V.2 Edition 6 November/December 2012 by Capital at Play Magazine

B&B Tobacco Networking at its Best

Orange Peel No Easy Money

Butcheries

at ITAL

Leisure & Libation Five Sweet & Savory Selections This Holiday Season

GVL, HVL, & AVL

LAY The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

Capital Adventurist

Day Hikes that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Take All Day

The Cartner Family Tree Farm Volume II - Edition 6 Complimentary Edition

capitalatplay.com

November/December 2012

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CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com

CA ITALat LAY The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

Publisher

Harley O. Morgan

Executive Editor Dasha Morgan

Senior Correspondents

Bill Fishburne, David Bradley, Linda D. Cluxton

Contributing Editors

Alexina O. Morgan, Hunt Mallett, Mike Summey

Contributing Photographers and Graphics Linda D. Cluxton, Arthur Treff, Bill Fishburne

Creative Associates and Layout

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Published by Universal Media Inc. PO Box 5615 Asheville, NC. 28813

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Circulation Manager

Marketing and Advertising

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November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com

Contents

Publisher’s Thoughts An individual who writes a column for Capital At Play (as well as doing many other things), Mike Summey, defines wealth in the following fashion. He says that true wealth is achieved when you can stop working right now, and continue living as you wish indefinitely, without ever going back to work. Now if you like to live on a small piece of land, in a very small house, and don’t have an affinity for luxury items, then wealth can come at a much cheaper price than if you like to live in a 10,000 square foot house, with an in-home spa, pool, live-in cook, and whatever else that scenario might contain for you. Wealth, by this definition, is a position of indefinite sustainability, just as is success. I have learned that there is no gold standard for success. Fiat money is reflective of the fact that there is no longer a gold standard for money. Money is just a metric for value… value that one person trades for the value that another person has created. Success isn’t much different. Publicly held companies usually define success through price of the company’s stock. Private firms, however, have the privilege of defining success through the ambitions of their owners and their employees. This changes the equation drastically. This actually begs the question, as we realize that we set our own goals and our own level of success; what are the goals that we have? This means something different to everyone. Some people don’t even like goals, but I think everyone realizes we must have them. They give us direction. When we achieve our goals, we can look back and say that we actually accomplished something. That is obviously important to any business. We look ahead and see where we want the business to be, filling a certain number of orders every month, or billing so many hours, so that we can pay the company bills, make updates to stay competitive, and give employees a benchmark to meet. However, the personal goals of entrepreneurs are something very different. Success always comes at a price. It will always cost you time, emotion, or money. We all must decide what we are willing to sacrifice, in exchange for what achievement or success we want. This sacrifice is something that many entrepreneurs don’t evaluate often. We can’t, because it might allow us to slow down, to waste time, to question the ways we push ourselves. But it is important when we realize that we often go to all of this effort to reach a goal that we set; and in the end, the time we have to revel in that achievement is much less time than time we took to get there. I think that is why entrepreneurs like to live in the Western Carolinas. Because we get to enjoy many things that are usually afforded only to those who have achieved much... The privilege to live somewhere surrounded by such natural beauty. To be able to have an outdoor adventure of almost any kind, on a whim. I hear people say that our greatest resource here, in the Western Carolinas, is our natural beauty. I would argue that our greatest resource is the future generations, and if they grow up here, they usually have to leave, to make enough money to be able to come back. The kind people that can afford to live here are doctors, attorneys, entrepreneurs, or someone lucky enough to work for them. I have heard from many local business owners - because they wanted to live here - who had to start a company to sustain themselves and the way of life they want to have. Entrepreneurship becomes a necessity rather than an alternative choice to working for someone else. In this case, that necessity is a prime motivator. It is the reason for the existence of so many entrepreneurs here in the Western Carolina Region.

Sincerely,

CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Harley O. Morgan

Featured Capitalists Those who take the risk and inspire others to do likewise... bringing every sector of private industry right to your fingertips.

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B&B Tobacconists

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Problem Solving One Cigar At a Time

Keeping It Fresh Anywhere in the Western Carolina’s, These Folks are ready to Cut & Serve

Cartner Christmas Tree Farm

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Pick Your Perfect Christmas Tree

p.30 The Orange Peel

No Easy Money

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Scenic Day Hikes, that don’t take all day...

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com

Contents

Keepin’ it Brief

Leisure & Libation

From the area of commerce you’re in, from the Carolinas, and from around the globe - you won’t find the same information in one magazine anywhere else.

Working as hard as you do, it can be difficult to make time to find these things - let us help.

Western Carolina News Briefs

News In The Old North State

56 World Briefs 58

Health Briefs

Sweet & Savory

Seasonal selections from local snack and gift makers.

Hunt Mallett Gives Us Wine & Wisdom

Simplifying the complexities of giving the gift of wine.

Early Adopters These are some of the latest and greatest gadgets to improve your life and work, or maybe just to keep you entertained. 64

-Growler-On-Board Bring it home in one piece -iLS Pillow calming music through a gentle vibration -Kanz: Field Power Desk for those who need to work in remote locations

Politics Sometimes the Private and Public Sectors of industry collide - We show you what some writers think. We also help you reach the elected officials that represent you. 74

Today’s Real Estate

Here’s a current take on real estate issues that you’ll find interesting. Also some charts or graphs for the more informed reader.

Mike Talks: There’s got to be a better way

Real estate veteran Mike Summey enlightens us.

classic superfine woven textured solid sportcoats in NEW tailored fit

Voter Watch

United States Bill of Rights

Inside the Cuckoo’s Nest

Our apologies, but with the elections looming ahead as we go to press, nothing really interesting happening here — aside from crazy election tactics.

Local Industry All about your area. We help you stay on top of the businesses that impact and serve your region.

Signature

How Do They Do It?

We ask this month’s Featured Capitalist’s : how do you manage your time?

Events 80

Events from all around WNC and Upstate SC. See what’s going on in your community this week.

Photo at the top of this page: Grandfather Mountain, as seen from Newland, NC

ASHEVILLE

Historic Biltmore Village 9 Kitchin Place 828-274-2630

STORE HOURS Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-7pm Sat. 9:30am-6pm Sun. 1pm-5pm

The Cover - Many thanks to The Olde World Christmas Shoppe In Biltmore Village, NC as well as Dianne Davant & Associates of Banner Elk, NC & Port Saint Lucie, FL. The Olde World Christmas Shoppe contributed many of the unique Christmas tree ornaments seen on the decorated tree featured on this edition’s cover. The tree was designed and decorated by Priscilla Hyatt of Dianne Davant & Associates. If you want your tree to look exactly like ours, contact Dianne Davant at 828.898.9887. If you would like to see this tree decorated in less than three minutes, go to www.capitalatplay.com and watch the video. 8

CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com

Keeping it Fresh by Bill Fishburne

With food being such an important part of the holiday season, we thought you might want to enjoy and serve the best of what you can get. Here we profiled three butcheries from across the Western Carolinas. See them, hear them, and if your mouth starts watering like ours did, GO and try some,

10 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Butcher Shoppe

Page 18

M&M

Ashevilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Page 12

Page 20

Freezer Locker meats

Chop Shop

Whether you are in Greenville SC, Hendersonville or Asheville, NC, the butcher business is alive and well. If you already have the meat and need it trimmed, or if you just want something exceptional for a special occasion, these folks are there for you... November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 11

T he last B utcher ’ s L ocker The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker. Mostly gone, still remembered, often relocated to the nearest three-acre grocery store —except this one. Who remembers the boys on bikes delivering groceries? Who remembers the butcher with the scale on the top of his display case? Who remembers Uncle Ben calling around to see if any of the relatives wanted a side of beef from the cow he was about to kill? Look in the Yellow Pages under Butcher. It refers you to Meats, Retail. Look there and you find one, maybe two, entries. “Butcher” seems to be an unpopular word. Corner butchers are gone with the wind, and Uncle Ben won’t call you any more because he’s gone, and the old farm was turned into a subdivision in the 1970s. Hendersonville’s M & M Freezer Locker, however, is still here. It has been a corner butcher’s shop for the past 70 years and is one of the few places where you can either choose something out of their fresh meat case up front or order it by phone, or at the front counter. And if a cattle ranching friend ever calls to give you that ¼ side of beef, you can have M & M carve it, wrap it, freeze it and store it for you.

M & M is owned by L.K. Harvey, a Vietnam veteran who came home from the war and was lucky enough to find his life’s work in his hometown. LK, as everyone calls him, was an artilleryman who reached the rank of Sergeant E-6 but decided he’d had enough of the military. “I appreciated what those boys were doing, and I busted my butt to get those stripes,” Harvey says. “But I knew the military (Army) wasn’t really for me. I just wanted to be the best soldier I could be while I was there. I think I did that. I got out in 1970 and went back to my old job at the A&P food store. When that fell through, Mr. Stuart McCall and John Meadows (M & M) offered me a job here. I did a bit of everything, but I learned the business.” Harvey recalls working whatever hours were required. He still does. The daily routine of the meat market requires someone to be there at 5:30 a.m. That’s Harvey. Someone has to close up, too. Again, that’s Harvey.

“People can rent a freezer locker from us,” Harvey explains. “People didn’t used to have home freezers. That didn’t come along until the 1950s. When they got that side of beef, they’d bring it down and store it here. We still do a lot of that business.”

12 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

L.K. Harvey, trimming some steaks. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 13

“It’s a tight business,” Harvey says. “There isn’t a lot of margin in it. The big stores have a lot of staff in their meat departments and maybe, I don’t know, but maybe they don’t have to put in the hours we do. But you just can’t compare our volume with theirs. To be competitive we have to hold our margins tight. That means I have to put in the extra hours.” We talked for two hours during our interview. Harvey didn’t have an unkind word for any of his competitors. As is the case with virtually all successful business owners, he talked mostly about his quality and customer service. And he talked about the long hours. Harvey isn’t a spring chicken any more. He was born in 1948 and has been married to Brenda for 45 years. To put that in perspective, that’s longer than any government or constitution has lasted in Argentina since the Spaniards ran the place. All the while, for 43 of those years, Harvey was working on 7th Ave. It has been rewarding but hard. His business associate of 40 years, Richard Warren, retired a year ago. His place has not been filled. LK’s son, Jeff, helps out on weekends but has his own full-time career as an engineer. Jeff is married with two children. He can’t afford to go into the meat business full-time but he clearly enjoys working with his hands and with his Dad. “I’m blessed to have Jeff in here whenever he has time,” Harvey says. “But I sure miss Richard. In those 40 years we worked together you could count the number of days he missed on one hand.”

Through the years, Harvey frankly says the business has changed a lot. “We get a lot more Hispanic trade now than we used to. A customer is a customer, of course, but you have to provide different meats for different tastes. That’s where we really notice it. Different meats, different cuts, more fish. More cash sales, too.” The business began to change when Bob Ingle got going good in Asheville. Harvey saw Ingle’s just clobber out-of-town chains. “They had their prices right. They had very responsive local ownership and A&P didn’t,” he says. “The A&P had unionized labor. I was a union employee there and I didn’t know anything. I was getting $5 or $6 an hour and all I thought was that it was good money. At Christmas in 1971, A&P started laying people off, and it seemed to me that the union workers were the first to go. It was just economics. That was when I got the job here. I think it was lucky for me. I mean, I needed the job when I got out, but I wouldn’t have found M&M if the A&P hadn’t run into trouble.” M & M is one of the few, maybe the only, meat locker in the area. “People can rent a freezer locker from us,” Harvey explains. “People didn’t used to have home freezers. That didn’t come along until the 1950s. When they got that side of beef, they’d bring it down and store it here. We still do a lot of that business.” M & M has expanded through the years to include at least two additional buildings behind the 7th Ave. storefront.

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Walking through the old facility, it brings you to a different floor level at nearly every turn. There is a loading area at the back, but many deliveries, particularly those in the early morning hours, are made through the front door. The complex layout also makes M & M’s workflow nearly impossible to chart. There is a fresh meat case up front but many customers seem to prefer to ask for special cuts. Harvey and his employees are eager to help. Help, of course, is what distinguishes M & M from other markets where you have to ring a bell and wait for the butcher to finish wrapping 30 identical packages of ground meat. But it takes trained people to work in any meat market. Enthusiastic amateurs often lose their enthusiasm after two weeks. “We’ve had people come in off the street here who wanted work. I’ve got plenty of it. But when a guy misses four days out of 10, you have to let him go. That’s not good for either of us. I need help, and they need jobs. But, (trying not to be unkind here) there’s a reason they call it ‘work’ and that might be the reason some of those folks are standing on the street.” M & M is one of the few places where buyers can choose “Beefalo” in addition to traditional meats. Harvey says he doesn’t carry bison but might add it after reading the article about its health benefits in the Sept.-Oct. edition of Capital at Play. “There’s always something new. I didn’t know we had a good local supplier (Carolina Bison) in Leicester. I’ll see what I can do.” Another problem for small, custom butcher shops like M & M is the trend away from local slaughterhouses and their centralization out of the area. “We used to bring in all our meats on hooks from local slaughterhouses,” Harvey says. “Now we don’t see too much of that. Many local processors have closed up. A farmer finds he can take a truckload over to Tennessee and back for about the same as he would pay locally. That’s OK for the guy with a truckload but what about the little guy? He sells his cattle at auction and somebody takes it away.” All is not lost, however. Despite the tough economy Harvey reports his business is getting better. “Prices are up but so are costs. We’ve found a good niche at the high end of the quality line. Chuck Hill (Chuck in the Afternoon, on AM-1450 WHKP in Hendersonville) says you might as well just cook a shoe if you don’t have one of our steaks. Everything we sell is hand cut by myself or one of our other very experienced butchers, and everything is USDA Choice. We sell wholesale and retail, and we are NCDA inspected daily. We always have their top ratings. M & M is an old fashioned business with no website and no e-mail. If you want a cut of meat, give them a call at 828-692-3558, then drive on down to Hendersonville and pick it up. LK will cut it for you himself. And, by the way, yes, it’s a land line.

L.K. Harvey 16 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 17

And the unexpected treats that become mainstays of the business

What kind of relationship do you have with your butcher?

hile M&M Freezer Locker in Hendersonville is singularly focused on quality meats, Jim Tindal and his franchising partner, Todd Prochaska, have carried that concept to the next level, creating a totally different business at the NY Butcher Shoppe in Greenville. Jim Tindal and Todd Prochaska are the Victor Kiam’s of the boutique butcher shops. In his TV commercials in the 1990s, Kiam would hold up one of his Remington electric shavers and famously intone, “I liked it so much I bought the company.” Which is exactly what Tindal and Prochaska did after they opened their first two NY Butcher Shoppe franchises. The original NYB shop was founded by Bill D’Elia, a native of Brooklyn, who spent most of his career working as a butcher in his home town. He semi-retired from New York to Charleston, SC, and in 1995 went back into the business with his son, Billy. Their business got its name in large part because of D’Elia’s strong Brooklyn accent. His customers talked about “the New York butcher” and the name stuck. The business started off very strongly thanks to the elder D’Elia’s experience and his son’s ideas and energy. They began to franchise in 2001 and, in 2007, sold the franchise rights to their Greenville franchisees, Tindal and Prochaska. “We were just regular franchisees,” Tindal says in a soft South Carolina accent that definitely isn’t from Brooklyn. “I had 18 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

been in the food service business for 16 years after graduating from Clemson, and I saw the NY Butcher Shoppe as a unique opportunity. We had two stores and were making plans for more when the opportunity came to buy the franchising rights from the D’Elia family. We jumped all over it. “Since then we’ve worked hard to maintain the quality of our products and to really focus on customer service. We’re really in the relationship business. We try to be on a first-name basis with all our customers. We’ll do whatever it takes to meet their needs. We’ll cater an event, and we’ll make sausage to whatever special recipe you might have in your family,” Tindal says. “We make a lot of German sausages to special recipes brought over by some of the BMW employees.” A nice touch at the NY Butcher Shoppe is the individual business cards proudly displayed on the counter. Adam Sturm is the General Manager of the Augusta Road store. Tom Kloeser is the Master Meat Cutter. The Augusta Road store can best be described as a neat, clean, and crisply organized business with a dynamite outside sign in a high-visibility, high-traffic strip shopping center. Rents in such locations aren’t cheap. To keep prices down and to draw more customers, Tindal and Prochaska have expanded their offerings to include good wines and pre-packaged complete meals, plus the sausages and custom food preparation.

Jim Tindal, NY Butcher Shop co-owner

Looking at the cold case, Tindal points out the Scottish Salmon that isn’t generally found in the Upstate. “It comes from Loch Duart, and it has become one of our leading products.” Yes, indeed. On our way out we bump into a customer, Terry Buffkin, who is on his way in to claim some of the Loch Duart salmon. “I’ve been a customer here for about a year and a half,” Buffkin says. “I love the store. All their products are terrific and the people are just delightful.” Since becoming the franchiser, Tindal and Prochaska have used their practical experience in the retail environment to help reduce costs and increase the income potential for their franchisees. Store sizes have been reduced from the original design, which required a 2500 sq. ft. facility, down to a more manageable store in the range of 1500 sq. ft.. That savings, coupled with strong and ever-improving merchandising, enables start-up business owners to rent less space in more desirable locations. “First and foremost we focus on customer service and quality,” Tindal says. “We only prepare USDA Prime and HighChoice meats and all our personnel, especially the franchisee, are highly trained and experienced. We want to be the onestop shop for your evening meal. We offer fresh pasta made by Drake’s in High Point. Our home cooked meals feed two or three people. We offer frozen meals that feed four to six and have party sizes for six to eight.” NYB clearly is more than just another butcher shop. It really has everything required to complete the meal. “We have crackers and dips, wines, a variety of pre-made salads, potatoes and rolls, too. We’re not trying to overwhelm you with offerings, we just want to be a complete grab-and-go grocery with absolutely the best meats available anywhere.” The wine selections are extraordinary for such a small store. Prices range from $12 to $100. In the Augusta Road store there are between 180 to 200 facings on display. “A $12 to $15 bottle is typical,” Tindal says. “We try to have just the right wines to complete the meal. Everything you need for dinner tonight is right here. We count on our customers to let us know if they want something special, or think we should have something else.”

