Fall 2025
Hello Everyone
After a long hot summer of mowing grass every 5 days, the cool weather is finally here! I think my grass crop was the best ever, growing thick and fast. I mowed on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and it looks better than all summer. No thick clumps all over the yard, which looks bad to me. My Z-turn mower is wonderful.
After years of having cows, horses, donkeys, peacocks, cats and dogs, the only thing around here now is a few bantam chickens. The rooster “Young Bill Johnson” and one of his hens hatched 5 chicks this year, less than usual. We are still looking for just the “right” dog for The Onley Place. It will be hard to replace our beloved beagle “Highball”.
I had a partial knee replacement in March on my left knee, which seems to take longer to heal than I thought it should. I am however able to do some light work now, but can’t pick up anything heavy yet. After the first of the year, I’ll have a full replacement of my right knee. It’s hard to sit on the couch and heal when there’s so much to do, but I’ll make it. Operating my Z-turn is an easy task thank goodness.
We finally had some much needed electrical work done on the barn, which was long overdue. Our breaker box was completely full with no room to add any other circuits. The Electrician moved the meter from the side of the barn to the back, and a 2nd breaker box added beside it. Later, I had cut a piece of red tin to put over the spot where the old meter was, when I screwed directly into the lead wire for the existing breaker box. “POW”. Luckily, the drill handle was plastic and I didn’t get shocked, but the electric spark ran down the side of the building (the siding is tin) and sparked into the pine straw in the flowerbed. This caused a big fire which I couldn’t put out. I called 911 and one of the local volunteer firemen was here in just a couple of minutes with a fire extinguisher. The only damage was a little char on some of the floor boards. Thank you Belvidere/Chappell Hill Volunteer Fire Department !!!!
For about 20 years now, I have been collecting OLD houses. Something inside me just wants to save them. We now have the 1765 White/Rountree house, the 1791 Willis Riddick house, the 1850 Abner Eason house, and two circa 1900 kitchens that were attached to houses by a breezeway. And just before my knee surgery we moved the 1762 Joel Hollowell house. They are all small houses, 16’ X 26’, the two oldest ones are just one room which had a fireplace on one end, and two are two-room houses.
Three of the houses were set down on a log sleigh and pulled here by tractor. For the ones further away, we took the roof and porches off, jacked them up and backed a low-boy trailer under them, and I drove the truck all the way here.
Our neighbor and friend Kenny Haines and his son Ben pulled the last one here. Their John Deere tractors pulled it across the field, down the road, across the field and over ditches to get it here. MUCH thanks to Kenny and Ben to save history.
The houses are restored and always open for folks to walk through at our shows.
And by the way, all money spent on the house comes from my personal account.
I’ve always said that the shows we do were never designed to make a profit, just to generate enough funds to pay for the show. But the shows, like everything now days, are costing much more to produce. After a lot of consideration, we have to raise our tickets to $35 per person to continue. We hope you understand and keep coming out to enjoy great music and fellowship with us.
Our upcoming shows are listed below, and we hope to see you soon. Gene is already thinking about decorating for Christmas!
October 18th, 2025 Dickie Sanders will be here with his band “Little Dickie & The Misfits” for some good Country Music, along with the regulars.
December 5 & 6 Adam Nixon and the “Hallelujah Crew” will be here for out Christmas Show, with Jo White and all the regulars.
February 13 & 14, 2026 “Out-N-The Cold” will again woo us for Valentines, along with our regulars.
April 11, 2026 Mike Evans and “Bandit” will be here, along with Muskrat Reams on the pedal steel, and the regulars.
Steve Casper 252.297.2347 Gene Baker 252.297.2068