Mountain Xpress 03.11.20

OUR 26TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 26 NO. 33 MARCH 11-17, 2020

Buncombe primary winners advance

Three local bands release new albums

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OUR 26TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 26 NO. 33 MARCH 11-17, 2020

C O NT E NT S C O NTAC T US

PAGE 18 THE KIDS ISSUES, PART 1

Buncombe primary winners advance Three local bands release new albums

For our annual Kids Issues, local K-12 students snapped up the challenge of creating art and writing around the theme of “My Big Adventure.” On the cover: Asheville Middle School eighth grader Twyla Norby’s artwork, “Fate Whispered Back,” includes the words: “She screamed to the stars ... and fate whispered back.”

COVER ILLUSTRATION Twyla Norby COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

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10 EDUCATIONAL WARRIOR Elinor Earle fights for Asheville’s children

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OPINION

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

STA F F PUBLISHER: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson MANAGING EDITOR: Virginia Daffron A&E EDITOR: Alli Marshall GREEN SCENE EDITOR: Daniel Walton OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose STAFF REPORTERS: Able Allen, Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Laura Hackett, Brooke Randle, Daniel Walton COMMUNITY CALENDAR EDITOR: Deborah Robertson CLUBLAND EDITOR: Lauren Andrews

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No to Second Amendment sanctuary The county commissioners have been asked to declare Buncombe County a Second Amendment sanctuary county, or, as the group that petitioned the commissioners call it, a “constitutional rights protection county” [“Shall Not Be Infringed? Buncombe Residents Seek Second Amendment ‘Sanctuary’” Feb. 5, Xpress]. I hope that those words strike you as strangely as they strike me.

The commissioners are elected to represent all the citizens of the county, and we have the right to expect them to uphold the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, a living document, and the laws related to it. Not just the ones I like. Not just the ones a special interest group likes.

The Second Amendment is important to a lot of people in our country, including me. I own three rifles and two handguns, and have been shooting since I was in the first grade, some 50-plus years ago.

But the politics around guns is much different than when I was younger.

Much of the NRA’s energy promotes the fear that those of us who support commonsense gun laws are actually trying to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. That is not true. ...

Among gun owners, however, many are solidly supportive of common sense gun laws, which include universal back-

ground checks, red flag laws, closing the background-check loophole for private and gun show sales, stopping the sale of large-capacity magazines and reactivating the assault weapons ban.

What is the reason for the resolution sent to the Buncombe County commissioners? A local change.org petition states, “We, as advocates for gun rights, believe it is our right as Americans to own and bear arms of our choosing, not the government’s.”

This seems to be an argument for the continued sale of assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines. It focuses on the “shall not be infringed” part of the Second Amendment but ignores the “well-regulated militia” part.

The Second Amendment is not a blanket right for all citizens to own firearms. ... The right for us to own any gun or accessory we want is already infringed, or regulated, to choose a less inflammatory word. ...

My 21-year-old daughter’s soul mate and a young man we loved like one of our own children, Riley Howell, was sitting in his final class of the year last year when a young man burst into the classroom and started shooting.

Reed Parlier, Riley’s table mate, was killed first. Four other students were wounded. Riley ran to the shooter and knocked him to the ground, but not before he was shot multiple times. The last two shots killed this loving, thoughtful young man. His efforts saved others but at a terrible loss.

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OPINION

Send your letters to the editor to letters@mountainx.com.

The man who killed Riley and Reed and injured the other students in that classroom went to the same store multiple times to buy his gun and accessories. The DA and homicide detectives have commented that there is no way he should have been able to purchase a gun. He was developmentally challenged and socially impaired. But no one raised a red flag about him.

The right laws in place would have given a clear path for the gun shop or other people in the community to stop this young man. Those who are a danger to themselves and others must be stopped from purchasing weapons. Commonsense gun laws would aid in this effort.

Buncombe County commissioners should not declare our county a Second Amendment sanctuary. Doing that would send a message that this amendment is more important than the others.

The majority of citizens, who are not gun owners, may beg to differ.

— Kevin Westmoreland Asheville Editor’s note: A longer version of this letter will appear at mountainx.com.

Property tax increase can help whole community thrive How much are you willing to pay to make Asheville a sustainable, equitable and resilient community?

Each month, I pay at least $20 for parking downtown or a car service like Uber or Lyft. I would rather invest that money to help our whole community thrive.

The proposed tax increase of 3 cents per $100 in property value would give the city funding for items that never make it into the city budget, like extending public transit hours, renewing the urban forest and installing solar panels.

Funding of this kind comes with flexibility and can be used for capital improvements like energy efficiency upgrades, as well as operating expenses like hiring an arborist and more bus drivers — in contrast to the 2016 bond measure, which can only be used for infrastructure.

With already high housing costs, asking Asheville residents to pay more is hard, but the expense would be proportionate to wealth. If you are renting a unit worth $200,000, your landlord would have to pay about $60/year, and a million-dollar home would pay $300/ year. Most of the funds come from the highest-value properties in town like Mission Hospital and hotels.

As a homeowner, unforeseen expenses like sump pumps and gutter repairs 6

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are part of living in a climate-impacted planet as we get more extreme weather.

I see an increase of about $12 a month in property tax as an opportunity to shift items in my budget from parking and Ubers to a bus system that works for everyone. It helps reduce my carbon footprint and provides funds for antidisplacement measures. By being part of the solution now, we can avoid the worst costs of climate chaos and honor our responsibility to future generations.

You can read more out proposed property tax increase at www.3centsforourfuture.org.

— Michelle Myers

First-time homeowner Asheville

The Departed and Xpress reviews I have to disagree with [Edwin Arnaudin’s] assessment that The Departed was an improvement on Infernal Affairs [Downhill review, Feb. 12, Xpress]. I saw Departed first and thought it was a terrific movie; then later I saw Infernal Affairs and thought it was much better. It hung together very tightly.

Perhaps [he is] just more used to an American style of expression — bigger “action”! The only thing I remember about The Departed is Jack Nicholson as a Whitey Bulger type, Matt Damon in a police uniform, and Leo tackling a large building. I remember many more details about Infernal Affairs.

By the way, I’m glad that there has been a diversity of movie reviewers in the Xpress. Good to get different viewpoints, especially women’s. I will never be impressed by smash-and-crash movies, which seem to be what men love.

— AA Lloyd Asheville

National parks in NC need a boost For many years, I have enjoyed our national parks for hiking, camping, exploring and sightseeing. In North Carolina, we are fortunate to have 14 national park sites, including the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

Visitation to national parks is at record highs. Last year, 18 million people visited national parks in North Carolina, which meant a $2 billion economic boost to our local communities.

Unfortunately, increased visitation, aging facilities and inconsistent federal

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funding have taken a toll. Right now, national parks in North Carolina need $459 million for infrastructure repairs.

Crumbling historic markers, outdated electrical systems and deteriorating trails and roads are now common.

The good news is that Congress is considering legislation to create dedicated funding for park maintenance needs. A proposal that includes the Restore Our Parks Act could be coming to a vote in the Senate as soon as this week. It would direct federal funds each year to ensure that our national parks are maintained and accessible for all visitors. Sen. Thom Tillis and nine members of North Carolina’s delegation have pushed this legislation forward. Sen. Richard Burr’s support would be welcomed.

I am delighted that our state is home to some of America’s finest natural and cultural landscapes. National parks tell our America story and offer so much to our quality of life. They are too critical to neglect. I hope Congress passes the Restore Our Parks Act so our national parks can be enjoyed now and for generations to come.

— Jasmine Littleson Swannanoa

Asheville Friends urge action against war in Iran Standing with the Veterans for Peace vigil on Tuesdays at Vance Monument has given me a view of public attitudes that I find troubling. The partisan divide and hostilities between people seem to be growing. …

All this fuss about firearms and the Second Amendment, while we ignore the core intent of the Constitution: balance of power! Article 1 of the Constitution describes a system of shared power among the three branches of our government. ...

Section 8 of Article 1 places the power to declare war in our Congress and “to raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years.” However, American troops have been at war since 2001 under an emergency bill that has been used by the last three presidents and has taken the lives of over 7,000 of our military personal and countless thousands of innocent civilians at a cost to the American taxpayer of over $7 trillion. A never-ending war was never the intent of the Constitution. ...

What can any of us do about it?

Since withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and the killing of a nonterrorist, senior official of a sovereign state without congressional approval, the United States is quickly heading toward another catastrophic war.

Would you benefit from a war with Iran? Is sending our children to kill other people’s children for the sake of the oil and weapons industries a kind or Christian thing to do? Would another war help build our roads, feed our hungry, provide health and child care, improve education, bring more jobs or a living wage, end homelessness, crime or drug abuse? This is not a partisan issue. It is an issue of life, death and democracy.

In response to this pending disaster, the Asheville Friends Committee on National Legislation team is urging everyone to ask our senators to support and vote for the following bills currently in Congress: The No War Against Iran Act (S. 3159 and H.R. 5543) would ensure that no federal funds (our taxes) could be used for military action against Iran without congressional authorization.

Contact Sen. Richard Burr: 202-2243154 and Sen. Thom Tillis: 202-224-6342.

Thank you.

— E.L. Halsey

Veterans for Peace member and Asheville Team FCNL Asheville Editor’s note: A longer version of this letter will appear at mountainx.com.

Let me tell you about Trump Despite having read several previous letters posted here in past issues of Mountain Xpress in which I chose silence over response, I am suddenly and strongly (to coin a word our American president seems to fancy) compelled to do so now. Roger Gilmore of Mars Hill states — among a host of other, equally entertaining claims — that the United States is respected by the rest of the world as a direct result of the current administration’s policies [“Trump Must Not Go Away!” Jan. 1, Xpress].

If Mr. Gilmore happened to be, say, a satirist or performance artist, I’d duly doff my hat to him in tribute to his brilliance. Sadly, he is neither — further scrutiny of Mr. Gilmore’s letter suggests that he believes every word of his inane theory. It would be my pleasure to enlighten this fellow (and all others who have force-fed similar narratives to themselves, guaranteeing the comfort they can only find in make-believe worlds of their own derivation) by assuring him he is dead wrong: The “rest of the world” most decidedly does not respect us.

At best, this fake and incompetent president’s amateur hour performance has left them scratching their collective heads in bewilderment. At worst, we are despised by other countries and

C A R T O O N B Y B R E NT B R O W N cultures more than ever before. Prior to settling in this mountain paradise, I knew Donald Trump (and a goodly number of his criminal family) for 30 years back in New York.

If ever I wish to learn more about the rich and lovely culture of Western North Carolina, I’d ask a native. If those Asheville-area residents who support this monstrous mistake of a leader wish to learn more about Donald Trump — ask me.

— Harry Waldman

Black Mountain

Sign petition to support reflexologists We need your help. Professional reflexologists are being threatened with the loss of their livelihood through unnecessary overregulation by the N.C. Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy in this “right to work” state.

NCBMBT has been an honorable licensing board, overseeing the ethical practice of therapeutic massage only.

Because reflexology is not massage or its subspecialty, the NCBMBT has no authority over us.

Professional reflexology, an energy bodywork, uses gentle finger pressure on the hands and feet to access/ stimulate nerve reflexes connected to all parts of the body. Therapeutic

massage focuses physically on the muscles and fascia.

Both are honorable professions, yet the basic premise, training and technique are vastly different.

Professional reflexology has been practiced for decades in North Carolina without incident because we adhere to high ethical and professional standards put forth by our national independent accreditation board: American Reflexology Certification Board. We are also supported professionally by state, national and global associations.

So, as professionals, we want our training and professionalism to be honored and respected so we can continue to offer quality well-care to you.

We are ethically bound to protect you by practicing only in our area of expertise.

Remember our intention: to do no harm and support your health and well-being.

We have six weeks to petition the community for support, then submit the names to our North Carolina legislators.

For more info and to view our petition, click on reflexology-nc.org.

Thank you for your support.

— Phyllis Weimar, ARCB-CR

(American Reflexology Certification Board Certified Reflexologist)

Black Mountain MOUNTAINX.COM

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OPINION

Expert idiocy The Gospel According to Jerry

BY JERRY STERNBERG I’m beginning to wonder if we, the people of Asheville and Buncombe County, are a bunch of dumbass incompetents. We seem to be mesmerized by the adage that an “expert” is a person with a briefcase who comes from more than 50 miles away.

We have several well-qualified headhunter firms right here in Asheville, but more often than not, local governments insist on contracting with far-off companies to help with hiring decisions. Meanwhile, police chiefs and school superintendents are turning over like hotcakes.

Why can’t we promote from within?

We have many fine police officers who have worked their way up through the ranks and deserve consideration for the top job. The same goes for the local schools, which have many excel-

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JERRY STERNBERG lent teachers whose experience with our system and our area would undoubtedly qualify at least some of them to be outstanding administrators.

These folks know the situation on the ground and don’t require months of orientation to get into the swing of things. Meanwhile, putting employees in dead-end jobs is simply bad business.

Maybe if we did more promotion from within, it would help recruitment as well as retention.

But it doesn’t stop there. Every time we have a problem, it seems, we go outside the county to recruit high-priced, self-styled consultants to conduct a study or a survey.

Traffic studies invariably seem to conclude that the proposed residential development will increase traffic. This is news? The NIMBYs then wave these studies in the air like battle flags to prove that this makes all such projects unacceptable.

And then there’s the elitist scourge known as “road diet.” I don’t know how many so-called consultants and tens of thousands of dollars City Council went through until they found one who would bless their desire to reduce Charlotte Street, one of the busier thoroughfares in town, from four lanes to three to enable the handful of bicyclists a week (zero in the winter) who actually use it to ride in a dedicated bike lane. The purported motive is to cram a healthy lifestyle down our throats by forcing

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“An ‘expert’ is a person with a briefcase who comes from more than 50 miles away.” people out of their cars and making them walk, ride a bicycle or take a bus.

Does it really make sense to sacrifice traffic efficiency for the sake of such a tiny minority when so many people are pressed for time and have to get to work, get their kids to school, etc.

And how about the considerable sum of money the city paid four different consultants — none of them local — to plan the River Arts District. What the hell do they know about the French Broad River?

They don’t seem to grasp that periodic flooding causes horrific damage and we’re left to clean up mud and silt and repair affected property — not to mention the thousands of dollars it will take to restore those fancy new roads and parks. They don’t seem to understand that digging out the roadbed to enable those tall New Belgium Brewing trucks to pass under the railroad bridge is a terribly flawed idea. It will, however, increase the recreational possibilities, because when the river floods, the road there will be a swimming pool in summer and an ice rink in winter.

They also failed to mention that we were buying into the RAD project with Champagne taste and a beer pocketbook. While it is an exciting proposal designed to attract those now-unwanted tourists, it’s already shamefully over budget.

These outside experts are very clever: They know how to give the appearance of inviting citizen input.

I’ve attended dozens of these meetings over the years, and they remind me of the Iowa caucuses. There are typically very few minorities, low-income folks, undereducated people or business owners in attendance. The consultant does the flip chart routine, and the hardcore participants jump up and down frantically like teenagers at an Elvis concert, hands in the air, almost wetting their pants in their eagerness to get their brilliant idea written on the chart. The result is a predetermined outcome masquerading as democracy.

The final straw for me came a few months ago when I read about yet another example of asking an outsider to tell us what to do.

The Chamber of Commerce brought “futurist” Rebeca Ryan all the way from Wisconsin to straighten out our problems, hiring her to manage the creation of two major long-term plans.

The county commissioners then got on board, tapping Ryan to help produce their own strategic plan.

Her New Age public input sessions, however, merely ensured that the same old breakout groups got to broadcast their opinions. Like her many predecessors, she is ineptly predicting our area’s future while encouraging the setting of unattainable goals.

If Ms. Ryan really wants to be effective, she should start by peering into her crystal ball and revealing to us the ugly truths about our community.

Most local residents don’t give a damn about public housing, judging by the actions of the many heavily organized neighborhoods and the fact that housing densities in the city and county have tended to be pretty restricted. I’ve been involved for many years in local efforts to create more housing that low-income people could actually afford, and just to get politicians to talk to us, we had to call it “workforce housing.”

Most locals aren’t interested in enhanced bus service, either, which they think would mean standing around exposed to the elements while waiting for a bus, having no way to get their groceries home, and a lot of lost time.

If you don’t believe me, schedule a public referendum on spending $10 million to subsidize a proper bus service or build five new parking decks downtown.

Another thing most community members don’t seem to care about is our declining African American population. Other cities are far more attractive to educated, middle-class blacks because of the greater financial and social opportunities and overall level of acceptance they offer, but in Asheville, most folks can’t be bothered about that.

There are many other genuine concerns, but you get the idea.

Meanwhile, Ms. Ryan wants us to solve all these problems because she and her partner might want to move here. Doesn’t she realize that this will make her part of our overpopulation problem? It will also mean no more lucrative Asheville contracts, because we don’t hire dumbass locals for consulting jobs.

If we have to pay so many useless consultants, let’s at least keep the money here. BUY LOCAL!!! X Asheville native Jerry Sternberg, a longtime observer of the local scene, can be reached at gospeljerry@aol.com.

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NEWS

EDUCATIONAL WARRIOR

Elinor Earle fights for Asheville’s children

BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Being a kid can be tough.

Between school and homework, learning how to play nice versus just being yourself, many children look to a parent, teacher or other mentor to help them understand the world around them, someone with whom they can share their worst fears and biggest dreams.

For countless numbers of Buncombe County kids, that someone has been Elinor Earle. During more than 30 years, “Ms. Earle,” as she’s known to children and adults alike, has worked to level the playing field for kids living in the city’s public housing communities.

In her role as director of Youthful HAND, an after-school program funded by United Way and the Asheville Housing Authority, Earle has stayed true to one primary goal over the years: closing the academic achievement gap between black and white students that has plagued the city’s schools for decades. And while numerous resources and initiatives have been devoted to narrowing the disparity, Earle’s deep-rooted dedication to serving Asheville’s youth stands out.

EMPTY STOMACHS After owning a successful housecleaning service and raising two children of her own, Earle says she was hired as director of the Youthful HAND program in the late ’80s. An acronym for “housing against narcotics and drugs,” Youthful HAND

STUDY BUDDY: Elinor Earle, or Ms. Earle as she’s known in the community, practices colors, numbers and shapes with kindergarten children at the Youthful HAND program at Hillcrest Apartments. Photo by Brooke Randle was created to provide support and tutoring for elementary school children living in subsidized housing. It was based at Lee Walker Heights, Asheville’s oldest public housing development.

Even back then, she remembers, some kids there struggled to keep pace with their peers.

“I had been working for youth and senior citizens all my life,” the 77-yearold Earle explains. Once the Housing Authority hired her, she continues, “I just started learning little pieces and putting them together, and little by little I found out that the biggest thing was that our kids couldn’t read. I just didn’t believe that we have a whole city

of black kids and they can’t learn how to read. So I said, ‘Let me see if I can do anything about this.’”

The program, she notes, provides a structured environment where children in kindergarten through fifth grade can complete homework and be tutored in reading, math and language skills.

Earle also includes lessons in personal hygiene and character-building, as a way to instill confidence and independence in her students. Her work has always been guided by a keen awareness of the specific challenges that children in public housing often face.

“Most people don’t understand what these kids have gone through before they get up and go to school,” she says.

“The kids get up hungry and then they go to school, and what they get at school they don’t like. So they’re hungry.” Add to that the overall lack of structure in their lives, she continues, and “It can be kind of sad.”

A CLEAR DIFFERENCE Determined to reduce the achievement gap, Earle met with parents and teachers, activists and elected leaders, trying to address the issue head on. But her focus was always on forging deep and authentic relationships with the children who came under her care —

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bonds that have often endured long after they left her classroom.

“This one right here, she went to college,” says Earle, pointing to a collection of framed photos that hang behind a desk overflowing with folders and notebooks in her classroom at the Hillcrest Community Center. “This one just graduated from high school; she’s trying to get into Howard University. These were some of my first kids.”

“Ms. Earle has, over time, put her own personal stamp on it to really serve as a liaison between schools, parents and students to figure out what individual students need in terms of their enrichment,” says David Nash, the Housing Authority’s executive director. “What I hear from the Asheville City Schools is that there’s a clear difference in the achievement levels in the students who are in Ms. Earle’s program compared to the general population.”

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. In 2015, Earle accepted the Asheville City Schools Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her work with Youthful HAND. That same year, OpenDoors of Asheville honored Earle as its Laureate of the Year.

RELENTLESS DETERMINATION In 2018, Lee Walker Heights was slated for a complete renovation, causing Earle and Youthful HAND to move to the Hillcrest Apartments, another housing complex just west of downtown.

Taking her seat among the brightly colored shapes and numbers adorning the walls of her classroom, she patiently waits as about 40 kids file noisily into the building. The room quickly becomes lively with the sounds of rambunctious children’s laughter and conversation, until Earle gives the stern but loving command that it’s now time for homework.

Seated among the children is 17-year-old Kelsey Mann, who listens intently as a young girl reads aloud. A junior at the Asheville School, Mann is one of several students there who serve as volunteer tutors at the after-school program Monday through Thursday.

“Ms. Earle is one of the most consistently passionate people that I’ve ever met,” says Mann, who’s volunteered with Youthful HAND since

“Most people don’t understand what these kids have gone through before they get to school.”

— Asheville educator Elinor Earle 2018. “The goal has never changed for as long as I‘ve known her. It’s always, ‘We need to bridge this achievement gap, and I’m going to do it, and I don’t care what I have to do or how long I have to do it.’ I have an incredible amount of respect for that, and I think the kids do too.”

Mann also volunteers at Camp Good Trouble, a joint project of the Asheville School and Youthful HAND. Now in its third year, the summer camp on the private school’s campus hosts Earle’s students for a week of learning and enrichment activities.

“She definitely takes care of all the kids there, but she also has to find time to mentor our tutors,” says Varghese Alexander, the school’s assistant dean of faculty. “Often you’ll find her talking to more than a handful of our students after all of her children leave and just telling them about life.”

“We’ve been talking a lot about college recently,” adds Mann. “It’s a very organic relationship that we have over here.”

a philosophy of if they’re somewhere that’s considered dangerous, I’m very willing to be there with them.”

After deliberating for a few days, the administrators decided to let the volunteers return to Hillcrest.

“It’s really a credit to our students and the strength of the relationships they’ve forged with Ms. Earle and those kids. They didn’t bat an eye,” says Williamson. “The program needs to be at Hillcrest; our kids want to be at Hillcrest. And that program’s not about us: Our job is to serve them.

“It has been really an honor and privilege for us to be a part of the relationship that we have with Ms. Earle and the kids. It has been transformational for so many of our kids,” he adds. “We’re looking forward to many more years of serving that relationship.”

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CALCULATED RISK But Youthful HAND volunteers must also confront the reality of working in communities with high poverty rates. On Feb. 9, 24-year-old Hillcrest Apartments resident Jailyn Dumari Morton was shot and killed there — the third shooting at the complex since last September. That led Asheville School administrators to pause the volunteer program. Ben Williamson, the assistant head of school for student life, says they considered either moving the program to a new location or taking an extended break to assess their students’ safety.

“The headmaster didn’t want to put them into a place of danger,” Earle explains, adding, “I told him whatever they decided, I would understand.”

Mann, however, says she and her fellow student volunteers weren’t deterred by the shooting.

“I feel really safe here: I think about when there were homicides before, and I’m very aware of the drug trade around. I know what’s going on, and I understand why my school, as an institution, needed to protect us,” she says. “But it was honestly something that was very hard for me, not being able to come, because I felt like I was letting the kids down. I abide by

Tuesday, March 17 - 7:00 p.m. - First Baptist Church of Asheville Chapel Free and open to the public.

First Baptist Church of Asheville 5 Oak Street, Asheville, NC, 828.252.4781, www.fbca.net MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

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NEWS STAYING THE COURSE Despite those noble efforts, however, the latest data from the Asheville City Schools indicates that the disparity in the academic achievement levels of its black and white students — already the worst in the state — has only increased since 2017.

Meanwhile, the system has seen three superintendents leave the post since 2013. And news reports about incoming superintendent Gene Freeman, who’s expected to start July 1, have raised questions about his track record, including a lack of transparency, unusually generous contract terms and extended absence from his current job as head of the Fox Chapel Area School District in Pennsylvania.

Despite her determination, Earle says she can’t help but feel frustrated by the system’s instability and overall lack of progress.

“When you’re young, you say, ‘OK, we’re fighting this battle to close this achievement gap.’ And a new superintendent comes in and says, ‘We’re going to do this and this.’ ... Well, the achievement gap is still getting wider,” she says. “I don’t like the idea of throwing anyone under the bus —

12

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LENDING A HAND: High school students from Asheville School, a college preparatory boarding school, volunteer with Youthful HAND in Hillcrest Apartments to help tutor roughly 40 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Photo by Brooke Randle the school system or the parents. Just tell us what we need to do to bring these kids up to where they need to be, and do it. Stop talking about it and do it.”

And while Earle believes in Youthful HAND as an after-school program, she says more needs to be done to help kids before they even enter the school system. For the first time, the educator says she plans to offer a summer

MOUNTAINX.COM

program called Jumpstart, which will introduce numbers, colors, shapes, letters and other foundational concepts to 25 children before they enter kindergarten. She hopes the new program will help young children lay the groundwork for learning.

“What happens is these kids, when they start off in kindergarten, they’re not on the same foot as

everybody, and once you get behind, you stay behind,” Earle explains.

And while enduring the persistent challenges that too many children in the district face, Earle says she has no plans to retire or change her decadeslong mission.

“The resources are here,” she says.

“Everybody just needs to pitch in. We just need to be a village.” X

by Daniel Walton

dwalton@mountainx.com

OH, WHAT A NIGHT Record-breaking turnout makes Buncombe primary picks

IT’S ELECTRIC: Supporters of Asheville City Council candidates Kim Roney and Nicole Townsend dance as they wait for Buncombe County primary results to be announced.

Photo by Brooke Randle With additional reporting from Able Allen, Virginia Daffron and Brooke Randle More Buncombe County voters — 81,887, or 41.79% of all eligible residents — took part in the primary elections that wrapped up March 3 than in any previous primary in the county’s history. On lengthy ballots that spanned the levels of elected office from president to Asheville City Council, citizens determined which candidates would continue on to the general election of Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Support from established elected officials seemed to confer a benefit on their favored hopefuls. Advancing to November’s Council general election are the three candidates endorsed by Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer: real estate broker Sandra Kilgore, financial adviser Rich Lee and French Broad Food Co-op project manager Sage Turner. Incumbent Keith Young also made the cutoff, as did Kim Roney and Nicole Townsend, both of whom were endorsed by Council members Brian Haynes and Sheneika Smith.

Renewable energy professional Parker Sloan won the Democratic primary for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners District 3 seat with the backing of Sheriff Quentin Miller and commission Chair Brownie Newman.

Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield earned the Democratc nod for N.C. Senate District 49, which represents the entire city and much of Buncombe County, after being endorsed by Manheimer and Sen. Terry Van Duyn.

The pattern didn’t hold in every race, however. Although real estate broker Lynda Bennett topped the Republican field seeking to replace Rep. Mark Meadows in the U.S. House of Representatives District 11 seat — with the retiring incumbent’s endorsement — she did not earn enough votes to avoid a runoff with small-business owner Madison Cawthorn, who listed no official endorsements in his responses to the Mountain Xpress voter guide.

All reported results are based on the unofficial numbers available through the N.C. State Board of Elections website (avl.mx/6zu).

Results are not considered official until they are certified by the state.

ASHEVILLE CITY COUNCIL What began as a 10-candidate race for Asheville City Council narrowed to six as voters selected their top three choices. In the general election, the top three finishers will win seats on the city board.

First-time candidate Turner was the top primary vote-getter with 12,466 votes (15.82% of the total), a result she credited to her focus on expanding affordable housing options in Asheville.

“I’ve lived in Asheville for a long time; I feel like I’ve been in service to this community for a long time, so I’m really thankful to see the support,” she told Xpress on election night.

Young, the Council race’s only incumbent, also had a strong showing with 11,285 votes (14.32%). “The November

general election will decide what kind of Asheville we will be: an Asheville for the people or an Asheville for the privileged,” he wrote in a March 4 statement to Xpress.

“Make no mistake about it, this will be a defining moment in Asheville’s history come November.”

Roney and Lee finished at No. 3 and 4, separated by only 176 votes. The two have been in tight competition before: Roney narrowly beat out Lee for fourth place in the 2017 general election with a margin of fewer than 600 votes. Neither candidate, however, was seated on Council that year.

