High Country Magazine December 2015

Volume 11 • Issue 3 December 2015

Merry Christmas

Banff’s 20th • Hemlocks Survive • Hawksnest! • Food for the Soul December 2015

High Country Magazine

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High Country Magazine

December 2015

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828.898.9887 772.344.3190

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...of mind for our customers for over 100 years.

facebook.com/PiedmontFederalSavingsBank piedmontfederal.com Boone Branch | 828.264.5244 | 1399 Blowing Rock Road, Boone, NC 28607 N. Wilkesboro Branch | 336.667.9211 | 200 Wilkesboro Avenue, N. Wilkesboro, NC 28659 December 2015

MEMBER FDIC Š2015 Piedmont Federal Savings Bank High Country Magazine

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High Country Magazine

December 2015

ELEVATED SERVICE

In early 2015, through acquisition, we expanded Premier Sotheby’s International Realty’s presence in the High Country real estate market with the addition of a Banner Elk location to our existing presence in Linville Ridge. Today, we strengthen our presence with the acquisition of The Sterling Company, a brand with 20 years of local heritage and expertise. We are not only moving our current location, but combining our family and network with theirs, with Emily Bish at the helm as managing broker.

In the interest of best serving our customers and strategically growing our footprint, we have also acquired Blowing Rock Gallery of Homes and

Judy Green President and CEO

Land, a new sales gallery in Blowing Rock. We are excited to have Don Blair as the managing broker.

For over 50 years, Premier Sotheby’s International Realty has established itself through exclusive real estate marketing and advertising, powerful media partnerships,

CONTACT ONE OF OUR NEW NORTH CAROLINA OFFICES FOR A CONFIDENTIAL CONSULTATION

referral services and more – throughout its 31 offices across Florida and North Carolina.

Today, real estate in the High Country just became a little more extraordinary.

BANNER ELK | 828.898.5022 (new location) 1900 Tynecastle Highway Banner Elk, NC 28604 Emily Bish, Managing Broker BLOWING ROCK | 828.414.9400 159 Sunset Drive Blowing Rock, NC 28605

Judy Green

Don Blair, Managing Broker

3.4 billion in sales volume (2014 production) #31 among the 500 Largest Brokers in the U.S. (Real Trends 500, 2014 top U.S. Residential Sellers) #30 among the top 200 Real Estate Brokers in America (Real Estate Executive, 2015)

CHARLOTTE | 704.248.0243 716 East Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28210

LAKE NORMAN | 704.727.4170 19825 North Cove Road Cornelius, NC 28031

LINVILLE RIDGE | 828.898.5151 2245 Highway 105 Linville, NC 28646

Amy Hawke, Managing Broker

Terrie Fink, Managing Broker

Natalie Watson, Managing Broker

PREMIERSOTHEBYSREALTY.COM

Sotheby’s International Realty® and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission.

Each office is independently owned and operated.

December 2015

High Country Magazine

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THE FAQS OF TITLE INSURANCE FOR HOMEOWNERS

by Jeffrey J. Walker, Esq.

Need legal advice or Representation?

A HOME IS THE SINGLE LARGEST INVESTMENT MOST OF US WILL MAKE IN OUR LIVES. TO BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, GET OWNER’S TITLE INSURANCE. IT’S A SMART WAY TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY FROM FINANCIAL CLAIMS. TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS, HERE ARE ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS: WHAT IS TITLE?

Call Walker DiVenere Wright

A title is the right to own or use your property. A title also establishes any limitations on those rights.

If you are like the clients that have built our reputation, you want a lawyer who is local and available, one who listens and is responsive to you, answers your questions and understands your case and the courts. At Walker DiVenere Wright we’ll answer your calls. We’ll make time for your questions. We’ll listen. We won’t waste your time. We’ll explain the law and your choices and offer guidance.

WHAT IS A TITLE SEARCH? A title search is a standard part of the home buying process that is conducted to uncover issues that could prevent your right to the property. Your closing agent reviews public records to see if there are problems or defects that could cause you legal issues.

Walker DiVenere Wright is a full service law firm representing clients in civil and criminal matters, including: All Real Estate Matters • Wills & Trusts Accidents • Personal Injury Construction Matters • Insurance Claims Criminal & Traffic Matters • Family Law

WHAT IS TITLE INSURANCE? If you’re buying a home, title insurance is a policy that protects your investment and property rights. There are two different types of title insurance: owner’s policy and lender’s policy.

1. An owner’s policy protects your property rights for as long as you own the home.

2. A lender’s policy is usually required by the lender and protects only the lender’s financial interests. We recommend you ask an ALTA member how it’s handled in your area.

WHY SHOULD I PURCHASE OWNER’S TITLE INSURANCE? Purchasing owner’s title insurance is a smart decision because it’s the best way to protect your property from possible future claims.

WHAT DOES OWNER’S TITLE INSURANCE COST? The one-time payment for owner’s title insurance is low relative to the value of your home. The typical title insurance policy costs around 0.5% of the home’s purchase price.

HOW LONG AM I COVERED? Your owner’s insurance policy lasts as long as you own your property. Your life will change over time, but your peace of mind never will.

WHAT HAPPENS AT SETTLEMENT? You sign the legal documents and receive the keys to your home.

Jeffrey J. Walker Tamara C. DiVenere Anné C. Wright Andrew S. Jones

783 West King Street, Boone NC 28607 828-268-9640 • 800-451-4299 info@jjwpa.com www.lawyernorthcarolina.com 4

High Country Magazine

December 2015

Visit www.WalkerTitleTN.com for more information or call toll free: 866-727-0207 anytime.

Follow us on Facebook and Linkedin for current news on Title Insurance and Real Estate!

118 West Main Street, Suite A, Mountain City, TN 37683

Gifts for the techie

When Quality and Service Count The ShopS aT Shadowline Jeweler’s Name240Here Shadowline Drive • Boone, NC 28607

(828) 264-2000 • www.thestonejewelers.com December 2015

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C O N T E N T S

16 Boonff – Boone Meets Banff

As the Banff Mountain Film Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Boone screenings of the iconic festival world tour turn 20 years old in March. Today, the local screening has turned into a community festival that lasts for days and celebrates mountain culture, adventure and environment through film, photos and youth outreach.

30 Thrills on Snow, in Air

Hawksnest opened as Seven Devils Ski Resort in the mid-‘60s. In time, the challenging terrain and friendly atmosphere at Hawksnest became a local’s favorite in the winter. Today, it thrills folks of all ages with the tubing rides and ziplining tours.

40 The Battle for the Hemlocks

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Since a pest insect native to Asia was introduced in the eastern U.S. in the 1950s, Hemlock trees on the East Coast have been in danger. Find out how one man has dedicated his work to rescuing these trees in the High Country from the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and the interesting method he uses to do it.

50 Feeding the Hungry

What happens when people come together to use their talents to help their neighbors in need? Something wonderful, of course. Find out how a few friends in the kitchen turned a small idea into a thriving food ministry that reaches nearly 600 people a week in the High Country.

58 Looking Through the Keyhole

Since 2009, local residents and visitors alike have enjoyed live theatre performances in Blowing Rock thanks to the talented experts at Ensemble Stage.

Learn the story of the folks behind the performances and dive into the world of the High Country’s own professional theatre company.

on the cover Egidio Antonaccio

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great love of color and the inspiration from nature are the outstanding qualities one observes while viewing paintings by Egidio Antonaccio. Born in Castelluccio, Italy, “Egi”, as he is known, grew up with the strong influence of great Italian master painters. His artistic talent was recognized and encouraged at an early age.

He earned a degree from the Institute of Fine Art in Castrovillan, Italy and the Academy of Fine Arts with Honors in Florence, Italy.

Antonaccio made the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina his home in 1981 and later studied under American master landscapist Edward Szmyd in Blowing Rock who also recognized Antonaccio’s superior talent. His realistic oil paintings of mountain sunlit valleys and shadowy hillsides, paths filled with flowering shrubs and azaleas, woodland waterfalls with native rhododendron and dogwood, pastoral farm 6

High Country Magazine

scenes to a softly rendered Grandfather Mountain are testament to his ingenious imagination and exceptional talent. His work expresses his impressionistic inspiration derived from nature and the beautiful High Country. Antonaccio also has the inherent ability to paint the alluring light of nature as a focal point in many of his paintings, as he balances the fluidity of the paints with the impressionistic realism he captures on canvas.

Antonaccio’s “Winter Morning “ on the cover is a traditional oil painting rendered in his realistic style with a soft muted color palette contrasting with the shadows and the intensity of the winter light on the snow covered ground. The cabin’s cozy light in the window and smoking chimney beckons one to visit and enjoy the long range view of Grandfather Mountain cradled along the Blue Ridge. The painting is 24 inches x 30 inches and is oil on canvas.

December 2015

Antonaccio’s artwork can be found at Carlton Gallery on Hwy 105 in the Grandfather Mountain community. For more information on artists, exhibitions or workshops, call (828) 963-4288 or visit www.carltongallery.com.

READER SERVICES ABOUT US

The first High Country Press newspaper was published on May 5, 2005, and the first issue of High Country Magazine went to press in fall 2005. In March of 2012 the newspaper made the transformation to an online newspaper at our new website: www.HCPress.com. Our new “webpaper” is still packed with information that we present and package in easy-to-read formats with visually appealing layouts.

Our magazine represents our shared love of our history, our landscape and our people. It celebrates our pioneers, our lifestyles, our differences and the remarkable advantages we enjoy living in the mountains. Our guiding principles are twofold: quality journalism makes a difference and customer care at every level is of the greatest importance. Our offices are located in downtown Boone, and our doors are always open to welcome visitors.

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Our magazine is a wonderful way for businesses to advertise to our readers. Our magazines tend to stay around for a long time, on coffee tables and bed stands, and shared with family and friends. To find out about advertising, call our offices at 828264-2262.

BACK ISSUES

Back issues of our magazines are available from our office for $5 per issue. Some issues are already sold out and are no longer available.

CARLTON GALLERY Celebrating 33Years

“Winter Group & Small Works Exhibition” November 27 - April 30

PAINTINGS • CLAY • GLASS • SCULPTURE • WOOD • FIBER ART • JEWELRY Located 10 Miles South of Boone on Hwy. 105 in the Grandfather Community

TUESDAY-SATURDAY 10:00-5:00 • SUNDAY 11:00-5:00 8 2 8 - 9 6 3 - 4 2 8 8 • Call or check our website for workshop dates www.carltongallery.com • carltongallery@carltongallery.com

CHETOLA RESORT’S DAY PROGRAM SNOW Every Snow Day for Watauga County

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography and page reprints are available for purchase. For sizing, prices and usage terms, please call our office. Some photos may not be available and some restrictions may apply.

FREELANCE OPPORTUNITIES

Writers and photographers may send queries and samples to the editor at hcmag@highcountrypress.com.

Contact us at:

High Country Press/Magazine P.O. Box 152 1600 Highway 105 Boone, NC 28607 www.hcpress.com info@highcountrypress.com

Campers will enjoy: Arts & Crafts | Swimming & Fitness | Healthy Snacks Campers must bring lunches & bathing suits

Full Day: 10am-5:30pm

$35 per day | $30 each addt’l sibling or Chetola members

Half Day : 10am-2:30pm or 1pm-5:30pm $20 per half day

To register, call Chetola Recreation Center at 828-295-5535 either prior to or on the snow day. If it is before 7am or after 8pm, leave the name and age of the child(ren) to automatically register.

www.Chetola.com

828-264-2262 December 2015

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FRO M T HE PUB L ISH ER

A Publication Of High Country Press Publications Editor & Publisher Ken Ketchie Art Director Debbie Carter Contributing Writers Jesse Wood

Stepping It Up With Winter Sports

T

Ken Ketchie

he local ski slopes just keep getting better and better. That was made clear at a November press conference held by the NC Ski Areas Association, where the latest numbers were presented. And the numbers are big!

In 2014-15, the ski industry in Western North Carolina contributed nearly $200 million to the state’s economy. Last year, WNC ski resorts recorded 653,654 visits and $35 million in revenue. These visits were up 7.5 percent from the previous year and the revenues increased 14 percent over the year.

And that is bucking a national tread because overall the nation’s ski resorts saw visitation last year fall by more than 5 percent. These positive results come from the hard work of our local resort operators – Appalachian Ski Mtn., Beech Mountain Resort and Sugar Mountain Resort – which are leading the way.

The RRC Associates conducted the financial impact study commissioned by the state ski association. While the study showed that the six resorts in the state invested $8,493,000 in capital expenditures prior to this winter season, most of that came from improvements and expansions happening here in the High Country.

While Sugar Mountain Resort grabbed the headlines this fall with a visit from Gov. Pat McCrory to christen the Summit Express, the new $5 million, six-person, highspeed chairlift, and last year for Gunther’s Way, a slope perhaps as fun and challenging as any in the Southeast, Beech Mountain Resort and Appalachian Ski Mtn. have been just as busy during the recent summers to ensure a fantastic winter experience.

Beech Mountain Resort spokesperson Talia Freeman said that Beech invested arguably as much remodeling the village this past summer as it has in many years. This includes bringing tubing back to the mountain, a “fresh facelift” for the Beech Tree Bar and Grille and reopening its private club, the legendary Red Baron Room, along and major improvements to the chair lift, snowmaking operations and bathroom facilities.

This is on top of the addition of the 5506’ Sky Bar built a couple years ago at the top of the mountain.

Appalachian Ski Mtn., of course, was busy this summer as well. New this year is Appalachian’s new welcome center to be located just down the road from the Blue Ridge Parkway off of U.S. 321. The center is expected to open this winter season. Appalachian also completely refurbished its ice skating rink. As marketing director Drew Stanley said after last season, “I don’t think we’ve ever had a summer after ski season where we looked back and said, ‘That’s all we can do. There’s no more improvements we can make,’” Stanley said. “We continue to improve every year.” The mountain’s snow making capabilities are so strong that once the season kicks in, rarely do they have to make snow while skiers are on the slopes.

The point of the press conference was to highlight just how important the ski industry remains to the local economy and with the major improvements that our local slopes have invested in, it’s easy to conclude that all’s well with the ski industry. So hats of to the winter people who bring top-notch winter sports as well as visitors to the High Country.

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High Country Magazine

December 2015

Jessica Isaacs Kate Cahow Virginia Roseman Tim Gardner Contributing Photographers Sarah Weiffenbach Todd Bush Kate Cahow Advertising Director Jeffrey Green

SHARE WITH FRIENDS You can share our magazine with friends that are out of town by sending them to our website. Just click on “Magazine” in the Menu Bar and that will take you to our online magazine where you can flip through an issue online - just like you would with a printed copy.

www.HCPress.com HIGH COUNTRY MAGAZINE P.O. Box 152, Boone, NC 28607 828-264-2262 Follow our magazine online where each issue is presented in a flip-through format. Check it out at:

HighCountryMagazine.com Reproduction or use in whole or part of the contents of this magazine without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Issues are FREE throughout the High Country. © 2015

by High Country Press. All Rights Reserved.

December 2015

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Calendarof Events DECEMBER 2015

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5

December 12

Festival of Trees, Chetola Resort, 828-295-5500 Downtown Boone Christmas Parade, King Street, 828-268-6280

5

An Appalachian Christmas, Mountain Home Music, Grace Lutheran Church, Boone , 28-964-3392

5

Christmas Celebration and Parade of Lights,

5

Saturday with Santa, Ashe County Arts Council,

Banner Elk, 828-898-8395

West Jefferson, 336-846-ARTS

5

Ashe County Holiday Farmers’ Market, West Jefferson, 866-607-0093

5-6

The Nutcracker ballet, asu schaefer center

Anniversary Weekend, Appalachian Ski Mountain,

828-295-7828

6

Messiah Sing-Along, ASU Rosen Concert Hall, 828-262-3020

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11

11

Cedar and Shotguns: Old Christmas in Appalachia,

3

5

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Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, 828-295-9099

8-9

Holiday Stroll, downtown Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851 SPY Optics Friday Night Pool Party,

18-20

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24

828-898-4521

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25

828-262-4046

28-31

Christmas with the Annie Moses Band,

29

SugarFest, Sugar Mountain Resort, 828-898-4521 Ensemble Stage Christmas Variety Show,

30

American Shakespeare Center “Henry V,”

30

ASEF Boarder/Skier X, Appalachian Ski Mountain,

Skiing with Santa, Appalachian Ski Mountain, Christmas Day Ice Skating, Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

26-31

Midnight Blast Holiday Nights,

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

31

New Year’s Eve Extravaganza,

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

31

New Year’s Celebration, Sugar Mountain Resort,

828-898-4521 ext. 233

january 2016

2

K9 Keg-Pull, Benefiting Partners! Canines, High Country

TapRoom, Sugar Mountain, 386-506-1073 10

GNU/Libtech Shred for the Cup Big Air,

828-295-7828

National Winter Trails Day, Sugar Mountain Resort,

Santa at Sugar, Sugar Mountain Resort, 828-898-4521 The Nutcracker Ballet, ASU Schaefer Center,

Blowing Rock School Auditorium, 828-414-1844

EDGE of the WORLD Snowboard Demo Days,

Sugar Mountain Resort, 828-898-4521

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

High Country Magazine

December 2015

WinterFest, Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851 American Shakespeare Center “Julius Caesar,”

ASU Schaefer Center, 828-262-4046

Walker Center in Wilkesboro, 336-838-6260 12-13

Septuagenarian Party, Sugar Mountain Resort,

828-898-4521

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828 11-24

Shred for the Cup Rail Jam, Appalachian Ski Mountain,

828-295-7828

ASU Schaefer Center, 828-262-4046

828-295-7828

february 2016

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Dr. John and the Nite Trippers, ASU Schaefer Center, 828-262-4046

12-15

Valentine’s Day Family Weekend,

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

18-21

Totally 80s Retro Ski Weekend, Beech Mountain Resort,

20

Roxy Ladies Park Night, Appalachian Ski Mountain,

21

Shred for the Cup Slopestyle Finals,

828-387-2011

828-295-7828

27-28

Appalachian Ski Mountain, 828-295-7828

USSA/Southern Alpine Racing Association U14 and under, Sugar Mountain Resort, 828-898-4521

Boone’s

Winter Farmers Market D

o you love to cook with and enjoy fresh local foods? If so, you’re in luck this winter season! Colder weather may be setting in here in the High Country, but there’s a new farmers’ market in town that will keep your kitchen stocked with local products through the next five months.

