Capital at Play December 2017

Sarah, Erika, Mary, and Dave Evers Dancing Bear Toys p.22

eyword: Legacy K Working with Family in Business p.68

Tales from the Back of the House p.39

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

colu m ns

Defining Sustainability p.50

Local Industry

She

Has A

Gift

Gift Baskets

by Melissa p.56

2017 s w ee t a nd

savory p.76

Volume VII - Edition XII complimentary edition

capitalatplay.com

December 2017

We have always maintained the position that we are here on this earth to help others. We researched information about Native American reservations and we were staggered at what we found. Open up to learn more.

www.unbrokencircleproject.com We Partner with Helps Ministries and are a 501 3 c so all donations are tax deductible. They are also ECFA accredited.

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| December 2017

www.marthalerjewelers.com | 828.676.1625

Wishes you a Happy Holidays and want you to know about something close to their heart.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

3

We are a family of Native American ancestry with the Lumbee Tribe in Pembroke, NC. My dad was raised in an orphanage and although we spend time in Pembroke I never really paid attention to the conditions. I thought, like so many others, that the government took care of them or that they had access to casino money. I have never been more wrong about anything in my life. It was tempting to believe that I shouldn’t listen to what I found online in my search about the conditions on reservations, particularly Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For the sake of the beautiful Lakota Indians who I have fallen in love with, I wish it had all been wrong.

While doing some research on Facebook one evening I saw a post about the water conditions on Pine Ridge where the tribe, that day, confirmed that arsenic and raw sewage was found in the water. On impulse I sent out some messages asking how I could help. It started from there. I exchanged numbers with someone and we spoke the very next day.

Our idea from the beginning was not to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but to come alongside and partner with those people and non profit organizations that are already in motion to help Native American youth. This has taken the shape of many efforts such as sending food for the youth, providing blankets, sleeping bags, clothes. We have arranged for delivery of food items for the youth. Heating assistance for grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren, tuition assistance and more.

Our belief in the Creator to guide us and provide is strong. We also know that we need wonderful people to come alongside us that are compelled by the need to support the beautiful and often forgotten Native American youth.

They are truly the hope of our future and for their tribes.

To get involved please visit www.unbrokencircleproject.com

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TONYA MARTHALER & ANDY MARTHALER December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 101

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| December 2017

THE EXPERT IN MEN’S APPAREL:

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Editor’s Thoughts

I

t’s my fave consignment boutique in town because the inventory is so amazing.

–The Tony Townie, Lifestyle Blogger

The Overlook at Lake Julian 100 Julian Lane, Suite 120, Arden, NC 28704 Tel. 1.828.650.6566 www.jsmithboutique.com

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828.693.3535 Accepting Quality Consignments

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| December 2017

‘T

is the season to be grateful: Welcome to our December issue.

While November is traditionally the month for giving thanks, as each year winds down, many of us do find ourselves in moments of reflection and appreciation. And I think to a large degree this issue symbolizes just that.

Certainly, our cover, featuring a gift box tower, is a visual metaphor: What goodies, treats, compact surprises, and expressions of love lurk within? For Gift Baskets by Melissa, the entire business model is based upon helping people express their thanks to others. And we want to thank our readers for their support during 2017 with a special contest giveaway of a gift basket stuffed with local vendors’ delicious products (among those vendors are several of our Sweet & Savory profilees, listed below), so make sure you follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for a chance to win.

Speaking of Sweet & Savory: Once again we present several regional entrepreneurs who embrace the cottage industry ethos. Please meet Tammy Ridenour of Blue Ridge Brittle Co., Steve Modlin of Old Mule BBQ Dipping Sauce, Jenna Kranz of Happy-Go-Lucky Foods, Nikki Wright of Mrs. B’s Homestyle Eatery, and Mike Vitelli of Eat Pique. They’ve all developed a devoted following in Western North Carolina and beyond, and we hope you realize that when you thank someone by voting with your wallet, it helps them grow their business, and in turn strengthens our local small business community.

What could be more fitting for the holiday season than an appreciation of folks who spend their days bringing smiles to the faces of children? With any luck, our profile of the delightful family that operates a pair of area toy stores, one in Asheville and one in Hendersonville, will help spread a timely bit of Christmas cheer. (Memo to Harry Potter fans: Easter eggs ahead.)

‘Tis the season to be hungry: And since you’re no doubt already planning your holiday celebration schedule, I assume that will include dining out at some point, so please enjoy our feature titled “Back of the House.” It’s a kind of pull-back-the-veil look at what goes on behind the scenes at area restaurants, from the trials and tribulations of the harried cooks and bartenders to those “little things” that make each evening a, shall we say, unique experience for the hostesses and wait staff. Did you hear the one about the guy who tipped $100 when he probably only meant $10?

Somebody went home very thankful that evening after work…

Incidentally, I hope you spotted our “special” editorial note in the November issue: In this space we ran mug shots, er, portraits of the office staff, accompanied by capsule bios relating their duties here at the magazine and their backgrounds. It’s important for a publication’s readership to be able to get to know, and hopefully trust and respect, the people responsible for bringing them content month after month. Next month we plan to introduce you to the rest of the current CaP gang, so the only thing I want to add here is a sincere thank-you for trusting us all these years—that’s a gift we definitely don’t take for granted.

Sincerely,

Fred Mills

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

publisher

THE INNOVATORS OF COMFORT™

Oby Morgan associate publisher

Jeffrey Green managing editor

Fred Mills briefs and events editor

Leslee Kulba Nordic

copy editors

contributing writers & photogr aphers

Jami Daniels, Emily Glaser, Anthony Harden, Marla Hardee Milling, Shawndra Russell, Daniel Walton, Lee Warren art director

Bonnie Roberson social media editor

Erin Hebbe

Dasha O. Morgan, Brenda Murphy

Information & Inquiries November 22 - January 15

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Capital at Play is Western North Carolina’s business lifestyle magazine. It embodies the idea that capitalism thrives with creativity—that work requires an element of play. Exploring everything from local industry to the great outdoors, Capital at Play is inspiration for the modern entrepreneur.

In every edition we profile those who take the risk, those who share that risk, and those who support them—telling the untold story of how capitalists are driven by their ideas and passions.

We cater to those who see the world with curiosity, wonderment, and a thirst for knowledge.

We present information and entertainment that capitalists want, all in one location. We are the free spirit of enterprise.

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109 BROADWAY

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| December 2017

This magazine is printed with soy based ink on recycled paper. Please recycle.

Copyright © 2017, Capital At Play, Inc. All rights reserved.

Capital at Play is a trademark of Capital At Play, Inc. Published by Capital At Play, Inc. PO Box 5615, Asheville, NC. 28813

Capital at Play is protec ted through Tr ademar k Regis tr ation in the United States. The content found within this publication does not necessar ily ref lec t the views of Capital At Play, Inc. and its companies. Capital At Play, Inc. and its employees are not liable for any adver tising or editor ial content found in Capital at Play. The ar ticles, photogr aphy, and illus tr ations found in Capital at Play may not be reproduced or used in any fashion without express wr it ten consent by Capital At Play, Inc.

Your Guide To North Carolina’s Finest Properties

1451 acres

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PISGAH VIEW RANCH 70 Pisgah View Ranch Road Mike Davis | 828.301.6773 Reed Jackson | 704.713.3623

$2.85 M RICHARD SHARP SMITH HOUSE 288 Montford Avenue Mike Davis | 828.301.6773 288MontfordAvenue.com

$1.75 M

$1.675 M

FAIRVIEW ESTATE 488 Lambeth Walk Kim Gentry Justus | 828.301.-3330 Kim@ivesterjacksonblackstream.com

ROAN HIGHLANDS MOUNTAIN RETREAT

2061 Hickory Springs Road Mike Davis | 828.301.6773 2061HickorySpringsRoad.com

$2.495 M

$2.179 M

MOUNTAIN & LAKE VIEW 18243 Joe Brown Highway John Kent | 864.784.9918 john@ivesterjacksonblackstream.com

CLIFFS AT WALNUT COVE ESTATE 204 Folkestone Lane Vicky Wynn | 828.242.1171 Vicky@ivesterjacksonblackstream.com

137 acres

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MONTFORD HOUSE

GROVE PARK - HISTORIC LONGCHAMPS

5 Howland Road Kim Gentry Justus | 828.301.-3330 Kim@ivesterjacksonblackstream.com

185 Macon Avenue #A5 Mike Davis | 828.301.6773 Longchampscondos.com

IvesterJacksonBlackstream.com | 828.367.9001 Asheville | Highlands | Greenville | Charlotte | Lake Norman December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

9

Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featuring a new 60 second video each week, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of enterprise throughout Western Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featuring a new North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at capitalatplay.com to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play.

second video every two weeks, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of enterp throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at capitalatplay.com to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play NOVEMBER VIDEO

RYOBI QUIET STRIKE PULSE DRIVER AVL TECHNOLOGIES DISASTER RELIEF PRODUCT VIDEO p roduct l aunch video

COCONUT BAY BEACH r esort p romotional video

VOLVO CE C USTOMER STORY TESTIMONIAL VIDEO

MARKETING AND TRAINING VIDEOS FOR BUSINESS At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and combustible creativity set us apart from other video production companies.

It’s our mission to help our customers sell their products, train their staff, and entertainINcustomers with video.

We strive to eat, sleep,p and think like the FOX HUNTING WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA wonderful companies we work with. photo by DonWestPhotos.com at Tryon Hounds

( .76)

www.bclip.com MARKETING AND TRAINING VIDEOS FOR BUSINESS 10

| December 2017

At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and creativity set us apart from other video production companies. It’s our mis help our customers sell their products, train their staff, and entertain custo video. We strive to eat, sleep, and think like the wonderful companies we

thi s page : K'NEX FERRIS WHEEL at Dancing Bear Toys photo by Anthony Harden

w 60 prise y.

combustible ssion to omers with work with.

F E AT U R E D vol. vii

22

PLAYING FOR THE FUTURE

ed. xii

56 SHE HAS A GIFT MELISSA CLONCH

SARAH, ERIKA, MARY, AND DAVE EVERS

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

11

C ON T E N T S

d e c e m b e r 2 017

p.20

LOCAL GIFTS BUYING GUIDE

Holiday

JENNA KR ANZ of Happy Go Lucky ser ving customers at the Sweet & Savor y event. photo by Anthony Harden

39

Fun

76

lo c a l i n d u s t r y

Back of the House

Tales from the Western North Carolina Restaurant World

Sweet & Savory 2017 Our Annual Look at Local Cottage Industry Entrepreneurs

colu m ns

insight

14 C asablanca Cigar Bar Sam & Brooke Souhail

CFO Consultants Mike Sowinski

B.B. Barns Holiday Wreath Station ERRATA: In our November prof ile of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina's president Elizabeth Brazas, we inadvertently omitted the names of several of the Foundation’s board members. They have been added to the online version, and we sincerely apologize for the omission.

12

l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n

| December 2017

briefs

50 Defining Sustainability 34 Carolina in the West Written by Lee Warren

68 Keyword: Legacy

Written by Jami Daniels

p e o p l e at p l ay

88 The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's 20th Anniversary Celebration

Cover photo by Anthony Harden. This gift tower is available for only $99. Details for purchasing on page 99 of this magazine.

52 The Old North State 72 National & World News events

90 These are a few of our

favorite things‌ to do in December!

From increased turnover to disruptions in productivity, reckless hiring can be costly.

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December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

13

nsight

photos on this page by Anthony Harden

Have a Cigar, You’re Gonna Go Far

T

For Sam and Brooke Souhail of Casablanca Cigar Bar, making the connection with people is what inspires them.

he year was 2011, and “with a little bit of money and a lot of hope,” Sam and Brooke Souhail opened Tobacco Plus on Eagle Street in downtown Asheville, eager to contribute to the vitality of the local small business community. They’d married a few years earlier, in 2008, and decided to settle in Asheville because North Carolina native Brooke had attended college in the mountain city and Sam, although he’d grown up in the considerably more exotic locale of Morocco (he moved to the United States in 2005), sensed that Asheville was poised for exponential growth.

like to tell the story now, they “worked hard, built a loyal clientele, and enjoyed interacting with customers and building relationships in the community.” Sam was also expanding his knowledge of cigars, eventually installing a small humidor, which proved immensely popular among his customers. This in turn led him and Brooke to brainstorm the cigar bar concept.

Thus, Casablanca Cigar Bar was born, opening in Historic Biltmore Village in January 2017—and no, before you ask, it’s not a reference to the iconic Bogart movie, but to the Moroccan city of Casablanca where Sam was

“The future is looking bright for building community ties with locals, tourists, and other small businesses.”

As every Western North Carolinian knows by now, Sam was right, of course, and their business steadily grew along with Asheville. For the first two years at Tobacco Plus, Sam and Brooke were the only employees, but as they 14

| December 2017

raised. Catering to locals and tourists alike, the business is designed to create “a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere, where all customers feel a personal connection.” That means attending to such premium features as the largest walk-in

SAM AND BROOKE SOUHAIL

humidor in Asheville, a lounge featuring luxurious leather chairs, a gas fireplace, personal VIP humidor lockers that rent annually, a private conference room, and a full-service craft cocktail bar.

All this while still finding time to carve out family time—Sam and Brooke have just recently had their third child, and as they put it, they “work hard to maintain a work/life balance,” although Sam is quick to quip that he “eats red tape for breakfast, legal documents for lunch, and then still has time to prepare dinner” for their growing family.

The cigar bar concept has clearly been a successful one; the Souhails report that they already have plans to expand the walk-in humidor and to add a rooftop bar sometime in the coming year. A second Casablanca location is already being considered.

(They st i l l ow n Tobac c o Plu s, incidentally.) Casablanca boasts a friendly, knowledgeable staff, and Sam and Brooke have recently joined the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. They predict that “the future is looking bright for building community ties with locals, tourists, and other small businesses— the sky is the limit.”

Your source for Hearth & Patio needs 264 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC | 828.252.2789

Dr. John Robinson would like to extend his heartfelt appreciation to all of his patients, throughout the years, and to his WNC dental colleagues as he transitions to his retirement.

“It has been an honor to serve you all.”

Rockcliff Oral and Facial Surgery & Dental Implant Center has assumed Dr. Robinson’s practice and will continue to see his patients at the current location at 4 Medical Park Drive Asheville, NC 28803.

Casablanca Cigar Bar is open 10AM-midnight daily and located at 18 Lodge Street in Asheville. For more details and a photo gallery: www.CasablancaCigarBar.com.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

15

insight

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Here at Starks Financial Group we believe that a financial plan should be as unique as you are. You owe it to yourself to obtain a second opinion on the financial decisions that will impact the rest of your life.

Please call us today to set up an initial consultation at no cost to you.

440 Montford Avenue, Asheville NC, 28801 | 828-285-8777 | 877-285-7537 | www.starksfinancial.com Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Member FINRA/SIPC. Starks Financial Group is not a registered broker/dealer, and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.

Investment Advisory Services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc.

16

| December 2017

By The Numbers CFO Consultants’ Mike Sowinski understands the value of—and need for—diversification.

“I

t's exciting to see some gambles begin to pay off, particularly when the clients began with nothing but an idea!”

That’s Mike Sowinski, founder of Asheville’s CFO Consultants, LLC, a financial management services company that helps companies navigate the high and ebb tides of business by providing the type of information and analysis that would normally require hiring full-time chief financial officers to perform. And that reference to the “tides” isn’t journalistic license: CFO Consultants states up front that it is “a lifeguard for your company, providing practical financial analysis and sound, effective solutions for your business [and minimizing] uncertainty in your decision making processes… to help plan your company’s future, showing you where and when to take action.”

Sowinski started the business in 2006 while at the A-B Tech small business center (where he continues to do probono work and teach). “When I was working as a controller and CFO in a variety of industries for 15 years,” recalls Sowinski, “I saw many small businesses that wanted better financial decision making, but couldn't afford a full-time financial professional. CPA firms sometimes get involved with decision making, but many of them have never been in company management.

I wanted to offer CFO services for companies that don't have any financial management outside of bookkeeping.”

His firm did well straight out of the gate, experiencing “a huge amount of growth” for the first few years doing project work for large companies and financial analysis/decision making for small companies. Then, says Sowinski, the economic downturn of 2008-09 hit, and CFO Consultants was not immune to the financial sector’s woes. “After watching revenue plummet—my biggest challenge to date—I realized that the firm was fulfilling a want for small businesses rather than a need, and that I should probably be more focused on business needs. I went back to school to get accredited by the AICPA for business valuation, and added tax and bookkeeping services to the firm's offerings.”

Sowinski’s firm works by the project or on a retainer basis, and full-scope, ongoing, or short-term, depending on the specific needs of a company. The offerings include: profitability enhancement services, financial reporting and analysis, crisis management services, and human resource consulting services. He’s worked with everyone from banks and insurance companies to national CPA firms to smaller regional and local businesses.

Indeed, diversifying the CFO Consultants services proved strategically prescient, and soon enough, Sowinski saw increased opportunities for investment.

“My biggest success came when I invested in a company that had a group of pharmacies,” says Sowinski. “They

have done very well. From there, I invested in several other companies and projects, and so far the money has been well spent. My most recent startup is a company called Blue Ridge Media Capital. This opportunity came along because I had movie industry experience with Soundelux in the 1990s and the folks at Advantage West pointed the client in our direction. Blue Ridge Media Capital finds investments for early movie development.”

“I realized that the firm was fulfilling a want for small businesses rather than a need, and that I should probably be more focused on business needs.”

He adds that to date, the movies in development include the Benedict Cumberbatch-produced Guantanamo Diary, based on Mohamedou Slahi's account of being imprisoned for 14 years by the United States without being charged, and Black Wall Street, about the notorious 1921 Tulsa race riot, with Tim Story directing.

“I sometimes believe in clients before anyone else does,” concludes Sowinski, “and I think that optimism can be profitable.”

For complete details on CFO Consultants and their services, plus case studies, visit them online: www.CFOConsultants.net.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

17

insight

Mountain Roots & Christmas Wreaths If you ask Barn Bryant of B.B. Barns about his company’s custom holiday offerings, he’s got one word: smokehouse.

B

arney Bryant, co-owner of B.B. Barns Garden Center on Sweeten Creek Highway in Arden, and a native of Franklin, remembers making Christmas wreaths for his family’s home, church, cemetary, and yes, even the outhouse.

Bryant—Barn, as friends fondly call him—recalls gathering greens and setting up a makeshift workshop in the family smokehouse back in Franklin. Fall is the time to shape evergreen trees and shrubs, and it was Barn’s job to prune the conifers, hollies, and boxwoods that would form and decorate the wreaths. This family tradition helped create the idea for the holiday design bench at the garden center.

“I wanted to take the uniqueness of that time and carry it over into design, giving customers something other than the status quo.

Making wreaths is a mountain tradition—boxwood, holly, and fraser fir wreaths. It’s my way of going back to my roots and sharing some of the old ways with others,” Barn reflects.

Eight years ago, Barn merged the best of two worlds. B.B. Barns is famous for its staff of talented designers, who work in landscape, container gardening, and home decorating. “Why not use that talent to design customized wreaths and garlands?” he decided.

The design bench is a long way from that Franklin smokehouse, but with the goal of keeping mountain memories and traditions alive, and a staff of skilled designers, the B.B. Barns workshop showcases the regional heritage and gives customers an opportunity to design a wreath (assembled by staff). And Barn still gets to prune away, only now you’ll see him with loppers in one hand, bucket in another, walking around the store’s property eyeing magnolia branches, conifers heavy with cones, hollies filled with berries, and golden threadleaf false cypress (“gold mops”).

Not all of the greens come from the property, but all do come from North Carolina. The wreath forms (just the plain green wreath), the 18

photo by Anthony Harden | December 2017

garlands, the trees, and the fresh greens are all sourced in our state. This concept fits in with the GoLocal movement the store supports, but is also another reminder of this region’s mountain roots.