Everything from fresh meat, to wine, and even potatoes can be found here.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; and Sundays, 12 to 6 PM. To place a special order contact the Augusta Rd. store at 864-233-5449. To inquire about a franchise call Jim Tindal at 864-710-9204.

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 19

Asheville’s

Chop Shop

less waste, more taste

20 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

hile M&M Meat Lockers caters to Henderson County, and the New York Butcher Shoppe in Greenville offers something special for folks doing the daily commute, Asheville’s Chop Shop Butchery is uniquely Asheville. Owner Josh Wright established the Chop Shop specifically to cater to North Asheville’s strong feelings about living in a sustainable environment. Nothing that comes through the butchery’s side door is wasted. They buy whole hogs and whole beef, on hooks, and use everything for something.

“We only buy local beef,” Wright says as we look at a side of beef that is hanging on the hook in his walkin cooler. “Everything is from local farms. We buy the whole animal. There are no box meats coming in here. “We focus on farms that are raising their animals in a sustainable manner. They don’t have any genetically modified organisms in their feed and no hormones. Mostly, they’re grass fed and finished on Silver corn. Most of our farmers have smaller farms. We buy from them because of their quality and our own

desire to give them local market access. “Our biggest beef farm is Apple Brandy Beef Farms in North Wilkesboro. It’s owned by a young, third generation farm couple, and they really work hard at raising their cattle properly. It’s a great partnership to work with them.” The Chop Shop is primarily a retail store but they are providing more beef and other products to a growing number of Asheville area restaurants. Wright attributes the Chop Shop’s success (it opened Oct. 5, 2011) to the marketing plan, the location (100 Charlotte Street Asheville, NC 28801), and especially to his head butcher, Karen Fowler, and Charcuterie (mixed meat maker) Tyler Cook. “I think they’re among the best in their fields,” Wright says with admiration. “Nobody does what we’re doing with the whole animal because they don’t have Karen and Tyler to make it possible.” At that moment, Karen Fowler, a smallish young woman, is in the walk-in cooler literally manhandling a just-arrived beef carcass off the hook and onto her chopping block. She moves with lightning speed, leveraging rather than just lifting. After the beef is in position she slices off portions with her knives and then moves the large remainder over to the band saw. Within a short time it has largely disappeared and she’s trimming fat off the steaks. “I don’t like to leave it exposed to the air too long,” she says. “I’ve been cutting six years. I’m from Orange Park, Florida, a little town just South of Jacksonville. I’ve been a cook, a chef and a butcher since I was 15. I used to have to cut all my meat myself to get it done right. When I came to Asheville 12 years ago I just knew I was in the right place in the mountains. I managed meat departments in local grocery stores, but I knew I wanted to take the next step beyond box meat. Also, this is a great 9 to 5 type job. When I was working restaurants the hours were just crazy. This is a healthier lifestyle, and I am working with great quality people.” November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 21

Fowler says the Chop Shop is “just brilliant. It works in Asheville because people are really into food. They live life a lot healthier than in most other areas. They are more involved with and concerned about their food, and what is in it.” While Fowler is working, Wright gets Tyler Cook to prepare a sample tray. He explains each part and how it is made. “We start this with Pepperloaf,” Cook says. “It’s a traditional blend with a bit of pepper. It has a little bite but not too much.” Next is an air-cured pork loin called Lonza. It melts in your mouth. Cook then challenges your taste buds with Lamb Merguez, a Mediterranean styled air cured sausage that would be even better on a cracker with cheese and a glass of red wine. A slice of cured ham is next. “We can’t call it Virginia ham because we’re not in Virginia,” Cook says pointing out the obvious. “But it’s done in the same style.”

Finally, the big challenge. Pork headcheese that is made “of all the parts of the pig’s head except the brain.” If you wonder if something is really in there, the answer is simply, “yes.” Like the NY Butcher Shoppes, the Chop Shop makes special recipe sausage for their customers. “I really enjoy trying to recreate old recipes,” Tyler says. “I don’t need the exact recipe. I can do a lot if someone just tells me where they’re from, about their culture and what they remember their grandmother cooking for them. I can do a pretty good sausage just from that. It’s all about history and the culture someone grows up in.” Asheville’s famous City Bakery rounds out the location And if all you want is a quick burger, Fuddrucker’s is just across West Chestnut Street. “I really appreciate the reception we’ve had in our first year,” Wright says. “We’re adding beer and wines and a few other things in the next few weeks, tweaking our product mix. One thing we will never change is our focus on healthful foods. No hormones, no factory chicken, no antibiotics, no animals that were fed animal by-products. “We’re just a small specialty meat shop,” Wright says. “We’re adding a few things that go with our meats but we’re not trying to compete with the regional grocery store chains. All I can promise is that if you try our meats – strip steaks, sausages, ground beef, chicken, even our hot dogs – you’ll find we have a very high quality product.” 22 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

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Western Carolina News Briefs

These are briefs from around the

Remodeled Belk has more products - HENDERSON COUNTY -

Local vineyards receive award - HENDERSON COUNTY Burntshirt Vineyards, which opened its tasting room in Hendersonville in September, received top honors in an international wine competition given by the wine industry trade publication, Vineyard & Winery Management. Burntshirt Vineyard’s 2011 Grüner Veltliner and Merlot wines took the awards in the 2012 International Women’s Wine Competition held in California. The Grüner Veltliner wine was presented the highest honors with a Double Gold medal and Best of Class designation in the Other White Varietal category against producers from France, California, Greece and Virginia. The Merlot wine was given a bronze medal in a category that included name brand wine producers such as Francis Ford Coppola and Rodney Strong from California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma County. Burntshirt Vineyards was the only North Carolina winery that medalled in both the White Varietal and Merlot categories. The vineyards were planted in 2009, and the harvest of 2011 is the winery’s first vintage. Burntshirt Vineyards is the state’s 114th winery. The tasting room is open on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. and from noon to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It is located at 2695 Sugarloaf Rd. Tours will be given during operating hours at 2 p.m. or by appointment. Group tours can also be scheduled in advance.

Belk in Hendersonville now has plenty of perks to enhance the overall shopping experience. It officially unveiled its new look in October as part of Charlotte-based Belk’s efforts to renovate 30 of its 70 NC stores. The $2 million project created one-fifth more floor space, more shoes and other merchandise and brand varieties, wider aisles and clearer views across the store and is brighter and more uplifting, workers and customers said. The first 400 visitors received gift cards, which ranged from $5-$500 each, and little stuffed Belkie Bears were also handed out as gifts. At the reopening, Belk donated $5,000 to East Henderson High School’s Interact Club. Founded in 1888, Belk is the largest privately-owned mainline department store chain nationally. There are 303 Belk stores in 16 Southern states, and its focus remains in this region. Through the renovation, the store’s 76,000 square-foot sales floor grew 20 percent or 10,000 square feet, to about 60,000. This was accomplished by converting much stock room space, and straightening aisles that previously curved. Space and therefore merchandise primarily increased in shoes, nearly doubling, and is 50 percent larger for handbags and other accessories. Main aisles were widened from 10 to 16 feet, other ones from six to eight feet. In Belk, brighter and white lighting makes it easier to see merchandise and in true shades, and fosters a happier and more alert ambiance, customers said. New LED lights save energy. Wood flooring was replaced by shiny white tile, which reflects and brightens light. Upgrades include new carpets, ceiling and display fixtures, and in fitting and rest rooms.

Western Carolinas; news that doesn’t receive much coverage from local or regional news media.

Mosquito-borne illness spikes - Buncombe COUNTY Health department reports indicate that a mosquito-borne illness, sometimes deadly to children, has reached record levels in Buncombe County. The 13 serious cases of mosquito-borne encephalitis in Buncombe County represent a more than 100 percent increase since 2005. The county has become a national hotspot of the disease, but no deaths have been recorded locally. According to specialists, better awareness may be leading to the surge in reported cases. However, it is likely that new types of mosquitoes along with warmer, wetter weather and more people spending time in the woods play additional roles. “I think we do a pretty good job trying to bring awareness of mosquitoborne disease,” Sue Ellen Morrison, county health department disease control supervisor, said. “But as people are out more, there is going to be more opportunities for exposure.” Common symptoms of those reporting include fever and vomiting of the sort suffered by a 6 year old girl in Black Mountain. Before being diagnosed with the virus, she had fevers that came and went and suffered states of near-delirium, saying things that did make sense. At the hospital, doctors treated the child’s symptoms, helping her stay hydrated, and she eventually recovered. Because it is a virus, there is no treatment for the disease itself, so health experts suggest limiting exposure to mosquitoes. That implies avoiding early and late hours when the insects feed the most, not allowing water to collect around homes, and using recommended bug sprays, including those with N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide or DEET. The most severe cases are typically seen in children under

the age of 16 and can include swelling of the brain, paralysis, and in rare incidents, death. Nationwide, North Carolina is tied with West Virginia for the second-most reported mosquito-borne encephalitis cases with 26 of them. But of all U.S. counties, Buncombe has the most with 10, according to a Center for Disease Control map with data for 2012 up to April 17.

Honoring a Legend of Service - Buncombe COUNTY Charles “Chuck” Arnett first slipped into the Black Mountain Fire Department uniform in 1939. At age 93, he became the longest-service firefighter in Buncombe County before passing in February of 2011. However, he had a passion for firefighting long before that. Arnett served in the fire brigade for Drexel and Morgan Manufacturing and made it a habit to follow fire trucks to their destinations. By the early 1990s, Arnett stopped responding to fires and was unable to drive on department errands. However, he kept volunteering to help new firefighters understand their job. He would even come in to simply open the station in the morning. According to Battalion Chief Charlie Russell, “He would come in, bring the paper, turn the lights on, and start making coffee…I knew it was 6:30 a.m. when I heard Chuck banging the kitchen cabinets.” Now, to honor the man who was a mentor and friend to so many firefighters over the decades, the Black Mountain has renamed a station. Although the Charles E. Arnett Station is not the town’s main station, it is certainly appropriate. Located off Blue Ridge Road, the facility is very near Arnett’s house.

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Western Carolina News Briefs

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EDC receives excellence in Economic Development Award

Montreat College making efforts to restore chestnuts

- Buncombe COUNTY -

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) awarded the Economic Development Coalition for AshevilleBuncombe County (EDC) a Silver Excellence in Economic Development Award for its Target Cluster Brochures in the category of General Purpose Brochure for communities with populations of 200,000 - 500,000. The honor was given at an awards ceremony at the beginning of October during the IEDC Annual Conference in Houston, Texas. The EDC was recognized for a series of newly formed brochures that emphasize the five industry clusters targeted through the Asheville 5x5 plan, a five-year job creation plan. The reports offer readers an easy-todigest overview of the clusters through a combination of story, profile, achievement, supportive data, and regional photography. Through the voices of the Asheville business community, the brochures provide compelling stories and activities that convey both economic development efforts and Asheville’s unique brand. The Asheville area is exposed as highly competitive and prepared to support key business needs. IEDC’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world’s best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year’s most influential leaders. These awards honor organizations and individuals for their efforts in making positive change in urban, suburban, and rural communities. The IEDC is the world’s largest independent non-profit membership and research organization solely committed to the field of economic development. IEDC assists economic development professionals to create high-quality jobs, create vibrant communities and enhance the quality of life in their regions. Serving more than 4,400 members, IEDC offers services including conferences, professional development and certification, publications, research,HunterBanks_CapitalPlay advisory services, ad.pdf and legislative tracking. 1 11/4/11 10:42 AM

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Until the mid-20th Century, chestnut trees soared over 200 million acres in the east. The tree, which grew up to 150 feet, provided food for people and animals, building material, and a source of money for mountain residents. The blight that devastated chestnuts created a biological hole. However, blightresistant breeding programs now being practiced in places such as Montreat’s Black Mountain Campus could create mature groves in as little as 30 years, experts say. “Because it was such a significant part of the eastern forest at one time, I believe we need to do everything we can to restore that species back to our forest,” Montreat College biology professor Brian Joyce said. This year, local chestnut revival efforts will be highlighted as the American Chestnut Foundation holds its annual summit in Asheville. Joyce plans to conduct what could be a groundbreaking chestnut leaf decomposition study, as well as continuing efforts to get local chestnut genes into the blight-resistant pool. Chestnut Foundation spokesman Paul Franklin explained the importance of gathering genes because even a blight-resistant tree could die if it is not adapted to local conditions. With a survival rate of 1-3 percent, the program has taken a lot of trees, the chestnut Foundation spokesman said. On the lower Montreat campus, each tree is intentionally infected with the blight to see which can survive. In another part of the campus, a group of Chestnuts are growing from nuts collected in the Valley. They were produced by wild trees that had not yet grown big enough to be killed by the blight. The young trees can be bred into the blight-resistant group to supply local characteristics, such as adaptations to cold and altitude. Chestnuts once made up 25 percent of the woods from Maine to Florida. They were especially abundant in the Valley and other parts of Western North Carolina where their concentration reached 40 percent. The wood was light, strong, and fast-growing and supplied raw material for leather tanning and papermaking.

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It’s all about the journey

Western Carolina News Briefs

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Evergreen Foundation provides funding to KARE - haywood COUNTY KARE, Inc declared that The Evergreen Foundation in Waynesville has committed to provide funding for its Victim Advocacy Program. The Victim Advocacy Program offers direct and support services to child victims of abuse, sexual abuse and neglect and their non-offending caregivers. The Victim Advocate and KARE give critical crisis intervention services to the victim and the non-offending parents by offering a home-like, nonthreatening environment for the child to enter when faced with the upsetting experience of disclosure to the trained forensic interviewer. Since 1991, Kids Advocacy Resource Effort, or KARE, Inc, has been helping and supporting child victims in the Haywood County area. As one of the state’s counties with the highest occurrence of child abuse and child sexual abuse, KARE was organized to move toward ending these abuses through advocacy, education and support. The Evergreen Foundation’s funding supports KARE and its Victim Advocate and the Haywood County Multi-Disciplinary Team that works together during investigations. The Multi-Disciplinary Team includes representatives from KARE, Law Enforcement, Haywood County Department of Social Services, the District Attorney’s Office,

Mental and Medical Health Providers, The Haywood County Health Department and the Department of Juvenile Justice. With Evergreen Foundation’s funding, this important program can continue operating in Haywood County.

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Ralph Ross and Sons Dairy receives recognition - haywood COUNTY Ralph Ross and Sons Dairy, a local family that is popular in the farming community, was recently dubbed Outstanding Conservation Farm Family during the Area I Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ Fall Meeting, held at the WNC Ag Center in Fletcher. The Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District nominated the Ross Dairy operation. For a long time, soil and water districts have worked closely with farmers to help them manage their resources, making both state and federal programs available to farmers who want to positively enhance their practices. Farmers are nominated for the award based on their knowledge of conservation and their conservation practices, community involvement, stewardship and education. After a farm is recognized by the local district, a judging committee tours winning farms in Area I (made up of 16 counties) to choose the Area winner.

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No Easy Money Written by Arthur Treff Photos by Linda D. Cluxton

Downtown Fulcrum Risky Business

A friend phones you to say that your favorite band of all time is playing at the Orange Peel in Asheville this Friday…wanna go? Hell yeah, you do. A few clicks later on the Internet, you’ve secured a ticket and then stopped by the box office to pick it up on the way home from work. Daily excitement builds in anticipation of your night on the town. Friday finally arrives…its show time! In the cooling air after sunset, you find yourself waiting in a long line that winds up Biltmore Ave. Everyone’s excited, you and your friends chat expectantly with other fans in line. You’re too cool to drool, but you can barely contain yourself. Finally, you’re inside. House lights are up, the stage is dark. You head to the bar and find that all of Asheville’s microbrews are available on tap. Yes, this is going to be a special night. Amplifier pilot lights pierce the stage darkness, chrome from mic stands and drum kit stand out like lighthouse beacons. You notice dark figures moving up there…is it them? Could it be?... Your stomach has filled with butterflies; instruments are being slung over shoulders by the silhouettes on stage. Bang! The first chords of your favorite song are struck, and the stage lights come alive. The crowd around you disappears as the house lights go dark. You see the faces of the band, how they move, what instruments they’re playing and how they play them. ‘This is too much,’ your brain shouts above the stimulation.

30 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 31

The sound is so big; it has filled your ears to overflowing. This song, which you’ve heard hundreds of times through ear buds, has taken over your entire body. Amazing! You’re grinning at your friends, they grin back. The thousand other fans transmit their collective excitement to the stage, which is amplified by the players and reflected back. Welcome to your first live music experience! Welcome to the Orange Peel. There is just no substitute for live music, you say to your coworkers the next day. They agree, it was a special night. The crowd was great, the lights and sound were spectacular, the band delivered a stellar performance…even three encores! To you and your friends the background activity leading up to, during, and after the show is transparent. While you were driving home, approximately 60 Orange Peel employees were hard at work. Bars and bathrooms were cleaned, floors swept, lighting equipment underwent repairs. The box office was shifting ticket rolls for the next event. Technicians were tearing down the stage setup. All must be completed by morning because another band will arrive to unload tomorrow at noon, and later on, a crowd will anxiously await that first chord. This is 2012; we can listen to tunes on iPods, iPads and cell phones. We can purchase individual songs in milliseconds over the Internet. All of this is convenient and commonplace. Everyone’s tastes are different, but where music lovers unanimously agree is this: regardless of the genre, all music is best when experienced live. There are a myriad of places where fans and musicians can meet to enjoy music. They range from large to small and can be found in just about every city across the US. Tour managers decide on what type of venues their band will play. The largest being arenas, stadiums and civic centers which allow many thousands of fans to see the performance, but they are solely reserved for acts whose fame will draw enough fans to fill the space. Theaters are the next size down, allowing, on average, seating for 1500-3000 people. The smallest category venues are music clubs, the capacity of which varies from 20 to 1500 fans. Asheville has many places to listen to live music, but if you

want to see headlining national bands in an intimate setting, the Orange Peel is the only place to go. Their 1100-customer capacity is large enough to attract national acts yet still offer ticket holders a quality listening experience. The Orange Peel is headquartered in a building on the corner of Biltmore Avenue and Hilliard Street which has had a varied past. From 1950 to 1962 Skateland Rollerdome, a local kids roller

“A rock show is an intangible product with an eightIf you don’t cover your investment with ticket sales,

32 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

skating rink, called the address home. Then the facility was renovated as an R&B music club, with a string of different owners. Each ended up using a color in the name: Jade, Emerald and finally Orange. Touted as The Original Orange Peel, the club was one of the hottest venues around in the early 1960s, attracting national acts, such as the Bar-Kay’s and the Commodores to Asheville. The building lay dormant for long periods then did a brief stint as an auto parts warehouse, after which the local downtown redevelopment company, Public Interest Projects became interested.