Also clearing the primary hurdle were activist Townsend, who earned 9,574 votes (12.15%), and real estate broker Kilgore with 8,985 votes (11.40%).

Because only the top six vote-getters advance to the general election, the remaining candidates — Shane McCarthy, Kristen Goldsmith and Larry Ray Baker — were squeezed out of the race. Candidate Tim Collins, who dropped out of the contest in January but remained on the ballot, also did not make the cut.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Terri Wells, the director of community and agricultural programs for WNC Communities, earned a comfortable victory over retired project manager Nancy Nehls Nelson in the Democratic primary for the Buncombe board’s District 1 seat. Wells garnered 12,542 votes (66.78% of the total), while Nelson took home less than half that number with 6,239 votes (33.22%).

“We are all good candidates,” Nelson told Xpress at the Buncombe County Democratic Party’s watch party at Highland Brewing Co. after the results came in on Feb. 3. “I think I’m the better of the two candidates — I’ve got the business background that’s really what I think the board needs right now — but Terri Wells has been a friend of mine for over 10 years and she will make a good commissioner too.”

But Wells said it was education and farmland conservation, not business, that resonated with the voters she spoke to.

“A lot of people are very concerned about how our county is going to grow,” she explained. “They really want us to look at this big picture and have some really good

BUOYANT SPIRITS: Madison Cawthorn, center, celebrates his second-place finish in the Republican primary for U.S. House of Representatives District 11. Photo by Virginia Daffron plans so that we maintain the character of this place we love.”

Sloan had a narrower margin of victory over rival Democrat Donna Ensley, earning 9,662 votes (54.01%) compared with his opponent’s 8,227 (45.99%). In the latter days of the campaign, Sloan had criticized Ensley for accepting a $2,000 donation from Asheville developer Rusty Pulliam, which he wrote on his campaign’s Facebook page was “not in line with the commitment I made to prevent the careless development that has gone unchecked in Buncombe County for so many years.”

Speaking with Xpress on election night, Sloan said he didn’t know if that critique had an impact on the results.

“It’s something that I brought up from my own perspective, that those kind of contributions weren’t something that I was going to take for my own campaign moving forward,” he said.

Wells moves on to face Republican challenger Glenda Weinert in November, while Sloan will run against incumbent Republican Joe Belcher. In District 2, Anthony Penland received the Republican nomination due to the death of his primary opponent, former Commissioner Mike Fryar, on Feb. 2. His rival in the general election will be Democratic incumbent Jasmine Beach-Ferrara.

N.C. SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mayfield suggested that there wasn’t much difference in political platforms between her and the two other

CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

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N EWS Democratic contenders for the N.C. Senate District 49, attorney Ben Scales and IT professional Travis Smith. The results, however, revealed stark differences indeed: Mayfield earned more than twice as much support as both of her rivals put together, with 31,910 votes (67.54%) compared to 8,790 (18.61%) for Scales and 6,544 (13.85%) for Smith.

The Democratic winner attributed her success to her “experience and relationships in the community” and said she hoped to live up to the legacy of strong female legislators from Buncombe County such as Van Duyn, Marie Colton and Susan Fisher. Smith congratulated Mayfield on her victory and called for all Democrats to unite for success in the general election against Republican challenger Bob Penand.

In N.C. Senate District 48, which covers the eastern portion of Buncombe County in addition to Henderson and Transylvania counties, Mills River Mayor Pro Tem Brian Caskey took the Democratic nomination in a threeway race against behavioral technician Cristal Figueroa and entrepreneur Najah Underwood. He received 12,719 votes (49.77%) across the district, with Figueroa earning 8,472 (33.15%) and Underwood receiving 4,366 (17.08%).

Caskey will face incumbent Republican Chuck Edwards in November.

None of Buncombe’s three incumbent state representatives — Democrats Fisher, John Ager and Brian Turner — faced primary opponents and will run against Republicans Tim Hyatt, Mark Crawford and Eric Burns, respectively, in November. Libertarian Lyndon John Smith is also running for the District 114 seat currently represented by Fisher.

And in Henderson County’s District 117, Republican Tim Moffitt and Democrat Josh Remillard earned the right to compete for the House seat held by retiring Republican Chuck McGrady. Moffitt bested selfemployed Uber driver Dennis Justice by 8,684 votes (79.41%) to 2,251 (20.59%); Remillard’s primary challenger, Danaé Aicher, dropped out

of the race in January but still earned 4,107 votes (45.81%) compared with his total of 4,858 (54.19%).

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 11 On the Republican side of the ballot, the fractious race for the party’s nomination to succeed Meadows still has a ways to go. No candidate received more than 30% of the vote, the threshold necessary to avoid a second primary election on Tuesday, May 12.

Competing in that runoff will be Meadows-endorsed Bennett, who took home 20,510 votes (22.72%) across the district, and Cawthorn, who trailed former state Sen. Jim Davis in early voting but ended the night in second place with 18,418 votes (20.4%). During his watch party at the Asheville Event and Dance Centre in South Asheville, the 25-yearold Cawthorn said voters he’d spoken with were “excited for the future, for the next generation to come up and take on these democratic socialists.”

Davis ran close to Cawthorn in the 12-candidate contest, coming in just below him with 17,400 votes (19.27%).

But levels of support dropped substantially beyond third place: following Davis were businessman Chuck Archerd with 8,233 votes (9.12%) and former Meadows Deputy Chief of Staff Wayne King with 7,834 votes (8.68%).

Meanwhile, retired Air Force Col. and former Guantanamo Bay chief prosecutor Moe Davis dominated the five-way contest for the Democratic nomination.

He earned 52,665 votes (47.35%), while real estate professional and attorney Gina Collias, his closest competitor, captured just 25,213 votes (22.67%).

Speaking with Xpress at his watch party at downtown Asheville’s Green Man Brewing, Davis emphasized the need to reach across party lines to secure a November victory in the still Republican-leaning 11th District.

“The other side’s been really good at persuading voters to vote against their self-interest, either based on religion

ALL SMILES: Asheville City Council candidates Nicole Townsend, left, and Kim Roney watch as primary elections results roll in. Photo by Brooke Randle 14

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

MOE-MENT OF VICTORY: Moe Davis, back row center, stands with supporters during his watch party at Green Man Brewing in downtown Asheville. Photo by Virginia Daffron or patriotism or whatever they’ve sold it as,” he said. “My argument is, you’ve given Mark [Meadows] his eight years — what has he done for you? Why not give me 22 months?”

ALSO ON THE BALLOT One statewide race of particular interest to WNC voters was the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, which Van Duyn gave up a Senate reelection campaign to pursue. Although the District 49 incumbent handily won her home county of Buncombe with 35,752 votes (64.66% of the county total), she trailed state Rep. Yvonne Lewis

Holley of Raleigh in the statewide tally.

Holley had 306,795 votes (26.57% of the state total) compared with Van Duyn’s 236,004 (20.44%); as of press time, Van Duyn was undecided about whether to seek a runoff.

And in the hotly contested Democratic presidential primary, the plurality of Buncombe’s support went to Bernie Sanders, who earned 23,227 votes (37.57% of the county total). Joe Biden finished second with 15,433 votes (24.6%), with Elizabeth Warren in third with 10,582 (17.12%). However, Sanders finished second to Biden in the North Carolina total, and Mike Bloomberg beat out Warren to take third place in the state. X

2020 primary election winners The results below include all offices on the primary ballot for Buncombe County and Henderson County’s N.C. House District 117. Party abbreviations are as follows: C, Constitution; D, Democratic; G, Green; L, Libertarian; R, Republican. Asheville City Council is a nonpartisan race. Incumbents are indicated using an asterisk.

Asheville City Council • Sage Turner • Keith Young* • Kim Roney • Rich Lee • Nicole Townsend • Sandra Kilgore Buncombe County Board of Commissioners • District 1 (D) - Terry Wells • District 2 (R) - Anthony Penland • District 3 (D) Parker Sloan N.C. General Assembly • House District 117 (D) - Josh Remillard • House District 117 (R) - Tim Moffitt • Senate District 48 (D) - Brian Caskey • Senate District 49 (D) - Julie Mayfield

N.C. Attorney General • Jim O’Neill (R) N.C. Auditor • Beth Wood (D)* • Anthony Wayne (Tony) Street (R) N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture • Jenna Wadsworth (D) N.C. Commissioner of Insurance • Mike Causey (R)* N.C. Commissioner of Labor • Josh Dobson (R) N.C. Secretary of State • E.C. Sykes (R) N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction • Jen Mangrum (D) • Catherine Truitt (R) N.C. Treasurer • Ronnie Chatterji (D)

N.C. Lieutenant Governor • Yvonne Lewis Holley, Terry Van Duyn (D, runoff) • Mark Robinson (R) N.C. Governor • Roy Cooper (D)* • Dan Forest (R) U.S. House District 11 • Lynda Bennett, Madison Cawthorn (R, runoff) • Moe Davis (D) U.S. Senate • Cal Cunningham (D) • Thom Tillis (R)* U.S. President • Don Blankenship (C) • Joe Biden (D) • Howie Hawkins (G) • Jacob Hornberger (L) • Donald Trump (R)*

BUNCOMBE BEAT

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FIELDS AND A DREAM: This modified aerial photo shows the 83 acres where nearly 700 residential units are proposed to be built on Pond Road in Enka. Photo courtesy of Buncombe County A Greensboro-area developer is asking Buncombe County government to approve plans to build nearly 700 living units on Asheville’s western outskirts, potentially sparking another debate over a large residential project near the city.

Fall Line Development wants to build 585 apartments or condominiums, 80 townhomes and 32 single-family homes on Pond Road, not quite half a mile north of the road’s intersection with Sardis Road in Enka.

The 83-acre site proposed for The Farm at Pond Road currently holds a mulch and compost business and open fields. The site sits in an area with homes, farm fields and some businesses, and the property’s zoning allows for esidential or commercial uses.

Developer Brian Wise says the project fits the criteria of Buncombe County’s zoning ordinance and has “great proximity to retail and jobs.”

However, neighbors have raised

concerns about the development’s potential impact on traffic and the character of the area.

The county Board of Adjustment is scheduled to consider the project on Wednesday, March 11. However, Wise said March 4 that he will ask the board at that meeting to postpone the matter until April so engineers can make minor revisions to a traffic study in response to comments from the state Department of Transportation.

Neighborhood opposition recently stalled plans to build 802 apartments, along with retail and office space, on property off Bear Creek Road just outside Asheville city limits to the west.

An overflow crowd turned out at a December meeting of the Board of Adjustment to voice its concerns; the board continued consideration until late January, but developers withdrew their proposal before that second scheduled meeting could take place.

— Mark Barrett X MOUNTAINX.COM

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NEWS BRIEFS

N EWS

Health officials ramp up preparations for coronavirus impacts While only two cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, have so far been confirmed in North Carolina, local health department officials are working with state and federal agencies to monitor people within Buncombe County who may be infected. Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, medical director for the county’s Health and Human Services, shared the news during a March 5 press conference, the second such update local leaders have held on the disease.

“Since the beginning of February, we have been monitoring people who have returned from areas where they had potential exposure to COVID-19, and we have step processes in place where we check in with them daily for the 14 days after their arrival,” Mullendore explained.

While Mullendore said she was unable to disclose how many people in the county were being monitored for potential exposure, she emphasized that Buncombe still had no confirmed cases. “Again, the health risks to the general public in North Carolina remain low at this time. We are not aware of any community-level spread in North Carolina,” she added.

People who are experiencing symptoms of the illness — fever, cough and shortness of breath — should avoid entering hospitals or other health care facilities, Mullendore said. She advised those feeling ill to contact their health care provider, who will screen patients based on symptoms and recent travel to determine whether there was a potential for exposure.

Mountain Xpress

2020 X Awards

Get Ready to Vote!

Starting March 27

LAY OF THE LAND: The city of Asheville is seeking resident input on the future of downtown properties it owns at the intersection of Haywood Street and Page Avenue.

Photo courtesy of the city of Asheville

DR. JENNIFER MULLENDORE Mild cases of COVID-19, she continued, do not require hospitalization or medical treatment beyond riding out the illness at home. “We want to make sure that the people who are going to the hospital are the people who need hospital-based care, and we don’t want to expose people unnecessarily,” the medical director said.

Local testing for COVID-19 is being facilitated through the State Laboratory of Public Health and must be approved by the N.C. Communicable Disease Branch. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, 238 cases of COVID-19 had impacted people across the U.S. as of noon on March 6 — including one confirmed North Carolina case in both Wake and Chatham counties — and had so far resulted in 14 deaths.

Mullendore said that in light of those numbers, influenza remains a bigger current threat to the area. N.C. Division of Public Health data indicates that 127 state residents, including four children, have died from the flu during the current seasonal outbreak.

“I just want people to, again, put things into perspective,” she said.

Buncombe County HHS spokesperson Stacey Wood said the agency will continue to provide weekly updates on the status of the virus. General, nonmedical questions about coronavirus preparations can be sent to ready@bucombecounty. org. Information about COVID-19 in Buncombe County is available through the county’s website.

mountainx.com/bestofwnc 16

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

by News staff | news@mountainx.com

MOUNTAINX.COM

— Brooke Randle X

ASHEVILLE’S DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DRAFTS TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE

BUNCOMBE COUNTY LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO HELP SENIORS WITH WASTE COLLECTION

Ben Woody, director of Asheville’s Development Services Department, said during a March 6 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners that his department was in the process of drafting a new tree preservation ordinance for the city. Woody said that a public meeting to discuss the specifics of the ordinance will be held at the Asheville Development Services Center at 161 S. Charlotte St. on Friday, March 20 from 10 a.m.1 p.m. The issue is then slated to come before Asheville City Council during a public hearing Tuesday, April 28.

The Elderly/LowIncome Discount Program, launched on Jan. 1, aims to assist Buncombe County seniors who have difficulty bringing trash carts to curbside collection sites.

Residents aged 65 or older who subscribe to Waste Pro and either have an income less than 150% of the federal poverty level or receive federal public assistance may receive free premium service from Waste Pro if they are unable to handle their carts. Support is limited to 700 subscribers; residents may call Buncombe County Solid Waste at 828-250-5460 to see if they qualify. More information at avl.mx/703.

CITY SEEKS FEEDBACK ON HAYWOOD-PAGE PROPERTY DESIGNS The city of Asheville launched a new survey March 5 to gather feedback on design concepts for the downtown properties it owns at the intersection of Haywood Street and Page Avenue. Three draft design concepts for the property were presented during a public work session on the issue Feb. 17, and residents can comment on those designs through Sunday, March 14. To view the design concepts or take the survey, visit avl.mx/702.

UNCA PRESENTS 2020 CENSUS SYMPOSIUM UNC Asheville will present The 2020 U.S. Census Count – What’s at Stake? from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, in the Blue Ridge Room at the Highsmith Student Union.

The free symposium will examine how the count, which occurs every 10 years, impacts citizenship, racial minorities, redistricting and politics, among other issues. More information at avl.mx/700.

BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY ANNOUNCES 2019 VISITATION NUMBERS Managers of the Blue Ridge Parkway and National Park Service announced that 14,976,085 people visited the Parkway in 2019, an increase of nearly 300,000 people from 2018; the North Carolina portion of the park alone received over 10 million visitors. The agency said that July and October continue to be the most popular months to visit the parkway, although traffic is still down substantially from an all-time peak of over 21.5 million in 2002.

WNC AGRICULTURAL OPTIONS AWARDS $216,000 IN GRANTS TO LOCAL FARMS WNC Agricultural Options, which is administered by local nonprofit WNC Communities, awarded $216,000 to 40 area farms in an effort to support farmers who are diversifying their businesses. Eight farms received $3,000, while 32 farms — including Rayburn Farm, Flourish Flower Farm and Ivy Creek Family Farm in Buncombe County — received $6,000. All grants were funded by the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission; the complete list of recipients is available at avl.mx/704. X

FEA T U RE S

ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

‘God help the children!’

The city hosts the National Child Labor conference, 1916

WASTED YOUTH: In a 1916 letter to the editor, Hendersonville resident Zebulon A. Shipman spoke out against child labor, imploring politicians to “[s]tand some morning before the dawn and watch the poor pale-faced children of the cotton mill operators as they march like ‘dumb-driven cattle’ into their places of labor (or rather places of long hours of fatigue, mental and physical).” This undated image shows a young millworker in Cherryville, N.C. Photo by Lewis W. Hine; courtesy of the Library of Congress “Child Labor day will be observed in the churches and Sunday schools today throughout the United States,” The Sunday Citizen reported on Jan. 23, 1916.

Similar observations were scheduled for the following day at schools and social clubs. The events aimed to show solidarity for a recent bill sponsored by U.S. Reps. Edward Keating of Colorado and Robert Latham Owen of Oklahoma. “It is pointed out that if the Keating-Owen federal child labor bill … becomes a law, over 150,000 children will be freed from the mills and workshops,” the paper stated.

Though a national issue, Asheville residents held a keen interest in the matter.

That February, the city was slated to host the 12th annual National Child Labor conference inside the Battery Park Hotel.

Along with presentations and informal discussions, the four-day gathering was to feature Lewis W. Hine’s photo exhibit “The High Cost of Child Labor.” At the time, North Carolina law permitted industries to employ 12-year-olds to work up to 11 hours a day.

The week before delegates were set to arrive, Rep. James J. Britt, who served the 10th district of North Carolina, shocked local constituents when he opposed the child labor bill on the floor of the House.

Britt argued that Congress did not have the constitutional authority to pass a mea-

sure that imposed on states’ rights. If passed, Britt declared, “all hope of preserving the historical balance between the states and the nation will have vanished like an evanescent dream.”

In a Jan. 28, 1916, editorial, The Asheville Citizen condemned Britt’s stance.

“Evidently the congressman from the Tenth district … has changed his mind and views on this question since reaching the national capital,” the piece read.

In the following day’s paper, in a letter to the editor, Hendersonville resident Zebulon A. Shipman praised The Asheville Citizen’s rebuke of Britt’s speech. Describing Washington lawmakers as “fifth-class lawyers,” handpicked by mill owners, Shipman wrote, “I am glad to know we have at least one editor of a daily newspaper who has backbone enough to come out in an editorial and defend the rights of the poor laboring children of our Southland.”

On Feb. 2, the day before the national convention commenced in Asheville, Congress voted in favor of the KeatingOwen bill, 337-46. Few, however, believed the Senate would pass the bill.

The National Child Labor conference began the following day. In an editorial, the paper celebrated the organization’s arrival, applauding its efforts “to save American childhood.” The piece declared,

“The great bulk of American citizenship — that portion of it which is not blinded by self-interest and a desire for gain — knows and realizes that the curse of child labor is wasting away our youth.”

Robbing children of their energy in the name of profit, the editorial argued that these industries were creating a future army “of half-made men unfitted for full service by the abuses heaped upon them in their earlier year.”

Not shying away from controversial figures, the conference included a talk by Britt, who again argued that the recently approved bill was unconstitutional. Keating also spoke during the four-day event.

“It is generally agreed that no convention that has visited Asheville in many years attracted such widespread attention as the convention of the National Child Labor committee which closed here Sunday,” The Asheville Citizen proclaimed on Feb. 8, 1916.

Despite the event’s success, the editorial held a bleak outlook for the future of the Keating-Owen bill. “[T]he measure will be slowly done to death by delays and postponements,” the paper predicted. “The senate in past years has never been in a hurry to aid the children of the mills and factories[.]”

“But why?” the editorial asked its readers, before offering its take: “Because a few interests demand it, and the South through these interests would have us believe that it cannot compete with northern and eastern commerce unless it continues to offer up childhood on the altar of human greed. God help the children! Their friends are few.”

In a surprise twist (and at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson), the Senate voted in favor of the bill, 52-12, in August 1916. However, by September 1917, federal judge James E. Boyd of the Western District of North Carolina ruled the law unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart. Ultimately, in 1918, the Supreme Court sustained Boyd’s ruling.

Twenty years later, in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act established a national minimum wage of 25 cents an hour and a maximum workweek of 44 hours (reduced to 40 hours in 1940). The law also placed limitations on child labor, prohibiting youths 16 and younger from working in manufacturing and mining.

Editor’s note: Peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are preserved from original documents. X

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KIDS ISSUES 2020 We are delighted to share Part 1 of this year’s Kids Issues, our annual feature showcasing the creative talents of our local K-12 students. This year, we asked kids and teens to submit art and writing around the theme of “My Big Adventure” — which could be either a real expedition or a completely imaginary one. We received about 330 entries from students around the region who attend 31 area public, charter, private, parochial and home schools.

As you’ll see, these young artists and writers let their imaginations roam from the mountains of Western North Carolina to far-off lands — and even distant planets.

So, enjoy the extravaganza of colorful and engaging art, poems, photos, essays and short fiction on the following pages. And be sure to check back next week for more adventurous student art and writing in Part 2, along with our annual guide to area summer camps. — Xpress staff X

Into the forest As I step out into the fresh air, I start to gather my gear, confirming that I have everything I need to spend the night in the woods. Following my dad up a steep hill, we begin to vanish into deep forest. The air is cool, with a light breeze. We cross our first stream, resisting the urge to stop and prepare extra water for the journey ahead.

Several miles along, the sky falls dark, and so we stop to dig out our headlamps. We scurry for a spot to set up for the night. We come across an area of flat land by the river enclosed by a canopy of trees. I enter first through a narrow opening. The inside was completely cleared out, a perfect spot.

My dad and I throw down our bags and start looking for the tent, water boiler and the bear canisters with our food and fire starters in it. I retrieve the water, then set it to boil so we can begin rehydrating our meals. The water boils quickly, and we pour it into the freeze-dried food. Meanwhile, we pitch the tent, clearing the rocks that lie beneath. After the tent is pitched, we eat. The food is warm and delicious. Soon after we get ready for bed, I crawl into my nice, warm sleeping bag with a fresh pair of socks and ready to face the day ahead.

In the morning, I awoke to the sound of a rushing river and the smell of my dad’s instant coffee. I step out into the cool air and slip on my boots.

I picked up the big bag of food and

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a surge of energy that inspires me to seek more adventures with him.

— Ava Kjar Eighth grade Evergreen Community Charter School

Adventures of the Sauce Gang

A FALL BREEZE: Sixth grader Astoria Lee of Evergreen Community Charter School created this artwork of an adventure in progress. delivered it to my dad, then left to pack my things.

A little while later, we left through the trees to get back on the trail.

Now seeing the beauty of the area in the daylight gave me a new energy and sensation. After a little while, we reached a steep incline. I sighed as we started the long climb up the mountain. As we neared the top, I began to feel the mountain breeze whipped through my hair and smell of fresh sap. When we reached the top, I felt

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a great surge of relief as I looked out upon the scenery.

After a minute of walking, we come across a bald with the gray mountains making a protective barrier.

Venturing back down the other side, tones of little natural springs of water come out of the ground. Slowly they form into a rushing creek: the headwaters of the Pigeon River. Despite all of the physical challenges, all of these moments with my dad culminate in

Once there was a group of best friends, and their names were Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Ranch, Relish and Barbecue. They lived in a restaurant, all at Table No. 2. They were having a great life, but their sauces were running low.

They knew what would happen if they ran out. They would be thrown out!

They came up with a plan to get refills at each separate sauce factory. Since the relish factory was next door, they went there first. Relish hopped onto the conveyor belt. and he rode through this big machine that filled him up. Then he went outside to show his friends. The others still needed to get refills, so they came up with a brilliant plan. They were going to sneak a ride on the delivery truck!

The next time the delivery truck arrived was the next day, so they camped out at the relish factory. They woke up in the morning when the delivery truck arrived.

They found a box near the truck and hid behind it. As soon as the coast was clear, they ran into the truck and hid behind another box. The truck started to move, and Relish wasn’t ready and slid across the floor and got a scrape. Thankfully, Mayonnaise had a Band-Aid. Everybody held onto something. Relish was clinging onto Ketchup’s leg for the rest of the trip.

Ranch changed the gears and Relish was riding shotgun. Mustard hit the gas.

Vroom! After a crazy ride, the Sauce Gang made it back to the restaurant, Table 2, refilled.

— Millie Bauernfeind Third grade Estes Elementary School

Living RIDING ON A BLUEBIRD: First grader Gaby Boye of The Learning Community School lets imagination fly free.

Finally, they arrived at the ranch factory. Ranch snuck in, went onto the conveyor belt, and she got a refill. Then she went outside. Soon they jumped another truck to the mayonnaise factory for a refill, followed by stops at ketchup, mustard and the barbecue’s factories and refilled the same way.

Then — the challenge of getting home. The only way to do it was to drive the truck back to the restaurant, so that’s what they did. Barbecue and Mayonnaise took the wheel. Ketchup did the brakes, Mustard took the gas pedal,

Living, trying Feathers flying Bringing me up to the sky I never learned how to lie Searching, climbing Time keeps on passing I wander but I am not lost But if I were found, I wonder what would be the cost Sun blaring Friends sharing Thoughts and memories Remind me of what you see Falling, landing On my own two feet I’m standing Tall trees warm breeze Sounds of buzzing honey bees I’m running, jumping Into the water I am crashing Ice cold, numb skin

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Inside my mind I spin I’m failing, learning For adventure I am yearning Life so wild like a burning ember These are the moments I will always remember — Willow Rose Eighth grade Evergreen Community Charter School

My big adventure When I was 3, I had a dream of riding dirt bikes. I got my first dirt bike when I was 5, and I was riding it 24/7.

I wanted to go to motocross.

And here I am, 19, racing pro. I miss my family, but it’s my dream, so I’m following it. I’ve won 12 races and been on the podium 36 times.

And then it happened, I was in the semifinals, but I had a feeling it would go bad. It was the biggest crash I had ever had. I tried to triple, and I caught a lip, and I went over the handlebars. I woke in the hospital; I had broken my leg, my back and my jaw.

I thought I would never race again, until I got a call from my manager,

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Harmony My horse and I gallop through a vast meadow, under the crystal blue sky The sun dazzles above us, radiating heat over the land The sweet sound of birdsong echoes through the warm air Beautiful white roses and delicate wildflowers line our path A hawk shrieks a wonderful soprano, guiding us on our beloved journey Fuzzy rabbits and brave gophers bustle about the meadow My horse sighs as my heart soars with complete happiness A whispering brook bubbles and tumbles over the path My horse and I leap over it with grace I feel more alive than ever before My horse gallops faster, filling me with pleasure The meadow rushes past us in a colorful blur

m er m u S r u O ol Year! r o o h f c

S 1 2 o 0 r En 2 0 Pro 2 gra m a nd 20

Now

and he said I could race. It was a miracle.

— Brayin Mason Fourth grade North Buncombe Elementary School

MY DRAGON ADVENTURE: Second grader Tatek Selassi of Rainbow Community School drew this colorful work.

Wind beating against my face, I laugh in the divine depths of my being We arrive at the end of the meadow, the beginning of a majestic forest Ancient oaks and young birches now line our path The sun filters through the emerald leaves, creating a fabulous green golden glow Big yellow primroses and little pink ones pass by in lovely patches A light brown and white speckled swallow darts in front of us, its gay voice caresses my ears

Deep blue clouds sweep over the sky, making the forest instantly dark A light rain calms the warmth to a comfortable cool I giggle in spite of myself, as the rain tickles my bare shoulders My horse whinnies in joyous agreement I am in love with the beauty of everything around me I know this is where I belong, galloping in harmony with nature — Kestrel Dionne Seventh grade Home school

Reach out for help My big adventure is going through low self-esteem. A few years ago, I had severe depression and anxiety, so I had negative thoughts.

It got so bad I started poking myself with thorns, which was a horrible idea. It only made things worse.

I thought no one would accept me for who I am. I went through my low self-esteem too early.

I got enough courage and reached out to my school counselor. That’s why I suggest reaching out to some-

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A TRIP TO ASIA: Fourth grade student Asa drew this scene at the Francine Delany New School for Children After School Program, writing: “I once went to Asia and saw a beautiful palace that was made of gold.” one if you’re going through what I felt. It helps, trust me.

— Anonymous Fourth grade Buncombe County Schools

One winter night

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Once on a winter night, a snowball hit my window. I looked outside and saw a snowman blocking the gate to the courtyard, so I got my coat on and ran outside.

I made snowballs and threw them at the snowman. He fell over. I ran in the area.

I saw a vortex. It led to a place of awesomeness, yummy food, so colorful. I took long hikes, went swimming, saw lots of art and listened to good music. I learned to overcome all obstacles. It’s worth it.

