Mountain Xpress 09.13.23 by Mountain Xpress

OUR 30TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 30 NO. 7 SEPT. 13-19, 2023

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OPINION

FEATURES 7

THE BIG PICTURE Buncombe County must protect our communities from plastic pollution

10 A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN Former motel offers homeless folks a fresh start

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14 BUNCOMBE BEAT County pursues more beds for homeless shelters

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The city-owned Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is closed to ticketed shows for the foreseeable future, after its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system failed in July. Leaders in the city and local arts community are hoping this is finally the moment the venue will get a makeover. COVER PHOTO Thomas Wolfe Auditorium photo by Frances O’Connor; symphony image courtesy of iStock COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick 4

LETTERS

CARTOON: MOLTON

CARTOON: BRENT BROWN

COMMENTARY

NEWS

16 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 20 WELLNESS 22 ARTS & CULTURE

36 CLASSIFIEDS 39 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 39 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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STAFF PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes ASSISTANT PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas Calder EDITORS: Lisa Allen, Jessica Wakeman ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Thomas Calder OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose STAFF REPORTERS: Edwin Arnaudin, Thomas Calder, Chase Davis, Andy Hall, Justin McGuire, Greg Parlier, Brooke Randle, Jessica Wakeman COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Andy Hall, Braulio Pescador-Martinez CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Mindi Friedwald, Peter Gregutt, Mary Jean Ronan Herzog, Rob Mikulak REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Mark Barrett, Blake Becker, Morgan Bost, Carmela Caruso, Bill Kopp, Storms Reback, Kay West PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cindy Kunst ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER: Vicki Catalano LEAD DESIGNER: Scott Southwick GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Tina Gaafary, Olivia Urban MARKETING ASSOCIATES: Sara Brecht, Vicki Catalano, Jamie Knox, Scott Mermel INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: Hinton Edgerton, Jeff Fobes, Mark Murphy, Scott Southwick WEB: Brandon Tilley BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler ADMINISTRATION & BILLING: Hinton Edgerton, Mark Murphy, Lisa Watters DISTRIBUTION: Susan Hutchinson, Cindy Kunst DISTRIBUTION DRIVERS: Leah Beck, Marlea Kunst, John McKay, Alexis Miller, Desiree Davis Mitchell, Henry Mitchell, Angelo Santa Maria, Courtney Israel Nash, Carl & Debbie Schweiger, Gary Selnick

MOUNTAINX.COM

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

OPINION

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

Join in to rebuild playground and forge unity Water leaks. Crumbling auditoriums. Homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks. An understaffed police department. Tourism down. There seems to be no end to bad news in Asheville. Take heart! There is good news! A group of private citizens is engaged in rebuilding Jones Park on the campus of Ira B. Jones Elementary School. Built in 1999 by volunteers and sponsored jointly by Quality Forward, the City of Asheville and Asheville City Schools, the park provided a generation of children from all over Asheville a place to play. Children from the immediate neighborhood, southern Buncombe County, day care centers, even folks passing through Asheville with kids enjoyed the playground. Sadly, the park was not maintained. In August 2021, the park was condemned and was demolished in September 2021. There was no plan to rebuild. Angry and disappointed, folks immediately reacted. Led by David Rodgers, there began an 18-month effort to rebuild the park. David solicited over $300,000 in private donations and began working his way through city, county and school board regulations. Finally, last April, the project was approved. Construction is scheduled to begin Oct. 4 and will be done over five days. Some 800 volunteers will be needed to staff three shifts per day over the five days. Come join in. The project motto has become: “The community builds a park; the park builds a community.” With all the issues fragmenting our community, come join in a project that will build unity. This project is being financed with private donations and built by volunteers. You can sign

Time to retire ‘Best Of’ villain category

C A RT O O N B Y R AN DY M O L T O N up to join in at: https://bit.ly/buildpark or www.rebuildjonespark.org. — Michael N. Lewis Asheville

Looking for more peace in the community JFK once said: “Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.” This is more true today than ever. One thing our world certainly needs more of is peace. Peace in our homes, peace in our communities, peace in our country and peace in the world. Unfortunately, we live in a country that engages in endless wars and military conflicts. Unfortunately, other countries often do the same, although not as extensively as the USA does. Local peace activists have marked the United Nations International Day of Peace in WNC for over a dozen years now. The date for the

International Day of Peace is Sept. 21. On that date, people around the world engage in activities to bring attention to peace and an end to violent conflict. The U.N. also marks the Day of NonViolence every Oct. 2. On Thursday, Sept. 21, there will be a peace walk in West Asheville at 5:30 p.m., starting at the corner of Haywood Road and Louisiana Avenue. On Saturday, Sept. 23, peace activists will host a Program for Peace and Nonviolence at Land of the Sky United Church of Christ (15 Overbrook Place in Asheville) from 2-4 p.m. We will be marking the 14th Annual International Day of Peace in WNC and honoring our local Peacemakers of the Year. We will honor all local efforts for a more just, peaceful and nonviolent world. We are trying to find ways for more peace in the world and in our community. Please join us. — Susan Oehler Asheville

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None among us would disagree that, as a nation, we’re plagued with divisiveness and lack of civil discourse. Nor would few disagree that at some level, in some way, we’re all in this together. The need to coexist, civilly, in addressing what’s before us is paramount. To that end, there’s no place in your “Best Of” to identify the top three local villains. It serves no purpose and doesn’t serve our community in any way. I’d suggest, moving forward, you no longer include it as a category. Don’t be part of the problem. — Bruce Kelly Asheville Editor’s response: Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Best of WNC category. We continue to believe the category has validity in the form of honest feedback from community members. While today’s civic dialogue has grown more antagonistic, that doesn’t mean Xpress should suppress that feedback by eliminating the category — one that has a lengthy tradition in the years of Best of WNC.

Your parental rights begin and end with your kids For the last 30 years, my wife and I raised two wonderful kids here in Weaverville. They are successful, well-adjusted and, most importantly, happy. Both are products of the North Buncombe school system, and while they were usually the only Jewish kids in their class, my wife and I gave them a strong cultural identity because of what we taught them at home. All in all, we’re pretty proud of the job we did as parents. So, imagine my surprise upon learning we are not the only ones charged with parenting our kids. I recently read that Moms for Liberty has started a Buncombe County chapter; this is the same group the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled as anti-government extremists. In its report, The Year in Hate & Extremism 2022, the SPLC characterized Moms for Liberty’s primary goals as follows: “to fuel right-wing hysteria and to make the world a less comfortable or safe place for certain students — primarily those who are Black, LGBTQ or who come from LGBTQ families.” I must say, I find it more than a little disconcerting when a very small but strident minority with extreme

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN views feels entitled to impose their views on the majority. If those within the M4L group do not like how some people choose to live their lives, OK. If they don’t like particular books, they don’t have to read them or allow their kids to read them. They do not, however, have the right to make those decisions for the rest of us. Every parent has the right to raise their kids in the manner they think best. They do not have the right to raise anyone else’s kids. — Alan Silverman Weaverville

Young athletes should get more screening I am writing about young athletes dying while playing all across the United States. I think teenagers both locally and across the country should get a more thorough medical exam from their primary care givers. Often, they just get a thump on the chest or are asked to breathe deeply a couple of times while the doctor listens with a stethoscope. Maybe their resting pulse is counted by a nurse. I think all states should pass laws that require each student to do a stress test on a walking belt machine that gets progressively faster while he/she is hooked up to an electro-

cardiogram machine. The athletes should get wired up with electrical EKG pads, then they should be required to run up and down a basketball court or do a short football practice until they sweat. They then should be asked to stop, then quickly be attached to an EKG machine that prints out a strip of paper. I think that the doctors could then see anything abnormal in the heart and then tell the potential athlete not to sign up for sports activities. I know it would be difficult for potential athletes to be told they couldn’t participate, but it’s better for them to discover a heretofore unknown heart defect or arrhythmia that could be fixed by surgery or medicine than to drop dead at a sports event. Well, that’s my opinion. — Tom L. Nanney Asheville

Reverse mindset on guns for a safer country Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” died recently. He was embraced by the Republican Party after he confronted Barack Obama on the 2008 campaign trail over tax policy. Joe the Plumber was also a staunch defender of the

right to bear arms. After the 2014 mass shooting that left six University of California, Santa Barbara, students dead, he wrote to the parents of one of the victims: “As harsh as this sounds — your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights.” The sad reality is that U.S. children and teens are more likely to die from gun violence than car crashes, drug overdoses and cancer. According to a new analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun-related deaths among children reached record levels in 2021, claiming 4,752 young lives, surpassing the record total seen during the first year of the pandemic. Just days into the new school year, UNC Chapel Hill went into lockdown, with a graduate student accused of fatally shooting a professor. Luckily, a greater tragedy was averted, but a series of tweets between parents and students published by the campus newspaper underscore the emotional trauma of the event, even when young lives weren’t lost. One of the most avoidable gun violence tragedies is unintentional shootings by young children. Entering Labor Day weekend, there were a series of tragic events that underscored the need for safe gun storage. A woman in Tennessee killed a 4-year-old girl while demonstrating gun safety. A 5-year-old in

Gary, Ind., fatally shot himself after finding an unsecured gun inside a house. An 8-year-old accidentally shot and killed his older brother as their family was in the process of fleeing Hurricane Idalia. Nearly every day in the U.S., a child gains access to a loaded firearm and unintentionally shoots themselves or another person, and the victims are often children themselves. Dr. Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon and researcher said, “The most likely reason that your child will die in this country is at the hands of a firearm. That’s not acceptable.” Apparently, most Republican lawmakers find these incidents acceptable. They have not only voted against gun safety legislation and safe storage laws, but many red states like North Carolina have loosened their gun laws over the last few years, making it easier to obtain a firearm. Ted Budd, Chuck Edwards and their Republicans colleagues may not be as harsh in their political speech as Joe the Plumber, but their voting records mirror his blunt language, “Your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights.” We need to reverse this mindset for a safer, saner country for our children and grandchildren. — John Owens Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense Hendersonville

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OPINION

The big picture Buncombe County must protect our communities from plastic pollution

BY KARIM OLAECHEA Are you sick of plastic pollution clogging up our rivers, littering our roadsides and trails, and getting stuck in our trees? Are you worried about how plastics and the additives used to make them are affecting the health of you, your children and the planet? On Sept. 19, join MountainTrue, the Sierra Club’s Western North Carolina Group, the N.C. Public Interest Research Group and the Creation Care Alliance at the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting at 5 p.m. to call on our elected leaders to take action on the growing problem of plastic pollution by passing a ban on single-use plastic grocery bags and plastic foam (better known by the brand name Styrofoam) takeout containers. WHAT A WASTE Asheville and Buncombe County should take pride in our progress toward a green energy future. But as we transition away from coal, oil and natural gas, the fossil fuel industry is relying on plastics to maintain its profits. Petrochemical and plastics manufacturers are innovating ever more wasteful ways to package everything from single servings of almonds to individual toothpicks in a film of plasticized petrochemicals. Production of single-use plastics has nearly doubled since 2000 and will account for nearly half of oil demand growth by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency — which strongly recommends policies to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics. Less than 10% of plastic gets recycled. It’s even worse with plastic bags and plastic foam, which can’t be recycled at home or at most recycling centers. In Buncombe County, our recycling center, Curbside Management, estimates that it spends approximately $10,000 each month removing plastic bags from its facility and sending them to local landfills. The recycling bins at our local grocery store aren’t a much better guarantee. Last year, ABC News placed trackers in 46 bundles of plastic bags and dropped them off in the hard-to-recycle bins of stores across the country. So far, half the bundles ended up at landfills or trash incin-

erators. Three ended up overseas, likely also in landfills or incinerated. Only four of the trackers ended up in U.S. recycling facilities, and a spokesperson for the American Chemistry Council admitted that the store dropoff concept “doesn’t work to the scale we want.” CHANGING BEHAVIOR The only real solution is to reduce the use of plastic bags before they enter our waste stream. That’s why MountainTrue and our partners in the Plastic-Free WNC coalition are proposing a ban on single-use plastic grocery bags and plastic foam takeout containers that includes a 10-cent fee on paper bags. More than 500 local governments across 28 U.S. states have taken action to reduce plastic pollution. We’ve borrowed the best parts of those bills and drafted a model ordinance to provide the greatest environmental benefits at a relatively low cost to customers and taxpayers. Buncombe County residents use approximately 132.4 million plastic shopping bags annually. Our ordinance would zero out the plastic shopping bags and cause a relatively minor increase — about 10% — in the number of paper bags used. On balance, our ordinance would significantly reduce the amount of pollution, waste and greenhouse gases created to help county residents carry their groceries out of the store. It would reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 43%, fossil fuel consumption by 86%, solid waste by 66%, greenhouse gas emissions by 83%, fresh water consumption by 32%, and energy use by 73.3% compared with how much we use to maintain the current status quo, according to MountainTrue’s calculations based on local figures and American Chemistry Council’s data. If county commissioners also adopted our proposed mandate that grocers use paper bags with at least 40% recycled content, that would reduce fossil fuel consumption by 6.7% and greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared to virgin paper, based on MountainTrue’s calculations using the Environmental Paper Network’s calculator. A 10-cent fee on paper bags is critical to changing behavior and helping people remember their reusable bags.

KARIM OLAECHEA Aldi already charges a fee, and Whole Foods gives shoppers a 10-cent discount for each bag they bring to the grocery store. Our ordinance would standardize those policies and make them more equitable by exempting customers using the federal food assistance programs EBT, SNAP and WIC. We’ve also spoken to officials in communities that have passed similar ordinances, such as Charleston, S.C. They’ve assured us that these ordinances are easy to implement, manage and enforce by government staff. So, what’s stopping Buncombe County commissioners from passing a plastic bag ban? We don’t know. However, by refusing to take action on plastic pollution, they neglect their legal obligation under the N.C. Solid Waste Management Act — which prioritizes waste reduction at the source and mandates that local governments implement programs to address deficiencies and “protect human health and the environment.” THREAT TO HEALTH Make no mistake — plastic bags and plastic foam are present in our environment and threaten human and environmental health. The plastics we pull out of our rivers from our forests don’t biodegrade; they break down into smaller pieces that eventually become microplastics. MountainTrue has a robust microplastic monitoring program. Our staff and volunteers have collected and analyzed water samples from the Broad, French Broad, Green, Hiwassee, Little Tennessee, New River and Watauga

river basins for several years. We found microplastics in every sample from every region, even in otherwise pristine areas and protected watersheds. In the French Broad River, 40% of those microplastics were films derived from food packaging, tarps, candy wrappers and, yes, plastic grocery bags. Once in our environment, microplastics make their way up the food chain and are even carried by the wind. They harm birds and have been found in at least 114 aquatic species, including the fish we eat. It’s estimated that we all breathe or consume approximately one credit card’s worth of microplastics every week. Microplastics have even been found in the human placenta and breast milk. Both polystyrene, a known carcinogen used in plastic foam, and polyethylene, used to make plastic bags, have been found in human blood. The effects of plastics are an emerging field, but studies suggest that microplastics could disrupt immune and endocrine systems, damage organs, increase cancer risks and affect pregnancy outcomes. Plastics are also a significant contributor to climate change, which the National Academy of Medicine has called “one of the most pressing existential threats to human health.” In 2019, the Center for International Environmental Law estimated that the production and incineration of plastic added 850 metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — the equivalent of 189 coal-fired power plants. This is expected to rise to 2.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year — or 615 coal plants — by 2050. TIME TO ACT Banning plastic grocery bags isn’t a silver bullet, but a critical first step. It’s also a broadly popular policy. A City of Asheville community survey found that more than 80% of residents and businesses that participated support banning plastic bags. On Aug. 15, the Town of Woodfin passed a resolution by a vote of 5-1, urging county commissioners to pass a ban on plastic bags, and, as of press time, the Town of Black Mountain was expected to do the same on Sept. 11. Now it’s Buncombe County’s turn. Visit mountaintrue.org, join us on Sept. 19 and remind our commissioners that they have a legal and moral obligation to act. Let’s make it clear that passing a plastic bag ban might be the easiest and most popular thing they do all year. Karim Olaechea is the deputy director of strategy and communications for MountainTrue, an Asheville-based environmental nonprofit organization. X

