Home Care In Dillard, NC

It’s easy to be intrigued by M&Co., the gallery housed in the newly restored building with the broad door and red roof at 782 Dillard Road, just around the corner from Dusty’s and DonLeon’s and before you get to Highlands Country Club.

That wide oak door is like an invitation to browse, and that compulsion is multiplied when you peer through the windows and gaze at the collection of antiques and furnishings and knick-knacks, arrayed like a carefully calibrated bazaar.

Marlene Scudder Buckalew, Michael Buckalew, and Al Scudder, 2022

But the place takes on the properties of local legend when you discover that the proprietor is Marlene Scudder Buckalew, the daughter of Al and Joan Scudder.

Scudder’s Gallery, Main Street , Highlands1976-2017

Al was, of course, the force of nature behind Scudder’s Gallery, a Highlands Main Street institution for 41 years. Joan was there, too, every bit an equal partner in the business.

M&Co., Dillard Road,Highlands

Once you learn Al’s story, you understand why people fondly recall summer evenings spent at “the auction,” and why his spirit can still be discerned in his daughter’s new gallery.

Al Scudder, 1934

His mother opened Scudder’s Antiques in Silver Springs, Florida in 1925. Al was born into the business and, when his mother suffered a debilitating stroke, as a young man helped in its management and stabilized the business.

Al Scudder and his first grand child Della Grace, named after Al’s mother.

In June of 1957, an enormous fire swept through Silver Springs and consumed the store and most of its inventory.

Though it was engulfed in flames, Al ran into Scudder’s Antiques and salvaged whatever he could.

This is where we first see the evidence of that Scudder zest for life.

He and his best friends hung lights in the Palm trees in and around his mother’s courtyard, donned dinner jackets, Bermuda shorts, and socks and conducted the first Scudder’s Auction.

Everything sold, and Al was inspired to rebuild and start an auction business. But Silver Springs and all of Florida were beginning to radically change in the late 1960s and early 70s with the arrival of the Mouse Kingdom, and Al began to cast his vision toward greener pastures.

He purchased a grocery store on Highlands’ Main Street in 1976, and outfitted it with old theater seats, recovered in what would become their signature yellow and green plastic.

Al and Joan began prowling Europe for antiques and induced son Frank to join the operation after college to manage the sprawling inventory and consignments and oversee the burgeoning staff.

But at the center of it all was Al, shining like a new dime night after night. He’d regale his audience/bidders with a can’t-miss repertoire of jokes and stories.

“This rug is like new and was located in the owners guest room,” he’d proclaim, and then adding, “They had very few friends.”

Or, if something isn’t being bid on: “We will put this aside until the ladies from Walhalla arrive. They are bicycling up here and, if they don’t get pulled over for peddling, they’ll be here in about an hour.”

Or, when the night is producing only low bids and minimal enthusiasm, “Please, Lord, send me some rich people tomorrow.”

And when no bids are being made: “Does anybody know anybody who could use this table?”

No response.

“Does anybody know anybody who might know somebody who could use it?”

Or this chestnut, pulled out season after season: “My doctor told me to cut back on my drinking to one a day, and I’ve found my new drinking glass,” and hoisting an enormous hurricane pitcher.

It was a perpetual stand-up routine, delivered with an auctioneer’s assured cadence, interrupted by did-he-really-say-that remarks stage-whispered to a rapt audience.

Naturally, all the sweet patter and quick asides wouldn’t have kept the lights on, if Scudder’s Gallery didn’t serve up an endless stream of 18th century furniture, English estate silver, Czechoslovakian cut crystal, Chinese porcelain, Capodimonte Figurines, Minton China, and Bulgari, Tiffany, Cartier, and David Webb Jewelry, just to name a few of the name brand treasures. The staff educated the audience on dovetailing of furniture drawers, Black Forest furniture, and the art and time required to produce genuine oriental rugs.

This curated cavalcade of treasures and Al’s irrepressible showmanship created a May-to-November sensation that spanned decades. No seasonal getaway or Plateau holiday was complete without an evening at Scudder’s.

Finally, the unrelenting schedule and Frank’s desire to retire led to the final auction on November 25, 2017.

During the three years it took to find a buyer for the sprawling Main Street building, Marlene began to entertain notions of relocating to Highlands from Atlanta. Al allowed their empty gallery to serve as her pop-up antique gallery.

