High Country Magazine - Vol 5 Issue 1 - August 2009

Heroes

Volume 5 • Issue 1 AUGUST 2009

Among Us Volunteer Firefighters

The

Watauga River Powerful Waters Worth Preserving

PLUS: The King Bees’ Blues • Stick Boy Bread • Peace Through Yoga • and Much More!

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

Summertime and the living is easy... at Bear Creek!

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Bear Creek at Linville is a private gated community consisting of 145 acres. Developers are using great care to preserve the natural beauty of the land. Choose your dream home among babbling brooks, overlooking beautiful long range mountain views or carefree living in one of our new and exciting townhomes. Golf, hiking, biking, flyfishing, skiing, river rafting and almost every other outdoor activity imaginable are now right outside your front door. We invite you to view our many different levels of lifestyles available from Bear Creek at Linville.

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High Country Magazine

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

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High Country Magazine

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

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High Country Magazine

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Photo by Patrick Pitzer

C O N T E N T S

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Heroes Among Us

50

Our Watauga River

They’re at the scene at vehicle accidents, brush fires, hazardous material leaks, medical emergencies and community events. Volunteer firefighters put in hundreds of hours each year to serve Watauga and Avery counties, shouldering an ever-increasing workload.

From its headwaters at Tynecastle, the Watauga River travels 60 miles through the High Country before finally pouring into Watauga Lake. Experience the history, future and power of the Watauga River—the High Country’s river—through the eyes of various individuals who work tirelessly for its preservation.

58

Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial

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4-H Celebrates Centennial

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78 Photo by Ken Ketchie

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The topography of the Blue Ridge Mountains and lack of modern infrastructure once necessitated two separate hospitals in the northern and southern ends of Avery County, but in 1999, Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville merged the best of both hospitals into one.

Short for “Head, Heart, Hands and Health,” North Carolina’s 4-H youth program turns 100 this year. From agriculture to cooking to filmmaking to robotics, 4-H constantly evolves to meet the needs of communities.

The King Bees—Stingin’ & Swingin’ the Blues Since 1987

From juke joints, dive bars and funky motels all over the Southeast, to clubs and festivals in Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, as well as high-profile stateside gigs with American blues and roots music legends, Todd residents Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville and Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni—better known as The King Bees—have devoted their lives to the blues.

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Photo by Fredrica Georgia

High Country Magazine

August 2009

on the cover

Photographed by James Fay James Fay of Flying Rooster Photography monitored a radio scanner for several weeks this summer to get pictures of our High Country fire departments in action. He captured this compelling image of two volunteers on the morning of July 21 as they fought a house fire on Idlewild Road off of Highway 221 in the Fleetwood area.

James volunteered with the Alamance Fire Department in Guilford County from age 17 to 20. Visit his website at www.

FlyingRooster.net.

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. We publish the newspaper weekly and currently publish the magazine seven times a year. Both are free, and we distribute the newspaper and magazine in Watauga and Avery counties. Our newspaper is packed with information that we present and package in easy-to-read formats with visually appealing layouts.

The 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.

G A L L E R Y

Representing the Southeast's Finest Artists for seventeen years

SUBSCRIPTIONS

We are now offering subscriptions to High Country Magazine. A one-year subscription for seven issues costs $40, and we will mail issues to subscribers as soon as they arrive at our offices from the printer. To subscribe, call our offices at 828-264-2262.

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.

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.

ADVERTISING

Obtain information about advertising in our publications from our sales representatives by calling 828-264-2262 or emailing us at sales@highcountrypress.com.

Contact us at:

High Country Press/Magazine P.O. Box 152 130 North Depot Street Boone, NC 28607 www.highcountrypress.com info@highcountrypress.com 828-264-2262

Thru August 15, Dunlap/Burgess/Dunlap - Family Exhibition August 8, David Birmingham Saturday Art Social with the Artist 3-5pm August 17, Anne Abgott Watercolor Workshop (call to register) August 22, Plein Air "Paint Out" Co-Sponsored with The Avery Arts Council Plein Air "Paint Out" Exhibit Reception 3-5pm August 22, Avery Tour de Art, 10 - 5pm 828-898-5175 / MON - SAT 10-5 / www.artcellaronline.com 920 SHAWNEEHAW AVE. HWY 184, BANNER Elk August 2009

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C O N T E N T S

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Lees-McRae Summer Theatre—25 Years

The end of this year’s season underscores a resounding 25 years of applause for Lees-McRae Summer Theatre in Banner Elk, headed up by Dr. Janet Speer. Under her detail-oriented direction and boundless passion for the artform, the company has evolved to become a staple of local summer entertainment.

106

Boone’s Bakery

120

Finding (Your) Peace Through Yoga

The iconic image of a town baker from childhood poems is brought to life by Carson and Mindy Coatney’s local enterprise, Stick Boy Bread Company. They serve up quality bread, pastries, espresso, smoothies and other treats, along with a warm, family-friendly atmosphere and plan on operating Boone’s bakery for many years to come.

Just prior to turning 80 years old, Todd Bush’s father started practicing yoga, which only strengthened Todd’s resolve to adopt the practice that brings peace to mind, body and spirit for life. Enter the accessible world of yoga with Bush inside this month’s magazine.

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Artist Zoey Brookshire

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Diamond Creek Golf Course

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Photo by Karen Lehmann Photo by Todd Bush

Artist Zoey Brookshire, working in oils and inks, describes her art as a spiritual undertaking. The various subjects of her modernists works include women, animals, Japanese Tea Houses, lovers and Asia.

Rated as the fourth best golf course in North Carolina

by Golf Digest, Banner Elk’s Diamond Creek is a standalone course with a focus on relaxation, service and “enjoyability.”

Photo by Peter Morris

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120 D E P A R T M E N T S

10 From the Publisher 12 Looking Good: Cancer Resourse Alliance 14 Calender of Events 20 Mountain Echoes 152 Parting Shot: A Windmill City Once Again S E E A D V E R T I S E R S ’ I N D E X O N pa g e 1 5 0 8

High Country Magazine

August 2009

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FROM T H E PUB L ISH ER

A Publication Of High Country Press Editor & Publisher Ken Ketchie Creative Director Courtney Cooper Production Manager Michelle Bailey Graphic Artists Tim Salt and Patrick Pitzer

Ken Ketchie

Celebrating Local Firefighters

Y

es, as a kid I dreamed of being a fireman. Driving the big red truck, wearing the fire chief hat, sliding down the pole when the alarm sounded. But most of all, it was about being the hero. Dreaming about being a fireman was certainly a big deal for me when I was at that age—but back when I was a kid, there were only three channels to watch on TV, and you actually had to go to a movie theater to see a movie.

Growing up meant we moved on to other aspirations. It seems like I was going to be a football player for a while, then a soldier, and then probably a rock star (“Hey, hey we’re the Monkees”). But some kids out there did grow up to be firefighters, volunteering their time and energy to help protect their neighbors and communities, responding to fires and emergencies whenever they occur.

It’s good to see that kids today still get excited about fire trucks and firefighters. I saw that happening in June during the annual Emergency Fest held at ASU. The Raley Hall parking lot was filled with fire trucks and emergency vehicles, firefighters and emergency personnel, and all kinds of equipment—even two helicopters. Lots of people attended the daylong event, but what struck me was how many kids were there. With big eyes and wondering minds, they were mesmerized by the firefighters dressed in their gear, eager to participate in firefighting and rescue demonstrations and fascinated by the bright and shiny fire trucks. That was fun to watch! I thought, with everything kids are exposed to today, it’s great to see kids interested in the role of the local firefighters who are heroes among us.

My grandfather was one of those volunteer firefighters. For over 35 years, he answered the call. When I was a youngster spending summer vacation visits at my grandparents’ house in the small town of Kannapolis, I can remember hearing the blasting sound of the town siren. It could be anytime—during supper or in the middle of the night. The phone would ring (no radios back then) and he’d be suited up in his fire jacket and big rubber boots and out the door in minutes. In an hour or so he’d be back, all dirty and smelling like smoke. It’s interesting—back then, firemen mostly responded to fires. And back then there were many more fires than today.

The fact that fires make up a small percentage of calls to which modern firefighters respond is one of the many things I was surprised to learn as we began working on our cover story for this month’s issue. We found things have changed quite a bit for volunteer firefighters since the days when my grandfather had to wait for a phone call to learn where the fire was. My grandfather would probably be surprised that today he’d be working alongside firewomen!

I’d like to commend our two reporters and a photographer who spent many hours attending firehouse meetings and conducting interviews to bring you the story of today’s fire department. What they found out will probably surprise you as well.

But I know one thing has remained the same over the years—our volunteer firefighters take their responsibilities very seriously. Their dedication is inspiring. We’re proud to bring you the story of the volunteer firefighters of the High Country.

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August 2009

Advertising Sales Beverly Giles Katharine Osborne Associate Editors Anna Oakes Sam Calhoun Contributing Writers Corinne Saunders David Brewer Becky Alghrary Bernadette Cahill Celeste von Mangan Harris Prevost Owen Gray Sally Treadwell Linda Kramer Todd Bush Contributing Photograhers Patrick Pitzer Peter Morris James Fay Federica Georgia Todd Bush Karen Lehmann Finance Manager Laila Patrick High Country Magazine is produced by the staff and contributors of High Country Press newspaper, which serves Watauga and Avery counties of North Carolina

HIGH COUNTRY MAGAZINE P.O. Box 152, Boone, NC 28607

828-264-2262 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. © 2009 by High Country Press. All Rights Reserved.

An Appalachian Mountain Tradition Since 1883

Mast Store Valle Crucis, NC

The Original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the best remaining examples of an old country store.

Mast Store locations found along main streets throughout the region offer visitors a chance to enjoy old-fashioned friendly service reminiscent of a bygone era & to browse shelves filled with traditional goods, apparel, and outdoor gear for all seasons.

Valle Crucis • Boone • Waynesville • Hendersonville • Asheville, NC • Greenville, SC • Knoxville, TN Shop Online at MastGeneralStore.com • 1-866-FOR-MAST August 2009

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LOOKING GOOD

The Cancer Resource Alliance

By Sally Treadwell The woman who walked into a ‘Pink on the Move’ class in June had been diagnosed with breast cancer just days earlier. She was a millisecond from tears, still shocked, bewildered by medical jargon.

Within minutes she was surrounded by women who’d been where she was going and come out the other side, one, two, fifteen years ago. They reassured her about her doctor and told her how incredible the staff at the Seby Jones Cancer Center are, reminded her to take a tape recorder or ‘secretary’ to her oncology appointment to be sure she’d got everything straight, clarified sentinel node surgery. Offered phone numbers for those 2:00 a.m. crises of the soul.

As class began and instructor Kathie Billing moved among the women, using a loving touch to gently straighten a back here, relax a stiff shoulder there, tension had already visibly drained from the new class member’s body.

‘Pink on the Move,’ designed to help women with past or present breast cancer recover mobility and reduce stress, is a Cancer Resource Alliance program. The strictly local group’s mission is “empowering cancer survivors and their loved ones to be active partners in their healing journey—inspiring 12

High Country Magazine

hope through education and support.”

“I remember walking out of my oncologist’s office after treatment was finished and thinking, what the heck do I do now? I’m all alone,” remembers Jeanie Huelsman. Diagnosed when her son was only two, she had to stay strong at home. “We focus so much on curing and chemo but we don’t give a thought to dealing with the aftermath.”

We do now. The CRA strives to fund a bouquet of programs created especially to transform treatment, recovery and “the aftermath,” including the fear of recurrence.

There’s the ‘Soul Stitchers’ quilting group for anyone touched by cancer. ‘Women to Women,’ a support group that offers the relief of talking freely about real feelings and practical matters, without alarming friends and family. Hand and foot massage for people undergoing debilitating chemotherapy.

The Art Cart, wheeled around Seby Jones by an expressive arts therapy intern, and occasional visiting musicians in the treatment room. Classes on caregiver support and lymphedema. And the ‘Pink on the Move’ and ‘Pink in the Water’ programs that speed recovery from breast cancer.

CRA’s members are all concerned with healing different kinds of cancer damage,

August 2009

Left to Right: Michelle Forrest, Gail Gross, Brenda Reese. Not pictured: Kathie Billing, Heather Cameron, Melanie Childers, Morgan Winkler, Peggy Setzer, Beth Andrews

and many are spurred on by their own experiences. Decades later, for instance, Beth Andrews can still smell the pungent oil paints that someone gave her when she was a terrified child, listening to people talk over her about how she was going to die of cancer. That imaginative gift, she says, let her move past the fear and begin healing.

Beth, Carolyn Carr, and Peggy Setzer, the Cancer Center’s social worker, decided to give High Country residents their own healing paintbox. Recruiting help was easy.

Watauga Medical Center staff members jumped on board: cancer massage therapist Morgan Winkler; Director of Community Outreach Alice Salthouse; Director of Pastoral Care Melanie Childers.

Therapists Carolyn Carr, Glenda Hubbard, and Suzi Woodard have all led support groups and Heather Cameron is leading the current one together with Melanie.

Kathie Billing created and teaches the Pink programs.

Sheila Pait, the American Cancer Society’s

From treatment, recovery and “the aftermath,” including the fear of recurrence, therapists at the Seby Jones Cancer Center at Watauga Medical Center aid cancer patients in the High Country through every stage of the disease. Thanks to volunteer caregivers and the center’s dynamic and talented staff, patients are offered several holistic support programs and services that make the Seby Jones

Watauga Community Manager, pitches in as necessary. So does Sharon Trivette, who helps make Relay for Life so enormously successful locally. Gail Gross rolls up her sleeves for many tasks, including the creation and sales of the CRA fundraiser cookbook ‘Appetite for Life.’

Director of Watauga’s Healthy Carolinians Bryan Belcher; massage therapist Heather Flood, caregiver support specialist Brenda Reece; and nutritional consultant Bonnie Church—they’re all there when needed.

Funding isn’t quite so easy. Studies prove indisputably that holistic support programs for mind, body and spirit are invaluable complements to essential medical cutting and zapping; the struggling economy, however, recently meant the loss of a large grant.

But the CRA will keep its programs going, somehow, for people like Jeanie. “Recovery is an individual journey, but it takes the resources and support of a community,” says Childers.

To donate or for information about programs, call Peggy Setzer at 828-262-9170.

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Calendarof Events August 2009 1-14

Remarkable Rhododendron Ramble, naturalists show off blooming Catawba rhododendrons, Grandfather Mountain, 800-468-7325

7-16

Angel Street, Hayes Performing Arts Center, Blowing Rock, 828-295-9627

8

Playhouse Family Music Festival, Old Cove Creek High School, Sugar Grove, 828-263-0011

8

Weaving and Spinning Workshop, Doughton Park, 540-745-9662

8

Blazing Saddles Bowl-a-Thon, Boone Bowling Center, 828-295-3335

8

David Birmingham Art Social, The Art Cellar Gallery, Banner Elk, 828-898-5175

8

Seersucker and Sundress Cocktail, Meadowbrook Inn, Blowing Rock, www.seersuckerandsundress.com

8

Ken Kolodner, Ashe Arts Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787

8

Mountain Home Music: Keepers of the Flame, Blowing

Ola Belle Reed Homecoming Festival, August 14-16

Rock School auditorium, 828-964-3392 8-9

K-9s in Flight, Tweetsie Railroad, 800-526-5740

8-9

High Country Farm Tour, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes county farms, 304-923-7474

9

Grandfather Mountain Highlanders Pipes and Drums, Memorial Park, Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851

9

Noel Freidline Quintet, Meadowbrook Inn, Blowing Rock, 828-295-4300

10

14

Pavilion, 828-387-9283 14-16

11

15

Storytelling: Orville Hicks, Todd General Store,

13 14

15

event featuring fine art, folk art, crafts, food, a children’s corner and more, Riverwalk Park, Newland, 828-898-4292

15

Wolf Creek in Concert, Tate Evans Town Park, Banner Elk, 828-898-8395

Gallery Crawl, downtown West Jefferson,

15-16

High Country Magazine

Riverwalk Arts and Crafts Festival, an old-fashioned

Farm City Awards Celebration, Blair Farm, Boone, 828-264-3061

336-846-2787 14

Art in the Park, American Legion Grounds, Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851

Monday Night Concert Series, Broyhill Park,

336-877-1067

Ola Belle Reed Homecoming Festival, Lansing, www.olabellefest.com

Blowing Rock, 828-266-1676

Frogmore Stew Shrimp Boil, Beech Mountain Club

August 2009

15

Street Dance, Beech Mountain Town Hall, 828-387-9283

Riders in the Sky, Tweetsie Railroad, 800-526-5740

DON’T FORGET

EVENTS

Ola Belle Reed Homecoming Festival Three days of bluegrass, old-time and country music take place in Lansing Friday to Sunday, August 14 to 16, during the Ola Belle Reed Homecoming Festival.

Celebrating the lasting legacy of banjo player, singer and Ashe County native Ola Belle Reed, this year’s festival welcomes Blueground Undergrass, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, Dehlia Low, Volatile Baby, Whitetop Mountain Band, Elkville String Band, Surefire, Deborah Jean and Randy Sheets, Grayson Highlands Band, Charles Welch and the Ola Belle Reed family.

Music takes place at the American Legion field across the street from the old Lansing School.

August 14 to 16

Riverwalk Arts and Crafts Festival Sponsored by the Avery County Arts Council, the Riverwalk Arts and Crafts Festival will take place at Riverwalk Park in Newland on Saturday, August 15. The event features more than 60 vendors selling handcrafted pottery, jewelry, woodcrafts, paintings, stationery, candles, soaps, birdhouses and more. The event also features live music, food and a children’s activity corner.

Saturday August 15

Riders in the Sky America’s favorite cowboys and Grammy Award-winning quartet Riders in the Sky return to Tweetsie Railroad for performances on Saturday and Sunday, August 15 and 16, at the Hacienda Tent. Performing Western music and comedy and wielding a guitar, accordion, fiddle and string bass, Riders in the Sky have toured for more than 30 years.

Catch one of the shows and enjoy the park rides the rest of the day.

August 15 & 16

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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Camera Clinic at Grandfather Mountain, August 15-16

15-16

High Country Beer Fest, September 5

Camera Clinic, Grandfather Mountain,

23

800-468-7325

16 17

Blue Ridge Chamber Players, Ashe Arts Center, West

24

17

Anne Abgott Watercolor Workshop, The Art Cellar

25

Painting the Landscape Using Photos Course Begins, Masquerade $5 Jewelry Sale, Sloop Medical Office Plaza Oak Room, Cannon Memorial Hospital, 828-737-7538

18

Guided Hike: Westerly Hills Trail, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

18

Storytelling: Doyle Pace, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

18

John Crutchfield Presents The Songs of Robert, Valborg Theatre, ASU, 828-262-3028

18

Groovy Nights, Blowing Rock Country Club, 828-295-3171

20

The King Bees in Concert, Tate Evans Town Park, 828-898-8395

20-23

Ashe County Little Theatre: Walking Across Egypt,

27-29

22

Plein Air Paint Out, Banner Elk, 828-898-5175

22

Charity Golf & Tennis Tournament, Blowing Rock Country Club, 828-295-9347

22

Doc Watson & Friends, Cook Park, Todd, 336-846-2787

22

Marvin Hamlisch: High Country Temple Benefit Concert, Lees-McRae College Hayes Auditorium, Banner Elk, 828-898-8709

22-23

Fine Arts and Master Craft Festival, Banner Elk Elementary, 800-972-2183

End of Summer Book Sale, Watauga Public Library, 828-264-8784

27

Whip Daddies in Concert, Tate Evans Town Park, Banner Elk, 828-898-8395

29

High Country Sports Show, National Guard Armory, Boone, www.hauntedcomputer.com

29

Watauga Humane Society Fur Ball, Broyhill Inn & Conference Center, Boone, 828-264-7865

29

Kruger Brothers Concert, Ashe Civic Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787

30

Blue Ridge Descendents, Hayes Center, Blowing Rock, 828-295-9627

September 2009

1

Guided Hike: Upper/Lower Pond Creek Trail, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

Ashe Civic Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787 21-9/6 Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Hayes Performing Arts Center, Blowing Rock, 828-295-9627

Storytelling: Sherry Boone, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

Carlton Gallery, 828-963-4288 17-18

Brush and Beyond Mixed Media Collage Class Begins, Carlton Gallery, 828-963-4288

Gallery, Banner Elk, 828-898-5175

Chicago City Limits, Hayes Performing Arts Center, Blowing Rock, 828-295-9627

Jefferson, 336-846-2787

Artists Alley Studio Tour & Sale, September 4-6

1

Storytelling: Rhody Jane Meadows, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

4-5

Daniel Boone Days, Horn in the West amphitheater and various locations, Boone, 828-264-2262

4-6

Artists Alley Studio Tour and Sale, Blowing Rock, 828-295-6331

5

7-Mile Road Race, Valle Crucis, 828-963-0056

5

High Country Beer Fest, Broyhill Inn and Conference Center, Boone, 828-262-7847

5

Street Dance, Beech Mountain Town Hall, 828-387-9283

5-6

Labor Day Weekend Fine Art and Craft Show, Great Train Robbery, Banner Elk, 828-898-8645

16

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August 2009

DON’T FORGET

EVENTS

Daniel Boone Days

SUMMER SCHEDULE

Celebrating the great pioneer and Boone’s namesake, Daniel Boone Days returns for the second year on Friday and Saturday, September 4 and 5. Learn about Daniel Boone and take part September in the discussion at a symposium with 4&5 authors Robert Morgan and Randell Jones at ASU’s Raley Hall on Friday. Then on Saturday, head to the Horn in the West amphitheater for a day of music and culture ending with concerts by Upright and Breathin’, Larry Keel and Natural Bridge and Donna the Buffalo.

Welcome to summer at Sugar Mountain Resort where you’ll �ind cool breezes, fresh mountain air, and outdoor adventure!

Hiking & Biking Trails Open

Grandfather Mountain Kidfest Get your kids excited about the nature Saturday and culture of the Sept. 12 North Carolina mountains at the annual Kidfest at Grandfather Mountain on Saturday, September 12. The day includes fun and entertaining activities such as a guided hike, storytelling, crafts, a bird demonstration, face painting and animal exhibits. All Kidfest activities are free with the regular price of admission.

Farm Heritage Days An old-fashioned country fair takes place every year in the heart of Sugar Grove—the old Cove Creek High School. Enjoy live music and dancing and demonstrations of beekeeping, quilting, weaving, corn grinding and apple butter making. Shop for unique handmade items including folk Saturday toys and art, sock Sept. 19 animals, stained glass, dried flowers, beeswax candles, woodcarvings and more. Kids will enjoy face painting, fire trucks, a petting zoo and miniature mules, and everyone will enjoy the food. The 2009 event takes place on Saturday, September 19.

May 1, 2009 (Friday) through October 31, 2009 (Saturday) Hiking and biking trails intertwine throughout the Village of Sugar Mountain. Daily trail use is free of charge May through October during daylight hours. Trail maps are located in a black, marked mailbox at the base of the Flying Mile slope.

Weekend Scenic Lift Rides

July 3, 2009 (Friday) through September 6, 2009 (Sunday) Enjoy a breathtaking 45 minute roundtrip lift-ride to Sugar’s 5,300 ft peak every Saturday & Sunday from 10:00am through 5:30pm. Bring the whole family, a picnic lunch, your mountain bike, or just a friend. The majestic scenery is worth it. Special weekday lift ride date includes Friday, July 3rd.

Oktoberfest

October 10, 2009 (Saturday) and October 11, 2009 (Sunday) Enjoy a two-day Oktoberfest in the North Carolina Mountains featuring live German music, German and American food & beverages; children’s fun center; hay rides; local & regional craft fair; lift rides; lodging specials and much more.