This organization, started by local philanthropist, Julian Price, realized that the city needed a music concert venue. The club, Be Here Now, was closed, and no business had stepped up to fill the void; there was no longer a place for Ashevillians to enjoy concerts by famous acts other than the Civic Center. The Orange Peel opened its doors ten years ago and has been rated one of the best concert venues in the nation. The ‘Peel has

asked me about opening a large music club, I’d tell you to think long and hard about it,” says Pat Whalen, the top man at the Orange Peel. “I’d also ask you if you were willing to part with most of that money.” How could this be? Doesn’t the club sell tickets, take a percentage then pass the rest on to the band? Hardly. A club that books national acts must pay those performers a fee commensurate with their star status. Lesser-known acts can be enticed to Asheville for as little as $2000, while bigtime stars demand in excess of $30,000 per show. That fee is guaranteed. The club pays a sizeable non-refundable deposit two months up front to maintain a slot on the band’s touring calendar, with the balance due upon completion of the show. Regardless of the turnout, the weather or fickleness of the fans the band will be paid in full. Let’s do a hypothetical month as a risk assessment exercise: During their high season, the Orange Peel averages 25 shows per month. For simplicity let’s assume that every act in our fictitious month expects a $15,000 fee with a seven percent deposit paid 8 weeks in advance. This yields a monthly outlay of $26,250 for deposits. The club will be charged a total of $375,000 for 25 show nights, which nets a total monthly cash outlay of $401,250. How many small business owners are comfortable with such a sizeable monthly commitment? But wait, we’re not finished. This isn’t the only monthly expense. The staff of 60 employees needs to be paid. The house sound system is state of the art, which requires upkeep and constant updating, as does the lighting system. Both of these draw prodigious amounts of electricity, which pushes the power bill toward the ozone layer. Oh, and let’s not forget insurance. Imagine what your rate quote would look like if you asked your agent to cover you for inviting 1100 people to your house, where they would consume alcohol and listen to highly amplified music. Every night. The only way to overcome the stress of piloting such a large money-consuming machine is to sell tickets, and the only way to assure that fans will buy them is marketing. “My background is retail,” says Orange Peel marketing manager, Liz Whalen-Tallent, “where most products have a Cont... nine month shelf life.

week shelf life and no opportunity to mitigate the risk. you are guaranteed to lose money.”

been written up in USA Today, Travel and Leisure Magazine, Southern Living Magazine, Turner South Cable Network, Rolling Stone Magazine, Self Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and most recently, in the May 2011 issue of GQ. The club is known for presenting up and coming new talent as well as showcasing legendary performers. To musicians who see the stage for the few hours they stand upon it, and to the spectators who enjoy the show, running a music venue seems easy…a walk in the park…an opportunity to listen to music and make money at the same time! “If you had a few million dollars at your disposal and you

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 33

If, during those nine months, a product line doesn’t sell readily, you can mark it down. Or you can liquidate the stock entirely and make back some of your investment.” “A rock show is an intangible product with an eight-week shelf life and no opportunity to mitigate the risk. If you don’t cover your investment with ticket sales you are guaranteed to lose money.” Orange Peel’s customer demographic is 18-25 years old. Reaching this group is challenging, because they fall outside of traditional media: print and radio. These young adults are all about smart phones and social media. Marketing surveys taken when fans buy tickets confirm the assumption: 55% of buyers find out about shows via word of mouth. 40% are reached via Facebook, and less than 5% report hearing about an event via traditional media, which is expensive. Twitter and Facebook are very low cost, and most music groups rely heavily upon their Facebook pages to attract and keep fans. As a result, the Peel has one person dedicated to Facebooking and Tweeting. “Social media is very important to us,” says Liz. “We make sure that our Facebook page has Interesting content, and that our posts have an Orange Peel personality: funny with a heavy dose of customer service. With this tool we can create a buzz around a show, run contests and link to bands’ Facebook pages.” Interestingly enough, the very bands that are enamored with Facebook also insist that clubs like the Peel spend their own money on traditional media. It’s in the performance contract. Band managers want to see print and radio ads and insist on maintaining creative control over their appearance. Liz’s job is to balance a band’s request with a sense of fiscal responsibility: why spend the Orange Peel’s advertising dollars on traditional media, if research demonstrates that it isn’t very effective? If ticket sales are the Peel’s lifeblood then marketing must be the heart of the operation. Eight weeks to sell a show seems like a long time, unless you’ve never done this work before. Everything that pertains to a show has to be approved by the band’s management team. A marketing plan is developed and sent to the band’s manager for discussion and approval. This includes: flyers, posters, Facebook events, radio ads, and print ads. Other show specific products – newsletters, web ads,

ticketing pre-sale and graphic design must all be reviewed. In the eight weeks leading up to a show, the marketing treadmill runs continuously. Because the majority of tickets are sold the day of a show, the club is never sure how many tickets they’ll be selling. Additionally, Asheville ticket buyers are notoriously late buyers. Another variable is weather. If, on show day, the weather turns sour, ticket sales can slump dramatically. We’ve arrived at the point when you remember our risk mitigation exercise and how much financial risk a club takes on. Stressed out yet? What about running sales, or offering Groupons: two for one deals. Impossible. Bands like to keep ticket prices consistent from show to show, for the duration of a tour. They do not want to offend any of their loyal fans. Tickets fuel income, but a large portion of the organization is dedicated to ensuring a safe and high quality experience for everyone involved. The Orange Peel is responsible for the safety of up to 1100 ticket holders, the artists they’ve come to see, and to their employees. For this reason, security is taken very seriously, as is head count. City ordinances, designed to keep us all safe in the buildings we visit, dictate the maximum number of people that can attend a show. A surprise inspection by a city official could trigger a concert to be halted if an accurate head count cannot be verified. A large group of young people drinking beer and listening to high-energy music draws considerable attention from law enforcement as well as those responsible for controlling liquor consumption. The Peel is the only club in the city that actually enforces North Carolina’s “One Drink per Person” law. To keep people from becoming quickly intoxicated, legislators passed a law, which forbids bartenders to serve more than one drink at a time to a customer. If I’m standing next to my wife and I am obviously ordering a beer for each of us, that’s legal. If, on the other hand, I order two beers but I’m standing alone at the bar, I shouldn’t be given two beers per the letter of the law. This strict adherence to the liquor laws and the tight security has given some local youth reason to complain that the Orange Peel isn’t fun or “local,” that they’re owned by a large multinational corporation headquartered in a distant death star. Cont...

“My Dad has a saying, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse,” says Liz. “We work hard at not resting on our laurels, we try to make the experience for bands and their fans better every night.”

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November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 35

This couldn’t be further from the truth. The Peel and its parent organization are entirely local. The reason the club remains in existence is because they play by the rules, and in doing so, have maintained a safe environment in which the local populace can enjoy an evening of music…many times a month for the last ten years. The economic downturn of ‘08 as well as higher fuel prices has conspired against the live music business by decreasing crowd turnout. Bands are aware of this, and have lowered their expectations as to the crowds the Orange Peel can attract. They have also lowered their rates, which make it easier for the venues to hire them during these lean times. Success leaves evidence of sharp minds at work. The club has systems for everything: marketing, food and beverage, security, technical, financial management and safety. Manufacturing companies ensure their futures by designing

new products or diversifying the product line. For a music club, the situation is different. The managers at the Orange Peel scrutinize their systems, always striving to be better, and more efficient. “My Dad has a saying, if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse,” says Liz. “We work hard at not resting on our laurels, we try to make the experience for bands and their fans better every night.” The next time you drive by the Orange Peel, remember this story. If you see a huge tour bus parked on Hilliard St., you’ll know what’s going on inside: a touring band has arrived to play; they’re probably setting up the stage as you sit at the light. Meanwhile, the Orange Peel staff will doing what they do best: pulling the strings to help 1100 Asheville fans meet their musical heroes under one roof for an epic night of live music.

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News in the

Old North State

Snyder’s-Lance closes on Snack Factory purchase

Snyder’sLance Inc. has completed its purchase of Snack Factory from VMG Par tners. In September, the Charlotte-based snack maker announced that it had reached an agreement to buy the Snack Factory for $340 million. According to a repor t, the merger will add nearly 65 employees to the work force at Snyder’s-Lance. Snyder’sLance has more than 1,000 employees in Charlotte and operates manufacturing facilities in Nor th Carolina, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Florida, Ohio and Ontario, Canada. The company posted net income of $19.3 million, or 28 cents per diluted share, on revenue totaling $399.4 million in the second quar ter.

Volvo unveils $10M expansion Volvo Group has unveiled a $10 million, 40,000-square-foot expansion to its Technical Center on its Greensboro campus and announced that it will be expanding even fur ther. Along with additional testing space and truck bays, the finished expansion of the technical center doubled the size of Volvo’s design studio, which suppor ts new truck design and development. Volvo also added to its track so it is equipped for testing heavy-duty truck performance. The Volvo Group, which includes Greensborobased Mack Trucks, Inc. and Volvo Trucks Nor th America, is one of the world’s primary truck, bus, and construction 38 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

equipment manufacturers. Volvo Trucks manufactures on-highway and vocational Class 8 trucks and tractors under the Volvo brand. The recently expanded Technical Center in Greensboro handles equipment, development and testing of Volvo trucks. The technical center expansion will not lead to new hires, said Dennis Slagle, Volvo Group executive vice president for Truck Sales & Marketing Americas. He explained that instead, increasing safety and environmental regulations require Volvo to be on the lead of new technology, such as adaptive speed technology. According to company officials, the next expansion will add 18,700 square feet to the facility at a cost of $2.5 million, making space for 12 truck bays. Work is scheduled for completion in the next seven months. Although this will not result in new jobs, but about 45 current Volvo employees will be relocated from leased space on Gallimore Dairy Road. Volvo currently employs about 2,000 people in the Triad.

ABB giving $1M to Raleigh museum ABB, the global engineering firm, is giving $1 million to Marbles Kids Museum to create “Kid Grid,” an interactive exhibit featuring playful activities in a pretend power grid. ABB has already given $100,000 to the Raleigh museum; the rest of the pledge will be donated over seven years. ABB has a considerable presence in Nor th Carolina, employing more than 2,000 people in eight locations. ABB’s Nor th American corporate headquar ters is in Cary, and ABB’s Power Products/ Power Systems divisional headquar ters is located on the Centennial Campus of N.C. State University.

Arsenic in Mountain Island Lake A Duke University-led study of coal ash contaminants has found high levels of toxic arsenic in Mountain Island Lake. The study repor ted ash contaminants downstream of coal-fired power plant ash settling ponds in the 11 lakes and rivers sampled. It was published in October in the journal

Environmental Science & Technology. Concentrations were inclined to be highest in small bodies of water, such as 2,914-acre Mountain Island Lake. Duke Energy manages the lake, which is fed by the Catawba River. According to the study, water flowing into the lake from the Riverbend power plant’s ash ponds had arsenic concentrations up to nine times higher than the federal drinking water standard. The study also found arsenic at levels that could damage aquatic life in water at the lake bottom. That suggests arsenic could accumulate in fish tissue, noted Duke scientist Avner Vengosh, who contributed to the study. The findings did not astonish Mecklenburg County water quality officials. The county has sampled lake water near the Riverbend discharge point eight times a year since mid-2009, and discovered arsenic above the state water quality standard five times, said water quality official David Caldwell. Concentrations have been up to three times higher than the state standard. Mecklenburg does not test sediment, Caldwell said, but assumes the heavy metal would be found there, too. The county has not seen elevated arsenic levels in fish. Fish contaminated by chemicals called PCBs, which are not linked to coal ash, led to a state advisory for Mountain Island in

North Carolina at a glance NC at No. 26 for entrepreneurship

2011. Caldwell explained that there is no indication that the drinking water Charlotte gathers from Mountain Island is at risk. Duke Energy, which runs Riverbend and other power plants alluded to in the study, said metals such as arsenic consistently meet water quality standards in Mountain Island and lakes Norman and Wylie near Charlotte. Duke claims its testing shows fish and drinking water are safe.

$32M deck to improve UNC parking UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus has seen the star t of a $32 million project, which will hopefully cut some of the parking complaints. The project will add between 600 and 900 parking spaces at the Craige parking deck. The project is in its early stages, and UNC-Chapel Hill officials hope to see it completed before the 2014-15 school year. The existing deck will simply be extended upward to accommodate more spaces.

Davidson College receives $45M

Davidson College in nor thern Mecklenburg County has received $45 million from The Duke Endowment, the largest gift ever for the private liberal ar ts school. The money will suppor t a comprehensive, 10-year construction and renovation plan expected to star t next year. Six buildings will be expanded, renovated or constructed over the next decade to establish an “academic neighborhood” with flexible spaces and common areas that promote the exchange and generation of ideas. The plan is also intended to cultivate oppor tunities for collaboration with outside businesses and organizations. This is the second major gift for the school this year. Alumnus Ted Baker gave the school $25 million to suppor t The Davidson Trust, a program that replaces student loans with grants in all financial aid packages. The Duke Endowment, a private foundation in Charlotte, focuses its suppor t on children, health care, higher education and rural churches. Since it was founded in 1924, the organization has awarded $2.9 billion in grants. Davidson College, founded in 1837, is one of four educational institutions to receive annual funds from The Duke Endowment.

Nor th Carolina ranks number 26 in the most recent State Entrepreneurship Index from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, dodging 12 ranks from number 38 the previous year. To determine the rankings, University of Nebraska researchers allocate a score to each state, which is based on five factors: the net growth in business establishments, business formation rate, patents per thousand residents and average proprietor income. The formula depends on per-capita calculations, so states with larger populations do not necessarily have an advantage due to size. The latest rankings are based on data from 2011. The recent repor t shows that Nor th Carolina earned high marks in all areas but proprietor income for an overall score of 1.03, above the median level of 1. South Carolina ranks near the bottom of the list at number 48, ahead of only Michigan and Louisiana. However, that is an improvement for SC, as it was last on the list a year earlier, which it received an overall score of 0.19. Massachusetts is at the top the list for the second year in a row, followed by Nor th Dakota. California and New York are third and four th, with Minnesota at number 5.

Epic Games strikes licensing deal The Astronauts, a Warsaw, Poland-based gaming star tup, has developed a licensing deal with Cary-based Epic Games that permits it to use the same technology Epic put on the map with its “Gears of War” series. The Polish company will utilize Epic’s Unreal Engine technology, star ting with an unannounced title scheduled for release in 2013. The Astronauts founders have already created games outside the new company, including titles such as “Painkiller” and “Bulletstorm.” Founded in 1991, Epic Games also created “Infinity Blade.” The company is currently in a transition stage, as it just lost design director Cliff Bleszinski. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 39

Written by Bill Fishburne

•

Photos by Mike Booher & Bill Fishburne

B B &

Tobacconist s

olving the world’s problems, one cigar at a time

Cigars may well be the second most written about pleasure in life. A cigar is a product that certainly brings pleasure to an eclectic clientele who spend part of their Saturday mornings at B&B Tobacconists at Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. B&B occupies an old frame house with a suitably wide front porch. The aroma of good pipe and cigar tobacco fills the air as you climb the wooden steps. You are welcomed by three gentlemen sitting on the porch enjoying their morning cigars. Inside there are other gentlemen seated in a window box in the main sales area. Two more are in a separate room watching and discussing the then-current Ryder Cup golf championship. Others, mostly writers and artists as it turns out, are having a conversation in an adjacent sitting area. The gentlemen are resplendent in their deep leather chairs, gently wearing the good-feeling smoke emanating from their

40 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

fine cigars. Their conversation starts well beyond shallowness of politics and soars into the origins of cigars, the colors of life, their individual lives and their challenges. One observes that the atmosphere within B&B, although shrouded in smoke, is in many ways equivalent to that of the old barber shop. Men (generally) come in, make a purchase, then join in or listen to whatever topic is being discussed. Most of the clientele are older. One hears the barber shop analogy and comments, “and in both cases you go home with no hair.” The simple pleasure of the tobacco provides an ever moving mosaic of changing shapes and textures for these quiet moments. Smokers savoring the taste, consider the issues and contemplate the patterns in the smoke. It’s not a particularly high testosterone environment. There is no alcohol and very little screaming and yelling about sports. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 41