The inaugural Boone’s Winter Farmers’ Market will take place the first and third Saturday of each month through April at the N.C. Agricultural Extension Conference Center, 252 Poplar Grove Road in Boone.

The winter market will be hosted by PHARMN, a local nonprofit that aims to “Preserve Heritage, Agriculture and Regional Markets Now.” PHARMN brings the Kids’ Corner to the Watauga County Farmers’ Market that takes place in the summer months.

“One of the things we do at the Kids’ Corner is to help expose and teach children about healthy foods and good nutrition,” said Susan Miller, a PHARMN board member.

The PHARMN board of directors has been working diligently for the past two years to establish a new market for the winter months. It will debut on Saturday, Dec. 5 and will be a great way to start the morning before you head to downtown Boone for the town’s annual Christmas parade.

The winter market will feature local meat products like beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and artisanal sausages, as well as root vegetables and storage crops like winter squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, radishes, and hardy greens like kale and collards.

European style artisanal breads from Owl Creek and classic favorites from Joan’s sourdough breads will be available, too, as well as jams and jellies, hand-knotted jewelry, pottery, photography, and so much more.

Enjoy coffee, breakfast foods, and live music as you stroll through Boone’s Winter Farmers Market this year and keep your pantry stocked with fresh local products.

“It has become a nationwide movement to have local fresh foods available all year round,” Miller said. “We have seen enthusiasm from summer market customers and from local vendors who can use a winter market as an additional source of income. That combination really pushed us forward.”

Boone’s Winter Farmers’ Market will be held on the following dates: Dec. 5 & 19, Jan. 2 & 16, Feb. 6 & 20, March 5 & 19, and April 2 & 16 For more information, call 828-773-3677 or visit www.PHARMN.org.

RICHARD W. O’BRIEN, III ElEctrical contractor commercial & residential custom lighting Stand By Generator Systems licensed & insured P.O. Box 1006, Blowing Rock, NC 28605 • (828) 963-3110 December 2015

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mountain

echoes

By Jessica Isaacs

High Country Press Publications Releases Inaugural Wedding Magazine For 2016

H

igh South Weddings is a brand new publication dedicated to the endless possibilities for storybook weddings and the folks that make them happen in the mountains of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and Southwestern Virginia.

Here at High Country Press Publications, we believe the panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains make the perfect backdrop for any bride’s dream wedding. We have added High South Weddings to our list of popular titles because we also believe in the area’s topnotch local event professionals, who are knowledgeable, educated, talented, capable, and ready to work for you.

For many years prior to the 1980s, our area was known as “the High South.” We think this moniker accurately reflects what today’s High Country has to offer brides, grooms, friends, and families, starting with fresh, cool mountain air and matchless southern hospitality.

With that in mind, we have teamed up with local experts to bring you the story behind some of the area’s most beautiful ceremonies and receptions, and we’re delighted to be sharing it all with you in this new magazine.

As you turn from one page to the next, take time to enjoy the stunning photography and read up on the services that our vendors and venues can offer.

Don’t forget to turn to our website and companion blog — a complete online resource and one-stop-shop for all things weddings in the High South.

Whether you’re planning your own big day, you’re part of the industry, or you’re just following the latest trends, we hope the inaugural edition of High South Weddings will inspire you to explore the beauty, marvel, and wonder of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The venues are breathtaking, the vendors are brilliant, and the possibilities are endless!

The magazine’s companion website, HighSouthWeddings.com, features an expansive online directory of the area’s preferred venues, vendors, and consultants. It’s your one-stop-shop for planning a wedding in the High Country, and everything you’re looking for is just one click away.

There’s also a digital version of the magazine available on the website. Flip through the pages of this online copy at no cost and 12

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December 2015

enjoy the same artistry that fills the pages of the magazine.

While you’re online at HighSouthWeddings.com, click over to our blog for helpful information, advice, inspiration, and real wedding stories of folks who tied the knot here in the area.

Keep up with HSW at Facebook.com/HighSouthWeddings and at Pinterest.com/HighSouthWed. Would you like to receive a copy of this publication by mail? Send us an email including your name and mailing address and we’ll be glad to send one right away. Send your request to our editor at jessica@highcountrypress.com or give us a call in the office at 828-264-2262.

We’re excited to share this new publication with you and look forward covering area weddings as we grow. Whether you’re planning a wedding here or you just want to keep up with the local industry, get a copy today or take a look online and let us know what you think!

High South Weddings

High South Weddings features stories of true love and couples who were married right here in the High Country. Get to know them, learn about what inspires them, and find out how they made their dream weddings a reality. Watch their stories come to life through the breathtaking images captured by local wedding photographers, who were instrumental in the development of the inaugural edition of this new magazine.

By Shannon Cuthrell

mountain

echoes

Grant Funding Awarded to ASU Professor Studying Mood-Memory Connections

A

fter earning her bachelor’s degree and working in a nursing home, Dr. Lisa Emery has always wondered why patients with Alzheimer’s disease could remember her face, but not her name. Now an associate professor in psychology at Appalachian State University, Emery uses that same curiosity as a basis for her research and recently was awarded a three-year grant to study the impact that mood can have on memory in older adults.

Emery developed an interest in psychology while pursuing an undergraduate degree in biology. She then spent years studying memory and aging in graduate school, earning her doctorate’s degree and working in a laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

More recently, through reading and conducting research in autobiographical memory, Emery learned that older adults cannot remember specific details about past events as well as young people can, but that older people tend to report feeling happier about their memories than younger adults do.

“I think these two things are related,” Emery said. “Older adults both forget the details of past negative events and re-construe negative events to be both less detailed and more positive.”

This idea is based on theories about “psychological distance,” which claim that an individual will feel better about a certain event if their mental image of the event is fuzzy.

To pursue her research in this field, the National Institutes of Health awarded Emery

a three-year Academic Research Enhancement Award of $270,375 just three days before the beginning of the current fall semester at ASU. In the studies she and her graduate students will be conducting, Emery will ask participants to recall events from their lives under different instructions, some in detail and others focusing on general remembrance. Researchers will then look to see how that will make people feel. Other times, the instructions will tell participants to either control their emotions or to be as accurate as possible, and the researchers will look to see how that impacts their memory.

Karen Fletcher, the director of Grant Resources and Services in ASU’s Office of Research, said that funds provided by grant dollars might pay for a student position on campus or for lab equipment and supplies or resources that are not typically supplied by the state.

“When faculty on our campus compete for national grants and are awarded the grants, it is evidence that our faculty members are on the cutting edge of their science or their particular field,” Fletcher added. “This provides students with the most up-to-date opportunities to learn and be engaged in that field.”

In addition to conducting research that will impact her focus of study, Emery also serves as chair of the psychology department’s honors program. Also, she sits on the university’s Institutional Review Board and has additional professional responsibilities, such as reviewing others’ manuscripts and grant applications.

Emery said, “It’s a busy but happy life.”

Pediatric Ophthalmologist Catherine C. Betor, MD, Is Now Accepting New Patients Specialized pediatric eye care is now available for our region.

Dr. Betor is a board certified, fellowship trained pediatric ophthalmologist with over 15 years experience.

Hickory • Lenoir • Lincolnton • Boone • Linville

(828) 322-2050

graystone-eye.com

December 2015

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mountain

echoes

By Katie Benfield

Local Artists Combine Talents for Community Piece

R

ecently, right here in the High Country, Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff came together as a business and created a 66” by 84” painting of Vincent Van Gogh’s “A Wheatfield with Cypresses.”

However, this is not just a painting. This painting is a rare trigintisextych panel piece, meaning it is made up of 36 different panels to create one big picture.

According to Web Alexander, the customer service manager at Cheap Joe’s, 36 people involved in this business came together to bring this painting to life. There were employees from all three of the stores — in Asheville, Charlotte and Boone — along with people from the marketing, warehouse, cost center, and human relations departments.

“My daughter goes to school out of a state, and they did something like this. They hung up a mural in their student union,” Alexander said.

“I thought it was a really cool idea and something I thought would be a lot of fun for us at Cheap Joe’s to do.”

Aaron Guffy, a Cheap Joe’s employee, is a graphic artist and helped to split the painting into 36 pieces so that everyone could have a specific part to paint.

“He handed out 36 panels to everyone,” Alexander said. “We gave everyone who wanted to paint one of the panels five weeks to return it to us.”

Once the panels were returned, they were fit together on two slabs of wood, braced by a third and held in place with a numerous amount of screws. In all, the process from the hatching of the idea to the completion of the eclectic painting took around two months to accomplish. However, regardless of the fact that Cheap Joe’s is notoriously late as Alexander put it, the wait was more than worth it.

“The painting is truly stunning,” Alexander said. “Every person who painted one of the panels used their own colors and their own styles, and it turned out working so well together.”

While some of the people who chose to participate in the painting consider themselves artists, some of the others did not.

“This painting was created by people who were professional artists, but also by people who were having to step out of their comfort zones to accomplish it. It’s actually really hard to tell them apart,” Alexander said. “I think it’s a good thing for the community to see something like this put together.”

Each artist used a different style, different colors and a variety 14

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December 2015

of different techniques. Some people used a lot of texture in their paintings, and one person even used a crackled texture, in which the panel looks as if the paint is cracking and crumbling away, Alexander said.

This is one of the first big projects Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff has ever taken on. In the past it has hosted painting swaps, where employees could exchange their original works with one another, but this was its first company-wide and community involved project.

“We really just try to encourage art amongst our employees,” Alexander said. “And Van Gogh is really meaningful to Joe Miller, so that’s why we chose a project like this.”

The employees of Cheap Joe’s brought a lot of Van Gogh paintings as options to choose from, but they settled with “Wheatfield with Cypresses” due to its large amount of distinctive characteristics throughout the painting, including the cypress trees, the sky and the ground.

“People have said when you see it in person, it really comes alive,” Alexander said. “There’s so much movement in it, especially with the swirly clouds.”

Although it was created with a variety of artists, techniques and colors, the end result has been a beautiful work of art put together by several people’s talents and time. It is now hanging in the upstairs lobby of the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum until Nov. 21.

“Van Gogh is one of the world’s most famous artists,” Alexander said. “This was our version and our tribute to him.”

The painting will also make an appearance at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in the first or second week of December.

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BANFF The Boone tour of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which celebrates its 20th birthday in March, is among the most attended screenings in North America.

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December 2015

20 Years In Boone Baniff # 2

By Jesse Wood

December 2015

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ASU students ascending Mt. Habel (10,128’) in March 2015, located along the Wapta Icefield in the Canadian Rockies. Expeditions like these are made more accessible to students from the proceeds of the local screening of the Banff Film Festival.

Trio Simpatico:

App State, Boone & Banff

A

valanche conditions turned Wesley Overvold and a fellow group of college students away from skiing up to a small alpine hut, which leads to the top of the Wapta Icefield in Banff National Park, on spring break in 2012. It was Overvold’s first expedition trip with the Outdoor Programs at App State, and the trek to the hut was to be a significant part of the trip. Next year, though, Mother Nature was more welcoming as Wesley returned to the backcountry of the Canadian Rockies as a student leader.

Situated about 1,400 feet below the hut, the trailhead began beside Bow Lake, which the glacier of the same name has carved out for thousands of years. The students skied across the frozen lake and up creek drainages through the forest, catching glimpses of the tall peaks here and there. “Suddenly after gaining so much elevation, the canyon opens up into a giant headwall with a hanging glacier pouring on top of it,” Overvold said. “That’s when it really felt like we left the tree line and [entered] the alpine.”

After the several-hour trek on skis, the group arrived at the Bow Hut, which sits on a ridge with huge mountain peaks looming from all directions. From the hut, Overvold eventually journeyed to the top of the glacier and to the top of the Wapta Icefield, where he saw an incredible terrain that he’d never seen before.

“The surface looked like Pluto, sheer white snow with mountains coming out of it. It was a very impressive sight,” Overvold said. “To have my first exposure to big mountain ski touring and icefield traversing shut down by very serious avalanche con18

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December 2015

The Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival is committed to the goal of being a world leader in inspiring creativity. The films and books have themes which celebrate mountain culture, environment, and adventure.

The Banff Magazine highlights many of those efforts. ditions was an education and it was very humbling, [and to return] and achieve that goal was a very cool experience that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

So what does this have to do with the Banff Mountain Film Festival? Well, through ticket sales, the Boone screening of the international film tour makes expeditions – like Overvold experienced – more accessible to students participating in ASU Outdoor Programs. While the Boone screening turns 20 years old in March, the Banff Mountain Film Festival turned 40 this November.

The Beginning of Boonff Joe Quinn and Brent Cochran were onto something. In 1992, the two former managers of ASU’s Outdoor Programs attended an outdoor recreation conference in Calgary, Canada. There they saw a presentation on the Banff Mountain Film Festival and how to bring it to your town. Immediately, they knew that this would be something appreciated by the Boonies.

But, with a program that was expanding rapidly, there was not enough time to create events like this until a third professional,

Outdoor Programs has an archive of Banff memorabilia from the past 20 years.

Rich Campbell was hired in 1996 to help, which is when he wrote a grant to bring Banff to Boone.

That first year about 150 people attended the one-night screening in Farthing Auditorium, but that probably wasn’t representative of initial local interest or awareness. Campbell joked that promoters of the inaugural event made it a “requirement” for Outdoor Programs staff to attend. The next year the show moved to I.G. Greer, and attendance steadily increased. In 2005, the event returned to Farthing Auditorium (now the Schaefer Center) to stay. Aside from Rich Cambpell, Associate that show in 2005, the screenDirector for Outdoor Programs ings in Boone have sold out ev- at Appalachian State University ery year for the past 15 years. Last year, more than 5,200 people attended the event, which is now a four-day community festival that includes private screenings for stakeholders and appropriate screenings for school-age students. After the screenings this year, the number of people to see the Banff Film Festival in Boone will surpass the 50,000-person threshold.

While the festival isn’t quite a week-long event, the expanding programming – such as the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, A4 Chloe Tipton, ASU Senior and Outdoor Programs trip leader hosting March 2015 Banff Film Festival. Outdoor Programs has a tradition of honoring graduating seniors who have contributed to the program the opportunity to host the event every year.

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award and (new for this year) a competition to decide the design of a Banff banner to be displayed on the street posts in Downtown Boone for years to come – gives community members something to do, create, think or talk about something that has a connection to the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour throughout the entire year.

ASU Outdoor Programs encourages students to embark on their own outdoor adventure, while the mission of the Banff Centre, which produces the international film festival, is to “inspire creativity.”

The festival that Campbell produces as Associate Director of Outdoor Programs is one that merges both missions seamlessly. The Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition (AMPC), which began in 2004, has become one of the premiere photography competitions in Southeast, garnering more than 1,000 submissions last year. The public has the opportunity to vote for “Best in Show” and the finalists are showcased for three months in the Turchin Center for the Arts from February to June.

The “A4” award stands for Appalachian Adventure Achievement Award and is eligible to those under 17 and those in between the ages of 18 and 24. The A4 award recognizes two young outdoor adventurers who excel in their mountain sport and, more importantly, are – in short – good people doing good work in the communities of Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties. All of the winners are an-

December 2015

nounced on stage during the festival.

“One of the things we want to do is personalize this as much as possible.

That’s why we created the photo competition and bring in film makers, athletes, directors, and even bring the wilderness to the festival,” Campbell said five years ago, when the Blue Ridge Wildlife Institute at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk were invited to bring in Peregrine falcons and Northern Saw-whet owls.

“We want to make the Banff Mountain Film Festival [tour stop in Boone] a celebration of the High Country.”

‘Boone May Do Banff Better Than Banff’ That’s what Will Gadd said on the Schaefer Center stage in 2012 to a crowd that responded with a thunderous roar. A filmmaker and ice climber, Gadd came to town as a special guest to present his film, Ice Revolutions. He also led workshops on climbing and ice climbing at the college, Footsloggers and in the wilderness. On stage, Gadd reminisced about attending the festival in Canada as a kid. He talked about Banff being influential in his filmmaking and climbing career.

“It inspired me at a very young age to try something different with my life and get on the mountains, so I appreciate that. That same energy and psyche is here [in Boone].

In fact as I said earlier today, Boone may do Banff better than Banff does,” Gadd said.

“Boone has a great mountain town spirit and I feel totally at home.”

Jamie Carpenter has been touring North America as an onsite coordinator for Banff for about 16 years. He’s one of the famed Banff road warriors, a title that Carpenter says is a playful take on the lonely life on the road, traveling from place to place to assist the local screenings and present films to the audience. “We’re kind of lone wolves out there on the road,” Carpenter said.

Ask a road warrior what they think about Boone, and you’re likely to hear glowing remarks about the town’s people, landscape, mountain activities and the high-quality production of the Banff screening. “All of the fellow road warriors know about Boone, and all talk very fondly about their time there,” said Carpenter, who has been to Boone three times. “Boone has a reputation for being one of the very best [screenings] in North America” Carpenter offered a few reasons why the Boone screening is held in such high regard. He said, that for one, “Rich Campbell is a great guy and does a great job with the show.” Carpenter noted the organization of the Boone screenings and the many volunteers from ASU Outdoor Programs that make the event happen.

“The hosts, organizers and audience members really get into the show and we really feed from that, too,” Carpenter said.

When Banff comes to town, the enthusiasm and energy jump off the walls at the Schaefer Center. You can feel the buzz in the building. The films are captivating, and the response from the audience is electrifying. Paul Price, another road warrior who has been to Boone a few times, agreed with Carpenter. “Boone is one of the top attended festivals in North America, maybe the world,” he said in 2010. “It is one of the top destinations on the road for us in terms of how well done it is and how

Godfrey Masauli at ASU before a campus workshop.

Godfrey spoke on entrepreneurship, flight mechanics, and his experiences from rural Malawi.

enthusiastic the crowd is. Just the whole feel and vibe of each evening is spectacular.”