— Elliot Adams First grade Odyssey Community School

To Mars and back

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Yesterday I decided to go to Mars, so I took my suitcase from the top shelf — whoosh — as I plopped it down on my bed. I didn’t need much: just some clothes and snacks, then I needed to figure out transportation. The only thing I could think of was a spaceship, but where to find one?

I went to a car dealer. She said: “Sorry kiddo, fresh out!” I asked NASA. They said: “We don’t give them to young’uns.” Now where was I going to get one? As my last resort, I had to

build one myself — so I ran from place to place getting material, stopping only to catch my breath.

I went home to assemble my spaceship piece by piece, mistake by mistake, until I was finished. It didn’t look the best, but I hadn’t tested it yet, so I went to my backyard and set the autopilot to the forest, and as I flew away, I could only see smoke. But after 10 minutes, I was there, so I flew back and worked on the smoke problem.

Soon I was ready to go to Mars, but then I realized I don’t have a spacesuit, and NASA does not make them size 8 in girls, so I just snuck into the NASA Workshop, stole a regular space suit and casually strolled home. After I made some small modifications, I waited until morning to depart.

I woke in the morning feeling refreshed. I packed all my things into a spaceship and then went to go get some oxygen tanks. I only had enough money to buy five oxygen tanks. Soon I was ready to go. I got in, sat down, set the autopilot to Mars and whizzed off. We got ​0.7 million miles away before it sputtered and stopped.

Suddenly, my heart dropped. I realized the gas was empty, so I took the rope, tied it to my waist, got an oxygen tank and put it in the gas tank and off we went. Soon I landed on Mars. I played with the aliens and bounced around.

Soon I was almost out of oxygen, so I flew home. To be continued …

— Norah Jones Fifth grade Claxton Elementary

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Adventures in the real world Everyone has an adventure. Not every is as exciting, or happy or sad. But at least there’s one. My adventure doesn’t really have a mood; it’s a mixture of all.

Starting with one morning in another day, in another week and in another year. Having to wash again. Dishes, they need to be washed. If they don’t, you get gross germs all over them. After that, I went to change. What clothes? If I wear this, I might be judged. Jeans, but not tight because it’s too showy. I get in the car; it was cold and freezing and wondering which button is the heater.

We went to go see my family friends at a restaurant. I usually like to see them, but not for long because it gets boring.

My favorite restaurant with my favorite food with my favorite ingredients: pho.

It’s pretty good; never knew about it until my dad bought some. Talking and waiting. Never knew how to handle it.

Deciding what to do next was the hardest of all. Finally they decide, and we go to the lake to paddle boat.

I have never been here before. The lake was clear and blue. We went on the boat; it was rusty. It cut me, and the cut looked like a smiley face. The water was warm, and the sun looked so pretty on

the water. Like glitter. We kept pedaling because we were stranded. The feeling you got. Just wanted to stay there forever and forget the horrible situations I was in at that moment. The sky was perfect, the weather was, too. The sun beaming on your face. Loved that. Like an adventure in the real world.

— Daniella Bermudez Seventh grade Asheville Catholic School

The 100% true story of the hole in my backyard I thought the first day of summer would be relaxing, but this was far from it. I stood there, a hole about the size of a coffee cup in my backyard staring back at me. I grumbled, pushed some dirt over it and started the climb up to the top of the stairs. Whoosh. I turned. The hole was now the size of a paper plate.

Confused, I kicked more dirt over it.

Whoosh. It now appeared 10 feet wide.

“What the …” I muttered. Peering down the hole, my eyes widened.

Caked in dirt, these underground creatures’s stubby figures roamed around. They had six eyes, long fingernails and pointy feet. I leaned

Xpress Poetry Contest Xpress announces a 2020 poetry contest in celebration of April as National Poetry Month.

Poets are asked to submit work around the theme of a famous or noteworthy person/personality in Western North Carolina (e.g., moonshiner Popcorn Sutton, WLOS anchor Darcel Grimes, 2000-era City Council candidate and thong wearer Ukiah Morrison, community developer and pioneer Isaac Dickson). Poems should be no longer than one typed page in a 12-point font and must be previously unpublished.

The contest is currently open for submissions will close at midnight on Friday, March 20. Email the poem in the body of the message or as a Doc attachment to amarshall@mountainx.com. The subject line should read “Xpress poetry contest.” Include the author’s full name and contact information in the email. Only one submission is allowed per person. There is no cost to enter.

A winning poem will be determined by a local poet of note, to be named soon.

The winner will be published online and in print in our April 29 issue.

The contest is not open to Xpress employees or freelance contributors.

Contact Alli Marshall at amarshall@mountainx.com with any questions.

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REFLECTIONS: Emilia Luca, a ninth grader at IC Imagine, shot this photo while on a real-life adventure. closer, but lost my footing. I stumbled, then plummeted to the underground. Dazed, I crawled behind a rock. Two of the underground creatures approached, unaware.

“I can’t wait to blow up the entire city!” growled one in a low, raspy voice.

“Yeah,” the other squealed, high and squeaky, “The bomb explodes in 17 minutes! Let’s go look,” it screeched. “It’ll be fun!” I gave them

a second to scamper off before darting from rock to rock, close behind.

“Ten minutes remaining until the city’s doom!” the raspy voice bellowed as we approached the bomb. I squinted and threw a pebble. “What was that?” it hissed, stumbling down a tunnel.

I crept toward the bomb. “To defuse, type the code!” it shouted. Hearing footsteps, I ducked behind the rock.

“Hey!” the low voice growled. “What was that?” It glanced around, shrugging. “Good thing the code is hard to crack,” it roared. “It’s 0395! Practically unguessable!” They scampered away as I furiously typed the code. These underground people weren’t the smartest.

Bomb defused, I threw it against the dirt wall, shattering it. The underground people turned with angry and confused looks stretched on their faces. Sluggishly, they ran toward me. I climbed up rocks perfectly placed in the dirt wall and pulled myself out of the hole.

“Hey!” I reached for a flower pot.

“She’s defused the bomb!” I smashed it into the ground with such force, they probably felt it underground. I dusted off my pajamas and went inside.

— Haddie Herr Eighth grade The Learning Community School

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MANATEE IN THE CRYSTAL RIVER: Second grader Nigel Craig of The Learning Community School depicts a mother and baby manatee exploring their world.

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A month on the water My heart yearns for an adventure One month in the place I love the most The Upper Peninsula of Michigan The land of lakes, lighthouses and waves crashing against the shore, this is my home My skin turning a dusty gold from paddling dusk till dawn Making my muscles taut against the pull of the water Camping here, backpacking there Watching sunsets glimmer across the water to sunrises seeping through the hemlocks This is where I feel free The adventure of a lifetime With plenty of pictures to show Kayaking, wakeboarding, diving, splashing and laughing, all under the same vast skies Playing cards as the rain sweeps down and being surrounded by stars like a crown We return with tan lines crisscrossing our bodies, a map of memories to carry us home to the mountains — Maya Resnick Eighth grade Evergreen Community Charter School

On a Saturday They arrived on a Saturday.

When I woke up, it was a Saturday just like any other. The windowpanes were foggy because it was cold outside, and the smell of my dad’s pancakes was wafting into my room.

But despite the laziness settling

over my house that morning, the sun streamed through my window, beckoning me to explore.

I was outside in no time, bundled up like a snowman (at my mom’s request, of course). Before I set out, I stopped for a just a minute to see my breath freeze and then vanish into thin air. And then I was off! I dashed up the side of our mountain, jumping over fallen logs and frozen puddles. I ran and ran and ran, gulping down the crisp mountain air. And when I reached the top, that’s when I saw them.

Their skin was purple and they had black eyes. Their hair — assuming they had any — was covered up by some loosely draped cloth. They wore the most intricately woven clothes I’d seen in my life. But despite all that, they looked kind of like me, and they seemed friendly, too.

So I did what any polite person would do: I chatted them up. After a few translation errors and cultural misgivings, we really hit it off. They were here from a faraway planet, just visiting for the day. It was only the five of them, a family, and they wanted to see what Earth had to offer. I told them it was lucky they ran into me, because I’m one of the best explorers around.

Off we went! I took them by bubbling creeks, past tall evergreen trees and up mountains. We hiked along ridges, and I showed them all that the Blue Ridge Mountains had to offer.

And when the sun started sinking to the horizon, we made our way home.

I told them I needed to go because my

parents would worry, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

I think about that Saturday a lot — the Saturday of my biggest adventure.

— Caroline Koon 10th grade Carolina Day School

Adventure starts today The big adventure starts today Oh, hip hip hip hurray!

With grand Ferris wheels and merry-go-rounds and loads of junk food for all those around!

I’ll skip through the fair with my tickets in hand buying ‘bout everything that I can!

Hand in hand we will go see the band that has tooting trombones and fancy French horns.

Folks will be shouting, “Ye-haw, ye-haw!”

On mechanical bulls that buck as you fall.

— Lila Jurdi Sixth grade Omega Middle School

Fifteen feet tall If you were a whopping 15 feet tall you would have to sit outside the window at your school and take a bath in a swimming pool.

Half of the world would be your bed You would have a big huge head If you were 15 feet tall If I was a whopping 15 feet tall I could catch a bird right from a tree people would be intimidated by me I might even get some things for free If I was 15 feet tall — Kharri A. Jones Fifth grade Oakley Elementary

The big surprise One fine morning, I woke up to the sound of boxes clattering. “Probably just another road trip,” I thought, as I’d had many.

When I got downstairs, I said, “What’s for breakfast?”

My mom said, “I will not answer that, but I will say that we have something to discuss.”

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When we sat down, my dad said, “OK, so we’re going to …” he paused for a while. “Move!”

I gasped. “What?” I shouted.

“Yup,” said mom. “That’s totally unfair! I love Brooklyn!”

“We know, but we thought it’s best.”

When I looked in my playpen, as I’d been 4, I saw a mountain of boxes, and I climbed, and the next thing I knew, we were on a plane. I watched and watched and watched TV and soon enough I fell asleep.

The next morning, we were there.

I forgot how sad I was, and I started to explore. My mom told me which room I’d be in. I looked and immediately got overjoyed. I started planning. After all that, I loved my room so much that I hugged the walls.

But I didn’t like Asheville. My mom said it took time to get used to a new place. I believed her, and after three years, I loved Asheville as much as I loved my room.”

— Lily Pershke First grade Odyssey Community School

A big leap Have you ever gone on a big adventure? I have. My name is Emiya Underwood, and I’m going to tell you about one of my biggest adventures.

It all started when my summer camp went rafting on the French Broad River. I was grouped with Cameron, Nihzaiah, Lilly and Maddie.

We rafted through the Pinball, while we bounced around like one.

We stopped at a huge rock, and I wondered, “What are we doing here?’’ and people started climbing and jumping into the water. The deep, dark water. People started telling me to jump, and there was no other way down, so I leaped in.

In I went. I slowly bobbed up to the surface. Then I rapidly paddled to the raft and cried with fright. Then we all had lunch. Sandwiches and lemonade.

Then we climbed up a mountain.

Whoa, I thought as I sat and peered around the view. Picture this: sitting on a rock on a high mountaintop.

When you look down, you see treetops; up, the pale blue sky. You hear cars roaring below. Amazing, right?

Then we had a rock hunt to find rocks and minerals to test them. I

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The Nature Sisters (Day 1)

FOX FAMILY ADVENTURE! Third graders McKenzie Arbor, Lucia Ferrell-Smith, Sascha Kneile and Cearnaigh McCorkle of Rainbow of Community School collaborated on this miniature mural. found mica, quartz and granite. Lilly found sandstone.

Then we went to the pool to relax. So we played Marco Polo, and I was Marco.

But Cameron won the game. While going home, we played 20 questions. Lilly won.

That was my big adventure. Thanks for reading. Bye!” — Emiya Underwood Fourth grade Oakley Elementary School

Dear diary, it’s the first day in our new tree, and I am very excited!

My name is Ruth, and I have two sisters. Their names are June and Sapphire.

I’m 19, June is 16 and Sapphire is 10. I love them very, very much. They love me, too.

My sisters and I live alone because our parents got ill and died. Right after we moved into the tree, we went straight to the creek. My sisters, June and Sapphire, and I had a very fun time at the creek.

Since I’m the oldest of my sisters, I have to take care of them.

When we got home, we ate some wild grass. We only eat stuff from the woods.

After we finish our food, we go outside to look around. We see lots of birds, mossy trees and lots of amazing plants. Bees were buzzing around us. A very nice fox came to welcome us into the forest, then he gave us a beautiful batch of roses that we loved!

We kept on going, and then all of a sudden, a bear jumped out at us.

Sapphire jumped and then hid behind me. June got very excited and jumped up and down and screamed, “Cool!”

I thought she scared the whole forest away, but she didn’t think so.

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The bear said he just wanted to say welcome. Sapphire was still scared of Mr. Bear. I told Sapphire that Mr. Bear was not trying to hurt us, but she said: “No! He was trying to eat us, and he was totally trying to eat me because I’m small.”

We started to walk back to our tree so we could eat dinner, then try to get some sleep, which is hard for me ever since mom and dad died. Hopefully, I will get better sleep tonight.

Then we got home, ate some fresh food, and went to bed. Goodnight, see you soon diary. I will write to you tomorrow. Bye, diary.

— Eska Garrison Fourth grade ArtSpace Charter School

The Nature Sisters (Day 2)

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Dear, diary, it’s Day 2. I am Sapphire, and I did not sleep well last night. Well, we live in a tree.

I have two sisters: Ruth and June. Our parents died of illnesses. Now we live together in the woods.

I am 10. June is 16; Ruth is 19. We love each other very much and care for each other. Ruth takes care of me and June.

There was a loud sound out of our house, and it scared me and my two sisters, but all it was is a raccoon falling out of a tree. So, June and I went inside, and Ruth went to help it.

Then Ruth made me and June go pick berries. Then we ate and started our day. I went to the river to swim for a long time. June and I played all day, and Ruth came, too. Then we went home to have dinner. We played till bedtime. We played tag, who can climb the fastest and who can jump the farthest.

When we are done, we watch the sun set. Then Ruth tells me and June a story.

Then we read for about 30 minutes and go to bed, but first we talk for an hour.

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AWAY WE GO: Seventh grader Amelie Jimenez-Vargas of Asheville Middle School created this energetic work.

Good night, diary. See you tomorrow.

— Eleanor Savoy Fourth grade ArtSpace Charter School

The Nature Sisters (Day 3) Dear, diary, it is Day 3 in the forest, and I had a long, long day. I have two sisters.

Their names are Ruth and Sapphire. My name is June.

I woke up today, and I felt sick to my stomach. So, my sisters took care of me.

I had to stay in my bed for the whole day, which was very boring! At least I didn’t have to do my chores, and my sisters served me food.

My sisters went outside to get me some wildflowers, my favorite wildflowers!

When they got home, they surprised me with the wildflowers. They smelled like honey. It’s so boring when I’m stuck in my

bed for the whole day. Ruth said I have to take a nap now, but I don’t want to. But I have to, so see you soon.

I’m back and awake. I had a very, very good nap. But I still feel a little woozy. After that, I went for a nature walk. While I was walking, I saw a dog! The dog was hurt. I had to go help it. So I ran up to help it. Ruth said we need to help it. Sapphire said, “We can’t help it. What if it has rabies?”

We brought it home. Sapphire did not like him at all. I think she is going to warm up to him. Sapphire fell asleep by the fire. Ruth fell asleep by our new dog. (We named him Jack!) I … I’m falling asleep.

Night, night diary. See you soon!

— Sloane Horner Fourth grade ArtSpace Charter School

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Reed’s adventure story “Locked and loaded, Commander,” I said through my intercom. “Checking my missile tubes.” They were slid into my Starfighter, ready.

“Is it in view?” asked the commander. “Yep,” I said.

And so are the om police ships. Sleek ships with a high-power laser cannon locked on my position and shot. With a hail of return fire, I obliterated poles of energy whizzing around my ship, and my green lasers whizzed past those lasers. In a few seconds, it was chaos.

Then, white gunships arrived, putting their weapons to work against the om police. “Om warships!” I realized …

(We interrupt this short story for an explanation: It is called oms and om police. Oms are small, round creatures, and om police try to catch them.

So, don’t be cunfoozled, because now you know.) … this quickly, for they were holding white troopers with laser rifles and blasters.

One motioned for me, just as my ship took a massive hit. I struggled to steer it into the gunships hangar, but managed. The warship then headed down to the planet below, dodging and shooting as it did so.

Just as we landed, blaster fire destroyed the ship, sending me down on the ground. I got up and looked around. The om defense troopers‘ armor had protected them, so none of us were dead.

But we no longer had a ship.

I took out my blaster and made my way toward a covered forest.

Ten troopers kept watch, while 10 more went with me. As we entered the woods, we saw a very old gate, with vines all over it. It opened easily, with a creak. We went into a temple, also vined.

Just then, we heard a loud rumble, and the ground began to shake. With a roar, a rock monster rose from the ground, sending me and my team back. We shot, but it simply just … hit it, not doing anything to the massive Titan. It slammed its fist down ― creating an enormous shock wave! A look of horror spread across my face.

“Run,” I screamed.

To be continued.

— Reed Krebs Third grade Evergreen Community Charter School

Rising moon Rising moon is shining While the old day is dying Lonely trees slightly shifting 32

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

WHITEWATER KAYAKING CAMPS FOR GIRLS THROUGH A CAT’S EYES: Cami Todd, a fifth grader at Asheville Waldorf School, writes: “If I were to venture anywhere, I’d go into my cat’s body and see what it’s like to be her!”

Slowly walking through the woods Shadowed figures wearing hoods Fear washes over Slightly coming closer I breathe in the air Only the wind blowing there — Anna Claire Vo Eighth grade Asheville Catholic School

My jungle adventure Click, click, perfect. Oh, hi, my name is Eva. I am a photographer.

Not like one who stays at the same place — no way, that is just boring.

I travel a lot to get my pictures. My first stop is the jungle. So come and join me on our way to the jungle.

First, let’s pack.You need a lot of stuff for our trip. First, you are going to need shorts and T-shirts. I think that is good for the clothes. Now we will need sunscreen and sneakers and bug spray, first-aid kit and a mosquito net and food and water and a tent and some rain gear, like a raincoat and umbrella and rain boots. I think that is enough packing for the adventure in the jungle. Well, we better get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us.

Good morning, are you ready to go to the jungle? Our flight leaves in three hours. Do you have all your stuff packed?

Run, run, run — whew, that was a close one. Man, am I glad we made it.

(Announcing all passengers to remain in their seats at all times.) Hey, look down. We are leaving the airport (in 20 hours we will be at the jungle; this is the time to sit back and relax

and close your eyes). Man, am I excited about the trip. Let’s get some shut-eye.

Hey, wake up. It is time to get some of those amazing pictures. Let’s first check into our cabin, and we will get an early start tomorrow morning.

So here we are. The jungle is just what I expected. Beautiful flowers and chirping birds and the sound of the screeching monkeys makes me kind of scared.

What’s that sound? Rhinos, run!

So, I have gotten some great pictures to share. Well, I have survived snakes, rhinos, cougars, poison dart frogs, gorillas and all other creatures.

It was just amazing. Please join me in my next adventure. Maybe it will be the ocean or Iceland or Greenland. Until then.

— Isabel McDonald Fourth grade North Buncombe Elementary School

1-Week Camps for Girls Ages 12-16 Kayak Every Day Class II, III, IV Whitewater Small Group Instruction

Rockbrook Camp for Girls www.rockbrookcamp.com/kayak Brevard, NC

New York I love New York. I think that it was the greatest city in the world. But the last trip to this huge city resulted in one of the scariest moments in my life.

Everything was normal. We signed into our hotel — me, my parents and my little brother. It was a nice hotel right next to Times Square. We were going to be in New York for five days.

It was all going great until day No. 3. We were going to see the One World Trade Center, the tallest building in New York. We were going to go to the top and see the view. It is 1,776 feet tall, so I was super excited but terrified at the same time.

The Little Gym of Asheville is now enrolling for summer camps and classes.

Join us for a summer full of adventure! www.tlgashevillenc.com 828-747-2239 • tlgashevillenc@thelittlegym.com MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

33

The elevator flew upward. After this trip, I learned that that elevator was one of the fastest elevators in the world. When we got to the 102nd floor, we were immediately greeted by the warm sun. This was supposed to be the best part of our trip. It was the part that I was most looking forward to.

Everything started off fine — we were looking out the windows and enjoying the view. But then I heard my mom say that my brother needed to go to the bathroom. I just nodded because I was mesmerized by the view; it was so cool!

I stayed by the window for at least 15 more minutes before realizing something was wrong. Where were my parents? I looked around panic.

You know when you lose your parents in like a grocery store? And you are totally freaking out? That is what I felt.

Except at least 10 times worse.

I started walking around the floor.

Then I started running. What if my parents had left the building without me? What if they had forgotten me?

Now I was really panicking. My heart was racing, I was on the verge of bawling my eyes out. Then I saw them. My parents! I saw them and started run-

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MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

ning toward them. I was with my family again. That was three years ago.

— Aakash Karvir Sixth grade Carolina Day School

My paradise I went with my friend to Florida It was my paradise.

Where the trees sway in the wind, Where the plants grow wild.

Where if you walked to the sea, You could hear the crash of the waves.

The salty air of the sea, Blowing on my face.

The call of the seagulls, The sand between my toes, Where the palm trees sway in the wind.

Where I am free.

— Madeleine Brodsky-Murren Second grade Montessori Elementary School of Asheville

The halftime dance Can you imagine yourself being in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome? Well, I can.

For the 2020 Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, I was in the halftime show with 76 dancers from Pat’s School of Dance and a couple of high school bands. We started the dance in November and finished the dance by December. We had many long practices and early mornings, but we all stayed determined to [do our best] in the dance.

It was early morning, and I had two flights ahead of me before I got to New Orleans. When we got to our final destination, we walked around downtown, and I was impressed by how big downtown was. The next day, I had practice at a high school, and this was the first time we were practicing with the band. That night, we all hung out with friends and family and rang in the new year. That night was a hard night because I didn’t go to bed until 12:30 and had to get up at 6 for our last practice. When I first stepped onto the field and saw how many seats were in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, I thought I was dreaming. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing.

After a two-hour practice, I felt we had the dance down. Before we all had to meet up to go back to the Superdome, I hung out with two of my friends, Raleigh and Sarah. After about two hours of chilling, I felt good and ready to perform the dance. We were sitting in the Superdome about three hours before we had to dance.

After the first quarter, we had to walk down to the field to get set. We had 1 minute until halftime, and everyone was nervous, but I was not. When I was dancing, I felt like it was a normal day. When

MOUNTAINX.COM

MY LEARNING ADVENTURE: Emaline Penny, a third grader at Odyssey Community School, reveals an adventure that centers on school. we all ran off the field, we all thought we had done the best we could have done.

When the game was over and we got back to the hotel, I was ready to sleep.

Today was the day to go back home, and I was not thrilled. After two flights, a drive home was not the best. After a while of traveling, when we got home, I was sad but happy at the same time. I was happy to be home but sad we had to leave New Orleans. I had such a great time with my family and friends. So about that question, can you relate?

— Kinley Buckingham Sixth grade Cane Creek Middle School

Robin’s big adventure Hi. My name is Robin, and I just moved here to North Carolina from Washington, D.C. I am going to start school soon. But first, I want to check out my neighborhood.

When I was walking around my neighborhood, a girl came up to me and said,

“Hey, did you just move here? ’Cause I know everyone in this neighborhood.”

I nodded my head. I couldn’t talk. I never realized how shy I was. “Oh, then, let me introduce myself,” the girl said.

“My name is Bella. Bella White.”

“My name is Robin,” I whispered.

“Robin is a very pretty name.”

Bella said.

“Thanks.”

Bella invited me to dinner that night, so I asked my mom if I could go.

“What is her name again? Bea? Bell?” said my mom.

“Bella, Mom, Bella.”

“Well, I suppose, as long as you are back by nine,” said my mom.

“Thanks, Mom, you’re the best!”

I can’t wait to go to Bella’s house!

It’s a little bit later, and I’m on my way to Bella’s house to eat dinner. I have a lot of mental questions. What are we going to eat? What is Bella’s family like? Will her family like me? Will I like them? By the time I am done asking myself mental questions, I am at Bella’s house.

“Why hello, Robin,” Bella greets me.

“Come on in.”

I come in, and it is already time to eat.

We are having pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. Wow. I have never seen so much good food in my life!

OK, Bella is the best friend I’ve ever had.

When we are done eating, I thank Bella for letting me come over to eat. I am a little bit worried about tomorrow, because that’s when I start school.

The next morning, I go to school.

When I get there, I hear a voice.

“Robin?” It is Bella.

“Bella!” I say. I think I am going to like it here after all.”

— Madison Wooten Fourth grade North Buncombe Elementary School

try the harder walls. I also wanted to push myself a little bit.

After a few weeks, I finally dominated the hardest wall. In my seventh grade year, I joined climbing elective to try to get better at climbing. My friends who were in the elective started talking about trying to get belay certified. I decided to try with them.

After two or three months, I finally got certified. This gave me more reasons to get better at climbing. I perfected my belaying technique and slowly got better at climbing.

Climbing has helped me gain friends and find a new extremely fun thing to pass time. When I got dropped halfway down the wall, I thought I was going to die for a second. I now realize how much the climbing wall at Evergreen has helped my fear of heights. I also realized how many good friends climbing has helped me gain. I think that if Evergreen had never had a climbing wall, I would still be scared of heights. Even after I fell partway down the wall, I still love climbing and still climb all the time.

— Judah Scott Eighth grade Evergreen Community Charter School

Ski trip Our plane had arrived, I had a feeling inside, That this would be my next adventure.

We then took off, And came to our stop, As I prepared to go out and venture.

The next day had come, With frosty windows and sun, And cold air and lights all aglow.

When I went out to ski, I was filled with glee, As I knew there would soon be snow.

As I went down the slope, I speed faster and faster, Until I was finally done.

With my fingers numb, I had finally finished, Though I knew there was still more to come.

— Garrett Schmidt Fifth grade Asheville Catholic School

In the midst of things I could watch the cherry blossoms fall Welcome the faint whisper of the Alps Brace myself for the shivering snow Marvel as green lights are painted by the sky Frolic as the soles of my feet are dusted with sand All while oceans away I could sway with the butterfly gardens Ambulate through the hallways of a gilded mansion Experience the thunderous drum circle in my chest Gaze as murals distemper the streets Or perhaps I could stay home With one step outside that equates to all of the artistry in the world — Hannah Martin 12th grade Buncombe County Early College

Fall Enrollment Open House Tues., March 24 5:30-6:30pm

Half-off Registration Through March 31, 2020 (non-refundable)

We operate Sept.–May Mon.-Fri. • 8–11:30am (828) 665-4302 171 Sand Hill School Road, Asheville NC 28806 actonumcpreschool@gmail.com

BY THE SEA: Eighth grade student Caroleina Romero of Cane Creek Middle School painted a scene brimming with promise.

The fall A few weeks ago, I fell halfway down a climbing wall. I got all the way up the wall, and, like usual, called out to the belayer, “Ready to lower!” The belayer said, “Ready to lower,” but what I didn’t realize was that she had started to let out slack before I was ready.

I fell a few feet when she took her hands off the rope. Luckily for me, the backup belayer was there to catch me. As soon as I started to fall, my heart dropped into my stomach because I knew what was about to happen. I was going to fall all 30 feet to the ground. When I felt myself get caught, I felt like the luckiest man alive. During this fall, all my climbing that had brought me to this point flew through my mind.

Before my school, Evergreen Community Charter School got a climbing wall, I was very scared of heights. When Evergreen first got a climbing wall, I would only climb the smallest wall. My peers convinced me to go out of my comfort zone and MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

35

COMMUNITY CALENDAR MARCH 11 - 19, 2020

CALENDAR GUIDELINES For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, ext.

137. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, ext. 320.

BENEFITS ARTSHARE • Through FR (3/28), 11am-4pm - Proceeds from ArtShare, a showing of donated or consigned art works benefit Haywood County Arts Council. Free to attend.

Held at Haywood County Arts Council, 86 N. Main St., Waynesville ASHEVILLE SALT CAVE OPEN HOUSE • WE (3/11), 4-7pm - Proceeds from the Asheville Salt Cave Open House with self care mini sessions, local foods and a raffle benefit Bounty and Soul. ashevillesaltcave. com. Free to attend.

Held at Asheville Salt Cave, 16 N. Liberty St. BREAK THE SILENCE • TH (3/12), 6:30pm - Proceeds from Break the Silence 2020 with Amber Tamblyn benefits Our VOICE. $25/$10 students. 5pm - Champagne reception, $100.

