Mountain Xpress 02.28.24

‘LET US GO’

For nearly two decades, some residents on Woodfin’s west side have resented the involuntary annexation of their section of town. More recently, a new stormwater fee has enraged many westsiders who do not think they benefit from being in town limits. Hundreds of these community members have signed a petition seeking to de-annex from Woodfin. But local leaders and state representatives are not yet willing to support the request.

COVER PHOTO

Thomas Calder; featuring Chip Parton and Lucy the dog

COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

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Will Mission be able to achieve its goals?

[Regarding “Mission Sets 10-minute Goal for Emergency Patient Care, Document Obtained by Watchdog Shows,” Feb. 20, Asheville Watchdog via Xpress website:]

Based on my personal experience as a patient in post-op and emergency, I have little faith that Mission will be able to achieve its goals. They need an influx of cash to their operating budget (for basic supplies and equipment) and increased nursing staff paid at a level that motivates them to go the extra measure needed to accomplish these goals.

After having used the nursing staff as the scapegoat in several of its responses, I think an adjustment of staff will be necessary and definitely updated processes and analogous training.

— Bernise A. Lynch Swannanoa

City should listen to concerns about Haw Creek project

In the Feb. 14 issue, there is a letter to the editor praising a 95-unit development on New Haw Creek Road in Happy Valley as needed affordable housing [ “Haw Creek Project Would Provide Much-needed Housing,” Xpress]. I respectfully think this writer (who apparently

CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON

lives in Haw Creek but does not live near Happy Valley and will not be directly affected by the increased traffic on New Haw Creek Road) is not looking at this from the perspective of those of us who will be directly affected by this development.

He claims there is a robust infrastructure to support this development, and, again, I respectfully disagree, as do a great many residents and people trying to drop off/pick up kids at the schools in the valley. One main two-lane road and a secondary two-lane one are the only

ways in and out of Haw Creek and do not equal robust infrastructure. I believe the public transit routes have also been reduced, thus adding more private vehicles to an overburdened road structure.

He states that we are “forcing developers to build a few luxury houses” rather than starter houses when zoning is not increased. In this development, it would be going from 49 as zoned to 95 homes, including townhomes, if conditional zoning is permitted. The developer wants to build as many luxu-

ry homes as he can squeeze onto the property. New construction in Haw Creek is in the $700,000 and up range. There is no affordable housing planned for this development, so this will not solve the lack of starter homes that families can afford.

Add in the loss of tree canopy by about three-fourths of current density; the disruption of habitat that not only lives in the area but also lives near the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is less than 1 mile away from this proposed development; and size of this project, and it all looks less and less appealing to those of us who call the valley home.

Yes, development will occur, but it can also enhance an area rather than be a detractor. Personally, I will miss seeing an open field but understand that infill happens — just make it palatable to those of us who live here. Furthermore, Planning & Zoning needs to take into account the concerns and impact on the neighborhood and the entire Haw Creek Valley.

— Larry Layton Happy Valley, Haw Creek, Asheville

Support for rezoning in Haw Creek

I would like to express my support for the proposed rezoning and

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN

development of homes at the 767 New Haw Creek Road property.

This property is within the city limits. Building homes there would decrease sprawl into more environmentally sensitive areas of Buncombe County. The new homes would allow dozens of middle-class families to live near jobs, schools and amenities, decreasing their carbon footprint by not having to drive to town from farther away.

There aren’t enough workers in Asheville to fill the jobs that our local businesses are hiring for, and potential new workers are even turning down job offers because they can’t find a home they can

afford. If housing is a human right, then we must build more homes to make it affordable for new workers to live in Asheville and continue to grow our economy.

Asheville’s recent Missing Middle Housing study found that we need to allow more homes to be built on smaller lots if we are to meet the current and future housing needs of our city. Rezoning to allow for more homes, including townhomes, responds to this need.

Though I would ask the developer to show more creativity and character in the proposed development plan, I encourage the city to approve this rezoning request. I look

forward to welcoming new families to Haw Creek, just as my family has been welcomed.

— James Shelton Asheville

More regulation needed for short-term rentals

[Regarding “For and Against: Shortterm Rental Listening Session Yields Conflicting Views,” Jan. 31, Xpress:]

I wish that there were much more regulations over short-term rentals in our communities. I believe they have tremendously affected the housing market and the ability for people of middle and lower income to afford any housing in this area. I’ve been complaining about this and speaking out about it for the past five years, to no avail, so I am delighted that there is finally some attention to this matter.

Also, I have had to move once, and almost did so another time due to the unbearable noise and traffic coming from my neighbors’ houses who decided to turn their homes into Airbnbs.

There has been no one to turn to except the police. At times, it has been like living next to a fraternity house or a day care center in a home I purchased in a quiet neighborhood. I live in Black Mountain.

I’d be in favor of any regulations and especially the ability for neighbors to have some say in the number of people staying and the noise level permitted beside their homes.

I have watched the cost of housing increase exponentially as outsiders have bought homes in Black Mountain, only to use them as income-producing short-term rental properties. It’s really been a shame to see how our communities have changed. We no longer have many neighbors, only strangers spending a couple of nights in the houses next door.

Thank you for writing about this.

— Erica Burns Black Mountain

Thanks for the Xpress voting guide

Thank you, Mountain Xpress, for all your work in putting together the 2024 Primary Election Voter Guide [Feb. 14].

In addition to early in-person voting information and intros into the various positions being voted on, each candidate’s response to the issues you posed was extremely helpful. I knew very little about most of the candidates, so your coverage was most appreciated.

— Susan Kieffer Asheville X

Let us go

BY GREG PARLIER

It’s not like Mike Cogdill hates Woodfin. In fact, he was raised in the same house that his mother grew up in on the east side of the French Broad River. He now lives on the west side. “It’s a neat little town,” he says.

So it’s not personal when Cogdill says he wants out of the town. It’s a matter of fairness, he says. He’s not alone. About 300 westsiders signed a petition seeking de-annexation.

“It’s like going to Ingles and putting four items in your cart. Then you check out, and they charge you for 10. It’s like, ‘Where’s the other six?’ You don’t get those, but you’re paying for them. Nobody would like that,” Cogdill says.

Cogdill was against the town’s involuntary annexation of the neighborhoods between Crest Mountain and Olivette Farms 17 years ago. After a new stormwater fee sparked a renewed de-annexation effort in

Hundreds of Woodfin’s west-side residents seek to de-annex from the town

west Woodfin last summer, Cogdill retained his position: Town taxes aren’t worth the services provided.

“Now, we’re just paying for nothing. And nothing’s going to change,” Cogdill says.

A property owner with a house appraised at $300,000 on Woodfin’s westside currently pays about $2,889 in property taxes annually compared with $1,899 for the same house outside town limits, according to county tax rates.

The new de-annexation movement is led by Chip Parton, who was in middle school when the west side was annexed in 2006. He says he wasn’t really paying attention to issues with the town until five or six years ago, when he realized town rules prevented him from putting a single-wide trailer on his parents’ property to live in while he waited to inherit a family home.

He started to look around and noticed some neighbors were living in detached garages and prefabricated sheds from Home Depot, partially because of rules preventing new single-wides in town limits, he says. Only single-wides that were in place before the rule was changed are currently permitted.

Fast forward to summer 2023, when the town issued bills to property owners for a stormwater fee to comply with a state-issued stormwater permit that the town was in danger of violating. The fee enraged residents on the west side who felt as if they didn’t benefit from a stormwater program — which the town is implementing to prevent runoff from entering the river — and reignited nearly two decades of frustration.

“I basically went up [to Town Hall] to yell at them about it. And then ... I realized the last of the old guard only had like four months left. That’s when I was like, ‘OK, it’s time to think bigger than just yelling again and again and again. Maybe we can actually

Chip Parton, a resident of Woodfin’s west side, says he’s spent about 300 hours studying and advocating for his section of town’s de-annexation. In the process, he’s helped secure hundreds of signatures from fellow residents seeking to break from Woodfin. Photo by Thomas Calder

make something happen this time,’” Parton says.

Indeed, after November’s election, no one on Woodfin’s Town Council was involved in town government before 2021. The ex-mayor of 20 years, Jerry VeHaun, retired last year, replaced by Jim McAllister. Town Manager Shannon Tuch was hired in March 2022, bringing with her 19 years of experience in the City of Asheville’s Planning Department but little institutional knowledge of Woodfin’s politics.

The town’s current leadership acknowledges there were issues with the previous administration’s handling of some of the west side’s complaints but disputes the claim that the same level of service isn’t provided townwide.

“While we know the community to the west of the French Broad receives

100% of those services, we also recognize there is a perceived imbalance between the value of the services they receive and the amount they pay in property taxes,” says Council member Eric Edgerton

While new leadership gives Parton hope, many of Woodfin’s old guard have long given up on the town’s ability to help them.

LAY OF THE LAND

On a recent afternoon, Xpress rode with Parton on a tour of Woodfin’s west side. Across the Craggy Bridge — the only physical connection between the east and west sides of town between Asheville and Alexander — the town takes on a rural feel. Down winding

LEADING THE WAY:

back roads, a wide variety of livestock could be seen from the passenger seat of Parton’s construction work truck, from potbellied pigs and horses to goats and sheep.

Farther from the river, Parton notes a tattered Confederate flag marking one property across the road from hand-painted rainbow-colored signs urging peace and love. This, he says, sums up Woodfin’s ideological diversity.

Pointing to sheds and garages that appeared lived in, parcels with broken-down cars or livestock on what appeared to be relatively small lots, Parton exclaims with a healthy dose of sarcasm, “That’s a town!”

Along Olivette Road, Parton points to Woodfin’s black trash cans along the east side of the road as the most notable difference from the west side of the road’s green and blue WastePro cans, signifying the line between county and town limits.

Trash pickup, along with the Woodfin Police Department patrols, are the most obvious services provided by Woodfin. The town maintains a parks department, although there are no parks west of the river. It maintains town roads, although most roads on the west side are maintained by the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Fire service is provided by a network of volunteer fire stations, funded by special taxing districts approved by Buncombe County. The west side is served by the West Buncombe Fire Department, while the east side is served by the Woodfin, Reems Creek and North Buncombe fire departments.

Water is provided to parts of Woodfin by either Asheville or the Woodfin Water and Sewer District, which is an independent entity from the town, with its own elected governing board. Similarly, sewer service is provided by the independent Metropolitan Sewerage District. Much of the town’s west side has neither, instead relying on private wells and septic systems.

Woodfin also has a planning and zoning department, which sets rules

on properties, including the allowance of single-wide trailers, livestock allowances and density allotments.

All of these overlapping providers and jurisdictions cause a lot of confusion for Woodfin residents, no matter where in town they live.

Down by the river, MyLissa Fultz says the only service she gets from the town is trash pickup, something she could contract with the county for. She says she never sees the Police Department on her road and doesn’t feel a connection to the town at all.

Duy Nguyen has lived on Woodfin’s west side since 2019, when he moved from Kansas. He says it’s frustrating to see millions spent on the Woodfin Greenway and Blueway just across the river, while largely ignoring needs on the west side.

For Nguyen, who gets water service from the Woodfin Water and Sewer District — a name that adds to the confusion since the district hasn’t provided sewer service in decades — access to city sewer tops his wish list.

He says it’s infuriatingly ironic that he can glance across the river at the largest sewer district in Western North Carolina — MSD serves 201,000 people — but he still has to maintain his own septic system.

“My goodness, we’ve got nothing. We’ve got nothing over here. It’s a big shame for the town government to turn a blind eye up to this point. I hope the new town leaders will make it better.”

Former Mayor VeHaun has been Woodfin’s representative on the MSD board since 2004 and will remain until 2026, according to MSD documents. But he has been unable to get sewer lines extended, partly because the project would carry a large price tag.

WATER EFFORTS

At bare minimum, Parton says, being part of a town should mean two things:

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“You should be able to drink water and you shouldn’t lose your house to a fire.” While Woodfin is the only municipality in Buncombe County other than the tiny towns of Montreat and Biltmore Forest that doesn’t have its own fire department, residents do get that service from the county departments. Water is a different story.

Parton’s neighbor on Hollifield Road has had problems with his well for years. Lane Wyatt, the owner’s son, says the iron-rich water looks like it’s been diluted with orange juice.

“Dad’s been trying to get water up there for 17 years,” Wyatt says. “We’ve got to have a filter system to keep the water from turning black clothes orange.”

In 2020, the town, in conjunction with the water district, applied for federal grant funds to extend the waterline across the river to serve folks like Wyatt’s dad, but funding was denied.