‘The Boy Who Flies’ Comes To Boone A major part of the local production is community outreach. Since 2004, the Boone screening has invited a number of

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special guests – either someone featured in a Banff film or a director or producer. But there is one particular tandem of guests that seems to stand out from the dozen or so special guests that have come to town: Godfrey Masauli and Benjamin Jordan.

Masauli and Jordan created “The Boy Who Flies,” an award-winning documentary film that made it on the festival world tour in 2012-13. Jordan, a Canadian paraglider, traveled to Malawi after having a dream of teaching Malawian children the joy of flying kites. There, he meets Godfrey, a young man who has always had the dream of flying. The “odd pair” tour the country on bikes, building kites for youth, while journeying to the highest peak in Malawi, where Godfrey will eventually become the first Malawian to paraglide.

“Observing himself through the eyes of the Malawians, Jordan must come to grips with truths about who he is as a westerner while; Godfrey is required to reach deeper into his faith than ever before as he prepares to leap off a mountain and trust that the paraglider he’s been carrying–will carry him in return.

Shining a new light on Malawian culture and lifestyle, “The Boy Who Flies” dives deep into the unique perspectives of both characters as they confront and overcome the challenges on their journey, each in their own unique way,” according to a description of the film shot with a simple “point-and-shoot” camera Campbell reached out to Masauli to see if he wouldn’t mind coming to Boone for the screening. Campbell sought financial support across multiple departments at App State to fly him to Charlotte, where Campbell would eventually pick him up.

Once Jordan heard that Masauli was coming to Boone, he packed up his home, an old, converted school bus, and drove down from western British Columbia, a trip that took a week.

Campbell recalled Masauli talking about people in his hometown questioning Masauli about his plans: “Why would somebody invite you to come to the United States? Have you ever met Rich? I’ll know its real when you don’t come back off that airplane” – they said.

It was too expensive to fly Masauli from Johannesburg, South Africa, so he made his way to America via Rome. The custom agents in Rome questioned him as well and wondered why he was coming to America and if he was really who he said he was. So, Masauli told him about the film, “The Boy Who Flies,” and the customs agents went online and were floored, ushering over others to meet Masauli and look at the trailer.

“They thought it was so cool,” Campbell said.

While in Boone, Masauli and Jordan took part in several activities on the Appalachian State campus and in the wider community. Masauli visited Hardin Park Elementary School.

He and Campbell led a workshop, teaching fourth graders how to make kites using old newspapers, sticks, tape, string and 22

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December 2015

Godfrey working with students from Hardin Park.

His kite building workshop is unique because he uses materials that can easily be found and he emphasizes a message that students should follow their dreams, like he did when he learned to fly.

Godfrey also works actively with schools in Malawi. pieces of old shopping bags and flying them on the playground.

Jordan and Masauli also held a paragliding-basics clinic with Bubba Goodman atop Tater Hill and held a meet and greet, Q&A session with the public at Footsloggers in downtown Boone.

Their time in Boone was noteworthy for another reason. It was the duo’s first public appearance since creating “The Boy Who Flies.” It also became the impetus for the two to tour North America in Jordan’s bus, promoting the film and build support for the school they are trying to create in Malawi.

Carpenter, the Banff road warrior, was in Boone the year that Masauli and Jordan came to the High Country. “Having the stars of the film in the community and spending time with them there was just fantastic and seeing the response from the community to them was quite special,” Carpenter said. “That was very special, and I think what Rich and the Boone show does, relatively few shows would do to go the extra mile to make that happen.”

Full Circle: From Boone to Banff … or Wherever The year Overvold and the rest of the expedition crew turned back because of dangerous avalanche conditions, the students visited the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, and received a “behind the scenes look at not only the inner workings of the festival, but the center as a whole,” Overvold said. He described the town as a “big artistic community,” one located within the Banff National Park with a population of about 8,300.

“It really brought it full circle,” Campbell said of the first

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Outdoors Programs, a unit within University Recreation in the Division of Student Development, strives to provide students with opportunities for development. Students are essential in every aspect of the program including leading trips/clinics, managing the Outing Center and Climbing Wall, and working to make events like the film festival possible.

Programs mission of adventure produces a pretty neat dynamic expedition that featured a trip to the Banff Centre, where the students were “blown away” by the creative production. Dur- for students that want to merge the two disciplines in their ing the 10-day trek in Canada – two of which were spent travel- education and life. Consider Overvold, who is 26 years old. He ing – the students spent eight days on snow taking an avalanche now works for a media marketing company in Big Sky, Mont., certification course, working at a commercial ski operation, where he is a videographer and a photographer. learning the fundamentals of backcountry skiing and embarkTommy Penick has a similar background with Outdoor Proing on a 5-day traverse of the Wapta glacier, learning about grams – as far as his love of the Great Outdoors and an ability crevasse rescue, safe glacier travel – and, of course, enjoying to make a living as a photographer and videographer. In 2007, some great skiing and peak ascents along the way.

Penick was walking down Rivers Street when he stumbled upon Over the years, students within the program have traveled a lively crew of outdoor enthusiasts in puffy down jackets. A to New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Canada, Costa Rica, Italy, Alaska senior at Watauga High School, Penick was touring the Appalaand other parts of the United States. The curriculum and itinerary of events are aligned with the student’s majors. Campbell said the students learn basic life/ career traits and skills, such as punctuality, professionalism, dependability and good judgment and, of course for the outdoor world, practice safety. “Another thing I really love to see is students overcome adversity,” Campbell said. These expeditions, he explains, are intense, but if you “dig deep, prepare, pack well and be smart about taking care of yourselves” you are rewarded and usually gain the most out of the trips.

He described one trip to the Canadian Rockies where the students endured harsh winter conditions. “All of a sudden the clouds part, the wind dies down and you find yourself on a summit on a ski trip in the backcountry in the Canadian Rockies,” Campbell said. “I had two students look at me Will Gadd, one of the world’s leading adventure athletes, attended the Boone and say, ‘This is the best day of my life,’ and to be a screening in 2012. While in Boone, Gadd conducted filmmaking, catalyst to get a student to that point … is pretty cool rock and ice climbing clinics. Gadd, one of the world’s top ice climbers, and I count myself lucky everyday to be apart of that conducted an unusual ice climbing workshop on an artificial ‘ice’ surface in some ways for these students.” on the Footsloggers Climbing Tower.

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he Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, created by former OP manager Andrew Miller and first held in 2004, grew out of the Banff Film Festival after the event organizers “decided to create a tangible way for the entire community to interact with the themes of the film festival, while celebrating our own unique mountain culture here in the Southern Appalachians,” Campbell said.

“It’s our own local to global celebration of mountain culture,” Campbell added.

That inaugural year about 100 images were submitted and 16 displayed for exhibition. Today, it’s among the most prestigious photo competitions in the Southeast.

Consider that last year upwards of 1,000 images were submitted with 49 finalists showThe traditional cake cased in the Mezzanine Gallery in the Turchin Center for the Arts, where they were viewed by more than 8,000 people. Each year, the Turchin Center hosts an exhibition for the AMPC finalists from about February to June.

For 2015, categories for the AMPC, which features $4,000 in cash and prizes, include: Adventure, Blue Ridge Parkway, Culture, Our Ecological Footprint, Flora/Fauna, and Land-

scape. Leading up to the Boone screening of Banff, where the winners will be announced on stage, the AMPC features an online competition where the public can choose the “People’s Choice Award.”

“We could not present this competition without the assistance of our partners, sponsors and supporters,” Campbell said. The AMPC is a partnership between Appalachian State University’s Outdoor Programs, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts and Virtual Blue Ridge. The AMPC is made possible through the sponsorship of the Mast General Store. The AMPC also receives support from the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation; Appalachian Voices; Nikon, Bistro Roca, Peabody’s, Footsloggers, and Stickboy Bread Co.

Rich Campbell presenting awards at the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition

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chian State University campus as a crowd gathered at the former Farthing Auditorium to watch the annual screening in Boone.

Penick scored a ticket and walked inside to watch outdoor films steeped in mountain culture. At the time, he was still undecided about where to go to college. But after watching the amazing films and seeing the camaraderie between the members of the outdoor community, Penick knew App State and Boone would be home for a while. While a student at App, he never embarked on the extended expeditions, but he did paddle the High Country rivers, ski at the local resorts and bike all over the nearby forests.

As a freshman, he started submitting photos into the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, where he is now one of the more recognizable names because of the many times his photos have been selected as finalist images or received awards. He also volunteered with the Boone screening of Banff, where he found “awesome access as a budding filmmaker” to talk with professionals in the industry. Today, he travels the world, making a living off his photographs and video.

Earlier this year, Penick reached out to Campbell regarding a four-minute film he produced and directed titled, “Juma of Itanda.” Penick asked if his film would be something that the Banff Centre would be interested in. Campbell watched the film and said, unequivocally, “Yes.” Its world premiere was on opening weekend of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Canada in November.

Here’s how Banff describes the film: “As a boy, Juma watched the first rafting group paddle to Itanda, the Class V rapid named after his village on the Victoria Nile in Uganda.

From that spark, Juma’s passion for the river grew, eventually leading to his current role as Director of Operations at the

T

Tommy Penick was a student in the ASU Commercial Photography department and was active in film and the outdoors while at ASU. Tommy’s passion for filmmaking was ignited at ASU and is the first local to have a film screened at the Banff Film Festival.

country’s largest raft outfit. However, a dam project threatens his dream.”

“Juma of Itanda” was among 350 films that are annually submitted to the festival. Only the best of those are selected to premiere at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Canada. “It’s definitely a dream come true,” said Penick. Depending on how well the film is received, it has a chance of making the final list of the 20 to 30 films eligible to be shown on the world tour. If that happens, you can bet we’ll be watching it in Boone next March. 

wo years ago, Jason Berry of Footsloggers said he was on the environment, mountain culture and adventure. Last interested in increasing their level of support for the year, the weather was nice as it could be for March in the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour in Boone. Over a High Country and more than 1,600 middle school students cup of coffee at Espresso News, Berry and Richard Camp- attended the special Banff school screening.

In another attempt to engage a younger audience, Campbell, organizer of the local Banff screenings, both gravitated toward offering age-appropriate screenings of Banff films to bell and company created the A4 Award. The “four A’s” stand for Appalachian Adventure school children.

Achievement Award and is eligible Campbell said as this converto those under 17 and those in besation was brewing, the Office of tween the ages of 18 and 24. The Cultural Affairs at ASU was reA4 award recognizes two young structuring its popular AppLause outdoor adventurers who excel in series, which offers special events their mountain sport and, more shown at the Schaefer Center to importantly, are – in short – good school-age children. Footsloggers people doing good work in the ended up providing the extra supcommunities of Ashe, Avery and port with AppLause providing the Watauga counties. The winners logistical assistance and networkwill be announced on stage during ing with school administrators to the festival on March 18, 2016. turn the idea into a reality.

“We try to give back to the loDuring the first school screenSchool children leaving a viewing at Schaeffer Center cal community, and a good way ing in 2014, 350 children braved an unexpected snowstorm to attend the school screening to give back to the local community is through the youth, at the Schaefer Center. The kids travelled to six different through the schools and celebrating young people as well,” countries on four different continents and watched films Campbell said.

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B

ence. “Here in Boone, since we have such a broad and active outdoor community, we have generally tried to create balanced films that feature all areas of the outdoors,” Campbell said.

And like how Banff has a number of related activities to create a festival like atmosphere, so does the Boone screenings, which are shown to the public two nights a week, school-age children on one day and a private screening for stakeholders and sponsors.

The local four-day festival features special guests that engage with the community, the Appalachian Mountain Photography Competition, the A4 Award for young outdoor enthusiasts doing good work in the community and more. This year, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Campbell said organizers intend to create a few more special events over the course of the weekend – so be sure to check those out.

Referring to the community outreach with special guests and the competitions and other related activities beyond the screen, Campbell said, “That has grown into an important part of this festival and has always been well received.”

Unique Gifts for Everyone on Your List

Seana Strain, World Tour Manager of the Banff Mountain oone is among 1000 shows in 30 different countries that host the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. While Film Festival, had these good words to say about the Banff and the Boone screenings will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the Boone screenings: “I think Boone itself influences the response to Banff. You March, the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Canada turned live in a beautiful location and 40 years old this past November. the Appalachian State Campus Each fall filmmakers, explorshows that the community value ers and adventurers descend on the outdoors and outdoor recrethe small community of Banff in ation. It seems like a place that Alberta to watch selective films people choose to live to embrace about mountain adventure, envithe outdoor lifestyle. The Banff ronments and culture. The Banff Mountain Film Festival films fuel Centre, which has a mission to that spirit. inspire creativity, produces the I also think the long-time festival. sponsors of the Banff screenings The nine-day festival hosts really contribute to the exciting about 10,000 people who are enenergy. Their commitment has gaged through workshops, clinbeen a huge help in the growth of ics, screenings, world premieres, The legendary Mountain Alliance T-Shirt launch is held at the shows. presentations and more. The film the beginning of every screening in Boone, pumping up the And last but far from least, the festival happens simultaneously as audience. The Mountain Alliance is an incredible organization staff at the Schaefer Auditorium the Banff Mountain Book Festiat Watauga High School building leaders of tomorrow through are exceptional. They continuval. Each year, about 350 films are service, outdoor education and adventure. ally make the films look and sound submitted. These are narrowed down to several dozen to be screened at the film festival. The fantastic. That really helps to draw the crowd in. And your final cut of films, the best 20 or 30 of the festival, are eligible to audience is known for being loud and appreciative. Boone is one of our favorite stops on the tour (remember we present approxibe on the world film tour.

Rich Campbell, event organizer of the Boone screenings and mately 1000 shows a year and visit about 40 countries!).” staff at ASU Outdoor Programs, peruses all of the films and selects films that he thinks WILLOW OLD FORT STUDIOS TREE will be best received by the Boone audiSKIP HOP BIG WHEEL CLOCK UGG BOOTS

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Boone Film Festival

Showcasing Your Stories within Appalachia So, a businessman, a teacher and a coach walk into a bar...

S

ounds like the beginning of an interesting joke, but on February 7 of last year this combination of individuals in an unexpected setting founded a festival that will bring together the world of film and the Appalachian way of life.

The first Boone Film Festival is scheduled to debut on February 27, 2016. Appalachian State University’s IG Greer Theatre will be the venue for these talent­laden short films showcasing the Appalachian region. Boone, North Carolina, as well as all of the High Country, is host to creative individuals that pursue many unique pastimes, hobbies and passions.

This film festival is for them, for anyone who From Left: Bill Ireland, Russ Hiatt, Eitan Abramowitz, and Jason Berry has ever captured a moment on video, played festival and make it different from the others that are already around with some editing, and then couldn’t out there?” These were great questions, shared with friends one wait to share it with all they knew.

“This film festival is for the community, its people, its places, night in a local Boone bar.

Local high school soccer coach Bill Ireland was among the its uniqueness. I know there are thousands of people out there with videos saved on their computers or even phones,” explains trio. Ireland has had some experience getting thoughts and desires off of paper and implemented into Jason Berry, owner of Footsloggers. real life. While working with the high “So many people have a Go Pro in school’s non­profit Mountain Alliance these days, or a phone that can take club, Ireland often brainstormed and great videos. These individuals have then collaborated with the community to inspiring stories just sitting on their get great ideas into motion. computers. This festival is for anyone, With the work ethic of a businessman, of any age, with any interest to share the passion of a teacher and the commutheir perspective of the world with othnication skills of a coach, the question of ers.”

The Boone Film Festival is an out- Have some great footage that you are excited to “Why doesn’t Boone have its own film let for the people of—or for that mat- edit? Ready to get serious about shooting new festival?” has been made moot. On, November 2, 2015, submissions opened for ter visitors to—the Appalachians, to footage? Have an interesting story to tell? Get the inaugural BooneFF. Within a very share the beauty and feel of this onesome friends together and make some magic! short while BooneFF received it first sub­of-a-kind region. Perspective is the key mission, Beekeeping in the High Country. element to this film festival. The filmMore submissions have followed. Submismaker’s perspective is what makes the film real. Whether it be a well­cut, polished 30 minute film set to sion time is open now through January 15, 2016.

When the festival’s three masterminds were asked what they music, or just a camera picking up a telling moment in the here wanted the readers of this article to walk away with, there were and now — both are great, both need to be told.

Other film festivals can be found around the globe, and while three different takeaways: 1. SUBMIT, submit your piece. If your production is meanthe common thread they share is film, each tends to have its own unique angle. One such festival is the Banff Mountain Film Fes- ingful to you and you want to share it, DO IT. This is a perfect tival hailing from Canada. Banff will be showing its 20th world opportunity to share a passion and to meet others who share the same. tour film series in Boone during January 2016.

2. Email us, ask us questions. Many people wonder if their An enthusiast Banff goer, Watauga County school teacher Russ Hiatt, asked the question that many have asked before, idea is sound, or have questions about how to finish a piece. If “Why doesn’t Boone have its own film festival?” The difference they contact us, we can help point them in the right direction between Hiatt and others who have asked this question in the and give them guidance. BooneFF is partnering with Wonderpast, is that Hiatt asked the next questions, “What will it take to land Woods Productions, and they can help get the individual in do it?” “Who should be involved?” “How can Boone do a film contact with professionals in the film festival industry.

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How To Submit Your Films

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Submission Dates

Films for the first Boone Film Festival may be submitted starting 11/2/2015 and must be received no later than 1/15/2016 5:00 pm EST.

Festival Event Date

The Boone Film Festival event will happen on Saturday February 27, 2016. Time: TBD. Location: IG Greer Theater on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC.

Submission Categories

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There are two classes of entrants: Youth Class (up to age 17 by 12/31/2015) and Open Class.

The Boone Film Festival seeks entries in the following categories:

Mountain Culture

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Any film connected to mountain culture that is about the Appalachian Region, and/or about persons from the Appalachian Region.

Adventure

Any film related to adventure, exploration, or the spirit of adventure that is about the Appalachian Region, and/or about persons from the Appalachian Region. Films can feature any outdoor pursuit.

Environment

Any film that pertains to the environment that is about the Appalachian Region, and/or about persons from the Appalachian Region.

3. Believe in yourself. Filmmaking is a form of art, and there is no one right way to do it, nor wrong way to tell your story. If you are interested, the odds are that a segment of the population share that interest as well, and you could network with those viewers that are like­m inded.