Held at Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Drive FIDDLERS OF MADISON COUNTY • SA (3/14), 7pm Proceeds from the 14th annual Fiddlers of Madison County, traditional Appalachian sounds, with Arvil Freeman with The Midnight Plowboys, Don and Marty Lewis, The Sons of Ralph, Bobby Hicks and two young fiddlers, Lillian Chase and Rhiannon Ramsey, benefit Madison County Arts Council.

$30/$25 advance. Held at Madison County Arts Council, 90 S. Main St., Marshall PI(E) DAY FUN RUN • SA (3/14), 3-4:30pm Proceeds from the Pi(e) Day Run and pi(e) baking contest with raffle benefit the Asheville Initiative for Math and Marvelous Math Club. Registration: avl.mx/6zi. $20. Held at UNC Asheville, 1 University Heights REACH NEW HEIGHTS • SA (3/14), 6:30-9:30pm - Proceeds from the 4th annual Singalong and dance party, Reach New Heights, with live music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks benefit Women Build of Habitat for HumanityHabitat for Humanity. Registration required. Admission by donation. Held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church St. ST. PATRICK’S DAY, LUCK OF THE IRISH • SA (3/14), 7pm Proceeds from the Aubrey Eisenman & The Clydes concert with raffle benefit Folkmoot. Raffle tickets: $20. Held at BearWaters Brewing Co., 101 Park St., Canton ST. PATRICK’S GOLF TOURNAMENT • SA (3/14), 1pm Proceeds from the St. Patrick’s Golf Tournament, 3-person scramble with prizes and Irish stew benefit Lake Junaluska Golf Course. $40. Held at Lake Junaluska Golf

Course, 756 Golf Course Road, Waynesville

BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY A-B TECH SMALL BUSINESS CENTER 1459 Sand Hill Road, Candler, 828-398-7950, abtech.edu/sbc • WE (3/11), 6-9pm Basic Internet Marketing, seminar. Registration required. Free.

• SA (3/14), 9am-noon Write A Better Website (Copywriting) seminar.

Registration required.

Free.

WNC LINUX USER GROUP • SA (3/14), noon - Users of all experience levels discuss Linux systems.

Free to attend. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road

CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS EMPYREAN ARTS CLASSES (PD.) Self Care weekly on Mondays 7:30pm and Sundays 2:15pm.

Aerial Flexibility weekly on Wednesdays 6:15pm, Fridays 1pm, and Saturdays 1pm.

Aerial Kids weekly on Wednesdays 5pm. Intro to Pole Fitness weekly on Mondays 6:15pm, Tuesdays 7:15pm, and Saturdays 11:30am.

EMPYREANARTS.ORG THOMAS SCHOOL OF REAL ESTATE (PD.) Pre & Postlicensing Courses Held at Keller Williams Elite 79 Turtle Creek Rd. Asheville NC www.ThomasNC.online 828-333-7509 ASHEVILLE CHESS CLUB • WEDNESDAYS, 6:30pm - Sets provided.

All ages and skill levels welcome. Beginners lessons available. Free.

Held at North Asheville Recreation Center, 37 E. Larchmont Road ASHEVILLE TAROT CIRCLE • 2nd SUNDAYS, noon General meeting. Free to attend. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road HOMINY VALLEY RECREATION PARK • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - Hominy Valley board meeting. Free.

Held at Hominy Valley Recreation Park, 25 Twin Lakes Drive, Candler KOREAN WAR VETERANS CHAPTER 314 • 2nd WEDNESDAYS, noon - Korean War Veterans Association, General Frank Blazey Chapter 314, general meeting. Lunch at noon, meeting at 1pm. Free to attend. Held at Golden Corral, 2530 Chimney Rock Road, Hendersonville LEICESTER HISTORY GATHERING • 3rd THURSDAYS, 7pm - The Leicester History Gathering, general meeting.

Free. Held at Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester MAGICKAL YARD SALE • SA (3/14), 10am-5pm - Mother Grove Goddess Temple's Magickal Yard Sale of Pagan/Wiccan/ earth religions items: jewelry, books, tarot, candles and garden supplies. Free to attend.

Held at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place ONTRACK WNC 828-255-5166, ontrackwnc.org • TH (3/12), noon1:30pm - Budgeting and Debt, class. Registration required. Free.

• WE (3/18), noon1:30pm - Understanding

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MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

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WEST WINDS: In its 40th year, the Asheville Community Band performs a concert reflecting the imagery of the American West. This family-friendly event features works that include Copland’s legendary Rodeo and Shostakovich’s Galop, as well as familiar movie classics such as How the West Was Won and Blazing Saddles. Music for The Wild West is a symphonic winds concert. The concert will be held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville on Sunday, March 15, 3 p.m. $12. Photo courtesy of Mike Walker (p. 53) Credit. Get it. Keep it.

Improve it. Seminar.

Registration required.

Free.

• WE (3/18), 5:307pm - Budgeting and Debt, class. Registration required. Free.

RIDGEFIELD TOASTMASTERS • FR (3/13), noon-1pm Ridgefield Toastmasters meeting to learn how to conquer the fear of public speaking and become a better communicator. Information: 717-847-5968. Free. Held at Paramount Kia, 1000 Ridgefield Blvd.

ECO ASHEVILLE CITIZENS' CLIMATE LOBBY MONTHLY MEETING • 3rd MONDAYS, 6:30-8:30pm - General meeting for non-partisan organization lobbying for a bipartisan federal solution to climate change.

Free to attend. Held at Paulsen Lodge at Asheville School, 360 Asheville School Road AWE AND THE CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHAOS • WE (3/11), 6-7:30pm Photographer Dr. Roger C. Helm communicates the challenge of climate

change in a six week series. Admission by donation. Held at Jubilee Community Church, 46 Wall St. LIVING WATERS • TH (3/19), 7pm - Gray Jernigan, River Keeper for the Green River, explains how and why our waterways need to be protected. Free. Held at Providence Baptist Church, 1201 Oakland St., Hendersonville PARADISE LOST: HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS IMPACTING OUR COMMUNITIES • WE (3/11), 5:30-7:30pm - Paradise Lost: How Climate Change is Impacting our Communities talk

by Tony Dunn. Free. Held at Hendersonville Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville THE COLLIDER’S OPEN HOUSE • WE (3/11), 4:30pm - The Collider’s Open House includes demonstrations of climate technologies, tools and services, plus mingling with Collider members and the community. Registration: avl.mx/6yw. Free. Held at The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Suite 401

FARM & GARDEN 4-H SPRING PLANT SALE • Until (3/13) - Proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale benefit 4-H. To pre-order plants visit: avl.mx/6yu. $1-$16. Held at NC Cooperative Extension Center, 100 Jackson Park Road, Hendersonville ASHEVILLE CSA FAIR • TH (3/12), 3-6pm - Talk with farmers at the CSA Fair and learn about the products they offer, their growing practices, any opportunities to get involved on the farm and when and where they deliver locally. Free to attend. Held at New Belgium Brewery, 21 Craven St. FAMILY DISCOVERY DAY • SA (3/14), 10amnoon - Family Discovery Day: Greening Up the Cove, with craft, forest exploration and a raffle.

Free. Held at Asheville Farmstead School, 218 Morgan Cove Road, Candler GROWING GINGER AND TURMERIC IN WNC • TU (3/17), 6-7:30pm - Learn about organic cultivation of ginger and

turmeric in the mountains.

Registration: avl.mx/6zw. $10. Held at Living Web Farms, 176 Kimzey Road, Mills River GROWING ONIONS, POTATOES & OTHER ROOT VEGETABLES • SA (3/14), 10am - Sowing Circle: All About Root Vegetables. Free to attend. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain POLK COUNTY FRIENDS OF AGRICULTURE BREAKFAST • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 7-8am - Monthly breakfast with presentations on agriculture. Admission by donation. Held at Green Creek Community Center, 25 Shields Road, Columbus

FOOD & BEER ASHEVILLE CSA FAIR • TH (3/12), 3-6pm - Talk with farmers at the CSA Fair and learn about the products they offer, their growing practices, any opportunities to get involved on the farm and when and where they deliver locally. Free to attend. Held at New Belgium Brewery, 21 Craven St.

FAIRVIEW WELCOME TABLE • 2nd THURSDAYS, 11:30am-1pm - Community lunch. Admission by donation. Held at Fairview Christian Fellowship, 596 Old US Highway 74, Fairview GREEK DINNER FOR AGONAS ZOIS • SA (3/14), 3-5pm Proceeds from the Greek feast benefit Agonas Zois, an organization for cancer survivors in Karpenisi, Greece.

Tickets: avl.mx/6zc.

Information: lindaandbob@bellsouth. net. $40. Held at Twisted Laurel Weaverville, 10 S. Main St., Weaverville LEICESTER COMMUNITY CENTER 2979 New Leicester Highway, Leicester, 828774-3000, facebook.com/ Leicester.Community.

Center • 3rd TUESDAYS, 2:30pm - Manna food distribution. Free.

• WEDNESDAYS, 11:30am-1pm - Welcome Table, community meal.

Free.

LUNCH OF A LIFETIME • TH (3/12), noon-1pm - Lunch of a Lifetime, Elida success stories.

Registration: nscheff@ eliada.org. Free. Held at Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Drive MICHAEL VESS PRESENTS 'SKYTERRA AT HOME' • SA (3/14), 11am-noon Skyterra Culinary Director and Executive Chef Michael Vess performs a cooking demo and book signing of Skyterra at Home: Simple Recipes to Elevate your Meals.

Free to attend. Held at Highland Books, 277 N. Broad St., Brevard

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS BLUE RIDGE REPUBLICAN WOMEN'S CLUB MEETING • 2nd THURSDAYS, 6pm - General meeting.

Free to attend. Held at Yao, 153 Smoky Park Highway

CULTURAL CRASH COURSE • WE (3/18), 5:30-8pm Dr. Chris Cooper speaks on American democracy as we approach the 2020 elections. Registration required. $10/$5 student and seniors. Held at Folkmoot Friendship Center, 112 Virginia Ave., Waynesville

KIDS EMPOWERING THE LEADER IN EACH YOUNG MAN (PD.) Journeymen is supporting adolescent boys on their paths to becoming men of integrity. Our cost-free program is now enrolling young men 12-17. Mentees ("J-men") participate in bi-weekly mentoring groups and a semi-annual Rites of Passage Adventure Weekend, where they develop compassion, self-awareness, accountability, resilience and authenticity. Learn more: journeymenasheville.org Contact: journeymenasheville@ gmail.com (828) 7716344.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • FR (3/13), 6:30pm Pajamarama, evening storytime for kids of all ages. Wear your pajamas and join us for bedtime story fun. Free.

Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • SA (3/14), 10am - Chess Club and Board Games for kids six years old and up. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • SA (3/14), 11am Predator or Prey? Make an interactive food web and discover what owls eat. Dissect a sterilized owl pellet to investigate the remains of his diet.

Ages 5-10. Registration required. Free. Held at Leicester Library, 1561 Alexander Road, Leicester • SA (3/14), 11am - Sign up to read with JR The Therapy Dog. Free. Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa

• 2nd SATURDAYS, 1-4pm & LAST WEDNESDAYS, 4-6pm - Teen Dungeons and Dragons for ages 12 and up.

Registration required: 828-250-4720. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • MO (3/16), 3:30pm The Dollywood Players present Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, for all ages. Free.

Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • TU (3/14), 4pm - ECO Explorers, introduction to botany. Free. Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • WE (3/18), 10:30am The Dollywood Players present Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, for all ages. Free.

Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain • WE (3/18), 3:30pm The Dollywood Players present Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, for all ages. Free.

Held at West Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Road • TH (3/19), 10:30am The Dollywood Players present Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, for all ages. Free.

Held at Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler • TH (3/19), 10:30am - Story Time and Art with the Asheville Art Museum. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • TH (3/19), 3:30pm - The Dollywood Players present Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, for all ages. Free. Held at Swannanoa Library, 101 West Charleston St., Swannanoa FLAMENCO KIDS • FRIDAYS, 6:15pm Flamenco for children ages 5-10. Information: 786-327-9548. $14/class or $50/month. Held at In His Steps Dance Ministry, 159 Church St. FLETCHER LIBRARY • WEDNESDAYS, 10:30am - Family storytime. Free. Held

at Fletcher Library, 120 Library Road, Fletcher KATHRYN BYER MEMORIAL POETRY CONTEST • Until (4/10), 3pm - The 2020 Kathryn Byer Memorial Poetry Contest is open to all Jackson County students in three categories: K-4, 5-8 and 9-12. Submit to City Lights Booksore or more@citylightsnc.com, include Poetry Contest in subject line. Winners receive gift certificates to City Lights Bookstore and are invited to read at Greening Up the Mountains. Held at City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORE AND CAFE 55 Haywood St., 828-254-6734, malaprops.com • WEDNESDAYS, 10am - Miss Malaprop's Storytime for ages 3-9 with Susanna Shetley, author of The Jolt Felt Around the World. Free to attend.

PISGAH CENTER FOR WILDLIFE EDUCATION 1401 Fish Hatchery Road, Pisgah Forest, 828-877-4423 • MO (3/16), 9-11am Skunk focused class and activities for ages 4-7.

Registration required.

Free.

• MO (3/16), 1-3pm - Compass workshop for ages eight to 13.

Registration required.

Free.

SPARTANBURG PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE • FR (3/13), 10am - Arts Outreach for Kids: Spartanburg Percussion Ensemble. $7/$3 students. Held at Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon

OUTDOORS JACKSON PARK BIRD WALK • SA (3/14), 9am - Bird walk. Free. Held at Jackson Park, 801 Glover St., Hendersonville PISGAH CENTER FOR WILDLIFE EDUCATION 1401 Fish Hatchery Road, Pisgah Forest, 828-877-4423

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

37

CONSCIOUS PARTY

C OMMU N IT Y CA L EN D AR

• FR (3/13), 9am-3pm - Workshop open to ages 12 and older.

Registration required.

Free.

• MO (3/16), 9-11am - Birding Hike for ages 14 and up. Registration required. Free.

• TU (3/17), 10am3pm - On the Water: Little River for ages 12 and up. Registration required. Free.

• WE (3/18), 10am3pm - Casting for Beginners: Level I for ages 12 and up.

Registration required.

Free.

PISGAH CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED • 2nd THURSDAYS, 7pm - General meeting and presentations.

Free to attend. Held at Ecusta Brewing, 49 Pisgah Highway, Suite 3, Pisgah Forest PUBLIC STARGAZE • FR (3/13), 7:36pm - Public stargaze.

Temporary gate code, required for entry,

prama

provided the day of the stargaze by 4pm.

Information: astroasheville.org.

Free. Held at Grassland Mountain Observatory, 2890 Grassland Parkway, Marshall SENSORY EXPLORATION • SA (3/14), 7:309:30pm - Take a deep dive into the night with Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for a sensory exploration hike. Registration: avl.mx/6zy. Free/ members; $10/ non-members. Held at SAHC Community Farm, 24 Mag Sluder Road, Alexander TURKEY HUNT SEMINAR • TU (3/17), 6-9pm - Turkey Hunting seminar geared for people interested in turkey hunting, but need help getting started. Registration: avl.mx/6zf. Free. Held at Mountain Horticul-

Institute & Wellness Center

presents

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FIDDLE ME THIS: Every spring in Madison County, area fiddlers come together for a concert benefiting the Madison County Arts Council. On Saturday, March 14, at 7 p.m., old and new faces join to perform oldtime tunes and bluegrass classics for the 14th annual Fiddlers of Madison County. Featured fiddlers include Arvil Freeman accompanied by The Midnight Plowboys; Don and Marty Lewis, the Sons of Ralph; Bobby Hicks; and Roger Howell as well as two young female fiddlers, Lillian Chase and Rhiannon Ramsey. Tickets are available by calling 828-649-1301 or online at www.madisoncountyarts. com. $25 advance or $30 the day of show. Photo courtesy of Haley Ramsey (p. 53)

tural Crops Research and Extension Center, 455 Research Drive, Mills River

PARENTING WOODSON BRANCH NATURE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE • TH (3/12), 3:30-5:30pm - Woodson Branch Nature School, Middle School Open House, learn about their teaching methods for traditional and nontraditional subjects and how students learn expirientially. Meet the teachers and ask questions. Free.

Held at Woodson Branch Nature School, 14555 US-25, Marshall

PUBLIC LECTURES

TWO MASTERS OF POETRY: RUMI AND KABIR Fri Mar 20th, 7-10pm

$25 Advance, $30 Door

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RADICAL LOVE AND SACRED ACTIVISM Sat Mar 21st, 10am-5pm $75 Advance, $95 Door

2 DAY ADMISSION: $85 Student Discount: $20 Fri, $60 Sat

At Jubilee Community Church

Tickets also at Malaprop's Bookstore

REGISTER ONLINE: PRAMA.ORG 38

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

AK HINDS UNIVERSITY CENTER Memorial Drive, Cullowhee, 828-227-7206, wcu.edu • MO (3/16), 5-6:30pm - Connection to Nature: What It Is and Why It Matters lecture by Christian Diehm. Free.

• MO (3/17), 5-6:30pm - Outdoor Experience, Connection to Nature and Environmental Advocacy lecture by Christian Diehm.

Free.

• TH (3/19), 5-6:30pm Loving More than Human Life lecture by Christian Diehm. Free.

CULTURAL CRASH COURSE • WE (3/18), 5:30-8pm Dr. Chris Cooper speaks on American democracy as we approach the 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

elections. Registration required. $10/$5 student and seniors. Held at Folkmoot Friendship Center, 112 Virginia Ave., Waynesville INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE • SU (3/15), 2:30-4pm - Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville's presentation is Instructions for Living a Life, by Kathy Meacham and Ira Sloan. Free. Held at Asheville Friends Meetinghouse, 227 Edgewood Road NANTAHALA AND PISGAH NATIONAL FOREST PLAN UPDATE • TU (3/17), 7pm - Curtis Smalling, Director of Conservation for Audubon NC, talks about the Nantahala/Pisgah Forest Plan and how it affects wildlife and recreation in our region. Free. Held at UNC Asheville Reuter Center, 1 University Heights THE ODYSSEY PROJECT • TH (3/19), 7-8:30pm The Odyssey Project: The Journey Home is a series of three community dialogues which use episodes from Homer’s Odyssey as the context for exploring current societal challenges. Free. Held at UNC Asheville Sherrill Center, 227 Campus Drive THOMAS WOLFE SHORT STORY • TH (3/12), 5:30-7pm - A monthly Thomas Wolfe Book Club with a local educator leading discussion of a pre-selected short story by Thomas Wolfe. Free. Held at

by Deborah Robertson

828-367-7718. info@ anattasatimagga.org.

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Christy Gunther, MA, LPC. (828) 258-3229.

OPEN SANGHA

Thomas Wolfe Memorial, 52 N. Market St. UNC ASHEVILLE HIGHSMITH STUDENT UNION 1 University Heights • TU (3/17), noon Women’s History Month Presentation: You Have to Start a Thing, Early Women in NC Governance. Free.

• WE (3/18), 7pm - ZIVA: 20 Years of Design Education Against All Odds

by Zimbabwean Artist, Educator and Filmmaker Saki Mafundikwa. Free.

• TH (3/19), noon Women’s History Month Lecture: Molasses Catches More Flies Than Vinegar — Woman Suffrage in WNC. Free.

• TH (3/19), 7-8:30pm Dietrich Vollrath presents his book Fully Grown: Why a Stagnant Economy is a Sign of Success. Free.

WHEN THE COLLEGE WAS FEMALE WITH DAVID SILVER • TH (3/12), 7pm - When the College was Female, a presentation by David Silver, a deep dive into Black Mountain College during the WW2 years.

Free for members + students/$8 non-members.

Held at Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St.

SENIORS ASHEVILLE ELDER CLUB • TUESDAYS, WEDNESDAYS & THURSDAYS, 11am-2pm - The Asheville Elder Club Group Respite

program for individuals with memory challenges and people of all faiths.

Registration required: 828-253-2900. $30. Held at Jewish Family Services of WNC, 2 Doctors Park, Suite E CHAIR YOGA • TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS, 2pm - Chair Yoga.

Free. Held at Weaverville United Methodist Church, 85 N. Main St., Weaverville • WE (3/11), 2pm - Chair Yoga. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • WE (3/18), 2pm - Chair Yoga. Free. Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. INTRODUCTION TO MEDICARE: UNDERSTANDING THE PUZZLE • TH (3/12), 2-4pm Introduction to Medicare – Understanding the Puzzle, explains how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties and ways to save money.

Registration: coabc.org or 828-277-8288. Free. Held at UNC-Asheville Reuter Center, 1 Campus View Road

SPIRITUALITY ANATTASATI MAGGA (PD.) Sujata Yasa (Nancy Spence). Zen Buddhism.

Weekly meditations and services; Daily recitations w/ mala. Urban retreats.

32 Mineral Dust Drive, Asheville, NC 28806.

• THURSDAYS, 7:309pm - Open Sangha night. Free. Held at Urban Dharma, 77 W. Walnut St. SONGS & SILENCE, ALL FAITH TAIZE SERVICE • THURSDAYS, 6:307:15 pm - All faith Taize service of meditation and music. Free. Held at Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 6th Ave W., Hendersonville TWILIGHT LABYRINTH WALK • TH (3/19), 5-7pm - Walk the labyrinth at dusk with candles and music. Free to attend. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville

SPORTS ADULT LEAGUE KICKBALL • Through FR (3/20) Open registration for adult league kickball season beginning in April. Registration: bit.ly/2T0XnPQ. $35.

SWIM LESSONS AT HENDERSONVILLE YMCA • Until (3/28) - Registration is open for swimming lessons for kids 6 months to 13 years of age. 6 lessons per session. $36 members/$51 Non-members. Held at Hendersonville Family YMCA, 810 6th Ave W, Hendersonville

VOLUNTEERING TUTOR ADULTS/ YOUTH IN NEED WITH THE LITERACY COUNCIL (PD.) 43% of adults with low literacy live in poverty.

Volunteer and help our neighbors rise above the confines of poverty.

Orientation 4/6 (5:30pm) or 4/10 (9am) RSVP: volunteers@litcouncil. com. Learn more: www. litcouncil.com. Free.

ASHEVILLE PRISON BOOKS • 3rd SUNDAYS, 1-3pm - Send books to inmates in NC & SC. Information: avlcommunityaction. com or ashevilleprisonbooks@ gmail.com. Held at Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Road MUDDY WATER WATCH TRAINING • TU (3/17), 6-8pm Learn how to identify sources of sediment runoff, stormwater best management practices, the law surrounding sediment and erosion control and how to use our Muddy Water Watch mobile app to document and report sediment pollution.

Registration: avl.mx/6zb.

Free. Held at Columbus Library, 1289 W. Mills St., Columbus PUBCORPS MEAL PACK • SU (3/15) - Sign up for one of five shifts (starting at 10am) to pack 100,000 meals to fight childhood hunger in WNC. DJ and a free drink. Held at The Collaboratory, 39 N. Lexington Ave. TRYON LOT WORKDAYS • TH (3/12), 10am2pm - Join Conserving Carolina to help manage invasive species and restore the native habitat in the lot next to the IGA in Tryon. Registration: avl.mx/6zx.

Meet at Tryon IGA Supermarket, 370 S. Trade St., Tryon For more volunteering opportunities visit mountainx.com/ volunteering

WELLNESS

FIRST STEPS

Buncombe County’s early childhood efforts take root

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FACING THE FUTURE: Demand for child care programs through the Asheville-based nonprofit Verner Center for Early Learning, such as the one in which these children are enrolled, has led to a roughly 600-child waitlist. Photo courtesy of Verner

BY DANIEL WALTON dwalton@mountainx.com Marcia Whitney has some stark advice for parents hoping to enroll their children in her organization’s child care programs.

“We recommend that people get on a waitlist before they get pregnant, and I’m only partly joking,” says Whitney, who is president and CEO of the Verner Center for Early Learning. “We really do.”

Between the Asheville-based nonprofit’s three child care centers, a program based at the Asheville YWCA and the home-based Early Head Start, she says, the organization serves over 300 local children per year. Meanwhile, its waitlist is approximately 600 children long.

Just about every child care provider in the county faces similar disparities, says Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara. That’s one of the reasons she and her colleagues allocated $3.6 million for the county’s Early Childhood Education and Development Fund last June as part of the fiscal year 2019-20 budget, a $1.9 million increase from the previous year. With Buncombe now more than halfway through year one of that commitment, Beach-Ferrara, who chairs the committee that oversees

the fund, says the initial investment is already paying dividends. “Many of the projects that we funded in this first cycle are hitting their goals and strides, and that’s exciting,” she says.

Xpress followed up with the organizations behind several of these projects to learn more about their work. All expressed optimism about the additional support, mixed with concern about still-unmet community needs.

BRICKS AND BODIES The most obvious signs of progress are several new child care facilities that have already opened or are in the works.

On Feb. 12, North Buncombe High School opened a new preschool classroom supported by a $400,000 county grant, while on March 4, the Donald S. Collins Early Learning Center in Black Mountain broke ground on a new $1.4 million facility for which the county contributed $200,000 in 2018.

Formerly known as the Children and Friends Enrichment Center before its recent renaming in honor of Black Mountain Mayor Don Collins, the facility is a project of the Swannanoa Valley Child Care Council. Linda Hobson, the council’s board chair, expects the center’s 12 new modular units to be installed by the end of May. They’ll accommodate 100 additional children,

up from a current capacity of about 70. She believes the opening will send “a ripple through the valley,” making it easier for parents to take jobs while ensuring that their kids are better prepared to enter kindergarten.

But buildings alone don’t teach children, notes Amy Barry, executive director of the Buncombe Partnership for Children. At the root of the county’s child care woes, she says, is a lack of qualified early childhood educators to staff those classrooms.

“We can’t expand even if we had a ton of money, because we have a workforce shortage,” Barry explains. “There’s some high turnover in existing programs, some program closures and an inability to expand without that workforce.”

Several of the county’s grants aim to both expand physical capacity and address the staffing shortfall. The North Buncombe classroom will enable up to 10 students in the school’s career and technical education program to get hands-on experience that will complement what they’re learning in class, and a $25,000 award to the Buncombe Partnership for Children aims to recruit and train community mem-

CONTINUES ON PAGE 40

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“We can’t expand even if we had a ton of money, because we have a workforce shortage.”

— Amy Barry, Buncombe Partnership for Children bers who can provide licensed child care out of their homes.

In cases where only capital funding is provided, however, programs must do their own recruiting. Hobson says her center will more than double its staff, going from 15 to 32; to encourage new applicants, her board plans to raise salaries and collaborate with other providers to offer better health care benefits.

Budgetary constraints still apply, however, and the facility must also consider its clients’ needs.

“Someone paying full tuition for a child year-round would already pay as much as they would for a year at A-B Tech. It’s very expensive to provide care, and there’s a limit to how much working families are able to pay,” notes Hobson. “Our mission, since our founding by the Church Women United in Swannanoa 41 years ago, has been to serve working families.”

MORE FUNDING NEEDED The Buncombe County grants, Beach-Ferrara concedes, are really only a first step aimed at getting projects started and attracting other financial support.

“What we know is required,” she says, is “a braided funding strategy that includes county funding, other forms of public funding, founda-

tion funding and private business support. That’s really how we will ultimately scale this system up.”

That strategy has shown some early signs of success. Hobson, for example, was able to combine the county’s initial $200,000 award with $250,000 from the WNC Bridge Foundation, more than 50 individual gifts ranging from $10 to $30,000, and other contributions to help pay for her new facility’s construction. Barry, meanwhile, says that county support for the Buncombe Partnership’s Early Childhood Teacher Workforce Development Program encouraged Gov. Roy Cooper to provide an additional $400,000 through the NCWorks Local Innovation Fund.

And Whitney of Verner Early Learning says that a $500,000 county award for her nonprofit’s partnership with Emma Elementary School helped attract an additional $750,000 from The Glass Foundation in Asheville. “The fact that Buncombe County, with the Early Childhood Education and Development Fund, saw the importance of investing in this project gave additional confidence to the family foundation to invest in it,” she explains.

Yet with a projected total cost of $2.6 million, the Emma project still needs considerably more funding before it can even break ground, notes Whitney; to that end, she’s submitted another grant application for the county’s fiscal year

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2020-21 funding cycle. “Buncombe County’s first grant definitely did help to leverage this private foundation support, and hopefully, that private foundation support will also resonate with Buncombe County,” she says.

DOLLARS AND SENSE Even as funding begins to coalesce around early childhood projects throughout the county, however, Barry stresses that existing commitments are inadequate to address what she says is a crisis in services for Buncombe’s youngest kids.