Tuch says it’s unclear why the project wasn’t funded, since it was before her time, and she can’t find documents related to the application in the town’s archives. She says that since the grant that was sought is typically given to municipalities, Woodfin may have been denied because the water system and town are independent entities.

Regardless, Tuch says she hopes to find a funding source for a water and sewer extension project for residents on the west side.

N.C. Sen. Julie Mayfield, who is monitoring the Woodfin de-annexation effort, says there is plenty of state money available for infrastructure projects and urges the town to pursue that pot of money, rather than just looking to the federal government.

After almost two decades of “being fed smoke,” as Parton says, locals have their doubts.

DE-ANNEXATION DILEMMA

In 2012, the N.C. General Assembly passed a law that requires a majority of an area’s residents to approve of annexation into a town before it occurs. Parton asserts that the 2006 annexation would never have passed had that law been on the books.

VeHaun says the 2006 annexation was started by a request from Crest Mountain — a gated community development off Dryman Mountain Road that’s closer to New Leicester Highway than the French Broad River. There was fear at the time that the City of Asheville was planning to expand to the north and might annex

“We’ve got nothing over here. It’s a big shame for the town government to turn a blind eye up to this point.”

— Duy Nguyen, western Woodfin resident

Crest Mountain, which its residents didn’t want, he says.

Now in the town, only the General Assembly has the power to de-annex an area. That means a member must sponsor a bill to put up for a vote. So far, Mayfield and Rep. Caleb Rudow, both of whom attended a community meeting discussing de-annexation Feb. 1, say they will only support a bill if the town and community agree that part of the town should go.

So, Parton has spent dozens of hours running a data analysis showing the town is losing money by providing services to the de-annexation area, which he says has a relatively low tax base. Based on his analysis, he says the town is actually losing more than $100,000 a year running trash trucks and police cruisers around the west side, while collecting a lower amount of property taxes per capita compared with the rest of the town.

Shown his analysis, Tuch points out several flaws. She says it doesn’t take into account efficiencies of scale. In the case of de-annexation, the town would still be required to provide trash and police service to areas that want to stay in the town on the west side of the river, including the Crest Mountain, Rock Springs and Olivette Farms neighborhoods.

Tuch says Parton’s analysis inappropriately assumes that some services like administration and planning would cost less if part of the town left. Producing a comprehensive plan, for instance, won’t cost 12% less if 12% of the tax base leaves, she says.

Parton says even if his analysis is off, his point remains that the town isn’t losing so much in tax base that it couldn’t survive without the west side.

Tuch says the town has run its own analysis that suggests 15% of residents in the de-annexation area would actually pay more for trash service with the county than they do in taxes in the town. If rates go up as Waste Pro has suggested they might in recent county commission meetings, that number goes up to 24%, she says.

That has given Town Council members pause.

“It is nearly impossible to attach a dollar value to the town’s efforts in the areas of parks, police, zoning and street maintenance, but even if we set those to one side, we now know de-annexation would be a net financial burden on a significant portion of the property owners in the proposed de-annexation area. Specifically, it

would be the most economically challenged property owners who would take a financial hit,” Edgerton says.

NOT JUST A FINANCIAL DECISION

Beyond finances, McAlllister says some residents of the west side have quietly suggested to him that they don’t want out of the town. One such resident, Keith Webb, wrote a letter asking McAllister to consider another side of the issue.

“I understand the importance and service which incorporation brings to the life of those residents in the community. That being said, it is difficult for me to support the de-annexation effort over something as simple as a stormwater fee and the fact that zoning may not allow one to install a single-wide modular home on their property. There are certainly opinions on both sides of each and every similar issue,” he wrote.

To Webb’s point, Tuch says de-annexation would do more than just financial damage to the town.

“We are more concerned about the erosion of the community and making sure all residents are treated fairly and equitably.”

McAllister says he is open to changing his mind, but as of his interview with Xpress in mid-February, he does not support de-annexation. Instead, he says he wants to see how the town can provide better service than it has in the past. He says that many residents’ complaints about the previous town administration’s disorganization and misrepresentations of facts may be legitimate, but he insists the town has turned over a new leaf.

Mayfield urges the town to come up with ways to solve problems for those on the west side, including through partnerships, rather than saying something is out of their hands, like maintenance on state roads or water and sewer service.

Tuch says the town is already addressing one need it has heard. She is working on a zoning overlay that would allow single-wides in parts of the west side that want them, she says.

“I didn’t know people wanted that before,” she says.

Still, it’s unclear if those in the de-annexation camp who have felt unheard for 17 years will accept the new administration’s olive branch.

“I hope they’ll do the right thing and just let us go,” Parton says. X

Reparations commission launches plan to increase engagement

As its deadline to submit final recommendations nears, the Community Reparations Commission is hitting the streets to gather input from Black voices in public housing, area churches and communities outside the City of Asheville who haven’t been heard.

Reparations commissioners unanimously approved a three-month public engagement plan to gather reactions and opinions from Black residents of Asheville and Buncombe County about the commission’s draft recommendations for local government leaders.

Vice Chair Dewana Little said the outreach plan, which will cost the commission $65,000, is designed to make it as easy as possible for residents to provide suggestions for the commission’s final recommendations.

“[When] some people go to a grocery store and approach us, they don’t understand what we’re doing and what this process is. That’s the issue, especially when it’s Black people, and that’s what this process is about,” she said.

Little said commissioners plan to develop flyers with QR codes to pass out and post on social media for residents to provide feedback.

“That way, if they cannot make it to an input session, they can still provide the input in a way [that] the full commission can see input from the community in real time,” Little said.

This month, commissioners and others involved in the process plan to go door to door in public housing communities and to Black History Month events to share details of the CRC’s work.

FOLLOW-UP: Commission member MZ Yehudah, left, poses questions to representatives of the Carter Development Group after its preliminary presentation of the Cease the Harm Audit in January. Photo by

Over the next three months, there will be community public input sessions, door-to-door campaigns in various neighborhoods around the county and visits to churches and youth groups, according to the presentation.

The focused campaign comes after consistent criticism, especially from Rob Thomas, executive director of the Asheville-based Racial Justice Coalition, that not enough Black voices from Asheville’s public housing communities have been involved.

The RJC has been advocating for reparations since 2014 and proposed a partnership on increasing community engagement at the CRC’s January

meeting. Little said she worked with Thomas and other stakeholders to develop the engagement plan.

While the plan is largely focused on the Black community, some commission members asked if they should widen the campaign.

“There are some areas throughout the [focus group meetings] that require outreach beyond the African American community,” suggested commission member Jesse Ray, citing the need for input from various industries, such as banking and housing.

Little said conversations about public-private partnerships have been underway with entities outside government. This plan is about engaging parts of the community that have not yet been involved. Commission member Osundu McPeters expressed concern that the same people have attended the events commissioners have held so far.

“What makes this different is that we are going to be on the ground. We’re not going to be sitting in our centers and where our [focus groups] meet, hoping people come to us and hoping different people show up. We are actually going to be out talking, really encouraging the community on the ground who have not been connected to this process,” Little said.

The engagement campaign is one of the last projects for the reparations commission, which is scheduled to wrap up the process by the end of June.

Facilitator Vernisha Crawford gave an updated timeline of the commission’s duties over the next several months.

County advances school district consolidation study

While one local public school district redraws its district lines and the other considers merging its two middle schools, Buncombe County is moving forward with a study to explore consolidation of the two districts.

In March, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will choose one of seven vendors that applied to conduct the study, which is scheduled to begin in April, said Rachael Nygaard, director of strategic partnerships for Buncombe County.

The Asheville City Board of Education and the Buncombe County Board of Education must report findings and recommendations from the study to the N.C. General Assembly by February 2025 to comply with a state law passed in September.

The law requires the two districts to conduct a joint feasibility study with Buncombe County leading and funding the project.

Commission Chair Brownie Newman said that while the consolidation question isn’t all about money, he expects the study to answer some questions in the community about the financial cost of running two districts with two administrations.

“We all know that educators need to be paid more. There’s a big need for more investment there. So to the extent that a single unified system might be a more efficient way, administratively, of operating schools is sort of one of the arguments for taking a look at this,” he said.

The selected vendor will review a number of factors in each district,

including student enrollment, policies, procedures, student well-being, personnel, operations and facilities, Nygaard said. The vendor will identify significant similarities and differences between the two districts and include potential shortand long-term effects of consolidation in its report.

The study will include stakeholder and community engagement, she added.

Commissioner Al Whitesides says he supports the study because he is increasingly concerned about shrinking enrollment in local public schools and the well-documented opportunity gap between Black students and their white peers in Asheville City Schools.

“It’s time for somebody to speak up. You know, I know that a lot of people

Commissioners will hear a final presentation on the Cease the Harm Audit from the Carter Development Group in March, review recommendations for criminal justice, housing and wellness focus areas in April, hold preliminary votes on recommendations in May and finalize recommendations in June, according to the schedule.

Several members said that is not enough time.

“None of this feels right. It feels so rushed,” said commission alternate Tiffany DeBellot. “I realize that we really fought tooth and nail to request and recommend more time. And that according to the city and county, it’s not feasible, as if we haven’t actually done any work.”

The reparations commission initially requested to extend its timeline through December and instead received an extension from April to June.

DeBellot recommended that the commission consider how it would carry the work forward beyond June and “hold accountable those entities that say they put us here but expect us to fail,” she added.

Noreal Armstrong, chief equity and human rights officer for Buncombe County, clarified that her office will continue to provide support to the commission, even after other county and city resources like legal, communications and data support decrease after June.

Editor’s Note: This story has been edited for space. For more on the Reparations Commission, go to avl.mx/dev.

— Greg Parlier X

don’t like it. But really, I don’t give a care, because it’s time for us to tell it like it is. And it’s time for us as a community to look out for all our kids. We only take care of some of the privileged few, but the majority of our kids are not being taken care of,” he said.

A nine-member project team — with three members each from ACS, BCS and Buncombe County — is reviewing vendor applications against the study’s philosophy, approach and timeline. The vendor will present findings to both school boards and the county commission in December or next January, Nygaard said.

Editor’s Note: Expanded coverage of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 20 meeting can be found at avl.mx/dew.

— Greg Parlier X

Greg Parlier

How to work your garden and not vice versa

BY CHLOE LIEBERMAN

Greetings, gardeners! It’s that time of year again when the soil starts warming and we become busy bees preparing and planting our patches of earth for the miracle of growth.

My name is Chloe, and I’ve been growing food for over 20 years, including the last 11 here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. I also teach about gardening through the Wild Abundance Online Gardening School and share my knowledge each month with y’all here in Mountain Xpress.

As you sow, transplant, water, weed and harvest, please send any gardening questions to gardening@ mountainx.com, and I’ll do my best to answer them. My background is in holistic, organic, agroecology, so I love hearing and unpacking complex questions. I hope to help us all get more deeply in touch with the magical dance of creation that’s happening every moment in our gardens.

TIPS FOR PLANNING A STRESS-FREE GARDEN

It’s so easy to overdo it. This time of year, most of the garden is in the visionary realm. Are you hanging out there? Paging through seed catalogs, drawing up garden plans, imagining the dinner parties you’ll host and jars and jars of salsa you’ll put up and give away as gifts? This is fun, but it’s important to remember that your fantasies about your garden and your actual garden are two different things.

As those grand ideas get translated into action, there are a few tips I’d like to share from many years of overdoing it, so that hopefully you can pace

SPRING OPENING MARCH 1

veggie starts, seeds, onion plants, spring-blooming trees & shrubs

Monday-Saturday 10am-4pm

yourself and harvest serenity along with cucumbers.

First of all, you don’t have to grow everything! For first-time gardeners, I usually suggest choosing about five kinds of crops to start with, up to eight or 10 if you’re feeling really ambitious. This is not only so that you don’t get overwhelmed, but also so that you can really pay attention to those crops and learn how to care for them. This knowledge will become foundational as you add more crops over time. Even for experienced gardeners, the principle of “less is more” can go a long way. When deciding what to grow, some helpful questions to ask yourself are: What do you really like eating? What grows well in your conditions? What’s easy to grow but costs a lot at the store or farmers market? The answers to these can help guide your choices about what to prioritize in your garden this year.

My second tip is to consider how much care and attention a given crop will need over the course of its life. It can be supereasy to plant a huge garden, but keeping that garden weeded and watered, minimizing pests, and harvesting and processing all the bounty may easily add up to too much work over the growing season.

Along with the total amount of care a given crop will need, think about when that work will need to be done. For example, green beans have a harvest window of several weeks, during which they’ll need to be picked every few days. That can be a fun chore if you have the time or a stressful obligation if you’ve got a bunch of other crops needing your attention right then, too. Generally speaking, fruit crops (beans, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, etc.) will need more regular care and atten-

tion because of the extended period of harvest. Climbing crops like pole beans and indeterminate tomatoes will need trellising. To grow tomatoes in our warm and wet climate, they greatly benefit from regular pruning. Take all of these tasks and the time they take into account when you plan your garden.

