In The Grove
News of Seagrove and Surrounding Communities
April - May 2010
Events Calendar
April
17 & 18
2nd Annual Celebration of
Spring in Seagrove - over 50
participating area potteries
23 - 25
2nd Annual Seagrove Pottery
Festival at Greensboro
Coliseum - over 90
participating potteries from
Seagrove and other parts of NC busy month for Seagrove.
24 & 25
Luck’s Ware: NC Museum of
History Artist at Work (Sid
Luck) in Raleigh
25
11th Annual Benefit Auction at take place April 23, 24 and
North Carolina Pottery Center
May
1&2
Sanford Pottery Festival -
several Seagrove area potteries than 50 shops this year.
will participate
4 the pottery festival can be
Seagrove Town Council
Meeting - 7:30 p.m.
5 - 28
JKL Jewelry and Jugtown
Pottery at Campbell House in
Southern Pines
8 and through Ticketmaster.
From the Ground Up and
Avery Pottery - The Art of
Craft at Rosedale House in
Charlotte
8&9
JKL Jewelry at Dunwoody Art
Festival in Dunwoody, GA
15
Luck’s Ware at 7th Annual
Potters on Gaffney’s Old Field
in Gaffney, SC
To list your event:
(336) 879-6950
professional_page@rtmc.net
Volume 1, Issue 1
Spring in Seagrove
The days are getting longer, the Brochures about the event can be
weather is getting warmer, birds are picked up at the NC Pottery Center and
chirping, flowers are budding, and participating potteries. More information
Seagrove is bustling with activity. Spring can also be found on the Seagrove Area
is one of the busiest times of year for Potters Association Web site,
potters. They are preparing for festivals, www.discoverseagrove.com. Click the link
celebrations and kiln for area events.
openings. Over 90 potteries from
April is a particularly Seagrove and other parts of
North Carolina will be
nd
The 2 Annual Celebration participating in the Seagrove
of Spring will take place Pottery Festival in
Greensboro at the
April 17 and 18, and the 2nd
Greensboro Coliseum
Annual Seagrove Pottery
Special Events Center.
Festival in Greensboro will
Several wineries will also be
on hand to sell their wares
25.
and offer wine tastings.
The Celebration of
Seagrove Orchids will be
Spring is a local event,
there, as well.
which will include more
The event will include
pottery demonstrations and
Potters will be unveiling
a raffle. Information about
new works with kiln Photo courtesy of Samantha Henneke
openings, studio tours and 2009 Kiln firing at Luck’s Ware
picked up at the NC
open houses. Each
Museum of Traditional
participating shop will have something
Pottery, or found on the museum Web site,
special for visitors.
www.seagrovepotteryheritage.com.
Several of those participating in the
Coupons for $1 off admission are available
Celebration will hold live demonstrations,
at the museum. Tickets are $7 at the door
give away door prizes, and offer
refreshments.
Letter from Editor
I am excited to present the first issue of In The Grove. My purpose is to inform visitors
and local residents about what is happening in the Seagrove community.
The newsletter will cover events, town council meetings and locally-owned business
profiles.. Three businesses will be profiled each month. Seagrove mayor, Allen Hale, has
also agreed to use this as a forum to answer any questions readers may have for him or
Seagrove Town Council.
I look forward to working with all of you to help make this a positive and informative
addition for the whole community.
Sincerely,
Rhonda McCanless

Sandra O’Quinn loves pottery.
Her husband, Glenn McNeill, loves
pottery, too. He likes bass fishing a
little bit more, but he’s still quite fond
of pottery. The friendly and down-to-
earth couple run O’Quinn Pottery on
Busbee Road.
Sandra started O’Quinn Pottery in
1989. About a year before she opened
her shop, Mack Chrisco of Chrisco
Pottery allowed Sandra to play around
on his wheel to see if pottery really
interested her. She discovered that
she loved turning and took a few
classes at Randolph Community
College before opening her own shop.
After 21 years in the business,
Sandra still enjoys her work. “Pottery
is my hobby and my job because I
love doing it. There’s nothing else I
want to do but pottery,” Sandra says.
Glenn and Sandra got married
about 17 years ago. Glenn had some
experience working with clay from a
Community Treasures
O’Quinn Pottery
job he had at Cole’s Pottery before he to describe the array of colors they
met Sandra. After they married,
Glenn helped in the pottery shop
occasionally when he had time off
from his job at Johnie Allen’s sawmill. Saturday.
Five years later, he quit his job at the
sawmill to work with Sandra in the
pottery shop full time. He learned
how to turn by watching Sandra.
Sandra does most of the turning at
O’Quinn and all of the fluting. Glenn
makes all of the bread baskets, and
does some slab work and turning. All
of their pottery is high-fired in a gas
kiln. Everything is microwave and
oven safe.
O’Quinn Pottery’s glossy
dinnerware, serving dishes and
decorative pieces come in a variety of
colors. Customers at their shop help
Sandra and Glenn name their glazes.
Blackberry Burst, Peacock Blue,
Misty River and Gorgeous Gray
Green, are some of the names chosen
have available in their shop.
O’Quinn Pottery is open from 9
a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through