Her cowhide covered settees, footstools, and one-of-a-kind creations were an instant success and she decided to move her warehouse from Atlanta to the more pastoral setting of Highlands – and here we are with her gallery on the Dillard Road.

M&Co. have maintained the family legacy of purveyors of fine 18th Century European and English furniture, fine art, and tailor-made genuine oriental rugs. Marlene and her husband Michael regularly scour Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Wales, and England for unique treasures for their patrons.

Marlene, a former designer, has a unique talent for repurposing architectural elements, old bookends, old brass, the steering wheels of vintage cars, and anything from crab traps to old barn wood into tables, lamps and wall hangings. Her aesthetic sense enables her to bring many elements together to create a warm, unique and interesting space.

Michael’s eye for art and his patient restoration talents bring old wood back to its former beauty and gives awesome lost art new homes.

M&Co. offers an eclectic array of old and new furniture, art and decorative items. Farm tables can be made to order. Select consignments are sometimes available. Browsing the store is not to be missed. If you haven’t visited already, Marlene and Michael cordially invite you to do so.

Experience the Scudder Legacy’s – 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Wednesdays through Saturdays (seasonal hours).

Who knows, Al Scudder may be there to reminisce or offer a startling story.

In a personal recollection, let me say that when my son Alex was in Mrs. Mayer’s sixth grade class at Highlands School, he chose to write a report about Scudder’s Gallery. For some reason, Al wasn’t available for an interview, but both Frank and Joan patiently answered Alex’s questions. They must have been thorough, because Alex earned an A for his report, but what stood out for him – more than an inventory of (nearly) priceless antiques and exquisite jewelry culled from estates across the globe – was the astonishing fact that Joan served him six cookies during the course of their interview.

In putting this story together, Marlene mentioned that guests at M&Co. are sometimes treated to a glass of cognac and a cigar in the outdoor garden behind the gallery.

I don’t know if she’ll serve you six cookies. Maybe you have to ask. Maybe you have to tell her you’re writing a report.

Canton grad makes move after starting at center for Florida

Cameron Dillard is playing college football for more than one team these days.

There's his current team, the North Carolina Tar Heels, where the 6-foot-4, 308-pound center landed in April as a fifth-year graduate transfer from Florida.

Then there's Team Dillard, which includes his wife Riley and 13-month-old son Emmitt, whom they legally adopted after the 2013 Canton grads eloped and got married as first-year freshmen in Gainesville.

Playing for a new program and relocating to Chapel Hill is an adjustment, but the Dillards are making it work.

"It gets tough at times, but I really have an amazing wife," Cameron said. "She definitely takes care of everything at home, gets a lot of stuff done, so she's been awesome. She supports me through everything and just takes care of anything that needs to be done at home. I can't thank her enough for that and that allows me to go to football and focus on football, so that I can take care of them next year."

Dillard, who graduated from Florida with a degree in telecommunications, transferred to UNC for his final season of eligibility following the Outback Bowl.

The red shirt junior played and started the Gators' first eight games of the 2016 season at center prior to suffering a season-ending knee injury in early November against Arkansas.

Dillard, who sat out Florida's last four games, never required knee surgery.

"I never actually even tore anything," he said. "It was up in the air about what exactly my injury was, but I never tore anything. I just sat out for the rest of the season just so my knee could heel properly."

As sophomore in 2015, Dillard started Florida's first 11 contests of the season and played in all 13 games as the Gators finished 10-4 and captured the SEC East title.

And with only one season of eligibility remaining, Dillard hopes to secure a starting position on the offensive line for UNC head coach Larry Fedora, who guided the Tar Heels last season to an 8-5 record.

"The transition has been really awesome," said Dillard, who is keeping his jersey number 54. "I think the coaching staff here at North Carolina has done an awesome job of transitioning me, been trying to get around the guys as much as possible and just really being around the program as much as I can. I'm doing extra stuff with the guys on the weekends, just trying to hang out with them as much as possible, so I can immerse myself as a leader, so the guys get to know who I am."

The former All-State and All-Observer lineman from Canton likes what he sees so far since arriving on campus.

"I feel like the coaches have done a great job," Dillard said. "I like how they run things here at school. I think this fall there's no reason why we shouldn't go to the ACC championship. With the guys I've seen and being at Florida, and stuff like that, there's great talent here at North Carolina."