The focus is on the tobacco, and on the conversations. Sculptor Robert Winkler enjoys his time with his cigar. It’s a way to wind down. For screenwriter and WCU associate professor Terry Curtis Fox, it is a relaxing place to use his iPad and work on his next project. B&B Tobacconists is owned by David Barnes, a retired State Bureau of Investigation agent. Until August, his partner was Mike Booher. Booher is a professional photographer, also now retired. He has contributed to National Geographic and was the only photographer allowed full access to document the move of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. His work can most famously be found in the book, Out of Harm’s Way. The shop was founded by David Barnes’ father, Bruce Barnes. Its original intent was exactly what it has become today – a quiet retreat where customers could find excellent choices in tobaccos – and remain to enjoy them in good company. Bruce Barnes passed away in 1991. With Booher’s retirement, David Barnes is now the sole proprietor. B&B is not a cigarette store. It does not offer cigarettes and none of the smokers present during our visit use them. Winkler confessed that he had been a three pack a day smoker many years ago, but now limited himself to “four or five” good cigars a week. B&B is also a pipe shop. Barnes prefers a pipe and in a side room, a young man and woman are learning about pipes and pipe tobacco. The shop has one wall dedicated to pipes and a second wall for the house favorite pipe tobacco blends. Barnes goes about his shop business with an old Vicar’s Pipe in hand. The Vicar’s pipe style came to being in England in the 16th century when the parish Vicar would stand at the door after services, holding his pipe in anticipation of donations from the congregation. The legend doesn’t report the presence of holy smoke when he received a particularly generous offering, but one could only imagine. Times have changed even in England. Today’s vicars stand no chance of such immortality. The Reverend Anthony Carr, of East Peckham, recently walked into a police station in Tonbridge, Kent, lit his pipe in violation of the town’s no-smoking ordinance, and asked to be arrested. His protest was against the erosion of civil liberties in general and the pipe was simply a convenient conduit to help make his point. Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately for the vicar, the Tonbridge police refused to make the arrest. They said it was an environmental issue and out of their jurisdiction. There are no such niceties in North Carolina. Workplace

smoking was banned in 2009. That included restaurants, bars and private offices. In 2010 the city of Asheville went one step further and banned smoking on all public property including parks, greenways and the sidewalks surrounding them. Sales of beanbag ashtrays, it is reported, are now exceeded by those of lava lamps. For the uninitiated we should point out that there are fundamental differences between smoking pipes and cigars, and cigarettes. Cigarette smokers inhale the smoke into their lungs. The links between such inhalation and lung cancer and multiple other diseases are irrefutable. Pipe and cigar smoke is generally not inhaled. The American Cancer Society says the links between them and various cancers are less well established but there are concerns. There is no reason to dispute the science. But there is more to the story. The ACS also reports that, “How you smoke and how much you smoke are both important. Cigar smokers may spend an hour smoking one large cigar that can contain as much tobacco as a pack of cigarettes. Smoking more cigars each day or inhaling cigar smoke leads to more exposure and higher risks. The health risks linked to occasional cigar smoking (less than daily) are less clear.” So there you have it. To eliminate the risk of tobaccocaused cancer you have to stay away from it completely. The same could be said of avoiding automobile racing accidents, skydiving or having babies. There are certain human activities that are pleasurable, that give high levels of satisfaction, but are inherently risky. Achieving the proper balance between risk and reward is one of life’s challenges. As for inhaling, there are physical reasons it normally is not done. Cigarettes are made from light tobaccos that are blended, shredded, flavored with additives ranging from banana oil to vanilla, then loosely packed inside a paper tube. In most cases, a filter is also added. The resultant smoke is relatively thin, cool and filled with unknown chemicals that the tobacco companies do not want to disclose. Cigars are very different. The tobacco is dark, densely packed and wrapped in yet another tobacco leaf. The tobacco is stemmed but not shredded. The smoke is dense and relatively hot compared to cigarettes. It also is very flavorful. Inhaling adds nothing but discomfort. B&B Tobacconists, as noted, doesn’t sell or encourage the use of cigarettes. The pipe and cigar markets are different. The smokers may come from different walks of life but they share an appreciation of fine tobacco. Taken in moderation. Cont...

The focus is on the tobacco, and on the conversations.

42 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

We've been buddies a long time Priestley Cummings Fo

Laura Cummings McCu

And now we are celebrating 10 years in business together managing our investment company, White Oak Financial Management, Inc. We help our clients take the emotion out of investing by using supply-anddemand technical charting to manage risk and help us determine not only what to buy and sell but when. The news of the day is generally not a factor in our investing decisions. White Oak also provides this service to participants in company retirement plans – offering specific advice on the investment choices within a plan at any given time, directly to participants. To learn more about our advisory services and investment management strategies, please call us at 828-274-7844 or visit www.WhiteOakFinancialManagement.com.

www.WhiteOakFinancialManagement.com

828-274-7844 Every investment strategy has the potential for profit or loss

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 43

Mike Booher

Garland Earley

You should hurry up and acquire the cigar habit. It’s one of the major happinesses. And so much more lasting than love, so much less costly in emotional wear and tear. - Aldous Huxley

“Eating and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man’s enjoyment of his cigar.” - Mark Twain

Mike Booher & David Barnes 44 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Another item you consider when you talk about cigars is the subject of Cuban cigars. Many cigar aficionados consider them the Holy Grail of the cigar art. If you can get your mind past the obligatory political statements regarding communism in general, the Castro dictatorship, Soviet nuclear missiles, various assassinations and assassination attempts, Angola, Ché and Bolivia, MiGs shooting down American civilian aircraft, and the American embargo on all things Cuban, then you’ll get nearunanimity that, despite everything, Cuban cigars remain the best in the world. “It’s a unique combination of the soil, the seeds and the weather,” Winkler says. “You don’t get the same combination, or taste, anywhere else.” Winkler’s comment is backed up by 50 years of largely unsuccessful efforts to duplicate the Cuban taste. Seeds have been smuggled to the Dominican Republic and to several Central American countries including tobaccorich Nicaragua. In fact, of all the nonCuban locations, Nicaragua’s dark, rich soil may be the closest approximation to Cuba’s. “Nicaraguans are stronger,” Fox says. “Their taste is distinctive.” Fox suggests certain Casa Magna Nicaraguan cigars are among those worthy of a try. “They’re mid-bodied with lots of flavor,” he says. Cigar Aficionado magazine rated the Casa Magna Robusto as the world’s top cigar in 2008. Following in that tradition, the brand’s Colorado Diadema was picked as one of the top 25 (10th) cigars of 2011. Fox and Winkler know what they’re talking about, and so does former B&B partner Booher. Whether he’s giving advice on cigars or showing a writer how to adjust his $600 flash attachment, Booher knows his business. And he knows the B&B history. “David’s dad, Bruce, started the shop and the focus was always on fine cigars, pipes and pipe tobacco. He sold Alpha pipes to start with. Those were pretty rare but Bruce knew a wholesaler who lived in the area and he was able to get them. He added some other brands, Savinelli and Peterson, and the pipe business took off.” Bruce died in 1991. David took over the store two years later. A natural division of responsibilities led David into managing the pipe and pipe tobacco business, while Mike focused on cigars until his recent retirement. “I don’t know why I retired, really,” he says. “I love being here on Saturdays, talking with the guys enjoying a good cigar.” De Musset would have loved B&B, It seems to be more of a gathering place for camaraderie and conversation than a business. There is no eagle-eyed clerk behind the counter. David, and still, Mike, are as liable to be deep in conversation in one of the many small smoking rooms as they are to be at the cash register. One might think that is still their abiding interest. Fox, who lives downtown, says he appreciates B&B because of that togetherness. “Look,” he says. “I leave my iPad here and go out, walk around and don’t even think about it. Nobody’s going to take it. No one’s going to disturb you or what you’re doing.” While Winkler feels B&B gives him down time from the stress of his sculpture projects, Fox finds creativity and fresh ideas when he is there, enjoying his cigar. His screenplay and production credits are extensive. They include the Lonesome Dove TV series

and serving as Story Editor for the Hill Street Blues. In his career he has produced screenplays for dozens of other TV series and movies. His work at Western Carolina introduces students to the art of screenplay writing and results in a completed screenplay at the end of his series of courses. Winkler is one of the nation’s leading sculptors. His recent oneman exhibits include Queens University in Charlotte in 2011. He has exhibited in galleries including Asheville’s Blue Spiral 1, the Unison Sculpture Park in New Palz, New York, and in the permanent collection at the Creative Arts Guild in Dalton, Georgia. He also has served as Curator for many sculpture exhibits including the RiverSculpture Festival in Asheville (which he and his wife, Arlene, founded. Winkler’s website (http://robertwinklersculpture.com) says he works to produce “Graceful, gravity-challenging forms that reach in unexpected directions.” Winkler says he came to Asheville because it was recommended to him at a time when “The noise in my head is louder than the noise in the street, it’s time to leave.” “I was going to move to Burgundy (France). Arlene and I were going to start a bed and breakfast. Instead we came to Asheville and just fell in love with it. Most US cities look like the same polo shirt. Asheville doesn’t. The mountains are special.” David Barnes feels the same way. “After I retired I really couldn’t wait to get over here and get to work. Mike and my Mom encouraged me, and Mike has just been the best friend you could imagine. I’m 63 now and I think the shop is going to make it long past the day I finally retire again. We have some younger people coming in.” Finally, Barnes points back to the Surgeon General’s report on smoking, vintage 1964. That was the beginning of public health focus on the dangers of nicotine, tars and other tobacco related chemicals. It led to the first warning labels on cigarette packs (1966) and the Surgeon General warnings on the same labels in 1970. Since then the associations have become even stronger leading to the current debate over graphic images being required (overturned by a court) in 2012. “We don’t carry cigarettes, we don’t encourage cigarettes and we don’t smoke cigarettes at B&B,” he says. “It’s a totally different way of smoking that we don’t endorse in any way.” What hasn’t been widely reported is the reported possible benefits of tobacco and nicotine usage. Moderate smoking (cigars, pipes are a good example) was credited in 1991 by the British Medical Journal with slowing the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease in samefamily members by an average of 4.17 years. Psychopharmacology supported that study in 1992, as did Neuroepidemiology in 1994. Barnes doesn’t hang his hat on any of those studies. He simply runs a business that is legal and unique in the area. It provides a location and atmosphere where gentlemen, and ladies, may enjoy a great pipe or cigar, good conversation and an environment that is not judgmental about their decision to use tobacco. As Kipling said, “... a good cigar is a smoke.” You’ll have to look the rest of it up yourself. Location: 377 Merrimon Ave. Hours: M-T-W: 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thurs-Fri 10 - 8:30. Sat. 10 - 4. Closed Sundays. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 45

Sweet&Savory Seasonal Selections Written By Dasha Morgan

Photos By Harley O. Morgan

These are a few local snack and gift makers that we thought we should share with you.

...even if we did keep all of the samples for ourselves. 46 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 47

Leisure&Libation

Ma Belle France

hislaine Mahler loves France, her native country, and delights in the classical dishes they serve. Quiches, fruit tortes, pastries and soups from several regions of France made with fresh local ingredients, are her specialty. Her reputation for fine fare proceeds her. People drive for miles to the Asheville City Market or the tailgate markets in Flat Rock or Biltmore Park to pick up a future meal or dessert for an upcoming party. She has many varieties of quiches, from the basic Quiche Lorraine to spinach/feta to portabella mushroom to tomato/goat cheese, as well as many soups, such as French lentil, asparagus, or ratatouille. According to Joy Bulluck, a regular customer, “Her pear and plum tortes are just mouthwateringly delicious.” Sometimes customers order ahead-perhaps a Reine de Saba, a chocolate and almond cake or a Buche de Noel, the traditional French Christmas Yule Log or sometimes just wedding canopies. Ghislaine makes sure you know it is “Her Beautiful France” that she is introducing into your life. It is not just La Belle France, The Beautiful France, but Ma Belle France, My Beautiful France. From a very early age she learned cooking at her mother’s side and over the years this hobby grew into an all encompassing business. She moved from Paris to New York City close to 30 years ago, put a small ad on a card at the French Institute, .which was answered by a family on 58th Street. She began preparing a four or five course meal for them regularly. This was just the beginning, with many life turns, including career changes, after that.

Going fast forward, Ghislaine moved to Asheville in January 2010. She feels that the city embraced her immediately. Now besides the local open air markets with her merchandise, she shares her culture by taking small groups (maximum eight people) to France on culinary and cultural adventure tours, showing them France through the eyes of a native. This is not the typical American tour of France but an in-depth cultural trip. Last month she returned from a trip to Paris and Normandy. Just to name a few, the group visited one of the oldest kitchen stores in Paris, the finest Parisian chocolate shops, took cooking classes with Parisian chefs, and once in Normandy for eight days, they discovered the Mont Saint Michel, the beautiful Pays d’Auge, Omaha and Utah beaches, and much more. Ghislaine also offers half day cooking classes Together eight to ten people prepare a threecourse meal--an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. Students come from all over to learn-from Charleston, Charlotte, or even Florida. After the preparation the group sits down to enjoy the meal together. Ghislaine loves teaching teenagers and the younger generation the delights and secrets of French cooking. In addition, Ghislaine offers festive “crepes” parties in someone’s home, for a special event, or she will even cater a party or meal. At the moment she is building a new cooking space, hoping to raise money through www.indiegogo.com/ mabellefrance, for a large classroom. She has most of the equipment but needs a larger cooking class area. Information on Ghislaine Mahler and Ma Belle France can be found at www.MaBelleFrance.com or she can be reached by phone at (828) 505-4379.

A Pound Cake is Just The Ticket

ccording to Cindy Amiot it doesn’t take long to get a business going. Even though she already had a full time job, she took a giant step to follow a childhood dream and re-ignite her earlier passion to start a baking business. She had cooked by her Mother’s side as a child. Many years later, she remembers her oldest grandson at the age of two saying, “Bake me a ‘Banilla cake.” Now he himself is a chef, and knowing how delicious her baked goods were, encouraged her into taking the plunge--along with other family members. “Cindy makes a delicious pound cake in many flavors: Black Walnut, Double Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry, all under the business name of Penelope’s. Her Black Walnut pound cake, a tall bundt cake shape with more black walnuts than you would expect. The Vanilla Pound cake is known for being particularly moist. The rich Chocolate Pound cake is made from an old family recipe using a very special chocolate. Next Cindy may produce a Red Velvet Cake or breads from her pound cake recipes. She only uses the best of ingredients —organic flours, fresh eggs, organic milk, real butter from cows that are not fed on antibiotics, sea salt or kosher sea salt. To her that is the secret of success; that is what makes the cakes taste so yummy. In addition she makes cookies —chocolate chip which the kids just love, sugar cookies for various occasions, Moravian ginger cookies, muffins,, and cupcakes. Her cookies can be shaped, perhaps a leaf shape or a pumpkin shape artfully decorated. And there is a variety of flavors of cupcakes —for today’s market there are even cupcakes, or fudge on a stick, brownies, and some lovely fruit pies

And today it is a revered work of art – a statement of what vision and planning can achieve. At First Citizens Private Wealth Advisory Services we’ve been helping families enhance, preserve and transition wealth for more than a century. For a comprehensive approach to wealth management,

Town & Country Furniture 106 Sutton Avenue • Black Mountain

48 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

828-669-0075 www.towncountryfurniture.net

(cherry, apple, blackberry) that can all be ordered. However she does not do breakfast, birthday or wedding cakes. A year ago Cindy started. With no advertising, no fliers, and only occasionally attending tailgate markets, street fairs or open air markets, she began selling her pound cakes to friends. The business has just been snowballing. And certainly Thanksgiving and Christmas are busy seasons. People just love to serve them at home, as well as give them as gifts. “Basically this was a hobby that grew into a business. She would work around her full time job at a real estate office. Cindy had to get her kitchen approved by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, who needed to inspect the cooking area. Once she got their approval, the ship set sail. Cindy is always “tweaking a recipe” and keeps trying to improve on the original recipe. What can be added to make it better? Is it moist enough? Does it have enough flavor? She appreciates feedback from her customers. Cindy does suggest that you keep the cake in a covered dish to keep it fresh —although her cakes seldom last very long. So why don’t you try one for Thanksgiving? The Black Walnut is perfect for this time of year. Just call (828) 712-5381 to place an order with Penelope’s. It will take about a week to fill.

call Kara Gerdeman at 1.855.329.3258.

Learn more at firstcitizens.com/privatewealth

A century of strength, stability and solid advice. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 49

Shooting Star Jewelry - A Family Team

ot many mothers are lucky enough to have their daughter start her own business at the age of 10. This is what happened to Elizabeth Etheridge when she gave her daughter, Amelia, a few beads and some jewelry making equipment. The next thing you know Amelia made some attractive plastic bracelets, so popular today with teenagers. A little later Milly needed some extra spending money, so she and her friend Chelsea started showing and selling them to the neighbors. They came home within a few hours with $45. A few of her schoolmates bought some items for Christmas gifts for their mothers. The jewelry was a hit and profitable! The greatest news came later when she told her mother that she was going to give some of the profits to the Haitian Earthquake Relief Fund. Now Mom really hit the jackpot—she has both a creative and a generous daughter.” Today the business has grown considerably. The mother and daughter go to trade shows to buy items, in towns like Spruce Pine and Charlotte. Amelia carefully chooses the beads she wants to include —colorful crystals, turquoise, mother of pearl or even fresh water pearls. As her jewelry is considered a low budget item, she is careful about the price she pays for materials. From these, she designs lovely dangle earrings, necklaces and bracelets for everyday use. Her nine year old brother, Colson, helps make the displays with matching sets. And her Mom jumps in to reproduce the creations in the quantity needed.”

So what about marketing? The jewelry is sold at fairs, such as the Montford Street Festival in the fall and the Grace Episcopal Craft Fair in the spring. A few retail stores, such as Mast General, the Loft, and Winks carry the line and are doing well with it. The idea that this very wearable jewelry is made right here in Asheville by a now 13 year old girl has incredible appeal. And the price is right. This talented young lady is well on her way. Who knows what the next step will be? Maybe Milly will go to design school or apprentice to a well known jewelry maker? Maybe this is another artist like David Webb in her formative years?? Who knows? But for the moment there is a lot of fun, excitement, and a learning experience found in the family team creating, making, and selling jewelry. Do you by any chance need any earrings, a bracelet, or perhaps a fun fur ring? Or perhaps you would like to host a home show over the holidays with friends. You can reach Elizabeth Etheridge by phone at (828) 712-4356 or at Ebetheridge@gmail.com. Most items sell for under $20. Next time you go shopping, look for Shooting Star Jewelry and be amazed at the artistic creations of a 13 year old girl, who attends Valley Springs School.

be ado rne d

L&L

Thrive

Gabriel & Co www.jewelsthatdance.com

14 kt gold pendant with diamonds

63 Haywood St. • Asheville, NC • 828-254-5088 • Hours: Mon-Sat 10:30-6

OWENS ORCHIDS

“We wish we would have moved sooner.” it’s the comment we hear most often from new Deerfield residents. they delight in our location and their newfound friends; love the state-of-the-art amenities; feel safe, secure and well cared for by our expert staff – their only complaint is that they didn’t make the decision to move sooner. since the best time to move may have been years ago, then isn’t the next best time now? call to schedule a visit and learn how you can thrive at Deerfield – in body, mind and spirit.