My third tip is mulch, mulch, mulch. One of the most overwhelming parts of a garden is the weed pressure. A thick layer of organic mulch or a weed barrier material can dramatically reduce the time and stress of dealing with weeds. For small to medium-sized gardens, my preferred mulches are straw, hay or leaves. Both straw and leaves are nice because they rarely harbor weed seeds themselves, but they can be harder to obtain. Hay is readily available in our region rich in animal agriculture, but sometimes it has weed seeds in it. For larger plantings, my go-to weed barrier fabric is a woven polypropylene groundcover, UV-treated, Dewitt Sunbelt 3.2 ounce or similar. This is available at Home Depot or online.

MULCH RECCOMENDATIONS

Here’s how I recommend using mulch: For early spring plantings, let the soil remain exposed for a month or so, weed at least once, then mulch; for later plantings, transplant directly into mulch or mulch after direct-sow crops are big enough, weeding until then. When temperatures are still cool (now until sometime in April or May; we’ll see how it goes this year), mulch can be an appealing habitat for slugs. I’ve lost entire beds of spring brassicas to slugs when I transplanted robust little plants directly into mulch. Another

reason to wait to lay mulch in early spring is that you want the sun to directly warm the soil, as opposed to summertime when the cooling effect of the mulch is welcome.

Once your plants are big enough and the soil is warm enough, do a thorough weeding either by hand or with one of my favorite garden tools, the stirrup hoe (aka Scuffle hoe, hula hoe, etc.), then lay down mulch about 3-5 inches thick, depending on the height of your plants. Yes, this is a thick layer. Thinner than that won’t be an effective weed barrier and will end up just getting in the way of weeding tools. If you don’t have enough material to mulch this thickly, get more! Weed barrier “fabric” (which is essentially specialized plastic) does the job all on its own but will need to be held down somehow so it doesn’t blow away in the wind. One option is to lay down the plastic, then layer some organic mulch on top to hold it down. Sandbags, logs and landscaping staples also can be used.

I don’t use wood chips as mulch in my annual garden. There are two reasons I make this choice: One is that woody materials are broken down mostly by fungi, which are more beneficial to woody plants than annual plants. Second, and perhaps more practically, I’ve found that it’s hard to get a thick enough layer of wood chips to stop weed growth, while also leaving room for growing veggies. Unlike straw, hay and leaves, wood chips don’t clump together. Because they’re small particles, they tumble down the edges when they’re piled up high enough to block light from the soil. This makes it hard to pile them thickly without avalanching over and burying the plants you’re trying to protect from weeds. I love using wood chips to mulch trees and shrubs, but they just don’t work well for annual gardening, in my opinion.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, my third tip to avoid getting overwhelmed is to get in touch with why you want to garden in the first place. It almost goes without saying that you want to garden to harvest food to eat, but most of us have many layers of goals and intentions wrapped up in our gardening endeavors. Some examples: to get outside more; to connect with the seasons; to feed pollinators and other beneficials; to teach my kids about where food comes from; to connect with my neighbors more, etc. If you can explicitly name the intangible goals you have, then you can more easily notice when you’re addressing them. Then, if you end up losing all of your cukes to striped cucumber beetles but you make it into a learning experience for you and your children, you’ll recognize the multifaceted bounty of experience and connection that your garden is giving.

HELLO, GREEN: Winter peas emerge as a harbinger of spring and the launch of gardening season. Photo courtesy of Wild Abundance

FEB. 28 - MARCH. 7, 2024

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

WELLNESS

Therapeutic Recreation

Adult Morning Movement

Active games, physical activities, and sports for individuals with disabilities ages 17 and over. Advanced registration at avlrec. com required.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Tai Chi for Balance

A gentle Tai Chi exercise class to help improve balance, mobility, and quality of life. All ages are welcome.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

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 (2/28), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Tai Chi Fan

This class helps build balance and whole body awareness. All ages and ability levels welcome. Fans will be provided.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 1pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Free Zumba Gold Fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. Free, but donations for the instructor are appreciated. For more information please call (828) 350-2058.

WE (2/28, 3/6), noon, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Nia Dance Fitness

A sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts.

TH (2/29, 3/7), 9:30am, TU (3/5), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Tai Chi for Beginners

A class for anyone interested in Tai Chi and building balance, whole body awareness and other health benefits.

TH (2/29, 3/7), MO (3/4), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Chair Yoga

A gentle yoga practice while seated and/ or with the aid of a chair. Well suited for those who may find other yoga classes too challenging.

TH (2/29), 10am, Asheville Community Yoga Center, 8 Brookdale Rd

Qigong for Health

A part of traditional Chinese medicine that involves using exercises to optimize energy within the body, mind and spirit.

FR (3/1), TU (3/5), 9am, SA (3/2), 11am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Yoga for Everyone

A free-in person yoga class for all ages and abilities that is led by alternating teachers. Bring your own mat, water bottle and mask.

Registration required.

SA (3/2), 9:30am, Black Mountain Presbyterian, 117 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Winter Flow w/Jamie Knox

This class builds heat in the body and releases excess water, so we can be our strongest and fittest, boosting our immune system and staving off depression. No need to pre-register. Walk-ins welcome.

SU (3/3), 10:30am, One World Brewing W, 520 Haywood Rd

Gentle Yoga for Queer & GNC Folks

This class is centered towards creating an affirming and inclusive space for queer and gender non-conforming individuals.

SU (3/3), 1:30pm, W

Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd

Barre Fusion

A high energy low impact practice that shapes, sculpts, and tones the body like a dancer. No experience necessary, open to all levels.

MO (3/4), 10am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Metta Meditation

In-person guided meditation focused on benevolence & loving-kindness. Free and open to beginners and experienced practi-

VETERANS

Farm in Hendersonville hosts another installation of its winter lecture series, History Bites, on Friday, March 1, starting at 11 a.m. Art Cole and Kathie Doole will lead a presentation on the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas. Photo courtesy of Historic Johnson Farm

tioners are welcome. MO (3/4), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

ART

56th Annual Juried Undergraduate Exhibition

This exhibition is an opportunity for WCU undergraduate students to share their artwork with a larger public and to enhance their skills in presenting artwork in a professional gallery setting. Gallery open

Tuesday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through March 22, 2024.

WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960

This exhibition features works created during the 1940s–1960s. Much of the art during this time expressed the uncertainty of the era, often relying on automatism and biomorphic forms. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through April 29, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Counter/Balance: Gifts of John & Robyn Horn

A presentation of important examples of contemporary American craft, including woodworking, metalsmithing, fiber and pottery by renowned American artists. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through July. 29, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Artwork of Leaflin Lore Winecoff

Experience Leaflin's artistic evolution showcased in this exhibition, where diverse works capture the essence of her creative journey spanning the past few years. Gallery open Monday through Friday, 8:30am. Exhibition through March 2.

John M. Crawford Jr. Gallery, 360 Asheville School Rd

Focus Gallery Exhibit: Art of Detailing

The Southern Highland Craft Guild opens its first focus gallery exhibition of 2024 with Art of Detailing, featuring both traditional and contemporary craft by five members of the Guild. Open daily, 10am. Exhibition through May 20, 2024.

Folk Art Center, 382 Blue Ridge Pkwy

Vera B. Williams: Stories

This retrospective will showcase the complete range of award-winning author and illustrator Vera B. Williams' life and work. It will highlight her time at Black Mountain College, her political activism, in addition to her work as an author and illustrator. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 11am. Exhibition through May. 11, 2024.

Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St

Women Celebrating Women Art Opening

This will be a showcase featuring the works of three remarkable local women artists: Kathy Edwards, Kelly Saunders and Marilyn Place.

FR (3/1), 5pm, Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave

Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts Exhibition

Featured in this exhibit are Arrowmont’s nationally and internationally recognized practicing artists and university workshop instructors. Open daily, 10am. Exhibition through May 1, 2024.

Folk Art Center, 382 Blue Ridge Pkwy

Julieta Fumberg: Of Chaos & Peace, Beauty in Both Fumberg's most recent exhibit portrays darkness to see the light and the contrast of things. The Human heart beats, in and out, creating the contrast that it needs to sustain life. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10am, and Sunday, noon. Exhibition runs through May 5.

Pink Dog Gallery, 348 Depot St

Western North Carolina Glass: Selections from the Collection Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through April 15, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

2024 Western North Carolina Scholastic Art Awards

The Museum works to facilitate regional judging of student artwork and to recognize our community’s burgeoning artistic talent. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through March 25.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Public Tour: Discovering Art in Asheville Experience a volunteer educator led tour of the Museum's Collection through the featured exhibition Intersections in American Art. No reservations are required.

SU (3/3), 2pm, Asheville

Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Daily Craft Demonstrations

Two artists of different media will explain and demonstrate their craft with informative materials displayed at their booths, daily. These free and educational opportunities are open to the public. Open daily, 10am.

Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy

Spark of the Eagle

Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson

This exhibition celebrates the legacy of Lambert Wilson, a passionate collector of contemporary Native American art. Gallery open Tuesday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through June 28, 2024

WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

Chris Jehly: The Soil's Gaze

An exhibition of pleinair watercolor paintings by Chris Jehly, unveils the artist’s serendipitous moments painting outdoors where nothing ever stands completely still. Gallery open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am, and Sunday, 11am. Exhibition through April 14. See p25

Tyger Tyger Gallery, 191 Lyman St, Ste 144

HISTORY LECTURE: Historic Johnson

Rob Yamabushi

Presents: The Chimera

Art Show

The show will feature never before seen originals, custom canvas prints, and much more. The Chimera is a reference to the multi-headed poly-crisis reality of our modern world. Gallery open Monday through Sunday, noon. Exhibition through March 31.

Push Skate Shop & Gallery, 25 Patton Ave

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Wind Cults & Beautifulish

Bringing the music of Wind Cults, Asheville-based improv trio, and Sam Scranton as well as Katherine Young who make music together as Beautifulish.

WE (2/28), 7pm, Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St

Leap Day

An evening of storytelling with local artist Old Sap who will take the stage to share poetry, tall tales, happenings and folky, acoustic music.

TH (2/29), 6:30pm, Leveller Brewing Co., 25 N Main St, Weaverville

Sing & Swing: A Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Production

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents touring initiative provides an affordable opportunity to present great jazz programming, featuring up-and-coming musicians.

TH (2/29), 7:30pm, WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

Rod Abernethy

This authentic southern folk troubadour, master acoustic guitarist, and award winning songwriter will be showcasing his style of songwriting and guitar wizardry.

FR (3/1), 8pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Cary Fridley & Bayla Davis

Cary and Bayla play old-time music with harmony vocals, ranging from fast barnburners to soulful ballads.

SA (3/2), 7pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O Henry Ave

Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay

A live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations. Discover the music of coldplay under the gentle glow of candlelight.

SA (3/2), 8:45pm, Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway

Emerald Empire Asheville Showcase

This showcases offer the opportunity to meet your producer, who can answer any questions

you may have about booking a wedding band. SU (3/3), 7pm, One World Brewing W, 520 Haywood Rd

Local Live: Jay Brown, Ashley Chambliss & Chris Wilhelm

A bi-weekly local live series featuring a variety of talented local musicians. This week, Jay welcomes Ashley Chambliss and Chris Wilhelm.

MO (3/4), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Genesis, The Lamb Lies

Down on Broadway: Bill Kopp Discussion

Series w/Jeff Santiago

Bill Kopp, author and music journalist is joined by local musician, Jeff Santiago from Santiago y Los Gatos and will be discussing the influence of Genesis and the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway."

WE (3/6), 7pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr

Maya de Vitry w/Kirsta Shows

Experience Maya de Vitry's dynamic and vibrant voice that seems to rise out of some necessity of bringing songs to life, embracing listeners with soulful intimacy.

WE (3/6), 8pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O Henry Ave

Blue Ridge Orchestra’s Musique Ménage: Governor's Western Residence

Featuring a chamber ensemble of select orchestra musicians and the return of multi-talented vocalists from the Opera Theatre at UNC Greensboro.

TH (3/7), 6pm, Western Residence of the Governor, 45 Patton Mountain Rd

Owen Strings' Program

The evening will feature students performing music from Beethoven to Broadway in combined ensembles as well as in smaller groups and solo performances.

TH (3/7), 6:30pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

LITERARY

Books on the Boundary Reading Circle: Even As We Breathe by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

A quarterly book club that discusses the best fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written by Indigenous authors.

