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The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
Saturday, November 10, 2018 7A
Nonprofit cannery helps keep tradition alive in Virginia
GLADE HILL, Va. - When
the door of the Glade Hill Can
nery swings open around 7:30 a.m.
on a chilly Thursday, visitors find
themselves peering into a wall of
steam, like looking through fogged
up glasses.
But the churchgoers who gath
ered at the cannery around 4 a.m.
to spend the day making and can
ning 400-some quarts of apple but
ter for a fundraiser don’t seem
bothered by it.
Nor does Ronald David, who
stands near the 50-gallon vats of
bubbling apple butter in progress,
wearing a blue apron. After run
ning the cannery for 25 years, he’s
used to it.
David took the helm at the Glade
Hill facility, one of two community
canneries in Franklin County, in
1993 after retiring from DuPont
Co.
“I had to have something to do,”
David said.
So two days a week, for about six
months out of the year, he mans
the cannery. David helps folks to
“put up,” as the process is known,
just about anything that can be
canned. His wife, Carole, keeps the
books.
David had little experience with
the cannery prior to taking charge
of the operation. His wife canned
at the Glade Hill facility, and his
church used to make apple butter
there, but David didn’t can himself.
He was not deterred by these facts.
“I said if I can learn it, I will,”
David said.
And learn it he did. Although
charts hang on the walls detail
ing the processing time for vari
ous canned goods, they aren’t for
David’s benefit.
He’s the person patrons turn to
for help. They bring the food and
the cans, and David shows them
how it’s done.
When Frank Toney, 51, shows up
wanting to turn Golden Delicious
STEPHANIE KLEIN DAVIS I Associated Press
Ronald David, 75, who is retired from Dupont, and has been working at
County, Va., for 25 years helps people can their perishables, Oct. 25.
apples into applesauce, David gets
him started.
“He makes it so easy for you,
you forget it every time you come, ”
said Toney, of Wirtz.
Toney comes to the cannery
annually, but he doesn’t have a
go-to item he likes to put up.
“Depends on what the pantry
looks like,” he said.
David easily jumps from one
task to the next, stirring apple but
ter, canning pinto beans and set
ting patrons up with equipment.
As he prepares to open a pres
sure cooker filled with sweet pota
toes, David knows exactly what’s
coming.
“I’ve got many a facial at this
job,” he said.
The collections of burns on
David’s forearms are a testament
to his experience. They’re not nec
essarily an occupational hazard,
David said, but rather the marks of
“a little stupidity on my part.”
Heat and steam are part of the
process. David said someone once
called the fire department because
so much steam, which they’d mis
taken for smoke, was emanating
from the building.
Though community canneries
are not as popular as they once
were, the Glade Hill operation
survives, thanks in large part to
loyal regulars. David attributes it
to tradition.
“The people that come, their
mamas and daddies used to come,”
he said.
Richard Hopkins, 62, is a perfect
example. He has childhood memo
ries of coming to the cannery with
his mother. Today he comes with
his wife Debbie, 59, who was intro
duced to canning when she mar
ried into the Hopkins family.
The couple, who live in Sontag,
come to the cannery regularly.
When she has a good garden, Deb
bie Hopkins said, she comes in
the Glade Hill Cannery in Franklin
weekly.
Patrons of the cannery know
each other, Richard Hopkins said,
giving it a family vibe.
“Everybody will pitch in to help
everybody,” he said.
It’s not all regulars, though.
Lucian Preston, 27, is one of the
freshest faces at the cannery on a
recent Thursday morning.
Preston, of Boones Mill, was part
of the group making apple butter
for a church fundraiser.
“It’d be great if younger people
did it,” he said of canning. “It’s all
going to fade away.”
Some county residents don’t
even know the cannery exists.
During a recent presentation at
the Westlake Library, David met
a woman who lives just two miles
down the road from the cannery
who had no idea it was there.
David would like to see word of
the cannery spread, and also add
Saturday hours to make it more
accessible to folks with the tradi
tional nine-to-five job.
“They’re paying taxes and it’s
supposed to be for taxpayers,”
David said.
The county’s canneries in Glade
Hill and Callaway are funded with
taxpayer dollars. The school sys
tem administers the program, and
runs it with money supplied by the
county government.
The two canneries received
$53,346 for the current fiscal year.
They are expected to generate
$15,620 in revenues, said David
Terry, finance director for the
school division.
Though the cost of operating
the canneries is greater than the
revenues they bring in, the local
government continues to keep the
lights on. That’s perhaps unsurpris
ing in a county with a proud agri
cultural heritage.
“There are still people that
garden and that can,” said Roddy
Moore, director of the Blue Ridge
Institute and Museum in Ferrum.
He said canneries date back to
the Franklin D. Roosevelt admin
istration and the heyday of victory
gardens. But after World War II
ended, Moore said, they started to
fade away.
“I think we’re very fortunate in
Franklin County that our supervi
sors have kept these canneries
going,” Moore said. “They see the
importance of the cannery for the
communities.”
So does David.
The Glade Hill Cannery doesn’t
have firm hours.
Some make appointments with
David, others just show up.
But David doesn’t mind the
inconsistency or the early morn
ings. He’s happy to help the people
who walk through the cannery’s
door. They are the reason that
David is here.
“I just enjoy talking to people,”
he said.
OBITUARIES
JoAnn McNeil Dyer
Sept. 4, 1931-Nov. 7,2018
JoAnn McNeil Dyer, 87, died Wednesday,
Nov. 7,2018, in Gainesville.