“It’s a really great start, but it’s not enough. We feel like it’s going to take some greater investments from the county, the local business community and the state in order to really address the need.”

Whitney agrees. Governments and other institutions already provide massive support for the K-12 educa-

WELL NESS CA L E N DA R ASHEVILLE TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION CENTER: INTRODUCTORY SESSIONS • THURSDAYS, 6:307:30pm - Introductory session for Transcendental Meditation. Registration: 828-254-4350 or MeditationAsheville. org. Free. Held at Asheville Center for Transcendental Meditation, 165 E. Chestnut BLOOD CONNECTION BLOOD DRIVE • TH (3/12), 9am-2pm - Blood drive. Register: avl.mx/6yr. Held at Transylvania Regional Hospital, 260 Hospital Drive, Brevard • SA (3/14), 11am-3pm - Blood drive. Appointments: avl.mx/6zh. Held at 300 Highlands Square Drive, Hendersonville DIABETES PREVENTION • TU (3/17), 5:306:30pm - Diabetes Prevention year-long program begins. Free.

Held at Haywood County Health and Human Services, 157 Paragon Parkway, Clyde

NEAL BARNARD, MD, PRESENTS 'YOUR BODY IN BALANCE' • MO (3/16), 7-8:30pm - Neal Barnard, MD, talks about his new book, Your Body in Balance and share the science behind food and hormones role in fertility, menopause and disease. Free.

Held at The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Suite 401 OPEN MINDFULNESS MEDITATION • WEDNESDAYS, 3:30-5pm & 6:30-8pm - Open mindfulness meditation. Admission by donation. Held at The Center for Art and Spirit at St. George's Episcopal Church, 1 School Road RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES redcrosswnc.org • WE (3/11), 9am2pm - Appointments & info: 828-803-2884 or visit RedCrossBlood. org. Held at Mountain Ridge Wellness Center, 611 Old US 70, Black Mountain • TH (3/12), 12:30-5pm - Appointments & info: 828-803-2884 or visit RedCrossBlood.org.

tional system, she points out, but 90% of brain growth occurs before a child even enters kindergarten. “If there was the same level of investment in early education that there is in K-12, then we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation,” she maintains.

According to the 2018 resolution that established Buncombe’s early childhood fund, county support for high-quality preschool and pre-K is projected to grow by 2% annually. That would mean an additional $72,000 in the budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Beach-Ferrara does not expect the county to deviate from that plan.

Consistent government support, she believes, is critical to providing essential services that deliver a “tremendous return on investment” both for children and for society at large.

“Private companies need to be part of the solution, but the government also needs to be part of the solution,” she says. “Our job is to think about every single child in Buncombe County, regardless of ability to pay.” X

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GREEN SCENE

SPEAK FOR THE TREES National Forest Service seeks public input on Pisgah-Nantahala management

GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM: Forest advocates display an array of signs calling for greater protections during an August 2018 rally at the U.S. Forest Service’s Asheville headquarters. Photo by Daniel Walton

BY CAMERON DUKE cameronbduke@gmail.com For members of the public interested in helping shape the future of the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, last call is Thursday, May 14. On Feb. 14, the U.S. Forest Service kicked off a 90-day comment period on the long-awaited draft of a new plan for the forests, set to take effect in 2021 and guide

the service’s management approach over the next 10-15 years.

During this ongoing comment period, Forest Service staffers hope to receive constructive feedback — just as they’ve been getting since early 2014, when public input on the document first began.

In a press release announcing the new draft, Michelle Aldridge, who leads the service’s planning effort for Nantahala and Pisgah, wrote that previous comments had led her team to rewrite parts of the plan, alter management boundar-

ies and add a new chapter with greater detail on specific places within the forests.

“What’s different about this plan from the current forest plan is the process we used to create it and the large amount of public input we have received,” says Aldridge. The current plan is the first for the two forests since federal regulations took effect in 2012 that required the Forest Service to seek more extensive public involvement.

Those with a stake in Pisgah and Nantahala can continue to offer their opinions online, by mail and in a series of meetings throughout Western North Carolina. (More information is available at avl.mx/3xx.) But after May 14, work will begin on the plan’s final draft. “How we move forward will be within the range of what’s proposed, after taking into account both public feedback and the best possible science we have available,” Aldridge says.

THROUGH THE WOODS The current proposal outlines four alternative forest management strategies.

Although the desired outcomes for all four alternatives are nearly identical for many goals — including levels of trail and

42

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

road maintenance, stream restoration, acres of timber harvest and controlled burns — the alternatives differ in the particulars of what areas will be targeted and how they will be managed.

Alternative A is identical to the current forest management plan, while alternative B focuses on increasing road access to new places and creating new trails and recreation areas.

Alternative C recommends preserving the largest old-growth forest network and places more restrictions on new trail systems, and Alternative D can be thought of as a compromise between B and C. According to Aldridge, the proposed plan is a major step forward in how it establishes a clear vision for each ecosystem in the forest. The current forest plan, which was established in the mid1990s, considers all forest communities as one basic entity, but the revised plan will distinguish between management techniques for high-elevation sprucefir forest and other mixed hardwood forest types, for example. “Each part of the forest has goals that are unique to the way people use and interact with it,” she says.

Josh Kelly, public lands field biologist for Asheville-based environmental nonprofit MountainTrue, likes what he sees in the draft plan so far. He appreciates the document’s special protections for special ecological areas, as well as its more ambitious goals for controlled burns and general fire management.

Compared to the previous plan, Kelly adds, the current proposal includes only a slight increase in timber harvest.

“There is more of an emphasis on restoring ecosystems and using timber harvest as a tool to do that as compared to the current plan,” he explains.

“We wanted to build a proposed plan in which each option moves multiple interests forward,” Aldridge says of the current draft plan. “We believe that all of the multiple uses can be accomplished on our million-acre forest and that we can set that up in combinations that allow everyone to move forward without pitting anyone’s interests against each other.”

RAISING VOICES Kelly notes that the draft has already incorporated many ideas from previous public comment but urges people to stay engaged through the current comment period. “Collectively, we know more about the forest than anyone does individually,” he says. “The Forest Service has a couple of dozen people working on this forest plan for this million-acre forest. The more information they get from the people who

NO JOB TOO LARGE OR SMALL use, love and know the forest, the better the plan can be.”

To provide the most effective feedback, Kelly suggests, stakeholders should take time to research the details of the proposal and be as specific as possible. “If you are concerned about a particular place, name that place. If you are concerned by a particular proposed rule in the plan, cite that rule, the page it’s on and provide language you think would be better,” he says.

Kelly also encourages participants not to view commenting as a voting exercise among the plan’s four proposed alternatives. Because the final plan will never echo a draft version verbatim, he suggests that commenters “mix and match” the alternatives to help the Forest Service pull together a version with the best aspects of each. There’s no limit to the number of comments any person or organization can submit, so thoughts

can be updated through the end of the comment period.

In the spring of 2021, the Forest Service plans to release a final draft of both the management plan and its environmental impact statement. Before those documents can be implemented, Aldridge explains, there will be one final five-month objection period for “individuals and entities who have submitted substantive formal comments” to flag any remaining issues. However, she emphasizes, that window is not intended to replace the current comment period.

Whatever form the new plan eventually takes, Aldridge is optimistic that it will represent a positive evolution of sustainable activity in Pisgah and Nantahala. “We want to make sure that the things people value now, and love, are still going to be sustainable for not just their kids, but their kids’ kids,” she says. X

FATHER AND SON

Home Improvement Billy & Neal Moxley

100 Edwin Place, AVL, NC 28801 | Billy: (828) 776-2391 | Neal: (828) 776-1674

How to comment Online: The U.S. Forest Service’s preferred method for receiving comments is its online comment analysis and response application, available at avl.mx/6zz. Comments, which will be made publicly available online, can be submitted as plain text, Microsoft Word documents and PDFs. By mail: Comments can be mailed or delivered to Michelle Aldridge, ATTN: Plan Revision Team, National Forests in North Carolina, 160 Zillicoa St., Suite A, Asheville, NC 28801.

In person: Six public meetings about the draft plan are currently scheduled throughout Western North Carolina.

• Thursday, March 12, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the N.C. Arboretum Education Center, 100 Frederick Law Olmstead Way, Asheville. (The arboretum will be open to attendees as early as 4:30 p.m. The parking fee is waived, and each attendee will receive a parking pass.)

• Monday, March 16, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Rogow Family Community Room, Brevard Library, 212 S. Gaston St., Brevard.

• Thursday, March 19, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Brasstown Community Center, 255 Settawig Road, Brasstown.

• Tuesday, March 24, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church’s Tartan Hall, 26 Church St., Franklin.

• Thursday, March 26, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Bentley Fellowship Hall, 265 Cascade St., Mars Hill.

• Tuesday, March 31, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Four Square Community Action Center, 196 Knight St., Robbinsville.

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by Kay West | kwest@mountainx.com

Sweet spots for Pi Day

Craft Cocktails • Dinner Live Music • Brunch

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No matter how you slice it, people love pie. “Nobody ever leaves here unhappy,” says Sarah Melton, who has been managing the original location of Baked Pie Co. in South Asheville for two years. (A second location is in Woodfin.)

Four Sisters Bakery, which opened in October 2018 in Black Mountain, does all types of baked goods (except for cakes), but pie hits the sweet spot. “Our favorite thing to make is pie,” says Krista Bowman, co-owner and retail manager.

Both businesses will celebrate Pi Day on Saturday, March 14, with special offers and events in honor of the mathematical constant and the country’s favorite dessert.

Baked will open at 10 a.m. for what Melton predicts will be a nonstop day selling Pi Day slices for $3.14, a couple of dollars less than the daily slice price.

“We’ll have 10 flavors of pie on hand that day,” she reports after consulting with their head baker.

Last year, the shop sold out of pie well before closing time. “This year, Pi Day is a Saturday, so I’m a little scared,” says Melton. Baked Pie Co. will offer 10 flavors during this year’s event, including the store’s two most popular pies: honey pecan and fudge brownie.

Four Sisters will host its second Pi[e] Day Party 1-3 p.m., including an encore of last year’s inaugural pie competition.

Green genes

TO PIE FOR: The Baked Pie Co. celebrates Pi Day with $3.14 slices of Honey Pecan and nine other flavors. Photo by Sarah Melton Anyone can enter, but all pies must be 100% made from scratch. Contestants should bring a whole pie and $5 entry fee to the shop by 1 p.m.

Voting tickets are also $5 and include tastes of every competing pie. Pies will be judged in two categories — presentation and taste — and a first-place finish takes

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Tuesday, March 17, is the day everyone claims a bit of Irish. Or at least a taste for the Irish when it comes to beer, bangers and corned beef and cabbage. Asheville and surrounding area breweries, bars and restaurants are ready to accommodate the greenwashing with themed beverage and food specials and events.

Because it’s never too early to get lucky, get a head start on the holiday at Paddy’s Day Irish Brunch noon3 p.m. Sunday, March 15. Blind Pig Supper Club will set up a brunch buffet with Irish breakfast staples (Sausages?

Black pudding? Potatoes, of course!) at Catawba Brewing Co. on the South Slope. Advance tickets for $20 include a food plate and a beer; at the door, beer and breakfast will be sold separately.

Details: avl.mx/6zj Downtown soccer pub Olde London Road will partner with Guinness and Highland Brewing Co. to offer a special on half-and-half pours featuring Guinness and Highland Gaelic Ale, as well as full pints of your choice.

Guinness will also be doing giveaways and donating $1 from every beer sold in honor of St. Patrick’s Day to support the Guinness Gives Back Fund.

Details: avl.mx/6zk Dry Falls Brewing Co. in Hendersonville celebrates from 4-10 p.m. with live music, dinner by Olive Catering Co. and a special green beer release. Details: avl.mx/6zl Jack of the Wood doesn’t confine its St. Patrick’s Day celebration to one stinkin’ day. Every night through March 17 is Pint Night, including a 20-ounce pint glass to take home (emptied of course) with the purchase of an $8 Guinness beer. Details: avl.mx/6zm If you think St. Patrick’s Day is kind of a drag, the Banks Ave. bar has the celebration for you. The bar’s St. Pat’s Day party starts with drinking at 4 p.m., DJ Deven at 9 p.m. and a drag show at 11. No cover. Details: avl.mx/6zn

Transport Your Senses

Sake sake March 15 is Sake Sunday at WakuWaku Eatery, 674 Merrimon Ave. From 2:30-4:30 p.m., there will be a free sampling of six types of sake, and guests will be invited to provide feedback on the varieties they would like to see added to the bar menu. The Sunday brunch buffet starts at noon. WakuWaku — which means excitement — serves Japanese home-style comfort food such as korroke (a deepfried croquette) and konnyaku (made from the konjac plant and said to be “favored by the ladies” for its no-sugar/no-fat/low-calorie breakdown). Details: avl.mx/6zp

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Makin’ bacon Hickory Nut Gap Meats wants you to pig out at its whole hog butchery class 4-6:30 p.m. Monday, March 16. Events manager Megan Auten says participants will learn from farm director Asher Wright about heritage breeds and how Hickory Nut Gap raises its hogs while enjoying house-made charcuterie and locally crafted adult beverages. Head butcher Brian Bermingham will direct students’ attention to a processed half-hog laid out on a butchery table. “I’ll walk the class step by step through how we break down a hog, from skin to bone,” he says.

“I’ll talk about the cuts, what to do with them and the best cooking techniques for each cut.”

The class is observational; attendees will take home portions of cuts to cook at home.

Space is limited, so tickets ($100) should be purchased in advance.

Details: avl.mx/6zo

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Pack it in PubCorps, a nonprofit that addresses food insecurity and childhood hunger, is looking for volunteers on Sunday, March 15, to help pack 100,000 meals for distribution locally by MANNA FoodBank.

CANarchy Craft Brewing Collective is also a partner for the event, which will take place at The Collaboratory, 39 Lexington Ave. The first of five shifts begins at 10 a.m. with the last at 4 p.m. Every volunteer age 21 and older will receive a free drink. Details: avl.mx/6zq X

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FO OD

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46

WNC farms showcase their products at annual CSA Fair

Asheville nabs five James Beard Award nods across four categories

The model of community supported agriculture is more than a halfcentury old. But the 10th annual CSA Fair, to be hosted by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project on Thursday, March 12, at New Belgium Brewing Co., will have more new farmers than ever before sharing information about their programs.

“We are seeing growth in farms looking at this model and seeing the fair as a good way for new farms to find their customer base,” says ASAP communications coordinator Sarah Hart. Of the 10 farms signed up for the event at press time, half are fair first-timers: Bearwallow Valley Family Farms, The Bird & The Beasts’ Farmstead, Colfax Creek Farm, Mighty Gnome Market Garden and Watershed Forest Farm.

“Colfax Creek Farm is a meat and eggs CSA,” Hart says. “Mighty Gnome Market Garden has sold at tailgate markets as Stone Crop, but they have changed their name.

Watershed Forest Farm is a little different in that, in addition to harvested produce, they do some foraged forest products as well.”

Some of the new farmers are coming from other careers, Hart points out. She cites Nicole Coston, who with her husband owns Bearwallow Valley Family Farms. “Nicole was a dietitian and has been connected to ASAP for a while as a dietetic intern and did a lot of work with our Growing Minds farm-to-school program. Now she has turned to farming and is bringing her dietitian’s experience and eye to that,” says Hart.

Highgate Farm in Madison County is not new to farming, CSAs or the fair. “CSA membership is so important to farms,” says owner Melissa Harwin, who operates Highgate with farmer John Kunkle. “CSA members help us manage expenses by providing funds to start the CSA season.”

Harwin describes ASAP’s CSA Fair as a matchmaking event for farmers and buyers. “We love talking with and making connections with potential CSA members at the fair,” she says. “It’s such a great way

As the Oscars are to film and the Grammys are to music, so the James Beard Awards are to the restaurant industry. And when the semifinalists for the 2020 honors were announced on Feb. 26, Asheville racked up five nods. The feeling for Chai Pani chef and owner Meherwan Irani — who is celebrating his fifth turn as a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Southeast category — is “like seeing your home team win the Super Bowl,” he says.

Cúrate and Button & Co. Bagels chef and owner Katie Button, who is appearing on the list for her sixth time since 2012, agrees. “It’s amazing that a city with less than 100,000 people has five semifinalists across so many categories,” she says.

In addition to Irani and Button in the Best Chef: Southeast category, Cultura — an innovative collaboration between Wicked Weed Brewing and Table/All Day Darling chef and owner Jacob Sessoms — is among the Best New Restaurant semifinalists; Benne on Eagle’s chef de cuisine, Ashleigh Shanti, was tapped for Rising Star Chef and John Fleer, chef and owner of Rhubarb, Benne on Eagle and The Rhu, is one of 20 national culinary legends vying for Outstanding Chef.

Fleer’s multiple appearances as a semifinalist and finalist date back to 2006 and include his chef roles at Blackberry Farm and Canyon Kitchen before he opened Rhubarb.

“For me, it’s the persistence category,” Fleer says with a laugh.

He remembers his first time in the category Best Chef: Southeast. “It really came out of the blue. All of the people I looked up to had been recognized in that category, and I didn’t see myself in that arena with people I had long admired.”

Button’s first inclusion as a semifinalist was in 2012 in the Rising Star Chef category. “I was floored,” she remembers. “Our restaurant had only been open a year, and it really surprised me that people were paying attention to us.”

Irani had a similar reaction to his debut. “It was a complete shocker!” he says. “I went to the list on the website, and thought, ‘How did I get here?’ We’re making Indian street food in this tiny restaurant in a little town. It took me

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

BREAKING GROUND: Joe Evans, manager of Olivette Farm, explains how a CSA share works to attendees of the 2019 CSA Fair. Photo courtesy of ASAP to get to know one another to ensure the right fit. A good match means a happy customer.”

Joe Evans, manager of Olivette Farm in Alexander, is a familiar face at Saturday’s Asheville City Market and the CSA Fair. He’ll be at the fair signing up people for Olivette’s traditional box CSA, which is a 20-week, weekly share running midMay through the end of October, or the farm’s Market Share, which runs during tailgate market season and offers more flexibility. Evans will also be selling fresh-picked, bagged, mixed lettuce and greens.

Hickory Nut Gap Meats CSA manager Jennifer White will be there offering information about the Fairview-based farm’s year-round monthly CSA shares of beef and pork, as well as chicken, which is available late May through the end of November.

Not surprisingly given the location, there will be beer to purchase.

The CSA Fair takes place 3-6 p.m.

Thursday, March 12, at New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven Street. For details, visit asapconnections.org/ events/csa-fair.

MOUNTAINX.COM

— Kay West X

GLAD TIDINGS: Chai Pani chef and owner Meherwan Irani is one of five local semifinalists for the 2020 James Beard Awards. Photo

by Molly Milroy a while to realize it was validation that what we were doing was relevant.”

Fleer points out that within the diverse range of cuisines, styles, restaurants and chefs, everyone representing Asheville on the 2020 list has an inherent commonality. “I think we all share core values in terms of why we’re here in this town with the resources it has and the commitment to those resources and local product,” he reflects. “When I sent Jacob a congratulatory text, I told him that I couldn’t imagine how any of this would have happened without his trailblazing in opening Table so many years ago [2005].”

The final nominees for the 2020 JBF Awards will be announced March 25, and the James Beard Awards Gala takes place May 4 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Button, who has attended three times, says it’s a fancy black-tie night for professionals who spend their workdays in chef jackets, aprons and clogs.

“It’s just amazing to be in the same space with people who you have admired for so long, to be in that company. You feel proud and grateful and at the same time unsure about why you’re there,” she says. “But everyone is so supportive of everyone else, and no matter what happens, you just want to ‘cheers’ all the people in your category. I know everyone always says it’s an honor just to be nominated, but it really is an honor.”

— Kay West X

Time out Since leaving Buxton Hall Barbecue, chef Ashley Capps has been playing around For the first time in 20 years, chef Ashley Capps has time on her hands. And she is finding it as delicious as the desserts that made her one of Asheville’s bestknown pastry chefs through stints early in her career at Chai Pani, then Rhubarb.

After nearly five years in the basement pastry kitchen at Buxton Hall Barbecue, where she created the banana pudding pie that lured even nonmeat eaters to the restaurant, Capps sliced about three cases of apples, made a bunch of pie dough and two days before Thanksgiving, hung up her Buxton Hall apron for the last time.

“It was sad, but it felt so natural and right, and it was time to move on,” she says. “I was Buxton Ashley for so long I didn’t know who I was without Buxton. It took me about a month to unravel myself and just be Ashley again.”

She got back into a daily exercise routine, adopted a dog, read books, traveled a bit and spent about two weeks with her family, helping her mom over Christmas. “My family told me they hadn’t seen me for more than two days straight since I was 16 years old. That kind of blew my mind.”

In the new year, the search for what’s next began in earnest, even if she’s still not quite sure exactly what “next” looks like. “I’m looking for buildings,” she says. “I’m looking everywhere and am open to anywhere. I’ve looked in Marshall, Burnsville, Black Mountain, Weaverville, Woodfin and the River Arts District. The rest of the time, I’m being playful, and I love it.”

What playful means to Capps is referencing an informal list of people in Western North Carolina who inspire her and have earned her respect and reaching out to them to collaborate: “Hey, I think you’re awesome, and do you want to do a dinner, teach a class, make something together?”

As Capps’ Instagram followers know, she has been busy with her “free” time. In February alone, she had play dates with Half Moon Market in Black Mountain and All Souls Pizza teaching Austrian strudel making; with Crucible Bar, where she sold frozen cinnamon rolls ready to pop in the oven to sweeten the morning after; and with pastry chef

HAPPY DAYS: Pastry chef Ashley Capps has been making time to collaborate with friends and peers since leaving Buxton Hall BBQ at the end of 2019. Photo

by Nicole McConville Cynthia Pierce, owner of Café Yuzu, who sells Capps’ savory and sweet tarts, some cakes and little Turkish bagelstyle breads called simits.

A meeting with Trade and Lore owner Sarah Winkler led to Saturday morning sales in the Wall Street coffee shop of fresh-baked sourdough bread and jars of sourdough culture from her and her friend former Rhubarb intern Shannon McKinney. “I knew we would sell the bread, but it blew my mind that we were selling out the jars of culture, too. I love that people are taking it home and baking bread,” says Capps.

On Saturday, March 14 — aka Pi Day — she’s teaming with Sweetheart Bakery’s Aimee Mostwill for a twohour pie workshop at All Souls Pizza.

At the same location on Monday, March 16, she, her partner, Travis Schultz, and All Souls chef/owner Brendan Reusing will teach a workshop on how to make three types of soup.

“What I’m doing now is what makes me happy until I find a space,” she says. “I have three different business plans written, so a lot depends on the space I find and where it is. But food will be a big part of it because that’s my world.”

Information and tickets for Capps’ events can be found on her Eventbrite page at avl.mx/6zg.

— Kay West X MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

47

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THE BIG LISTEN

Three Asheville-based groups release new albums Rebirth of the Firecracker Jazz Band

Mountain Xpress

2020 X Awards

Get Ready to Vote!

GETTING HOT: Firecracker Jazz Band is back with Return to the Twenties, its first album in nearly a decade. The current lineup includes, from left, Jason Krekel, Billy Seawell, Andrew J. Fletcher, Craig Kellberg, Jerome Widenhouse, Earl ”The Pearl” Sachais and Leo Johnson.

Photo by Sandlin Gaither

Starting March 27

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bill@musoscribe.com The creative output of Ashevillebased performing and recording artists continues apace in 2020. This month alone marks the release of new albums by several of them. In the country idiom, Sweetheart of the Radio is the debut release from the Christy Lynn Band. Perennial Asheville favorite Firecracker Jazz Band is back with Return to the Twenties, its first release in nearly a decade. And rootsy bluegrass crossover group Fireside Collective is releasing Elements as it kicks off an East Coast tour. All three acts have scheduled hometown concerts in celebration of their new recordings.

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themothlight.com WHEN Friday, March 12, 9 p.m. $8 advance/$10 day of show

Checking in with The Christy Lynn Band Christy Lynn Barrett describes her music as “meaningfully kitschy.” She laughs when asked to explain what that means. “I like songs that have a little hook in them,” she says. “But at the same time, we have some songs on the album that are very sad. They’re not just surface-y, poppy songs; they have deep, underlying sadness to them.”

That mix of contrasting styles still results in a cohesive collection of songs on Sweetheart of the Radio, The Christy Lynn Band’s first record. Lynn and partner Ryan Schilling — the two also own and operate American Vinyl Co. in Biltmore Village — launched the group as a vehicle for Lynn’s songs of heartbreak and adventure. They performed together previously as rock duo Triumph of the Wild.

“We played everything ourselves,” Lynn says. “This time, we’ve got other people playing instruments, too. This is the first time we’ve had other people’s input, and it was fun.”

That sense of fun comes through both in the songs — even the sad ones — and in the record title’s play-on-words reference to the Byrds’ pioneering countryrock album from 1968. “I guess that’s where the ‘kitschy’ comes in, too,” Lynn says. “I do really like ‘clever.’ I love songs to come around in a circle, maybe have a line at the end that makes you laugh.”

But ultimately, she says, “I need a song to have something to it that interests me.”

As the 21st century enters its third decade, the Firecracker Jazz Band is doubling down on a music style that enjoyed its heyday a century ago. But guitarist and banjo player Jason Krekel believes he knows why 1920s-style jazz maintains its appeal.

“People have been looking to the past for cultural inspirations for a while now,” he says, noting that the art and culture of the Jazz Age is characterized by “a little more care because people had to make their entertainment. They couldn’t just push a button and get a Spotify playlist.”

He also points to a sense of optimism that flourished in post-World War I America. That freewheeling, upbeat sense was captured in the music of jazz giant Buddy Bolden. “He took music that was kind of ‘in the parlor’ and brought it to the streets,” Krekel says. The Firecracker Jazz Band’s new album, Return to the Twenties, includes the New Orleans legend’s signature tune, “Buddy Bolden Blues.”

The group began in 2003, releasing a string of albums and playing a featured set at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in 2007. But nine years have passed since the group’s last release, The Firecracker Jazz Band Meets the Wild Man. Still, Krekel emphasizes that the band has remained active.

“There hasn’t been a year that has gone by without Firecracker having some gigs,” he says. He credits much of the group’s renewed vitality to pianist Andrew J. Fletcher. “He learned from Reese Gray, the band’s founding piano player. And Andrew has really risen to the occasion.” Krekel left the group for several years to focus on other projects, including Mad Tea Party and the Sufi Brothers; he returned in 2016.

WHO Firecracker Jazz Band sharing the stage with The Screamin’ J’s WHERE The Mothlight 701 Haywood Road themothlight.com WHEN Saturday, March 14, 8 p.m. $10

DIALED IN: The Christy Lynn Band launches its debut album, Sweetheart of the Radio, on which “Lynn’s heart-wrenching lyrics and deft storytelling ability [combine] a hearty dose of catchy refrains and campy, throwback country charm,” according to album notes. Photo

by Izzy Nelson “We’ve been going through a little bit of a rebirth,” he says.

Krekel has plenty of optimism of his own regarding the future of hot jazz. “It makes people want to move. It’s all about simple melodies and danceable grooves,” he says.

“Who doesn’t love that?”

Fireside Collective brings it on home Jesse Iaquinto released 2014’s Shadows and Dreams using the name Fireside Collective, but it wasn’t really a band project. “It was a solo album to kind of jump-start some of my original songs,” he says. But by 2017, and the time of Life Between the Lines, Fireside Collective had taken form as a proper group, featuring guitarists Joe Cicero and Tommy Maher plus Carson White on upright bass alongside mandolinist Iaquinto. While he remains proud of that album, Iaquinto admits that it was made in a hurry and sounds like it. “It was

more like we had the charts, we went in and played them,” he says.

Things were very different for Fireside Collective as the band made Elements with Infamous Stringdusters’ bassist Travis Book producing. “He really pushed us on the preproduction side,” Iaquinto says. “And that allowed everybody to bring in their original ideas.”

Elements also features the band’s newest member, banjo player Alex Genova.

Underscoring Iaquinto’s wideencompassing musical style, he credits inspiration from some very unbluegrass sources. “I’ve always loved The Beatles’ and Pink Floyd’s approach to albums,” he says. “The thought and the flow of their albums, and what they put into it. On this album, we were able to do an intro and a reprise; we had a little bit more fun with it.”

Iaquinto notes that a larger, Kickstarter-funded budget helped as well. “We still went over budget, of course,” he says with a chuckle. “But it allowed us to really stretch out in the studio, and it made such a huge difference just to give us a little bit more time and space.”

