Mountain Xpress 06.02.21

OUR 27TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 27 NO. 44 JUNE 2-8, 2021

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FEATURES

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10 GOING TO GROUND Local projects target carbon through agriculture

16 THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Kristy Tolley launches new Asheville guidebook

A year on from Asheville’s Black Lives Matter protests, local artists assess how the city’s cultural scene has — and has not — continued to engage with issues of racial justice and promote talent of color.

COVER PHOTO Cindy Kunst COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

4 LETTERS 17 THE PRESIDENT’S SON Herbert Hoover Jr. convalesces in Asheville

4 CARTOON: MOLTON 7 CARTOON: BRENT BROWN

WELLNESS

8 COMMENTARY 20 TERMS AND CONDITIONS Shoji employees push back on vaccination policy

A&C

ARCHIVES

FEATURE

NEWS

STOKING THE FIRE

26 WORKING IT OUT Restaurant industry veterans reassess career choices post-pandemic

10 NEWS 12 BUNCOMBE BEAT 18 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 20 WELLNESS 22 ARTS & CULTURE 36 CLUBLAND

A&C

38 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 30 VALLEY VARIETY Silverados brings more big music acts to Black Mountain

38 CLASSIFIEDS 39 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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OPINION

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

Asheville deserves better than ‘either/or’ thinking

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If Laura Berner Hudson wanted to mock the people she disagrees with and shut down constructive negotiation about Charlotte Street development, she could not have done better than her article on a “future vision” for Asheville [“Future Vision: 101 Charlotte St. Deftly Balances Conflicting Priorities,” May 19, Xpress].

Referring to the Preservation Society, in continuous service to our community since 1976, as “frantically waving its red-feather logo” on the streets and as part of “an entrenched cultural institution” that is “imposing ... revanchist nostalgia” and “static ‘character’” on neighborhoods, she successfully slams the door of community-building — exactly what developers get accused of doing.

So how should we who care passionately about how, not whether, Asheville continues to have residential development, respond to this broadside? By lobbing insults back over the wall her words have built? In my experience, healthy development is always a negotiation and always requires developers to revise their initial ambitious plans.

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C AR T O O N B Y RA N D Y MO L TO N What’s new? There are always other ways to accomplish goals, and together we can find them. But only if we talk.

Asheville deserves better than a constant barrage of either/or thinking, such as the Planning and Zoning member who labeled all newcomers to Asheville as wanting to shut out further development since “they got in first.” This is not true, any more than saying we have to make a binary choice between preservation and development. I encourage Ms. Hudson to reconsider her words and help us all get to the table for constructive solutions that enhance our city.

— Thomas E. Frank Asheville

Charlotte Street project opposition sounds familiar While I am not in favor of this particular project — I do feel the native homes are worth preserving — the problem is the same forces rallying to oppose this are the same folks who oppose every new development.

The CVS pharmacy on Merrimon Avenue would “destroy the neighborhood.” It didn’t. The condominiums behind the post office up the street would “destroy the neighborhood.” It didn’t. “The (fill in the blank) is the right project, but not for this location.”

On and on. They would rather see the Fuddruckers parking lot and building sit empty before they’ll give us the gift of their approval for something to replace it.

I also find it hypocritical how the same progressives who (in my opinion rightly) oppose a southern border wall want to build walls around Asheville.

Not physical walls, but the unwelcoming attitude they extoll makes their message clear. “Don’t move here. We did, and we have our homes, but we will surely deny others the same.”

— James Cassara Asheville

Asheville is ‘sold out’ I have been coming to Asheville for 75 years, ending in moving here in 1995.

Sad as it is that people want to move here but have no place to stay, it should not be a problem for those of us who have already invested in this city and who live here.

The overdevelopment of the city is demeaning the properties and the lifestyle that those of us who live here already own. So my question is: Why do we have to accommodate more and more people who want to live here?

When do we get to the point that we say, “No more space available”? I think that saying this is just fine. Every hotel does it, every resort; even property development companies have to put a closure to their offerings when they are sold out.

Asheville is “sold out,” so go somewhere else to live. There are other places, and I don’t know why we have to coddle everybody who wants to live here, destroying the very essence of why anybody wishes to live here.

It is past time that the greedy developers of the world go somewhere else to hawk their wares. They have already done enough damage to Asheville!

If this trend continues, we are going to end up being a junk town where nobody wants to live.

Community Action Opportunities H ELPING P EOPLE. C HANGING L IVES.

Just say, “No,” and save Asheville!

— M. Branch Asheville

Landowners should be able to exercise their rights Laura Berner Hudson penned a thoughtful essay supporting the proposed 101 Charlotte St. development [“Future Vision: 101 Charlotte St. Deftly Balances Conflicting Priorities,” May 19, Xpress]. I think her arguments are entirely correct, and whatever official approval is needed for the project should be granted so that it can move forward.

I was struck, though, by the absence in her piece of what is for me the most important and compelling argument for the project: The landowners want it.

That you can (or should be able to) do as you please with your property is inherent in the very concept of ownership. Build a house or apartment building, tear down what’s there for something that better fits your needs or cover the whole thing in wildflowers.

Just as owning a book means that you can read it, mark in it, tear out pages, lend it, resell it or just let it sit prettily on the shelf, so owning a piece of land means that you can use it to serve your own wants and needs.

Of course, we rightly impose some modest limitations, for purposes of public safety and preventing public nuisances. No reasonable person objects to ordinances prohibiting, say, an ear-splitting sawmill or a toxic-waste dump in a residential neighborhood.

But nothing even remotely like that is in the offing here. What will be built are residences, retail and office space — the same types of things that already exist along the rest of Charlotte Street. When people’s objections primarily amount to aesthetic preferences, as appears to be the case here, they should be heard, then politely set aside as irrelevant.

If opponents want to see the current buildings preserved, they have a simple solution: Band together and buy them.

Then they, as the new rightful owners, can choose what becomes of them.

The city’s role should be to facilitate, not impede, the landowners’ exercise of their rights and liberties, including property rights. Securing individual rights and liberties is, after all, the core reason that we establish governments, as the Declaration of Independence reminds us.

— Robert J. Woolley Asheville

you perceive as being true but has little basis in reality [“Future Vision: 101 Charlotte St. Deftly Balances Conflicting Priorities,” May 19, Xpress]. Asheville is a small city and applying mega-urbangrowth ideals is not what this city is all about. I suggest that money interests are not quite as altruistic as she may have implied.

For anyone who has watched the overdevelopment in the last few years

CONTINUES ON PAGE 6

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Save Charlotte Street Ms. Laura Berner Hudson’s article is for me a false narrative, a story that MOUNTAINX.COM

JUNE 2-8, 2021

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OPINION

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

in Asheville can see, we are already on the edge of an infrastructure disaster that is not prepared for additional development.

I have personally experienced such overdevelopment in Key West, Fla., and Charleston, S.C. Asheville is late coming to the game but seems to be making up for lost time.

Manifest destiny, a highly disputed 19th-century philosophy, supported expansion throughout the Americas as justified and inevitable. The Native Americans and trees did not fare too

well. In like manner, the majority of people of Asheville will not benefit from the more-is-better growth. Maybe a referendum vote for Asheville residents would be a possibility.

After 15 years in California, Ms. Berner Hudson’s lack of understanding of invasive development may be akin to the rural plight from stink bugs and emerald green ash borers. She can’t see the forest for the trees. Her background of a career in urban planning suggests a very different sensibility that may be skewed to the wishes of the majority

and more influenced to the developers’ view of the world.

Would Dr. Killian, who is deceased, be unhappy if his legacy was Dr. Killian Green Park? Would a 180-unit apartment complex, with 18 supposedly affordable apartments, parking garage, retail and offices be a better way to remember his name?

Ms. Berner Hudson’s last words of her article state, “ensuring that we aren’t preserving the past at the expense of the future.” It seems very clear that her vision of the future is off the mark and that this project is a terrible mistake and an early gambit in the invasive spread into residential neighborhoods.

— Peter Jayne Marshall

Buncombe marches off to war$$$ Will President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan impact Buncombe County’s new Pratt & Whitney plant?

Will it cause job cuts in the 20% of the plant that makes airfoils for America’s stunningly preeminent jet fighter, the F-35 Lightning?

The withdrawal may also result in job cuts in the defense plants already in Buncombe County: Kearfott, General Electric and Epsilon. In fact, the website governmentcontractswon. com states that between 2000 and 2019 (thus, not including the P&W plant), Buncombe County jobs benefited from defense contracts worth $523,288,503.

The livelihoods of many of our families depend on the robustness of the market for F-35s and other military weapons.

Buncombe’s defense market includes the Israelis, who have already received 26 Lightnings, ordered an additional 50 and plan to order 70 more. The recent Israeli-Palestinian fracas seemed hopeful, but no other countries intervened, and the Palestinians’ weapons are far too primitive to shoot down F-35s. So that war will not help Buncombe’s F-35 industry.

Then there’s the United Arab Emirates, which has ordered 50 Lightnings, though the deal’s congressional approval is still pending. Tell our congressman, Madison Cawthorn, to get it approved!

Is it possible that the UAE will renege on the Abraham Accords, the deal’s diplomatic component, in which they pledged peaceful coexistence with Israel? Yes! And then maybe UAE and Israel will go to war, get into Lightning dogfights that destroy F-35s, and order the replacement jets that will increase our available jobs. Buncombe County cannot afford peace in the Middle East!

Of course, what Buncombe’s economy really needs is an extended don6

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nybrook with some nefarious superpower such as Russia or China. After all, the highly adaptable Lightnings are equipped to carry B61 nuclear bombs.

Such a contest would ensure our defense jobs for the foreseeable future.

Write Secretary of State Blinken.

And don’t forget the juiciest job bonanza of all: World War III. Should Buncombe County citizens lobby for it? Yes! Wait. No! That’s too dangerous, even for audacious us.

A local threat to our defense jobs are the 53% of Buncombe Democrats who voted in the 2020 Presidential Democratic primary for defense-budget slashers Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard. Tell them the defense budget is never big enough.

Another threat is the Reject Raytheon Coalition — Raytheon being the parent company of P&W. Some of the RRC believe the F-35 plant may be the vanguard of a deluge of new defense industries for Buncombe County.

They’re holding biweekly demonstrations opposing this, as well as to halt the building of the P&W plant. Encourage your state representatives to enact anti-demonstration laws like those in Florida and elsewhere.

Then there are some waffling county commissioners. For instance, although Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chairman Brownie Newman voted in favor of the plant, he stated in the Asheville Citizen Times that the U.S. “has gotten involved in different conflicts around the world that we shouldn’t have gotten involved in.” Tell him that America should have gotten involved in all those conflicts, as well as any future conflicts.

Commissioner and congressional candidate Jasmine Beach-Ferrara voted in favor of the Lightning plant also, but she calls herself a preacher of the “gospel of peace.” Does that mean she’s a potential peacenik? Preach her the Gospel of War. Buncombe County can no longer afford peace on Earth.

— Bill Branyon Asheville

Honoring Nina Simone One of Asheville’s greatest unsung heroes is none other than legendary singer Nina Simone. She took piano lessons near Charlotte Street as a child.

Let’s replace that obelisk with a giant microphone in honor of the late, great Nina Simone!

Please contact Asheville City Council and tell them we want a giant (65 feet) microphone statue downtown with a plaque remembering Nina Simone.

— Raven Tenderfoot Asheville

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JUNE 2-8, 2021

7

OPINION

RIP Vance Monument

BY PETER ROBBINS As I type these words, the demolition of the Vance Monument has already begun, and pretty soon we’ll all be looking for pathways to emotional closure. So it seems like as good a time as any to update my Asheville friends on my personal spiritual journey through these troubled times. It might give inspiration to those unhappy with the way things turned out.

Almost four years ago, I wrote what I hoped would be a thought-provoking commentary in Mountain Xpress on what to do with the granite obelisk celebrating the public life of Zebulon Baird Vance.

Since he grew up in the place that was later renamed Marshall, I felt Madison County folks should have some say in the controversy, even though we’re not technically locals and people in Asheville can be suspicious of outsiders.

After undertaking a fair and balanced review of Gov. White

Supremacy’s record, I suggested that the simplest solution would be just to tear the thing down. But then I got cold feet, fearing that so dramatic a step might be too much for popular opinion to bear.

So I settled, to my everlasting shame, for an inelegant compromise: Leave the Vance moniker on one side of the base but add three new names, including one or more African Americans, to the other sides. If we couldn’t get rid of the old racist entirely, I thought, we could at least make him spend eternity forced to keep company with people he devoted his life to segregating from his own kind.

Apart from the online heckling of a few gobshites, my proposal drew only yawns. Once in a while, someone in the Asheville media would suggest a vaguely similar way of renaming the monument, and their ideas were usually better than mine, so I didn’t pursue the matter further.

A modest proposal revisited Messed up. Egg on my face. I misread the community ethos entirely. If you were planning to erect a monument in honor of my pioneering leadership, well, you can just forget it. You’ll only have to tear it down later when people learn the truth.

All I ask is that you’uns view my shortcomings with some historical kindness, as you’ve done with so many others who came down from Madison County to reform your way of life. It was an innocent time back then: We were less enlightened. Many people held pro-Vance prejudices as bad as my own; some even worse. I was a product of my era.

I hope you can forgive me.

PETER ROBBINS

“Since you can’t stop the obelisk from being torn down, let it go.”

MY BAD ...

But then the zeitgeist shifted.

Breonna Taylor and George Floyd were killed. Black Lives Matter became a household phrase. Old ways of thinking were upended. Protests filled the streets. When grafitti appeared all over the once-unassailable stack of stones and a tarp went up to protect the monument from the people (or the people from the monument — I’m not sure which), suddenly everyone was calling for action.

I was smugly gratified last January when an Asheville City Council member advocated going one step further than my long-forgotten proposal: Removing Vance from all four sides of the monument and renaming the whole thing the Unity Tower. Never mind that the kind of unity for which the obelisk had theretofore stood had an ugly side: Hers was a noble sentiment, movingly (if naively) expressed, and that’s a commodity in short supply these days.

Then the entire City Council went one better still, voting 6-1 to demolish the monument altogether, and when proponents of the status quo ante unexpectedly crawled back under their rocks, I was left in the embarrassing position of standing alone on what was now the extreme right wing of the opinion spectrum.

So, OK, I admit it: I was wrong. My thinking was retrograde. Backward.

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KUMBAYA The concept of forgiveness, however, evokes another word that always seems to get dredged up these days in the wake of any sort of unpleasantness: healing. Face it, friends, we still have unfinished business. And I’m not talking about changing street names or making a public investment — call it reparations or whatever you want — to promote racial equity, though those are certainly important next steps.