So, be brave, be unique, be a storyteller in the happenings of the Appalachians and share your perspective of this way of life with your community in the first­ever Boone Film Festival. Deadline for submissions is January 15, 2016. Visit their website at http://boonefilmfestival.com/ for guidelines about submissions.

Even if you are not a filmmaker, you can still be part of the film festival by attending on February 27, 2016. This event is open to everyone. There will be a Q&A session with each artist whose work is presented, as well as a few seminars during the day. Currently, an artistic member from the Lord of the Rings films Dean Lyons, is slated for a session about film editing. In addition to attending, another way to participate is to become a sponsor. Both individuals and businesses can sponsor the event or specific categories of the event.

Email BooneFilmFestival@gmail.com for sponsorship opportunities.

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Hawksnest: The Local’s Mountain Slopes Make Way for Tubing, Ziplining

By Jesse Wood 30

High Country Magazine

December 2015

T

he Seven Devils Ski Resort opened in 1966 – about two years after, as the legend goes, seven men on horseback, including future developers of the mountain, explored an old wagon trail on the mountain, scouting property that today makes up Hawksnest, a snow tubing and ziplining attraction.

At the time, the ski industry in Western North Carolina was in its infancy. Seven Devils Ski Resort became just the third ski area to open in the High Country – ahead of Beech and Sugar and preceded by the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge, now known as Appalachian Ski Mtn., and Hound Ears, which closed in the early ‘90s. “I remember being up there before the golf course was built, before the ski area was built,” said Tom Gidley, whose father was one of the men on horseback and who later managed the resort in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. “Pretty soon, they started developing the golf course … and not much longer after that they decided to purchase land further up in the valley, which is where they developed the ski area.”

Tom was 7 years old when the 1,300-acre resort was initially developed by the L.A. Reynolds Industrial District, Inc. Tom’s father, Gardner Gidley, was a land planner in Winston-Salem.

Gardner designed the golf course and helped lay out the land that future generations of skiers and snowboarders and eventually tubers and zipliners would enjoy. His partner was Herb Reynolds.

Herb constructed the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge. Gardner along with Herb and his three brothers – Buck, Frank and Dan Reynolds – were among the seven horsemen who were surveying the old

After more than 40 years of skiing in Seven Devils, Hawksnest today is a family-friendly tubing and ziplining attraction under the Cottom family. The resort, however, has always been family friendly – even if the slopes back in the day were a bit more challenging than others around the High Country.

The Hawksnest Ski Resort was known as the “local’s mountain” and “skier’s mountain” because of the challenging terrain and local clientele who enjoyed the slopes and nightlife scene.

Jon Reynolds, owner of the resort in the ‘80s, said, “We promoted that. We wanted it to be a local’s spot.” farmland near the Avery-Watauga county line in 1964.

The Seven Devils Ski Area – along with the resort’s amenities such as the golf course, the lake, riding stables and campgrounds at the time – prospered until it was sold in 1972, according to history on the town’s website. The next decade proved to be troublesome as the resort went bankrupt and the property changed hands several times. (Seven Devils Ski Area wasn’t the only resort around in financial straits at the time.) A quasi property owner’s association kept things a float until a new ownership group stabilized the fiscal problems and helped residents incorporate into a town in 1979.

Throughout this turmoil, Seven Devils Ski Resort experienced “low attendance and inadequate snowmaking [that] plagued Seven Devils, keeping the resort closed or operating on weekends only,” author and outdoor enthusiast Randy Johnson noted in Southern Snow: The Winter Guide to Dixie in 1987.

But, as Johnson wrote, once Jon Reynolds, son of Herb, purchased the ski area in the early ‘80s, business and the fun really flourished. Reynolds immediately set to work expanding the ski lodge, updating the chairlifts and improving its snowmaking and grooming ability. “But probably the single most important thing he did was change the name of the resort to Hawksnest,” said Tom Gidley, who ended managing the resort under Reynolds for about 10 years. “It gave us, as a management, an opportunity to create a whole new image up there.”

Jon Reynolds, who helped his father construct the Blowing Rock Ski Lodge while a freshman in college, said he changed the name to Hawksnest because of the red-tailed hawks that flew in the area. He also said he “kind of patterned” his business December 2015

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Plans of Seven Devils Resort Published in the Winston-Journal in 1965

L.A. Reynolds Industrial District, Inc. developed Seven Devils in the mid-‘60s with a ski resort, golf course, horse stables, campgrounds, lake and more on nearly 1,300 acres. his resort was modeled after the Tanglewood Development in Forsyth County. concepts with what Grady Moretz did at Appalachian Ski Mtn. and also didn’t hesitate to lean on advice from then General Manager at Sugar Mountain Resort, Gunther Jochl. He described both as mentors within the industry. “Those were great days and very enjoyable. The ski

business is a great business and not a cutthroat business. People worked together and when one of us had problems we all went in there and worked it out,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds stepped in at the right time, too. Gidley described the early ‘80s as a “bustling growth period” for the local ski industry as Sugar Mountain Resort, Ski Beech and Appalachian Ski Mtn. all were thriving. The now-defunct slopes of Hound Ears and Mill Ridge were also popular among those who “[didn’t] want the region’s longest runs – or its longest lift lines,” according to Southern Snow.

‘The Skier’s Mountain’

Reynolds aptly navigated the competition and under his watch it became the local’s mountain – or as Johnson wrote

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in his guidebook, the “skier’s mountain,” where the area’s ski patrollers, for example, would carve up the slopes and hangout in the lodge. In fact, Reynolds even promoted it as such because Hawksnest didn’t have the great beginner terrain or proximity to the college that Appalachian Ski Mtn. enjoyed or the “sheer vertical transport speed” of Sugar and Beech. The terrain was challenging and the intermediate to advanced skiers from across the High Country gravitated toward Hawksnest and its friendly vibe. “We promoted that,” Reynolds said. “We wanted it to be a local’s spot.”

The bar on the upper level of the lodge was a popular hangout spot and, as Johnson remembered, had “just a great atmosphere.” Even though, the bar closed at 2 a.m., the skiing lasted until 4 a.m. during

The Old Ski Slopes – When Randy Johnson, the author and outdoor adventurer, looks up above the tubing runs and sees Top Gun, the old expert ski slope, coming down the mountain, it gives him pause. Mother Nature, he said, could take over that mountainside with trees fairly quickly, and he’s glad most of the old slopes appear to be mowed regularly. “Because who knows, it would be great if Hawksnest [skiing] could come back from the dead some day.” the weekend Nighthawk sessions, which and later bought 10 little cottages on Sevwas the first night skiing in the area. “The en Devils from his father, including the Nighthawk program put a lot of extra ski- one that he initially rented from L.A. Reynolds in 1969. ers on the mountain,” Reynolds said.

In 1986, he began running the resBill Wilkinson was around for plenty taurant at Hawksnest, of those Nighthawk days.

Today, Wilkinson owns “In my early 20s, I was something he would do for about two deGrandfather Trout Farm on top of the world to be cades. He recalled and Gem Mining on N.C. handed the keys to an when 55,000 skiers 105. In 1970, Wilkinson’s father moved here exciting up-and-coming would come through in a year and when from Charlotte and built ski area at that age,” he would be in the a house on Seven Devils. said Tom Gidley on kitchen making food Wilkinson rented one of becoming manager of late into the Nightthe little cottages from the L.A. Reynolds enterprise Hawksnest in early ‘80s hawk sessions. “That first time I made a in Seven Devils, the ones beautiful breakfast prospective buyers stayed in while they looked for property. While buffet and all they wanted was cheeseWilkinson opted for a charter member- burgers,” Wilkinson laughed. He said ship on Beech Mountain, he purchased a he was “amazed” at how busy the slopes share of the Inn at Seven Devils in 1971 were in those days. On a good weekend,

Tom Gidley, former manager at Hawksnest during the ‘80s and early ‘90’s pictured here in 1983.

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Leonard Cottom (in blue shirt) and his son, Lenny, talk about the expansion plans in 2007 that never did come to fruition.

Leonard bought the ski resort in 1992 from Jon Reynolds and brought Lenny on to help run the business.

The main reason I bought the golf course was to bring my family together – to all have a nice life together,” Leonard said in 2007. maybe 1,000 skiers were skiing late into the night and an average night was about 500 to 600 skiers. “It used to wear me out,” Wilkinson said.

By the late ‘80s, Hawksnest was growing out of its facilities.

“We needed more parking. We needed more lodge space and more bathrooms and more beginning slope terrain,” Gidley said, adding that the resort turned customers away if the lift wait time lasted more than 10 to 15 minutes. “That was tough turning away people on a busy Saturday with great ski conditions,” Gidley said. Reynolds said he attempted to buy the golf course with expansion and beginner terrain in mind initially but the owner wouldn’t sell.

Reynolds said he actually was advised not to buy the ski resort without the golf course to begin with by an engineering consultant, who had a hand in the Deer Valley Resort in Utah.

Pictured in 2007, the tubing lanes at Hawksnest were introduced a year earlier. Hawksnest was part of a national movement among ski resorts to diversify its product. Around the country and the High Country, ski resorts now offer mountain biking, venues for weddings and festivals, ziplining, and, of course, tubing.

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Reynolds was quick to note that he regretted not listening to that advice. After three straight seasons of declining profits in the state ski industry, Reynolds ended up shutting down the operation because of loan debt and the costs of a new sewage treatment plant required by the state, according to an Associated Press article in 1991. Instead of investing more in an operation that couldn’t grow because of space constraints, Reynolds said he elected to sell. “I’d put so much into that mountain that I really didn’t want to go any deeper,” Reynolds said.

Golf & Ski Becomes Tubing & Ziplining Leonard Cottom bought the property from Reynolds in 1992, and a year before he purchased the adjacent Hanging Rock Golf Course from one of the early investors of the Seven Devils area. This was the golf course that Reynolds coveted. As

surprisingly timid toward Leonard told High Counor fearful of snowboarders. try Magazine in 2007, “The As Lenny explained in 2007 main reason I bought the some of the moves were part golf course was to bring my of the plan to cater to youngfamily together – to all have er customers and entice folks a nice life together.” to come up to Seven Devils, Leonard brought on his which he said at the time son, Lenny, to help out with didn’t’ have accommodathe family business, which tions similar to the other was renamed Hawksnest local resorts or as much poGolf & Ski Resort. They imtential clientele in proximity. mediately went to work on “It’s an easy drive for [the grooming Hawksnest image others]. And we don’t have as the local’s mountain, and that, so it’s much harder for they set out to improve the us to get those people on weekend Nighthawk sesThe bar on the third floor of Hawksnest lodge was a popular hangout the mountain,” Lenny said. sions and late-night bar scene spot that was described as having a “great atmosphere.

“The [younger generation] even more. And in 1994, the ” It was a local’s joint, and the Nighthawk sessions contributed to saves us because they’re not Cottoms built Top Gun, an adrenaline-pumping slope the popularity of the bar because skiing lasted until 4 a.m. – though the necessarily coming up here and staying.” that catered to the adventurbar closed at 2 a.m. – during those sessions.

About a year after Lenous daredevil. ny made those comments, “Ultimately, [Hawksnest] got even better [after the Cottoms took over]. They put in an Hawksnest’ customer base would get even younger. In August expert slope called Top Gun. It went from the very top down to 2008, the Cottoms announced that it would only offer tubing. the side of the chairlift,” Johnson said. “That became an expert No skiing on the mountain came as a shock to the community at run and by the time we got closed up there, the ski area had got- the time, but maybe not as much of a jolt as the Cottoms closing ten to be pretty multifaceted: a really good advanced run, really the golf course in 2005. The prior year’s hurricane season – with good intermediate runs and lower-grade beginner terrain that Hurricane Ivan and Frances – damaged facilities at Hawksnest and wreaked havoc on the golf course. Repairs were estimated was nice – and there was a cool lodge.”

Under new ownership, Hawksnest remained receptive to to cost more than $1 million to fix a course that only a few dozen snowboarders – in a time, looking back, that people were still residents of Seven Devils played during a regular basis. So, the

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Lots of Fun! Tubing at Hawksnest Snowtubing Park

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December 2015

Cottoms opted to shut it down.

The closing of the golf course certainly irked some folks, but others understand this was a business decision. “I don’t blame them for a thing,” said Wilkinson, who golfed on that course many, many times.

“Businessmen make business decisions.

They go with what makes money.” Town officials and concerned citizens even looked into acquiring the golf course through eminent domain but realized it would cost about $2 million to reopen the golf course based on a commissioned study.

In 2005, Cottom had applied with the town to expand its operations, including adding more beginner terrain, a new parking lot, a new lodge building and 2,200foot quad chairlift – on the old golf course.

The Seven Devils Board of Adjustment, which Wilkinson was on the board, originally denied the special use permit request, a decision that was appealed by the Cottoms in Watauga County Superior Court.

Then, as Sam Calhoun of High Country Press wrote in 2008, “after four years of tensions, meetings, permit denials and appeals” between the town and resort, the Seven Devils Board of Adjustment approved a plan for Hawksnest to expand its beginner ski area and tubing run. But then some residents appealed the adjustment board’s approval. With the Cottoms finding themselves back in the appeals process, they elected to close the ski resort and open the largest tubing park on the East Coast – an announcement that was made in the summer of 2008.

Tubing made sense from a business perspective. The tubing expansion didn’t require a special use permit from the town.

Tubing doesn’t require the chairlifts all the way to the top of the mountain, nor does it require as much snowmaking capacity.

Plus, it needed quite a bit less manpower to operate throughout the winter season.

When the end of skiing was announced, Lenny told High Country Press, “We did more tubers last year than skiers anyway.

For less money, I can invest in making a great tubing park that can be the largest on the East Coast.”

Today, the tubing park features four different areas to snow tube with more than 30 lanes that span 400 to 1,000 feet long. Instead of chairlifts, two moving carpet lifts move people to the top of the tubing park, which has been bustling in recent winters just as the ski resort did in its heyday. In the summer of 2013, the Cottoms invested more than $200,000 to add more lighting, new snowmaking equipment and

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The lodge is the center of activity on Hawksnest. It’s where zipliners get harnessed for the tour and in the winter time, the tubes are all stacked nearby. The zipline tours make Hawksnest a year-round destination. In all, the zipline course has four miles of riding, reaching more than 200 feet in height and up to 50 mph. a new lane groomer.

In an effort to create a year-round attraction, - and as part of a national movement for resorts to diversify their properties, Hawksnest added the ziplining attraction several years ago as well. These two exhilarating tours – the Hawk and the Eagle – fly over the trees, through the canopy and above creeks and lakes. They both feature swinging bridge tours. The Eagle Tour is open for kids at least 8 years old, while the Hawk Tour is open for those at least 5 years old.

The zipline attraction is open year round, including when snow is on the ground. Four of the 20 cables are known in the industry as “mega zips” – with two of the super cables 2,000 feet long and the other two 1,500 feet long. In all, the zipline course has four miles of riding, reaching more than 200 feet in height and up to 50 mph.

“The Hawk tour … is more scenic of the two. It’s probably the best all around tour,” Cottom said this past summer. “The Eagle is more extreme. Everything over there is higher and faster. If you want to go with you hair on fire on the long cables over and over again, that’s the place to go.”

Cottom stressed an unblemished safety record in eight years of ziplining atop Seven Devils. Employees are trained for an entire month before working with 38

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December 2015

The Cottoms invested more than $200,000 in 2013. This investment added lighting and increased the snowmaking ability. It also funded a new lane groomer that has improved the quality of the more than 30 tubing lanes at Hawksnest. customers. The equipment is checked once a month, and an independent third party checks the course once a year. “We do daily inspections on the course,” Cottom said. “It’s very safe. The course is designed with redundancy all throughout. Our harnesses have two points of contact. So if something happens to one, you still have a backup to hold you.”

The adrenaline rush is for the young and old, and the ziplining attraction has proved to be a great activity for the whole family or groups to enjoy. Cottom mentioned that seeing the growth of a family member or friend overcome their fears on these excursions certainly makes the activity worthwhile. “We get just as many parents nervous as kids.

It’s just a fun thing to do with kids, to watch them overcome fear and then be out there in nature with gorgeous views, zipping over lakes and over creeks and spending a fun two hours with family or friends or whoever,” Cottom said. “It’s just a lot of fun.”

Last winter as the season was coming to an end in early March, Cottom stood inside the lodge that was bustling with activity. Hundreds of folks were hanging out either inside or tubing or ziplining outside. Smiling faces abounded, something that Cottom said makes the enterprise worthwhile. “It does, especially when you see a lot of families,” Cottom said. “It’s important for people to come out and spend time with their kids, and [tubing and ziplining are] something that they can do together.” 

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A Hero for the Hemlocks More than two decades into the war on the deadly hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), hemlock trees and forests are re-growing and thriving up and down the East Coast. Dr. Richard McDonald has played a vital role in that process – particularly in North Carolina and the High Country – by employing a management approach featuring predatory beetles.

Armed with his signature bamboo stick and upturned umbrella, McDonald ventures wherever necessary to collect a tiny black beetle – Laricobius nigrinus – that’s taking a huge bite out of the East Coast’s hemlock crisis. “Whether it’s golf courses, parks, neighborhoods or the grounds of a state mental hospital – where I’ve been mistaken for an escaped patient – I follow the beetles,” laughs McDonald.

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A man on a mission to help save the East Coast’s hemlock ecosystem from the dreaded hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA)

By Kate Cahow

P

Becoming the Footman in the Battle for the Hemlocks

erhaps you’ve seen him, tall and slender with a disheveled ponytail hanging out of the back of a ball cap. Toting his signature bamboo stick and an upside down umbrella he rushes from one hemlock tree to another, as if on a mission.

Nancy Stairs, Urban and Community Forestry (U&CF) Plastic vials with rubber tubing dangle from the pockets of his shirt as he wedges his umbrella beneath a bunch of branches, program coordinator with the NC Forest Service, is well aware pounds with his stick, then peers intently within to assess the of McDonald’s passion for the work, and of his fearlessness in going against the conventional wisdom of what will and won’t contents.