Sugar Mountain Resort

1009 Sugar Mountain Drive • Sugar Mountain, NC 28604 www.skisugar.com/summer • (828) 898-4521

August 2009

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Storytelling: Orville Hicks, September 8

Grandfather Mountain Kidfest, September 12

6

Guided Hike, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

6

Mile High Kite Festival, Beech Mountain, 828-387-9283

6

15

6

16-19

Valle Crucis, 828-406-1332

6

Mountain Home Music: Labor Day Salute, First Baptist Church, Boone, 828-964-3392

8

Storytelling: Orville Hicks, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

8-12

Avery County Agricultural and Horticultural Fair,

17

10

Convocation, Holmes Convocation Center, ASU,

18-19

10

Visiting Writers Series: Greg Mortenson, Student

19

Girl Scout Day, Grandfather Mountain, 800-468-7325

19

Farm Heritage Days, old Cove Creek High School, Sugar Grove, 828-297-2200

19

Spruce Pine Pow Wow, Spruce Pine, 828-765-1667

Power of the Purse Luncheon, High Country

11

Women’s Fund

11

20

Gallery Crawl, downtown West Jefferson,

Grandfather Mountain, 828-726-0616

Greater L.A. Festival, Lansing, 336-977-0944

Grandfather Mountain Kidfest, Grandfather Mountain, 800-468-7325

12

Art in the Park, American Legion Grounds, Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851

12

Tickling the Ivories, Ashe Civic Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787

12-13

Railfan Weekend, Tweetsie Railroad, 800-526-5740

Watauga Community Band, Memorial Park,

13

Blowing Rock, 828-295-7851

13

Jon Thornton Jazz Group, Meadowbrook Inn, Blowing Rock, 828-295-4300

18

High Country Magazine

22

Storytelling: Sherry Boone, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

24

Visiting Writers Series: Dorothy Allison, Student

25

Steely Pan Band, Farthing Auditorium, ASU, 828-262-3020

11-12

Bridge-to-Bridge Bike Race, Lenoir Mall to

Union Table Rock Room, ASU, 828-262-2337

336-846-2787

12

Hospice Fall Ball, Chetola Resort, Blowing Rock, 828-265-9443

Union Linville Falls Room, ASU, 828-262-2337 11-13

Ashe County Quilt Fair, Jefferson Station, 336-246-3230

828-262-2000

‘Mark Twain at Large’ with Ron Jewell, Ashe Civic Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787

New Heritage Park, Newland, 828-387-6870

On the Same Page Literary Festival, featuring authors Jill McCorkle, Pamela Duncan, Georgann Eubanks, Clint Johnson, John Shelton and Dale Reed, Ashe County, 336-846-2787

New River Blues Fest, Jefferson Landing, The Degas Quartet, St. John’s Episcopal Church,

Storytelling: Doyle Pace, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

West Jefferson, www.newriverbluesfestival.info

Girl Scout Day, September 19

August 2009

29

Storytelling: John Ashburn, Todd General Store, 336-877-1067

30-10/4 ASU Theatre: Lysistrata, Valborg Theatre, ASU, 828-262-3063

October 2009

1

Best of the Blue Ridge Art Exhibit Opens, Ashe Arts Center, West Jefferson, 336-846-2787

1

1-4

Chick Corea, Farthing Auditorium, ASU, 828-262-4046 Vietnam Veterans Moving Wall, Ashe County Park, Jefferson, 336-977-1427

DON’T FORGET

EVENTS

ASU Performing Arts Series

Five live entertainment Fall & events are scheduled Spring for the 2009-10 Performing Arts Series at ASU, including world-class jazz piano, theatre, dance and comedy. Don’t miss Chick Corea on Thursday, October 1, the Martha Graham Dance Company on Thursday, October 22, and MOMIX on Thursday, November 19. In 2010, NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players present The Pirates of Penzance on Friday, January 22, and on Saturday, February 20, Lily Tomlin returns to ASU for an evening of laughs.

Autumn at Oz The Yellow Brick Road leads to Beech Mountain on Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4, when the gates of the former Land of Oz park open for October theme visitors to enjoy a fall 3 & 4 festival, colorful scenes and characters and youthful nostalgia. Join Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man and Toto and also enjoy a mini-musuem, delectable food and other activities.

Boyles CEO Lecture Each semester, ASU provides the campus and community with the unique opportunity to learn from some of the best in business.

Named for Harlan E. Monday Boyles, the Boyles October 5 Distinguished CEO Lecture Series has attracted close to 40 top business leaders to campus since 1988. On Monday, October 5, hear from BB&T Corporation CEO Kelly S. King at Rosen Concert Hall.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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mountain

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Insider tips, fascinating facts, conversation starters and fun stuff to do

A Pow Wow Gathering

Spruce Pine Pow Wow September 11 to 13

T

he fourth annual Spruce Pine Pow

contemporary music, food

Wow will take place Friday through

and handmade craft vendors.

Sunday, September 11 to 13. This edu-

volunteers before and during the Pow

Hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on

cational and traditional event features

Friday and Saturday and 9:00 a.m. to

dancing, drumming, singing, a tee pee,

5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Bring your lawn

storytelling, flint knapping, flute and

chair and stay all day. Admission is $5

Wow. Contact Mabel Benjamin at 813765-3073 to donate or to volunteer.

The event takes place at the Pow Wow Grounds, located at 12513 Highway

for adults and $2 for kids. Camping is

226 South behind Music, Jewelry and

available on site for dancers, vendors and Boy Scouts. Public camping is available nearby.

The Blue Ridge Intertribal Pow Wow is a nonprofit corporation and needs

Loan. The Pow Wow site is two miles south of U.S. 19 East and two miles north of the Blue Ridge Parkway. For more information, call 813-765-3073 or email rocksandthingstoo@hotmail.com.

Blackberry Pickin’ C

ome summertime, blackberries

According to PickYourOwn.org, the

Courtesy of Faith Oakes

peaking sometime between mid-July

would cure diseases of the mouth and

1 pint fresh blackberries • ½ to ¾ cup water

and mid-August. If you’re willing to

throat and prevent ailments such as

brave weeds and briars, look for wild

gout. The blackberry leaf was also used

blackberries in fields and along road-

as an early hair dye. During the Civil

sides to gather your own free treats.

War, popular belief held that blackberry

Tasting sweet and tart, blackberries

tea was a cure for dysentery. During

are best when plump, firm and fully

dysentery outbreaks, the Union and

black. Unripe berries—which are red or

Confederacy declared temporary truces

purple in color—will not ripen if picked

to allow soldiers to go forage for the

prematurely. Blackberries quickly mold

berries.

at room temperature and keep for only

Blackberries are high in antioxi-

a couple of days in the fridge. You can

dants, which researches believe help

freeze unused berries to preserve them

fight cancer-causing free radicals.

for several months.

20

Easy Blackberry Cobbler

ancient Greeks believed blackberries

are abundant in the High Country,

High Country Magazine

August 2009

By Anna Oakes

1 ½ cups sugar • 1 cup flour • ¼ tsp. baking soda ¼ cup shortening • ½ cup buttermilk Mix flour, shortening, buttermilk and baking soda to form dough. Press out with flour into a sheet about one-quarter- to a half-inch thick. In a medium-sized pot, combine water, blackberries and sugar. Boil for two to three minutes and remove from heat. Pour the berry mixture into a small casserole or baking dish. Shape the dough to the size of the dish and place on top of the berries. Bake at 450 degrees until lightly brown (about 12 minutes).

Serve with ice cream or in a shallow bath of milk.

mountain

echoes

Doc in Todd D

oc Watson’s concert in Todd on Saturday, August 22, is a fundraiser for community

projects and the James “Crow” Parsons Memorial Fund. Each summer since 2003, Doc and his grandson Richard have played for their friends and neighbors in Todd, helping to support the nonprofit Todd Community Preservation Organization in its efforts to sustain the community without destroying its unique character.

Each year, Doc’s Todd concert has show-

to bring their own chairs or blankets and um-

Purchase tickets at Todd General Store, Todd

cased other local musicians, and this year’s

brellas in case of showers. Snacks and drink are

Mercantile (credit card orders accepted), and

opening bands are Lost Ridge Band at 3:00 p.m.

available at a tent in Cook Park, as well as from

RiverGirl Fishing Co. in Todd; the Boone Area

and Backstreet at 4:00 p.m.

the nearby Todd General Store and Todd Mer-

Chamber of Commerce in Boone; and Ashe

cantile Bakery. Well-behaved pets are allowed.

Visitor’s Center and BlueMoon Guitars in West

No alcohol is allowed at the event.

Jefferson. Remaining tickets will be available at

A limited amount of parking will be provided in Todd by the youth of South Fork Baptist Church, raising funds for a mission trip. Other

the gate. For more information, click to

Tickets to the concert are $15 or $17 for

parking will be offered in a nearby field with

credit card purchases. Children under 12 are

free shuttle service. Attendees are encouraged

admitted free. Only 1,500 tickets are available.

R

E

S

www.toddnc.org or call 336-877-5565.

O

R T

August 2009

W

E

A

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High Country Magazine

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Meet Mortenson E

very year, Appalachian State University assigns incoming freshmen to read a selected book during the summer

before their first semester. Typically, the author of the selected work is the featured speaker at ASU’s Convocation in September.

In recent years, community members have joined ASU students in reading the Summer Reading Program selection.

The Watauga Reads program holds separate programs related to the book for community members.

This year’s ASU Summer Reading and Watauga Reads selection is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, published in 2006. The book is about one man—Mortenson—who was determined to change the lives of young school-age children by building schools in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Spurred on by the memory of his late sister and a failed attempt to reach the summit of K2, the world’s second-highest peak, Mortenson evolves from mountain climber to humanitarian.

As of this year, Mortenson and his

Mortenson will speak during Convocation at the Holmes Center on Thurs-

Central Asia Institute has established more than 90 schools in

day, September 10, at 10:00 a.m. At 2:00 p.m. that day, he will take part in a panel

rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan,

discussion and question-and-answer session at the Plemmons Student Union on

which provide education to more than 34,000 children, includ-

campus at 2:00 p.m. A reading and book signing will take place at the Watauga

ing 24,000 girls, for whom few education opportunities existed

Public Library at 4:00 p.m., and the day’s activities will conclude with an ASU Visit-

before. In March 2009, Mortenson received Pakistan’s highest

ing Writers Series reading at 7:30 p.m. in the student union’s Linville Falls Room.

civil award, the Sitara-e-Pakistan (“Star of Pakistan”). In addi-

For more information, call the ASU Summer Reading director at 828-262-2320

tion, several members of the U.S. Congress have nominated

or the Watauga Public Library at 828-264-8784. For supplemental reading materi-

Mortenson for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, which is announced

als, click to www.SummerReading.appstate.edu.

in October.

By Anna Oakes

Photos courtesy of Central Asia Institute

Mortenson has established more than 90 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, providing education to more than 34,000 children.

22

High Country Magazine

August 2009

mountain

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Going to the County Fair T he 17th annual Avery County Agricultural

The fair will feature a petting zoo, race cars,

and Horticultural (A&H) Fair will run from

food and live entertainment. A beauty pageant

5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, Septem-

will be held Tuesday for boys and girls ages 12

ber 8 to 11, and from noon to 10:00 p.m. on

months to 18 years, Southern Accent will per-

Saturday, September 12. It takes place at the

form Wednesday, the winner of High Country

New Heritage Park in Newland off Highway 194

Idol will open for the Aldridge Band Thursday

behind Ingles.

night, and True Blue and Gold Destination

The two goals of the fair are to “keep the kids in touch with their cultural heritage and

bands will perform Friday. Saturday features a talent show and the Roads Brothers Band.

[to] raise money for scholarships [for Avery

Also on Saturday, “we’ll be raffling off a John

County students],” said Jerry Moody, Avery

Deere 38-horsepower tractor,” Moody said, add-

County extension agent.

ing that tickets for the tractor raffle cost $100.

The fair features blue ribbon contests in

“We invite all the county schools to come Entry forms for fair events are available on-

livestock, trees, produce, arts and crafts and

over, and we provide an educational day for

more. Inners Amusement Company will set up

them,” Moody said. This year, a horse trainer and

line. The fair is currently seeking sponsors. For

18 to 20 rides on site this year, and people can

a storyteller will share during an educational day,

more information or to learn how to become a

either purchase four-hour bracelets or a cou-

and Moody hopes to have either a sheep shear-

sponsor, call 828-387-6870 or click to

pon book for rides.

ing or a cow milking demonstration as well.

www.averyfair.com.

By Corinne Saunders

August 2009

High Country Magazine

23

echoes p

mountain

The 2009 Farm City Celebration takes place at the Blair

Farm, one of the oldest structures in Watauga County.

Celebrate Farm City

O

n Saturday, August 15, the 54th annual Farm City Celebration will take place on

Saturday, August 15 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.

From 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., all are invited free

buy dinner tickets early. To purchase tickets,

of charge to attend a Mini-Country Fair that

call 828-264-3061 before Thursday, August 13.

the grounds of Blair Farm, located on Deerfield

will include live animals, demonstrations and

Farm City Celebration is presented annually

Road across from the Boone Golf Course. The

exhibits, house tours and live music. Alpacas,

by the Watauga County Cooperative Extension

theme for the 2009 celebration is “Growing

miniature goats, chickens, ducks and rabbits

Service in conjunction with the Town of Boone,

Youth, Growing Agriculture” to honor the 100th

will be some of the animals present.

ASU, Watauga County and the Boone Area

anniversary of the 4-H Clubs of North Carolina.

“We chose the Blair Farm this year because

From 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., the Farm City award

Chamber of Commerce, in a common effort to

winners will be announced. From 5:00 to 6:00

celebrate the historic and present ties between

we wanted to have some outdoor exhibits and

p.m., an old-fashioned country-style dinner

those who grow food and those that consume

activities for families before the banquet be-

will be served featuring locally grown food

it and to share the common goal of growing

gins. We moved [the event] to earlier in the year

catered by Bandana’s. Advanced tickets are $12

healthy communities.

so we could have warmer weather,” explained

for adults and $6 for children 12 and under. A

Karee Mackey, interim director of Watauga

limited number of tickets are available for the

County Cooperative Extension.

dinner, said Mackey, so attendees are urged to

ASU Football

Need-to-Know Info for 2009

BIG NUMBERS uAverage regular

and meeting rooms, coaches’ of-

to wear during the Homecoming

season attendance in 2008: 28,727,

fices, a strength and conditioning

game versus North Carolina Cen-

up from 27,140 in 2007.

room, a training and hydrotherapy

tral on Saturday, October 10. The

room, a study hall and computer

alternate jersey will be gold.

THE RECORD uFans set an attendance record of 30,931 on Halloween night 2008, when ASU handily defeated Wofford 70 to 24.

HOME ADVANTAGE uASU has won 42 of its last 44 games at home.

NEW DIGS uThe new 120,000-square-foot Kidd Brewer Stadium Complex includes a new football locker room, team area

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High Country Magazine

lab, 18 luxury suites, 600 club seats and a spacious press box.

SITTIN’ PRETTY uWith new luxury suites, club seats and a 4,400seat east upper deck, seating capacity at The Rock has increased from 16,650 to 21,650 over the past two years.

XTRA THREADS uFor the second year, Nike will provide the Mountaineers a third alternate uniform

August 2009

PRESEASON NO. 1 uASU has been selected by both the Southern Conference media and coaches as the favorite to win the 2009 conference title, which would be the fifth straight for the Mountaineers.

YOSEF u He’s got a new look for 2009. He seems to have aged a bit, as his beard has gone from gray to white.

By Anna Oakes

By Sam Calhoun

echoes

mountain

Needle Pointers L

aura’s Yarn-Tastic in Boone is hosting a trunk show that

stitch by Dede,” she said, which brings out the dimension

takes place every Monday to Saturday through the last day

and the colors of the painted canvas. Walker’s one-on-one

in August and features the work of four of the most famous needlepoint artists in the country: Trubey Walker of Trubey Designs, Dede Ogden of

instruction is free to the public, and fibers can be brought to the shop or purchased there.

Dede’s Needleworks, Sandra Gilmore of Sandra Gilmore Designs and

She will also give instruction on embellishment, which includes add-

Tonya Poplin of Two a T Designs.

ing different stitches, old pins and parts of old

The show takes place from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00

jewelry to the design. “If you don’t wear it, why

p.m. Monday to Friday—except on Tuesday, when

don’t you put it on something that you will use?”

it runs until 7:00 p.m.—and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00

Walker said of old pins and jewelry.

p.m. on Saturday.

About 40 of Poplin’s Two a T Designs—featur-

Walker’s needlepoint career began in

ing many Jewish designs—are displayed at the

Blowing Rock, and the now-famous artist has

trunk show, and customers can request custom

designed cushions for Westminster Abbey and

designs from her or from Walker. Free instruction

Windsor Castle’s St. George’s Chapel in England.

from Walker is also available by appointment.

Returning to her roots this summer, Walker

Laura’s Yarn-Tastic is located in the Shops at Shadowline in Boone. For

will be at Laura’s Yarn-Tastic every Monday from

more information, call owner Laura Newton at 828-262-3336.

By Corinne Saunders

2:00 to 4:00 p.m. to share her tips on techniques with interested patrons.

She will teach “new and interesting stitches…including the shadow

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

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High Country Magazine

27

Heroes Among Us Volunteer Firefighters in Watuaga and Avery Counties Story by Anna Oakes and Corinne Saunders Photography by James Fay

28

High Country Magazine

August 2009

The challenges and responsibilities of firefighting have changed dramatically over the years. But the character, resolve and dedication of our local firefighters have not wavered.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

29

“You will have some really bad calls.

You have to keep in mind you did your best. If someone died, you have to realize all the other lives you have saved and keep going.”

—Matt Clark, Deep Gap Volunteer

L

ook around you, and you’re likely to come into contact with a volunteer firefighter. At one area fire department, members include an electrical engineer, a doctor, a college administrator, a contractor, a real estate agent, a retired accountant and a retired Bellsouth manager.

One Beech Mountain volunteer, Riley Hatch, has simultaneously served as the Town of Beech Mountain Public Works director, the greens keeper at the Beech Mountain Club, a police officer and a firefighter and is EMT certified. In fact, several Beech Mountain Club staff members are volunteer firefighters.

“One member answers calls on his golf cart,” Jim said.

For volunteers in leadership roles, like Chief Wayne in Banner Elk, it’s like having two full-time jobs. Wayne spends 60 to 70 hours per week as a contractor and about 25 hours per week as fire chief.

“It is a 24-hour job,” he said.

Modern firefighting isn’t what it used to be, and it isn’t what you think it is. Nowadays, firefighters are more likely to be using the Jaws of Life in a vehicle accident than dousing a house fire or rescuing a cat from a tree.

“The technology has advanced, and our equipment has gotten much better,” Wayne said. “It’s a changing business. It changes day to day, year to year.”

Fire Departments Today

Because of increased fire prevention education and improved technology, local fire departments are battling fewer fires than ever, but that doesn’t mean firefighters aren’t feeling the heat.

From car accidents to training to property inspections, their workload

30

High Country Magazine

continues to increase. Firemen today more frequently act as first responders—now officially called medical responders—in addition to educating the public about fire safety and prevention.

“We’ve had one [life] save this year,” said Doug Berry, Stewart Simmons Volunteer Fire Department chief. “Most of our [life-saving] is through prevention.”

All of the departments in the county do a lot of fire prevention activities, agreed Mike Shook, Foscoe Volunteer Fire Department chief.

“We go to the schools, go to Bible schools [and] talk to people on the street,” Mike said.

Education topics include teaching kids to stop, drop and roll, what to do when you see a fire, how to get out of a burning building and the importance of a meeting place in case of fire.

Fire departments are also required to do fire inspections, which can be quite time consuming. Between commercial properties, condos and rentals, Beech Mountain is responsible for inspecting about 1,000 sites per year, said Jim Brooks, chief at Beech Mountain Volunteer Fire Department and a firefighter since 1971.

“We do home inspections for safety and fire prevention, check the number of detectors [in the home], make sure extinguishers are in the right location at the right height [and] make recommendations,” Doug said.

Fire departments encourage homeowners to reduce the amount of fuels—potentially flammable materials— around the home and “make it more possible for us to protect their property,” Doug said.

Most of the calls to which fire departments respond today are actually

August 2009

14 Fire Departments Cover Watauga County Beaver Dam Beech Mountain—2 Blowing Rock—second station coming soon Boone—2 Cove Creek Creston* Deep Gap Foscoe—2 Meat Camp Seven Devils Shawneehaw Stewart Simmons Todd Zionville

10 Fire Departments Cover Avery County Banner Elk—2 Beech Mountain**—2 Crossnore Elk Park Fall Creek—2 Frank Green Valley Linville—2 Newland Seven Devils**

2 = two stations *Creston is in Ashe County, but a substation covers part of Watauga County **located in Watauga County, but serve Avery County as well Lists courtesy of Steve Sudderth and David C. Vance, fire marshals and emergency management coordinators of Watauga and Avery counties, respectively

Adam Lewis, left, is a volunteer with Blowing Rock Fire Department. Angie Miller, right, has been a volunteer firefighter with the Blowing Rock Fire Department since 1989 and is one of 10 women in the department. “I think females have to prove themselves and hold themselves to a higher standard than males do. I think we as females expect that of ourselves. It’s still predominantly a male field,” Angie said.

medical calls, unrelated to fires, and because of their locations throughout rural communities, fire personnel are often the first to reach the scene.

“We’re the closest people to get to what’s going on,” Jim said.

Wayne Miller, chief at Banner Elk Volunteer Fire Department, said of the 600 calls the Banner Elk department received in 2008, he would estimate that about 60 percent were medical calls.

“For every fire call, we [at Stewart Simmons] run five medical calls,” Doug said.

And, said Junior Sluder, a Newland fire veteran of more than 40 years, firefighters also get called in for anything from a bag of trash in the road to traffic control.

As with structure fires, local departments are battling fewer forest fires.

Wayne said his department has only responded to two “full forest fires” in his

12 years of service. Banner Elk responds to about 15 to 20 small brush fires per year, which are usually extinguished in a matter of minutes.

“We’ve been lucky,” Mike said. “We haven’t had any [forest fires] over here in a while. We have [sent guys to] other places in the county, [but we’ve] never been called out of county.”

Two firefighters at Stewart Simmons have their “red cards,” meaning they are certified to go fight forest fires out West if the need arises.

Signing up to take the test for a red card is advised only “if someone is in a point in their lives where they can get called today and leave for three weeks,” Doug said, adding that there is an annual recertification process.

The loss of firefighters’ and emergency workers’ lives in the 9/11 tragedy reminded the world of the risks involved in

these fields, and it also resulted in a slew of increased regulations by federal and state governments.

“When 9/11 came, it woke people up to how dangerous this sport can be,” Jim said.

After 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, where “agencies couldn’t interact,” the government put NIMS (National Incident Management System) in place “so everyone has the same standards and can integrate effectively,” Doug said.

NIMS had been in place before but had not been enforced. Everyone on a fire department’s roster must meet the federal requirement of 40 training hours per year now or the station will lose its federal funding. The logic is “tie it to their money and they’ll do it,” Doug said.

When Junior got started in firefighting in the 1960s, “it was very much onthe-job training back then,” he said. Several years later, when Jim joined the fire

August 2009

High Country Magazine

31

Firefighters from Fleetwood, Deep Gap, Stewart Simmons and Glendale Springs departments responded to a house fire on Idlewild Road off Highway 221 in the Fleetwood area on the morning of July 21.

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

“It’s the best thing in the world to know you’re doing something you love and helping people out [and] saving lives.”

— Matt Clark, Deep Gap Volunteer

August 2009

High Country Magazine

33

NO TWO CURLS ARE ALIKE

We care for hair and Skin 174 S. DEPOT STREET • DOWNTOWN BOONE •

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

262-3324

828/

service, firefighters completed about 42 hours of training.

Nowadays, the basic certifications of N.C. Firefighter 1 and II require completion of 35 classes totaling 402 hours.

Because fire departments are frequently the first to respond to medical crises, many firefighters also become EMTs and paramedics. And although one Beech Mountain volunteer was a retired nurse, she had to take a total of 800 hours of training, Jim said.

“What we do in the field is totally different from the hospital,” he said.

Another major concern for departments today is fire ratings. The ISO (Insurance Services Office) ratings given to fire departments directly determine the amount that residents and business owners in that area will pay for fire insurance.

The lower the ISO rating, the lower the premium, because most insurance companies use the ISO ratings, according to www. forestvillefire.org/info/insurance.

“We’re the only organization in the county that saves taxpayers money,” Junior said.

According to isomitigation.com, ISO collects information about public fire protection, flood risk and the adoption and enforcement of building codes in individual communities.

ISO ratings are from class 1 to class 10 and are conducted on a points system.

A class 1 rating is the best and is typically found within a big city department’s jurisdiction, said David C. Vance, Avery County fire marshal and emergency management coordinator.

“City departments have paid firemen, a pressurized water system and fire hydrants,” David said. “We depend on volunteers and use water shuttles to haul water.”

A class 10 rating means there is no fire protection at all or that the area is outside a fire district, he added.

Boone, Blowing Rock and Seven Devils are municipal departments, with both paid and volunteer staff, and these towns meet ISO ratings of classes 5 and 6, according to Watauga County’s website.

“Most [local] departments are so rural, they have a higher insurance classification,” David said.