The staff starts gearing up a few weeks before Thanksgiving, decorating the store and making room for the work station.

Picture: yards of ribbon (designers will make all your bows), wooden boxes filled with berries, shelves lined with frasier fir, boxwood, and leyland wreaths, mailbox swags, garland measured by the yard, fresh greens sold by the pound, the scent of Christmas everywhere. Natural wreaths, glitzy wreaths, wreaths with feathers, deer antlers, fruits, birds, bears, and even beer mugs representing the local breweries.

The customer chooses the wreath, the ribbon, and what greens or berries (or birds and bears) they want, and the designers heat up their hot glue guns and start. If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry; staff will help you choose what

Karen Washington

Sobande Moss Greer

Dan Kittredge

Russell Hedrick

“It’s also a time we hear about our customers’ traditions and how they create memories.” looks best with what you like. And for those with little time to spare, designers make fresh wreaths every day so you can pop in, choose an already assembled wreath, and pop out.

“It’s a time of year the designers look forward to, because who doesn’t get excited about using a hot glue gun?” says Brenna Henley, the store’s container designer. “But it’s also a time we hear about our customers’ traditions and how they create memories,” she adds. Sharing stories, learning about the “roots” of others is just as important. It creates a connection with people and community that is B.B. Barns’ primary mission.

In the past eight years, the success of the company’s design bench has grown and evolved. What started as making wreaths now includes creating garlands, table center pieces, and door swags, along with services for decorating your home or business done by B.B. Barns’ designer, Cynthia Gillooly.

(Even better, this service can include taking it all down.)

The B.B. Barns staff will decorate your trees, mantles, tables, lamps, doors—all at your home.

It is a festive, happy time at the store, as designers work to help customers bring beauty into their homes. The holiday season can be overwhelming, and time is at a premium. B.B. Barns wants to take the stress out of the holidays and give customers something truly memorable.

With a touch of that old Franklin smokehouse thrown in.

Visit B.B. Barns at 3377 Sweeten Creek Road in Arden, or online at www.bbbarns.com.

Beth and Shawn Dougherty

Celebrating 25 Years of Education March 9–11, 2018 • Asheville, NC 150+ classes on growing • Trade Show • Seed Exchange OrganicGrowersSchool.org December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 19

local gifts buying guide

Holiday Fun <<

Look no further for great local gifts, this Holiday Season.

CAPTIVATING PRE-OWNED RUBELITE TOURMALINE Surrounded by 1.00 carat of fine diamonds, this 2.76 carat rubelite from a local estate is priced at less than half the appraised replacement value. ( $2175 ) Estate Jewelry Ltd., EstateJewelryLtd.com

<<

FESTIVE DRIED HOLIDAY WREATH Locally handcrafted wreath using locally grown dried materials is certain to deck any hall! ( $148 ) Flowers by Larry flowersbylarry.com

<<

<<

MODO PAPER-THIN TITANIUM FRAMES

Two (2) pair no/line bifocals with frame. ( $250 ) OneWay Eyeglasses eyeglasses-asheville.com

Handmade from semi-precious healing stones to boost your energy and support your intentions, each comes in a beautiful gift box ready for mindful giving. ( $98 ) Modern ŌM modernom.com

20

| December 2017

<<

<<

SPA COLLECTION IN STERLING SILVER

“CARDINAL: FLOWER & BIRD” PHOTO ALBUM & BOX SET

Treasure your holiday images and cards in a handmade album that you design. ( $360 ) Azalea Bindery azaleabindery.com

images not shown to size

SHEEPSKIN RUG KNIT KIT This cozy knit kit shows how to make a plush alpaca and wool sheepskin rug for your home. Perfect project for winter knitting ( $170 ) Echoview Fiber Mill echoviewnc.com

<<

<<

PAVE STARBURST POST EARRING WITH MATCHING JACKETS Sparkle and shine this season, with these stunning earrings by Serafina Artisan Jewelry. ( $78 )

CABIN BLESSING Artist Jane Voorhees captures the spirit of mountain living, as in the much loved home in Cabin Blessing. Originals, matted prints, and cards are available. ( $200 ) The Gallery at Flat Rock galleryflatrock.com

Embellish Asheville embellishasheville.com

<<

BEESWAX PINECONE CANDLES 100% pure beeswax pinecone candles, handmade in the Catskills, NY. ( $22.50 ) The Gardener’s Cottage, Asheville thegardenerscottageasheville.com

<< STILL SEARCHING? Find your way with replica 14th-19th century astronomical and navigational instruments – compasses, sundials, astrolabes, perpetual calendars. Made in Spain. ( $76 ) BlackBird Frame & Art 365 Merrimon Ave, Asheville

<< TURKISH PENDANT Be a wise man and bring this Turkish pendant, set in 14kt gold, to your loved one. (gift wrapping included) ( $2,450 )

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SAR AH (L) AND ERIK A EVERS

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| December 2017

Playing FOR

THE

FUTURE Flights of fancy in the analog world is the name of the game for this family business.

written by daniel walton

|

photos by anthony harden December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 23

(L-R) Erika, Sarah, Mar y & Dave Evers

T

he Dancing Bear Toys store on Kenilworth Road in Asheville preserves the first money ever earned at the location under the glass of its “toy bar.” Beneath the copies of Codenames and colorful building sets, there rests a dollar bill scrawled over with signatures and a shining, carefully arranged pyramid of heads-up quarters. But beside that cash sits the reason the toy bar is usually covered with boxes for playthings: a collection of business cards bearing the owl logo of the risqué restaurant chain, Hooters.

“You’ll know we’re in trouble when we start taking up the lid of the bar to get more money,” deadpans Dave Evers. He and his family appreciate the irony in transforming a former adult playground into a child’s paradise, but the move made sense.

Since buying the toy store in 1993, the Evers family has grown Dancing Bear into a Western North Carolina institution. After opening a second store in Hendersonville in 1997, the family significantly expanded their Asheville business when the old Hooters location became available in 2013. The new space offered over three times the room as their former storefront, which was located just down the hill on nearby Tunnel Road.

As large toy purveyors such as Toys “R” Us and KB Toys have filed for bankruptcy and internet shopping has transformed the retail landscape, Dancing Bear has found a new old-fashioned way to thrive. By combining a philosophy of personal service and imaginative play with the best practices of modern sellers, the Evers have delighted children of all ages for nearly 25 years.

And at the heart of it all is what Sarah Evers calls “an upsidedown family business.”

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| December 2017

Flipping the script Most family-owned enterprises begin with the older generation; think the “mom-and-pop” ownership of the traditional small-town grocer. But the Evers parents, Dave and Mary, got interested in the toy business only after daughter Sarah started working for the original owner of Dancing Bear, Jim Proctor, at the age of 19 in 1991.

During her first couple of years with Dancing Bear, Sarah helped Proctor move from Biltmore Village to Tunnel Road and developed her skills operating a toy store. She was soon comfortable managing the entire place on her own, but Proctor was thinking of getting out of the business. He had several potential buyers, but no takers, as Sarah recalls reporting to her parents. She was living at home at the time, and over dinner, she shared her worries that Dancing Bear could shutter its doors. “Everybody was sad that the store might be closing,” remembers Mary. “It was so rare to have a quality toy store—you couldn’t find good wooden blocks at the corner drugstore.”

WALL OF small toys in Dancing Bear.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 25

That dinner-table discussion led the Evers to explore buying Dancing Bear themselves. “It was absolutely kind of whimsical.

We’d always talked about how interesting it’d be to have a family business, and then we saw the toy store,” says Mary. Adds Dave with a smile, “Somewhat facetiously, I’ll say it was a way to keep our daughter employed.” On December 10, 1993, the family closed the deal.

Neither of the elder Evers had previously been entrepreneurs; at the time they bought Dancing Bear, Dave and Mary were working full-time as a psychologist and early-childhood education teacher, respectively. But they had gained both the skills and capital to set up shop from their experience renovating old houses. “Dave learned to do electrical and plumbing from Time-Life books, and we fixed up a duplex in Charlotte, which we sold for a little pot of money that we could invest in this business,” explains Mary.

Although the Evers set up their new enterprise with Mary as the president and Dave as secretary-treasurer, Sarah remained 26

| December 2017

in charge of Dancing Bear’s day-to-day operations. Her sister, Erika Evers, soon moved back to Asheville and joined Sarah on the shop floor. Erika recounts that the unexpected combination of two young women as managers baffled many of the toy company representatives who visited the fledgling store.

“Most of the reps were middle-aged men, and I’m quite certain they weren’t sure if we were going to make it,” Erika says. “We’d get them asking, ‘Do you want to ask your mommy or daddy?’”

Mary puts it even more bluntly: “They wanted the white-haired ones, and when Dave walked in, all attention was on him. There was definitely a little ageism and sexism going on.”

Learning the ropes Sarah’s experience as a Dancing Bear employee had made her an expert in customer service and toy selection, but with no formal business education—her college degree is in environmental policy, which currently inspires the store’s

INSIDE DANCING BEAR in Asheville.

rooftop solar panels and cardboard recycling—she found new challenges at the level of ownership. “It turned out to be really different between running a toy store and running a toy store,” she says, with a laugh.

As an illustration, Sarah shares the story of the Dancing Bear’s first Christmas, just 14 days after the Evers took over the shop.

She found that, despite the store’s established success under the previous ownership, qualification for credit didn’t carry over to the family’s new operation. The Evers had no way to acquire new merchandise during the busiest toy shopping season of the year.

A bit of creative improvisation was in order. “That was the year Woolworth’s was closing downtown,” remembers Sarah.

“We went there and bought stuff like play jewelry—we were practically whittling little wooden trains to sell in the store!”

Even while scrambling for stock, the Evers managed to make the holiday special for at least one bunch of customers.

From Dancing Bear’s depleted inventory, Sarah had assembled enough pieces to make an oval electric train track that an

Asheville family wanted to put around their tree. The buyers ran into some trouble when setting up the train; on visiting the store for help, they found a note directing them to call the Evers at home in case of emergency.

“Christmas Eve, our very first Christmas, we had to go over and help them build their electric train,” Sarah says. “It was sweet because we helped them fix it, but I don’t think we ever put a note on the door again,” she adds.

Other aspects of the family’s background offered a little more direction for their approach to toy retail. Dave and Mary, for example, used the understanding of child psychology they’d gained in their previous careers to inform Dancing Bear’s purchasing decisions. “We wanted to be able to look around the store and see something for every area of development: large motor skills, fine motor skills, social skills, et cetera,” says Mary. “That’s why [the store] works, because families need all of that. It’s just sound childhood development.”

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 27

That philosophy is evident on first walking into Dancing Bear. The store is an explosion of color and toy diversity, with playthings that run the gamut of purpose and age appropriateness. Standing in the front entrance, a visitor sees a clown bop bag and bevy of bouncy balls that encourage children to practice their physical dexterity, while a collection of Mad Libs offers the chance to play in the world of words.

Above them, a stuffed unicorn and sparkly brown triceratops give flight to social games. Even higher, a “ninja line,” with hanging gymnastic rings and monkey bar grips, beckons an exploration of large motor abilities.

Erika’s education is in political science, which recently found expression in some of the store’s programming for youngsters.

After the 2016 elections, she and Sarah brainstormed ideas to help kids discover their political voices and how to make a difference in the world. At the resulting “Social Justice League,” kids dressed up as superheroes while learning about timely topics, including systemic racism, running for office, and protecting natural resources.

Worlds of imagination As suggested by the Social Justice League, the Evers see Dancing Bear as more than just a toy store: Their vision is for the shop to serve as a resource for the community. The entrance of the building hosts a bulletin board peppered with flyers for children’s activities, such as karate lessons and escape rooms, while a “toy lending library” lets area teachers borrow new toys for the classroom before committing to a purchase.

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| December 2017

The core of this community outreach is the shop’s free in-store play days. “From the beginning, we’ve always offered play dates featuring toys from certain vendors or for different types of toys like trains,” explains Erika. But the store’s move to a larger location, combined with a staff she describes as “very theatrical,” means that Dancing Bear has gotten more ambitious with its offerings in recent years.

At a recent Harry Potter–themed play date, Erika and Sarah transformed Dancing Bear into their own Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. “We tried to decorate the store and make it as real as possible. We had signs outside for the Whomping Willow and Azkaban, a sorting hat, Professor Snape playing with different types of slime,” describes Sarah. “All the staff dressed as different characters from

The store’s move to a larger location, combined with a staff she describes as “very theatrical,” means that Dancing Bear has gotten more ambitious with its offerings in recent years.

Harry Potter—Sarah and I were Ollivander’s shop, so kids got to choose their wands. Which were literally sticks that we pulled out of our yard,” Erika adds.

The wands may have been plain twigs, but for the kids at Dancing Bear, the magic was real. “We just acted like they were the most exciting sticks ever, and the kids ate it up,” says Erika, before she intones “Pick your wand” in her best mysterious stage whisper. Adds Sarah, “We’d talk about whatever unicorn heartstring was in the wand and how to use it best. The kids will go there with you.”

The family describes a similar dynamic at work for the store’s ever-popular Star Wars play day. “Some of the kids come in these elaborate costumes, and they’ll have an elaborate lightsaber that lights up and makes the sounds,” observes Mary. “But when we help other kids make their own by decorating cardboard tubes, they’ll put down their fancy one and go, ‘I want your lightsaber!’”

Those implements of Jedi justice come in handy for the main event of the day: a showdown with the villainous Darth Vader. “The whole premise is that we’ve asked the kids to come in and go through Jedi training because Darth Vader is coming to take over the toy store. They have to help us fight him off, and they take it really seriously,” Erika says. Some lose themselves entirely to imagination, as Dave December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 29

describes with a wry grin: “They’re supposed to stay in their circle when they’re not fighting Darth Vader, but every time somebody else would start, this one little boy would come around and attack from the back.”

All of Dancing Bear’s flights of fancy take place in the analog world, without recourse to the tablets and phones that have become the constant companions of many children. The Evers stick to a screen-free philosophy in their programming and product mix, and from early in their business, they’ve hosted events in conjunction with the national nonprofit Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

“It’s not that TV is bad per se, but there needs to be a balance. Kids need to unplug,” clarifies Erika. Dancing Bear encourages that balance through its annual Screen Free Week, which offers daily play dates to keep young minds off of technology and gift cards as a reward for those who successfully complete the challenge. It’s good fun, but also serious business; Sarah holds her hands over her eyes as she mimes a child avoiding inadvertent exposure to a TV screen.

While many kids moan at the start of the week, Sarah says that they usually come around to the advantages of time away from tech. “We always ask what they did instead of watching TV, and every year they say they had the greatest week. ‘I went out and walked, I read a book, I played games’—I think they all see the benefit. I’m hopeful that they have a conversation with their parents of limiting how much time they spend doing the screen thing because they had so much fun.”

Along the cutting edge When it comes to managing and marketing the business, however, the Evers have not shied away from embracing technological innovation. After adding the second store on Hendersonville’s Main Street in 1997—in that space previously was another toy store, Dr. B’s—Dancing Bear moved to a computerized inventory control system that united sales and transfers for both locations. Mary says that although the system had a steep learning curve at first, it now allows the family to allocate toys between its stores more effectively.

“During the Christmas season, the Asheville store takes off way ahead of Hendersonville, so we start moving inventory.

It’s like we have an entire other back stock,” Mary explains.

“We can print out a report that tells us what we’ve sold and what we have on hand, so we can keep toys stocked on the floor where they’re selling.”

Dancing Bear also operates an online storefront through Specialty Toys Network, a company that creates custom websites for small toy retailers across the country. The firm maintains a database of toys pre-stocked with images, product descriptions, and UPCs; the Evers just have to pick the products they want to feature. This approach helps them capture a large seller’s economy of scale without being big 30

| December 2017

THE SECOND Dancing Bear store opened in Hendersonville in 1997.

themselves; as Sarah puts it, regarding the arrangement, “It’s a little cheater way for us to have a website that looks like we do all of this work.”

Online sales make up a small fraction of Dancing Bear’s business, but Sarah says the web presence helps the store stay in the minds of people who live outside of Western North Carolina. Many customers encounter the shop while on vacation, particularly the Hendersonville location, which lies off the busy Interstate 26 route to Asheville from Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. After buying a fidget spinner or travel bingo card for the road, these shoppers might decide to buy a Christmas gift or two from the website when the season rolls around.

The Evers make additional contact with their customers through a paper catalog, again taking advantage of the collective buying power of small retailers. Dancing Bear contracts with a company called The Good Toy Group, which customizes its catalog using the store’s name and coupons. “We sent out 10,000 catalogs to customers around here, and they look all flashy and high-tech,” says Sarah.

“But we couldn’t have made it for the price that [The Good Toy Group] made it because they send it to many different toy stores.”

One unfortunate casualty of Dancing Bear’s growth has been the postcards the Evers once distributed every year to the store’s birthday club. While members can still come in on their birthdays for a discount and free pick from the birthday toy box—featuring items like fake doggie doo, flower temporary tattoos, and a Dalek figurine from Doctor Who—they now DANCING BEAR employees Alyssa Prendergast (L) and Emily Haaksma (R) organizing merchandise.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

31

receive an email instead of a paper notification. “It was sad to let the mail thing go, but when you’re sending out thousands of postcards and only getting a couple hundred back, it’s just not sustainable,” Sarah laments.

biggest complaint I hear from customers is that they go to a big-box store and no one’s there to help them with anything; everything’s too tall and hard to reach, so they get frustrated and give up.”

In contrast, Dancing Bear familiarizes all of its employees with all the areas of the store. The Evers recently wrote an employee manual to help codify their service approach when hiring new staff. “We can tell everybody how we do it, why we do it that way, and ask them to be on board with our program,” says Sarah. That rigorous training isn’t for everyone (Dave: “A lot of folks are real surprised that you just don’t play in a toy store.”), but the family takes pride in accordingly compensating those who stay for their commitment.

The shared expertise among the staff helps Dancing Bear meet challenging requests. “People come in at Christmas time with [lists for] 10 grandkids from all over the country, and they want help with choosing and shipping and the whole nine yards,” describes Mary. But she finds her greatest joy in the quieter moments of service. “One of the most satisfying times is when somebody comes in with

“In our experience, for toys, you have to have a one-on-one experience with the customer. They go to a big-box store and no one’s there to help them with anything.”

The perfect toy What hasn’t changed over the years is Dancing Bear’s commitment to personal attention. When asked about the recent bankruptcy of Toys “R” Us, Sarah is quick to point to customer service as the reason for the large retailer’s woes. “In our experience, for toys, you have to have a oneon-one experience with the customer,” she explains. “The

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a special-needs child, and we’re able to match the perfect toy to that specific person.”

The store also features numerous demo areas, such as the Hooters-remnant toy bar, where children can see or try out their toys before buying them. “It’s always been an experience.

We have single parents or grandparents that come and spend an hour or two playing with their kids,” says Mary. The Hendersonville location even features an old-fashioned window display, complete with a giant stuffed dinosaur and a rotating K’Nex Ferris wheel.

Of course, even the Evers’ gracious customer service is tested at times. “My favorite return story is the kite someone brought back because it would ‘only fly to the left,’” Mary says with amused disbelief. “We actually took that as a return!”

Playing for keeps After nearly 25 years in business, the Evers family has started to reap the rewards of Dancing Bear’s success. The whole clan recently took a cruise on the River Seine from Paris to the beaches of Normandy, and Erika and Sarah spent three weeks last summer on an African safari. Previously, the family went to Egypt, where they rode camels and visited the Great Pyramids.

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They’ve had to plan those vacations carefully, as Erika explains: “Both stores are open seven days a week, and when people are usually taking off, that’s when we’re the busiest.

