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WEEKLY NEWSPAPER Our 33rd Year • Over 25,000 Weekly Readers ISSUE NO. 15 • April 10, 2025 • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408
Rutherford native participates in National Band program Article Provided By: Jean Gordon. Photos Contributed. Gardner-Webb University (GWU) senior Connor Settlemyre, of Rutherfordton is back at school after being a percussionist in the National Small Band Programs Intercollegiate Band in Fort Worth, Texas. He is the first student from GWU to be selected for this honor. The concert, featured 124 musicians, and was held in conjunction with the 2025 National Conference of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA). Accompanying him on the trip to Texas was Dr. Sarah Fabian, director of bands and assistant professor of music at GWU. Connor is the son of Greg and Kelly Settlemyre of Rutherfordton and is a graduate of R-S Central High School where he played in the band. He was also a member of the R-S Middle School band. “We are so proud of him,” said his mom, Kelly Settlemyre, minister of music/education at Spencer Baptist Church. “I am incredibly proud of Connor and all that he has accomplished throughout his college career,” said Fabian. “He has shown tremendous dedication and hard work, and this performance represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m honored to have played a small role in helping him reach this remarkable milestone.” During an interview after his return home, Connor talked about how his interest in music began.
highest performing as well. “Growing up, music was Being able to perform with always around me. My mom, musicians from across the uncle, and brother are all in country helped to create music so I was mixed in with interaction that would be it all the time,” Connor said. impossible otherwise. For “I think that this upbringing instance, in the percussion is what pushed me towards section, we had a student music, but I was never from Alaska. This experience forced to go into it. When we also allowed me to see would go watch my brother’s a conductor from across high school marching band the country to learn new competitions, I was always educational strategies from drawn toward the percussion him. This whole experience instruments. My mom was helped develop my skills as a also a percussionist in high musician, as a performer and school and college. When as an educator.” it came time for me to join Connor said he was most the band in middle school, inspired to pursue music from percussion was just what I his high school band director, really gravitated towards,” he Broderick Jones. said. “Mr. Jones showed me Connor was a member of just how much of an impact the R-S Central high school a teacher can make on and middle school bands. students’ lives. No matter “Both of these programs helped pave the way for me Connor Settlemyre of Rutherfordton in Texas. what we were doing, I could always tell that he deeply to have success in college. cared about me and the other Other than music literacy, students; we were his number I learned valuable leadership one priority.” Connor said. skills that would help me in my “The most important part of education classes and in the being a music educator is the education field. My band director’s students. Mr. Jones showed me at both R-S Middle (Mr. Walker that music is just the vessel we and Mr. Kisner) and R-S Central use to care for the students. Mr. (Mr. Jones) were also very Jones would stay after school influential in my music career. as often as I needed him to just These individuals continued to to make sure I could practice for push me everyday to practice my college audition. During the and get better. They helped me COVID shutdown, he would go to believe in myself and continue Connor with Dr. Sarah Fabian. out of his way to have marching to be ambitious within my musical special group. This was by far band leadership zoom calls to career.” “I want to thank CBDNA for the the largest ensemble I have ever check in on us and see if we were opportunity to perform in such a been a part of and probably the doing okay while still giving us
ways to push ourselves despite the circumstances. All of this to say, Mr. Jones showed me what it really means to be an educator and he is the reason I am where I am today.” Connor graduates in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, emphasis on music education and a minor in youth discipleship studies. He is doing an internship as a music teacher as he completes his college education. “After graduation, I hope to become a high school band director,” Connor said. “I want to inspire students in the same way that I was inspired by my directors. I also hope to be able to lead by example and help students to achieve their goals and aspirations. Overall, I want to provide the same experiences I was blessed to have with my future students.” For anyone interested in pursuing music, Connor encourages them to never give up. “There have definitely been days where I felt like I was not good enough or where I was really questioning why I was doing it but those are the days that you have the most impactful breakthroughs. A career in music is not easy but I believe that it is the most rewarding. Music has the power to convey what words simply can’t. That’s why people relate with music so much. Music has taken me all across the United States and I couldn’t imagine what my life would be without it.”
Ruff’ton Roots Plant Sale April 26 the lower fields along Edwards Street, potatoes at Norris Park and sweet potatoes in the original plot off Hospital Drive. The return of Sunflower Days and Empty Bowls will be later this season. All food grown at Ruff’ton Roots is shared with the community by donations to local food pantries and through the Free Produce Stand at St. Gabriel’s Jericho Road Kitchen on Wednesdays, starting the last weeks of April. The Ruff’ton Roots Gardens at 128 Hospital Drive and LeRoy Mull Drive are open for visitors, with Safe Pathways signage for a self-guided tour, thanks to the generous fundraising effort from Rutherford Women’s League. Visitors are asked not to pick or harvest, unless invited to do so by volunteers. Additional support for Ruff’ton Roots is provided by the Town of Rutherfordton, Rutherfordton Public Works, the Rutherfordton Garden Club, Broad River Water Authority, and private donations. To learn more visit rufftonroots.org or email rufftonroots@gmail. com. Article Provided By: Ruff’ton Roots
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Ruff’ton Roots Community Garden announces the return of the Plant Sale Saturday, April 26 from 10am-12pm, under the shade sails at 128 Hospital Drive, Rutherfordton. Parking is available in the lot off Edwards Street (turn in at the Ruff’ton Roots sign). This is a celebratory kick off of the fifth growing season for the Garden. The Ruff’ton Roots Plant Sale is a collaboration of Community Garden volunteers growing chemical free plants as a fundraiser for the Garden’s annual operating expenses including seed, soil amendments and irrigation purchases. Plants are available in 6 packs and 4’’ pots, at $4 suggested donations. The sale will offer varieties of herbs, vegetables, and beneficial flowers and information guides on companion planting for home gardens and volunteers sharing their garden knowledge and experience. It is recommended to arrive early as it is expected to sell out. Sales will not begin until 10am. At the Gardens, volunteers have added newly planted fruit trees and expanded vegetables in