Linville and Newland have split ratings, meaning they boast a lower rating within the town limits, but a class 9 rating just outside the town limits, he said. Lowering ratings involves a lot of work, time,

Fire Dept # 6

Public Service Fire departments participate in numerous public service and community events, including Fourth of July parades and fireworks and educational events such as Emergency Fest (below). Fire stations serve as community centers, available for civic clubs meetings, family reunions and other special events. The Stewart Simmons Fire Station features the only basketball court available for public use in Triplett, and Beech Mountain uses its fire hoses to make snow for the municipal sledding hill every winter.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

35

“For every fire call, we run five medical calls.”

— Doug Berry, Stewart Simmons fire chief

Max Riley drives the engine for Beech Mountain Volunteer Fire Department. Max moved to the area a couple of years ago, and this is his first experience as a firefighter.

paperwork and equipment, and the N.C. State Fire Marshal’s Office is the rating bureau, he added.

The association has been working on lowering ratings for about five years, beginning with automatic aid agreements, David said.

Automatic aid involves a primary de-

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High Country Magazine

partment and two secondary departments responding to a structure fire, Jim said. “It used to be called mutual aid,” he said, explaining that with mutual aid, the nearest department would “call a neighbor” if help was needed, whereas automatic aid means three departments automatically respond.

Automatic aid is good for lowering ISO

August 2009

ratings, but it also means that departments are responding to more calls than ever.

Pumps, ladders, turnout gear and other equipment are required to be tested annually. Engines must be serviced once a year, and firefighters’ air packs must be tested twice a year.

“It’s amazing how much money we spend trying to do that,” Jim said. His district could earn more credits toward lower ISO ratings if they inspected all fire hydrants twice a year, but they only have enough time to check them once.

All local departments operate within districts that levy a fire tax. Monies generated from this tax stay in the county. In the past, volunteer fire departments largely relied on fundraising to provide money for

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Training “The state requires a minimum of 36 hours of training annually to be a volunteer firefighter; we try to exceed that. The state doesn’t make us do everything we do, but it seems to me, it’s a responsibility we’re tasked to. We are expected to deliver a professional service [and] save lives. You don’t want your doctor to just get minimum requirements. You want [him to train more] so he’s actually a specialist in his field. We feel we have a responsibility to go beyond the minimum requirements.”

- Doug Berry, Stewart Simmons fire chief

The Blowing Rock Fire Department practices steep incline rescue on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

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August 2009

fire trucks and equipment, and neighboring departments—such as Newland and Crossnore—often competed for funding.

“Crossnore was our enemy,” remembered Junior. “It was a problem.” Prior to the mid-‘70s, fire departments raised money selling toothbrushes and—to the chagrin of public officials—holding “girly shows.” Around 1975, the fire departments promised the Avery County Commissioners they would never hold another girly show if the commissioners would levy a countywide fire tax.

“We were the first in North Carolina to have a countywide fire tax,” Junior

said. “That was our salvation.”

When Doug began volunteering at Stewart Simmons 16 years ago, its budget was $28,000, and insurance on its trucks and facility alone cost more than $30,000 annually, he said. At that time, fundraising was crucial to make up the deficit.

“We were one of the last departments to get a fire tax,” Doug said, adding that today, the tax money makes up 90 percent of the station’s budget.

“We’re not dependent on fundraisers anymore,” he said. “We might do a couple fundraisers this year [if] the budget’s tight, [but] it’s still a part of a lot of

departments’ funding. Shawneehaw still does regular fundraisers…a barbeque or pig pickin’ two or three times a year.”

Although firefighting has changed significantly over the years, volunteers still rescue the occasional cat in distress. Bob Garland, volunteer with the Avery Ladder Company in Linville, said his department has been called to retrieve a parrot from a tree. The bird would fly to the tree, and every afternoon around 3:00 p.m., like clockwork, sound its mating call, Bob said.

“It was as green as the tree was,” he said.

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Volunteer firefighters undertake their cause for various reasons. For Newland’s Junior Sluder, age 75, it was to prevent tragedy from striking again.

In early January 1961, a fire struck the town of Newland, which didn’t have a fire department at the time. By the time departments from other area towns could respond, the blaze had spread to more than 10 businesses, devastating the town’s commercial district. The disaster inspired Newland citizens to band together, and in March 1962, the fire department formed with 17 volunteers, and Junior was elected as the first fire chief. Junior volunteered with the department for 40 years before leaving and returning a couple of times. He continues to serve area fire departments as president of the Avery County Firefighters Association.

The firefighters in Watauga and Avery counties embody the full spectrum of personalities, but all share a deep concern for the wellbeing of those in the community.

“It’s my way to actually give back to a community that has given me so much,” said Angie Miller, who started volunteering in 1989, at age 18, for the Blowing Rock Fire Department. Angie works full-time as assistant director of Appalachian State University’s Human Resource Services and is involved with firefighting duties two to four days per week. “[Firefighting is] something I love to do,” said Eric Kaczmarczyk, a 19-year-old Foscoe volunteer. “It makes me feel better that I help people.”

Eric, who currently works 39 hours each week at Shook Construction, began volunteering at age 15. Many of his high

Fire Stations To better recruit and retain volunteers, new fire stations offer increased amenities for firefighters and their families. The new Blowing Rock Fire Station #1 on Valley Boulevard features a gym, kitchen and children’s play areas that can be accessed by volunteers and family members. Above, Blowing Rock Emergency Services Director Kent Graham points to buttons that open bay doors for various engines so that firefighters can depart as soon as they slide down the fire station’s pole. At bottom right, bunk rooms are available for on-call firefighters who work paid shifts at the station.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

41

school friends joined different fire departments around Watauga County, including Cove Creek and Deep Gap, at about the same time, he said.

The adrenaline rush and excitement of firefighting is an essential part of the job for some volunteers.

“We thrive on fighting fire, but when we don’t have fires, morale goes [down],” Junior said.

Firefighters may joke around at the station, tease the young guys and chew tobacco during down time, but as soon as a call comes in, the family-like unit converts into an effective taskforce. “[We had] a call last night at three o’clock [and we] were there [for] 30 minutes,” Eric said. “Sometimes we’re there for hours [for a single call].”

Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department’s Matt Clark started as a junior firefighter at age 12.

“When I was two or three, 42

High Country Magazine

I watched Backdraft [and] ever since then, I’ve wanted to be around fire departments,” Matt said. “I moved up to North Carolina from Illinois and heard some kids at school talking about being volunteers with Deep Gap.” This November will mark six years for the 18-year-old.

“It’s the best thing in the world to know you’re doing something you love and helping people out [and] saving lives,” Matt said.

For a lot of volunteers, firefighting is a family trade. Matt’s mother is on the ladies’ auxiliary at Deep Gap. Bob Garland of the Avery County Ladder Company in Linville followed his father into the fire service, serving 45 years. Angie and her husband are one of two couples serving at Blowing Rock, and their 21-yearold son recently joined as well.

Blowing Rock also has a father and daughter who volunteer. In Banner Elk, Chief Wayne Miller’s August 2009

“Firefighting is a longstanding tradition that is family based. Fathers, grandfathers, sons usually follow each other into the department. And then, of course, every member in the department is family.”

— Wayne Miller, Banner Elk Fire Chief wife is the treasurer and the head of the auxiliary, and his oldest daughter is also on the auxiliary.

“Firefighting is a longstanding tradition that is family based,” Wayne said. “Fathers, grandfathers, sons usually follow each other into the department. And then, of course, every member in the department is family.”

Welcoming families to the fire department is important in retaining volunteers, said Kent Graham, emergency services director in Blowing Rock.

“If you go head-to-head with family time, you’re going to lose,” he said. “We try to integrate it. We have some elements that are family-friendly.”

Blowing Rock’s new fire station—completed in 2008—has a gym, kitchen, TV room and a family room with couches and a play area for children. Firefighters’ family members often utilize the common area spaces.

Unfortunately, however, it’s becoming more difficult for departments to recruit new volunteers.

“Volunteerism is going to the prunes,” said Jim. “It is really hard to get volunteers.”

The increased time commitment and required training hours have made firefighting less attractive to potential volunteers. At one time, Beech Mountain boasted one of the

youngest groups of volunteers, Jim said, but now the average age is around 60. Foscoe used to have a waiting list to be a volunteer, but no longer.

To complete various firefighter certifications, volunteers must travel for training courses.

The firefighters’ associations work to provide as many training courses as possible in the High Country, but one local volunteer said he had to travel to locations across the state—including Southern Pines, Gaston County and Wake County—to complete his coursework. In budget crunches of recent years, the state has looked at charging volunteers fees for training courses, but for now, the classes remain free through community colleges, Jim said.

Additionally, new standards imposed by the state have made it more difficult for fire departments to continue junior firefighter programs, and many departments have done away with the program altogether, accepting only volunteers ages 18 and above. The regulations now dictate that juniors must be at least 14 years old to join, they are not allowed in the fire zone and they are not allowed to respond to calls at all until age 16.

“Before they made it tough to have the junior program, I was able to get most of my Firefighter I and II certifications and

August 2009

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At right, fire chiefs and members of the Avery County Firefighters Association gather during one of their bimonthly meetings.

Organizations The Watauga and Avery Firefighters Associations host community events such as Emergency Fest and help fire chiefs and personnel stay abreast of new federal and state regulations. Kent Graham is the president of the Watauga association, and Junior Sluder serves as president of the Avery organization.

Fire chiefs at the meeting included (first row, from left) Bob Garland, Avery Ladder Co.; Kenny McFee, Green Valley; Johnny Mathes, Frank; Wayne Miller, Banner Elk; and Jack Wiseman, Crossnore; and (second row) Jim Brooks, Beech; and Tony Hunter, Fall Creek.

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August 2009

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EMT Basic as a junior [in high school],” Matt said. “I could go to the scene [of] a car wreck [and] I could still watch, but [I was] kept at a distance or at the car. They’d explain what they were doing [and] why they were doing it.” He completed 872 hours of training his last year as a junior, he said, adding that he turned 18 this February and has completed a total of about 5,000 hours.

Not too long ago, volunteers were responsible for purchasing their own turnout gear—a full set will run about $2,000 today—and medical kits, but now departments furnish that equipment, which must be replaced every few years. Some departments recently started paying volunteers a stipend of a few dollars per call (based on certification level).

“Hopefully it meets…their out-ofpocket expense,” said Doug at Stewart Simmons, where volunteers receive $10 for attending training or fire or medical calls. Elsewhere, however, volunteers are responsible for their own fuel costs. Volunteers can also pay about $20 a month into a pension fund to receive $168 a month after 20 years of service at the minimum age of 55, Jim said.

That’s not very much compensation for the amount of time, effort and risks involved, but that doesn’t deter volunteers like Keith Cook, 50, who has served 32 years with Fall Creek in Avery County. In addition to his full-time job as a building inspector in Watauga, he puts in three or four hours a week on average with the fire department. He said he has thought about hanging it up for a couple of years, but he figures he’ll stay on for at least two or three more.

Keith typically operates the pumper when called to a structure fire, and as he recalls, firefighting in mountain winters can be particularly challenging. While firefighters typically have to be mindful of the heat, the cold can be a factor, too. Keith remembers one incident that was “aggravating more than anything else.”

“It was the middle of winter, a little after midnight, and we got the call for a house fire,” he said. “The temperature was in the single digits. Everything you touched that was wet, you stuck to because it was frozen. Our pumps froze up, and we had a hard time moving water.”

When the volunteers removed their gear that morning, it was frozen solid.

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

without a crew of volunteers like Keith, but these days, many rural departments have at least one paid staff member. In Banner Elk, the paid, full-time staff member handles day-to-day operations, checks equipment on a daily basis and runs calls during the day, Wayne said.

“That’s a big plus for a volunteer fire department with as much medical calls as we run,” Wayne said. “That has just been a huge, huge asset for every department in the county.”

Some chiefs feel that because of increased training hours, the state is pressuring volunteer departments to convert into paid departments.

“The way the state is mandating things [and] putting pressure on us, I think they’re trying to push for paid departments,” Mike said. Wayne said with the ever-increasing workload, it’s likely to happen in the future.

“It gets harder and harder for a volunteer department to keep up with all of the information that has to be dealt with,” he said. “Soon, just about all of the departments… in Avery County will likely be a fully paid department.”

But most chiefs believe that paid departments would not be feasible.

“What it would cost the county for departments to be paid, there’s no way the county could afford that,” Mike said.

“It would be nice to know you have someone on staff 24/7, [but] I don’t think we’ll ever be a paid department, just a couple paid people to do paperwork and schedules,” Doug said.

Not all volunteers have to fight fires or respond to medical calls.

“There’s so many different roles that you have in the fire department,” said Jim Landis, a volunteer at the Blowing Rock department and administrator in the Gastonia Fire Department.

“If you don’t want to go into the heat, you don’t have to.”

Auxiliaries are organizations of men and women volunteers dedicated to supporting the fire department.

They hold fundraisers for the departments and provide food for trainings and special events. When departments are called to long-term firefighting or disaster events, the auxiliary members supply the firefighters with drinkable water, Gatorade and food.

“There’s a lot of great people associated with firefighting,” Wayne said. “A lot of people in the community really don’t understand what is behind operating a fire department.”

Firefighting requires a strong mental mindset, Matt said. Matt, although only 18, has responded to several medical calls to date in which he has witnessed three or four deaths.

“You have to have excitement for the job,” Matt said. “You will have some really bad calls. You have to keep in mind you did your best. If someone died, you have to realize all the other lives you have saved and keep going.” w

“There’s a lot of great people associated with firefighting, A lot of people in the community really don’t understand what is behind operating a fire department.”

— Wayne Miller, Banner Elk Fire Chief

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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Our Watauga River Whispering Waters—River of Life Story by Bernadette Cahill • Photography by Patrick Pitzer

L

ooking east from this point, the beautiful valley…lay far under the horizontal line of vision…and the track of the stream could be traced by a meandering furrow through the trees for the distance of seven miles…where in its eastward flow it struck a mountain, and turning square to the north, hugged another mountain in its elbow.

When Shepherd M. Dugger wrote those words in The Balsam Groves of Grandfather Mountain, published in 1934, he was writing about a trip to the High Country. His group had spent the night at the foot of Beech Mountain and was headed uphill to see the Great Stone Face of the Grandfather. On the way, they stopped to take in the view—the valley of the Watauga River.

In those days, Dugger could describe the river, if not in a completely pristine condition, for he noted it was “scarred by a few small clearings,” at

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August 2009

least much closer to its natural state than visitors see today.

He refers to the “upper valley” of the Watauga, right to where it turns at today’s Ham Shoppe and heads north towards Valle Crucis. In his day, Highway 105 did not exist.

The Watauga River is about 60 miles long, meandering in a wide swathe around Beech Mountain and through Valle Crucis, before it finally gallops through a gorge beside Highway 321 and pours into Watauga Lake. Its headwaters are at Tynecastle—one of four rivers that rise in the same area, courtesy of the continental divide. Dugger wrote about two of them: [A]t Linville Gap… the sparkling sources of the Watauga and the Linville are so closely related that either could be easily turned into the other by a ditch, and yet they flow in opposite directions and retreat into different climes—the

A kayaker’s view of the Watauga River August 2009

High Country Magazine

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Treva McLean of Banner Elk, pictured with the young river in the background, calls the Watauga Whispering Waters. Below, the Watauga River’s headwaters, found at Tynecastle, are a lake formed years ago from several springs, according to Native American tradition. (See sidebar) Photos by Bernadette Cahill 52

High Country Magazine

August 2009

Linville... to the Atlantic Ocean, while the Watauga finds its way…to…the Mississippi [and] the Gulf.

Dugger writes as if the rivers’ proximity to each other is an oddity.

Yet his choice of words reveals some suspicion about a potential deeper meaning behind the phenomenon.

What he doesn’t seem to know is that this is a place of power for the area’s original inhabitants.

A Place of Power Linville Gap is what would be called the creative energy chakra of Grandfather Mountain, said Treva McLean—psychologist, ordained minister, artist and author who lives in Banner Elk. Treva’s family has lived here for generations, and the last two Cherokee in the area chose her kin to be keepers of the area’s ancient knowledge. Treva herself received much of the teaching of the Cherokee nation from Chief Two Trees. Whispering Waters is the traditional name of the local Cherokee tradition for the Watauga, she said.

Creative energy is an apt description of the place where Whispering Waters was born. According to Celtic teaching, the source of a river is where the energy of the stream birthing from Mother Earth is most concentrated, a place of power wound up like a spring, ready to uncoil as it sallies forth.

As the river begins its journey, its creativity unwinds into many places.

Rivers and streams, wrote Ted Andrews in Nature-Speak, manifest creativity along their whole length: by carving out, for example, their course from the land or, as in the case of the Watauga’s turn to the north, being a “shapeshifter” and adapting itself to the environment in which it finds itself.

Rivers are also about sustenance and fertility, whether from the plants they attract on their banks, from the fish that swim in them, or from the water itself which fertilizes the earth and gives humans and animals lifegiving water.

The Watauga River does all of this—generating in those who take the time to reflect on it a sense of wonder for the fact of its existence and beauty, gratitude for the fish and fertility it provides, and contentment from the gift of the special places along its length where they can commune quietly with nature.

Whispering Waters The headwaters of the Watauga River is the lake at Tynecastle. Native American Treva McLean of Banner Elk said she understood the source of the water for the lake was several springs—and a man linked with the Muiskii, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes confirmed this. He’s from a long line of Native American healers and goes by the name of Billy. Mabel Benjamin, owner of Rocks & Things in Spruce Pine, is his adopted daughter.

Billy’s family sent him during his childhood from his Florida home to learn “the medicine of each and every tribe” and he spent much time in our community. Many years ago, in the first half of the 19th century, “before Lincoln,” said Billy, there was a village located where the lake is now.

The white man wanted the land, but the tribe wouldn’t give it

For Fun and Profit Such mystical qualities and the means of survival have been part of communities’ awareness of the role of rivers in our lives from time immemorial, but that role has changed. Nowadays, the river is used consciously by groups for fun and profit.

Eric Woolridge has been working for the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority since March, investigating potential new amenities so our area can become a better outdoor recreation destination.

“One of the main things the Watauga River basin provides in regards to outdoor recreation is fishing opportunities,” he said, describing two significant areas regularly stocked with fish, one wild trout water area and other rivers within the basin with “hatcherysupported waters.”

“We also have Old Watauga River Road which is one of the most scenic roads in the county, which is a major asset,” he said. “Then you have Valle Crucis Park, which is considered to be one of the most significant parks in the county, a major resource [and] the Valle Crucis historic district which is one of the few rural historic districts in the state, [with] unmatched cultural things going on, like contra dances in the Apple Barn.”

up, so the white man built a dam and flooded them out, he said. The springs—“lots of springs,” he clarified—forming the Watauga are so big and powerful that it didn’t take long for the lake to fill, he said.

A river that forms from springs has a special meaning to Native Americans, he added.

“A river from runoff, that’s the earth crying,” said Billy, “but when a river comes from the ground, that’s the earth’s bloodline. That’s what a spring is. It’s the earth giving you water, its lifeline, the earth’s blood.”

Billy also said that the Watauga River’s name referred to “when children giggle. [It means] when they are laughing, but quietly, when they don’t make a lot of noise.” Treva’s tradition that “Watauga” means “Whispering Waters,” fits with the tradition he learned, Billy said.

There’s great potential for better kayaking trail access along the Watauga River, he said, and the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority is investigating where kayakers like to run, and where improved access, signage, parking areas and kiosks with maps and information should be placed.

Such developments will later become a new marketing tool for the whole area, much as the Blue Ridge Parkway is used for marketing today.

Truly Experiencing the River Hard business terms such as “marketing” and “development” applied to the Watauga sounds, at first, remarkably like exploitation. Yet to experience the river personally is one way to get to know it, said Donna Lisenby, a passionate river advocate. In fact, one of the problems of modern life, she maintains, is that people today have become disconnected from rivers.

“Being connected to rivers is like being connected to another part of the earth, but so many people only have a relationship with rivers when they cross a bridge and look down,” she said.

Yet this lack of relationship with our rivers is a relatively new development, she pointed out.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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August 2009

Nowadays, the river is used consciously, for fun and for profit. A kayaker navigates the waters (above left), which allow all levels of experience, from a gentle paddle to hair-raising—if not life-threatening—rapids in the river’s hidden gem, the Watauga Gorge. Above, the river is an integral part of summer fun for local children.

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In a scene like this, visitors can easily enjoy some of the Watauga River’s rocky beauty. Along the Old Watauga River Road from Valle Crucis to Highway 321, there is one spectacular scene after another. But when the river enters its gorge, its spectacular beauty is currently inaccessible except to seasoned kayakers. Unlike the protected Linville River Gorge, “we don’t have a concrete plan to protect that very rare and very unusual Watauga River Gorge,” said Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby.

“Our first relationship with waterways was where our communities were situated and where we drew food… and from the rich river deltas where we grow corn, rice—those kinds of things.

And then from there we figured out we could use rivers as transportation…and increase trade between communities and tribes…And then when there are great shifts in population, often those shifts occur by boat…”

In the early days of High Country settlement, she said, the Watauga and Elk Rivers had grist mills, where the water power of the river ground up wheat into flour and corn into meal for the communities here to live.

As people improved their ability to control the rivers, waterways powered sawmills that cut Appalachian forest timber for homes and businesses settling and developing here.

“Today the rivers are harnessed for hydro-electric power: that power of 56

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the grids that runs our microwaves and televisions and computers and so we just can’t live without them. They still are an enormous part of our life. Always have been,” Lisenby said, adding regretfully, “Humanity has had this enormously long historic rich and fruitful relationship with our waterways. It’s interesting that with the advent of the car and landbased forms of transportation, we have lost that key relationship in large part.”

Most people have, she maintained, but “not everyone.” “[A] small segment of the population is what we call river-lovers or blue people who have an affinity and a love for waterways and spend time boating, swimming and fishing. They are passionate about it. It would be my profound hope that more people could have better access to waterways because I think they are so magical and spiritual and powerful.”

August 2009

The Miracle of Life Lisenby, an avid kayaker, represents Upper Watauga Riverkeepers. As such, she’s not simply called by a name that evokes folk memories of mystical invisible creatures like undines and water sprites who ensure that the integrity of the river and its environs would be kept safe for and from the humans and other creatures who use it. Lisenby, in fact, is actively involved in looking out for the Watauga River in our community—an activist who sees rivers, if not in the mystical faerie sense, in a spiritual framework.

“For me at least, as a Riverkeeper, [rivers] connect me to the hand of God,” she said. “It just connects me to the miracle of life because every living thing needs water to survive and without it there just wouldn’t be life on our planet.

It’s just magical to me,” she said.

In fact, Lisenby—perhaps of her own accord, but very much in keeping

“

Being connected to rivers is like being connected to another part of the earth, but so many people only have a relationship with rivers when they cross a bridge and look down.

“

August 2009

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57

North Carolina’s Watauga River Basin

The Watauga River is about 60 miles long, meandering in a wide swathe around Beech Mountain and through Valle Crucis before it finally gallops through a gorge and pours into Watauga Lake. Map courtesy of Eric Woolridge/Watauga County Tourism Development Authority

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August 2009

with the ancient teachings—sees the river as feminine and constantly refers to the Watauga River as “she.”

“For the most part the females are life-givers, life-incubators and lifesustainers and … to me that’s what the waterways are for humanity and for all the species that are in the waterways.

They are the life-givers.”

Lisenby came to the High Country in 2008, specially recruited for her job and has spent more than a year getting to know the Watauga River territory—its beauties, its potential and its challenges.

One of her hopes—and that of staff of the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority—is to see hiking trails along both sides of a very special place on the river beyond Guy Ford Road on Highway 321.

Sit on top Kayaks, & Canoes

Sometimes the Best Places are right In your Own Backyard.

A Hidden Gem “There are two big gorges [in the High Country],” she explained. “The Linville River Gorge, which is now protected by the Linville River Wilderness Area, and the Watauga River Gorge, which is not.

“The Watauga River Gorge is largely inaccessible from land. About the only way you can see it is in a kayak… there are several big waterfalls and very dangerous rapids, people have lost their life there…and because it’s class four and class five whitewater, only experts can access it,” she said.

“Watauga County has done a great job protecting the New River, but we don’t have a concrete plan to protect that very rare and very unusual Watauga River Gorge. It’s like a hidden gem. It’s so difficult to get to by land it hasn’t had the…assessments to find all the rare and endangered species that are more than likely there because the south wall of the gorge is northfacing…where a lot of micro-climates and really unusual habitat is.”

So Lisenby expressed the hope for a master greenway plan to provide a trail along “this incredible gorge.”

The idea is often raised in the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority, said Eric, but it won’t necessarily be easy or quick to accomplish. A company associated with the Tennessee Valley Authority owns one section of land approximately half a mile in length, he said, but the rest is in private hands.

