Boiling Springs
Scotty Plappert and her husband, Harry, are in love. The two met in 1992, when she was teaching at Robert Eli High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Harry sought a teaching position at the same school at that time.
One day, Scotty asked if Harry would assist with after school projects, to which he stated abruptly, “No,” informing her that he had another job after school working on vehicles.
“We weren’t off to a good start,” she said.
The following year in 1993, Harry told her about a summer program for graduate education at the University of Southern Mississippi.
In 1994, Harry went back to college to work on a master’s degree. Scotty had always wanted to be a librarian. The college offered master’s degrees in library and information science, so they each went to Mississippi for an additional year.
Their relationship grew, and the two married in 2000.
The Plapperts settled in Murphy. They have owned property in the town for 15 years and recently purchased a new home.
“We bought our house out in Boiling Springs in January. We were preparing to move in when my husband said there was someone outside taking pictures,” Scotty said. “I went out, and that someone was Jane Causey, with her big camera and long lens. I walked up and introduced myself.”
A few days later, a note showed up on their door with a dozen fresh eggs. The note read, “Welcome to Boiling Springs.” Two weeks later, Scotty went to Causey’s house, which was up the mountain from the Plappert’s home.
“In her house, I saw beautiful landscapes on the wall and photographs of people whose portraits she had done. I saw one large portrait of a farmer, which she had won a first-place prize for,” Scotty said. “Then I saw a picture of
my neighbor, whom I’d yet to meet. It was so lifelike. I saw her talent and ability, and told her she had to
paint a portrait of my
husband.”
She said of her husband, “Harry is truly the love of my life. He’s affected me in so many positive ways that I just wanted a permanent tribute to him.”
One day, when Harry was down by the creek fishing, he looked up and saw someone was taking his photo.
“She came down by the creek, and we got to talking,” Harry said. “I found out that she was a portrait artist, so I asked if she could do a portrait of my wife.”
Causey then told him she had already spoken to Scotty about doing a portrait of him.
Harry said of his wife, “When I had my heart attack, she helped me, even as stubborn as I was. She saved my life. This is the woman of my life.”
A short time after that encounter, Causey went back down to the creek while Harry was fishing again. This time she had some hats, a shirt and Scotty with her. Causey began to position them so she could start taking photos of the two.
When asked what inspired her to begin her photography and painting years ago, Causey said, “My mother was Dutch and came from a very cultured Dutch family. Mom grew up in California and went to California College of Arts & Crafts. She was very talented, so the pinnacle was to be like that.
“I’m gonna start crying now, because it sincerely touched me that Scotty and Harry each asked me to paint the other. Their commitment to each other pierced me.”
She added, “You can spot sincerity, essence, integrity and inspiration. That’s what I came out with. It’s God, the matrix of everything.”
Scotty enjoys reading and volunteer work. She’s a past president of Friends of the Murphy Public Library and has worked with the Girl Scouts, Big Brothers Big Sisters and on the school board at Shepherd Academy.
Harry loves to hunt and fish. He enjoys his collection of die-cast model cars and is working on getting everything he needs for his model train set.
The Plapperts thank a talented neighbor for giving them a lasting memory for generations.
Harry simply put it, “Jane’s work is phenomenal – and a dozen eggs a week is really great, too.”