tips & story ideas to NEWS@MOUNTAINX.COM letters/commentary to LETTERS@MOUNTAINX.COM
Asheville’s colorful dive bars offer camaraderie and community along with the fun and cheap drinks, say longtime local bartenders Elijah Wayne, Jennie Lou Nelson and Catherine Meriwether, pictured clockwise from upper left on this week’s cover.
COVER
COVER
PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes
ASSISTANT PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson
MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas Calder
EDITORS: Lisa Allen, Gina Smith
OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose
STAFF REPORTERS:
Lisa Allen, Thomas Calder, Brionna Dallara, Justin McGuire, Greg Parlier, Brooke Randle, Gina Smith
COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Braulio Pescador-Martinez
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Jon Elliston, Mindi Friedwald, Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS:
Edwin Arnaudin, Oby Arnold, Mark Barrett, Eric Brown, Carmela Caruso, Cayla Clark, Tessa Fontaine, Carol Kaufman, Bill Kopp, Kay West
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cindy Kunst
ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson
LEAD DESIGNER: Scott Southwick
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Tina Gaafary, Caleb Johnson, Olivia Urban
MARKETING ASSOCIATE: Sara Brecht
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: Hinton Edgerton, Jeff Fobes, Mark Murphy, Scott Southwick
WEB: Brandon Tilley
BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler
OFFICE MANAGER: Mark Murphy
ADMINISTRATION & BILLING: Hinton Edgerton, Lisa Watters
DISTRIBUTION: Susan Hutchinson, Cindy Kunst
‘Remote learning’ isn’t good enough for our kids
I am a parent to two young children in the Asheville City Schools district and I’m frustrated by the repeated closure of our city schools without an adequate plan for making up lost learning time. District leaders refer to these closures as “remote learning days,” but any working parent to young children will tell you that this phrase feels more like propaganda than reality. Even at its best, “remote learning” time spent reviewing concepts already covered in class is no substitute for time in the classroom.
In my opinion, more than one of these school closures was unnecessary, and some of these closures could have been half days at a minimum. I understand that we have teachers who live in rural areas, sometimes by choice and sometimes because they’re sorely underpaid and can’t afford to live in Asheville itself (another problem we should fix!). But I also don’t think we need every last flake to melt on the shadiest, north-facing slope in Western North Carolina before we reopen the schools after a run-of-the-mill winter
weather event. If other employers are managing to keep their doors open despite less-than-ideal weather, then why can’t an institution as important as our public schools do the same?
It seems to me that our school district leaders are choosing to keep the schools closed until the risk of travel has been reduced to absolute zero.
If we assume that ship has sailed and that we’re going to stick with this new, hypercautious approach to school closures, then we need to have a real conversation about the slow drip-drip of learning loss that this quick-to-close approach is inflicting on our kids — most of all, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and historically marginalized communities.
REFLECTIONS
Jerry Sternberg, a treasure lost
Editor’s note: Xpress reached out to community members for their thoughts on the life and impact of Asheville native and longtime Xpress columnist Jerry Sternberg, who died Dec. 25.
BY JIM BARRETT
Very few people contribute as much to our community, especially for people in need, as long and as much as Asheville native Jerry Sternberg did. We already miss him, his insights and his concern for others.
It’s an understatement to say Jerry was a complicated and unique personality — and he relished that image. While he leaned one way on social concerns, he leaned hard against many regulations that he thought stifled progress. I met Jerry in the 1990s when I worked at Pisgah Legal Services and we were advocating for health and safety housing code standards for the benefit of our low-income clients who were overpaying for substandard housing. Jerry, who was involved with the local Council of Independent Business Owners, was unhappy with our regulatory efforts. A mutual friend took us to lunch to discuss
any perceived differences. Jerry quickly understood that we were not trying to make housing more expensive or drive away conscientious landlords but that Pisgah Legal helps vulnerable people in need. He soon became a leading investor in Pisgah Legal’s social justice work. He urged others to support the work that helps low-income people address the causes of poverty.
As you might guess from his black cowboy hats, always worn in public, Jerry wanted you to know where he stood. Readers of Mountain Xpress will remember his provocative and educational commentaries titled “The Gospel According to Jerry.” His 90th birthday edition is a compilation of those columns, sharing his historical perspective on his beloved Asheville and many issues (limited copies are available due to Jerry’s generosity at avl.mx/egh).
Jerry felt strongly about women’s rights regarding reproductive health and safety from abuse. He was a leading supporter of Helpmate and Planned Parenthood locally. He contributed generously to other charitable causes as well as to the political campaigns of
I refuse to believe that there isn’t a better response to freezing temperatures than so-called “remote learning.” Our school district leaders need to try harder for the children of Asheville. These kids need us to have their backs after everything they suffered at the hands of Helene, including a month of lost learning time. Let’s start by drawing a hard line that we won’t allow Mother Nature to steal even one more minute of classroom time from our kids, and then let’s take a close look at the school calendar and do whatever it takes to make that vision a reality.
— Carl Davis Asheville
Watch out for sewage treatment bill
I’m not sure if this is something other users will experience. But on my first water bill after Hurricane Helene, which I received Jan. 13, I got charged $336 for sewage treatment, making my water bill for January $475, something that I as an Uber driver receiving unemployment assistance won’t be able to pay.
I’m trying to call the Metropolitan Sewerage District to understand the
INVESTED IN THE CAUSE: Jerry Sternberg, left, and Jim Barrett of Pisgah Legal Services catch up at a donor appreciation event for the Asheville nonprofit in 2023. Photo courtesy of Pisgah Legal Services
candidates he supported. He was financially, intellectually and emotionally invested in his causes, frequently using his considerable political and business influence to further antipoverty strategies such as increasing the supply of workforce housing.
He was constantly on the phone to solve a problem — or plan a Jewish holiday gathering with family, set up his next golf outing or card game with
his buddies. Caring for others was his life — well lived.
Jerry Sternberg’s keen sense of justice and compassion for people in need were beyond exemplary. His generosity has and will improve the lives of thousands of people for generations.
Jim Barrett recently retired as executive director of the nonprofit antipoverty organization Pisgah Legal Services, where he worked for 41 years. X
CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON
charge, but I’m not able to connect with the person.
I don’t know if anyone else in your newspaper will experience the same, but it’s something to keep on the lookout for.
An update: MSD finally got back to me. Apparently the sewage is metered based on my water consumption, and since I’m a single person in the house, I questioned this abnormal spike, considering I had no leaks in the past months.
They contacted the water department and investigated my account and determined that my reading was incorrect. They will try to do a new reading of my meter and send a new bill.
I talked to a bunch of people, and they were all surprised by the amount they are paying on their water bills this cycle. Some people are paying over $500 total.
I’d still advise to call the agencies if someone believes they are being overcharged.
— Vitor Sa Asheville
Change in permits would help local artists
How can I influence the local government to create change that
would greatly help local makers in this post-Helene world?
I run a small family pottery in Arden with both of my retired parents.
Two years ago, I applied for a building permit so we could add space to our studio because we were getting requests for studio space from artists who couldn’t afford the River Arts District or were just hobby artists not needing production capabilities. However, because my studio isn’t on my primary residence and is zoned residential, I was denied and warned against doing any “commercial activity or events of any kind.”
After the storm, we opened our studio doors to the community for showers, Wi-Fi (Starlink) and outlets for charging as well as water and pet food distribution. I was nervous to advertise even these services because I don’t want to mess up my parents’ fulfilling retirement.
I also wanted to invite displaced artists and provide art therapy to the community but, again, was afraid that I would be fined or totally shut down.
Now we are struggling to keep costs down and turn profits. So I am looking to get the county to be open to allowing studios and other creative spaces to apply for conditional use permits, but I don’t know how to do this. Tourism is huge for Western North Carolina economy, and the
arts and artists are one of the biggest draws for visitors.
I understand not wanting commercial activity in residential zones. However, most of us cannot afford properties in commercial zones, and even though studios do business, it is not on the level of true retail and industry. They already have the paperwork set up for conditional use permits but they only allow residential housing developers to apply.
My idea is that a conditional use permit would only allow (on a caseby-case basis) that, as long as the applicant owns/rents the space, it can be used as requested. Such as teach classes (great for tourism), have a showroom for in-house artists, provide art therapy and lease out the space to other artists.
Thank you for your time in reading this and for any advice, direction or influence you can extend.
— Rebecca Regal Chickadees Pottery Arden
Thank you for sharing tips for loved ones
Thank you, Duncan Grosboll, for your thoughtful idea about leaving instructions for your wife [“My Story:
Writing My Obituary, a How-to Manual and Love Note,” Jan. 8, Xpress].
My husband died in 2001; he was a firefighter and a great cook. I never asked him for his recipes. That first year is a roller coaster ride of emotions and questions.
Your wife will be very grateful for your important list, and I have been telling many friends this valuable information.
— Jan Dooley Asheville X
Correction
In our Jan. 8 issue, a Smart Bet about the new book Dreams I’m Never Gonna See: The Takeover of WDIZ Rock 100/FM and Other Essays should have identified the author as Brian Lee Knopp. X
Word of the week
dreck (n.) trash; rubbish
In this week’s paper we’ve got a couple stories on dreck — from the ongoing cleanup efforts post-Helene to the latest on Buncombe County’s new trash hauler, FCC Environmental. X
CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN
NEWS Showstopper
BY BROOKE RANDLE
brandle@mountainx.com
A once-harmonious partnership between two longtime Asheville businesses is now hitting all the wrong notes in a legal battle over their shared music venue.
In a social media post Jan. 8, Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co. announced the rebranding of Rabbit Rabbit to Asheville Yards Amphitheater.
“Since 1995, Asheville Brewing has embodied the Asheville spirit as a beacon of entertainment from movies and film festivals to concerts and arcades. So, it’s only fitting that we celebrate this milestone in a BIG way, as we rebrand our iconic music venue,” the post read. “What you can expect is more concerts, more festivals, more family entertainment and the debut of Asheville’s own downtown ice rink coming November 2025.”
While the announcement struck a celebratory tone, it was anything but for the venue’s co-owners, The Orange Peel. A case filed with the Buncombe County Superior Court on Jan. 3 by Orange Peel Events LLC and Public Interest Projects Inc. alleges that Asheville Pizza and Brewing, referred to as Ninja Brewing Inc. in the lawsuit, broke its contract, misappropriated funds and essentially pushed The Orange Peel out of the partnership against its will.
“This action includes claims for breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of corporate opportunities, tortious interference, breach of contract, and declaratory and injunctive relief,” the complaint reads.
PRELUDE
What once was a Wells Fargo bank at 75 Coxe Ave. in downtown Asheville was purchased by Public Interest Projects (which has investments throughout downtown Asheville including The Orange Peel) and Asheville Pizza and Brewing in June 2019 for $2.5 million. According to the lawsuit, the two businesses created 75 Coxe Properties LLC to purchase and manage the property with each partner owning 50%.
The Orange Peel sues partner in Rabbit Rabbit venture
“We’re excited to bring something fun to downtown,” Mike Rangel, co-owner of Asheville Pizza and Brewing, told Xpress at the time. “The Orange Peel events folks have been a phenomenal partner. They’re just as fun and crazy as we are and they have mad ideas, so it was definitely a great partnership.”
The two entities agreed to share responsibilities of running the venue, with Asheville Pizza and Brewing running food and beverage and The Orange Peel managing the production of large, ticketed live music shows with nationally known artists, according to the complaint.
The 3,500-capacity venue opened in August 2020 — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. After launching with a limited schedule of live shows due to COVID-19 restrictions, Rabbit Rabbit began drawing local, national and even international acts, selling out shows and hosting the likes of Willie Nelson, King Gizzard The Lizard Wizard and Jack White.
SHAKY BEGINNINGS
While the venue and partnership appeared to be a success, according to the lawsuit filings, the relationship began on uneven footing that worsened over time.
The lawsuit alleges that while Public Interest Projects and Asheville Pizza and Brewing jointly purchased the real estate, Public Interest Projects contributed a larger share. Both entities contributed $100,000, but Public Interest Projects also contributed $700,000 toward the purchase price and operating capital. This $700,000 was treated as a loan to the shared LLC, 75 Coxe Properties. Public Interest Projects then lent another $300,000 for additional capital, while Asheville Pizza and Brewing agreed to equalize the investments, the complaint alleges.
Meanwhile, through their shared LLC, Asheville Pizza and Brewing leased the property for at least 10 years starting in September 2019. Public Interest Projects alleges that the lease was secured through misrepresentations from Asheville Pizza and Brewing about its financial health.
“Unknown and undisclosed to PIP (Public Interest Projects) and OPE (Orange Peel Events), Ninja and ABP (Asheville Pizza and Brewing) were in a precarious financial situation in and around the time the parties entered into their agreement for the joint project, and this situation only grew worse as the project progressed,” the suit reads.
The lawsuit alleges Public Interest Projects and The Orange Peel consistently posted profits while Asheville Pizza and Brewing consistently posted losses throughout the entirety of the collaboration. By January 2022, the suit claims that Asheville Pizza and Brewing “had been unable to contribute the necessary extra capital to equalize the parties 2020 capital investments.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Asheville Pizza and Brewing paid itself $170,000 from 75 Coxe Properties’ bank account in March 2024, despite disagreements between Public Interest Projects and Asheville Pizza and Brewing over whether the distribution of funds “was prudent and in the best interests” of the shared venture. Public Interest Projects alleges that the sum was only paid back nine months later “after repeated demands from PIP.”
THE SPLIT
The complaint claims that the parties explored reworking their agreement in 2024, but at the same time Asheville Pizza and Brewing
was “in contact with business competitors and were actively working to terminate OPE from management of performances at the joint project venue.” On Nov. 25, Asheville Pizza and Brewing owners Rangel and Leigh Oder created Run Rabbit Run LLC and purported to terminate its management agreement with The Orange Peel as of Dec. 31, effectively cutting The Orange Peel out of 2025 operations.
In a Jan. 9 social media post, Sean O’Connell, who owns Music Allies, a “boutique music agency” headquartered in Asheville, announced that he had partnered with Asheville Pizza and Brewing to help manage Asheville Yards.