When everybody else is settling down warming chestnuts by the fire at Christmas, we’re here wrapping presents. It’s challenging for the family.”

But Christmas also gives the four Evers an opportunity to recommit themselves to their work. “Every year we gather the four of us around a table, and we ask each one whether this is something they want to do for another year,” says Mary. “People usually don’t get a job for life anymore.”

So far, the family has kept together in their upside-down approach to the business of toys. Both Erika and Sarah say they’re unlikely to return to the fields in which they trained.

They say that the work offers a variety and challenge few other jobs can match, as well as unparalleled opportunity to let their creativity run free.

Sarah summarizes the appeal as she recalls the Harry Potter play date. “At the end of the day, I turned to Erika and said, ‘We just gave away sticks to kids all day!’” she exclaims. “Who else gets to do that as their job?”

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CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

Breathe Easily watauga county

The inhaler developed by Pneuma Respiratory has successfully demonstrated bronchodilation in clinical tests. In two studies, one using asthma medication and the other using a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment, the device adequately delivered small molecules to the lungs.

Pre-clinical trials showed the device was capable of administering doses of large, complex molecules intact. If the device proves dependable in delivering a wide range of molecule sizes, it can be used to carry multiple medications to treat different parts of the lungs. A more significant competitive edge of Pneuma Respiratory’s digital soft-mist inhaler is it comes with an app that releases the prescribed dose as the patient inhales,

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]

using no propellants. The product’s developers were responding to research indicating patients often do not adopt the proper technique for using their inhalers, and thus do not receive sufficient medication. Not only does the digital respirator deliver proper dosages, it communicates with providers in real time to document the administration.

Forty million people who suffer asthma and COPD in the United States stand to benefit from the device. Launched in 2015, Pneuma Respiratory is a global team of researchers with headquarters in Boone, North Carolina.

Leading by Example jackson county

At an annual luncheon recognizing those who help fund scholarships for

Western Carolina University (WCU) students, Chancellor David O. Belcher announced that he and his wife, Susan Brummel Belcher, would commit $1.23 million of their own resources toward the cause. The donation included cash, previous commitments, and a portion of the couple’s estate. Upon becoming chancellor in 2011, Belcher said increasing the school’s number of endowed scholarships would be his top philanthropic priority. Since then, WCU has created more than 200 new scholarships. The Belchers were already supporting scholarships for students in the College of Fine and Performing Arts and the Honors College. The announcement came two months before the rollout of the public phase of the university’s Lead the Way scholarship fundraising drive. Also, 16 days after the Belchers’ announcement, F. Edward Broadwell, Jr. and Donna Allsbrook Broadwell made another during the university’s Homecoming 2017 activities. A retired banking executive, Broadwell was being awarded the school’s Distinguished Service Award as a former chair of WCU’s board of trustees when he announced he and his wife were committing $1 million in cash and from their estate toward scholarships.

Wherein Lies the Rub madison county

Governor Roy Cooper announced an expansion of Advanced Superabrasives (ASI). Founded as Advanced Tool in Asheville in 1993, the operation moved to Mars Hill in 2000, where it continues to produce grinding wheels and related products, including grinding machines, calibration products, sharpening tools, and coolant filtration systems. Its specialty products use a composite of diamond and cubic boron nitride.

While the company offers a large catalog of choices, its employees prefer to custom-make each wheel, their most colorful application possibly being providing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration with the grinders that polish rocks picked up by the Martian rover, Curiosity. In 2013 ASI was among 57 companies to be presented with a President’s “E” Award for Exports at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.. The celebrated expansion will allow the company to add manufacturing lines for three new products. It is funded, in part, with a $100,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund. The award is contingent on ASI’s ability to cobble grant matches from municipal and county governments and follow through on its

52

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the old north state

national & world

commitment to invest $26 million in the local economy and add 47 jobs by 2021.

ASI spokespeople anticipate the average salary will be $33,829.

Educating Swingers

carolina in the west

modify and beautify the school campus.

Recently, the school’s Organization of Parents and Teachers matched an allotment from Transylvania County Schools for new playground equipment and saved and estimated $10,000 in labor by installing it with volunteer help from local builders, school staff, and parents.

transylvania county

Helping prepare students for the 21st century, Brevard Elementary School now has three tri-stands and nine bright-colored hammocks. Each hammock seats up to three students and will serve as an outdoor venue for reading assignments, small-group counseling, and afterschool club meetings. Staff are also allowed access for chill space. The hammocks came to the school as many teachers are writing grants for flexible classroom seating, among other items on their wish lists. The school acquired them after Geraldine Dinkins, a teacher and owner of Highline Ink, worked with her company, and Jay Coan, of Brevard Insurance Company, and John Wayne Hardison, of High Country Tree Service, to pay the balance on a great offer made

by Eagles Nest Outfitters, an Ashevillebased retailer of parachute hammocks doing business in 13 countries. The hammocks also fold into efforts to partner with businesses and nonprofits to

The Law of the Forest graham county

T h e N a n t a h a l a - P i s g a h Fo r e s t Partnership, a loose coalition of over 30 groups pursuing a diversity of interests, has prepared a slate of changes it is asking the United States Forest Service (USFS) to incorporate in the updated forest management plan it is preparing. The USFS began updating its plan in 2012, with the stated goal of preserving habitat, clean water, recreational areas, and cultural heritage. The USFS has given members of the public several opportunities to comment, and the group is responding with what it feels are win-win-win strategies for all users of the forest. The slate proposes optimum placement for everything from beneficial logging and controlled burns to areas of no active management. It also called for putting the North Fork of

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the French Broad and the South Toe under USFS protection until Congress arrives at a conclusion about their worthiness to be designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. Graham County’s Economic Development Director Sophia Paulos noted 70% of that county is under federal protection. Working with the partnership not only gave the county a louder voice in the process, it fostered relationships with disparate community groups.

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|EIGHTEEN December 2017 SOUTH PACK SQUARE - DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE

Sugar Mountain, North Carolina’s largest ski area, is getting ready for the winter season; recruiting full- and parttime workers in sales and rentals, food service, maintenance and housekeeping, office administration, parking and ticketing, and, most importantly, snowmaking, ski patrol, and lift operation.

The resort is also looking for volunteers who, in exchange for helping with races, are given perks like an unrestricted season ski pass. Over the summer, the Jochl family oversaw ongoing maintenance on the snowmaking equipment.

Sugar Mountain’s trails drop from 5,300 feet to 4,100 feet over 125 skiable acres. Every portion of every ski trail is serviced by underground piping and surface snowmaking machinery. The original system, installed 48 years ago, stays up-to-date and in good repair with constant refurbishments and upgrades.

This year’s improvements involved replacing the system’s oldest pump with a high-efficiency, variable-speed machine capable of moving 1,000 gallons of water per minute up to the snowmaking towers, which include two new installations from Snow Machines.

Sugar Mountain sprays snow with both lances and portable cannons.

Building Relationships catawba county

Gerald Kamp will be the 35th person to be inducted into the North Carolina

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Home Builders Association’s hall of fame.

The honor celebrates persons who have made lasting contributions to the state’s housing and building industries. Kamp enjoyed a 44-year career in homebuilding. Out of high school, he served in the United States Air Force as a traveling instructor of computer programming for 12 years. As a civilian, he worked as a systems analyst and an outside sales representative before the recession in the late 1970s, when he opted to go into business for himself instead of accepting a pay cut. He was able to succeed when financing was tight by working with the Farmers Home Administration. During his career, Kamp built over 600 homes of diverse architecture, about 90% of which are in Catawba County. In addition to building, he helped hundreds secure FmHA financing, worked to improve builder/inspector relations, and wrote a booklet entitled, “A Successful Custom Home Marketing Plan.” He was known by many who entered the trade as a mentor who always had time to help.

Now 77 years old, he no longer builds, but he continues to give presentations and serve with many organizations, including Habitat for Humanity.

If You Build It madison county

Following the homecoming football game, leadership at Mars Hill University broke ground to celebrate the construction of the Jo Ellen Ammons Athletic Field House. The 14,500-sq.-ft. facility will house all football operations, women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s tennis. Future expansion will accommodate men’s and women’s lacrosse and men’s soccer. The school has felt a need to construct the facility for decades, with most sporting activities now taking place in the Chambers Gymnasium, which was built in the 1960s when the college was home to only eight intercollegiate teams. Now, it has 22 teams, forcing athletic activities and coaches’ offices to be dispersed throughout the

campus. The field house, which should be completed by December 2018, not only makes sense from a pragmatic standpoint, it will send a message to prospective athletes and their families that the university cares enough about its student athletes to maintain facilities on par with other colleges in the region.

The facility will be named in memory of Ammons, following a lead gift from her husband and former university trustee, Jud. Both were the benefactors for the Jud and Jo Ellen Ammons Family Athletic Center, which encompasses the stadium and was dedicated in 2007.

Flipping Wigs buncombe county

Kim’s Wig Center, long gracing the streets of downtown Asheville with its rows of head mannequins, will close this December. Established in 1973, the business has been passed from friend to friend, and now, at age 66, the current owner, Sandy Kanupp, is ready to retire.

She has been working six days a week and wants to spend more time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Kanupp laughs at the local urban myths about the store being a front for illicit operations. People found it hard to believe that many women wore wigs, but Kanupp said about half her business came from tourists and another half from persons undergoing chemotherapy or otherwise suffering excessive hair loss. Kim’s will be discounting all items through December 16. Then, the space will be modified to accommodate a boutique taproom, which will be known as The Asheville Club. It will be run by relatives of Steve and Mary Ann West, who own the building. The Wests said Kanupp told them of her desire to retire a few years ago, and they’ve been waiting to move the taproom into the space since then. Located at the corner of Battery Park Avenue and Haywood Street, Kim’s is in what the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce has determined to be one of the city’s busiest pedestrian centers.

‘Tis the Season ...

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Back of the

House written by emily gl aser

‘Tis the season to be hungry. And thirsty. And filled with the Christmas spirit—or, sometimes, the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge. Herein find a compendium of behind-the-scenes tales from area restaurants, as seen through the eyes of the folks who mix your drinks, prepare your food, and cater to your dining needs. Guarantee: All dialogue reported verbatim. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

T

he Christmas tree, menorah, and ticking clock may be popular rendezvous this time of year, but it’s the dinner table that’s our holiday mecca.

From candy canes to collard greens, fruitcake to latkes, the holidays are a season of plenty—plenty of eating, that is—and the feasts at which we do it are the most memorable events of the year. It’s a seasonal and cultural communion, when families and friends relate their annual anecdotes, pose their political queries, and reflect on years past, all set to the delicate clink and scrape of silverware.

It’s a narrative told and retold in our seasonal tales. Performed on stage, imprinted on film rolls, or stamped in ink on worn book pages, the climactic, feelgood apex, or finale of most of our holiday stories occurs around the weighted table of some seasonal potluck.

Scrooge’s apology accompanies Tiny Tim’s blessing over the Cratchit’s humble holiday spread. Buddy the Elf first bonds with his family over piled-high plates of syrupy noodles. Sally and Harry’s infamous deli scene and its delights come on the coattails of sleigh bells and snow scenes.

After incidents with a stray BB and ravenous bloodhounds, young Ralphie and the Parkers gather in a Chinese restaurant around a plattered duck and shriek with laughter when the butcher’s knife sweeps off its head.

It’s an archetype that exists in our fictions because it exists in our realities. But although these are scenes with which we’re all familiar, filtered through lit candles and glutted wine glasses, while those stories are interesting, they’re not part of this holiday piece. Today, we ask you to December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 39

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remove yourself from the narrative and look behind it; take a glance through the porthole window and push open the door to the kitchen—that’s where the real story happens.

This is a story not about the feasts, but the folks who make them possible.

Imagine Mrs. Cratchit bemoaning her lack of ingredients; or the migrant chef who plucked and gutted the duck, braised it in the flavors of home, and presented it like a—well, like a prized duck—to his horrified patrons. What about the waiter who answered the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” query after Sally’s spectacle, or the dubious cook who delivered Buddy’s dish?

These may be fictions, but the perspectives are not.

Every holiday season, millions of patrons file into hundreds of thousands of restaurants around the country to celebrate and imbibe, and it’s done with the aid of countless service industry employees. Just as retailers brace their businesses in anticipation of the busiest season, so do restaurants and eateries, fortifying their staff in anticipation of the droves to come. In recent years, whereas retail sales grow by 3.7 percent during the holiday months, restaurant sales feel a bump of 4.2 to 6.4 percent.

More customers mean more mishaps, more misadventures, and more miracles, all with intriguing stories behind them. We chatted with bussers, bartenders, servers, and chefs to get a behind-the-scenes perspective on what really goes on in the “back of the house.” The stories are shocking and comical and, our favorite kind of holiday narrative, heartwarming.

Grab a glass of eggnog, put another log on the fire, and settle in for the tales of the season.

Dining Out THE HOLIDAYS ARE A BUSTLING TIME FOR US all, but for none so acutely as those in the service industry. It’s a time when the steam seems to rise a little higher, the drinks empty a little faster, and the candles burn a little longer, as streams of family and friends flock to their favorite eateries to celebrate the season.

“At holidays it's all family all the time. From the middle of November on, it'll be like that: big parties, lots of folks coming in, reservations for three that turn into thirteen,” explains a local restaurant owner, whose already busy bistro garners a long wait list throughout these blustery months. As students return to the nest and vacationers flock to 40

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our mountainside cabins, eateries around Asheville feel the population bulge most keenly.

Though the season is long, the holidays are short, and historically have offered a welcome reprieve from the madness for local restaurants. But now, more and more restaurants and bars are staying open on those holidays, often with escalating profits. Holiday eves have been perpetually popular (according to OpenTable, New Year’s Eve restaurant sales increased by 272 percent when compared to an average day, Christmas Eve by 94 percent, and the eve of Thanksgiving is known as the biggest bar night of the year), and holidays themselves are proving nearly as profitable. According to a 2015 study, restaurants that stayed open on Christmas and New Year's Day boosted their bottom line by 40-50 percent. Add to those numbers catering sales, and the harvest of the holiday season is tremendous.

Behind it all is a cadre of seasoned workers: smiling servers, savvy chefs, and dexterous dishwashers. On the floor, they spread holiday cheer; in the kitchen, they let their hair down (not literally, of course) and set free the stress of this hectic season.

It’s a perspective to which a surprisingly large portion of the population can relate: Half of America’s adults have worked at a restaurant at some point in their lives. For many Americans (one in three, in fact), a restaurant gig is just their first job, a way to save for a college, or even for a clunker to drive there in. But for others, especially in tourist-rich markets like ours, where the service industry is an integral piece of our commerce, it’s a career. As of 2015, the Asheville metro area (including Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania counties) boasted some 27,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality, nearly 15 percent of the total job market. With new restaurants opening seemingly every weekend, those are numbers that will only continue to grow.

And as the local trade grows, so do the obstacles that accompany it. Those obstacles may be challenging, but at least they make for a good story.

Or, in our case, lots of good stories.

Tip for Tat ON THE FRONTLINE OF EVERY RESTAURANT and bar around town are servers, bartenders, and hostesses. They interact with customers both jovial and scurrilous, muffling scoffs and conveying odd requests to the kitchen, all in the pursuit of that 20 percent tip.

Tipping isn’t just a luxury, it’s a lifeline. The minimum wage for tipped employees in North Carolina is a modest $2.13 an hour; take out tax and the percentage of sales most servers and bartenders pass to the back of the house at the end of the night, and waitstaff could potentially be paying for their own jobs. It’s in tips that most front of house folks find their profit. The scrawled sum at the base of a receipt is vested with the substantial power to buoy or break a shift (or a bank account). Those numbers seem to inevitably rise by decimal points and dollar signs in the holiday season, when hearts and spirits are high and the joy of giving trickles down to the fella who makes your drink.

In theory, tipping is a tiered structure often delineated on the bottom of bills: 15 percent for good service; 20 percent for great. But those constraints are merely a suggestion; in reality, tipping is a spectrum, from 0 to 100 percent or more—tips can

tip line. I chased him down and asked if he’d made a mistake, knowing that he hadn’t. He said, ‘Sorry, I’m just really tight on money right now.’ To which I replied, ‘Well then, you shouldn’t have paid the bill.’”

Sarah adds, though, that things have a way of evening out. “There was a customer who dined at the bar, and her tab came to roughly $50. She left a $600-dollar tip and asked the bartender to split it with the kitchen, because she was Celiac, and everyone made sure that there was no cross contamination whatsoever. Even when her fork fell off the plate and touched the bar, the bartender immediately replaced it.”

Tipping isn’t simply monetary. From pocket lint to receipt paper artwork, gifts aren’t uncommon in the industry, sometimes even big ones. We’ve all heard the narrative of wealthy voyeurs paying the college tuition of their favorite showgirls, but Samantha, a longtime server at a gaggle of eateries around

“Most servers never receive a classic car as spontaneous gratuity, but they do receive generous tips that make the contrived smiles and aching feet worthwhile.” be large, small, and downright staggering. Though inadequate gratuity is probably more common than its exceptional counterpart, it’s the latter that tends to hold to the heartstrings and memories of those in the industry. “A random guy came up to the bar and ordered four drinks for the group he was with. His total came to $28 dollars. He left me a $250 tip,” one local barkeep remembers. “He asked if I had ever heard of eBay, and I said yes, of course. He said he was one of the owners.”

Most servers recognize and savor the euphoric reveal of an above-average tip. Indeed, sometimes a big tip will make your night. “I had a customer accidentally leave a $100 tip instead of $10,” says Sarah, recalling her experiences as a server at a well-known downtown Asheville dining destination.

“He called the next day and tried to recall the tip, but my manager looked at the receipt and said, 'Sorry, bud, this math don’t lie. It’s staying at $100.’”

But sometimes a tip—or the lack thereof—will ruin it. “I had a 12 top once, a wedding party, and the father-in-law decided to foot the bill,” she continues.

“Their bill was over $600, and he wrote ‘zero’ in the

Asheville, received a very different kind of tip when she was working her way through grad school.

“I had worked at a casual, very popular spot throughout most of my college career—the kind of restaurant that had so many regular customers that it was reminiscent of Cheers,” she says. “It was a place where the staff and many of the regulars were family.

“I was 26 years old, finishing my graduate degree, and desperately needed a car. I had never owned one—in fact, I didn’t even have a license.

But I was starting my internship for graduate school that required much more traveling. I would also soon be ‘graduating and starting a career.’

Needless to say, I needed a car more than ever before. I come from very loving but very humble beginnings, and I had absolutely no idea where I’d find the resources to obtain a vehicle. To say I was stressed is an understatement.

“One of the restaurant’s most frequent customers heard about my situation and decided to take action.

He had a 1988 champagne colored Mercedes that was wasting away in his garage—he hadn’t driven it in years! This man had been very blessed in life December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 41

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and always had more than he needed. He decided to gift this vehicle to me. While I was working, he had the car delivered to the restaurant with new tires and a fresh oil change. I have been emotionally overwhelmed previously in life, but never because, of positive emotions. My hands shook, tears streamed down my face, and my legs were wobbly.

I felt like I could physically burst with excitement and gratitude. This 20-year-old car meant nothing to him, but it meant everything to me. He never expected anything in return. It was one of the most selfless acts of kindness I've ever experienced, and it is my continual reminder to try to give back selflessly today.”

Most servers never receive a classic car as spontaneous gratuity, but they do receive generous tips that make the contrived smiles and aching feet worthwhile.

Regular Joes ALL RESTAURANTS HAVE THEM: REGULARS. They’re fixtures at restaurants where their names and orders are remembered. For some waitstaff, regulars are a bane, a predictable storm in an otherwise cloudless sky. For others, they’re the correlative sun, the calculable perk in a slogging shift.

By definition, a regular is a habitual customer, outlasting many of the folks who serve them.

Sometimes they even get the opportunity to train the new guys—much to the chagrin of the managers.

