Rotarians Jeannie and Tucker Chambers

Beneficial and Fun Service

For Rotarians Jeannie and Tucker Chambers, the siren call of community action proved impossible to ignore.

Jeannie and Tucker Chambers

Rotarian Jeannie Chambers said she accompanied her husband, Tucker, a past-president of Mountaintop Rotary, to a few meetings and experienced the “larger-than-life energy at the meetings that was hard to resist” before deciding to join.

She said, “I was already committed to a couple of other groups, but I kept feeling the tug to join, so I did.”

Since becoming a Rotarian, she’s been involved with community projects. But there is one endeavor that has been near and dear to her heart: The Literacy & Learning Center.

“I’ve dressed up in costume to hand out free books at the Downtown Trick-or-Treat, and I’ve got to tell you, the smiles on those children’s faces as they choose their own book is priceless.”

Chambers pointed out that by helping non-profits like The Literacy and Learning Center, The Food Pantry, The Emergency Council, and others, Rotarians are reaching out “beyond our initial grasp to help others. If we help them, then they can continue to help others in need.”

And she and other members are always encouraging more young people to become involved.

“We’re really a fun group,” she said, explaining that a new project, called RotarAct!, developed due to a grant from Rotary District 7670 and the Mountaintop Rotary Club of Highlands, focuses on hands-on projects, such as removing non-native invasive plant species in and around the town of Highlands, community roadways, and local non-profit owned properties.

She added, “In addition to the benefits to the shared landscape, the primary motivation of this plan was to provide financial relief to working people of the community who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic by employing them as workers in the project.”

The first RotarAct! project was a success, drawing assistance from all ages.

“Despite the driving rains that greeted everyone in the morning, 50 workers and volunteers worked from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M., removing invasive species in the Highlands area,” Jeannie said. “In addition, the Women’s Initiative of the International Friendship Center made an authentic Mexican lunch for all participants. The club paid workers in the form of a $100 Ingles gift card.”

by Deena Bouknight

Old Man in the Neighborhood

Sweet Mitch dreams of sharing retirement with a like-minded human. If you’d like to know more about Mitch and his neighbors, visit chhumanesociety.org.

Just a ways down the road on Highway 64 East, oh, about two-and-a-half miles or so from the Cashiers Crossroads, lives a kindly old man. He’s lived in the neighborhood longer than anyone else. He gets along just fine with his neighbors, although sometimes he can be a little cranky when visiting children come around. One thing’s for sure about this gentle old man – he’s a bit stubborn and set in his ways. He’s not a fan of being outside in the rain, and he doesn’t care too much for weather that’s too cold or too hot for his liking. Right around 73 degrees, he’ll tell you, now that’s comfortable living. On days like that you can often see him going on a short walk or hike, but nothing too strenuous, mind you.

Ten-year-old Mitch is our longest-term resident. Although he has enjoyed his stay and is much beloved in his current neighborhood – a place that’s known as the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society – his greatest wish is to retire to a different kind of neighborhood. A place that’s known as a forever home.

Mitch would make an ideal canine companion for someone who wants a low-maintenance dog that doesn’t require a ton of exercise. Mitch would be completely happy napping in the sun in a fenced-in yard, or inside on a soft comfy dog bed. And if Mitch’s human is a little stubborn and set in their ways, too, well…like two peas in a pod, as the saying goes.

As a longer-term resident CHHS Hero Pet, the adoption fee for Mitch is only $50, which includes already being neutered, microchipped, up-to-date on vaccinations, a free starter bag of food, and a free ID tag. If you have the perfect retirement home for Mitch, please complete the application on our website at chhumanesociety.org or call us at (828) 743-5752 for more information.

Established in 1987, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, 1 ½ miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64. Visit us at chhumanesociety.org. Taxdeductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to: CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.

by David Stroud, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society

To Live Your Healthiest Life

Left to Right: Dr. Walter Clark - Chair, Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation; Dr. Kristy Fincher - Family Medicine Physician, Blue Ridge Health - Highlands Cashiers; Dr. Ann Davis - Family Medicine Physician, Blue Ridge Health - Highlands Cashiers; Robin Tindall - CEO & Executive Director, Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation

The new Blue Ridge Health-Highlands Cashiers office will offer comprehensive medical services to all local residents.

Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation made good on its goal of providing a wide spectrum of health services for all ages with the opening of its comprehensive family medicine center, Blue Ridge Health-Highlands Cashiers, in Suite 204 at 209 Hospital Drive (The Jane Woodruff Building).

“I’m excited to join this tight-knit community and use my skills to treat everything from a sprained ankle to a mother-to-be,” said Dr. Kristy Fincher, who’s on the staff with Dr. Ann Davis.

That optimism was shared by Dr. Davis, who said, “I am committed to partnering with patients to help them live their healthiest life.”

For those of us on the Plateau (and seasonal residents and those just passing through), it means that Blue Ridge Health-Highlands Cashiers is offering primary care, chronic disease management, treatment for acute illnesses and minor injuries, physical exams, sports medicine, women’s services, healthy lifestyle and nutrition programs, and health screenings.