In addition to the Grey Eagle album release show (details below), amid a run of festival dates, Fireside Collective will make another swing through Asheville on Friday, April 24, opening for The Jerry Douglas Band at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre. X

WHO Fireside Collective WHERE The Grey Eagle 185 Clingman Ave. thegreyeagle.com WHEN Saturday, March 14, 9 p.m. $12 advance/$15 day of show

FEELING IT: Fireside Collective release “She Was An Angel,” the first single from new album Elements last fall. The group signed to local label Mountain Home Music Company in August.

Photo courtesy of the band MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

49

A&E

by Lauren Stepp

lstepp98@gmail.com

FINDING SPACE Gravity is a feeling, says Atlantabased multimedia artist Julie Nellenback Henry.

“Creative people are restless, but gravity comes with maturity,” she explains. “My feet are now on the ground, and that feels good.

The joy feels even better.”

Joy and Gravity, an aptly named exhibition featuring Henry’s signature collages, accentuates shared sentience by layering paint and found textiles — sheets, aprons, pillowcases — to create unabashedly imperfect art. “I invite the viewer to feel the warmth, see how obviously handmade it is, and fall in love with imperfection,” says Henry. The show opens at The Project House Gallery @ Curve Studios on Friday, March 13.

At just 240 square feet, The Project House Gallery is Asheville’s newest, most intimate exhibit space, and curator Marghe Means’ latest, most radical project.

An art consultant in the corporate sphere, Means has spent the last 30 years curating art that works for conglomerates like Coca-Cola and Aflac. Now, she is curating art that works for her.

“I’ve met so many different artists over the years but haven’t had the opportunity to showcase their work. I want to bring them to communities where they haven’t had exposure,” says Means.

To that end, The Project House Gallery will rotate regional artists bimonthly. Some are conceptual in style, others representational.

“Not necessarily every show is for everyone,” Means admits. Nor are the shows meant to feel cohesive.

MIDCENTURY MODERN: Julie Nellenback Henry’s latest show, Joy and Gravity, culls inspiration from her grandparents’ home in the Adirondacks. Photos of “Ready Made” left, and “Seneca Falls,” courtesy of Marghe Means “Why and how people select artwork is a personal decision, and my personal art collection is eclectic,” she says.

Rather, the space itself provides continuity. A little smaller than the average master bedroom, the gallery feels intentional but dramatic in its minimalism. Visitors give their undivided attention to one artist and will

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The Project House Gallery brings ‘Joy and Gravity’ to the RAD

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be provided with text that describes that artist’s point of view. Means envisions Henry’s collages being especially powerful there — the perfect showcase for what Henry calls a “pared-down, visual language.”

“Her pieces are highly textured and dimensional. There are nuances you can only pick up in person,” says Means, who rents studio space to

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Henry at Little Tree Art Studios in Atlanta. Charged with “finding a rhythm” for the next year at The Project House Gallery, she is reaching deep into her personal database of artists. She imagines Henry will serve as a counterpoint for everything to come.

“She will bring an unconventional perspective to the River Arts District,” Means says.

Henry’s “collage paintings” of repurposed textiles are a relatively new development in her repertoire. Though she has always been a self-described dumpster diver — forever inclined to rehab jettisoned materials — the milestone of turning 50 gave her pause. And so, Henry reflected on her roots in the Adirondacks of New York, where her grandparents’ home was rife with midcentury modern furniture, her mother’s renderings from design school at Rochester Institute of Technology and an overall tenor of creativity.

Henry then experienced a crystalline moment of self-awareness: Subconsciously, through observing her grandparents, she had always believed that if you “made something with your hands, people would love and respect you.” In creating, she was simply seeking love.

That sense of unapologetic humanity infuses her current work, as do the warm and modern sentiments of her grandparents’ home. The effect is subdued, quiet and poetic. “There’s almost some raising of hope there,” Henry says.

“A soulfulness, an honesty.” Joy and gravity, if you will. X

WHAT Joy and Gravity WHERE The Project House Gallery @ Curve Studios No. 3 River Arts Place curvestudios.org/theprojecthouse and juliehenrystudio.com WHEN Opening Friday, March 13, 5-8 p.m. with an artist talk on Saturday, March 14, 2 p.m. Exhibition remains on view through May 7

by Alli Marshall

amarshall@mountainx.com

ART IN REAL TIME Local painter Blais Bellenoit of Belle Noir Arts has something akin to a creative pedigree. His mother was a professional illustrator (one of her works appeared in Stephen King’s The Talisman); his grandmother offered paper and pens instead of toys during visits; he attended the Rochester Institute of Technology for illustration. But Bellenoit’s own journey took direction not from that inherited or academic path, but from some interesting side trips.

These days, Bellenoit can be found live painting on Tuesday nights at One World West, a form of in-themoment artwork that’s become part of his signature. In fact, he was a featured live painter at Pigeons Playing Ping Pong’s New Year’s Eve show at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena.

“Art and music have always gone together on all kinds of levels,” he says. “You have album covers, you have logos. … Live painting has become popular at local events here in Asheville and in other cities around the country and also really, really big in the festival scene.”

He continues, “I enjoy being around people when I’m making work. Being an artist [can be] a solitary experience: You spend a lot of time in a room, completely by yourself. When I discovered live painting, it was a great way to combine what I already enjoyed — the festival scene and live music — with my art. It’s a practical way for sharing my art with other people and for enjoying my process a little more.”

Band tours (such as those extended jaunts of The Grateful Dead) and music festivals provide an environment for visual artists to express themselves, Bellenoit explains. He sold thousands of prints on Phish tour: “It was a gig, it was a part-time job, and I shared a lot of artwork with a big community.”

But live painting didn’t make its way into his repertoire until 2013 at the Gratifly Music and Arts Festival. “I had a friend drop me off,” says Bellenoit, who used to have a studio at the Phil Mechanic building and was without a car for most of a decade. “The first day I walked onto the concert field, there had to be 25 or 30 painters there.

It was a real substantial element of the festival. … People watched us paint all weekend and I did a piece start to finish. I must have painted three 15-hour days right in a row.”

Blais Bellenoit on the inspiration and influence of live painting

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW: After selling art on tour with bands such as Phish, Blais Bellenoit parlayed a love of music and making (and the creative crowds that both draw) into a career as a live painter. Pictured, Bellenoit at work at One World West. Photo by Cindy Kunst As he’s continued on that path, he says, “Live painting has influenced the work a bit, because if you’re going to do a live painting, it’s nice to start and finish something in the time that you have. … I’ve definitely [sped up] my process and made my process more visually appealing in a short period of time.”

Just because Bellenoit found his niche doesn’t mean he’s strictly stuck to it.

“I have to change my approach pretty regularly,” he says. “Sometimes it’s very natural — I don’t think about it at all — and sometimes it’s [out of] needing to do something different.” His nebula-inspired collection of spacey, galactic paintings, which he’s known for, evolved from an intentional shift in direction.

Bellenoit’s more recent black-andwhite series came by way of a fluke: He was covering a canvas in black gesso and ran out of the background material.

Necessity led to innovation: “The combination of the texture of the raw canvas, the friction of the brush I was using and the paint [created] this really neat, charcoal, pastel-y, smoky effect that was accidental.” He’s gone on to create more than 20 pieces in that style, including an ethereal and crowd-pleasing jellyfish that looks to be as much of the air as of the sea.

Having lived in Asheville on and off for nearly two decades, Bellenoit admits the local art scene is densely populated. “It’s a small city and it’s completely chock-full of art and artists trying to survive.” He

doesn’t depend only on Asheville for his livelihood: “Fortunately, there’s the internet, and I do travel outside the city. … I’ve built a customer base that goes coast to coast.” But he estimates his Western North Carolina buyers to be 90% local rather than tourists.

“It’s difficult to make the art and sell the art simultaneously,” Bellenoit notes. “Artists are doing 40-hour-a-week labor jobs [to support themselves] and aren’t able to share their art.” For him, live painting as a practice centers his work within musical inspiration, fans and a creative community.

And it pairs well with social media, allowing him to post works in progress and recently finished pieces for admirers — many of whom witnessed the process in action — and furthering the interconnectedness of art and music.

Learn more at facebook.com/ blais.bellenoit X

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by Edwin Arnaudin | Send your arts news to ae@mountainx.com

Algiers The Poetry Brothel Circa 1900, many brothels in New Orleans, Paris and Buenos Aires functioned as liberal spaces where marginalized and experimental artists could test out new ideas and perform their work. Today, The Poetry Brothel strives to continue that legacy by promoting radically open artistic expression in venues across the U.S. At each stop, a “madam” introduces a revolving cast of poets and artists who perform as self-constructed characters, sharing a variety of work that crosses genres and disciplines. Isis Music Hall transforms into a Poetry Brothel on Wednesday, March 18, at 8:30 p.m. $25 advance/$65 VIP, which includes two tokens good for private readings with any of the “poetry whores,” and a gift from The Madame in a Poetry Brothel tote. isisasheville.com. Photo by Max McQueen

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Though Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan and Lee Tesche had played music together in Atlanta since they were kids, it wasn’t until 2012 and across the pond — London, precisely — that they formed their rock band Algiers. The trio then added former Bloc Party drummer Matt Tong to their ranks and went on to record a pair of well-regarded albums, touring around the world and opening for Depeche Mode on a stint of European stadium gigs. Seeking a larger, more diverse sound for its third album, There Is No Year, the rockers turned to producers Randall Dunn and Ben Greenberg, who channeled their work with the late, great Jóhann Jóhannsson’s synth-tastic soundtrack for the Nicolas Cage mind-melter Mandy. Algiers brings these new tunes to The Mothlight on Friday, March 13. Nordra, the the solo project of Zen Mother’s Monika Khot, opens at 9 p.m. $10 advance/$12 day of show. themothlight.com. Photo by Christian Högstedt

Rooster

FOIA Love

In naming their first full-length album, Annie Myers (guitar/vocals) and Erin Kinard (drums/vocals) of Ashevillebased duo Rooster reflected on their sound, which fuses the unique folk traditions of Western North Carolina with their own take on modern Americana. From that meditation arose images of the bloodroot plant — native to these lands, much like the duo’s musical lineage, the latest interpretations of which were recorded in February 2019 in Swannanoa under the guidance of recording engineer and producer Matt Lohan (Dyado).

For its Monday, March 16, album release show for Bloodroot at The Grey Eagle, Rooster will be a four-piece, augmented by Mary Bulan on lead guitar and Kylie Brown-Irvin on bass.

The evening begins at 8 p.m. with a set of country music from Gracie Lane, Liliana Hudgens and Rebecca Branson Jones. $8 advance/$10 day of show. thegreyeagle.com.

Photo courtesy of the band

Do you find the Freedom of Information Act a rich source of humor? After eight years in Washington, D.C., and one year in rural Iowa working on the presidential caucus, Curtis Raye did and wrote a comedy and bluegrass show about public records. FOIA Love is inspired by such available documents as FCC complaints regarding CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” being too violent, bizarre immigration visa rejections and letters from J. Edgar Hoover’s numerous pen pals. The show is rounded out by music from Bennett Sullivan (who was in Steve Martin’s musical Bright Star), plus Maddie Witler and Annie Staninec.

FOIA Love appropriately makes its Asheville debut during Sunshine Week, at Hi-Wire Brewing’s Big Top location on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. $20 advance/$25 day of show. foialove.com.

Photos courtesy of the musicians

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

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A & E CALENDAR ART APPALACHIAN PASTEL SOCIETY • SA (3/14), 10am-noon Bi-monthly meeting, plus demo and presentation: Captivating Color Choices,

by Terrilynn Dubreuil. Free.

Held at Grace Community Church, 495 Cardinal Road, Mills River ASHEVILLE ART THEORY READING GROUP • 3rd WEDNESDAYS, 6pm - Asheville art theory reading group. Free. Held at Revolve, 821 Riverside Drive, #179 AVL SOCIAL SKETCH • TH (3/19), 6-9pm - Bimonthly night of drawing, sketching, collaborating and socializing with other creatives of all ages and skill levels. Free to attend.

Held at Odd's Cafe, 800 Haywood Road BECOMING YOU • 2nd FRIDAYS, 7-9pm - No art experience necessary for once a month creativity class, BEcoming YOU. Registration required. $25. Held at Roots + Wings Creative Campus, 573 Fairview Road FIGURE DRAWING SALON • FRIDAYS, 6-9PM - Open figure drawing sessions with live model. Basic art supplies provided or bring your own, dry media only. $15. Held at The Colourfield, 54 Ravenscroft Drive HAYWOOD COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL 86 N. Main St., Waynesville, 828-452-0593, haywoodarts.org/ • TH (3/12), 4-6:30pm - Sketching and painting techniques for small studies. Supply list available. $40/$35 members.

• SA (3/14), noon-2pm - Dominick DePaolo demonstrates alcohol ink techniques on various surfaces. Free.

IKENOBO IKEBANA SOCIETY • TH (3/19), 10am - For a program on Japanese culture. Free. Held at First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave. W., Hendersonville

MASTER CLASS WITH SAKI MAFUNDIKWA • TH (3/19), 10am - Master Class with Zimbabwean graphic designer Saki Mafundikwa. Free. Held at Highsmith Student Union, 1 University Heights MEMORIAL EXHIBITION OF KATE O'CONNOR • Memorial Exhibition of Kate O'Connor's (1958-2019) mixed-media assemblages. Reception: Thursday, March 19, 5-8pm. Held at Nan Sherry Fine Art, 46 S. Main St., Marshall SECOND SATURDAY FOLKMOOT MARKET • 2nd SATURDAYS, 6-9pm - Second Saturday Market featuring vendors, live music, dance lessons, food and beverages.

Free to attend/$10-$15 for dinner/$5 per dance lesson. Held at Folkmoot Friendship Center, 112 Virginia Ave., Waynesville

ART/CRAFT STROLLS & FAIRS MYSTICAL NIGHT MARKET • SA (3/14), 5-9pm - Local readers, healers and vendors offering: astrological readings, intuitive/psychic/ medium readings, Reiki/ energy healings, art, Reiki-infused jewelry, fairy hair, crystals, sacred tools, apothecary items and more. Free to attend. Held at Violet Owl Wellness, 62 Wall St. RIVER ARTS DISTRICT SECOND SATURDAY • 2nd SATURDAYS, 11am4:30pm - River Arts District gallery walks and open studios featuring more than 200 artists. Information: riverartsdistrict.com.

Free to attend/Free trolley.

Held at River Arts District Studio Stroll, Depot St. SECOND SATURDAY CELEBRATIONS • 2nd SATURDAYS, 11am5pm - Second Saturday Celebration, event with food, music and artist demonstrations. Free to attend. Held at Odyssey Cooperative Art Gallery, 238 Clingman Ave. THIRD THURSDAY IN MARSHALL • 3rd THURSDAYS, 5-8pm - Gallery openings, studio tours, shops,

food and drinks. Free to attend. Held at Downtown Marshall WINTER ARTS SMOKIES STYLE: THE LUCK OF THE ART • SA (3/14), noon-4pm - Winter Arts Smokies Style: The Luck of the Art, Main Street galleries, merchants and restaurants host an afternoon of chocolate treats, family fun and activities. Alcohol ink artist demonstration with Dominick DePaolo at noon. Celtic music by Bean Sidhe from 2-4pm. Free to attend. Held at Haywood County Arts Council, 86 N. Main St., Waynesville

AUDITIONS & CALL TO ARTISTS 17TH ANNUAL SALUDA ARTS FESTIVAL • Until SU (3/15) - Last call for artists to apply for the 17th annual Saluda Arts Festival held (5/16).

Application: avl.mx/6zr.

Held at Historic Downtown Saluda, 24 Main St., Saluda BLUE RIDGE FIBER SHOW • SA (3/14) until WE (7/15) Call for entries of fiber arts for the 2020 Blue Ridge Fiber Show. Held at NC Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way MARSHMALLOW PEEPS DIORAMA CONTEST • Until (4/2), 5pm Book-related diorama contest, winners in two age categories, under 21 and 21+. avl.mx/6yv. Free.

Held at Mountains Branch Library, 150 Bill's Creek Road, Lake Lure

DANCE TWO-HOUR DANCE CLASS - LEARN THE TWO-STEP & WALTZ (PD.) Saturday, March 14th: 12-2PM at Grey Eagle, Asheville. Take one or both. $15 each or $25 for both. Info & online discount at: www.

Danceforlife.dance, naturalrichard@mac.com, 828-333 0715.

DANCING WITH OUR STARS • SA (3/14), 6:30-11pm - Proceeds from the 13th annual Dancing with Our Stars dance contest ben-

efits Brevard Little Theare. $10. Held at Brevard Little Theatre, 55 E. Jordan St., Brevard FLAMENCO CLASSES • FRIDAYS, 7pm Flamenco for adults at all levels. Information: 786-327-9548. $14/class or $50/month. Held at In His Steps Dance Ministry, 159 Church St. IMPROVER CONTEMPORARY LINE DANCING • THURSDAYS, noon-2pm - Improver contemporary line dancing. $10. Held at Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave. INTERMEDIATE/ ADVANCED CONTEMPORARY LINE DANCING • WEDNESDAYS, noon-2pm - Intermediate/ advanced contemporary line dancing. $10. Held at Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Road OLD FARMERS BALL CONTRA DANCE • THURSDAYS, 7:3011pm - Old Farmers Ball, contra dance. $8/$7 members/$1 Warren Wilson Community. Held in Bryson Gym Held at Warren Wilson College, 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swannanoa

MUSIC A CAPELLA SINGING (PD.) WANNA SING? ashevillebarbershop.com 'SENSATIONAL STRINGS' • SU (3/15), 3-4:30pm - Sensational Strings, chamber music by Brevard Philharmonic. $35. Held at Brevard-Davidson River Presbyterian Church, 249 East Main St., Brevard AN EVENING WITH SHANE PARISH • SA (3/14), 8pm - An Evening with Shane Parish and duo Sally Ann Morgan & Andrew Zinn. $10. Held at Revolve, 821 Riverside Drive, #179 BEAN SIDHE • SA (3/14), 2-4pm - Bean Sidhe (pronounced “Banshee”) Celtic ensemble.

Free. Held at Haywood County Arts Council, 86 N. Main St., Waynesville

FIDDLERS OF MADISON COUNTY • SA (3/14), 7pm Proceeds from the 14th annual Fiddlers of Madison County, traditional Appalachian sounds, with Arvil Freeman with The Midnight Plowboys, Don and Marty Lewis, The Sons of Ralph, Bobby Hicks and two young fiddlers, Lillian Chase and Rhiannon Ramsey, benefit Madison County Arts Council. $30/$25 advance. Held at Madison County Arts Council, 90 S. Main St., Marshall HOT CLUB OF COWTOWN • SA (3/14), 8pm - Hot Club of Cowtown, Western swing. $28. Held at Bo Thomas Auditorium, Blue Ridge Community College, 180 W. Campus Drive, Flat Rock JOSEPH HERBST BIG BAND • SU (3/15), 7-9pm Joseph Herbst Big Band with a 20s theme. $10/$15 at the door. Held at The BLOCK off biltmore, 39 S. Market St. MUSIC FOR THE WILD WEST • SU (3/15), 3:30-5pm Music for The Wild West, a symphonic winds concert.

by Asheville Community Band. $12. Held at Lipinsky Auditorium at UNC Asheville, 300 Library Lane MUSICAL MOSAIC • SU (3/15), 4-6pm - Corey and Sully Hart (Tenor Duo) Together with Music expresses through song various aspects of the human experience. $10.

Held at All Souls Cathedral, 9 Swan St. NOTRE DAME GLEE CLUB • TH (3/12), 7pm - Notre Dame Glee Club directed

by Daniel Stowe. Admission by donation. Held at Basillica of St. Lawrence, 97 Haywood St. OLE TYME PICKERS • FR (3/13), 7-9pm - Ole Tyme Pickers, traditional bluegrass and country music. Free. Held at Etowah Lions Club, 447 Etowah School Road, Hendersonville PIMPS OF POMPE • SU (3/15), 3-5pm - Pimps of Pompe, vintage jazz

and classic hip hop. Free to attend. Held at Battery Park Book Exchange, 1 Page Ave., #101 WINTER WORKSHOPS: BALLADS, HERBAL MEDICINE AND QUILT MAKING • SA (3/14), 1-3:30pm - Introduction to Appalachian Folk Medicine with Rebecca Beyer. $35/$30 members. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 18 Biltmore Ave., 828-2574530, worthamarts.org • SU (3/15), 7pm - George Winston, piano. $36-$53.

• TU (3/17), 8pm - Welcome to Night Vale with Eliza Rickman. $34.

• WE (3/18), 8pm - Lúnasa, instrumental Irish music. $20-$35.

• TH (3/19), 8pm - Susan Werner + David Myles, American folk, blues and country. $20-$38.

SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD AN APPALACHIAN STORYTELLING EXTRAVAGANZA • TH (3/19), 7pm - An Appalachian Storytelling Extravaganza with Connie Regan-Blake. $15. Held at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe St., Hendersonville BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES buncombecounty.org/ governing/depts/library • SA (3/14), 11am - Nonfiction Book Club discusses Furious Hours by Casey N. Cep. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • SA (3/11), 11am - Oral History Training for Your Community, an introduction to gathering oral histories by Dr. Sarah M. Judson. Free. Held at Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St. • SA (3/14), 3pm - West Asheville Book Club discusses Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Free. Held at West Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Road • TU (3/17), 2pm - North Asheville Book Club discusses There, There

by Tommy Orange. Free.

Held at North Asheville Library, 1030 Merrimon Ave. • TU (3/17), 2pm - West Asheville Book Club discusses Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Free. Held at West Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Road • TU (3/17), 7pm - Black Mountain Mystery Book Club discusses The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain. Free. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain • TU (3/17), 7pm - Fairview Evening Book Club discusses Undaunted by Jackie Speier. Free. Held at Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview • WE (3/18), 3pm - Black Mountain Afternoon Book Club discusses books about Ireland. Free. Held at Black Mountain Public Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain • WE (3/18), 4pm - Our focus is creating a supportive and fun environment for writers through exercises and discussions.

Open to adults and teens 15 and older. Free. Held at Skyland/South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road • YJ (3/19), 2:30pm - Friends of the South Buncombe Library Book Club discusses Over the Plain Houses by Julia Franks.

Free. Held at Skyland/ South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road FLETCHER LIBRARY 120 Library Road, Fletcher, 828-687-1218, library. hendersoncountync.org • 2nd THURSDAYS, 10:30am - Book Club. Free.

• 2nd THURSDAYS, 1:30pm - Writers' Guild.

Free.

LEE LYONS PRESENTS 'SOUTHERN SHAMROCK' • SA (3/14), 3pm - Lee Lyons presents her book, Southern Shamrock. Free to attend. Held at City Lights Bookstore, 3 E. Jackson St., Sylva MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORE AND CAFE 55 Haywood St., 828-2546734, malaprops.com • SU (3/15), 3pm - Monthly reading series featuring work from UNCA’s Great Smokies Writing Program and The Great Smokies Review. Free to attend.

• MO (3/16), 6pm - Jeff Sharlet presents his book, This Brilliant Darkness.

Free.

• TY (3/17), 6pm - Mary Cecilia Jackson launches Sparrow in conversation with Amy Reed. Free.

• WE (3/18), 6pm - Greg Gbur presents Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics. Free.

• WE (3/19), 6pm - Addie Tsai presents Dear Twin.

Free.

NATANYA ANN PULLEY PRESENTS 'WITH TEETH' • TH (3/19), 7pm - Natanya Ann Pulley, author of With Teeth, reads from and discuss her writing. She is a Diné (Navajo) writer working in fiction and non-fiction. Free. Held at Karpen Hall, UNC Asheville, 2000 University Heights TRUE HOME OPEN MIC NIGHT • THURSDAYS, 6:308:30pm - Singers, speakers or readers, we would love to hear what you've got.

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Signups start at 6pm.

Free to attend. Held at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain

THEATER 'BOOM' • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS (3/19) until (3/29) - Boom, comedy.

Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm, Sun.: 2:30pm. $20. Held at Attic Salt Theatre, The Mills at Riverside, 2002 Riverside Drive, Suite 42-O BROADWAY BOOTCAMP SPRING SHOWCASE • FR (3/13), 7:30pm & SA (3/14), 2:30pm - Cabaret style performances featuring youth ages 12-17 in solos, duets, trios and company numbers, directed by Lori Hilliard. $7. Held at Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St. 'CHARLOTTE’S WEB' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (3/28) - Charlotte’s Web. Fri: 7pm, Sat.: 2 & &pm, Sun.: 2pm. $13.75-$33. Held at Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Highway 225, Flat Rock 'CHURCH BASEMENT LADIES' • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS until (3/15) - Church Basement Ladies, musical. Thurs.Sat.: 7:30pm. Sat. & Sun.: 2:30pm. $25 and up. Held at Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, 44 College St., Mars Hill

'GREAT FALLS' • FRIDAYS through SUNDAYS until (3/22) - Great Falls, by Mockingbird Theatre Productions, not recommended for audiences under 16. Fri. & Sat.: 7:30pm; Sun: 2:30pm $18. Held at 35below, 35 E. Walnut St. HAWLEY MAGIC • SA (3/14), 7pm - Hawley Magic, magic and illusion show. $20/$15 students. Held at Tryon Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave., Tryon IN CONVERSATION: ZELDA FITZGERALD • FR (3/13), noon-1pm - Zelda (Terry Darakjy) and reporter (Carol Anders) imaginary interview days before the Highland Hospital fire. Registration required. Admission fees apply. Held at Asheville Art Museum, 2 S. Pack Square 'TRAITOR' • THURSDAYS through SUNDAYS, (3/13) until (3/28) - Traitor, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People. Thurs.-Sat.: 7:30pm, Sun.: 3pm. $20/$10 students.

Held at The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St. 'WELL' • WEDNESDAYS through SUNDAYS (3/18) until (4/12) - Well

by Lisa Kron. Wed.-Sat.: 7:30pm, Sun.: 2pm with additional matinees on Saturday, April 4 and 11. $18-$34. Held at NC Stage Company, 15 Stage Lane

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MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

ANANDA • Exhibition of abstract works

by Jan Widner.

March 2-April 30 22 Broadway

REVOLVE • The Cruel Truth, paintings by George Terry McDonald.

March 6-March 31 821 Riverside Drive, #179

ART AT BREVARD COLLEGE • Brevard College student art exhibition curated by Mark Flowers.

Feb. 28-March 27 1 College Dr, Brevard

SMITH-MCDOWELL HOUSE MUSEUM • North Carolina in the Great War, an exhibit exploring state and local contributions to World War I. Admission fees apply.

Feb. 13-May 16 283 Victoria Road

ART GARDEN • Zodiac, new work from 12 local artists. Reception: Saturday, March 14, 5-8 pm.

March 11-April 5 191 Lyman St., Suite 316

STAND GALLERY • The Story of Zelda, as told through mixed media works from Aurora Studio. Reception: Saturday, March 14, noon-3pm.

March 5-March 31 109 Roberts St.

ART IN THE AIRPORT • Student Artwork Showcase, K-12 students from across the region.

March 5-April 14 61 Terminal Drive, Fletcher ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM • Dancing Atoms: Barbara Morgan Photographs and Andy Warhol: Silver Clouds an immersive experience.

March 6-May 5 • A Telling Instinct: John James Audubon & Contemporary Art, exhibition.

Feb. 21-May 4 2 S. Pack Square ASHEVILLE GALLERY OF ART • Colors of Life, paintings by Sun Sohovich.

March 1-March 31 82 Patton Ave. BLUE SPIRAL 1 • Southern Waters and Mountain Clay with works by John Cleaveland Jr. and Will Dickert.

March 6-May 1 38 Biltmore Ave. BUNCOMBE COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARIES • Local Enka-Candler artists, Max Cooper, photographs, and Bronwen McCormick, watercolors. Reception: Saturday, March 14, 3pm.

March 14-April 17 1404 Sandhill Road, Candler CENTER FOR CRAFT • The Computer Pays its Debt reevaluates the historic connection between information technology and textiles through the pioneering work of female artists. Reception: Friday, March 13, 6-8pm.

March 13-June 13 67 Broadway DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL RESOURCES WESTERN OFFICE • Blue Ridge Craft Trails exhibition of 30+ craft artists

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THE GALLERY AT FLAT ROCK • 52 Weeks/52 Trees, exhibition of paintings by Dale L. McEntire.