No, I’m referring to the need to reconcile with those fire-eaters who opposed any changes at all to the Vance Monument. To maintain civic cohesion, we must convince these souls that despite the failure of their cause, they can return to the fold as legitimate members of this community.

Think of it as a kind of reconstruction.

So here, you grumbling traditionalists, is my therapeutic advice on how to adjust to the new reality: Beat the lefties at their own game, Asheville-style.

Since you can’t stop the obelisk from being torn down, let it go. Practice nonattachment. Meditate. Ponder a Zen koan. Recite the Serenity Prayer.

Whatever. Groove on the rubble till you’ve exorcized the racist toxins you claimed were never there in the first place. Then repurpose the newly opened space in your mind as a spirit portal through which Zeb’s purified essence has been set free to energize the cosmos with hardscrabble vibes.

Who’ll have the last laugh then?

Or you can just crawl back under that rock. Even with pandemic restrictions lifted, I’m sure nobody will be offended if you don’t want to group-hug.

Peter Robbins is a retired lawyer who lives near Marshall. X

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NEWS

Going to ground

Local projects target carbon through agriculture

BY DANIEL WALTON dwalton@mountainx.com No matter their crop of choice, every farmer in Western North Carolina is essentially harvesting air. The photosynthesis that powers each fruit orchard, vegetable patch and grain field pulls carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to create the sugars that drive growth. Livestock that eat plants might be considered air twice-removed.

That basic biological fact takes on major importance in light of the commitments local and federal governments have made to fight climate change.

Buncombe County’s 2025 strategic plan targets the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide; the city of Asheville’s 2020 climate emergency resolution recognizes the need for a “massive-scale mobilization.” And on April 22, President Joe Biden set a goal of cutting the nation’s greenhouse gas pollution in half compared with 2005 levels by 2030.

Much of the regional conversation about how to achieve those goals has focused on renewable energy, such as solar electricity and wind power. But some local projects now seek to highlight how agriculture can contribute to reducing WNC’s environmental footprint — not just by eliminating emissions, but also by taking carbon out of the skies.

Jennifer Harrison, agriculture and land resource director for Buncombe County, says the idea of local farmers as climate allies isn’t new. Agricultural practices that have been in use for decades, such as no-till farming, cover cropping and rotational grazing, are known to prevent the loss of carbon from soils while building in more organic matter.

“What is emerging is the idea that we’re now able to quantify what’s happening,” Harrison continues. “Now the question is, with these tools that are emerging, how can we use them to better tell the story?”

MAKING IT COUNT

Buncombe is one of five WNC counties participating in a pilot program, funded by the nonprofit N.C. Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation, to test a carbon farm planning tool this growing season.

COMET — the CarbOn Management Evaluation Tool — was developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help farmers determine how their 10

JUNE 2-8, 2021

LAY OF THE LAND: Anthony Cole, right, shows participants in Buncombe County’s carbon farming pilot program around his Jasperwood Farm in Leicester. Photo courtesy of Mari Stuart approach to the land might release or capture carbon dioxide.

COMET asks farmers what management techniques they plan to use for each part of their farm, then estimates how much carbon will enter or leave the land over time. But the tool hasn’t yet been widely adopted in North Carolina, Harrison says, so agriculture experts aren’t sure how well its assumptions fit local farms.

“Tools aren’t always transferable when you go to a different region, where you have different weather patterns and challenges. We have a lot more sloped land and therefore we manage that very differently than the Midwest,” she explains. “We’re learning the practices that are built into the tool and making suggestions for new practices that should be added.”

Harrison says the county’s test site, Jasperwood Farm in Leicester, is the perfect place to put COMET through its paces. Because farmer Anthony Cole runs an extremely diversified operation, raising corn, Christmas trees, cattle and many other crops on a mix of slopes and flat land, the tool can be tested on most of the agricultural practices found across WNC. “The benefit for me and others must be that we learn, we increase our understanding, and then we adapt and act on the knowledge we are able to acquire,” Cole says about his participation in the project. “Individual family farms are still the backbone of our food and fiber

MOUNTAINX.COM

supply. Now we have to also look at our farm units as places that can sequester carbon and produce oxygen for the public good — not just as greenways, open space and viewsheds.”

As carbon planning tools become more refined, Harrison hopes they’ll help the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District talk through potential management changes with other local farmers. She acknowledges that shifting practices can be scary given the financial risks involved in agriculture but suggests that carbon-conscious approaches often benefit the bottom line as well.

“What we’re really helping our producers to see is how they can build soil health, improve water retention, increase drought resiliency,” Harrison says. “These are called best management practices for a reason: They’re tried and true in terms of improving your on-farm assets, with soil being perhaps the biggest asset that a farmer has.”

WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

In the near future, however, a farm’s approach to carbon might itself be a financial benefit. That’s the idea underlying Carbon Harvest, an Ashevillebased initiative led by ecological designer Mari Stuart and resilience consultant Laura Lengnick.

Carbon Harvest is partnering with Buncombe County on the pilot COMET test, Stuart says, but its vision is much broader: a “multistakeholder carbon cooperative” that would connect regenerative farmers with WNC residents who value the climate benefits of the cooperative’s work. Individuals and businesses might purchase carbon credits, tied to the greenhouse gases sequestered by local agriculture, to offset their own carbon emissions. In turn, that money would give farmers the resources needed to embark on new carbon-capturing projects.

Stuart believes that Carbon Harvest’s local grounding will avoid the problems faced by other offset programs.

Nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica reported in 2019 that many carbon credits tied to protection of the Amazon rainforest, for example, failed to prevent deforestation and did not generate any climate benefits.

“They’re big projects, happening elsewhere, that sometimes have been counted twice for the same credits,” Stuart says of many corporate-backed carbon offsets. “In our region, you would offset your carbon at a farm that’s just down the road. You could drive there, see it with your own eyes and talk to the farmer about how it’s going.”

Approximately 40 farmers and landowners have expressed interest in joining Carbon Harvest. Although the complexity of verifying carbon storage means a full-fledged offset system is still some time away, Stuart says, the initiative aims to start planning with individual farms next year.

Another income stream could come from a cooperative Community Supported Agriculture program certified as climate friendly. To help drum up interest within WNC’s culinary scene, Carbon Harvest is partnering with five local chefs for a tasting event on Saturday, Aug. 28, as part of this year’s Chow Chow.

“With carbon farming, it is more labor intensive and intentional, meaning that as consumers, we are getting a really quality, nutritious product that carries positive energy from the soil and from the hands that are tending it,” says Christian Albrecht of Braised & Confit, one of the chefs participating in the Chow Chow event. “The benefit of our air from less carbon dioxide and emissions and the reduction of fuels and heavy machinery benefits all life, which results in happy and healthy minds and hearts — and furthermore, happy bellies.” X

MOUNTAINX.COM

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BUNCOMBE BEAT

Council seeks clarity on proposed budget, potential tax hike It was only a few months ago — September, to be exact — that Asheville City Council approved its fiscal year 2020-21 budget as the city grappled with overlapping health and social justice crises.

“As you know, our city budget is usually adopted by July 1. But as you also know, last year was a very unusual year,” said City Manager Debra Campbell during Council’s May 25 meeting.

While the proposed fiscal year 202122 budget is on track to meet this year’s deadline, some Council members have raised concerns over Campbell’s recommendations, particularly regarding reparations funding, a proposed property tax increase and the use of savings from police vacancies.

Mayor Esther Manheimer pointed out that $1.7 million of approximately $9.9 million in new city spending would be funded with expected salary savings from roughly 70 unfilled

cated in the budget for Asheville’s reparations initiative. She explained that she’d received emails from several residents who believed that the investment would be covered by the city’s proposed tax hike of 3 cents per $100 in property value, which may disproportionately impact Black communities as a result of Buncombe County’s recent property revaluation.

“There’s been quite a bit of consternation about — this is the language in the community — raising taxes, particularly on Black folks, to help pay for reparations,” Mosely said.

McDowell said that the reparations funding would be drawn from the city’s fiscal reserves, not the new money generated by the tax increase. However, the bulk of the money that would eventually replenish those reserves consists of property tax revenue.

A public hearing on the proposed budget will take place on Tuesday, June 8, during the regularly scheduled Council meeting. The final vote on whether to adopt the budget will take place on Tuesday, June 22.

WANTS AND NEEDS: The proposed 2021-22 budget includes $9.9 million in new city spending — $1.7 million of which would be funded with expected salary savings from roughly 70 unfilled positions within the Asheville Police Department. Graphic courtesy of the city of Asheville positions within the Asheville Police Department. Once those positions are filled, she pointed out, the money

would not be available to cover recurring expenses in subsequent years. “[The fundings is] eventually going to dwindle down,” acknowledged Tony McDowell, the city’s finance director. “We can probably count on some savings from vacancies for the next couple of years, but eventually that savings is going to be used up by having to fill positions. It’s kind of a hybrid between a one-time and an ongoing source [of revenue].”

McDowell did not provide a plan for how the city would cover the new expenses once all police positions had been filled. Manheimer asked city staff to parse out ongoing and one-time costs and revenues and reevaluate the budget in light of that information.

Meanwhile, Council member Antanette Mosley noted community concerns about the $1.2 million allo-

IN OTHER NEWS

Council members voted 6-0 in support of a $2.5 million purchase of downtown property at 50 Asheland Ave. The nonprofit Dogwood Health Trust will contribute $1.25 million toward the purchase, with city funds covering the remainder.

The property borders the Asheville Rides Transit bus station at 49 Coxe Ave. and is earmarked for a “transit-oriented development” that would combine a larger transit center with affordable housing and commercial space. Manheimer recused herself from the vote due to an unspecified conflict of interest.

— Brooke Randle X

Mountain Xpress 27th Annual

BEST OF WNC RDS X AWA

Thanks for Voting!

2021

Results will be published in September

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BCTDA plans $15M in marketing for 2021-22

the legislative changes will pass; Republican Sen. Chuck Edwards, who represents Henderson County and the eastern third of Buncombe County, told Asheville’s Council of Independent Business Owners in February that “this is not the time to talk about redistribution in any manner” regarding the occupancy tax.

Because the TDA board continues to meet remotely during North

Carolina’s COVID-19 state of emergency, members of the public will not be permitted to comment on the budget proposal in person. Instead, comments may be submitted to Reply@ ExploreAsheville.com through 4 p.m.

Tuesday, June 29. A final vote on the budget is scheduled for 9 a.m.

Wednesday, June 30.

— Daniel Walton X

SNAPSHOT

SPREAD THE WORD: “Exfoliate Your Soul,” a 15-second video ad by the Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, had over 2.2 million views on YouTube as of press time. Screen capture courtesy of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority By the start of April, Buncombe County’s lodging sales had almost entirely regained the ground lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Year-to-date revenues from July 2020 through March 2021, according to figures presented to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority board on May 26, were down just 4% compared with those for July 2019 through March of last year.

The board now seeks to further fan the flames of recovery with its biggest-ever annual marketing spend: more than $15 million. That allocation, outlined in the BCTDA’s proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2021-22, is 55% more than the roughly $9.7 million the authority plans to spend on marketing in the current budget cycle.

As explained by Vic Isley, president and CEO of the Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau, the TDA would spend at least $10.6 million on advertising buys, an 8% increase over the last pre-pandemic fiscal year. Just over $3 million would go toward the production of new content, with the remainder of the marketing budget spent on research.

“We want to work on increasing length of stay, so that will reduce the wear and tear on infrastructure,” Isley said about the TDA’s advertising goals. “We want to work on influencing visitor behavior and dispersal,

creating itineraries and experiences to motivate them to move throughout the county so that their physical attendance in our community — as well as their dollars represented — will be dispersed throughout the community better.”

Research items would include a software system that Isley said would “really help us with that destination management and that comfortable carrying capacity,” a resident sentiment survey and visitor satisfaction tracking. The authority’s last resident sentiment survey was completed in October 2019 as part of the now-stalled Tourism Management and Investment Plan process.

Exact spending levels, noted Explore Asheville Director of Finance Jennifer Kass-Green, will depend on changes to the TDA’s enabling legislation being considered by the N.C. General Assembly.

Currently, the authority must spend 75% of occupancy tax revenues on tourism promotion, with 25% going toward tourism-related capital projects. The Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association, which represents local hotel owners, supports adjusting those percentages to 66% and 33%, respectively.

If the revenue split is adjusted, Kass-Green explained, the TDA will use $2 million of its roughly $12 million in available cash reserves to fund its desired level of marketing. However, it is unclear if

RUBBLE TROUBLE: On May 27, workers used power equipment to loosen the masonry core of downtown Asheville’s Vance Monument. Bricks and mortar were then shoveled into a construction dumpster. Blocks removed from the monument’s facade — including the monument’s pointed capstone — awaited removal in Pack Square around the monument’s base. Asheville City Council voted March 23 to remove the structure honoring the late Confederate North Carolina governor and slaveowner Zebulon B. Vance, and demolition began on May 17. Photo by Virginia Daffron

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JUNE 2-8, 2021

13

N EWS

School board saves Asheville Primary, reverses pre-K plans “Robert would be very ashamed of what we’ve done to his rules,” quipped Asheville City Board of Education member Peyton O’Conner, as the board repeatedly made, interrupted and amended motions during a May 24 meeting. But while the shambolic process may not have conformed to Robert’s Rules of Order, a standard manual of meeting procedure, the final outcome was clear: Asheville Primary School will stay at its Haywood Road location through at least the next school year.

The potential closure and sale of the APS campus had drawn intense community pushback since being initially recommended as a cost-saving measure by Superintendent Gene Freeman on Dec. 7. According to a study presented to the board, the building requires nearly $5.9 million in critical and high-priority capital repairs, and moving school operations to other facilities would save approximately $300,000 per year in personnel costs.

But a petition to save the school building, which houses both preschool classrooms and an elementary Montessori program, gathered over 2,700 signatures. Parents and community members organized a rally outside the school board meeting to protest the move, and over 20 people spoke in opposition during public comment.

“We have found ourselves shockingly faced with uncertainty about the future of our beloved school, with a lack

Manager Avril Pinder proposed on May 18.

“All the time and energy that went into this room tonight — that has to go out to City Council and the county commissioners,” O’Conner told meeting attendees. “They’re the ones that have to make this funding piece work.”