An odd sight to be sure. But there is a method to what may work with the HWA. Through the U&CF federally-funded grant program (from 2004-07), she funded several projects look like madness. through the Blue Ridge ReThe man, Dr. Richard source Conservation and McDonald, is indeed on a Development Council that mission – a mission to help resulted in support for sevsave the East Coast’s hemlock eral of McDonald’s early Ln ecosystem from the dreadcollection trips out west. ed hemlock woolly adelgid “We had this problem, (HWA). His primary ally – the hemlock woolly adeland what he’s searching for gid, and at the time there in that upturned umbrella – weren’t any effective opis a tiny black beetle, Laricotions to deal with it,” said bius nigrinus (Ln), a natural Stairs. Concerned about the predator of the HWA. impact of the potential loss A pest of Asian origin, of hemlocks on the state’s HWA was accidentally introwestern-most communiduced into the Eastern US in ties, she provided funding the early 1950s. It was not for McDonald to collect considered a pest insect until Ln – Lari for short – in the the late 1980s, when forestLaricobius nigrinus (Lari for short), a winter-active beetle, is the primary Pacific Northwest, and to ers began to observe the devweapon in the battle to control the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Lari turn around and make reastation of hemlocks in Virlarvae hatch and feed on HWA eggs and crawlers, causing 90 percent leases of the predator in the ginia’s Shenandoah Valley. or greater mortality of the pest. HWA appear as fuzzy white specs on the region. The aim and hope Infestations in North Carounderside of hemlock needles.. was that Lari would become lina were first discovered in established in wild field in1995. sectaries and then spread, providing the relief and protection McDonald, sole proprietor of Symbiont Biological Pest Management and former Biological Control Administrator hemlocks needed to survive, re-grow and thrive.

“With that bit of initial funding, Dick took the ball and ran with the NC Department of Agriculture, has made a huge dent in the crisis primarily by traveling to the Pacific North- with it,” Stairs said. “If he hadn’t been so driven, so focused, so west (PNW) to collect enormous sums of Ln for release in East willing to stick his neck out and be the prophet, we would not Coast locations where HWA infestations are heaviest. Support be where we are now – with validation that these predators are for this work from federal and state agencies, including the US established and spreading on both public and private lands.”

“To have gotten to this point is certainly a triumph, with Forest Service, the USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service and the NC Forest Service, enabled him to share the much of the credit going to Dick,” she said. “He’s been the footbeetles – and his hard-won knowledge – in both the public and man of the program – getting it to the public and increasing private sectors. Considered by some to be a rogue player in the awareness of the problem. Nobody else believed in or was willing to push the issue like he did.” battle to save the hemlocks, he is passionate about the effort.

McDonald has been involved with HWA research and control “For more than 20 years, the narrative in mainstream media has been that the hemlocks are doomed, that they will go efforts since 1999, originally through work with his alma mater, the way of the American chestnut. Not true,” affirms McDon- Virginia Tech. Tech was the first of several Eastern universities ald. “We now know from the science – and because the trees to receive federal funding to lab rear Laricobius nigrinus. At the bear witness – that getting enough of these predatory beetles time it looked like the best bet for widespread control of the HWA. out there is saving giant swaths of hemlocks.”

December 2015

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Back in 2005, the dark specter of grey ghosts, or the dead and dying hemlocks blighting the countryside in Western North Carolina and up and down the East Coast, appeared to be the shape of things to come. Not so, said McDonald. As a foot soldier in the battle to save the hemlocks for the past decade, he provided the glimmer of hope tree lovers were counting on..

An Homage to the High Country News’s Big-Picture Coverage of the HWA Pest

A

s the devastation being wrought upon our northern neighbor’s hemlocks wound its way down through Virginia and into Western North Carolina, the High Country Press rallied to play its part to ensure the same would not happen in North Carolina.

Beginning in 2005, HCN editor and publisher Ken Ketchie supported and cheered on Sam Calhoun’s meticulous coverage of the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) crisis. Together they provided a big-picture look at the details of its arrival, the consequences of infestation, efforts to educate those fighting what looked like a hopeless cause, and ultimately the glimmer of hope High Country citizens were counting on.

Over the next six years, Calhoun – first as a staff reporter, then associate editor and finally as managing editor – scribed a prolific collection of articles for HCN on the topic. He gathered reams of information and interviewed numerous HWA experts and others working to manage the crisis.

The following glimpse into Calhoun’s work pays homage to his and Ketchie’s coverage of the battle to slay the HWA. The first article, penned by Calhoun with HCN managing editor Kathleen McFadden for the October 13, 2005 issue of HCN, began with a frightening statement that set the scene for

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It soon became evident to some within the circle of HWA experts that lab reared Ln were not the key to the crisis. Mark Dalusky, program coordinator for the HWA Operational Control Project at University of Georgia from 2008-14, is one of them. He describes the work McDonald spearheaded in the PNW – the collection and re-distribution of wild-caught beetles – as the best chance for achieving success controlling the HWA here in the East.

“Lab reared individuals are not as fecund as wild-caught beetles, they are substantially more expensive due to infrastructure and personnel requirements, and they most definitely suffer from degeneration within the lab colonies,” said Dalusky, who managed such a lab at UGA. “Dr. McDonald has demonstrated establishment of wild caught Ln in large areas, and the hemlocks in these areas have begun to recover,” he said.

As the former coordinator of Georgia’s operational program to battle HWA, Dalusky’s stake in the project was high. According to him, the state is particularly susceptible to the ravages of the pest due to its deep-south geography and extreme weather events.

“Georgia has a very tough row to hoe regarding its hemlocks,” he said. “We’ve got the warmest average regional temperatures for hemlocks, the longest growing season, and significant annual and multiyear droughts contribute to HWA caused tree mortality.”

Currently, all of Georgia is infested with HWA, with threequarters of the area to the point of significant tree decline, says Dalusky. Mortality on US Forest Service land in the state is more than 300,000 trees.

Taking the Ball and Running

Grandfather Golf and Country Club Using a biologically-based pest management program – with Lari beetles at its center, McDonald and Peter Gerdon, superintendent at Grandfather Golf and Country Club, saved thousands of hemlocks on the club’s 1,100 acres from HWA infestation. The sweet success of their efforts is evident in the lush, giant hemlocks lining the fairway and the surrounding forested property. Today, the beetles have spread more than 80 miles in all directions.

December 2015

Back around 2005, as the sad reality of HWA’s presence from Georgia to Maine became apparent in the shape of grey ghosts blighting the countryside, the option of using wild caught beetles as a control option gained ground.

A year later, a fortuitous bit of news provided even more impetus for using the predator – and for McDonald’s expanding role as foot soldier for the program.

Through DNA sampling, the US Forest Service discovered HWA is native to the Pacific Northwest. According to McDonald, whose entomolog-

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the publication’s coverage.

It’s potentially even more devastating than the chestnut blight of the early twentieth century, and efforts so far to arrest its spread and deadly infestation of indigenous hemlocks have failed. It’s the hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) – a tiny insect that is killing trees thousands of times its size.

The comparison of the HWA’s impact with that of the chestnut blight is an apt one with one exception, according to Rusty Rhea, an Asheville-based entomologist with the USDA Forest Service assigned to Forest Health Protection. Rhea points out that when the chestnut trees died, oak trees partially filled the resulting void in the ecosystem through mass production (acorns). “But when we lose the hemlocks we have nothing to fill the void,” says Rhea. “In some ways it will be worse than the chestnut blight. As a result of it the ecosystem was altered. The result of the hemlock wooly adelgid is that an ecosystem will be lost.”

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That first article provided information on the HWA’s origin, how it got to the Eastern United States, its description and impact on the trees.

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Calhoun’s words painted a vivid picture of what the loss of the hemlock ecosystem would look like:

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Anyone who has driven through the High Country in the past five years has witnessed the devastation. Our mountains and forests, once an unbroken sea of lush green, now have grey ghosts jutting from the canopy. Those grey ghosts are what’s left of the hemlock trees – one of the most important parts of the wilderness ecosystem on the East Coast.

There’s no inventory of the number of hemlocks in the Southeast, but Rusty Rhea says we have millions of them. Every third or fourth tree in the Smoky Mountains is a hemlock, he said. And those trees have no natural resistance to the insect.

The looming specter of hemlock loss isn’t just an esthetic loss. Hemlocks are a critically important species to the High Country region, home to the headwaters of at least five river systems. Hemlock shade helps to keep the rivers and streams cool, preserving native trout and providing refuge for significant numbers of wildlife species.

“If we don’t save the hemlocks, then you can say goodbye to trout and other cool water fish and invertebrate species,” Dr. Richard McDonald said.

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The HWA is an introduced pest that is native to Japan and China. It is a common inhabitant of the forest and oriental hemlocks in Japan.

The HWA’s introduction into the Eastern United States was likely through Asian nursery stock. It was first collected from eastern hemlocks in 1951 near Richmond, VA. It was first reported in North Carolina in 1995.

The HWA is a tiny reddish-purple aphid-like insect 1 to 2 mm long and about 1/32 inch thick. As it matures it produces a protective white woolly wax. Infested branches become covered with circular, fluffy, white blobs that collect near the base of the needles.

The insect feeds at the base of the needles, causing them to dry out and take on a gray cast. Through its feeding the insect depletes the food reserves from the tree’s storage cells. The trees lose their needles and are unable to produce new buds.

Heavy infestations can kill trees in as little as four years. One-half the range of hemlocks in the Eastern United States is infested with HWA, affecting 16 states from Northeastern Georgia to Southeastern Maine.

R

McDonald began studying the HWA in 1999, two years after he left the NC Department of Agriculture. Since then, he has been involved with research on the HWA at his alma mater, Virginia Tech; he has taken several trips to the Pacific Northwest to study the balance between species of beetles and the HWA; and he has collected perhaps the most data of any individual in our region concerning the

December 2015

ical focus is biological control of insects, “This changed everything.” He explains that in the Pacific Northwest, HWA is not a problem for hemlocks because it’s kept in check by a natural system of insects, including Lari – also native to the PNW. HWA became a pest on the East Coast because none of these predators were present in the environment.

“We’re attempting to recreate that balance by introducing HWA’s natural predators, and we’ve identified Lari as one of the best,” he said.

A second HWA predator, Scymnus coniferarum – a small black and gold ladybeetle that also feeds on the adelgid – was discovered in the PNW by McDonald and US Forest Service researcher Dr. Michael Montgomery in 2006. This summer-active beetle is a On New Year’s Eve day of 2003, McDonald gathered at Hemlock Hill in Banner Elk with Dr. Stewart Skeete, natural complement to the winter- biology professor at Lees-McRae College, and David Mausel, then a doctoral student at Virginia Tech, to active Ln, creating an aggressive tag make the very first release of lab-reared beetles in the High Country team for attacking HWA. In the past decade, McDonald has taken more than 65 trips tablished in and around Banner Elk from beetles released there out West to collect Lari – and more recently Scymnus, and to over the years. study the relationship between HWA and these predatory bee“We now have Lari established throughout the High Countles. Most importantly, he’s contributed a whopping 153,000 try region,” said McDonald. “And because they are prevalent in predatory beetles to the cause – 90,000 were collected in the the landscape, wherever HWA is still present Lari will be able to Seattle/Puget Sound region, the rest from wild insectaries es- hold it in check. We’re hoping to do the same with Scymnus.”

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release of predatory beetles.

While at an HWA conference at Virginia Tech, the topic of discussion centered upon Carolina and Eastern Hemlocks – the ones infested with the HWA in the High Country – living and thriving in the Pacific Northwest, despite the fact that they are infested with HWA. McDonald had to see for himself. He planned a trip to the region to collect beetles for testing back east. What he found amazed him.

On a scouting trip to the Seattle Golf Course he found the whole facility was crawling with eastern hemlocks – healthy hemlocks that had survived there since the 1940s and had resisted heavy infestations of the HWA. Laricobius Nigrinus, a predatory beetle, was their secret – McDonald calls it Lari for conversation sake. Because of Lari, 60- to 70-year-old hemlocks, which all have the HWA, have survived with no pesticides because, “they have entered into a state of balance,” says McDonald.

“Most trees in our area have gone through the burn down – they’re fried. But they’re not gone,” added McDonald. “If we get enough of these bugs out, we can save the hemlock ecosystem. These bugs hold the key.”

Contemplating the huge body of work he produced on the HWA topic, Calhoun says: My job became penning the argument to silence the naysayers – to give hope to a hopeless cause. While these articles were being published, more and more “gray ghosts” became evident in the High Country. It became a tough sell as the pest became prolific. But the facts are facts, and now we enjoy proven progress.

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December 2015

Hemlocks Thriving Not Just Surviving This is where the battle to control the HWA currently resides: validation of the native predator model through repeated success of these predators holding the pest in check not only in the High Country, but in other release sites including the Delaware Water Gap, Rocky Gap, Md., the New River Gorge, W.Va., the Highlands of Virginia, points further south in North Carolina and dozens of sites in Georgia.

“Because this is a systems approach, both the adelgid and Lari will become a permanent part of our eco-system,” said Peter Gerdon, superintendant at Grandfather Golf and Country Club. “As in the Pacific Northwest, they will co-exist here, Lari holding HWA in check – rather than decimating it – because it is its primary food source,” For 12 years Gerdon’s waged war against HWA on the club’s 1,100 acres, first through the use of chemicals and finally with McDonald’s assistance.

“The treatments – primarily Merit products – gave us three to five years of control before we began working with the biologicals,” he said.

In 2008, Gerdon and McDonald received funding from the GGCC board of directors to collect Ln beetles in the PNW for introduction to their property. Since then they’ve dispersed 15,000 beetles on the club’s grounds, making it the largest Ln release site on the East Coast.

Today, the beetles have spread more than 80 miles in all directions, and the beetles are re-growing and thriving, not just surviving.

The sweet success of their efforts is evident in the lush hemlock forest surrounding the property – and far beyond, as news of their success has been picked up by the media.

“We’ve been featured in both our state (CGCSA) and national (GCSAA) associations’ publications, and on the cover of the Char-

McDonald and Sam Calhoun, former reporter and managing editor with High Country Press, back at Hemlock Hill in Banner Elk – the site of their 2005 interview and the location of the first release of lab-reared Ln in the region. Over the course of the crisis’ rise and gradual decline, Calhoun wrote more than 48 articles on the topic.

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Laricobius nigrinus (Lari for short), a winter-active beetle, is the primary weapon in the battle to control the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA).

Lari larvae hatch and feed on HWA eggs and crawlers, causing 90 percent or greater mortality of the pest. HWA appear as fuzzy white specs on the underside of hemlock needles. Pictured here is a large number of adult Lari crawling off a cotton ball at a release site. lotte Observer,” said Gerdon.

“It’s a big thing to be front page news these days,” he laughs.

“Usually you have to blow up something to get that kind of coverage.”

Another Ambassador for the Hemlocks For Sam Calhoun, a former staff reporter and managing editor with the High Country Press, Gerdon’s comments about the HWA issue strike a very personal chord. For several years (2005-10), he covered the crisis, scribing a prolific 48 articles on the topic. He gathered reams of information and interviewed numerous HWA experts, including McDonald, who was his first and primary source on the topic.

“I went from a casual observer to an enthusiastic ambassador after a half-mile hike through Banner Elk’s Hemlock Hill,” Calhoun said of his first interview with McDonald.

“Before I knew it we’d slung a bunch of umbrellas and other equipment over our backs and were running up the hill,” he said. “Dick went off path to find certain trees he wanted to tell me stories about. His passion for the subject, his empathy and respect for the trees was genuine.”

Calhoun credits McDonald with bringing the plight of the hemlocks to light for him, and as a result he felt personally charged to bring attention to the topic through his writing.

“I was blessed to learn from Dick. His breadth of knowledge on the subject translated easily onto our pages. He’s an inspirational communicator, and my increasing exposure to his science empowered me to pass the knowledge onto others,” he said.

“My job became penning the argument to silence the naysayers – to give hope to what appeared to be a hopeless cause.

It became a tough sell as the pest became prolific, but the facts are facts, and now we enjoy proven progress.

“My heart smiles that Dick’s work is being recognized on a larger scale. This is a selfless, scientific journey on his part.”  48

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Equipment Required for 1 Person Collection/Release 1) Long pole to tap hemlock branches 2) Large Cooler 3) Newspaper to insulate beetle containers from freezer packs 4) ~2 freezer packs (keep beetles cool, not frozen) 5) Data recording – sheets and maps 7) Marker and pen/pencil 8) Paint brush to transfer any leftover beetles from container 9) Clippers to cut hemlock twigs for aspirator and containers 10) Beat sheet or umbrella 11) Flagging tape to mark release trees 12) HWA-infested hemlock twigs for aspirator and containers 13) Pint paper cartons and rubber bands to hold lids in place 14) Aspirator and 10 dram vials with hemlock twigs inside 15) Camera/Cell phone to record release site and trees 16) Thumb counter to record number of beetles collected 17) Light gloves (optional)

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Food for the Soul Walking in Faith to Feed the Hungry

BY JESSICA isaacs

Lori Hubert works to prepare vegetables for a community meal at Alliance Bible Fellowship.

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December 2015

Sheila Temple stirs a large pot of stew in the commercial kitchen at Alliance to get ready for a weekly meal with Green Street Catering.

S

omething beautiful happens when we’re willing to take a leap of faith and follow God’s lead. That’s just what Chastity Lesesne, executive director for Green Street Catering, did five years ago when an idea was tugging at her heart.

Her trust in Him was rewarded with the provision and the help she needed to feed hungry people in the area, and the ministry now reaches more and more people every week.

In the wake of a dramatic downturn in the national economy, Lesesne was led to serve her community in 2010 when she heard from her best friend about a successful food ministry in Valdese, a small town in eastern Burke County, North Carolina.

“Sheila told me about a program that worked with other churches and organizations in the community to offer meals once a week to people in need,” Lesesne said. “I was just intrigued by it all and could not lay it down.”

Along with what she’d learned about the Valdese operation, her love for cooking and her heart for serving others inspired her to establish a food ministry right here in the High Country.

“I needed to make sure this was God and not just me with a fun idea, so I started praying about it,” she said. “He led me to really do some research to see if there was a need in our community for something like this.”