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

NEWS

Time for a makeover

Artists and promoters point out shortcomings of Asheville’s auditorium

BY GREG PARLIER gparlier@mountainx.com For decades, touring comedians have cracked jokes about — and heads on — the tiny doorway to the basement dressing rooms of Asheville’s Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. “The Wolfe,” as it’s come to be known, has been at the core of Asheville’s arts and music scene since 1940, including hosting the Asheville Symphony since 1968. It’s accumulated the stories and energy that decades of performances are sure to produce. Now, with the city-owned auditorium closed to ticketed shows for the foreseeable future after its heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system failed in July, leaders in the city and local arts community are hoping this is finally the moment the Wolfe will get a makeover “The stars have aligned,” says Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer about the possibilities of the auditorium’s first major renovation in almost 50 years. Conversations have started and stalled numerous times over her 14-year tenure on City Council. For the symphony, which will play shows this season at various venues — from the First Baptist Church of Asheville to the Brevard Music Center — upgrades can’t come soon enough. “We can weather this sort of storm for a couple of years. But if it drags on in perpetuity, the symphony is going to have a really hard time making things work,” said Daniel Crupi, executive director of the Asheville Symphony at a recent town hall event. “The status of the organization and the musicians that rely on this organization to make a living, all of that is in jeopardy. So, for us, the situation is very, very dire.” ’DON’T PASS OUT TONIGHT’ In front of a sold-out show July 3, Thom Yorke of The Smile, an English rock trio consisting of two members of Radiohead, was worried about the crowd’s safety in a packed, 86-degree auditorium. Venue management was relying on fewer cooling units to make up for one that failed the previous week. “Don’t f-ing pass out tonight,” he told the crowd, according to Matthieu Rodriguez, marketing manager for Harrah’s Cherokee Center at Asheville. Two other HVAC units went out after that show, forcing a full closure. 8

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

OLD WOLFE: Promoters and musicians say it’s time for upgrades at Asheville’s 2,500-seat theater. Issues include a narrow loading area, top center, and a steep onstage ramp, bottom center. Under the stage, a recent tour-goer has to duck to leave the dressing rooms, top right. Meanwhile, the thermostat, bottom right, shows the recent temperature in the currently closed auditorium. Photos by Frances O’Connor But heating and cooling isn’t the only thing that needs to be fixed at the 83-year-old auditorium. From the seats, one can see paint peeling off the walls and water stains on ceiling tiles. Multiple chairs have caught fire (with no one sitting in them) due to electrical wiring issues in the house. Balcony seating doesn’t face the stage because the auditorium was originally designed to double as a sports venue with a flat floor. But the issues go way deeper than what the average attendee can see from the audience. For decades, Asheville has been known among touring performers for its cramped loading area along the south side of the Thomas Wolfe, according to everyone interviewed for this story. There’s barely room for one semitractor-trailer in the alley, and the ramp to the stage area is so steep that a winch system is often used to get large amps and other equipment up the 60-degree slope.

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On stage, there’s not much room to store equipment or move around, which makes things particularly difficult for a large symphony orchestra, Crupi says. “The stage can barely accommodate a smaller-sized orchestra. And we always have a really hard time getting a full orchestra and our 110voice chorus on stage together,” he says. And lighting, especially in the back areas of the stage, is poor. If the lighting on a particular performer is not quite right, the rig has to be lowered by hand and adjusted, Crupi says, a manual element you would not expect from a large auditorium in the 21st century. It can be so dark backstage that several years ago, the first-chair violinist was moving a chair behind the orchestra shell before a performance when she tripped and fell, breaking her arm and wrist, recounts Mike Brubaker, longtime horn player in the Asheville Symphony. The woman

played the show anyway, including a substantial violin solo, he says. “It was remarkable. I know that she did that performance in a great deal of pain, but she’s just a consummate professional musician. She did her best under the circumstances,” he remembers. Symphony oboe player Cara Jenkins calls that story legendary because everyone expected something like that to happen in The Wolfe at some point. Further, bits of plaster have fallen on musicians during shows, including on the timpani drum, making concentration difficult in the midst of a complicated orchestral arrangement, to put it mildly, Brubaker says. Beyond the stage issues, a dressing room area beneath the stage that immediately transports you to the 1970s is entered through a door that few would fit through without ducking. That has fueled bits from Jerry Seinfeld and produced bruises for

Bill Maher, among others, remembers Rodriguez. “It’s beyond old-fashioned. It’s very, very hazardous. I’ve been embarrassed for a lot of the visiting musical groups that don’t come away with a very good impression of Asheville, just because of space and conditions of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium,” says Brubaker, who also represents musicians as chair of the orchestra committee. NOT BUILT AS A SYMPHONY HALL One upside of The Wolfe’s closure to ticketed shows, according to Jenkins, is that orchestra members will be able to actually hear themselves play in their temporary homes. In the Wolfe, they have to work extra hard to fill the room with sound because it has almost no reverberation, she says. “It’s almost like a mixed blessing and curse to leave the Thomas Wolfe because acoustically it is horrendous. It’s such a bad hall; there is nothing that I can think of that’s worse than the Thomas Wolfe,” she says. “It doesn’t have any ring.” First Baptist Church of Asheville, meanwhile, is structured like a fishbowl, providing almost too much reverb, Jenkins says. The downside, of course, is the symphony will play to smaller audiences from smaller stages, meaning more shows, more expense and less money for the organization, Crupi says. For Jenkins, the ideal scenario would be getting the acoustics of the church in an auditorium the size of the Wolfe. In fairness to The Wolfe, it wasn’t built with a modern symphony orchestra in mind. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium dates to the construction of a 3,000-seat Municipal Auditorium in 1940 with a flat floor capable of being converted into a ballroom. It was renowned

in its time by critics for its art deco style, designed by Asheville architect Lindsey Gudger. It was designed not just for musical concerts and theatrical performances, but also as a space for “social events, athletic contests of certain kinds, and a variety of conventions and conferences,” according to the center’s website. It wasn’t until 1975, when the civic center complex now known as Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville was added, complete with a banquet hall, arena and auditorium lobby, that the Wolfe was renovated to have the sloped, or “raked” floor more suitable for regular, seated performing arts shows. Other than basic upkeep, not much has been done to the auditorium since, leading to calls in recent years for upgrades. A plan was underway as recently as January 2020, when conceptual designs were presented to the community in a public information session after Asheville City Council approved $500,000 for designs and budget development in 2017. COVID eliminated the need for a large public gathering space shortly thereafter, and the conversation was dead until the HVAC went out this summer. Chris Corl, director of community and regional entertainment facilities for the City of Asheville, estimates it will cost the city $1.2 million to fix the HVAC so that shows can return to full capacity. Corl has presented plans ranging from basic upgrades costing roughly $40 million to making The Wolfe Broadway-ready, which could run up to $200 million. Symphony members Brubaker and Jenkins are rooting for the acoustic-driven renovation option, which could cost upward of $150 million if renovations were to start in 2028, as Corl estimates is the bestcase scenario. In the meantime, Corl plans to have the HVAC system patched for

about $190,000 in order to open the auditorium in late fall for limited-capacity events. A COMFORTABLE SHOE For local promoter Jessica Tomasin, the studio manager for Echo Mountain Recording Studios and creator of Connect Beyond Festival, The Wolfe is a unique venue worth keeping around. “It’s such a well-worn space, it’s like putting on a pair of your favorite comfortable shoes,” she says. She’s been to countless shows at the auditorium in the 24 years she’s lived here, and because it maintains its independence from large event promoters like Live Nation (parent of Ticketmaster), it means local promoters like herself can run events there. The Wolfe is ideal for an event like Connect Beyond, she says, because its size and versatility mean she can show films and have live musical elements in the same room in front of a large audience. But like everyone else, she’s aware of its problems. Tomasin compared The Wolfe to a local band on the verge of a big break. It has the chance to upgrade from touring in a minivan to an RV,

and she believes it can take that leap to better gear and better digs without losing the spirit that made it successful in the first place. “I think it will be easy to still embody that spirit of it, but also making it something that’s, you know, way more conducive for everybody that’s coming through there,” she says. For Brubaker, who says he’s been enduring The Wolfe’s shortcomings for far too long, there’s no reason to hold back on renovations. “If we were dealing with a theater that was, let’s say, like the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, where it had some historic value, and had originally been designed with a much larger backstage area, that would be worth restoring. No one has ever really thought of the Thomas Wolfe as a historic venue,” he says. Over the years, the city has toyed with the idea of a full rebuild, but those in the industry agree that a 2,500-seat performing arts center is a vital element of Asheville’s arts and culture scene. “I think that the future of the facility has got to be decided now. It can’t be postponed anymore,” Brubaker says. X

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

NEWS

A room of one’s own Former motel offers homeless folks a fresh start

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN jwakeman@mountainx.com Jeremy Trull has waited a long time for housing: four walls, a door and some privacy. But he’s hoping that this month, after 13 years of living on the street, he can move into Compass Point Village, a permanent supportive housing project developed by local nonprofit Homeward Bound. He signed his lease in mid-July. “My whole summer has been absorbed by just waiting on housing,” says Trull, whom Xpress interviewed at the organization’s AHOPE Day Center. Compass Point Village, a renovated Days Inn motel on Tunnel Road, will provide one-room apartments and supportive services to 85 people, many of them considered to be chronically homeless. According to the National Alliance to End

Homelessness, the term refers to those “who have experienced homelessness for at least a year — or repeatedly — while struggling with a disabling condition such as a serious mental illness, substance use disorder or physical disability.” In keeping with Asheville’s “coordinated entry” strategy, which emphasizes cooperation among the multiple nonprofits working with local homeless folks, priority is given to the people with the greatest need. Those organizations will collectively decide how to allocate any remaining units, says Alanna Kinsella, the organization’s assistant director of permanent supportive housing. A few individuals whom Homeward Bound had previously placed in other permanent housing units will transition to Compass Point Village, she explains. Leases at the village are for one year, and the rent includes

utilities like water, heat and internet. In accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development policy, people with no income won’t pay rent, Kinsella explains. Others will pay no more than 30% of their income. In addition, residents won’t be required to pay the first and/or last month’s rent as a deposit. The $17.8 million project has received funding from many sources. The Dogwood Health Trust, Buncombe County and the City of Asheville each contributed $2 million toward the property’s $6.5 million purchase price. The city’s share leveraged federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. The Dogwood Health Trust was created in 2018 to “dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities in Western North Carolina,” according to its website. The nonprofit’s primary funding was the $1.5 billion that HCA Healthcare, a Nashville-based business, paid to acquire Asheville’s Mission Health System. One of the goals of Compass Point Village is to help residents gain independence. Accordingly, they are free to move out if they wish; however, the apartments are meant to be “their forever home,” says David Nash, Homeward Bound’s interim executive director. Trull, meanwhile, says, “I am just very appreciative of the good Lord above and these nice people and the state of North Carolina and Asheville who are going to so kindly and so generously give me an apartment.” THE HARDEST THING Trull says he’s been coming to AHOPE for years. “Not having a place to live is probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do in your life — besides starving to death,” he tells Xpress. For eight years, Trull camped outdoors. More recently, “I’ve been sleeping in the back of a truck the last few years, and it ain’t no picnic.” Trull has only occasionally been able to stay indoors with friends and says he hasn’t wanted to move into public housing because of “everything that goes on there.” For him, one of the highlights of Compass Point Village is the gate around the property and

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

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GOALS: Jeremy Trull, who has been unhoused for 13 years, signed a lease on an apartment in Compass Point Village in July. Once he’s settled into his permanent supportive housing, he hopes to look for a job at the nearby Asheville Mall. Photo by Jessica Wakeman the fact that it’s “hard for people to get in and out.” Trull, who grew up in Haywood County, describes fractured relationships both with former partners and with his parents, whom he says grew and sold marijuana. Trull describes having worked in construction and building hot rods and says that at one point he owned a home. But he blames himself for his lack of housing now and for not having relationships with his two adult children. “I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life that led me where I’m at,” he says. Among the harsher aspects of Trull’s life story are the four years spent running from a felony charge and a stint in prison. At this point, however, “I really appreciate everything people are doing to make it easier on me.” Living without housing, says Trull, entails a great deal of suffering. “What we have out here is no different than combat fatigue. Once you’ve been homeless, it can bring your life so far down that it

can take a whole lot to bring it back up. You lose parts of yourself along the way, build lots of barriers and walls, mental barriers: You try to keep things out of your head that are gonna drive you nuts, then you got to physically deal with it.” A NEW BEGINNING Compass Point Village isn’t Homeward Bound’s first foray into permanent supportive housing. The Woodfin Apartments, whose 18 units house formerly homeless people, have had a 92% retention rate, notes Nash, demonstrating that the concept can work. A 2020 study in The Lancet noted, “Permanent supportive housing and income assistance interventions were effective in reducing homelessness and achieving housing stability.” Compass Point will offer services such as mental health support and on-site medical care, which are crucial for housing this population, Kinsella explains. Woodfin Apartments residents also have access to those services, though they’re off-site due to space limitations. In addition, living within a gated residence will ensure privacy for people experiencing mental health crises, helping them self-regulate. When crises occur on the street, these individuals often feel exposed and vulnerable, and the presence of others can exacerbate their distress, she notes. At Compass Point Village, resident safety advisers will provide 24/7 security, assisted by video monitors. The advisers will also control whether nonresidents will be allowed past the lobby. Residents, however, will have key cards. Violence will be forbidden on the premises, and violating that rule could get someone evicted. But the residents aren’t required to be in recovery from substance use or to have employment. Those low barriers, Kinsella maintains, are critical to the project’s success. The facility includes a dining area that will serve one hot meal per day, donated by the Equal Plates Project, a local nonprofit formerly known as We Give a Share. There’s also a computer lounge/library and an office for another local nonprofit, the Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness. MAKING IT WORK The 85 studio apartments will serve mostly single adults, with some larger apartments reserved for couples. Although children

SLEEPING SOUNDLY: Every Compass Point Village apartment comes furnished with a bed, couch, TV, fridge, two-burner stove and microwave, among other items, says Alanna Kinsella, pictured, Homeward Bound’s assistant director of permanent supportive housing. Photo by Jessica Wakeman are welcome to visit as guests of residents, families with children aren’t eligible to live here because some of the residents have criminal records involving sex offenses, says Kinsella. Every unit includes a bathroom and a kitchenette and comes furnished with a couch, two-burner stove, refrigerator, microwave, wall-mounted TV and either a single or double bed. Each apartment is approximately 500 square feet; several are wheelchair-accessible. Compass Point Village’s Tunnel Road location is served by bus lines, making it more feasible for residents who don’t have a car. It’s also within walking distance of a Walgreens, Ingles, Whole Foods, a convenience store and the Asheville Mall. Once Trull is settled into his apartment, he says he’ll seek employment at the mall, noting, “Hopefully I’ll be able to get myself back into the workforce and try to have some

kind of a normal life.” But while he’s excited about the stainless steel appliances and the attractive flooring, the best part about his new apartment, he says, will be the lock on the door. “I’ll be able to have possessions and not have anybody steal them.” Other future residents have their own ideas about which aspect of having their own home is most appealing. For Lea Lea Mounce, the highlight will be her TV. “My first night there I’m going to sit there doing this,” she says, miming clicking the buttons of a remote control. Kinsella, meanwhile, says she’s been most surprised by another response she’s heard from incoming residents: ice cream. Homeless people, she explains, lack consistent access to freezers, so a Compass Point Village apartment may be their first opportunity in a long time to keep perishable foods. “It’s the little things,” she adds with a smile. X

Shangri-La in the mountains? A similar project is converting the former Ramada Inn River Ridge Plaza in East Asheville into permanent supportive housing. In May 2021, the city signed a contract to buy the property; in December, after that plan fell through, the contract was transferred to Shangri-La Industries, a for-profit developer based in Los Angeles, which subsequently purchased the former motel. That same year, Asheville City Council approved $1.5 million to fund the first three years of support services for the project. Under the current arrangement, Step Up on Second Street, a California nonprofit, will administer the funds, hiring local teams to provide those services. The project is on track to begin accepting residents in January 2024, says City of Asheville spokesperson Kim Miller. X

MOUNTAINX.COM

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

NEWS

Help wanted

After water crisis, Asheville to hire multiple new employees

BY JOHN BOYLE AN ASHEVILLE WATCHDOG REPORT bark@avlwatchdog.org In the wake of the 11-day holiday season water outage, the City of Asheville plans to hire multiple new employees, including a “valve team” and an engineer, as well as a public information officer for the water department. Water Resources Department Director David Melton and Bill Hart, Water Production Division manager, made a presentation to Asheville City Council during an Aug. 22 work session on the Independent Review Committee’s report on the outage. The five-person valve team is noteworthy because the IRC report, issued in June, said the Water Resources Department was informed about a year before the outage that a key, 24-inch valve in the River Arts District was likely closed, constricting water flow to the western part of the system. That, in conjunction with the freezeup of the Mills River water plant and another key valve supplying the southern end of the system that was only 10% open, prevented the water department from being able to supply enough water to customers. The IRC report said that the Water Resources Department staff should have treated the closed valve information with a “greater sense of urgency.” The IRC found “the wide scale, nature and duration of the outage event was largely avoidable and preventable.” “The failure to locate the suspected closed 24-inch transmission valve in the River Arts District, possibly closed since April 2018, proved to be a major contributor to the event,” the IRC report stated, adding that it “could not determine a reasonable explanation for why the closed

COMPLEX SYSTEM: Asheville’s water system is complex, with varying elevations and pressure zones, and it typically produces about 22 million gallons of water a day. At the start of the crisis, the system output had reached 28 million gallons a day. Photo courtesy of Phillips & Jordan Inc. 24-inch valve was not found” until the crisis occurred. However, while Melton told the IRC he took responsibility for the closed valves, in the Council meeting he appeared to disagree with the IRC report by suggesting that the 24-inch RAD valve wasn’t that important. Questioned by City Council member Antanette Mosley about the closed valve, Melton said that with so many waterline breaks during the outage — the city recorded 27 — the closed valve was not a key contributor to the holiday water crisis.

