TUSCUMBIA – A series of crafts demonstrations, called “Heritage Days”, will begin on Saturday, April 8, at Belle Mont Mansion, 1569 Cook Lane, Tuscumbia. Heritage Days will offer demonstrations of crafts and life skills from the past. First in the series is chair caning and basketry. Local masters of the skills, Linda Reynolds and Glenn Rikard will be at Belle Mont revealing the techniques during the afternoon, 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Additional Heritage Days will be announced as they are scheduled.
Linda Reynolds, a native of West Virginia, moved to the Shoals area in 2011. A resident of Tuscumbia, Reynolds is employed by the City of Florence in the Customer Service office. Her interest in early American crafts began when a family antique chair was in need of repair. “At that time I was a young, stay-at-home mom who needed a project. I took my chair and sought the advice of an elderly gentleman who did chair caning. He took me under his wing and got me started not only in repairing my chair but in a craft in which I took an immense interest.”
“Not many people today know how to do chair caning, which was popular in decorative arts in the mid to late 1800’s. This type of caning requires patience and an eye for detail,” Reynolds explains. She will be available to discuss the needs of attendees, who may contract with her to repair chairs brought to Belle Mont on that day.
Glenn Rikard, a native of the Shoals area, lives on the farm in Tuscumbia that was the home of his father. He has furnished the old share-cropper’s house on the farm, which dates to the early 1900’s, with all the appropriate accessories, including many implements of daily living and his extensive quilt collection. Rikard, an artist of many talents, and a retired educator (former principal at Threadgill Primary School, Sheffield) will share basket-weaving in several early styles, including egg baskets woven both for work and for beauty. Rikard is well-known, also, for conducting classes in basketry and chair caning at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art. His recent entry into the “Trees of Christmas” at TVMA featured examples of his basketry. Antique baskets and various ladder-back chairs will be displayed at Belle Mont during this “Heritage Day.” Rikard will also be demonstrating another type of placing bottoms in chairs – split wood strips, woven into patterns. Glenn stays very busy with his arts and his farm restoration, but visitors are invited to speak to him about future classes.
Belle Mont Mansion, built in 1828, is owned by the Alabama Historical Commission and is one of only five such house museums in the State. It is distinguished by its Jeffersonian-Palladian architecture. Belle Mont houses a number of original furnishings and pieces from other antebellum homes in the Tennessee Valley. The museum is operated by the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation and its “Friends of Belle Mont.” During Heritage Days – Chair Caning and Basketry, admission to the museum will be discounted to the group rate of $5.00 per person. Demonstrations will be conducted on the rear courtyard.
Regular hours and rates for the museum are as follows: Wednesday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 4:00 p.m. $6.00 adults; $5.00 Seniors, College Students, and Active Military; $3.00 children 6-18, under 6 years free.
For more information about Belle Mont or the Heritage Day, April 6, call 256-381-5052 or 256-383-4401. Visit the website ahc.alabama.gov or follow on facebook.
Media Release/Ninon Parker, Site Director