“I have lived in Asheville for over 20 years and have been a longtime friend and collaborator with Asheville Brewing, who holds the lease for the venue. I have also been producing concerts and festivals around the United States for decades — from right here in Asheville,” the post reads. “I want to reassure you that Asheville Yards will continue to be locally operated. No local jobs are being eliminated. The venue will employ dozens of local workers, including sound technicians, security, bartenders, concessions, and ticketing staff, and back-of-house and front-of-house positions. And we will be hiring for new jobs, too.”
UNCERTAIN SUMMER
The Orange Peel and Public Interest Projects are seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury and are asking the judge to keep in place the existing management agreement. The plaintiffs are also seeking lawyers fees.
Adam Conrad, special Superior Court judge for complex business cases, will hear the case. Judge Conrad has expedited the case, but no trial date has been set.
As the parties await their day in court, uncertainty hangs over the 2025 concert season. The Orange Peel claims it booked 19 shows for the 2025 season at the venue formerly known as Rabbit Rabbit, with five more awaiting confirmation. Representatives from The Orange Peel did not respond to an Xpress request for comment about the status of the shows before press time.
Meanwhile, Asheville Yards began announcing shows on Jan. 10 for the 2025 season. Rangel said that he needed more time to respond to specific questions from Xpress but added, “There’s so much more to this story than what’s been reported so far.” To read the lawsuit, vist avl.mx/eg2
This is a developing story. X
UNCERTAIN FUTURE: The co-owners of Rabbit Rabbit are squaring off in court over the venue’s partnership. Photo by Brooke Randle
Briefing on debris
Cleanup will take ‘a long time,’ according to Buncombe County
BY GREG PARLIER
More than 100 days after Tropical Storm Helene ravaged the region, piles of debris still stand around Buncombe County, especially near the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers.
After the storm, officials estimated that Helene created about 10 million cubic yards of debris in Buncombe County alone. As of Jan. 9, more than 694,000 cubic yards have been removed in Asheville, Black Mountain and unincorporated Buncombe County, according to County Manager Avril Pinder, with about 263,000 cubic yards in Asheville alone, according to the city’s recovery dashboard. That represents less than 10% of the way through the mounds of debris.
“It’s going to take a long time.” Pinder said in response to questions from the media at a briefing Jan. 9.
Currently, 34 debris removal trucks and 26 tree crews are circulating the county, she added.
More than 2.5 million cubic yards of debris has been removed in WNC by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contracted providers, according to a media release from FEMA.
As of Jan. 9, the county hadn’t even started to remove titled property, such as cars, campers and trailers. That work was scheduled to begin by Monday, Jan. 20, Pinder said. Nor has work started to pull debris from waterways. The Army Corps told the county it plans to start that work by mid-February, Pinder said at the Jan. 7 Board of Commissioners meeting.
REPURPOSED DEBRIS: This box truck has remained on its side just off U.S. 70 in Swannanoa since Tropical Storm Helene deposited it there Sept. 27. Locals turned it into a holiday decoration in December. It’s still on Park Street.
by Greg Parlier
In rights of way around the county, Florida-based AshBritt, hired by the county, is making multiple passes in six zones. The first pass was 99% complete in four of those zones, as of Jan. 7, with the Barnardsville and Swannanoa areas about 95% complete, Pinder said. A second pass will begin once the first pass is complete, so residents should continue to place debris in rights of way without blocking cars and not under utility lines, she added.
Construction-related debris should be separated from vegetative debris, if possible, as the county is grinding vegetative debris to save landfill space.
In Swannanoa, especially along the main commercial corridor on U.S. 70, substantial amounts of debris remain untouched since the storm.
Commissioner Terri Wells asked Pinder why it’s taking so long to clean up that highly visible area at the Jan. 7 meeting.
“When you’re driving through Swannanoa, a lot of people feel like
they’re not seeing the progress through that commercial area,” she said. Typically, owners of commercial properties work with their insurance companies to get their property cleaned up, but in some cases, that has not happened, Pinder acknowledged. The county is starting to offer commercial property owners assistance through the Private Property Debris Removal program, which can help any property owner — residential or commercial — with demolition and cleanup of certain storm-affected properties, Pinder said.
To date, the county has received about 2,000 applications through that program, which is funded by FEMA and requires approval by the federal agency. The county will begin working through the first batch of properties that were approved for assistance Monday Jan. 20. Apply at avl.mx/egn or call the One Buncombe call center at 828-250-6100.
This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing. X
Photo
Trash talk
BY GREG PARLIER
gparlier@mountainx.com
As of Jan. 3, Buncombe County’s new residential trash hauler had delivered nearly 76,000 trash carts to subscribers, an FCC Environmental representative told the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners at a briefing meeting Jan. 7.
That means that carts have been delivered to 38,500 residents, including all of those on previous hauler WastePro’s list, said Charles Merkley, director of municipal sales for FCC. Complaints, however, have continued to percolate through the community. Residents filed nearly 400 complaints to Buncombe County in the first week of January, according to county records. After FCC took over Jan. 1, Buncombe County spokesperson Stacey Wood acknowledged at a briefing Jan. 6 that the company had missed some residents and worked through the first weekend of 2025 to catch up. Several people took to social media to complain about missed pickups, trash carts that had yet to be delivered and long wait times on calls to FCC’s customer service line.
“As we go through, we’re finding some carts people think they didn’t get, end up being at neighbors’. That’s part of a transition,” Merkley told commissioners via a Zoom call at the Jan. 7 meeting. “Overall, you look for perfection, but you can’t always get perfection,” he added in a call to Xpress Jan. 13.
Jim Gallagher, a resident of Fairview near Garren Creek, one of the region’s hardest-hit areas by Tropical Storm Helene, sent commissioners an email Jan. 10 to complain about the poor service. He said the Garren Creek and Craig Town areas of Fairview had not received trash collection by FCC in either of the first two weeks of the year. Repeated calls to the company’s call center have resulted in long wait times and little action, he told Xpress Jan. 10.
On a call Jan. 10 to FCC, Gallagher said he was told by a representative that it has been a “rough transition” from WastePro and the earliest he should expect service is Tuesday, Jan. 14.
In a response email to Gallagher, Commissioner Martin Moore said that the county has received numerous complaints from Fairview and particularly Garren Creek, and he has asked County Manager Avril Pinder to emphasize the need for service in areas that have been missed by FCC.
Buncombe’s new trash-service provider says all carts have been delivered
TRICKY TRANSITION: Buncombe County’s new trash hauler, FCC Environmental, has faced criticism of its rollout and customer service since it took over for WastePro Jan. 1. Photo courtesy of Buncombe County
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention; while frustrating, it helps a great deal that you made your concern known so that we can take appropriate action in our dealings and contract with FCC,” Moore added.
Gallagher followed up to say FCC did make a pass in the Garren Creek area Jan. 13, and FCC officials told him they planned to be back for regular pickup in the area on Thursday.
“It appears that FCC has a plan and [is] working the plan. This is good news and a step in the right direction, and hopefully other Fairview FCC customers are seeing the same results,” he said.
Commissioner Terri Wells asked several questions of Merkley and Mitch Dahlstrom, FCC’s regional vice president, about some of the other complaints at the Jan. 7 meeting, including that residents are having trouble getting through to the company’s call center.
Dahlstrom said FCC is onboarding three new employees to help in the call center, and seven regional drivers will remain in the area through Friday, Jan. 24. Additionally, a route manager, fleet manager and several manufacturer technicians are on hand through Friday, Jan. 17, to help with issues as they arise. Eleven additional regional and corporate managers are on rotation through the end of the month and may extend their stay, if needed.
Overall, Dahlstrom said the first three days of service “went well” and were completed by midday Jan. 5 due to snow and ice on the roads.
FCC uses in-house call centers, and has increased its capacity to 30 operators to help with the volume, Merkley said.
Wells also asked Merkley to address a common complaint with trash haulers — that they were mixing recycling in with the trash.
“We use separate vehicles for recycling and trash. Separate routes done by separate trucks. We take all recycling to [Curbside Management] in Woodfin. We have heard of no mixing,” Merkley said.
If residents have issues with trash collection, they should call FCC customer service at 828-820-7022.
If customers have questions about Waste Pro’s ongoing cart removal, representatives are available at 828-585-5074.
If you’re unsuccessful reaching either company or cannot get your issue resolved, Buncombe County is operating a solid waste issue tracker at avl.mx/703.
This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing. X
Joint meeting addresses school consolidation report and budget cuts
Dating back to 1963, there have been at least 10 studies analyzing the feasibility of consolidating Buncombe County’s two public school districts, Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools. While those studies came to differing conclusions, the districts have remained independent.
The latest report, presented Jan. 16 by Charlotte-based education consultant Prismatic Services to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and the Asheville City and Buncombe County boards of education, recommended continued independence for the districts.
Public meetings
Jan. 22-29
Wednesday, Jan. 22
• 3 p.m., Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission, Asheville City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, Asheville
• 3:30 p.m., Buncombe County Home and Community Care Block Grant Advisory Committee, online meeting
Monday, Jan. 27
• 9:30 a.m., Buncombe County Planning Board meeting, 30 Valley St., Asheville
• 2 p.m., Asheville Board of Adjustment, First Floor North Conference Room, City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, Asheville
• 6 p.m., Weaverville Town Council, 30 S. Main St., Weaverville
Tuesday, Jan. 28
• 5 p.m., Asheville City Council, second floor, City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, Asheville
Wednesday, Jan. 29
• 9 a.m., Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, 27 College Place, Asheville X
“Based on the literature review, constituent input, local environmental factors and the current operations and academic outcomes of each school system, Prismatic does not recommend consolidation of ACS and BCS,” the report concluded.
Essentially, said Prismatic founder Tatia Prieto during a presentation to elected officials, consolidation wouldn’t necessarily increase student achievement, close the achievement gap between white students and their Black and brown counterparts or increase overall enrollment. Consolidation would save less than 1% of the districts combined budgets, she said. The lack of savings was made more significant as the districts face a 4% post-Tropical Storm Helene funding cut from the county. Ultimately, the N.C. General Assembly, which mandated the report in 2023, will have the final say on consolidation after the report is submitted Feb. 15. As of Jan. 17, Buncombe County has been unable to get reimbursed for the $300,000 study from the state, said County spokesperson Lillian Govus. For the full story, visit avl.mx/ega.
County faces $25M revenue decline
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners learned Jan. 16 the sobering details of the expected revenue drop in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene.
Projected revenues will be anywhere from $15.1 million to $25.7 million less than projected for the $440 million general fund for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. To balance the budget, county staff proposes 4% cuts — $17.6 million — to most departments and to Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools. County Manager Avril Pinder already imposed a hiring freeze across all departments except for 911 services, resulting in about $2 million in salary savings for 89 vacancies. No filled positions will be eliminated in the proposal, Govus confirmed.
Budget Director John Hudson proposed $5.1 million in savings by
JOINT EFFORT: Buncombe County Board of Education member Charles Martin, second from left, and Chair Rob Elliot are flanked by County Commissioner Al Whitesides, far left, and Board of Commissioners Chair Amanda Edwards, far right, as they listen to a presentation Jan. 16 on school district consolidation. Photo by Greg Parlier
deferring scheduled maintenance of county facilities and energy efficiency upgrades, forgoing upgrades to Information Technology infrastructure, cuts at the animal shelter and reductions in library hours. Another $2.5 million can be saved by trimming programs or services in public health, social work, justice services, economic development and economic services. More savings comes from the delaying tax reappraisal, curtailing conservation easements and cutting early childhood education.
Budget analyst Jay Shih says revenue losses are due to high unemployment — which means many can’t afford to pay their property taxes — a sharp decline in permits for new single-family home construction, a drop in occupancy tax receipts and falling sales tax receipts.
This year, staff predicts they’ll pull about $16 million from the county’s fund balance, dropping the county below its goal of keeping 15% of its budget in reserves, which could
affect its AAA bond rating, said Chief Financial Officer Melissa Moore
“Protecting your triple A rating and maintaining unbalanced finance policies is very important in continuing to ensure that we’re able to leverage the lowest cost of capital available,” Moore said.
As for help from state and federal governments, much of the money available is restricted for specific uses and not available to run county governments, said Assistant County Manager Tim Love,
“We haven’t seen what you may refer to as maybe revenue replacement, which is one of the major things that we’ve been exploring in our advocacy,” he said. “We’re hopeful more funding will come, but funds are not here today. We have to plan with what we have in hand today. Hope is not a strategy.” For the full story, visit avl.mx/egd.
This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing.
— Greg Parlier X
Council approves BID provider, postpones vote on building code
At its Jan. 14 meeting, Asheville City Council postponed a vote on changes to the city’s building code contained in the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), in order to give city staff time to speak with more property owners and developers.
Staff proposed changes to three sections of the UDO to bring regulations into compliance with state and federal flood plain management requirements as well as adhere to guidelines from the National Flood Insurance Program. Council will revisit the issue next month.
Council did approve, 5-1, a threeyear contract with the Asheville Downtown Community Improvement District (ADID) — a group composed of Asheville Downtown Association, Asheville Chamber of Commerce and California-based consultants Nextstreet — as the service provider for the downtown Business Improvement
District (BID). Council member Sage Turner was absent, and Council member Kim Roney voted in opposition.
The BID places an additional tax on downtown properties to fund “ambassadors” who will aid tourists, keep public areas clean and direct people experiencing homelessness, addiction or mental health issues to available services. The tax will generate $1.25 million a year and cost 9 cents per $100 of taxable property, or about $360 for the owner of a property assessed at $400,000.
ADID will form a BID steering committee and report regularly to Council and the public on its success in providing safety, hospitality and cleanliness. For the full-meeting coverage, visit avl.mx/eg9.
This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing.