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Watauga River # 9

Water pours over the Old Ward Dam (top), a dangerous current demonstrating clearly why those who canoe from Valle Crucis Park must get out of the river at the concrete road that crosses the river and blocks the way some distance upstream. “The Old Ward Dam started out as a grist mill, became a saw mill and now it’s a hydropower dam and it generates electricity, so it has made the full historical evolution of how humans tap rivers to assist with our way of life.

This is a great historical example,” said Donna Lisenby. The mill is seen from Old Watauga River Road (middle) and from a kayaker’s view (bottom).

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August 2009

“

It would be my profound hope that more people could have better access to waterways because I think they are so magical and spiritual and powerful.

“

Donna Lisenby, Watauga Riverkeeper

August 2009

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61

“Whatever’s on a parking lot...usually winds up in a river.” Garbage polluting the young river near Tynecastle (above) is clear evidence of Donna Lisenby’s observation. But harm to the river doesn’t just come from garbage like this, and often it’s not even clearly visible. Pollution can enter the river’s waters through industrial activity, either directly or carried by rain; from inadequately treated human waste or from animals just enjoying the waters to keep cool. The greatest threat to the Watauga River is along Highway 105 from its headwaters to its right-hand turn towards Valle Crucis. This is where most development is taking place and where the river has less water to dilute pollution. Photo by Bernadette Cahill

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Threats to the Watauga River Visitors come to the mountains to enjoy the spectacular views, the mountain air and the pristine setting. But all is not well in the High Country. There are threats to the local environment, and the greatest danger to the Watauga River is where it is young and most vulnerable. “[The danger] is a combination [of] growth and development,” said Lisenby.

She said that more people and buildings here create more impervious surfaces that produce more polluted runoff into the waterways. More housing means more toilets flushing—into septic systems, into one of several private selfpolicing wastewater treatment plants, or into the public wastewater treatment plant—so the river has to assimilate more waste. More people also means there is more demand for drinking water.

“It’s a threefold threat,” she said. “[Growth and development are] going take more clean water out of the water system so there’s going to be less clean water to dilute the additional pollut-

ed runoff and to dilute the additional wastewater treatment plant discharges.”

Lisenby also said that whenever buildings and parking lots go up, they reduce the size of the forests’ and meadows’ natural filtration system.

“Whatever’s on a parking lot…usually winds up in a river,” she said. “We need to keep as many trees and forest ecosystems up here as we can if we want our rivers healthy and clean and able to support a great trout industry.”

ASU Partnership With Watauga Riverkeepers As the Upper Watauga Riverkeeper, Donna Lisenby is a full-time worker who is part investigator, scientist, lawyer and advocate. The Upper Watauga Riverkeeper program’s mission is to protect and restore the communities, water quality and ecological health of the watershed for all its users. Founded in 2007, the Watauga Riverkeeper program is the primary watchdog and advocate for the Watauga River, the Elk River, Roan Creek and the Watauga Lake watersheds.

Upper Watauga Riverkeepers is part of Appalachian Voices, an environmental rights organization specializing on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. In December 2008, Lisenby and Appalachian Voices set up a partnership with ASU and Wake Forest University to investigate the effects of that month’s largest environmental disaster in United States history—the catastrophic failure of a coal ash dyke in Kingston, Tenn., which discharged 1 billion gallons of coal ash into the Emory and Clinch rivers.

In May, Watauga Riverkeepers, ASU and Wake Forest University released results of their investigations— proof of horrendous pollution in the affected area.

“This [disaster] is 90 times larger than the Exxon Valdese,” said Lisenby.

“The environment there is devastated.”

For more information, click to www.riverkeeper.appvoices.org, www. riverkeeper.appvoices.org/?cat=a and to w w w.appvoices.org /index.php?/ site/av_news/tva_ash_spill_results/.

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Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial A Successful Merger of Two Avery Community Hospitals Stor y by Bec k y Alghrar y

T

oday residents of the High Country easily drive from one location to another— county to county or town to town—fairly quickly and with no pre-planning or hardship. In the early days of the 20th century, the story was quite different in Avery County. Travel over unpaved roads and mountainous passes took days of preparation.

Mountain folks who lived in the southern part of the county near Crossnore needed medical care close by that was easily accessible. Likewise, those Avery Countians who lived north in the county, in Banner Elk and surrounding areas, needed a place to go for necessary medical care. The problem was the Blue Ridge Mountains, which had to be crossed in wagons, on horseback or in early vintage vehicles.

As Dudley Gilmer so aptly stated in her book about the two hospitals, Panorama of Caring, “The group of mountains that surrounded Crossnore, Banner Elk and the rest of early Avery County were majestically beautiful and protective. They also caused separation from others. Looking down from those high, lonely peaks, early pioneers could not have imagined the day

when these mountains would no longer be barriers.”

Because of these great distances and the rugged travel, two separate hospitals grew and developed in the tiny county of Avery.

The Rev. Edgar Tufts, founder of Lees-McRae College, Grandfather Home for Children and the Banner Elk Presbyterian Church, also began the first hospital in the area.

Grace Hospital operated from 1908 until 1924, when Grace II was built. Grace II, also located in the Lees-McRae College campus area, was operational from 1924 to 1932. Opening in 1932 was Grace (Hartley) Hospital III, which in 1961 became Tate Dormitory on LeesMcRae’s front campus.

In the late 1950s, plans were again underway for the building of a much-needed newer hospital and in January 1961, Cannon Hospital in Banner Elk was completed. This hospital would serve the extended Banner Elk area for the next 38 years.

Nurses and staff told many stories about

In her second historical book on local institutions, Panorama of Caring: The Story of Two Hospitals, long-time Avery native Dudley Gilmer shares stories of outstanding leaders and the ordinary people who brought quality medical care to the small county during the 20th century. Gilmer’s first book was The Child Now Before Us about the Grandfather Home for Children.

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August 2009

Sloop Memorial Hosptial in Crossnore. Photo submitted

Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville. Photo by Greg Williams

Cannon Hospital in Banner Elk. Photo by Hugh Morton August 2009

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67

The “Sun Room” at Grace II (left) provides a sharp contrast to a high-tech examination room at Linville’s Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital (right).

From old-time practices that included re-use of hypodermic needles and sterilization of gloves and equipment to its current state-of-the-art imagery, medical care in Avery has come a long way.

the deep snows the area received and about the well-loved nurse, Susie Blair, who walked to work in waist-deep snow.

Early on, Rev. Tufts enlisted Dr. W.C. Tate to help him run his Banner Elk hospitals. Dr. Tate arrived in Banner Elk in 1910, and over the years, he worked in all four hospitals and was revered by all. His son, Dr. Lawson Tate, said in Gilmer’s book, “I vividly remember one incident when (my mother) Mrs. Tate got quite upset because the lady who did the hospital laundry did not come to work.

The hospital was filled with patients, and the laundry needs were pressing …

On this occasion, (my dad) Dr. Tate did the hospital laundry himself. I have frequently thought of this, and most of the problems that I have at work seem minor in comparison.”

Five years after Rev. Tufts arrived in Banner Elk, two young newlyweds, Drs. Eustace and Mary Sloop, also came to make the mountains their home. They began their rudimentary medical practice in the Plumtree area. Dr. Sloop was called to travel great distances into Tennessee and surrounding areas to render emergency care. After about three years in Plumtree,

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“Seeing the development of the hospital has been good for the community.

We can keep on existing and providing the services that people need.”

— Dr. Bill Tate the Sloops moved their practice to Crossnore, where the first hospital in the area, Garrett Hospital, was built in 1928. This early hospital, like that in Banner Elk, was built from local native stone. Rocks hauled from the Linville River were used in Garrett’s construction. By 1983, additions and renovations to the building covered nearly all the original stonework.

Several years ago, the old Sloop hos-

August 2009

pital was again renovated down to the original stone and the building, now owned by Crossnore School, is used as a clinic and a conference center with guest rooms.

When these two separate hospitals began in Avery County, there was no electricity or telephones and the roads were bad. But each small hospital flourished for many years. In the early 1990s, the

two hospitals began to experience difficulties and struggled to equip themselves with necessary medical equipment. Because of fear that the two hospitals would not survive, talk began of merging the two into one new hospital.

After years of planning by both hospitals’ boards, Sloop Hospital and Cannon Hospital joined to become the new Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville, which opened its doors in 1999.

From that early Banner Elk hospital, Dr. Tate would begin a legacy of medical service in the Tate family. Today, noted surgeon Dr. William (Bill) Tate is on staff at the new Linville hospital. Family Practitioner and Pediatrician Dr. Charles Baker, who came from Sloop hospital in Crossnore, also serves on the staff of Charles A. Cannon. Together, these two physicians have more than 64 years of medical service to Avery County. The two doctors share a legacy of devotion and good medical practice to the people of these mountains.

“The Way We Were” from Cannon Memorial Hospital’s Summer 1974 Mountain Echo quarterly 1897—The Rev. Edgar Tufts arrives in Banner Elk 1907—Dr. Charles Reid, a medical missionary, joins Tufts in organizing the first hopsital 1910—Dr. W. C. Tate arrives as successor to Dr. Reid 1924—Grace Hospital occupied, two doctors, 25 beds 1927—529 patients discharged, daily cost $1.98 1932—New Grace Hospital occupied, two doctors, 56 beds

1950—2,456 patients discharged, daily cost $4 1957—Grace Hartley Hospital incorporated under the laws of North Carolina 1960—Dr. W. C. Tate dies and his son, Dr. Lawson Tate , assumes post of Medical Director 1961—Charles A. Cannon Jr. Memorial Hospital occupied, seven doctors, 18 registered nurses, 100 beds 1972—2,495 patients discharged, daily cost $62.63

Grace Hospital in 1907

Grace Hospital II in 1924

Grace Hospital III in 1932

Cannon Hospital in Banner Elk in 1961

August 2009

High Country Magazine

69

Successful surgeon Dr. Bill Tate follows a family legacy of medical service to Avery County residents. Here he is pictured with his medical office assistant, Heather McCloud (right).

Dr. William “Bill” Tate—

O

ne of six children born to Dr. Lawson and Margaret Tate, as a child, Bill Tate watched his dad work at the old Cannon Hospital taking care of large numbers of sick people who needed him.

He also remembers his grandfather, Dr. W.C. Tate, as a man who devoted his life generously to all the patients at Grace and Cannon Hospitals. With a father, a grandfather, and later a brother and nephew all serving as medical doctors, the Tate family has certainly done its share of work in caring for the sick and injured.

But Dr. Bill, as he is called by those who have long had a “Dr. Tate” in their lives, didn’t grow up wanting to be a physician.

“I always loved the sciences, and after graduation from Cranberry High School decided to go to college in Chapel Hill, but to keep an open mind about which career I would choose,” he said. “I had worked during summers at Charles Cannon as an orderly and helped out in the laboratory.”

As his studies progressed at Chapel

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“This hospital is wonderful, and I love working here. The staff, nurses—they were all used to taking care of family and friends and do such a good job.”

— Dr. Bill Tate Hill, Bill did decide to become a physician and stayed at Chapel Hill for medical school, later continuing his studies at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

“I never really got to see my grandfather, Dr. W.C., work,” Bill said. “He retired in the early 1950s and then had a stroke when I was 12. Dad came back here in 1947 and took over. He practiced for over 40 years. I remember nurse Susie Blair who worked with my grandfather and my father. They could take care of many people—one right after the other.” Dr. Tate said that in the early 1900s, his grandfather wanted to go back for formal surgical training, but Rev. Tufts wanted him to start work at the Banner Elk Hospital, so it was impossible. However, he did perform appendectomies and minor surgeries with-

August 2009

out ever having been officially trained.

Dr. Tate remembers when his dad performed an appendectomy and also a tonsillectomy on him as a child. “He did my appendectomy with that old drop-ether—it was awful. I stayed overnight and then was sent home the next day. That was at the time when they kept people for a week.”

One thing that has greatly changed in medicine is the form of payment received from patients. Long before Medicare and Blue Cross, Dr. W.C. was often paid in produce, vegetables and chickens. “The mobility has changed so much, too, and there are better roads,” Dr. Tate said. “I remember when there was no Highway 184. The road didn’t go further than Norwood Hollow near Sugar Mountain.

And I remember when Highway 105 was just country.

“When my dad was a doctor, things were inexpensive,” he said. “A day in the hospital cost about $10. When Medicare came in, it helped a lot for a while. Then insurance— reimbursement started going down and down after the 1970s. The business end of medicine has escalated so much.”

While the costs of medical care have increased so much over the past 25 years, the technology and possibilities for cures, treatments and services have improved significantly. “The number of medicines and technologies is great, but the costs are very tough,” said Dr. Tate. “I had a good surgery background working with Dad, but I’ve learned a lot since then with all the new technology.

“I was a little worried about coming back here to practice because I knew in a rural setting, you have to do a little of everything. Dad did general practice, but also obstetrics,” he said.

The way he began his medical service in Avery County is an interesting story.

“It was during Vietnam, and I was supposed to go in service when I finished school in 1977. The U.S. was about to pull out of Vietnam, and there wasn’t a need for many surgeons, but I was still supposed to go. In the spring of 1977 before I was to finish in July, Dad had a heart attack. We asked the Army and a lot of Congressmen whether I could be deferred to come back here and help until we could find somebody. I was still planning to go into service for two years. I moved up here to fill in for six months, which turned into a year, which turned into permanence!”

Once he returned to Avery County, Dr. Tate found that he felt really at home and loved working in his old surroundings. “I didn’t even think of leaving Avery County medical practice after that.”

As reimbursements went down, it became harder and harder for small hospitals to exist. Sloop Hospital in Crossnore and Charles Cannon in Banner Elk were struggling. “But putting us together has helped a great deal. The two becoming Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville has been a blessing for all concerned, but the transition was not easy.

“The generosity and money that was raised made it all possible,” said Dr. Tate.

“It was very interesting with the hospital coming together. It was fine for the medical staff, but administratively, it was tough.

This hospital is wonderful, and I love working here. The staff, nurses—they were all August 2009

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71

Dr. Bill Tate’s grandfather, the much revered Dr. W. C. Tate (right portrait), arrived in Banner Elk in 1910.

He, along with Dr. R. M. Hardin, began the Nurses School at Banner Elk. He died in 1960. Dr. Bill’s father, Dr. Lawson Tate (left portrait) took over his father’s medical practice from 1947-1984 despite his father’s warning of, “Don’t come here if you seek financial rewards.”

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used to taking care of family and friends and do such a good job. Seeing the development of the hospital has been good for the community, but it was really hard for them to accept at first.”

With all the new technologies and the boost from being a part of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (which includes Watauga Medical Center), the hospital is alive and well. As Dr. Tate said, “We can keep on existing and providing the services that people need.”

Dr. Tate has patients who came from Vilas and other areas around Banner Elk, and he still has a patient who comes all the way from Wytheville, Va. to Linville.

“There are still loyalties from my dad that have rubbed off on me. There was a fierce loyalty to either the Crossnore hospital or the Banner Elk Hospital in the earlier days, too, and people would say, ‘I wouldn’t dare go to that other hospital.’”

Dr. Tate has two daughters and a granddaughter. His wife, Donna, is a nurse practitioner for Dr. Charles Baker, also on staff at the hospital. Dr. Tate’s associate is Dr. Thomas Haizlip, who he cannot praise enough. “I am most blessed by his being here. He is an excellent surgeon, but is also great in his administrative skills. He has been chief of staff at the hospital for the past nine years. I think he has a photographic memory, and he’s my best friend and colleague,” Dr. Tate said.

August 2009

“When my dad was a doctor, things were inexpensive.

A day in the hospital cost about $10.”

— Dr. Bill Tate “I plan to continue working as long as I can. I love doing what I do and have no plans to retire any time soon. Medical knowledge is exploding, and it’s real hard to learn everything, so it is best to know and learn everything you can about your own particular specialty.”

Dr. Bill Tate has practiced in Avery County for 32 years now. Counting the years his father and grandfather provided medical care to the people of Avery County, the Tates have spent the past 100 years performing surgeries in the High Country.

The popular Dr. Charles Baker, who spent 20 years of his practice at Sloop Hospital in Crossnore, now sees hundreds of patients at his expanded office in the Sloop Medical Plaza at Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital. Here he is pictured discussing a patient with UNC-Chapel Hill student intern Harneet Gujrol.

“I get to treat the adult, deliver the baby, and then have the baby as a patient too. I am delivering the babies of the babies I delivered a generation ago.”

— Dr. Charles Baker

Dr. Charles Baker—

D

r. Charles Baker and his wife, Ann, always loved the mountains. He spent a lot of his formative years visiting Spruce Pine, and Ann spent summers in Blowing Rock. After graduation from Myers Park High School in Charlotte, Dr. Baker entered Davidson College thinking he would like to work as a research biologist, but after graduation, entered UNCChapel Hill medical school. He had made up his mind and knew that he wanted a career in pediatrics.

After a few years, Dr. Baker and Ann

went to work at the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian Reservation to work for the Indian Health Service. He had met Ann while at Chapel Hill. “The way we met was kind of funny,” said the popular Avery County doctor. “We were dating each other’s roommates at Chapel Hill. One night I called her roommate and Ann answered the phone and we started talking, and we’ve been together ever since.” The two were married in Scotland in 1972 and have three children.

Dr. Baker said that at Pine Ridge, he not only worked in pediatrics, but also found himself taking x-rays and setting

bones. “I really started to like doing different medical procedures, and that’s how I got into family practice,” he said.

Today, he is a well-loved physician at Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville. His specialties are family practice and pediatrics. With his dual specialties, he said, “I get to treat the adult, deliver the baby, and then have the baby as a patient too.”

Dr. Baker has delivered about 2,000 babies in his long career.

“I am now delivering the babies of the babies I delivered a generation ago. I don’t think I’ll make it to deliver another gen-

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73

“The Linville Hospital was a necessity.

The two small hospitals, alone, could not have survived.

The state of our knowledge and the state of technology has changed so much...”

— Dr. Charles Baker eration, though,” he laughed.

Dr. Baker has practiced in Avery County for the past 30 years. “We wanted to move to the Spruce Pine area, but as we drove through Crossnore, we found that they were needing a doctor, so I began at Sloop Hospital in 1979 and worked there until the merger of the two hospitals,” he said.

Both Dr. Baker’s and Dr. Tate’s offices are in the Sloop Medical Plaza, located adjacent to and joining the Linville Hospital. Even though Dr. Baker loved working at Sloop, he said the merging of the two hospitals was the right thing to do for the county.

“The Linville Hospital was a necessity,” said Baker. “The two small hospitals, alone, could not have survived. The state of our knowledge and the state of technology has changed so much since I was at Sloop. We are able to provide a lot better care. People used to just go to the doctor when they were sick; now they come to prevent getting sick. There is a lot of preventive care.”

“When we closed the Banner Elk and the Crossnore Hospitals, everyone felt a sense of loss,” said Dr. Baker. “I came out of the last baby delivery at the old Sloop Hospital with tears rolling down my face—I felt such a sense of loss. But

the goal was to keep good health care in the county, and people on the hospital board had the foresight to realize that the only way to do that was to have one hospital. People have come around.

I had patients from Burnsville, Bakersville and Spruce Pine who came to Crossnore, and now they come over here.”

Dr. Baker recalled that the Crossnore hospital was the first in the area to have a birthing room where people could have their labor, delivery and then keep the baby all in the same room with a homelike atmosphere.

“We had people from all around— even Ashe County—who came,” he remembered. “Now every hospital has them, but people from Morganton, Marion and Todd still come here to have their babies. I have regular patients from Ashe County.”

Dr. Baker is a big proponent of daily exercise. He and Ann love to hike and walk, and he is often found on a bicy-

Dr. Baker gives high praise for his loyal staff, which consists of two doctors and 13 additional office staff personnel, including his nursing assistant Annette Franklin (right, speaking on phone), who has worked for him for over 10 years.

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August 2009

cle. He spends about eight hours a week cycling—whether it be inside or out. It is very important that people have regular daily exercise, Baker said, and even though it is harder to get going in the winter months, he recommends finding a way to do daily indoor exercise. He said there is good evidence that aerobic exercise helps to prevent diabetes, heart conditions and even Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Baker now has a partner, Dr. David Yale. “I met him through some medical students that were here. We communicated before he even finished medical school,” he explained. “Here I am 62 years old, and my practice is still rolling. I am not planning to hang up my shoes any time soon. Rumors started flying when I hired Dr. Yale that I was ready to retire. The rumors are still flying, but I am not planning to retire for at least another 10 years.

“We are expanding our office and our waiting room will be twice as big,”

Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital opened in 1999. Its central location in Linville has proven to be ideal for patients traveling from both northern and southern areas of the county.

he added. “Now we have two doctors, two nurse practitioners, one nurse-midwife and we’re in the process of looking for another doctor. We refer patients to Asheville, Charlotte and Johnson City, and we have a lot of specialized consultants from Watauga Medical Center. We are part of the Appalachian Healthcare System and they provide radiologists, cardiologists and pathologists to come to our hospital.” Staff doctors at Charles Cannon in addition to Dr. Baker and Dr. Tate, are

Drs. Haizlip, Kimmel, Earwood, Barker, Cook, and Yale.

In the past Dr. Baker has worked in both large and small hospitals, but says, “I’ve been in big and small hospitals and even an Indian hospital, but this is the best hospital I’ve ever worked in. The staff here is so devoted and dedicated. Everybody just goes the extra mile.”

He first met Dr. Bill Tate when the two were in a chemistry class at the Governor’s School in Winston-Salem. “I met

this guy from Banner Elk, and it sounded like it was at the end of the world, but then I moved further out in the woods than he did.” They were also at Chapel Hill at the same time. “Dr. Tate and I are the old guard,” said Dr. Baker.

Now the two doctors who have given so much to Avery County from their own small hospitals in the past are together at Charles A. Cannon, Jr. Memorial Hospital in Linville. Their patients are in good hands for years to come.

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olina r a C th Turns

No r

4-H

1909-2009

100 Story by Celeste von Mangan Photography by Frederica Georgia

E

very child, ages 5 through 19 years, learns this pledge when they join the 4-H, an organization that has become one of the largest youth groups in the world.

All 50 United States, six territories of Canada and more than 80 countries host 4-H clubs.

Corn Clubs for boys and Canning Clubs for girls were forerunners of our modern-day 4-H groups. Back in those days, beginning in the 1890s, boys competed in corn-growing contests while the girls focused on methods of food preparation. The first North Carolina Corn Clubs started in Hertford County.

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Farm City Banquet Becomes Farm City Celebration in August An institution in Watauga County for 53 years, the Farm City Banquet has morphed into the Farm City Celebration. The event, taking place this year at the Blair Farm in Boone on Saturday, August 15, was created to celebrate ties between towns and rural areas of the county, fostering communication between farm and non-farm people. The event features awards and recognition for those people and groups involved in agriculture that are improving the community.

For this 54th year, the Farm City Planning Committee decided to celebrate Farm City Week, with farm tours on August 8 and 9 in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture.

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This year, North Carolina celebrates its 4-H centennial, expanding over the century from corn and canning to computers, livestock, filmmaking, cooking and robotics. The 4-H movement was born when a need for agricultural education and improvement were paramount. Researchers located at experiment stations of the land-grant college system and United States Department of Agriculture saw that adults in the farming community were not accepting new and innovative agricultural discoveries.

Enter the youth. Educators found that children and teenagers would experiment with new ideas, experiences and successes and share them with adults. Enter 4-H. In 1914, Congress created the Cooperative Extension Service at the United States Department of Agriculture and included boys’ and girls’ club work. The service soon became known as 4-H clubs, with the four Hs representing Head, Heart, Hands and Health. By the 1920s, the separate boys’ and girls’ clubs united to become one 4-H. Schools provided a venue where clubs could meet, and over the years, 4-H expanded, ever evolving to meet the needs of the communities. As a result of this evolution and growth, all 100 North Carolina counties had established 4-H programs by 1939. Youth development experiences were realized through camps and school—including after-school programs and special interest workshops.

Most people think of farm animals when they hear “4-H” mentioned. Images of children and teens showing and handling sheep, chickens and calves are readily evoked in the mind’s eye.

In reality, more than 90 percent of modern day 4-H members live in towns, suburbs and cities. Topic matter has branched out

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4-H Facts * Over 239,904 youth are enrolled in 4-H programs in North Carolina, with 22,980 volunteers and 1,932 4-H clubs * Top three curriculum areas are Science and Technology, Healthy Lifestyles, Education, and Environmental Science Education * 4-H serves over 65 million members in the United States, encompassing some 90,000 clubs * The 4-H pledge was penned by Otis Hall, a Kansas State 4-H leader * 4-H celebrated their national centennial in 2002

accordingly, growing from strictly agricultural interests to cover a wide array of subjects, including family, consumer science, communications, expressive arts, healthy lifestyles, personal development, leadership, science and technology, citizenship and civic education.