This holiday season, try something different. Blooming orchids for your home for the gift that keeps on giving. (we ship U.S.A.)

50 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

115 Orchid Heights Drive • Pisgah Forest, NC 828-877-3313 • owensorchids.com • owensorchids@citcom.net

A n E p i s c o pA l R E t i R E m E n t community 1617 Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC (828) 274-1531 ext. 1 www.deerfieldwnc.org November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 51

L&L

Fresh From the North Carolina Coast

othing tastes quite like it: seafood straight from the ocean. But when you live miles away from the coast, like we do here in Asheville, the chances of getting really fresh seafood are slim. It just has to be frozen. Wrong, so wrong. We are in luck. Brian Hepler started by fishing all week on his boat, Caddylack, near Wilmington, NC. Now other fishermen bring their catch to him for his business. Traps are set; clams are dug; and oysters are harvested. He then drives a truckload of this just caught seafood to Western North Carolina. It doesn’t get much fresher than that! “You can purchase the Cape Fear Coast Seafood on Fridays and Saturdays--until the catch runs out-- at the Trout Lily Healthy Market on Highway 74A in Fairview. There is always a wide variety of items--shrimp, scallops, oysters, crab, plus all kinds of fish, such as grouper, flounder, mahi-mahi, trigger fish, and hog nose snapper, depending on what is caught that week. In fact trigger fish, which is a flaky and sweet fish, has become a big hit in Asheville. Seventeen pounds of trigger fish were once sold in two hours. Hog nose snapper, which only feeds on crab, is also very popular and also very sweet. Cape Fear Coast Seafood finds it difficult to keep up with demand for both. “This seafood endeavor began approximately eight years ago, almost by accident. Brian just brought a cooler full of shrimp from the coast and decided to sell it, tailgating on Swannanoa River Road across from the Shell station. His stand was amazingly busy. Customers were thrilled to find and buy this fresh caught fish. So he continued and then expanded, eventually moving further toward Fairview. In a small blue house near Reynolds, they opened the business in 2006 with indoor space. All his family pitched in to help--weighing, wrapping, selling and keeping everything fresh and clean. His customers ranted and raved, loving the fresh seafood. They started asking for specific items to be brought up for the following weekend.” As gas prices rose, the length of the journey seemed to grow longer. The winter months seemed particularly grueling, and the economy had a lot of problems. Brian began to have doubts about continuing in a business with so many tough demands. Partially because his young sons needed him more on the coast, he decided to open a wholesale/retail business on Market Street in Wilmington itself. Now what about the Asheville business? Well, as much as he wanted to wind the operation down, his customers absolutely insisted that he come up with another solution. They called and e-mailed him, pleading with him to stay. They loved and wanted his fresh seafood here in Asheville. There was great demand for his product in this area. “Perhaps Brian could get a truck driver to 52 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

bring the seafood to Asheville, without raising the prices too much? Or perhaps he could be met halfway here on the highway? Sue at Trout Lily Healthy Market suggested that the seafood could be sold on her porch, which would cut down on overhead. So hip hip hooray, the customers won the battle. The truckload of fresh seafood is arriving each weekend. Brian’s brother Matthew, his mom Vonnie, and his grandmother Helen continue to work and sell on the porch of the Trout Lily each weekend, year round. A newsletter goes out to customers, telling them what will be on the next shipment. If you want to get a copy, just go to www.capefearseafood.com to sign up or call (828) 298-0035 to place an order. If you haven’t found this seafood stand before, this is a discovery well worth knowing about. Cape Fear Coast Seafood is open year round Friday’s 11 - 6; and Saturdays 10 - until they are sold out. You won’t be disappointed.

A Healthy Gourmet Cracker —Made Locally

delicious cracker can make a difference in the flavor and presentation of your holiday hors d’oeuvres. It shouldn’t break too easily; it shouldn’t be too large or too small; and the flavor should not overpower the taste of what you are offering your guests. We now have a wonderful source for such a product here in Asheville: the Roots & Branches quality cracker. Perhaps at a local tailgate market you have sampled them--possibly with goat cheese, hummus, or a new seafood dip? The small squares are notably the perfect bite size and the flavor does not overpower the spread. The Roots & Branches artisan crackers are often used on sampler trays by many local companies. Clark and Ana Mitchell have narrowed down their selection to only five flavors, which are considered their best sellers: plain Olive Oil, Black Pepper and Olive Oil, Rosemary and Olive Oil, Sesame Seed & Olive Oil, and Herb Garden. Once in a while they have featured another exotic flavor, which unfortunately is usually more labor intensive--such as Tomato Olive or Kalamata Olive--so as the business has grown considerably in the last year, they are thinning down the line by concentrating on only five flavors. This month they are in the process of changing to an artfully designed box, which is well sealed inside--for better protection and easier shipping. These quality crackers are made with virgin Olive Oil and the best of flours, King Arthur, and sea salt--going light and easy on the salt. This was Clark’s own original combination of ingredients that grew out of his focaccia recipe. Much to his amazement he thought it tasted good from the very start and only needed a little “tweaking.” He finds that “these crackers really fit into the gourmet category, although the ingredients make it a healthy vegan item, found in organic and health food stores.” This is definitely a labor intensive business. Currently the company is having trouble keeping up with demand. The crackers are hand rolled, hand cut and evenly baked in small batches Ana Mitchell in Swannanoa. Approximately four to five workers are employed in all aspects of the operation in the approximately 2,500 square foot bakery. There are now four ovens with multiple racks used to fill the incoming orders, and there is an air-conditioned room to keep the crackers fresh before delivery. Ana Mitchell oversees the preparation, the baking, and the packaging, while Clark focuses on sales and deliveries, which he makes in their new van. So how did all this come about? Three years ago, Clark and Ana sold their beloved restaurant, The Twisted Tree Cafe, in New Jersey, and decided to come to

the Western North Carolina area. So what should they do? Start another restaurant? Maybe, maybe not. At first, they experimented with making and selling pastries, bread, granola, granola bars and even breadsticks at local markets. But due to the amazing success of their crackers, they have decided to concentrate on this one item and produce it in quantity. It can be considered a niche sale, but something every household needs fairly regularly. Clark sees a large incremental growth spurt ahead. The business in his words, “is getting ready to ramp up again. Growth seems to come in major chunks, and I am gearing up for one now.” You can find these crackers at most of the local tailgate markets, Asheville City Market Downtown and South, The Black Mountain Tailgate Market, as well as at a few gourmet shops and specialty stores, such as Earth Fare or The Trout Lily in Fairview. The price of one 7 oz. package runs from $4.00 to $5.00. With the festive holiday season near, it is a perfect addition to your appetizer tray. Do look for it at tailgate markets. Look for the new packaging labeled Roots & Clark Mitchell Branches. It will complement your chosen spread, is healthy, will add to the taste, and is made locally.

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 53

This Holiday Season, Give the gift of Inspiration Stuart Weidie Propane, A Passion

Dennis Hulsing A Numbers Man

ITALat ITAL

Zip-Lining Everywhere What To Know & Where To Go

Bill Coburn

South Carolina’s Master Of Communication

Tom Fazio

Way More Than Golf

LA LAY The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

How Do They Do It We Ask, “How Do You Manage Your Time?”

The Modern Wedding With So Many Options, Can You Plan Enough?

Owen’s Orchids

Cross-Breeding & Cloning Volume II - Edition 4 Complimentary Edition

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July/August 2012

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Wine&Wisdom

Written by Hunt Mallett, the owner and operator of Weinhaus, located on Patton Avenue in downtown Asheville.

Simplifying the complexities of giving the gift of wine “’Tis better to give than to receive.” We are at the time of year when gift giving, or at least planning for gift giving, is in high gear. During the holidays all kinds of gifts that include wine are appropriate for family, friends, business connections and others. So what is the etiquette of gifting wine and how does one plan and purchase wine in a savvy way that shows they care but doesn’t break the bank? First let’s look at the simple gift of a bottle that you might bring to a party or a dinner you’ve been invited to. Wine makes a thoughtful lovely gift for almost any occasion, and it can be as easy as grabbing a bottle from your pantry or storage area, or stopping by the wine shop on the way to the gathering. The savvy shopper and gift giver can save money by anticipating the holiday wine needs (including family dinners, neighborhood gatherings, company functions, and gifts to be given) and buying a variety of wines in case lots to take advantage of case discounts at local wine shops. You can also get good advice on what to get from shops with knowledgeable staff (not so much at grocery or discount stores). With a well-stocked wine cellar (or closet), at least at this time of year, you will be ready for any spurof-the-moment need for a gift or additional bottle at the table. Having it already at home also gives you the opportunity to try the wine you intend to give ahead of time at one of your family dinners or get-togethers. This can raise awareness and insight into the wine so that you have a viewpoint on it when you take a bottle to the host. I should mention here that as a point of etiquette, it is up to the host to decide whether to serve it or keep a wine gift for later use. As far as wine types go, if it is a celebration, go with bubbly. Champagne on the high end, or sparkling wines like Prosecco or Spanish Cavas on the less expensive end. For meals, the tried and true pairing of reds with meats and white with fish always holds up, but there’s plenty of latitude in today’s wines that can go in many directions. For most gifting occasions, a wine that would be suitable can range from $10 to $20 (before discount). The amount you wish to

spend depends on your budget and how well you know the recipient. There are plenty of beautiful wines that can cost much more, but it is best to know a little about the tastes of the recipient. By choosing an independent, hopefully local, wine shop, you are more likely to wind up with an interesting selection that isn’t a common, mass produced wine found on every grocery store shelf. If you want to give a gift to someone who knows wine well, but you aren’t sure of their tastes, you might consider a gift certificate from a local wine shop. Gift certificates are available in any denomination and can be presented on an empty bottle as a label, or perhaps rolled up like a “message in a bottle.” However you present it, it should be wellreceived and would allow just the right bottle to be given. On the downside, it wouldn’t be ready for immediate consumption, and you may miss out on the opportunity to enjoy it along with the receiver, should they decide to open it. Other types of gifts that can be given along with the wine would be accouterments like corkscrews, drip collars, pouring disks, or labels. These are nice because they outlast the drinking of the bottle and can stir warm memories of the occasion. So while “’tis indeed better to give than receive,” with a little planning and expert advice, you won’t be getting that other popular saying – “Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 55

WORLD BRIEFS $300 million harbor deepening moves to water The $300 million job to deepen the Charleston Harbor shipping channel has moved to the water. For the past several weeks, Coastal Carolina University scientists have been methodically surveying areas near the existing shipping channel to record what is on the bottom. They are searching for historical artifacts and seeing what the soils are like in areas that would be widened and deepened. The work is part of nearly $2 million in contracts for harbor studies recently awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So the port can handle larger container ships that will routinely call when the Panama Canal is expanded, the State Ports Authority wants the harbor channel deepened from 45 feet to 50 feet.

NASA in nasal spray deal to combat motion sickness NASA and a California-based startup have signed an agreement to create and market a nasal spray for motion sickness. Privately owned Epiomed Therapeutics of Irvine, California, will work with NASA to develop the nasal spray, which has been shown to be a fast-acting treatment for motion sickness. Nearly half of the astronauts who venture into outer space suffer from motion sickness, with symptoms similar to that which can occur from terrestrial forms of travel, including nausea or lightheadedness. NASA has been striving to provide astronauts a fact-acting medicine called intranasal scopolamine, or INSCOP. This drug can also be given as a tablet, via a transdermal patch or injected, but a nasal spray has the ability to work faster and can be more reliable. “NASA and Epiomed will work closely together on further development of INSCOP to optimize therapeutic efficiency for both acute and chronic treatment of motion sickness,” NASA researcher 56 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Lakshmi Putcha, with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, explained. Along with partnering with NASA, Epiomed is collaborating with the U.S. Navy to test the nasal spray. According to NASA, Epiomed will assume responsibility for Federal Drug Administration approvals and for sponsorship of future clinical trials. There has been no word on whether a prescription would be required for the nasal spray.

Carter’s Inc. bringing 200 new jobs to Atlanta Carter’s Inc. is consolidating its retail store, IT and financial operations in Shelton, Connecticut, with its Atlanta headquarters by the end of 2013. The move will cost the children’s clothing maker $35 million to $40 million over the next 12 to 18 months but will bring 200 jobs to Atlanta, including positions in retail merchandising and store operations, finance, and information technology. Presently, the company employs about 1,200 people in metro Atlanta. Carter’s also claims to be evaluating its long-term space needs in the area. As previously reported in September, Carter’s Inc. is looking to move from Midtown to Buckhead. “We have a long and successful history of doing business in Georgia,” said Michael D. Casey, chairman and CEO of Carter’s. “Atlanta is a very compelling place to live and work. We look forward to bringing our Connecticut-based operations to Atlanta, which will strengthen our collaboration and ability to provide consumers with the best value and experience in young children’s apparel.”

Mitsubishi delivers first Savannahbuilt turbine Mitsubishi Power Systems has delivered its first Savannah-built commercial gas turbine in a ceremony with strobe lights, confetti and a fog machine. The totaling 350 employees at the Savannah Machinery Works and many of their family members attended the unveiling of the turbine, which will be part of a natural gas power plant operated by Dominion Virginia Power in northern Virginia. The 300-ton turbine, shrink wrapped for shipping and covered in a large United States flag, headed north

by rail in October for its destination, Front Royal, Virginia. The Warren County Power Station intends to come online in December 2014 and will include three Mitsubishi gas turbines, plus a steam turbine powered by exhaust from the three gas turbines. “This is a major moment in company history,” said Koji Hasegawa, president of Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. “It represents Mitsubishi’s financial commitment in North America and the manufacturing excellence of the Savannah Machinery Works.”

IKEA turns on Georgia’s largest private solar rooftop array IKEA has flipped the switch on a solar energy system at its distribution center near Savannah, Georgia. The project is the state’s largest private solar rooftop array. The 182,300-square-foot photovoltaic array has a 1,458.2-kW system built with 6,076 panels. According to IKEA, it will create nearly 1,973,562 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of reducing 1,361 tons of carbon dioxide, ridding emissions of 267 cars or powering 170 homes yearly. In July, the Swedish retailer turned on a 129,400-square-foot solar energy system at its Atlanta store located in Atlantic Station.

NCAR opens Wyoming weather supercomputer center The Boulder-based National Center for Atmospheric Research has opened a $74 million supercomputer center on a 24-acre site near Cheyenne, accommodating one of the world’s most powerful computer systems for scientific work. The NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center’s computer system, called Yellowstone, will use sophisticated modeling to assist with climate behavior research. The center will additionally be a data-storage facility, housing what NCAR says are irreplaceable historical climate records. The Boulder-based University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) will manage the center. “This center will help transform our understanding of the natural

Facebook opens first international engineering center in London

NASCAR, Fox Sports extend TV deal NASCAR has extended its relationship with Fox Sports Media Group. They signed a contract that adds eight years and includes expanded digital rights to the pair’s television contract. With two full seasons left under the existing agreement, the extension will continue the partnership through 2022. It also marks the first increase Fox has paid in more than a decade for its NASCAR rights. The new deal is valued at more than $2.4 billion over eight years, up from $1.76 billion for the current agreement expiring in 2014. Fox Sports holds the television rights to 13 consecutive Sprint Cup Series races each year, beginning with the Daytona 500, and rights to the Sprint AllStar Race, the Daytona Shootout, the Duel at Daytona, the entire Camping World Truck Series season, and practice and qualifying for the Sprint Cup and Truck Series races it broadcasts. The network will also continue to be the exclusive home of the Daytona 500 through 2022. The recent agreement extends the digital rights of Fox Sports to include live streaming beginning in 2013.

would develop into a direct rival to Apple and Samsung Electronics, which also designs their own chips. The value of any deal will probably be billions of dollars. Texas Instruments said it will adjust its wireless investment focus from products like smartphones to a broader market, including industrial clients such as carmakers, where it hopes for a more profitable and stable business. Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said she doubted whether Amazon wants to “become that intimately involved with hardware.” TI’s chips are used in Amazon.com’s Kindle Fire tablet. TI said it would continue to support its customers. However, its mobile application chip business, which supports features like video, will not invest in supporting its customers future roadmap for tablets and smartphones to the same extend as before.

world in ways that offer enormous benefits to society,” UCAR President Thomas Bogdan explained. He expects the center to “lead to improved forecasts and better protection for the public and our economy.” The center was built in partnership with the University of Wyoming, the state of Wyoming, Cheyenne’s economicdevelopment agency, the Wyoming Business Council, and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power.

Amazon in talks to buy mobile chip arm Amazon.com Inc, the world’s largest Internet retailer, is speaking of buying the mobile chip business ofTexas Instruments. If negotiations lead to an agreement, Amazon, which makes tablets and is expected to enter the smartphone industry,

Facebook has opened its first engineering center outside the United States in London, increasing the British government’s ambition to make the digital economy a central plank of its growth strategy. The company’s vicepresident of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, said that London is “rapidly emerging as a global technology hub,” offering access to the top engineers and a place where other talented engineers would be willing to relocate. The London team will develop products to improve the Facebook experience on mobile devices and perform work on the social network’s platform. Developing mobile products is a priority for Facebook. The social network crossed the billion threshold in October, but it has struggled to make money from the increasing numbers of people accessing its services on smartphones. British finance minister George Osborne, who attended the opening in Covent Garden, central London, said that Facebook’s step highlighted the attractiveness of the city for technology businesses. Facebook’s initial 12-strong team is headed by engineer Philip Su, who relocated from Seattle, site of the company’s first engineering center outside California. Su noted that he has already recruited a handful of people locally.