“We had this guy who was a big wine connoisseur, he owned a wine store in Colorado, and he came in four or five times a week. He was a little snooty about it, he had us order wine specifically for him, he was that kind of guest,” explains the manager of a local bistro. Disaster nearly struck when the regular crossed paths with a credulous young server. “They ordered a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne—but the server had never opened a bottle of champagne.

He didn't ask anybody for help, he just went to the table, twisted off the foil, pulled the metal cover off, and put a corkscrew right in the cork.” The regular abandoned his airs and amended the youthful waiter’s mistake.

A veteran chef recalls when he was working at an area country club, a regular guest had a habit of coming in just before closing: “He would ask for a well done au poivre steak filet. We had no problem accommodating this, but one night he came in and asked for a 16-ounce filet, and ours were cut into 8-ounce portions. The server informed him of this

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and asked if he would like two. He replied, “No, I want it to be a 16-ounce cut—and it can not be cut in half.” So, as half of the kitchen was broken down, I had to open up a new tenderloin and cut a 16-ounce portion and then cook it until it was well done. Needless to say, I was the last person out of the kitchen that night!”

The holidays are a time for gathering with family, but for some regulars the folks who frequently serve them martinis just the way they like them are their family. It’s to the restaurant they head to celebrate the season—for better or for worse.

Becca, a career server, has slung wings at sports bars and lobster at upscale eateries during her extensive tenure, and she’s had her fair share of frequent customers, too. It was during a recent Christmas season at a downtown white tablecloth diner that she had an interesting experience with a regular.

“Mr. Baker came at least three or four days a week to the Odd Duck, which is not a cheap restaurant,” she recounts. “He was very old; his wife had passed away, and he was living by himself at this point; he hadn't been put in a facility or the retirement home.

We were closed for a staff holiday party, and we look over and Mr. Baker’s sitting at the bar. And we're like, ‘Mr. Baker, we're closed!’

“He would always drink a martini, and he always accused us of not putting enough liquor in it. He would take a sip and swish it in his mouth for a while before he swallowed it, so if you went up to him, he'd point to his full cheeks and shake his head.

“So the day of the party, he was like, ‘I want my martini!’ and we're like, ‘We're closed, Mr. Baker, we can’t!’ And he goes, ‘I want my damn martini!’ And the bartender said, ‘Let's just give it to him, it's Mr. Baker, he spends enough money in here, let's give him his martini.’ So we gave him his martini—which was not the right thing to do in retrospect, because apparently his doctor had recently told him he wasn't supposed to be drinking; he had gout for one thing, but he was on this medication and the alcohol would mess with it. So he has his martini and we're like, ‘Okay, Mr. Baker, you gotta go!’

"Of course I'm the boss, so I'm like, ‘I'll guide him, I'll walk him out, he usually parks across the street.’ So we go out, and we can't find his car. He has no idea where his car is: ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna do with Mr. Baker?’ So we looked around, the guys went around the block, he drives a blue convertible Mercedes—if you ever see him, he's still driving—and I didn't know what else to do, so I had to call an Uber. ‘Cause he probably shouldn't have been driving anyway. So we get an Uber to come

get him, and we get him in the car, and he can't tell them where he lives. So we're like, ‘What are we gonna do with this guy?’ Eventually he's like, ‘If you just go, I'll know it.’ At that point he was embarrassed and kinda pissed. We saw him a couple days later. He came back in, so we were like, ‘Well, I guess he made it home.’ And I guess he found his car.”

It’s often older customers who frequent the same taverns and eateries, perhaps out of habit or a hearty grasp on what tickles the tastebuds. Or perhaps it’s the dream of a last meal that drives them to pick up knife and fork and dig with unwavering gusto into the same dish they’ve been eating for decades.

Take, for example, Jake’s tale. He was bartending at an upscale resort high on a mountainside, eyes sweeping the bustling dining room before him, when what at first appeared to be a grisly scene unfolded before him. An elderly diner, fork poised over his cooling plate of meatloaf, paused mid-chew and fell from his chair, dead. “We thought it was a really sad story,” he remembers.

“But then his family sent us a thank-you note. It turns out the customer’s last wish was to eat his favorite meatloaf at the lodge.”

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Close Encounters & Celebrity Sightings OF COURSE, FAR MORE FREQUENT than regulars are strangers, the unpredictable people who slide onto barstools and bench cushions every day. Perhaps the most indelible of such newcomers aren’t the spectacularly generous or the staggeringly rude, but the recognizable: celebrities. And recent years have brought them to Asheville— if not in droves, in noticeable packs.

They leave in their paths a fortuitous trail of service industry workers lucky enough to engage in conversation with an icon.

Most of the time, the stories are memorable only for their actors and

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not for their mundane reactions: Woody Harrelson’s smile dropping a bill into the tip jar at a brewery, or Will Patton’s preference for low sodium soy sauce when eating Asian fusion. Sometimes, though, it is a story that’s worth telling, like when the waitstaff of a downtown restaurant escorted Channing Tatum to a local dive bar at the end of their shift and spent the rest of the night sipping whiskey with the lightfooted star.

the meal I ran his credit card, and as I was handing it back to him I said, ‘I just want to let you know I'm a huge fan.' He looked up at me and said, while half laughing, ‘How the hell do you know who I am?’

I told him I watched him pitch in the '87 World Series with my dad. (Viola was the MVP for his performance in that series.) We talked for a while and then they left. About a year later, again I'm working a busy brunch and I hear, ‘Hey, Marie!’ from

“Any time you're dealing with alcohol and people getting together who haven't seen each other for a while, it's gonna be trouble.”

Occasionally, the stars will align and a celebrity will sit at a table in the section of a super-fan. Such was the case for Marie during two busy mornings at a favored breakfast destination. “It was a very busy brunch shift and I got this two top. The minute I walked up to the table I knew I recognized the guy, but I couldn't place him. He was a big guy, he had a very ‘80s look to him. I asked a few of the other servers if they recognized him and everybody said, ‘No.’ “So I went to look and see what name they had placed on the waitlist. I pull it up: Viola. Instantly I was like, ‘Holy shit, it's Frank Viola!’ I'm a huge baseball fan, so I got really excited. At the end of

this voice across the restaurant. It was Frank Viola and his wife again—he even remembered my name and asked how my dad was doing.”

Celebrities may be special, but they’re also—for the most part—well-behaved, the threat of some sordid tabloid article looming over their interactions with laymen. We normal folk, on the other hand, are held to our mannerly and ethical standards by social decency alone. And those loose ties to integrity are often melted with the smooth bite of liquor.

“Any time you're dealing with alcohol and people getting together who haven't seen each other for a while, it's gonna be trouble,” notes Richard, who owns a bustling downtown eatery.

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During one holiday season, when wine flows like water and toasts are both moving and frequent, he encountered such trouble in his dining room.

“We had a crowd of ladies having dinner and having a good time. They had a couple drinks, they were relaxed, enjoying themselves, and then a gentleman came in that knew them, and he sat down and proceeded to just be as profane as he possibly could. F-bombs, SOB, MF.” At the behest of the families sitting around the table, the manager asked the customer to quell the profanity. When he didn’t acquiesce, he was asked to leave. “The guy said, ‘You don't have to ask me to leave, I'll leave!’ And he gets up and he goes out the door—but then he comes back in the door and he yells, ‘F**k all of y’all!’”

Becca, whose attempts to assist the feeble Mr. Baker earlier were thwarted (coincidentally, also by a stiff drink), has also had her fair share of unfortunate encounters with inebriated guests. One, however, sticks out.

“I was the assistant food and beverage director for a resort in Blowing Rock, it was a fairly high-end restaurant. We were having a dinner service, and I had this gentleman come in with a young woman to sit and eat dinner. They had most likely had drinks before they got there. So they order an expensive bottle of wine and all these appetizers and they're just another guest in the restaurant—until he starts getting a little louder and louder with the server.

“She brings the entree out and he cuts into it—it was a steak—and it was cooked to the wrong temperature. So of course, as always, we refired it,

recooked the steak, and brought it back out. At this point, you could tell, they were just not hungry.

They had eaten so much food, and he didn't want it, so he said it was once again the wrong temperature.”

This went back and forth until, finally, it was time to drop the check. “The server goes, ‘What do I do?’

I said, ‘You box up their food, put it on the table, and I'll bring the check.’”

Sensing disaster, Becca walked to the bar to alert them of the situation; when she turned around, the enraged customer was waiting. “He’s standing there, with the check, and he says, ‘I'm not paying for this steak that I did not eat.’ So I said, ‘Well sir, we've prepared three steaks for you, we've boxed it up for you to eat any time after you leave here, but you're gonna have to pay for the steak.’ And he says, ‘I'm not paying for this bill.’ And I said, ‘I've charged you for what you ordered, I've boxed everything up for you, this is it.’ And he starts screaming: ‘This is ridiculous!’ and then all of a sudden he stops talking, and he just spits. I’m standing right under him, and he's a big guy, so it landed right on me.”

Becca calmly wiped the spit from her brow and called the resort’s security, who escorted the man from the property. “At that point he was irate, and he knew that he was not right, and instead of apologizing, it just took him to a whole 'nother level.”

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aren’t just likely, they’re inevitable. The front of house folks we talked to recounted, time after time, disastrous tumbles and deafening shatters.

Becca spilled a massive tray of wings on her patrons at a sports bar; Richard’s intentions to surprise a newly-engaged couple with a bottle of champagne went awry when the bottle landed not on their table, but the floor beside it, erupting in an unintentional spray of celebration.

Though sometimes understanding, the reaction of customers privy to such accidents are, usually and understandably, aghast. “Before my bartending career started I had to work as a cocktail server,” remembers Jenn, a bartender at a hip cocktail lounge. “Have I mentioned how horrible I am at carrying drinks on a tray? I was delivering a large round of drinks to a table and I spilled the entire tray of drinks, mainly red wine, all over several people.

One woman in particular got drenched in red wine.

She stood up and yelled as loud as she could, ‘MY NEW OUTFIT!’ and then proceeded to publicly accuse me of being racist… I felt horrible and was completely mortified for so many reasons. I tried explaining how I’m not racist, I’m just ridiculously clumsy and notoriously bad with trays, but the damage was already done. I could not do enough to say I was sorry."

Such an experience can certainly get the heart pumping, but other experiences in the industry can prove even more adrenaline-inducing. The service industry is one particularly prone to crime from patrons and employees alike. “I’ve chased respectable, middle-aged women down the street after watching them squirrel a copper mug in their bags,” says a longtime barmaid. “I’ve also seen servers scrawl over their tips, changing sixes to eights or adding zeros.”

Sometimes, these il licit operations and unfortunate interactions take more serious turns, like when a restaurant manager embezzled a host of profits. Or the time a server was in a kitchen taking towels, and the chef didn’t like the way she was taking them and instructed her to do it another way, so she said, “Shut the f**k up, I will take them however I want to!”—and she turned around to him holding a knife six inches from her throat. (The chef was subsequently suspended “for a period of time.”)

Or when a fight broke out at a local tavern after two apathetic parents left their young kids in the back seat of the car while they threw back a couple of cold ones; concerned patrons questioned them until rising tensions caused fists to fly.

Or, say, a stick-up.

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Pat was a busboy at a franchised buffet restaurant, recently hired and proudly touting the new name tag. “I’d probably been there a few weeks. We were closing, and I was in the back rolling silverware when I heard the hostess scream,” he remembers.

“I paused and shook my head and laughed, ‘cause I assumed they were joking around. But then I saw her run past the kitchen crying—and she was being followed by a guy with no face. That made me stop.

And then the guy slid back into my view, pointed at me, and beckoned me toward him with his finger.

“The reason he didn’t have a face, of course, was because he had on a ski mask—he was robbing the place. So he pushed me, the servers, and a kitchen guy, into the office, and made us get down on the floor, and he kept his gun pointed at us the whole time. Once he got the money, he pointed at me again and asked me to take my shirt off.

“I handed it to him, and he carefully unpinned my name tag and handed it back to me. I said, ‘Thank you?’ And he was like, ‘See, I’m not so bad, am I?’ He put on that shirt and slid right out the front door like he was an employee. And nope, nobody ever caught him.”

Sex, Drugs, and Waitin’ Tables SURE, ROCK ‘N’ ROLL IS A WILD AND CRAZY world—but so is food and bev. It’s an industry notoriously populated by party girls and boys, and sometimes that thrill is contagious, passed to customers like the very plates they order.

The bathrooms of fine dining restaurants are a prevalent scene for such debauchery. One server encountered a well-suited businessman emerging from the bathroom with a newly acquired snowywhite mustache. Another interrupted a couple, frequent customers at that, with their pants down—literally.

When the drinks are flowing and the music’s pumping, all sorts of things can happen, from the unscrupulous to the simply odd. “I was bartending at a huge Bele Chere after-party spot,” remembers a mixologist, of the expired downtown Asheville festival. “We were slammed. The night flew by, and we made incredible money. And as the evening was finally coming to an end, we started cleaning up and discovered a wheelchair. Someone had entered the bar with a wheelchair and left without one.”

Of course, some establishments ask for such audacious behavior. Jenn also worked at a latenight spot that featured two stripper poles. “Oh, if those poles could talk,” she says, with a laugh.

“The most ridiculous thing I’ve seen happen on those poles was a girl who was wearing next to nothing, dancing on the poles drunkenly. She had on very short shorts—her butt cheeks were hanging out. While she was dancing another girl came up and started licking her butt! I wish I was making this up.”

Jenn admits it’s not just the customers who have fun. “This place does not exist anymore, probably because of reasons like the one I’m about to mention,” she prefaces, with a sheepish smile. "I had only bartended at this place for about a month.

I was still the ‘new girl.’ After work one evening, the employees started to drink—owners too. This place was right downtown with windows facing the main street. We pulled down whatever shades we could and partied all night long. I’m talking a dancingon-bars-and-table-tops kind of party. The night flew by, and the next thing we knew the sun was coming up and people were [walking past] dressed professionally on their way to work.”

It’s a Man’s World WE’D BE REMISS TO RECOUNT THE TRIALS and tribulations of the service industry without mentioning the sexism that still prevails in the unique environment. A 2015 “Women In The Workforce” article published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Women’s Center called the food service industry “a petri dish for sexual harassment,” and in many ways it’s true. The scales are tipped toward inequity both in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. Seventy percent of American servers are women, but less than 20 percent of chefs are of a similar sex. It’s an unbalanced equation that results too often in injustice.

Think our idyllic, famously liberal town is immune to such prejudice? Think again. After all, it wasn’t very long ago that West Asheville was in the headlines for the Waking Life Espresso debacle, in which the two male owners of the coffee shop were ousted for running a (shamefully, popular) misogynistic blog, detailing their sleazy encounters with female customers. And it’s still happening. “It’s pretty widely known that our owner hires only really beautiful white women to work up at the front of the restaurant,” notes one server, “and does some groping and tells inappropriate jokes, and it’s always been that way.”

Sometimes the reaction to such sexist behavior is almost laughable. “When an older guy pinched my ass, I said ‘Don’t do that again,’” recalls another

server. “Then he patted my ass, and I ‘accidentally’ dropped a cup of hot coffee in his lap.” An empowered bartender also put a customer in his place, in her own way: “There was this older guy in here, and he was drinking a cocktail that was already on the sweeter side, and then he asked me something along the lines of, ‘Do you have anything else that you think I would like?’ And this was after he called me ‘Darling’ and ‘Honey’ all night. So I said, ‘Oh, we have a raspberry cocktail that’s really good.’

And he was like, ‘Raspberry? That’s too girly!’ And I was not going to be insulted by that statement, so I said, ‘Bears eat berries.’ And he ordered it, and he loved it.”

Unfortunately, it’s not a laughing matter—and it’s also a situation that’s often handled with ineptitude or callousness. In a field where sexual misconduct sometimes seems on the verge of normalcy, managers may approach chauvinism with indifference. Another server worked with a line cook who would make the occasional inappropriate remark, but when she gave him a ride home and he got handsy, she vowed to never work with him again. “I told my manager never to schedule me with that cook—and he didn’t, for a while. But one morning I walked in and saw both our names on the schedule, and I walked right back out the door.

I never went back.”

It’s not just negligence, but abuse, that can come from those in managerial positions. One bartender cited a story of a friend—a manager at a prestigious, award-winning restaurant—who had her bra snapped open through her shirt by a fellow manager. At one local Asian restaurant, the chef is notoriously hot-headed, and a former server recalls seeing a female line cook receive the hard brunt of his criticism again and again. “She was garde manger [French for “keeper of the food”], which means she didn’t do any of the hot stuff, just like the salads and stuff,” she explains. “Ranking chefs go up to sauté and fry and grill, and this girl had been working there for years, but never got promoted.

And the owner would come on the line and he would be like, ‘Natalie, why is your station a f**king wreck?’ and call her out really loudly so the whole restaurant could hear. And when she worked, there was noticeably disproportionate negative feedback for her and not the other guys working on the line.

The owner would tell her to shut her mouth, he’d be like, ‘Natalie, shut your mouth—for the next 20 minutes, I don’t want to hear your voice.’”

Even when women make it to positions of power themselves, they’re not necessarily exempt from December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 47

local industry

such sexist criticism or doubt. “The manager that’s leaving now, I can pretty confidently say she’s making significantly less than $40K, and the man that’s taking her place is making much more than that,” points out one fry cook. A female manager of a local brewpub says she has encountered a strange shade of prejudice. When she fired one employee—a male—he accused her of being sexist. “He said there were only girls that worked here, which actually wasn’t true. We had a transgender person and someone who was gender fluid. One thing I have noticed being a woman in power, is I’ve only had to fire two people, and they were both guys, and both times they got the owner’s number, the only owner who’s a guy, and they both contacted him directly to try to refute that. They wouldn’t do that if I was a guy. They just think I don’t know what I’m talking about, or that I don’t have the authority, but I do know what I’m talking about, and I do have the authority.

“I feel so lucky here, because we are family-owned and -operated, and everyone’s very in-tune with what’s going on.

The family’s super progressive, and they would never put up with it, but we are kind of a rare breed in the service industry.”

Asheville may be a liberal enclave where bigotry is infrequent—to the public’s eye. But food and beverage continues to be an industry in need of change in some areas.

CAPDec17

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Holiday Cheer THE HOLIDAYS, LOCAL SERVICE FOLKS AGREE, ARE A season not just of frantic hustling and long wait times, but of odd requests and events, too. Local restaurants have orders pour in to cater their famed dishes; dining rooms frequently turn into communal celebrations when a diner bends a knee and proposes under mistletoe or over candlelight; private holiday parties turn into cacophonous all-nighters with the shattering glasses a frequent percussion. And sometimes, those unpredictable moments turn not into mayhem, but magic.

“You get weird requests sometimes, and we try to say ‘yes,’” begins the manager of a romantic Biltmore Village spot. “This lady and gentleman came in, and they said, ‘Can we get married in your restaurant during dinner one night?’ And we said, ‘Well, yeah, but we never close, so as long as you’re okay with us being open, that’s fine.’

“That still is a little bit of an unusual request, but if they're okay with it being in the restaurant, we're okay with them being in the restaurant. So they had it all set up, we had the room set aside. It was during the holidays, and they loved the fireplace in that room, so they felt like it was perfect.

Page 1

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48

| December 2017

“So come the day of the wedding, we had this huge snowstorm, and we closed. I could get here because I could walk, but nobody else could. We called the couple and said, ‘Look, we're gonna have to close the restaurant.’ And they said, ‘Well, we're still in town, we're just two blocks

The holidays, local service folks agree, are a season of frantic hustling and long wait times, odd requests and events. away, we can walk over there, can we still get married in the building?’ My business partner's relatively close, and I'm close, we didn’t mind driving; if we put our lives on the line it's okay, but we don’t ask our staff to do that. But we did get a couple of the chefs to come in.