BACK TO SCHOOL: Students at Asheville Primary School will return to the building next school year following a May 24 decision by the Asheville City Board of Education. Photo by Daniel Walton of transparency from leadership and no real opportunities to collaborate with district leaders about our future,” said Wren Cook, mother of two APS students and representative of the school’s Parent Teacher Collective. “We want to keep Asheville Primary School, Montessori and preschool, intact and given a chance.”

The board’s 4-1 decision, with only Shaunda Sandford opposed, would keep the public Montessori program in its current building for the 2021-22 school year, expand classes to include the fourth grade and reopen enrollment

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in the school for all district students.

The board also committed to enrolling fifth grade students in the Montessori program in the 2022-23 school year.

The placement of APS for 2022-23 will be revisited this fall once the district has more clarity regarding its financial situation. On May 11, the system had asked the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for a $3 million allocation, in addition to its regular $30.18 million local funding request, that could be used for repairs to the building and other preschool needs. That money was not included in the budget County

IN OTHER NEWS

In a separate 3-2 vote opposed by Sandford and Martha Geitner, the board voted to keep all ACS preschool operations in school buildings. The move countermanded an April 21 announcement from district leadership, which said that some preschool classrooms would move into public housing communities.

That plan had generated its own controversy, with existing providers of preschool in public housing neighborhoods concerned that their classrooms would be displaced. ACS leaders had argued that the move would increase preschool access for children of color and help close the district’s worst-instate racial achievement gap.

Next year will still see some reshuffling of preschool classrooms. The APS campus will host three classrooms, down from its current five, while Ira B. Jones, Hall Fletcher and Lucy S. Herring elementary schools would all gain preschool capacity.

— Daniel Walton X

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F E AT UR E S

The best of both worlds Kristy Tolley mixes local and visitor perspectives in new Asheville guidebook

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com In her career as a Carolinas-based travel writer and editor for over 25 years, Kristy Tolley has worked with numerous freelancers who’ve penned guidebooks in Reedy Press’ 100 Things series. During that time, she’s also been what she calls “smitten with Asheville” and has visited every chance she’s gotten.

“When I discovered there wasn’t a 100 Things book for Asheville, I was shocked,” Tolley says. “I contacted the publisher and submitted a proposal and marketing plan. They accepted it, and I got to work.”

Coming up with enough items for 100 Things to Do in Asheville Before You Die, however, wouldn’t be nearly as challenging as narrowing her list to that number. Tolley made sure to include popular iconic and historical attractions — Biltmore Estate and The Omni Grove Park Inn were musts — but also sought to highlight activities that people might not know about. Empyrean Arts, the Burton Street Community Peace Gardens and the Asheville Radio Museum are among the hidden gems that earned full-page write-ups.

Though there technically are 100 “things” in the book, a decent number of Tolley’s headings allow her to loop in multiple businesses and events. For example, item No. 88, “Hit the Books at a Bookstore” focuses on Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar and Bagatelle Books, while also featuring a “Tip”

FAN NONFICTION: Carolinas-based travel writer and editor Kristy Tolley brings over 25 years of Asheville visits and research to her new guidebook.

Author photo by Joe Tolley info box that points comics-minded readers to Asheville Comics, Morgan’s Comics and Pastimes.

“I believe you can find something new and interesting to do in Asheville every time you visit,” she says. “My hope is that my book is a good representation of that.”

Making those visits while researching and writing 100 Things to Do in Asheville Before You Die was no easy feat. The statewide Stay at Home order to curb the spread of COVID19 went into effect exactly one week after Tolley signed her contract to write the book. By that point, she’d

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already created a sizable list based on her previous visits but wasn’t able to conduct new research trips for nearly three months. Instead, she pivoted to phone interviews and emails, but once pandemic-related restrictions were relaxed and more businesses reopened, she developed what she calls “a pretty regular roadtrip cadence.”

“Those conversations cultivated so much hope and optimism in me,” Tolley says. “Talking with business owners and learning how they were adapting during the pandemic and supporting one another deepened my love for Asheville even more.”

While some people might scoff at a non-Ashevillean penning a guidebook to the city, Tolley — who lives just outside Charlotte in Tega Cay, S.C. — feels that her outsider status is more of an asset than a handicap. Her extensive research and in-person exploration of the area throughout her professional life gives her a distinct viewpoint. But she also consulted her Asheville-based friends and colleagues, along with the Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau team, to ensure that her list included their favorite activities and restaurants, thereby providing a strong mix of local and visitor perspectives. avl.mx/9ca X

ASHEVILLE ARCHIVES

by Thomas Calder | tcalder@mountainx.com

The president’s son In late September 1930, dispatches from Washington, D.C., revealed that Herbert Hoover Jr., the son and namesake of the president of the United States, was planning to convalesce through the winter somewhere in North Carolina. According to a Sept. 21 article in The Asheville Citizen, Hoover Jr. suffered “a slight tubercular infection.”

Quick to act, the local Chamber of Commerce invited the president’s son to recuperate in Asheville. Not to be overlooked, the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce mirrored the move — albeit a day late and a dollar short.

On Oct. 17, 1930, The Asheville Citizen reported on Hoover Jr.’s decision to spend the winter in Buncombe County, atop Sunset Mountain, where he and his family would lease Blue Briar Cottage — an eight-room/two-bath white frame house, whose previous owners included E.W. Grove and former presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan.

Work to prepare the cottage for the family’s arrival was already underway by the time the paper made the announcement.

In the same Oct. 17 article, The Asheville Citizen featured a statement by Fred L. Weede, manager of the chamber. Along with celebrating Hoover Jr.’s imminent arrival, Weede put the community on notice.

“Assurances have been given that the privacy and rest necessary in his case will be given him by all our people,” Weede declared.

Early community activities, however, raised some doubts. On Oct. 21, 1930, the paper reported that “hundreds of persons passed to view the building and see what progress is being made in preparing it for occupancy by the president’s son[.]”

But the early curiosity seems to have waned. By all accounts, Hoover Jr.’s six-month stay was a relatively quiet affair. He arrived Nov. 1 by train, accompanied by White House physician Dr. Joel T. Boone, who eventually placed Hoover Jr. under the care of a local doctor, Bernard R. Smith.

Meanwhile, Hoover Jr.’s wife, Margaret, split her time among California, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. The couple’s three children did the same, at one point living with their grandparents inside the White House while their father continued in his recovery.

Herbert Hoover Jr. convalesces in Asheville, 1930-31

BRIEF VISIT: On May 8, 1931, President Herbert Hoover, right, and first lady Lou Hoover, center, arrived in Asheville for a short, eight-hour visit. The couple came to see their son, Herbert Hoover Jr., who was renting a home on Sunset Mountain while he recovered from tuberculosis. Also pictured here is Margaret Hoover, the couple’s daughter-in-law. Photo from the Hagen file 0311-5, courtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections, Asheville Of course, throughout Hoover Jr.’s convalescence, local reporters fueled rumors over when President Hoover would visit. In a Nov. 4 article, the paper asserted the commander-in-chief was headed to Asheville for Thanksgiving. In the same piece, the paper claimed that along with recuperating from tuberculosis, Hoover Jr. was receiving treatment for a “nervous condition.”

This diagnosis does not appear in subsequent articles.

Thanksgiving came and went without the president. Reporters shifted their attention to Christmas.

But even Old St. Nick couldn’t bring the nation’s leader to the mountains.

The winter dragged on. Then finally, on March 8, 1931, President Herbert Hoover rolled into Asheville on the Southern Railway at 8:20 a.m., accompanied by his wife, Lou, Dr. Boone, and several aides and Secret Service agents. The Asheville Citizen emphasized that Hoover

refused “a private car … insisting on traveling in a compartment in a regular Pullman car.”

The following day’s paper featured a more detailed account of the president’s brief, eight-hour visit.

A light snowfall powdered Hoover’s coat and hat as he stepped off the train and posed for photographers.

Though he offered no formal statement, Hoover did say he was “tremendously cheered” by his son’s improvement and expressed regret that he was unable to remain in “this beautiful section longer.”

From the train station, the president and his entourage made their way up Sunset Mountain.

Throughout the day, The Asheville Citizen wrote, “The President appeared at the windows of the cottage and gazed out on the mountain ranges.” By afternoon, the sun had emerged, affording Hoover “a clear view of Pisgah,” the paper continued. “Many of the peaks were snow-capped.”

An estimated crowd of 1,000 assembled at the train station to bid Hoover and the first lady farewell.

According to the paper, additional crowds formed at Old Fort and Hickory. “Mr. Hoover was obviously pleased … smiling broadly and waving vigorously,” The Asheville Citizen declared.

Shortly after his father’s departure, Hoover Jr. did the same. On April 28, he left Asheville for good, boarding the Southern Railway Train No. 16, bound for Washington with plans to head to his home in California later that summer.

On May 1, 1931, The Asheville Citizen ran an excerpt from the Charlotte Observer, which stated: “After about six months stay at Asheville, Herbert Hoover, Jr., is privileged to go anywhere he may want to journey, his health built up and safely fortified against relapse with ordinary care. He first goes to his father’s house, to let the folks see how finely he has been patched up then he crosses the continent to enjoy life as a cured man. And wherever the young man may go, he will be a walking advertisement for the mountain climate of North Carolina. Our state thus has ‘one on’ California.”

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

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17

COMMUNITY CALENDAR MAY 26 - JUNE 4, 2021

THEATER & DANCE

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.

Hello, Daddy!

The Magnetic Theatre and Delighted Tobehere present a night of comedy and drag.

FR-SA (6/4-5), 7:30pm, $28, The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St

In-Person Events = Shaded All other events are virtual

WELLNESS Steady Collective Syringe Access Outreach Free naloxone, syringes and educational material on harm reduction.

TU (6/8), 2pm, Firestorm Books & Coffee, 610 Haywood Rd

ART “Soul of Place: Images Inspired by the Places We Love” The Asheville Gallery of Art welcomes a new exhibit featuring the landscape paintings of Karen Keil Brown and Cathyann Burgess.

TH (6/3), Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave

Coco Villa A film screening and live performance by multidisciplinary artist Coco Villa, filmed on-site at the historic Black Mountain College campus at Lake Eden TH (6/3), 7pm, avl.mx/9em Westside Creative Market Local handmade goods and artwork.

SA (6/5), 11am, Haywood Quick Stop, 495 Haywood Rd Art and Augmented Reality with Jaime Byrd Living Images is an immersive art exhibition combining painting, filmmaking, animation, music, sound design, and Augmented Reality.

Opening champagne reception.

SA (6/5), 4pm, Trackside Studios, 375 Depot St

BODY IN MOTION: Multidisciplinary artist Coco Villa will perform live at the historic Black Mountain College campus at Lake Eden on Thursday, June 3, at 7 p.m. The performance will be coupled with their new film —bringing three years of improvised performance together in one experimental and impactful night of artistic celebration. Photo courtesy of Coco Villa Down Home NC Market Local craft vendors.

SU (6/6), 12pm, Haywood Square, 308 N Haywood Rd. Waynesville

At First Light: NCGC Lighting Invitational In this new exhibition, glass and light are brought together in unique and interesting ways.

FR (6/11), 10am, North Carolina Glass Center, 140 Roberts St, Suite B

SPOKEN & WRITTEN WORD Megan Galbraith presents The Guild of the Infant Saviour w/Jill McCorkle Live streamed conversation with the author.

WE (6/2), 10am , Registration required, avl.mx/9g7

BASKETBALL CAMPS Go to our website, register and pay today at:

crossfireministry.com Half Day Camp • June 21-25

Full Day Camp • July 19-22

Half Day Camp • July 5-9

Overnight Camp • July 18-22

Asheville Christian Academy Mon–Fri • 1:00-4:30 PM Boys & Girls • ages 6-14 $100 per camper First Baptist Hendersonville Mon-Fri • 1:00-4:30 PM Boys & Girls • ages 6-12 $100 per camper 18

JUNE 2-8, 2021

Mars Hill University Mon–Thurs • 8:30-5:00 PM Boys & Girls • ages 9-18 $250 per camper Mars Hill University Sun–Thurs Boys & Girls • ages 9-18 $375 per camper

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Weaverville Library Afternoon Book Club: The Bees Discuss The Bees by Laline Paul.

TH (6/3), 3pm , Registration required, avl.mx/9gb

Reader Meet Writer: If Or When I Call with Will Johnson Live streamed discussion.

TH (6/3), 7pm , Registration required, avl.mx/9g8

Black Experience

LitCafé: Dale Neal on Appalachian Book of the Dead Author Dale Neal discusses his writing and most recent work, a finalist for the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.

Recorded event.

TU (6/8), 6pm

and Buncombe Coun-

Raven Leilani w/ Hanif Abdurraqib Conversation with the author of NY Times bestseller Luster.

TU (6/8), 7pm , Registration required, avl.mx/9g9

Book Club: Naughts & Crosses Bi-monthly book club sponsored by the YMI Cultural Center ty Public Libraries.

This week, discuss Naughts & Crosses,

by Malorie Blackman.

TH (6/10), 6:30pm , Registration required, avl.mx/9gc Creative Writing Group Meet on Zoom and participate in several rounds of writing prompts.

FR (6/11), 3pm, avl.mx/9gd

WNC Dance Academy Spring Showcase Annual Spring Showcase, featuring award winning WNCDA Performance Company and academy students and choreographers.

SU (6/6), 2pm, Registration required, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

ANIMALS Blue Ridge Humane Society: Pet Loss Peer Support Group A safe space for community members to come together to support one another through the loss and grief of their pet(s).

WE (6/2), 6pm , avl.mx/9dl

BENEFITS Pisgah Legal's Run for Justice Virtual 5K Join Pisgah Legal for their inaugural virtual Run for Justice 5k - raise awareness and funds for a local nonprofit providing free legal aid and anti-poverty services to neighbors in need.

SA (5/29), avl.mx/9e8

Mountain Xpress 27th Annual

BEST OF WNC RDS X AWA

Thanks for Voting!

2021

Results will be published in September

Smoke Alarm Saturday 2021 Prior to this event, Leicester Volunteer Fire Department will be canvassing select neighborhoods, offering free home safety assessments and scheduling smoke alarm installations for June 5.

SA (6/5), Leicester Volunteer Fire Department, 2852 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester

CLASSES, MEETINGS & EVENTS The Laurel Chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America Business meeting followed by regularly scheduled program.

TH (6/3), 10am, Cummings United Methodist Church, 3 Banner Farm Rd, Horse Shoe Non-Timber Forest Products Workshop Free hands-on workshop.

SA (6/5), 9:30am, Big Sandy Mush Community Center, 19 School Rd, Leicester BRCC: Car and Trade Show 16th Annual Benefit Car and Trade Show hosted by the Great Smoky Mountains Region of Antique Automobile Club of America.