Feb. 27-March 15 702-A Greenville Highway, Flat Rock

NIGHTINGALE’S TALE: Mel Chin’s giant animatronic sculpture, Wake, first installed in New York City’s Times Square, is installed in an Asheville vacant lot at 44 Collier Ave. from March 15 through September 7.

WNC-based conceptual artist Chin collaborated with faculty, staff and students from UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio to engineer and fabricate the monumentally scaled conceptual piece. Modeled on the USS Nightingale, a 19th-century clipper ship, festooned with the figurehead of Jenny Lind, an opera star of the same era known as the “Swedish Nightingale,” invites viewers to contemplate their place within the world’s transforming climate. The full schedule of programs is available at ashevillearts.com/ public-art Photo courtesy of Adam Taylor, UNC Asheville is an extension of the new Blue Ridge Craft Trails.

Feb. 10-March 15 176 Riceville Road DOWNTOWN BOOKS & NEWS • Haus of Cards, illustrations by Caroline Dougherty.

March 6-March 31 67 N. Lexington Ave. FLOOD GALLERY FINE ART CENTER • Watercolor paintings and mixed-media boxes, a teacher/ student collaboration by Nick Humphreys and Richmond Smith.

March 7-April 4 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain FOLK ART CENTER MP 382, Blue Ridge Parkway • The Southern Highland Craft Guild’s latest exhibit, The Earth Provides, features selected works from five Guild Members working in glass, clay, fiber, paper and wood.

March 5-May 5 • The Power of Distinction: In Honor of the Guild’s 90th Anniversary, features selected works from the 5,700-piece permanent collection.

March 5-May 5 GROVEWOOD GALLERY • Life Along the Blue Ridge, exhibition of works by Bryan Koontz.

Feb. 15-April 5 111 Grovewood Road HAYWOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE • HCC Clay in Retrospect, exhibition featuring the work of 20 artists from the college’s 46 years of clay programming.

Feb. 5-April 22 185 Freedlander Drive, Clyde LIVING ARTS FOUNDATION • The Occult Feminine, group show of women painters and sculptors.

Feb. 13-May 7 51 Old Candler Town Road, Candler

MARS HILL UNIVERSITY, WEIZENBLATT GALLERY • Mars Hill University Student Art Exhibition in all media: photography, drawing, painting, ceramics, graphic arts and sculpture.

March 18-April 9 79 Cascade St., Mars Hill MOMENTUM GALLERY • Exhibition of works by Maltby Sykes.

Feb. 13-March 25 24 N. Lexington Ave. NAN SHERRY FINE ART • Memorial Exhibition of Kate O’Connor’s (1958-2019) mixedmedia assemblages. Reception: Thursday, March 19, 5-8pm.

46 S. Main St., Marshall NORTH CAROLINA GLASS CENTER • 2020° Degrees: Temperatures of Change by Tony Prince. Reception: Saturday, March 14, 5-8pm.

March 14-April 30 140 Roberts St., Suite B

THE WEDGE STUDIOS • Sarah St Laurent’s Rust and Blue, an exploration of the natural processes of indigo dying and rust printing on fabric, combined with encaustic wax. Held at Spotlight Gallery on the second floor.

March 2-March 31 129 Roberts St. TRANSYLVANIA COMMUNITY ARTS COUNCIL • With These Hands, exhibition of fine art and craft.

March 9-March 27 349 S. Caldwell St., Brevard TRYON PAINTERS & SCULPTORS • Razzle Dazzle, group exhibition.

Feb. 29-April 18 78 North Trade St., Tryon UNC ASHEVILLE SHERRILL CENTER • Celebrating Middle School Success exhibition, features 78 works by middle schoolers from all over Buncombe County.

March 2-March 31 227 Campus Drive WAKE • Wake, Mel Chin’s monumentally-scaled animatronic sculpture on display. Grand opening: Sunday, March 15, 2-5pm.

March 15-Sept. 7 44 Collier Ave. Contact the galleries for hours and admission fees

CLUBLAND

QUICK AS A WINK: The Louisville, Ky.-based comedian Holly Lynnea will perform two nights in Asheville. The actress, writer and dancer has worked with notable comedians such as Hannibal Buress, Chelsea Handler and Kevin Hart. She recently joined the cast of the TV series “You Look Like.” Lynnea takes the stage at LaZoom Room on Friday, March 13, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 14, at 9:30 p.m. $10 advance/$12 day of show. lazoomtours.com. Photo courtesy of Lynnea

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11 12 BONES BREWERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7:00PM 185 KING STREET NC Songsmiths - Tina Collins, 8:00PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Les Amis, (African folk music), 8:00PM ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Karaoke w/ Kari Okay, 9:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR AGB Open Mic Showcase, 6:30PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Open Mic hosted by Billy Owens, 7:00PM DOUBLE CROWN Hearts Gone South, Pastel Panties & Country DJ, 9:00PM FLEETWOOD'S The Big Net, Guy Roswell, Colin Miller, 8:00PM ISA'S BISTRO Jay DiPaola, 5:30PM

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Arkansauce, 8:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5:00PM

PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Acoustic Wednesdays, 6:00PM SALVAGE STATION Acoustic Open Mic Hosted By Taylor Martin, 7:30PM

ODDITORIUM Arcana: A Fortune Telling Cabaret, 8:00PM

SANCTUARY BREWING CO. FBVMA Mountain Music Jam, 6:00PM

OLE SHAKEY'S Sexy Tunes w/ DJ Franco Nino, 10:00PM

SLY GROG LOUNGE Weird Wednesday Jam, 9:00PM

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Disclaimer Lounge Comedy Open Mic, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Matt Waters, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Latin Dance Night w/ DJ Oscar (Bachatta, Merengue, Salsa), 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Silversun Pickups w/ The New Regime, 8:00PM

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/ Caleb Beissert (sign up at 7:30PM), 8:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Cindy Cane, HNRY FLWR, Reversels, Xor, 7:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Strange Rangers, 6:00PM Open Mic, 7:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Swing AVL Dance w/ Big Dawg Slingshots, 7:30PM THE CASUAL PINT I Love the 2000’s!

Trivia, 7:00PM

THE GOLDEN FLEECE Scots-Baroque Chamber-Folk w/ the Tune Shepherds, 7:00PM THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Ignition and The Dereck Mcoy Band, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Kelly Hoppenjans w/ Lavender Blue & Lo Wolf, 8:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Rotating Live Bands, 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT The Yawpers, 8:30PM THE ROOT BAR Lucky James (soul, Americana), 8:00PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Shower on Mars, 8:00PM

THURSDAY, MARCH 12 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Pleasure Chest, (blues, rock, soul), 8:00PM

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

55

C LUBLAND ALLEY CAT SOCIAL CLUB Midnight Dance Party, 12:00AM

UPCOMING SHOWS: DOORS 7PM

MAR 12

WORTHWHILE SOUNDS PRESENTS:

DELLA MAE

W/ RACHEL BAIMAN

AMBROSE WEST Worthwhile Sounds Presents: Della Mae w/Rachel Baiman, 8:00PM

SHOW 8PM

MAR 12

SHOW 8PM

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Will Ray and the Space Cooties, 7:00PM

W/ DAVID LUNING

MAR 14

WORTHWHILE SOUNDS PRESENTS:

SHOW 8PM

BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Ionize, 7:00PM

DOORS 7PM

SHOW 8PM

MAR REASONABLY PRICED BABIES MAR (COMEDY IMPROV) 13 13

DOORS 7PM

MAR 14

DOORS 7PM

CHARLIE TRAVELER PRESENTS:

CRYSTAL BOWERSOX

MAR CHRISTOPHER PAUL STELLING MAR (ALBUM RELEASE) 21 21

DOORS 7PM

MAR 22

DAWN LANDES W/ ANNA LYNCH

SHOW 8PM

MAR 22

WED 3 /11 8:30PM– ARKANSAUCE

T HU 3 /12 7:00PM– A TALE OF TWO 8:30PM– FOXY MORON, SHABUDIKAH, AND ART WAVEY

F RI 3 /13 7:00PM–CHELEY TACKETT AND GRITS & SOUL

TICKETS SOLD HERE:

CAROLINA MUSIC MUSEUM Justin Varnes Jazz Quartet, 7:30PM CROW & QUILL Big Dawg Slingshots Western Swing, 10:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Endling, Bad Ties, Penny, 8:00PM

W W W. A M B R O S E W E S T.C O M BOX OFFICE S: T HE HO NE Y P O T

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Mr Jimmy, 7:00PM

BOOK YOUR WEDDING OR EVENT NOW: 828.332.3090 312 HAYWOOD ROAD

9:00PM– THE FRITZ WITH STIG

SAT 3 /14 7:00PM– THE HIGH LONESOME DREAMERS FEAT. SALLY BARRIS, SAM GAY, AND TEMPLETON THOMPSON 9:00PM–AN EVENING OF LYNYRD SKYNYRD W/ THE ARTIMUS PYLE BAND

SUN 3 /15 6:00PM–GIRI AND UMA PETERS 7:30PM–PIERRE BENSUSAN PRESENTING NEW SOLO ALBUM AZWAN

T UE 3 /17 7:30PM– TUESDAY BLUEGRASS SESSIONS HOSTED BY CANE MILL ROAD

WED 3 /18 7:00PM–FWUIT! 8:30PM–THE POETRY BROTHEL

T HU 3 /19 7:00PM–KRISTEN ENGLENZ ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 A Tale of Two (Americana, Blues), 7:00PM Foxy Moron, Shabudikah, and Art Wavey, 8:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam, 7:00PM MAD CO BREWING Trivia Night, 7:00PM NEW BELGIUM BREWERY Asheville CSA Fair, 3:00PM ODDITORIUM Party Foul Drag Circus, 8:00PM OLE SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/ DJ Franco Nino, 10:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Mitch's Totally Rad Trivia Night, 6:00PM The Infamous Mockingbirds, 10:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Lenny Pettinelli, 9:00PM

8:30PM–ALASH ENSEMBLE

ISISASHEVILLE.COM DINNER MENU TIL 9:30PM LATE NIGHT MENU TIL 12AM BRUNCH 10-2 SUNDAY ONLY

TUES-SUN 5PM-until

743 HAYWOOD RD | 828-575-2737 56

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

MOUNTAINX.COM

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: One World Family Band Jam, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL PULP presents Bardic Alchemy w/ Mama Danger, 9:00PM PULP Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic, 8:30PM

PACK'S TAVERN Jessie Barry & Jeff Anders, 8:00PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Dave Desmelik, 7:00PM POLANCO RESTAURANT Pop Up DJ Dinners w/ DJ Phantome Pantone Collective, 10:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Ellen Trnka, 8:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Eigengrau feat.

YungEarthy and Houman Beats, 8:00PM SOVEREIGN KAVA Ping-Pong Tournament, 8:00PM Eaze Dogg "Asheville Finest" Video Premiere Party, 9:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Dance Bachata with DJ Edi Fuentes, 9:00PM THE BARRELHOUSE Ter-rific Trivia, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Brent Cobb w/ Maddie Medley at The Grey Eagle, 9:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Rotating Live Bands, 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Christy Lynn Band Album Release w/ Brody Hunt & the Handfuls, 9:00PM THE ROOT BAR Dennis Carbone (folk, acoustic), 8:00PM THOMAS WOLFE MEMORIAL Thomas Wolfe Short Story, 5:30PM TOWN PUMP Bag Ol tricks, 9:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Two Bird Stone, 7:30PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Acoustic Karaoke, 10:00PM WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, 8:00PM

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 185 KING STREET Funkin' Fridays feat. Shabudikah, 8:30PM

KELLY HOPPENJANS

15 SEAN HAYES

BRENT COBB

16 ROOSTER

WED

11

5 WALNUT WINE BAR Eleanor Underhill & Friends, (Americana, soul), 9:00PM

FLEETWOOD'S Brower, Tony and the Haircuts, Josephine, Bad Vibes, 9:00PM

AMBROSE WEST Reasonably Priced Babies Comedy Improv, 8:00PM

FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Strange Rangers (improv, jazz), 10:00PM

APPALACHIAN COFFEE COMPANY Mr Jimmy, 6:00PM ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM In Conversation: Zelda Fitzgerald, 12:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Jeff Santiago y Los Gatos, 8:00PM BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah's Daydream (Gypsy jazz), 6:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Acoustic Swing, 7:00PM BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Cider Cinema: Space Jam, 7:30PM CAPELLA ON 9 @ THE AC HOTEL DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Western Carolina Writers (singersongwriters), 7:00PM CLUB ELEVEN ON GROVE Freaky Fridays January, 9:00PM CORK & KEG Vaden Landers Band, 9:30PM

THIS WEEK AT AVL MUSIC HALL & THE ONE STOP!!!

CROW & QUILL The Resonant Rogues (old time originals), 9:00PM

ODDITORIUM Wild Realms, 7:00PM Michale Graves (of The Misfits) Acoustic, Bleedseason, 8:00PM

ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Nick Harley, 9:00PM

OLE SHAKEY'S Friday After Work

GINGER'S REVENGE Tim McWilliams Duo (country, bluegrass), 7:30PM

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Free Dead Fridays feat. members of Phuncle Sam (acoustic), 5:00PM

Concert Series,

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Magenta Sunshine, 9:00PM

5:00PM RuPaul's Drag Race Screening, 8:00PM

HOPEY & CO The Mic is Open, 7:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Cheley Tackett & Grits & Soul, 7:00PM The Fritz w/ STIG, 9:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Nathan Evans Fox Band, 9:00PM

THU

12 FRI

13 SUN

15

MON

W/ MADDIE MEDLEY

LIVE DEAD ‘69

TUE

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARTY, 5PM

TUE

BLACK GARTER REVUE BURLESQUE PRESENTS:

17

GRATEFUL DEAD AT WOODSTOCK

FEAT. TOM CONSTANTEN

FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE

SAT

14

SUN

W/ LAVENDER BLUE, LO WOLF

17

(ALBUM RELEASE SHOW)

BURLESQUE BRUNCH, 12PM

LIVE MUSIC BY AMBIGUOUS ROOTS

ST. PATRICK’S DAY

WED THE WORLD SERIES

18 OF COMEDY

Asheville’s longest running live music venue • 185 Clingman Ave TICKETS AVAILABLE AT HARVEST RECORDS & THEGREYEAGLE.COM

NEAL BARNARD, MD Meet

TAVERN

MON. MARCH 16 5-6pm

President of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

Downtown on the Park Eclectic Menu • Over 30 Taps • Patio 15 TV’s • Sports Room • 110” Projector Event Space • Shuffleboard Open 7 Days 11am - Late Night

You r

Ho m e N E S S OF M f o r t h e D A M A RCH HOOPS!

LAZOOM BUS TOURS Band & Beer Bus Tour w/ Peggy Ratusz, 5:30PM

FREE Parking on Eagle/Charlotte Streets 39 S. Market St. • 254-9277

THU. 3/12

LAZOOM ROOM Modelface Comedy Presents Holly Lynnea (Night I), 8:00PM

Jessie Barry & Jeff Anders (acoustic rock)

FRI. 3/13

LOCAL 604 BOTTLE SHOP Touch Samadhi: Chillectronica, 8:00PM

DJ RexxStepp (dance hits, pop)

SAT. 3/14

LUELLA'S BAR-BQUE BILTMORE PARK Riyen Roots, 6:30PM

Blaze the City

(dance, rock, funk)

MAD CO BREWING Dave Desmelik Solo, 6:00PM

17 Taps & Domestics • Nightly Drink Specials

MORGANTON COMMUNITY HOUSE 26th Annual ACC Chili Cook-Off, 11:00AM

AWARD-WINNING WING SPECIALS

Charlie Traveler Presents:

FULL KITCHEN • TIKI BAR Sun., Tue., Wed. & Thur. • 6-8Pm

20 S. Spruce St. • 225.6944 packStavern.com

KOOLEY HIGH

PSYMBIONIC + ZEBBLER ENCANTI EXPERIENCE

FRI, 3/13 - SHOW: 10 pm TICKETS: $10

SAT, 3/14 - SHOW: 10 pm (DOORS: 9 pm ) - ADV. TICKETS: $15

w/ Free the Optimus

&

Mur k ury

Mon-Thur 4pm-2am • Fri-Sun 2pm-2am 87 Patton Ave – Downtown Asheville

HOT OUT THE OVEN!

Sound Lobotomy, JONESES & SABALI

The Original Papa Nick’s is open at The One Stop!

SAT, 3/14 - MUSIC: 10 pm DONATION BASED COVER

LOCAL THURSDAY SHUFFLE - 10pm

Free Dead Friday - 5pm

SUN

Mitch’s Totally Rad Trivia - 6:30pm

FRI

disclaimer comedy - 9:30pm

THU

Tuesday Early Jam - 8PM Tuesday Night Funk Jam - 10PM Late Night local DJ Dance Party - 11:30PM

WED

TUE

3/20 - Zach Deputy w/ April B & the Cool • 3/21 - Random Rab & The Penumbra Live Band • 3/22 - Ghost Light • 3/27 - Funk You w/ Emma’s Lounge • 3/28 - Toadface x Mystic Grizzly • 4/3 - Consider the Source w/ Universal Sigh & Jowls World Famous Bluegrass Brunch - 10:30am-3pm Shakedown Sundays - 4pm-7pm MOUNTAINX.COM

@AVLMusicHall @OneStopAVL MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

57

C L UB L AN D

PACK'S TAVERN DJ RexxStepp (dance hits, pop), 9:30PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Realtorz, 7:00PM

185 KING STREET Super 60s St. Patrick Show, 8:00PM

ROOTS + WINGS CREATIVE CAMPUS BEcoming YOU A Monthly Creative Recharge, 7:00PM

5 WALNUT WINE BAR Jesse Barry & The Jam, (blues, funk), 9:00PM

SALVAGE STATION Shady Strikes Sipe w/ Sister Ivy (Solo), 9:00PM

62 WALL ST Mystical Night Market, 5:00PM

SOVEREIGN KAVA Ryan Oslance, 9:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Secret Shame, Suburban Living, Korine, Patti, 8:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Vinylly Friday, 6:00PM THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Perry Wing Combo, 7:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Live24 Music: DJ Blazze (hip-hop, reggae), 9:00PM THE BARRELHOUSE Caleb Ryan Martin, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Live Dead ‘69: Grateful Dead at Woodstock feat. Tom Constanten, 9:00PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Dance Party DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 10:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Algiers w/ Nordra at The Mothlight, 9:00PM THE ROOT BAR Iggy Radio (rock), 9:00PM TOWN PUMP Urban Soil, 9:00PM WILD WING CAFE SOUTH Bullmania 2020, 7:00PM A Social Function Friday nights!, 9:00PM WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, 8:00PM

58

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

SATURDAY, MARCH 14

PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Alonzo Wesley, 8:00PM

SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Irish Jam w/ John Mitchell and Friends, 2:00PM Progressive Alliance Postcard Parties, 4:30PM Scoundrel's Lounge, 8:00PM

MOUNTAINX.COM

Local

ZAMBRA Jason Moore, 7:00PM

AMBROSE WEST Charlie Traveler: Crystal Bowersox w/ David Luningm, (folk) 8:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Swing Step band followed by Hard Rocket, 5:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Psymbionic & Zebbler Incanti Experience & Murkury, 10:00PM BLACK MOUNTAIN PUBLIC LIBRARY Winter Workshops: Ballads, Herbal medicine and Quilt making, 1:00PM

SONG IN MY HEART: Asheville’s Community Theatre’s Tanglewood Youth Theatre offers improv, filmmaking, production classes and camps for grades K-12. A spring showcase includes performances from the Broadway Bootcamp. Geared toward ages 12-17, the youth education series includes music, dancing and acting incubators as well as lessons on audition techniques and theater etiquette. A cabaret-style show of solos, duets, trios and company numbers takes place at Asheville Community Theatre on Friday, March 13, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, March 14, 2:30 p.m. $7. ashevilletheatre.org Photo by Studio Misha Photography

FLEETWOOD'S Sang Sarah, The Styrofoam Turtles,13agH3ad, 8:00PM FOGGY MOUNTAIN BREWPUB Falcon 3 (jazz, funk), 10:00PM

BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB David Matters, 7:00PM

FUNKATORIUM Songs From The Road Band w/ The Wooks, 8:00PM

BO THOMAS AUDITORIUM HSO Presents the Hot Club of Cowtown, 8:00PM

GINGER'S REVENGE NC Songsmiths: Tina Collins (American indie folk), 2:30PM A ROARING 20’s Party with Queen Bee & the Honeylovers, 8:00PM

BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER St. Paddy's Steal The Pint Event, 11:00AM BOOJUM BREWING COMPANY St. Patty's Day Party, 9:00PM

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Chattabrewga, 11:00AM

BROWN MOUNTAIN BOTTLEWORKS Luck of the Irish FAB Crawl, 11:00AM

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 The High Lonesome Dreamers featuring Sally Barris, Sam Gay & Templeton Thompson, 7:00PM An Evening of Lynyrd Skynyrd with The Artimus Pyle Band, 9:00PM

CAPELLA ON 9 @ THE AC HOTEL Armadilla (alternative), 9:00PM

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB West King String Band, 9:00PM

CORK & KEG Eric Heveron-Smith Quartet, 8:30PM

LAZOOM BUS TOURS Band & Beer Bus Tour feat Ryan Barber & BoogieTherapi, 1:30PM

BREVARD LITTLE THEATRE Dancing With Our Stars, 6:30PM

CROW & QUILL The Maggie Valley Band (honky tonk, rock, folk) 9:00PM DAPHNE AT TWISTED LAUREL Dance Party DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 11:00PM DOWNTOWN MORGANTON "Luck of the Irish" FAB Crawl, 11:00AM

LAZOOM ROOM Modelface Comedy Presents Holly Lynnea (Night II), 9:00PM LAZY DIAMOND Old lady, C.T. Hustle & The Muscle, Ugly Runner, 10:00PM ODDITORIUM Curtis Eller's American Circus, 9:00PM

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: The Valley Below, 9:00PM ORANGE PEEL Kid Hop Hooray!

Indoor Dance Party, 10:00AM Trey Kennedy: The Are You For Real Tour, 7:00PM PACK'S TAVERN Blaze the City (dance, rock, funk), 9:30PM PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Fwuit!, 7:00PM PISGAH BREWING COMPANY Shane Pruitt Band, 8:00PM SALVAGE STATION A Very Jerry 80th Birthday, 4:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Irish Jam w/ John Mitchell and Friends, 2:00PM Daddy Rabbit, 8:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Freedom 10th Wonder, Lex laskisjer & MIKE C, Ypdavion, Acg, Pac, OJ, 9:00PM SOVEREIGN KAVA Oil N Water, 9:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Hunter Begley, 6:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE CommUNITY Salsa, 9:00PM THE BARRELHOUSE the GOOD DOPE, 10:00PM THE CASUAL PINT Sunlight Drive, 7:30PM

THE COLLABORATORY Lounge DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 8:00PM

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Rosie Herrera Dance Theatre, 8:00PM

THE DWELLER Heather Taylor (solo), 7:00PM

ZAMBRA Dinah's Daydream, 7:00PM

THE GREY EAGLE Two-Step & Swing Dance Class, 12:00PM Fireside Collective Album Release Show, 9:00PM THE MOTHLIGHT Firecracker Jazz Band Album Release Show, 8:30PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 15 185 KING STREET Open Electric Jam feat. Howie Johnson, 6:00PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR Fwuit, (retro soul), 7:00PM

THE ROOT BAR The Appalachianauts (Grateful Dead, etc), 9:00PM

ARCHETYPE BREWING Sunday Sessions, 4:00PM

TOWN PUMP Corey Hunt, 9:00PM

ARCHETYPE BREWING Post-Brunch Blues, 4:00PM

TREEROCK SOCIAL CIDER HOUSE Mr Jimmy St Pat's Party, 7:00PM TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH Reach New Heights!

A Dance Party for Women Build, 6:30PM TWISTED LAUREL DJ Dance Party w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective (rotating DJ's), 11:00PM

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Pimps of Pompe Sundays (Gypsy jazz hip-hop), 3:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Benjo Saylor, 7:00PM BOLD ROCK HARD CIDER Me & Dave, 3:00PM

UNC ASHEVILLE Pi(e) Day Fun Run, Pie Contest, Raffle, 3:00PM

BREVARD-DAVIDSON RIVER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Brevard Phlharmonic presents Sensational Strings, 3:00PM

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN St. Patrick's Day at White Horse, 8:00PM

CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING ASHEVILLE Sunday Celebration of Life, 11:00AM

WILD WING CAFE Singin' Saturdays!, 9:30PM

CORK & KEG John Lilly & Sons, 4:00PM

FUNKATORIUM An Afternoon of Bluegrass Featuring Gary "Macfiddle" Mackey, 1:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Giri and Uma Peters, 6:00PM Pierre Bensusan: Azwan, 7:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Irish Sessions, 3:00PM LAZOOM ROOM Modelface Comedy Presents Drew Morgan, 7:00PM LIPINSKY AUDITORIUM AT UNC ASHEVILLE Music for The Wild West, a Symphonic Winds Concert, 3:30PM LITTLE JUMBO Pimps of Pompe Sundays (Gypsy jazz hip-hop), 7:00PM ODDITORIUM Yatra, Lair, 8:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL World Famous Bluegrass Brunch, 10:30AM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Clavicles, 5:00PM ORANGE PEEL George Winston, 7:00PM Hairball, A Bombastic Celebration of Arena Rock, 9:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Blues Brunch Series Hosted by Blake Ellege feat. Howie Johnson & Bill Mattocks, 1:00PM SLY GROG LOUNGE Open Mic w/ Mike Andersen, 6:30PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Ciarra Fragale, BelleSkinner, The Moon And You, 7:00PM STRAIGHTAWAY CAFE Hunter Fraser, 1:00PM THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE 20s (feat. the Joseph Herbst Big Band), 7:00PM THE BARRELHOUSE Open Mic Night, 6:00PM THE GREY EAGLE Burlesque Brunch, 12:00PM Sean Hayes, 7:30PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE Dance Party DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 10:00PM THE ROOT BAR Junestar, 9:00PM

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS George Winston, 7:00PM

MONDAY, MARCH 16 185 KING STREET Karaoke Night, 7:30PM 5 WALNUT WINE BAR CaroMia, Melissa Hyman, Hope Griffin (folk, soul), 7:00PM ARCHETYPE BREWING Old Time Jam, 6:00PM CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE Musicians in the Round, 6:00PM FLEETWOOD'S Stand Up 101, Comedy Class, 6:00PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo Pub Trivia & Open Mic, 7:30PM LAZY DIAMOND Zeta, Harriers of Discord, Cadavernous, 9:00PM ODDITORIUM Risqué Monday Burlesque Hosted

by Deb Au Nare, 8:00PM OLE SHAKEY'S Karaoke From Muskogee, 9:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Open Mic, 8:00PM ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: Jazz Jam, 12:00AM OSKAR BLUES BREWERY Mountain Music Mondays (open jam), 6:00PM SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Open Mic Night It Takes All Kinds, 7:00PM SOVEREIGN KAVA Stage Fright Open Mic (sign-ups at 7:30PM), 8:00PM STATIC AGE RECORDS Lily & Horn Horse, Annie Blech, Spy in the Sky, 9:00PM THE CASUAL PINT General Knowledge Team Trivia, 8:00PM

THE IMPERIAL LIFE Soul & Funk DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM

ORANGE PEEL Black Label Society & Obituary & Lord Dying, 7:30PM

THE MOTHLIGHT Livingdog w/ Jon Charles Dwyer, Broken Family, 8:30PM

PILLAR ROOFTOP BAR Rhoda & The Risers, 7:00PM

TUESDAY, MARCH 17

PISGAH BREWING COMPANY The Knotty G's ST. Patrick's Day Celebration, 7:00PM

5 WALNUT WINE BAR The John Henrys, (hot jazz), 8:00PM

SANCTUARY BREWING CO. Team Trivia Tuesdays, 7:00PM

ARCHETYPE BREWING Tango Class & Milonga Dance w/ Mary Morgan, Eric Knoche & Stanley Dankoski, 7:00PM Trivia Tuesday, 7:00PM

SOVEREIGN KAVA Open Jam w/ Chris Cooper & Friends (sign up at 6:30PM), 8:00PM

ASHEVILLE CLUB BluesDay Tuesday w/ Mr Jimmy, 6:00PM ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Classical Guitar, 8:00PM ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 10:00PM BLUE MOUNTAIN PIZZA & BREW PUB Mark Bumgarner, 7:00PM CORK & KEG Old Time Moderate Jam, 5:00PM HAYWOOD COUNTRY CLUB Turntable Tuesdays hosted by VTT, 10:00PM ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743 Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions hosted

by Cane Mill Road, 7:30PM JACK OF THE WOOD PUB All Day St. Patrick's Day Party, 10:00AM Aulden McGray Celtic Band, 8:00PM MAD CO BREWING NC Songsmiths - Annie Frazier, 6:00PM ODDITORIUM Free Open Mic Comedy, 8:00PM ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Hip Hop DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 11:00PM

THE GOLDEN PINEAPPLE Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 8:00PM

ONE WORLD BREWING OWB Downtown: Jack Pearson's Comedy Cosmos (stand-up), 9:00PM

THE GREY EAGLE Rooster Album Release Show, 8:00PM

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST OWB West: FLOW, 8:00PM

THE BLOCK OFF BILTMORE Swing AVL Dance w/The Bailsmen & Community Jam, 7:30PM THE BARRELHOUSE Hunter Begley & Eric Ledford, 10:00PM THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE ShamROCKfest: The Creature w/ The Sliding Rockers, 6:00PM Blown Glass, 7:00PM THE GREY EAGLE St. Patrick's Day Party, 5:00PM BGR Burlesque Presents: St. Patrick's Day at The Grey Eagle, 8:30PM THE IMPERIAL LIFE 80s & UK Classics DJ w/ Phantom Pantone DJ Collective, 9:00PM THE MARKET PLACE RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE Rat Alley Cats, 6:30AM THE MOTHLIGHT City of the Sun w/ William Wild, 9:00PM THE SOCIAL Open Mic w/ Riyen Roots, 8:00PM THE SOCIAL LOUNGE The Trivia Factory, 7:30PM TOWN PUMP Eduardo, 9:00PM TWIN LEAF BREWERY Robert's Twin Leaf Trivia, 8:00PM WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Open Mic, 8:45PM WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS “Welcome to Night Vale” w/ music

by Eliza Rickman,, 8:00PM

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

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MOVIE REVIEWS

Hosted by the Asheville Movie Guys HHHHH

EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com

= MAX RATING

H PICK OF THE WEEK H

The Woman Who Loves Giraffes HHHHH

DIRECTOR: Alison Reid PLAYERS: Anne Innis Dagg, the voices of Tatiana Maslany and Victor Garber DOCUMENTARY RATED NR What if you were the leader of a revolution that you didn’t know had happened?

