Writer and illustrator Emma Bell Miles, who was a Walden's Ridge resident, is the subject of a talk to be presented by local historian Kay Gaston at an upcoming benefit for McCoy Farm and Gardens.
A wine and cheese benefit for McCoy Farm and Gardens will be held on the McCoy grounds Friday, April 28 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
"I think people should come to celebrate the beauty of the McCoy property and the potential it has for being like Central Park in New York City," said Linda Collins, McCoy Farm and Gardens board member and event organizer. "It's a welcoming place there for anyone to enjoy."
Along with plenty of wine and cheese, the event will feature a presentation by local historian Kay Gaston titled "Emma Bell Miles at Albion View." Miles, the daughter of two teachers who moved to Walden's Ridge, married a mountain resident and lived with her family in the late 18th and early 19th century on the corner of the McCoy property, located in an area then known as Albion View. To keep the family afloat, she wrote articles for many of the leading magazines of the time, and was also a poet and illustrator.
"So many of us know very little or none at all [about her]," said Collins, as to why the McCoy board asked Gaston, who wrote a biography on Miles, to speak at the event.
The suggested donation for attendees is $30. Money raised will go toward McCoy Farm and Gardens' general fund for maintaining the property, most of which has been restored through volunteer efforts, said Collins. All donations to the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization are tax-deductible, and people who cannot come to the event can still mail donations to McCoy Farm and Gardens, P.O. Box 443, Signal Mountain, Tenn., 37377.
The main entrance to McCoy Farm and Gardens is at 1715 Anderson Pike. Event attendees can also enter through the drive at the back of the property at 1604 Taft Highway.