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“We had breaks before we got to that valve which had to be fixed before technically we could open that valve up,” Melton said. “So, it was almost a blessing in disguise that the valve was closed.” Of the 24-inch valve in the RAD, the report states: “The IRC is of the opinion that no one within the Water Resources Department fully appreciated how impactful such a closed valve could be to the system. That would have required someone fully understanding how the system is to be operated in high-demand situations.” Melton is not a trained engineer. The IRC report found that “Water Resources Department staff perhaps wasn’t convinced that a closed valve actually existed.” Committee members previously told Asheville Watchdog that water workers were sent out to look for the closed valve but didn’t locate it. But they also said that if experienced department workers with historical knowledge of the system had been notified and sent out to search, they would have found it. In the presentation, Melton said the five new positions for the “valve team” will allow the department to take a more active role in maintaining and checking valves. The system has 20,000 valves, including 500 that are 16 inches

or larger, and just a three-person valve crew now. The IRC’s Water Systems/Operations subcommittee recommended that the Water Resources Department should “invest in an effective Valve Assessment Program, especially for their water transmission line valves.” EMPHASIS ON ENGINEERING, VALVE TEAM Melton came to the water department in 2016 with a business background. In his presentation, Melton noted the department’s engineering division has eight employees, including three licensed professional engineers. One of the professional engineers “will begin to take a more active role in water production projects and activities,” the presentation stated. The department also will request another engineering position for the 2025 fiscal year. Melton told City Council the department will likely hire an entry-level engineer, freeing up a more senior-level employee to devote more time to water production issues. Also, the department “is researching best practices across the water industry to improve the department’s knowledge retention strategies,” the presen-

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tation said. “The Engineering Division will be involved with this process.” In his presentation, Melton said the five new positions for the valve team were approved in the 2024 fiscal year budget and should be on board this fall. Also, Water Resources has begun the process of contracting for services to begin the large valve assessment program while new staff is hired and trained. This assessment will access and record valves 16 inches and larger to determine their condition, position and GPS coordinates, and make operational observations, according to the presentation. The city is also installing advanced metering infrastructure for water customers, a $28 million project that began in May and will replace 63,000 water meters that provide much more precise information on usage and outages. Scheduled to be finished by the end of 2025, the project is 5% complete now. The East Asheville Booster Pump Station also was a discussion point. The IRC report said the station, decommissioned in 2010 because of problems with its computer system, could have helped provide adequate water supply during the crisis. Hazen & Sawyer, the city’s consulting engineer on water, conducted modeling work and found that had the station been available during the outage, system pressures would have been improved, especially in the area of Haw Creek Junction. Melton said Water Resources will have a study done on the station to see if it makes sense to bring it back online. This will take 18 months, Melton said. MILLS RIVER PLANT GETTING UPGRADES To deliver water daily to 156,000 people in Buncombe and northern Henderson counties, the Asheville Water Resources Department relies on two reservoirs with on-site water plants in northeastern Buncombe County and another plant on Mills River in northern Henderson County. Asheville’s system is complex, with varying elevations and pressure zones, and it typically produces about 22 million gallons of water a day. At the start of the crisis, the system output had reached 28 million gallons a day. The IRC report said the system still had plenty of capacity, even with the line breaks, but it could not deliver the water mainly because of the closed or mostly closed valves. Hart said the department has taken numerous steps to ensure the Mills River water plant does not freeze up again, including having a vendor break down and reseal an actuator that completely froze up. The actuator is a motor-driven gear-

box that opens or closes valves to allow the operation of filters. Hart said the actuator that froze had old seals that leaked, allowing water inside that then froze in temperatures hovering around zero. “It actually froze in place and froze the gears to a point where they couldn’t be opened,” Hart said, adding staff used boiling water and forced air to try to unfreeze the equipment. “And it took days to get them thawed out. Part of the reason was that the temperature was so low and the wind was blowing so hard, it was very, very difficult to get those thawed out.” The service provider came and worked on them, finding there was still ice inside them a week and a half later. “So, we had those cleaned out, they were repacked with grease, new seals were put in to make sure that that doesn’t happen again,” Hart said. “The supervisor has already set up this company to come back on the first of November. They will do this all over again for all of the outside actuators to ensure there’s no water in place [and] that these can’t freeze.” Hart said the department has also bought a “great deal of heat tape” that will allow workers to maintain a higher temperature on this outdoor equipment. Also contributing to the freeze was an aluminum sulfate line that froze up for unknown reasons. A caustic soda line also froze, Hart said. “We replaced all of those lines,” Hart said. “And we now have a great deal of flexible line that can be run in pretty quick to restore those feeds if this would ever happen again.” The system plans to replace those chemical lines again this November as an extra measure to prevent a future freeze. It will also add a heat blanket to an outside caustic soda tank to maintain a higher temperature and replace switchgear at the plant. “So, we’re making changes that hopefully will make us more resilient,” Hart said. The city is also revamping its emergency preparedness and communications plans in the wake of the outage and criticism about poor communications. The city’s recommendations in response to the IRC report are available at avl.mx/d0e. Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and surrounding communities. John Boyle has been covering western North Carolina since the 20th century. You can reach him at 828-337-0941, or via email at jboyle@ avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate. X

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

N EWS

BUNCOMBE BEAT

County pursues more beds for homeless shelters

SHELTER FUNDING: The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners discusses a funding plan to add more beds for the homeless population. Photo by Greg Parlier Three Buncombe County shelters likely will add 43 beds for the area’s homeless population after the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved its half of the funding request at its Sept. 5 meeting. Board Chair Brownie Newman and Commissioner Jasmine BeachFerrara were absent. Commissioners allocated $875,000 of remaining federal COVID recovery funds to the project. The Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee sought the funding in response to recommendations in the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ Within Reach report. The City of Asheville will consider matching the contribution as part of the interlocal agreement, pushing the total to $1.75 million. The Salvation Army will add 20 beds, and the Safe Shelter collaborative will rotate 20 new beds between Grace Episcopal Church, Grace Lutheran Church and Trinity United Methodist Church. The Haywood Street Congregation will add three beds for those who need medical care, behavioral health or substance abuse support services, according to a staff presentation. The funds will help the Salvation Army maintain its 45 existing beds, plus 20 new ones. The Rev. Mike Reardon, associate rector at Grace Episcopal Church, 14

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

said the Safe Shelter collaborative’s success last year, along with county and city funding, encouraged them to expand from 10 to 20 beds. Last winter, the 10-bed shelter was at West Asheville Presbyterian Church, whose congregation previously dissolved, but that building is now slated for demolition, Reardon told Xpress after the meeting. This year, three churches will host the 20 beds on a monthly rotation, a commitment Reardon said is worthwhile because it’s not only the right thing to do, but it helps build bridges among diverse people in the community. “It’s important now more than ever for the church community to be a beacon for goodness and decency in the world,” Reardon said. “It’s good not just for the marginalized, but for the wider community. It’s good for our church community to encounter people that are different, bring them in, hear their stories and then start to understand how we are also the same.” He said they plan to keep the number of beds at 20 to prevent overcrowding. However, the additional beds are only half of the 95 beds that the Within Reach report recommends. Commissioners earmarked an additional $3.8 million in COVID recovery

MOUNTAINX.COM

funds for general housing and shelter needs, with the specifics to be determined later, according to County Manager Avril Pinder. The shelter funding is part of a reshuffling of the last of Buncombe’s $50.7 million in American Rescue Plan funds. It includes $1.5 million originally earmarked for broadband expansion efforts, which Commissioner Terri Wells said the county was able to obtain elsewhere by applying for state grants and other funds.

In other news Buncombe County would increase revenue from cellphone towers and improve service for residents if it approves a contract with Milestone Towers. Vance Bell, operations manager for Buncombe’s Information Technology Department, said Milestone’s relationships with cell companies could make it easier for the Virginia-based tower management company to lease Buncombe-owned towers to service providers and increase revenue for the county. If the proposed five-year contract is approved at the Sept. 19 meeting, Milestone would share revenue from the county’s 17 tower sites and any

new sites built by Milestone on county land. For existing county contracts, Milestone will take over management and 10% of the revenue, leaving the rest for Buncombe County. For new contracts on existing towers, it will take 25%, and for new towers it builds and maintains on county land, it will take 60% of the revenue. The county will not pay Milestone anything upfront. Bell said this could lead to an expansion of fiber optic service in rural areas and improved cell reception at many locations across the county. Commissioner Parker Sloan said that when he returns from travel, he always notices the “uniquely bad cell reception” in Buncombe County, which Bell said he hopes will improve with this contract. County commissioners also heard an update on rising hospitalizations related to COVID-19 from Buncombe County Health Director Ellis Matheson. According to Matheson, hospitalizations have been increasing statewide since July. The amount of COVID-19 virus particles found in wastewater systems statewide has been rising each week since June.

— Greg Parlier X

MOUNTAINX.COM

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

COMMUNITY CALENDAR SEPT. 13 - SEPT. 21, 2023 For a full list of community calendar guidelines, please visit mountainx.com/calendar. For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4. For questions about paid calendar listings, please call 828-251-1333, opt. 1.

 Online-only events  More info, page 29  More info, page 31 WELLNESS ABCs & 123s For people looking to start a fitness journey with morning walks, stretching, and calisthenic workouts. WE (9/13), 10am, Dr Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St Tai Chi for Balance A gentle Tai Chi exercise class to help improve balance, mobility, and quality of life. All ages are welcome. WE (9/13, 20), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Free Zumba Gold Fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. Free, but donations for the instructor are appreciated. For more information please call (828) 350-2058. WE (9/13, 20), noon, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Tai Chi Fan This class helps build balance and whole body awareness. All ages and ability levels welcome. Fans will be provided. WE (9/13, 20), 1pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Dharma & Discuss People coming together in friendship to meditate, learn and discuss the Dharma. Beginners and experienced practitioners are welcome. TH (9/14, 21), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Circuit Cardio A traditional HIIT format of 20 seconds on and 20 seconds off that improve endurance, power and overall fitness. TH (9/14, 21), 9:30am, Dr Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St Nia Dance Fitness A sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts.

TH (9/14, 21), 9:30am, TU (9/19), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Relax & Restore This class helps improve posture, flexibility, and mood. TH (9/14, 21), 10:30am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St Tai Chi for Beginners A class for anyone interested in Tai Chi and building balance as well as body awareness. TH (9/14, 21), MO (9/18), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Morning Meditation Everyone is most welcome to join the sit; however no meditation instructions are provided. FR (9/15), TU (9/19) 7:30am, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Free Yoga A yoga session held outdoors. FR (9/15), 5pm, Rabbit Rabbit, 75 Coxe Ave Free Meditation All are welcome to this one-hour silent meditation practice. SA (9/16), 10am, Ganesh Place, 594 Ray Hill Rd, Mills River Therapeutic Slow Flow Yoga A blend of mediation, breathing and movement. All bodies, genders, and identities welcome. Bring your own mat. SA (9/16), 10am, Mount Inspiration Apparel, 444 Haywood Rd, Ste 103 Yoga in the Park All-levels welcomed, but bring your own props and mat. Pre-register at avl.mx/9n6. SA (9/16), SU (9/17) 11am, 220 Amboy Rd Move Fitness Sculpt Class A full-body sculpt class featuring low impact movements to high impact music. SU (9/17), 10am, The Restoration Hotel Asheville, 68 Patton Ave Walking Meditation Meditation to reduce stress, anxiety and increase health and wellbeing. Meditation

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

PHOTOREALIST PERSPECTIVES: Asheville Art Museum will explore the world of photorealism through the new exhibit, Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting. This exhibition, including Bertrand Meniel’s “Chevy’s,” will be on view through Feb. 5. The museum opens daily at 11 a.m. and is closed Tuesday. Image courtesy of Asheville Art Museum instructions provided. SU (9/17), 10am, Walk Jones Wildlife Sanctuary, Montreat

Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

TU (9/19), 6:30pm, St. James Episcopal Church, 424 W State St, Black Mountain

Gentle Yoga for Queer & GNC Folks This class is centered towards creating an affirming and inclusive space for queer and gender non-conforming individuals. SU (9/17), 1:30pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd

Metta Meditation In-person guided meditation focused on benevolence & loving-kindness. This event is free to attend. Beginners and experienced practitioners are welcome. MO (9/18), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Therapeutic Recreation Adult Morning Movement Active games, physical activities, and sports for individuals with disabilities ages 17 and over. Advanced registration at avlrec. com required. WE (9/20), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Qigong for Health A part of traditional Chinese medicine that involves using exercises to optimize energy within the body, mind and spirit. FR (9/15), TU (9/19), 9am, SA (9/16), 11am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Sunset Yoga on the Green An outdoor yoga event designed to rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. Free and all levels are welcomed. WE (9/20), 6pm, Reynolds Village, 41 N Merrimon Ave, Woodfin

Gentle Mat Pilates A class for those interested in trying Pilates. TU (9/19), 10am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St

ART

Barre Fusion A high energy low impact practice that shapes, sculpts, and tones the body like a dancer. No experience necessary, open to all levels. MO (9/18), 9:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Free Zumba A fun hour of dance fitness. No experience required, all fitness levels are welcome. MO (9/18), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Balance & Bones In this class we will blend the best of Pilates, dance, and somatic movement practices to create a holistic workout. MO (9/18), 1:30pm,

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Zumba Mask and social distancing required. Registration not necessary. Por Favor usa tu cubre bocas antes de la clase.

Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson This exhibition celebrates the legacy of Lambert Wilson, a passionate collector of contemporary Native American art. Over 140 works on view tell the story of the relationships he built and the impact that he

made by dedicating himself to this remarkable collection. Gallery open Tuesday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through Dec. 8. WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing, and Painting Reflecting on the history of American Realism one can see the endless variety of approaches artists choose to record their world. This exhibition continues this thread, offering viewers an opportunity to explore a singular and still vigorous aspect of American painting. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed on Tuesday. Exhibition through Feb. 5, 2024. Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Nick Raynolds: Externalities Reception Each piece including The Garden After the Rain, Confounding Fathers and Drawing Down the Moon are abstract narratives which serve to elaborate on Raynolds’ idea of “introspective realism”. Exhibition

through Sept. 29. TH (9/14), 1pm,Ramsey Library, 1 University Heights

Tuesday. Exhibition through Oct. 22. Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Youth Photovoice Exhibit Reveal A grand reveal of NC Healthy Transitions' Photovoice Exhibit, a project where youth used their photo-taking skills to capture what mental health means to them. TH (9/14), 5:30pm, Buncombe County Health and Human Services, 40 Coxe Ave

Western North Carolina Glass: Selections from the Collection Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art. A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through April 15, 2024. Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Public Tour: The Art of Food A volunteer educator led tour of The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation. No reservations are required. TH (9/14), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square The Art of Food: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation This exhibition explores the many identities of food in daily life: whether a source of pleasure, a reason for gathering, a mass-produced commodity, or a reflection of social ideologies and divisions. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed on

The Wool & The Wood Featuring needle-felted wool landscapes by Jaana Mattson and fine furniture by Scott Kestel. Gallery open Monday through Sunday, 10am. Exhibition through Oct. 29. Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Rd Onicas Gaddis: Homage to Miss Sarah A collection of works by Onicas Gaddis dedicated to his first mentor and friend, Sarah Carlisle Towery. Gallery open Monday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through Sept. 29. Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Romare Bearden: Ways of Working This exhibition highlights works on paper and explores many of Romare Bearden's most frequently used mediums including screen-printing, lithography, hand colored etching, collagraph, monotype, relief print, photomontage, and collage. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through Jan. 22, 2024. Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Daily Craft Demonstrations Two artists of different media will explain and demonstrate their craft with informative materials displayed at their booths, daily. These free and educational opportunities are open to the public. Open daily, 10am. Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy Public Tour: Intersections in American Art A docent led tour of the Museum's Collection and special exhibitions. No reservations are required. TH (9/21), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

COMMUNITY MUSIC The Scatterlings Part of Bloom WNC's outdoor concert series. The Scatterlings are a trio acoustic and Americana band based in Asheville, NC. FR (9/15), 6pm, Bloom WNC Flower Farm, 806 North Fork Rd, Black Mountain Mountain Folk Harp Society of Asheville An evening of Irish, Scottish melodies and folk tunes performed by a local group of harpists led by Sue Richards. Free with donations accepted for the North Buncombe Music Scholarship. FR (9/15), 7pm, First Baptist Church of Weaverville, 63 N Main St, Weaverville The UNCA Bluegrass Band A highly energetic ensemble made up entirely of university students and their instructor, Wayne Erbsen. FR (9/15), 8pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Jazzville An evening with Asheville-based jazz quartet that aims to ignite the audiences imagination with its boundless and transformational creativity. SA (9/16), 7pm, Wortham Center For The Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave

Dixon's Violin A one-man improvisational symphony inspiring audiences from Burning Man and Electric Forest to TED talks. SA (9/16), 7:30pm, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd

songs in a natural acoustic listening room. This week features John Longbottom, Lillie Syracuse and Chris Wilhelm. WE (9/20), 7pm, The Brandy Bar, 504 7th Ave E, Hendersonville

The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass This big brass group offers a concert format that breaks the usual barriers between genres and strives to create a connection between the audience and performers. SA (9/16), 7:30pm, Tyron Fine Arts Center, 34 Melrose Ave, Tryon

Thursday Night Live: Pierson-Law Duo An evening of live music in the Museum’s Windgate Foundation Atrium featuring the Pierson-Law duo. TH (9/21), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

LITERARY

The McLain Family Band One of the most spontaneous, creative and spirited groups performing original and traditional bluegrass music. SA (9/16), 8pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Joke Writing Workshop Hosted by Disclaimer Stand Up Lounge and moderated by Cody Hughes, weekly. Bring 90 seconds of material that isn’t working. WE (9/13, 20), 6:30pm, Asheville Music Hall, 31 Patton Ave

Mark's House Jam & Beggar's Banquet Weekly Sunday pot luck and musician's jam with acoustic and plug in players. It's a family friendly community day so bring a dish to share. SU (9/17), 3pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr

Poetry Open Mic Hendo A poetry-centered open mic that welcomes all kinds of performers every Thursday night. 18+ TH (9/14, 21), 7:30pm, Shakedown Lounge, 706 Seventh Ave E, Hendersonville

Friends of Music Series: Musicians from the SCGSAH A performance with four outstanding students from the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities (SCGSAH). The performers will be Xavier Galloway, piano, Benjamin Stickney, piano, Kate Tolchinski, oboe and Peyton Mann, bassoon. SU (9/17), 4pm, Parish Hall of St John in the Wilderness, 1905 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock Sourwood Ridge Traditional mountain music from the Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina by some of the finest regional artists. SU (9/17), 7:30pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Reuter Center Singers Seasoned seniors that study and perform classical, popular, show tunes and other favorites. MO (9/18), 6:15pm, UNC Asheville Reuter Center, 1 University Heights Local Live Series: Jay Brown Jay Brown hosts a bi-weekly local live series featuring a variety of talented local musicians. MO (9/18), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain The Songwriter Sessions w/John Longbottom, Lillie Syracuse & Chris Wilhelm An evening of original

Wired for Dating Book Club Discuss neurobiology and attachment styles in love relationships, and apply the lyrics of secure love songs in dating. TH (9/14), 6pm, Firestorm Books, 1022 Haywood Rd An Evening w/Donika Kelly & Melissa Febos Part of UNCA's Visiting Writers Series, this kickoff event will feature a reading by Poet Donika Kelly and Nonfiction Writer Melissa Febos. This event is free and open to the public. TH (9/14), 7pm, Highsmith Student Union, 1 University Heights Talk w/Jeremy B. Jones Jeremy B. Jones will be leading a talk and featuring his memoir Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland. TH (9/14), 7pm, W Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Rd J.R. McDowell Speaker Series: Annette Gordon-Reed American Historian and Law Professor Annette Gordon-Reed will be the Fall 2023 J. R. McDowell speaker. This speaker series is designed to present a wide array of viewpoints on challenging and thought-provoking topics. TH (9/14), 7:30pm, Porter Center, Brevard College, 1 Brevard College

Poetry Night An evening of poetry and artistic expression with fellow artists in a welcoming space. Advance registration at avlrec.com required. TU (9/19), 5:30pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St Dark City Poets Society: Poetry Night An evening of poetry with the Dark City Poets Society. Open to the public. Share a poem or just come listen. TU (9/19), 6pm, Oak and Grist Distilling Co., 1556 Grovestone Rd, Black Mountain Wilma Dykeman Legacy: My Stories Series A book discussion of Bearwallow: A Personal History of a Mountain Homeland. WE (9/20), 7pm, W Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Rd Asheville Storyslam: Drive Prepare a five-minute story about something that propelled you forward. Accelerating cars or burning desire, obsession, ambition or escape. TH (9/21), 7:30pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

THEATER & FILM Improv & Sketch Open Mic: The Community Lab An open mic for improv groups, sketch groups and solo character performers. Slot range between 5-20 minutes based on the number of people in your ensemble. TH (9/14), 7:30pm, Misfit Improv & Acting School, 573 Fairview Rd Unit 21A What the Constitution Means to Me In this achingly human new play, human Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi Schreck resurrects her teenage self in order to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. WE (9/13, 20), TH (9/14, 21), SA (9/16), 7:30pm, FR (9/15), SU (9/17), North Carolina Stage Co., 15 Stage Ln Hamlet: The Requiem A fresh take on the timeless play that aims to engage both traditional enthusiasts and the digital generation with its tour de force plot, shortened duration, and minimalist staging while maintaining the poetry of Shakespeare’s language. See p31 TH (9/14), FR (9/15), 8pm, Ella Asheville, 81 Broadway St, Ste 101 Monty Python’s Spamalot The Tony award winning Broadway musical that

was “lovingly ripped off” of the cult classic movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Rated PG-13. TH (9/14), FR (9/15), SA (9/16), 7:30pm, SU (9/17), 2pm, Hart Theatre, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville Pippin With a score by Stephen Schwartz and a dazzling circus-inspired production, Pippin is an audience-pleasing theatrical spectacle that explores themes of love, war, and the meaning of life. FR (9/15), SA (9/16), 7:30pm, SU (9/17), 2:30pm Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut St The Tempest An audience favorite for its comedy, romance, and some fun stage trickery to showcase a massive shipwreck and some supernatural goings on. FR (9/15), SA (9/16), SU (9/17), 7:30pm, Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, 92 Gay St

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS Asheville Museum of History 2023 Cemetery Series The Asheville Museum of History invites you to explore the history of WNC as we tour several cemeteries and burial locations, learning about the people and the stories connected with these local sites. WE (9/13), 10am, Various locations in Western North Carolina Free E-Bike Rental A free one hour bike adventure to experience Asheville's historic River Arts District, French Broad River Greenway, local breweries, restaurants and more. WE (9/13, 20), 10am, Ace Bikes, 342 Depot St Walk Through History: YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly A guided tour where participants will hear the story of Dr Willis

D. Weatherford and his quest to combine his faith with his two passions, the development of young minds and the inspiring beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. WE (9/13), 10:30am, YMCA, Blue Ridge Assembly, 84 Blue Ridge Assembly Rd, Black Mountain Bikes ‘N Brews A weekly group ride that takes in the views of Black Mountain and Old Fort and concludes at the WNC Outdoor Collective with your favorite beer or kombucha. WE (9/13, 20), 5:30pm, WNC Outdoor Collective, 110 Black Mountain Ave, Black Mountain Eightfold Path Study Group A group will gather to study the Eightfold Path Program. Kris Kramer will host the group as a fellow participant and student. WE (9/13, 20), 3pm, Black Mountain, Honeycutt St, Black Mountain Western North Carolina Community Health Services Job Fair An opportunity for job applicants to walk in and meet with hiring managers. Visit avl.mx/cza for more information. WE (9/13), 4pm, Minnie Jones Health Center, 257 Biltmore Ave Peace Education Program The program gives participants the opportunity to focus and reflect on their humanity and their inner resources such as choice, hope, and dignity. WE (9/13, 20), 5pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Spanish Club Spanish speakers of all ages and levels are welcome to join together for conversation to practice the language in a group setting. WE (9/13, 20), 6pm, Black Mountain Brewing, 131 NC-9, Black Mountain

Beginners Aerial Silks Learn a new skill and be part of a supportive community. All bodies are welcome. Space is limited so registration is required. WE (9/13, 20), 4pm, 5:30pm, Amethyst Realm, 244 Short Coxe Ave Food Waste Education & Networking Food Waste Solutions will host a food scrap drop off presentation at Stephen-Lee Recreation Center and then there will be a networking bingo and social with local food waste reducers at White Labs. See p29 WE (9/13), 5:30pm, White Labs Kitchen & Tap, 172 S Charlotte St

adult. WE (9/13, 20), 6:30pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St Midweek Showdown: Game Night A game night extravaganza with live game show challenges for teams of five or less, as well as board games and pinball galore. Each week brings fresh challenges. WE (9/13, 20), 7pm, Dssolvr, 63 N Lexington Ave Swing Dance Lessons A dance series class focused on the Lindy Hop. WE (9/13, 20), 7pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St

Intro to Ballroom Dance Explore the world of Latin and Ballroom dancing with such styles as swing, salsa, foxtrot, rumba, merengue, and more. WE (9/13, 20), 6pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Treks Hiking Club for Adults 50 & Over A low-impact hiking club offering leisurely-paced hikes for active adults. No hiking experience is required, but the hike covers over three miles on uneven terrain. TH (9/14), 9:30am, Asheville Recreation Park, 65 Gashes Creek Rd

Community Choice Enjoy family activities including puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, and more. Kids ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an

Sun & Shade Garden Series: Native Butterfly Life Cycles in the Fall Garden This program will showcase native butterfly and moth host plants

Magical Offerings

Sept Stone: Fancy Jasper Sept Herb: Nettle 9/14: NEW MOON Reader: Aimee 12-6pm Abby’s Magical Hour 6pm 9/16: Reader: Edward 12-6pm Mercy Cat Adoptions 11am Tarot 101 w/ Jasper 4pm 9/19: Reader: Byron 1-5pm SUN: Illuminating Self w/ Aimee 5:30pm 9/24: Reader: Pardee 3:30-7pm Aura Photography w/ Atena 1pm 9/25: Reader: Jessica 12-5pm MOON: Opening the Self w/ Aimee 5:30pm

FULL MOON Sept. 29th

Women in Business

Handmade products from over 40 local vendors!

ISSUE

Publishes Oct. 11

(828) 424-7868

ashevillepagansupply.store

640 Merrimon Ave. #207

Mon-Sat 11-8pm • Sun 12-6pm

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

C OMMU N IT Y CA L E N D AR and view the life cycle stages on these native hosts plants. Including caterpillars, eggs, chrysalis and adults. The presentation is free, but registration is required. TH (9/14), 10am, Buncombe County Cooperative Ext Center, 49 Mount Carmel Rd, Ste 102 MBBC Networking Event w/Focus on Leadership A networking meeting featuring a monthly guest speaker on Why Leadership is Key. There will be food, conversation and an opportunity to network. TH (9/14), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Bowling for Adults 50 & Over A friendly game of bowling for adults 50 and over. Transportation provided from Grove St Community Center. TH (9/14), 1pm, Sky Lanes, 1477 Patton Ave Kids & Teens Kung Fu Learn fighting skills as well as conflict resolution and mindfulness. First class is free to see if it's a good fit for you. TH (9/14, 21), MO (9/18), TU (9/19), 4pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 No Water, No Beer: A Celebration of Clean Water in WNC An evening celebrating the value of clean, drinkable water, this region’s single most important natural resource. TH (9/14), 5:30pm, Burial Beer Co. Forestry Camp Taproom, 10 Shady Oak Dr

Therapeutic Recreation Adult Supper Club Prepare and enjoy meals with new and old friends. Open to individual with disabilities ages 18 and over. TH (9/14), 6pm, Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd Guest Teacher: Noah Rasheta A Buddhist philosopher, best-selling author, host of the Secular Buddhism Podcast, and creator of The Inner Peace Roadmap. Free to attend and donations are welcome. TH (9/14), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Swing Dance Lesson & Dance Swing dancing lesson and dance, every Thursday. TH (9/14, 21), 7pm, Alley Cat Social Club, 797 Haywood Rd Nerd Nite Asheville A monthly event held in over 100 cities around the world featuring fun-yet-informative presentations across a variety of subjects that would be interesting to a bunch of nerds drinking in a bar. TH (9/14), 7:30pm, The River Arts District Brewing Co., 13 Mystery St French Broad River Tour: Henderson County Land of Sky Regional Council will offer a tour of each county in our region with a focus on how we can work together to protect the French Broad River while supporting the growth and development of region. For more information

and locations visit avl.mx/czk. FR (9/15), 9am, Multiple Locations, Citywide Former Prisoner of War to Speak on POW/MIA Recognition Day A presentation by Lt. Col. David B. Grant, USAF Retired, who will share the story and experiences of his nine-month captivity in North Vietnam. The public is invited to this free event. FR (9/15), 1:30pm, Transylvania County Library, 212 S Gaston St, Brevard Inaugural Foundy Walking Art Tour Stroll through Foundy’s many urban art installations and explore the history of graffiti and murals in the River Arts District. FR (9/15), 4pm, Marquee Asheville, 36 Foundy St Skate Night Free outdoor skate night. Bring cash for old school candy and refreshments. Some skates will available to borrow, but bringing your own is recommended. For more information call (828) 274-7739. FR (9/15), 6pm, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Rd

Advance registration at avlrec.com required. Try out stand up paddle boarding this week. SA (9/16), 9am, New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St Charisma: The Gift of Connection In this experiential workshop, we’ll explore how feeling safe, seen, and special create heartfelt connection. SA (9/16), 10am, Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church St Saturday Seminar Presents: Bulbs for All Seasons Come and learn when and how to select, plant and care for bulbs you can enjoy throughout the year, and for many years to come. SA (9/16), 10am, Buncombe County Cooperative Ext Center, 49 Mount Carmel Rd, Ste 102 Bingo Small prizes awarded to winners of each game. SA (9/16), 1pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Teen Gaming Night A fun filled night of gaming for teenagers. Enjoy games such as Madden, 2K, and more. FR (9/15), 6:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Therapeutic Recreation Tennis Lessons Learn tennis basics and practice skills on the court. This four-week course is designed for individuals with intellectual disabilities who are ages 8 and over. For more information, please call (828) 232-4529. SA (9/16), 1pm, The Omni Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave

APR Outdoor Social Sampler A series for young adults 18 to 30, but anyone over 18 is welcome.

