Glenwood Gold
Block Number: 144 McDowell Quilt Trail
Ginger Todd
MCDOWELL HOSPITAL HOSTS “GLENWOOD GOLD” QUILT BLOCK
On Monday afternoon, October 14, 2013, the staff of Glenwood Family Medicine and officials of McDowell Hospital gathered to accept the McDowell Quilt Trail Certificate of Authenticity and admire the newly installed quilt block. “Glenwood Gold” is the second quilt block to be hosted by the McDowell Hospital, a member of the Mission Health independent community hospital system based in Asheville.
Attending the recognition were the following: Dr. Ananda Vieges, MD; Lynn Boggs, CEO McDowell Hospital; Cameron Bigler and Amy England Directors, Practice Strategy and Business Development; Tracy Waters, Certified Medical Assistant; Amy Hill Moore, Licensed Practical Nurse; Karen Moore, V.P. of Marketing; Gabriel Wiseman, Practice Manager (Nebo and Glenwood); Teresa Wall, V.P. Practice Operations; Kathy Hefner, V.P. Clinical Operations; Clint Stewart, V.P. Finance.; Amy Fincher and Casey Brown, Practice Specialists. Not available were Dr. Ann Marie Johnson; John Riser, Physician’s Assistant; Candance Manick, Licensed Practical Nurse.
The McDowell Hospital leadership felt it important to bring services to the people in a part of the County where they were required to drive more than 15 minutes to obtain the benefit of medical care and in September 2011 the doors of Glenwood’s Family Medicine opened. The family care facility provides high quality comprehensive physical healthcare for patients of all ages, newborns through geriatrics, as well as support for emotional and spiritual well being when requested. There 10 patient rooms and local artists decoratively display their craftsmanship along the hallways, offering it for sale. The practice is accepting new patients however there may be a wait to get in. It is comprised of two family physicians, a Physician’s Assistant and other supportive staff. Around 35 – 40 patients are seen in the office daily.
Dr. Ananda Vieages received her medical degree from East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine located in Greenville, N.C. Her internship and residency was at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, N.C. She is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and has worked at the Glenwood office since it opened. Dr. Vieages is married and has one child.
Dr. Ann Marie Johnson attended the University of Vermont: College of Medicine in Burlington, Vermont and where she received her medical degree. She completed her internship and residency at MAHEC and is also certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. Dr. Johnson joined the practice in December 2011 shortly after it opened. She is married and has two children.
“Glenwood Gold” was the name chosen by a group of hospital senior leadership who met to discuss the colors and implications of the block. Their desire was to incorporate local history representative of the area in the Quilt Trail tradition and tie in community roots with the display of the block. They decided on a simple eight-pointed star pattern, a story element and the colors of gold and maroon.
Gold and maroon are the colors of what is now Glenwood Elementary School, serving students in kindergarten through 6th grade. The first public school of Glenwood, a two-room building, was built at the intersection of West Main Street and Highway 221 and opened in 1904 as “Glenwood High School”. It provided education for grades 1-12, gradually growing through the years until 1972 when it was consolidated with McDowell High School.
The gold color in the block design is also representative of the importance of the gold prospective heritage of lower McDowell County and its “hidden treasures”. In the 1800’s pioneers in the area first located gold deposits in streambeds and hillside pockets which soon produced several lucrative mines. Gold mining was considered as the “first industry” in McDowell County other than farming. Along with neighboring county mines, North Carolina was at one time the source of the most abundant mines in the Country and leader of gold production in the Nation. That all ended when the great “California Gold Rush” erupted in the mid 1800’s and local mines here were rapidly abandoned on impulse before they were completely stripped clean. Thus, opportunities still exist for patient and eager “panhandlers” to make a “nugget discovery” in and around our area. The annual N.C. Gold Festival, established in 2004, is held in McDowell County.
