Home Care In Cooleemee, NC

COOLEEMEE – This town and surrounding community have a special place in the heart of the Rev. Darren Crotts.

Crotts, pastor of Smith Grove United Methodist Church, grew up near Cooleemee and attended elementary school there. He remembers well V.G. Prim and his paddle.

So when he heard the local Methodist church was closing, Crotts’ mind went into action.

The result: The Bridge @ 197 Main.

After hearing that the dwindling congregation at Cooleemee Methodist could no longer support the church, he took the issue to his congregation. It was an unanimous vote to merge Cooleemee with Smith Grove.

“We want this to be a place for the community, and we ain’t going nowhere,” Crotts said.

A sign has been erected, and church members are busy “fixing up” the church and grounds.

On Thursdays, beginning Sept. 10, there will be a farmer’s market from 3-7 p.m. at the Cooleemee site, and free meals will be distributed at 7. All will be outdoors, with an area for prayer, and a message given away with each meal.

The Bridge will offer free WiFi, and volunteers are working on plans for regular student tutoring at the site.

He isn’t sure how the sanctuary will be used, but Smith Grove isn’t against other churches without a home signing on for the Cooleemee space.

“We all wanted to do this,” he said of his congregation at Smith Grove. “We’ve got some good ideas and want to get the community involved to see what we can provide for them.”

About 80 members of the community responded to a survey.

Randy Boger is helping with the re-furbishing of the property. He said you can feel the history while walking through the church. “It’s still in good shape, and we’re going to get it back to where it is nice,” he said. “We’re going to make it look good.”

The sign features three gray pillars, depicting the Holy Trinity. “The foundation in God stands as the support for our bridge,” said a description on Smith Grove’s website. “God our Creator has made us for such a time as this. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, has shown us through his life of example how to reach out into community. The Holy Spirit will guide us through its power of presence and wisdom.”

The two blue swirls represent: “A place to belong, a place to matter.” “Much like the traveling surface of a bridge, belonging and mattering are the ways in which we will cross over to build relationships in the name of Jesus. Belonging and Mattering will also serve as the community reaching back to us as we bridge the divisions of life together. The journey of the bridge depends on these.”

COOLEEMEE – Jim Spry was the definition of “high risk” when he contracted COVID-19, first diagnosed on Dec. 3.

He has Addison’s Disease, which means his body does not produce adrenaline. He is also diabetic, and had been losing muscle control.

The past month has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs for his family – who say they are getting by the confusing and sometimes conflicting medical system – via their faith and prayer.

The community is doing more than praying. Going door to door, through jar donations at local businesses and via mail, the Judy Webb and the Cooleemee Civitan Club are collecting money for the family. Send checks for the Spry family to Cooleemee Civitans, PO Box 517, Cooleemee, NC, or call Webb at 336-782-3711.

Soon after the COVID diagnosis, his wife, Barbara, said they increased his Addison’s medicine. It worked for about five days before his condition worsened.

His fever went from 102º to 63º. His Addison’s had been compromised so off to the hospital he went.

His wife, Barbara, made the trip at about 11:30 p.m., and waited in the parking lot for word on her husband.

She knew he should have been on IV medication and when he told her he hadn’t, she confronted a nurse, who gave one story, then another, Barbara said.

He had already been diagnosed with pneumonia, but she was told he didn’t have enough symptoms to qualify for COVID medications.

She learned the next day he had been put into ICU. What she wasn’t told was at what hospital. He had been moved.

By Dec. 10, doctors were recommending he go on a ventilator. It was upsetting, because in the background she could hear her husband say, “‘Barbara, don’t do it’.”

The doctors told her it was necessary, and she explained that to her husband.

“They did put him on it,” she said. “We’ve had a mountain of people praying because Jim Spry is one of the most well-liked people in Davie County.”

It had been the longest time she hadn’t been with her husband in more than 50 years of marriage.

Then the prayers started that he would get well enough to get off the ventilator, she said. Those prayers worked, too, she said. Now the prayers are up to get breathing on his own without the help of a tracheotomy.

He has gone from the COVID ICU unit, to the cardiac ICU unit, and is now under intermediate ICU care. He can’t eat or drink on his own. He will enter rehab after the tracheotomy is removed.

“I’m confused with a lot that’s happened, but God has been so good,” Barbara said. “God gave him enough breath to talk to people two days ago. God is going to get us through this.

“Knowing that people have prayed for him to get off that ventilator was Miracle No. 1. Now we’re praying for Miracle No. 2,” she said. “Everybody’s been so great, letting us know that all of us are in their prayers.

“We’re going to continue with prayer and ask everybody for their prayers. “He’s got a huge testimony and he’s such a great witness for Christ.”

Talk to an old timer in Cooleemee, and they either like or dislike Jim and Lynn Rumley.

You don’t have to like them, but the couple who chose Cooleemee as their adopted hometown should be thanked. Their work should be appreciated.

They just happened upon Cooleemee, and liked what they saw.