Of course, all of this comes with a large price tag, but members of the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation are confident that generous public support will keep this practice in robust financial health for generations to come.

“As in any venture there is risk, and the {Highlands Cashiers} Health Foundation has agreed to this heavy financial investment in our community’s health because the project could never be started otherwise,” said Dr. Walter Clark, the chairman of the HCHF Board.

The practice’s office is open from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. It accepts private insurance, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield, as well as Medicaid and Medicare, and even treats those with no insurance. For an appointment or more information, call (828) 482-6160.

Same-day appointments are available and, of course, new patients are welcome.

If you’d like to support Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation in its vital mission, visit highlandscashiershealthfoundation.org.

by Luke Osteen

Rotary Starts with 3 Grant Awards

Mountaintop Rotary leaps into its new year with programs that benefit local causes and needs around the world.

Dixie Barton and Cath Connelly Hudson

When Michael Vavrek accepted the gavel of Mountaintop Rotary on July 1, the beginning of the Rotary Year, he inherited leadership of a club that has been very successful in weathering the challenges of the pandemic with an impressive list of accomplishments from last year.

The New Rotary Year promises to be excellent as well, as he has been successful in securing three district grants for 2021-2022 projects for Mountaintop Rotary for very important projects. Rotary District grants provide matching funds to make local and international projects possible.

The first project will assist the Highlands Biological Station to improve trail quality and eliminate erosion by stabilizing trails to improve the ecological health of the creeks that are impacted by sediment run-off. A partnership with HBS’ Friends of the Garden, Rotaract Club, HighlandsCashiers Land Trust, and WCU Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning and the Highlands Plateau Greenway will take place over three-four weekends in early Spring 2022.

In the second project, Mountaintop Rotary partners with the Food Pantry & Rotaract Club in an interesting sustainable DIY Vegetables and Nutrition Education effort for Food Pantry Clients.

It will encourage people to learn about accessible ways to gain food sovereignty, help people grow nutrient-dense greens, vegetables and herbs, help people learn how to incorporate sustainable nutrition in their lives and build community among clients. Building container gardens, and distribution to Food Pantry clients, along with education on growing and nutritional information will enable clients to produce some nutritious food for their families.

The Highlands Rotaract Club, sponsored by Mountaintop Rotary is a group of young leaders who are developing innovative solutions to the community’s pressing problems. Rotaract is for ages 18-40 and many go on to become Rotarians.

The third grant award project is international and a collaboration between Mountaintop Rotary, Blowing Rock, and Highlands Rotary to explore the building of a permanent dental clinic facility in Cange, Haiti. A needs assessment, sustainability study, and feasibility study will be done by a group on a two-week trip.

The Mountaintop Rotary Club is also supporting the building of 4 water fountains in schools in Tulum, Mexico, where lack of clean water is affecting the health of children in the area. MTR Rotarian Clark Plexico is in Tulum overseeing the project.

MTR plans to continue the successful Highlands Mountaintop Craft Shows with a second show August 28-29. The club will also continue support for the Community Immunity Campaign to reach unvaccinated individuals and assist them to find their shot, trash pickup on the club’s adopted section of the Dillard Road, and assisting as volunteers in many projects of local non-profits. by Robin King Austin photo by Colleen Kerrigan

Peggy Crosby Center Tribute To Wiley

Wiley Sloan and Ed Mawyer

The words and ideas of our beloved Wiley Sloan are still resonating in Highlands and Cashiers, a year after his passing.

While not a big man, Wiley Sloan was larger than life to those who knew and loved him. A gracious, gregarious personality, he always knew the answer to questions of any sort or where to find them.

Wiley thought that the Peggy Crosby Center was the most underrecognized non-profit in Highlands, and he undertook a campaign to rectify that situation. Thanks to the generosity of The Laurel publishers Janet Cummings and Marjorie Christiansen, PCC is allowed to have an article in each edition of The Laurel during the season and Wiley wrote most of them during his tenure at The Laurel. Those he didn’t write, he edited and added his “magic touch.”

Thanks to his suggestion that we feature our Heritage Trees in one article, PCC began a program of improving the landscape on our campus that has developed into a recognized spot on the Highlands Plateau Greenway.

He supported us with his words, his donations, and his tireless recommendations to think outside the box. He was a true cheerleader for PCC and we miss him.

PCC Board Member Fred Smith says, “Wiley was a doer in the best way. He had a gift for seeing what needed to be done and doing it without worrying about obstacles. He was a very busy volunteer but would always find time to be helpful if I had a question about something relating to our community.”

We are grateful to Mountain Findings, which Wiley supported for many years, for giving us a grant in Wiley’s memory that has allowed us to jumpstart our plan to improve the safety of our building and tenants by installing modern defibrillators at PCC.

While we miss Wiley’s physical presence, his transcendence abides always.

by Ellis McIntyre, former Board Chair, Peggy Crosby Community Service Center and long-time friend of Wiley and Sarah Sloan.