Fuquay-Varina
(One) Home of the Sweet Potato (The Bus 3.21)
Welcome aboard The Bus!
The Stop
Fuquay-Varina is a small town in Wake County, North Carolina. Originally known as ‘Piney Woods,’ the town acquired the first half of its unusual name from a French veteran of the Revolutionary War, William Fuquay, who moved his family to the area in 1805. When his son, Stephen, was plowing a field in 1858, a mineral spring was discovered, and soon ‘taking the waters’ drew people with ‘all types of physical ailments,’ and hotels catering to long-term visitors sprung up around the area. The second half of the name comes from a young Civil War soldier named Ballentine who began receiving ‘morale-boosting letters’ from a Fayetteville, North Carolina lady who signed her letters with the pen name ‘Varina.’ After the war, Ballentine married her and brought her to his home just south of the mineral spring. Continuing to call her by her pen name, he named his post office and shop after her, and when two timber rail lines were built nearby ‘Varina Station’ - and soon thereafter the double-barrelled name - was born. And then came the sweet potatoes.1
First introduced by the Lumbee tribe,2 by the early 1900s, sweet potatoes were a major crop in Fuquay-Varina. The constantly-growing town became home to several sweet potato canneries, and the crop was shipped all over the country. Though the industry declined in the mid-20th century due to the rise of corn and soybeans, in recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in Fuquay-Varina sweet potatoes. Grown by small holders and commercial farmers alike, sweet potato farms can be found throughout the town and surrounding area, and every October the town hosts the Sweet Potato Festival, featuring numerous events including a sweet potato cook-off, parade and street fair.
Despite its name, the sweet potato is only distantly related to the potato. Belonging to the bindweed or morning glory family, the plant’s large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots can be either white, yellow, orange, red, or purple. While the colour of the tuber’s flesh can vary, sweet potatoes are excellent sources of carbohydrates, dietary fibre, vitamins, and minerals. They are also good sources of vitamin A and C, potassium, and manganese, and also provide a good source of dietary fibre.
Today, while the healing spring which drew visitors is no longer used for medicinal purposes, the town’s other - more humble - offering remains, ironically, effective. Whether baked, boiled, mashed, fried, or roasted, sweet potatoes are a low-calorie food high in nutrients. They’re tasty, popular and versatile - and, most importantly, they help keep Fuquay-Varina on the map.3
The Detour
Today’s Detour is to The Dog Photographer, a short (3:23) video about William Wegman who, for the last 40 years, has photographed Weimaraners in various positions, usually taking the place of humans. As a recent dog-convert (I’ve always preferred cats, but allergies have put a kibosh on those guys), I thoroughly enjoyed it. Give it a few minutes.
The Recommendation
Today’s Recommendation is Toy Story (1995), an American animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney. The first instalment in the Toy Story series, it is notable as being the first fully computer-animated feature film produced by a major studio. Directed by John Lasseter and starring the voices of a star-studded cast including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, John Ratzenberger and Annie Potts amongst others, the film’s plot centres on the adventures of Woody (Hanks) - a cowboy doll - who becomes jealous of Buzz Lightyear (Allen) - a new space ranger action figure - who get lost in the real world.
A critical and commercial success upon its release, Toy Story is considered to be one of the greatest animated films in history - and is credited with galvanising the popularity of computer-animated films. Like all good films that are nominally for children, it works on multiple levels, so if you haven’t seen it - or, like me, are shocked that you first saw it in the cinema almost 30 years ago - give it a go.
The Sounds
Today’s playlist is composed of five tracks that have been on the school-run playlist with my daughter over the last few weeks. Alice has excellent taste - her suggestions often influence the Sounds - and these are five great selections: ‘Shut Up My Mom’s Calling’ (Hotel Ugly, 2020), ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ (Deftones, 2000), ‘Bonita Applebum’ (A Tribe Called Quest, 1990), ‘Last Flowers’ (Radiohead, 2007) and ‘Alberto Balsalm’ (Aphex Twin, 1995). Enjoy!
The Thought
Today’s Thought is from Toy Story. After they’ve reconciled and are friends once again, Buzz and Woody realise the only way to get back to their owner, Andy, is to fly through the air at a ridiculous pace. As neither can actually fly, a firecracker/rocket strapped to Buzz’s back launches them into the air … and then they start to fall towards the car:
‘This isn’t flying - this is falling with style.’
If you have a thought on this Thought - or any part of today’s issue - please leave a comment below:
And that’s the end of this Stop - I hope you enjoyed the diversion!
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Until the next Stop …
Today’s Stop is inspired in many ways by my daughter who turns 17 today. Happy Birthday, Alice! Sources for today’s Stop include Fuquay-Varina and Sweet Potatoes (NCState).
The Lumbee are a Native American tribe primarily centred around Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland, and Scotland counties in North Carolina. Taking their name from the Lumber River, there are around 55,000 current registered members. For more information, see: Lumbee Tribe.
Though I’ve driven past the exit to Fuquay-Varina many, many times, I’ve never visited. But now, having looked into its history, I’m thinking it might be time to pull over for an hour or two and check it out.
It’s a long drive from Huntersville to Fuquay-Varina, but I yam tempted!
Loved the spotlight on a town I knew nothing about. However; while I like Wegman's work, due to my sister's insistence on holiday tradition I had to endure Faye's 12 Days of Christmas many times. One viewing would have been sufficient.