Panama passes intellectualproperty protection law Panama’s legislature has approved an intellectual-property law that would permit commerce officials to enforce fines of up to $100,000 for copyright infringements without a trial or civil suit.The legislation is intended to bring Panama into compliance with a U.S.-Panama free trade agreement approved in 2011. It must still be signed into law by Panama’s president. Some civic groups and organizations representing audio-visual artists and musicians disapprove of the measure and claim it threatens free speech. Other artists support the law, hoping it will reduce pirated versions of their works.

Einstein’s brain is now on app The brain that revolutionized physics is now available as an app for $9.99. A recent exclusive iPad application promises to make detailed images of Albert Einstein’s brain more accessible to scientists than ever before. Teachers, students and anyone who is interested can also get a look. A medical museum under development in Chicago gained funding to scan and digitize nearly 350 fragile and priceless slides made from slices of Einstein’s brain after he died in 1955. The application will allow researchers and novices to peer into the eccentric Nobel winner’s brain as if they were looking through a microscope. After Einstein died, a pathologist namedThomas Harvey performed an autopsy, removing Einstein’s brain in hopes that future researchers could discover the secrets behind his genius. A study showed a region of Einstein’s brain, the parietal lobe, was 15 percent wider than normal. The parietal lobe is important to the understanding of math, language and spatial relationships. The new iPad app may allow researchers to dig even deeper by looking for brain regions where the neurons are more densely connected than normal.

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 57

Healthy&Brief Yes, beer shampoo exists. And it could do wonders for your locks

Morning UV exposure may be less damaging to the skin National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Angela Haupt — US News Health

our another—for your hair. Turns out that pumpkin ale could be exactly what it needs to look healthy and shiny. No joke: Beer hair isn’t just what happens when some drunk guy spills his Guinness on you, or when you accidently dip your locks into your drink. On the contrary, beer shampoo is trendy—intoxicatingly so, some might say—and it’s landing everywhere from high-tier salons to your neighbor’s shower. “People put beer in lamb, in bread, in pastries,” says Francky L’Official, a celebrity hairstylist who works with clients like Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Mena Suvari, and Vanessa Minnillo. “Why not use it for your hair, too? It gives it body and makes it shiny and bouncy.” That’s because two of the basic ingredients in beer—malt and hops—are packed with protein, which acts as a nourishing and strengthening agent. Soaking, rinsing, or spritzing your hair with beer will strengthen the cuticles and help repair damage. Alcohol also contains B vitamins and natural sugars, which add a glossy shine. “Beer is great for fine or fragile hair,” says Marta Wohrle, founder of Truth in Aging, a website that reviews beauty products. “The proteins bind to the hair shaft and give it more volume,” boosting the appearance of thickness. You don’t have to splurge on fancy varieties, either. In fact, it’s best to stick with traditional brews to maximize nutrients while minimizing chemicals. When L’Official gives the beer treatment, he shampoos clients’ hair, pops open a warm bottle of Budweiser Select, pours it on their head, rinses, and then dries and styles as usual. If you’re experimenting at home, you have two options: Purchase some, or make it yourself. A growing number of companies, including LUSH and Redken, are drinking up the trend. LUSH’s Cynthia Sylvia Stout shampoo is made of “a locally sourced microbrew; a thick, rich vegan stout; and lemon juice, cognac oil, lemongrass, and balsamic vinegar,” says Erica Vega, one of the company’s product trainers. “It contains almost 50 percent beer. It does all the functions of a normal shampoo, but also gives extra volume and silkiness.” A 16.9 ounce bottle goes for $29.95. (It’s not available as a six-pack ... yet.) 58 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

If you’d rather go the DIY route, Wohrle suggests trying these recipes: Beer shampoo. Ingredients: 1 cup mild shampoo, ¼ cup boiled beer. Boil the beer before letting it cool to room temperature, and then mix it with shampoo. Although the alcohol has cleansing properties, combining it with shampoo makes it better able to remove dirt and grease. Beer conditioner. Ingredients: 1 cup warm beer (preferably mildly scented), and 1 teaspoon jojoba oil, which is available everywhere from GNC to Walmart. Combine ingredients, apply to hair, and spread from ends to scalp before rinsing well. It’s a natural conditioner that won’t make your hair look greasy. Beer adds body, while jojoba oil adds shine. You can wash with both beer shampoo and conditioner; no need to stick with just one. Beer and cider vinegar rinse. Ingredients: 1 ounce water, 2 teaspoons cider vinegar, 1 oz. flat beer, 5 drops rosemary essential oil. Rub this through your hair after shampooing and conditioning to remove build-up from styling products. Most experts agree that if you purchase beer shampoo, it’s OK to use it every day, as a replacement for standard shampoo. But homemade versions require a little moderation. “Repeated use could be a bit drying for hair that tends to be not-so-oily,” Wohrle says. Make it an occasional part of your beauty routine; once every week or so will do the trick. Perhaps it’s no surprise that beer is showing up in hair salons. It’s long been touted for purposes that transcend drinking, particularly as a way to enhance appearance. A number of spas, for example, offer pedicures that begin by soaking clients’ feet in a tub of beer and water. The yeast is thought to soften the skin, while the alcohol kills bacteria and microbes. To try it yourself, fill a basin with enough warm water to cover your ankles, then add half a bottle of your favorite beer. Soak your feet for about 15 minutes, and when you remove them, slather on some lotion. And if you have pimple-prone skin? Beer doubles as an astringent. “The yeast helps maintain a balanced pH level and keeps acne under control,” Wohrle says. “And its pantothenic acid and vitamin B make the skin smooth and supple.” Test the theory by making your own beer mask. Mix 1 tablespoon of beer with a teaspoon of plain yogurt, a teaspoon of olive oil, an egg white, a teaspoon of lemon extract, and a teaspoon of almond extract. Stir all the ingredients together, then dampen your face with warm water and apply. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, then rinse with warm water followed by a splash of cold. Or, if you’d rather be pampered, head to a beer spa. These are mostly located in Europe, where visitors indulge in warm beer baths to improve their complexion and hair, while soothing muscle and joint tension. Beer spas claim the experience brings impressive physical benefits, while aiding overall relaxation. And that’s something we can all toast to

tudy suggests that restricting sunbathing or visits to the tanning booth to morning hours would reduce the risk of skin cancer. That’s when DNA repair of UV radiation damage may run in high gear. Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that the timing of exposure to UV rays – early in the morning or later in the afternoon – can influence the onset of skin cancer. The study, performed in mice, found that exposure to UV radiation in the morning increased the risk of skin cancer by 500 percent over identical doses in the afternoon. Although mice and humans both reside on a 24-hour day, the “circadian” clocks of these nocturnal and diurnal creatures run counter each other. This key difference in biology means that humans are most protected from the sun’s harmful rays when mice are most susceptible, and vice versa. “Therefore, our research would suggest that restricting sunbathing or visits to the tanning booth to morning hours would reduce the risk of skin cancer in humans,” said senior study author Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Sarah Graham Kenan professor of biochemistry and biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine. Sancar is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Turkish Academy of Sciences “However, further studies in humans are needed before we can make any definitive recommendations.” Sancar has previously shown that a protein called XPA, responsible for repairing the DNA damage wrought by UV radiation, waxes and wanes throughout the day. In a study published online the week of October 24-30 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he and his colleagues looked to see if the cyclical nature of this. DNA repair molecule had an influence on the onset of skin cancer. They exposed two groups of mice to UV radiation – either at 4 a.m. or at 4 p.m. – and waited for cancer to develop. Mice irradiated when the repair activity was at its minimum developed tumors much faster and at five-fold higher frequency compared with mice exposed to UV when the protein’s repair function was at its maximum. The researchers predict that humans will have a higher rate of DNA repair in the morning and would be less prone to the carcinogenic effect of UV radiation in the morning hours. They plan to measure actual DNA repair rates in the skin of human volunteers to confirm that morning sun is safest for humans.

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November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 59

Real Estate

Banks are Protecting the Refrigerators “If you don’t own a home, buy one,” Paulson said back in December, 2010. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”

couple of years ago I was invited to speak to a local real estate investors group. I prepared for about a month including putting together a killer PowerPoint presentation. I was ready to knock ‘em out. At the event I thought it was going very well, up to the point where a young lady asked me if it would be better to buy an investment property now or wait for the bottom of the market. I gave her the best insight I could by looking back at sales charts and looking forward to the impact of the shadow market (homes with mortgages 90 or more days in arrears but not yet foreclosed or on the market). But I really couldn’t answer her question. The problem was, neither I nor anyone else knew for sure where the bottom of the market would arrive. I told her I didn’t know the answer to that question. I said I knew 2010 was a better time to buy than 2005, but I couldn’t foresee the future. All I could do was drive forward while looking in the rear view mirror. Fortunately for me, a general chorus of agreement was heard from the other investors in the audience. No one knew. Markets are what they are. They’re always right and never predictable because they are influenced by the unknown and unknowable. I can tell you that right now, prices are improving a little bit. According to Case Shiller, the real estate research arm of S&P Dow Jones, data for July 2012 showed average home prices increased by 1.5 percent for the 10City Composite and by 1.6 percent for the 20-City Composite in July versus June. For the third consecutive month, all 20 cities and both Composites recorded positive monthly changes. It would have been a fourth had prices not fallen by 0.6% in Detroit back in April. The Case Shiller 10 and 20 City Composites posted annual returns of 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent in July 2012. Fifteen of the 20 MSAs and both Composites posted better annual returns in July as compared to June 2012. Dallas and Washington, D.C., saw no change in their annual rates; and Cleveland, Detroit and New York saw their rates worsen in July, with respective returns .4 percent, 60 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

6.2 percent and negative 2.6 percent. After nine consecutive months of double digit annual declines, Atlanta finally improved to a negative 9.9 percent annual rate in July 2012, but still the worst among the 20 cities followed by S&P Dow Jones Indices. In our local market, Zillow shows prices should be flat in 2013. Nearby markets, however, are forecast to decline. Charlotte by 1.2 percent and Atlanta by 1.6 percent. Frankly, I don’t believe 2013 will have lower prices than 2012. We’ve had some improvement this year and the fundamentals at work now shouldn’t change much in the next 12 months. Again, barring the unknown and unknowable. One factor that has a significant impact on prices is distressed sales. Those drive down prices in any market. CoreLogic, in their most recent foreclosure report, revealed that approximately 1.3 million homes, or 3.2 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of August 2012 compared to 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent, in August 2011. Monthover-month, the national foreclosure inventory was unchanged from July 2012 to August 2012. CoreLogic identifies foreclosure inventory as "the share of all mortgaged homes in any stage of the foreclosure process."

Their report revealed that 32 of the 50 states have seen their percentage of foreclosure inventory decrease compared to last year. Though foreclosure inventory is slowly shrinking nationally, some states are headed in the opposite direction. The four states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes according to CoreLogic: Florida - 11% New Jersey - 6.5 % New York - 5.2% Illinois - 4.8 % These numbers coincide with those reported by Lender Processing Services (LPS) in their recently released Mortgage Monitor which revealed that foreclosure starts in judicial states (foreclosures handled by courts, including NC) increased by 21 percent month-over-month while decreasing by 3 percent in non-judicial states. All the states listed above are judicial states. LPS ranked states by how long it would take to clear their shadow inventory at that states' current sales pace for foreclosed properties. Using that measure, New York and New Jersey have a much larger pipeline of distressed properties than any other state. (Florida and Illinois are not on this list because they are clearing their distressed properties at a much faster pace. Their pipeline is shrinking more rapidly). These facts caused Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, to report: “Shadow inventory is falling in much of the country except for the Northeast. The implication is that house prices will be much weaker in the Northeast in coming years as these distressed properties eventually get sold." So what does that mean for us in the Western North Carolina market? Is this a good time to invest? Today, my answer to the young lady’s question would be yes, with the usual caveats of personal financial stability, debt to equity ratios and so forth. Donald Trump started telling people

to buy in October, 2011. “I tell people this is a great time to buy a house. The banks own so many houses they’ll do anything to sell them. The banks have enormous sums of money tied up in houses. Go in and make them an offer. They’re hiring security guards to protect the refrigerators and the security guards are then stealing them. You go in and there’s no refrigerator, no toilets, no wiring. They have to prevent that and the best way is to sell them. “There has never been a better opportunity than right now, in my opinion, to buy a house.” Billionaire investor John Paulson agrees. “If you don’t own a home, buy one,” Paulson said back in December, 2010. “If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.” Paulson, it seems, accurately predicted the market turnaround. Not all the good deals out there are in foreclosure. Many individuals have simply reached their financial limits and are willing to unload at market-changing prices, even below what they owe to the bank. These short sales require bank approval and generally take longer than a foreclosure or REO purchase simply because the bank, the seller and the buyer all have to agree. Buyers and sellers considering a short sale should work with a Realtor who is a certified Short sale and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) and with an attorney that specializes in the short sale process. It is smart to call a distressed property (short sale, foreclosure) attorney because he (or she) can keep you out of uncomfortable situations including conversations with the IRS and sharing a cell with Bubba. Your Realtor can’t do any of that. But we can sell your house. In a nutshell, sales are up. Prices are stable. Distressed properties are 17 percent of our total WNC market and declining (slightly). If you put your house on the market at an advantageous price you have a very good chance of it selling. Inventories are declining. In the under $200,000 price range we are approaching the stable market level of just six months of inventory. As we approach the end of 2012 there are roughly 8,000 residential units on the market in the seven-county area served by our WNC Regional MLS system vs. over 9,000 a year ago. Interest rates (which I failed to mention) are at or near historic lows and refinancing is a very viable option for those with high-interest mortgages. I hope this information was helpful. For more information contact a local Realtor or send me your questions at bfishburne@ beverly-hanks.com. Written by Bill Fishburne, a BrokerAssociate with Beverly-Hanks, Inc., Realtors, and is the president-elect of the Hendersonville Board of Realtors. Ask your Realtor for more local market information, especially as it pertains to your house and your market. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 61

Mike Talks

Mike Summey is a well known entrepreneur, the author of several books on real estate, and has written a number of real estate columns. He is also an avid pilot and philanthropist.

W e ’ re

There’s got to be a better way How do folks go about paying for Christmas gifts? Each year millions of people experience the joy and remorse of the holiday season. Too often, the joy of giving is tempered by the remorse of having to face the bills in the dead of winter. This could not have been more evident than the event I witnessed while standing in the checkout line at a popular retail store. I was third in line behind two women who obviously knew each other. As the first one was checking out, she turned to the one behind her and said, “I swore to myself that I wasn’t going to spend so much this Christmas, but here I am again, running up my credit card bill buying presents to make other people happy for a day or two.” “Yeah,” replied the lady second in line. “I feel the same way. Look at all this stuff. I planned to limit myself to $1,000 this year, but I had spent that and more two weeks ago and still had several people left to buy for. I’ve probably got close to that much in this buggy. I’m going to have to do the same thing you’re doing; put it on my credit card and hope I can get it paid off by next Christmas.” “Why do we do this every year?” the first woman asked. “I don’t know about you, but I get so much joy out of seeing the look on the faces of my children and friends when they open their presents. I guess I just get a little carried away,” the second woman replied. As I listened to this conversation, I couldn’t help but wonder how many times this same scenario plays out all across the country each holiday season. Holiday giving has become so commercialized. Many retailers do half or more of their annual sales in the final two months of the year. Holiday spending has become such an annual ritual that anyone who doesn’t overspend is considered a “Scrooge.” Don’t men have the same problem? I was lying in bed thinking about the conversation between the women in the checkout line when I recalled a similar conversation I had overheard last January while having lunch at a local eatery. Two men were in the booth behind me were talking about the credit card statements they had just received. Their holiday gift purchases had showed up on the accounts and were much higher than expected. I won’t mention the choice words they said they initially had for their wives, whom they blamed for the excess spending. Eventually they laughed about how they had gone through the statements line by line and discovered that both of them had put more on the accounts than their wives, but that didn’t change the remorse they were feeling about being deeper in debt. As my thoughts drifted back and forth between these conversations, I again wondered how often scenarios similar to 62 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

these play out each year. It’s one thing to overspend when business is booming and jobs are plentiful, but it’s totally different when the economy is in the tank, businesses are cutting employees and the future is uncertain. The deep recession we are in is causing people to reduce spending and be more frugal, but with a little planning you can still experience the joy of giving without going in debt. What are some solutions?

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Here’s a tip! With credit cards came an age of instant gratification. Before their introduction, people had to plan for purchases instead of simply swiping the card and worrying about how to pay for them later. In those days, folks relied on layaway to make larger purchases and Christmas accounts to save for holiday giving; techniques little used today. These methods kept people out of debt and taught them the value of delayed gratification, something totally foreign to most of today’s youth. In the current economic climate, it may not be a bad idea to return to some of the methods our grandparents used to avoid going in debt. Starting to plan for the holiday season today is not only a good way to avoid after-Christmas remorse, it gives you time to put some thought into what you will give friends and family next year. A thoughtfully selected $25 gift can often bring more joy than a quickly chosen $100 one. There are always great after Christmas sales, especially on more expensive items. If you plan to make a major purchase for that special someone, why not ask the store if you can layaway the item and still take advantage of the sale price. In today’s business climate, I’ll bet you can find many that will accommodate your request. By using layaway, you can pay for the item over the coming months, without interest, and have it available for next Christmas without going in debt.

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What is really the best way? The best way to plan for holiday giving is still the Christmas account. Your bank may not offer it under that name, but a Christmas account is nothing more than a savings account you will pay into throughout the year so you will have cash to pay for gifts next year instead of going in debt. First, you need to decide how much you will spend next year. Divide this amount by the number of paychecks you will receive between now and the time you will need the money. If your bank doesn’t offer a Christmas account, set up a simple passbook savings account and deposit the amount you will need from each paycheck. Your employer might even do this for you through a payroll deduction if you ask. These are just a couple of the simple money management techniques our parents and grandparents used to avoid debt and they work just as well today as they did 50 – 75 years ago.