Dillard, who will be asked to call out line protections at the center position, is taking a speed course in learning new terminology.

"It's been good," he said. "Most offenses are the same scheme-wise and everything. It's just new language, just different words that you use for the same combinations. It's just getting used to taking the old words that you've been using for four years and learning the new ones. But other than than that, scheme and everything like that are the same."

North Carolina plays an offensive scheme that has many of the same concepts of what Gators' head coach Jim McElwain ran at Florida.

"I think we're a high-intensity offense ... I wouldn't say spread, but we do a lot of pro style out of the gun," Dillard said. "That's what we did at Florida with the types of quarterbacks that we had there. That's the type of quarterbacks we have here at North Carolina, so it's pretty much similar for me."

And with a degree in hand, Dillard decided he needed a change of scenery where he is currently enrolled in UNC's business school pursuing a leadership certificate.

"I got injured and it just gave me an opportunity to pursue another school," he said. "When North Carolina came, I thought it was the best decision for me to go there. I thought they were going to help me position myself to get ready for the next level, and stuff like that, so I chose to come there.

"Physically I'm one hundred percent. I think this training program here has done an amazing job. Coach Fedora and his staff here are phenomenal at North Carolina. They're taking care of me here really well."

Dillard can only look now in the rear-view mirror, but he'll miss "the good friends I had built up over the last four years."

"I had some really good friends there," Dillard added. "But it wasn't that difficult because I knew that I was making the move not only for myself, but my family, so when it comes to them it's easier to make moves for other than just yourself."

Cameron met his wife, the former Riley Carpenter, late in their senior year of high school.

"One of my buddies, he's a family friend, just introduced me to her at the end of my senior year and we just hit it off, and got married, then couple of years later decided we wanted some kids," Dillard said. "I was already committed to Florida and she was going down there on a lacrosse manager scholarship."

Riley got pregnant during their sophomore year, but she lost the baby after due to a miscarriage. She shared her story online during Pregnancy Lost Month in October of 2015, which led to a Facebook message in January of 2016 from a young pregnant woman who had heard her story and had felt compelled to reach out.

After the two talked, it ultimately led to an adoption process and Emmitt Christopher was born on May 13, 2016.

Now a family of three, their team jerseys have changed to powder blue and Dillard hopes he'll get an opportunity to play the next level, which is the NFL.

"That's definitely the plan," he said. "After this season just continue to have a great year and let everything take care of itself."

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Twitter: @BradEmons1

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Most cities in America don't have a single historically Black college, but here in Raleigh, there are two. And the bond between Shaw University and Saint Augustine's University helped shape the fabric of the city. The two university presidents spoke to ABC11 about the ties that bind the schools' past and future.

First things first, when it comes to who has the better marching band, St. Aug or Shaw? Or which school will win on the football field? These two Raleigh HBCU president's loyalties are set in stone

"I take my gloves off when she comes over there to play basketball," Shaw President Paulette Dillard said jokingly.

Saint Augustine's President Christine Johnson McPhail added, "It keeps us both energetic and gets our students all hyped up."

Dillard and McPhail insist the competition ends there. They describe themselves as 'sister presidents,' and their school's relationship as a partnership. They dismissed any talk of a rivalry.

"If you hear people say that I want to succeed and Christine fail -- that's not who we are," said Dillard.

McPhail said: "It's not part of the picture that we see. We see a combined identity as HBCUs here."

At one point, there were 400 historically Black colleges in America -- just 100 remain. Raleigh has two. Shaw and SAU were both founded to educate Black people who were newly freed from slavery. They went on to become what alumni and neighbors, along the two-mile stretch that separates the schools say, are the protectors and face of its Black community.

"It's taken two very strong institutions to be able to do that in the capital of North Carolina," said Dillard. "We are working and constantly advocating for ourselves to be included in this economic booming Raleigh, as well as our neighbors all around us."

McPhail added, "We hope that we can continue to elevate the conversation so that the local legislators and the state legislators and all can see the contribution of both of the institutions. Not only to the economy but to the culture of this area."

Both HBCUs are looking for ways to boost revenue and renovate aging facilities on campus. They're pitching plans to reimagine the universities with private partnerships.

