Lanny R. Levenson
03-10-2005, 07:34 AM
I saw this article about the "Cookie Lady of Afton Mountain" and thought people might be interested.
Lanny
BY BOB STUART
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE Mar 7, 2005
AFTON, VA
For nearly 30 years, June Haven Curry of Afton has provided a
welcome oasis for weary cyclists, offering them shelter, food and the
warmth of a surrogate mother and grandmother.
The walls of Curry's "bike house," where people traveling the
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail stop in Afton, are blanketed with
postcards and other reminders of the 12,000 bike riders she has
hosted since 1976.
There are also books, photos, journals and scrapbooks detailing her
visitors at the bike house, a separate building near her residence
that she keeps stocked with food, drinks and other provisions.
She has been dubbed "The Cookie Lady of Afton" for her offering of
refreshments to travelers, and she was once featured on the late CBS
reporter Charles Kuralt's "On The Road" segment.
But for now, Curry must put her hospitality on hold and recover from a
stroke she suffered last month. She is in Augusta Medical Center's
skilled-nursing area, where each day she works her way back from the
stroke that paralyzed her left side. Curry is now able to stand, and
she works out on cardiovascular machines. Since her stroke Feb. 20,
Curry has recovered the use of her left arm but still has weakness in
her left leg.
"She is doing really well," said Joyce Cooke of Waynesboro, a close
friend to Curry over the past decade. Cooke keeps a daily vigil at
Curry's hospital room. "She'll get a little discouraged, and the
muscles get tired in her left leg," Cooke said of the recovery effort.
Curry, 84, finds it difficult to fathom how she became "The Cookie
Lady of Afton," and so well-known in bicycling circles.
The Adventure Cycling Association now sponsors the June Curry Trail
Angel Award in honor of Curry's many contributions to cyclists.
"I don't like to ride bikes, and I don't like to cook," she said.
But while she kept close to her Nelson County home, the world came to
her. Cyclists from several countries have visited, including one from
Portugal, who sent her a picture of his hometown and a letter, and
told her she reminded him of a verse in the Bible.
"Some go to church with me. Some sing, and some talk. One was an
accordion player," she said.
One child in a cycling family who visited when only 22 months old has
now graduated from West Point. Curry received a graduation
announcement. "So many of the boys bring their girlfriends. Some call
me 'Mother' and some 'Grandmother,'" she said. In 1996, more than
100 of her former guests held a reunion. And upon hearing of Curry's
illness, a cycling family of three from Bennettsville, S.C., made
plans to visit her in the hospital.
Cooke's students at Bethany Lutheran Preschool in Waynesboro each
year do a Project Love to help Curry open the bike house. "The
children bring in pasta, peanut butter and other things," Cooke said.
She said her classroom is now full of such items waiting for delivery
to Curry.
Cooke said Curry's target date for release from the hospital is
Friday [March 4-she was actually released Tues March 8]. And time is
approaching for the bike house to open. But Curry said she will take
things slow. She hopes to soon be using a walker. "I won't be able to
do it without help," she said of a return to full activity at the
bike house. The walk from her house to the bike house involves hills.
"I hope I can," she said. "I will miss it if I can't."
Bob Stuart is a staff writer at The News Virginian in Waynesboro.
Lanny
BY BOB STUART
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE Mar 7, 2005
AFTON, VA
For nearly 30 years, June Haven Curry of Afton has provided a
welcome oasis for weary cyclists, offering them shelter, food and the
warmth of a surrogate mother and grandmother.
The walls of Curry's "bike house," where people traveling the
TransAmerica Bicycle Trail stop in Afton, are blanketed with
postcards and other reminders of the 12,000 bike riders she has
hosted since 1976.
There are also books, photos, journals and scrapbooks detailing her
visitors at the bike house, a separate building near her residence
that she keeps stocked with food, drinks and other provisions.
She has been dubbed "The Cookie Lady of Afton" for her offering of
refreshments to travelers, and she was once featured on the late CBS
reporter Charles Kuralt's "On The Road" segment.
But for now, Curry must put her hospitality on hold and recover from a
stroke she suffered last month. She is in Augusta Medical Center's
skilled-nursing area, where each day she works her way back from the
stroke that paralyzed her left side. Curry is now able to stand, and
she works out on cardiovascular machines. Since her stroke Feb. 20,
Curry has recovered the use of her left arm but still has weakness in
her left leg.
"She is doing really well," said Joyce Cooke of Waynesboro, a close
friend to Curry over the past decade. Cooke keeps a daily vigil at
Curry's hospital room. "She'll get a little discouraged, and the
muscles get tired in her left leg," Cooke said of the recovery effort.
Curry, 84, finds it difficult to fathom how she became "The Cookie
Lady of Afton," and so well-known in bicycling circles.
The Adventure Cycling Association now sponsors the June Curry Trail
Angel Award in honor of Curry's many contributions to cyclists.
"I don't like to ride bikes, and I don't like to cook," she said.
But while she kept close to her Nelson County home, the world came to
her. Cyclists from several countries have visited, including one from
Portugal, who sent her a picture of his hometown and a letter, and
told her she reminded him of a verse in the Bible.
"Some go to church with me. Some sing, and some talk. One was an
accordion player," she said.
One child in a cycling family who visited when only 22 months old has
now graduated from West Point. Curry received a graduation
announcement. "So many of the boys bring their girlfriends. Some call
me 'Mother' and some 'Grandmother,'" she said. In 1996, more than
100 of her former guests held a reunion. And upon hearing of Curry's
illness, a cycling family of three from Bennettsville, S.C., made
plans to visit her in the hospital.
Cooke's students at Bethany Lutheran Preschool in Waynesboro each
year do a Project Love to help Curry open the bike house. "The
children bring in pasta, peanut butter and other things," Cooke said.
She said her classroom is now full of such items waiting for delivery
to Curry.
Cooke said Curry's target date for release from the hospital is
Friday [March 4-she was actually released Tues March 8]. And time is
approaching for the bike house to open. But Curry said she will take
things slow. She hopes to soon be using a walker. "I won't be able to
do it without help," she said of a return to full activity at the
bike house. The walk from her house to the bike house involves hills.
"I hope I can," she said. "I will miss it if I can't."
Bob Stuart is a staff writer at The News Virginian in Waynesboro.