“We ended up letting them in. It was just beautiful outside, the snow and everything, and the holiday lights

were still on. They got married in that room, we served them dinner, and it was perfect. It turned out probably better because they were alone in the restaurant, and they had a couple of the staff in the restaurant who could take care of them.”

***

It’s a tale fit for holiday Hollywood cinema, as they all are. One can as easily imagine screenwriters delightedly scribbling down these stories, as the reality, a group of waitstaff regaling each other with narrations of their fortunes.

The food and beverage industry can be one of sordid tales and preposterous anecdotes, but it’s also one of heartwarming endeavors and generosity and genuine kindness. Just as those tips and wait lists seem to rise this season, so do such stories of altruism.

It is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year.

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December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 49

column

Defining Sustainability

By applying strategies of regeneration and resilience to modern agriculture, sustainability is not only achievable— it suggests that all of us will see the benefits.

I

L

lee warren

is Executive Director of Asheville’s Organic Growers School

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N A P H R A S E , S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y A P P L I E S

to something that can be carried on indefinitely, though in common language it is often meant to imply that a particular product, practice, or lifestyle avoids undue environmental damage.

Another way to define sustainability is that balance of factors which can both meet human needs, while also considering and enhancing the natural world and improving human lives. In its ideal form, it is a holistic approach that takes into account the good of all involved.

The three significant components or pillars to sustainability are: Economic, Environmental, and Social. These interdependent areas serve to balance and reinforce each other and can be used as a test to determine if something is indeed sustainable.

Other names for these three components: “triple bottom line,” “people, planet, profits,” and “earth care, people care, fair share.” Some examples include: • Sustainable Development is a field that seeks to meet development goals, but at the same time protecting the natural ecology and ensuring prosperity for local inhabitants.

• Sustainable Architecture seeks to build with an ecological approach to materials, energy and conservation, and to engage and employ people in humane ways.

| December 2017

• Similarly, Sustainable Agriculture seeks to promote farming that considers the entire soil-food web, teaches farmers to thrive and prosper, and encourages efficiency of production and increased yield.

Over time, the word sustainability has been watered down through general overuse and misunderstanding, but also by “greenwashing”—a t er m i mply i n g de c ept ive ma rket i n g a nd disinformation perpetuated by corporations to promote themselves in a positive light without actually representing credible ecological practices.

Some of us in the sustainability and environmental movements have taken to using words other than “sustainable,” such as “regenerative” or “resilient,” to convey a more active approach to this holistic mindedness. Regenerative means that instead of leaving something “no worse for wear,” we actually improve the system and make it better than it was before. Resilient means that we create systems that are so robust and healthy that they can easily absorb disturbances and recover quickly after damage.

L In the case of agriculture, our goal as a sustainable food and farming organization serving the Southern Appa lachia ns is to help create regenerative and resilient systems in our Western North Carolina community.

Organic Growers School stands for small-scale, regional, and organic food production, as an alternative to industrial and global food practices.

The good news is that from all sectors, research is showing that sustainable agriculture, in the form of local food systems, offers promise for addressing our failed food systems. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in 2013 recommended a

For example, regenerative agriculture experts are discovering that if we build in diverse cover crop rotations, manage grazing animals on pasture in “herd-like” patterns that mimic wild ruminants, always cover the soil, and limit our tillage, miraculous things happen. Water infiltration increases, nutrients recycle, crop yields and production increase, and everyone and everything on the farm is healthier. And on top of that, the farmer makes more money, keeping her or him in business for longer with less stress.

And it gets even better. Science is showing that as we increase the health of our soil, we increase the health of

Attorney Tips on Employee Law KEEP DOCUMENTS Keep copies of important documents, such as handbooks/policies, disciplinary actions, etc., at home. You may not have access to them if you are terminated.

IS THE NON-COMPETE AGREEMENT I SIGNED ENFORCEABLE? • It must be supported by valid consideration – did you get something of value for signing the agreement?

• The limitations must be reasonable as to scope, duration and geographical extent – the courts have helped define what is reasonable.

John C. Hunter Attorney at Law

WE ARE COMING TO UNDERSTAND THAT BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ARE WAY SMARTER THAN WE ARE. HEALTHY WETLANDS, FORESTS, AND PR AIRIES HAVE KNOWN HOW TO BE VIABLE, PRODUCTIVE, AND RESILIENT FOR A VERY LONG TIME. rapid and significant shift away from “conventional, monoculture-based… industrial production” of food that depends heavily on external inputs, such as fertilizer, agro-chemicals, and concentrate feed. Instead, they suggested the goal should be “mosaics of sustainable regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers and foster rural development.”

Another piece of good news is that the more we study nature, the more we are coming to understand that biological systems are way smarter than we are. Healthy wetlands, forests, and prairies have known how to be viable, productive, and resilient for a very long time. If we actually learn to model and mimic them, they will help not only to improve the environment and the health of humans, but to increase our bottom line as farmers.

humans in ways we never imagined possible. Apparently, the connection between the microbial communities of the soil and the very similar biome of human gut flora are the basis for either harmony and symbiosis or depletion and disease. When the soil is full of life-supporting probiotics, the food grown there is an ally to us not only with regards to digestive health and nutrient absorption, but also in building our immune response and ability to overcome chronic illness.

These new fields of regeneration and resilience are teaching us that sustainability doesn’t have to be a chore.

In fact, when we take into consideration the whole, chances are high that every part will benefit.

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MY HANDBOOK STATES THAT I AM AN “AT-WILL” EMPLOYEE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ?

1. Most employment relationships in NC are ‘”at-will” 2. This means that you can be terminated for any reason as long as it's lawful 3. It is not lawful if the real reason for your termination is prohibited discrimination, a violation of the public policy of the State, or in retaliation for doing something that is protected by certain state or federal laws.

4.There are other exceptions to the “at-will” status.

WHEN SHOULD I CONTACT AN EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY •You have concerns about how you are being treated in the workplace or whether your termination is lawful.

•You are not being paid your promised wages, including accrued vacation pay after your termination.

•You are being asked to sign an employment contract, a non-compete agreement or a severance agreement.

• You have been denied unemployment benefits.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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news briefs

Less Time Getting There greensboro

Julian and Kim MacQueen of Pensacola, Florida, were the first to circumnavigate the globe in a HondaJet, the first commercial aircraft offered by Honda Aircraft of Greensboro. The MacQueens said they purchased the craft for their business, Innisfree Hotels, because of its quality and innovative design. The trip was for business and pleasure, as the MacQueens performed cross-cultural research on hotels and Julian, a pilot, enjoys air sports. Dubbed “Around the World in 80 Stays,” the voyage took in 44 airports in 28 countries. Honda benefited through demonstration flights and increased visibility. Honda Aircraft Company claims the HondaJet, for its

]

class, is the “fastest, highest-flying, quietest, and most fuel-efficient jet,” and it’s equipped with “the most sophisticated flight deck available.” Its main innovation is the Over-the-Wing Engine Mount, which affords roomier cabins and additional storage space in addition to the technological edges. During the trip, the MacQueens set five speed records.

programming interfaces, which are at the core of its commerce-enabling technology. Apiture will offer community and regional banks scalable banking platforms as advanced as those used by the world’s largest financial institutions.

Corporate representatives say the joint venture will enjoy the agility of a startup, while having access to the research and development resources of its parent companies. Last year, First Data introduced a simplified user interface for mobile apps developed with findings from eighteen months of studying clientele banking habits. First Data serves 4,000 financial institutions in six million locations in over 100 countries, managing over 2,800 transactions per second involving $2.2 trillion per year. First Data will continue to make improvements to the interface under the new venture.

Analytics for Small Banks

Approval Proceeds at Glacial Pace

wilmington

“We believe banking is broken in its current form,” said Chip Mahan, chair and CEO of Live Oak Bancshares, which recently closed a deal with First Data, resulting in the formation of a new company, Apiture. The company gets its name from APIs, or application

CAB210_3rdPg_CovWaufLowe_r2.qxp_Layout 1 5/12/17 9:14 AM Page 1

raleigh

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality rejected plans presented by Duke Energy for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Now in its third year of planning, the $5 billion, 600-mile

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national & world

the old north state

underground pipeline would bring natural gas fracked in the Marcellus Shale of West Virginia as far south as Georgia, passing through eight North Carolina counties. Other partners in the original application were Dominion Energy, Southern Energy, and Piedmont Natural Gas, the latter being purchased

by Duke last year. The Department of Environmental Quality dismissed plans as failing to meet state standards for erosion control. Duke is treating the rejection as a typical request for more information, which it intends to file in a resubmission under the 15-day deadline. Duke is still awaiting the results of an assessment of necessity from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission.

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, and Clean Water North Carolina, continue to oppose the project.

release dates and determining to what extent products should be sold online or in stores. Jeffery Ansell, executive vice president and CFO for Stanley, said Craftsman is the most-searched term in e-commerce. Sears had been selling Craftsman as its in-house brand since 1927, but back in January, Sears Holdings sold Stanley the brand for $900 million in an attempt to remain solvent. Even though Sears continues to sell Craftsman tools and storage products, which are also available at Ace Hardware stores, corporate representatives have expressed “substantial doubt” the company will be able to remain in business for the long term. Lowe’s has not commented about the implications of the deal on Kobalt, its in-house tool and tool storage brand. Lowe’s operates 2,370 stores in North America, serving 17 million customers a week.

the 1990s to the present, announced it would be transitioning to Top 40. In the days leading to the switch, loyal listeners protested, collected over 3,000 petition signatures, and organized boycotts of advertisers. Marketing manager Bruce Simel said he heard their complaints, but running a for-profit company, he has to play the music that makes the most sense in terms of listenership and advertisers. Top 40, he said, is what is hot now. The station was purchased in May by Curtis Media, which now owns 62 radio stations in various parts of North Carolina, including the very successful Top 40 WPLW Pulse FM, operating on the 96.9 and 102.5 frequencies in Raleigh.

Beasley Broadcast Group’s 106.5 FM WSFL will continue to play classic rock for New Bern, Kinston, and Havelock, but that’s a far cry from the Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers former Xaholics crave.

Tools of the Trade

Are You Sirius?

Sweet Smell of Success

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Stanley Black & Decker announced it would start selling the Craftsman brand through Lowe’s in late 2018. Details of the deal have yet to be announced as the parties are developing strategies for

After two decades, radio station 99X, 99.5 FM WXNR New Bern/Kinston (aka “The X”) has changed its format. The station that had long been a standard in modern rock, playing songs from

North Carolina sweet potato farmers are pleased. Despite cultivating 83,000 acres, compared to last year’s 98,000, yields are up 5%. Farmers say the weather has been cooperative.

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Widespread damage was anticipated from flooding with Hurricane Irma, but the crops emerged unscathed. A couple of dry spells, one in June and one in September, were expected to be even more injurious, but they weren’t.

Instead, farmers are saying their crops are high-quality, with very large potatoes of good consistency. Forty pound cartons of United States No. 1 sweet potatoes from North Carolina have been selling for $13-$16, and that’s a good price.

Solid harvests have been running from September and are expected to remain strong through Thanksgiving. While unpackaged produce sales remain flat, growers are benefiting from preservation and packaging technologies and the perception that sweet potatoes aren’t just for Thanksgiving anymore. North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state in the nation.

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Gas and liquid chromatography are processes that allow analysts to search for target substances in a sample by comparing its spectrum to a catalog of chemical profiles. Some applications include searching for environmental contaminants, drug impurities, and forensic evidence. Getting samples ready for analysis has, to date, been the most time-consuming part of the process.

Extracting, liquefying, diluting, and filtering may be required multiple times and take up 75% of a technician’s time.

Each step multiplies labware cleanup, hazardous waste procedures, and opportunities for error. To help, CEM Corporation has developed the EDGE. Integrating multiple patents pending, the EDGE automates several processes that have relied on traditional manual methods. The EDGE machine is smaller than a breadbox, and it can cut preparation times by more than 90%. On average, the machines can prepare 12 samples

an hour, and 100 of them can be used in parallel. CEM is a private corporation dedicated to expediting disruptive scientific discovery with miniaturized and simplified instrumentation.

Jack Is Not a Dull Boy cary

Analytics software giant SAS, formerly Statistical Analysis System, was ranked third on the World’s Best International Workplaces list. With headquarters in Cary, SAS made the Top 10 on national lists in a total of 10 countries. Reasons include modern workspaces with a lot of collaboration space and opportunities to digitally connect with top-level management. Then there are the amenities, like access to the campus’ 10,000-book library; the daily meals and snacks included in salaries; campus daycare, with an option for subsidized outsourced care; hiking and mountain-bike trails; volleyball, basketball, softball, tennis, racquetball, and soccer courts; a pool and spa; and on-campus manicures, haircuts, and massages. Spokesperson Shannon Heath explained the reasoning behind the access to fresh air and on-demand pickup games, noting creativity cannot always be conjured on-demand. “We trust and respect our employees and focus on the work they’re doing—how they go about that is less of an issue.”

Re-Cycling wilson

The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park opened November 2. It displays over 30 of Simpson’s colossal kinetic sculptures made by recycling industrial castoffs.

Simpson built the structures until about six months before his death, at age 94, in 2013. He caught the attention of collectors, and his work has been displayed at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore and the American Folk Art

Museum in New York City. The idea to move the sculptures from Simpson’s farm into downtown Wilson came as his health prohibited him from oiling and otherwise weatherproofing them, one piece being 32 feet long and weighing 13,500 pounds. The two-acre park is a public-private partnership with a long list of state and local, commercial, and individual donors. Conservators from around the nation were consulted, and the project led to the development of new protocols for curators of outdoor folk art. Hundreds attended the ribbon cutting, which kicked off the town’s 13th annual Whirligig Festival. The Whirligig Museum is under construction.

Inventive durham

The first Invented At Duke celebration, held at the Washington Duke Inn, attracted over 300 attendees. The event was intended to bring students, staff, faculty, and alumni in touch with local inventors, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Featuring seven recent inventions, the gala was cohosted by Duke’s Office of Licensing and Ventures (OLV) and the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative. The OLV reported it had recorded over 300 inventions, 85 patents, and 11 startups this year. Addressing the crowd, Duke’s President Vince Price said he wanted to more intentionally pursue the university’s mission of “bringing knowledge to bear in service to society.”

While Duke has done a remarkable job of commercializing biotech breakthroughs, Price said he wants the practice to spread to all disciplines. He has asked all departments to adopt research and instruction methods more focused on discovery and problem-solving. Price acknowledged Duke is uniquely situated in one of the most innovative regions in the country, and it benefits from entrepreneurs and investors enthusiastically engaged with the university.

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Loans subject to credit approval. Member FDIC. December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 55

MELISSA CLONCH putting together one of her famous baskets.

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| December 2017

In just ten years, Melissa Clonch has seen her her gift basket business grow steadily, without incurring debt or experiencing setbacks. Her secret? Patience, precision, and confidence.

She Has

written by shawndr a russell photos by anthony harden

A Gift

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 57

W

orking from home: It’s a dream for many people who want to have a more flexible schedule or avoid ballooning childcare costs.

For Mills River-based entrepreneur Melissa Clonch, a former schoolteacher, the decision to start her business, Gift Baskets by Melissa, spurred from having twins. “I taught for 10 years, and when I found out I was having twins after already having one child, I knew practically my whole paycheck would go toward childcare,” she says.

As she brainstormed what kind of business she wanted to start, she first considered tutoring, but she kept thinking about the gift baskets she’d long been tasked with creating for years for co-workers’ birthdays, babies, or other milestones. “I’d always been artistic and organized,” she continues, “and I was most drawn to decorating the bulletin boards or doing art projects with the kids when I was a teacher. I was actually considering segueing into becoming an art teacher before the twins.”

Instead, over the past decade she’s built a six-figure business that has seen solid growth every year.

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Starting Small

ONE OF Melissa's corporate basket creations

Clonch started her business with just $3,000 in the summer of 2007. These funds covered her website, some equipment, and beginning stock, which she stored in the dining room, kitchen, garage, and any other nook where a few boxes could be stashed.

“I’ve always tried to be very careful. No money owed, and when I purchase from vendors, I purchase outright,” she says. Her company has never had debt, even though her earnings from her first fourth quarter—unsurprisingly, the busiest time of the year for Clonch—only totaled $3,000. Yet she was undeterred, and this slow start pushed her to tap into the corporate business market so her business would be steadier year-round. Now, 70 percent of her business comes from corporate clients, while the remaining 30 percent are gifts to and from individuals for birthdays, thank yous, sympathy, anniversaries, weddings, and more.

For many years, Melissa was a one-woman show, recruiting her husband, Eric, along with her kids and mother, to help fill orders. “After about four years, my mom said, ‘That’s enough for me,’” Melissa recalls. When she launched the business, Eric was working for BB&T as a lender and manager before transitioning to a mortgage and money management role with Beverly-Hanks in 2010. “He’s so proud and pleased how the business has progressed, but at first he thought it should grow faster. It took about three to four years for him to say, ‘Hey, you might be onto something here,’” she says, laughing. “He’s also said he’s seen me come out of my shell, since I’m more introverted and he’s more extroverted.

That’s why I like the design side of things.”

She’d never taken a single business class, which meant she had to rely heavily on resources she found online, including group message boards and seeing what other gift services companies were doing. Very few of these kinds of companies existed locally at the time, which gave her added confidence and narrowed her December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 59

competitors to only a few businesses such as local florists. A big motivator for Melissa was the fact that “the harder I worked, the more money I brought in.

When I was a teacher, I was on a lot of committees and often at work until 6PM, then I was doing lesson plans at home and every Sunday night.” Now, extra hours on the job mean extra income, with 2017’s sales expected to top $200,000, up from $150,000 in 2016.

4th Quarter Madness While focusing on the needs of corporations proved to be smart business, 50 percent of her sales still happen during the fourth quarter. This percentage equates to over a dozen gift proposals for orders of 50-200 gifts, many for repeat customers or for companies that come across her online. From Halloween to Christmas, Clonch often clocks in 12+ hour days, with more than one all-nighter typically happening during the holiday season. Luckily, her mom and sister live nearby to help out with her kids, and her husband knows that he’s got to shoulder more of the responsibility during these hectic three months. “Last Christmas during an all-nighter, I thought, ‘I’ve created a monster.’ That’s when you go back to the drawing board and think about what can we do differently, what can I do better, or what can I change about the logistics to make things better.”

Part of making things better includes hiring more part-time staff during busy season, and she’s got several people lined up to help this year in addition to her full-time employee, Tammie Sullivan, who worked with her part-time, year-round for three years before coming on full-time a year ago. The two women both attended Appalachian State (where Melissa and Eric originally met), but they didn’t meet until they were both living in Asheville, through their kids. “Without Tammie, this year wouldn’t have been possible,” Melissa says, referring to the family moving into a larger home in Mills River. Now, they have a finished walk-in basement that’s been converted into an office, warehouse, and fulfillment space—a far cry from how she used to work out of the family’s dining room with products and packaging taking over their home. When things are running smoothly, they can assemble more than 100 gift baskets each day, and they often ship 50-60 gifts per day during this period.