Poodle Skirt Making Workshop A poodle skirt making workshop to get ready for the Sock Hop. To

sign up send an email to ashevilleswing@gmail. com. SA (9/16), 2pm, Riverview Station, 191 Lyman St Tailgate Party & Cookout Wear your favorite team jersey or t-shirt to enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs, play corn hole, cards, and meet new friends. SA (9/16), 3pm, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St Ladies Sunday Cycles This is a non drop ride, we have cue sheets via Ride with GPS, and there are options to either do the whole ride or head back when needed. Routes will be posted on the Ride My GPS app under WNC Outdoor Collective. SU (9/17), 7:30am, WNC Outdoor Collective, 110 Black Mountain Ave, Black Mountain Fling The Fletch: Junior Disc Golf Open This event is open to families who want to learn how to play disc golf and teenagers who want to compete against others in their age group and skill level. SU (9/17), 9am, Hall Fletcher Elementary, 60 Ridgelawn Ave Weekly Sunday Scrabble Club Tournament-style scrabble. All levels of play. SU (9/17), 12:15pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Restoring Harmony to Hominy This event supports an initiative to improve accessibility and prevent erosion of a portion of the Hominy Creek Greenway footpath. Enjoy refreshments and music from Graham Sharp of the Steep Canyon Rangers while learning more about the trail project. See p31 SU (9/17), 1pm, Hominy Creek Greenway, 80 Shelbourne Rd Game Day: Perspective Café Traditional game day with board and card games as well as refreshments from the Perspective Cafe. SU (9/17), 2pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Sew Co./Rite of Passage Factory Tour On this 30 minute micro-tour, learn about sustainable and transparent business practices and hear about production processes and client collaborations. Preregister at avl.mx/cec. MO (9/18), 11am, Rite of Passage Clothing & Sew Co, 240 Clingman Ave Ext

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

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Chess Club Open to all ages and any skill set. There will be a few boards available, but folks are welcome to bring their own as well. MO (9/18), 4pm, Black Mountain Brewing, 131 NC-9, Black Mountain Leadership is Free Workshop: Growth & Development in 3 Areas A free six week course that will enhance your growth development in three areas of leadership. MO (9/18), 5pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Black Men Monday A local group that has stepped up in the community to advocate for and mentor students through academic intervention. Kids 7+ are welcome to join. MO (9/18), 7pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave World Tavern Poker Night A free weekly poker night. MO (9/18), 7pm, The Getaway River Bar, 790 Riverside Dr Fall Plant Identification Hike Learn the basics of how to identify common plants with field guides and some common tools. Participants must be capable of hiking two miles on uneven terrain with uphill features. TU (9/19), 10am, Carrier Park, 220 Amboy Rd Therapeutic Recreation Adult Crafting & Cooking A variety of cooking and crafts for individuals with disabilities ages 17 and over each week. This week will focus on Sand Art craft. TU (9/19), 10am, Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd Support Group for Survivors of Sexual Assault All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Call (828) 252-0562 or email rebekahm@ ourvoicenc.org for location and details. WE (9/20), 6pm, Multiple Locations, Citywide A New Relationship With Death: From Grief To Growth Brian Smith will discuss how he went from a life of fear of death which kept him paralyzed, to embracing all life has to offer including death. Register at avl.mx/8u5. WE (9/20), 7pm, Online Dollar Décor DIY Enjoy new crafts made from simple items you have at home or can be found at dollar stores. Advance registration at avlrec.com required. WE (9/20), 7pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

The Artist's Way Workshop A guided walk through Julie Cameron's world renown self-help book for professional artists, part-time creators, or anyone looking to discover and unblock their creative process. WE (9/20), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain Container Gardening: Seasonal Transitions Learn how to extend the life of planted pots and how to transition them from summer into fall and beyond. The presentation is free; registration is required. TH (9/21), 10am, Buncombe County Cooperative Ext Center, 49 Mount Carmel Rd, Ste 102 Your Voice Matters: An Empowering Presentation & Dinner This presentation empowers parents and caregivers with the knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with their children about the changes that occur during adolescence. Registration required for dinner. TH (9/21), 6pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

LOCAL MARKETS RAD Farmers Market Providing year-round access to fresh local foods, with 25-30 vendors selling a variety of wares. Handicap parking available in the Smoky Park lot, free public parking available along Riverside Drive. Also accessible by foot, bike, or rollerblade via the Wilma Dykeman Greenway. WE (9/13, 20), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr Weaverville Tailgate Market A selection of fresh, locally grown produce, grass fed beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, eggs, cheese, sweet and savory baked goods, artisan bread, fire cider, coffee, pickles, body care, eclectic handmade goodies, and garden and landscaping plants. Open year round. WE (9/13, 20), 3pm, 60 Lake Shore Dr, Weaverville Leicester Farmers Market Farmers Market with over 30 vendors. Locally grown and sourced selection of meats, produce, eggs, plants and flowers, baked goods, cheese, honey, sauces, crafts, art, and more. Every Wednesday through Oct. 25. WE (9/13, 20), 3pm, Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester

Etowah Lions Club Farmers Market Fresh produce, honey, sweets, flowers, plant starts and locally crafted wares. Every Wednesday through Oct. 25. WE (9/13, 20), 3pm, Etowah Lions Club, 447 Etowah School Rd, Hendersonville Flat Rock Farmers Market A diverse group of local produce and fruit farmers, craft-food makers, bread bakers, wild crafters, art-crafters, and merrymakers. Every Thursday through Oct. 26. TH (9/14, 21), 3pm, Pinecrest ARP Church, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock Enka-Candler Tailgate Market A grand selection of local foods and crafts, everything from produce to pickles, baked goods to body care, with a hefty helping of made-to-order meals from our food trucks. Every Thursday through Oct. TH (9/14, 21), 3pm, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler Pack Square Artisan Market This market will showcase local handcrafted goods in the heart of downtown Asheville. Every Friday through Oct. 27. FR (9/15), 1pm, 1 South Pack Square Park Saluda Tailgate Market With over a dozen vendors this agriculture-only market features an assortment of homegrown produce, meat, and eggs within a 25 mile radius. FR (9/15), 4:30pm, W Main St, Saluda Henderson County Tailgate Market Seasonal fruits, fresh mushrooms, vegetables, local honey, meat, eggs, garden plant starts, perennials and much more. Every Saturday through Oct. 28. SA (9/16), 8am,100 N King St, Hendersonville Mars Hill Farmers & Artisans Market A vibrant community gathering space with produce, meat, eggs, baked goods, coffee, crafts, food trucks, live music, kids’ activities and more. Every Saturday through Oct. 28. SA (9/16), 8am, 650 Maple St, Hendersonville Hendersonville Farmers Market A producer-only tailgate market located on the campus of Mars Hill University on College Street. We offer fresh local produce, herbs, garden and landscape plants, cut flowers, cheeses, meats, eggs, baked, and more. Every

Saturday through Oct. 28. SA (9/16), 10am, College St, Mars Hill North Asheville Tailgate Market The oldest Saturday morning market in WNC, since 1980. Over 60 rotating vendors offer fresh Appalachian grown produce, meats, cheeses and eggs - with a variety of baked goods, value added foods, and unique craft items. Weekly through Dec. 16. SA (9/16), 8am, 3300 University Heights Asheville City Market Local food products, including fresh produce, meat, cheese, bread, pastries, and other artisan products. Weekly through Dec. 17. SA (9/16), 9am, 52 N Market St Black Mountain Tailgate Market Featuring organic and sustainably grown produce, plants, cut flowers, herbs, locally raised meats, seafood, breads, pastries, cheeses, eggs and local arts and handcrafted items. Every Saturday through Nov. 18. SA (9/16), 9am, 130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Women's Market After Dark: A WTF Festival Pre-Party The market will feature live music from DJ Malintzin, and an array of vendors from industries such as Art, Food & Bev and Health & Wellness. Free to attend, open to all. SA (9/16), 6pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd, Ste 10 WNC Farmers Market High quality fruits and vegetables, mountain crafts, jams, jellies, preserves, sourwood honey, and other farm fresh items. Open daily 8am, year-round. WNC Farmers Market, 570 Brevard Rd Meadow Market Browse goods and gifts from local makers and artisans with different vendors every week, you’ll find specialty items. Shop for handmade jewelry, housewares, vintage goods, and crafts. SU (9/17), 1pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200 Asheville Night Market Explore dozens of vendors, drinks and food. Every third Sunday of the month. SU (9/17), 6pm, The Odd, 1045 Haywood Rd

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS WTF Week (Women to the Front) A partnership with over 25 local venues that have committed to featuring women during

the week leading up to the festival. You will see local and regional female artists at New Belgium, Salvage Station, Grey Eagle, The Outpost, Botanist & Barrell, Pisgah Brewing, Bush Farmhouse and more. MO (9/11), Multiple Locations, Citywide 15th Annual Music Video Asheville Awards An annual event that showcases the collaborations between filmmakers and musicians. Area bands submit their music videos and the best 90 minutes of videos are selected for a viewing and awards ceremony. WE (9/13), 6:30pm, Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Dr N.C. Mountain State Fair The official state fair of WNC, celebrating agriculture, food and traditions of the region. For more information visit avl.mx/bya. WE (9/13, TH (9/14), 4pm, FR (9/15), SA (9/16), SU (9/17), 10am, WNC Agricultural Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd Recovery Month Carnival A day of positive family-friendly community engagement to encourage compassionate awareness within and for the larger recovery network. This free event will have food, music, entertainers, games and resources to the public. FR (9/15), 7am, Asheville Comprehensive Treatment Facility, 2 McDowell St Downtown After 5 Live music from duo The Sensational Barnes Brothers and the Alex Krug Combo. Food and beverage available for purchase. FR (9/15), 5pm,100 Block N Lexington Youth Arts Festival A festival celebrating ceramics, chalk art, sewing, wire wrapped jewelry and more. Demonstrations of glassblowing, blacksmithing, flameworking and raku will also be available. SA (9/16), 9am, Jackson County Green Energy Park, 100 Green Energy Park Rd, Dillsboro 16th Annual Art in Autumn A premier fine art and craft show that hosts over 100 juried artists from across the southeast from a wide variety of disciplines. The event is free and open to the public. SA (9/16), 10am, 1 S Main St, Weaverville 43rd Annual Heritage Day An old-time festival celebrating the traditions of yesteryear with chairmaking, quilting, sheep shearing, cornshuck dolls, woodcarving, blacksmithing, and more.

The event will also have live music and the World Gee Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition at 2pm. SA (9/16), 10am, Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy Lake Lure Dance Festival This annual festival honors actor Patrick Swayze, star of Dirty Dancing which was partially filmed in Lake Lure. This year, the festival will offer salsa dance music, performances, games, and a potion of proceeds benefit PanCAN to fight pancreatic cancer. See p31 SA (9/16), 10am, Morse Park, 2948 Memorial Hwy, Lake Lure Third Annual Arts is in the Air Festival This free community event will feature over 30+ talented crafters and artisans. This exclusive showcase, will display the masterpieces created by artists, through out the week, offering art collectors and the public the chance to admire and acquire these unique works that celebrate the beauty of Brevard. SA (9/16), 10am, Downtown Brevard, 175 East Main St, Brevard 24th MAGMA: Land of the Sky Gem Show Free gem and mineral show in the mountains of WNC with 35 vendors offering anything and everything in the mineral and treasure hunting world such as; meteorites, moldavite, trinitite, handmade silver jewelry, rocks, minerals, fossils and more. FR (9/15), SA (9/16), 9am, SU (9/17), 10am, Land of Sky Shrine Club, 39 Spring Cove Rd, Swannanoa 2n Annual Women to the Front Festival Featuring live music by female musicians, vendor spots for femaleowned businesses and nonprofits, female sound engineers and opportunities for businesses that support women. Family-friendly event and open to the public. SU (9/17), noon, New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St Clawtoberfest 2023 An Oktoberfest-style party filled with music, food, games, and German-inspired small-batch beers. SU (9/17), noon, The Meadow at Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200 Rhythm & Brews Concert Series: Melissa Carper, Angela Easterling & The Beguilers This week, Americana and western swing artist Melissa Carper will be performing alongside Angela Easterling & The Beguilers. TH (9/21), 5:30pm, Downtown Hendersonville S Main St, Hendersonville

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING WTF Festival w/April B. Benefit Show An evening of music and community with April B. as part of the WTF Festival. This event will benefit Blue Ridge Dirt Skrrts, a non-profit focused on empowering women mountain bikers in WNC. TH (9/14), 5:30pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd Ste 10 Under the Stars 2023 A stellar evening of science, dinner, dancing, and premier live and silent auction. AMOS holds Under The Stars every year to help fund our mission of expanding access to STEM education all across WNC. TH (9/14), 6pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy Asheville Outlets Hosts Mobile Blood Drive The Blood Connection will park their bloodmobile in the parking lot behind the food court. Donors are asked to register in advance. For more information, visit shopashevilleoutlets.com. SA (9/16), 11am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd Asheville Cat Weirdos Food Pantry: House-Warming Party The cat food pantry has a new home at House of Black Cat Magic. This house warming party is free, but a donation of unopened cat food or money is suggested. SA (9/16), noon, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd Stop The Pain Concert A free live music concert for the public to raise awareness of bullying in our schools and suicide of all ages. Donations are encouraged and will help families who have lost loved ones to suicide by paying for funeral costs, hills, food and more. SA (9/16), 4pm, Folkmoot Auditorium, 12 Virginia Ave, Waynesville Concert for Hunger Walk w/Joel Helfand Joel Helfand will present a free-will concert to raise funds for food insecure citizens of Henderson County, NC. Participants are encouraged to walk as an individual or as a team of your family, friends, or any organization of which you are a member. SU (9/17), 3pm, First Congregational UCC of Hendersonville, 1735 5th Ave W Hendersonville This is Lit: Trivia Fundraiser Five rounds of book-focused trivia across a variety of literary genres. This tough-but-fun trivia challenge raises money to send books to readers behind bars. TH (9/21), 7pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

WELLNESS

Linkages to care

MAT access expands through hospital coordination

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN jwakeman@mountainx.com In 2017, Josh Hampton started taking a medication that helped change the course of his life. He had served 19 months in state prison for felony drug possession. While attending required intensive outpatient classes after his release, a clinician advised Hampton to initiate medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, for opioid addiction. Medications such as buprenorphine, which don’t produce euphoria, can help those in recovery by reducing the cravings that often lead people back to opioids. “[My doctor] felt like I was at a high chance for relapse,” he says. At the time, Hampton, then a new father, “didn’t want to take any chances.” For a year and a half, he flourished in recovery. According to a 2016 article in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, “Medication-assisted treatment … is the gold standard in evidence-based treatment for [opioid use disorder] with survival and treatment retention rates up to seven times that of drug-free modalities.” Evidence shows that combining MAT with behavioral therapy helps people sustain recovery. Hampton says MAT allowed him to “feel normal again” and experience what life could be like without going through withdrawals. But his access to MAT was tied to attending the required intensive outpatient classes. He struggled to follow through while also working full time. So, he stopped MAT and eventually started using again. The classes were a “barrier ... but I also did make a conscious choice to go back and use,” he says. In 2022, determined to pursue recovery again, Hampton returned to MAT. “I sought it out myself this last time,” he says, initiating MAT at October Road before transitioning to treatment at Mountain Area Health Education Center. Health care providers know that people like Hampton need a reason to pursue recovery, and one opportunity often comes immediately after an overdose reversal. “Most people

THE DOCTORS ARE IN: Dr. Genevieve Verrastro, left, a family medicine physician at Mountain Area Health Education Center, is leading a pilot that coordinates with patients in Mission Hospital’s emergency room who want to begin medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. She’s working with Dr. Blake Fagan, right. Photo by Brenda Benik might be more ready to consider getting into treatment if they’ve just had a really scary experience where they almost died,” says Dr. Genevieve Verrastro, a MAHEC family medicine physician. “We think both from a pharmacological point of view and from a psychological point of view, this is a good time to intervene.” But until recently, people who had overdosed and were brought to Mission Hospital’s emergency department didn’t initiate MAT and weren’t linked to further services upon leaving, says Wyatt Chocklett, Mission’s ER chief operating officer. However, a new pilot program that started this summer makes the connection easier to navigate by initiating MAT in Mission’s ER and coordinating a follow-up appointment with MAHEC.

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FILLING THE GAPS Before the pilot’s launch, Claire Hubbard, lead paramedic with Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services, says paramedics sometimes administered buprenorphine outside the ER. Occasionally, a Mission employee would let BCEMS know when a patient who wanted to begin MAT left the ER. But more often, the community paramedicine program would seek out these individuals around town, Hubbard says. After initial contact, BCEMS could continue to administer MAT in the field for up to five days and informally refer clients to MAT providers; after that, the patient would ideally have an appointment with a health care provider who could write a prescription for MAT. According to Chocklett, preliminary data shows that roughly 60% of patients who receive a first appointment for MAT experience a positive retention rate. “In other words, they stay with the program at the one-year mark,” he says. Obtaining an appointment with an addiction specialist, he stresses, is critical for a patient’s “path to recovery.”

Mission’s ER is experiencing the same impacts of the opioid epidemic as ERs nationwide, Chocklett continues. (Mission does not have a system for calculating its total number of overdose cases, says spokesperson Nancy Lindell.) Buncombe County had a rate of 35 opioid deaths per 100,000 people from 2017-21, according to the most recent data provided by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health. The county rate surpassed the statewide rate of 23 opioid deaths per 100,000 people during that same time. Now with the pilot program in place, patients at Mission’s ER undergo screening for possible MAT candidacy using the clinical opioid withdrawal scale, or COWS, explains Chocklett. However, the main criterion is a willingness to try treatment. Hampton agrees, saying, “MAT alone was not going to get me where I need to be. I had to put in the work to recover.” A Mission ER physician will initiate MAT with a first dosage of buprenorphine and a prescription to last a few days. Mission’s ER nurses and social workers then connect that patient to a follow-up appointment with an addiction specialist at MAHEC. Dr.

is funded by Buncombe County’s portion of opioid relief settlement. (BCEMS’ community paramedicine team began in 2020 to address widespread substance use in the county as well as health impacts of poverty. It debuted the PORT in 2021.) “Part of the aim of our expansion is to coordinate with the hospital so that we can create a safety net for patients being discharged,” explains lead paramedic Hubbard. She notes that some patients are not discharged from the ER and leave against medical advice; community paramedics will initiate MAT for them, too. BCEMS’ expansion adds three paramedics, three supervisors and Dr. Shuchin Shukla, former opioid crisis educator with MAHEC, as a physician consultant on public health efforts to expand access to medications for opioid use disorder.