Watauga County Joins the Club Watauga County 4-H clubs formed in 1935, meeting in schools during regular hours, where livestock and crops were the subject matter. In the ‘50s, home economic subjects became available to Watauga girls, and membership expanded.

4-H vacated the schools to become community-based clubs in the ‘60s, and parents served as club leaders, opening their homes up for meetings and workshops.

Pigs, poultry, sheep and tobacco projects enchanted many Watauga County youth, affording them the opportunity to compete on a statewide and national basis—a feature that 4-H has become famous for.

Watauga clubs thrived, embracing more than 1,100 boys and girls through the ‘50s into the ‘70s.

Watauga clubs in 2009 are involved with horses, poultry, livestock, hiking, cooking, gardening, photography, filmmaking and even robotics, successfully marrying ancient agrarian pursuits with space-age technology.

According to Karee Mackey, Watauga’s interim county extension director, more than 100 volunteers helped deliver 4-H programs, with more than 240 youth participating in extended learning 82

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Stamp, Cookbook and Ice Cream Mark Centennial Not every organization gets to have its own postage stamp, cookbook, ice cream flavor and centennial homecoming, even for its 100th birthday bash—but then again, not every organization is as special as the 4-H. For starters, a 4-H postage stamp designed 4-H members has been issued. Dust off your 4-H cooking and baking memories and recipes and submit them for the blue ribbon cookbook, North Carolina’s 4-H Centennial Cookbook, 100 years of Blue Ribbon Recipes. With every recipe accepted, the contributor is requested to tell his or her story.

Share your 4-H photos and mementos through the 4-H Green and Growing Archive—add your own to the collection! The Cooperative Extension office in Watauga can help submit photos, and a scanned version is acceptable.

A new flavor of ice cream can now be ordered. 4-H Campfire Delight, submitted by Tyrrell County, is a combination of graham crackerflavored ice cream, chocolate chunks and a marshmallow swirl that should please the most hardcore ice cream addict. To create the flavor, the 4-H has partnered with the North Carolina State Creamery, where the 4-H is designing and producing the 4-H centennial flavor. Across the nation, 4-H members had submitted their ideas for the 4-H ice cream flavor, and the top 10 were selected. Creamery director Gary Cartwright found it to be “very original.” w

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“4-H Super Summer gives children the opportunity to get outside, explore different interests, explore the community, and practice hands-on skills.” ~Karee Mackey, interim county extension director for Watauga.

The 4-H Emblem--Enduring Icon Three clover leaves adorned the very first 4-H emblem, the precursor to the now-very-familiar four-leaf icon. Sometime between 1907 and 1908, the three leaves symbolized Head, Heart, and Hands. In a 1911 meeting of club leaders in Washington D.C. a fourth “H” representing Health was added, completing the 4-H four-leaf clover emblem. This special emblem is now protected by the United States Congress.

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experience through 4-H. “4-H does a great job helping meet the developmental needs of youth,” she said.

“Helping them explore themselves, their interests, relationships and the world. Participants in 4-H really benefit in the areas of exploring possible career avenues, setting goals, community engagement, leadership and public speaking.”

Amanda Munday, a 15-year-old 4-H member, said. “4-H has helped me grow in leadership and has opened many doors for me.” Another participant in 4-H, 18-yearold Maya Losardo, states, “The 4-H organization has given me opportunities to develop confidence, responsibility, integrity, accountability and leadership skills.”

With the first 100 years turning out so well, the organization should thrive for at least another century in this state. Happy birthday, North Carolina 4-H! w

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Stingin’ & Swingin’ the Blues Since 1987

Author’s Note: I have had the pleasure and privilege of sharing the stage with The King Bees on numerous occasions during the last three years as the band’s drummer and occasionally as a guitarist. Through conversations shared during late night van rides, between sets and in cramped dressing rooms, I’ve been extremely fortunate to not only become their friend, but also to gain insight into their world as professional musicians and their continuing love affair with the blues.

Story by David Brewer • Photography by Ken Ketchie

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Clad in leopoard print pants in this early publicity shot between Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville (right) and former drummer David Barbour, Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni has been The King Bees’ front woman since the band’s inception in 1987. Below, Rob and Penny pose with drummer Robbie Stevens and harmonica player Joe Dinkins. Photos submitted by The King Bees 88

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I

t’s a sunny July afternoon at Walter & Annie Cook Memorial Park in downtown Todd along the banks of the New River and Todd residents The King Bees are working a small but appreciative crowd. While Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni holds down the groove with the drummer, Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville demonstrates one of his most tried and true tricks—playing guitar with objects submitted by members of the audience. A flip-flop? No problem.

A hat? Sure. A bottle cap? No sweat.

It’s a trick he’s employed at hundreds of shows with thousands of objects and it’s always a crowd pleaser.

Since 1987, Rob and Penny have done nothing short of fully devoting their lives to the blues. At a time in their lives when most of their friends and acquaintances were graduating from college and looking for jobs that didn’t involved lugging amplifiers in and out of smoky bars, Rob and Penny decided to hit the road. From juke joints, dive bars and funky motels all over the Southeast, to clubs and festivals in Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, and high-profile stateside gigs with American blues and roots music legends, The King Bees logged untold miles, played thousands of shows and have sacrificed many creature comforts to truly play the blues together.

Raised in Putnam, Conn., Penny hailed from a musical family that included a pair of musical brothers and father with a record collection full of classic New Orleans 78s by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Kid Horry, among others. Beginning as a percussionist, Penny had moved on to guitar by the time she was in high school and was still playing a bit while working at New River Mental Health and taking graduate school courses at ASU. Rob’s musical pedigree began during his teenage years, when he began forming bands as a keyboard player and bassist. His first paying gig took place in Burlington, N.C. playing keyboards for an Elvis Presley impersonator. While the story of his somewhat auspicious beginnings in show business generate more than a chuckle now, Rob knew then that he wanted to play music for a living.

In the early 1980s, America’s listening public was still shrugging off its disco hangover only to be swept up

in the electronically charged, far-out sounds of new wave music. To further complicate the musical landscape, MTV hit the airwaves in August 1981, forever changing the record buying public’s perception of musicians by placing more emphasis than ever on looks over actual substance. At that moment in time, modern music had never seemed farther removed from its American roots.

And while bluegrass and old-time traditions have always maintained a strong presence in the High Country, ASU during the early 1980s was a hotbed for modern rock and new wave-inspired acts. However, there was at least one band that was more interested in play-

ing blues and classic rock-inspired music.

The Vibrosonics, featuring young ASU student Rob Baskerville on bass, could frequently be seen playing local clubs such as Amadeus and Happy’s (now Legends), and at parties.

While Rob had been holding down the low end in The Vibrosonics, his true desire was to be in the spotlight as a lead guitar player, but first he needed a bass player. After meeting a girl named Penny one day after a gig at ASU’s Sanford Mall, he had located not only a willing student, but also an attractive new friend with a powerhouse voice that belied her small frame. According to Rob, the pair struck up a conversation about how she

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During the last two years, The King Bees have partnered with Blowing Rock’s Hayes Performing Arts Center to present the highly succesful Winter and Summer Blues Festivals. The intimate venue has proven to be the perfect place for the Bees and their talented stable of friends, including Pop Ferguson (top) and Roy Roberts (bottom), to connect with fans old and new.

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liked the sound of a Hammond B-3 organ in a blues band. The Lenoirborn and Greensboro-raised multiinstrumentalist knew he wasn’t dealing with just any girl. Then, according to Rob, she quoted words from a T-birds song and he was hooked.

“We were both pretty much just of a kindred spirit because not a lot of people around Boone were into blues, and we were so into it,” said Penny. “The relationship was based on our mutual love of the music and our desire to find out as much as we could about it and meet the people who were making it.”

Ask the average music fan to name a blues musician and names such as B.B. King or Stevie Ray Vaughn are a pair of the more likely responses. Perhaps the names of legends Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf will come to mind if they’re slightly more learned on the subject.

Rob and Penny more than appreciate the talents of the genre’s most recognizable figures, but it’s the lesser known but equally legendary figures in Southern blues and r&b that the couple decided to seek out for their knowledge and experience with the music that moved them. While getting B.B. King on the phone may have proved challenging, contacting revered harmonica master “Chicago” Bob Nelson or Alabama legend Jerry “Boogie” McCain was simply a matter of trial and error.

“I didn’t know any better,” said Rob. “I’d call them up and just say, ‘I’m a fan of your album.’ And then I would hear the stories. It was more than just music—it was a cultural thing.”

In 1985, Rob and Penny began contacting some of the people whose names appeared on the back of records they loved to see if they’d like to hang out and play some blues together. Both Nelson and McCain welcomed Rob and Penny into their world, apprenticing them and helping them mold their skills in an organic way that both consider to be paramount to their development.

“Most people don’t want to spend August in Mississippi, but we would go down to Mississippi and Memphis and hang out with some interesting older blues people who

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recent performance at the Jones House culminated in Hound Dog using the neck of one guitar as a slide on another.

Originally a guitar player, the Queen Bee took up the bass at the behest of Rob during the mid1980s. Rob also falsely told the petite but powerful vocalist that all bass players sang—something that proved to be more than a slight challenge. Now with thousands of shows under her belt, the Queen Bee makes it look like second nature.

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very kindly and, as I look back at it now, rather generously took us in and took us to juke joints,” said Penny.

After several trips to the Deep South, Penny and Rob took their newfound blues credential and finally began putting The King Bees together. One detail that must be mentioned is Rob’s convincing of Penny that all bass players sang.

Which of course isn’t true.

“After a while I began, I began to realize that that’s not what’s going on in most cases,” said Penny, Nevertheless, the soon-to-be Queen Bee persevered, eventually becoming one of only a handful of truly talented and amazing singers who can play bass simultaneously. With Rob’s distinctive guitar style taking shape, the couple decided it was time for The King Bees to come out of the hive and hit the stage.

The band debuted in 1987 at Apollo’s Pizza in Boone with Tom Gates on drums and Tom Donaldson on harmonica. The band mixed new, original songs with classic Chicago blues and roots rock and roll, laying the groundwork for the sound still heard from the band today.

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Hound Dog, Queen Bee and Jumpin’ Joe Orr on stage in 2006 at The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Neb. with one of their idols, the late, great Chicago Blues harmonica master Carey Bell. Bell is one of many blues greats the Bees have shared the stage with during their 22 years on the road.

Photo submitted by The King Bees

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The King Bees jamming on stage at the 2007 New River Blues Festival with Shrimp City Slim, Howard Colbert, Bob Margolin and Miss Wanda Johnson. Photo submitted by The King Bees

“Oh man, I can’t imagine how bad we sounded,” said Penny.

The King Bees were off and running, playing gigs in Boone and into the Piedmont, as well as traveling to Georgia and Alabama to pick up gigs with their bluesmen pals. While in

school, Rob began driving a bus for AppalCART, while Penny was teaching at Caldwell Community College. However, the band, which Penny thought might be a weekend gig, quickly became the pair’s full-time focus.

“We ditched the jobs and went

out,” said Rob. With Rob and Penny holding down guitar and bass duties respectively, The King Bees featured a revolving cast of drummers and harmonica players as their reputation and touring schedule continued to grow.

For years, the band regularly logged more than 200 dates annually, racking up hundreds of thousands of miles in vans and playing all over the U.S. While the songs of Elmore James, Big Mama Thornton, Muddy Waters, Blind Boy Fuller, Professor Longhair, Rufus Thomas and Carl Perkins have long been a part of the band’s live repertoire, Penny’s stellar original compositions have always proven that The King Bees are no mere cover act.

In 1994, the band was signed by Tramp Records, a Dutch label that helped spark interest in the band in Europe. During the last 15 years, the band has returned to Europe several times, both on their own and supporting blues legends such as late harmonica legend Carrie Bell.

“Carrie Bell was to me the epitome

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Hound Dog and the Queen Bee laying down the groove during a moment of blues ecstasy at Murphy’s in Boone.

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of somebody I always wanted to play with.

Queen Bee saw him with Willie Dixon in the early ‘80s. Then we got the call to back him up and be his band. It was like, “pinch me,’” said Rob. Other career highlights for The King Bees include scoring one of the opening slots on the aforementioned B.B. King’s 80th birthday tour and performing with Bo Diddley, one of the band’s idols.

After spending years on the road primarily in support of their own career, The King Bees decided to shift gears and spend more time performing on stage with their biggest influences. However, instead of playing the juke joints and clubs, Penny and Rob had plans to bring the blues closer to home.

“We decided at some point after we focused on our career what a contribution these real, authentic folks have made to our playing and how generous they were that it was payback time,” said Penny.

“We wanted to archive them and we wanted to do field recordings. We really wanted to promote and produce shows and that’s how we started thinking about festivals. We were just wanting to get the word out about these people. They’re still here; they’re still alive.”

The Bees soon began organizing festival events featuring multiple entertainers for a variety of venues throughout the High Country and beyond. In addition to hosting shows at New York City’s Lincoln Center, the band began hosting the New River Blues Festival, as well as the Winter and Summer Blues Fests at Blowing Rock’s Hayes Center.

Thanks to The King Bees, High Country crowds have had the pleasure of watching and hearing the likes of Bell, the late Nappy Brown, Roy Roberts, Chick Willis, Sandra Hall, Drink Small, Johnny Rawls, “Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin, Pops Ferguson, “Big” Ron Hunter and many more.

“These are real Southern blues people who are still making great music and still have something to say,” added Rob. “It’s a daunting task to try and bring blues to any kind of mainstream, but through diligence and hard work we’ve been able to expose a lot of people to the beauty of Southern blues artists.”

In 2007, The King Bees celebrated 20 years together with the release of Big Buzz Live, a disc comprised primarily of a show taped in Alabama that features a typically hot set with Rob, Penny and longtime col-

laborator “Mighty” Martin Henderson on drums. From the band’s sultry original “Pomade and Cologne” to their dynamic arrangement of the classic Robert Johnson composition “Crossroads,” the Bees are characteristically stingin’ and swingin’ from start to finish.

After more than two decades together as a couple and as a band, Rob “Hound Dog” Baskerville and Penny “Queen Bee” Zamagni are still as passionate about the blues as they were when they met on Sanford Mall. The music that brought them together has taken them around the world and connected them with some of

the genre’s brightest stars. Far from being rich or famous, the two have earned the respect and admiration of those whose talents they sought to understand, which is far more than money can buy.

And while they don’t spend quite as many nights on the road as they once did, the Bees still have plenty of buzz left in them.

“After 22 years of doing it, this is who we are and what we do,” said Rob. “We love it. The bottom line is that we love music and love to play. We hope that music is one of those things that move people, so we just keep on doing it.”

August 2009

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High Country Magazine

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Le e s-McR ae

Summer Theatre s Savag The Curiou

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100

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Celebrates

25

Years

1984 to 2009

T

he 2009 season of Lees-McRae Summer Theatre (LMST) marked the quarter-century anniversary of the theatre production company, which began in 1984.

In its 25 years, LMST has performed renditions of plays ranging from Cats to Little Shop of Horrors to Oklahoma! to The King & I. “The idea of summer theatre came when I was directing in several different places during the summer,” said Dr. Janet Barton Speer, artistic director of Performing Arts at Lees-McRae College. Prior to 1984, Janet— known to her students as “Doc”—was directing shows in Blowing Rock, outdoor dramas and others. “The Dean of Academic Affairs James Stonesifer asked if I would ‘stay put’ and do summer theatre in Banner Elk,” Janet said. “The first year we did it, it was a success and we’ve never looked back.”

Summer Theatre officially kicked off in 1985 with I Do! I Do!, The Mousetrap and two plays Janet wrote—The Coming of Age, a musical comedy revue, and Where are Friends When You Need ‘Em?, a show for children.

The company now stages three largescale musicals each summer in the Hayes Auditorium at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk. “We’ve done approximately 120 shows over the last 25 years in Summer Theatre,” Janet said.

That number does not include shows done during the academic year, but it counts each individual production separately. “We have done some favorites two, three or four

times,” Janet said. “I’m not sure how many ‘shows’ we’ve done, but it would be significantly lower than 120 since there have been repeats.”

The 2009 season concluded with the August 3 showing of Guys and Dolls, a play with which Janet has been involved on four separate occasions. “The first time, I played Sarah Brown at a professional theatre in Texas,” Janet recalled. “The next was a show during the academic year at Lees-McRae College, then once in summer theatre 16 years ago and then the [final 2009] show.”

“I have done Guys and Dolls four times, but this one is totally different, with a fabulous cast, beautiful sets, costumes and lighting,” Janet said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever done before, so in reality it is a new experience. I never pull out my old promptscripts (notes) to remake a show. I may bring back a couple of ideas or pieces of choreography, but the technical elements and the people are different. When the director revives a show, she must look for ways to keep it fresh.”

This year’s production involved collaboration with Benjamin Simpson, dance captain and choreographer, who brought new angles to the show, she added.

Even though redone shows are, in effect, new shows, Janet also works to bring additional plays to the LMST repertoire.

“I always am excited about doing new shows, and I try to do a new show— one I haven’t directed—each year.”

A combined audience of 2,000 to 3,000 people attends each summer theatre show now, with an average of 297 to 428 people at each of the seven performances, Janet said.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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Guys and Dolls

, 1993 r Singing Grand Night fo

828.898.9756 “When we began, we thought we’d be lucky to serve 50 to 100 a night, but the numbers were more like 150 to 200, which we didn’t expect as a new theatre in the mountains.”

When the company started, it offered four shows that included one “straight” (nonmusical) show. “I also used to write some of the shows because the royalties were so high,” Janet said, explaining that paying the royalties on a show costs anywhere from $6,500 to $10,000.

In addition to the three main musical plays each year, “we have also had summers with a complete ‘second stage’ season,” Janet said. These plays have included Southern Voices, musicals and children’s plays and were typically produced in another facility on campus.

Second stage shows will not take place again until the blackbox theatre is built, but Janet expressed anticipation about

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

adding these shows into the mix soon— plans for construction of the blackbox theatre are underway. “A blackbox is a flexible, smaller theatre where you can do plays in the round, or in any variety of configurations. It is perfect for our second stage plays,î she said.

Although Janet said she usually hems and haws when asked about some of her favorite plays, in addition to Guys and Dolls, she admits a special affinity for Secret Garden, shown in the 2009 season.

“The ‘dead’ in Secret Garden are really alive and have messages for us about how we should live. Like the ghosts in A Christmas Carol, we’re not sure if they are dreams or real, but the messages they bring to us are real, indeed,” Janet said. The play is “about a very dysfunctional household that is brought back to life by a little girl and her garden. It’s a great message.”

Thanks for the memories, LMST! We have been attending LMST productions since 1985. It has been 20 years of absolute pleasure, fun and enjoyment. Looking forward to many more years of entertainment.” “

- Ellen and Ellis Berlin, audience members for almost all of the shows “As avid theatre-goers, we were amazed at what the town of Banner Elk had in store for us when we first went to Lees-McRae Summer Theatre back in 1987. After that initial joyous experience, we were hooked. Through the years, we have been instrumental in establishing an advisory board and fundraising to make sure this treasure, led by the one and only gem, Janet Speer, would have the resources to continue her remarkable work.” ` Budd and Nanette Mayer, strong advocates for all the arts in the High Country

“My best memories of the summer plays include wedding anniversary nights ‘o ut on the town’ and Janet opening the dress rehearsals for the enjoyment of the children of Grandfather Home.”

-Jim Swinkola, CEO of Grandfather Home for Children and a supporter of LMC Summer Theatre since the opening play

The Will Roge

rs Follies, 20

01

“So many memories in 20 years! [My proudest moment was] when Summer Theatre adopted the Hummingbird logo, which was designed by my daughter, Deborah Bandy, for the celebration of the 10th season.”

- Barbara Hosbein, an actress with LMST since her 1989 debut in the Nuns’ Chorus in The Sound of Music

“Bill and I have been attending performances since the first season and are cheerleaders for this wonderful part of Banner Elk summers. The craftsmanship and professionalism that goes into each show is evident…

Lees-McRae Summer Theatre is a jewel of great value in our community.

We encourage everyone to attend the performances each year.” ~ Bill and Donna Dicks, 25-year veterans

A tribute to

Kathy Lion s, In Memo

rium 1996

“Because I am a lifelong resident of Banner Elk, I am very aware of the unique opportunity to have my life experiences enriched by quality musical theatre. Thanks, Janet, I will always be grateful!”

-Susan Tate Carter, a fifth-generation Banner Elk resident and devoted LMST audience member from the very first shows “Dear Janet, Thanks for everything you’ve done. Some of the best

shows I’ve seen—anywhere—have been done at LMST. You know how to Janet Sp

eer

make it happen and you do!”

- Paul Haas, in reference to Rags and Fox Fire

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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“It’s a smile. Lees-McRae Summer Theatre is a quarter-century of smiles. A family comedy, You Can’t Take It With You, was a great memory as the piece provided a good-natured shot at the IRS. Other smiles have come from the quality of young talent (18- to 30-year-olds) who always befriended me and gave me hope for an outstanding performance. The joy of comedies and the challenges of drama always created an electric atmosphere of creativity. The most “fun” I had was a show

by John Thomas Oaks called Chipper. It was a gender reversal of the Cinderella story. The story was “bigger than Disney,” and Chipper, as expected, won the princess. The people have made LMST a continuing bright spot for my 25 years of involvement. Keep the house lights burning!”

Roland Mulinex, both a performer and audience member for the entire 25 years “Janet—I have seen shows in NYC and in Europe. Your dance numbers are far and away the best I have ever seen.”

Roger L. Wredebick, audience member

g of The Comin 6 8 Age, 19

“Thank you for helping a little girl from Virginia realize her potential, get her professional start and fulfill her dreams! LMST will always be my home.”

-Heather Camper, actress in LMST productions Rags, King & I, Rothschild’s, Grand Night, Sound of Music, Barnum, Star Queen and South Pacific

Chipper, 2000

Barnum, 2003 Fiorello

Over the years, LMST has developed a network of actors.

“In the future, I hope to continue to use our alumni, who have become a remarkable network of talent,” Janet said.

When the company began, Speer would attend large “cattle call” auditions held in the Midwest, in Mephis, Tenn., New York or other places to recruit actors. Sometimes 1,000 or more actors audition in the cattle calls for the many companies that attend the events.

“During the audition season, I see many actors, and one year I saw 4,000 when I went to several large audition sessions on the East Coast,” Janet said. “Most of my auditioning today is done through networking and electronic submissions. If I want to see something specific, I can ask the actor to send an audition on their website or on YouTube, etc. This has saved us lots of money in travel, apart from wear and tear on me when I’m trying to finish off the academic year.”

Not many current Lees-McRae students are in the LMST

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shows, but if they are, it is because “they have auditioned like anyone else and gotten into the cast,” Janet said.

LMST actors are all paid and come from across the U.S., as well as places outside the country, such as Puerto Rico and England.

Besides Janet, LMST staff includes Kacy Crabtree, associate provost; Donna Morgan, managing director for company relations; Roy and Marion Krege, managing directors for public relations; Pamela Joslin, box office and publicity supervisor; and Gayle Culbreath, box office manager.

Dee Dee Berger, Ruth and Stan Etkin, Kerstin Gasko, Fran Gaynor, Barbara Hoshein, Marion and Roy Krege, Meline A. Markarian, Budd and Nanette Mayer, Roma Melton, Doris Rosen and Evelyn Thoubboron make up the advisory board.

For more information, call 828-898-8709 or click to www. lmc.edu/sites/SummerTheatre.

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Daniel Dillon rolls Hungarian Swirl bread, made from an authentic recipe and using real vanilla bean. When he first started making this bread, he was literally pulling them out of the oven into the waiting customers hands. Daniel said that “ethnic bread[s] with a specific geographical region are always the best.�

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August 2009

B

Story By Owen Gray Photography by Karen Lehmann

ne’s

Bakery Stick Boy Bread Co.

I

t’s an iconic image. The town baker. The muffin man. The image has been used in children’s rhymes and stories from around the world for many years. “The Muffin Man” and “Rub-a-dub-dub” poems both originated sometime in the early 19th century and have been part of most children’s upbringings since, giving many of us a classic idea of who the baker is and leaving us to wonder why we rarely see the personification of this idea in modern life.

August 2009

High Country Magazine

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For, along with the candlestick maker and the butcher, the baker is one of the original professions that was supposed to be locally unique to a town. Every town had a bakery and took pride in it. Residents knew the person who ran it and also knew that when they went to call on his or her service, they would receive a fresh, warm product and a friendly smile.