— Brionna Dallara X
Week of the Pet
Sonic, a 15-pound, 5-year-old mixed breed, gets along beautifully with cats and dogs. Sonic’s favorite things are snacks, snuggles and learning new tricks. And did we say snacks? Definitely snacks. He’s waiting for you at Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. For more information, visit avl.mx/ckd. X
Photo courtesy of Brother Wolf Animal Rescue
Volunteers needed for unhoused count
The AshevilleBuncombe Continuum of Care seeks volunteers to help with the annual Point-in-Time Count on Tuesday-Wednesday, Jan. 28-29. The count helps determine the amount of government funding the area will receive to help those suffering from homelessness. No experience is required, and training will be provided. For more information, visit avl.mx/efz. X
Quotable
“ I want leadership, not cheerleadership. … How do we invite people and encourage people to come here to visit and have a good time? It’s like having brunch at the morgue.”
Jonathan Wainscott, during public comment at the Jan. 14 Asheville City Council meeting
Average rent dips in AVL
In 2024, the median rent in the Asheville metro area was $1,881. In 2025, it is expected to be $184 less expensive at $1,697, a year-overyear decrease of 9.8%, according to the California-based trade group, Construction Coverage. X
Two Banks Development and Spirtas Worldwide is the official owner of the former paper mill in Canton, according to Smoky Mountain News . The St. Louis-based developer aims to attract manufacturers and build commercial and residential spaces on the 185-acre site. The owners also will assume running the site’s wastewater treatment plant that has treated the town’s wastewater for decades. The mill, established in 1908, closed in June 2023. X
A big joyride?
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a big stolen truck — a 2020 Kenworth dump truck valued at more than $200,000. It was stolen from Days Inn at 2551 Smokey Park Highway late Jan. 11. Have info? Contact Detective M.W. Hutchinson at 828-250-4494 or matthew.hutchinson@ buncombecounty.org. X
Ad pulls at heartand purse strings
Explore Asheville launched a commercial featuring the song “Carolina” by Eric Church. The spots range from 15-60 seconds and encourage travelers to return to the Asheville area for vacations as part of a broader “Be Part of the Comeback” campaign. Visit avl.mx/eg0 to see the video. X
Photo by Alex Herko; courtesy of Explore Asheville
Photo courtesy of BCSO
Busy sidewalks
BY JUSTIN M c GUIRE
For some small-business owners in Western North Carolina, it was a December to remember.
After Tropical Storm Helene wiped out the usually bustling fall tourist season, they say, holiday shoppers turned out in big numbers in the final month of 2024. It wasn’t enough to make up for the lost fall revenue, but it provided some financial stability heading into 2025.
“October and November were dreadful,” says Barbara Hughes, owner of Narnia Studios, a downtown Hendersonville gift shop. “But it was like a light switch went on on Dec. 1, and it continued all the way until Dec. 31. December was spot on and perfect.”
Other merchants say the holidays weren’t quite so merry and bright. While sales were markedly better than in October and November, they fell short of a typical holiday shopping season.
“I think we were all kind of hopeful, with Pollyanna lenses on, that it would be right back to the way other Decembers were,” says Scott Counce, who co-owns Black Mountain’s Merry Wine Market with his wife, Katherine. “But that just couldn’t happen this year. It was a season of really good days, not really great days.”
But he agrees with other business owners that local residents stepped up to support businesses during the holidays in a big way.
“We wouldn’t have survived without that support,” Counce says.
Adds Leslie Logemann, owner of Highland Books in Brevard: “We saw a lot of customers who came in and would
specifically say, ‘I am here to shop local and support local businesses.’”
’STREETS WERE PACKED’
Black Mountain’s annual Holly Jolly event marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the town.
“The intent is to bring people in to downtown, to the historic area, to all the stores there,” says
Melinda Hester, executive director of the Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce. “The stores open their doors, they stay open late, they have hot chocolate, cookies, candy, other things for the people.”
Holly Jolly has been around for three decades, but its “shop local” message resonated stronger than ever this year as town residents looked for ways to support struggling
businesses, she says. The event was held Dec. 6.
“The streets were packed. People were in the shops, they were all buying stuff,” Hester says. “Many, many local people said to me, ‘I am not ordering anything online, I am not going anyplace else, I’m going to buy all my Christmas gifts in Black Mountain.”
Along similar lines, Brevard’s Shop Late, Shop Local initiative encouraged local shopping by having about 30 businesses stay open until 8 p.m. Dec. 12-14 and Dec. 19-21. The businesses offered exclusive promotions, holiday treats and more. The event was first held several years ago.
“This was certainly the most robust rendition of this event to date in terms of the level of participation, sales, promotions, music and refreshments,” says Nicole Bentley, executive director of Heart of Brevard, one of organizers of the event.
Bentley says the overall holiday season was a success in the Transylvania County city, with a number of downtown businesses reporting they met or exceeded prior sales numbers. Some even had their best holiday sales on record, she says.
Highland Books was one of the businesses that had a better than typical December. Owner Logemann, who helped bring back Shop Late, Shop Local after it was halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, says local shoppers were a big reason the bookstore racked up strong holiday sales.
“I’m just so grateful,” she says.
She also credits the return of some out-of-town visitors as well as creative promotions that encouraged sales. For instance, she says, the store offered free shipping on any online orders worth $25 or more.
“I’ve had conversations with other business owners about how it all felt very post-pandemic-y because we were all pivoting and trying to do different things to keep business going and staff employed and all that kind of thing,” she explains.
She acknowledges not every business was in position to thrive during the holidays. “We have the luxury that as a bookstore, we not only have a consumable good that people can come and get, but we also have something that’s easy to ship,” she says.
Narnia Studios owner Hughes says her business experienced a strong December and that downtown Hendersonville had plenty of foot traffic during the holiday shopping season. Hughes and other Hendersonville merchants say that, in addition to locals, many customers made day trips from places like Greenville, S.C., Spartanburg, S.C., and Charlotte.
“I just absolutely had the best customers all December from the get-go,” she says. “They were very purposeful, wonderful visitors who were like, ‘I’m gonna shop in your store because I know everybody’s been hit really hard, and we want help you and not a mall or Amazon.’ I can’t tell you how that warms your heart after a couple of really hard months.”
’A VERY DIFFERENT YEAR’
But other merchants didn’t experience that level of success.
Scott Counce, co-owner of Black Mountain’s Merry Wine Market, says December sales were lower than in previous years. The shop has not been fully stocked since Helene because many of its distributors aren’t back to full operations yet. And a lot of the small local businesses that provide gourmet goods for the market’s shelves had to halt production while Asheville didn’t have potable water into mid-November.
Additionally, the store’s cash flow was hurt by the lack of business in October and November.
“I find myself apologizing to people every single day in the shop that we
don’t have the stock that we normally have,” he says. “I tell people, ‘I’m sorry, it looks like we’re going out of business, but believe me, we’re not. It’s just a very different year, and we’re having to make allowances for it.”
Without the gourmet goods, for instance, the shop was limited in its ability to make gift baskets, normally a popular item around the holidays, he says.
Matthew Hickman , co-owner of Hendersonville’s Underground Baking Co., says most business owners he talked to were pleased with how December went. Even so, he says, for many the numbers fell below previous holiday seasons.
“There definitely continues to be an effect from this, and there will be for some time,” he says.
Making it through the normally slow months of January-March will be a challenge for Counce and other business owners.
“Our October income is what we use to keep the lights on, keep employees paid and keep the rent paid through January, February, March, April; well, that’s all gone,” he says. “We’ve had to dip into the line of credit and basically take out a loan just to make sure we’re going to get through the first couple of months of winter.”
’PEOPLE HAVE MISSED US’
The return of tourists in the spring will be key to economic recovery in places like Black Mountain, Hendersonville and Brevard that didn’t sustain major physical damage from Helene. And business owners are confident that out-of-towners will be back.
“I think that people have missed us, especially who had plans for coming in the autumn and didn’t get to,” says says Narnia Studios owner Hughes. “I definitely think they’re going to inundate us from April 1 on.”
Heart of Brevard recently launched its 2025 event lineup and plans to market the events heavily, Bentley says. “We want to help reinforce that message that Brevard is open for business, it is a great place to visit and certainly by early spring, we will be well-positioned to welcome visitors and families to downtown and countywide,” she says.
Highland Books owner Logemann agrees.
“We had such an amazing December that I feel like we’re in a good position to battle whatever snowstorm or whatever hits us in January, February,” she say. “I feel really optimistic that we’re going to just be right back on track come spring, whether we’re ready for it or not.” X
JAN. 22 JAN. 30 , 2025
For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, opt. 1.
Online-only events
More info, page 25
More info, page 27
WELLNESS
Community Yoga & Mindfulness
Free monthly event with Inspired Change Yoga that will lead you into a morning of breathwork, meditation and yoga. Bring your own mat.
WE (1/22), 10:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave
Tai Chi Chih
Move towards better health and more happiness with mindful, moving meditation.
WE (1/22), noon, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Therapeutic Recreation
Adult Morning Movement
Wednesday mornings are all about active games, physical activities, and sports adapted to accommodate all skill levels.
WE (1/22, 29), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave
Tantra Yoga w/Suzanne
Get a little interior redesign with this class that integrates movement, breath, awareness, light humor and Vedic Wisdom.
WE (1/22), 5pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200
Thrive 55+ Exercise
Party
Every Wednesday, active adults will come together for chair exercise, balance challenges, and strength training.
WE (1/22, 29), 11am, Burton Street Community Center, 134 Burton St Kitten Yoga
Bring your yoga mat and recharge your energy while being assaulted by adorable, adoptable kittens.
WE (1/22), 6pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
Friday Fitness
Friday Fitness focuses on strengthening, stretching, and aerobics every Friday.
FR (1/24), 10am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Tai Chi
Improve your movement and flexibility with relaxation techniques each week.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
FR (1/24), 1:30pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Sunday Morning
Meditation Group
Gathering for a combination of silent sitting and walking meditation, facilitated by Worth Bodie.
SU (1/26), 10am, The Lodge at Quietude, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain
Himalayan Sound Bath
Meditation
Imagine the soothing tones of Himalayan singing bowls washing over you, calming your mind, and rejuvenating your spirit.
SA (1/25), SU (1/26), 11am, Somatic Sounds, 157 S Lexington Ave B1
Prenatal & Postpartum
Yoga
A rejuvenating and relaxing yoga session designed specifically for pregnant and postpartum folks.
SU (1/26), noon, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
Queer Yoga
This class is donation-based and centered towards creating an affirming and inclusive space for all queer folks.
SU (1/26), 1:30pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
Strength & Exercise
Workout at your own pace in a fun atmosphere in this weekly class for active adults working on overall fitness and strength.
MO (1/27), 9:30am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Zumba Gold & Silverobics
Calorie-burning, fun, low-impact class that incorporates dance and fitness for older adults each week.
MO (1/27), 10:30am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Prenatal Yoga
Paulina, a yoga teacher and certified birth doula, will guide you through gentle poses and breathing exercises to help you connect with your changing body.
MO (1/27), 5:30pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
DINE WITH DIVAS: Asheville’s only drag celebrity impersonator show returns with an all-star cast to the Event Center at Highland Brewing Co. on Friday, Jan. 24, starting at
7 p.m. Attendees can enjoy a feast catered by Celine and Co. while being treated to a showstopping lineup of celebrities impersonated by talented drag queens. Proceeds of this event will benefit BeLoved Asheville. Photo courtesy of Bearded Lady Productions
Balance, Agility, Strength, Stretch
This weekly class for adults focuses on flexibility, balance, stretching, and strength. Bring your own exercise mat.
TU (1/28), noon, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Training w/Tre
This four-week bodyweight workout focuses on developing strength, flexibility, and endurance without the need for equipment.
TU (1/28), 1pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Qigong
A gentle form of exercise composed of movement, posture, breathing, and meditation used to promote health and spirituality.
TU (1/28), 1:15pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Magnetic Minds: Depression & Bipolar Support Group
A free weekly peer-led meeting for those living with depression, bipolar, and related mental health challenges. For more information contact (828) 367-7660.
SA (1/25), 2pm, First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St
DANCE
Zumba Gold
A weekly interval-style dance fitness party that combines low- and high-intensity moves. Burn calories as you move to the rhythm.
WE (1/22, 29), noon, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Latin Night Wednesday w/DJ Mtn Vibez
A Latin dance social featuring salsa, bachata, merengue, cumbia, and reggaeton with dance lessons for all skill levels.
WE (1/22, 29), 8pm, One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Rd
Tap Dance: Beginner Tap dance for beginners teaches the basics through a combination of exercise, music, and incredible fun. Students provide their own tap shoes.
Bachata Dance Lesson and Social Live DJ Bachata nights with some Cha Cha, Cumbia, Merengue and Salsa added to the mix.
TH (1/23, 30), 8:30pm, Urban Orchard Cider Co. S Slope, 24 Buxton Ave Line Dancing Groove in for this fun weekly drop-in class.
TH (1/23), noon, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Sunday Salsa Salsa lessons at 5pm, followed by a set from DJ Mtn Vibes at 7pm.
SU (1/26), 5pm, The Event Center at Highland Brewing, 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200
Line Dance: Beginner Some familiarity with line dance steps is helpful, but not necessary.
MO (1/27), noon, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Contact Improv Dance Co-create a space to revel in the unfolding of this beautiful, embodied,
in-body art form.
MO (1/27), 6pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Monday Night Contra Dance
A welcoming environment for anyone who would like to contra dance. Lessons start at 7 p.m. and a social dance starts at 7:30 p.m.
MO (1/27), 7:30pm, A-B Tech, Genevieve Circle
Intro to Line Dance
A true beginners course for those who are new to line dance taught by Liz Atkinson.
WE (1/29), 10am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd
Open-Level Adult Dance
Each class will feature a full-body warm-up, specific skill practice, and a dance combination to your favorite music. Students are encouraged to request specific songs, styles, or skills.
WE (1/29), 5:30pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain Line Dancing
Designed to teach the latest line dances step by step, this weekly class inspires community members to put on their dancing shoes and boogie.
TH (1/30), 1:30pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd
ART
Look Up Asheville:
A Photographic Exploration of Asheville Architecture Gallery Opening
Explore the city of Asheville's architecture through the lens of Michael Oppenheim in Look Up Asheville: A Photographic Exploration of Asheville Architecture
TH (1/23), 6pm, John M. Crawford Jr. Gallery, 360 Asheville School Rd
have their art teachers select works to be featured in at BMCA. Artists range from kindergarten to high school students. Gallery open Monday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through Jan. 31.
Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain
Anti Form: Robert Morris’s Earth Projects
The suite of lithographic drawings by Robert Morris presents a series of ideas for ten works of art shaped out of earth, atmospheric conditions, and built environments. Gallery open Wednesday through Sunday, 11am. Exhibition through May 2025.
Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square
COMMUNITY MUSIC
The Totem: Celebrating Family, Spirit & Culture
Ten Asheville artists offer unique interpretations of totems, exploring family, spirit, and cultural themes. These modern totems invite viewers to reflect on their connections to family and heritage. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10am. Exhibition through Jan. 31.
UpMarket Events & Gallery, 70 N Market St
Standing Strong
This exhibition features artworks by artists who have been affected by Hurricane Helene. There will be 14 artists participating: Annie Kyla Bennett, Elizabeth Porritt Carrington, Greg Carr, Heather Clements and more. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 11am and Sunday, noon. Exhibition through Jan. 25. Bender Gallery, 29 Biltmore Ave
American Made Paintings & Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection
The exhibition beautifully illustrates distinctive styles and thought-provoking art explored by American artists over the past two centuries with more than 100 works of art by renowned American artists. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Monday and Tuesday. Exhibition through Feb. 10, 2025.
Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square
Forces of Nature: Ceramics from the Hayes Collection Forces of Nature is drawn from the collection of Andrew and Hathia Hayes, demonstrating the different approaches to ceramics in Western North Carolina.Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through March, 2025.
Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square
Valley Talent Exhibition
An annual exhibition that invites eight local valley schools/programs to
enthusiasts. Register at avl.mx/egl for the workshop location.
SA (1/25), 9:30am Poetry & Music Duets
Rev. Suzi leds an enchanting evening of Poetry and Music Duets where attendees can experience the magic of words and sound.
FR (1/24), 7pm, Center for Spiritual Living Asheville, 2 Science Mind Way
Winter Book Club: Poetry & Potluck
This powerful collection of poetry offers insight and hope, resonating deeply with themes of resilience.
SU (1/26), 11:30am, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd Flooded Poetry
Men in Harmony: Open Singing Jam
Men's a capella ensemble hosts an open jam session to scout for new talented members as well as share an evening of music. For more information contact Jim Gordon at (828) 545-2262. WE (1/22), 6:45pm, St. Matthias Church, 1 Dundee St
Yarn/Wire Performs Annea Lockwood & Katherine Young
The Yarn/Wire ensemble will perform the second realization of their Fromm Foundation-supported project in collaboration with composer Katherine Young, entitled BIOMES 6.1.
TH (1/23), 7pm, Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St
Songwriters Round: Kevin Smith, Ashley Heath & Danny Knowles
An evening of songs and collaboration featuring three WNC native singer-songwriters. All three have unique voices that blend well together and enjoy singing and playing together.
FR (1/24), 8pm, Eda's Hide-a-Way, 1098 New Stock Rd, Weaverville Beer & Hymns Benefiting Alongside Families Beer and Hymns brings people together to raise a glass and a voice while raising funds for organizations that change the world.
MO (1/27), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain
COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS
Buckskin Sewing: Tiny Treasures Bag Get ready to learn all about crafting with buckskin, practice creating your own design, and to sew your new pouch alongside a group of fellow tiny-treasure
Each poet will be able to share 2-3 poems, and occasionally we will have local celebrity poets close out our night with a featured reading.
MO (1/27), 6:30pm, free, Flood Gallery, 802 Fairview Rd Ste 1200 Meter & Melody: Poetry Night Poetry open mic hosted by Dill every last Wednesday of the month.
WE (1/29), 7pm, Static Age Loft, 116 N Lexington Ave
THEATER & FILM
PowerPoint Nights
A unique evening of hilarious presentations as everyone is encouraged to share their funniest, most creative, or most absurd ideas.
WE (1/22), 6:30pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St
Foreign Film Fridays
Every Friday visitors can enjoy a cozy movie night in the gallery featuring some amazing foreign films curated by film-buff Carlos Steward.
The ever-popular Jeeves is back with the fifth in a series by Margaret Raether based on the writings of P.G. Wodehouse. Prepare yourself for another priceless predicament calling upon the redoubtable Jeeves to save the day.
WE (1/22, 29), TH (1/23, 30), FR (1/24), SA (1/25), 7:30pm, N Carolina Stage Co., 15 Stage Ln
The Rebirth of Kool: Series Pilot Premier Shot locally in Hendersonville, Brevard, and Asheville, this dazzling series pilot features a star-studded cast of talent bringing the magic of the 1940s to life. See p27 SA (1/25), 7:30pm, Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave
Asheville Vaudeville
Asheville’s largest vaudeville show featuring WNC’s best comedy, juggling, magic, burlesque, acrobatics, aerial arts, short plays, puppetry, sideshow, music, and more
SU (1/26), noon,
The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave
Rage At The Stage: A Frenzied Evening of Improv Comedy
This show is all about showcasing some of our fave improv teams in the region. For our first show, we are thrilled to share the stage with our pals Moulin Goofs, a musical improv team, and Big Cousin, a comedy powerhouse trio.
SU (1/26), 7pm, North Carolina Stage Co., 15 Stage Ln
MEETINGS & PROGRAMS
Money Visioning & Goal Setting
Envision resilience and identify habits that encourage financial wellness in this interactive and fun class. This is a shame-free space to set your money intentions.
WE (1/22), 11am, OnTrack WNC, 50 S French Broad Ave
IBN Biz Lunch: Asheville
All are invited to attend and promote their business, products, and services, and meet new referral contacts.
WE (1/22), 11:30am, Gemelli by Strada Italiano, 70 Westgate Parkway
Beginning Cherokee Language
Learn a new language in the new year with beginner Cherokee lessons on the Qualla Boundary. This offering is free of charge and open to all. Drop-ins are also welcome.
WE (1/22, 29), MO (1/27), 5pm, Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee
NSA-WNC Meeting
Professional keynote speakers, coaches, trainers, facilitators, and consultants who cover a broad range of topics, skills, & knowledge.
All are invited to attend and promote their business, products, and services, and meet new referral contacts.
TH (1/23), 11:30am, The Village Porch, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Woodfin
Free Sober Disc Golf
This is a great opportunity to get outside and get some exercise. It's also a fun time to meet others in recovery, build community and create connection. No experience is necessary.
TH (1/23), 3:30pm, Richmond Hill Park, 300 Richmond Hill Dr
IBN Breakfast Club: West Asheville
Experience incredible business networking, along with other business people and entrepreneurs like yourself.
A non-hierarchical connection practice that creates space to both share and offer the gift of listening.
FR (1/24), 11am, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain
Soup-er Bowl
Show off your favorite recipe to warm up the day in this winter competition.
FR (1/24), 2pm, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St
Golden Years Gallery
This program offers older adults an opportunity to express creativity through painting while engaging imagination and memory.
FR (1/24), 5:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave
Winter Family Sip 'n' Paint
Sip hot chocolate and apple cider as you create masterpieces. Advance registration required
FR (1/24), 6pm, Burton Street Community Center, 134 Burton St
Homebuyer Class
Are you considering buying your first home within the next couple of years?
Are you participating in a homebuyer program that requires a homebuyer education certificate?
This is the class for you.
SA (1/25), 9am, United Way of Asheville & Buncombe, 50 S French Broad Ave
Building an Inner Sanctuary: An Afternoon Trauma Informed Yoga Retreat
This workshop explores tools that we can pick up to support us as we navigate profoundly stressful times.
SA (1/25), 11am, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
Adult Community Basketball
Shoot some hoops or play a pick up game with friends. No pre-registration required.
SU (1/26), 1pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St, Coloring w/Cats: Teens & Adults
Set time for yourself and cuddle with the panthers, meet other cat-lovers, and color a beautiful picture of a cat from our adult coloring books.
SU (1/26), 2pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
Family Open Gym
Weekly time in the gym reserved for all ages to shoot hoops and play
other active games as a family.
SU (1/26), 4pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St
Alive After 55+
A program for active older adults to socialize, play board games and puzzles, create in group art activities, and more. Fitness and cardio room also available.
MO (1/27), TU (1/28), 10am, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd
Youth Mental Health First Aid For Adults Program designed to teach adults how to help an adolescent who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.
MO (1/27), 10am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave
Random Acts of Flowers: Floral Arrangements for Those Needing a Smile Random Acts of Flowers improves the emotional health and well-being of individuals in healthcare facilities by delivering recycled flowers, encouragement, and personal moments of kindness.
MO (1/27), noon, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave
Connecting Conversations
Explore conversations built around curiosity, understanding, and openness to develop stronger connections, to be heard, and to empathize with different viewpoints.
MO (1/27), 12:45pm, Peri Social House, 406 W State St, Black Mountain
Black Men Monday
A local group that has stepped up in the community to advocate for and mentor students through academic intervention. Kids, ages 7 and up, are welcome to join.
MO (1/27), 5:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave
Entrepreneurship & Education Over Violence 101
A program for high school students who wish to guide their futures to education and business ownership instead of violence and crime. Advance registration required.
MO (1/27), 6pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd
Dharma & Discuss w/ John Orr
A dharma talk and discussion with John Orr. His topic will be The Power of Intentions.
MO (1/27), 6:30pm, The Lodge at Quietude, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain
Asheville-Buncombe Senior Games Clinics Enhance skills and discover new passions through APR's free
clinics, available to all interested participants in this year’s Asheville-Buncombe Senior Games.
TU (1/28), 10am, W Asheville Park, 198 Vermont Ave
Therapeutic Recreation Adult Crafting
A variety of cooking and crafts, available at two different times. Advance registration required. Open to individuals ages 17+ with disabilities.
TU (1/28), 10am and 11am, Murphy-Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd
Lunch & Learn Series w/Rev. Michele Laub, RScP
This Lunch & Learn series was specifically designed for those of us who want to continue to expand our spirituality and are not comfortable driving in the dark.
TU (1/28), noon, Center for Spiritual Living Asheville, 2 Science Mind Way
Veterans Creative Retreat
The mission of the retreat is to provide a safe space for veterans to explore various artistic mediums, socialize with peers, and find calm and comfort in creating.
TU (1/28), 5:30pm, Givens Gerber Park, 40 Gerber Rd
New Moon Circle
Facilitated by Sierra Hollister, author of Moon Path Yoga, these circles are held at each new moon and full moon and are open to all who wish to join.
TU (1/28), 7pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
Rethinking Disaster Recovery & Rebuilding Post-Helene: Lessons from a Flood Disaster in West Virginia
This new monthly webinar series focused on recovery, re-thinking, and rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Register at avl.mx/egc.
WE (1/29), 7pm, Online
Low-Cost Community Cat Neuter Clinic
Binx's Home for Black Cats, House of Black Cat Magic, and Paws Mobile Vet now offer male cat neuters every other Thursday. You must schedule and pay for your appointment prior to showing up.
TH (1/30), 8am, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
GAMES & CLUBS
Grant Southside Center Walking Club Walk inside in the gym or outside, if the weather is nice, with themed music each week.
WE (1/22, 29), 10:30am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St
Bid Whist
Make bids, call trumps, and win tricks. Every Saturday for fun competition with the community.
SA (1/25), 1pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St
Bid Whist
Group meets weekly with light refreshments and teams formed based on drop-in attendance.
MO (1/27), 5:30pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Ultimate Bid Whist & Spades
Bring a partner or come solo for a fun evening of competitive bid whist and spades every Tuesday.
TU (1/28), 6pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd
KID-FRIENDLY PROGRAMS
Tiny Tykes Wednesday Play Dates
Open play for toddlers to explore bikes, balls, inflatables, climbing structures, and more fun.
WE (1/22, 29), 10am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
Beginner Climbing: Ages 5-7
A three-week instructional climbing class designed for beginners. Adults belay their own children.
TH (1/23), 12:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave
Black Cat Tales: Story Time w/Cats
A special after-school workshop where families with children age 7 and under can relax and foster a love of reading while also socializing with the cats in the lounge.
FR (1/24), 4pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
Kids Yoga & Art Pop Up: Let Your Light Shine In
Through creative movement, restorative play, mindfulness, therapeutics, and self-expression this series helps children increase mind and body awareness, strength, flexibility, focus, and creativity.
SA (1/25), noon, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd
Coloring w/Cats: Kiddie Edition
An artistic session with coloring books and markers for children ages 13 and under to relax by coloring as they pet cats to reduce stress and anxiety.
SA (1/25), 1pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
Kids Quiet Play Session
Some benefits, especially useful for children, include mental clarity for distracted youngsters as well as immune boosting, respiratory relief and relief from skin conditions.
SU (1/26), 10am, Asheville Salt Cave, 16 N Liberty St
Kiddie Cat Etiquette
Bring your kiddos for a fun and educating workshop where your kids will learn the fundamentals of cat behavior.
SU (1/26), 1pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd
Rookie Readers
A vibrant environment where toddlers explore the magic of books and unleash their imagination through art.
MO (1/27), 10:30am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St
Little Adventurers
Little Adventurers is designed to promote physical development, coordination, and social skills through fun, safe, and engaging activities.
MO (1/27), 2pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave
Little Climbers
A mix of fun games and activities for little adventurers with a focus on building toddlers’ motor skills and balance, climbing and playing on and off the indoor climbing wall.
TU (1/28), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave
Toddler Discovery Time
Interactive play and hands-on activities for toddlers. This week features fun with lion crafts, games, and an exciting lion scavenger hunt.
TU (1/28), 10am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave World of Games
Grab a controller and best your opponent playing games like Fortnite, Warzone, Madden,
and 2K. Board and card games available for those not gaming.
TU (1/28), 6pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave
LOCAL MARKETS
RAD Farmers Market
A vibrant mid-week market with dozens of high-quality artisan food businesses. Fresh vegetables, baked goods, pastured meats, raw honey, ferments, hot sauces, and more.
