad Street
tracing it back to Moore Seagrove, North Carolina 27341
County. The couple (336) 873-7690
loved the pots they Fax: (336) 873-7650
found in the area and
opened the Village James P. Upton, III E.A.
Accountant
Store in Greenwich
Village, N.Y. as a way Enrolled to Practice Before the
Internal Revenue Service
to market N.C. pottery.
The store played an Westmoore Pottery
integral role in creating 4622 Busbee Road, Seagrove, NC 27341
exposure and keeping 910-464-3700
the Seagrove pottery
tradition alive and well
during that time.
Henry Chrisco,
and kilns, were the first potters to make
pots for the Village Store.
Open Monday - Saturday from 9 - 5
Cont. on next page www.westmoorepottery.com
 The Busbees decided they wanted to
go beyond the utilitarian shapes and glazes
that were indicative of the area at that
time, and began hiring potters to work for
them. They hired J.H. Owen, Charlie
Teague and Ben Owen.
In 1960, John Mare bought Jugtown
and hired Vernon Owens, J.H. Owen’s
grandson. When Mare died in 1962,
Vernon leased the shop until it was sold to
Country Roads, Inc. in 1968. In 1983,
Vernon bought the shop and has run it
with his wife, Pam since.
The couple opened Jugtown Museum,
which is located next to the showroom, in
1988. The museum is probably the best
place to find out more about Jugtown’s
history and see examples of pots that were
made at the shop throughout the years.
Each member of the Owens family
makes their own pots from start to finish.
Vernon, Pam and their son, Travis all
work in the shop full time. Their
daughter, Bayle is studying weaving at
Regina Voncannon
began her pottery
collection in the early
1980s with a pie dish,
sugar bowl and creamer
made by Walter and
Dorothy Auman.
Her husband,
Eddie’s grandmother
took Regina to visit the
Aumans and bought the
items for her as a gift.
Dorothy was turning Regina Voncannon and Nicole
that day, and it was the Gallimore
first time Regina had
seen a woman turning.
She had studied commercial art when
she was in school in Texas, and had
worked with several other mediums in the
past. Seeing Dorothy turn inspired her to
give pottery a try.
Regina said most of the pots she saw in cousin, Nicole Gallimore and her husband,
Seagrove in the early ‘80s were utilitarian. Eddie help out in the shop.
While she thought they were beautiful, she
wanted her own pots to have more of an
artistic aspect to them.
Her shop, Pottery Junction is filled
with a large variety of pots that
incorporate Regina’s artistic touch. Some
of the pots are altered to give them texture. Street in Seagrove, near the intersection of
Others include sculptural or hand-painted
designs.
She uses many different techniques to
make her wares, including gas, electric,
Haywood Community College. She
makes pots when she’s home on vacations. Jugtown Pottery
Vernon’s brother, Bobby does all the
glazing and clay mixing. 330 Jugtown Rd.
The Jugtown showroom is the original Seagrove, NC
showroom built when the shop was 27341
founded. In addition to pottery, the shop
(910) 464-3266
also sells the wares of over 65 other artists
and craftspeople. Tues. - Sat.
One of those artists is Jennie Keatts, 8:30 - 5:00
Pam’s sister. Jennie makes pottery stones
and beads at Jugtown and uses them for www.jugtownware.com
her line of jewelry, JLK Jewelry. To see
examples of her work online, visit
www.jlkjewelry.com.
Jugtown will be participating in the
PREVO DRUGS
Valentine’s on Busbee Road event on Independent Pharmacists that Care About You
February 11 & 12. 510 North Broad Street
To find more information about Seagrove, NC
Jugtown, visit www.jugtownware.com. (336) 873-8246
The shop is located at 330 Jugtown Road,
just off of Busbee Road in the Westmoore M-F 8:30 - 6:00
community. Sat 9:00 - 1:00
Jerry P. Moore, PharmD.
raku and salt firing
methods. Regina said
she was raised in a very
colorful home and likes
to use a wide range of
colors when making her
pottery.
“I’m excited that
God’s given me the
ability and supportive
people in my life. I’ve
been allowed to use my
talents,” said Regina.
Regina is vice
president of the
Museum of NC Traditional Pottery board.
She also teaches “Color in Raku” at
Montgomery Community College.
With such a busy schedule, she needs a
little help keeping her shop full of pots.
Jerry Reinwand, Mark Koepnick, Regina’s www.DiscoverSeagrove.com
Would you like to receive
Pottery Junction will be participating In the Grove in your
in Winterfest in Seagrove on February 19 mailbox?
& 20. To find out more information about
Regina’s pottery, visit Pottery Junction’s A 12 month subscription
Facebook page. is $15.00. Send check or
The shop is located at 413 East Main money order to:
NC Highway 705 and Plank Road.