Delicate scents circulated by warm
breezes tickle your nose. Orchids in a
rainbow of colors display their
brilliance as far as the eye can see.
They invite you to take a closer look…
and a closer sniff. The senses tingle
when you walk inside the greenhouses
at Seagrove Orchids. It makes it easy
to imagine being in a garden at a
tropical resort.
Luckily, there’s no need to renew
a passport or pack a bag to experience
this for yourself. Seagrove Orchids is
located just outside of Seagrove, down
Brower Mill Road. A painted sign on
Highway 705 leads the way.
Linda Thorne opened Seagrove
Orchids about 11 years ago, when she
moved to the area from Maryland.
She wanted a location closer to her
parents and found a nice farm with a
pond that suited her purposes.
Using money from her pocket,
Linda bought the signs for Seagrove
Orchids and the rest is history. Her
Seagrove Orchids
different orchids, something Linda has
done hundreds of times. Sixteen of
those crosses have been successful and
produced viable seeds. Mary Thorne,
named after her mother, Seagrove’s
V.I.P., Trissy Cora and Seagrove
Sweet Petite received AOS awards.
Linda says that “teaching people
about orchids and seeing their facial
expressions when they come into the
greenhouse,” is the best part of her
job. According to her, the secret to a
beautiful orchid is to make sure they
business has remained debt free and get plenty of light and are not over-
successful ever since – almost a watered.
miracle in today’s economy. Seagrove Orchids is open year
Hard work and patience have paid round, Tuesday through Saturday from
off in more ways than one for Linda. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Linda will be
She has won more than 50 awards participating in the Seagrove Pottery
from the American Orchid Society Festival in Greensboro, April 23-25
(AOS). AOS awards are granted for and the Sanford Pottery Festival, May
culture and/or flower quality. 1-2. For more information about
Some of those awards have been Seagrove Orchids, visit the Web site,
for Linda’s own creations, or hybrids. http://seagroveorchids.com.
Hybrids are created by crossing
 Wyndham/Brooke Haven Pottery
Wyndham and Melanie Dennison
cheerfully greet visitors who come to
their shop, Wyndham/Brooke Haven
Pottery, which is nestled behind
Village Pottery in downtown
Seagrove.
Folks can tell immediately that
they are happy to be doing what they
are doing, and happy to be in
Seagrove. “I’m really proud to be a
part of it because there’s a tremendous
amount of talent here,” Melanie says.
Pottery fills the well lit shelves.
Handmade scarves, shawls and hats,
made by Melanie, shimmer on racks.
Landscape oil paintings, made by
Wyndham, adorn the walls.
Wyndham and Melanie are both
responsible for the colorful stoneware
and crystalline lining the shelves.
Melanie slab builds serving
dishes, dinnerware and jewelry for her
Classic Clay Jewelry line. Wyndham
turns dinnerware, challises and vases,
and formulates glazes. All of the
pottery is food safe.
Wyndham admired impressionist
paintings in galleries that he visited as
a teenager and young adult living in
Charleston, SC. When he was living
in Texas, he trained with Harding
Black, a potter famous for his glaze
(910)464-0380 or (336)879-9783
2555 NC Hwy 705 North
Dover Pottery
321 Dover Pottery Drive
(910) 464-3586
work. The two experiences inspired
Wyndham to create impressionistic
style glazes in a myriad of colors.
The Dennisons are constantly
experimenting with different forms
and glazes. “Every kiln load gives
you the excitement to keep going and
move in different directions,”
Wyndham says.
Melanie and Wyndham have both
been making pottery for 24 years.
Wyndham took several pottery
workshops in Austin, Texas and at the PREVO DRUGS
Mesa Art Center in Arizona. Melanie
Independent Pharmacists that Care About You
took pottery classes from Mike Ferree
at Montgomery Community College.
Tom Gray Pottery
n2clay.com
Benjamin & Bonnie Burns
Potters
437 N. Broad Street
Seagrove, NC 27341
(336) 873-8066
www.greatwhiteoakgallery.com
Both had individual shops before they
married and merged their businesses
12 years ago.
Wyndham/Brooke Haven Pottery
is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday, and from
12 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday. The
shop will participate in the Celebration
of Spring, April 17-18, the Seagrove
Pottery Festival in Greensboro, April
23-25, and the Sanford Pottery
Festival, May 1-2.
Community Treasures profiles three
locally-owned businesses each month.
NC Wildlife Hunting License
and Vessel Registration Agent
Notary Public
Wheat Straw, Pine Straw, Fertilizer
(336) 873-7621
510 North Broad Street
Seagrove, NC
(336) 873-8246
M-F 8:30 - 6:00
Sat 9:00 - 1:00
Jerry P. Moore, PharmD.
Dairy Breeze
311 N. Broad Street
Seagrove, NC
(336) 873-7612
In The Grove is made and distributed by:
Newsletter Service
To list an event, purchase an ad or
send in a question for the mayor,
please contact:
Rhonda McCanless
(336) 879-6950
professional_page@rtmc.net