WE (1/22), 3pm, AB Tech, 24 Fernihurst Dr
FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS
Queer Girls of Literary Reading Series
This yearly event celebrates Asheville's queer literary women including local and regional writers of varying ages, identities, races and abilities. See p27
SU (1/26), 6pm, Eulogy, 10 Buxton Ave
Asheville Standup Comedy Pageant Finale Participants are winners of three standup contests. Pageant Winner gets title and $200 cash prize. Hosted by Hilliary Begley from Netflix & Amazon Prime. WE (1/29), 7pm, PULP, 103 Hilliard Ave
Sensu Dance Reopening Sensu is a global dance fusion for authentic embodiment and expression. All are welcome. No dance experience needed.
TH (1/30), 11am, Magictown Movement Studio, 115 Blannahassett Island Rd, Marshall
BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING
Mercy in the Mountains
This Helene relief benefit concert brings out local talent Melissa McKinney, Owen Walsh, Jon Edwards and David LaMotte for an evening of great music and community Celebration. All proceeds will benefit Habitat for Humanity ARCHR project and LEAF Global Arts.
FR (1/24), 6pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd Ste 10
Dine w/Divas: Celebrity Impersonator Dinner Show
Attendees can feast on a catered dinner by
Celine and Co. while being treated to a show-stopping line up drag queen celebrity impersonators. Proceeds will benefit Beloved Asheville. See p25 FR (1/24), 7pm, The Event Center at Highland Brewing, 12 Old Charlotte Hwy Ste 200 Fierce Fitness Dance Fundraiser Hosted by Uphora Dance Fitness and featuring renowned instructor Fierce Fitness Ty. All proceeds will be donated to WNC Hurricane Recovery.
SA (1/25), 10am, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave Comedy for Comedians Supporting Friends in L.A. Comedy for Comedians brings your favorite local comedians together to tell jokes and raise money for comedians in Los Angles after the fires.
SA (1/25), 6pm, Catawba Brewing Co. South Slope, 32 Banks Ave
Sanctity of Human Life Celebration w/Mark Schultz
A benefit concert for Mountain Area Pregnancy Services that seeks to raise $20,000 to provide services and support that empower women to choose life.
SA (1/25), 6pm, W Asheville Baptist Church, 926 Haywood Rd Comedy for Community Supporting Tranzmission Comedy for Community brings all your favorite local comedians together each week to support the town we love through a variety of local charities and organizations. This week will benefit Tranzmission.
SU (1/26), 6:30pm, Catawba Brewing Co. South Slope, 32 Banks Ave
Read 2 Succeed New Tutor Training Volunteer reading tutors are needed to build a lasting relationship with a student for the entire school year, meeting with them twice a week either during or after school. Visit avl.mx/bto to register.
WE (1/29), 6pm, Online Lovers, Sinners & Misfits Local Asheville artist Patti Anastasi is hosting an evening of art to benefit Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, as they rebuild after Hurricane Helene. TH (1/30), 5pm, Moxy - Asheville, 61 Biltmore Ave
GREEN Team timber
One community’s quest to manage its downed trees, post-Helene
BY EMILY KLINGER ANTOLIC
e.antolic@gmail.com
“None of these folks were trying to grow timber. They just enjoyed living in the forest,” says Richard Sanders, the principal forester at Wildwood Consulting. He’s overseeing the salvage logging operation at the end of Bull Creek Road in East Asheville.
He and I meet on a frigid December morning where part of that forest once stood. It’s a dead-end cove where homes like mine used to be hidden from sight thanks to an abundance of rhododendron, mountain laurel, yellow poplars, oaks, pines, maples and other flora. Now, we watch as that privacy is removed by skidders, trackhoes, tractors with logging heads and log trucks packed with salvaged timber.
Sanders, a bearded man with a wise presence, says “This is the worst valley I’ve seen so far, as far as the extent and severity of the wind damage.”
Catherine and Alan Gibson have lived off Bull Creek Road for seven years and experienced the storm from their basement. “Hearing these trees come down … they were like bombs going off,” says Catherine. “You would hear the crack, and then you just brace yourself for where it’s going to hit. And then finally, the sickening crash.”
The N.C. Forest Service (NCFS) estimates that the storm damaged 89,440 acres of timber in Buncombe County, causing an estimated loss of $19.3 million. Most of that damage occurred in the area that was hit with the front-right quadrant of Tropical Storm Helene. The fisted knuckles of mountains starting from Webb Cove, over Tanbark Ridge and out to Bee Tree, show a line of desecration. The mountainside is unrecognizable: nothing but fallen trees and tipped stumps. The trees still standing all have their crowns scalped. From an aerial perspective, it looks as if an inexperienced aesthetician put a wax strip across the dense forest and, ssskkkkriiip, did a botched pull.
Everyone in the neighborhood heard the howl of a wind that wanted to blow through the mountain. Thousands of trees dropped like toothpicks.
When the fog from the storm lifted and Catherine and Alan Gibson saw the devastation for the first time, “the only way I can describe how I felt was despair,” Catherine says. “Fear and despair.” The gravel road between their home and the
road — normally a two-minute walk— had hundreds of downed trees across it.
“It was impenetrable,” Catherine says.
DIFFICULT FEAT
Once everyone in the cove had been accounted for and their immediate needs addressed, neighbor Molly McMillan reached out to Sanders for help with managing the decimated forest. Everyone explained their goals of getting access routes opened, reducing fire hazards and removing as much of the downed material as possible.
Sanders suggested salvage logging, whereby trees damaged by natural disturbances are harvested, hauled off the land and then sold by the loggers. The landowners don’t pay for the removal, and loggers recoup their expenses with the collected lumber.
It’s an incredibly difficult feat to pull off. In fact, after weeks of showing storm-damaged timber to several loggers, Sanders’ company has only found three viable salvage operations, including the one on Bull Creek Road. To be successful, loggers must see economic value in what is already on the ground, there must be significant acreage, land access can’t be constrained, and property owners have to agree to live with a timber harvest occurring outside their windows.
After Sanders suggested salvage logging, “there were big email threads amongst the neighbors,” Catherine Gibson explains.
Some neighboring landowners, such as my family, weren’t suitable candidates for the operation. In our case, most of the tree damage occurred behind a creek that didn’t have a crossing for the heavy machinery. Those who could be included expressed concerns about liability and stream protections, as well as how to protect their wells and septic fields.
“Long story short, everybody came around,” Gibson says.
McMillan agrees. “We had no other option. If we let it sit, in two years it would be an unbelievable fire hazard.”
FOG, MUD AND ICE
On an October morning at the base of the cove, Sanders gathered the neighbors to meet the fifth-generation family of loggers set to take on the project. After they went over the operation
MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL: Salvage logging involves harvesting trees damaged by natural disturbances. The landowners don’t pay for the removal; loggers recoup their expenses with the collected lumber. Photo by Emily Klinger Antolic
and had their questions answered, the six eligible families gave the loggers permission to access 90 acres of combined woodland.
So far, the project is about halfway through its four-month expected timeline. As long as the weather is favorable, the loggers are out cutting trails around the mountain and removing trees from their path in an orchestration reminiscent of an ant farm.
“They’re here when it’s 23 degrees, at 7 in the morning. They light up their machines and start,” McMillan says.
Most days, three to six men are out working in rough conditions — facing fog, mud and ice.
“It’s just the hardest-working group of people,” McMillan continues. “They’re just choreographed amazingly. We’re in awe watching these guys.”
Neighbors show their appreciation, too, by taking turns bringing the loggers lunch. “We love this family so much,” McMillan says.
“I’m really excited about this one because it’s all working out really well,” Sanders adds. “The landowners are all working together — which never happens.”
HOPEFUL PHASE
It’s not hard to imagine why. Despite being a self-sufficient and green industry, there are many strong, irascible opinions about logging in Southern Appalachia. Sanders has listened to hundreds of landowners share their beliefs about logging. For him, it’s all about taking a long-term perspective.
“Everyone can agree that wood products are environmentally superior compared to plastic, steel, concrete or glass,” he says. “But we’re a society that can’t tolerate looking at a timber harvest anymore. We won’t accept that trade-off.”
I watch as another extrawide logging truck hauls off 90,000 pounds of timber, all branchless and cut to the same length. Over the past three weeks, I’ve observed from my home as these trucks load and carry off thousands of similar
loads. Logically, I understand that the trees were already on the ground, thus salvage logging is the best solution to this horrendous disaster.
But Sanders is right about witnessing a logging operation: The trade-off is emotionally difficult to accept. Instead of nature wild and free, we see it orderly and stacked horizontally. It smells like tailpipe and mulch. I ask him to share the long-term perspective that allows him to be unburdened by sadness as we observe the calculated removal of a forest. His casual unconcern changes, and he lights up at the chance to share the hope that builds after decades in the industry. “Forests are resilient,” he says. “It’s going to grow new trees. The only problem is you’ll have to look at this ugly thing for two years. But then you’re going to have a young, growing, vigorous forest.”
Sanders passionately paints a picture of what will happen when the loggers finish and springtime arrives. Without the mature tree canopy blocking the sun, an early successional habitat will quickly grow across the open acreage. Grasses, wildflowers, vines, tangled thickets of briars and itty-bitty saplings will cover the landscape first. Animals will come back, too. In fact, this type of habitat will provide a unique and crucial sanctuary for songbirds, deer, pollinator insects, rabbits, turkeys, snakes and box turtles. Catherine Gibson is in the hopeful phase now, too. “I’m excited to see how the land will reclaim itself. We’re going to be witness to what’s about to happen, and it excites all of us.”
Beyond nature, on a human level, it’s also lovely witnessing the neighbors and loggers bond, with appreciation and gratitude going both ways. The day before Christmas Eve, I visited Molly McMillan and her husband, Marshall, at their home. During our conversation for this piece, Marshall saw a truck driving up the gravel road. Of course, he knew whose pickup it was; the neighbors and loggers are all on a first-name basis now. It was one of the workers’, and he was bringing up lunch that his wife made to feed everyone in the cove. X
ARTS & CULTURE
Nitty gritty
BY GINA SMITH
gsmith@mountainx.com
Asheville’s glittering rooftop bars and elegant, upscale lounges are full of options for stunning cocktails concocted from locally distilled spirits, house-crafted tinctures, foraged herbs and freshly squeezed juices — many of which cost nearly as much as a lower-end entrée.
But what if you just want a cheap well shot, a can of PBR and the company of some colorful characters? You might be more in the mood to seek out one of the city’s epic dive bars.
Asheville’s low-brow haunts aren’t just good for affordable drinks and late-night carousing, say three longtime Asheville bartenders. With their low price points, these watering holes offer a hospitable barstool, listening ears and judgement-free support network for people from all walks of life, while also giving back to the greater community.
Of course, there’s also a healthy dose of offbeat fun thrown in for good measure.
BIKERS, DRAG QUEENS AND LINE COOKS
“When the rest of the world locks its doors, the dive bar welcomes the outcasts to come together and commiserate, hopefully relax and be each other’s allies and possible therapists,” says Jennie Lou Nelson, reigning Best of WNC Hall of Fame winner in the “Bartender” category. “From bikers to drag queens to line cooks, it’s neutral territory to facilitate a good time — and if you’re lucky, the bartender will offer you some terrible advice, a wink and maybe even a couple of her French fries.”
Nelson presides over the taps and spirits at Burger Bar (Asheville’s oldest bar, which, of course, does not serve burgers) and Eda’s Hide-A-Way in Weaverville with occasional stints at 27 Club and Handlebar & Grill. Customers at any of those businesses are unlikely to mistake her for anyone else: Her look — complete with spider web forehead tattoo, dramatic makeup and gloriously vampy outfits — are 100% Jennie Lou. Having worked behind numerous local bars over the past decade or so (“I get fired a lot,” she quips), including nearly 10 years at The Odd and two years at Fleetwood’s, Nelson is a familiar face to many Asheville bar-goers. In fact, her love of taking care of people — as well as a passion for rock-and-
Dive
bartenders reveal the soft, warm — and often kooky — underbelly of Asheville’s bar scene
roll music — originally drew her to working in bars.
Describing herself as “born and raised by the cockfighting cartels of Apple Valley, N.C.,” Nelson started honing her people skills as a young teenager selling odds and ends she collected off roadsides at Smiley’s Flea Market in Fletcher. After moving to Asheville, she discovered that dive bars were a space where she was not just accepted for being a sassy, wisecracking oddball, but paid for it.
“I have no filter and dress like a maniac,” she says. “I wouldn’t make it a single week in a dress code 9-5 gig. I’m allergic to fluorescent lighting and khaki and would probably make out with the janitor.”
Fellow dive bartenders Elijah Wayne and Catherine Meriwether share similar motivations for their own longterm love affairs with Asheville’s juke joints. Wayne, who slings drinks along with Nelson at Burger Bar and the Handlebar & Grill as well as at the Asheville Retrocade in West Asheville, began his run in the food and beverage industry at Westville Pub, where he started as a dishwasher before eventually making his way behind the bar on Thanksgiving Day 2016.
In addition to his role at multiple dive bars, Wayne is the owner of the metal and hardcore music promotion company, Blue Mountain Mischief Promotions, and a member of the metal band Bleedseason. He says the opportunity to be around music is a major highlight of bartending for him. And he shares Nelson’s attraction to
the freedom of expression the occupation allows.
“I like not having to watch my mouth, and I like not having to worry about being judged for how I look or how I identify or who I associate with,” he says.
’UNDERQUALIFIED THERAPISTS’
Wayne also enjoys being around people. “We’re pretty much very underqualified therapists for people,” he says. “People will come to a bartender with anything. I’ve always been good at holding space for people, so I think it just works for me.”
Like Nelson and Wayne, Meriwether has stuck with bartending for 15 years mostly because of the customers. “I just like getting to know people,” she says. “I’ve been invited to my regulars’ weddings and their baby showers. I’ve become a staple in their life.” She even once made a tiny onesie out of a bar t-shirt as a gift for a regular customer who had just had a baby.
The 27 Club near downtown has been Meriwether’s domain since she moved to Asheville seven years ago. She also works at the One Stop at Asheville Music Hall and had previous stints at Asheville Beauty Academy, which closed last May, and the Getaway River Bar before it was destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene.
