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| Canrobert |
Every
walk will be a warm reminder of
Mardell: Family
develops trail in honor of
matriarch
IN
MY OPINION / MARY CANROBERT
from the Charlotte
Observer, June 21, 2006
One
of the nicest people I ever met
died in April. She had intestinal
melanoma.
Mardell
Scronce of Vale was beautiful and
smart. Her children -- Gretchen,
26, Guy, 23, Gabrielle, 22, and
Heidi, 19 -- inherited both traits
from their mother, with an extra
measure of friendliness and brains
from their dad, Wilton Scronce,
owner of several businesses in
Catawba County, including the VIP
Laundry in Conover.
That's
where I got to know Mardell. She
loved working at the laundry,
where she talked daily with all
the customers and helped her
Spanish-speaking patrons by
putting up signs they could
understand. Mardell and I talked
often about her children, one of
whom I taught several years ago.
It's
been a year since I wrote about
the impressive accomplishments of
the Scronce children. All four
attended the N.C. School of
Science and Mathematics, a
challenging residential high
school in Durham. All four then
went to UNC Chapel Hill. Wilton
said it was Mardell, a former high
school math teacher, who
encouraged them, supported them
and helped them with their
homework.
Mardell
was a Lenoir-Rhyne alumnus, as is
Wilton, who majored in physical
education and health. In Mardell's
memory, Wilton and his children
have provided a portion of their
expansive Catawba County property
to Lenoir-Rhyne for educational
and research purposes.
A
mile-long walking trail winds
through territory that Mardell
loved to hike. Lenoir- Rhyne's
Reese Institute for the
Conservation of Natural Resources
named the area Mardell's Nature
Preserve, and at the end of April
erected a sign at the trail's
entrance off Scronce Road in the
Plateau community.
Numerous
environmentalists already have
walked the rough path and offered
information and suggestions for
using and protecting Mardell's
Preserve.
On
April 15, with Wilton, Gabrielle,
Guy, Mardell's mother, Helen
Proctor, and the family dog,
Chaucer, as my guides, I walked
the trail. It was a glorious,
sunny morning as we entered the
cool shadiness of the forest. The
path was coarse. Wilton said the
trail needed the pounding of many
feet.
The
first things I noticed were the
ferns, my favorite forest plants.
Wilton and Gabrielle carried plant
identification books.
We
examined mint, trilliums,
bloodroot, ground cedar,
wintergreen, bellworts, Jack in
the pulpit, the foliage of an
orchid plant and native bamboo. We
looked at the tiny fruit of the
May apple, foam flowers, yellow
raspberries, blackberries,
muscadine vines and loads of
Soloman's seal.
I
caught sight of the creek at the
same time as Chaucer, who raced
ahead, charging into the water.
Then we came to the most
picturesque part of the trail, a
reward for hiking the path. It was
the brook's waterfall.
"This
was our favorite place," said
Wilton, referring to Mardell and
himself. Chaucer dove into the
pool at the waterfall's base.
We
moved on. "We have a wet
area," Wilton announced.
"And
you can see lots of (animal)
tracks," added Gabrielle
about the muddy region. "The
environmentalists who've come out
here get really excited because
you can find things there (such as
arrowhead plants) that you can't
even find around creeks."
Sticking
up from the middle of the trail
was what looked like an orange
finger. It was hollow and had
nothing growing around it. No one
in the party knew what it was or
had seen anything like it. Since I
spotted it first, the Scronces are
calling it "Mary plant"
until they find out its real name.
I'm honored.
The
trail begins and ends in the
vicinity of a turn-of-the-century
house. It's about 400 square feet
and falling apart. Wilton has
decided to restore it. He said
people could use it for camping,
or Lenoir-Rhyne could use it for
storage. "I want to be
natural with it," said
Wilton, who's considering windmill
power for the house.
Mardell
couldn't have received a more
fitting compliment than to have
such a beautiful, peaceful portion
of land declared a preserve in her
memory.
Want
To Help?
If
you'd like to help safeguard and
maintain Mardell's Nature
Preserve, send your donation to:
Mardell's
Nature Preserve
Lenoir-Rhyne University
P.O. Box 7546
Hickory, NC 28603
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