Photo by Beverly Guthrie Lougher '58 
2001
REFLECTIONS ON R.G.N.S.
The eternal beauty of the Blue
Ridge hills
Surrounds and enhances Hodgson
Hall.
Oak-shadowed grass slopes
away
Toward rooms that have sheltered
Young lives of varied backgrounds.
Outlying farm buildings speak
of
Hard times past when
Having food meant being rich.
Tracts of the good earth,
Small white homes,
Classroom studies,
Field-hand work ethics,
All a part of the vision of
Andrew Jackson Ritchie.
The reality of need:
Young minds and bodies
Withering from lack of nourishment,
Families gripped in poverty's
bonds,
Family remnants shattered
by cruelty,
Drunkenness, meanness, apathy,
Selfishness, disaster, death.
Boys and girls desperately
searching
For someone to care.
Proud men and women desperately
searching
For an opportunity.
Photo by J. Harold Thrumond '60
2001
The vision progresses:
Mountain-folk reading, writing,
dreaming.
Outsiders joining in, earning
their keep,
Learning their hearts and
minds.
Some loving it all,
Some hating it all.
People falling in love with
a way of life,
People falling in love with
other people.
People making a living,
People making friends.
People never met before,
People never met again.
People seldom seen,
People always seen,
Students, Teachers,
Farmers, Presidents.
All a part of the vision.
The vision endures:
A vision of lives shaped
By hard work and prayer.
Useful, fruitful lives,
Dedicated, happy lives.
Many have made the vision
a reality,
Some have not.
Perfect?
No.
Effective?
Yes.
Still the needs exist,
Opportunities are sought,
Lives cry out,
And the vision endures.