Originally from Washington D.C., Meriwether hasn’t always worked in dives. Over the past 15 years, her gigs have ranged from high-end craft cocktail establishments to the South by Southwest music festival in
Austin, Texas. But dives are her bread and butter.
“I just thrive on volume and personal connections,” she explains, adding that working in dive bars keeps life interesting.
Nelson agrees. One reason she loves bartending at dives is that they tend to embrace authenticity and creativity.
She recalls a time when she was obsessed with making bloody Mary’s — drinks that became so popular, she says, that they were voted among the top three in the Best of WNC polls three years in a row. “At first it was edible garnish that I would collect all week, such as pickles, meats, cheeses,” she says. “By the end, they had plastic dinosaurs, edible glitter, a My Little Pony, a cigarette, a condom or a $5 bill. Try that in a conventional setting!”
Then there are the unforgettable chance encounters. Wayne remembers a night in 2019 while working at The Odd (then called The Odditorium), when famed musician Tim Capello was setting up for a gig at the bar.
“This man played with Tina Turner for like 10 years, besides being in movies,” says Wayne. “He was like, ‘Hey, my name is Tim.’ And when he said that, a Tic Tac flew out of his mouth and hit me in the face.”
And, of course, dives are magnets for general Asheville eccentricity. Meriwether will never forget a night early in her tenure at Asheville Beauty Academy when she handed a customer his drink, and he tried to pay her with a handful of colored stones.
“I was like, ‘I know Asheville is weird, but crystals aren’t money,’” she says with a laugh. “No one had mentioned to me that it was an actual thing going on that night, and the little rocks were drink tickets. I thought the guy was trying to pay in crystals, which is so Asheville.”
Then there was another time at the One Stop when she stepped outside for a breath of fresh air. “The first thing I saw was a completely topless woman walking across the street — it’s cold, mind you, very cold,” she explains. “I was like, ‘Whatever, that’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen.’ Then I turned around, and there was a guy on a unicycle juggling rainbow bowling pins. And I was like, ‘Well, I’m not in D.C. anymore.’”
HARD WORK
Despite the laughs and camaraderie, high-volume, fast-paced bartending is not always fun and games. Even with her ebullient personality and love of people, Nelson says her job’s “constant
BAR STARS: Pictured clockwise from upper left, local bartenders Elijah Wayne, Catherine Meriwether and Jennie Lou Nelson say dives are hubs for community connection. Photos by Caleb Johnsonr
expenditure of social currency” can leave her feeling drained and antisocial after too many shifts in a row.
“In an ideal dive bar situation, it’s symbiotic and it actually energizes you instead of depleting. That’s what gets me through,” she says.
For Wayne, having to deal with aggressive customers who’ve had one too many drinks is a drawback. “De-escalation is key,” he says.
Meriwether, who is 36 and currently in nursing school with the goal of working in emergency medicine, says the long hours on her feet behind the bar are hard on her body. “My knees think I’m 112,” she jokes.
She also notes that the hypervigilance required when dealing with customers who have been drinking can be exhausting. “You know, guys constantly want to hit on you. They take your kindness or me trying to get to know you as, ‘Oh, she’s hitting on me,’” she says.
“You have to be present constantly — pretending like you’re kind of aloof and, like, cute and bouncy, but actually completely very aware of your surroundings at all times,” she adds.
Meriwether also laments the fact that, although dive bartenders tend to be workhorses, typically juggling multiple jobs at once, they are seldom
recognized for their contributions to the bar community.
“We get brushed under the rug,” she says. “When people think of bartenders in Asheville, everyone thinks of fine dining and craft cocktails. And, yeah, I agree, that’s impressive. But there’s bartending and there’s mixology; and I will not only make you a phenomenal drink, but I will get to know you and your personality and vice versa.”
’BEACON FOR THE COMMUNITY’
Additionally, Nelson points out that Asheville’s low-brow bars themselves seldom receive kudos they deserve.
“Dive bars don’t get enough credit for being a true and humble beacon for the community, a hub for people to regroup, share experiences, poop, recharge and collectively mourn the chaos of this world,” she says.
In the wake of Helene, she says, both of the bars she works at raised money to support their staff. The Burger Bar distributed food to the community. Eda Rhyne — which experienced severe flooding at its Biltmore Village distillery and taproom (it reopened after renovations on Dec. 31) — installed a washer and dryer at its Hide-A-Way location for the community to use.
“Customers pitched in, gathered resources and came together,” she remembers. “It was really beautiful.”
Likewise, Meriwether says, Asheville Music Hall jumped in to welcome the community immediately after the storm had passed, donating food and offering a place of respite. “Everyone wanted to come out. There was no food, no water, so we just cooked off all the pizza we had, and we served as many drinks as we could,” she remembers.
Disasters aside, Asheville’s dive bars are intrinsic to the spirit of the community, she notes. When a longtime 27 Club regular was killed by a hit-and-run driver not long ago, the bar hosted a memorial for family and friends and installed a photo of the person behind the bar. The space also hosts an annual Friendsgiving event at Thanksgiving for local folks who can’t spend the holiday with family.
“So many people in this community are of a different orientation or identity, and they might not have immediate family that accepts them. So dive bars are their family,” says Meriwether.
Nelson agrees that a good dive is its own sort of clan. “The dynamics between customers, staff and owners is a really heartfelt connection,” she says of her employers. “We love each other!” X
A Year in Beer
BY CHRISTOPHER ARBOR
On Jan. 1, local middle school teacher Christopher Arbor and his friends launched a quest to visit one Asheville brewery each week throughout 2025 in the order they opened. Their first stop was the city’s first brewery, Highland Brewing, which you can read about at avl.mx/eg8. Stop No. 2: Jack of the Wood, original home of Green Man Brewery.
Driving downtown with my friends, I might as well have been in a DeLorean. I felt like we were going back in time to when Asheville was a sleepy mountain hamlet. Blame it on Tropical Storm Helene or the arctic temperatures, but downtown was a bit of a ghost town. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I was able to find ample street parking.
We parked right on Patton Avenue, and as we hurried inside Jack of the Wood, I was reminded of the iconic scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy steps into Oz for the first time.
Except instead of shifting from sepia to technicolor with a rising choir of munchkins, we traded the grays of urban January for the stained glass and dark wood of an Irish pub, complete with a live Celtic jam session playing at just the right volume — audible but not obnoxious.
People who know me know I’m most at home in the woods. A close second is Jack of the Wood. Everything is inviting: soft lighting, earthy colors, gentle music. Even warmer than the atmosphere are the people.
The rest of our crew of 10 arrived — by rough numbers, we were about half of the customers. We ordered our beers and food, talking in soft voices that still carried. How are the acoustics of that place so magical? Whether crowded or empty, the noise level always seems to stay at a gentle murmur.
My reverie was broken when I heard a grayhead say, “It’s so cold out there, your farts freeze before they leave your pants.” He didn’t say it with an Irish accent, but I remember it with one.
Jack of the Wood and Green Man Brewery
In Celtic folklore, the Green Man is a nature spirit and often something of a trickster. In Asheville lore, Green Man is the city’s second oldest brewery. Little did I know, it’s also something of a trickster — at least for me.
My Green Man porter arrived, and it tasted the way the room felt: Utterly comforting. I asked the waitress some silly question about brewing, and I was thunderstruck when she kindly told me that Jack of the Wood wasn’t connected to Green Man Brewery and hadn’t been for an incredible 15 years.
What the what? Where have I been for the past decade and a half? Lost in the woods like the legendary Green Man himself? This venture was feeling more and more like time travel, only now I’d arrived in an unfamiliar future.
I did some research, digging into the breweries’ online “about” pages, old Xpress stories and reporting from late Asheville beer writer Tony Kiss as well as other sources. As is often the case, the truth is far more complicated than the lore. Green Man isn’t technically Asheville’s second oldest brewery — it’s its third. Benefit Brewing operated out of Jack of the Wood from 1997 until 1999, when owners Jonas Rembert and Andy Dahm left to start French Broad Brewing Co.
At that time, Jack of the Wood owners Joan and Joe Eckert renamed the brewery Green Man. In 2005, they moved the operation to 23 Buxton Ave. on the South Slope, calling the locale Dirty Jack’s.
Green Man Brewery was bought in 2010 by Denis Thies, thus severing any official connection to Jack of the Wood. Thies also bought the neighboring three-story building, which he opened as the Green Mansion in 2016. French Broad Brewing was sold in 2017 to
GOING GREEN: Jack of the Wood is no longer home to Asheville’s second oldest brewery, Green Man, but it’s still a downtown hot spot for beer, music and Irish pub vibes.
Photo by Christopher Arbor
Sarah and Paul Casey, and somewhere in there, the name changed to French Broad River Brewing Co.
I tend to think of breweries in fairly static terms, but as Benefit Brewing shows, these businesses are constantly evolving — changing owners, operators, locations, equipment and even names. In that way, I suppose, they’re like you and me and this crazy city we live in: always in flux.
My fish and chips arrived. My friends and I toasted to Asheville’s past, present and future, and we discussed the philosophical thought experiment the Ship of Theseus: If you replace every piece of a boat one piece at a time, is it still the same ship?
Our next stop is Asheville Brewing Co. on Merrimon Avenue. Eventually we’ll end up at Green Man on the South Slope. Join us if you like. X
Revolutionary research
Local author’s latest book sheds new light on early U.S. history
BY MOLLY DEVANE
molly.devane@gmail.com
“The American Revolution was very much alive in my family’s quirky household,” says local author Andrew Lawler about his childhood in Norfolk, Va. He visited Colonial Williamsburg every other weekend, toured battle sites with his grandparents and held a deep reverence for the Founding Fathers, referring to his home state hero as “Mr. Jefferson.”
Between this and his schooling, plus years of reading as an adult, he thought he knew everything there was to know about our nation’s founding. It was only when he was leafing through a book at a Williamsburg gift shop in 2021 that he realized he hadn’t been told the full story.
The book mentioned that Lord Dunmore, the British governor of Virginia who Lawler had always seen as an authoritarian brute, was one of the first in our country to formally emancipate slaves, arming them to fight against the patriots in Norfolk as the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775.
In A Perfect Frenzy, coming out at the end of the month, Lawler brings this critical piece of history to light. While Dunmore and his army were eventually defeated by the patriots after the destruction in Norfolk, Lawler shows that his emancipation decree had long-lasting effects — it forced George Washington to accept former slaves into his own army, led to masses of Black veterans who demanded rights after the war and sowed the seeds for the abolitionist movement. Perhaps most notably, Dunmore’s decree directly influenced Abraham Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation nearly 100 years later.
Lawler will be celebrating the launch of his book at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, 55 Haywood St., on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m. Joining him in conversation will be Ellen Holmes Pearson, Roy Carroll professor of arts and sciences at the UNC Asheville.
‘I GUESS I HAVE TO WRITE IT’
Upon learning of Lord Dunmore’s actions, Lawler was upset. “Why had this really interesting story not been told to me as a child? Or even as an adult?”
He didn’t intend to write a book, but when he realized how little he and oth-
ers knew of Dunmore’s impact on our nation’s founding and that it had never been explored in depth by professional historians, he knew what he had to do.
“If I can’t find the book, then I guess I have to write it,” Lawler says.
Lawler — who has authored several other historical works and who had written for The New York Times, National Geographic and other national outlets — set out to uncover what had been hidden. “It was surprisingly difficult,” Lawler says of his initial research.
“I thought anything to do with the American Revolution would be well documented and well organized.”
Many of the period’s writings are not centralized online, which required Lawler to dig very deeply to find information, pestering historians and deciphering 18th-century scrawl along the way.
His research took him to the Library of Congress, the Library of Virginia, ballrooms and battlefields where the conflict unfolded, and castles and tea parlors in Scotland, where Dunmore came of age and first challenged the status quo. In 1745, a band of Scots that included the young Dunmore and his father, tried to overthrow King George II, the head of the regime that years later in Virginia, he would fight to preserve.
“I was fascinated by the psychological aspect of this,” says Lawler.
CHALLENGING THE MYTH
Unlike some of his previous books and the 1,000-plus articles he’s written for newspapers and magazines, Lawler had to focus on hard history over traditional reporting for A Perfect Frenzy “All of my characters are dead,” he says.
One of the most shocking pieces of information Lawler came across was an investigation that came 60 years after the fighting in Norfolk. It revealed that the devastation of the port, where over 95% of the buildings were destroyed, was not caused by Lord Dunmore but by the patriots themselves. The brutal act was encouraged by Thomas Jefferson as retribution against Dunmore’s emancipation decree; the destruction was subsequently blamed on Dunmore and his army of freed slaves.
This discovery contradicted everything Lawler thought he knew about his hometown and challenged what has widely been accepted as fact in the public imagination. And while this
DIGGING UP THE PAST: In his latest book, A Perfect Frenzy, local author Andrew Lawler reexamines the America Revolution and spotlights a lesser-known story from the United State’s founding. Author photo courtesy of Lawler
-information has been available for over 100 years, the myth persists.
But why?
“It’s pretty simple,” Lawler says. “The story of the patriots is a story of people who were fighting for liberty and freedom. It is not the story of people who were destroying their own cities and attempting to reenslave African Americans.”
This wasn’t a convenient story for the 19th century, nor is it for the 21st, Lawler notes, and he expects that a lot of people will be uncomfortable with what he’s uncovered. “I didn’t come into this with any kind of political angle or wanting to convince anybody of anything,” Lawler says. Instead, he hopes A Perfect Frenzy presents “a fresher, fuller and more accurate
account of what happened at this key moment in the American Revolution.”
SEEKING FREEDOM
The 250th anniversary of American independence is quickly approaching. While we may see the events of the revolution as firmly in the past, Lawler argues that our present-day issues tied to race, gun control and the divide between urban and rural communities all have their origins during the pivotal years of 1775 and 1776 in Colonial Virginia.
In A Perfect Frenzy, Lawler returns to the source of our modern-day controversies in an effort to put them into context. Why do we behave the way we do? Why do we have these differences? Why is our country so polarized? He hopes this book can help us learn from our past and contribute to the conversation about the type of nation we want to have.