SA (6/5), 9am, $15, Blue Ridge Community College, 45 Oak Park Dr, Brevard

Sunrise Asheville Monthly Hub Meeting Connect with other hub members and hear the updates on what’s going on in Asheville.

MO (6/7), 7pm, avl.mx/9ep 2021 WNC JeepFest Featuring both automotive and food vendors, along with other attractions.

FR (6/11), 9am, Maggie Valley Festival Grounds, 3374 Soco Road, Maggie Valley

FOOD & BEER Hendersonville Farmers Market Local farmers, makers and artisans.

SA (6/5), 8am, Historic Hendersonville Train Depot, 650 Maple St Wagbar Sunday Market Outdoor craft/artisan market benefiting Asheville Humane Society and featuring Kinfolk food truck.

21+.

SU (6/6), 12pm, Wagbar, 320 Merrimon Ave West Asheville Tailgate Market Local produce and other locally crafted goods.

TU (6/8), 3:30pm, 718 Haywood Rd

BUYING OLD PAPER MONEY 10 yrs WNC/ETN notes, bonds, maps, currency etc.

Member SPMC, NCNA, SCNA, TNS

msg/ txt 865-207-8994 or email papermoneybuy@gmail.com

RAD Farmers Market Local produce and a variety of artisans.

WE (6/9), 3pm, Pleb Urban Winery, 289 Lyman St Flat Rock Farmers Market Local produce and other fare.

TH (6/10), 3pm, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Hendersonville

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Asheville City Council Formal Meeting In-person meeting in the Banquet Hall.

TU (6/8), 5pm, Harrah's Cherokee Center, 87 Haywood St

KIDS

PUBLIC LECTURES Lifestyle Medicine for Brain Health A virtual presentation to learn why healthy lifestyle behaviors are critical for optimal brain function.

TH (6/3), 2pm, avl.mx/9fd Sierra Club: The Connection Between Pandemics and Environmental Change Rachel Muir, biologist and Scientist Emeritus with the U. S. Geological Survey, will talk about pandemics and human intervention in the environment.

TH (6/3), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/9fe

SPIRITUALITY

Fun Friday for Families: Abstract Monoprints Visit galleries on a scavenger hunt for inspiration before joining in at the Wells Fargo Art PLAYce to create.

FR (6/11), 1:30pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S. Pack Square DIY Terrarium Workshop: Air Plants Workshops last between 1-2 hours and include all information and materials needed to create a living terrarium.

FR (6/4), 6pm, $30, 828 Market on Main, 180 N. Main St, Waynesville

Baha’i Devotional: On Excellence This Devotional will include prayers and music, connecting with our spiritual nature, illuminating the pursuit of excellence, and touching on how this relates to perfectionism and competition.

TU (6/8), 7pm, Registration required, Free, avl.mx/9ge Recipe for Serenity: Journey of Self Discovery How to reconnect with your inner joy and peace using the "Emotional Freedom" technique. Register: anancy08@gmail.com.

TH (6/3), 6pm, Free

THE FEHR PIANO STUDIO Piano Lessons: all ages, experienced artistic teaching fully vaccinated Sand Hill Road: 1 Mile from 1/26 & 1/40 Juncture

(828) 777-0061

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JUNE 2-8, 2021

19

WELLNESS

Terms and conditions Shoji employees push back on vaccination policy

BY BROOKE RANDLE brandle@mountainx.com Nestled in the mountains just outside downtown Asheville, Japanese-style Shoji Spa and Retreat offers massage therapy, saunas and outdoor hot tubs with mountain views.

Controversy recently crept into the serene setting when Shoji co-owner Roberta Jordan announced in a March 24 email to the spa’s staff that vaccination against COVID-19 would be required for employment with the company as of June. “... [Shoji] must move in the direction that provides the best safety plan for as many people as possible by weighing the risk to rewards. For this reason, we are setting the date of June 1 for all staff to be fully vaccinated,” Jordan wrote in an email addressed to Shoji staff members and shared with Xpress. “We do not want any of our Shojans to depart because we have such a strong wonderful team, but each person must make their own decisions going forward, and we hope you will stay with us.”

Some employees pushed back against the policy, claiming that it violates their civil liberties. Meanwhile, Jordan points to the safety of both customers and staff as her top priority.

Similar scenarios may be playing out at workplaces throughout Western North Carolina and across the country, as employers struggle to balance COVID-19 concerns with the privacy and personal choices of their employees.

“The issue is heart-wrenching for us and for employers nationwide who are trying to make the best possible decisions in extremely difficult times and circumstances,” Jordan tells Xpress.

“We must consider our customers as well as the safety of all employees.”

WEIGHING THE RISKS

Before Shoji announced its COVID19 vaccine policy in March, Jordan says, the company surveyed its 37 staff members (who are employees rather than independent contractors) to get a feel for how many planned to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it became available.

“Most employees said yes, they were getting vaccinated or had already done so. There were a number of respondents who said maybe, as they were pondering the situation and decision 20

JUNE 2-8, 2021

HOT WATER: Some staff members at Shoji Spa and Retreat chose to the leave the workplace after the spa required employees to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by June 1. The spa’s hydrotherapy soaks are located outdoors, and all massage services are conducted indoors. Photo courtesy of Shoji Spa and Retreat each and every one of us must make.

A few responded no,” Jordan explains.

She says those initial responses suggested that between four and six staff members would decline the vaccine.

Recognizing the potential loss of staff, Jordan nonetheless decided to move ahead, requiring employees to get fully vaccinated before May 11 to ensure full protection by June 1. She clarified that those who did not comply with the deadline would be taken off the schedule and not allowed to return to work.

Vaccination was particularly crucial for the spa’s massage therapists, Jordan says, since they work “inches away from our guests’ faces for long durations and close proximity every day.”

MOUNTAINX.COM

“These essential job functions create a high-risk environment, all the more reason we mandated vaccination for all staff,” she says.

TAKING A STAND

Some employees saw the company’s policy as an ultimatum, and some who had initially planned to take the vaccine subsequently came to doubt that choice.

Ann (a pseudonym) is a former employee who wishes to remain anonymous out of concerns for future employment, says that staff members’ concerns were diverse — from those who feared side effects to those who

felt ethical or moral opposition to being compelled to take a vaccine.

“We still do not know how long the vaccines are effective, and there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about how they work and what they actually do,” Ann told Xpress. “It is also true that these vaccines are making some people sick, some in chronic, life-altering ways.”

According to information updated on May 25 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “To date, the systems in place to monitor the safety of these vaccines have found only two serious types of health problems after vaccination, both of which are rare.

These are anaphylaxis and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome after vaccination with J&J/Janssen COVID19 vaccine.”

Lucas Stevenson worked at Shoji Spa for 4 ½ years as a licensed massage therapist. While he declines to share his personal decision about getting the shot, he says he was troubled by the idea that Shoji required that its employees be vaccinated by a specified deadline.

In a March 30 email addressed to Shoji’s staff and management and shared with Xpress, Stevenson outlined his objections to the company’s policy.

Because none of the available COVID-19 vaccines have received final authorization from the federal Food and Drug Administration, Stevenson argued, their use under that designation should be voluntary rather than compulsory.

He also suggested that a religious exemption might be a legally valid reason for declining the vaccine. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents religious discrimination, and employers are required to provide accommodations for employees and prospective employees.

“It is about personal liberty and preserving the freedom to make good medical decisions for oneself without the fear of having to forsake one’s livelihood or face other negative consequences from society at large,” says Ann. Stevenson also noted that the May 11 deadline to get vaccinated failed to provide sufficient notice for employees to make a decision on the issue, especially since a staff member might need to look for a new job as a consequence of that choice.

Jordan counters that employees could have requested a 30-day extension to receive the vaccine, though no staff members asked for more time.

“We accepted whatever last date they chose to give,” says Jordan of the employees who left. “No one was terminated or given a last date of employment by the company. We accepted each person’s last day as they advised us, without consequence or repercussion.”

LEGALESE Susan Russo Klein, an Ashevillebased attorney specializing in employment issues and who represents the company, says that Shoji is “well within its rights to establish workplace policies.”

In an April 1 letter to Stevenson and other staff members on behalf of Shoji, Russo Klein stated that because the spa’s core business is health and wellness-based, it has an obligation to provide reasonable health and safety measures — which could include mandating that its employees receive the vaccine.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which administers and enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, Russo Klein continued, employers in North Carolina are within their legal rights in requiring workers to receive a vaccine as a condition of employment, including in the case of a drug that is authorized on an emergency-use basis.

Russo Klein went on to advise that, while a religious exemption would provide an exception to Shoji’s policy, the process for receiving such an exemption

is lengthy and complicated. Employees must provide documentation, and both parties must engage in “an interactive process” to determine whether an accommodation would present an undue hardship to Shoji or whether other measures might reasonably accommodate the exempt employee.

“In other words, employees can’t just claim an exemption to avoid getting the vaccine,” Russo Klein wrote.

“While Shoji genuinely regrets losing any employee, we strongly believe we have an obligation to our guests and our workers to ensure that we provide a safe and healthy environment,” she wrote in a statement to Xpress on behalf of the spa.

THE POWER OF CHOICE

Jordan says she can’t say for sure how many employees left Shoji as a result of the COVID-19 vaccination policy, while Stevenson says he counts at least 16 members of a 37-person staff.

Former staff member Jane decided to leave based on what she saw as an ultimatum to steer what she believes should have been a personal choice. To protect her privacy regarding a person-

al medical decision, Xpress agreed to refer to Jane by a pseudonym.

“I just felt like it was a big decision for me to decide to get the shot and I wanted it to be mine,” she says. “I didn’t want to do it because my boss told me or because someone on the internet was shaming me into it.”

While Jane says she was initially hesitant to receive the vaccine due to concerns around its rapid production and potentially unknown side effects, she spent time reviewing information and hearing from friends and trusted colleagues before deciding to get vaccinated.

“At this point, I feel like enough people and friends have gotten it that I feel comfortable getting it, where I wasn’t before. I’ve done my research. I’ve sat with my intuition and my body,” Jane explains. “My yes needed to be a full yes coming from my own voice. That is what consent is.”

Stevenson says that he and most of the former staff members have already found new employment. He is working with local attorneys to determine whether legal action is an option for former Shoji workers upset over the situation.

“Even though the laws regarding workers make for a challenging legal case that tends to favor employers, this is still an important and worthwhile precedent to set,” Stevenson says. “We are still working with legal professionals to represent us, are speaking with North Carolina representatives and, most importantly, we have used the power of cooperation at the individual level to make our civil liberties clearly heard and respected. If you have an ethical, medical, or religious reason to avoid vaccination, now is the time to demonstrate your sovereignty to the fullest extent.”

Meanwhile, Jane notes that approaching the vaccination issue with communication and empathy may lead to better outcomes.

“I just feel like the way that we’re talking about the vaccine — and this is way beyond Shoji — is that if you want people to be on your side and get the vaccine, don’t be mean and don’t condemn or shame, blame, pressure others,” she says. “What made me change my mind was talking to my friends who listened to my concerns and were like, ’Oh that makes sense that you would feel that way. Here’s some information.’” X

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ARTS & CULTURE

Stoking the fire

Racial justice in the local arts community, one year later

RESEARCH PROJECT: In designing the 4-by-24-foot mural for the courtyard of the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, Jenny Pickens researched thousands of performances at the venue and filtered her findings down to images that synthesize over 20 years of programming. Photo by Hayley Benton

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com The outrage sparked by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the ensuing unity of the Black Lives Matter protests and the gradual slacking of public interest in racial justice over the past year felt familiar to Micah Mackenzie.

The Asheville-based artist and a Black, self-professed “country boy at heart from South Carolina” witnessed a similar rush of national harmony in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But as the weeks passed, he sensed that his time of being viewed as a fellow American by many of his white brethren was shortlived, and his hope subsided.

“They’ll boost [unity] when it’s trending. But after that, it’s the same old America: ‘What can I do for me and mine, and how can I take this money to the grave?’” Mackenzie says. “It is the greatest country in the world, and it is the worst country in the world.”

In the year since fervent calls for racial equity dominated the national news cycle, Mackenzie and other local artists and arts leaders have again seen a wavering commitment from white allies in Asheville and across the country. Ajax Ravenel, founder of the boutique shop and art gallery Noir Collective, which exclusively showcases the work of Black makers and entrepreneurs, agrees with Mackenzie in that the global

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flurry of interest in racial justice was and remains primarily “a fad and a photo op.”

But at the same time, Ravenel is seeing a rise in people within Buncombe County who are genuinely committed to making lasting change and “actually putting in the work that it takes to move forward.”

“Where we’re at right now is a really interesting place. There’s a cross between a whole lot of ignorance having to go out the door and a whole lot of working together and creating space for all these beautiful things that we’re doing,” Ravenel says. “I’ve been part of a lot of those conversations where [white allies] were like, ‘OK, how do we support you as Black artists? What do we do to help promote you all and give you space?’ And then they literally gave us space.”

Whether such efforts take root and become the norm depends on a range of factors. But as Mackenzie notes, the city currently seems more focused on promoting the return of tourism than addressing racial inequality, which has him, Ravenel and their fellow Black creators skeptical of Asheville’s dedication to enacting lasting change.

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FINALLY SEEN

Though Jenny Pickens wonders if the spotlight on local Black artists is temporary, she’s thankful for the attention it’s brought her. The Asheville native has been making art

in her hometown since childhood, but it wasn’t until her work last summer as one of the three lead artists on the Black Lives Matter mural in Pack Square that she began getting noticed (see “A Behind-the-scenes Look at Asheville’s Black Lives Matter Mural,” Xpress, Aug. 12, 2020). While Pickens struggles with the fact that it took the well-publicized, consecutive deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and Floyd for her to finally receive significant opportunities, she’s nevertheless embracing the consideration and using it to maximum effect.

“This has given me a platform to help other artists who are like me,” says Pickens. “It also shows them, ‘I don’t have to leave here to go be successful. I can stay here in my hometown, and there’s something for me here.’”

Following her work on Pack Square, Pickens was commissioned to paint a mural for the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts’ new courtyard and selected by Pink Dog Creative owners Hedy Fischer and Randy Shull to be the inaugural Artist in Residency at their 22 London Studio, where she worked on the mural. And though she continues to create, Pickens is focusing much of her efforts on education. In July, when she instructs young women how to quilt and sew, Pickens says she’ll become the first person to teach in the Mars Hill Anderson Rosenwald School building since 1965.