Sadly, this is a rare image in today’s world. With the onset of grocery store “bakeries”— where bread is shipped frozen from halfway across the country to be quickly heated, put on the shelf and marked as “fresh baked” — and franchise cafés that offer decent baked goods and pastries but little to no local flavor, most people are no longer familiar with what a real bakery is.

Carson and Mindy Coatney, along with their staff at Stick Boy Bread Company, are working hard to change that.

Since 2001, Stick Boy has been Boone’s bakery, serving

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delicious, made-from-scratch bread and pastry products. In addition to that, one of Stick Boy’s No. 1 priorities has been providing a friendly, welcoming environment for all of the people who pass through their doors.

“One goal is to create a great product, the other goal is to give the customer a great experience,” said Carson. “And so when they come in it’s not just, you know, ‘Can I take your order, can I take your order.’ It’s trying to find out what they want and deliver it to them in a way they want it. So we might ask more questions than other people do. If someone says they’re looking for bread we ask them, ‘Well what are you going to use it for? Are you going to serve it for dinner? Are you making a sandwich or buying something for someone you know?’ We try to interact with them on a personal level. The customers are the foundation of our business, so we want to get to know them.”

“One goal is to create a great product, the other goal is to give the customer a great experience.”

Carson Coatney, Owner

Regular Stick Boy customers Austin and Jessica Pack hoist their daily bread choices and boast the smiles that come naturally in the presence of the bakery’s friendly atmosphere.

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One of Stick Boy’s trademarks is making bread from scratch, the way some people do in their own kitchens. Here Patrick Casebere looks right at home as he rolls out the dough for hamburger buns.

There are a number of factors that go into this philosophy.

First and foremost, it is not possible to carry out the idea of customer service that goes above and beyond the ideal if you do not have a supportive staff that is tight-knit and capable.

“I really enjoy being part of a good group of people who like being together and working hard,” said Carson. “That way, we can all do something that none of us could do by ourselves.

So to me, my team of employees is a critical asset. They buy into the vision that we have here and are able to take it and run with it, so on a given day, everybody is doing their part to develop ideas and come up with creative things. That way the business can grow organically.”

Carson and Mindy have also built a family-friendly atmosphere that surrounds their business. In addition to the staff— which Carson thinks of as a “second family”—many of the man-

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agers, including the Coatneys, have families of their own. These families are as much a part of the business as the managers themselves, if only by way of being present in the shop often and permeating the idea that family ideals are No. 1 at Stick Boy. “There was this one time when Carson and I were in the back of the shop, prepping dough,” said Brandon Kop, pastry manager at Stick Boy and a father of four himself, “and Carson sent me to get more flour to fill up the bin. Meanwhile, one of the front managers brings her eight-year-old son back to see how things worked and Carson talks the kid into hiding in the flour bin before I get back. So I come back, ready to fill the bin up with flour and this kid jumps out at me just as I’m getting ready to pour. Scared the daylights out of me. Everybody laughed real hard at that one.”

It is stories like this one that complete the vision that Carson

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“Part of the reason that Stick Boy has developed into a community hub over the years is because customers can come in here and always see the friendly face of someone they know,” said owner Carson Coatney. Customers David Owens and Jill and Steve Woodard look like they’ve certainly

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High Country Magazine

and Mindy had in mind when they founded Stick Boy—stories that breathe life into the bakery and turn it from just another place to get bread into a community icon.

Brandon also mentioned the time three years ago when they were getting their brand-new, $70,000 German oven installed—an oven that takes up almost the entire 1,000 square feet that Stick Boy originally inhabited—and the staff had to use the ovens at Red Onion in order to keep production flowing. He said that they were actually running carts of bread down the highway at six o’clock in

August 2009

the morning to be ready for the customers at seven o’clock. Then there were the more than 200 pies that they had to prepare for Thanksgiving last year and the 100 wedding cakes that they made over a six-month period in 2008 for couples in the High Country.

Brandon, who is the baker primarily in charge of wedding cakes (he has one assistant named Charlotte, a pastry chef trained at Johnson & Wales), said that one of the most memorable of these cakes was the one he prepared for another Stick Boy manager, Lisa. She asked for ribbons

“From the beginning, my passion was creating really great bread, making it from scratch, using long fermentation methods [and] baking it on a stone hearth, the traditional European way. Not using any preservatives but using ingredients that everybody would have in their kitchen.”

Carson Coatney, Owner Owner Carson Coatney and his wife Mindy were inspired to start a bakery in Boone after experiencing a genuine community atmosphere in a bakery in Northern Virginia. Stick Boy has been a Boone icon since 2001.

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Stick Boy employees Patrick Sullivan (back row), Abby Willis, Emily Fox, Kristin Warren, Lisa Pearce and Ariel Leath are the faces of Stick Boy. They’re the ones that most customers see when they first come in for a good morning scone or some afternoon pie, and they are part of the family that breathes life into the story of this town bakery. On the opposite page, Ariel Leah makes a smoothie.

on her cake and not only did it turn out beautifully, but it also set a mark that other couples have since asked for on their own cakes.

The wedding cakes are a fairly recent addition to Stick Boy’s menu of choice items. Ever since expanding in 2004 to take up the entire structure they currently inhabit (they originally only took up half), their list of goodies has expanded as well.

“We make probably about 30 different breads during a week and usually have about 15 or so available throughout the day,” said Carson. “We make a full rack of pastries, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, six different kinds of scones and five kinds of muffins. I think we have seven different kinds of cookies right now. Then we also make a full line of desserts, everything from fruit pies to layered cakes and cheesecakes, torts, coffee cakes and pound cakes. And we have a full espresso and smoothie bar.”

Carson, while noting that everything is delicious, says that he has a particular fondness for the smoothies—which are made from yogurt or fruit juice and frozen whole fruits—the sticky buns and the cranberry pecan scones.

But how did all this get started? Where did Carson and Mindy get the idea to open up a bakery in Boone?

At another bakery of course.

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“Mindy and I were on a road trip. We walked into a bakery in Northern Virginia and I mean, from the beginning it was so clear how much the community was a part of it. I mean, we walk into that bakery and it just had a great vibe. It was on a Saturday morning and the employees were giving out samples of bread and the staff was back there making bread from scratch, and it just seemed like a really happening place,” said Carson. “And we were like, this is it. This is what we’re going to do. At the time I was kind of looking for a business idea and was interested in making food but didn’t have any baking experience but when we walked into that bakery we were like… this is it.”

So the couple, along with Mindy’s sister and Brandon, set off to start Stick Boy Bread Company—a name that Carson had to convince the others to use at first. He got the idea from a friend who had seen a sign advertising for a lost stick boy in the same town where he and Mindy had walked into the bakery that originally inspired them. From there, they developed their vision.

“From the beginning, my passion was creating really great bread, making it from scratch, using long fermentation methods [and] baking it on a stone hearth, the traditional European way. Not using any preservatives but using ingredients that everybody would have in their kitchen,” said Carson.

“I really enjoy being a part of a good group of people who like being together and working hard. That way we can all do something that none of us could do by ourselves.�

Carson Coatney, Owner

August 2009

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Vicky Grube, a former customer of the month recipient, loves Stick Boy.

Every piece of bread that Stick Boy creates starts with four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. They then add ingredients that help make up the different kinds, but for Carson, it’s all about the basics and keeping it simple.

Of course, that simple operation has now grown into something that requires 24 hours of attention to keep production flowing. According to Carson, a night-shift baker shows up every day at 5:00 p.m., when the shop closes. He preps bread for 10 hours until the pastry chefs show up at 3:00 a.m. They get everything ready for the daytime staff that comes in ready to serve oven-fresh pastries and espresso to the morning regulars, arriving with newspaper in hand at 7:00 a.m. sharp. The daytime staff then spend the day following the Coatney’s vision of better-than-ideal service while prepping desserts and treats and keeping things in order until the cycle starts again with the arrival of the night-shift baker.

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Carson willingly relates this routine with a smile because, although it may sound like an awful lot of daily grind to the unaware listener, he knows that this is the realization of his dream.

The dedication to service and quality, the overwhelming sense of family and friendship, the stories that flesh it all out and give it life—these are his and his staff’s gift to the community. The real bakers have returned and they’re here to stay.

“A lot of people come from out of town and tell me that when they get here, Stick Boy is one of the first places they want to come. And I think it’s because it’s something you just don’t find that much anymore,” said Carson. “We’re going to be in this building right here doing what we’re doing right now for at least another 20 years. Maybe longer.” w

The Original Portable Information Device A bit old-fashioned, you might say?

PUBLISHER Ken Ketchie

S

ure, newspapers have been around for a long time—more than 500 years.

It just goes to show what a great idea they’ve been. Think about it. Newspapers print the first draft of a community’s history, they keep check on the political process and they provide a public voice for the citizens. A free and vigorous press is healthy for any community.

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A newspaper like ours is still the easiest way to track what’s going on locally. It’s free to pick up, easy to use and you can take it anywhere. You’ll waste more time on the Internet, after countless mouse-clicks and searches, to find only half the information included in our weekly newspaper. All it takes is a few minutes. And then there’s the pleasure of leisurely browsing our pages—at your convenience.

Newspapers are the original portable information device, and by all means, a 500-year-old tradition worth carrying on. See for yourself. Make the High Country Press part of your weekly routine, and I guarantee you’ll know more about local issues and upcoming events than you do right now.

J

High Country Press

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From Connoisseurs Blowing Rock Ale

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Readers Choice For Information August 2009

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Flaunting One of Our Best Assets I n 1952, the United States was ending its occupation of Japan, the Korean War was underway, polio was sweeping the country, television was just coming to Canada and work was coming to an end on a project to add a 20acre amphitheater and living history museum to the geographical center of the Town of Boone.

The country and town have seen more than a half century of advancement and change since the hillside of Horn in the West was carved, sculpted and thoughtfully laid out by our area’s forefathers, yet the venue—which has been the site of one of the nation’s oldest Revolutionary War dramas for more than 50 years—still stands as one of the best representations of our region, in terms of architecture, atmosphere, ambiance and the perfect balance of nature and human imagination.

This venue, one of our best assets, has faded into our landscape over the years. Although it is home to our outdoor drama and farmers’ market, Horn in the West, with its towering oaks and hemlocks, cascading stadium seating, log cabin-peppered homestead, captivating stage setup and meandering wooded trails, is lost on the majority of our local population. After more than five decades in existence, a new chapter in the history of Horn in the West is entering its second year with the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival, the Town of Boone’s official annual festival, planned for Friday and Saturday, September 4 and 5, 2009. The festival, hopefully, will introduce new faces of all ages to the wonders of Horn in the West.

Building on the success of the Revolutionary War drama, Daniel Boone Days introduces locals and visitors to Horn in the West the festival venue on Saturday, September 5. Underneath the shade of late summer, Horn in the West will come to life on September 5 with arts and crafts vendors, living history, storytelling, kids’ activities, fun and games, a telling of the adventures of Daniel Boone by author Randell Jones and Celtic fiddlers the Forget Me Nots, a World Record attempt, a Daniel Boone Look-Alike Contest, the 2nd annual Watauga Arts Council Fiddlers’ Competition and live performances by Boone’s Upright & Breathin’, Virginia’s Larry Keel & Natural Bridge and national touring powerhouse Donna the Buffalo, who will make Daniel Boone Days 2009 its last stop on its 20th anniversary tour. And the best part: tickets are inexpensive— advance tickets are $16, door tickets are $20 and families can come as a group during the day and enter for just $20 total.

But Daniel Boone Days is more than just a music and culture festival. The event spans two days, offering access points for people of all ages with varied interests. For those who are into academia or for those who wish to know 118

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more about Daniel Boone and his connections to this region, Daniel Boone Days 2009 features the 2nd annual Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 4, in room 1018 of Thelma C. Raley Hall on the ASU campus.

For only $3, visitors and locals will enjoy presentations on the history and significance of Daniel Boone from award-winning author and historian Robert Morgan—author of the Oprah’s Book Club selection Gap Creek and New York Times bestseller Boone: A Biography—and award-winning author Randell Jones, author of In The Footsteps of Daniel Boone. What’s more, the symposium includes a break for lunch in downtown Boone. Attendees will receive walking maps that include information on an historical scavenger hunt that can be completed during the lunch break.

After lunch, attendees will reconvene for a one-hour question and answer session that includes a PowerPoint on the locations involved with the scavenger hunt.

That evening, after the academic portion of the festival comes to a close, wine, television and celebrity lovers will flock to Gamekeeper Restaurant in Boone for the 2nd annual Fess Parker Wine Dinner. Parker, television’s original Daniel Boone, has hung up his thespian cap these days and makes stellar wine with his family at their private vineyard in Los Olivos, Calif. A selection of Parker’s finest vintages will arrive at the Gamekeeper on Friday, September 4, to be paired with

Story by Sam Calhoun some of the best wild game entrees on the East Coast for the annual wine dinner. Special guests are scheduled to attend. A wine social begins at 7:00 p.m. followed by a dinner seating at 8:00 p.m. Reservations are required and seating is limited. To view the menu, click to www.DanielBooneDays.com.

As Friday’s activities come to an end, the piece de résistance of the festival comes into full focus—Saturday, September 5’s music and culture festival. Whether it is to come and interact as a member of the community, to hear and dance to national-level touring bands, to spend an afternoon with the family, to eat fatty food and laugh with your friends, to admire local talent, to support the town and its businesses or to just take in the beauty of the grounds of Horn in the West—one of our best assets—we hope you’ll make it a point to join us for Boone’s newest annual tradition. Come on up and get down—we’ll provide the mountain hospitality.

High Country Press, High Country Magazine, High Country Press Visitor Guide and Mountain Fountain Productions are the presenting sponsors of the 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival. The Downtown Boone Development Association, North Carolina Humanities Council, Horn in the West, Appalachian Hospitality Management, the Watauga Education Foundation and Blue Ridge Parkway 75, Inc. also sponsor the two-day event.

For more information, call 828-2642262 or click to www.DanielBooneDays. com.

Ticket Information for Daniel Boone Days 2009…

2nd Annual Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium at ASU

2nd Annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival at Horn in the West

The 2nd annual Dr. Edwin Arnold Daniel Boone Symposium will take place on Friday, September 4, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in room 1018 of the ASU Walker College of Business Thelma C. Raley Hall. Tickets cost $3 per person and are only available on the day of the event at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The 2nd annual Daniel Boone Days Music & Culture Festival takes place on Saturday, September 5, 2009, from 1:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Horn in the West, located at 591 Horn in the West Drive in Boone. Tickets cost $16 in advance and $20 at the door and are available via PayPal on www.

DanielBooneDays.com. From 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, 2009, at the front entrance to the festival, families can purchase Boone Family Passes, which cost $20 and are good for immediate families of any size.

For more information on the festival, including performer bios, ticket sales, lodging options, photo galleries, sponsors, vendor information and more, click to www.DanielBooneDays.com.

2nd Annual Fess Parker Wine Dinner at Gamekeeper Restaurant The 2nd annual Fess Parker Wine Dinner will take place on Friday, September 4, 2009, starting at 7:00 p.m. at Gamekeeper Restaurant, located at 3005 Shull’s Mill Road in Boone. Reservations are required and limited seating is available. To make reservations, call 828-963-7400.

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Yoga instructor Valerie Midgett lends her skilled hands to Lesley Hudson, gracefully performing the “Inclined Plane� yoga pose at Neighborhood Yoga in Boone.

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Fi ndi ng (Your)

Peace St or y

an d P by ho To tog dd ra Bu phy sh

Y

oga is peace of mind, body and spirit. Its universal appeal offers many benefits. You may ask, “Why would I want to explore yoga?” Initially it may be to become more flexible—to be healthier, to take your mind away from worries. Yoga can be those things, but also something more—or maybe something less. Practicing yoga is a truly effective way to unwind, relax and yet be super-conscious of everything and nothing at once. In those sweet moments, obstacles to peace vanish.

Often considered merely an exercise option, yoga itself is more a state of calm—though the term yoga can refer to the actual routine, concept of union or both. Originating in India thousands of years ago, Yoga systems may appear foreign, yet parallels exist between its practices and our daily lives. Just as some people are more physical, mental, devotional, do good deeds or combinations thereof, the classical systems of yoga reflect and focus on one, some or all of our best temperaments and tendencies.

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“Now more than ever there is a need for inner peace.”

M

ost styles of yoga taught in the West are derived from Hatha Yoga, which helps practicioners develop control over physical and physiological states through specific poses called asanas, or breathing and relaxation techniques. This is the yoga we usually hear about. Hatha is a Sanskrit word, translated “sun-moon,” that means balance. Sanskrit is the ancient Indian language of yoga and its teachings, but learning or using the Sanskrit terms is not required or, in many yoga classes, not even used.

Yoga’s compatibility with modern day-to-day life recently dawned close to home. I asked my father Nick how he was doing and what he’d been up to. He told me of his yard work, of his and Mom’s exercise class at the YMCA and of his new yoga class. He wants to stay healthy, be relaxed, pain-free and maintain flexibility. He found a yoga-for-seniors class near his home and attends when he can. Now that’s inspirational, considering he began yoga just prior to turning 80.

Throughout human existence, one could nearly always say, “Now more than ever there is need for inner peace.” And for 122

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some, tough times become a personal wake-up call to find calm within turmoil. We go on diets, exercise kicks, stir our religious fervor, explore hobbies, hug trees—all good things, yet often transitory. By working at happiness—as if it is somehow outside ourselves or distant—we may be placing it on a shelf just out of reach. Perhaps things are easier than we think. Along comes yoga and it says, “Hey, we all already are a very beautiful complete living being, capable of much, and all we have to do is remain calm.” Yoga reveals this quite naturally by simple practice.

Finding out about yoga is easier than ever these days. You may hear about it from friends or family. You can take a class from a qualified teacher, find out about it in books, the Internet, from libraries, local or international yoga centers, television or videos.

The High Country features several local options for exploring yoga. In downtown Boone, Valerie Midgett has dedicated her life to sharing yoga with the community in a grand way. She and her husband Ed have, by design, built the Neighborhood Yoga center on Water Street from the ground up exclusively for yoga.

Yoga in our contemporary Western culture of a new millenni-

An Interview

with Valerie Midgett of Neighborhood Yoga of Boone

Why did you build Neighborhood Yoga in Boone?

My hope was that if I built it that they would come. They have come and that has been great. I feel that if people want to find us they will find us. It was less about building a studio and more about building community.

How did you get into yoga?

What brought me into yoga— what brings a lot of people into yoga—was the physical part. It was a great balance for some of the other physical things I was doing like dance. It wasn’t until years into the practice I realized there was so much more to yoga than the physical benefits. And that’s when it opened up a whole new world to me. That is the road that keeps me coming back to yoga again and again and will keep me in yoga as a lifelong practice.

Of course I still love the physical. I’m a very physical person and that part appeals to me—all the postures. It was not until later that I found out there was this whole other world of emotional, spiritual, ethical aspects that are all yoga. What I’ve found over the years is that what I learn on my mat during my asana (postures) practice, whether it be compassion, whether it be non-judgment, acceptance, all of the things that I explore and learn from my yoga practice I can apply to the rest of my life. So that it is not just this self-serving practice for me but one that affects everybody around me as well.

What it allows me to do is take my yoga off the mat. Through my asana practice I can hone in on those things. I can practice mindfulness, and then from there I can take that into the world.

Rather than react to the world emotionally, instead I can act with mindfulness and integrity.

And that is what my yoga practice has brought me. That is what is most dear to me.

To me, everything is yoga. Everything is yoga!

It is that idea of union. So I think that in every aspect of our life we can learn through yoga.

Whether that union is with your own body, your mind, your breath or with your inner self, the divine self. Whatever it is, it is all yoga. I think it just teaches us a lot of these lessons.

What about options for seniors?

We had a 95-year-old woman in class recently and she was my inspiration as a teacher. Her daughter brought her here. As far as someone coming here who is 80 years old, I would send them not to the basic class be-

cause basic does not necessarily mean gentle; I would suggest that they go to the gentle class.

The gentle class can be for anybody. It can be for an octogenarian, it can be for somebody that is recovering from an injury, somebody who has just experienced childbirth or maybe just someone with a very limited range of motion. It is not just for the elderly. But there is a difference between basic and gentle. In basic we really take time to break down very specific alignment for individuals within the postures. Not that we are not doing that in gentle but we’re taking a different approach and emphasis.

I would also like to address our teacher-training program. Some individuals go through the nine-month training specifically to teach, while others are more interested in deepening their own practice and experiencing some of the other aspects of yoga including the philosophical and spiritual aspects.

Those teachers are now going out into the community and taking yoga way beyond the setting of the studio. They are teaching at places like Watauga Youth Network, Crossnore School, OASIS, the pubic schools, Hospitality House, with breast cancer patients, pulmonary patients and in the Latino and Hispanic community and beyond. They are teaching in all different aspects of the community. That of course really reflects the studio in such a positive light and demonstrates where yoga can take people. There is a yoga class and teacher out there for anyone who keeps an open mind about it. You’re never too old or too young. Our youngest students here are newborns or actually not even born yet. We do pre-natal and mama-baby yoga.

We are also part of a nonprofit chapter called Karma Krew. We go out into the community every month. We take yoga into the community and do a service project with a particular organization.

So we have been to the community gardens, we have been up to Beech Mountain to Genesis Wildlife, up to Elk Knob doing trail maintenance, we’ve been to OASIS—the list goes on and on.

That is part of our community service project.

In addition to about 15 classes a week in various levels and styles of yoga, we also do an annual yoga retreat, this year in Maya Tulum, Mexico from November 21 to 28.

Is there anything you would like to share about yoga in general?

I would like to leave you with a quote from one of my teacher’s teachers, Swami Satchidananda: “Yoga is not about how flexible or how strong you are, but instead it’s about having an easeful body, peaceful mind and useful life.”

Namaste.

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Many yoga poses are not difficult.

Octogenarians Nick and Dorothy Bush practice “Mountain Pose” which improves, posture, balance and self-awareness.

um is evolving and taking on many forms, some more authentic than others.

Yoga techniques emerged as procedures to restore wholeness. Yoga is not a religion and is practiced by followers of all traditions as well as by those of no affiliations. Anyone can practice yoga. One of the clearest explanations describes Yoga as a unification of attention and awareness with our essence of being.

Yoga is classically taught from teacher to student of any age, interest and background, from many levels of motivation and abilities. Originally it was passed down through oral tradition, and then sometime around 2,500 years ago a scholar from India is credited with writing a revealing, concise but comprehensive manual on yoga known as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. This guidebook in its first threads

of wisdom basically explains: Yoga is a calm mind, which reveals peace. Otherwise, stuff happens.

The book goes on to elaborate on yoga’s components: leading a responsible wholesome life, exercising your mind and body, relaxing and ultimately being clear or realizing we already are clear once calm.

The eight components of yoga are: ethical living, moral soundness, healthy posture, breathing with vitality, worthy focus, openness, meditative calm and oneness.

Meditation is also yoga. Meditation and yoga techniques encourage healthiness of mind and body. Roy Eugene Davis, a Western authority on yoga stated, “Meditation and yoga are natural processes of withdrawing attention from external conditions and directing it inward to a chosen focus of concentration. Side-benefits of regular meditation and yoga have been widely reported. These can include stress reduction, strengthening of the body’s immune system, improving powers of concentration, memory and slowing of biologic aging processes. For these reasons, regular meditation and yoga are now increasingly recommended by many physicians and other health practitioners.”

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www.4fortyfour.com 124

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August 2009

A Simple

Meditation Technique

Meditation is also yoga. Meditation and yoga techniques encourage healthiness of mind and body. Here is a simple meditation exercise.

1. In a quiet place, find a comfortable upright-seated position.

2. Close your eyes, breathe and relax.

3. As you breath in, mentally recite, hear or feel “calm.” As you breathe out, mentally recite, hear or feel “peace.”

Any word or phrase you relate to can be used in the technique above.

Synchronize the word or phrase with your natural breathing rhythm for 10 minutes or more. Try it every day for a week, then longer if you like. Should you at any point in meditation find yourself residing in thought-free silence, just abide there in the stillness and leave off the technique.

David J Welsh

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Call me for any of your real estate needs

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Below: Master sitar musician Hasu Patel and her student Todd Bush reunited for a tour of yoga ashrams of India this year are shown here in Baligai. Hasu performs concerts and workshops on yoga’s connection with music. Photo by Anil Patel

G

rowing up as a Catholic boy questioning the norm in the transitional 1970s, I reveled in yoga and Eastern philosophy books furnished by my well-read brother Bruce. The 1970s were an early era for yoga when it gained a more publicly accessible popularity in Western society. Transcendental Meditation, Bible and Gita study, yoga classes, metaphysical explorations and nightly reads from Autobiography of a Yogi captivated my teenage attentions.