“We are, in effect, still fighting our revolution,” Lawler writes in the prelude, “albeit with sound bites rather than bullets.”
Lawler also hopes to bring to light the characters of the American Revolution who have been suppressed or ignored — people who may not have served in the Continental Army but are just as much a part of the story of American independence. “I want people to understand that the enslaved Blacks who escaped bondage and fought for the king were fighting for the same thing that the patriots were fighting for,” he tells Xpress. “They were both seeking freedom.”
While he no longer sees “Mr. Jefferson” with the luster that he did as a child, Lawler still believes our third president to be a visionary. “Our founders set up a system that created a freer and more equitable society,” he says. “They did not achieve it, but they gave us the means to do it.” Now, 250 years later, Lawler challenges us to the task. X
What’s new in food
A classic tearoom serving traditional afternoon tea and crust-free cucumber sandwiches might be the last thing residents and visitors would expect to see in Waynesville. Yet in December, sisters Rebecca Bradley and Melissa Roop turned fond childhood memories of visiting tearooms with their mother into a dream come true with the opening of Crown & Thistle Tea Room. It was a big career switch for Bradley, an accountant for 32 years, and Roop, who served 27 years in the pharmacy field. But they parlayed personal passions into a professional pursuit. “We come from a big family and our mother was a baker — she made all the cakes for birthdays and special occasions,” says Bradley. “In my 20s, I took over the cake baking.”
In 2007, the sisters began catering small parties in their hometown of Fuquay-Varina (outside Raleigh), and often talked about opening a tearoom. Three years ago, Bradley and her husband bought a vacation cabin in Waynesville. They moved there full time last year — the same year Bradley turned 50 and texted her sister: “We’re not getting any younger. Let’s do this thing.”
With accounting in her rearview mirror, Bradley started working on
a business plan and stumbled onto a suitable location — a former furniture store with a big, open showroom perfect for re-inventing.
A planned October opening was delayed by Tropical Storm Helene, which arrived three days after Roop moved to Waynesville. Crown & Thistle soft-opened for friends and family in late November with a grand opening on Dec. 12.
The sisters scoured antique stores from North Carolina to Florida to buy the tearoom’s china teacups, saucers, plates and tiered service pieces. The teapots, however, are clear glass. “We really want guests to see the whole process, the steeping and the color change,” says Bradley.
The shop carries over 30 loose-leaf teas sourced from women-owned businesses in Colorado and California — and the sisters are happy to help people choose one. Four types of tea service are offered. The most popular — Classic Afternoon Tea — includes three tiers of tea sandwiches, scones and desserts plus a small pot of tea. The menu changes monthly.
Tea is served with cream, sugar cubes, honey and/or citrus; Bradley encourages guests to take a taste before adding accoutrements.
Crown & Thistle notes on its website that its style of service is suitable for guests ages 13 and older. “It can be a touchy subject, but we want to provide a serene space where you can disconnect, relax and find a quiet place,” says Bradley. “Since we opened, we have had way more women say thank you for not having children here than anyone complain that we don’t.”
Crown & Thistle offers a monthly tea for children ages 5-12, as well as a book club, craft night and more. The tearoom is also available for private parties and special events.
Crown & Thistle Tea Room is at 62 Overbrook St., Waynesville. For more information, visit avl.mx/efq.
Eldr restaurant closes
Carson Lucci says it took about five days after making the decision to permanently close Eldr, the restaurant she co-owned with chef Eric Burleson in a fairytale cottage in Grovewood Village, to post the news to social media on Jan. 9. It took less than five minutes for reactions to start pouring in.
“We had to settle into the reality of it first,” she recalls. “But as soon as
we posted it, we started to get such sweet calls and texts and response on social media. It really helped to know we mattered.”
Lucci has mattered to the Asheville community since she opened Over Easy Café, a breakfast and lunch spot on Broadway, in 2005. Burleson came on as a cook in 2012 and eventually became chef.
Post-COVID-19, the couple closed Over Easy, and regular customers and investors Heather and Jim Cassidy persuaded them to look at the Grovewood Village space that had previously housed Golden Fleece. After assuming ownership in March 2021, it took more than a year for renovations and even longer to get permits for the kitchen’s hand-built, hand-tiled Marra Forni wood- and gas-fueled oven. They opened Elder in June 2023, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in an indoor dining room and tiered, shaded patio.
It was a mixed bag, Lucci says. “We wanted to be a neighborhood, community spot doing local, seasonal food that was comforting and elevated. Trying to do an Over Easy-style breakfast and lunch, and then dinner service was too much. We had to rein it in.”
TEA FOR TWO: Sisters Melissa Roop, left, and Rebecca Bradley toast the opening of Crown & Thistle Tea Room in Waynesville. Photo courtesy Crown & Thistle
They pivoted several times through the seasons, catering to locals, with regulars from the Omni Grove Park Inn staff and spillover from resort guests. Eldr’s last day of service pre-Helene was Thursday, Sept. 26,. Though the restaurant itself was not damaged, there was no water, no internet for weeks and the roads that led to the neighboring Omni Grove Park Inn were closed or blocked until the resort re-opened in mid-November. There were also few tourists.
The idea of re-opening in the slowest season was daunting,“ says Lucci. ”We thought maybe we just need to work for someone else for a while.“’
She says the landlords — the Blomberg-Patton family, owners of Grovewood Village — have allowed them to leave their equipment there for the time being. ”They have been so good to us. We don’t know what they will do with the space.“
Lucci and Burleson recently did a successful burger-and-fries popup at Eda Rhyne’s Hide-A-Way in Weaverville and plan to do more.” It was so fun and a reminder of what we love about what wo do,“ says Lucci.” We’ll just pop around while we figure out what to do next.”
The couple of 11 years settled one “next” thing on the penultimate day of 2024. “We decided to do something positive to end the year: We went to the Marshall magistrate and got married on Dec. 30. Through all of this, we’re still here and we’re going to be OK. You’ll see us again.”
To keep up with Lucci and Burleson, follow on Facebook at avl.mx/efo or Instagram at avl.mx/efp.
Asheville Restaurant Week doubles down
There is no time like Asheville Restaurant Week to nab a seat at that steakhouse, café or pizzeria you’ve been curious about and support the local industry hit so hard by Tropical Storm Helene. Created by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce to promote the city’s food and beverage scene, this year’s Restaurant Week launched Jan. 21 and runs through Monday, Jan. 27, with over 40 local restaurants representing multiple cuisines and styles of service offering special menus and discounts. And this year, Asheville Restaurant Week will return for an encore Tuesday-Monday, Feb. 18-24.
For a list of restaurants and featured deals, visit avl.mx/5k3.
Dine with the Divas
The stars will be out on Friday, Jan. 24, at Highland Brewing’s Event
Center when Asheville drag queens strut their stuff impersonating female celebrities, including Madonna, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and more. Presented by Asheville Drag Brunch, the bedazzled evening begins at 7 p.m. with a buffet dinner catered by Celine and Company. Beer and wine will be for sale, and attendees are encouraged to bring cash for tipping the performers. Proceeds from the 21-and-older event benefit BeLoved Asheville. Tickets are $40 and must be purchased in advance. Highland Brewing Event Center is at 12 Old Charlotte Highway. For tickets, visit avl.mx/efl.
Dry January options
• Cúrate — For those who are midway through Dry January and need a treat, Cúrate has added some jazzy zeroproof cocktails to its beverage menu for sober season. Additions include nonalcoholic gin and tonic (with Dohs gin alternative), white and red sangrias, a hot Notty Toddy (with Kentucky 74 spiritless bourbon) and a St. Agrestis Phony Negroni poured over ice and finished with a curl of orange peel. Cúrate is at 13 Biltmore Ave.
• Burial Beer — Burial Beer feels your Dry January pain and has something to wet your whistle, minus the alcohol. Nonalcoholic Chaosmachine IPA and Socialdevice Pils are now available by the can at all Burial taprooms and online. Both, along with Devil’s Foot X Burial NA Negroni (a partnership with Asheville-based Devil’s Foot Beverage Co.), can be bought online as 36-can bundle — three four-packs of each for $126 with a flat shipping rate of $10 or pickup at Burial’s 10 Collier Ave. location. For more information, visit avl.mx/efm
Dripolator heads to Biltmore Village
Though much of Biltmore Village remains closed after flooding from Tropical Storm Helene, there’s a cuppa Joe and plenty more in the neighborhood’s future. Dripolator, the coffeehouse and roasting company founded in Black Mountain in 1999 by Amy Vermillion, recently announced plans on Instagram to open a fifth location this spring in the space at 760 Biltmore Ave., previously occupied by TreeRock Social Cider and Mead Bar. The location was undamaged by the storm. In addition to its Black Mountain flagship, Dripolator has outposts in Candler, South Asheville and East Asheville. For updates, follow Dripolator on Instagram at avl.mx/ef0.
by Kay West |
Comedian Joe Gatto at Thomas Wolfe Ghost of Asheville
Take a seat at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium on Thursday, Jan. 30, for a night of belly laughs, yucks and chuckles from comedian Joe Gatto when his “Let’s Get Into It” tour hits Asheville. Gatto has been a primary cast member of the hidden-camera television series “Impractical Jokers” and comedy game show “The Misery Index,” as well as the star of his own national tour “Night of Comedy” and solo standup special “Messing With People,” recorded live at The Paramount on Long Island, N.Y. The self-described “nerdy, quiet loner kid who was obsessed with math and dragons” also is cohost, with his pal, Steve Byrne, of the “Two Cool Moms” podcast, an advice-ish show inspired by their strong, opinionated mothers. (The second season just kicked off on Elvis Duran Podcast Network/ iHeartMedia.) Doors open at 6 p.m. Comedian Mark Jigarjian opens the show at 7 p.m. avl.mx/efs X
Queer Girls Literary Reading
UNC Asheville English professor Lori Horvitz (now Professor Emeritus) held the first Queer Girls Literary Reading in 2009 as a space for celebrating and sharing stories from queer women. “This series is about representation — about seeing and being seen, hearing and being heard,” explains Horvitz. “It’s about connecting with one another, building community with each other and our allies and creating a platform for queer women.” On Sunday, Jan. 26, the 15th annual event will take place on the Eulogy stage at 10 Buxton Ave., with
seven featured local and regional writers of varying ages, races, identities and abilities expressing their diverse experiences and perspectives through essay, prose and poetry. Joining Horvitz in reading original works will be co-organizer Lockie Hunter plus Nickole Brown , Vance Goodman , Mali Rosensweet , Jack Elbow Teague and Amy Upham . Doors open at 5:30 p.m., readings begin at 6 p.m. Admission is by suggested donation of $5-$10, though contributions of any size are welcomed. No one will be turned away. avl.mx/efr X
Are you sad and a little bitter that Asheville isn’t as weird as it used to be? Did you used to use a fake ID to get into Vincent’s Ear? Do you remember when most of the Grove Arcade tenants were freeloading flocks of anarchist pigeons? The show Ghost of Asheville on Friday, Jan. 24, at the LaZoom Room promises to be an evening dedicated, says co- producer Rigel Pawlak, to things that once made Asheville special. “Does that magic still exist?” he asks. “Asheville isn’t dead, but has changed a lot over the years, and especially recently.” Expect stand-up comedy, puppets, clowning, live music, belly dance,
burlesque and trips down memory lane. GOA is co-produced by Corr de Joch (who, like Pawlak, is a LaZoom tour guide). Both are also among the dozen performers featured in the revue along with comedian Leah Garth, Rod Murphy of ROND, local childhood-humiliation-anthem legend TPA7 and belly dance master Claire Dima. The LaZoom Room is appropriately evocative of a funeral home parlor owned by Edgar Allen Poe, but fully stocked with cans of cold beer and other beverages. The show takes place from 8-11 p.m. The cover charge is $15 at the door. Proceeds will be shared among performers. avl.mx/eft X
All the cool kids will be at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Jan. 25, for the premiere screening of the series pilot “The Rebirth of Kool.” The event is a fundraiser to help market the independently produced series to major streaming platforms. Based on the novel of the same title by author/actor/filmmaker/ educator Otto Vasquez , the story is anchored in true-life events in WWII-era Los Angeles. The Miami-born Vazquez now lives in Asheville and is an artistic director and master teaching artist for nonprofit LEAF Global Arts. The pilot was shot locally in Hendersonville, Brevard and Asheville in May and also features the musical talents Harold O’Neal (of Pixar’s Soul ) and Juan Benavides . The premiere — rescheduled from November due to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene — invites attendees to shed the tie dye and Birkenstocks for a night and put on the ritz with glamorous 1940s attire. The red carpet rolls out at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40. avl.mx/efv X
‘The Rebirth of Kool’ premiere
Photo courtesy of Sacks & Co.
Photo of Claire Dima by Jennifer Bennett
Photo of Queer Girls Literary Reading 2019 by Kristin Shelly
Photo of Kiana Sosa, left, and Elena Páez Puente courtesy of Fesiuk Films
For
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22
ASHEVILLE MUSIC
HALL
Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm
EDA'S HIDE-A-WAY
Bless Your Heart Trivia w/Harmon, 7pm
FLEETWOOD'S PSK Karaoke, 8pm
HI-WIRE BREWING -
BILTMORE VILLAGE Free Weekly Trivia, 7pm
HIGHLAND BREWING CO.
Phil Barker w/Evan Martin, Rick Cooper & Matt Smith (multigenre), 6pm
IMPERIÁL
DJ Otto Maddox (soul, funk), 9pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB
Old Time Jam, 5pm
OKLAWAHA
BREWING CO.