“Growing up, my art teacher was the first one that recognized me,” Pickens says. “You’ve always got to have a safe place to go and a person that can lead you in the right direction. We all need that. So, I feel like I have to give back by doing the same thing.”

BETTER GATEKEEPING

Racial justice has long been important to Fischer, particularly when it comes to her Asheville neighbors. She moved to Western North Carolina in 1978 and worked in public health, eventually joining the board of the YWCA of Asheville, which has a storied history of combating racism. But the events of summer 2020 nevertheless made their mark.

“I think most of us have always thought that we’re not bigoted, but I think our awareness has been heightened about the duration of inequality in this country [and how] it’s been going on in various ways for 400 years,” says Fischer, who is white. “I feel like I was a fairly conscious person to begin with, but it’s certainly been heightened around these issues.”

As a result of this wake-up call, she and Shull curated the Pink Dog group show, “In Solidarity,” last July.

The exhibition, which ended in May, featured 17 artists who contributed works related to the show’s theme of unity. A percentage of all sales, which Pink Dog matched, benefited local nonprofit BeLoved Asheville, as well as the national efforts of the Equal Justice Initiative and Black Lives Matter. In total, over $12,000 was raised.

In its place is “Women of Distinction” by local Black artist Joseph Pearson, who has a studio at Pink Dog. According to Fischer, the collection of portraits features women who Pearson feels “had been good role models for young women and girls in their communities.” The new show will remain up until Monday, July 5.

“It’s about opportunity, and because white people are the gatekeepers for the most part, I think we have to give people an opportunity to be seen and to thrive and to be heard,” Fischer says.

SYSTEMIC CHANGE

Katie Cornell, executive director of the Asheville Area Arts Council, says her organization is also committed to racial justice, with initiatives that predate last summer’s marches.

“AAAC has also been working over the last few years to ensure that our grant programs are accessible, adding

TEACHING EXCELLENCE: Jenny Pickens is primarily using her recent uptick in exposure to create more educational opportunities for area youths. Photo by Cindy Kunst the Arts Build Community grant in 2018 to support more arts-based projects in underserved communities,” says Cornell, who is white.

She notes that equity and inclusion are top priorities for the AAAC, as exemplified by the 2019 Creative Sector Summit, “Arts in Full Color,” which focused on amplifying nonwhite artists within the local creative community.

In addition, the AAAC is currently undergoing an equity audit to enhance its program offerings. And on May 19, the organization published a report regarding the creative economy, including an assessment of pre-pandemic creative job numbers by race and Hispanic ethnicity.

Meanwhile, its newly formed Arts Coalition is working to set policy goals specifically focused on arts equity, which is being headed by Stephanie Hickling Beckman, founder and managing artistic director of Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective.

But as the Creative Jobs Report highlights, more diversity is needed among arts leadership. According to those findings, creative leadership occupations were held by 82% white non-Hispanic, 9% Black non-Hispanic and 3% Latinx workers. Cornell says that addressing the issue will take time, but with new Black-owned businesses such as Noir Collective, SoundSpace@Rabbit’s and the forthcoming summer opening of Different Wrld in the former Mothlight space, it feels like the local arts community is headed in the right direction.

“Overall, arts organizations have expressed a real desire to make

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ARTS & C U L T U R E systemic changes to ensure greater equity and inclusion in the creative sector,” Cornell says. “At the same, there are a large number of organizations that have faced over a year of partial or total closure trying to navigate reopening and stabilizing their businesses. I know many are focused on trying to build back better and keeping equity at the forefront as they navigate pandemic recovery.”

A LONG WAY TO GO

While these changes sound great and have the potential to enact lasting change, local Black artists stress that over the past year, little is truly different.

“I am tired of people going, ‘Everything’s OK. Everything’s working.’ Stop it,” Mackenzie says.

For the multidisciplinary artist, who moved back to Asheville in July 2020 by way of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love remains a model in certain regards. Though a predominantly white city plagued by racism, Mackenzie says Philadelphia’s arts initiatives as well as artists from all ethnicities “promoted the hell out of Black artists.” The same can’t be said of Asheville, he adds. Instead, he often

SHARED SPACE: Ajax Ravenel features art and wares made exclusively by Black creators — but meant for everyone — in her Noir Collective space on South Market Street. Photo courtesy of Ravenel sees “a crabs-in-a-barrel mentality when it comes to not promoting each other” and urges that the marketing of Black artists by local arts organizations and artists of all colors be aimed beyond the city’s bubble if

it has a chance of making a significant difference.

At the same time, Mackenzie is troubled by the rampant gentrification that met him upon his return — and, with it, what he calls “big-city problems” like an increase in homelessness and a superiority complex from those with means. In turn, he’s seen “a lot of white artists being promoted from out of town and money leaving,” but few local Black artists receiving support.

In an effort to help, Mackenzie has made it his mission to contribute to the ongoing work to bring life back to the YMI Cultural Center, whose board he’ll soon join. Operating next door, Ravenel identifies the YMI as one of several long-running, Blackled community resources that white allies would be wise to financially support instead of starting new endeavors. Others include Umoja Health, Wellness and Justice Collective, Building Bridges and the Racial Justice Coalition.

“This is nothing new for us. The pain is the same. The work is the same. The feelings are the same,” Ravenel says. “The only thing that’s different is that we have more white people who are looking at it — not

the same way, but they’re looking at it in general.”

Similar to Mackenzie’s attitude of promoting any and all Black artists, Ravenel has yet to turn away a Black entrepreneur who wants to be part of Noir Collective. Additionally, Ravenel has felt encouraged by the emergence of fellow Black-owned enterprises on The Block. Jawbreaking fashion boutique and the Sole82 shoe store are among recent arrivals to the historically Black business district.

“We can’t change what happened in the past, but we can change how we move forward. And if we start moving forward on the same page and in ways that are impacting communities in positive ways rather than negative ways, then we’re doing something,” Ravenel says. “But unless we do that, we’re just repeating history.”

As far as how long it will take to create lasting impacts, no one knows.

With these and other artists/activists collaborating with truly dedicated white allies, the odds for success continue to improve. But in the words of Pickens, who waited so many years for the recognition she deserves, “We’ve come a long way, but there’s more work to be done.” X

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

FOOD

Working it out

Restaurant industry veterans reassess career choices post-pandemic

BY KAY WEST kwest@mountainx.com Gov. Roy Cooper’s May 14 announcement allowing North Carolina restaurants to open to full capacity for the first time since March 17, 2020, was the proverbial good news/bad news scenario for local restaurateurs. As eager as they have been to see dining rooms hustling and bustling again, restaurant owners are facing unprecedented challenges in hiring enough qualified people to handle normal, prepandemic operations.

As Jane Anderson, executive director of Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, pointed out in a May 26 Xpress story, “What is driving restaurants’ decisions about resuming full capacity is the ability to staff front and back of house.”

While the governor’s full-capacity decision was not entirely unexpected, the additional May 13 edict from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (confirmed by Cooper) stating that fully vaccinated people are no longer required to social-distance or wear masks indoors was not only a surprise but forced owners to make difficult decisions on whether to continue requiring masks for employees and guests in their building. It also presented more potential issues for front-of-house staff already weary of acting as mask police and fearing the possibility of taking on a new role as vaccination card checker.

During their pandemic downtime, many jobless food and beverage workers, supported by robust unemployment benefits, reexamined their choice of profession. Long-acknowledged industry downsides exacerbated by the pandemic — grueling hours, scarcity of health insurance and other benefits, rude and demanding customers — prompted some to research options and make new choices colored by the experience of 2020.

Xpress talked to a few local people who have left the industry entirely and others who remain but with new perspective and higher expectations.

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been unemployed in my life, and applying for and taking unemployment was foreign to me.”

Jenkins went back to her restaurant job early last summer. But, she says, after voicing concerns publicly and to management about the restaurant’s lack of adherence to safety protocols, she was fired.

Looking for guidance for herself and other staff in a similar position, she reached out to the national organization Restaurant Opportunities Center United, which helped them file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. The action resulted in Jenkins and four others receiving back pay. It also inspired her and colleague Ruth Rapp to launch ROC Asheville.

Though Jenkins briefly took a serving job elsewhere that she enjoyed, she ultimately decided to try something new and started working at a customer service call center in late March. It’s a position she feels well suited for.

“For one thing, dealing with people during COVID really desensitized me to abuse,” she says ruefully. “But essentially, customer service is the same thing as restaurant service, minus the food and beverage — and with a 40-hour workweek, full benefits, a 401K which matches what I put in, and I can work from home. It’s reliable, and the restaurant industry doesn’t feel that way anymore.

The pandemic made a lot of us feel very disposable.”

SUNNY DAYS: Cook-turned-solar-panel-installer Ryan Callahan says COVID-19 gave him a new perspective on his career path. Photo courtesy Sugar Hollow Solar

LOOKING FOR BENEFITS

When COVID-19 razed the restaurant industry in 2020, Caylea Jenkins had logged more than a decade in the business in Asheville. Most of her experience is in serving or bartending, but she’s also worked in the back of the house, filling in if the kitchen was short-staffed.

From the start, Jenkins saw restaurant work as a great way to make money and came to enjoy it.

“It’s nice to talk to people, get a window into strangers’ lives,” she

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says almost wistfully. “Food and drink is something every culture shares, and feeding people a delicious meal or making them a really good drink is a simple joy you can bring to people.”

Jenkins says she had never looked at the industry as a longterm career path and figured that, eventually, she would need to find a more reliable job with benefits.

But she had always thought she would be able to choose the timing of that change herself. “Then the pandemic hit, and overnight I lost my job,” she recalls. “I had never

GREENER PASTURES

Jenkins’ COVID-motivated review of her career choice and future path was one shared by many service workers who arrived at similar exit strategies.

Ryan Callahan, a native of Mills River, entered the hospitality industry after high school, spending five years at the Blue Ridge Tavern in Asheville Regional Airport before deciding to pursue a culinary career in earnest with a job in the kitchen of a local downtown establishment. It was a job and environment Callahan enjoyed up until the minute he was let go. “We started hearing things in early March [2020], and then one day we came in and all but the salaried employees were furloughed,” he recalls.

In May, the restaurant resumed some operations, and he returned to work. But the situation was “a bizarre, intense and challenging environment,” he remembers.

Soon thereafter, Callahan began

thinking about making a change.

Three months later, a friend at Sugar Hollow Solar set him up with an interview, and he was hired last August.

The company appealed to him in part, he says, because of his longtime passion for renewable energy. Being outside all the time is a plus, too, as is the regular 8 a.m.–4 p.m. schedule and weekends off. Because he came in with no experience in the field, he took a slight pay cut, but the positives and a chance for advancement outweigh that negative. “Right now, I’d rather be on a roof than in a restaurant,” Callahan says.

Taylor Aurillo, who at age 34 has spent half her life tending bar, says the poor behavior of many customers through the pandemic soured her on a profession she enjoyed.

“For 17 years, I loved what I did,” she recalls. “I loved connecting with people, especially in Asheville where people come from all over the world. [Before the pandemic], there were always difficult people, but the money was good, and that made up for those few people.”

In March 2020, COVID-19 closed the restaurant where she had

spent four years, first as a server, then as a bartender. She tried going back to work last summer, but severe anxiety over serving the public in the midst of a pandemic sent her home again and back on unemployment. In October, as tourist season was peaking, Aurillo returned to the floor as a server at a different restaurant, she says, where the rudeness and negativity customers directed at staff became untenable and the stress further impacted her physical and mental health. “There was nothing we could do right,” she says. “We were doing our absolute best under really tough conditions, and people complained and wrote crappy things on social media. What do they want from us?”

As a result, Aurillo jumped at an opportunity to manage rental properties for the restaurant’s owner. “I didn’t hesitate a second to say yes,” she says. “I’m looking forward to learning and doing something new and not having to smile at mean people. The people used to be what I loved about the

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ARTS & C U L T U R E job and now it’s what I can’t handle anymore.”

STICKING IT OUT

Some industry workers have opted to stay in the business, but not without making professional and personal changes. Though back-of-house personnel don’t face the same public-facing challenges as hosts, managers, servers and bartenders, the positions are not exempt from grievances.

Nicole Wolfe, a native of New Orleans, has worked in the food and beverage sector for 25 years.

Two years ago, she closed her successful custom cake-making business in Nashville to move to Asheville, drawn by the mountains and a lively food scene brimming with opportunity. She bounced around a couple of places baking then tried retail at a restaurant supply store; three weeks into that job, all employees were laid off due to COVID-19.

Wolfe then took another position making pastries and desserts for a large, assisted living facility, where

she liked the reliable hours, good pay and full benefits. But when management added more duties without consulting her, she left.

“That just didn’t sit with me, and they did not want to pay overtime, so I was done,” she explains.

“I knew there were lots of jobs out there.”

Wolfe also found herself reexamining her priorities as she turned 45. “I have worked crazy, long hours my entire career and missed out on so many milestone moments,” she reflects. “I want to spend more time with family and friends, more time in the mountains I moved here for, even if it means making less money.”

She took a 20-hour-per-week job in a bakery that allows her to keep working in pastry. And she recently had the opportunity to apply for a management role with a local brewery that is expanding, but instead, opted to apply for a parttime bartending job. “I want to show up, pour beer, chitchat with people, clean up and go home,” Wolfe says.

Paul Cressend, a chef who arrived in Asheville in 2017 from Nashville, used the Year of Working Pandemically to reassess what he is willing to accept after 23 years in the industry. Even before his pre-COVID employer furloughed his staff in March 2020, Cressend was thinking about transitioning from restaurants to private chef gigs and catering.

He took a new restaurant cooking job in May 2020 with the understanding it would lead to a position as sous chef. But while the business experienced a chaotic year of repeatedly opening, closing, then reopening again, he remained a line cook until giving a one month notice in early spring.

Cressend says navigating COVID gave him more time to focus on what he really wants to do going forward. “I’ll be working with Carrasco’s Catering and will do some chef partnerships and popups on my own,” he says. “I don’t want to go back into a restaurant kitchen unless my name is on the menu or my food is on the menu consistently, and I won’t work for less than $20 an hour.”

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Given independent restaurants’ extremely thin profit margins and the challenges they face in offering full benefit packages, what can be done to improve the workplace for staff and attract people to the industry?

“I understand higher wages are not feasible for every restaurant,” Jenkins says. “But restaurants can do other things to make a more humane environment. Create a sick-day plan so people don’t feel forced to work sick. Offer a paid mental health day monthly. Family

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meals should be standard policy; no one should work hungry. When people leave, ask them what you could have done to retain them.

Appeal to your staff’s humanity.”