Born Sept. 4,1931, in Benton, Arkansas,
she was the daughter of the late Lee Romine
and Lois Antonia Rye McNeil. She was a
1949 graduate of Amory
High School in Amory
Mississippi. She married
Donald Dyer in 1953 and
they were married until his
death in 2001. She worked
at BellSouth until her
retirement in 1985. She was
of the Baptist faith, having
joined the Pearce Chapel
Baptist Church at the age of 8. She was an
avid reader and loved knitting, sewing,
painting, all desserts, animals, and coun
try music. But most of all, she loved spend
ing time with her grandchildren and great
grandchildren.
Survivors include her daughter and son-
in-law Lana Nix (Charley) of Gainesville,
Ga.; Granddaughter, Ashley Simmons
(Scott) of Roswell, Georgia; Granddaughter,
Rachel Barry (Bennett) of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.;
four precious great-grandchildren, Kate,
Callie, Ben, and Charlie; 2 nephews, Neil
Hilliard (Tammy); Lee McNeil.
She was preceded in death by her parents,
her husband, three sisters and two brother’s-
in-law; Antonia Lee McNeil, Louise McNeil
Stockton (Locke); Juanita McNeil Hilliard
(Albert); one brother and sister-in-law, Lee
Romine McNeil Jr. (Ruby); one nephew,
Mike McNeil; one niece Lisa McNeil.
Services will be 11 a.m. on Saturday,
Nov. 10, at Memorial Park Cemetery, 2030
Memorial Park Drive, Gainesville. Visita
tion will be 10 a.m. until service time on Sat
urday at Memorial Park Cemetery.
The family would like to thank our
friends at the Beehive Personal Care Home
in Gainesville and at Kindred Hospice in
Gainesville for the loving care and support
they provided to Mother and to all of us.
The love and care we have received from
our family and wonderful friends is really
all we need. Should you choose to honor
Mother further please consider a donation
of your time or money to a charity of your
choice.
Memorial Park Funeral Home,
Gainesville
Sign the online guest book at gainesville-
times.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Nov. 10,2018
Joyce Bagley Wilson
Died Nov. 7,2018
Mrs. Joyce Bagley Wilson went to be with
the Lord Nov. 7,2018, at the
age of 88. She is survived
by her husband of 69 years
11 months, Richard R. Wil
son, 4 sons, 4 daughters, 4
daughters-in-law, 4 sons-
in-law, 15 grandchildren,
25 great-grandchildren,
1 great-great grandchild
and several nieces and
nephews.
Mrs. Wilson came to Decatur, MS, after
Katrina in 2005 having served in New
Orleans as a Southern Baptist missionary
from Aug. 1, 1966 til retirement Dec. 31,
1994. She was a very faithful member of
Clarke-Venable Baptist Church. Mrs. Wilson
was a body donor; a memorial service will
be announced at a later date.
To express condolences, please sign our
online guest book at www.flaniganfuneral-
home.com.
Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory,
Buford
Sign the online guest book at gainesville-
times.com.
The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Nov. 10,2018
DEATH NOTICES
Lannie McCary Fountain
Died Nov. 8,2018
Lannie McCary Fountain, 84, of Way-
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Funeral Home
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memorialize a pet in print, please contact Megan Lewis
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the last Sunday of each month.
cross died Thursday. Evans Funeral Home,
Jefferson.
Bonnie Jean McGukin Headrick
Died Nov. 8,2018
Bonnie Jean “Nana” McGukin Headrick,
70, of Cumming died Thursday. McDonald
and Son Funeral Home, Cumming.
Lena Mae Graham Mauldin
Jan. 3, 1922-Nov. 9, 2018
Lena Mae Graham Mauldin, 96, of Buford
died Friday. Funeral service, 3:30 p.m. Sun
day, Nov. 11, Duncan Creek Congregational
Church. Flanigan Funeral Home and Crema
tory, Buford.
Sabrina Marie Morgan
Died Nov. 6,2018
Sabrina Marie Morgan, 33, of Dahlonega
died Tuesday. Ingram Funeral Home & Cre
matory, Cumming.
Goldia Loretta Reece
Jan. 21, 1932-Nov. 8,2018
Goldia Loretta Reece, 86, of Dahlonega
died Thursday. Funeral service, 2 p.m. Sun
day, Nov. 11, Mt. Gilead Baptist Church.
Anderson-Underwood Funeral Home,
Dahlonega.
Buddy Wilcox Ruis
Died Nov. 9,2018
Buddy Wilcox Ruis, 70, of Cumming died
Friday. Funeral service, 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov.
11, funeral home chapel. Ingram Funeral
Home & Crematory, Cumming.
Francis Fredrick Whitehead
Died Nov. 7,2018
Francis Fredrick Whitehead, 85, of
Gainesville died Wednesday. Funeral ser
vice, 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14, funeral
home chapel. McDonald and Son Funeral
Home, Cumming.
Beverly Ann Whitlock
Died Nov. 8,2018
Beverly Ann Whitlock, 74, of Jefferson
died Thursday. Funeral service, 11 a.m. Sat
urday, Nov. 10, funeral home chapel. Evans
Funeral Home, Jefferson.
Delores Charlotte Wielkie
Died Oct. 29, 2018
Delores Charlotte Wielkie, 70, of Bethle
hem died Monday, Oct. 29. Graveside ser
vice, 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 12, The City of
Auburn Cemetery. Lawson Funeral Home,
Hoschton.
Joseph Yarberry
Died Oct. 31, 2018
Joseph Yarberry, 58, of Dawsonville
died Wednesday, Oct. 31. Funeral service,
2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, funeral home
chapel. McDonald and Son Funeral Home,
Cumming.
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