Bluegrass Jam w/Derek McCoy & Friends, 6pm
SHAKEY'S Industry Night w/DJ Lake Solace, 10pm
SOVEREIGN KAVA
Poetry Open Mic, 8pm
STATIC AGE RECORDS
Daikaiju, Cam Girl & Two Planes (post-rock, punk), 9pm
THE GREY EAGLE Blind Pilot (indie-folk), 8pm
THE ONE STOP
Seven Teller & Uncle Kunkel's One Gram Band (art-rock, funk), 10pm
THE ORANGE PEEL Life Be Liftin w/Starring Monet x Change, 8pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Session, 7pm
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23
BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE
Mike Kenton & Jim Tanner (jazz), 5pm
FLEETWOOD'S East Ritual Residency (punk, garage, indie), 9pm
FLOOD GALLERY
True Home Open Mic, 6pm
IMPERIÁL
DJ Dayowulf (afrohouse, electronic, soul), 9pm
CLUBLAND
SOUTHERN FRIE-DAY NIGHT: Pyletribe, featuring legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artemis Pyle and his son Chris on guitar, will bring their “Southern-fried tribal boogie” with Solvivor members to One World Brewing West on Friday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. The band’s percussion-influenced sound is complemented by guitarists Josh Chassner and Dorsey Parker, along with bassist Ian Harrod. Photo courtesy of Pyletribe
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB
Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7pm
LOOKOUT BREWING CO.
Music Bingo w/DJ Spence, 6pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.
Highway 52 Duo (rock, blues, Americana), 7pm
ONE WORLD BREWING Johnny Humphries & Alex Bazemore (multigenre), 5pm
ONE WORLD
BREWING WEST
Fee Fi Phaux Fish (Phish tribute), 8pm
SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/DJ Franco, 9pm
SLY GROG LOUNGE
Daikaiju vs. Powder Horns & The Long Distance Relationship (surf-punk, garage-rock, indie), 9pm
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Anais Nin wrote, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” I bring this to your attention because you Aries folks now have a mandate to expand your life through courageous acts, thoughts, and feelings. I suggest we make the Arctic fox your power symbol. This intrepid creature undertakes epic migrations, journeying over 2,000 miles across sea ice, using starlight and magnetic fields to navigate. Let’s dare to speculate that you have something in common with it; let’s propose that you are equipped with an inner guidance system that gives you a keen intuitive sense of how to maneuver in unfamiliar territory. PS: Anais Nin has another tip: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus archeologist Howard Carter made a spectacular discovery in 1922: the intact tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, more than 3,300 years after his death. It was filled with over 5,000 artifacts, became a global sensation, and to this day remains the most famous find from ancient Egypt. A short time before he succeeded at his five-year quest, Howard Carter nearly gave up. But then his sponsor agreed to provide funds for a few more months, and he continued. In this spirit, Taurus, I urge you to keep pushing to fulfill your own dream. Renew your faith. Boost your devotion. Remember why you feel so strongly.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest telescope in space. Recently, it discovered hundreds of galaxies that no humans had ever before beheld. They are very old, too—far more ancient than our own Milky Way Galaxy. I propose we make this marvelous perception-enhancing tool a symbol of power for you. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you now have a robust potential to see things that have always been invisible, secret, or off-limits to you. Some of these wonders could motivate you to reinterpret your life story and reshape your future plans.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): One theory says that humans evolved to be afraid of reptiles because our early ancestors were frequently threatened by them. Among the most commonly feared creatures in modern culture are snakes. And yet, as anyone knows if they’ve studied mythology, snakes have also been symbols of fertility and healing in many cultures. Because they periodically shed their skin, they also represent regeneration and rebirth. I’m hoping you don’t harbor an instinctual aversion to snakes, Cancerian. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to call on and benefit from their iconic powers.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the coming months, be extra creative as you enhance your network of connections and support. Encourage your allies to provide you with tips about opportunities and possibilities that you would not otherwise know about. Ask them to serve as links to novel resources that will nurture your long-term dreams. Here’s an idea to energize your efforts: Get a vivid sense of how trees use vast underground fungal webs to communicate with each other. Knowing about this natural magic may impregnate your subconscious mind with evocative suggestions about how to be ingenious in weaving the kind of community you want.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I love my job as a horoscope writer. What could be more fun than analyzing cosmic signs to generate inspirational counsel for my readers? It’s a big responsibility, though. I am intensely aware of how crucial it is that I craft my messages with utmost care and compassion. Having been scarred as a young adult by reckless, fear-mongering fortune-tellers, I’m rigorous about nurturing your free will, not undermining it. I want you to be uplifted, not confused or demoralized as I was. With these thoughts in mind, I invite you to take a vigorous inventory of the effects that your work and play have on the world. Are
BY ROB BREZSNY
they aligned with your intentions? Are your ambitions moored in impeccable integrity?
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Why are diamonds considered so valuable? I’m skeptical. High-grade diamonds are not as rare as public perception would lead us to believe. Yes, they are extraordinarily hard and scratch-resistant, but is that a reason to regard them as a sublime treasure? I acknowledge they are pretty in a bland way. But other gems are more intriguingly beautiful. Maybe the most important reason they are so prized is that diamond sellers have done effective marketing campaigns to promote them as symbols of love and luxury. All this is a prelude to my main message: Now is an excellent time to think and feel deeply about what is truly beautiful to you—and take steps to bring more of it into your life. For you Libras, beauty is an essential ingredient in your life’s purpose.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The way that ancient Romans made concrete was more ingenious than modern methods. Their manufacturing materials included “lime clasts,” which gave the concrete self-healing qualities. When cracks arose, they fixed themselves. That’s why Roman aqueducts built 2,000 years ago can still convey water today. Metaphorically speaking, I hope you will work on building similar structures in the coming weeks. It’s time to create strong foundations that will last for a very long time.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Do you harbor a yearning to learn a new language, new skill, or new trick? The coming weeks will be a favorable phase to get serious about doing it. Have you fantasized about embarking on an adventure that would expand your understanding of how the world works? The time is right. Have you wished you could attract an inspirational prod to unleash more creativity and experiment freely? The astrological omens suggest that inspirational prod is imminent. Have you wondered whether you could enhance and fine-tune your receptivity — and thereby open up surprising sources of fresh teaching? Do it now!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Bristlecone pine trees grow very slowly, but they are hardy and long-lived. Their wood is so dense and strong that it’s virtually immune to disease, insects, and erosion. They grow in places that are inhospitable for many other trees, flourishing in cold, windy environments where the soil is not particularly rich in nutrients. For the bristlecone pine, apparent obstacles stimulate their resilience. I don’t want to exaggerate the ways they remind me of you Capricorns, but you and they certainly have affinities. I believe these shared qualities will be especially useful for you in the coming weeks.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In old Hawaii, it was forbidden for ordinary people to touch objects that belonged to the chiefs or to anyone with spiritual powers. Other taboos: Never walk across the shadow of an important person and never wear red and yellow feathers. Our modern taboos are different, but often equally rigid. For example, you are probably hesitant to ask people how much money they make or what their relationship status is. What are other taboos you observe? I won’t outrightly advise you to brazenly break them, but now is a good time to re-evaluate them and consider changing your relationship with them.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): As winter progresses, each day is longer and each night shorter. Most humans feel an undercurrent of joy that the amount of light in the world is growing. But as an astrologer who appreciates cycles, I like to honor the beauty and powers of darkness. That’s where everything new gets born! It’s where the future comes from! In ancient Hawaiian religion, the word kumulipo meant “beginning-in-deep-darkness.” It was also the name of a prayer describing the creation of the world. In the coming weeks, I believe you will be wise to tap into the rich offerings of darkness.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26
CORK & KEG
Milonga Del Barrio (tango), 3pm
FLEETWOOD'S Daikaiju vs. Harriers of Discord Round 2 w/ Monster Wave (surfpunk), 8pm
GINGER'S REVENGE
Jazz Sunday, 2:30pm
GINGER'S REVENGE
CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM
Sunday Jazz Jam, 2:30pm
HIGHLAND BREWING CO.
Meschiya Lake and Paradigm Shifters (jazz, country), 2pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB
• The Bluegrass Boys, 12pm
• Traditional Irish Music Session, 3:30pm
ONE WORLD
BREWING WEST
Bear's 50th Birthday Bash: Suns of Stars & Phuncle Sam (bluegrass, jam), 2pm
SLY GROG LOUNGE
Open Mic w/Mike Andersen, 6:30pm
STATIC AGE RECORDS
Space Grandma, Jessie & the Jinx, Powder Horns, & Dave Gilbert & the Big Sky (multigenre), 8pm
The Dirty Nil w/ Grumpster + House & Home (pop-punk, indie-rock), 7pm
THE RIVER ARTS
DISTRICT BREWING CO.
Lyric, Andrew Scotchie, McKinney & David Earl (multi-genre), 7pm
THIRD ROOM
Open Decks, 8pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN
White Horse Open Mic, 7pm
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29
27 CLUB Yawni (avant-pop, freak-folk), 8pm
ASHEVILLE MUSIC
HALL
Jarv w/King Green & Damn Skippy (hip-hop), 8pm
FLEETWOOD'S PSK Karaoke, 8pm
HI-WIRE BREWINGBILTMORE VILLAGE
Free Weekly Trivia, 7pm
HIGHLAND BREWING CO.
Wyatt Espalin & Matt Smith (multi-genre), 6pm
IMPERIÁL
DJ Otto Maddox (soul, funk), 9pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB
Old Time Jam, 5pm
OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.
Bluegrass Jam w/Derek McCoy & Friends, 6pm
PULP
Standup Comedy Pageant, 7pm
SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm
THE GREY EAGLE
Big Richard w/The Shoats (bluegrass, country, folk), 8pm
THE MULE
Wednesday w/Saylor Brothers (jam-grass), 6:30pm
THE ONE STOP
Amabel Lee Band (Americana, country), 10pm
WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Live Piano Karaoke, 7pm
THURSDAY, JANUARY 30
27 CLUB Skyway 61, Devette, & King Ghoul (rock, grunge), 8pm
CROW & QUILL
Russ Wilson & The Kings of Jazz, 8pm
FLEETWOOD'S East Ritual Residency (punk, garage, indie), 9pm
FLOOD GALLERY True Home Open Mic, 6pm
HIGHLAND BREWING CO.
Hearts Gone South (country), 6pm
IMPERIÁL DJ Nex Millen (hip-hop, R&B), 9pm
JACK OF THE WOOD PUB
Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7pm
LAZOOM ROOM BAR & GORILLA Modelface Comedy Presents: Ryan Cox, 7pm
LOOKOUT BREWING CO.
Music Bingo, 6pm
ONE WORLD BREWING The Blinds (indie-soul), 8pm
ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Fee Fi Phaux Fish (Phish tribute), 8pm
PULP
Oceanic & VEAUX w/ Moody Bridge (dancepop), 8pm
SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/Franco Nino, 9pm
STATIC AGE LOFT Auto-Tune Karaoke w/ Who Gave This B*tch A Mic, 10pm THE GREY EAGLE Christie Lenée & Crys
RENTALS
APARTMENTS FOR RENT
APARTMENT FOR RENT
First floor of house in quiet, safe, private neighborhood East of Asheville. 1b/1b, one person only. Shared washer/dryer. $975/month for rent, $75 for utilities + Wi-Fi. Pets considered. (828) 545-0043
EMPLOYMENT
GENERAL
UNITED WAY IS HIRING:
SENIOR DIRECTOR, UNIT-
ED FOR YOUTH United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County is hiring a Senior Director, United for Youth. Lead a transformative initiative ensuring all students thrive. Full-time, meaningful work, robust benefits. Make a difference! For more information, and to apply, visit unitedwayabc.org/ employment-opportunities
UNITED WAY SEEKS
DIRECTOR, DATA AND EVALUATION Join United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County as the Director of Data and Evaluation. Lead impactful data systems to drive student success. Full-time role with excellent benefits. For more information, and to apply, visit unitedwayabc.org/ employment-opportunities
UNITED WAY: WE'RE
HIRING FOR AN ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF GRANTS United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County seeks an Associate Director, Grants. Manage grants, write proposals, and drive community impact. Join our team and make a difference. Full-time with excellent benefits—apply now: unitedwayabc.org/ employment-opportunities
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Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property
must contact the Asheville Police Department within 30 days from the date of this publication. Any items not claimed within 30 days will be disposed of in accordance with all applicable laws. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property and Evidence Section at 828232-4576
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edited by Joel Fagliano
ACROSS
1 Flower in a children’s rhyme
5 One of 1,000 for Darryl Strawberry, for short
8 Computer connector
13 Orange-andwhite rental
15 Middle-earth foe
16 Tropical vacation destinations
17 Orange soda brand
18 *Mendel studied them
20 *Disconcert mightily
22 Big night
23 Something studied by the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, for short
24 Strong craving
25 Title for the supposed inventor of the sandwich
27 Cartesian conclusion
29 Throw in the trash
31 *Tons
36 Eros, to Aphrodite
37 Olympian’s weapon
39 Characteristic
40 Think before placing a bet … or what solvers must do to fully appreciate each starred clue
43 “Take me to your leader” speaker
44 Amazon Handmade competitor
45 Main ingredient in many veggie hot dogs
46 *Book designer’s concern
48 Hammer part
50 Sad sound
51 Morel support?
53 “Check back later,” in brief
56 Hypotheticals
59 Pep
61 *Ones with good aim
63 *Mess that might be sticky
66 Makes tolerable
67 Change with the times
68 Deliverer of the speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” for short
69 First name in cosmetics
70 Response during an eye exam
71 Cards
72 “Hey, I’ve got a secret …”
DOWN
1 Like eyes after a good cry
2 Midwest hub
3 Southwest point of the Texas Triangle
4 Fool, from the Yiddish
5 “Understood”
6 “It’s so c-c-cold!”
7 Refreshment served with a spoon straw
8 Film buff
9 Menace hiding in a basket of figs in “Antony and Cleopatra”
“Sacre ___!”
19 Satanic 21 Zapped with light
26 Ophelia’s vengeful brother in “Hamlet” 28 Eeyore-like
Beginnings
Gives permission to
Parts of many home inspections
In good order 35 Pike and Pine, in Seattle: Abbr. 36 Brand of party cups
Actress Amanda
Lunchroom, casually 41 Think outside the box 42 Like many kids post-Halloween
47 “In memoriam” piece
49 Play the host
52 Sleeveless shirts, informally
54 Longtime Saints QB whose name has a windy homophone
55 Item in the plus column
56 “You don’t have to tell me”
57 Classic pet name
“Rent” character based on a seamstress in “La Bohème”