They stayed, and over the years, have made more positive impact than just about everyone else combined.

Ever heard of the Cooleemee Historical Association? Thank Jim and Lynn Rumley.

Ever heard of RiverPark at Cooleemee Falls? Thank Jim and Lynn Rumley.

Ever heard of the Mill House Museum or the Family Life Museum? Thank Jim and Lynn Rumley.

Ever heard of the Discovering Our Heritage history program taught to elementary school children in Cooleemee every year? Thank Jim and Lynn Rumley.

Amateur historians, the couple dove into Cooleemee with all of the enthusiasm they could muster. They knew nothing about their new hometown, or its history.

But they made friends, and talked to them and their neighbors. They convinced them they had something worth preserving, something to be celebrated. They convinced them to tell their stories, let go of some historical items.

For too long, mill towns had been considered “the other side of the tracks,” home to people respectable folks didn’t associate with. That perception was wrong – dead wrong – and the Rumleys proved it. Mill towns – including Cooleemee – were made up of proud people. Most had come from farms, and had little money. The thought of a job that paid cash was appealing, and they headed to town.

Cooleemee thrived. It was Davie’s largest town at one time. It was the center of the action.

Even when I was young, going to Cooleemee to play a Little League baseball game was a big deal. You could expect way more spectators than we had in Mocksville. And they supported their team in a big way (Which usually won, by the way.).

Jim Rumley wrote a book about mill people and Cooleemee. It’s worth reading, and will give you a fresh look at an old stereotype. For a transplant, he really hit the nail on the head.

The Rumleys immersed themselves in Cooleemee history. The museums were a result. The park was a result. The school programs were a result. They even invented “Blinkey,” the catfish character who helped teach young and old about The Bullhole and other goings on at that place on the South Yadkin River.

But as it does sometimes, politics got in the way. Being a small town, they surely were involved in politics, even holding office. That in itself makes enemies. Take a stand, and the number of enemies grew. They got involved in controversy over water rights in the river, and that didn’t help. People took sides. The fight was ugly.

When the Rumleys retired, Cooleemee suffered, especially the historical association. The numbers of volunteers dwindled. The donations dwindled.

On Saturday from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., the Cooleemee Historical Association will hold a barbecue fundraiser, including a bake sale. Go get a sandwich and a piece of cake. Enjoy the museums. Visit the park.

And remember, it all didn’t just happen overnight. It took people who care. People like Jim and Lynn Rumley. People like you.

Support the Cooleemee Historical Association by volunteering, or making a donation. It’s our history, and it is worth preserving.

– Mike Barnhardt

More Editorials

By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

COOLEEMEE – Mayor Lynn Rumley is doing her best to keep this historic mill town intact – but it is getting more difficult.

“Somebody murdered Cooleeme in the middle of the night,” she said at Monday’s town board meeting.

She was referring to the internet.

Type in an address in Cooleemee on Google or Yahoo search engines, and it puts you in the right place, but instead of Cooleemee, it says “Mocksville, NC.”

It has caused people trouble with package deliveries, getting loans to buy a home and simply making others believe they live in Cooleemee.

Rumley isn’t sure how the problem started, but said there is no problem with the emergency 911 system. Those calls are routed to the correct location. It’s not with the county’s GIS system, either.

“We have no idea why that happened, but the town has been wiped off the internet,” she said.

It’s just another identity hurdle for the town, and board members took a step Monday to help solve another – postal mail delivery.

The board unanimously adopted a resolution that bans any new mailboxes going up inside the city limits.

As is, there are several town residents with mailboxes, and they have Mocksville addresses and receive mail from the Mocksville Post Office. Those boxes can stay up, but no new ones. Cooleemee’s post office doesn’t offer home delivery. Residents rent boxes inside the post office or get their mail general delivery over the counter.

One of the reasons for the ban was simple: safety. Many of the town’s interior streets are narrow, with a ditch at the edge of the pavement that also serves as a drainage system.

“A rural route type delivery system in small urban areas isn’t appropriate,” Rumley said.

For years, there have been rumors that the postal service was considering closing the Cooleemee post office, as it has closed many smaller offices.

“This will not guarantee that will not happen, but if everybody in Cooleemee got a mailbox, the post office would close within a year,” she said. “If we lose our Zip Code, we would fall off the map.”

Residents of the Westview Avenue and Junction Road parts of town historically had mailboxes, because those areas weren’t part of the original mill town, Rumley said.

Board members Brad Waller and Jim Szymanski both said the streets are too narrow, and lack sites to safely erect mailboxes.

“This is just one more thing for people to poke fun at us in Cooleemee,” said Westview Avenue resident Les Steele. “We need to get past that and get in the progressive mode.” He suggested postponing the decision until another way to save the 27104 Zip Code is found.

“I think it should be an option – a choice,” said Ruffin Street resident Tammy Lagle.

Hellen Daywalt said the town is going backward, not forward. “If people want one (mailbox), they should be able to have one.”

Sue Correll, who lives outside the town but owns property in the city limits, agreed.