That’s the story told in The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, a documentary every bit as remarkable as the much lauded 2017 National Geographic film Jane, about gorilla researcher Jane Goodall.

Anne Dagg has been labeled the “Jane Goodall of giraffe research,” but Dagg’s story is in many ways more remarkable because her groundbreaking work in the late 1950s was so little supported and because it has remained unknown except to other giraffe researchers until recently.

As in Jane, amazing footage from the scientist’s early days in the wilds of Africa contributes mightily to the impact of the documentary, and some of the vintage film is even restaged with present-day Dagg in poignant tableaux.

Unlike Goodall’s much heralded achievements, Dagg’s work runs headlong into a wall of sexism, and Giraffes is as much a story of shameless male chauvinism as it is of Dagg’s unflagging determination. It’s also a call to action to rescue the precipitously declining population of wild giraffes and a labor of love for director Alison Reid. She had full access to Dagg and recounts not just past but stunning present-day moments (ever see a pregnant giraffe get an ultrasound?).

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Wisely, The Woman Who Loves Giraffes keeps the focus on the woman, and while viewers will learn quite a bit about giraffes, those seeking a full zoological briefing will need to consult some of Dagg’s 20-plus books. As miraculous as giraffes are in the animal kingdom, it’s the human story that will bring tears to viewers’ eyes at several points along the way.

Starts March 13 at Pisgah Film House REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM

Beanpole HHHS DIRECTOR: Kantemir Balagov PLAYERS: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Andrey Bykov FOREIGN FILM/DRAMA RATED NR Intense drama awaits brave viewers in Beanpole, Russia’s Best International Feature submission for the recent Academy Awards — and a better choice than at least two of the nominees.

Set in the rubble of 1945 Leningrad, this remarkably mature and accomplished film from 28-year-old director/co-writer Kantemir Balagov centers on extraordinarily tall nurse Iya (Viktoria Miroshnichenko) who suffers from temporary paralysis, often while standing, as a result of her time fighting in World War II.

MOUNTAINX.COM

BRUCE STEELE bcsteele@gmail.com In the wake of a shocking incident involving her son Pashka (Timofey Glazkov), Iya’s wartime friend Masha (Vasilisa Perelygina) unexpectedly returns and convinces her to have another child — a complicated request considering Iya’s medical condition and other postwar hardships.

The perilous path that follows yields plentiful opportunities for Miroshnichenko and Perelygina to showcase their chemistry, including a pair of harrowing scenes featuring a level of emotional intensity rarely seen in modern cinema — especially considering the simplicity with which each moment is enacted.

Masha’s romance with awkward but kind suitor Sasha (Igor Shirokov), however, is far less interesting, and while tensions surrounding Iya’s pregnancy grow excruciatingly repetitive, Beanpole finds new energy through a final-act encounter that damns the lingering inequality within a Communist society that’s doing wrong by most of its citizens.

Now playing at Grail Moviehouse REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

Extra Ordinary HHHS DIRECTORS: Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman PLAYERS: Maeve Higgins, Will Forte COMEDY/HORROR RATED R Witty, charming and — above all — good-natured, Irish comedy/horror film Extra Ordinary is a sweet and very funny exploration of relationships between the living and those who have passed on. The feature-length debut from Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman also uses its spirits to ask deeper questions about how and why we show up in the world for each other and for ourselves.

Lonely and plain, 30something protagonist Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins of “StarTalk,” who steals the show) has turned away an accomplished career as a ghost hunter (and child prodigy) to become a driving instructor. The reason?

The death of her father, hyperconfident and renowned paranormal investigator Vincent Dooley (TV actor Risteard Cooper), due to an unfortunate — and hilarious — accident during her childhood

THIS WEEK’S CONTRIBUTORS

Ali McGhee

Ian Casselberry

involving a ghostly portal and a dog, for which Rose blames herself.

Years later, Rose is still screening her calls to avoid seemingly constant requests to help out with her small community’s significant spirit problem. The decision to leave her true talent behind has rippled out across her entire life and left her isolated and reclusive, so when handsome widower Martin Martin (Barry Ward, Jimmy’s Hall) comes to ask for help with his vituperative dead wife — whose spirit won’t vacate his house — she’s hesitant but intrigued. After Martin’s daughter Sarah (Emma Coleman) becomes the sacrificial target of hammy one-hit musical wonder Christian Winter (“SNL” alum Will Forte, loving every moment of his role), who needs to sacrifice a virgin and make a demonic pact to reclaim his lost fame, the two quickly become a team — and maybe something more.

Extra Ordinary is heaps of fun and quickly develops its own litany of hilarious inside jokes. But reveling in its own ridiculousness becomes both a strength and weakness of the film: I so loved the budding relationship between Rose and Martin that the demonic plot — especially the silly conversations between Christian and his spoiled wife Claudia (Claudia O’Doherty, Trainwreck) — got a little distracting. But I’d come back any time to visit these characters, and I hope we get to see a lot more of what the filmmakers and actors — Higgins especially — can do.

Read the full review at mountainx.com/ movies/reviews Starts March 13 at the Fine Arts Theatre REVIEWED BY ALI MCGHEE ALIMCGHEE@GMAIL.COM

Greed HHHH DIRECTOR: Michael Winterbottom PLAYERS: Steve Coogan, Isla Fisher COMEDY/SATIRE RATED R Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan add to their illustrious, decadeslong partnership with Greed, a hilarious look at the obscenely rich and the extreme wealth disparities in the fashion industry.

Playing tycoon Sir Richard McCreadie, Coogan relishes yet another role as a buffoon, but unlike past iterations — including the fictionalized version of himself in the wonderful The Trip series — there’s

nothing remotely redemptive about “Greedy” McCreadie.

Propelled by flashy editing and Winterbottom’s textbook crisp cinematography, Greed nimbly moves among its various narrative components, courtesy of the effective framing device of Sir Richard’s biographer Nick (David Mitchell, “Peep Show”) who is conducting research on our protagonist.

Across these timeline hops and especially amid preparation for his character’s ridiculously lavish, Gladiatorinspired 60th birthday party on the Greek island of Mykonos, Coogan is a steady source of zingers, but always at the expense of others. Due to the winceinducing nature of these laughs, one fondly awaits Sir Richard’s comeuppance, though the form it takes is somewhat far-fetched, albeit still satisfying in an aptly sick way.

Read the full review at ashevillemovies.com REVIEWED BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN EARNAUDIN@MOUNTAINX.COM

Ordinary Love HHH DIRECTORS: Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn PLAYERS: Liam Neeson, Lesley Manville DRAMA/ROMANCE RATED R Tell people that the new Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville movie, Ordinary Love, is about a woman struggling with breast cancer, and they might dismiss it as just another medical-procedural weepie. That would be wrong.

Ordinary Love is a touching portrait of a long-married couple, and the medical crisis faced by Joan (Manville) is just the prism through which her relationship with Tom (Neeson) is explored. Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations), working with a naturalistic screenplay

by Owen McCafferty, keep the filmmaking clear and elegant and keep the focus on the performances.

It’s great to see Neeson in a dramatic role that doesn’t involve fisticuffs and elaborate revenge scenarios and be reminded that at heart he’s a deeply humanistic performer. And Manville, so icy and formidable in Phantom Thread, is here both vulnerable and just slightly reserved, an ideal balance for Joan’s journey. Together, these two skilled performers generate a chemistry that creates a rich and rewarding — and oh so familiar — depiction of a marriage, complete with silent, intimate connections and blow-out battles.

The focus on Tom and Joan is both productive and limiting. There’s nei-

ther the rallying of a friends’ support network nor the hollow platitudes of co-workers one might expect, and the isolation turns Ordinary Love into more of a chamber play than a full drama. There are some beautiful images and camera moves, and superb performances both from the leads and from the secondary couple that’s eventually introduced, but for all its achievements, the limited scope and number of actors unfortunately keeps the audience reaction muted.

Now playing at Grail Moviehouse REVIEWED BY BRUCE STEELE BCSTEELE@GMAIL.COM

The Way Back HHHH DIRECTOR: Gavin O’Connor PLAYERS: Ben Affleck, Janina Gavankar DRAMA RATED R

What’s refreshing about The Way Back is that it doesn’t follow the familiar sports movie path. This is not the 2020 version of Hoosiers, and whether or not there’s a winner or a happy ending is left for viewers to determine — a nice bit of trust placed in the audience by director Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant), who co-wrote the script with Brad Inglesby.

Jack Cunningham (Ben Affleck) is steered toward a road to redemption when given an opportunity to coach the basketball team at his former high school. Cunningham was the best player in school history, set to be a college star at Kansas and maybe more. But he squandered his future with self-destructive tendencies that have lingered well into adulthood. Personal tragedy furthered a downward spiral that cost Cunningham his marriage and left him as a barely functioning alcoholic.

But coaching a talented yet underachieving team awakens something in Cunningham. Maybe he sees some of himself in star player Brandon (Brandon Wilson), who needs encouragement to fulfill a potential that shouldn’t be wasted.

Viewed by the community as the returning hero, perhaps Cunningham realizes this is a chance to reinvent himself.

Or maybe a basketball court is the only place where the world makes sense for him. Work hard, work together and good things will happen.

Many possibilities exist in what isn’t a simple story. What is clear, however, is that Affleck’s performance is a great one.

The Way Back may not be as uplifting or conventional as expected, but that makes it worth watching.

REVIEWED BY IAN CASSELBERRY IANCASS@GMAIL.COM

STARTING FRIDAY

SCREEN SCENE

Extra Ordinary (R) HHHS The Woman Who Loves Giraffes (NR) HHHHH (Pick of the Week)

by Edwin Arnaudin | earnaudin@mountainx.com and media artists in the Asheville area to network and connect with one another.

Free to attend. avl.mx/6zs

JUST ANNOUNCED Bloodshot (PG-13) Vin Diesel stars in the comic book adaptation about a superhuman, biotech killing machine.

The Hunt (R) A satire about liberal gun enthusiasts who hunt conservative rednecks for sport.

I Still Believe (PG) A biopic about Christian music superstar Jeremy Camp.

CURRENTLY IN THEATERS 1917 (R) HHHHS Bad Boys for Life (R) HH Beanpole (NR) HHHS Birds of Prey (R) HHH Brahms: The Boy II (PG-13) HHH The Call of the Wild (PG) HHHH Dolittle (PG) HHHS Emma. (PG) HHHS Fantasy Island (PG-13) H Ford v Ferrari (PG-13) HHHHS Frozen II (PG) HH Greed (R) HHHH Impractical Jokers: The Movie (PG-13) S The Invisible Man (R) HHHHS Jojo Rabbit (PG-13) HHHHH Jumanji: The Next Level (PG-13) HHHS Knives Out (PG-13) HHHHH The Last Full Measure (R) HHHH Little Women (PG) HHHHH The Lodge (R) HHHH Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (R) HHHH Onward (PG) HHHHS Ordinary Love (R) HHH Parasite (R) HHHHH Portrait of a Lady on Fire (R) HHHHH Sonic the Hedgehog (PG) HH Spies in Disguise (PG) HHHH The Way Back (R) HHHH

COMING TO AMERICA: Zimbabwean filmmaker Saki Mafundikwa visits Asheville on March 18-19 to give a public lecture, lead a master class and screen one of his documentaries.

Photo courtesy of UNC Asheville • AVLFilm.com’s next monthly Asheville Filmmaker Mixer, co-hosted by The Asheville Studio, takes place Monday, March 16, 6-8 p.m., at Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Highway, Suite 200. The latest edition does not include a presentation or professional Q&A but is purely an opportunity for filmmakers

FILM ANATTASATI MAGGA MOVIE NIGHT • WE (3/11), 6-9pm - The Cup, Tibetan comedy.

Admission by donation.

Held at Asheville Friends Meetinghouse, 227 Edgewood Road BOOK-TO-MOVIE PROGRAM • FR (3/13), 2:30pm - Book-to-Movie

Program presents The Goldfinch, rated R. Free. Held at West Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Road 'CACHE' • FR (3/13), 8pm Cache, psychological thriller. Free. Held at Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Road, Unit A-13, Black Mountain

• Zimbabwean filmmaker Saki Mafundikwa will participate in three events on and near the UNC Asheville campus, 1 University Heights, on Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19. The founder and director of the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts will give a public lecture describing his work on March 18, at 7 p.m. in the Highsmith Student Union’s Alumni Hall, and on March 19, at 10 a.m., he will offer a master class in Highsmith’s Mountain Suites. Then at 7 p.m., Mafundikwa’s 2009 documentary, Shungu: The Resilience of a People, about “the strategies ordinary people use to survive in Zimbabwe despite political turmoil, economic meltdown and health care collapse” will screen at REVOLVE at Ramp South Studio, 821 Riverside Drive. All three events are free to attend. unca.edu X

'RACING EXTINCTION' • MO (3/16), 6:30-8pm - Racing Extinction, documentary hosted

by Transition Asheville.

Free. Held at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 337 Charlotte St. 'SHUNGU: THE RESILIENCE OF A PEOPLE' • TH (3/19), 7:309:30pm - Shungu: The Resilience of a People

MOUNTAINX.COM

by Saki Mafundikwa.

Admission by donation. Held at Revolve, 821 Riverside Drive, #179 'TRANS IN AMERICA' • FR (3/13), 7pm - Three documentary shorts, Trans In America. Free. Held at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, 1 Edwin Place

MARCH 11 - 17, 2020

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera Tosca premiered in 1900. It featured a heroine named Tosca. In 1914, Puccini’s favorite Tosca, a soprano singer named Maria Jeritza, was performing in a production at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

As she got ready to sing an aria entitled “I Live for Art,” she stumbled and fell. Rather than struggle awkwardly to rise, she pretended that this was all quite natural — called for in the script. She sang the entire piece while lying on the floor. Puccini loved it! Ever since then, most of the singers who have played the role of Tosca have sung “I Live for Art” while prone. I suggest you regard this as an inspirational teaching. What lucky accidents could you make into permanent additions or enhancements?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus poet Gary Snyder said, “Three-fourths of philosophy and literature is the talk of people trying to convince themselves that they really like the cage they were tricked into entering.” Personally, I think that many of us, not just philosophers and writers, do the same thing. Are you one of us? Your first assignment during the next four weeks will be to explore whether you do indeed tend to convince yourself that you like the cage you were tricked into entering. Your second assignment: If you find that you are in a cage, do everything you can to stop liking it. Third assignment: Use all your ingenuity, call on all the favors you’re owed and conjure up the necessary magic so that you can flee the cage.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Your body is not a temple,” declared author and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain. “It’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” I half-agree with him. I’m deeply devoted to regarding the body as an amusement park. It should be a source of endless fun and enjoyment. We have the right — indeed, I’d say a duty — to wield our bodies in ways that immerse us in the mysteries and miracles of pleasure. But here’s where I disagree with Bourdain: I believe the body is also a temple that deserves our reverence and respect and protective tenderness. Your assignment in the coming weeks, Gemini, is to raise your commitment to treating your body as both an amusement park and a holy temple.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Early in his career, Cancerian painter Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875) sold only a few paintings. But eventually his luck improved. Once he was financially successful, he became very generous. He wielded his influence to get jobs for other artists and mentored many artists as well. Sometimes he added a few dabs of paint to the finished works of younger, struggling painters, then signed the canvases with his own name so that the works could more easily be sold. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to adopt your own version of Corot’s approach toward those around you who could benefit from your help and support.

(P.S. It’s in your selfish interest to do so, although the reasons why may not be clear for a while.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Composer Brian Eno has testified that African music underlies and influences much of his work. He exults in the freedom and unpredictability it encourages. Why? Here’s one reason: In African songs, there are often multiple rhythms. And they’re not locked together; they float freely in relationship to each other. Eno says this is different from Western music, whose salient quality is that all the rhythmic elements are contained “in little boxes” — locked into a tyrannically mechanical clockwork pattern. According to my reading of the astrological omens, dear Leo, the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to experiment with Eno’s insight. How? Escape mechanical clockwork patterns and activate the “multiple, free-floating rhythm” metaphor in everything you do.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Are you interested in enhancing your mastery of togetherness?

Are you open to my suggestion that you should seek out practical education about the arts of intimacy? Would you be willing to meditate on how you might bring additional creativity and flair

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into your close alliances? If you answered yes to those questions, the next six weeks will provide you with ample opportunities to dive in to all that fun work. “Collaboration” and “cooperation” will be words of power for you. “Synergy and symbiosis” should be your tender battle cry.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): As you come to the climax of your Season of Good Gaffes and Lucky Bloopers, I’ll remind you of folk singer Pete Seeger’s definition of a “productive mistake.” He said it had these five qualities: “1. made in the service of mission and vision; 2. acknowledged as a mistake; 3. learned from; 4. considered valuable; 5. shared for the benefit of all.” Let’s hope, Libra, that your recent twists and turns fit at least some of these descriptions!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Would you consider making one more push, Scorpio? Can I coax you to continue your half-confusing, half-rewarding quest?

Are you willing to wander even further out into the frontier and take yet another smart risk and try one additional experiment? I hope so. You may not yet be fully convinced of the value of these forays outside of your comfort zone, but I suspect you will ultimately be glad that you have chosen what’s interesting over what’s convenient. P.S. In the coming weeks, you could permanently expand your reservoir of courage.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A traditional astrologer might say that you Sagittarians typically spend less time at home than any other sign of the zodiac. Some of you folks even rebel against the idea that having a stable home is a healthgiving essential. You may feel that you can’t be totally free unless you always have your next jaunt or journey planned or unless you always have a home-away-from-home to escape to. I understand and appreciate these quirks about your tribe but am also committed to coaxing you to boost your homebody quotient. Now would be a perfect time to do that. You’re more open than usual to the joy and power of cultivating a nurturing home.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The more crooked the path, the faster you’ll get to where you’re going. Every apparent detour will in fact be at least a semi-valuable shortcut. Any obstacle that seems to block your way will inspire you to get smarter and more resourceful, thereby activating lucky breaks that bring unexpected grace. So don’t waste even a minute cursing outbreaks of inconvenience, my dear, because those outbreaks will ultimately save you time and make life easier.

(P.S.: During the coming weeks, conventional wisdom will be even more irrelevant than it usually is.)

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When I was a young adult, I was unskilled and indigent. Many restaurants exploited my feeble prowess at washing pots and pans and dishes, but the meager wage they paid me barely kept me fed and housed. You will perhaps understand why, now that I’m grown up, I am averse to cleaning pots and pans and dishes, including my own. That’s why I pay a helper to do that job. Is there an equivalent theme in your own life? An onerous task or grueling responsibility that oppressed you or still oppresses you? Now is a good time to find a way to declare your independence from it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I suspect your fantasy life will be especially potent in the coming weeks. Your imagination will have an enhanced power to generate visions that could eventually manifest as actual events and situations. On the one hand, that could be dicey, because you can’t afford to over-indulge in fearful speculations and worried agitation. On the other hand, that could be dramatically empowering, because your good new ideas and budding dreams may start generating practical possibilities rather quickly.

MOUNTAINX.COM

MARKETPLACE

BY ROB BREZSNY

REAL ESTATE & RENTALS | ROOMMATES | JOBS | SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS | CLASSES & WORKSHOPS | MIND, BODY, SPIRIT MUSICIANS’ SERVICES | PETS | AUTOMOTIVE | XCHANGE | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 landrews@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds RENTALS APARTMENTS FOR RENT EAGLE MARKET PLACE APTS. NOW LEASING! Eagle Market Place Apts. is now leasing 1 & 2 bdrm apts! 1 bdrm apts are $1,017/month and 2 bdrm apts are $1,209/month.

Accepting applications for the wait list for 3 bdrm apts. Visit us at 21 Eagle Street in the heart of beautiful downtown Asheville, near shopping & restaurants. Office hours are MonThurs 9am-3pm, or call 828254-1562 for more info. Criminal/Credit Check required.

Accessible units designed for persons with disabilities subject to availability; Equal Housing Opportunity; This institution is professionally managed

by Partnership Property Management, an equal opportunity provider and employer.

COMMERCIAL/ BUSINESS RENTALS FULL SERVICE FURNISHED PRIVATE OFFICES AVAILABLE IN DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE AT FOCAL POINT COWORKING Full service furnished private offices for 1 to 4 people available for immediate occupancy in downtown Asheville. Call 828-407-0357 or email info@ focalpointcowork.com.

Monthly coworking memberships also available. www. focalpointcowork.com 600 SQ FT, PRIVATE STUDIO IN SECURE BUILDING Parking - 8 vehicles. Shared lobby with gender-neutral restroom. Private, gender-neutral restroom *in studio*. Thermostat control. Capacity for 15 people. Rehearsal cubes, props, and set items available to borrow or rent. Perfect for theatre or dance rehearsals, meetings, or workshops! (Not available for band practice or drumming; shared building). $25 an hour first 2 hours. $10 each additional hour. Discounts available for extended or recurring rentals; email us for more info! Available 9am10pm, 7 days/week. steph@ differentstrokespac.org www.differentstrokespac. org/

SHORT-TERM RENTALS SHORT TERM/VACATION RENTAL Great for relocations, short term assignments, local events, etc. $1600/month, $700/week, $175/day, 2 day minimum. Weaverville area, 15 minutes to Asheville. 828231-9145

ROOMMATES ROOMMATES NEED A ROOMMATE? Roommates.com will help you find your Perfect Match™ today!

EMPLOYMENT GENERAL ENGINEERING BorgWarner Turbo Systems LLC seeks a Senior Engineer II in Arden, NC, responsible for performing controls engineering function for manufacturing areas by recommending and/or implementing hardware/programming solutions; among other duties.

Bachelor’s degree Controls, Electrical, or Mechatronic Engineering or Computer Science and three years of experience in the job offered or related. To apply, please send resumes to: Ms. Lesa Records, Resume Processing/JO#11253019, BorgWarner, 1849 Brevard Road, Arden, NC 28704.

TROLLEY TOUR GUIDES If you are a "people person," love Asheville, have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and clean driving record you could be a great Tour Guide. Full-time and seasonal part-time positions available.

Training provided. Contact us today! 828 251-8687.

Info@GrayLineAsheville.com www.GrayLineAsheville.com SEEKING DIRECTOR Mountain Gardens in Celo, NC is seeking a director for a new nature / permaculture education center. See website for details & video. mountaingardensherbs.com.

SALES/ MARKETING FIRESTORM BOOKS & COFFEE SEEKING E-COMMERCE COORDINATOR Firestorm Books & Coffee, a feminist/ queer/anarchist bookstore, is hiring an E-commerce coordinator and future co-owner with leadership experience, affinity for our collective model, and commitment to social movement. More at firestorm.coop/ jobs.html

RESTAURANT/ FOOD TAPROOM SUPPORT - BUSSER Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is looking for friendly, service oriented people who want to be a part of the brewery experience by joining our Front of House Taproom & Restaurant service team in a part-time Taproom Support role. Ensures guests are seated at a clean, properly set table within the shortest amount of time possible. •Offers assistance to guest by clearing away dishes and glassware. •Cleans and reset tables and the bar top once guests have left. •Delivers food to tables and beer to guests.

TO APPLY: Please visit our website sierranevada.com/ careers

MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE INTERNAL MEDICINE OFFICE STAFF NEEDED Carolina Internal Medicine is expanding and has openings for the following jobs: Certified Medical Assistant, Business

Office Associate, Insurance Billing Associate, Chronic Care Manager. See Mountain Xpress Website for details.

LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST Red Oak Recovery® centrally located in Asheville N.C., has three distinctive campuses across the Blue Ridge Mountains. We specialize in the treatment of young adult men and women, ages 18-35, and adolescents, ages 14-17, and are a clinically dynamic, trauma intensive substance abuse and mental health treatment program. The Psychologist will be responsible for the development implementation of an assessment and testing protocol for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment planning. This individual will work closely with the clinical teams at all 3 facilities to provide helpful information that will guide them in the development and necessary revisions of the treatment plans for each client. To apply, please submit a resume to jobs@ redoakrecovery.com LIVE PAIN FREE with CBD products from AceWellness.

We guarantee highest quality, most competitive pricing on CBD products. Softgels, Oils, Skincare, Vape & more. Coupon Code: PRINT20 Call Now 866-348-1415 (AAN CAN)

HUMAN SERVICES CHILDREN FIRST/ COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY SEEKING STUDENT SUPPORT SPECIALIST Children First/Communities in Schools (CF/CIS) is seeking a Student Support Specialist with experience in education, mentoring or social services.

Visit childrenfirstcisbc.org/ employment for full job description and how to apply.

HELPMATE SEEKS PROGRAM DIRECTOR Helpmate, a nonprofit providing safety, shelter and support to domestic violence survivors, seeks our next Program Director. We serve 3,000 survivors annually, and are the second largest domestic violence provider in NC. Our programs lead the way in implementing best practices to prevent domestic violence-related deaths and providing survivors immediate access to safe, empowering services. Key direct services include a hotline, counseling, court advocacy, emergency shelter and case management.

Direct services are complemented by educational programs to prevent violence and improve systemic responses.

We cultivate a team-oriented environment, into which we hire high-functioning, exemplary advocates who become experts in their respective roles. The Program Director oversees all direct service programs. Key duties include advocating with allied professionals to improve victim response systems, ensuring cross-program collaboration, and holding a high standard for programming to promote survivor empowerment, adherence to best practices and compliance with confidentiality laws. The

Program Director supervises the Coordinators who oversee direct service programs, serves on relevant boards and committees, and serves as Acting Executive Director when needed. This position requires on-call responsibilities, including recurring night/weekend availability. The Program Director serves as legal Custodian of Records and is called to testify in legal proceedings when appropriate. Qualified candidates for Program Director will have demonstrable evidence of their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, embracing gender equity. They will have a consistent record of sound judgments in a highpaced, crisis environment while keeping survivor voices central.

Supervision or management experience highly sought, plus the ability to positively impact social and governmental systems. Helpmate seeks an effective communicator, with evidence of non-violent communication and conflict resolution skills and a commitment to working with our strong team of internal leaders to produce programming that addresses the needs of survivors in our community. This position requires a Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience, plus at least 3 years’ service for domestic violence survivors or in a related field. Diverse candidates encouraged to apply.

Fluency in Spanish, Russian, Moldovan or Ukrainian will be incentivized. Email resume, cover letter and salary history

by COB on March 16 to hiring@ helpmateonline.org.

No phone calls or email inquiries, please.

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