The proposed "Shaw U District" aims to rezone many university properties and then lease them to private developers. At Saint Augustine's, McPhail is finalizing plans to lease 12 acres of campus for a 320-unit multi-family project. The plans have fueled some criticism that the schools may be selling off their legacies.

"The thing that probably frustrates Christine and I the most is sometimes they give the impression that they don't think we're smart enough to run these institutions effectively; business-wise to make the best decisions," Dillard said. "We're saying, we've been through the hard stuff. We've been tested."

And as Raleigh charts its future, these two "sister presidents" say they're committed to ensuring their institutions are part of the conversation.

"Our voices must be heard. We are Raleigh," McPhail said. "And we're definitely both capable of speaking very loudly about being part of the community in a very real way."

Currently, there are 25 women serving as presidents at the nation's 100 HBCUs. That's slightly lower than the 30% of college presidents, overall, who are women. HBCU advocates say the numbers could and should be higher. But here in Raleigh, McPhail and Dillard are pledging to make sure their voices are heard.

This file will be updated frequently:

Player, High school, Pos., Signed?

Giovanni Adopte, Avant-Garde, WR/DB, Gardner-Webb

Jesse Anderson, Cardinal Gibbons, WR, Pittsburgh

Jashon Benjamin, Pahokee, RB, Rutgers

Damari Brown, American Heritage CB, Miami

Jayvant Brown, St. Thomas Aquinas, OLB, Kentucky

Justin Coles, St. Thomas Aquinas, LB, Navy

Steven Curtis, Cardinal Newman, ATH, Illinois State

Dominic Diaz, St. Thomas Aquinas, LB, Air Force

Trey DuBuc, Cardinal Gibbons, LS, South Florida

Deandre Duffus, Chaminade-Madonna OT, Maryland

Luke Evans, Chaminade-Madonna CB, Mississippi State

Daemon Fagan, American Heritage, S, N.C. State

Jordan Faison, Pine Crest, RB, Notre Dame

Mark Fletcher, American Heritage, RB, Miami

Jacorris Foreman, Pahokee LB, Tennessee State

William Fowles, Avant-Garde, WR/DB, Louisville

Maverick Gracio, Cardinal Newman, Edge, Pitt

Jackson Grier, St. Thomas Aquinas, WR, Boise State

Jason Hammond, St. Thomas Aquinas DT, Virginia

Ahmad Haston, Palm Beach Central, QB, UMass

Harlem Howard, Blanche Ely S, Oregon State

Brandon Inniss, American Heritage, WR, Ohio State

Antione Jackson, Dillard, CB, Miami

Rico Jackson, Dillard, T, N.C. State

Jayvin James, Blanche Ely, OT, Akron

Arthur Jenkins, Dillard WR, FAU

Christopher Johnson, Dillard, RB, Miami

Edwin Joseph, Chaminade-Madonna, WR, FSU

TeKai Kirby, St. Thomas Aquinas, TE, Virginia

William Larkins, Chaminade-Madonna, T, Indiana

Kerrington Lee, Dwyer, DE, Wake Forest

King Mack, St. Thomas Aquinas, S, Penn State

Tony Martin, Pahokee, QB, Western Michigan

Trevaughn Martinez, Dillard, WR, Western Carolina

Luby Maurice Jr., Palm Beach Central, WR, FIU

Micah Mays, Benjamin, WR, Wake Forest

Kyle McNeal, Dwyer, WR, FIU

Shamar McNeil, American Heritage, CB, Missouri

Daniel Michel, Dillard, OT, FIU

Ryan Mickow, St. Thomas Aquinas, OL, Boston College

Kamari Moulton, Cardinal Gibbons RB, Iowa

Blake Murphy, American Heritage, QB, Louisiana-Monroe

Parker Poloskey, Olympic Heights, TE/DE, Army

Will Prichard, Santaluces, QB, Arkansas State

Tastean Reddicks, Dillard WR, Oregon State

Dylan Rizk, Cardinal Gibbons, QB, UCF

Kimari Robinson, St. Thomas Aquinas CB, Duke

Zakiah Saez, St. Thomas Aquinas, Edge, Oregon State

Gemari Sands, St. Thomas Aquinas, RB, FAU

Broden Sobolewski, St. Thomas Aquinas, OL, Army

Darrell Sweeting, Benjamin, CB/WR, Temple

Xavier Terrell, St. Thomas Aquinas, RB, FAU

Hykeem Williams, Stranahan, WR, FSU

Javorian Wimberly, Palm Beach Central, WR, Central Michigan

Jackson Worley, King’s Academy, TE/DE, Troy

When he first set foot in Columbia, North Carolina, this summer, DeShae Dillard felt as though he’d arrived in another country.