WE (2/28), 6pm, Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee

Become Who You Are: Book Signing & Reading

Enjoy a quick hike to the mountain top in

DuPont State Forest where local, bestselling author, Ryan A Bush, will read from his latest book, Become Who

You Are

SA (3/2), 3pm, Dupont State Forest, Cedar Mountain

Grief Slut: A Poetry Reading w/Evelyn Berry & Friends

Explore Southern, queer and trans stories with poet Evelyn Berry, author of Grief Slut The reading will be followed by a brief Q&A and book signing.

SA (3/2), 6pm, Firestorm Books, 1022 Haywood Rd

The Language of God: Book Study

A testament to the power of faith in the midst of suffering without faltering from its logical stride.

TU (3/5), 10am, Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 6th Ave W., Hendersonville

Poetry Critique Night

Everyone is welcome to share a few poems or just sit back and listen. Signups to share will open 15 minutes prior to the start.

TU (3/5), 6pm, Black Mountain Library, Black Mountain

The Cruise of the Rolling Junk Mark Taylor, BA will share this work of non-fiction by Scott Fitzgerald, illustrating Zelda and Scott’s 8-day car ride from Connecticut to Alabama.

TH (3/7), 6pm, Thomas Wolfe Memorial, 52 N Market St

THEATER & FILM

Indian Ink Presents: Mrs. Krishnan’s Party

An interactive theatre show with no two nights ever the same in this deliciously fun cross-cultural experience, as actors juggle cooking, music, guests and unfolding drama.

WE (2/28), 7pm, Wortham Center For The Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave

Listen To This: That Night a DJ Saved My Life

Enjoy another edition of this renowned storytelling series with tales where music made a difference. Featuring stories by Scott Bunn, Maryedith Burrell, Alison Fields and others.

TH (2/29), 6:30pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O'Henry Ave

The Last Ectastic Days Score

For one night only, Robert Chamberlain, the composer of The Last Ecstatic Days, will be performing his score live with the film. See p24-25

TH (2/29), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

A...My Name is Alice

Through a series of witty and poignant songs and sketches, the show explores a wide range of topics, from love and friendship to career aspirations and societal expectations.

TH (2/29), FR (3/1)

, SA (3/2), 7:30pm, SU (3/3), 2:30pm, Owen Theatre, 44 College St, Mars Hill

Jean Paul Sartre: No Exit

Three people are locked in a room together with no windows and no mirrors. They all carry secrets of life and death. As the past rears up, the present becomes hell.

TH (2/29), FR (3/1), SA (3/2), 7:30pm, SU (3/3), 2pm, Belk Theatre, UNC Asheville, 1 University Heights

What Silent Sky

A play inspired by the real-life Harvard Astronomy computer, and pioneer female American astronomer; Henrietta Swan Leavitt.

FR (3/1), SA (3/2), 7:30pm, SU (3/3), 2pm, Hart Theatre, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville

Reasonably Priced Babies Improv Show A formidable improv comedy group that asks the audience for suggestions and then they make that come to technicolor life.

SA (3/2), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 West State St, Black Mountain

Free Intro to Long Form Improv Class

A laid-back opportunity to tap into your creativity, build confidence, and improve communication skills, all while enjoying a good time. Space is limited so registration is required.

TH (3/7), 7:30pm, Misfit Improv & Acting School, 573 Fairview Rd Unit 21A

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS

Every Black Voice: AVL's Racial Justice Coalition Lunch & Learn

This event will be discussing reparations and the history of black Asheville.

WE (2/28), 12:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Eightfold Path Study Group

A group will gather to study the Eightfold Path Program. Kris Kramer will host the group as a fellow participant and student.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 3pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Aerial Silks Foundations Learn how to properly ascend, descend, and

create stunning shapes on the silks while emphasizing safety and proper form. Participants of all ages and all abilities are welcome.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 4pm and 5:30pm, Amethyst Realm, 244 Short Coxe Ave

Peace Education Program

An innovative series of video-based workshops that help people discover their own inner strength and personal peace.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 5pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Access to Capital

Learn why businesses borrow money, what lenders are looking for when reviewing your application, and the importance of having cash flow projections. Pre-registration is required at avl.mx/ddw.

TH (2/29), noon, Online

Intro To Belly Dance w/ Diana Stone

This intro class is intended to help us connect deeply with and love our bodies and to find freedom of movement and improved health and expression. It is for all ages, abilities and bodies.

TH (2/29, 3/7), noon, The Well, 3 Louisiana Ave

Kids & Teens Kung Fu

Learn fighting skills as well as conflict resolution and mindfulness.

First class is free to see if it's a good fit for you.

TH (2/29, 3/7), MO (3/4), Tu (3/5), 4pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Building an Equitable Archives: Cultivating & Caring for Community Memory

This presentation will discuss the importance of agency, access, and institutional accountability as local archives and museums strive to share a more equitable picture of our community's past. Pre-registration is required at avl.mx/prxx.

TH (2/29), 6pm, Online

Dharma Talk w/John Orr

John will give Dharma talk and lead discussion on various topics related to meditation and Buddhist teachings.

TH (2/29), 6:30pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Craft & Connect

Get crafty and acquire new skills while connecting with peers in your community. Registration is required.

TH (2/29), 7pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Bingo on Grove Street

A fun and friendly game of bingo in the community.

FR (3/1), 10:30am, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St

History Bites: Winter Lecture Series

This month Art Cole and Kathie Doole will lead a presentation on the Veterans History Museum of the Carolinas. This talk will introduce the museum, located in Brevard, that honors all veterans.

FR (3/1), 11am, Historic Johnson Farm, 3346 Haywood Rd, Hendersonville

Parent's Night Out: XP

League Asheville

Enjoy a relaxing night out and let the kid's game. Pizza dinner is included, registration is required.

FR (3/1), 5pm, XP

League Asheville, 15 Loop Rd, Ste 2B

Avocado Ink Plant Pigment Workshop w/ Annie Kyla Bennett

Learn the basics of plant ink-making in this workshop using avocado peels and pits, a sustainable pigment source, and explore painting and drawing with our new plant ink.

See p25

SA (3/2), noon, Canopy Gallery in Art Garden, 191 Lyman St, Ste 316

Bid Whist

Make bids, call trumps, and win tricks. Every Saturday for fun

competition with the community.

SA (3/2), 1pm, Dr Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Center, 285

Livingston St

Popcorn Creation Bar

Start with freshly-made traditional popcorn and then make every kernel a work of art. Craft your own popcorn delicacy with an array of gourmet toppings and seasonings.

SA (3/2), SU (3/3), 11am, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Weekly Sunday Scrabble Club

Weekly scrabble play. All scrabble gear provided.

SU (3/3), 1:30pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Monthly Companion Orientation

Learn about our worship services, our medical respite facility, and our bi-weekly restaurant style meals and how you can get involved.

MO (3/4), 5pm, Haywood Street Congregation, 297

Haywood St

Sketchbook Club

A bi-monthly gathering for sharing inspiration and collaborating on drawings while developing a consistent sketchbook.

MO (3/4), 6pm, Foundation Studios, 27 Foundy St

Parkinson's Support Group

A monthly gathering for People with Parkinson's and the people who support them.

TU (3/5), 10am, Groce Methodist Church, 954 Tunnel Rd

Therapeutic Recreation

Adult Crafting & Cooking

A variety of cooking and crafts for individuals with disabilities ages 17 and over each week. Advance registration at avlrec.com is required.

TU (3/5), 10am, Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd

Free Six-Week Pottery Class

Learn the basics of pottery in this six-week course. Start when it's convenient for you and continue for the next six weeks. Space limited, advance registration required.

TU (3/5), 2pm, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St

Tarot Club

A monthly meetup that explores the Tarot as a metaphysical practice. Each month we will study new ways to work with the cards while engaging in personal journey work. TU (3/5), 7pm, The Well at Mountain Magic, 3 Louisiana Ave

The US Intelligence Community: A Rich Past, A Busy Present & An Uncertain Future Thomas W. Shreeve will lead this presentation and discuss how US intelligence activities have grown dramatically in breadth and scope since the Second World War.

TU (3/5), 7pm, OLLI/ Reuter Center, UNCA, 300 Campus View Rd

Youth Beginner Climbing

A three-week instructional climbing class designed for beginners. Adults belay their own children and advanced registration is required for participants. WE (3/6), 12:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Crafting w/Cricut

Make a new craft each month using your Cricut. For more information, call (828) 350-2058 or email kkennedy@ashevillenc. gov.

WE (3/6), 6pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Can We Learn to Co-Exist Safely with Bears Ashley Hobbs, a bear biologist with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission in Ashe-

ville, will discuss the natural history of black bears with the WNC and if we can safely coexist.

WE (3/6), 7pm, OLLI/ Reuter Center, UNCA, 300 Campus View Rd

Therapeutic Recreation

Adult Hiking Club Participants need to pack a lunch, water bottle, and clothes comfortable to move in. Open to individuals with disabilities ages 18 and over.

TH (3/7), 9am, Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd

Embroiderers' Guild of America: Laurel Chapter

Kim Sanders will teach the stitching techniques required to complete a small project incorporating a variety knots and dot stitches, sewn on linen.

TH (3/7), 9:30am, Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave W, Hendersonville

Waking Up Together: An Introduction to Relational Mindfulness Deborah Eden Tull, Dharma teacher, author, spiritual activist, and founder of Mindful Living Revolution, joins the weekly Dharma talk.

TH (3/7), 6:30pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

LOCAL MARKETS

RAD Farmers Market

Winter Season

Browse 30+ local vendors all winter long with fresh produce, pastured meats, baked goods, honey, and more. Safely accessible by bike or foot on the greenway, plus free public parking along Riverside Drive.

WE (2/28, 3/6), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr 2024 Barefoot Plant Market

Native plants support healthy habitats. All proceeds support environmental education.

SA (3/2), 10am, Ag & Land Resources Campus, 49 Mt. Carmel Rd

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS

Lazr Luvr Leap Year Show

A night of high energy, as Lazr Luvr takes you on a journey through the electrifying sounds of the ’80s.

TH (2/29), 7pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200

Craft Making & Thinking: Craft Studies Conference Lectures, panel discussions, artist presentations, and demonstrations will offer a multifaceted world of craft inside and outside the Southern Appalachian region.

FR (3/1), SA (3/2), SU (3/3), 10am, Folk Art Center, 382 Blue Ridge Pkwy

Rich Rob's B-Day Bash

A three ring experimental circus hosted by Calcutta. There will be door prizes, a raffle, costume contests, open mic, multiple musicals acts and more to celebrate Rich Rob.

FR (3/1), 8pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Pisces Party Celebrate the fabulous fickle fish in your life with some killer music and snacks

FR (3/1), 9pm, Fleetwood's, 496 Haywood Rd

GRCA 11th Annual Chilly Chili Cookoff!

Come out and try different kinds of chili made by locals. You can vote for your favorite as well.

SA (3/2), noon, Tuxedo Park, 1299 Old US Hwy 25, Zirconia

Celebrate the Global Day of Unplugging SafeTech NC will present practical ideas to reduce radiation risks

and screen addiction. For more information and to register, contact safetechnc@protonmail. com

SA (3/2), 3pm, Fairview Christian Fellowship, 596 Old US Hwy 74, Fairview

Take Me Higher Nothing Butt Rock Night

An evening filled with jams that'll have you rocking out all night long while enjoying a new beer release. But that's not all, there will also be late night karaoke, so you can take the stage and sing out your favorite butt rock anthems.

SA (3/2), 8pm, Dssolvr, 63 N Lexington Ave

USS Asheville PG-21 Memorial

This ceremony will unveil a monument that commemorates the crew of the PG-21.

Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox USN, director of the Naval History and Heritage Command at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., will be the keynote speaker for the event.

SU (3/3), 2pm, Historic Riverside Cemetery, 53 Birch St

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING

MANNA FoodBank

Mobile Market

All markets are free and open to anyone who needs support with groceries. Walk through in just minutes.

WE (2/28), 11am, Fernihurst Mansion, 16 Fernihurst Dr, A-B Tech

2nd Annual Food Dr

Drop off in-date and unopened canned, boxed, or bagged nonperishable food items at any HCPL branch in Waynesville, Canton, Maggie Valley, and Fines Creek.

WE (2/28), TH (2/29), FR (3/1), 9am, Haywood County Public Library, 11 Pennsylvania Ave, Canton

Broadsway: A Drag Queen One WoMAN

Musical Revue

This glamorous fundraiser event for Healing Solutions Counseling promises a dynamic and empowering showcase featuring talented drag performer Divine Holeburn who redefines the boundaries of cabaret.