In 2007, I attended a weeklong medi-

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tation retreat, which also offered daily Hatha Yoga classes by guest teacher Norma Chirolla of the Yoga Institute of Atlanta. After a week of training and Norma’s instructional video in hand, I refined a more serious home practice.

Being a homebody regarding anything that resembles exercise (other than hiking, biking and swimming), home study works out best for me (though each time I get around a real teacher or am in a classroom setting, it’s obviously a more effective track for proper form). Two dear

August 2009

friends, Caron & Jack Krier, formerly of the High Country, now teach yoga to nearly 400 students a week in Florida.

During our visits together they graciously suggest postures and adjustments to my practice, which have also greatly helped.

My next major boost came while traveling in India this past January, where I learned the time-honored Sivananda 90-minute daily yoga routine. This particular routine includes: relaxation, breathing exercises, sun salutations (a flowing warm-up series) plus 12 postures—some

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during morning Hatha Yoga classes. This pose or posture can be done a number of ways, including gently without much stretch. Like many yoga

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Above: Roy Eugene Davis explains a specific type of yoga known as Kriya Yoga, which uses intentional actions to restore the practitioner’s awareness to wholeness.

easy and some more challenging.

India is another story in itself, where yoga is life. One example reflecting this was found along a two-mile stretch of beach on the east coast of India’s Bay of Bengal in beautiful Pondicherry. Each sunrise finds forms of folks silhouetted on the shoreline expressing yoga, meditation and breathing exercises side by side.

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August 2009

High Country Magazine

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B

ack in the states on the grounds of a meditation retreat my wife Lorie and I recently attended, an idyllic, pre-dawn spring morning complete with birdcalls and a gentle sky glow awakened us from peaceful slumber.

Venus was piercing the eastern sky through tall pines and our window’s wispy sheers. We spent a fun, relaxing, even enlightening week learning of yoga, meditation and Ayurveda— an ancient Indian science promoting complete health.

Each day’s events began with half an hour of meditation and an optional hour of Hatha Yoga, followed by a wholesome breakfast. The meals, all delicious, organic and vegetarian were all served with much love by staff and volunteers. This retreat, like many yoga

centers (or ashrams) in India, manages to run on a donation basis without even suggesting amounts.

Morning talks introducing and instructing various meditation practices were given by Roy Eugene Davis, the director of the yoga center. A teacher of yoga meditation for more than 50 years, Davis was born on a farm in Ohio and began his interest in yoga by reading books from his local public library.

One book in particular, Autobiography of a Yogi, attracted him at age 18 to head west to California to meet its author.

There he found and later became initiated into Kriya Yoga and how to teach it by Paramahansa Yogananda, whose landmark book, originally published in 1946, introduced millions worldwide to yoga—myself included. Yogananda

exquisitely spun tales of his turn of the century childhood discoveries of the seemingly plentiful and amazing yoga masters of India he encountered. The book explains the teachings of yoga while releasing the imagination and inspiring inner exploration.

T

hrough study, classes, meditation and practice, the highlight of it all for me was to share in yoga with my Dad one fine day and look over at him as we concluded. With both of our hands joined prayerfully, we sat connected to what connects us all. “Namaste” we whisper. This wonderful blessing or greeting that means I bow to that in you, which is the same as that in all of us.

w

Like many yoga studios, the windowsill and surroundings of Neighborhood Yoga reflect a unique mixture of east meets west. After all, yoga represents a union.

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Namaste

Finding your peace can be anywhere. These Pondicherry, India residents and visitors greet the day at water’s edge. May your happiness, however you know it, be with you always.

For More

Information

(on the resources mentioned in this article)

Neighborhood Yoga: www.neighborhoodyoga.net 212 Water Street, Boone, N.C. 28607 828-265-0377

Monthly Classes on Foundations of Yoga by Todd Bush www.meditateom.com/csahcnc/

Hasu Patel, Sitarist and classical Indian music/yoga www.csa-davis.org P.O. Box 7, Lakemont, Ga. 30552-0001 workshop facilitator.

Roy Eugene Davis, Meditation Retreats and CSA 706-782-4560

cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline

http://www.hasupatel.com/

cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline cutline Sivananda Yoga Centers Worldwide

www.sivananda.org

There are additional yoga instruction options in the High Country.

For listings - please check local newspapers and the internet.

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High Country Magazine

August 2009

Story by Linda Kramer Photography by Peter Morris

L L

ocal artist extraordinaire and eighth-generation Highlander Zoey Brookshire is a lady of many dimensions and great depth. Serious reader, spiritualist, hiker and eco-activist, for starters, she established her first studio in 1982 in Columbia, S.C. after leaving the University of South Carolina, where she studied both studio and art history and received the prestigious South Carolina Fellowship in Visual Art. She describes her work as modernist with distinct overtures of the postmodern period and works primarily in the traditional media of oil on canvas and ink on paper. As for interpretation, Zoey leaves that to the viewer.

“It is always my hope that a work, when completed by my hand, will become free of my personal intent and become part of the viewer’s personal journey,” she explained. “In a sense, the ultimate understanding of a work is finished by the viewer.”

Over the years, Zoey has established a global presence with her many impressive bodies of work, all very different in nature, that have been shown across the country and can be found in private collections in Europe and Asia. Some pieces state the obvious—others do not—but each is a prolonged meditation of sorts, and the roles that her art plays in creating outcomes are as varied as the artist herself.

The Boola group is the most extreme example of her

Opposite Page: Pompeii Lover. Detail of the 36x36 oil on canvas, from the series showing the lava-encased lovers of Pompeii locked in an eternal embrace.

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Zoey uses oil as her primary medium because of its fluidity. Her painting, Firefly Theater , 60” X 72” oil on canvas, shown left, is part of an ongoing investigation into the Appalachian landscape. Zoey says that for her, “Like many of us, fireflies are a very special part of summer magic that continues to inspire and delight. As an eco-activist I have a great need to present this magic in a way that is as unique as our landscape itself. To be a modernist is to find that ‘harmony parallel to nature’ Cezanne describes so very well in both his writings and paintings.”

modernistic abstraction in two colors. These immediate and primal visuals demonstrate a minimalist, restrictive palette and are presented with the artist’s hope that they will create a platform for viewer’s contemplation.

Zoey is well known for her ongoing ink on paper series, The Little Black Dress, which she began in the early ‘90s.

The series celebrates the female form and spirit by translating feminine sensual energy through elegant brushstrokes and a disciplined use of color. The series was inspired by a mythical ‘50s cocktail dress, accessorized by long black gloves holding a martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Zoey listens to women talk about who they are, 132

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August 2009

what they do and how they perceive their bodies, and then transfers those perceptions as visuals.

Casting a passionate and unflinching eye to the east, an Asian grace runs through the Tibetan works. A new, largescale series called Burmese Rubies features psychologically moving canvases that display her political bent and are offered in the hope that they will encourage prayers for the people of Burma.

Pompeii Lovers depicts images inspired by the lavaencased lovers of Pompeii, locked in an eternal embrace, before molten lava turned them to pumice. These works give homage to lovers everywhere.

Prayer for Tibet. 24x38. Oil on canvas exploring the possibilities of the flat matte surface versus the glazed.

Little Black Dress with Bird.

22x30. Ink on canvas. One from the popular series.

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Circle of Life. Ink on paper.

28 X 36 inches

Two Pine Mountain, over-sized 30x60 ink on paper is a playful and structurally loose landscape rendition.

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Using nature as inspiration, a black and white bird study, including “Bird with Egg,” continues the graphic theme of bird images, which can be found in many forms throughout the artist’s works.

A new work, “Requiem to a Hen,” shows Zoey’s playful side. Created from straw and a ladies’ dressing chair, dramatically wrapped in a frame of architectural molding, the piece honors her pet hen Henny Penny and depicts her personal experience with farm animals and their place in our lives. Her inspiration was learning that in Liechtenstein, it’s a tradition to publish an obituary when an important cow dies. The work will be shown at The Art Cellar in Banner Elk in August, where owner Pam McKay is always receptive to experimental work that falls outside the perimeters of traditional galleries.

Zoey’s large and provocative art and her balanced compositions come from her artistic spirit and her mastery of techniques and materials that have been skillfully refined over the years. As a student of Daoist Buddhism, she describes her work as a spiritual undertaking; while she is immensely grateful to her patrons and private collectors for their commercial support, she is clear that her art is very personal and that it’s a spiritual road she has chosen to travel and what motivates her to paint.

Zoey says, “The primary function of art is to carry a banner of freedom, open new doors and offer new options. The more options we have expand our choices in life.

We are all just finite creatures with infinite possibilities. My choice was art.”

What inspires Zoey Brookshire? “Everything. It would be easier to ask what doesn’t. Nature and the Appalachian landscape are primary influences. Picasso emboldens me, as does the immaculate gesture of the Renaissance. Some days the news and political concerns are an influence.

Some days it’s fashion; other days, not so much. Music from Delta Blues to Bach is always there. I am deeply influenced by the ‘harmony parallel to nature’ Cézanne describes in his writings and paintings. There is inspiration in everything, and my art is a spiritual undertaking.” When asked about her life philosophy, she muses, “ I don’t have one. I gave up philosophical concerns for direct experience long ago.”

Zoey is presently involved with three large-scale abstract pieces with an ethereal presence, based on Japanese Tea House designs. “After these pieces are completed, I really don’t know what the next group of paintings will involve, but I think that the August 2009

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Boyzboola. 32x38.

Oil on canvas from the Boola series.

Shangri-La. 24x72. Oil on canvas.

Inspired by the mystical, mythical Shangri-La of the Himalayas.

The construction was very much informed by the use of interior bordering that Asian societies have used for centuries.

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Tea House paintings will continue through a few more canvases, as they are a truly remarkable architectural phenomena.”

Zoey’s plans for the future with her art are boundless. “I want to go everywhere. I would like to spend more time in Europe this year because I love the respect they have for serious artists. I will continue to show my works in the High Country. Some small drawings, inks, a Pompeii Lover or two and several oils at The Art Cellar, where I have had five showings; and maybe Requiem for a Hen and a couple of Tea House Paintings. I have a solo exhibit coming up in Reynolda Village at the Smith Gallery in Winston-Salem in October where I will show large-scale inks, and I will continue to show with Margery Goldberg of the Zenith Gallery in Washington, D.C.” Zoey says, “The true function

of the artist is to bring an enhanced quality of awareness to the human experience. This expression often resembles a trance-like dance, that takes place in front of a canvas while holding a paint-laden brush.”

And so it begins.

Slowly.

This exquisite act of creation, born from a small thought.

Poised with a brush and the thought, a subconscious sway appears almost unnoticed.

The dance begins.

The paint flows and the expression of a meditation on human experience is realized.

It is the essence of art.

Dance on, Zoey.

For more information about Zoey’s art, email zoeybrookshire@ gmail.com or click to www.zoeybrookshire.blogspot.com.

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Antique Chi Wara dance headdress depicting an antelope mother and child from the Bambara tribe in Mali is one of Zoey’s favorite pieces in her private collection of African art.

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The

Experience Diamond Creek Story by Harris Prevost

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A

lmost all serious golfers have driven by

to become serious. He loves the mountain area

a beautiful piece of property, looked

we call the High Country, and he felt if more

out the car window and imagined their

people discovered our small mountain commu-

dream golf course. Golf professional John Mc-

nity they might consider a home here—provid-

Neely is no different, except he made his dream

ing the demand and means to support another

come true.

golf course.

John was director of golf at Grandfather Golf & Country Club when his dream started

The area is blessed with many great private clubs that are real estate based.

The clubhouse, which overlooks the ninth hole, sets the tone for the Diamond Creek experience. Photos courtesy of Diamond Creek August 2009

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“It was like being a painter and being called to paint the Sistine Chapel!”

~ Tom Fazio, designer of Diamond Creek golf course

“There are already wonderful places to live and play golf here,” John said, “ but I wanted something different. For one thing, a member wouldn’t have to buy property to join. It could be an alternative place to play golf for members of the other country clubs or a standalone club for the more golforiented member. We aren’t competing with the other clubs; we don’t have all the amenities they have.”

After a two-year property search of the area that encompassed all of Avery and Watauga counties, John could not find an ideal parcel of land. But his dream started to take shape when out of nowhere, a magnificent parcel of land became available. It was the perfect location—a 700-acre former sheep farm off Dobbins Road, a couple of miles north of Banner Elk’s main street.

Retired Air Force General Alexander Andrews had purchased the property earlier, planning a major ski resort with legendary ski pioneer Bob Ash. The resort would have featured more than 200 acres of ski slopes with a 1,700-foot vertical drop and a slope going down the Valle Crucis side of the mountain toward Dutch Creek, which would have been the most spectacular of all the runs. Ash also completed a preliminary layout for a golf course.

Ash was known as a snowmaking genius, and his inventions—he held six patents—helped put Southern skiing on the map. A couple of the slopes were cleared and manicured,

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but progress stalled. Because of advancing age and health issues, General Andrews decided to put the property on the market.

John said, “Before General Andrews got sick, he planned to build a combination golf and ski resort that would have had 1,000 home sites. A friend alerted me of the general’s passing and that his estate was being settled. It was arranged for Sol Horney, the property caretaker, to show me around.

“I loved it; it was a beautiful piece of property with incredible views,” he continued. “After spending the rest of the day getting familiar with the land, it appeared that the property would accommodate an 18-hole championship golf course. I signed a contract to purchase it the next day. The second day, I went to Hendersonville to see Tom Fazio about designing the course, as he was the only architect I envisioned working with.”

“John loves the game, he’s a great player and he understands the game,” Tom said. “I automatically knew what that meant. There would be no restrictions on creating the best course possible. It was like being a painter and being called to paint the Sistine Chapel!”

Diamond Creek is a quiet area, about 4,000 feet in elevation and removed from the hustle and bustle of the main highways connecting Avery County’s resort towns. Its panoramic views stretch well into Tennessee. Diamond Creek

was named for the creek that flows through the property, and the creek got its name because the headwaters start just below a series of rock outcroppings below Hanging Rock called Four Diamond Ridge, which also make up Seven Devils.

Later, John purchased additional acreage to protect from encroachment around the property. Environmental protection was paramount in designing Diamond Creek.

“Instead of the 1,000+ home sites planned in the previous development, I planned for only 40 home sites,” John explained.

“Tom Fazio rerouted the design of the golf course many times until we eliminated any adverse impact on streams and the overall environment. We stayed away from the impact areas,” John continued. “Tom’s entire team made contributions, especially Blake Bickford. We spent many wonderful times with Tom walking the property over and over to ensure the best design, with plenty of chocolate chip cookies for Blake.”

During this time, John became a partner in Diamond Creek with Wayne Huizenga, known for owning the Miami Dolphins NFL team and Dolphin Stadium, as well as building three Fortune 500 companies from the ground up: Blockbuster Video, Waste Management and AutoNation. John also serves as director of golf at The Floridian, Huizenga’s course just north of Palm Beach.

“Wayne and I were on a golf trip to Ireland,” John said with a smile. “Diamond Creek was in its early stages and we

were talking about it. The conversation began as ‘How is it going?’ and I told him my plans. Before the conversation ended, we became partners.”

The two confirmed the complicated, highly technical partnership with a simple handshake. The Huizengas and McNeelys are great friends and have tremendous respect for each other.

“I could not have a better partner,” John said. “We both have similar ideas, as well as a strong desire to do things a certain way.”

“John was originally considering having several partners, and I asked him if he preferred several partners or one partner, namely me,” Wayne said. “We never even have formal meetings. John, Sharon and management do such a fabulous job, we don’t need regular meetings. I just try to stay out of the way and let them run the place. Typically, as our paths cross, we enjoy a casual lunch and discuss ideas.”

With the new partnership in place, construction began in fall 2000. When the course opened in May 2003, the clubhouse and guest cottages on the property were complete. “We didn’t want to build a golf course and then have to explain to prospective members what the facilities were going to be like.

We wanted them to see for themselves. We wanted everything completed when we opened,” said John.

Tom Fazio is considered the game’s finest modern architect—and in many quarters, the finest architect in golf, period—but that’s not why John wanted him.

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“There are already wonderful places to live and play golf here, but I wanted something .”

different

The 425-yard first hole is a good example of how Tom Fazio “benched” Diamond Creek’s sloping terrain so that the course has basically no sidehill lies.

The interior of the men’s locker room (below) has a warm, comfortable feeling. Golf Digest magazine ranks it among the top five best in America.

John explained, “Being familiar with the area, Tom understands the details and what’s involved in creating something truly remarkable in the mountains. He is excellent. He has a great team that spends a considerable amount of time on each project. They do not make a visit or two; they are around all the time during construction. That’s the relationship Wayne and I wanted.”

It was also the relationship Tom wanted. Tom is inundated with requests to design courses, and he says he ultimately takes on a project based on his relationship with the client more so than the attractiveness of the land. The Fazios, Huizengas and McNeelys are close and often take trips together. There was no question in Tom’s mind about the depth of Huizenga’s and McNeely’s commitment and support to make Diamond Creek a world-class facility and experience.

“We were one of the first courses to incorporate a concept called ‘sand capping,’ John said. “We put eight inches of sand down underneath the fairways and rough for drainage. It was expensive, but it added to the playability of the course. Wayne and I wanted there to be very few instances where the carts could not go on the fairways.”

Tom said, “Because of the ‘sand capping,’ Diamond Creek will always be in good condition. It is a textbook case of an ideal situation. John had a lot of great ideas. The fun part was creating Diamond Creek with someone like Wayne and John.

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Adding to the Diamond Creek

Experience T

om Fazio ranks Diamond Creek’s beautiful clubhouse as one of the best. Golf Digest’s “Index Magazine” ranked the Diamond Creek Men’s Locker Room #5 in their “Best Locker Rooms In America.” Many people say that if your golf gets rained out and you never leave the clubhouse, you still have had a good day at Diamond Creek.

Ken Tate, a classicist who specializes in designing estate homes, designed the clubhouse. Diamond Creek was his first clubhouse, and he was encouraged by his clients to create a building that felt and looked like a home.

John McNeely’s wife Sharon is not an interior designer by trade, but she felt she understood each room and undertook the daunting task of creating the rest of the story as the building was completed. She filled the clubhouse with period art, antiques and special selections of furniture that create the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere that is central to the Diamond Creek experience.

Excellence is a passion at the club, extending from Wayne, John and Mike to every member of the staff, and to every facet of the club’s operations.

Diamond Creek’s members can enjoy breakfast and lunch at the clubhouse; however, it was not designed for dinner. Last year, Wayne and John decided the time was right to provide the Diamond Creek membership with a memorable evening of dining. They felt a restaurant open to the public would be a great way for diners to meet people and make new friends.

They knew that, by far, the most requested restaurant from Diamond Creek’s members and guests was Bill and Anita Greene’s Artisanal Restaurant, then located in the Tynecastle area. “John and Sharon and Marti and I had dinner and discussed what our restaurant could look like,” Wayne said. “We wanted a giant barn and an elegant atmosphere inside. Our goal was to bring something new and exciting to the area, as well as something the entire community can enjoy when they wish.”

The restaurant is located just below the Diamond Creek entrance, and its success has exceeded everyone’s expectations, which were high to begin with because of Greene.

Bill Greene was born in Korea but adopted by Dalis and Sue Greene of Elk Park. At Avery High, he took Penny VonCannon’s home economics class and worked during the summer under Chef Doug Usko at Grandfather Golf & Country Club. He knew he had found his life’s calling. Bill

The Artisinal Restaurant, open to the public and located just outside the entrance to Diamond Creek on Dobbins Road, offers an exceptional dining experience.

graduated in 1991 and pursued his dream at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City.

After graduation, he was fortunate to work under some of the world’s greatest chefs at some of the finest restaurants in the land. They included the Ocean Reef Club, the five-star Phonecian Resort in Scottsdale, Le Cirque in New York’s Palace Hotel and the Waldorf Astoria.

While at the Waldorf, Bill’s mother became critically ill, and he was called to come home to be with her. After her death, he worked at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, but he missed Avery County and returned again. He helped at the Eseeola Lodge and Linville Ridge before accepting a position at Charlotte’s Upstream Restaurant, where he met his wife Anita, a mechanical engineer by trade. They stayed in Charlotte until they could open their own restaurant back in the mountains.

A dinner featuring modern American cuisine at Artisanal is memorable. Like his counterparts at Diamond Creek, Wayne and John, Bill has a passion to exceed expectations.

Just as Diamond Creek keeps improving its great golf course and facilities each year, Bill is always challenging himself to reach the next level.

Having his own restaurant next to a club like Diamond Creek in the area where he grew up is, in his words, “what I have always dreamed about. It is a great experience from start to finish.” w

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The stables are becoming an increasingly important part of Diamond Creek, with more than 300 acres of green space set aside for the equestrian facility, riding and hiking trails.

They are different from the usual developer, who is in and out. They are in for the long haul. John was out there walking with us on every hole. He knew where he wanted the clubhouse, where he wanted the views.”

The team makes improvements to the course during every offseason, John said.

“Tom and his team are involved in every decision,” he said. “We have to make changes because a golf course evolves.

We have made improvements on just about every hole. We aerify, verti-cut and top dress the greens, tees and fairways very aggressively twice every season, first in April before we open and then immediately after we close in late October. We avoid any significant maintenance during the season because that would affect play.”

In a blog talk radio interview on “World Talk Live” in November 2007, Tom was asked by the host what design characteristics would let a golfer know he was on a Fazio course. The architect was somewhat taken aback by the question. He said he wanted those who play his courses to say, “I don’t know who designed it, but I enjoyed it and it was a wonderful experience.”

Tom has 13 “wonderful experiences” ranked in Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Courses In America,” well ahead of Donald Ross and Pete Dye, who tired for second with eight. He and

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Ross designed 17 of the N.C. Golf Panel’s top 25 courses in North Carolina.

Some of Tom’s more notable North Carolina courses, in addition to Diamond Creek, include Old North State, Quail Hollow (redesign), Forest Creek (North and South courses), Pinehurst #4 (a Ross redesign), Pinehurst #8, Wade Hampton, Eagle Point, Champion Hills, Brights Creek, Hasentree, Treyburn and Finley (at UNC). Golf Digest ranks Diamond Creek #4 in North Carolina.

Tom’s highest profile work is the modernization of Augusta National, specifically to keep the historic shot values of the course from being compromised when the 300+ yard-driving touring pros come to town each spring to play in The Masters.

“Every course is different,” Tom said of his designs.

“Each course presents its own unique challenges. The common thread in my courses is nothing physical, it’s enjoyability. If I make a course fun, exciting, fair, and a test of skills without being overly difficult, I have succeeded. I want to hear someone say about my course, ‘I can’t wait to come back and play.’”

“Enjoyability” is one of two key words for Wayne and John’s vision for Diamond Creek. The other is relaxation.

“Diamond Creek is a way of life,” John explained. “Golf is just a part of it. It’s how you live up here. We want people to

enjoy the mountains. We want them to relax and feel at ease here. Everything we do, we try to create that way of life from the minute someone arrives at our gate.

“For example,” John added, “our entry is one lane in. It is serene and makes you slow down. As you enter the gate, pass over the bridge and round the curve, you see the quarry with a beautiful waterfall and pond at its base. You immediately enjoy the beauty, the picturesque holes and the longrange views.

“We want the pace here to be relaxing,” he continued.

“The golf course doesn’t require starting times; you are never pushed during a round of golf. Although we don’t have a membership cap at this time, our plan is to keep the number so that a member never has the need for a starting time. Our concept is that members simply play when they want to play.”

Diamond Creek has 215 members, half of which are local, meaning they have a home within 100 miles of the club, and the other half national, meaning they don’t have a home here or rent long term in the area. National members typically play the course only a few times a year, so the number of members in that category can be larger without creating the need for starting times.

For their convenience, Diamond Creek offers its members four cottages, a wellness cottage and more than 300 acres of green space set aside for its equestrian facility, riding and hiking trails. “Horses have become an increasingly

important part of the Diamond Creek experience—there is something about horses that make you feel good—and that coincides with our overall concept,” John said.

Everything at Diamond Creek is done the right way. If the word “service” is defined as doing everything technically correct, then “hospitality” is service provided with a warm, personal connection. Diamond Creek’s hospitality is exceptional. It is a friendly, genuine low-key mountain-style helpfulness that makes you feel welcome and relaxed.

The club has a staff of 70 during the season. Including John and Director of Operations Mike Mola, members benefit from the experience of 10 golf professionals. John and Mike want their professionals to be what they were trained to be, and that is good players. They spend most of their time not behind a counter but out on the course playing with members and their guests, helping to make their rounds more enjoyable and building relationships for the club.