K.C. Smith said that while she has no objections to mailboxes, if it means the town could lose it’s post office and some of it’s identity, she’s against them. “I don’t know what all the facts are, and I hope you do before you vote on it.”

Carl Smith cited safety as a good reason for banning mailboxes. “Safety, that’s the biggest concern. I like being from Cooleemee. I don’t want a Mocksville address.”

More News

Davie County Public Schools got some good news last year. After the 2017-18 End-of-Grade test results were announced, the county discovered it had moved up from 45th to 17th out of all 115 districts in the state for third-grade reading proficiency. Cooleemee Elementary was singled out in those results for moving into the top 4 percent of all elementary schools in the state for academic growth.

This growing success in the district is being bolstered by a $2.5 million grant from the Mebane Foundation to improve kindergarten readiness and reading proficiency in the third grade. It’s called DavieLEADS, and it’s a five-year grant with a specific goal to get kindergarten readiness from 70 percent to 90 percent and reading proficiency in third grade from 60 percent to 80 percent by 2022.

That’s the big picture, but the changes happen on the ground, and walking around Cooleemee Elementary, you can feel the excitement buzzing in the hallways.

In the second year of the grant, Cooleemee is focused on guided reading. This combines writing, phonics, word-work, and other lessons together in specialized groups that focus on specific children and the reading levels they’re on. For instance, you may see a group of kids gathered at a table with a teacher, reading a specific book. That book will be one that is suitable to the reading level those children are on. The teacher will do a lesson with them, and then that group will be replaced with a different set of students reading a different book suitable for their specific reading level.

“It’s taking all the components children need to read — balanced literacy — and putting together the components,” said Cynthia Stone, the principal of the school.

The work this year follows on the foundation set last year when Cooleemee focused on Professional Learning Communities (PLC). That’s essentially where teachers can get together at the school to discuss the standards they’re working with in the classrooms and get a better grasp on how to teach to them. Kerry Blackwelder, a reading specialist who has been at Cooleemee for 23 years, said those PLCs were essential.

“Reading a standard and telling [teachers] what to do and having them do it is different than all of us coming together and talking about it and understanding it,” she said. “I’ve been a reading teacher for a long time, and I felt like I knew my standards. I didn’t know my standards like I should have. So I feel like I’m a better teacher because I understand what I need to ask my kids and do with my kids for them to understand that standard.”

The money from DavieLEADs includes funding for two literacy coaches and two professional consultants in the district. Those consultants were instrumental in helping lead PLCs last year, which put Cooleemee and other schools on a firm footing to focus on guided reading this year.

“When we were trying to run PLCs ourselves, we didn’t really have the training,” said Amy Stokes, another reading specialist at the school. “We made strides, but it’s been just so much more cohesive.”

She said the PLCs and the work under DavieLEADS has made a big difference because the staff of the school all feel like they have a common purpose.

“We’re following our standards, we’re all working together, and everyone is collaborating and working together to help our students grow,” she said.

Nancy Scoggin was one of the consultants who came in to work under the DavieLEADS grant. She was assigned Cooleemee, which she said was already ahead of the curve when she arrived. The grant lasts only five years, and after that the school will have to find a way to keep the gains they’ve made in that time. Scoggin said they are well positioned to do so because they have collaborated in such a way that teachers at every grade level have their fingers on the pulses of their students.

“When we talk about sustainability … every grade level is aware of what the next grade level is dealing with,” she said. “They use every single piece of data in this school that they possibly can. It’s not done with a ‘gotcha.’ It’s done with ‘let’s look at where we are. How do we need to arrange the schedule to use every single person in this building to get every inch of growth that we can?'”

One of the keys to knowing the kids is working with them in small groups during the guided reading sessions. Entering a classroom, you may see a teacher reading a sentence over and over again, substituting one word and asking the students if it makes sense.

Another tool you’ll see in classrooms is Letterland. This is a phonics-based program that aims to teach students aged 3 to 8 how to read, write, and spell. Letterland has characters based on different letters that live together in Letterland. Stories featuring the letter characters explain phonics to children in a way that’s more entertaining than your typical lesson, and thus sticks in the minds of students.

Of course, all of this reading and learning wouldn’t be possible without books, and Cooleemee has a lot, thanks in part to funds from the Mebane Foundation. About six years ago, Stone and others were building a book room in a small space at the school. Larry Colbourne, president of the Mebane Foundation, came over and asked how he could help.

Now the room is huge, with books for every conceivable reading level.

“The teacher can come and pull resources on that level specific to what the student needs,” Stone said.

Stone said that one of the things she appreciates most about DavieLEADS is flexibility. Colbourne is a familiar face around the school, and if teachers or leaders need an adjustment to how they use the money from the grant, they can talk directly to him and work it out. She also appreciates that the grant isn’t just about getting teachers new resources or lesson plans. It’s about showing them how to teach differently, and hopefully, more effectively.

“My teachers are getting skill sets,” Stone said. “They’re not just getting a material to consume.”