FR (3/1), 5pm, Plēb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St

Bowl For Kids' Sake: Burke County

Each bowler is asked to donate or raise a minimum of $50 in donations. The theme for this year is Support Your Sport with the opportunity to dress in your favorite sports gear, team jersey or sports hero.

SA (3/2), 9am, Valdese Recreation Center, 312 Massel Ave SE, Valdese

Bowl For Kids' Sake: Henderson, Polk & Transylvania Counties

Each bowler is asked to donate or raise a minimum of $50 in donations. The theme for this year is Support Your Sport with the opportunity to dress in your favorite sports gear, team jersey or sports hero.

SA (3/2), 11am, Tarheel Lanes, 3275 Asheville Hwy, Hendersonville

Innovating for Ten, Trailblazing for Tomorrow Gala & Silent Auction

A festive night to celebrate ten years of innovation and trailblazing for the future.

SA (3/2), 6pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd Ste 10

First Annual Nonprofit Fundraiser Anniversary White Horse will be celebrate their first year as a nonprofit organization with a benefit concert. The line-up will feature local legends.

SU (3/3), noon, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

New approaches

Henderson County debuts Adult Recovery Court for substance use

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

jwakeman@mountainx.com

Like all of North Carolina, Henderson County is experiencing the effects of the drug crisis. In 2022, 40 people in the county died from opioids, stimulants and other drugs, and 147 were brought to emergency departments for drug overdoses, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Opioid and Substance Use Data Dashboard.

But for numerous reasons, many people aren’t treated for substance use disorder. Some end up filtering into the criminal justice system, where their disorder is unaddressed or even exacerbated. Henderson County Adult Recovery Court, which began operating this year, gives them a new option.

distinct lack of evidence-based practices.” She believes that approach “has translated to patients struggling to find access to care and only perpetuating the cycle of addiction.”

McSurdy continues, “So often patients tell me that they feel misunderstood, isolated and judged when seeking care, so having programs aimed at rehabilitative instead of punitive treatments is absolutely a promising development.” (She is not involved in the Henderson County Treatment Court.)

‘GET THEIR LIFE ON TRACK’

The goals of a treatment court are to reduce recidivism by addressing underlying issues — substance misuse and, often, mental health challenges — and to rehabilitate.

ARC works with people who have substance or alcohol use problems and face criminal charges in Henderson County District Court; participants receive court-ordered treatment while being monitored by criminal justice and recovery professionals.

“This is a public health issue,” says Henderson County public defender Beth Stang, who helped establish the recovery court. “Substance use disorder touches all kinds of cases,” not only drug-related crimes like possession or manufacturing. She says many property crimes such as breaking and entering, stealing from family members and forgery are motivated by the need to support a substance use disorder.

“Traditional court is pretty limited in what it can really do to help people, even when all the players have the best intentions,” says Stang. “Generally, by the time [a case] gets to a judge … you’re going to get probation or you’re going to get jail time.”

Dr. Jessica McSurdy, a family medicine physician at Mountain Area Health Education Center who treats patients with opioid use disorder, says that historically “the treatment of addiction has been filled with stigma, bias and a

Participants who are at least 18 years old and residents of Henderson County can be referred by their lawyer to the ARC, which screens candidates for the program. The court team includes Henderson County Behavioral Health Systems director Jodi Grabowski, ARC coordinator and certified peer support specialist Daniel Conway, Judge Kim Gasperson-Justice, Assistant District Attorney James Capps, probation officers and members of Hope Coalition, a Hendersonville-based recovery support nonprofit.

The team identifies individuals who are at high risk of reoffending and need a lot of support for substance use and co-occurring disorders, using the Risk and Needs Triage screening tool, Conway explains.

There have been numerous referrals to ARC, but Conway says no one has pleaded into it yet. To access the program, a participant must plead guilty to the charges and agree to participate in recovery court. After successful completion of the program, the charges can be expunged, Stang says.

Throughout the 18-month program, participants follow an individualized, evidence-based treatment plan that

BROTHERS

Daniel Conway, right, graduated from the Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court in 2021 under the guidance of director Kevin Rumley, left. Conway was recently hired as the Adult Recovery Court coordinator in Henderson County. Photo courtesy of Conway

includes therapy, supportive services for housing and employment, and community service. Grabowski calls participant engagement “highly monitored … [and] very intensive. It gives people a lot of support to get their life on track.”

ARC conducts random drug testing and participants can be terminated by the judge for failing to follow guidelines such as honesty about substance use.

“What is important to know is ... treatment court is way more challenging than going into prison,” says Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court director Kevin Rumley. “It has way more accountability, daily touchpoints from the staff and supervisors. … Going and

IN ARMS: Certified peer support specialist

doing your time is easy because you just get three meals a day, watch TV, and you’re not really asked to change. You’re not asked to get to the underlying issues. But every single day, that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Conway, who has lived experience with substance use, says he shares with potential participants his own story of success in Buncombe County’s Veterans Treatment Court, from which he graduated in 2021. Conway served in the Marine Corps from 2006-12 and, after leaving the military, struggled with substance use and homelessness.

“I explain how treatment court saved my life,” Conway says. “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”

OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUNDS

Establishing the ARC was one way Henderson County opted to use its opioid settlement funding. It will receive about $16 million over the next 18 years, according to Henderson County Behavioral Health. A report on strategic spending of opioid settlement funding identified a diversion program or treatment court as a need for the community.

Participants are required to live in the county where they attend the ARC. Therefore, establishing the program also necessitated transitional housing, which Henderson County did not have until recently. Now there are 10 beds for males and six for females in separate houses, Conway says. Another apartment complex that will house 28 people in recovery will be available soon, he says.

When researching the implementation of a recovery court in Henderson County, Grawbowski, Stang, Gasperson-Justice and some county commissioners visited treatment courts in Catawba, Haywood and Gaston counties. Grabowski says seeing a graduation at recovery court made an impression: “You can’t go to one of those and not cry — they’re so moving.”

Opioid settlement money also covered sending court personnel to the RISE conference held by All Rise (formerly the National Association of Drug Court Professionals) to learn about best practices for operating a recovery court. Grabowski says buy-in from Henderson County Courthouse personnel makes an ARC possible. “When you create something like this,

“What is important to know is ... treatment court is way more challenging than going into prison.”

— Kevin Rumley, Buncombe County Veterans Treatment Court director

it’s creating a whole docket — a whole half day of work twice a month for the judge, for the prosecutor,” she says.

“They’re adding work to their workload without getting paid more money. They choose to do that because it’s the right thing to do.”

HOLISTIC DEFENSE

Stang, the public defender, says programs like the ARC are a method of holistic defense. According to the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, “The key insight of holistic defense is that to be truly effective advocates for our clients, we as defenders must broaden the scope of our work to include both the collateral consequences of criminal justice involvement as well as the underlying issues, both legal and nonlegal, that have played a part in driving our clients into the criminal justice system in the first place.”

Addressing underlying substance misuse could stop the revolving door in the criminal justice system. “The reason that people are getting into trouble, committing crimes, being accused of crimes, isn’t just because they’re bad,” Stang explains. “That’s not what’s going on here.”

Adds Rumley, “The disease of addiction is so brutal. People find themselves interfacing with the justice system just because they’re trying to manage their addiction — the criminal behaviors that we end up doing just to provide for a daily habit, a daily fix. When we remove the addiction, then get to the underlying issues of suffering, trauma and mental health and actually focus on those, it’s profound.”

Rumley says he’s excited for Henderson County to start its first recovery court. “I have no doubt they’re going to be transforming lives and saving lives, too,” he says. X 1st

WITH ERIC BROWN

BY ERIC BROWN

ericjbrown3000@gmail.com

February, also known as Nobody’s Favorite Month, can be a rough time of year. The weather is usually nasty, studios dump their worst movies into theaters, and Valentine’s Day inevitably rears its ugly head (an especially unforgiving day for the single people among us).

Fortunately, the month is drawing to a close. OR IS IT? It’s one of life’s bitter ironies that presidential elections always fall on a leap year, which means we’ve got an extra day this month.

To combat this bad news, I’ve assembled three of the funniest people I know — local comedians Petey Smith-McDowell, Stevie Ramirez and Timothy Hearn — to bring a little humor to the end of another dreary February. This column won’t make the extra day go away, but hopefully it will make you laugh.

Eric: According to Facebook, Instagram and every dating app out there, the most popular and important social thing to do in Asheville is to go hiking. Spring is right around the corner, and soon all the trails will be chock-full of hikers. Unfortunately, I do not enjoy hiking. As fellow locals who may or may not feel the same way (for I do not know your lives or hiking preferences), what would you suggest I and others like me do to make hiking more enjoyable?

Petey Smith-McDowell: The fact is Asheville is a town in the valley of mountains and half of the city is on an incline. Technically, you are hiking anytime you walk outside. So hike a lap or two around downtown. There will definitely be a brewery at the top or bottom of any hill. And the people-watching will never let you down. Is that a street performer or a drunk tourist? Either way, they’re entertaining.

Stevie Ramirez: Don’t be afraid to go full-on goblin mode in public (and especially on hiking trails). Wear your sunglasses and a baggy groutfit. Keep your headphones on. Become imperceivable. Nobody will

Comedians propose strategies for higher voter turnout

However, I recently went on a hike, and it was OK. (I know, I was shocked too.) I won’t say I liked it, but as far as exercise goes you could do a lot worse. The problem I face now is how do I continue to be a cranky contrarian in town when I think hiking is OK? I guess that’s between me, my family and my pastor. I ask that you all please respect my privacy while I spend this time figuring out who I am in a world where I think hiking is fine.

Eric: When I think about spring, my mind goes to flowers in bloom, birds singing and tourists taking ill-advised tubing trips down the French Broad River. In broader terms, spring is about growth and change. Which has me wondering: What growth and change would you like to see in Asheville this year?

Petey: I’d like to see a bigger civic center. Hollow out one of these malls and build up. The fact that Asheville’s population is bigger than Greenville, S.C., yet Greenville has a bigger arena is disrespectful to North Carolinians and big eventgoers. They get monster trucks and professional wrestling in Greenville; we get classic “Antiques Roadshow” (no disrespect). We in Asheville deserve a wrestler jumping off a monster truck into one of those antique tables.

know what the hell your vibe is, and they certainly won’t ask. Also, I’ve heard trekking poles are sick and can make hiking feel easier. So there are your two options: goblin mode and/or trekking poles.

Timothy Hearn: I would suggest what Nike has suggested all along: Just do it! You may not initially like it, but once you get to the top and see that sweet, sweet Blue Ridge skyline, you’ll feel the presence and gratitude that comes from a good day of hiking. Plus, in like five years, we’ll all have VR treadmills, so you won’t have to worry about any of this stupid

“nature” stuff anymore. With that in mind, you could also just bingewatch the show “Yellowstone.”

Eric: So I have a confession. A considerable portion of my comedy career has been full of jokes about how dumb I think hiking is. You know — “As a civilization we have evolved to the point where we wouldn’t have to walk around the woods all damn day” and “It’s amazing there’s any room for the animals out there with all the people in North Face gear tromping around out there.” I don’t like to brag, but I was pretty good at hating hiking.

Stevie: I’d like to see local grassroots organizations like BeLoved, Asheville Community Care Collective (AC3), Southside Community Farm and many others receive more financial and community bolstering. These organizations are run by community members who are closely connected to the problems in our communities that most of us have the privilege to ignore. At the very least, we should all be following them on social media and helping amplify their missions. ... With that said, a comedy club would also be nice. How do we not have a comedy club yet?

Timothy: I’d honestly like to see higher ticket prices for the Biltmore Estate and lower living wages for restaurant folks and teachers. They have ENOUGH, if you ask

NOT ANOTHER STICKER: Early voting is underway in Buncombe County for the 2024 primary. And while it’s great to receive an “I voted” sticker, some local comedians say better incentives are needed. Pictured, clockwise from the top left, Eric Brown, Timothy Hearn, Petey Smith-McDowell and Stevie Ramirez. Photo of Brown by Cindy Kunst; all other photos courtesy of the comedians

me. Furthermore, I think it would behoove us to raise the price of rent while decreasing the average income for employees. Lastly, I think we should have someone start walking around downtown listening to a boombox and dancing. In college, we had a boombox guy, and he really lightened the mood and helped set the vibes.

Eric: I realize now that this is a hard question to answer while also being funny, which is my fault in that I write the questions. So as far as real answers go, I am deeply concerned with how we treat the unhoused in this town, and I’m personally impacted by the unstable job market and impossibly high rents around town. So as you can see, not exactly a laugh riot.

