Monday's Internet Edition, May 12, 2008.
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Despite being a veteran of many plays, including at least one other one-woman play, Stump is probably best known in the area for being the safe and drug-free coordinator and public information officer for Thomasville City Schools. She is also a retired teacher.
“Phyllis is also a volunteer with our program,” said Judy Younts, Thomasville’s CIS director. “She’s very much into working with our children and helping those who need extra help.”
Orlene Hawks Puckett was also known for helping people in need. The southwestern Virginian, who died in 1939 at the age of 102, delivered over 1,000 babies without ever losing a baby or a mother — quite an accomplishment in those days. Ironically, this remarkable woman gave birth several times, but only her first child lived beyond childbirth.
“I’m just mesmerized by her telling this story,” said Younts, who has seen the play before. “She talks about her child dying in her arms. There were people in the audience sitting there crying. She just evokes such emotion.”
Mountain music serves well as a background for Stump, portraying a woman in her 90s, as she talks about the suspicious looks of Union soldiers, who drove her to grab her child and hide in the woods. Her character also had to hide from her own husband, who tended to become violent after imbibing too much moonshine.
“It’s about a piece of history that should not be lost,” Stump said of the play that she wrote. “Orlene was a true legend in her time. She became known far and wide for her services as a midwife. She did whatever she had to do to get out and help someone. She’d walk, sometimes as much as 15 miles through the snow, but she was always there for anyone who needed her.”
In the late 1990s, as Stump was getting ready to retire as a teacher, she and her husband Robert bought a mountain cabin in Virginia, along the Blue Ridge Parkway between Fancy Gap and Meadows of Dan. It turned out their new vacation home was only a mile from Puckett Cabin. Although the actual cabin where Aunt Orlene lived had been razed to build the Blue Ridge Parkway, the one near the Stumps’ mountain home contained enough history to attract the new residents.
Phyllis became fascinated with the history the Puckett Cabin contained and decided to write a play based on Puckett’s life. Wavy Worrell, Puckett’s great-grand-niece, was quite helpful on the project, as were libraries in the area. Stump completed the writing of the play in 2002 and first performed it at the Cherry Orchard Outdoor Theater in Virginia on July 31, 2003.
With Stump’s long and dedicated employment with Thomasville City Schools, it was a natural fit for CIS to sponsor performances of “They Call Me Aunt Orlene.” The organization has been doing just that since 2004.
“The Safari has been very gracious to us by giving us a set-up in one of their rooms and preparing a meal,” Younts said. “Where else can you go for a nice evening with a nice meal in a nice restaurant and enjoy quality entertainment while you’re helping out a good cause.”
CIS must let Safari Steakhouse know how many people are expected to attend the play by Thursday. Therefore, anyone interested in attending should call Bettie Bryant at 476-4180 or Kim Coltrane at 474-4206 by Wednesday or early Thursday morning at the latest. This is an opportunity to see a remarkable woman portray another remarkable woman and help a remarkable cause at the same time.
“When you help a child, you help the world,” Younts said. “You don’t know how big that world will be some day because of that one child whom you helped.”
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or or reid@tviletimes.com.