She joined her friend for a tour of the Valdese ministry, and the rest is history.

“She took me down there and they fed us

and I got to watch how it all happened. I came back home and I just would not let it go — I couldn’t,” Lesesne said. “I couldn’t sleep and I was talking to God about it all of the time — Is this you? How can we do this? What is this?

Sure enough, He answered me and I knew we were going to do it.”

After months of careful research and a whole lot of prayer, she learned there were many people and families in the High Country that were facing food insecurity and could benefit from a free hot meal every week.

“I found out there was a need and there was a niche in our community that wasn’t being met,” Lesesne said. “It was then confirmed by everyone in the community who wanted to work with us.”

Shortly thereafter, Green Street Catering was born.

STIRRING THINGS UP

With a group of friends and loved ones by her side, Lesesne set out to serve and share a free meal with anyone who needed it once a week. Although they had no catering experience, each member of the team felt at home in the kitchen and led to use their cooking skills as a tool for community outreach.

“I majored in hospitality management, but I’m not a chef. I’m like every mom out there, planning meals and figuring the cost of everything,” Lesesne said. “I am as frugal as I can be so that dollars given will go as far as they can go.

Chris Knoezer chops vegetables and prepares a salad that will serve hundreds of people at Green Street’s weekly meal.

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Matt Shoffner and Chastity Lesesne show off their holiday spirit as they work to prepare meals and Thanksgiving baskets at Alliance in late November.

“I do love to cook. My father was a pastor and I come from a family where we had people in our home all of the time, so I have never cooked for just two people.”

Named for the Lesesne’s family home in downtown Boone where the first meals were prepared, the company served its first 40 meals to local people in need in late October 2010.

“We served about 40 meals that first night. We thought we would have maybe two or three, so we were just over the moon,” Lesesne said. “It confirmed the need for what we were doing, so we decided to keep doing it.”

Although the company operates independently from the church, Alliance Bible Fellowship in Boone serves as its home base. Meals are prepared in the onsite commercial kitchen and then served

or picked up for delivery from the adjacent dining hall.

“My family is proud to attend that church and they have been very gracious to us,” Lesesne said.

Today, Green Street serves approximately 600 people each week with the help of hardworking volunteers, dedicated community partners, generous contributors, and compassionate faith-based leaders.

Thanks to recent growth and continued support, the company has expanded its services to meet several other needs in the area, including a summer grocery program, a special Christmas project, holiday food baskets at Thanksgiving and Easter, and so much more.

“It started off as three friends standing in the kitchen, doing what we all do at home — making a meal using what

Lynn Boutilier tapes printed copies of the weekly scripture to packaged meals for delivery into the community.

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December 2015

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Green Street Catering relies heavily on its partnerships with local establishments, including restaurants, grocery stores, and other small businesses.

“I can not say enough about our community partners. Every time I go to them and tell them what we’re doing next, they send a check or donate food — they always give,” Lesesne said. “Not only that, but they pursue me to find out what we need and they really want to be a part of it.”

If you’re a business owner or local leader and you’re interested in partnering with Green Street, contact Lesesne by email at greenstreetcatering@gmail.com.

Green Street’s primary sponsors and community partners include: • Walmart • Food Lion • Chick-fil-a • Wells Fargo • Stick Boy Bread Company • The Dan’l Boone Inn • Thomas Judy & Tucker CPAs • The Best Cellar at the Inn at Ragged Gardens • Chandler Concrete Company & Grotto Hardscapes • LiLilu on King • VPC Builders • C.R. Catering and Casa Rustica Restaurant • Amato Dentistry by Design • Wendy’s/Tarheel Capital • Clark Tire • AllState Insurance – Wendy Green • Casting Bread Ministries • High Country Insurance • Watauga Surgical Group • Blue Ridge Ear, Nose and Throat • Hollar and Greene Produce, Inc. • Roots Restaurant • Goodnight Brothers • Burton Photography • Kilkelly’s Properties

you have and taking it over to someone who needs it,” Lesesne said. “It’s everyone’s compassion and God’s provision that have made it into the organization that it is today.”

SHARING A MEAL

Every Thursday, the Green Street team shows up at Alliance early in the day and spends hours upon hours chopping, stirring, baking, cooking, and packing up hundreds of meals. Anyone who needs to receive a meal is invited to meet them around 3:30 p.m. to eat, and remaining fresh food products are available for folks who need a few groceries.

Taped to each boxed meal is a Bible verse that changes every week, printed in Spanish for some neighborhoods, and a note for writing prayer requests that can be returned to Green Street.

“Everything started with our Thursday meals, and I think that’s what resonates with December 2015

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Volunteers Speak

“People see that it’s more than just food. Many of them think to themselves, why would anybody go out of their way to do this? It’s an opportunity for us to tell them it’s all because of our love for Jesus and that Jesus loves them, too.” – Teresa Church

most people. There are no strings attached and it’s open to everyone,” Lesesne said. “It would tickle us to death if you want to come eat with us, if you want us to deliver a meal to you, or if you want to volunteer.

“If you want to get involved, chop vegetables, take out the trash — whatever you do, it’s amazing to see our community coming together to recognize and meet this need in a really sweet way.”

The folks behind the catering company understand that a struggling economy means struggling families, and they aim to serve anyone and everyone that can use their help.

“There is a misconception that we only feed the homeless or that we’re a soup kitchen. In some ways, I guess we could qualify as a soup kitchen, but we don’t put stipulations on who we serve,” Lesesne said. “I’m very protective of the people who support us and the people we serve, because I know there are families that are our friends who are struggling.

“Maybe they need to pay a phone bill or a power bill. They might have some noodles in the pantry, but food moves down the priority list and becomes such a heavy burden. I don’t think we realize what the face of hunger looks like anymore, and it’s still changing. The cost of living is high and I think we would all be astonished by the numbers of people that are sitting in our schools, churches, and communities who are hungry and would probably never say anything about it.”

Once a month, the Green Street team doubles up and serves at both Alliance and the Western Watauga Community Center at the same time.

DELIVERING HOPE

“It can take a couple of hours to provide a meal for an entire family, not to mention the money that goes into it, so we’re removing that hour and those extra few dollars each week and it means so much to them. I’ve seen what giving one meal a week has been able to do, so it’s definitely important.” – Trevor Heffner

“It helps with our prayer list, because now we have specific people to pray for, but also families we can get to know and bless. It creates a desire for us to find more people that we can help.” – The Strob Family 54

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December 2015

Volunteers representing various churches, neighborhoods, and organizations deliver most of the meals directly to the homes of the recipients. Those who give their time and talents to the catering company represent all ages and walks of life, and are involved because they feel led to do so.

Teresa Church, who delivers meals weekly and coordinated the distribution of this year’s Thanksgiving baskets, said the food ministry nourishes the volunteers and the recipients both in body and in spirit.

“I heard Chastity speak at a Thanksgiving service one year and I love to be in the kitchen, so I was excited for the opportunity. I help deliver meals every Thursday and develop relationships with those who receive them,” Church said. “We pray over them and we pray that the scripture verse will make a difference in every life that receives a meal.

“People see that it’s more than just food. Many of them think to themselves, why would anybody go out of their way to do this?

It’s an opportunity for us to tell them it’s all because of our love for Jesus and that Jesus loves them, too.”

Sherri Knox makes deliveries every week, and she shows up early to help package the food before it heads out the door.

“We had been hearing about the ministry for years, so we decided to get involved. We only deliver to four families, but we’ve really gotten to know them and love them,” Knox said. “We deliver to one lady who is battling cancer — oh my gosh, I love her. You really feel like you’re doing God’s work.”

Some volunteers, including Trevor Heffner, come from programs at Appalachian State and participate in internships that are beneficial to both the students and the organization. Heffner represents ASU’s Reformed University Fellowship, a campus-based ministry of the Presbyterian Church of America.

“RUF really tries to reach the community, and Green Street is

Green Street’s weekly community meals are packaged individually, and a different Bible verse is taped to each box every week. It’s Thanksgiving and Easter holiday baskets are packaged in reusable shopping bags and include everything a family will need to cook a full meal. something we’ve done for several years now,” said Heffner, a sophomore at ASU. “I was given the opportunity to start leading groups to come in and volunteer here, and it’s just an absolutely wonderful thing.

“It can take a couple of hours to provide a meal for an entire family, not to mention the money that goes into it, so we’re removing that hour and those extra few dollars each week and it means so much to them. I’ve seen what giving one meal a week has been able to do, and it’s definitely important.”

Joe and Andrea Stroh, members at Bethel Baptist Church, live on and oper-

ate a farm in the Bethel community. With their two small children along for the ride, they deliver more than 60 meals to 15 or more families each week in western Watauga County.

“We got involved because our pastor and leaders in our church knew we were interested in helping people. It helps with our prayer list, because we now have specific people to pray for, but also families we can get to know and bless,” Joe said.

“It creates a desire for us to find more people that we can help.”

The Stroh family believes in Green Street’s work because it aligns closely with their own personal commitment to serving

others.

“Our plan in moving to Bethel has been to grow and produce food to bless other families,” Andrea said. “Green Street’s mission statement is a lot like our mission for the farm.”

WALKING IN FAITH

Because their work relies solely on food donations and monetary gifts, Green Street board members and volunteers walk boldly, intentionally, and expectantly in faith, knowing that God has and will continue to facilitate the ministry.

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While community meals are being prepared and served upstairs at Alliance, Abby Keller works downstairs to package and distribute Thanksgiving food baskets. can be worth $1,000 heart-wise. It’s all about where your heart is — we know that God will provide and we never doubt it,” Lesesne said. “We’re a very prayerful board. Sometimes we don’t know how or where the money is coming from, but we know it’s the Lord.

“We don’t know how the logistics will work out, but we walk in faith. I’m so proud of God and so thankful and so humbled that I get to watch Him do what He’s doing and that I get to be a part of it.”

Since its inception, the catering company has developed strong working relationships with an array of local restaurants and businesses that serve as invaluable community partners. Those establishments donate food products, make financial contributions, and offer whole-hearted support in many ways.

Green Street has seen a steady rise in the local need over the years and recently started applying for grant funding to help expand its services, making 2015 a turning point for the organization.

“We have really jumped in numbers in terms of meeting the needs and who we are serving. We started grant writing and received a state grant from Walmart, which was a big deal — we are very honored and thankful for that,” Lesesne said. “Receiving a grant in a small town also legitimizes what we’re doing, because you really have to prove yourself and show where the money is going. We still rely on support from the community, but grant funding makes a big difference.”

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the time. Lesesne and her team are frugal and thoughtful in their menu planning, but they’re careful not to disregard the guidance from the Lord, who put them up to it in the first place.

“I never want this to be about the funding, because I think the mission would get lost. That’s not what Christ is about and I don’t need to get too involved in everything,” Lesesne said. “He is running this and I am just blessed and privileged and tickled to death and humbled to be a part of it.”

The ministry requires countless hours of hard work and relentless dedication from the Green Street team, but Lesesne said the commitment is a blessing to those who make it a priority.

“Even my family sometimes asks why I do this, and I always say that this is how He has called me in my life, in my heart, and in my relationship with Him,” she said. “I don’t want to miss that. I love it and I have grown in it.

“Every time I speak to a group of people, they ask how we make it work and it’s sometimes hard for them to believe that we trust God to provide. If you’re listening to me and you have any doubts, I challenge you to come by and watch it happen. You can’t deny it. It’s not mine to stress over — it’s all His and only He can do it.”

CATERING WORK

The organization’s growth in recent years has allowed it to expand its services even more and cater special get-togethers for local schools, nonprofit programs, and other fellowship events that are designed to unite the community.

December 2015

“Sometimes we do things for free, like things for the school systems, because they don’t have money in their budgets to do things that will bring everyone together,” Lesesne said. “It’s just the neatest thing to see these communities coming together in fellowship around the table. Food is a tool, and it’s one of my favorite tools — I have never met a food I don’t love.”

Green Street works hard to raise money and collect foods for its various programs, but the team is persistent in trusting God to bring it all to fruition. He placed the ministry on their hearts and He always provides exactly what they need, exactly when they need it. That’s why the team never charges for its catering jobs, and instead accepts donations, if and when the client can provide, that go directly into the company’s operating budget.

“When we do these catering jobs on the side, they never get a bill. People try to ask me what we will charge them, but it’s not about that. If we can do it, we will do it,” Lesesne said. “I make no bones about it and I tell anybody who will stand there and listen — this is an extremely prayerful ministry. Not one step of this happens without prayer. I watch the Lord do what only He can do every week and all of the time.”

THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Green Street is wrapping up another year of selfless service and recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its first community meal. This year’s Thanksgiving program distributed more than 400 baskets containing everything a family would need to prepare a full meal for the holiday.

Although the turkeys and trimmings have already been delivered, anyone interested in contributing financially can make donations to help replenish the Green Street operating budget.

The team will continue to offer weekly meals for dine-in and delivery throughout the winter, and is now kicking off its annual Christmas program, which is something unconventional for this food ministry.

“For Christmas, we veer off a little bit and we don’t do food, which is interesting.

We have found that other local programs do a good job of meeting that need this time of year, so we wanted to make sure we’re not working on top of someone else,” Lesesne said. “Instead, we adopt children, senior adults, and folks who are transitioning from homelessness into a more stabilized home life and try to meet their needs in other ways.”

The Green Street Christmas program

works with other organizations — like schools, counselors, social services, the Hunger and Health Coalition, the Hospitality House, the local project on aging, the Western Watauga Food Outreach, and others — to identify folks in need and sponsor them for the holidays, providing for them the things they need most.

“Many people ask for clothes for the winter or toiletries. Providing something other than food is out of the ordinary for us, but it’s our own little Angel Tree and we love to be a part of it,” Lesesne said. “We don’t wrap our gifts so that the parents can give to their children themselves, because I think we should be quiet in that and that’s what angels do. It allows the parents to feel empowered and give to their children when they may not be able to otherwise.”

A LEAP OF FAITH

As the organization continues to grow and change, the faithful servants will remain focused on using their talents to do the Lord’s work. Through that commitment, the catering company serves as a guiding light in the community — a tool that God uses to reach out, touch hearts, change lives, empower families, and bring people together.

“I believe with all of my heart that each one of us is made for something special and wired in a certain way. Mine is food, but for others it may be sewing, teaching, horseback riding, or anything else,” Lesesne said.

“There are so many different ways that we are equipped, called, gifted, and given abilities, and we truly miss out when we don’t use those to serve other people. We miss out on immense joy that we would never know if we didn’t do that.

“It comes full circle. When we do that, whether we’re giving or receiving, there is love, joy, fellowship, and sweetness in our community that is beyond measure. We’re all equipped with something unique and we know in our hearts and souls what it is, so I always challenge people to use that to lift up other people.”

If God has equipped you to do His work and is calling you to serve the people around you, Lesesne has this advice for you: “People say that you’re never really ready to have children, so you should just do it. The same is true for something like this. If you’re waiting until you’re ready, then that’s not an adventure — there’s no faith in that,” Lesesne said. “It’s still important to do your research and be responsible about it, but it’s really all about stepping

out in faith to answer your calling.

“It’s a constant journey, so you should absolutely listen to your heart. Don’t over think it and let your fears take away the adventure of a lifetime. If you’re called to serve, it will benefit you, those around you, and your community as a whole. Do your research, pray about it, and really go for it.”

If you or someone you know would like to volunteer with Green Street or sign up to receive the free weekly meal, contact Lesesne by email at greenstreetcatering@ gmail.com or visit the ministry online at www.greenstreetcatering.org.

To contribute financially, make a monetary donation through the Green Street website or send a check or money order by mail to 200 Sierra Vista, Boone, North Carolina 28607.

“We want to empower people using this tool and connect people through fellowship, friendship, connection, and community care. Reaching out to more and more people has led to people getting more involved in our community,” Lesesne said.

“Our prayer is that everything we do will be a gift that equips, encourages, uplifts, and transforms lives through the power and love of Jesus Christ.” 

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Ensemble Stage: A Professional Theatre with a Community Feel

By Virginia Roseman

Looking through the

Keyhole

L

ive theatre is an art and an experience. While in the audience, you sit watching in wonder. You might feel like you are invading on a private moment. This feeling is as if you have just knelt before a closed door, and pressed your one squinting eye to a keyhole. Looking in, you hold your breath hoping they don’t know you are there. You don’t want to disturb them, but your need to watch and to know is too great to pull away.

This is what live theatre does... it engages emotions and draws you into the moment. You are now “looking through the keyhole.”

Great live theatre that captures the audience and transports them is hard to come by, but the High Country has had this greatness come to it in form of Ensemble Stage.

Based in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Ensemble Stage is a professional theatre during its summer run, and a community theatre (with professional standards) during its fall and winter schedule. Their first production premiered in October 2009, and they’ve put on 62 more productions since. How Blowing Rock became the home of Ensemble Stage is a story of its people.

The People Thousands and thousands of people have enjoyed Ensemble Stage’s productions, and hundreds and hundreds of people have helped deliver those productions.

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parts, just small actors. Ensemble Stage is an intimate production company that has no room for small actors, for every member of its productions are vital to its success and quality.

“Ensemble Stage is exactly as its name says, an ensemble production,” explained artistic director Gary Smith.

“Ensemble” is defined as both a group of musicians, actors or dancers who perform together, and also a group viewed as a whole rather than individually.

For Ensemble Stage, it goes beyond the performers. Dedicated theater-goers show up for performances, even in bad weather. Financial contributors lend their support not only monetarily, but also of their time and talents. Many volunteers from within the community have come out of the woodwork to support their theatre.

Local carpenters will come over with scraps to help build sets. Local stores that deal with fabric will donate leftover products. Theatre supporters that are savvy at thrift store shopping will set out with wishlists of needed items for props. The list goes on and on about how the community has contributed over the years, including notable locals such as L.B. Lawrence, Genie Starnes, and the late Jerry Burns.

“This theatre is alive, and it takes every cast member, production staffer, volunteer and audience goer to make it a success, to

Christmas in Blowing Rock 2011 make it real,” said Smith. “If the group is not a true ensemble working as a whole entity, then we fall short. When each ensemble member has achieved their best, it is magical and the audience is swept away. They have no idea they are sitting in a cozy theatre.”