My more fun answer, which is something I truly believe we should do in this town, is to have some sort of bullet train situation to Trader Joe’s. It is a universal truth that there is no parking at any Trader Joe’s in the world, and when you’re broke like me, the promise of affordable and decent food is usually enough to make me brave that hellish parking lot, and worse still, Merrimon Avenue. There has to be a better way. Imagine the community we’d all build riding that bullet train to great values. Think of the jobs the bullet train would create in town. Now I know what you’re thinking: Why don’t you just park at Harris Teeter? Where’s the fun in that, I ask? I say this town deserves and needs a hyperspecific bullet train to Trader Joe’s — not tomorrow but today. And since I’m the one who thought of it, I think it’s only fair that one of the train stops should be at my house. I don’t think that’s unreasonable.

Speaking of change, 2024 is an election year. Early voting for the Tuesday, March 5 primary is underway. I know it’s short notice, but using your powers and influences as comedians, how would you encourage people to get out and vote, a la Rock the Vote?

Petey: We need to make voting as cool as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras. In the past, voting day was like a big party. I think we need to bring that back. Half-off on alcohol with

proof of vote. Maybe mix in a little Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales with proof of vote. Or vote and get Apple Music free for a year. We need something more than just a sticker.

Stevie: If you benefit in any way from this local community and you are someone who is qualified to vote, you should vote. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a little local pastry and cup of Joe afterward. Or find your own motivation to leave the house and vote (if for some reason the current state of the world and Asheville isn’t already motivating enough). You can do it, I believe in you.

Timothy: See? This is why we need a boombox guy bringing the vibes to downtown Asheville! The job would be easy. Basically, you hold a boombox directly against your ear and blast music for everyone to hear while you slowly walk/dance your way to the polls and bring the voters … and the vibes ... with you. The vibes are important. The boombox vibes would change with the seasons, as they should. Plus, we would finally have an equal counterpart to our beloved Guitar Hero Guy. Just think about it.

Eric: Voting is a necessary and vital tool of democracy, especially at the local level. Unfortunately, voter turnout is never as high as I’d like. I have a solution. So this may be a little unorthodox, but hear me out. I propose that rather than Rock the Vote, we Brock the Vote. How it works is if I find out you didn’t vote, this guy Brock that I know will show up at your house and in excruciating detail give you the play-by-play of every single Asheville Smoke hockey game he went to — and, let me tell you, he went to most of them. You might not remember or even know that Asheville had a hockey team, but believe me when I tell you Brock does, and he will not leave your house until you know it too. It will take hours, I promise you. He is very thorough, and he doesn’t have anything else going on (not back when the Smoke played and certainly not now). Even as a hockey fan, I can’t deal with Brock for more than 30 minutes. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? Trust me, your answer should be no. I promise you’re not ready for Brock. So Brock the Vote. It’ll be way better for you. X

What’s new in food

Handmade bagels pop-up in Weaverville

Nosh, a microbakery specializing in bagels and bialys, will have a pop-up at the Weaverville Tailgate Market on Wednesday, March 6, and Wednesday, March 20.

Co-owners Emily Baron and Matt Lee, a married couple, pride themselves on using locally milled flours from Lindley Mills and Carolina Ground and use natural sourdough leaven that Baron has maintained for over eight years. Each bagel is shaped by hand over three days before being boiled in barley malt syrup and baked.

The couple recently moved their home bakery operation to a shareduse commercial kitchen space, which allowed them to host pop-ups with the Newstock Pantry team in the River Arts District every Sunday in February.

Owning her own food business has been a decadelong dream for Baron. “One of the many reasons we moved to Asheville in the first place was because it just seemed like the kind of city where that was possible,” she says.

In 2019, she left her nonprofit job and began traveling around the country interning with chefs, honing her cooking and baking skills while looking for a place to live. The couple felt that a great bagel shop was just what Asheville needed. “It felt like there was room for us to add something of our own,” Baron says.

Their bagel background runs deep. Baron grew up going to bagel shops in Cincinnati, and they both missed the bagel shops of New York City, where they lived for many years.

“New York bagels are the gold standard for good reason, but they also vary quite a bit from shop to shop,” Baron says. “Which is great, since everyone has a different idea of what a perfect bagel is. For us, a really good bagel is one that has a crispy, shiny exterior and a really flavorful, chewy, but not overly dense interior. It should be satiating without feeling too heavy.”

Nosh will be popping up at Newstock again on Sunday, March 24, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. “The schmear flavors vary from one pop-up to the next,” says Baron. “We’ve been lucky to collaborate with the talented chefs at Newstock Pantry, who make all of the schmears for our pop-ups entirely from scratch. Some recent flavors include roasted veggie, preserved lemon herb, fermented chili and caramelized apple. We always have a plant-based option available as well.”

The Weaverville Tailgate Market is at 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville. For more information on Nosh and upcoming pop-ups, visit avl.mx/dep.

Chow Chow bows out

Chow Chow, the popular food and culture festival, has disbanded.

The nonprofit, founded in 2019 by Asheville restaurateurs Katie Button, Meherwan Irani and John Fleer, as well as East Fork Pottery’s co-founder Connie Matisse, was designed to celebrate the Southern Appalachian food region and Asheville’s gastronomic footprint. It brought together chefs, food historians and up-and-coming culinary figures to share stories behind rural

Southern food culture. The festival also focused on social justice, hosting discussions about climate change and food insecurity.

Chow Chow took a year off during the pandemic, then resumed in 2021 and 2022 as The Summer of Chow Chow, which featured a tasting bazaar and a series of open-air tents housing regional vendors and events. The final festival, which took place over three days in September 2023, offered a condensed calendar of dinners and ticketed speaking events.

“We thank each and every one of you for your immeasurable talents, creativity, passion and drive to lift

BAGEL BAKERS: Emily Baron and Matt Lee, owners of microbakery Nosh Bagels, prepare for customers at a Newstock Pantry pop-up. Photo courtesy of Emily Baron

up this unique community that we all love and care to see thrive,” Chow Chow wrote in a farewell message posted on its website. “May it always continue to evolve and bring so much pride to our beloved mountain home, especially through your continued support of it. May the seed we all planted grow into so much more in the years to come. Thank you for being a part of what made Chow Chow so special.”

On Feb. 15, following the announcement, Blue Ridge Public Radio reported that 45 local vendors were notified on Feb. 8 that they would not be receiving payment for their participation in the festival. The festival’s outstanding debt totaled over $20,000.

“We are in no way financially capable of cutting checks to finalize your payment,” Chow Chow’s email said, according to BPR. “Our immediate action will be reaching out to you directly to provide you with an official Tax Donation Letter in the amount still owed as ‘in-kind services and goods’ — this way you have some opportunity to recoup what you can as a tax write-off for the 2023 tax season. It is not ideal, but we have exhausted every option we have.”

Tax records reveal the festival was operating at a loss, despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in the form of Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority investments.

To read the full statement from Chow Chow, go to avl.mx/cyl.

Chai Pani confirms move

Chai Pani, Asheville’s James Beard Award-winning Indian street food restaurant, is moving to the South Slope.

Chai Pani Restaurant Group has grown a lot since it opened its

first location 15 years ago. It has expanded to include a second Chai Pani location in Atlanta, as well as Botiwalla locations in Charlotte, Atlanta and West Asheville, which serve Indian street food and spices by its spice brand, Spicewalla. The Asheville Chai Pani restaurant plans to relocate from its original location on Battery Park Avenue to the space vacated by Buxton Hall Barbecue late last year. In its place, the company will open another Botiwalla. The move will triple the size of the restaurant, which has become hugely popular since winning a 2022 James Beard Award.

Chai Pani’s downtown location has struggled to keep up with mounting popularity, and the team hopes this new space will make dining at the restaurant easy once again. “In this new era, think Chai Pani but more deluxe!” says Chai Pani representative Kelsey Burrow.

“All the Chai Pani hits that are currently on the menu will stay, but we are excited to up the ante on our cooking techniques with more space and more equipment than we’ve ever had. Our team has been working in a tiny kitchen all these years, so we are looking forward to giving them the proper space they need to produce more delicious food than ever.”

The mezzanine of the Banks Avenue Chai Pani will be called MG Mini, in honor of the dive bar MG Road, formerly located in Chai Pani’s lower level. That space will itself be transformed into a provisions store.

“Think mini Indian grocery,” Burrow says. The new location plans to open in March or April, after which construction will begin on the Battery Park Botiwalla.

Chai Pani is at 22 Battery Park Ave. and is open daily, 11:30-3:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. For information visit avl.mx/bu8.

— Oby Arnold X

- Tony Voted Best Japanese Food and

Now Open Mondays! Japanese Restaurant

Around Town

Documentary embraces death

A film documenting the death journey of Ethan Sisser, a young man with terminal brain cancer who spent his last days in Asheville and wished to share his story with the world, will screen Thursday, Feb. 29, 7 p.m., at the White Horse Black Mountain community arts center. For the first time, the composer, Robert Chamberlain, will play a live score during the film The Last Ecstatic Days Chamberlain sat alongside film director Scott Kirschenbaum and the death care team during Sisser’s final two weeks.

“The pieces I composed for the film all started with the breath. Listening to how his breath changed during the dying process was a singularly unique source of inspiration,” Chamberlain says, noting how fortunate he was to be invited to record sound during that time.

Sisser had become a viral sensation on social media for documenting his brain cancer experience. Dr. Aditi Sethi, a hospice doctor in Asheville, was inspired by Sisser’s journey and offered to bring him to Asheville to care for him in his last weeks.

“His one dying wish was to film his last weeks so that he could help other people around the world become more comfortable with this experience of dying,” says Kirschenbaum. The hospice wouldn’t allow the filming, but a friend of Dr. Sethi, Nathan Taylor, opened his home to Sisser. There, Sisser spent his final days receiving free palliative care from individuals in Asheville’s “death care world.”

Kirschenbaum, whom Dr. Sethi recommended for the job based on his previous documentary work, says the story especially resonated with him

because he was the same age as Sisser at the time. He says before he began working with Sisser, he was afraid of death. “We [shouldn’t] wait until we’re dying or on our deathbed to confront this topic — that we need to embrace death as a part of life and that there’s so much warmth in that space, if we can reframe this conversation, because obviously, that is considered taboo in our country, in our culture.”

The film inspired Dr. Sethi to launchthe Center for Conscious Living and Dying, a Swannanoabased nonprofit that offers free death care to the community.

“What I realized … is that the practice of building community is simple,” says Kirschenbaum. “It starts with taking care of the dying. And that’s what this nonprofit is really demonstrating as it grows and expands around Asheville and around the country.”

One of the most impactful moments Kirschenbaum witnessed while filming was when Dr. Sethi brought Sisser’s divorced parents to his bedside. She brought their hands together above his chest.

“That’s perhaps the first time they’ve touched in years, and they held each other’s hands while he shared his final words, which were effectively: ‘Maybe the next practice is to be present and let go,’” Kirschenbaum says.

The film premiered at the Santa Fe Film Festival and will be making several more screening stops. It will be available for streaming beginning Tuesday, April 2, to honor the anniversary of Sisser’s death.

Dr. Sethi founded the nonprofit and will give a TEDx talk in March. Kirschenbaum, who is also a professor

FINAL DAYS: Prior to his death on April 2, 2021, Ethan Sisser, left, had one wish: to film his final weeks of life. That wish has since become the documentary The Last Ecstatic Days. Also featured is Dr. Aditi Sethi. Photo courtesy of The Last Ecstatic Days production

at Warren Wilson College, will take part in a conversation there, presented by the Institute for Psychedelics & Death, on Monday, March 4.

White Horse Black Mountain is at 105 Montreat Road, Black Mountain. Tickets to the screening are $15. To purchase, visit avl.mx/ded.

Connie Bostic retrospective

A retrospective of the works of the late Connie Bostic, who died Jan. 14, will be held at UNC Asheville’s Tucker Cooke Gallery in Owen Hall. The exhibit, curated by Arnold Wengrow, opened Feb. 23 and will continue through Friday, March 29.

Bostic took leadership roles in local arts organizations and participated in what she referred to as “sociopolitical art actions.” She depicted scenes from her own life as well as art reflecting empathy for people struggling in society.

UNCA’s Owen Hall is at 100 Theatre Lane. Learn more at avl.mx/dee.

Avocado ink making

The co-founder and curator of Art Garden AVL, Annie Kyla Bennett (who uses they/them pronouns), will host their first plant pigment workshop since 2020, focusing on avocado ink. The 2 1/2-hour workshop will take place Saturday, March 2, noon-2:30 p.m., and will teach methods that can be replicated at home with a variety of plants. Participants will learn how to brew a pink ink using avocado peels and pits, discuss how to adjust the color and other qualities of the ink, and explore ways to use it for painting and drawing with various tools.