Blake Fagan, a family medicine physician at MAHEC, says that his clinic is keeping several appointments open daily for these individuals. However, visiting the ER following an overdose isn’t the only way to be eligible for MAT. Chocklett says patients with an opioid addiction who have come to the ER with other conditions can be eligible as well. In fact, he says, one goal of expanding access to MAT is to prevent potentially deadly overdoses from being the primary pathway to pursuing recovery. BUILDING A BACKBONE Verrastro, who leads the pilot program for MAHEC, Fagan and other health care providers had to address several logistical issues before launching the pilot. The first was a concern among some hospitals that “if we start providing buprenorphine to people in the ER, then all of the people who have a use disorder are going to come in, and our ER is already overwhelmed,’” Fagan summarizes. Research about MAT initiation in ERs didn’t validate this concern, Fagan notes. And he thinks it unlikely that a person, especially one experiencing opioid withdrawal, would wait in a crowded ER “for six to eight hours to get — possibly — one dose” of MAT. Hospitals eventually came to accept that their ERs would not become ad hoc addiction clinics, Fagan says. But the second problem was the need for enough trained health care providers with available appointments who could provide continued treatment. Fagan recalls how in 2013, MAHEC had only a “handful” of physicians who could initiate MAT, so a patient might wait 10-17 days for an appointment. “We had a huge no-show rate,” he says. He surmises that before patients could get to their health care providers, painful opioid withdrawals led them to start using again. In 2022, the federal government passed the MAT Act, with input from Fagan. Now any health care provider holding an active license with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — because buprenorphine is a Schedule 3 drug — can write a prescription to start a patient on buprenorphine. He estimates over 200 clinicians at MAHEC can write prescriptions for buprenorphine, including the entire family medicine, psychiatry and OB/ GYN departments. With the volume of trained professionals increased, currently “our goal is to see any patient in 24-48 hours [following an overdose],” Fagan says. “We’re pretty good on that.” Grants also allow MAHEC to help people who have just gotten out

BUNCOMBE’S BUPRENORPHINE: Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services’ community paramedics can administer medication-assisted treatment for up to five days in the field. However, paramedics can’t prescribe the medication, which is a Schedule 3 drug. They refer people to MAHEC’s health care providers for prescriptions and continued treatment. Photo courtesy of Claire Hubbard of incarceration or just gotten off Medicaid to continue MAT, explains Verrastro. And to further expand access, MAHEC trained health care providers at all federally qualified health centers in North Carolina, which treat patients regardless of their ability to pay, to administer MAT. “We built that backbone,” Fagan says, pointing out that now physicians in Mission ER can start patients on buprenorphine and then direct them to those health centers to continue treatment. Referrals come from ERs as part of the pilot, as well as from BCEMS’ PostOverdose Response Team, or PORT, which began initiating MAT last year. (In 2020, the Buncombe County Detention Center also began offering MAT to people who are incarcerated.)

COORDINATION AMONG HOSPITALS Fagan estimates North Carolina has over 100 emergency departments, but only “a couple dozen” have protocols in place to initiate MAT. Mission is among eight hospitals, including Blue Ridge Hospital in Spruce Pine, chosen to participate in the pilot to coordinate MAT initiation in ERs. The N.C. Healthcare Foundation, which is the nonprofit arm of the N.C. Healthcare Association, coordinated the pilot, and it is funded by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch. Outcomes will be available later this month. The pilot coincides with an expansion of the community paramedics program within the BCEMS, which

SUCCESS STORY Hampton thinks that as fentanyl becomes more pervasive and deadly “more people should be open to the idea” that MAT can work. “For a lot of people [MAT] greatly increases their chance of success and recovery.” Nowadays, Hampton attends A-B Tech full time, working toward an associate degree. Although he is no longer taking MAT, Hampton has been maintaining his recovery with the help of health care providers from MAHEC. The rewards of recovery, he notes, are many. Hampton works as a certified MAT peer navigator for Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, assisting those formerly incarcerated who want to continue treatment. But most importantly, Hampton says, “I’m an active father.” He and his daughter watch old episodes of “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons” together, and she loves roller skating. “I’m in my daughter’s life again,” he says. “I’m able to be there for her.” X

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ARTS & CULTURE

Hell-bent

A beer reporter’s quest to master the mash

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN earnaudin@mountainx.com I have lost track of the number of times the brewing process has been explained to me. I’ve heard it on various brewery tours, during presentations by BREWed founder Cliff Mori and have even seen it visually broken down in the New York Times bestseller The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World’s Favorite Beverage from 7000 BC to Today’s Craft Brewing Revolution. But each time, it’s never quite stuck with me. Try as I might, there’s something elusive about the chemical processes that mostly makes sense in the moment, then rattles around this English major’s brain and gets pushed to its recesses while some random tidbit of movie trivia takes its place. As I near the 10-year mark of writing about beer, the time seemed right to make one last-ditch effort to better internalize how beer is made — preferably while on the clock. And so, in hopes of not becoming the beer journalist equivalent of the Woody Allen adage, “Those who can’t do, teach; and those who can’t teach, teach gym,” I contacted the OGs of the Asheville craft beverage scene, Highland Brewing Co., about the possibility of getting some hands-on experience by tagging along for a brew day. Whether due to pity, a free comedy opportunity, the goodness of their hearts or some combination thereof, the Highland pilot brewing team of Shane Cummings and Josh Jiles heartily agreed to take me under their wings. What follows is an account of my minuscule part in helping make a batch of Hellbender, a smoked märzen (aka rauchbier) that I somehow didn’t screw up and will allegedly be available for public consumption at the brewery’s Clawtoberfest 2023 on Saturday, Sept. 16. MORNING SHIFT I arrived at Highland’s East Asheville headquarters promptly at 9 a.m. Abiding by the safety requirements, I left my usual shorts-and-sandals attire behind for long pants and close-toed shoes. At the open garage door to the right of the taproom, Cummings (whose official title is brewing innovation manager) and Jiles (brewing innovation lead brewer) greeted me with a level of enthusiasm I didn’t think possible this time of day. Clearly, these morning people had been up and at 22

SEPT. 13-19, 2023

that aspect of brewing. The highlight for me is when you read about it and you have the muscle memory to put what you’re reading into practice, then it really comes out a little bit more deeper and more clearly.” We shall see, gentlemen. We shall see. ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

DREAM TEAM: From left, Josh Jiles, Edwin Arnaudin and Shane Cummings form a formidable brewing trio at Highland Brewing Co. Photo by Tyler Roach ’em for some time and were operating at a mental level far exceeding my own. Case in point: Unbeknownst to me, I’d walked all the way from my car with its removable cupholder stuck to the bottom of my water bottle. Rather than concoct some elaborate story about having devised a superior cooling method and/or protecting a 2011 Toyota Prius’ original parts from the warping summer heat, I owned up to my bungle and thankfully received accepting chuckles from the brewers. It’s a good thing that this dynamic duo fires on all cylinders at such an ungodly hour. As I quickly learned, the pilot brewery is not only where Highland’s adventurous small-batch beers (read: where my eyes always gravitate to first on the wall menu) are created, but where many of the packaged brews available at grocery stores get their start. In order to responsibly enter the sacred space, Cummings supplied me

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with a pair of safety glasses. He then asked if I’d done any homebrewing (negative) and which beer styles are my favorites (pretty much anything flavor-forward and/or barrel-aged). Neither answer got me excommunicated, perhaps because these guys are A) nice and B) gravitate to hoppy beers and lagers, which explains the Hellbender selection. Cummings also shared that he’s a foodie, prompting Jiles to add that he enjoys baking, which the latter cited as a key development in his comprehension of the brewing process. “I understood what each raw ingredient was supposed to do,” Jiles said. “It all kind of clicked.” Wishing my own mental LEGOs would fall into place, I asked Cummings about his “eureka” moment when the nuts and bolts of his future profession made sense. “For me, it was going to college for science,” he said. “I always enjoyed

Having talked the talk, it was now time to walk the walk, and so I followed Cummings to the mill room. Until recently, the grain mill lived in the pilot brewing room, next to the brewhouse, which he said made for tight quarters. Eventually, he and Jiles requested a separate room around the corner, which made sense on a comfort level. After he handed me a pair of ear protectors and turned on the mill, the separation also made sense on a sonic/anti-deafness level. A master planner, Cummings had laid out multiple 55-pound bags of malt in a particular order to get the proper smoky flavor profile for Hellbender. After he methodically poured the first two bags’ contents into the mill, he let me handle the third — and in lifting it I got my first taste of how physically demanding being a brewer can be. No wonder Shane is swole! “The whole purpose of that is to expose the internal guts of the malted barley — what we call the endosperm,” he said once the industrial noise performance had subsided. “That pretty much has all the starch sugar enzymes we’re looking for to convert the sugar.” I was flying high, having contributed something of note to an actual beer — but little did I know that things were about to take a bittersweet turn. Back in the pilot room for a water break, I checked my phone and learned that Tony Kiss had passed away shortly after midnight. I grew up reading the “Beer Guy,” then worked with him at the Asheville Citizen Times before experiencing the surreal honor of editing his work at Xpress after he was laid off by Gannett’s Asheville Citizen Times. Just over seven years after the death of film critic extraordinaire Ken Hanke, I’d lost another mentor and friend. I informed Cummings and Jiles of the news, and they were likewise saddened. But we cheered up at the appropriateness of being together at Highland; Kiss had been a champion of the brewery since its inception in the basement of Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria nearly 30 years ago. About an hour later, Nikki Mitchell, Highland’s vice president of brand development, paid a visit. She informed us that brewery founder Oscar Wong — a longtime close friend of Tony’s — was one of the last people to visit him at the hospital the night before.

Word of Kiss’ death granted an extra layer of significance to the rest of the day’s activities and helped me dial in that much more. From there, it was time to pipe in the malt from the mill room and marry it with hot water to convert the sugar and form mash. I was tasked with getting “in” the brewhouse (i.e., standing on the platform in front of the mash and kettle tanks) to create the oatmeal-like product. With a live Phish album providing a pleasing soundtrack, Jiles handed me a stainless steel paddle to move around the malt as it was fed into the hot water. Rowing through this pond of gradually solidifying breakfast-y grains (and having a flashback to summer camp rafting on the Nantahala River), I eventually got the mixture to its desired consistency. We then let the mash sit so the enzymes could, in Cummings’ words, “do what they need to do.” AFTERNOON SHIFT Following a restorative burrito lunch from Mamacita’s, during which I discovered that Jiles is a fellow former trumpet player who converted to euphonium, I returned to the mash tank for cleanup duty. Here, I truly got to experience why brewers are in such good shape. With a sturdy red plastic rakelike instrument in hand, I pulled the spent grain into a large plastic trash can. It was hard work but, like mowing or shoveling snow, the kind where progress is immediately evident and therefore immensely satisfying. My loyalty proven, Jiles showed me the Hellbender recipe and other handwritten entries in the binder. (Little did they know, the spy camera in my contact lens captured as many pages as possible.) For my final trick, I was tasked with dropping hops pellets onto the combination of sweet wort (that had been sent over to the brewhouse kettle after the preclarification step of recirculating) and some freshly added potable

hot water that had all been brought up to a boil for sterilization. The gist of that sentence sounded logical in the moment as Cummings described the scientific processes at play, but removed from the experience, I’m just going to take his word for it. “Make it angry,” Cummings said as I tilted the container of hops, and he spoke of isomerizing the alpha acids and imparting a bitterness to help balance out the wort’s sweetness. (Bitter? Sweet? Balance? Check.) Meanwhile, I was apparently witnessing some wild chemical reaction in the kettle, resulting in mini-cyclones that reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut’s icy weather descriptions at the end of Cat’s Cradle. I pointed out the trippy visuals to Jiles, who reluctantly burst my bubble with intel that the swirls were courtesy of a fan atop the tank, not postmodern fiction come to life on a small scale. My workday drawing to a close, Cummings dubbed me “officially a master brewer.” And as we all know there are no takebacks in the brewing industry — so his word is bond. Now, could I replicate the process on my own or even deliver a short lecture on what was accomplished that day? Hell no. (Well, maybe I could fake my way through if I was allowed to consult this article and my interview transcripts — plus The Comic Book Story of Beer, which is now probably bursting with epiphanies.) Like anything else, it’s going to take additional practice, and now that the Highland guys have made the process far more tangible, I’d be glad to hop back in and help them or someone else brew more batches. It’s rewarding work and the personalities it’s attracted at Highland are ones that would be fun to call colleagues, even on just a casual level. Until that next opportunity, I look forward to raising a glass of Hellbender in honor of the one and only Tony Kiss. X

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

FOOD

Fresh Dish

Queenie Mcleod on whole fish and callaloo BY ANDY HALL ahall@mountainx.com Queenie Mcleod, chef and owner of Queens Island Cuisine, discovered her love for cooking at an early age. Born in Jamaica and raised by her grandmother, she made her first full meal — fried chicken with rice and peas — when she was nine years old. “My grandmother was so proud of me,” she says, seated on a crate in her food truck, where spices permeate the air. “My mom and dad were stateside, so she called them and bragged on how I made dinner for the whole family. I can remember the food being real flavorful, but my rice was a little soft.” In 2006, Mcleod reunited with her parents in Asheville. A little over a decade later, at 21, she started cooking and selling Jamaican dishes

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out of her home. Soon, she was preparing around 80 orders a day while also working as a phlebotomist at Mission Hospital. “I was juggling both at the same time,” she says. “I had to choose one, and I chose cooking.” Mcleod debuted Queens Island Cuisine at last year’s annual Goombay Festival. “[Owning a food truck] is constant maneuvering and pivoting — and figuring out what works,” she says. “I’m still trying to find my footing.” In this month’s “Fresh Dish” feature, we speak with Mcleod about her business, notable dishes and why it’s worth road-tripping to New York City for authentic Jamaican cuisine. Xpress: What is a current dish on your menu that you feel is not getting the attention that it deserves? Whole fish, such as Jamaican escovitch fish. Most people around here usually go for filleted fish. When they see red snapper on the menu, they ask if it has a lot of bone in it. I think that’s part of the reason it doesn’t get that much love. But if you know about it, you’re probably going to order it. My seasoned and fried red snapper is paired with an escovitch sauce, which is vinegar-based with a little sugar, habaneros and carrots — you can make it as hot or mild as you like. It comes with rice, cabbage and plantain. They love red snapper back home, and I love it, too. You learn how to eat it off the bone, and you eat everything. It can also be served steamed with callaloo, carrots and okra. That’s my favorite.

CARIBBEAN QUEEN: Queenie Mcleod, chef and owner of Queens Island Cuisine food truck, displays a dish of Jamaican fish escovitch. Photo courtesy of Mcleod What’s a good seasonal ingredient underrepresented in home cooking? Actually, callaloo. It’s a Jamaican green — I would compare it to American collard greens, but it doesn’t have that bitterness. It’s grown here seasonally in the late spring and during the summertime, but in Jamaica it’s year-round. You can do so much with callaloo. In Jamaica, you can have it for breakfast with some fried dumplings. And with steamed fish, you can use it as a stuffing. I have a gentleman that comes from Atlanta that brings it in. You can possibly find it at Tienda Hispana Dona Juanita in East Asheville. They have all the Jamaican stuff.