April Town Council Meeting
Seagrove town council members
discussed plans to beautify Seagrove
and create a more pedestrian-friendly
downtown at the April 6 meeting.
A motion was passed for the town
to collect written bids for street
maintenance. Clean-up would include
brush removal, shoulder mowing, and
trimming trees back 15 feet from the
center line on secondary roads. Mayor
Allen Hale said he would talk with the
N.C. Department of Transportation
about filling in potholes.
Written bids will also be accepted
to beautify City Park. Council
members are looking for someone to
maintain trails, trees, grass and
bathrooms at the park. Cathy Cross
will gather bids and head up the
Beautification Committee.
Rev. Dr. Ronnie Chaney from
Union Grove Baptist Church and Rev.
Howard McNeill from Maple Springs
Baptist Church were granted
permission to run an underground
electrical feed in City Park. They
were also granted permission to
replace some of the playground
equipment.
Seagrove Town News
Commissioner David Fernandez
proposed that council members and
citizens consider ways to make
Seagrove better for pedestrians. Hale
agreed to talk to the N.C. DOT about
installing crosswalks and lowering the
speed limit to 25 mph in downtown
Seagrove. Another benefit of
lowering the speed limit would be
reduced traffic noise.
Council members discussed plans
for a sign at the Visitor’s Center on
U.S. 220 Bypass. The sign would
welcome visitors to Seagrove, the
pottery capital of the U.S. and feature
the town seal, created by Nadine
Johnson. Barbara Murphy has
volunteered to raise the money needed
to complete the sign.
Commissioners also dedicated the
week of April 10 through April 17 as
Kid’s Week in Seagrove per a request
from the Randolph County Child
Development Center.
A town ordinance requires lots in
Seagrove be a minimum of 30,000
square-feet. The LDDK Pottery
building was built before the
ordinance was in effect. A variance
on lot size for the building was
approved in order to allow purchase of
the building. Will McCanless, the
potential buyer, plans to open a gallery
in the space.
McCanless has applied for a
$12,000 grant from the N.C. Rural
Center in regards to the gallery. A
condition of the grant is the hiring of
one full-time employee for a minimum
of one year. If awarded, the grant will
be provided to Seagrove to pass along
to McCanless. Council members
approved the use of Seagrove to pass
along the grant.
Council members would like to
remind anyone planning an event that
Seagrove does have a vendors’
ordinance that requires vendors to
apply to hold an event. Anyone
interested in hosting an event can
obtain an application by calling
Seagrove Town Hall at 873-7307.
Applications must be presented at
a town council meeting at least one
month before the event will take place.
Town council meetings occur on the
first Tuesday of each month at 7:30
p.m.

Questions for the Mayor

McCanless Pottery
Part of my campaign promise was to have a way for the town’s people of
Seagrove to be able to keep up with what was happening. Many thanks for
Rhonda McCanless for all her hard work in making this a reality. Hopefully
you will enjoy the newsletter, as I believe it will increase interest in what is
going on in our town. It seems that if you work hard enough and have faith, the
Lord will provide.
In the coming months you will not only have a chance to read about
Seagrove Town Council’s activities, but hopefully you will learn more about
each of your commissioners, and yes, even more about your mayor. In future 634 NC Hwy 705 - (336) 879-3610
articles, we plan to let you know how votes in council meetings will affect your www.mccanlesspottery.com
lives here and how things you feel are important were voted on. Remember it is
your town and those of us on the town council represent you. If you have any April hath put a spirit of youth in
questions or comments, feel free to express yourself in the newsletter. Rhonda everything. ~William Shakespeare
is offering me a column to answer your questions or comments about your local
government.
This newsletter will be distributed throughout the area. I wish Rhonda, and
all those involved, the best of luck and my support in this venture.
Allen Hale
Mayor of Seagrove