“Part of the reason I love the avocado so much is because it’s so renewable — you just do it with the waste from the vegetable, or fruit, however you want to see it,” Bennett says.

Additional artist-made inks will be available for experimentation, including marigold, goldenrod, black walnut, rose and more.

The Canopy at Art Garden is at 191 Lyman St #320. Tickets are $55. To register visit avl.mx/def.

Plein-air watercolor exhibit

Tyger Tyger Gallery will present The Soil’s Gaze, an exhibition of watercolors by Chris Jehly, Friday, March 1-Sunday, April 14, with an opening reception 6-8 p.m.

Jehly is a plein-air painter, taking his artistic endeavors outside to let his natural surroundings inspire him — from secluded hiking destinations in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the view from his grandmother’s front yard.

“These works traverse notions of what it means to be accurate, what can be abstracted. … [They plumb] the authenticity of experience,” Jehly explains in a press release. “The paintings aren’t necessarily a direct representation of the visual landscape, but rather incorporate the sounds of the environment, insects, my own body; the smells and changes in temperature and air pressure; the sense that I am a cell within a larger, living organism.”

Tyger Tyger Gallery is at 191 Lyman St. #144. For information visit avl.mx/deg.

— Brionna Dallara  X

MOVIE REVIEWS

AMERICAN FICTION: Jeffrey Wright’s work in this biting satire with a surprisingly warm heart earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination. Grade: B-plus — Edwin Arnaudin

Xpress announces its 2024 poetry contest in celebration of April as National Poetry Month.

Are you a poet living in Western North Carolina? If so, consider submitting an original, previously unpublished work. This year’s theme is on finding our shared humanity in Western North Carolina. Let us know where you go or what you do to connect with others who may have different theological, political or social beliefs. Bonus points to those who submit poems that avoid the actual term “shared humanity.”

All poems should be no longer than one typed page in a 12-point font. Again, only previously unpublished poems will be considered. No A.I. generated poems are allowed. The contest is currently open for submissions and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20. Email your poem in the body of the message to tcalder@mountainx.com The subject line should read “Xpress 2023 poetry contest.” Include the author’s name and contact information in the email. Only one submission per person. There is no cost to enter. A winning poem will be determined by local poet and essayist Brit Washburn. The winner will be published online and in print in the final issue of our annual Sustainability series on Wednesday, April 24. The contest is not open to Xpress employees or their families, or freelance contributors.

For

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

12 BONES BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad

Trivia, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO.

Trivia! Trivia!, 6:30pm

BARLEY'S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA

Trivia Night w/ PartyGrampa, 7pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

• Everybody But You

Bro Open Mic, 6pm

• GAGGING: A Queer Comedy Showcase, 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Psych Night w/DJ Torren, 9pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Saylor Brothers & Friends (jamgrass), 6:30pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Music w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Bluegrass Jam w/Derek McCoy & Friends, 6pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm

SHAKEY'S Sexy Service Industry Night, 10pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

THE DRAFTSMAN BAR

+ LOUNGE

Trivia Nights, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Stick Men (prog-rock), 8pm

THE ODD

Cancerslug, Necrogasm & Nox Eternus (metal, rock), 8pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN

Dan's Jam (bluegrass), 5pm

URBAN ORCHARD

CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

Trivia, 6:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Irish Music Session, 7pm

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29

BLK MTN PIZZA & ALE HOUSE

Billy Presnell (folk, Americana), 6pm

CROW & QUILL

Russ Wilson & The Kings of Jazz, 8pm

CULTURA

Vinyl Night w/DJ Lil Meow Meow, 8pm

EULOGY

Humandala & Funkbox (experimental, bass, funk), 7:30pm

FLEETWOOD'S Search & Destroy Punk Karaoke, 5pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB Tribute), 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm

LAZOOM ROOM BAR & GORILLA Leap Day Comedy, 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Bill Altman (blues), 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

David Cheatham (acoustic), 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Lemon City Trio (souljazz, space-rock), 8pm

CLUBLAND

OUTSIDER BREWING

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

SALVAGE STATION

Robert Jon & The Wreck (Southern-rock), 8pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Karaoke Night, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Cole Chaney (country), 8pm

THE ODD

Mincorcan, Lurky Sturk & Little Champion (indie, rock, 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Drake White (Southern-country, blues, rock), 8pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN

Broken Sound (Americana), 7pm

THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN

Mr Jimmy (blues), 6:30pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

Bachata Thursdays, 8:30pm

FRIDAY, MARCH 1

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY

ACADEMY

Friday Night Karaoke, 9pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

Mr.Jimmy's Southside Chicago Blues, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Jantsen, Lumasi, Dimepiece & Squidnee (electronic, bass, dubstep), 10pm

BURGER BAR

Burger Bar Comedy w/ Cody Hughes, 7pm

CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE

ASHEVILLE

• Comedy at Catawba: Kylie Vincent, 7pm

• Freaky Friday StandUp Comedy, 9pm CORK & KEG

Vaden Landers (country), 8pm

CROW & QUILL

DJ Dr. Filth (jazz, soul, R&B), 9pm

EULOGY

Drums of Doom & The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir (psychedelic, punk, metal), 8pm

HARRAH'S CHEROKEE

CASINO

Brian Regan, 9pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

The 40, 20 10’s (Americana, country), 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Three Hearts (video game covers), 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Honky-Tonk Fridays w/Jackson Grimm, 4pm

• Jesse Harman & The Jugs (honky tonk, rock'n'roll, bluegrass), 9pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE

Open Mic w/Hamza, 8pm

MAD CO. BREW

HOUSE

Greg Candle Duo (country, blues), 6pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Blake Ellege (rock, blues, country), 8pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

The Talismen (soul, funk), 10pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING

Jonivan Jones (Americana, folk, blues), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Magenta Sunshine (blues, folk, soul), 8pm

SALVAGE STATION

Cosmic Charlie (Grateful Dead tribute), 8pm

SHAKEY'S Big Blue Jams Band (multiple genres), 9pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Lazybirds (roots, blues, jazz), 9pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Lactones (experimental, prog-rock, psych), 9pm

SWEETEN CREEK

BREWING

AL “StumpWater” Lyons (acoustic, Celtic, folk), 6pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Sold Out: The Kooks w/ The Vaccines & Daisy

The Great (alt-indie, pop-rock), 8pm

THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN Vaden Landers (country), 6pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH

SLOPE

Trippin' Up the Stairs (Celtic, Irish, old-time), 6pm

SATURDAY, MARCH 2

27 CLUB

4th Horse, NinjaWitch & Sun Mantra (rock'n'roll, doom-metal), 8pm

ASHEVILLE CLUB

Mr Jimmy (blues), 6pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL Pisces Party w/Pied Pisces, 9pm

CORK & KEG Warren Wilson OldTime Stringband, 8pm

CROW & QUILL

Drayton & The Dreamboats (vintage-jazz, rock'n'roll), 8pm

EULOGY

Lua Flora w/The Hourglass Kids & Wild Roots Rising (beach-folk, reggae, rock), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Kalgon Sun Years & Stormtoker (metal, doom-metal), 9pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

Eyes Up Here Comedy, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

The Paper Crowns (Americana, Appalachian, folk), 6pm

CLUBLAND

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

• Nobody's Darling String Band, 4pm

• Rae & The Ragdolls (rock, psych-folk), 9pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE

Karaoke, 9pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Kayla McKinney (country, honky-tonk), 8pm

ONE STOP AT

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

The Talismen (soul, funk), 10pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

• Invitational Blues Showcase, 4pm

• Saturday Sessions: Time Lapse Takeover (house, electronic, dance), 8pm

SALVAGE STATION

Donna The Buffalo w/ The Steel Wheels (rock, reggae, Zydeco), 8pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Raphael Graves Trio (Americana, folk), 9pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Chatham County Line (bluegrass, folk, country), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Sold Out: The Kills w/ Heartworms (indierock), 8pm

THE STATION BLACK

MOUNTAIN

Live Music Saturday Nights, 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK

MOUNTAIN

Pinkish Floyd (Pink Floyd tribute band), 8pm

SUNDAY, MARCH 3

BURGER BAR

Lo Wolf, Henry Luther & Alabaster (country, folk), 9pm

EULOGY

Modelface Comedy

Presents: Jenny Zigrino, 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S

Miranda & the Beat, Watches & Tight (rock'n'roll, punk, garage-glam), 9pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Reggae Sunday w/ Chalwa, 3pm

GINGER'S REVENGE CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Jazz Sunday's, 2pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Grateful Sunday (Grateful Dead tribute), 2pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Bluegrass Brunch, 1pm

• Traditional Irish Jam, 3:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Bearded Bards (blues, rock), 3pm

PULP

Stephen Evans, Scott Stetson and Nick Mac (multiple genres), 7pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Cosmic Appalachian Soul, 7pm

THE DRAFTSMAN BAR + LOUNGE Karaoke Nights, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Burlesque Brunch, 12pm

PLĒB URBAN WINERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 4pm

MONDAY, MARCH 4

5 WALNUT WINE BAR

CaroMia, Rahm, Iannuci & Jaze Uries (dreampop, soul, R&B), 8pm

DSSOLVR

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

DIFFERENT WRLD

Dot Com Bubble w/ Bubblegum Octopus, Gos & Divorce Papers (electronic, punk, rock), 9pm

EULOGY

Loose Atlantis w/DJ Avey & DJ Suitcase (cosmic-jazz, psychedelic), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Best Ever Karaoke, 8pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY

CLUB

Open Mic w/ Taylor Martin & Special Guests, 7:15pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Quizzo! Pub Trivia w/ Jason Mencer, 7:30pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO.

Takes All Kinds Open Mic Nights, 7pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING

Open Mic Downtown, 7:30pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Mashup Mondays w/ The JLloyd Mashup Band, 8pm

SHAKEY'S

Open Mic Night w/ Nick, 6pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Mr Jimmy & Friends (blues), 7pm

THE RIVER ARTS

DISTRICT BREWING CO. Trivia w/Billy, 7pm

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

ARCHETYPE BREWING Trivia Tuesday, 6:30pm

EULOGY

Pocket Strange w/ Babe Honey & Jackson Grimm (psych-rock, indie, folk-pop), 8pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

NEW ORIGIN Trivia, 7pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO.

Team Trivia, 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

The Grateful Family Band Tuesdays (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm

SHAKEY'S

Booty Tuesday w/DJ Lil Meow Meow, 9pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Open Mic, 7pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Tuesday Night Open Jam, 8pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Tetchy, Big Girl, Mary Metal & Roamck (thrash-rock, post-punk, alt-rock), 8:30pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Haken (metal), 7:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Open Mic Tuesday, 7pm

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6

12 BONES BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Stand-Up Comedy

Open Mic, 8pm

BARLEY'S TAPROOM & PIZZERIA

Trivia Night w/ PartyGrampa, 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Psych Night w/DJ Torren, 9pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Saylor Brothers & Friends (jamgrass), 6:30pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Music w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Bluegrass Jam w/Derek McCoy & Friends, 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm

SHAKEY'S

Sexy Service Industry Night, 10pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

THE DRAFTSMAN

BAR + LOUNGE

Trivia Nights, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Jontavious Willis (blues, Americana), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Chelsea Wolfe w/Divide & Dissolve (goth-rock, metal, folk), 8pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN

Dan's Jam (bluegrass), 5pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE

Trivia, 6:30pm

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

ASHEVILLE GUITAR

BAR

MGBs (acoustic), 7:30pm

BLK MTN PIZZA & ALE HOUSE

Billy Presnell (folk, Americana), 6pm

CROW & QUILL

Vaden Landers Trio (country, honky-tonk), 8pm

EULOGY

Protex (Belgian-punk, rock'n'roll), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Juliana Money, Paprika & Lady Kabela (indie, alternative), 9pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB Tribute), 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Not Rocket Science

Trivia, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm

LAZOOM ROOM BAR & GORILLA

Comedy Night w/Holly

Ballantine, 7pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO. Freeway Jubilee (rock, blues, funk), 7pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING

Balm (soul, R&B), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

JLloyd 's Rocksteady Revue (reggae, rock, ska), 8pm

OUTSIDER BREWING

Robert's Totally Rad

Trivia, 7pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Karaoke Night, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Eddie 9V (blues, indierock), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Dawes (folk, rock), 8pm

THE RIVER ARTS DISTRICT BREWING CO.