Wolfe also believes restaurants need to offer paid time off or make a four-day workweek full time and eligible for some benefits. She also asserts that owners should enforce respectful treatment of their staff in the workplace. “One bad person in a management position can make life miserable for everyone,” she says. “This last year affirmed to me that I will not be taken advantage of anymore.”

Callahan points out that this January, the estimate from Just Economics for a living wage in Buncombe County jumped from $15.50 to $17.30 per hour. “I have friends still in the industry that work for restaurants that boast they are living wage certified, but they have not raised pay to that level,” he says. “There’s a double whammy of being understaffed, so you’re working harder and not getting paid what you should.

Restaurants need to figure out how to pay the living wage.”

Aurillo agrees. “If we’re so essential, we should be paid more.

People want to work, but right now they can afford to be picky, and they should be.”

Anderson of AIR offers some advice for restaurant workers. “I believe COVID changed the industry forever, and it is changing here in Asheville because of the incredible number of job opportunities.

I say to workers, ‘Take the time to think about what you want to do, where you want to build your career and who you really want to work for, who you admire in the business, then go for it. The world is your oyster.’” X

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

MUSIC

Valley variety

What was originally going to be a dedicated country music and Southern rock venue is now poised to fill a void in the Asheville-area live music scene while appealing to the masses.

Owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Cory and Christen Short, Silverados in Black Mountain launches its 2021 Outdoor Concert Series on Friday, June 4, with rocker Edwin McCain, followed by country icons Billy Dean and Andy Griggs (Friday, June 11), and then rockers Saliva (Friday, July 2) and Everclear (Friday, July 23).

“I certainly have more than just stuck my toes in the water for this first season,” Cory Short says.

“Normally, you open a concert venue, and you’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll try two or three shows.’ No, I’m going to do 23 in my first year. I think I’ve lost my mind, but here we go.”

The variety continues with R&B legend Brian McKnight (Saturday, July 17) and hip-hop artists Fetty Wap (Saturday, Sept. 4) and Ying Yang Twins (Friday, Sept. 10), plus country star John Michael Montgomery (Friday, Sept. 3).

Also in the mix are multiple area favorites, including Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band (Saturday, June 5), Jim Lauderdale and Songs from the Road Band (Saturday, July 3) and Caleb Johnson (Saturday, July 31), creating an eyebrow-raising range of acts that Short says is “by design.”

“We certainly want to have some of those big bands that Asheville loves so much, but also there was a hole in the market to create some nostalgic acts and bring some

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JUNE 2-8, 2021

Silverados brings more big music acts to Black Mountain

MIXTAPE APPEAL: Silverados co-owners Cory and Christen Short, top center, will welcome a diverse slate of performers to their Black Mountain venue’s outdoor stage this summer. Clockwise from top left, artists include John Michael Montgomery, Fetty Wap, Everclear and Brian McKnight. Photo of the Shorts by Lee Barrett; other photos courtesy of the artists stuff that you don’t see every day,” he explains.

LUCK AND SUCCESS

Based in Asheville, Short was a DJ in town for over 20 years, performing at “every club in town and over 500 weddings,” while also establishing Get Vocal Entertainment. In 2014, he and Christen purchased The Social on Tunnel Road, which kept them so busy that he decided to sell GVE in 2016.

Short says he and his wife have experienced “a ridiculous amount of luck and success” with The Social, even amid the pandemic. And that luck continued just before the lockdown began when he found 2 acres of wildly affordable, fenced-in land in Black Mountain that made possible a long-held dream.

“I’ve always wanted to be a promoter,” Short says. “We’ve done

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several festivals with regional talent at The Social in the parking lot, but this is the first time that I’ve stepped into the arena with national talent and bigger names and big booking agencies.”

Still, numerous hiccups have arisen. Unlike The Social, which is permitted as a restaurant, Silverados is a private club, bringing with it a different set of regulations and restrictions. But the greatest ordeal, notes Short, was getting the large outdoor stage from China to Black Mountain during the pandemic.

“Delays existed at every turn,” he says. “She finally made it, and I can breathe a bit.”

COMPLEMENT TO THE TOWN With the May 20 arrival of the stage, Silverados is putting the finishing touches on its mountain-surrounded space. According to the fire marshal’s preliminary

calculations, the venue should be able to host 2,500 people — on par with Salvage Station and slightly more than the capacity of Pisgah Brewing Co., whose offerings Short aims to complement.

“Black Mountain is just such a beautiful town. It’s so rich in its culture, and it’s unlike any other place around here. It’s got this oldschool nostalgic feeling, and a lot of younger folks are moving to the area and creating some vibrancy out there,” Short says.

“Pisgah has done a lot out here over the years — some amazing shows and some really cool stuff they’ve brought to town. I’m just excited to be a part of it. I want to continue it for years and really add to Western North Carolina. It’s just such a great place to live, and I’m glad to be doing what I’m doing in this area.”

To learn more, visit silveradoswnc.com.

— Edwin Arnaudin X

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ARTS & CU L T U R E

FOOD ROUNDUP

What’s new in food Green acres, green students and a Baby Bull on the loose

Got a hankering to grow? The city of Asheville is offering city slickers and farmers who will commit to using organic growing methods the opportunity to apply to lease 10 acres of cultivated farmland in East Asheville.

Located near the John B. Lewis Soccer Complex on Azalea Road, the property was previously leased

by New Sprout Organic Farms and Balsam Gardens. “It is little known that the city has owned the tract farmland for a long time,” says Nikki Reid, the city’s director of community and economic development. “We want to coordinate with the city’s goals to advance racial equity, and we are strongly encouraging farmers of color and women farmers to apply, as well as other local small-business owners.”

The request for proposals is posted on the city’s Community and Economic Development Department website, along with additional information about the property, which is split between two sites around the city’s beneficial landfill. Also posted are links to organizations — such as Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy’s farm incubator program, the National Black Farmers Association and Rural Advancement Foundation International Farmers of Color Network — that can assist applicants in navigating the request for proposals If farming isn’t your cup of seed, the city is also seeking RFPs for 8 River Arts Place, a renovated, historic 1,000-square-foot building in the newly completed River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project. The property features an outdoor deck, 13 dedicated parking spaces and a public restroom maintained by the city.

“We are open to however people see themselves in that space,” Reid points out. “A single venture, joint venture or a group of partners — we hope people will use their creativity on what works for Asheville and for RAD.” Each webpage provides a timeline with required deadlines, including dates for mandatory site visits. For more information and a link to the RFP for farmland, visit avl.mx/9fm.

For 8 River Arts Place, visit avl.mx/9fn.

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Sprouting out

The Growing Minds Farm to School Program, started in 2002 by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project at Hazelwood Elementary School in Haywood County, offers Western North Carolina children from preschool to grade 12 opportunities to learn about local foods and farms in classrooms, cafeterias and in their communities.

Growing Minds’ website, one of the program’s most important resources for educators, school nutrition directors and families, recently received a much-needed refresh. Last year, Growing Minds project coordinator Gwen Hill started working on navigation issues on the site, and using some grant money, contracted with CAKE Websites & More to undertake a redesign. “We didn’t do a complete overhaul because we have a lot of content we wanted to keep, but we did improve navigation, made it more user-friendly and gave it a cleaner look,” Hill explains.

Because field trips to farms were off the table in 2020, Growing Minds added Meet Your Farmer videos featuring interviews with local growers on their farms and, in some cases, virtual tours conducted by farm kids. Some of the site’s recipes have been translated into Spanish, and Growing Minds is in the process of doing the same for the Farm to Preschool toolkits. “The toolkits are designed as handouts for children to take home, so we want to be able to offer those materials to families where the primary language is Spanish,” Hill explains.

Take a tour of the new website at avl.mx/9fo.

Sage move

When one door closes, another opens. At least that’s the case with the Green Sage Café location in Westgate Regional Shopping Center, which shuttered permanently May 21, and Green Sage on Merrimon Avenue, which reopened May 28 after temporarily closing in early April due to a labor shortage. The entire team from Westgate moved north to fully staff the Merrimon store so it could reopen.

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GREEN SCENE: The city of Asheville has 10 acres of cultivated farmland in East Asheville available for organic farming by an approved grower. Photo by Balsam Gardens The South Asheville Green Sage Café on Hendersonville Road is open, as is the downtown location, which is undergoing an exterior face-lift. The building’s owner is doing extensive repairs to the roof, plus adding a new paint job and new awnings. An interior remodel will take place in the winter.

“Operating through COVID this past year has been challenging. We made the health and safety of our team and guests a top priority and survived largely because of the assistance of the PPP loans,” says Green Sage founder and owner Randy Talley, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program. “We are grateful for our team’s commitment to Green Sage and serving our health-conscious community.”

Green Sage is at 5 Broadway, 633 Merrimon Ave. and 1800 Hendersonville Road. avl.mx/9fp

Heading downtown Downtown workers, residents and visitors can now indulge in WellBred Bakery & Café’s supersized Mountain Éclair without trekking to the locations in Weaverville, Biltmore Village or on Reems Creek Road. At press time, a bite-sized café (420 square feet) is scheduled to open Wednesday, June 2, in the Grove Arcade.

“We have been voted Best Bakery [in Mountain Xpress Best of WNC] for seven years in a row. We’ve done that without a location downtown,” says Laura Bogard Taylor, WellBred’s general manager. “The Grove Arcade is beautiful, and it’s on brand with Well Bred. ... It’s a way we can

afford to be downtown, in a really cool group of other local businesses.”

Eleven food and/or beverage businesses are open or opening soon in what Grove Arcade management is branding as Restaurant Row. WellBred’s downtown location will be counter-service only, with breakfast foods served all day plus pastries, lunch, coffee and other beverages.

Most of the menu items will be prepared at the production kitchen on Reems Creek Road.

Well Bred is at Grove Arcade, 1 Page Ave.; 26 N. Main St., Weaverville; 6 Boston Way, Biltmore Village; 232 Reems Creek Road., Weaverville. avl.mx/9fr

Baby Bull

Like a bull in a china closet, Baby Bull tore up Instagram the penultimate weekend of May with multiple shared photos of double smash burgers, lobster rolls, fried fish sandwiches, french fries, hush puppies, pork rinds and chilled bottles of wine from its bottle shop. The latest big idea from restaurateur Drew Wallace (The Admiral, Bull & Beggar and Leo’s House of Thirst), Baby Bull threw a stealth opening the evening of May 21 and continued the revelry through the weekend before closing for three days to recover from the mayhem and determine future operating days and hours.

The casual, counter-service hangout with outdoor seating is in the space that previously housed the original location of White Duck Taco, then, briefly, Henrietta’s Poultry Shoppe and Broth Lab. Baby Bull, 1 Roberts St. avl.mx/9fs

— Kay West X

EXPERIENCE WNC’S NEWEST OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE Tickets On Sale NOW SilveradosWNC.com

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ARTS & CU L T U R E

ROUNDUP

Around Town

Augmented reality art exhibit comes to the RAD Asheville artist Jaime Byrd introduces Living Images, one of the first augmented reality art exhibitions to come to the Asheville area.

Augmented reality is an interactive three-dimensional experience, created by superimposing computer-generated imagery onto the real world. The monthlong show kicks off with an opening Champagne reception on Saturday, June 5, 4-7 p.m., at Trackside Studios, 375 Depot St. “My love of cinematography and learning to ‘paint with light’ helped to make a perfect transition from filmmaking into painting,” says Byrd, an Emmy-nominated documentarian. “And now I get to combine them both using augmented reality.”

Byrd says that she draws inspiration from travel, nature and the local beauty of the Asheville area, her home of 22 years. The artist uses a variety of mediums, including oil paint, cold wax, wood ash and sand. “I use these things for their willingness to be transformed, both in form and texture, making it a perfect medium for me to explore and dig back into the layers of paint, revealing more color and light beneath the top surfaces,” she explains.

Guests visiting the exhibit will be able to use their personal smartphones or tablets with provided headphones, engaging in 10-30 seconds of augmented reality. Byrd explains that she remains dedicated to changing the way that people experience artwork, with the goal of making exhibitions more interactive and impactful. “With the new technology that has become available, I’m able to merge the skills I’ve developed over the last 30 years by creating an immersive

Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre Concert Schedule

Presented by Plugged-In Productions

Jerry Douglas Band June 3 @ 6pm

Chris Knight | June 17 @ 6PM

W/ FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE

W/ TAYLOR MARTIN & WOODY WOOD PLUS CHRISTY LYNN BAND (DUO)

The Travelin’ McCourys Grateful Ball | June 30 @ 5:30PM

Molly Tuttle | July 7 @ 6PM

W/ JON STICKLEY TRIO

Upcoming Shows! DEL MCCOURY BAND August 5 * SAM BUSH August 11 Tickets and Information

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NEW REALITY: Local artist Jaime Byrd says she is dedicated to changing the way people experience artwork. For her latest exhibition, Living Images, she combines traditional artwork with augmented reality, which visitors can access through their phones and tablets. Photo courtesy of Byrd storytelling experience using my original oil paintings, AR and footage I filmed while traveling around the world.”

Masks are required, and COVID-19 protocols will be closely observed. The exhibition runs June 5-30 and is free to attend. For more information, visit avl.mx/9fv.

Hello, Daddy!

The Magnetic Theatre’s latest production, Hello Daddy! invites world-traveling drag artist, singer and comedienne Delighted Tobehere to the local stage. Katie Jones, the theater’s artistic director, describes the show as “an important story about coming to terms with all the parts of yourself.” With plenty of glitz and glam, Jones adds, the production offers a mix of “comedy, poignancy and self-discovery.”

Hello, Daddy! runs Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, June 6, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $28. Seating will be limited, and social distancing

will be strictly enforced. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit avl.mx/983.

A rosé by any other name

The Arts Council of Henderson County and Marked Tree Vineyard host a two-day event celebrating the arts and crafts community in Western North Carolina. Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy live performances by The Last Full Measure, the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra and the Carolina Concert Choir, along with several WNC-based dance companies. Cups will also runneth over with local wine available for purchase. “Marked Tree opened in March 2020, and although they’ve only been open a short time, they have already made a name for themselves as a community-driven organization,” says Hannah Duncan, executive director of the Arts Council of Henderson County.

“Both of the owners are artists

and creatives themselves, and after navigating a difficult opening year, they wanted to celebrate it by giving back to the community.”

The La Vie en Rosé: Art & Wine Festival begins Saturday, June 12, at 11 a.m. and wraps up Sunday, June 13, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on festival day, and can be purchased at avl.mx/9g4.

Wild times

A Life in the Wild, a new exhibit featuring large-format images from award-winning photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen, is on display in the Baker Exhibit Center at The North Carolina Arboretum.

