SAZERAC
June 2025
Just One Thing
“My bond with nature began in childhood with time playing in the woods and helping my grandmother in her flower gardens,” says artist Emily Clare, named for both her grandmother, Emily, and her grandfather, Clarence. Since 1987, Emily Clare’s work has been exhibited in galleries throughout much of the Southeast and has reached as far as Australia. These days, Emily Clare can be found strolling by evening light around her Winston-Salem home or exploring woodlands of the Southeast, where she collects native, invasive and exotic plants she then presses as the basis of her work. Rather than traditional paint and brushes, she uses leaves, vines or blades of grass, and ink, allowing nature to dazzle as it unfurls its wondrous design. “Each one has a message they leave on paper,” she says. For her, creation is meditation. And for us, the observers, her work invites us to be more mindful, to reflect on being stewards of Earth’s natural resources. Seen here, Native Grass 1 depicts tall, wild and free — rather than meticulously mowed — blades printed using Akua ink and accented with gouache, watercolor and iridescent paint on Arnhem 1618 paper. Its shots of neon pink and cerulean blue catch the eye as you take an indoor nature walk through her “Botanical Dreamscapes” exhibit in Revolution Mill’s Central Gallery, on display through June 20. Info: revolutionmillgreensboro.com/events.
Another Candle on the Cake
Last of the late-1950s Rockabilly stars, Billy “Crash” Craddock turns 86 years old this month. A lifelong resident of Greensboro, he was 18 years old in 1957 when he recorded his first 45 single locally on the Sky Castle label, named after the teenybopper hangout on High Point Road known for its elevated WCOG-AM DJ booth. He was signed by Columbia Records a year later.
In 1959, he became a bonafide teen idol in Australia, where, during his first tour there, screaming fans greeted him everywhere he went. “Boom Boom Baby” rocketed to No. 1, the first of four top-10 platters down under. “I was excited just to be in the business and nervous at the same time,” Craddock told me in 2009. “The record company took a picture of me combing my hair on top of a building in New York. When it came out in a magazine they called me ‘pretty boy.’ I didn’t like that.”
Hits mostly eluded him stateside in the ’60s, but that changed in a big way after his 1971 “Knock Three Times” hit No. 3 on the Billboard country chart. “Wow, what a feeling riding around Greensboro,” he recalled. “Seemed like every time I’d move the radio dial, it was playing. Every station, ‘Knock Three Times’ was either getting started or ending. I thought, Is this for real?” His followup country radio release, “Ruby, Baby,” cruised into the No. 1 spot.
A string of chart-toppers followed, culminating in his biggest smash in the summer of ’74, “Rub It In,” which not only landed in first place on the country chart, but also hit No. 16 across all musical genres on the Billboard Hot 100. Still rockabilly to the roots, country to the core in his 80s, Craddock thrilled the studio audience on Country Road TV in 2024, covering a Tammy Wynette tune, “Darlin’ Take Care of Yourself.”
A bridge over the rail lines on 16th Street is dedicated to Billy “Crash” Craddock, but locals who knew him before he began mining gold records remember him as the down-to-earth guy who hung sheet rock in their homes during those lean years before he began mining gold records. Rub it in, why don’tcha? — Billy Ingram
Window on the Past
This photo, taken in the 1940s, is part of the Abraham H. Peeler collection held by the Greensboro History Museum. Peeler, long-time principal at the historic J.C. Price School, was heavily involved with Camp Carlson, one of the first camps in North Carolina created for Black Boy Scouts. These 10 lads are definitely dressed for adventure with the classic campaign hats and official-issue field uniforms, complete with kerchiefs and knee-high socks with garter flashes. Obviously trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind, obedient, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent, they were on their honor to do their best to help other people at all times and to keep themselves physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
Unsolicited Advice
June is chock-full of celebrations, some we’ve already marked in our planners — Father’s Day, Summer Solstice, Juneteenth, Pride Month and the highly anticipated National Accordion Awareness Month. (This is not a joke. Nor is Bed Bug Awareness Week. Look it up.) In 2014, June was also designated as Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, so we thought we’d share some of our favorite ways to boost brainpower:
Brain teasers: Ever play The New York Times’ Connections? You have to find the common bond between several words. Try this: safety, candy, DJs, home ownership. Answer: They all have their own national month in June.
Board games: Our fav? The one where someone puts bits of cheese and fruit all over the board and challenges us to eat it all. Haven’t lost yet.
Crossword puzzles: Like Katy Perry, you’re up then you’re down — but never clueless. Amp up your cognitive flexibility and reserve, short- and long-term memory, and problem-solving skills.
Sleep: Catching Z’s is vital for brain restoration and repair. But maybe you lie awake at night already fully aware of bed bugs. Let a Calm app celebrity-narrated “Sleep Story” lull you to slumber. Because the last voice you want to hear at night isn’t your partner’s. It’s Matthew McConaughey’s.
Learn a new skill: Think languages or instruments. Accordion, anyone?