Peggy Ratusz & Kelly

Jones (blues), 6pm

THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN

Mr Jimmy (blues), 6:30pm

FREEWILL ASTROLOGY BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In my astrological estimation, the coming weeks will be an ideal time for you to declare amnesty, negotiate truces and shed long-simmering resentments. Other recommended activities: Find ways to joke about embarrassing memories, break a bad habit just because it’s fun to do so, and throw away outdated stuff you no longer need. Just do the best you can as you carry out these challenging assignments; you don’t have to be perfect. For inspiration, read these wise words from poet David Whyte: “When you forgive others, they may not notice, but you will heal. Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is a gift to ourselves.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Many of you Tauruses have a robust capacity for doing diligent, effective work. Many of you also have a robust capacity for pursuing sensual delights and cultivating healing beauty. When your mental health is functioning at peak levels, these two drives to enjoy life are complementary; they don’t get in each other’s way. If you ever fall out of your healthy rhythm, these two drives may conflict. My wish for you in the coming months is that they will be in synergistic harmony, humming along with grace. That’s also my prediction: I foresee you will do just that.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Many people choose wealthy entertainers and celebrity athletes for their heroes. It doesn’t bother me if they do. Why should it? But the superstars who provoke my adoration are more likely to be artists and activists. Author Rebecca Solnit is one. Potawatomi biologist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer. The four musicians in the Ukrainian band DahkaBrakha. Poet Rita Dove and novelist Haruki Murakami. My capacity to be inspired by these maestros seems inexhaustible. What about you, Gemini? Who are the heroes who move you and shake you in all the best ways? Now is a time to be extra proactive in learning from your heroes — and rounding up new heroes to be influenced by.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your homework assignment is to work on coordinating two issues that are key to your life’s purpose. The first of these issues is your fervent longing to make your distinctive mark on this crazy, chaotic world. The second issue is your need to cultivate sweet privacy and protective self-care. These themes may sometimes seem to be opposed. But with even just a little ingenious effort, you can get them to weave together beautifully. Now is a good time to cultivate this healing magic.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you don’t recognize the face in the mirror right now, that’s a good thing. If you feel unfamiliar feelings rising up in you or find yourself entertaining unusual longings, those are also good things. The voice of reason may say you should be worried about such phenomena. But as the voice of mischievous sagacity, I urge you to be curious and receptive. You are being invited to explore fertile possibilities that have previously been unavailable or off-limits. Fate is offering you the chance to discover more about your future potentials. At least for now, power can come from being unpredictable and investigating taboos.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I invite you to study the fine art of sacred intimacy in the coming weeks. Life’s rhythms will redound in your favor as you enjoy playing tenderly and freely with the special people you care for. To aid you in your efforts, here are three questions to ponder. 1. What aspects of togetherness might flourish if you approach them with less solemnity and more fun? 2. Could you give more of yourself to your relationships in ways that are purely enjoyable, not done mostly out of duty? 3. Would you be willing to explore the possibility that the two of you could educate and ripen each other’s dark sides?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Creativity teacher Roger von Oech tells how bandleader Count Basie asked a club owner to fix his piano. It was always

out of tune. A few weeks later, the owner called Basie to say everything was good. But when Basie arrived to play, the piano still had sour notes. “I thought you said you fixed it!” Basie complained. The owner said, “I did. I painted it.” The moral of the story for the rest of us, concludes von Oech, is that we’ve got to solve the right problems. I want you Libras to do that in the coming weeks. Make sure you identify what really needs changing, not some distracting minor glitch.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Most of us have received an inadequate or downright poor education about love and intimate togetherness. Given how much misinformation and trivializing propaganda we have absorbed, it’s amazing any of us have figured out how to create healthy, vigorous relationships. That’s the bad news, Scorpio. The good news is that you are cruising through a sustained phase of your astrological cycle when you’re far more likely than usual to acquire vibrant teachings about this essential part of your life. I urge you to draw up a plan for how to take maximum advantage of the cosmic opportunity. For inspiration, here’s poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.” (Translation by Stephen Mitchell.)

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The myths and legends of many cultures postulate the existence of spirits who are mischievous but not malevolent. They play harmless pranks. Their main purpose may be to remind us that another world, a less material realm, overlaps with ours. And sometimes, the intention of these ethereal tricksters seems to be downright benevolent. They nudge us out of our staid rhythms, mystifying us with freaky phenomena that suggest reality is not as solid and predictable as we might imagine. I suspect you may soon have encounters with some of these characters: friendly poltergeists, fairies, ghosts, sprites or elves. My sense is that they will bring you odd but genuine blessings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Some studies suggest that less than half of us have best friends. Men are even less likely to have beloved buddies than the other genders do. If you are one of these people, the coming weeks and months will be an excellent time to remedy the deficiency. Your ability to attract and bond with interesting allies will be higher than usual. If you do have best friends, I suggest you intensify your appreciation for and devotion to them. You need and deserve companions who respect you deeply, know you intimately, and listen well. But you’ve got to remember that relationships like these require deep thought, hard work, and honest expressions of feelings!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Among all the zodiac signs, you Aquarians are among the best at enjoying a bird’s-eye perspective on the world. Soaring high above the mad chatter and clatter is your birthright and specialty. I love that about you, which is why I hardly ever shout up in your direction, “Get your ass back down to earth!” However, I now suspect you are overdue to spend some quality time here on the ground level. At least temporarily, I advise you to trade the bird’s-eye view for a worm’s-eye view. Don’t fret. It’s only for a short time. You’ll be aloft again soon.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In old Hawaii, the people loved their deities but also demanded productive results. If a god stopped providing worshipers with what they wanted, they might dismiss him and adopt a replacement. I love that! And I invite you to experiment with a similar approach in the coming weeks. Are your divine helpers doing a good job? Are they supplying you with steady streams of inspiration, love and fulfillment? If not, fire them and scout around for substitutes. If they are performing well, pour out your soul in gratitude.

MARKETPLACE

Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 advertise@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to advertise@mountainx.com

EMPLOYMENT

GENERAL

GIRLS' MOUNTAIN BIKE PROGRAM LEAD Do you love mountain biking? Do you stop in your tracks every time you see a young girl on a bike, encourage her and give her a high five? Do you want to mentor young girls and help empower them to reach their best potential?

Little Bellas is seeking a self-motivated, independent professional for a part-time, seasonal position, leading a mountain bike program for girls 7-13. FMI: littlebellas. com/joinourteam To apply, please submit a resume and cover letter to Sabra Connell at sabra@littlebellas.com

CAREGIVERS/ NANNY

NURSE AIDE Fairview Rest Home is hiring a full-time 2nd shift and a 3rd shift nurse aide. Call Laura or Cathy at (828) 628-1066 if interested or apply in person at 3018 Cane Creek Rd., Fairview.

COMPUTER/ TECHNICAL

COMPUTER SERVICES IT SUPPORT Systems Administrator, on site in Asheville. Experience preferable. Apply by calling 828-528-3092

SERVICES

HOME

SEEKING CLEANING JOB Seeking cleaning job on Tue in Asheville. I manage Air B&Bs & very attentive to detail. You won’t be disappointed! I provide a free walkthrough quote. Call Serena @ 916-280-1152

HOME IMPROVEMENT

HANDY MAN

HANDY MAN Ex Professional Brewer has 25+ years experience in the trades, with every skill/tool imaginable for all trades with the exception of HVAC. $20- $30 an hour Carl (828) 551-6000 electricblustudio@gmail. com

ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS

$10K+ IN DEBT? BE DEBT FREE IN 24-48 MONTHS! Be debt free in 24-48 months. Pay nothing to enroll. Call National Debt Relief at 844-977-3935 (AAN CAN)

24/7 LOCKSMITH We are there when you need us for home & car lockouts. We'll get you back up and running quickly! Also, key reproductions, lock installs

and repairs, vehicle fobs. Call us for your home, commercial and auto locksmith needs!

1-833-237-1233. (AAN CAN)

AGING ROOF? NEW HOMEOWNER? STORM DAMAGE? You need a local expert provider that proudly stands behind their work. Fast, free estimate. Financing available. Call 1-888-292-8225 Have zip code of property ready when calling! (AAN CAN)

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES

In as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months!

Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 855-977-4240. (AAN CAN)

BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME

WITH ENERGY EFFICIENT NEW WINDOWS They will increase your home’s value & decrease your energy bills. Replace all or a few! Call now to get your free, no-obligation quote. 866-366-0252

BUYING ALL SPORTS CARDS FOR INSTANT

CASH BUYING ALL SPORTS CARDS FOR CASH. VINTAGE - MODERN. CALL BIG ANDY 631-871-2992 - 7 DAYS A WEEK. WWW.ITSBIGANDY. COM FREE EVALUATIONS/ APPRAISALS.

DIRECTV SATELLITE TV SERVICE STARTING AT $64.99/MO For 24 mos, Free Installation! 165+ Channels Available. Call Now For The Most Sports & Entertainment On TV! 855-401-8842. (AAN CAN)

FREE AUTO INSURANCE

QUOTES for uninsured and insured drivers. Let us show you how much you can save! Call 833-976-0743. (AAN CAN)

GOT AN UNWANTED CAR? Donate it to Patriotic Hearts. Fast free pick up. All 50 States. Patriotic Hearts’ programs help veterans find work or start their own business. Call 24/7: 844-8756782. (AAN CAN)

NEED NEW WINDOWS? Drafty rooms? Chipped or damaged frames? Need outside noise reduction? New, energy efficient windows may be the answer! Call for a consultation & FREE quote today. 1-877-248-9944. You will be asked for the zip code of the property when connecting. (AAN CAN)

PEST CONTROL Protect your home from pests safely and affordably. Roaches, Bed Bugs, Rodent, Termite, Spiders and other pests. Locally owned and affordable. Call for service or an inspection today! 1-833-237-1199

(AAN CAN)

TOP CA$H PAID FOR OLD GUITARS! 1920-1980 Gibson, Martin, Fender, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Mosrite, Rickenbacker, Prairie State, D'Angelico, Stromberg. And Gibson Mandolins / Banjos. 877-589-0747. (AAN CAN)

WATER DAMAGE CLEANUP & RESTORATION A small amount of water can lead to major damage and mold growth in your home. Our trusted professionals do complete repairs to protect your family and your home's value! Call 24/7: 1-888-2902264 Have zip code of service location ready when you call! (AAN CAN)

YOU MAY QUALIFY For disability benefits if you have are between 52-63 years old and under a doctor’s care for a health condition that prevents you from working for a year or more. Call now! 1-877-247-6750. (AAN CAN)

edited by Will Shortz | No. 0124

ACROSS

1 Some water bearers

6 “M*A*S*H” co-star Alan

10 Dressed

14 “Kate & ___” (1980s sitcom)

15 Tandoori chicken accompaniment

16 “In time we ___ that which we often fear”: Shak.

17 First American to orbit the earth

19 Littlest speck

20 Born

21 Flinch, say

22 Made a choice

23 Fancy “so”

25 Selma march leader who served 17 terms in Congress

27 Pageant prize

29 Not learned

30 Introductory course?

31 Throws in

34 Its HQ is sometimes called “Crypto City”

35 Winter underwear … or what appear four times in this puzzle

39 “Eureka!”

42 Damage, so to speak

43 Football penalty markers

47 “Gracias!”

50 With 63-Down, boxer who retired undefeated in 2007

51 Only U.S. president elected under the Federalist Party

56 Event with a royal court 57 Barber’s

62 Broncos QB who won back-to-back Super Bowls

64 Bridle strap

65 “The Clan of the Cave Bear” heroine

66 “How about that!”

67 Logical operators that output “true” only if both inputs are true

68 Dry run

69 Like many bathroom floors DOWN 1 Refrigerator decorations

2 Largest country in Africa

3 Bootleg, e.g.

4 Goose egg

5 Oracle

6 Yearly record

7 Jousting weapon

8 Italian poet who wrote “Nature is the art of God”

9 ___ Taylor

10 Contribute 11 Like some Hmong 12 Bears witness

61

Do you have an extra car that needs a new home?

Your donated car can open the doors to independence, increased income, and higher education for a hardworking member of our community. Vehicles of all types and conditions are welcomed and appreciated!

13 Its shores have the lowest landbased elevation on Earth

18 Fish with “snowflake” and “sawtooth” varieties

22 Have title to

24 Unwritten

26 One might be made on a birthday

28 Kerfuffle

31 In the past 32 CD players?

33

36 Sports org. with more than a thousand members

37 Sports org. in which five members have bird names

38 *How rude!*

39 2019 Brad Pitt sci-fi movie whose title means “to the stars”

40 Pagan

41 iOS alternative

44 Court failure

45 “Hallelujah!”

46 Siberian sled dog

48 Decorates

49 Fist bump

52 “Baloney!”

53 Busy places at Christmas

54 Food fight sound effect

55 Old saying

59 Nincompoop

62 Make a fast stop?

63 See 50-Across

The donation is tax-deductible. The process is simple. The impact is real.