Discover Smith Mountain Lake
WINTER 2016
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here is a saying: “If you want something
done, ask a busy person to do it.” That’s
exactly what Kalee Seneff did when she
said aloud to her mother, Melba, that she wanted
to get married in front of an old twisted Maple
tree on a 50 plus acre tract of her family’s land.
Kalee was knee high in weeds when she first set
eyes on the old tree; it looks as if it were born in
a wind storm a hundred years ago... or perhaps,
as it grew, it twisted its head to follow the sun,
or the rotation of the earth. Either way, it had
captured Kalee’s imagination, and became directly
responsible for spawning a new family business as
the venue for her wedding – a stick-built pavilion,
with Melba’s signature all over it.
In order to meet our deadline, it was necessary
to interview Melba before she was able to put
the finishing touches on Kalee’s pavilion. She
welcomed us to the construction site anyway, and
even agreed to pictures.
Kalee is marrying a boy from “up north”, who
rode into town in a sensible, conservative sedan,
but since meeting Kalee has traded up to a pickup
truck and at least one pair of cowboy boots,
says Melba. His name is Mike Freedy, and he is a
registered nurse with Carilion’s cardiac surgery
unit.
Mike will be getting a beautiful, brown-eyed
bride who, in this age of outlandishly expensive
weddings, actually prefers a simple, warm, and
comfortable one. She admires things that are
unique, but have the strength and stamina to
endure life’s hardships - like native trees. She’s
also wise enough to know that you can’t beat a
natural setting for beauty and sincerity. She may,
however, have ignited a tinderbox of creativity
in her mother, who admits that she has a “melt
down” about once a week when she thinks about
the deadline looming closer and closer.
Within view of the twisted tree are a couple of old
sheds that are too small to be called barns. Many
people might consider them eye sores and destroy
them. Only a person with Melba’s vision would
harbor respect for their sagging forms, or see
the beauty in their weathered timber. She will fit
them into the landscape in one way or another.
“I was going to burn the wood I pulled off that
one,” she said as she pointed to the shell of
a building with one corner of the metal roof
Kalee and her fiance Mike will be getting married in front of the twisted maple
tree that Kalee fell in love with as a child.
by Kate Hofstetter