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Outside of your own, what’s a local dish that you’ve tried in the last month that completely blew you away, and why? This year so far, I’ve had two things that my tongue just can’t forget. One was some pork sauce I had in Florida. The other was local and it was at Gypsy Queen Cuisine. Owner and chef Suzy Phillips invited me to do a tasting of everything on her menu. It was fun, and the food was flavorful and delicious. I’ve never had that type of food before, but you can taste the intent in it, the passion — like grandma’s cooking, you can taste the love, just everything! The spices that she used were very unique. My favorite, though, was the lamb kibbe wrap. The lamb was perfectly cooked, and when you bite into it ... your tongue tingles, your nose gets the aromas ... it touches all the senses! What’s a favorite food destination within driving distance of Asheville that readers should add to their list? It has to be New York. It’s a little far, but you can drive there in less than a day. When I travel, I try to check out the local stuff. I follow a lot of foodie people online to see what they’re talking about. And I go to those places. My favorite areas to visit are the Jamaican neighborhoods in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. I walk from restaurant to restaurant, just trying stuff. It makes me feel like I’m at home. You can find roasted breadfruit. You can find everything and anything Jamaican. What cuisine would you like to see represented more in Asheville? I’d like to be able to do more authentic Jamaican dishes. I haven’t been to a restaurant that has chicken feet, but that’s the kind of thing I would like to have on my menu. The demographic in Asheville doesn’t really allow that. But I would really love to introduce people to things like curried chicken feet or stewed kidney — the stuff that we really eat daily. We don’t eat oxtail every day or jerk chicken. But those are the two most popular things I sell. Who would you like to see us dish with next month? Suzy of Gypsy Queen. When I had my grand opening, she reached out to me a week before and she helped me with everything, including getting on the truck and serving. Katie Button was my mentor and introduced me to Suzy, and we really hit it off right away. I just love her. For more information on Queens Island Cuisine’s hours and locations, visit avl.mx/cyr. X

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SEPT. 13-19, 2023

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ARTS & CU L T U R E

ARTS

Creatives in the Crowd

Mother-daughter duo prepares for artists residency in France

BY JONATHAN LINDBERG mainstreetj11@gmail.com Juniper Winnecour, an eighth grade student at Hanger Hall School, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Along with her artistic pursuit, she’s more recently begun studying French. In 2020, while at home in the early days of COVID-19, she asked her mother and fellow artist, Meg, “When will I be able to actually use the French I’m learning?” That same evening, the pair discovered and applied for the Chateau Orquevaux residency. Since 2015, the program has brought together artists, writers and musicians from around the world to France’s Champagne countryside for a two-week workshop. “There was no risk to the application,” Juniper says. “It cost nothing. So, we uploaded art samples and filled out the application. Then we put the chateau in the back of our minds.” Five months later, Juniper received a surprise email announcing she and her mother had been accepted. COVID delayed their participation, but two years later the mother-daughter duo are now less than three months away from making the trek. “Getting accepted into an artistic program in France is like living a dream,” Juniper says. WILD ENERGY Before her retirement earlier this year, Meg taught for 10 years at Hanger Hall. Drawn to the natural world, her acrylic paintings feature exotic wild ferns, bright colors and abstract shapes in bold colors. “I try and paint my wild energy into each of my pieces,” she says. This energy is captured in surprising and vibrant ways. Her skies are a deep orange. Her leaves, full of life, explore various shades of red and blue. And her abstractions shine in bright, electric pink. Meg says she’s inspired by early 20th-century Fauvist painters. Her style and use of color, which often elicit a dreamlike state, also channel Henri Rousseau’s jungle painting that took Paris by storm over a century ago. “I am always working on the messy middle of a painting,” she says, inside her small white home studio, Cloud Cottage, in West Asheville. The French-style cottage is surrounded by flowers, ferns and tower-

TWO OF A KIND: Amid the pandemic, Juniper Winnecour and her mother, Meg, applied for the Chateau Orquevaux residency in France. Two years later, the pair of local artists are preparing for their travels abroad. Photo by Jonathan Lindberg ing trees. Here, Meg will spend the fall season painting and dreaming the wild colors that express her joys, as she and Juniper await their travels to France. LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER Juniper mostly works with pencil and pen. Like her mother, she pulls primarily from the natural world. Stars and the moon are recurring motifs in her work. But unlike her mother, she also includes fantastical portraits of imaginary people. Juniper says she always starts with a shape and then builds the drawing from there. In one piece, a girl’s face emerges from a cloud of smoke. Her long hair has the same lines as the stems and leaves her mother paints. Above the drawing are celestial bodies, giving one the feel of escape and wonder — the notion that there is a whole world out there waiting to be explored. “We never thought we would get in,” Juniper says, reflecting on their upcoming trip. “This residency will give me a chance to build off the energy of other artists from around the world,” she continues. “I am so

excited for the opportunity to explore new artistic expressions with other people. I hope my work will be challenged just from being around other artists in such a beautiful setting.” EAGER ANTICIPATION With the trip just months away, Meg is working on several large cyanotype pieces, a style that uses blue ink printing. She plans to bring these larger works with her to France, where she will embroider hot-orange thread into the current pieces. These textured creations, Meg notes, will be a new form of expression. Juniper is also exploring and pushing her artistic boundaries. Recently, she completed one of her first creative digital works. The project, which is printed on a large board and displayed prominently in the Cloud Cottage, is a logo for her father’s new business. She also created a time-lapse video capturing the work that went into creating the design. It shows the movements of her pen across the screen as she starts and stops various ideas, offering a behind-the-scenes

look into the creative process that the public rarely gets to see. Two years after their initial acceptance, Meg and Juniper say they are ready. Their passports are in hand. Their travel plans are made. Their goals for sightseeing in Paris are set. “At first, we were very nervous about going,” Meg says. “But now, we are both so glad we made the commitment. We have already squeezed so much delight out of this experience and the residency is still several months away. The trip has already paid for itself.” This article is part of our ongoing feature, Creatives in the Crowd, which focuses on local artists — both established and new. The feature spotlights unique stories and innovative artistic approaches within our creative community. Unlike much of our Arts & Culture reporting, these stories are not tied to upcoming events, exhibits or releases. The feature strives to represent a diverse range of voices, experiences and artistic mediums. If you’d like to nominate a community member for consideration, please reach out to ae@ mountainx.com with the subject line “Creatives in the Crowd.” X

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Chuck Giezentanner has Asheville entrepreneurship in his blood. His grandfather, a butcher, ran Giezentanner Market on Merrimon Avenue with his brothers from the 1940s through the 1970s. With years of expertise as a bartender, Giezentanner has opened his own place — The Daily Grind, a coffee shop in The District in Biltmore Village. The sunny, spacious shop is painted with tans and browns, the walls accented with paintings, including some by Giezentanner, who is also an artist. A sofa and bookshelf are set before a mural of the shop’s mascot, Bean the groundhog. Graphic designer Claire Allen, art director for the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, designed Bean in homage to Giezentanner’s business partner, Dee Dee Allan, who is a retired school counselor with Claxton Elementary School. “Dee Dee calls me one day, and she’s screaming and yelling about the groundhogs in her yard because they eat her sunflowers ... and she hates them,” says Giezentanner. But after years of playing in her yard and raising litters there, “all of a sudden, they’re her ‘babies.’ And I thought to myself, I’m going to make the groundhog the logo of the business.” Allan, also an Asheville native with a long local lineage, met and befriended Giezentanner in West Asheville, where they both grew up and still reside. During the pandemic, Giezentanner stopped working as a bartender and started getting up in the morning, causing him to reevaluate his schedule. “I knew I still wanted to be involved in the restaurant industry because that’s my passion, and I’m very good at it,” he says. “But I just didn’t want to go back to those hours. And I’ve always loved coffee.” He’d worked as a barista in the 1990s at Hathaway’s Coffee and Café, which was in Biltmore Village where The Corner Kitchen now operates. He and Allan discussed the idea of opening a coffee shop in their neighborhood but decided that area was already caffeine-saturated. The District location was ideal, as there is only a Starbucks nearby. Giezentanner says he serves local customers on their way to work, as well as tourists visiting Biltmore Estate. The partners signed the lease in April 2022, but because of a post-pan-

demic stainless steel shortage and other delays, their Italian industrial coffee machine sat in its shipping crate in Giezentanner’s living room for a full year. Now the shop is in full operation and open Sunday through Wednesday, 7 a.m.-1 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, 7 a.m.-3 p.m. The owners hope to soon expand hours and hold events such as live music on the large patio, which boasts a sunrise view of the Black Mountain range to the east. Giezentanner exclusively serves coffee from Black Mountain’s Dynamite Roasting Co., and he meets local pastry chef Beth Kellerhals at 6:30 every morning to pick up pastries such as iced banana bread with chocolate chips, and scones made with strawberries and black peppercorn. Coffee drinks include The Charles — an iced dark roast with almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla, named after Chuck — and The Margaret, which is Dee Dee’s first name. It consists of her favorite tea, caffeine-free Bengal spice and vanilla — and is served iced. The partners’ next step is to hire baristas, as Giezentanner is currently running the café daily. “As much as I perceive myself as Superman, I am not Superman. But if they ever want me to take up the role, I will,” he says. The Daily Grind is at 100 District Drive, Unit 216. For more information, visit avl.mx/czj.

Laissez les bons temps rouler Nonprofit Asheville Mardi Gras’ popular Cajun Cookoff is returning after a three-year hiatus on Sunday, Sept. 17, noon-5 p.m., at The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage. The event will feature live music from Jackomo Cajun Country Band. Participating chefs will donate and serve samples of their Cajun, Creole and Gulf Coast cookery, representing local eateries such as Biscuit Head, Nine Mile, Haywood Common, Grush’s Cajun Dino Grill and Sylva’s The Paper Mill Lounge. Devil’s Foot will serve specialty alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. Costumes are encouraged at the event. The tasting will take place from 1-3 p.m., and winners will be announced during a dance party from 3-5 p.m.

Rock’s Holt Orchards on two ice cream flavors to be released this fall. On Friday, Sept. 15, all locations of The Hop will release Apples & Honey, which coincides with the beginning of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashana. It’s a holiday tradition to dip apples in honey to manifest a “sweet new year,” says The Hop co-owner Greg Garrison. The ice cream flavor will feature locally grown apples, as well as honey from Haw Creek Honey Co. On Friday, Oct. 13, all locations will release both dairy and vegan versions of Apple Butter ice cream, made from the orchard’s Sweetie and Granny Smith apple varieties and seasonal spices. The Hop Handcrafted Ice Cream has several area locations. For more information, visit avl.mx/auf.

International fare

PARTNERS IN GRIND: Chuck Giezentanner and Dee Dee Allan, co-owners of The Daily Grind coffee shop, both have deep Asheville roots. Allan, who is also a seamstress, designed and sewed the aprons for the shop. Photo by Andy Hall Tickets are $30 for the general public or $20 for AMG members. Nonmembers can purchase a membership and ticket combination for $40. Net proceeds support the AMG Parade and Queen’s Ball, held each year on the Sunday before Mardi Gras. The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage is at 131 Sweeten Creek Road. For more information, visit avl.mx/czi.

Moss adds Moore to barbecue After abruptly leaving his chef and partnership posts at West Asheville’s newly opened Little Louie’s and Regina’s Westside, Elliott Moss has given his fans reason to rejoice. On Sept. 3, Moss debuted his newest venture, Moss and Moore Barbecue, at a pop-up event at The Hound. Moss is starting a catering business in addition to regular popups, which he plans to hold at The Hound throughout the winter into next spring. He says he may open a brick-and-mortar store in the future, but for now, he has some traveling to do. This fall, Moss and Moore Barbecue will be participating in annual fundraisers and festivals in Atlanta, Dallas and Charleston, S.C. Moss is also in the final stages of a yearlong welding project with his

friend Drew Shook, a local welder and owner of the Velvet Anvil. “We’ve been working on this little backyard camp tailgate grill, a 60-pound mobile one you can use wherever.” Their goal is to sell the handmade, water-resistant, stainless steel grills this fall, with preordering available in the coming weeks. “It’s something that I’ve been working on quietly,” says Moss. “My dad is a welder, my grandfather was a welder, so it’s in my blood. It’s really full circle because before I could legally get a job at 15, my dad would work me in the summers instead of sending me to camp or day care.” After his engagements this fall, Moss says he’s looking forward to returning to Asheville to rev up his catering business. “If people want me to cook barbecue, I’ll feed them. If enough people need a whole hog or a bunch of brisket, I would love to talk to them about it.” For more information, visit avl.mx/czg.

The apple of my i-ce cream It’s apple season in Western North Carolina, and The Hop Handcrafted Ice Cream is partnering with Flat

Brevard will be the home of one of Western North Carolina’s first international food halls. Currently under construction with the goal of opening in summer of 2024, Brevard Collective will be a family-friendly community gathering place and will feature several food vendors, a bar, a coffee café and indoor and outdoor seating. There will also be a stage for live music and a children’s area made of artificial grass. “As new Brevard residents and longtime admirers of this well-established community, we really want to give back by promoting growth and strengthening the preservation of this beautiful city,” says Tony D’Alessandro, general manager. “Our main mission as Brevard Collective is to create more jobs, support progress and preserve the environment by implementing sustainable and eco-friendly practices. We also want to provide a diverse selection of food options that accommodate a wide range of dietary preferences.”

Brevard Collective is at 280 S. Broad St. For more information, visit avl.mx/czh.

Waste not Food Waste Solutions WNC will host its quarterly educational networking event Wednesday, Sept. 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m., in collaboration with WNC Food Justice Planning Initiative. The free public program will begin with a presentation by Buncombe County and the City of Asheville about the Food Scraps Drop-Off at the Stephens-Lee Community Center. A networking social will follow at White Labs Brewing Co., including a game of networking bingo as well as food waste updates and breakout sessions. Parking is available at StephensLee Community Center and at White Labs Brewing Co. Additional parking is at City of Asheville Public Works, 161 S. Charlotte St. Stephens-Lee Community Center is at 30 George Washington Carver Ave., and White Labs Brewing Co. is at 172 S. Charlotte St. For more information, visit avl.mx/970.

— Andy Hall X

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Around Town

Celebrating Dirty Dead’s long strange trip On Sept. 3, local Grateful Dead cover band Dirty Dead played its 300th show at One World Brewing West. The event kicked off a celebration of the band’s seven-year anniversary and will be followed by several shows this fall. As the local Deadhead community expands, Dirty Dead has also started playing in outlying towns such as Hot Springs and Marshall. The group’s next show as a full band is Saturday, Sept. 23, at 6:30 p.m., at Homeplace Beer Co. in Burnsville. Drummer, guitarist and flutist Paul DeCirce, also frontman and founder, says he and several other musicians formed the band after playing at their friend Kendall Huntley’s birthday luau on the French Broad River on Sept. 2, 2016. They had such a good time playing together that they decided to pursue other gigs. They started out calling themselves the Stone Jack Ballers, in reference to a line from the Dead song “Easy Wind,” but by the third show, they’d changed their name to Dirty Dead. When the Dirty Dead started picking up steam in 2017, it was composed of members DeCirce, bassist Eric Swanson, keyboardist Bryan Solleveld, guitarist Johnny Humphries and drummer Sean Mason. That lineup stayed intact

until Mason died unexpectedly in August 2020. “We really haven’t replaced Sean,” says DeCirce. But the band welcomes guest musicians and substitutes often, as most members also play in other local groups and have full- or part-time jobs. “It’s evolved into a family of different musicians,” says DeCirce. DeCirce and Humphries are also Dirty Dawg, a strings duo that plays acoustic Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia and some roots music. Sometimes they invite fiddle player Alex Ball to join a performance. DeCirce has been into the music of the Grateful Dead since he was a teenager. He thinks the Asheville area has always been a mecca for Deadheads and other hippies, with its mountains, music scene and natural healing resources. He moved here in 2000 and has since created and played in several bands, including the Screaming Js. DeCirce says he can’t even remember the names of all the Dead cover bands. Phuncle Sam is the only other local Dead cover band he can remember from the early days. In future shows, DeCirce says the band plans to incorporate a few original songs, which it has not done previously. The group is actively looking to book more shows through-

GRATEFUL DAWG: Paul DeCirce, frontman and founder of Dirty Dead, caresses the band’s unofficial mascot, Skeeter. Photo by Andy Hall out the winter, but he’s not in a hurry to overwhelm himself or his band members. DeCirce not only fronts the band but also takes care of all the booking and marketing and runs his own production company, DominYo! Talent. He hopes to teach music in the near future, as well as build his own studio. Homeplace Beer Co. is at 321 W. Main St., Burnsville. For more information, visit avl.mx/czl.