Diamond Creek’s caddie program brings back a lost tradition of the game and at the same time extends the level of service the club provides. “Our service doesn’t stop at the clubhouse,” Mike said. “It continues the whole time a member or guest is here. Someone is always there to help, even on the course. A caddie is part of the Diamond Creek experience.”

In addition to helping players with the usual duties such as providing yardage, recommending a club and reading greens, caddies also keep the course maintained for the next

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player. They fill divots, pick up divot remnants, fix ball marks on greens and rake bunkers. The course remains in perfect shape all day.

At Diamond Creek, a caddie is required for every group, even if the players are riding in golf cars. The nucleus of the caddie program is made up of collegiate players and even some mini-tour players, both male and female. They are very good players who understand the game. Before they are sent out with their assignments, Diamond Creek trains the caddies in areas of service as well as course maintenance.

Diamond Creek is 7,175 yards long from the tips, which is extremely long for a par 70 course. Because the fairways play “fast,” the course actually plays shorter than its yardage.

The next set of tees, called the back tees, play to 6,715 yards, the middle tees are 6,155 yards and the forward tees 5,010 yards. “One thing we are doing this year that is really fun is that we have no tee markers,” Wayne said. “People can play from wherever they want to.”

Tom did a magnificent job maximizing the use of the property. “Elevation changes became the number one factor,” he said.

“The land was sloped, so we benched the holes so there were basically no sidehill lies. Also, the course mostly plays downhill.

Golfers like downhill. We did incorporate a few uphill shots for variety. The property gave us endless possibilities.”

Diamond Creek

“ is a way of life. Golf is just a part of it. We want people to enjoy the mountains.” ~ John McNeely, Diamond Creek partner and developer

From the teeing area on the 425-yard 14th hole, golfers can see the remnants of one of the slopes that made up what was to be called the Diamond Ridge Ski and Golf Resort.

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Because it is mostly downhill, and because the next tee is close to the previous green, the course is easy to walk. It is also easy to play five or six holes, nine holes or eleven holes and end up back at the clubhouse.

One of Mike’s favorite holes is the 425-yard (from the “back” tees) first hole, which he said is often overlooked because it is the starting hole. It plays from an elevated tee and then slightly back up to an elevated green. The 190-yard eighth requires a well-executed shot across an intimidating ravine. A safe shot that is a little long has an extremely difficult chip back.

The 470-yard par four, uphill ninth is one of the most beautiful because the clubhouse rests peacefully behind the green, and it is one of the hardest because of its length.

Perhaps the most scenic hole is the 175-yard 17th. The downhill hole has a creek in front and to the left, and framing the hole from the rear is a waterfall plunging down a 100-foot cliff into a pond formed by a quarry. Tom is hesitant to separate one hole from the others on his courses, but he says #17 at Diamond Creek would be the rare exception.

The quarry is one of the club’s landmarks. It was built in the mid-1960s by Maymead Construction Company to provide a source of gravel to build roads to Carolina Caribbean’s Beech Mountain resort. “I was there when they first blasted

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Wayne Huizenga (left) and John McNeely are best friends as well as partners of the Diamond Creek Golf Club.

out the quarry,” said Pat Eggers. “I was about 14 at the time.

The rock went everywhere. Dobbins Road was covered and I saw a rock as big as our pickup truck land nearby.” Later in life, Pat ended up building the access roads for General Andrews’ and Bob Ash’s planned ski resort on the property.

Len Fawcett, who was the ski resort’s first construction manager and now is an assistant golf course superintendent at Grandfather, remembers the pond at the base of the quarry. “It was built to be our snowmaking reservoir,” Len said, “but we couldn’t keep water in it because it seeped through the fractures in the rock base. Then we had a tropical storm that dumped 13 inches of rain on us in two days. The runoff covered the bottom

of the pond up with silt and sealed the fractures; therefore, the pond stayed full and we stocked it with trout.”

The 17th, as well as every other hole at Diamond Creek, is a delight to play. Every hole is different and interesting with its own unique challenge. “It looks like it has been there for a long time,” Tom said about the course. “It sets a modern standard for golf; it’s a must-play.”

Diamond Creek is a course you never tire of playing. When you finish a round, you say, “I had a really good time out there,” and that is exactly what Tom Fazio, Wayne Huizenga, John McNeely and the Diamond Creek team had in mind for you. w

The par three 17th hole, with a stream of water falling 100 feet into a pond at the base of a quarry, offers one of the more dramatic tee shots in golf.

148

High Country Magazine

August 2009

John McNeely, the Man Behind the Dream

J

ohn McNeely was raised in Statesville. The golfer in his family, though, was his older brother Gary, who earned a golf scholarship at the University of Tennessee. John’s sport was basketball, and he was good enough to earn a scholarship from Coach Norman Sloan at N.C. State. Another pretty good player in John’s recruiting class was a guy by the name of David Thompson.

John’s class was the last one where freshmen were not eligible to play varsity ball. One class ahead of him was another pretty good player, Avery County’s own Tom Burleson. They became one of the best basketball teams in the history of college basketball, and along the way beat Bill Walton and UCLA en route to a national championship.

Tom remembered playing with John.

“He was a tough individual, tough as a boxer’s jaw,” Tom said. “He was strong, and he had great body control.

If he got a half-a-step on you, he would use his shoulder to lock you down. He would have loved to have had the threepoint line back then. As a shooter, he reminds me of Terry Gannon.”

An injury forced John to weigh other options. He transferred to East Tennessee State for his final two years to play for legendary golf coach Frank Morrison.

John had some great basketball teammates at N.C. State, and the same went for golf at ETSU. Two of his best friends on the team were Bobby Wadkins, brother of Lanny and later a Champions Tour winner, and Alan Strange, identical twin of Curtis. Their team finished sixth in the NCAA national championship his junior year and seventh his senior year.

During his amateur career, John played a match that would totally change his life. He defeated the club champion of the famed Winged Foot Country Club in the North South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst #2. The player was so impressed with John’s game, and with him as a person, that he told John about an opening on the Winged Foot professional staff. His father was the attorney for the New York Giants NFL team, and he helped John get an interview with Winged Foot’s head golf professional.

Winged Foot’s head professional was Claude Harmon, a former Masters champion, who is considered one of the finest teaching pros in the history of the game. He was also known for preparing his assistants to be great teachers and successful professionals. Claude’s son Butch is currently considered the #1 teacher in the game.

John apprenticed two years working for Claude.

“Harmon forced me to play well,” John remembered.

“You had to play well to on this staff. We played with the members, so we had to make a good impression. Harmon knew this was for our own good. A member who thought a lot of an assistant could help him land a head professional’s position.

“Harmon also taught his assistants how to teach,” John added. “We would watch him give lessons and learn how he worked with each person. He then watched us give lessons and critiqued us afterwards. I always admired his teaching philosophy that everybody’s different and you can’t teach them all to swing the same way.

“One of his favorite sayings was, ‘We can’t make a race horse out of a mule, but we can make a racing mule.’” said John. “I have taught golfers of every skill level, including past presidents of the United States, a former King of Morocco, PGA Tour players, Champion Tour players; however, over the years, my fondest memories have been working with members to improve their game.”

John became a great teacher in his own right, and like Harmon, he learned to be a consummate professional who developed his own staff. Today, John follows the same mentoring process with his staff that Harmon had with him.

His assistants have become highly successful head pros in their own careers and they, in turn, are developing their assistants for successful golf careers. Oliver Peacock, director of golf for the Elk River Club, and Kurt Thompson, director of golf for Linville Ridge, were both McNeely assistants at Grandfather Golf & Country Club. Many others are in top positions at some of the country’s finest clubs.

Oliver said, “John has been the single most important person for me, and for a lot of other professionals, in our careers. He was my mentor. He led by example. The lessons he learned from Mr. Harmon, he passed on to all his assistants. We were fortunate to work for someone who was so willing to share that information.

“John wanted us to succeed and he helped us every step of they way, and he still does to this day,” Oliver said. “John McNeely is one of the greatest golf professionals in the history of the game.”

Kurt Thompson echoes Oliver’s appreciation for John.

“I was very fortunate to work for John at Grandfather Golf & Country Club. The opportunity changed my whole life, both professionally and personally. He has that effect on his assistants,” he said. “We always strove to be the best we possibly could be, both on and off the golf course.

“Servicing the membership, teaching and playing are all qualities that I have learned from John, and I strive to pass along those qualities to my assistants,” Kurt said.

“John always made the right decisions and always knew the right way to say what needed to be said.”

John’s golf professional philosophy is the same as his management philosophy. He picks good people, prepares them well and then lets them run with their jobs. John said, “The staff we have here does a phenomenal job. I’m here to support them as I am extremely proud of the job they do on a daily basis. Really, our people are the ones who have made Diamond Creek what it is today.” w

August 2009

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ADV E R T I S E R S I N D E X Please patronize the advertisers in High Country Magazine, and when you purchase from them, please be sure to mention that you saw their ad in our pages. Thank them for their support of this publication by giving them yours! Without their support, this magazine would not be possible. To all of our advertisers, a most sincere thank you.

All Area Codes are 828 unless noted.

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4 Forty Four..................................................... 295-8929 �������������������������124

Coldwell Banker Blair & Assoc./ David Welsh .. 963-0376 �������������������������125

A Cleaner World . ............................................ 265-1888 ��������������������������57

Dande Lion, The............................................... 898-3566 ���������������������������65

Abbey Carpet & Floor . .................................... 265-3622 ������������������������102

Daniel Boone Days........................................... 264-2262 �������������������������118

Advanced Realty.............................................. 264-5111 ��������������������������59

David Lombardi / Three Hounds, LLC............ 305-490-5767 ����������������������147

Air Haven Limousine........................................ 264-2504 �������������������������105

Deer Valley...................................................... 264-5583 �������������������������141

Antiques on Howard ........................................ 262-1957 �����������������������������4

DeWoolfson Down .......................................... 963-4144 ����������������������������9

Appalachian Energy ........................................ 262-3637 ��������������������������36

Dianne Davant & Associates . .......................... 898-9887 ������������Inside Front

Appalachian Party Rentals................................ 264-6600 �������������������������105

Doe Ridge Pottery............................................ 264-1127 ���������������������������63

Appalachian Performing Arts Series.................. 262-4046 ���������������������������96

Echota......................................................... 866-861-4150 ��������� Back Cover

Art Cellar, The.................................................. 898-5175 �����������������������������7

Enterline & Russell Builders............................. 295-9568 ���������������������������39

Ashe County Arts Council............................. 336-846-2787 ����������������������111

ERA Mountain Properties.................................. 265-2725 ���������������������������72

Banner Elk Realty............................................. 898-9756 ������������������������102

Eseeola Lodge at Linville Golf Club..............1-800-742-6717 ����������������������71

Banner Elk Winery............................................ 898-9090 ��������������������������62

Farmers Rentals & Power Equipment................ 264-6044 ���������������������������93

Banner House Museum.................................... 898-3634 �����������������������������4

Finders Keepers Antiques................................. 898-1925 ���������������������������45

Barking Rock, The............................................ 295-8883 ���������������������������62

Footsloggers.................................................... 262-5111 ��������������������������59

BDWG Concrete Studio.................................... 266-1599 ���������������������������77

Foscoe Fishing Company & Outfitters............... 963-6556 ���������������������������34

BJ’s Resort Wear.............................................. 898-4229 ���������������������������21

Fred’s General Mercantile................................. 387-4838 ��������������������������64

Bear Creek at Linville........................................ 733-5767 �����������������������������1

Gamekeeper..................................................... 963-7400 ����������������������������9

Bistro, The....................................................... 265-0500 ��������������������������84

Gems By Gemini.............................................. 295-7700 ��������������������������92

Blowing Rock Estate Jewelry............................ 295-4500 �������������������������127

Gideon Ridge................................................... 295-3644 ���������������������������65

Blowing Rock Interiors..................................... 295-9800 ���������������������������84

Glidewells........................................................ 295-9683 ���������������������������77

Blowing Rock Grille.......................................... 295-9474 ��������������������������26

Grandfather Trout Farm..................................... 963-5098 ���������������������������82

Blowing Rock Resort Rentals & Sales............... 295-9899 ��������������������������26

Greenhouse, The.............................................. 406-6205 ���������������������������98

Blowing Rock Properties, Inc............................ 295-9200 ������������� Inside Back

Green Leaf Services, Inc................................... 737-0308 ���������������������������82

Blue Ridge Realty / Todd Rice......................... 263-8711 �������������������������127

Gregory Alan’s Unique Gifts.............................. 414-9091 ���������������������������54

Blue Ridge Vision ........................................... 264-2020 ������������������������111

Haircut 101...................................................... 262-3324 ��������������������������34

Boone Drug Down Town................................... 264-3766 ���������������������������76

Hardin Fine Jewelery........................................ 898-4653 ���������������������������71

Boone Mall...................................................... 264-7286 ���������������������������76

Hartley’s Interiors............................................. 295-3004 ���������������������������98

Boone Paint & Interiors.................................... 264-9220 ���������������������������95

Hawksnest Zipline........................................ 800-822-4295 ��������������������������2

Cabin Store, The.............................................. 295-8005 �����������������������������2

Hayes Performing Arts Center........................... 295-9627 ��������������������������48

Café Portofino.................................................. 264-7772 ��������������������������91

Headwaters at Banner Elk, The...................... 866-200-3290 ��������������������������5

Canyons.......................................................... 295-7661 ��������������������������40

Hemlock Inn.................................................... 295-7989 ���������������������������27

Capone’s......................................................... 265-1886 ���������������������������99

High Country Timberframe............................... 264-8971 ���������������������������19

Carlton Gallery................................................. 963-4288 �������������������������125

High South Realty............................................ 1-877-846-1818 ������������������������ 81

Casa Rustica ................................................... 262-5128 ��������������������������55

Horn in the West.............................................. 264-2120 �������������������������137

Char Modern American Restaurant................... 266-2179 �������������������������112

Isley Construction Company............................. 898-7544 ���������������������������64

Classic Stoneworks.......................................... 737-0040 ��������������������������25

Jo-Lynn Enterprises, Inc................................... 297-2109 ��������������������������99

Coldwell Banker Blair & Associates..................262-1836 �������������������������113

Knox Group Realtors......................................... 963-7325 �����������������������������4

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August 2009

If you love our magazine, you’ll love our newspaper too!

All Area Codes are 828 unless noted.

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Kuhns Bros. Log Homes........................................................ 898-4143 �����������������������������������������������145 Lil’ Orbits Donuts.................................................................. 265-0504 �����������������������������������������������105 Logs America, LLC................................................................ 963-7755 ������������������������������������������������85 Makoto’s Japanese Steak House & Sushi Bar........................ 264-7976 �������������������������������������������������45 Maple’s Leather Fine Furniture ............................................. 898-6110 ������������������������������������������������75 Mast General Store .............................................................. 262-0000 �������������������������������������������������11 Melanie’s Food Fantasy......................................................... 263-0300 �������������������������������������������������63 Meridan Timberworks, Inc..................................................... 773-4496 ���������������������������������������������������3 Mountain Bagels................................................................... 265-4141 �������������������������������������������������65 Mountain Construction Enterprises, Inc................................. 963-8090 ������������������������������������������������48 Mountain Land.................................................................1-800-849-9225 �������������������������������������������37 Mountaineer Landscaping..................................................... 733-3726 �������������������������������������������������26 Mountain Tile........................................................................ 295-0472 ��������������������������������������������������9 Mystery Hill.......................................................................... 263-0507 �����������������������������������������������135 Outdoorsman Inc., The.......................................................... 268-1313 �������������������������������������������������26 Outersanctum Salon.............................................................. 264-8181 �������������������������������������������������98 Our Daily Bread..................................................................... 264-0173 �������������������������������������������������76 Page Dentistry....................................................................... 265-1661 �������������������������������������������������98 Papa Joe’s Italian-American Restaurant................................. 295-3239 �����������������������������������������������135 Parkway Craft Center............................................................. 295-7938 �������������������������������������������������99 Peabody’s Wine & Beer Merchants........................................ 264-9476 �����������������������������������������������112 Peppers Restaurant................................................................ 262-1250 �������������������������������������������������72 Pet Place, The....................................................................... 268-1510 ������������������������������������������������65 Planet Tan............................................................................. 262-5721 �������������������������������������������������91 Precision Cabinets................................................................ 262-5080 �������������������������������������������������48 Pssghetti’s............................................................................ 295-9855 �������������������������������������������������48 Red Onion Café..................................................................... 264-5470 �������������������������������������������������64 Seven Devils Tourism Development Authority........................ 963-5343 �������������������������������������������������76 Shannon’s Curtain Bed & Bath.............................................. 264-8321 �������������������������������������������������64 Shoppes at Farmers Hardware............................................... 264-8801 ������������������������������������������������27 Silver Springs Farm.............................................................. 898-6896 ���������������������������������������������������4 Six Pence Restaurant & Pub................................................... 295-3155 ������������������������������������������������69 Sorrento’s Bistro................................................................... 898-5214 ������������������������������������������������99 Spin A Yarn....................................................................... 336-846-7746 ���������������������������������������������77 Stone Cavern, The................................................................. 963-8453 �������������������������������������������������94 Stonewalls ........................................................................... 898-5550 �������������������������������������������������27

e r ’ e W

Stick Boy Bread Company..................................................... 268-9900 �������������������������������������������������54 Sugar Mountain Resort.......................................................... 898-4521 �������������������������������������������������17 Sugartop Resort Sales........................................................... 898-5226 �������������������������������������������������27 Superior Spas....................................................................... 963-6624 ������������������������������������������������15 Tatum Galleries & Interiors.................................................... 963-6466 �������������������������������������������������23 Todd Bush Photography........................................................ 898-8088 �����������������������������������������������124

Turtle Old Man...................................................................... 264-4882 �������������������������������������������������40 Watauga Insurance Agency, Inc............................................. 264-8291 ������������������������������������������������77 Wolf Creek Traders ............................................................... 963-6800 �������������������������������������������������13

August 2009

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Parting Shot...

Greg Williams

A Windmill City Once Again…

F

rom 1979 to 1983, Boone was home to the largest wind-powered electric generator in the nation. Managed by NASA and operated by Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, the windmill—the “MOD-1” as it was called—was located on top of Howard’s Knob and its purpose was to explore, through trial and error, the possibility of wind energy in the mountains. The MOD-1—short for “Model 1,” which by itself explains its significance—put Boone on the map for sustainable energy, even though its primitive design discouraged much energy production.

Twenty-six years later, Boone became a windmill city once again. In June, thanks to funding provided

by ASU students, as well as the foresight and dedication of the ASU administration and the student-led ASU Renewable Energy Initiative (ASU REI), a community-scale 100-kilowatt wind turbine was installed next to the round water tank to the left of the Broyhill Inn and Conference Center in Boone. The turbine, a Northwind 100, rises 121 feet into the air, features a blade diameter of 54 feet and produces 150,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually—or roughly enough energy to power 10 to 15 residential homes, according to Patrick Beville, ASU Design and Construction engineer and project manager. The machine generates clean, renewable energy and feeds the energy produced directly into the electrical grid.

The largest wind turbine in North Carolina, the Northwind 100 serves as a demonstration project for all community members in the High Country, and is a physical example of how wind technology has advanced since the days of the MOD-1. Unlike the primitive MOD-1, the Northwind 100 does not interfere with radio or television reception because it features fiberglass blades and not metal blades, and it is quiet—in fact, the turbine makes less noise than the Broyhill Inn’s HVAC units. Also, the Northwind 100 is much smaller than the MOD-1 and, contrary to popular belief, it does not kill birds, added Beville.

Before green was cool—30 years ago—Boone was experimenting with wind energy. Today, in a time when going ‘green’ is a worldwide buzzword, our small mountain town is once again leading the way… becoming a windmill city once again.

-Sam Calhoun

Patrick Beville, ASU Design and Construction Engineer and Project Manager 152

High Country Magazine

August 2009

CANGELOSI: Spectacular 180 degree views of Grandfather and beyond from this picture perfect mountain get-away. Huge guest suites all feature sitting areas, and private balconies, including an upstairs bedroom with large stone fireplace and charming ‘artist’s garret.’ FULLY FURNISHED. $1,100,000.

CONGER: Awesome long range views from this remodeled mountain cottage. Kitchen is finished with beautiful cabinetry and granite counters. Also added, a delightful sunroom with Tongue & Groove vaulted ceilings, wonderful views from the dining area, stone fireplace with gas logs in both main sitting room and another in the master bedroom. $675,000.

ISENHOUR: Spectacular long range views all the way to Mt. Mitchell on a clear day! Views sweep 180 degrees with spacious covered decks for outdoor enjoyment. Stone fireplace and open floor plan fabulous for entertaining. Kitchen/Dining/Living all open to the view.

5 fabulous decks and much more! $597,000 KasERas: Big Views of Grandfather Mtn. Gracious porches for dining while enjoying the view! Granite, stainless, multiple family rooms, 2 master suites w/fireplace-total of 3 fireplaces Blowing Rock school district. 2-car garage & fenced in yard for dogs. Close to parkway, fine dining, shopping and attractions. $923,000.

Kay: Spacious gorge view home with 4 bedrooms / 3.5 bath with over 5,000 sq. ft. on top of Misty Mountain. Views down the gorge for sunrise, and across to Grandfather for sunset.

Central vac., jetted Jacuzzi tub, three season room, 2 car garage and numerous decks for enjoying long range views all on a flat lot. $1,180,000.

LyNaGH: One of the most unque & appealing properties in the High Country! Log estate home on 7.71 acres in Yonahlossee Estates. Magnificent lodge-style home features antique hand-hewn logs & exposed beams, 4 bedroom/5 full baths, heart pine floors, 5 stone fireplaces, 400 square foot covered deck with fireplace and adjoining stone patio. The great room features soaring ceilings, a massive stone fireplace & a wall of windows to take in the inspiring Grandfather Mountain view. $2,350,000. paRKs: MUST SEE! Commanding location on top of Misty Mountain. Fantasy log cabin with Canadian Cedar logs, massive Douglas Fir beams, hand pegged antique heart-of-pine floors, massive hand-built doors with giant iron hinges, soaring cathedral ceilings in all bedrooms. Beautiful bead board throughout. Absolute charm. LONG RANGE MOUNTAIN VIEWS all the way to Mt. Mitchell. $753,140. pEtERsON: Almost new Blowing Rock cottage with great view overlooking mountains and pastures. Austalian cypress wood floors, stone fireplace, granite countertops, stainless appliances, solid wood stained doors and woodsy interior decor are soothing to come home to. The loft sleeping room can be media room or an office nook and has lots of windows for good natural lighting. Unfurnished $429,000 or furnished for $439,000 w/ few exceptions.

WELLMaN: Stunning arts & crafts syle home on a gorgeous private lot featuring large natural boulders, native hardwoods and gorgeous views. Two -story great room features a towering stone fireplace, t & g ceilings, and Australian cypress floors add warmth and beauty throughout. The lower level houses a huge recreation/family room with space for all your activities and a 2nd stone fireplace to add to your pleasure. $1,175,000.

WOODy: Stunning long range views from this stylish mountain contemporary, wonderfully redesigned and totally remodeled. Situated on almost one acre, the lay is remarkably flat & is a quiet private setting for this unique home. Open living with a gourmet kitchen featuring honed granite and limestone counters, stainless appliances, vaulted beamed ceiling, and stone fireplace. Lower level bedroom/bath has a stone fireplace and bath. $1,275,000.

WHitE: GORGE(ous) view home with 4bd/2ba, flat lot, open floor plan, vaulted ceilings, and a large Virginia fieldstone fireplace. Lots of windows and newer gas forced warm air heater and water heater. Easy to maintain home is very close in to town, would make great rental. $258,000.

HubbaRD: Evergreen Springs is a low density (12 Units) condominium close in to Main Street Blowing Rock. 2BD/2BA with easy entry access, hardwood floors, stone fireplace, granite tile kitchen countertop and covered back deck. $239,900.

Blowing Rock Properties, inc

800-849-0147 • 828/295-9200

www.BlowingRockProperties.com August 2009

High Country Magazine

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Actual morning view from Echota on the Ridge Clubhouse overlooking Grandfather Mountain.

Like the inspiring views, the reasons Echota has become the High Country’s most successful community are clearer than ever. Lock-and-leave luxury. And a central location between Boone, Banner Elk and Blowing Rock. See for yourself why Echota was the only choice over 450 families could make.

800.333.7601 EchotaNC.com

Visit one of our sales offices located at 1107 Main St, Suite C, Blowing Rock, NC or 133 Echota Pkwy, Boone, NC • Condominiums from the $300s D

High Country Magazine

August 2009