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iLs Pillow Insert, a new tool for therapists working with anxiety, trauma and sleep-related issues. Utilizing bone conduction transducers (mini-speakers which emit a high quality sound vibration), the Pillow delivers calming music through a gentle vibration, and is helpful in reducing stress and anxiety, as well as improving sleep. Although it was originally designed by iLs for children with sensory processing issues, the iLs Pillow is equally popular among adults with stress-related sleep difficulties. Using the Pillow is easy. Just turn it on, choose your music, adjust the volume level and insert it into your pillow case, on top of your regular pillow, when you go to bed.

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Kanz - Field Power Desk ($1,995)

The KANZ Outdoors Field Power Desk features 12V and 5V power outputs. The solar-charged batteries can offer three to six hours more battery life to your laptop while you are on the road. The desk itself is made from Baltic birch and Marine-grade aluminum. These lightweight materials make the KANZ Outdoors Field Power Desk weigh only 37 pounds. If you pay some extra, you can get satellite Internet included as well. This work station is the perfect choice for those who need to work in remote locations away from the convenience of a wall outlet.

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Cartner ChristmasTree Farm

Written By Dasha Morgan

Photos By Linda D. Cluxton

Here it is again, at last. The Thanksgiving and winter holiday season —a joyous and happy time of year. It’s the time of year when your sense of smell comes alive with the aroma of hot apple cider and wonderful wood burning smells wafting from an open pit or fireplace.

he weather has turned a bit chilly, so jackets and sweaters are needed. This is the time of year your family wants to get outside, rustle through fallen leaves and head to the mountains to find a Christmas tree for the living room, hopefully a really tall, full beautiful one. The holidays are beginning. Many will head to the Cartner Christmas Tree Farm in Newland, N.C., to pick out their perfect Christmas tree. From Asheville, The Farm is an easy 1 1/2 hour drive into Avery County. Having been given a measuring stick and a tag for identification, your family can stroll through the designated fields of trees, looking high and low, to find just the tree they want. The Blue Ridge Mountains offer glorious views as you stroll around the farm. You can even see Grandfather and Grandmother Mountain. Of course it must be a Fraser Fir, one that is well shaped, symmetrical, full and with long boughs which will keep their needles longer than others. Of course it must be a fresh tree to have that wonderful aroma. How could anyone even think of having an imported synthetic imitation tree? A well trained staff person will come to cut the tree you tagged in front of you, and after feeding it through a baler that wraps a netting around, 66 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

the staff will load it either on top of your car or put it in the cab of your truck This is a perfect way to spend a day--altogether in the fresh air as a family. It is a perfect start to the season--on Hawshaw Mountain in Avery County, N.C. Currently David Cartner and his wife Ginny, both of whom practice law at Cartner & Cartner, in Asheville, now own and operate the family Tree Farm, along with his two brothers, Jim and Sam. Ginny and David met in law school at the South Texas College of Law in Houston. They both are tackling two jobs, plus being parents and grandparents. The tree farm work can be done on weekends with a heavy dose of activity being from October through December. There are approximately 300 planted acres of trees--rows and rows across the hillside that need to be carefully attended to and farmed. So how did the couple manage to switch gears like this —from Texas to Asheville, from law to farming? As a young man David Cartner wanted no part of the family business. He wanted to concentrate on law. He worked as the Assistant District attorney in Texas and was in private practice. However in 1980 David decided to do some marketing for the tree farm business. He started selling Christmas trees on the weekends at a Garden Center in Houston —thereafter traveling the state of Texas to other garden centers.

David & Ginny Cartner November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 67

In 1985, he started going to various trade shows in New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, San Antonio, Nashville and Mobile. On a lark one day, he stopped at Neiman Marcus and noticed that the Douglas Fir Christmas Trees they were selling would all dried out and drop their needles. This tree was just not up to Neiman Marcus standards! He managed to convince their buyer to switch gears for a Carolina Fraser Fir with its wonderful blue-green tint. The Cartner Christmas Tree Farm began selling in the Neiman Marcus catalog for the next four or

68 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

five years. One thing led to another. In 1990, as David’s parents were getting up in years, David persuaded Ginny to move from her home in Texas, where they had both gotten their law degrees to move to “any place within a 100 mile radius of the farm.” She chose Asheville. That was not an easy task. “It is hard to get a Texan out of Texas.” Now they do both; practice law and grow Christmas trees. They are extremely busy from October, through the harvest in November, until Christmas.

Ginny runs the retail Choose and Cut Division. She has added a sparkle to the retailing on the mountain by offering hot cider and cookies, bringing in a face painter for the kids, visits from Santa, and even taking pictures for future Christmas cards. She handles the mail order trees. If a tree needs to be shipped, the trees are boxed with added moisture on the base, and sent UPS. They are guaranteed to arrive fresh, with the base pre-drilled for a tree stand. David runs the wholesale division. He attends trade shows and

ships Christmas trees to Miami, to Salt Lake City, to St. Paul, to Chicago and points in between, approximately 25,000 trees yearly--wholesale. These are many long standing customers, who by now are old friends. They know and appreciate the beautiful Cartner Fraser Fir. The business concentrates on the independent retailer, garden centers and non-profit organizations, such as the Boy Scouts and various churches. Cartner does not sell nor grow for the mass merchants, such as the big box stores.

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 69

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Many might think that a Christmas tree farm would be a pretty easy business. Plant the seed or seedling, wait the number of years, and “Bingo,” here comes some cash. Nothing to it. That sounds easy, doesn’t it? Alas that is far from the truth. You don’t just sit there and wait eight years for a tree to grow. A lot of hard work goes into growing a quality Christmas tree. So what are some of the issues? First of all one needs a lot of capital in advance for the land and the planting. With all three Cartner sons having a profession, this eases the capital issues. Jim Cartner is a veterinarian who lives in Statesville; his younger brother Sam, is a also veterinarian and a professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. As mentioned David and his wife are practicing attorneys in Asheville. As for the planting, going from seed to mature tree, the seeds are collected from the cones of mature trees growing on Roan Mountain. Once the seeds are separated from the chafe they are sent to a facility that will grow them until they are a 14” seedling, which takes approximately 5 years since it grows

slowly. These are then uprooted and shipped to Cartner’s for planting. After that there is fertilizing, constant pruning, shaping, and topping for eight years to produce a quality tree. During the summer months the trees are individually hand pruned, leaving long sturdy branches for decorating. They are kept from getting too tall, which makes them get thicker. One must prepare for and deal with inclement weather problems, as well as keep a lookout for disease from insects or in the soil, such as root rot or fotopedia. Suppose there is a huge drought, a hail storm, or a late freeze? You may not have a crop for the following year to sell! The risk is high. The harvest is in late October or early November to get a Christmas tree to its destination in time for sale for the holidays. The trees are constantly watered daily after cutting, and protected by shade after, to guarantee the freshest possible tree. All the trees are sorted by size (from 4’ to 12’), carefully wrapped, packed, and then loaded on the trucks. They must arrive fresh. That is critical. And if you are shipping 25,000 trees that is a lot of work. Undoubtedly labor, trucking, and shipping are the major factors in the overall expense of Christmas tree farming. This is a labor intensive business.

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Sam Cartner, a pioneer of today’s thriving industry 70 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

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Cartner participates in the Guest Labor Program with Mexico, which allows temporary Mexican workers to farm for nine months with regulated wages, but they can stay no longer than nine months. The company provides comfortable housing, usually four in a home. After nine months, they must return to Mexico. How It All Began

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The senior Cartner helped establish the N.C. Christmas Tree Growers Association in 1959, and as the County Agricultural Agent, he worked closely with the farmers. Soil, weather, and elevation are of primary importance. Elevation for the Fraser Fir needs to be at least over 3,000 feet and is best from 4,000 feet to 4,200 feet altitude. 72 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Sam Cartner, who just celebrated his 92nd birthday, started the Cartner Christmas Tree Farm in 1959 and is considered the pioneer of today’s thriving industry. He was looking for a product, so the farmers in this area could make money, He experimented with various species and hit upon the Fraser Fir. He managed to convince the farmers in Avery County and neighboring counties to switch to a higher yielding and less perishable crop than just cabbage, beans, and potatoes. This wasn’t an easy transition, and banks were not very helpful. How could they loan money on a crop that takes 13 years to produce from seed to sale? Or even eight years from seedling to sale? And there is considerable risk involved. Sam and his wife Margaret managed to scrimp and save to get enough money together to become a tree farmer of decent size. They started with just five acres and have slowly grown the farm to over 300 acres. The senior Cartner helped establish the N.C. Christmas Tree Growers Association in 1959, and as the County Agricultural Agent with a degree from N.C. State University he worked closely with the farmers. Soil, weather, and elevation are of primary importance. Elevation for the Fraser Fir needs to be at least over 3,000 feet and is best from 4,000 feet to 4,200 feet altitude. The trees like organic material in the soil and not too compact. Early on there were less than ten growers, now there are well into the thousands. This was an amazing achievement. In 2002 Sam was inducted into the WNC Agricultural Hall of Fame for his life long service to the industry, and in 2006 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2006 National Christmas Tree Association Biennial Convention in Portland, Oregon. As a testament to his success, this past year there were about 3,000,000 Fraser Fir seedling planted in Avery, Ashe, Wataugha, and Jackson Counties in North Carolina. That is a dramatic growth in any industry, and think how it is helping the air quality in Western North Carolina. In the 1950s and 1960s the Christmas tree industry did not even recognize the Fraser Fir species. Now it is an essential for any Garden Center. It is considered the perfect Christmas Tree. To learn more about the Cartner Christmas Tree Farm, to order online or to get directions, just go to their website, www. carolinafraserfir.com They are located at 901 Balsam Drive, Newland, NC (about 1 1/2 hour drive from Asheville) or you can call 828 733-1641 or toll free 877-384-TREE (8733) The Farm is open for visitors from 9:00 a.m. until dusk on the following dates: November 17-18, November 22, 23, 24, & 25; December 1-2; December 8-9. Do notice the Christmas Tree Farm is even open Thanksgiving day!! Face Painter Dates are November 23,24, and 25th and December 1-2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Santa’s visits are November 24, 25, December 1-2 and December 8 - 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Special orders for wreaths or garlands can be made, but a week’s notice is appreciated. Treat yourself and your family to a special memory that will last for years to come. ‘Tis the season.

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VOTER WATCH

Voter Watch The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America When was the last time you read the actual Declaration of Independence? Civics class in high school, or maybe one of your children had a report for school on our nation’s founders? Washington didn’t cross the Delaware because of our Constitution, he crossed it because of the Declaration of Independence. We aren’t advocating revolution. We are advocating that you read this, in the hopes that we might all better understand at what price our economic freedom comes. Particularly read the grievances that drove our nation to it’s separation and Independence.You might find a re-visit to this text invigorating, refreshing, and perhaps terrifying; but at the least informative. It sounds like a waste of your time, we know, but we also wonder how often anyone actually reads these words we base our society upon.

hen in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these 74 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of

these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and

totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 75

How Do They Do It?

L.K. Harvey

Jim Tindal & Todd Prochaska

Josh Wright

Liz Whalen-Tallent

David Barnes

“I usually work a long day Monday thru Friday, but more in the wedding season. Flex time? I try to fit in errands and personal appointments where and when my work schedule allows. I can work from home, and I always take a laptop with me, (whether on vacation or weekends) to put out fires...basically, I’m working all the time.”

"I don't manage my time very well. I enjoy being here too much. We're only open four hours on Saturdays and we're closed on Sundays. I sometimes lean on Mike to help out.”

“I like to cook, which is instant gratification. I also run marathons with my husband. I like the stress leading up to a race, it forces me to keep in shape and train, which clears the work stress from my head. After the race, I get a huge sense of accomplishment.”

"I just work it in. I'll take a day off when something comes up. But our customers are my friends. This is a great place to be."

How do you manage your time?

“I don’t. God does. I take Sunday mornings off. I’d like to do a better job of that but there’s always work to be done.”

“I get up early, which is my meditation time; I make a mental list of what I need to accomplish today. As my day progresses, I have to remain flexible to react to the unexpected, which is always there. I don’t like getting behind, so I try not to go home until all the items on my daily list are completed.”

“I’m a systems guy. That gives me more time to handle the issues that come up each day. I set priorities and try to have as many as possible handled in advance or by the staff. And I do have a great staff. Tough question.”

When do you take time for yourself? “I suppose I don’t, but Brenda is good about helping me with that. This week I was going to go to the beach Monday and Tuesday but I couldn’t get away. I have seven full-time employees but right now I can’t get away.”

“Fitness is really important. It allows me to function well on the job and in the rest of my life. I ride my bike to or from work whenever I can, and for clearing the mind, I ride my motorcycle.”

“I usually have a couple of days off over the weekend. I Play golf or go mountain biking or kayaking. I love to spend time with my wife. Fortunately, we have the same interests including camping. That’s why we came here.”

i n c l u s i v i n n o v a t i v i n s p i r e a r c hi t e c t u r

ARCA

D E S I G N 76 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

e e d e

www.arca-design.com

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 77

How Do They Do It?

Although the stripes on the zebra are unique, when grouped together it’s difficult to distinguish one from another. In the wild this

How do you manage your time? “I work 60 or more hours per week. I am able to maintain both businesses only with Ginny’s help. My vacation time is limited. I try to take some long weekends. As Winston Churchill once said “3 days is all you need.” I am not sure he is correct. Experienced staff is the key to creating more time for myself. Cell phones and wireless technology will also help create more free time. Converting from a salesman to running the show has been a challenge. I miss my father’s day to day involvement. However, he taught many very important aspects of our business by working with him during the past decade. Now he is my trusted advisor. He is the true agronomist who made it all happen. My job is to maintain what he built. I consider just staying at home with Ginny with no agenda a vacation.” - David Cartner

increases the chance for survival. In business it means certain death.

When do you take time for yourself?

828.259.9910 • www.thegossagency.com

Ginny Cartner & David Cartner

“I love to garden on weekends, read a book, or enjoy a movie with my friends...I travel frequently with our daughter, son-inlaw and two granddaughters...we’ve been to Paris twice, Rome, Venice, London, Egypt and DC, Williamsburg, Jamestown, etc...also love visiting our son and daughter in law in Arlington VA and enjoying time with our granddaughters and also watching them play soccer, swimming and basketball....they call me “GG” (Grandmother Ginny) and many trips to Disney World and a Disney cruise to Castaway Key.” - Ginny Cartner

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From emotional targeting to differentiated excellence November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 79

Past Events

Next Time You’ll Be There

Carolina Entrepreneur ’12

Do you have an interesting event coming up soon, or maybe a business event that just took place? Tell us about it at events@capitalatplay.com

Oct. 24-26

Patrick McHenry (pictured right) spoke last week at the Carolina Entrepreneur 2012; an annual invitation only retreat held at the Lake Lure Inn & Spa. Hosting speakers from across the Carolinas and the Eastern Seaboard, this year CE ‘12 focused on current issues concerning entrepreneurs, business owners, and engaged citizens the nation and world over. Specifically the topics presented by industry experts included the Entrepreneurship Environment in 2012 presented by Harley Morgan of Capital At Play; Changing Healthcare in 2012 and the impact of the “PMCH” & “ACA”; Intellectual Property, including how and when to protect your company in a global market; the potential opportunity of “Crowd Funding” and the “JOBS” act (H.R. 2930), presented by Congressman Patrick McHenry and Jason Best from Crowdfund Capital Advisors; Commercial real estate in 2012; Tax Updates for 2012, presented by Dixon Hughes Goodman Financial; Business Ethics and Exit Strategies for selling your business. Along with those topics, entrepreneurs shared triumphs and horror stories about their experiences in innovation and business creation. This event was sponsored by the Carolina Financial Group, Dixon Hughes Goodman, The Economic Development Coalition (Asheville-Buncombe Co.), and Capital At Play.

Your source for Hearth and Patio needs

Nov. 4 TEDxAsheville 2012 welcomed over 400 attendees to its annual conference on Sunday, November 4th at the Diana Wortham Theatre. The all-day conference featured sixteen presenters with talks and performances themed around The Edge. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED to bring communities together around the three worlds of Technology, Education, and Design (T.E.D), with the mission of “ideas worth spreading”. Local businessman, Peter Krull, president and founder of Krull & Company, has been involved in TEDxAsheville for the past two years. Krull believes that the concept of TED is one of bringing people, their ideas and their stories together. “Asheville has such a positive energy, and the meshing of Asheville, and all that it has to offer, is just a natural fit with TED. We, as a society, have become so disconnected as a result of the role that electronics and social media play in our

lives. TEDxAsheville affords us the opportunity to get out from behind our desks and our computers, and to come together as an audience, and then go out in to our community and share our thoughts about the talks with each other. TED brings people’s ideas and values together, and that is exactly what we do in our business. We do it because it is the right thing to do.” John Miles, CEO of Integritive, and a TEDxAsheville Presenter in 2010 says that, “TED’s platform of bringing like-minded people together is powerful for business owners and the public at large. TEDxAsheville unearths all of the amazing work that goes on here that hasn’t been brought to the surface, and it is a source of pride for TEDxAsheville to be able to showcase that.” To get involved as a sponsor or volunteer, or to nominate a speaker for TEDxAsheville 2013, go to www.TEDxAsheville.com. COSMETIC • PREVENTIVE • RESTORATIVE • ENDODONTICS • ORAL SURGERY

THE EDGE: NOVEMBER 14 SUNDAY 3 - 6PM

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Dr. Jamie Maddox Dr. Paige Leahy Dr. Cliff Feingold

600 Alliance Court Suite A-1 • Asheville, North Carolina 28806 828-670-9894 • www.aadentalpartners.com {located next to the Biltmore Square Mall}

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80 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

Big Green Egg WNC’s largest selection of ﬁne wines and premium beer ••• Older Vintage Wine ••• Complimentary stemware for parties and events ••• Wine dinners and tasting events Downtown at Pritchard Park, 86 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 828.254.6453 | weinhaus.com

World’s Best Smoker/Grill

The most realistic and natural looking gas logs 828-252-2789 264 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 81

Events

So you know when and where

Nov./Dec 29TH ANNUAL CANDLELIGHT EVENINGS AT BILTMORE ESTATE When: November 09, 2012 December 31, 2012 Times: 5pm - 10pm Where: One Lodge Street

Asheville, NC 28803

Cost: Various ticket prices BiltmoreEstate.com Details: As daylight fades into

dusk, candlelight and firelight accent Biltmore House’s extravagant holiday décor, accented by live entertainment and outside illuminations. Biltmore House glows with holiday spirit, appearing much as it would have at the turn of the 19th century. Carols from choirs and ensembles fill the halls with festive sounds. Candlelight Christmas Evenings tickets are

available by reservation only, and include a self-guided candlelight tour of Biltmore House, next-day visit to the gardens, Antler Hill Village and Biltmore Winery. Advance reservations are required.