The exhibit will be shown in conjunction with the ongoing sculpture display, Wild Art, featured in the arboretum gardens. Mangelsen hand-selected over 40 of his personal favorite images, with subjects ranging from gray wolves to black bears — emphasizing the beauty and austerity of the natural world. The photographer has received numerous accolades for his work over the years, including a permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Clara Curtis, senior director for mission delivery at the arboretum, states, “We are so excited to share this national traveling exhibit with our members and guests.

Mangelsen’s stunning photographs invite viewers to join him in the wild to witness intimate encounters with nature.”

A Life in the Wild is on display daily through Sept. 5. Visit avl.mx/9fx for more information.

SHUN the nonbeliever

Asheville heavy rock collective SHUN will celebrate the release of its self-titled debut album with a free, live performance at Fleetwood’s on Saturday, June 5, at 8 p.m. All nine tracks were recorded in isolation during the pandemic. “This creative process was really a lifeline for every single one of us during deeply disturbing and uncertain times,” says drummer Rob Elzey. “Music in general is totally alchemical — turning the heaviest elements from our lives

into gold. I am beyond excited to finally have the album released and to be able to start playing shows again.”

Fleetwood’s is located at 496 Haywood Road. To learn more, visit avl.mx/9g5.

Folk yeah, WNC Nothing screams WNC like a good old-fashioned fiddle fest. To celebrate the area’s folksy roots, Cone Health developed The Not Your Average Folk Contest, open to all North Carolina musicians.

“The contest is a natural extension of our mission here at the festival — to honor, celebrate and share the diverse and meaningful ways North Carolinians express their creativity and cultural traditions,” says Amy Grossmann, president and CEO of the North Carolina Folk Festival. “This is an opportunity to shine a light on artists that bring a lot of life to their community but may not consider themselves ‘folk-artists’ in the traditional sense, whether they are an R&B musician in Charlotte or an Appalachian fiddler.”

To apply, visit avl.mx/9g3.

Applications close on June 13 at 11:59 p.m.

Visit stradaasheville.com for reservations

ROOFTOP BRUNCH 10am-2pm • Sat. & Sun.

Eggs Benedict with Thick Cut Bacon and Prosecco Hollandaise Exec. Chef, Anthony Cerrato Consistently Voted One of WNC’s Best Chefs

27 Broadway, Downtown AVL

— Cayla Clark X

MOVIE LISTINGS Bruce Steele’s and Edwin Arnaudin’s latest critiques of new films available to view via local theaters and popular streaming services include: CRUELLA: Emma Stone and Emma Thompson go head-to-head in this stylish, funny, yet slightly overlong 101 Dalmations prequel.

Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13 A QUIET PLACE: PART II: New addition Cillian Murphy nicely complements Emily Blunt’s badass matriarch, but the same frustrating inconsistencies that plague its predecessor endure in this suspenseful horror sequel.

Grade: B-minus. Rated PG-13

Find full reviews and local film info at ashevillemovies.com patreon.com/ashevillemovies MOUNTAINX.COM

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CLUBLAND

STEELY DAN MEGAFAN: Asheville-based Steely Dan cover band Dirty Logic will perform live at Salvage Station on Thursday, June 10, at 7 p.m. The 11-piece tribute band remains dedicated to honoring original studio recordings, while incorporating some of its own funkified arrangements and improvisations. Photo courtesy of Dirty Logic WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night at SAB w/ Jason DeCristofaro (jazz), 5:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm SLY GROG LOUNGE Wildstreet/John Kirby and the New Seniors/The Analog Playback (metal, hard rock), 8pm THE GREY EAGLE Pink Beds (new wave), 8pm

THURSDAY, JUNE 3 FLEETWOOD'S Terraoke! Karaoke with Terra, 6pm HAZEL ROBINSON AMPHITHEATRE Jerry Douglas Band w/ Fireside Collective (bluegrass), 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Open Mic , 6pm RABBIT RABBIT Sunset Rooftop Comedy Show, 7pm

FRIDAY, JUNE 4

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FLEETWOOD’S Lavender Blue w/ Computer Science (indie, alternative), 8pm

SATURDAY, JUNE 5 SLY GROG LOUNGE Zebbler Encanti Experience + Duffrey (EDM), 2pm BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah’s Daydream (jazz), 5pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Katalysst (indie, folk, rock), 6pm ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Comedy w/Kate Willett, 7pm ODDITORIUM Party Foul Outdoor Drag Show, 7pm SALVAGE STATION The Collection (indie, alt-pop), 7pm THE GREENHOUSE MOTO CAFE Mr Jimmy Power Trio (blues), 7pm FLEETWOOD’S Shun w/tHE POLES (indie, alternative), 8pm THE GREY EAGLE The Steel Woods (Americana, roots, country), 9pm

SUNDAY, JUNE 6

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Blues Brunch w/ Blake Ellege & Travis Corcoran, 3pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Three Hour Tour (70s rock), 4pm RIVERSIDE RHAPSODY BEER CO. Thinkin’ & Drinkin’ Trivia w/Allie, 5:30pm SALVAGE STATION. Rising Appalachia (folk), 7pm

MONDAY, JUNE 7 HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Totally Rad Trivia, 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. House of SYNth, 6:30pm THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Blue Monday with Mr Jimmy (blues), 7:30pm

TUESDAY, JUNE 8 SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Special Themed Trivia Night, 6:30pm

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Old Sap (banjo, modern Americana), 6pm

ASHEVILLE CLUB Mr Jimmy (blues), 3pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Team Trivia, 7pm

THE GETAWAY TIKI BAR Getaway Comedy w/ Kate Willett, 7pm

LIVE ON LINDEN Live on Linden: Shabudikah (funk), 3pm

SMOKY PARK SUPPER CLUB Magnetic in the (Smoky) Park, 7pm

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night at SAB w/ Jason DeCristofaro, 5:30pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well Crafted Wednesdays w/Matt Smith, 6pm ISA'S FRENCH BISTRO Jay DiPaola's Live Lounge (solo acoustic), 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. French Broad Valley Mountain Music Jam, 6pm ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Queer Comedy Party w/Ian Aber, 8:30pm

THURSDAY, JUNE 10 FLEETWOOD'S Terraoke! Karaoke with Terra, 6pm SWEETEN CREEK BREWING Open Mic , 6pm RABBIT RABBIT Sunset Rooftop Comedy Show, 7pm SALVAGE STATION Dirty Logic (Steely Dan tribute) 7pm

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FREEWILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): “There is ecstasy in paying attention,” writes Aries author Anne Lamott. That’s always true for everyone, but it’s extra true for you Aries people. And it will be extra ultra especially true for you during the next 20 days. I hope you will dedicate yourself to celebrating and upgrading your perceptual abilities. I hope you will resolve to see and register everything just as it is in the present moment, fresh and unprecedented, not as it was in the past or will be in the future. For best results, banish all preconceptions that might interfere with your ability to notice what’s raw and real. If you practice these high arts with exhilarating diligence, you will be rewarded with influxes of ecstasy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Your guiding wisdom comes from Taurus author Annie Dillard. She writes, “I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you.” I suspect that Dillard’s approach will enable you to maintain a righteous rhythm and make all the right moves during the coming weeks. If you agree with me, your crucial first step will be to identify the nature of your “one necessity.” Not two necessities. Just the single most important.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “All I want to be is normally insane,” said actor Marlon Brando. Yikes!

I have a different perspective. I would never want to be normally insane because that state often tends to be sullen and desperate and miserable.

My preferred goal is to be quite abnormally insane: exuberantly, robustly, creatively free of the toxic adjustments that our society tells us are necessary. I want to be cheerfully insane in the sense of not being tyrannized by conventional wisdom. I want to be proactively insane in the sense of obeying my soul’s impulses rather than conforming to people’s expectations. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because I believe the coming weeks will be a fruitful time for you to be my kind of insane.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “It’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s another to become wedded to it,” advised author Irena Karafilly. Let’s make that one of your key truths in the coming weeks.

Now is a good time to offer yourself forgiveness and to move on from any wrong turns you’ve made. Here’s a second key truth, courtesy of composer Igor Stravinsky: “I have learned throughout my life as a composer chiefly through my mistakes and pursuits of false assumptions, not by my exposure to founts of wisdom and knowledge.” Third key truth, from Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan: “Don’t be concerned about being disloyal to your pain by being joyous.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the number of perfect moments you will experience during the next two weeks could break all your previous records. And what do I mean by “perfect moments”? 1. Times when life brings you interesting events or feelings or thoughts that are novel and unique. 2. Pivotal points when you sense yourself undergoing a fundamental shift in attitude or a new way of understanding the world. 3. Leaping out of your own mind and into the mind of an animal or other person so as to have a pure vision of what their experience is like. 4. An absolute appreciation for yourself just the way you are right now.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “There is strong shadow where there is much light,” wrote Virgo author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). That’s a good metaphor for you these days. Since I suspect you are currently shining as brightly as you possibly can, I will urge you to become acutely aware of the shadows you cast. In other words, try to catch glimpses of the unripe and unformed parts of your nature, which may be more easily seen than usual.

Now, while you’re relatively strong and vibrant, investigate what aspects of your inner world might need improvement, care and healing.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): According to physicists, it’s impossible for a human being to suck water up through a straw that’s more than 34 feet long.

So please don’t even try to do that, either now or ever. If, however, you have a good reason to attempt to suck water up a 33-foot straw, now would be an excellent time to do so. Your physical strength should be at a peak, as is your capacity for succeeding at amazing, herculean tasks. How else might you direct your splendid abilities?

What other ambitious feats could you pull off?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet Ezra Pound had character flaws that bother me.

But he also had a quality I admire: generosity in helping his friends and colleagues. Among the writers whose work he championed and promoted with gusto were 20th-century literary icons James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Hilda Doolittle, William Butler Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, William Carlos Williams and Robert Frost. Pound edited their work, arranged to get them published in periodicals and anthologies, connected them with patrons and editors and even gave them money and clothes. In accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to be like Ezra Pound in the coming weeks.

Make an extra effort to support and boost your allies. Assist them in doing what they do well.

To do so will be in your own best interest!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Poet Tess Gallagher praises those times “when desire has strengthened our bodies.” I want you to have an abundance of those moments during the coming weeks. And I expect that cultivating them will be an excellent healing strategy. So here’s my advice: Do whatever’s necessary to summon and celebrate the strong longings that will strengthen your body. Tease them into bountiful presence. Treasure them and pay reverence to them and wield them with gleeful passion.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else,” observed poet Emily Dickinson. That’s the truth!

Given how demanding it is to adjust to the nonstop challenges, distractions and opportunities of the daily rhythm, I’m impressed that any of us ever get any work done. According to my astrological analysis, you Capricorns are now experiencing a big outbreak of this phenomenon.

It’s probably even harder than usual to get work done, simply because life keeps bringing you interesting surprises that require your ingenuity and resourcefulness. The good news is that these surges of ingenuity and resourcefulness will serve you very well when the hubbub settles down a bit and you get back to doing more work.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquarius-born August Strindberg (1849–1912) was a masterful and influential playwright. He also liked to dabble in painting and photography. His approach in those two fields was different from the polish he cultivated in his writing. “I am an amateur and I intend to stay that way,” he testified about his approach in the visual arts. “I reject all forms of professional cleverness or virtuosity.” Just for now, Aquarius, I recommend you experiment with the latter attitude in your own field. Your skill and earnestness will benefit from doses of playful innocence, even calculated naiveté.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Which of the astrological signs feels the deepest feelings?

I say it’s you Pisceans. You’re connoisseurs of deep feelings, as well as specialists in mysterious, multisplendored, brushes-with-infinity feelings.

And right now, you’re in the Deepest Feelings Phase of your personal cycle. I won’t be surprised if you feel a bit overwhelmed with the richness of it all. But that’s mostly a good thing that you should be grateful for — a privilege and a superpower! Now here’s advice from deep-feeling author Pearl Buck: “You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.”

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GENERAL CUSTODIAN (FULL-TIME, SECOND SHIFT) Evergreen Community Charter School Responsibilities: care and maintenance of school buildings and facilities, general custodial and light groundskeeping work. For more information, go to http://www.evergreenccs. org/careers.

FLORAL DESIGNER AT CAROLINA FLOWERS Carolina Flowers is seeking a professional Floral Designer with 2+ years experience to work at our headquarters in Marshall, NC. Focused on wedding and event work, including installations. Learn more and apply at carolinaflowers.com/ jobs • www.carolinaflowers. com/jobs.

SKILLED LABOR/ TRADES WAREHOUSE OPERATOR The Warehouse Operator is responsible for receiving, storing, and distributing materials, tools, equipment, and products within the establishment. Reporting to the Warehouse Supervisor, this role interfaces with various SNBC departments, vendors, long haul carriers, and customers. https://sierranevada. com/careers/

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FRONT OFFICE & LISTINGS COORDINATOR Mountain Xpress is seeking an organized, multitalented, high-energy, person ready to handle a variety of tasks from connecting incoming callers to the resources they need, to helping develop routines, to simple accounting and collections work. Skills needed are a friendly, professional demeanor, attention to detail, strong verbal and written communication skills, broad computer literacy, including social media and office software tools as well as the ability to self-organize, engage with repetitive data entry and multitask under pressure. Must have a knowledge of Asheville/WNC and be community-minded.

Experience in customer service (especially using point-of-sale systems) and/or publishing preferred. This position is full time; somewhat flexible hours and some benefits are available. To apply, send a cover letter and resume to xpressjob@mountainx.com.

CREATE EXCELLENT FOOD AT ZADIE'S MARKET Zadie's Market is hiring a full-time Kitchen Manager and Line Cooks. Competitive pay, and a chance to work with an amazing chef while also enjoying independence! Learn more at zadiesmarket.com/jobs.

HUMAN SERVICES

TALISMAN CAMP KITCHEN CREW Join a fun crew running our camp kitchen, serving kids with autism, ADHD. Prep, serving, sanitation. Reliable schedule, meals, possible boarding. South of HVL. Linda Tatsapaugh 828-779-2635. www.talismancamps.com.

PROFESSIONAL/ MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR OF EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM OPERATIONS The JCC's Director of Early Childhood Program Operations is half of a co-director team leading Shalom Children's Center, a licensed 5-star program. This position manages personnel, scheduling, budget, and licensing. https://www. jcc-asheville.org/category/ employment/

TEACHING/ EDUCATION A-B TECH IS HIRING A-B Tech is currently taking applications for a full-time position Communication Instructor. For more details and to apply: https:// abtcc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/5608 PART-TIME MUSIC TEACHER Hanger Hall is hiring a parttime music teacher to facilitate a fun, dynamic, choral based music class for 6th-8th grade girls for the 2021-2022 school year. Approximately 12 hours per week starting mid August 2021. Pay range 12-15K. Email a cover letter and resume to employment@hangerhall.org.