What makes Ensemble Stage different from other companies, dare it be said better, is the brilliance behind the scenes. The talents and very impressive resumes of cofounders Gary Smith (Artistic Director) and Lisa Lamont (Managing Director) have made Ensemble Stage shine.

Christmas in Blowing Rock 2013

Gary Smith’s Story Enter stage right. As a teenager in the midwest, Gary Smith was a member of his public school’s travel theatre troupe. They were not just a group of kids who did shows from time to time. They were a varsity letter team that practiced daily just like sports teams, and they competed and won many titles at tournaments. Acting was this young man’s passion, but turning a passion into a career can be a difficult challenge.

“Just like they say about going pro in basketball, only one out of million young players might get the chance to go pro,” said Smith. “The same can be said about an inspiring actor making it in the professional arena.”

Smith was a young man with realistic grasp of his future. While he would have loved to become an actor in the spotlight, he decided to look for careers that could provide stability, and he chose to enlist in the United States Army.

The Army was not just stable employment; Smith picked up valuable skills and discovered some inherent skills he didn’t realize about himself.

After basic training, Smith became a military police officer. His time as an MP helped Smith polish some leadership skills that he had not yet tapped into in his years as a lead actor.

“I had always imagined myself as a starring actor, and not the one in charge like a director,” said Smith.

While serving his country, he learned to encourage his team members and direct them toward goals. He honed an ability to recognize talents and strengths in his people that made them valuable to the group.

“Before, I was squarely focused on fine-tuning myself, but in the Army I realized I could lead,” said Smith.

After his service was up, Smith went back to the mid-

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Top Left: Young MP Gary Smith during his service in the U.S. Army. Lower Left: Lisa Lamont during the beginning of her Equity Career. Above: The Dynamic Duo, Smith and Lamont, working closely together to create magic for Ensemble’s November 2015 live, staged radio performance, Miracle on 34th Street, where every sound element of the show is done with props performed by the cast.

west, obtaining a civilian job in law enforcement in the Kansas City area. His unique talents and MP experience propelled him into an unexpected career as an undercover cop. Officer Smith mastered this job. While it wasn’t on a stage, his acting skills helped him morph himself into “characters” in the ugly side of the real world, remaining undetected.

His military skills became invaluable in remaining calm, assessing the situation, and reading those around them. Instead of recognizing strengths and talents, he was detecting vulnerabilities in criminals and how to break through those chinks.

Smith was so good at this job, he jumped from gang to gang, bad guy to bad guy, and sting to sting for nearly two decades and was never detected.

“While the thrill of becoming a new person time after time was never boring, undercover work is stressful and ugly and can harden a person,” said Smith. “Fortunately, I rediscovered my old hobby.”

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force, Smith came across opportunities to act. Instead of the realities of undercover work, he participated in a world of dreams: live theatre, commercials, ads, and film. Smith had to choose his opportunities carefully, often traveling far from home, but it allowed him to reconnect with his passion and reenergize. It allowed him to be who he wanted to be, and not who he HAD to be.

“It’s funny, who would have known that the path I took would lead me full circle back to my true love, acting. Each path taught me valuable skills for this craft. I guess I never really left my passion. I was always learning how to be better, how to push myself to do my very best, as my life kinda counted on it,” said Smith. “Those things took me full circle.

I could not have written a better script for my life.”

Smith’s talent in the field of acting was being polished to a level that he himself didn’t see coming. This chameleon of a man’s professional resume was growing. The acting money that he was now making was good money. The quality of gigs were top level and professional. Smith worked many venues, learned many techniques—do’s and dont’s— under many different directors and fellow thespians. He did longterm contract stints with traveling companies. He accepted parts that took him to farflung locations in the world. In 2001, Smith’s journeys brought him to Blowing Rock

December 2015

when he was cast in Blowing Rock Stage Company’s production of Camping with Henry and Tom. Lights fade.

Lisa Lamont’s Story Lights up on stage left. In her home state of Florida, Lisa Lamont worked for numerous productions. The grueling backstage work suited the hardworking, responsible Lamont. She worked variously in such departments as costumes, lighting, set design, carpentry, props, mics, sound and music. Though the multi-talented Lamont loved what she was doing, the work had its drawbacks.

“You do know the expression starving artists, right? Well, we were!” said Lamont. “Sometimes we worked for peanuts and sometimes we worked for nothing, just in hopes of being recognized for our talents and stepping into the gig that would get us noticed. Theatre people starved for their passion. We did whatever it took.”

Aside from the pay, another drawback to theatre life was how temporary the work could be. Productions come to a conclusion, and theatre workers need to find new employment. The quest for work required travel and moves. Time and time again, Lamont would pick up, move and repeat. Though it was hard work, this was her passion, and she thrived off it.

Lamont’s parents grew concerned

Charles Nelson Reilly performing his one-man show. For several weeks of very long days, Lamont found herself working closely with Reilly and some of his friends to develop the one-man show Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly (which was later adapted to film as The Life of Reilly). After development of the script, Reilly subsequently hired her as the show’s production stage manager. The thing that Lamont loved most about working Save It for the Stage was that on any given night, if could turn into essentially a different show. It made for a very challenging PSM job. with her theatre life. Instead of recognizing the responsibility and diligence Lamont’s work required, they perceived this theatre life as Bohemian, transient and fly-by-night. They wanted Lamont to get a “real” job.

“Simply to appease my parents, I took a job in emergency dispatch,” said Lamont. “Little did I know that it would help hone my theatre management skills.”

To excel as an emergency dispatcher, it requires focus, a calm demeanor, and an ability to multitask. The switchboard alone is daunting to many, not to mention all the different scripts that are used for different situations. Lamont was a natural and excelled in this job. A dispatcher needs to value the importance of following a script, and be able to work under pressure to call cues to many departments at one time to assure smooth transitions.

“Even though it was not really where I wanted to be, I took full advantage of the job as a learning opportunity,” said Lamont. “It also provided me with the extra fire to make theatre my ‘real’ job.”

Combined with her innate work ethic, Lamont’s experience at multitasking and managing different responsibilities began to pay off. Breaks started to come her way and she landed jobs with professional companies, giving her a substantial enough resume to apply for an Equity card. Within theatre, having

an Equity card represents experience in one’s craft and instant credibility.

Having an Equity card opened doors—or for this purpose—raised curtains for Lamont to apply for larger and better-paying production projects. Work became steady as more directors saw her behind-the-scenes talents. Now she was traveling coast to coast with well-known companies and theatres, and her time as an emergency dispatcher became a part of her past.

Some of those notable jobs involved working with outstanding performers such as Charles Nelson Reilly, Burt Reynolds and Roberta Peters. For several weeks of very long days, Lamont found herself working closely with Reilly and some of his friends to develop the oneman show Save It for the Stage: The Life of Reilly (which was later adapted to film as The Life of Reilly).

After development of the script, Reilly subsequently hired her as the show’s production stage manager. The thing that Lamont loved most about working Save It for the Stage was that on any given night, it could turn into essentially a different show. It made for a very challenging PSM job.

Lamont explained, “Charles would change up the order of the show. I could tell as soon as the first words would come out of his mouth he was in Act Four when he should have been in Act Two, causing

me to scramble and get the proper light and sound cue changes to the crew. We always had to stay alert. There were even times when Charles was totally off script with a piece that we never heard before. I would just listen intently and adjust what we did to what was being said. There was never a dull moment.”

After several runs in California, Reilly took the show to New York. As enticing as New York was, after such a long stint on Save It for the Stage, Lamont was ready for something new. It didn’t take long for the experienced and wellqualified Lamont to find that “something new.” Lamont accepted the PSM position with Blowing Rock Stage Company, and began work on Camping with Henry and Tom. Lights fade.

The Dynamic Duo of Smith & Lamont All stage lights up. In 2001, Smith was cast in Camping with Henry and Tom, the same production that brought Lamont to Blowing Rock as PSM. They quickly became friends, and with their shared interests and the events of their lives mirroring one another, their relationship continued to grow closer and stronger over the years.

While working primarily in Florida, both Smith and Lamont would periodically return to Blowing Rock for calls for

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Above: Smith performing for the Blowing Rock Stage Company in the show that brought Smith and Lamont together, Camping with Henry and Tom. At Left: A series of other area performances featuring Gary Smith’s numerous roles.

Left Top: Summer Shorts 2003, City Theatre in Miami (Gary as the nun) Left Middle: Thomas Edison ... The Foreigner 2002, Florida Repertory Theatre in Ft. Myers Left Bottom: Smee ... Peter Pan 2008, Blowing Rock Stage Company shows. In 2004, the couple moved to Blowing Rock, making it their permanent home.

“The comfort of knowing I am part of a community...it is a calming way of life,” said Smith about the move.

The enticement of fulltime work with the Blowing Rock Stage Company was an important factor.

Lamont said, “Knowing I was going to have the next gig, and I was going to have a theatre to call home...I didn’t need to pack my bags every few months to find work. How nice is that? People who are not in the theatre don’t always get how wonderful something so simple as a permanent home is to a theatre worker.”

The pair explained what theatre means to them and what they enjoy most about it.

“I love the advantage I have being just out of sight,” said Lamont about being behind the scenes. “I can see the reaction of the audience. I am now intruding on them as they secretly view the happenings before them. I know what is to come, and I will look because I can feel the anticipation in the theatre. They hold their breaths, and they lean in close to the neighbor asking, did you see that? Oh look over there! I know when the tears are going to start, and I am ready knowing their tears will bring tears to my eyes.”

For Smith, his passion for theatre is fueled in part because it is organic and always growing and changing.

“This causes me to always grow and change as an actor and now as a director. I am often asked what is my favorite production. The answer is so simple, it is the piece I am currently working on,” said Smith. “I get to renew my love for theatre with every new production.”

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Have yourself a “Cherry” Little Christmas!

A ll W i n te r lo n g

❅ wine Tastings ❅ special events ❅ festivals

Complete History of America 2012

Birth of Ensemble Stage In 2009, just two days before technical work was to begin on a new production, numerous employees of Blowing Rock Stage Company were dismayed to learn that their theatre was closing. Among those employees were Smith and Lamont.

At a crossroads, Lamont proposed an idea to Smith that had been shot down by their recent employer. She wanted to put on a production tailored for the community, set in Blowing Rock, and starring its locals. There was a good chance that they would be forced to relocate for work, and if this was to be their last bow in Blowing Rock, they wanted to do it while paying homage to their beloved community.

Within days, a modified radio production of the famous performance of War of the Worlds was in rehearsals. This production would be a one of a kind, starring both Blowing Rock and its actual citizens. Emergency personnel, Mayor L.B. Lawrence, council members, law enforcement, editor of the newspaper Jerry Burns and many others within the community loved the idea and stepped forward to be part of this historical performance.

After fitting in rehearsal times around so many busy people’s schedules, in October 2009, War of the Worlds performed before a packed house in the Blowing Rock Elementary School auditorium. The excitement was palpable. It was a great success. If Smith and Lamont were leaving Blowing Rock, it was with a big bang and a standing ovation.

It was two days after the the production that Smith received a call from one of the community cast members, Jerry Burns. He asked for Smith to come over because he had something he wanted to discuss with him before Smith left town.

Burns told Smith how proud he was of the production that was put on, and how he was honored to have been able to be part of it. Burns went on to challenge Smith and Lamont to stay in Blowing Rock. Blowing Rock needed them. Blowing Rock needed the art, and it needed theatre. He assured Smith that they would not be alone in this challenge. He would

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Rehearsals for Ensemble’s November 2015 live, staged performance, MIracle on 34th Street. About her participation in a radio performance, Genie Starnes remarked, “Of course there were people sitting in chairs with scripts on stands, but there was a bag of potatoes, a head of cabbage in a sack, a sheet of metal, bells, wooden blocks, and more.

stand by them, and with other productions such as War of the Worlds, many others would extend their support.

Although the stage was dark and Smith and Lamont were in the process of “striking” their lives in Blowing Rock, they had new plans to consider. They accepted Burns’s challenge, and Ensemble Stage was born.

The Productions and Choices The Ensemble Stage is unique for a theatre company. They choose to do productions that have small casts, single or has minimum scenery, challenging scripts, and hearty substance.

The company takes great pride in holding these standards for the Ensemble Stage.

Smith explained, “We leave the big, safe and well-known productions to the bigger theatres.”

Staying true to the newly born company’s community ties, after War of the Worlds, the next production was Christmas in Blowing Rock. The production was a take on the classic Christmas variety shows that used to air on television. Volunteers and cast members of War of the Worlds contributed ideas to the selections such as favorite holiday songs. There was no shortage of enthusiasm nor talent from the community, and the production was underway. The local support for Christmas in Blowing Rock has been so strong, that there have now been Christmas in Blowing Rock 2, 3 4, 5 and 6, with Christmas in Blowing Rock 7 scheduled for this December— December 18, 19 and 20 of 2015.

Other examples of Ensemble Stage’s unique choices involving the community include War of the Worlds II, Winterfest celebrations, radio productions, game show-themed productions, and murder mysteries.

Regarding game show productions, the theatre company again polled community volunteers. When the results came in with two suggestions neck-n-neck, the company undertook both the Matching Game and the Newlywed Show. Having yet to shy away from a challenge, Ensemble Stage went on to do two shows in one day. First the family friendly show Match Game, where the contestants were pulled from the audience.

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And second that night, the more adult Not So Newlywed Show where couples submitted applications to be contestants.

Murder mysteries such as Crippen’s Vintage Murder and Murder in Tinseltown were staged within community businesses where customers were part of the action as both audience and participants.

A major portion of Ensemble Stage’s winning recipe has been the community theatre series during the fall and winter: a suspenseful thriller, a scary Halloween production, a Christmas variety show, and audience participation shows.

During the summer, a professional series joins the recipe. Putting on professional productions requires professionals, and the first two summers of such were challenging for the company. Many professionals that joined the productions the first two summers came for “peanuts” as a show of their support, and the others— including Smith and Lamont—drew no paycheck at all.

In May 2010, Ensemble Stage’s first professional production was Senator Sam, and is a good example of the company’s business smarts. In order to manage royalties and salaries, the company started with this one-man show. There were also no elaborate sets required for Senator Sam. Ensemble Stage has since gone on to bring numerous well-curated productions to its summer professional series, including Completely Hollywood, Desperate Affection, Kitchen Witches, and Tuna Does Vegas.

“I became involved with Ensemble Stage in 2010 at a time when many professional theatres around the country were closing their doors for good. Starting a new company in that climate was a brave thing to undertake,” said Mark Allen Woodard, a member of Actors’ Equity Association. “I needed to be a part of it. Since then, I have acted in 10 shows December 2015

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All The Kings Women 2012 with Ensemble. In that time I’ve had the pleasure of working with some amazingly talented actors and technicians. I have been proud of every single show.”

What Ensemble Stage does time and time again is produce high quality professional work without the inflated budget seen at some other theatres.

“They manage this balancing act of professional production with a realistic budget through hard work, determination, and no shortage of raw talent,” states Woodard. “That results in theatre with heart. That’s what keeps me coming back. It’s a very satisfying experience to be a part of.”

Ensemble Stage Today The house lights come up. If you have ever attended an Ensemble Stage production, you know just how dedicated the cast, the crew, its supporters and board members are to keeping theatre alive and real. Seeing the magic on stage is a terrific experience, but some want to go a

And a Child Shall Lead 2015 step further and want to know how they can become a part of that magic. If you haven’t ever participated but want to, fear not as many opportunities await.

Simple ways to start include volunteering as an usher, working in concessions, helping with costumes and props, and making donations to Ensemble Stage.

One such volunteer, Genie Starnes, fell under the theatre’s hypnotic spell completely by accident. With childlike excitement, Starnes reminisced about her appearance with the Ensemble Stage.

“You know I was in their radio production of Dracula three years ago,” Starnes said. “It was a very, very small role, and I was cast by accident. One day I was out at a Blowing Rock Chamber event connecting with fellow members.

One of the members of the group hails a man who had just entered the room, and it was Gary Smith.”

Though Starnes had never met Smith, she had heard good things about Ensemble Stage and apologetically explained to

It’s a Wonderful Life 2014

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Tuna Does Vegas 2014

December 2015

Smith that she had not yet found the time to see a production. That situation was quickly remedied when she was cast in Dracula.

Recalling the encounter, Starnes said, “He cast me right then and there for a bit part. I thought I would be in over my head, and I tried hard to get out of being in the show, but Gary kept insisting that I would be fine. He would not take no for an answer, so I reluctantly joined the cast of Dracula.”

While she felt slightly intimidated during her first day at rehearsal, the strangest part of her day were the unusual objects for the radio sound effects many people were wielding.

Starnes continued, “Of course there were people sitting in chairs with scripts on stands, but there was a bag of potatoes, a head of cabbage in a sack, a sheet of metal, bells, wooden blocks, and more. I could not understand what these objects had to do with Dracula, but who was I to say it was wrong.”

Going to See the Elephant 2011

Catfish Moon 2011 Once the rehearsal was on its way, she quickly understood what “radio production” meant. It meant that the cast would perform in the storytelling style of old time radio dramas. For example, before television took the place of the imagination of the listener, sound effects like horses galloping could be coconuts. In Ensemble Stage’s Dracula, the bell was used to summon another character, the metal became a storm, the potatoes were a body falling to the ground, and the cabbage in the bag served as the crack of a head being struck.

Starnes not only developed a strong affection for theatre and radio drama, but for Ensemble Stage, as well.

“My world changed that amazing night in rehearsal,” said Starnes. “Though I haven’t gotten back up onto the stage, I have attended every single production since and have been volunteering in other capacities.”

Opportunities abound for anyone wishing to watch a production or otherwise get involved. Beginning December 18, Ensemble Stage will showcase their original holiday musical variety show, Christmas in Blowing Rock 7. Each year’s production is different from the last. Audience goers will find themselves singing to some old familiar holiday songs, laughing and maybe even getting a chance to go on stage to participate.