INSPECTING CAROL

When: November 16, 2012 December 1, 2012 Where: Asheville Community Theatre

35 East Walnut Street Asheville, NC 28801

Cost: $12/$19/$22 Details: A Christmas Carol meets

Waiting for Guffman meets Noises Off in this hilarious hit. A man who asks to audition at a small theatre is mistaken for an informer for the National Endowment for the Arts. Everyone caters to the bewildered wannabe actor and he is given a role in the current production, A Christmas Carol. Everything goes wrong and hilarity is piled upon hilarity. Perfect anytime, this delight is particularly appropriate at Christmas. Contact: 828-254-1320

Rachmaninoff’s Paganini variations When: November 17, 2012 Where: Thomas Wolfe

Auditorium 87 Haywood Street Asheville, NC 28801 Details: Daniel Meyer, Music 82 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

(restrictions apply). | Contact: Special Events Assistant 1-800-438-0500 ext.8045

Director Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations with Van Cliburn Medalist Joyce Yang.

Hard Candy Christmas Arts and Crafts Show

THE POLAR EXPRESS AT THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS RAILROAD When: November 09, 2012 December 30, 2012 Where: Great Smoky Mountains

Railroad 226 Everett Street Bryson City, NC 28713

Cost: Ticket prices begin at $39 for adults and $26 for children ages 2-12. Children under two years old ride complimentary Details: All Aboard The Polar

ExpressTM! This memorable journey will take you on an incredible journey! Believe the magic this Holiday season! Over 42,000 passengers rode The Polar ExpressTM with the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in 2011 and they hope to see you this year! The 1 ¼ hour round-trip excursion comes to life as the train departs the Bryson City depot for a journey through the quiet wilderness for a special visit at the North Pole. Set to the sounds of the motion picture soundtrack, guests on board will enjoy warm cocoa and a treat while listening and reading along with the magical story. Children’s faces show the magic of the season when the train arrives at the “North Pole” to find Santa Claus waiting. Santa will board The Polar ExpressTM, greeting each child and presenting them with a special gift as in the story, their own silver sleigh bell.

When: Nov. 23, 2012 9:00 am Nov. 24, 2012 4:00 pm Where: Ramsey Center on campus of

Christmas carols will be sung as they return back to the Bryson City Depot. | Contact: 800-872-4681

THE 2012 NATIONAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION & DISPLAY When: November 20, 2012 January 02, 2013 Sunday- Thursday from 10AM10PM for non-resort guests Where: The Grove Park Inn

290 Macon Avenue Asheville, NC 28804

Cost: $10 to park (additional fees apply for valet or garage parking) Details: Experience the enchantment

of gingerbread. Contestants from across the country will bring their culinary masterpieces to The Grove Park Inn this holiday season. Delight in the imagination shown in these sugar-and-spice creations, strolling through the competition display is a sure way to be swept up in the holiday spirit. The 2012 National Gingerbread House Competition™ will take place on Saturday, November 17, 2012 (competition is closed to the public) and the gingerbread houses will be on display from Nov. 20, 2012 - Jan. 2, 2013. Special discounted room rates are available to competitors

Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC 28723

Cost: $4.00, children under 12 free Details: Mountain Artisans presents

the 25th Hard Candy Christmas, Arts and Crafts Show. This mountain Christmas Tradition features original arts and crafts at a great price. Free Parking

Flat Rock Playhouse presents “The Nutcracker”

When: Nov. 28, 2012 8:00 pm Dec. 22, 2012 Evenings Wed-Sat 8:00PM, Matinees Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun 2:00PM Where: 2661 Greenville Hwy

Looking For Another Copy? The Penland’s Growing A Passion

Chappie Gennett Fun, Fun On The Range

Ric Scalzo Gaia Herbs

CA ITALat LAY The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

Food & Flora A Few Summertime Selections To Peruse

Frank Smith

Remedies For The Body & Soul

Capital Adventurist Rising To The Occasion In A Hot Air Balloon

Events Section More Relevant Than Ever

Nicole Barbour

Equine Training And More Volume II - Edition 3 Complimentary Edition

capitalatplay.com

May/June 2012

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E-mail us at subscriptions@capitalatplay.com, or call 828.274.7305. www.capitalatplay.com

CA ITALat LAY

your complete

Fabric center Largest selection of upholstery fabric in WNC

Flat Rock, NC 28731

Cost: Regular $40; Senior/AAA $38; Student $22 Details: This brand new production

of an international classic will feature performers from their professional equity company as well as students from the YouTheatre program. This modern adaptation will feature amazing choreography from YouTheatre alumnus, Chase Brock who just recently choreographed the Broadway production of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. | Contact: 828-693-0731

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Events

So you know when and where

Baroque Bliss

When: December 2, 4:00 pm Where: First Presbyterian Church, 40 Church St, downtown Asheville Cost: Free admission with suggested donation $15/ person • $25/family Details: Come immerse yourself in the delectable

combination of flute, bassoon, and harpsichord in a beautiful space. This Baroque trio will feature works by Bach, Rammeau, Marais, and more. Baroque Bliss will benefit Room at the Inn Homeless Shelter for Women and Pan Harmonia. Kate Steinbeck, flute • Rosalind Buda, bassoon • Barbara Weiss, harpsichord Contact: www.pan-harmonia.org

The Claire Lynch Band ~ Concert

When: Dec 7th 2012, 9pm Where: Isis Restaurant and Music Hall / 743 Haywood

Nov./Dec. Asheville Symphony A Classical Christmas When: Sunday, December 16, 2012, 3:00 p.m. Where: Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

87 Haywood Street Asheville, NC 28801 Details: Daniel Meyer, Music Director Featuring Handel’s Messiah alongside orchestral arrangements of seasonal carols with Asheville Symphony Chorus and cast of 4 superb vocal soloists.

Road 28806 Cost: Tickets are $18 - general admission Details: Tables can be reserved with dinner reservations (tables of 4). Information about the concert call be gotten at the web site or by calling us at 828-575-2737 www.isisasheville.com

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Dickens in the Village

When: November 30 - Dec. 2, 2012 shops open until 7:00 p.m. Where: Biltmore Village, NC Details: Carolers, Storytellers in Period Costume stroll the

Village. Fresh Roasted Chestnuts, Horse Drawn Carriages, twinkling white lights. A Christmas Carol is performed by the Montford Park Players.

The Salt Spa of Asheville

Take a deep breath and relax - You have arrived! Salt Therapy for better breathing! Allergies* Sinus Issues *Asthma * Boosting Immune System * Peaceful Relaxation * and more

(828) 505 1838

www.SaltasiaWellbeing.com

473 Hendersonville Rd. Ste B, Asheville NC

McKinney Insurance Douglas C McKinney mckinnd@nationwide.com 5 Allen Ave Asheville, NC 28803 (828) 684-5020

©2006 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies. Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Home office: Columbus, Ohio 43215-2220. Nationwide, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Not available in all states.

84 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 85

CAPITAL ADVENTURIST

CHRIST SCHOOL CHRIST SCHOOL

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu

RATTLESNAKE

Craggy

Gardens

The hike begins at the far south side of the Visitor Center parking area (to the left when facing the building on the Blue Ridge Parkway). The trail starts at the end of the rock wall, and it has a sign. This is an out and back trail that travels uphill through a forest of stunted, twisted high-elevation mountain ash, birch, beech, and then through a heath bald. Depending on your trail selection, as there are alternative adventurous options, and your curiosity to explore the surrounding areas, you should plan to spend 45 minutes to two hours for this hike. It is a moderate climb, so it is fairly easy, and a nice family activity. Soon after leaving the parking area, you will approach a signed intersection. The Mountains to Sea trail comes in from straight ahead and goes right; the Douglas Falls trail starts here and goes right as well. You should bear left and go uphill. The Craggy Gardens trail and the Mountains to Sea Trails share this path. Along the way, you will pass under tunnels of tall, twisted Rhododendron and you will pass a small spring. You will also see the historic trail shelter, built from Chestnut logs. Although it is almost a century old, it remains sturdy, and it will still more or less keep you dry if you get caught in a rain shower in the area. However, be prepared for fluctuating temperatures, as the shelter will not necessarily keep you warm. From the shelter, you can go left on a side path and explore the gardens. A couple of pleasant little paths also wind through the meadows, eventually reaching a nice overlook if you go all the way to the top. The Craggy Gardens trail continues through the shelter and down the other side of the summit. You will reach the Craggy Gardens picnic area shortly on a moderately steep trail. If you are picnicking at the picnic area, hike up to the gardens and back from there. Going this way would involve a climb of about 450 feet over the same distance as from the Visitor Center. If you can use a vehicle shuttle, starting at the Visitor Center and finishing down at the Picnic Area is an easy hike. If you are up for a more moderate workout, start at the Picnic Area and end at the Visitor Center.. From Asheville, take the Blue Ridge Parkway north 18 miles past the Folk Art Center. Pass the road to the picnic area, and after about 3 miles, park at the Visitor Center. The trail starts on the left side of the parking lot behind the rock wall. 86 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

ASHEvillE, NortH CAroliNA

LODGE

Rattlesnake Lodge Hike is an easy-to-moderate and convenient day hike that will not take all day. The trail is just a short drive away from both Asheville and Weaverville. It runs along the Mountains to the Sea trail, and the total length of this hike is 2.6 miles. It’s an out-and-back trail, rather than a loop. However, past main lodge site, which you will spot during the hike, you will reach an intersection. The trail leading right meets up with the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Tanbark Ridge tunnel about 1/2 mile down the mountain, so you can also make this a shuttle hike. The elevation ranges from 3180 feet to 3720 feet. Although the views are not extraordinarily spectacular, this day hike’s beautiful woods and conveniently close location makes it a worthy hike to keep in mind. It is a well-designed trail that meanders through a multitude of switchbacks, following an old wagon route that has an interesting past. The wagon route was built to reach a historic private lodge, the remains of which you will see at the end of this hike.

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• Comprehensive college counseling program

• 14% of graduates accepted to University of 14% of graduates accepted to University of • North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2011 & 2012)

North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2011 & 2012)

lab, monster garage and observatory (opened 2012)

• New Science Center: featuring robotics, mythbuster • lab, monster garage and observatory (opened 2012) New Science Center: featuring robotics, mythbuster • 21 Eagle Scouts (2012)

• 21 Eagle Scouts (2012)

• 3,243 student community service hours in 2012 From Asheville, take the Blue Ridge Parkway north, from any of its access points, to the intersection with Ox Creek Road. It’s about 8.9 miles north of the Folk Art Center. Turn left. The parking area is on the right after 0.9 miles. It’s just big enough for about 3 or 4 cars. If this area is full, you may park where the Mountains to Sea trail first crosses Ox Creek Road near the Parkway, adding about a mile and some climbing to the hike.

• 3,243 student community service hours in 2012

• Full arts program with three annual drama productions

• Full arts program with three annual drama productions • An Episcopal school for young men: grades 8 – 12 • An Episcopal school for young men: grades 8 – 12

www.christschool.org

www.christschool.org November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 87

SULPHUR

SPRINGS

The Sulphur Springs Trail is the most scenic of the four trails in Paris Mountain State Park, but also the most difficult. From Picnic Area 6, you can start in either direction on this narrow and rugged loop trail. If you cross the park road and begin at the trail sign, you will climb up and down wooded slopes until you reach the parking area at Buckhorn Gate. At the trail kiosk stay right, continue up another steep slope, and bear left at the fork with the Brissey Ridge trail. You will walk through mixed pine and hardwood forest on a mountain ridge and pass the Old Firetower Trail on the left. Then, you begin to climb up and down along deep ravines and running streams lined with mountain laurel and rhododendron. The trail levels out near Mountain Lake, a picturesque pond, which at one time was one of Greenville’s water reservoirs, where you will pass a large dam and follow one of several trail branches that return to the parking area where you began. It is important to note that part of this trail is hiking only. Also, when approaching Buckhorn Gate from either direction you choose, keep in mind this is where the Sulphur Springs Loop, Brissy Ridge Loop, and Fire Tower Trail all come together. This is convenient because it allows you to customize the hike into the distance you want. The Sulphur Springs trail is a 3.5 to 4 mile loop. There is a $2 entrance fee per person into Paris Mountain State Park.

GLASSY

MOUNTAIN

The Glassy Mountain Trail begins at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. It climbs from near the main house up to the round, flat summit of Glassy Mountain, which is the highest point in the park at an elevation of 2783 feet. The hike is rated as moderately difficult and is around 2 miles round trip, which is appropriate for all ages. On this trail, you will pass an old reservoir and a few rock outcroppings while hiking through a pleasant forest with many white pines, some of them quite large, before ending at a larger rock opening with a view to the northwest. Since it is an out and back hike, be sure to allocate some time to rest and enjoy the scenery from the final destination. If you are able to carry some snacks, it is a wonderful place for a picnic, especially with an excellent view from the granite outlook. From Greenville, head west on Hwy 183 through Berea towards Pickens. Cross Hwy 153 in Pickens County and drive about five miles towards Pickens and look for South Glassy Mountain Road on the right. Turn here and proceed up the mountain until you come to the trailhead just past Glassy Mountain Church Road on the right. 88 CA ITALat LAY | November/December 2012

From downtown Greenville, drive north on US 25/276 and turn right onto SC 253. At the traffic light bear left to continue on SC 253. Drive for 2.5 miles and turn left onto State Park Road (Greenville County S-23-344). The park entrance is on the left. Enter the park and drive approximately 2 miles to the large picnic area on the left. From Asheville, merge onto I-26 E/US-74 E for 16.3 miles. Take exit 54 to merge onto US-25 S toward US-176/N Carolina 225/Greenville entering South Carolina for 25.8 miles. Turn left onto State Park Rd and drive 4.2 miles. Turn right onto County Rd 169 for 1.5 miles. Turn left onto State Park Rd and continue for 0.6 miles. Take a sharp right onto Paris Mountain State Park. The destination will be on the left after driving 98 ft. To get to Sulphur Springs Loop, continue on the main road past the lake. Turn right (going straight will take you to the campground) at the stop sign. On the left, there will be a good size parking area for Picnic Shelter #6. This is the best place to park for the Sulphur Springs Loop.

TABLE

ROCK

Although the Table Rock Trail is quite strenuous, but could be considered moderate for those in great shape, it is well worth it because of the views it offers; some argue they are the best views in South Carolina. During the 6.8 mile hike, you will walk through a field of giant boulders and may come across other rocky areas of the trail due to erosion. However, at 1.6 miles, you will spot a rain shelter that serves as a nice resting spot. You might even join fellow hikers in the “recovery zone.” After two and a half miles of steep climbing, you will reach Governor’s Rock. Luckily, chiseled steps help as you climb up this neat rock formation. There is a small spring between Governor’s Rock and the summit of Table Rock. After hiking for nearly 3.5 miles, the trail takes you out onto the spectacular white rock face that is Table Rock. From there, you can stare out at Table Rock Lake and other surrounding mountainsides. I would also recommend packing a lunch; you will probably want to rest for a bit after making it to the top. On highway 11, the park entrance is four and one half miles east of the intersection of Hwy 11 and Rt. 178. The park is approximately 25 miles from Greenville and just north of Pickens, South Carolina. From Asheville, the drive takes about one hour and 15 minutes. Merge onto I-26 E/US-74 E for 16.3 miles. Take exit 54 to merge onto US-25 S toward US-176/N Carolina 225/Greenville entering South Carolina for 16.3 miles. Take the South Carolina 11 exit on the left for 0.2 miles. Turn left onto S Carolina 11 S/Cherokee Foothills Scenic Hwy for 4.5 miles. Turn right onto S Carolina 11 S/US-276 N/Greer Hwy. Continue to follow S Carolina 11 S for 12.0 miles. Turn right onto Table Rock State Park Rd and continue for 1.6 miles. All of the trails begin behind the Nature Center, which is also fun to explore. Take the wooden walkway to the back of the center and follow the blazes.

TURKEY

PEN

As you begin the hike, you start to climb. Be sure to bring plenty of water, because the first 2 miles are dry. The first mile and a half is a descent incline. In fact, at one point you will climb 600 feet in less than a quarter of a mile. There are nice views on the way up, so this hike is beautiful during the autumn season because you can see a greater distance. You will descend from Sharpy Mountain for about a half mile and then you will climb again for 200 or 300 feet. At that time, which should be about 2 hours into your hike, you will see a trail that goes to the right, which is Wagon Road Gap. Follow this trail down. After a short distance, you will find yourself in an area that some say seems like the Garden of Eden. Once you get to a large opening, you will hear the river. You should then turn right onto South Mills River Trail. It will lead right to the river. There will be a trail back 100 feet that steers to the right and leads to a swinging bridge. Take I-26 East from Asheville, NC Turn Right onto Airport Rd (280 West). You will come to an intersection which divides RT 191 & NC 280 (Mills River), stay on 280 for approximately 7 miles. At the Henderson/Transylvania County line, just past Boyleston Creek Baptist Church, Turn right onto Turkey Pen Rd. This is a really rough road. Go approximately 2.3 miles to the end. You will see the parking for Turkey Pen trailhead. Begin on the Turkey Pen Trail. November/December 2012 | capitalatplay.com 89

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