Now, Melissa and company have plenty of space to work, and she’s “no longer the only one who 60

| December 2017

VARIET Y OF products Melissa puts in her baskets

These are a Few of Her Favorite Things

a/k/a some of the trusted regional Western North Carolina vendors Melissa Clonch often features in her gift baskets Imladris Farm Apple Butter, Jams

Smoking J’s Fiery Foods BBQ Sauce, Salsa, Hot Sauce

French Broad Chocolates

Crooked Condiments 12 Bones BBQ Sauce, Ale Mustard, Apple Butter

Roots and Branches Hand Crafted Artisan Crackers Munki Gourmet Foods Nut Snack Mix Mountain City Coffee Roasters

Pisgah Coffee Roasters Ally’s Bars Sweet Potato Energy Bars

Poppy’s Gourmet Popcorn

Postre Caramel Sauce & Caramels

Asheville Pretzel Company

Asheville Gourmet Chip Company

Artist Jeff Pittman Note Cards

Black Mountain Chocolates

Hickory Nut Gap Farm Sausages Downtown Chocolates Brevard Vans’ Chocolates Hendersonville Asheville Tea Company Bakers Place Traditions Jewelry Wild Mountain Bees Honey Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon Traditions Butters, Jams, Baking Mixes December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 61

(L-R) Tammie Sullivan and Melissa Clonch with the off ice pup, Daisy

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| December 2017

knows where everything is because everything has a home.”

Shelves of products line the back wall, while several long tables now provide a dedicated space for filling up the baskets and boxes assembly-line style. Near the doorway, Melissa and Tammie have their own desks, and a small “Office” sign greets delivery people and the rare client who wants to meet in person. Now, after 10 years, virtually no trace of her business occupies living spaces in her family’s home. “We can finally have people over during holiday season! In years past, you literally couldn’t walk in our house.” The big fear leading into this season was that the house and new office wouldn’t be move-in ready before the fourth quarter. “We purchased the lot two years ago and started building a year ago. They told us we would be in by March, but of course that timeline got pushed back to the summer. I told the builders we absolutely couldn’t have a move-in day during the fourth quarter, and they delivered,” she says, her relief evident.

HAPPY

Holidays

Industry Trends While her family has experienced plenty of changes during the 10 years Gift Baskets by Melissa has been in operation, the industry itself has gone through some significant shifts.

“About six years ago, people started wanting more locallymade products, and that ramped up even more in the last three years.” Now, 90 percent of what Clonch ships out are North Carolina products, with a majority of that being

Gourmet food items are by far the most popular items, but she is always hunting for more gift-type items to incorporate among the edible selections. products made in Asheville and Western North Carolina. One of her biggest winners has been a wire basket in the shape of North Carolina that’s then filled with products made in the state. Nicole Rowland, marketing coordinator for Air Vent Exteriors, says of the state-shaped basket, “Our customers absolutely love it. They send us ‘thank yous’ for these thank you baskets!” Other container options include boxes, towers, and boxless, with a simple clear wrapping typically adorned with a pattern.

Gourmet food items are by far the most popular items, but she is always hunting for more gift-type items to incorporate among the edible selections, such as metal bottle openers and December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 63

wooden magnets. Currently, she trusts 24 gourmet food purveyors, but in the beginning her options were much more limited. “There used to be only one local chocolate or one local cookie, but North Carolina products have exploded,” she explains. Price isn’t always the most important factor in her decision making, since plenty of her customers are willing to pay more for the best quality in order to impress whoever is on the receiving end of the baskets.

As her corporate client list continues to grow, she is venturing into South Carolina and Florida gift baskets, but she “wants to stay focused on locallymade Southern products” as much as possible. This widening focus occurred organically from the needs of clients like Air Vent Exteriors, who also own Greenville Awning Company in South Carolina.

Packaging is another aspect that can be a major factor when it comes to deciding between gift options.

“It can be a dealbreaker because a lot of our gifts are open, and customers and recipients like to see the product.” Some of her clients opt to ship their own corporate-branded marketing materials to nestle among their basket’s goodies, and many choose to take advantage of customization options like adding 64

| December 2017

their corporate logo to the bows or ribbons that adorn each gift. Clonch has an in-house printer for this upgrade, one of the many tweaks she’s made to the business that has proven to be a timesaver and selling point. Air Vent’s Rowland agrees, saying, “We rely on Melissa because she’s a small, local business just like us. Melissa has met every gift-giving challenge and timeline that we’ve ever given her, and she has done it with style and creativity. Plus, she makes the most beautiful bows!”

“Each order is special!”

Sometimes working with corporate clients means creating gifts for special people or promotions. One year on behalf of Wilcox Travel, she assembled a gift for Billy Graham. Another year, Nicholas Sparks’ publisher contacted Melissa to put together a North Carolina giveaway basket for one of his new book releases. While these special requests are memorable, Clonch says she truly enjoys almost every facet of running her business. “Each order is special in its own way! New products, new container, new customer.

You’re helping your clients and they’re pleased; you’re

putting a smile on the face of the recipient.”

Eventually, she would like to hand over all the paperwork and administration work to focus solely on the creative aspects of her work, but she loves doing gift proposals and the research that goes into them. “It’s fun and a challenge because they have this budget, want this color, these types of products. It’s a puzzle.”

Clonch also wears a “Delivery Person” hat many days, another highlight of her work. “If we have local deliveries, I’ll do those early in the day--they’re really fun to do. Then, I come back and finish assembling shipments that must go out that day.” The rest of her time is spent working on gift proposals and lots of emailing, with the best emails coming from happy customers and happy recipients. Having control of her schedule is another huge perk.

“I like to get up early to start my day, but I’ll take a break when the kids get home and then get back to it in the evening. Some people may not like that, but it works for us.”

As for favorite products, Clonch consistently relies on popcorn, barbeque sauces, honeys, and chocolate. Some of her local go-to vendors include French Broad Chocolates, Poppy’s Gourmet Popcorn, Smokin’ J’s Fiery Foods, and Wild Mountain Bees. (See sidebar, p. 61.)

Coffee, sausages, teas, and other condiments like mustards and apple butters are also a hit with her customers and giftees.

Family Time

GIF T BOX TOWERS Melissa creates in addition to baskets

After stints in Wilmington and WinstonSalem, the Clonchs returned to the Asheville area in 2002 since Melissa’s family is here and her husband’s family lives in Lenoir, located about an hour east of Mills River. They spend their free time outdoors as much as possible, hitting the trails, campgrounds, playing soccer, and biking. Indoors, Clonch has passed on her mother’s love of crafting, which of course was a major influence on her personally and professionally. Her father’s love of woodworking also made an impact on her business choice and creative instincts.

Of course, spending quality time with her three children and husband is a top priority, and she takes a week off at Christmas to reconnect with her family after being swamped for 12 weeks. Typically, she takes weekends off too, restricting herself to a few emails December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 65

or texts but zero phone calls. The family also loves to cook together, and, unsurprisingly, watching the television program Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs’ dreams are made or dashed.

“The business has been a great learning tool for our kids,” she explains, “and it’s been really rewarding for them to help out and see how it’s grown while they’ve grown.” Her high-schooler may join the team as an official part-timer soon, but, for now, they all continue to help out when needed.

What’s Next Now that they’re settled in the new workspace, Melissa has her sights set on rebranding the business over the next two years to reflect their focus on corporate clients. “We started out so small! Now we’re thinking about a new logo, perhaps a warehouse space within the next three years.” She’d also like to add more employees to her roster and add more monthly corporate accounts. Currently, she has about a dozen corporate clients who task her with sending gifts out regularly, so adding more steady clients like these is another focus. One of these regular customers is Blue Sky MD, which trusts Melissa to create quarterly referral baskets for local providers. “We

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| December 2017

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send these as a ‘thank you’ for remembering us to service the needs of their patient population. All the baskets leave lasting memories with each practice,” says Kristen Hunter, Blue Sky’s program director, adding, “Melissa is creative, passionate, and makes the baskets so personal each time.”

She’s also seeing other gift basket companies work to add more products versus edible items into their offerings, so sourcing these kind of lasting gifts will continue to be important to growing her business. Luckily, lots of makers send her samples, so she can now spend less time finding new products.

She’s also seeing other gift basket companies work to add more products versus edible items into their offerings, so sourcing these kind of lasting gifts will continue to be important to growing her business.

Of course, Melissa will continue to follow the slow-and-steady model that has kept her out of debt these past 10 years and helps keep risks to a minimum. “Most businesses like this fail within a year. You don’t want so much monetarily invested. I never would have thought that my business would have gotten to this point—it’s grown more than I ever thought it would.”

Her advice for others interested in starting at-home (or other) businesses? “Never give up. After two years, I just didn’t think this was going to work, but I just did not give up.

“Even if things fail, even if they don’t go the way you planned, keep trying.”

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 67

column

Keyword: Legacy

The evolving model of a family business means remaining aware that you are part of something bigger than yourself.

A

S T H E T H I R D GE N E R AT ION I N

a family-owned business, I’ve experienced firsthand how much a company can shift with each generation.

Since I was a child, I’ve been immersed in the world of printing. Our industry has changed significantly since my grandfather started the business from a park bench in downtown Asheville 70 years ago. I’ve seen our culture and leadership styles evolve with the changing times.

There are many lessons I’ve learned along the way that can be helpful for leaders in a familyowned business.

J

jami daniels

is CEO of Asheville-based printing/ marketing company and call center service The Daniels Group.

Learn From Those Who Came Before You. If you plan to work in your family’s business, seek insight from current and previous leaders. They have valuable lessons they can teach you.

There is a lot to be said for working with someone you trust completely. I spent 15 years working with my dad, who was the CEO since 1964, before I took over in 2016. He grew up in the company, too. He was an incredible salesperson, and I’ve learned so much from him. He used to say to me, “Think of a way to do it better.” That goes through my head all the time.

Be Adaptable to Change.

To stay relevant, make the business your own. If you inherit a company and never change as times

68

| December 2017

change, it will stagnate quickly. The challenges I face now are numerous. Printing is called a dinosaur industry; to remain competitive, we must be anything but prehistoric in our approach to technology and innovation.

The nature of the business has changed, too.

There are fewer opportunities for huge print jobs.

The days of printing 50,000 glamorous catalogs are fewer. It’s less about the printed piece and more about how the pieces are disseminated and how effective they are in marketing a company’s goods or services. It’s about ROI, but more importantly, it’s about communication and how our clients communicate with their audiences. We’re looking for more ways to add value for our customers.

Because communication is so critical, we look for ways our call center service can fit in with our customer’s marketing mix. We have seen huge growth in this area. These days, more people want to talk with someone on the phone and can become aggravated by automated systems. It’s all about being open-minded about your company’s services or products.

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December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 69

column

Have Structure When Transitioning Leadership.

Family businesses are notorious for not having a good structure for getting the next generation involved and “groomed” for a leadership role. Because of that family dynamic, it makes it harder to train future leaders. In a perfect world, having a non-family member mentor the younger generation would be an ideal way to create separation and cultivate individual leadership styles between family members.

I would also encourage any family business to be intentional with succession planning. Have the same set of guidelines and expectations for family members that you would have for any other employee. The family member being groomed for the leadership role should be able to meet those expectations.

Work in as Many Roles as Possible.

I recommend future leaders to gain experience in as many facets of the business as possible to understand how the company works.

I’ve worked in many roles in our business, from marketing to accounting to customer service. Outside of running

the printing press, I’ve worked in every department here.

Because of this, I have a good idea of how to problemsolve. I can get granular because I’m familiar with how each department functions.

ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF WORKING IN A FAMILY BUSINESS IS BEING PART OF A FAMILY LEGACY THAT IS BIGGER THAN YOURSELF.

Gain a New Perspective of Your Industry.

I would encourage people who want to work in their family’s business to work at another company in the same industry for a while. See how someone else does it. A change in perspective can give you valuable insight in improving your own organization.

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| December 2017

Seek Insight From Your Peers.

Get involved with as many other organizations as you can.

Get peer input and see what other people are doing that works.

I’m part of a CEO advisory group, and each of us is in a different industry, but overall, our challenges can be similar. It’s been valuable to get their insight.

Form Your Own Culture And Leadership Style.

I’ve had to develop my own leadership style apart from my father’s or grandfather’s before him. I’ve been given an incredible opportunity and am now able to put my own stamp on it and make it uniquely suited to my skills and leadership style. It’s intimidating because my dad was a strong leader, an innovative person, very courageous, and willing to take risks to grow the company. In those ways, I have big shoes to fill. In other respects, he was more old-fashioned. Figuring out and honoring those differences is challenging, but can be a rewarding path for a family member taking the helm.

Right now, we are making some substantial changes in our company culture. We have a company handbook for the first

time in The Daniels Group history. We are creating more transparency and clarity for all employees. It makes sense for all of us to be on the same page about policies, benefits, and processes. Employees who are here now are excited to be part of the future vision of the company.

Embrace Your Legacy.

One of the best parts of working in a family business is being part of a family legacy that is bigger than yourself. In many ways, the family business can feel like another member of the family. That legacy can drive your passion for the company, which is essential to leading well.

Jim Daniels, former CEO of The Daniels Group, was profiled in the March 2014 issue of Capital at Play in the feature “Cranking the Mimeograph into a New Millennium.”

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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UPDATES FOR

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Unmentionables cupertino, california

Apple is famed for its marketing strategies that build hype for new product releases to a loyal following. So it came as a surprise when, during a quarterly conference call, CEO Tim Cook announced its almost unheard-of wearables division was the size of a Fortune 400 company.

Since the smallest company on the list is Calpine, with $6.7 billion in annual sales, the wearables can be doing no worse. Apple is secretive about sales of its wearables, which include the Apple Watch, Beats headphones, and AirPods wireless earbuds. The items are lumped in the “Other Products” category, which garners roughly $2-4 billion for the company each quarter, mere noise compared to the company’s $50-80 billion total quarterly sales numbers. Spokespeople

ESTATE SALES SERVICES

]

said Apple groups items in the “Other Products” category to protect sales data from competitors. Apple TV and iPod touch are among non-wearables listed in “Other Products.”

Everybody Wants One seattle, washington

At the bidding deadline, Amazon announced 238 government entities had submitted incentives proposals for Jeff Bezos’ second North American headquarters, dubbed HQ2. Amazon promised to invest $5 billion in the complex and create 50,000 jobs over the next 15 years. It stipulated that the successful candidate metropolitan area would have a population of over one million, a strong university system, easy

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access to transit, and an international airport. While confidence in multipliers from economic development incentives has taken a hit in recent years, analysts say scoring HQ2 is sure to pay for itself over time. Sports stadiums and major events like the Olympics are typically losing prospects, and manufacturing plants live only as long as the products they output; the creation of thousands of high-skill, high-wage jobs, with a mission of staying on the cutting edge of technology, will be different. Likely outcomes include attaining a critical mass for collaboration, attracting businesses to a technical hub where entrepreneurs will spin off new ventures.

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Drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen came under fire for stating draft legislation requiring greater transparency in pharmaceutical pricing could be bad for business. Jorgensen said draft bills in states, including California and Nevada, would require his company to disclose terms of their contracts, and that would “disclose, basically, how we do business.” The bills originated under

pressure from insurers to justify treatment. Novo Nordisk, which continues to specialize in diabetes treatments, had been focused on incrementally modifying the insulin molecule for better results until the Food and Drug Administration deemed Eli Lilly products received preferential treatments due to their lower prices. No longer able to justify the cost of tweaking, Novo Nordisk had to reallocate resources toward discovering disruptive technologies. The company has now branched into researching treatments for diabetes-related diseases, designing experiments to front-load deal killers, and working with a team specializing in navigating FDA approval processes.

Nissin Foods, the manufacturer of popular ramen products like Cup Noodles, claims the best way to savor ramen is by traditional slurping. Consequently, many Westerners aren’t experiencing the full flavor, and the phrase “noodle harassment” has been invented to describe the slurping of ramen in the presence of quieter company. To remedy the situation, Nissin is selling Otohiko, a $130 noise-canceling ramen fork. It was

52

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developed by collecting and analyzing the component frequencies of different people’s slurps. Now, a bulky fork handle holds a microphone that communicates with an app in the eater’s phone to produce white noise that pleasantly drowns out any offensive noises. The concept was inspired by a Japanese toilet that similarly disguised noises. Nissin is offering Otohiko conditionally. If the company can receive 5,000 pre-orders by December 15, it will fill that many orders and no more. Unfortunately, Otohiko will not ship until well after Christmas.

cautious clickers who check URL’s will get a false sense of assurance they are not being transferred to a malicious site. The scam could lure people to share personal information, purchase counterfeit merchandise, or sign their computers up for a hack attack. Scanning six years of data for 268 popular trademarks, the investigators found 2.7 million combosquatting domains, 60% of which continued to operate for more than 1,000 days. The study was funded by the United States Departments of Defense and Commerce and the National Science Foundation.

Please Verify Your Security Settings

Interfacing with the Real World

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Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Stony Brook released findings from a study of combosquatting at the 2017 Association for Computing Machinery’s Conference on Computer and Communications Security. In combosquatting, cyberattackers register URL’s with modified versions of legitimate organizations’ names. For example, they might add “-security” to the domain name of a financial institution. That way,

Fletcher J. McCusker was instrumental in selling SinfoníaRx a spinoff from the University of Arizona’s College of Pharmacy’s medication management operations, to a public company in Moorestown, New Jersey. Then, within days of the sale, he launched UAVenture Capital to help commercialize other advances in science, technology, and services developed by students, faculty, alumni, and affiliates of the University of Arizona. With headquarters in the historic

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December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 73

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house where Linda Ronstadt’s father was born, UAVenture will raise and manage funds contributed by Tucsonans. CEO and founder McCusker said he has found raising growth capital to be the greatest challenge facing Tucson startups, and it had been a constant struggle with SinfoníaRx. He is joined at UAVenture by principals Larry M. Hecker, Esquire, and Michael N. Deitch, CPA. They are working with another UA initiative, Tech Launch Arizona, which has set up 45 businesses and filed 909 patents since 2012.

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Bancor Network Token lost over half its value since its ICO. An ICO is like an initial public offering, except the C stands for “coin.” ICOs work like Kickstarter campaigns for tech companies, with the advantages that low-level investors can get in on the ground level and anyone can cash in whenever they can find a buyer for their coins. On the down side, ICOs are highly susceptible to theft, fraud, and volatility—on top of being vulnerable to the black-market transactions digital currencies attract. After $7 million was stolen by hackers during CoinDash’s July ICO, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission issued warnings, and China banned the practice. Bancor was formed as an exchange for digital currencies, but analysts faulted the concept as half-baked, using algorithms more complicated than manual transactions and offering no advantages to digital coin markets. Some even called the venture a “planned failure.” Bancor set a record when it raised over $153 million in its June ICO with the support of billionaire Tim Draper.

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Patrick and John Collison, CEO and president, respectively, of the $9-billion company Stripe, added a feature to Stripe Atlas. Stripe is a payment that, like PayPal, securely handles credit card transactions over the internet. Stripe Atlas is another product designed to help entrepreneurs. Described as a “company in a box,” it automates the registration of a Delaware corporation, opens a bank account with an employer identification number, and sets the company up for receiving credit card payments with Stripe. The new feature calculates how much equity each founder is due, thus reducing drama and allowing creative people to spend more precious time making money. It was developed with help from Orrick, a law firm that drafted paperwork to be easily understood and legally-binding. The software can handle special terms of agreement, but it can only go so far. The Collisons say once

somebody is calculating disbursements to early employees and outside investors, it’s time to hire a lawyer.

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Soft drink sales are sagging with medical research now linking soft drinks to, among other things, kidney stones and gout, and local governments seeking ways to cap consumption. But despite it all, PepsiCo has performed strongly and consistently.

Founded in 1898 to sell a drink formulated by pharmacist Caleb Bradham, and expanding into the snack food business with the 1965 Frito-Lay merger, the company’s current survival is widely attributed to Indra Nooyi, who has been CEO for ten years. She diversified the company’s offerings to include over 20 brands, some of which offer healthier choices.

As a result, the company does over $1 billion in retail sales a year, and in 2016 it disbursed over $7 billion to shareholders via stock repurchases and dividends. Its 7.23% year-to-date earnings growth is well below the Standard and Poor’s 500 average of 14.32% and competitor Coca-Cola’s 12.19%. Even so, the company remains a solid bet on the stock market, with a net 60.15% return on investment over the last five years, compared to Coke’s 21.67%.