Having grown up in a Seattle suburb, the incoming NC State student wasn’t used to being in a town where everyone knew everyone else. And he’d never really spoken to a farmer, much less heard firsthand accounts of the financial and production challenges they face.

Dillard is among nine Ph.D. students participating in a new NC State program called AgBioFEWS. That’s short for Agricultural Biotechnology in Our Evolving Food, Energy and Water Systems. The program – funded largely by the National Science Foundation through NC State’s Genetic Engineering and Society Center — kicked off this summer. Its goal is to deepen participants’ technical understanding of agriculture, biotechnology, ecology and genetics while also integrating knowledge from other fields related to creating workable agricultural biotechnology solutions.

Academic disciplines represented in the inaugural class of AgBioFEWS fellows include biomathematics, communication, functional genomics, forestry and environmental resources, plant biology, agricultural and extension education and natural resource economics. Dillard had been a pre-med student at Gonzaga University, but an undergraduate research project inspired him to shift his focus to entomology.

This summer, Dillard and the other AgBioFEWS participants spent two weeks learning about North Carolina agriculture, especially in the state’s northeastern region, where both agriculture and natural resources conservation are critical to the economy.

[pullquote align=right color=red]It’s really important for everyone, and especially researchers working in agriculture, to interact with farmers.[/pullquote]

Dillard said that visits with farmers, leaders of environmental agencies and groups, Extension agents, lenders and others gave him a deeper perspective of the impacts of agricultural biotechnology on people and the environment.

“The AgBioFEWS program challenges you to continuously grow and to view things from different angles,” he said. “I realized that it’s really important for everyone, and especially researchers working in agriculture, to really interact with farmers, step foot on a farm and see what it’s like at the ground level so you can understand things from a farmer’s perspective. That perspective is really important and can play a big role when it comes to adopting research-based agricultural solutions.”

I’m not sure. At the moment, I’m interested in exploring positions outside of academia. NC State has a lot of connections with industry and with policymakers, and quite a few individuals outside of academia speak here. I think this will be a good place to explore a range of opportunities.

I got my undergraduate degree at Gonzaga University, where there is a big emphasis on studying multiple disciplines. That was important to me, and what drew me to AgBioFEWS is the fact that you get to work in an interdisciplinary group. In this day and age when you’re working in science, you need to be flexible and able to work across fields.

Each discipline has a way of viewing the world and reviewing certain problems. As an entomologist, the major question I might ask is, “What kind of pest problems do you see on your farm?” But when someone from another discipline approaches the farmer, they come from a different angle. If they’re from communications, for example, they might be interested in how that farmer interacts with society and how that impacts their decisions on the farm. Sometimes it’s important to come at things from a completely different perspective or from multiple perspectives.

When I started looking at grad schools, I knew I wanted to do something with insects, but I was much more interested in applied research and figuring out how I could make larger impacts at the national and global level. With insects, the largest thing that you can really focus on is pest management in agriculture.

Right now, I’m interested in looking at alternative methods to reduce pests. A lot of times we focus on biotechnologies and on chemical applications like pesticides and herbicides, but there are a lot of other areas that you can focus on – cultural techniques, for example. I’m interested in how we can use other techniques, along with chemicals and biotechnologies, to overcome the challenge farmers face of having insect pests quickly build up resistance to the technologies we use. This poses a big risk when it comes to global food security.

[pullquote align=left color=red]Farming is a much more complicated process than I imagined.[/pullquote]The whole goal of this two weeks was just to get a snapshot of what agriculture looks like in Northeastern North Carolina, and then from there, we’re going to use all of that information we collected to develop a research project geared toward that specific area.

A lot of us in the program, including me, come from nonagricultural backgrounds and have very preconceived notions of what farming is like and how farming is done. Through this experience, I’ve learned that farming is a much more complicated process than I imagined. Farming has a lot of key serious issues that it’s facing right now, and it needs the help of both the general public and scientists to overcome these issues.