WILDERNESS THERAPY FT POSITION Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness is hiring

fulltime staff. Live and work in the wilderness. Teach outdoor living skills, mindfulness, and traditional therapy tools. For more information: nateo@ blueridgewilderness.com or www.blueridgewilderness. com.

CAREGIVERS/ NANNY HOME HELP 7 DAYS DOWNTOWN Located Downtown, Dad ill w/ MS cannot walk w/2 teenagers 7 days June 15 mid-day-June 22 mid-day. pays $150/day Cash. Needs Help with care giving for Dad, house keeping, some meal preparation etc. 10am -9pm daily w/break Habla Espanol YOUR HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED. Vaccination preferred. ronyvee@yahoo. com • 305-962-2545

ARTS/MEDIA

HOTEL/ HOSPITALITY The Room Keeper will be responsible for the general upkeep and cleaning of guest rooms and common areas of a 6-room property in Marshall.

Our ideal team member would be a friendly, detail-oriented person with the ability to see the "small things", manage tasks and able to step in when needed. Learn more at oldmarshalljail.com/jobs.

XCHANGE ELECTRONICS MAC INSTRUCTION NEEDED I am a beginner and am looking to learn how to better operate my MacBook Pro. The Instruction would be over the phone for the time being. I am willing to pay a reasonable rate for the instruction. Please call me to discuss at 706-323-4670

ESTATE SALES

NEWS REPORTER WANTED Mountain Xpress is seeking an experienced reporter to join our team. You should have the chops to cover a wide range of issues of community concern, including local government and politics, the environment, community activism, education, economic issues, public safety, criminal justice and more. You must be able to craft stories that convey important, timely information and empower readers to take part in meaningful civic dialogue and effect change at the local level.

Qualified applicants will have experience in news-writing, have social-media skills, write efficiently and enjoy a fast-paced news-gathering environment. Must have knowledge of Asheville and WNC, be community-minded, have a keen sense of fairness with respect for differing points of view and be committed to Xpress’ mission of community-based journalism.

Flexible availability required to cover some after-hours meetings and weekend events.

This is a full-time position with benefits. Send cover letter, resume and clips/links to xpressjob@mountainx.com.

COMPUTER/ TECHNICAL ACF TECHNOLOGIES, INC. SEEKING A TECHNICAL LOGISTIC SPECIALIST The Logistics Specialist will be responsible for shipping, receiving, and inventory of ACF equipment as well as setup/configuration and repair of equipment. tisa. bishop@acftechnologies. com • https://www.acftechnologies.com/

VILLAGE TRADE SUMMER EXCHANGE: ONLINE LOCAL CONSIGNMENT EVENT Register to sell NOW! SIGN up now to PURGE with PURPOSE. SHOP ONLINE 6/610. Sell clothes, housewares, outdoor gear & MORE online LOCALLY. Central drop-off & pick-up, no front porches or parking lots. DETAILS/ REGISTRATION@www. villagetradecarolinas.com.

WANTED BUYING OLD PAPER MONEY Asheville, WNC, ETN over 10 years. Fair, open, and responsive. Buying currency, bonds, maps, documents, etc. Email papermoneybuy@ gmail.com, or call/text 865207-8994. Member SPMC, NCNA, SCNA, TNA. FEMALE PIT BULL COMPANION Male neutered Pit Bull; 10 years old; Needs female companion for play dates. Your dog can play in my fenced backyard or we could go on walks together.

I am in my 70's and live in N. Asheville. Please call Joan at 706.323.4670

SERVICES AUDIO/VIDEO CABLE PRICE INCREASE AGAIN? Switch To DIRECTV & Save + get a $100 visa gift card! Get More Channels For Less Money. Restrictions apply.

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ACROSS 1 Lead-in to love or care 5 Begins to wake 10 Part of a frame 14 Cowboy boot feature DISH TV SPECIAL $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote.

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HOME 4G LTE HOME INTERNET NOW AVAILABLE! Get GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo! 1-888-5190171 (AAN CAN) NEVER PAY FOR COVERED HOME REPAIRS AGAIN! Complete Care Home Warranty COVERS ALL MAJOR SYSTEMS AND APPLIANCES. 30 DAY RISK FREE. $200.00 OFF + 2 FREE Months! 1-877673-0511 | Hours Mon-Thu, Sun: 9:30 am to 8:00 pm Fri: 9:30 am to 2:00 pm (all times Eastern) (AAN CAN)

LEGAL STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BUNCOMBE NOTICE TO CREDITORS State of North Carolina County of Buncombe IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK FILE NO.: 21 E 644 In the Matter of the Estate of Jann Morton Nance, Deceased. NOTICE TO CREDITORS James Lewis Nance, having qualified as Personal Representative of

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15 “Pagliacci” baritone 16 “Vesti la giubba,” in “Pagliacci” the Estate of Jann Morton Nance, deceased, hereby notifies all persons, firms or corporations having claims against the decedent to exhibit same to the said James Lewis Nance at the address below on or before August 16, 2021 or this Notice may be pleaded in bar of any payment or recovery of same. All persons indebted to said decedent will please make immediate payment to the undersigned at the address set out below. This is the 12th day of May, 2021.

James Lewis Nance, Personal Representative Estate of Jann Morton Nance c/o KINCAID & ASSOC., PLLC 5215 Junction Circle, Suite 100 Wilmington, NC 28412

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17 Number that, in Chinese languages, is a homophone for “longevity,” and is thus considered good luck 18 Man with morals BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR! We edit, print and distribute your work internationally. We do the work… You reap the Rewards! Call for a FREE Author’s Submission Kit: 844-511-1836. (AAN CAN) DONATE YOUR CAR TO KIDS Your donation helps fund the search for missing children.

Accepting Trucks, Motorcycles & RV’s , too! Fast Free Pickup – Running or Not - 24 Hour Response - Maximum Tax Donation – Call 877-266-0681 (AAN CAN) NOTICE OF UNCLAIMED PROPERTY The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department: electronic equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including firearms): jewelry: automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous items. Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property has 30 days from the date of this publication to make a claim. Unclaimed items will be disposed of according to statutory law. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property and Evidence Section, 828-2324576. NOTICE OF DISPOSITION The following is a list of unclaimed and confiscated property at the Asheville Police Department tagged for disposition: audio and video equipment; cameras; clothing; lawn and garden equipment; personal items; tools; weapons (including firearms): jewelry: automotive items; building supplies; bikes and other miscellaneous. All items will

edited by Will Shortz 19 Something you might do “over backward” 20 Poem subtitled “A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888” 23 Discard 24 Hidalgo honorific 27 One greeting others with the shaka sign 31 Day-___ paint 32 Family room fixture 36 1950s White House nickname 37 Accessory for Wonder Woman 40 Greeting in Portuguese 41 ___ pants 43 Some winter travelers to the U.S. 46 Restaurant request 47 “The Louisville Lip” 49 ___ culpa 50 Goof 51 Hokkaido honorific be disposed of 30 days from date of posting. Items to be auctioned will be displayed on www.propertyroom.com.

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Order today and receive free shipping on 1st order - prescription required. Call 1-855-750-1612 (AAN CAN) UNCLAIMED FIREARMS The following is a list of unclaimed firearms currently in possession of the Asheville Police Department: Black Smith & Wesson .380 SN:KAN6973. Blue/Silver Kel-Tec 9mm SN:ACV04. Black Smith & Wesson .380 SN:KDW7468. Black/Silver Ruger .45 SN:66316977. Black/Tan Taurus.40 SN:SJY0618. Black/ Brown Ultra-Hi .22 SN:T15316.

Black/Brown Remington 12 ga SN:0880918A. Brown Glenfield 22 cal SN:25636597. Black/ Brown Savage Arms 12 ga SN:D902674. Black Mossberg 22 cal SN:EM63847930.

Black Mossberg 12 ga SN:MV41127C. Black Hi-Point 9mm SN:800808. Black Colt 38 cal SN:206345. Black Glock .380 SN:ABCS925. Black Ruger 9mm SN:45169504.

Black/Silver Accu-tek .380 SN:25365. Black/Silver FEG 9mm SN:AV2923. Black/ Brown RG 38 cal SN:21214.

Black/Silver Smith & Wesson 38 cal SN:79692. Brown/Silver NAAC 22 LR cal SN:V25213.

Black Harrington & Richardson 20 ga SN:NZ616241.

Black Beretta 22 LR cal SN:DAA068268. Black Colt 22 cal SN:L16021. Black/Brown Marlin 22 cal SN:L26247.

Black Diamondback 5.56.x 45 SN:DB-1815336. Brown/ Silver RG 25 cal SN:P064104.

Black Winchester 12 ga SN:L3515955. Black/Brown

No. 0428

54 Spokes, say 56 ___-Coeur (Paris basilica) 58 Easy-to-resolve situation … or a hint to the progression found in 20-, 23-, 43-, 46- and 58-Across 64 Fix 65 Sign of spring 66 Player that debuted in 2001 67 Chaka Khan, vocally 68 David of the Talking Heads 69 Refuse

DOWN 1 I.R.S. ID 2 The “Mahabharata” or the “Ramayana” 3 Moon goddess 4 Certain Michelangelo work 5 Patronizes, as a hotel Armi 25 cal SN:MK12288.

Black/Brown Springfield 45 cal SN:NM470531. Black Smith & Wesson .380 SN:KBE3879.

Black Glock 40 cal SN:RFM933.

Black Colt 32 cal SN:58495.

Black Astra .380 SN:1146591.

Black/Silver SCCY 9mm SN:293613.

Silver/White Senorita 22 cal SN:19558.

Black/Gray Glock 9mm SN:ADNW140. Black/Silver Taurus 38 cal SN:CW35396.

Black/Brown Smith & Wesson 38 cal SN:AAS0960. Black/ Silver Ruger .357 SN:57593970. Black/Brown Kel-Tec 9mm SN:SJH26. Black/Silver Taurus 45 cal SN:NAW53451.

Brown/Silver Jennings 22 cal SN:389042. Black Marlin 22 cal SN:24651349. Black/ Brown Charter Arms 38 cal SN:513107. Black Smith & Wesson 9mm SN:HWA8010.

Brown/Silver Raven 25 cal SN:1006496. Black/Silver Sig Sauer .380 SN:27B376078.

Black CZ 9mm SN:C167773.

Black Ruger 9mm SN:380318397. Black Ruger 9mm SN:33041335. Black Jennings .380 SN:1422279.

Black/Silver Ruger 9mm SN:33048465. Brown/Silver Jennings 22 cal SN:233979.

Black/Cream Lorcin 22 cal SN:B06934.

Black MAB 6.35 cal SN:208082. Black/ Brown EIG 22 cal SN:184520.

Black/Silver Taurus 9mm SN:TCM76506. Black/Brown NEF 22 cal SN:NB019734.

Black Smith & Wesson 38 cal SN:CAY5116. Black Kel-Tec 32 cal SN:CC426. Black Hi-Point 9mm SN:800808.

Gray Ruger .308 SN:68082995. Black/Silver Smith & Wesson 40 cal SN:HEY6450.

Black Bushmaster 5.56mm SN:BF1675317. Black Crusader .223 SN:DV005144. Black/ Silver PW Arms 9 x 18mm SN:AI4024. Black Hi-Point

puzzle by Hal Moore 6 Ready-___ (convenient food option) 7 Where Ariana Grande has 230+ million followers, informally 8 Hoots 9 Specious reasoner 10 Talk nonsense 11 Floor plan info 12 Ideal condition for collectibles 13 “___ dog!”

21 Pencil holder, at times 22 End of a professor’s address 24 ___ Pepper 25 “The Book of ___” (2010 film) 26 Done intentionally 28 Where the “balcony scene” takes place in “West Side Story” 29 Scratch (out) 30 “Out of Time” band 33 The spirit of Russia?

34 Haphazardly assemble, with “together” 35 Two concentric circles, on a golf scorecard 38 Fan noise 39 Target for iron supplements 41 Inspiration for Citizen Kane 42 ___-backwards 44 Crackerjack 45 Always, to poets 47 Something you might pick up at a bakery

9mm SN:P1226622. Black Smith & Wesson 38 cal SN:94K2385.

Brown/Silver Harrington & Richardson 22 cal SN:AH42914. Black Glock 10mm SN:BKGR220. Black/ Silver Taurus .380 SN:29893E. Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property must contact the Asheville Police Department within 30 days from the date of this publication. Any items not claimed within 30 days will be disposed of in accordance with all applicable laws. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property & Evidence Section at 828232-4576.

to Sell Real Estate by filing your answer with the Chancery Court for Maury County, Tennessee and serving a copy on Plaintiff’s attorney, Ellen Zhang, 310 Great Circle Road, Nashville, TN 37243.

Otherwise, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Plaintiff will seek judgement by default against you and request that the Court declare that you have been duly noticed and had no objection. A copy of this notice will be published four (4) times in the weekly newspaper, Mountain Xpress.

This is the 18th day of May 2021. Ellen Zhang # 035713, Attorney for Plaintiff, Office of General Counsel, Division of TennCare, 310 Great Circle Road, Nashville, Tennessee 37243, (615) 532-1457.

LEGAL NOTICES LAND OF SKY REGIONAL COUNCIL Land of Sky Regional Council shall hold a public hearing at the Council’s offices at 339 New Leicester Hwy, Suite 140, Asheville, NC 28806 at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23 on the Council’s budget for the fiscal year-ended June 30, 2022. The preliminary budget has been submitted to the governing board and is available for public inspection at the Council’s offices. May 27, 2021 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION NOTICE TO Larry John King, heir of Mazie Chisolm King: In the above-styled civil action, it appearing by sworn complaint that your address is unknown and cannot be ascertained upon diligent inquiry, you are hereby given notice that on or before thirty (30) days following June 16, 2021, the last publication of this notice, you are hereby required to answer the Petition to Remove the Administrator and Petition

48 Place for a pin 52 Basis of some insurance fraud 53 Highmaintenance, in a way 55 ___-European languages 57 What’s anything but basic?

59 Catch 60 Like some wine and humor 61 “Aaron Burr, ___” (“Hamilton” song) 62 Female lobster 63 Manipulate

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TRAVEL RIDE SHARE RIDE SHARE TO GEORGIA Ride share to either Atlanta or Columbus, Georgia needed.

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