Possum Philosophy: Celebrating cranberries of Shady Grove

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

One of the few good things I can find about this time of year is that with Thanksgiving coming soon we begin to see cranberries everywhere. Now that may not mean much to most folks, but I love cranberries. Yes, I love cranberry sauce with Thanksgiving dinner. The taste is wonderful and provides a perfect complement for turkey and dressing.
However, unlike many folks, who think cranberry sauce is good only one day a year, I could eat the tart, semi-sweet treat almost every day. I prefer the chunky kind that has more berries than jelly, but I’ll take it anyway I can get it. I especially like cranberry relish in general and particularly the kind that my dear friend Linda Midgett makes so well.
However, with modern science and research, we now know that cranberries are what are called a “superfruit” that is crammed full of all sorts of stuff that is good for us health wise. It’s so good, it’s almost enough to spoil my pleasure in eating them. And the cranberry growers, mainly centered in the northeastern United States and lower parts of Canada, are now producing everything from energy drinks based on cranberry juice to trail mix and other snacks made from the delicious berries. As a true cranberry fan, I like about everything flavored by or made from cranberries. Cranberry juice has some potential medicinal properties, under study for the cardiovascular system as well as kidney and bladder areas.
Many of you may not realize it, but some scientists believe that it was native populations of cranberries in our region that saved this delicious treat (or so I think) from extinction during the last Ice Age. As glaciers formed and began to move southward, vegetation, such as the existing northern cranberries, were apparently destroyed. This region was just south of the lower edge of glacial travel in the southeastern U.S. Thanks to small populations of cranberries that survived in the Shady Valley, Tenn., area as well as parts of western North Carolina, the retreating glaciers allowed these bogs to provide starts for repopulating areas farther north.
According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia (en.wikipedia.org), the common cranberry (Oxycoccos palustris) is also known as the Northern Cranberry. Here in our region the cranberries are usually the Southern Mountain Cranberry or (Oxycoccos erythrocarpus) and grow in the higher elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains. The plant derived its name because the early European settlers thought its stem, flower, calyx and petals resembled the head and bill of a crane.
Cranberries were a staple of the Native Americans who called the red berries Sassamanash. It was most likely the Native Americans that introduced it to the pilgrim settlers in Massachusetts where it quickly became a traditional part of Thanksgiving holidays.
Shady Valley sits in a bowl formed by the Iron, Cross and Holston mountains. It is close to Damascus in Virginia and Mountain City in Tennessee. For years the valley bottom was bog-like, a perfect habitat for cranberries to grow. It was also heavily forested. As settlers moved in they began cutting the trees to open fields for farming. However, much of the area remained far too marsh-like to become good croplands (other than for cranberries).
Unfortunately, rather than realizing its potential as an unusual regional cash crop, the Army Corps of Engineers, in the early 1960s, undertook an extensive drainage project to improve the area’s potential for agriculture. However, the project when completed (at no doubt a huge cost) did not succeed. It did drain the area enough to destroy all but a few tiny sections of the native cranberry bogs. But it did not drain the area well enough to make the prime cropland they had hoped to create. Fortunately, the Nature Conservancy, along with some local assistance from various citizens, including the local Ruritan Club (which maintains a nursery of cranberry plants to help with restoration), is working diligently to restore the cranberry to the valley.
Another species, this time animal, not plant is also on the verge of extinction. It is a turtle, known as the bog turtle. According to the Web site Appalachian Voices (http://www.appvoices.org), Ben Tyron, a curator at the Knoxville Zoo, has been studying these turtles since 1986. Tyron was quoted as saying that this species of turtle is not found in significant numbers outside of Shady Valley. He estimated he has found fewer than 100 of them in the area. He is now using radio telemetry to further track these turtles. Apparently, the once thriving turtle population was decimated by poachers raiding the bogs.
Now readers may be wondering why I am so interested in Shady Valley. There are a number of reasons. It is an absolutely beautiful Appalachian valley, with some extremely interesting attributes such as the cranberries and the bog turtles. At this time of year, it is a great place to go for autumn leaf viewing. Motorcyclists love the ride across the mountain from Bristol on Tn. Rt. 421 (called by these bikers, “The Snake” due to its curvy nature) with its steep mountain full of sharp turns. The drive from Damascus is much less tiring and just as beautiful.
But the main reason is each October on the second weekend, the community holds its annual Cranberry Festival. The festival itself is not affiliated with the Nature Conservancy and its restoration efforts. However, the Conservancy normally has tours of its bogs and efforts during the weekend.  But that is not the only attraction.
This year, according to local resident and member of the festival’s board of directors Karen Anderson, there are numerous activities scheduled. There will be a Bean Supper at the elementary school on Friday night, followed by an auction featuring arts and crafts items by local craftspeople. They also will have Shady Valley’s own Gee-Haw (yes, it’s modeled after Hee-Haw) in the school gym Saturday evening.
Other interesting events include helicopter rides, music, numerous food vendors, arts, crafts, inflatable rides, a climbing wall, and an antique car show as well as an antique tractor show. All proceeds from the festival go to benefit the Shady Valley Elementary School which enjoys its 70th anniversary this year.
So this weekend, if you are looking for an inexpensive way to get out and enjoy the season, consider the drive to Shady Valley. It is a beautiful place to visit, full of interesting history and magnificent sights. And especially on this weekend, it is also full of fun things to do. 

A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.