It’s going to be a busy May at the Museum of Ashe County History and Jasper, the 1904 Courthouse ghost, just figured out one of the main reasons -- he’s not going to be the only thing buried in the courthouse.

Time capsules

“These museum folks have come up with a kind’a different idea. I’m about to be surrounded by a bunch of what they call time capsules.

The way I’m hearing it, it sounds to me like different people or families or organizations are going to put stuff from today into special envelopes. Then the envelopes are going to be “buried” in the safe in the vault room for 30 years. The folks filling the envelopes will name a person who will open the envelope when it is unburied.

By gosh! Just think – when they open the envelopes they will hold in their hands pictures, stories, recordings, written accounts and all kinds’a other small things that will be 30 years old. They’ll be holding history in their hands -- it’ll be like they’ve been sent back in time. A’ course, I’ll still be here to see the looks on their faces. And I promise not to mess with the capsules after they’re buried, so they’ll really be just like they were when they were sealed in the safe.”

Be part of this unique plan to share your personal or family history or your organization as it functions in 2012. Preserve the special aura and feeling that is embodied in the here and now that is 2012.

Here’s how. You will purchase a special envelope from the Museum of Ashe County History. You have a choice of two sizes: 8 ½ x 11 ½ for $25 or 12 x 16 ½ for $50. You may put anything that will fit into the envelope: photographs, letters, documents, humorous items, items that express our era today; be as creative as you want to be as you save a very special gift for the future. The capsule will be buried July 10, 2012 in a special ceremony at the museum. Call 846-1904 or come by the museum for the envelopes and detailed instructions.

Winding Through Ashe

Excitement is building as the Ashe County crazy quilt “Winding Through Ashe” is adding new sections daily. The sewing is taking place daily and can be viewed at the gift shop at Shatley Springs, “Everything Has A Story.”

But there is still room for more pieces of cloth, a piece of fabric no larger than 8x8 that brings back memories of your childhood, a family member, an item of clothes you or someone special might have worn. The pieces of cloth don’t have to be old, just to have some significance in the lives of Ashe County people. Include an explanation or story, 300 words or less, that explains the connection to Ashe County.

The stories will be placed in a scrapbook that will be given to the winner of the crazy quilt at a raffle drawing in October. Bring your cloth piece and story to the Museum of Ashe County History, or drop off your fabric piece and tell your story at Everything Has a Story out at Shatley Springs. Raffle tickets may be purchased at the museum or the Shatley Springs gift shop.

Author welcomed for book signing

The museum is welcoming author Myrtle McDaniel for a book signing 12-4 p.m. on Saturday, May 26.

A popular Bible teacher and leader in mission activities in the religious community of St. Augustine, Fla., McDaniel has strong ties to Ashe County, especially the Grassy Creek area.

Her first three books, “Acts Sixteen,” “Until Tomorrow,” and “Orace,” are fictionalized stories about a woman named Lydia and her life as told in the Bible. The first book’s setting is the Biblical period during Paul’s lifetime. The two sequels follow Lydia and her family as the Gospel is spread through France and England.

Her two more recent books tell McDaniel’s story as she remembers her early life in Grassy Creek and was written mainly for her 16 grandchildren. It includes the story of the early migration of people from the hills of North Carolina and Virginia and what actually became of some of them when they reached the area that was presented to them as the “promised land.”