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Sony Corporation is bringing back AIBO, a robotic dog introduced to the Japanese market in 1999. During the product’s seven-year run, 150,000 models were sold, with prices starting at $1,739. Sony halted the project when its electronics business was struggling in a highly-competitive market, but the company continued research and development in artificial intelligence and robotics. Technological advances integrated into AIBO include a better actuator for smoother motion, improved sensors, organic LED eyes that simulate expressions, and machine learning. The dog can walk, bark, sit, wiggle its ears and tail, lick its paws, and blink. More significantly, it uses cloud computing to develop a personality.

It can recognize its owner, sense smiles and words of praise, and remember actions that please its owner. CEO Kazuo Hirai asked that the dog go back into production, saying, “I strongly believe robots capable of building loving relationships with people help realize Sony’s mission [to inspire].”

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| December 2017

leisure & libation

For the past several years in our annual

Sweet & Savory special, we’ve introduced you to entrepreneurs who are rolling up their sleeves to build, maintain, and expand their cottage industries. They know how to juggle busy lives and wear a wide variety of hats as they produce their products, sell at tailgate markets, work to get their product in retail stores, and handle the marketing, promotion, and everything else related to their business, including the dirty work. As Steve Modlin, owner of Old Mule BBQ Dipping Sauce, says: “That’s the world of small business— big plans and a mop bucket.”

Editor’s Note: Vendors featured in this article were also selected by Capital at Play to represent us at the August 2017 Asheville Wine & Food Festival, for which we were a proud sponsor. Photos were taken

by Anthony Harden at the Festival.

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 77

leisure & libation

Blue Ridge Brittle Co. One of the things Tammy Ridenour, owner of Blue Ridge Brittle Co. in Brevard, loves most about her business is watching the reaction of people when they taste her treats at area farmer’s markets.

“They’ll put it to their mouth and their face lights up,” she explains. “What a reward, after all the hard work, to see someone enjoy it so much. They’ll say, ‘My dad used to make it,’ or ‘My grandma used to make it.’ One customer sent me a picture of a jar his grandmother used to put peanut brittle in at Christmas, and now they put my peanut brittle in that jar.”

Her love of making peanut brittle began in middle school. She learned how to make it in her home economics class, and says it was such a big hit in her family that she continued making it, especially at the holidays. “I grew up in Arizona, so it was very dry. Making peanut brittle was easy.”

When she moved to Brevard 11 years ago, she encountered some difficulty in making her peanut brittle due to the humidity. “I Googled and found out things I could do to create my own atmosphere,” Tammy recalls. “I got some dehumidifiers and closed all the doors and windows. Once I understood what was happening, then I realized I could be more in control. I can now make brittle even on a rainy day.”

The hobby began to grow into a business when her daughter took some to school with her at Blue Ridge Community College and people started asking to buy it.

“The next step was to get my kitchen certified,” she says. “I got online and figured out how to do that. I first checked with the city to see if I was in a neighborhood zoned for running a small business out of my home. I then made an appointment through the agricultural department for an inspector to come out. You can’t have a lot of tchotchkes on the countertop. No bugs or vermin of any kind. No indoor pets. The refrigerator has to be kept at a certain temperature. No lighting that could break and fall into the product. It wasn’t quite as hard as I thought. I felt like there were good, strict rules—mostly you just have to maintain a clean environment.”

By the end of 2013, she was ready to start selling at the Brevard farmer’s market. Since that time, she’s expanded to the Whistlestop Farmer’s Market in Cedar Mountain, a farmer’s market in Cashiers, and at Rocky’s Soda Fountain at D.D. Bullwinkel’s in Brevard.

“The hardest part of this business is being able to handle it all.

I’m not a numbers person. It’s also scary to learn to promote myself and my own product. My husband has a full-time job, but he helps a lot with packaging. We’re trying to expand and I’m trying to get my husband to quit his job. He would love to go to A-B Tech and go through their culinary program. He loves being 78

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in the kitchen. I also want to get a website sooner than later because that will help us grow and provide general information. We’re hoping to accomplish that soon.”

Tammy says that she currently spends about two days a week making the brittle and the rest of the week packaging, labeling, and selling. She has three varieties: peanut, pecan, and jalapeno. “One batch takes about an hour. I’ve been able to keep the quality by quadrupling one batch. That probably makes an average of 20 eight-ounce bags. I usually have two going at the same time, but I stagger them. I’m pouring one out where the other is getting to a good clip of a boil. Once you pour it out, it has to completely cool. My table is about two feet by five feet and it will cover the table completely.”

Tammy was a single mom when she made the leap to leave Arizona and move to North Carolina. She discovered the area while on vacation and thought the natural beauty was amazing. One of her daughters had graduated from high school. The other was a high school junior, and, like her mom, was ready for a new adventure.

At the time, Tammy was making a living as a house flipper.

“I’m very passionate about decorating and that translated into buying poor little homes. I have a vision and can see

what it can be. I like to take something horrible and bad and turn it into something good. As a house flipper, I could easily move—I could do that anywhere.”

Now she uses her decorating skills for creating beautiful booth displays to sell her brittle. She met her husband at church and they married eight years ago—a love-atfirst-sight story. He has since become Blue Ridge Brittle’s

“The hardest part of this business is being able to handle it all. I’m not a numbers person. It’s also scary to learn to promote myself and my own product.” official taster, and nothing goes out of the kitchen without his approval.

“He really likes the brittle,” she says. “One of his favorites is the jalapeno. It’s really tasty. He is the quality control guy.”

Contact Ridenour and find out more about Blue Ridge Brittle Co. at www.facebook.com/blueridgebrittle.

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leisure & libation

Eat Pique After several years working as a chef, Mike Vitelli decided to follow a dream to do his own thing. That’s when Lake Lure-based Eat Pique was born. “As a chef, I love to play with unique flavor combinations and present them in ways that ‘pique’ one’s interest,” he says, while explaining his business name. “I wanted to create a fun company doing cool things and make eating exciting.”

What he’s come up with may not be immediately understood by his customers, but he enjoys educating people about the versatility of his Honey Pickled Mustard Seeds.

“It’s a new concept to a lot of folks,” he says. “What I tell people is the seeds really enhance other flavors. They don’t compete.

They’re real pretty and a nice topper for any dish. Use them on grilled or sautéed vegetables and finish meats on the grill. It’s just a nice condiment.”

There are currently three varieties: Session Wheat Honey Pickled Mustard Seeds (created using Sierra Nevada’s session wheat beer), Habanero Heat, and Bopp’N Beet.

This is Eat Pique’s first year in business, and Mike has devoted his focus to serving customers at area tailgate markets. “We’ve now introduced our cheese spreads under the name Spread Head. They go hand in hand with the mustard seeds.

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“We started with two flavors. The first is an Everything Bagel cheese spread, which is a nod to my very first job at a bagel shop. It opens eyes. People are shocked and surprised when they see it and try it. It’s a conversation piece and it’s delicious to boot. We use a naturally aged cheddar, Duke’s mayonnaise, onion, garlic, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. The second is a spicy cheese spread. This one came about because I met Janelle, the owner of Our Daily Kraut, at the East Asheville Tailgate Market. I tried her stuff and loved her Kick It Up Hot Sauce. I brought some home and made a cheese spread with it. I took some to her and she loved it. We decided to team up on that one. It’s not too spicy. It’s kind of just right with medium heat.”

He’s set up regular booths at the West Asheville Tailgate Market, the Flat Rock Tailgate Market, and the East Asheville Tailgate Market, as well as special events like the Garlic Festival and Hendersonville’s Apple Festival. In addition, Eat Pique products are in West Village Market in West Asheville, Dogwood in Flat Rock, and Manna Cabanna Local Organic Market in Tryon.

He’ll also be involved with several upcoming holiday markets: Winterfest in Flat Rock on December 2; West Asheville

He especially loves connecting with people at tailgate markets: “It takes you back to a time before technology. You have real conversations with people in your neighborhood.”

Holiday Market at the Mothlight on December 5, 12, and 19; and the East Asheville Holiday Market on December 15. He sells 9-ounce glass jars of the mustard seeds for $8 and 8-ounce tubs of the cheese spreads for $6.

He especially loves connecting with people at tailgate markets: “It takes you back to a time before technology. You have real conversations with people in your neighborhood.”

At the same time, he knows having an online presence and utilizing social media is key to growing his business. One challenge he has in terms of gaining online sales is that his products require refrigeration: “I’m working on UPS on different ways to ship it. The biggest hurdle is the cost aspect. They are in glass jars, which are heavy. The cost of shipping can be prohibitive to our customers, but it’s a service we want to provide.”

Currently, Mike produces his products in a shared-use kitchen in Tryon, but he is working toward a goal of opening his own facility and expanding his product line.

Originally from Greensboro, Mike trained as a chef at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte. He went on to earn a hospitality/management degree from Western Carolina University. His wife, Molly, grew up spending summers at Lake Lure. “She came to me one day and said she wanted to move up here,” he says. “She ended up getting a job at the Lodge on Lake Lure and I got a job at Rumbling Bald Resort. About six months into it, I heard the chef was leaving the Lodge at Lake Lure and I got the job. I was there a couple of years. That’s how I found the local markets up here. I would source a lot of ingredients from tailgate markets and farms. I made a lot of great connections there.”

He’s currently working on four new varieties of cheese spreads and focuses on just having fun and not taking himself too seriously. In the first year, he’s extremely pleased with the progress he’s made and the positive response he gets from customers when they taste his products.

“We’ve built a little bit of a cult following,” he says.

Visit Eat Pique online to see where Vitelli will be next at www.eatpique.com.

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Mrs. B’s Homestyle Eatery Nikki Wright says if she was living in a perfect world, she’d have her mom working beside her. But even though she’s creating a business in Canton while her mom still lives in the Greensboro area, she keeps her close to her heart while she mixes ingredients for her pies and other mouth-watering creations for Mrs. B’s Homestyle Eatery.

the place. We went to the drum circle. I felt like Asheville just drew me in. The mountains, the food, the weirdness.”

The couple moved to Asheville in 2010, but their careers pulled them to Colorado in 2012. While there, Nikki worked for the National Park Service and for a couple of universities, including the University of Denver.

“I started my business there and sold one season at farmer’s markets,” she says.

They returned to Western North Carolina in July 2016 and she revamped her food business. Her husband com-

“I was drawn to farmer’s markets by the energy of the people. We share something in a way.”

“My business is named after my mom, Brenda,” she says.

“She grew up on a farm with 15 brothers and sisters. I’ve always enjoyed cooking. She’s the person I got that from.”

Her path before launching her own business included serving six and a half years in the Army, followed by earning an associates degree in culinary technology at Alamance Community College and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management at the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

She recalls how, having recently gotten married, discovering Asheville during a getaway. “I absolutely fell in love with 82

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mutes to his job in North Dakota as a Health and Safety Inspector. He works three weeks and then is home for two weeks. She admits she didn’t know how she would handle the distance at first, but she’s learned to hone in on cooking and expanding her business while he’s gone. “I honestly have to get used to him being back home,” she says with a laugh. “It’s good, though.”

Nikki began selling at the East Asheville Tailgate Market and Waynesville Tailgate Market in the summer of 2017.

“One of the definite blessings I’ve had is working the Small Business Administration in Haywood County and the Western Women’s Business Center, located at A-B Tech off Sardis Road.

They are truly amazing resources and have connected me with different training and workshops.”

She’s currently a one-woman show, doing all her own baking at a commercial kitchen off Sweeten Creek Road in Asheville and then taking her delicacies to markets to sell them. Along with the markets, she sells about 40 pies a week at Duckett’s produce in Clyde and Canton. Duckett’s advised her to concentrate on local, Appalachian foods, and introduced her to the idea of making candy roaster pies.

“Honestly, I was like, I don’t even know what candy roaster tastes like,” she says. “Then I tasted it and thought, ‘Candy roaster, where have you been all my life?’ It’s delicious.”

Other pie varieties she makes includes coconut (her mom’s recipe), pecan, sweet potato, and a Japanese fruit pie. She sells 9-inch pies for $15 and mini pies for $4. She also has a catering side to her business and prepares party trays and family meals. She offers a take-and-bake veggie lasagna for $8. She cuts local vegetables very thin using a mandoline, and then roasts them. “I am actually thinking of making a winter vegetable lasagna and using local vegetables,” she says. “I want to expand my menu.”

An ultimate dream for the future would be owning a food truck. She’s taking steps to get there and finding that she’s being pushed a bit out of her comfort zone and learning to overcome her shyness to talk about and promote her culinary talents. “I was drawn to farmer’s markets by the energy of the people. We share something in a way.

Mom grew up on a farm. I never farmed, but I think it’s in me. I’d love to live on two or three acres with cows and pigs and chickens.” She adds that it’s not always easy being an African-American woman selling at area markets. “There aren’t too many minorities there, but it’s right for me. It’s where I belong. I’ve had people say, ‘Oh wow, there’s a minority here?’ If you look past my skin color, I’m just like the other vendors.”

Ultimately, says Nikki, “I take a lot of pride in the business because it’s named after my mom. I try to provide quality food. Families are busy. Moms and dads don’t have time to cook a full meal. They want to be healthier. That’s what I’m here for—to help solve those problems.”

View Wright’s product line and place orders at www.mrsbshomestyleeatery.com. Mrs. B’s Homestyle Eatery schedule updates are at www.facebook.com/mrsbshomestyleeatery.

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leisure & libation

Happy-Go- Lucky Foods Life didn’t dump lemons on Jenna Kranz’s doorstep. Instead it was tahini—a whole bunch of it, so she made hummus.

“A neighbor, who was a food distributor, gave me the tahini,” recalls Jenna. “She said, ‘Can you figure out what to do with this?’”

Friends told Jenna it was the best hummus they’d ever tasted, so she got the idea of selling it at the farmer’s market.

That plan stalled because she was living in Florida at the time and regulations prohibited people from selling hummus made at home.

She brainstormed some other ideas and found that granola was acceptable. “Truth be told, I’d never made granola,” she says. “I was never impressed with what I found at stores. I’m a cook, so I experimented with recipes and got approval from the Department of Agriculture. They gave me their blessing to go to local farmer’s markets in Florida and sell it.”

She sold out of all her granola bars she took and never looked back. “I tried it again the next week and the week after that and I never stopped. I also made a transition. A coffee shop in Daytona Beach allowed me to use their space, and I started selling hummus, too.”

It wasn’t like Jenna had a lot of extra time on her hands.

She was already working full-time at a local college, so it was challenging to add the production, sales, and marketing of a side business into the mix. She also didn’t have a name for her business—just a table and a tent that she would set up each week.

However, after her husband finished grad school, he landed a job at Western Carolina University, so she told him, “‘I don’t think I’ll look for a job. I think I’ll try to run a business full-time.’

I quit my job and we moved to Sylva. I didn’t have any friends or family or even a kitchen to bake in, but now, two years later, I have a whole line of products and they’re in a bunch of stores.”

She also has a company name: Happy-Go-Lucky Foods. It came to her in the middle of the night.

“I literally had no name for the business for six months. I was at the farmer’s market in Florida with a sign that said: ORGANIC VEGAN GRANOLA. People said, ‘Maybe you should have the name.’ But I was just ‘the granola girl.’ I thought about it, but I had nothing. Then one night, I woke out of a dead sleep and said, ‘Happy Go Lucky.’ I called my mom the next morning and said, ‘Mom, I have a name.’”

Her focus has always been on creating products that are healthy and environmentally conscious. Most of her ingredients are organic. She uses coconut oil and coconut sugar, and avoids gluten, dairy, and soy. Everything she makes is vegan, and she’s working toward a goal of having a certified gluten-free kitchen.

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Jenna currently bakes in a commercial kitchen in Sylva and produces a variety of granola bars, protein bars, granola, and protein bites. She’s planning on building a new production facility in Sylva, explaining, “I’m working on a sugar-free line.

It’s going to be savory. I’m hoping for a December launch. It will be vegan, but sugar free.”

Granola sold by the pound is a big seller. Some are seasonal varieties like the gingerbread granola offered in December and January. “All of our granolas are 100 percent organic.

A lot of people around here make their own everything,” she notes. “They say they can’t make granola for the price we offer if for because we do it in such quantity. People bring their own containers to fill. They rely on us for their sustenance and nutrition.”

When the business started, Jenna was baking five days a week. Now she has one employee and they bake three days a

“I use my degrees every single day. I use my education better than sitting in an office, and I’m much happier now.” week. “We go through 150 pounds of oats some weeks! I’ve been doing this full-time for two years. For part of that, I didn’t even know what I was doing. I never imagined I’d be able to hire my own employee. Now I’m ready to build my own facility.”

It’s a big switch from her career at that Florida college where she supervised many people as associate director of a writing center. “My job was to teach writing tutors to teach people to write and communicate effectively. When I first told my mom I was quitting my job, she said, ‘I can’t believe you’re going to throw your education away.’ My degree is in marketing and public relations, and I have a graduate degree in English. I use my degrees every single day. I use my education better than sitting in an office, and I’m much happier now.”

She continues to offer products at area tailgate markets, but she’s also gotten into French Broad Co-Op, Asheville Direct, Sona Pharmacy, and, outside Western North Carolina, locations in Raleigh and Fayetteville, and even a couple in Georgia, plus her old Florida territory. “I’m getting nutritional testing done to hopefully get into Ingles. I don’t know what the future looks like—I just know it involves being a mommy.”

Her first child is due in April. “Baby Granola—that’s what people already call it,” she says. “We are really excited!”

Shop online with Kranz and see a list of Happy-Go-Lucky Foods’ retail outlets at www.happygoluckyfoods.com.

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“It’s not designed to impress you with how hot it is. You can taste the flavor and still taste your food.”

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Old Mule BBQ Dipping Sauce When Steve Modlin was in college in the early ‘80s, he would spend time in the kitchen at his dorm making barbeque sauce and fudge during the holidays. “I would give that out as Christmas presents,” he says. “I couldn’t afford real presents.”

Like many other products created with loving intentions, Steve’s creations were a hit with family and friends who said, “You ought to sell that.”

He toyed with the idea over the years and began making the sauce in larger quantities in the kitchen of a bakery owned by a neighbor. But he was limited, due to the demands of career, marriage, and raising three kids, on how much time he could devote.

“It was a thing on the side and it started growing,” he says. “We became an official business about 1994 or ’95. We still had 60- to 70-hour a week day jobs.”

They lived in the Triangle area where Steve was an SBI agent primarily working homicides. His wife, Cheryl, worked in Wake County and transferred to Western North Carolina as a parole officer. “Everything I tried to do was always interrupted with a phone call,” he remembers, but that changed four years ago when he got rid of the day job and focused full-time on running his sauce business.

Now based in Columbus, they currently offer Old Mule BBQ Dipping Sauce for sale in three flavors: Original, Mustard, and Hot. “We actually have a fourth type. It’s called a Sissy Sauce. We’ve been making it for the restaurant world for a number of years. It’s the same, but without any spice at all. We’re now getting it labeled for resale. We also have a vinegar-based recipe that we’ve never produced. We don’t have the space right now, but we’re working on it.”

Steve is very mindful about growing his business in a responsible manner. “You don’t want to make promises you can’t keep.

You have to be careful what you commit to. We joke that we’re taking over the world one jar at a time, but only to the extent we can absorb it, handle it, and do it responsibly.”

Right now his attention is on plans for a new production building on their family farm. “What we’re working on is a building that is expandable and allows us to grow,” he says.

“I’m working on a floor plan to get the guts in, but still be able to grow out, and trying to figure out what this will cost us. We

have a real viable business, but we’re not big enough to have financial legs under us. To be a truly productive business, we do need to grow some more.”

The growth they have already enjoyed has been impressive.

They maintain the current demand to stock the product in 1200 outlets nationwide.