In the Grove
P.O. Box 252
Seagrove, NC 27341
 Mayor Allen Hale announced during
the January 4 council meeting that trustees
from the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust
Fund (HWTF) have agreed to a $31,920
grant to install sidewalks in Seagrove.
Sidewalk construction will begin in the
spring to coincide with the grocery store
opening. They will extend from the
intersection of N.C. Highway 705 and
U.S. Highway 220 to the post office on
one side and to East Avenue on the other
side, and from Community One Bank to
Wright Street. Crosswalks will be placed
at the traffic light and at the post office.
Hale is in the process of obtaining
written permission from property owners
whose land will be affected by the project.
HWTF’s Obesity Program Officer,
Cameron Graham worked with Hale on the
proposal. HWTF will be the
administrators of the grant and oversee the
project.
Council members opened bids for
street repairs and H. Clay Presnell Park
maintenance. They voted unanimously to
accept bids from Walker’s Landscape
Creations for park maintenance and from
Westside Grading for street repair.
Walker’s Landscape Creations is
owned by Bradley Walker, a relative of
Commissioner Mike Walker.
Commissioner Walker did not vote on the
$8,700 bid in order to avoid a conflict of
interest.
Walker’s bid, which was the lowest,
was $700 more than the allotted budget,
but includes more maintenance than is
currently being done in the park, according
to Commissioner David Fernandez. The
bid includes maintaining and stocking
bathrooms, maintaining walking trails,
mowing and trimming around the pond
and elsewhere, and keeping the park clean.
Westside Grading’s bid for street
repair was $4,860. Several roads are
slated for repairs including Yow, Boone,
Hoyt, and Walker streets. Repairs will
begin once the weather gets warmer.
Bids were also opened for park repairs,
but none were accepted. Fernandez said
council members need to write another bid
package that is more specific about the
needs at the park. He made a motion,
which was approved, to have Walker work
with Hale to determine the specific needs.
Commissioner David Garner made a
motion that was approved to take bids on
street mowing in town.
In a 3 – 2 vote, commissioners voted to
accept a new contract with Carolina Bats
In the Grove is printed on 30 % post-consumer recycled paper. Please recycle.
to maintain and manage the ball fields at
Presnell Park, pending the town laywer’s
approval of some changes made to the
contract. Bats president, Ed Blake spoke
for the group during the meeting.
Garner made the motion to approve the
contract that begins January 2011 and will
continue until December 31, 2013, with an
option to renew for three years.
Commissioners David Garner, Ruby
Mullin and David Fernandez voted to
approve.
Carolina Bats will pay the town a flat
fee of $100 per day for tournament days.
They are allowed to sublease the fields.
Other organizations will pay the Bats $20
per hour per field for the use of lights. All
Seagrove organizations will have access to
the fields. The Bats will have scheduling
rights.
The Bats owed the town a little over
$800 from gate fees for last year’s games.
Commissioners voted unanimously to
forgive the fees, citing the expenditures
used to improve the fields. Thousands of
dollars were spent on new dugouts,
infields, etc.
A finalized Seagrove Police Handbook
was presented to council members by
Police Capt. Don Calloway. Garner, who
acts as police commissioner, said most of In the Grove is funded largely through the
the items in the handbook had already support of advertisers.
been voted on and approved. He made a Please support our sponsors.
motion to accept the handbook, and the Made and distributed by:
motion carried.
The Seagrove Zoning and Planning For questions or suggestions, contact:
committee requested a new member to fill Rhonda McCanless at (336) 879-6950 or
out the group. Commissioners voted to professional_page@rtmc.net.
appoint Paul Hopkins to the committee. Send mail to:
The other members are Katherine Hewitt, In the Grove
Betty Walker, Evelyn Harris and Barbara P.O. Box 252
Seagrove, NC 27341
Luther.
Commissioners also voted for the
Zoning and Planning committee to be in
Raku refers to a firing process that was
charge of sign permits. Applications will
created in Japan. Literally translated, it
be made available by commissioners at means “pleasure” or “happiness.”
their places of business. The zoning Raku pottery is typically fired to a peak
committee will approve or deny temperature of 1,600 - 2,100° F, which is
applications. considered a fairly low firing temperature.
Finally, commissioners voted to Once the pot reaches temperature, it is
approve a proposal by the Seagrove Police moved from the kiln while it’s red-hot to a
Auxiliary to hold a fundraising concert at closed container with combustible
Presnell Park on April 30. Several bands materials, like paper, leaves or sawdust.
Those materials ignite, helping to create
will be performing for the all-day event. the colors and patterns on the pot’s
The next town council meeting will be surface, while blackening the unstained
February 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Seagrove areas of the pot.
Public Library. People in attendance are Raku pots come in a wide variety of
now required to set their cell phones to styles and color, and are meant to decorate
vibrate for the duration of the meeting. homes. These low-fired pots do not hold
water, and are intended for decorative
purposes.