If you find yourself entranced by the experience such as Starnes was, go to the Ensemble Stage’s website and look for the Play Reading Series. No acting experience is necessary to be part of these events. The Play Reading Series is open to the public and everyone is welcome. You will sit and be handed a script, and assigned a part to read aloud. The Play Reading Series has proved to be an important part of the success of Ensemble Stage. In any given year, December 2015

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Gary Smith Artistic Director, Ensemble Stage

I’m often asked what is my favorite production. The answer is so simple, it is the piece I am currently working on,” said Smith. “I get to renew my love for theatre with every new production.” the people who attend the series will go through as many as 90 scripts total. Words are just words on paper, and it is when the company’s staff hears the words spoken aloud that they know if it is a production that fits Ensemble Stage.

Everyone involved with Ensemble Stage is clear about why they are here. They say fondly that they are not a community theatre, but a theatre for the community. This is clear from the way they seek input and listen to their volunteers and patrons, and the way they make the community a top priority in their productions. Ensemble Stage, Smith and Lamont will never forget why they’re here in Blowing Rock, and who they’re here for.

If you have material to donate, want to become a supporter, or maybe even desire to serve on the board, connecting with the theatre company is only a call or a click away. Visit the Ensemble Stage website at http://www.ensemblestage.com, or give them a call at 828-414-1844.  68

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December 2015

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Ashe County Sports Legend

Scott Davis

Continues Ultra-Successful Life’s Journey

By Tim Gardner

S

cott Davis may be almost 50 years old, but he still aptly personifies the term “All-American Boy.” Those who come in contact with him are impressed with his congeniality, sincerity, openness and the classy way he carries himself.

He also is known as one of the top athletes to come out of Ashe County, evidenced by his various credentials and honors. And Scott personifies the term “winner” as much as any sports personality the Northwest North Carolina Mountains has produced. Continue reading and enjoy a visit with an Ashe County hero who became a major college basketball player, coach, athletics administrator and sports fundraising specialist.

In fact, Scott’s prep and post-high school sports exploits are so acclaimed that he was enshrined in the Ashe County Sports Hall of Fame, Class of 2010. Created by the Jefferson’s Rotary Club, the Hall of Fame recognizes and perpetuates the noteworthy sportsman traditions of Ashe County by memorializing individuals and teams who have made extraordinary contributions to its rich heritage.

Destined for a life and professional career in athletics

Scott Davis-Virginia Tech Associate Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics-Hokie Club 70

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Born at Watauga County Hospital in Boone on February 4,1968, Scott came from the makedo era of rural life which mandated that if you started a job, you didn’t quit until it was finished.

Growing up in Warrensville, Scott had a strong work ethic instilled in him by his parents, Ralph and Cindy Davis. Both taught

Photographs used with this article were provided by Scott and Catie Davis and the Virginia Tech Athletics Department.

“I told my parents when I was in second grade that I would earn a scholarship to play college basketball.”

Scott Davis passes to a Hokies teammate during a Virginia Tech Basketball game at the school’s Cassell Coliseum December 2015

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school for many years with the former also being a coach.

“My parents showed me what I had to do to grow and prosper in sports and in life,” Scott declared. “They were my biggest influences growing up in my various endeavors and especially in my sportsplaying career. They, along with my sister, Shelley, pushed and inspired me to be the best person and athlete I could be and I’m eternally grateful to them for that.”

Since he first played with a basketball, football or baseball before he even started to school, Scott has possessed a contagious enthusiasm for athletics. It inflamed while he played youth sports and at old Northwest Ashe High.

“I told my parents when I was in second grade that I would earn a scholarship to play college basketball,” Scott recalled.

“God blessed me with enough talent for the game to do so as well as enough football skills to also be offered a scholarship to play it collegiately had I chosen to do so. I’m thankful and honored to have had those and the other sports opportunities I’ve enjoyed.”

His passion and downright love for athletics has continued to grow daily while he has lived the past three decades in the Commonwealth of Virginia. During this time, he played basketball at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, coached collegiate basketball for nine years, worked in athletics administration for six years and the past ten in sports fundraising.

Scott has been employed by the Virginia Tech Hokie Club since 2005, initially as an Assistant Director of Development before being promoted to an Associate Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics in 2007. In these positions, he has helped raised millions for Hokies Sports. His responsibilities include identifying, cultivating, soliciting and stewarding major gift donors through face-to-face contacts in support of scholarship endowments, capital projects and programmatic needs for Virginia Tech Athletics.

Contributors to the Hokie Club receive ticket priority, parking passes and other perks depending on the sum of their donations and how many years they have consecutively given money.

Scott has secured major gifts or pledges totaling more than $30 million. He participated in the $1 billion university comprehensive campaign, assisting in exceeding athletics donations goal of $200 million through June 2011. Davis was the Hokie 72

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Club project leader of the 2012 Lane Stadium reseating, resulting in a $4.728 million fiscal year revenue increase, as well as for the 2013 Cassell Coliseum reseating plan.

He serves as a Hokie Club liaison for: Northern Virginia, which includes Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier counties; Winchester and Battlefield, VA regions; and the states of Maryland and Delaware.

“The Hokie Club has averaged raising

more than 24 million each year for the past ten years,” Scott said. “That shows how much big money is involved in college sports. The Hokie Club could use even more money to help pay for scholarships and the athletics department’s other needs like new facilities. The bottom line is that if your opponent— especially those you compete against every year in your conference or your other big rivals— have certain facilities, then you need similar

“Scott was as good at playing multiple positions in multiple sports as any high school athlete I’ve seen in this region. His main attribute in each of the sports was his tremendous leadership ability.”

– Larry Rousseau, High School Football Coach Ashe County sports legend Scott Davis poses in his Virginia Tech Basketball uniform

December 2015

kinds and ideally, better ones. So it’s an arms race of sorts. Fundraising is a never-ending process. I’m pleased with the sums I’ve helped Virginia Tech raise, but there’s never a ceiling to it. I’m always working to raise more money.”

Northwest Ashe Mountaineers blue-chip quarterback Scott Davis rolling out to pass.

Northwest Ashe Mountaineer feats

A three-year, three-sport letterman, Scott played basketball, football and baseball for the Northwest Ashe Mountaineers.

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 175-pounder was All-Blue Ridge Conference Basketball first team for three consecutive seasons as a sophomore (1983-’84), junior (’84-’85) and senior (’85-’86).

Playing with similar prowess on both offense and defense, Scott was the league’s Player of The Year his junior and senior seasons.

Rotating time at both point and shooting guard during his prep career, Scott had a particularly productive senior season in which he averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds and six assists per game. He was chosen to the Winston-Salem Journal’s All-Northwest team and was an honorable mention North Carolina All-State selection while playing for Coach Mike Edwards. Scott played his sophoin each of the sports was his tremendous leadership ability. He more season for Coach Eddy Taylor.

Scott scored 1,667 points and pulled down 805 rebounds dur- made his teammates better and they looked to him to make a big ing his varsity career. Those produced sterling averages of 22.2 play. He was an excellent ‘clutch’ player. I was fortunate to have him play on my football teams.” points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

Rousseau continued to comment about the Mountaineers In football, Scott passed for 3,393 yards and 35 touchdowns as blue-chipper: “Scott could read football defenses well and he Northwest Ashe’s varsity quarterback. And he had a knack for conhad a very strong throwing arm. He could throw right or left sistently eluding defenders to gain yardage running the ball. Scott with good accuracy 40 or 50 yards downfield. He also was a fierce also played safety on defense and was Northwest Ashe’s punter. competitor.

I recall a game against Avery that we had won and I He led the Mountaineers to an undefeated regular season told him to just run around and let the game clock elapse. But (9-0-1), a conference championship and state playoff berth as a sophomore (1983). Northwest Ashe was ranked as high as third Scott saw a receiver, Tracy Davis, who ironically was his uncle, wide open. And it was such a mind-set in the North Carolina State 2-A poll by and second nature for Scott to do so, USA Today. that he stepped back and threw a 56Scott was all-conference first team yard touchdown pass to Tracy as time and the league’s co-most valuable footexpired.” ball player (with Elkin running back Heavily recruited in basketball and Melvin Morrison) his senior campaign football by various major and small (‘85), giving him the rather impressive colleges across the nation, Scott ultidistinction of being the league’s best in mately decided to play basketball at both football and basketball the same Virginia Tech after almost accepting a school year. scholarship to play football at North Scott also was a first team allCarolina State University. conference selection his junior season (1984) and a second-team all-league choice his sophomore season (‘83).

And he was a standout as a shortstop, centerfielder and pitcher on the Mountaineers’ baseball teams.

Scott was a three-year letterwinner Additionally, Scott was runner-up while playing guard in a reserve role in voting for the Frank Spencer Award, for Virginia Tech from the 1987-’88 presented annually to the best senior through the 1989-‘90 seasons after beprep athlete in the Winston-Salem ing redshirted his freshman campaign Journal’s sports coverage area, as a ju(’86-’87). He played alongside one of nior and senior.

Tech’s all-time great guards— Bimbo “Scott was a sensational athlete Coles. Scott was recruited by legendwho possessed a lot of sports savvy,” ary Virginia Tech coach Charlie Moir, said his high school football coach but the 53 games Scott saw action in all Larry Rousseau. “Scott was as good at came while playing for Moir’s succesplaying multiple positions in multiple Northwest Ashe’s Scott Davis shoots a sor, Coach Frankie Allen. sports as any high school athlete I’ve fade-away jumper against Beaver Creek High Throughout prep and college basseen in this region. His main attribute

Becoming a Virginia Tech Hokie, coaching, and athletics administration posts

December 2015

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ketball, Scott was a steady and dependable player. He was a particularly good shooter and very effective from three-point range.

He also was a tough defensive performer, noted for his tremendous aggressiveness.

He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1990 with a degree in marketing and later (1993) earned a master’s degree there in sports management.

Scott spent two seasons (1990-91 and 1991-’92) as a graduate assistant basketball coach with the Hokies. His second year in that position was famous coach Bill Foster’s first year as Virginia Tech’s chieftain.

Scott was a full-time assistant at Longwood College in Farmville, VA, for Head Coach Ron Carr, also a former Tech assistant, for three seasons (1992-’93 through 1994-’95). While at Longwood, Scott helped the Lancers to a pair of Division II national tournaments. Longwood posted an impressive 42-15 record Scott’s last two years on the staff and reeled off 20 consecutive wins in one stretch during the ’93-‘94 season.

He then accepted an offer from Foster to return to Virginia Tech as a full-time assistant coach, a position he had for four seasons (1995-’96 through 1998-‘99). Scott worked the first two of those seasons under Foster’s tutuledge and the last two for Foster’s successor, Bobby Hussey.

His responsibilities as an assistant at Virginia Tech and Longwood College included on-the-court coaching, recruiting, scheduling, scouting of all opponents and the administration of summer basketball camps.

The highlight of Scott’s coaching career at Virginia Tech was helping the ’95-’96 Hokies to an National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Tournament berth, where they lost in the second round to eventual national champion Kentucky. Virginia Tech finished the season with a sterling 23-6 record, including a 13-3 mark, Western Division title and second-place overall finish in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Scott entered the athletics administration field when he became an Assistant Athletics Director at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA in 2005. Two years later, he was promoted to Associate Athletics Director there.

Scott oversaw all recruiting, financial aid and eligibility issues for fifteen Division One sports as VMI’s Compliance Director. He also was responsible for cultivating new and existing corporate sponsors in generating athletic revenue as the Marketing Director. Additionally, he assisted with the review of the athletics budget and game operations for multiple Keydets sports. Scott had direct supervision of

The Scott Davis Family decked out in their Virginia Tech attire at a Hokies basketball game (Left-to-Right) Sam, Scott, Austin and Catie VMI coaches in the sports of baseball, men’s and women’s soccer, rifle and wrestling as their primary contact sports administrator.

Great family man and Christian gentleman of the first order

Scott, who also was Northwest Ashe’s Outstanding Senior and president of his senior class, is regarded by those who know him best as a true Christian and a strong family man. His wife’s name is Catie. Their union has produced two children— both sons—

Scott and his family enjoy time under an old bridge along the Atlantic Ocean.

Sam and Austin. The Davis’ live in Blacksburg— only a short distance from Virginia Tech. They are devoted attendees of Auburn Baptist Church in Riner, VA, where Scott and Catie teach a class of 6 to 8 eight year olds at Wednesday night prayer meetings.

In what precious little spare time he has, Scott lists his favorite hobby as playing golf.

In detail, Scott added his most special blessing from being actively involved in college sports for such a long time as: “Witnessing the success of student-athletes of the colleges and universities

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Scott Davis (right) brings the basketball up the court for the Virginia Tech Hokies

I’ve been associated with first-hand through their dedication and commitment to be the best they can athletically and academically.

To see their hard work pay off in terms of their individual successes and what accomplishments they have helped their respective teams and teammates achieve is what it’s all about and what makes it so meaningful.”

Scott noted that sometimes people ask him if he might consider returning to live in Ashe County. He said he usually responds by saying something to this effect: “I love Ashe County. It’s gorgeous country and the people there are among the finest on Earth. But my family and I are very happy and content living in Blacksburg. We have no plans to move, but if God eventually leads us to Ashe County to live or work sometime, that’s where we’ll be.

Scott added that he also has fond memories of other parts of the North Carolina High Country and their residents. “I know many people from throughout the Northwest section of the Tar Heel State and many of those relationships turned into valued friendships,” Scott said. “I competed in sports against athletes from Watauga, Av76

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December 2015

ery, Wilkes, Alleghany and Surry counties to name a few places there. And I come back to Avery County each year for a reunion and to play golf with several family members I have there. All these areas are scenic like Ashe County and their residents also are among the finest I’ve known.”

When asked what he wanted others to say and think about him, Scott replied (after a deep, thoughtful pause), “That I’m a good guy who has worked, played and coached hard, who provides for my family and has always tried to live a Christian life and do things the right way.”

In benchmark parable of the talents, the point is obvious: use your skills wisely and they will multiply. Never has Scott Davis wasted his talents, and as a result his professional repertoire and elite reputation has reached new zeniths.  – Tim Gardner is a journalist who makes his home in the North Carolina High Country of Avery County. Tim’s articles have appeared in national, regional, local newspapers, magazines and specialty publications. He can be contacted via email: timgadawgs@yahoo.com.

Comments Scott gave about the collegiate coaches he either was recruited by, played for and coached for ✱✱Charlie Moir – “It was a great experience getting to know Coach Moir when he was recruiting me. He had been a head high school coach in Jefferson before he entered college coaching. Unfortunately, he resigned at Virginia Tech before ever coaching me in a game, but we have remained close. He is a real gentleman and a great offensive-minded coach.” ✱✱Frankie Allen – “He had played for and been a longtime assistant to Charlie Moir, and he succeeded him as Virginia Tech’s head coach. Frankie Allen was a good coach who also had successful seasons at several other schools.” ✱✱Ron Carr – “Another gifted coach, he did a wonderful job at Longwood College. I’ll always be appreciative to Coach Carr for giving me my first fulltime coaching job.” ✱✱Bill Foster – “A master coach, Bill Foster won big at every school where he was a head coach—Shorter College, UNCC, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech. He was all-encompassing in that he was a great x’s and o’s coach as well as an excellent recruiter, game coach, organizer and he possessed a special way in dealing with players. He helped me grow as a person and as a coach.” ✱✱Bobby Hussey – “Very detailedoriented and a real basketball junkie.

Coach Hussey was very knowledgeable about the game and a workaholic.

When he took over as head coach, you knew that you’d better be prepared because he’d watch as much tape on every opponent that the assistant coach that had that particular scouting assignment would watch.”

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Parting Shot...

By

Ken Ketchie

Making an Impact on the Slopes

T

he sky industry is a big deal in the High Country. We all know this, of course, but this fact was highlighted twice in November

by Gov. Pat McCrory’s visit to Sugar Mountain Resort’s ribbon cutting of the Summit Express and by the findings of a N.C. Ski Areas Association-commissioned study.

In 2014-15, the ski industry in Western North Carolina contributed nearly $200 million to the state’s economy. The six ski resorts Appalachian Ski Mtn., Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Wolf Ridge, Catalooche and Sapphire Valley – created $119.5 in “direct value,” while providing an additional $77.7 million in “indirect or induced value,” according to an analysis of about 2,000 patron surveys by RRC Associates, a market research and data analysis firm based in Boulder, Colo.

“The GDP of North Carolina would be $197 million less if it wasn’t for the ski industry,” said Dave Belin, director of consulting services for RRC Associates, at a local press conference in November.

During the last winter season, the WNC ski resorts recorded 653,654 visits and grossed $40 million in revenue. These visits were up 7.5 percent from 607,969 visits and revenues were up 14 percent from $35 million in 2013-14.

Belin said the local upticks were “bucking the trend.” Attendance at ski resorts across the country is declining, particularly on the West Coast. National ski resorts saw visitation last year fall 5.2 percent to 53.6 million visits.

This local success, however, wouldn’t be achievable or sustainable if the resorts weren’t reinvesting in their operations. The RRC Associates study noted that the six resorts invested $8,493,000 in capital 80

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December 2015

By Jesse Wood

expenditures prior to this winter season.

Take the three local ski resorts, for example. Sugar Mountain Resort’s new Summit Express is a $5-million high speed, detachable, sixpassenger chairlift that takes 2,518 people to the top of the mountain in less than five minutes. Beech Mountain Resort built a state-of-theart tubing park, among a plethora of other improvements this summer, to increase the quality of its product, and Appalachian Ski Mtn. is known for constantly improving its infrastructure and snowmaking ability in Blowing Rock.

The High Country, meanwhile, is known for its four seasons, and the winter just gives us another chance to shine. North Carolina is known for the mountains and beaches, and just gives visitors more reasons to come to the Tar Heel State. North Carolina ranks sixth in terms of most visited states in the nation compare are 10th population ranking. As for skiing visits, North Carolina ranks 18th among the 37 states with ski areas.

“The ski industry is vital to tourism in the Western part of our state and truly helps make North Carolina a year-round travel destination,” Tuttle said. “We all know nothing compares to our six ski areas when it comes to winter destinations in the Southeast,” Whit Tuttle, executive director of N.C. Department of Commerce’s Visit North Carolina, said at the press conference.

A few days earleir at the ribbon cutting of the Summit Express, Gov. McCrory added, “Our new state motto is North Carolina, Nothing Compares.”

Which is fitting because we all know nothing compares to skiing in the High Country.

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