“We’re in almost all of the Food Lions in Western North Carolina,” he says, and also rattles off a list of other grocery stores in North Carolina who carry it: Ingles, Harris Teeter, Lowe’s Foods, Piggly Wiggly, and Publix. “We’ve also got about 30 outlets in California and some in Delaware, Northern Virginia, and Boulder, Colorado.”

Sometimes it’s a huge surprise to him when he finds out his product is being sold in places he never imagined.

“We had a booth at the Asheville Wine and Food Festival,” says Steve, “and I was talking with a young guy who just came back from Australia. I told him we weren’t large enough to be in Australia, but that we are in Maryland, where he is from. The next day I was looking online, and lo and behold, we do have a place selling it in Australia. They are getting it through a distributor—they don’t always tell us where it goes!”

The original flavor is the most widely available, but he says the mustard is coming on strong in demand, and adds that the hot really isn’t a hot sauce, just a hotter version of the others. “That disappoints some people who really like hot foods, but it’s not designed to impress you with how hot it is. You can taste the flavor and still taste your food.”

The versatility of the sauce is one of the main things he tries to get customers to embrace. “They can put it on a turkey sandwich instead of mayo, use like mustard on a sandwich, make brisket chicken in the oven, chicken on a grill, smoky joe’s in a crockpot, and nachos in the oven,” he says. “We make venison jerky with it, and my son puts it in omelets.”

The product is available for sale on their website, and they ship orders all over the country as well as to APO/military addresses overseas.

“This year has been a good year,” Steve says. “Just about everything we’ve delved into has been positive. It’s very exciting after all these years to have some focus and see it happening. We are cautiously optimistic. You pinch yourself and go back to mopping the floor. That’s the world of small business—big plans and a mop bucket.”

For Old Mule BBQ retail locations and online store, as well as an extensive list of Modlin’s recipes, visit www.oldmule.com.

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1. Dini Pickering with son/keynote speaker Chase Pickering 2. Leslie Hill and Wyndy Bonesteel.

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3. Vincent & Jane Childress, David Huff, Libby Endry 4. The Foundation’s Allison Royal 5. Beth Lastinger, Gary & Theresa Landwirth, Lane Lastinger

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6. Sara & Lou Bissette in photobooth 7. Stephen Tillotson, Alexa Viets, Chris Abbett 8. Olson & Marylyn Huff in photobooth 9. LuAnn Fitzpatrick, Thomas Montgomery,

Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's 20th Anniversary Celebration Lioncrest on Biltmore Estate | Asheville, NC | November 9, 2017 Photos by Rachael McIntosh / Photobooth photos by Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation

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Sabra Kelly, Broaddus Fitzpatrick 10. Award winners: (L-R) Olson Huff, Broaddus Fitzpatrick (accepting for brother Eric), Thomas Montgomery, Billie Brandon Howell, Helen

White and Wayne Henderson, John Willingham 11. Craig & Jessica Lancaster at photobooth 12. Lauren & Ryan McDowell 13 NC Representative Brian Turner, Katina

Turner, Paul Bonesteel 14. Alfred Adams & Robert Powell 15. Wyatt & Kim Stevens, Bob & Brenda Shepherd December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 89

events

december

EVENTS december 1-2

Balsam Range Art of Music Festival

Stuart Auditorium at Lake Junaluska 20 Chapel Dr, Lake Junaluska, NC Balsam Range will be the host of this weekend of bluegrass all-star education and entertainment. Packages include accommodations, meals, and access to all events except master-level workshops.

Tickets to specific shows and workshops may be purchased separately.

> 800-222-4930 > lakejunaluska.com december 1-2

“Dickens in the Village” 6-8PM (Fri), 11-5PM (Sat) Biltmore Village, Asheville, NC

Celebrate the annual lighting of the Biltmore Village Christmas Tree on

Friday evening, then return the next to view the strolling carolers dressed in Dickensian period costumes. Horse drawn carriage rides and freshly roasted chestnuts will be available all weekend.

> historicbiltmorevillage.com

– january 4 Grove Arcade Winter Wonderland december 1

10AM-6PM (Mon-Sat), 12-5PM (Sun) Grove Arcade One Page Ave, Asheville, NC In the sturdy, skylit concourses built in 1929, Christmas here is always tastefully done, evoking memories of Grand Central Station in an era gone by. The shops, as always, will be selling unique gift items.

> 828-275-1993 > grovearcade.com

The amazing chalets and citadels are still on display at this world-famous event. To respect guests of the hotel, non-guests are only invited to wander the display after 3PM on Sundays or anytime Monday through Thursday, parking permitting.

Half of parking fees collected will go to community charities.

> Parking: $20 > 800-413-5778 > omnihotels.com december 1-10

Christmas Mini-Tours and

Shopping at Apple Hill Farm

10AM-4PM

Apple Hill Farm 400 Apple Hill Rd, Banner Elk, NC

is not a plan.”

BEING This is“Hope a 45-minute walking tour through ~ Dr. Atul Gawande the farm to see animals – alpacas, angora MORTAL goats, donkeys, and more – up-close and

personal. Dress for tromping in the muck. the PBS FRONTLINE documentaryThe film shop will be open for purchasing unique, farm-made gifts. january 4

december 1 – FREE Film Screening & Panel Discussion >Tickets: Adult $12, Child (4-10) $7, 25th Annual Gingerbread Infant FREE House Competition™

Friday, November 10> 828-963-1662 Asheville Community Theatre Omni Grove Park Inn 5:30 Reception • 6:00 Film 35 East Walnut Street, Asheville, NC 28801 290 Macon Ave, Asheville, NC > applehillfarm.com To reserve your seat, as tickets are FREE, please call 828.254.1320 or email Callie: cdavis@fourseasonscfl.org

For The Love of Sewing:

f o r L i f e The Care You Trust FourSeasonsCFL.org

C o m p a s s i o n

Four Seasons is a non-profit palliative and hospice care provider in Western North Carolina, deeply committed to serving the community through fulfilling its mission of Co-Creating The Care Experience.

Care Navigation Home Care Palliative Care Hospice Care Bereavement Support Clinical Research Trials

FABRIC • SEWING MACHINES

BERNINA • BABY LOCK • HORN 1378 Hendersonville Road, Asheville (next to Fresh Market) 828-277-4100 • Mon-Sat, 10a-5:30p

www.ashevillecottonco.com

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Providing trusted care across Western North Carolina

828•692•6178 FourSeasonsCFL.org

– january 3 MANNA FoodBank’s Ingles Giving Tree december 1

Asheville Mall, 3 S. Tunnel Road, Asheville, NC

MANNA is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Ingles Giving Tree, the FoodBank’s biggest annual holiday community action event. Come to the Asheville Mall center court to view the tree, a ten-ton structure made of 20,000 pounds of nonperishable food donated by Ingles Market.

> mannafoodbank.org december 1-23

The Twelve Dates of Christmas 7:30PM (Wed-Sat), 2PM (Sun) North Carolina Stage Company 15 Stage Lane, Asheville, NC This play tells the story of a dating spree instigated when Mary sees her fiancé kiss another woman on TV. About looking for love in all the wrong places, it is not to be confused with the movie with a similar name. WARNING: Contains adult language.

>Tickets: $34, $26, $16 > 828-239-0263 > ncstage.org

100% of funds raised will be contributed to the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry.

> 828-669-8870 > themontevistahotel.net

december 1-31

december 1-31

Craft in Toyland

10AM-5:30PM (M-Sat), 11AM-5PM (Sun) Grovewood Village 111 Grovewood Road, Asheville, NC This exhibit showcases toys and games handcrafted in America, as well as several antique wooden toys made by Tryon Toy Makers & Wood Carvers and on loan from the personal collection of Rick Dunn.

> 828-253-7651 > grovewood.com

Winter Lights

6-10PM The North Carolina Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC In its fourth year, the light show brightens the night garden with trees and flowers trimmed in colorful patterns with 500,000 energy-efficient LED’s.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

>Tickets: Adult $18, Child (5-11) $12, Infant FREE > 828-665-2492 > ncarboretum.org

december 1-31

Seventh Annual Deck the Trees

10AM-9PM The Historic Monte Vista Hotel 308 West State St, Black Mountain, NC

“80 Years of Christmas” is the theme. Trees are decorated to reflect the old and new and each has been decorated by a local sponsor, and members of the public will vote with their money on their favorite.

december 1-22

“A Flat Rock Playhouse Christmas”

Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage 2661 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC Local auditioned soloists and SATB’s review specially-arranged Christmas

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December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 91

events

standards in a merry, musical journey of a stage production. They’ll stop at settings of holiday classics and places nearer to home.

>Tickets: $15-$50 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org december 2 & 9

Merry Christmas Greens Market

9AM-2PM Clem’s Cabin, 1000 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC The French Broad River Garden Club’s long-running annual assemblage of freshcut trees, hand-made wreaths, decorative garlands, and homemade baked goods and local crafts showcases unique offerings— nutcrackers included—from regional craftspersons. All proceeds will go towards local scholarships.

> Fbrgcf.org december 2

Farm Dreams

10AM-4PM Mountain Bizworks 153 South Lexington Ave, Asheville, NC These workshops, held occasionally in different parts of Western North Carolina, cover the basics of organic farming, and are directed toward people in the exploratory stages of starting. Content promises to be realistic and constructive.

> Registration: General $55, Member $35 > 828-214-7833 > organicgrowersschool.org

december 4

Managing Farm Labor

4-8:30PM Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Incubator Farm 180 Mag Sluder Rd, Alexander, NC 92

| December 2017

Tips will be shared by established regional growers on how to manage and structure workers on a small organic farm, different options for paying them, and how to keep everything legal. The registration price includes dinner.

> Registration: $40 > 828-214-7833 > organicgrowersschool.org december 5

Rhythmic Circus: RED & GREEN

7:30-9:30PM John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center : Western Carolina University, 1 University Way, Cullowhee, NC

Rhythmic Circus is a troupe of eleven internationally-renowned millennials out of Minneapolis. Four tap dance with hip and incredibly acrobatic, rapid-fire moves, and seven handle the music. They will be performing seasonal selections.

>Tickets: Adult $25, Senior $20 > 828-227-2479 > wcu.edu december 9

Warren Haynes Presents: The 29th Annual Christmas Jam 7PM US Cellular Center Arena 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

What could be better than a famous rock star getting together with some of his friends from the biz—like Trey Anastasio, Ann Wilson, and the Avett Brothers—along with his band Gov’t Mule to raise cash for a good cause like Habitat for Humanity? Is it any wonder this event is practically synonymous with Asheville?

> 828-259-5736 > ticketmaster.com

december 9

Christine Garvin: Ho-HoHoliday Rewind 8:30-10:30PM Isis Music Hall 743 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC

The ladies of Garvin’s Dance+Transform troupe (in conjunction with co-presenters Liquid Sirens) promise comedic holiday performances of classic holiday faves in modern, hip hop, jazzy showgirl, bhangra, gogo, and chair dance styles.

Think of it as a visual Xmas mixtape featuring parodies and remixes. A portion of ticket sales will be given to Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

>Tickets: $18-$22 (VIP $28) > 828-575-2737 > isisasheville.com december 9

Book Signing with Mary Ann Claud

10:30AM Coffee Bar on White 317 White St, Hendersonville, NC

Claud is a former human-interest columnist for the Hendersonville Times-News.

She will be reading from, discussing, and signing copies of her new book, Blue Ridge Pilgrimage, which is a compilation of many of her stories, published in the 1980s and ’90s as Cider from the Press.

> 828-545-3179 december 14

An Appalachian Christmas

7:30PM Grace Lutheran Church 115 East King Street, Boone, NC

People are invited to share the spirit of holiday music, as performed by several artists, and participate in fundraisers for Hospitality House and Santa’s Toy Box. This is a Mountain Home Music tradition

2018

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10th Anniversary Celebration August 18, 2018

AUGUST 17 & 18, 2018

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AVLWineFoodFest

avlwinefoodfest

December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 93

events

hosted by Dave Johnson in the footsteps of founder Joe Shannon.

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TRY A FREE WORKOUT**AT ORANGETHEORYFITNESS.COM Orangetheory Fitness Asheville 1816 Hendersonville Rd STE 60 | Asheville, NC 28803 | 828.610.5500 Orangetheory®, OTF® and other Orangetheory® marks are registered trademarks of Ultimate Fitness Group LLC. ©Copyright 2017 Ultimate Fitness Group LLC and/or its affiliates. *Visit orangetheoryfitness.com/termsofuse for additional information. **First-time visitors and local residents only. Certain restrictions apply. $28 minimum value.

> mountainhomemusic.com december 14 -17

Asheville Nativity First Baptist Church 5 Oak St, Asheville, NC

This is the interfaith collaborative’s third ever. In the last run, citizens from area churches loaned 175 nativity sets from sixty countries for public display, and 1150 visitors signed the guestbook.

> 916-223-3285 > ashevillenativity.org december 14 -23

Smoke on the Mountain: Sanders

Family Christmas

2:30PM (Sat & Sun), 7:30PM (Thu-Sat) Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre: Mars Hill University 44 College St, Mars Hill, NC This is a musical about sending Dennis Sanders off to fight in World War II. Stories are described as “hilarious and touching,” and music will feature 25 Southern gospel Christmas standards.

>Tickets: $25 > 866-811-4111 > sartplays.com december 15 , 16 , 17

An Ensemble Christmas

Custom pools and spas.

We create unique backyard environments 1200-C Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC • 828-277-8041 • waterworkswnc.com 94

| December 2017

7PM (Fri, Sat), 2PM Sun Ensemble Stage at the Historic Banner Elk School 185 Azalea Circle SE, Banner Elk, NC This is a variety show, like The Andy Williams Show, where everybody dresses up, sings and dances, and does

Season’s Greetings from

frugalframer

7PM East Henderson High School Auditorium 150 Eagle Pride Dr, East Flat Rock, NC Students of the Southside Dance Studio collaborate with East Henderson High School Advanced Theater to bring this one to you. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Hendersonville Ballet, an organization dedicated to reducing the costs of training talented and committed dancers.

>Tickets: Adult $10, Student $5 > 828-684-2118 > hendersonvilleballet.org december 16

Santa Visits Beech Mountain 11AM-3PM

Four Seasons at Beech Mountain 608 Beech Mountain Pwy, Beech Mountain, NC Santa will drop by between 2 and 4 for a photo op, and he’ll talk to kids to get their Christmas lists. It’s what he does.

But then, in a strange change of events, he’ll lead the kids in a mini-parade down the hall to a piñata.

> 828-387-9283 > 4seasonsatbeech.com

craft

Because it’s fake, it will be open heedless of the weather. Some people even say it is easier to learn to skate on synthetic ice.

Be aware of restricted hours on holidays.

All proceeds benefit America in Bloom.

service

> Admission: Adult $8, Child (0-9) $5 > 828-768-4413 > americainbloom.org december 22

Yule Log Bonfire & Hayride

5:30-8PM Sledding Hill Parking Lot 1330 Pine Ridge Rd, Beech Mountain, NC A bonfire will be lit outside the Famous Brick Oven Pizzeria at 7:30. Hot cocoa, cider, and s’mores are on the house, as are free hayrides for touring the city lights. The event is produced by Beech Mountain Parks and Rec.

> 828-387-3003 > beechrecreation.org december 25

Christmas Day Buffet

11AM-8PM Timberlake’s Restaurant Chetola Resort 185 Chetola Lake Dr, Blowing Rock, NC Parties will be seated in the lovely resort dining area at 11, 1:30, 4, and 6:30. Hot Christmas standards will be accented with chilled sides and seafood. These dinners sell out fast, so reservations are as good as required.

> Dinner: Adult $52, Child (5-11) $23, Infant FREE > 828-295-5505 > chetola.com

value

est. 1975

december 15 -16 Hendersonville Ballet Presents “A Home for Christmas 2017”

11AM-7PM Hendersonville Visitor Center 201 South Main St, Hendersonville, NC

What would you like to frame?

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EILEEN FISHER

>Tickets: Adult $20, Child (0-16) $12 > 828-414-1844 > ensemblestage.com

december 19 – january 1 Iceless Skating Rink

CELEBRATING 21 YEARS!

comedy sketches. Ensemble Stage auditions professional actors for a widerange of performances.

2onCrescent

828.274.1276 • 2oncrescent.com Open Everyday 11am - 5pm 4 All Souls Crescent, Biltmore Village December 2017 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

december 26 -31

Winter Break Family Fun 2PM Chimney Rock State Park 431 Main St, Chimney Rock, NC

For just one cold week, the park gets its rangers to present its Family Animal Encounters program, which is normally reserved for fairer weather. These events are designed to keep all members of the family interested and engaged.

> Admission: Adult $13, Youth (5-15) $6 > 828-625-9611 > chimneyrockpark.com

He is joined on stage with musicians and dancers to celebrate what is otherwise known as “Celtic Christmas: Music and Stories for the Deep Midwinter.”

>Tickets: Adult $24-$30, Student $12 > 206-226-5663 > jamielaval.com december 31

Asheville Symphony New Year’s Eve 7:30PM Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

Daniel Meyer has been a great friend to Asheville as conductor of the Asheville Symphony. This will be his final show, and it will feature works by Saint-Saëns, Wieniawski, and Orff. Carmina Burana is a cantata so dramatic, it’s used to soundtrack excitement. The evening will be a classy and classical sendoff.

december 29 & 30

Jamie Laval’s Celtic Christmas

7:30PM Asheville Community Theatre 35 East Walnut St, Asheville, NC Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave, Tryon, NC

>Tickets: Adult $24-$74, Youth

Laval has received worldwide recognition for his Scottish fiddling and storytelling.

$11-$55 > 828-254-7046 > ashevillesymphony.org

december 31

Appalachian Ski Mountain – New Year’s Eve 9PM until Appalachian Ski Mountain 940 Ski Mountain Rd, Blowing Rock, NC

The slopes and lifts will be running until 11:30PM, moonlight skating will be going down from 10PM-midnight.

The restaurant will serve specials from 9PM-midnight. Fireworks – as expected.

> 828-295-7828 > appskimtn.com

If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com.

Please submit your event at least six weeks in advance.

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HISTORIC BILTMORE VILLAGE 2 BOSTON WAY, ASHEVILLE, NC 28803 For holiday store hours, call or go Online | 828.274.7007 | EstateJewelryLtd.com December 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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Monday thru Thursday – 8 am-8 pm Sunday – Post Brunch, please.

Monday thru Thursday – 8 am-8 pm Sunday – Post Brunch, please.

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Earn a FREE HOUR for yourself each time you gift the Professional Closet Cleanse or SPECIALS Personal Stylist Package or send us a referral that purchases a package.

Duo deal – Receive a 20% discount on all services when we tackle two closets in your home.

Duo deal – Receive a 20% discount on all services when we tackle two closets in your home.

Earn a FREE HOUR for yourself each time you gift the Professional Closet Cleanse or Personal Stylist Package or send us a referral that purchases a package.

Earn a FREE HOUR for yourself each time you gift the Professional Closet Cleanse or Personal Stylist Package or send us a referral that purchases a package.

Allison Jerele Dema Badr Dema Allison Badr Jerele allison@jsmithboutique.comallison@jsmithboutique.com stylescoutasheville@gmail.com stylescoutasheville@gmail.com Mobile 1.828.545.9707 Mobile 1.828.545.9707 Mobile 1.828.280.6627 Mobile 1.828.280.6627

Dema Badr stylescoutasheville@gmail.com Mobile 1.828.280.6627

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Allison Jerele allison@jsmithboutique.com Mobile 1.828.545.9707

Dema Badr stylescoutasheville@gmail.com Mobile 1.828.280.6627

Allison Jerele allison@jsmithboutique.com Mobile 1.828.545.9707

APPOINTMENTS & AVAILABILITY Monday thru Thursday – 8 am-8 pm | Sunday – Post Brunch, please. | December 2017

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