The one dance you’ll do alone Asheville native Gary E. Carter’s third book, Not Dark Yet, is about two friends facing the reality of a pact made in college coming to fruition. In the novel, published by Back Nine Books and released late this

summer, Henry and Charlie promised each other they would both die on their own terms if faced with a terminal illness. The title is a reference to the Bob Dylan song of the same name, one of Carter’s favorites: Henry considers a line from the song for his gravestone. The author says music influences a lot of his writing, and he incorporates it into his work often. The idea for the book stems from a conversation Carter had with a cousin about family members and friends who had passed on. “When that happens, it makes you start thinking about your own mortality and how you’re going to deal with death,” he says. “And I don’t think we do a particularly good job in the American culture — it’s not a subject that people like to deal with.” The novel evolved out of an idea from

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Buddhist thought that has always resonated with him: “You have to accept that you’re going to die in order to fully live.” Carter says the book is not only about facing death but also about friendship. “It’s about what we’re willing to do for friends, and also how so many friends fall by the wayside along the way.” Carter, who is hoping to plan an upcoming event at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, says Ashevilleans will recognize a lot of the places in the novel, such as Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar. “There’s also a person that works there; hopefully, she might recognize herself — but if not, I’ll tell her one day.” For more information, visit avl.mx/czm.

In perfect harmony Restoring Harmony to Hominy, a free public event by The Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway and Malvern Hills Neighborhood Association, will take place Sunday, Sept. 17, 1-4 p.m., at the Shelburne Road end of the greenway. The event supports ecological restoration and an initiative to prevent erosion at a portion of the greenway’s footpath. The project will improve the trail to make it “much more resilient and accessible to everyone for years to come,” says Jack Igelman, a founding trustee of the FOHCG, in a press release. Graham Sharp of roots bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers will provide entertainment, including a performance of his new song “Hominy Valley.” There will also be refreshments and educational information on the restoration project. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 24. The event is at 80 Shelburne Road on the Hominy Creek Greenway. For more information, visit avl.mx/czn.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner The first Lake Lure Dance Festival, an expansion of the event previously known as the Dirty Dancing Festival, will take place at Morse Park in Lake Lure on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. The all-day festival’s theme is Cool Dips & Hot Salsas and will feature live music, dance performances and lessons, games and competitions. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in honor of Patrick Swayze, who died of the disease in September 2009.

Swayze starred in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, much of which was filmed in Lake Lure. The Hickory Nut Gorge Chamber of Commerce started hosting the Dirty Dancing Festival in 2010, but legal and financial requirements made it impossible to continue basing it on the movie. The chamber made the decision to expand the festival, featuring a variety of dance and music styles while continuing to celebrate Swayze. Morse Park is at 2948 Memorial Highway, Lake Lure. For more information, visit avl.mx/czq.

Perchance to dream Asheville-based playwright and director Anthony Abraira’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy will debut at Ella Asheville on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. Hamlet: The Requiem will be performed by Tryon-based theater group Shakespeare & Friends, with a follow-up performance on Friday, Sept. 15, at 8 p.m. Abraira’s version has “an immersive plot, shortened duration and minimalist staging,” according to a press release. The playwright uses Shakespeare’s original lines from Hamlet but has rearranged them as well as reassigned certain lines to different characters. Abraira says the performance is intended “to create a unique and intimate connection between the audience and the world of Hamlet. ... A beautiful row of dominoes is set, ready to fall at any moment.” Additional performances will take place in Spartanburg, S.C., and Tryon later this month. Ella Asheville is at 81 Broad St., Suite 100. For more information, visit avl.mx/czp.

— Andy Hall X

MOVIE REVIEWS GOLDA: Golda Meir deserves better than this dull biopic about the Israeli PM’s actions during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Grade: C-minus — Edwin Arnaudin

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CLUBLAND

RETRO ROCK: On Thursday, Sept. 21, four-piece rock band Aunt Vicki will perform alongside Paprika at Fleetwood’s. The two-band show starts at 9 p.m., when each band will release a single on a short run of double-sided 7-inch vinyls. Photo courtesy of Geddi Monroe For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5pm

27 CLUB Get Down With The Sickness (dance party), 10pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE Bike Night w/Connor Hunt (Appalachian, country), 6pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL • Chat Pile w/The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir (grunge, sludge, industrial), 8pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. FBVMA: Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Jay Brown (roots, blues, jazz), 6pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well-Crafted Music w/ Amy Ray, 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm SHILOH & GAINES Trivia Night, 7pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE Deerhoof w/Flynt Flossy & Turquoise Jeep (indie, punk-pop, experimental), 8pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Robert Thomas Band (jazz, prog-rock, Celtic), 8pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB Tribute), 6pm

THE ODD Cherokee Social, Fun Machine, Mary's Letter & Father Figures (indiepop), 8pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Crowbar w/Primitive Man, Bodybox & Tombstone Highway (doom, sludge, death-metal, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Dan's Jam (bluegrass), 7pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Music Circle, 7pm

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Perreo 828, 9pm

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BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Hunter Begley (alt-country, folk), 6pm CROW & QUILL Black Sea Beat Society (Balka, rock'n'roll, Turkish-psych), 8pm FLEETWOOD'S Cold Choir, Bruschetta Delorean, Public Circuit & Machine 13 (industrial, synth, postpunk), 9pm

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JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm LA TAPA LOUNGE Marc Keller (blues, Southern-rock), 7pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Collin Cheek (covers), 7pm ONE WORLD BREWING Blase (indie), 8pm OUTSIDER BREWING Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm PULP Carly Taich & Hannah Kaminer (folk, Americana), 8pm PISGAH BREWING CO. WTF Blues Project, 6:30pm SALVAGE STATION Dopapod (funk, rock, jazz), 8pm

SHILOH & GAINES Karaoke Night, 8pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Django Jazz Jam, 7pm THE DFR LOUNGE Steve Simon & The Kings of Jazz (Latin, jazz), 7pm THE GREY EAGLE • Patio: Kathryn O’Shea (indie, folk), 6pm • The Nude Party w/ Lady Apple Tree & Good Trauma (melodic, garage-rock), 8:30pm THE ODD Basically Nancy, Cam Girl & Yawni (punk), 8pm THE OUTPOST The Old Futures (Americana, blues, indie), 7pm THE ROOT BAR Kendra & Friends (multiple genres), 6pm THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN Mr Jimmy (blues), 5pm URBAN ORCHARD Trivia Thursday, 7pm WNC OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE Trivia, 6:30pm

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

LA TAPA LOUNGE Open Mic Night w/ Hamza, 8pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Live Music Sessions, 7:30pm

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO. WTF Week w/Sister Ivy (neo-soul, jazz, R&B), 5:30pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Mr Jimmy's Friday Night Blues, 8pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Runaway Gin (Phish tribute), 10pm BEN'S TUNE UP EK Balam (reggaeton, hip-hop), 8pm BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Dark City Kings (garage-rock, country, pop), 6pm BOTANIST & BARREL TASTING BAR + BOTTLE SHOP Andy Ferrell (folk, blues, bluegrass), 6:30pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Skies of Avalon (rock), 8pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL TAND (rock), 10pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Orange Moon & J-Lloyd (Erykah Badu tribute), 9pm RABBIT RABBIT Silent Disco: Virgo Party, 9pm SALVAGE STATION Clay Street Unit w/ Rachel Baiman (folk, country, bluegrass), 8pm

CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE ASHEVILLE • Comedy at Catawba: Blaire Postman w/Grief Cat, 7pm • Don't Tell Comedy: South Slope, 9:30pm

SHILOH & GAINES Datrian Johnson & Rainy Eyes (folk, Americana, hip-hop), 9pm

CORK & KEG Fancy & the Gentlemen (roots, country), 8pm FLEETWOOD'S Pageant, Tight & Stefan Murphy (blues, glamrock, garage), 9pm

THE GREY EAGLE • Patio: The Tallboys (rock, reggae), 5:30pm • Pierce Edens w/ Moses Atwood (folk, rock, psych-grunge), 8pm

FROG LEVEL BREWERY Hustle Souls w/Cloud Circuit (rock, indie), 6pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Tru Phonic (funk, blues, rock), 7pm

GINGER'S REVENGE CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM Color Machine (folk, rock), 6pm

THE MULE Superhero Movie Trivia w/Kipper & Beer City Comic Con, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Drag Music Bingo w/ Divine the Bearded Lady, 7:30pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB • Honky-Tonk Fridays w/Jackson Grimm, 4pm • Duwayne Burnside (blues), 9pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA The Red Hot Sugar Babies (jazz, blues, swing), 7pm

URBAN ORCHARD Cider Celts (Celtic, folk, old-time), 6pm

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY • Live Music Sessions, 7:30pm • 80's MAXimum Overdrive, 10pm

GINGER'S REVENGE CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM • Brown Mountain Lightning Bugs (Appalachian, folk), 4pm • Modelface Comedy Presents: Brendan Gay, 8pm

ASHEVILLE CLUB Mr Jimmy (blues), 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM The Dirty French Broads (Americana, bluegrass), 7pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Travelling Pilsburys (acoustic), 8pm

HOMEPLACE BEER CO. Music In the Mountains Folk Festival, 2:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Glitter & Grind Dance Party, 9:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB • Nobody's Darling String Band, 4pm • Tommy The Animal (rock, Americana), 9pm

BEN'S TUNE UP Jaze Uries (house, electronic), 8pm BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Stephen Evans (folk, rock), 6pm CORK & KEG The Uptown Hillbillies (honky-tonk, country), 8pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE Karaoke Night, 9pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Maggie Valley Band (pop, folk, Appalachia), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Deathbots, Small Doses & Rocket 77 (punk), 9pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL TAND (rock), 10pm

FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON Comedy Hypnosis w/ Jon Dee, 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Elora Dash (neo-soul, jazzz, R&B), 8pm

WHITE HORSE

BLACK MOUNTAIN PRESENTS

THE ODD Bold Burlesque, 9pm THE ORANGE PEEL Sold Out: Cannons (alt-indie, electro-pop), 8pm THE OUTPOST Mama & The Ruckus (funk, blues), 7pm THE RAD BREW CO. Peggy Ratusz Trio (blues), 7pm

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CLU B LA N D SHILOH & GAINES Chilltonic (alt-rock, hip-hop, folk), 9pm SILVERADOS Contagious (rock, metal), 6pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Lexi Weege & JJ Slater Band (funk, jazz, rock), 9pm THE BURGER BAR Best Worst Karaoke, 9pm THE GREY EAGLE D.R.I (punk, hardcore, metal), 9pm

Trivia Wednesdays & Karaoke Thursdays Songwriters Night - Tuesdays RAINY DAY Feat. FRI Datrian Johnson & Rainy Eyes 9/15 Lots of Soul & A Damn Good Time!

SAT CHILLTONIC - Blend of Alt. Rock, Hip Hop, 9/16 Folk & Reggae Your neighborhood bar… no matter where you live.

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JAM Hosted by SUN BLUEGRASS Drew Matulich (Billy Strings) 9/17 Third Sunday of every month 21+ ID REQUIRED • NO COVER CHARGE 700 Hendersonville Rd • shilohandgaines.com

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THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO. • Lagerhosen (oom-pah, German, polka), 1pm • LazrLuvr (80s tribute band), 6pm THE ODD Party Foul Drag, 8pm THE ORANGE PEEL Beth Orton w/ Pneumatic Tubes (folk, electronica), 8pm

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Sunday Hustle, 6pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Numatik, Fyfe & Castanea (dance, electronic), 10pm

ASHEVILLE PIZZA & BREWING CO Slice of Life Standup & Professional Comedy, 6:30pm CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE ASHEVILLE Comedy at Catawba: Ryan Ryan Ryan, 6pm FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Asheville Music Hall Presents: Beats Antiques (exprimental), 6:30pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Traditional Irish Jam, 3:30pm LA TAPA LOUNGE Sunday Karaoke w/KJ Lyric, 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. West End String Band (bluegrass, roots, acoustic), 4pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Stolen Gin w/ADLR (dance, funk), 10pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Sunday Jazz Jam, 1:30pm PISGAH BREWING CO. Pisgah Sunday Jam, 6:30pm

S & W MARKET Mr Jimmy (blues), 1pm SALVAGE STATION The Original Wailers (reggae), 6pm SHILOH & GAINES Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 4pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Aaron Woody Wood (Appalachia, soul, Americana), 7pm TACO BOY WEST ASHEVILLE Daytime Disco Sunday Brunch, 10am THE GREY EAGLE • Burlesque Brunch, 12pm • Darren Nicholson Band (bluegrass), 8pm THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Das OomPapas (German, polka, oom-pah), 1pm THE ORANGE PEEL Old 97's w/John Hollier (rock), 8pm THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Alex Bazemore Trio (bluegrass), 4pm

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 27 CLUB Karaoke Monday, 10pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Totally Rad Trivia w/ Mitch Fortune, 6pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Quizzo! Pub Trivia w/ Jason Mencer, 7:30pm NOBLE CIDER DOWNTOWN Freshen Up Comedy Open Mic, 6:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. It Takes All Kinds Open Mic Nights, 7pm ONE WORLD BREWING Open Mic Downtown, 8pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Mashup Mondays w/ The JLloyd Mashup Band, 8pm THE ORANGE PEEL Movements w/ Mannequin Pussy, Soul Blind & Heart To Gold (post-hardcore), 7pm

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY • Trivia: Are You Smarter Than a Drag Queen?, 8pm • Karaoke w/Ganymede, 9pm

FLEETWOOD'S Juniper Willow w/Bad Ties (jazz, post-punk), 9pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING Jay Brown (roots, blues, jazz), 6pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Team Trivia, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well-Crafted Music w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS Darlingside (folk-pop), 7:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5pm

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST The Grateful Family Band Tuesdays (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm SHILOH & GAINES Songwriters Night, 7pm

LA TAPA LOUNGE Wednesday Bike Night & Music, 6pm

SILVERADOS Dark City Comedy Night, 8pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. FBVMA: Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Weekly Open Jam hosted by Chris Cooper & Friends, 6:30pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm

THE BURGER BAR C U Next Tuesday Late Night Trivia, 9:30pm

SHILOH & GAINES Trivia Night, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE Sold Out: Mighty Poplar (bluegrass,, 8pm THE ODD Comedy & Hip Hop Open Mic, 8pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Asheville FM Live Music Sessions, 9pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN • Irish Music Circle, 7pm • Dark City Song Swap: Beth Lee, Kevin Smith & Miriam Allen, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Perreo 828, 9pm ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR The MGB's (acoustic), 8pm BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING The Blushin' Roulettes (folk), 6pm CROW & QUILL Firecracker Jazz Band, 8pm FLEETWOOD'S Aunt Vicki & Paprika (rock, alt-indie), 9pm FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB Tribute), 6pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Joy Oladokun w/Becca Mancari (folk, R&B, rock), 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE • Patio: Quattlebaum (indie-folk), 5pm • Heartlesss B*stards (rock'n'roll, folk, blues), 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN White Horse Open Mic, 7pm

THE ODD Wailin Storms, US Christmas & Weight Shift (rock, metal), 8pm

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

THE ORANGE PEEL Matt & Kim w/Babe Haven (indie, electronic), 8pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MASONIC TEMPLE Ondara w/Katacombs (pop, rock-folk), 7:30pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Dan's Jam (bluegrass), 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Kid Billy (Americana, blues, ragtime), 8pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING MIke Fuller Duo (rock'n'roll), 8pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Electro Lust (electronic, latin, funk), 9pm OUTSIDER BREWING Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

SALVAGE STATION The JLloyd MashUp (Paul Simon tribute), 7pm SHILOH & GAINES Karaoke Night, 8pm SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO. Tauk Moore (rock, electronic), 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Karaoke w/Terraoke, 9pm THE ODD Convalescent, Filern & Palm Dreams (pop-punk,emo, indie), 8pm THE ORANGE PEEL Sold Out: The Cancelled Podcast Tour w/Tana Mongeau & Brooke Schofield, 8pm THE ROOT BAR Kendra & Friends (multiple genres), 6pm THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN Mr Jimmy (blues), 5pm URBAN ORCHARD Trivia Thursday, 7pm WNC OUTDOOR COLLECTIVE Trivia, 6:30pm

SUN: Aaron “Woody” Wood & Friends 7pm MON: Ping-Pong Tournament 7pm TUE: Open Jam w/ house band the Lactones 8pm WED: Poetry Open Mic AVL 8:30pm/8pm signup

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Advertise your job listings Place your ad here and get a FREE online posting Contact us today! advertise@mountainx.com

MARKETPLACE REAL ESTATE & RENTALS | ROOMMATES | JOBS | SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS | CLASSES & WORKSHOPS MIND, BODY, SPIRIT | MUSICIANS’ SERVICES | PETS | AUTOMOTIVE | XCHANGE | ADULT Want to advertise in Marketplace? 828-251-1333 advertise@mountainx.com • mountainx.com/classifieds If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Remember the Russian proverb: “Doveryai, no proveryai,” trust but verify. When answering classified ads, always err on the side of caution. Especially beware of any party asking you to give them financial or identification information. The Mountain Xpress cannot be responsible for ensuring that each advertising client is legitimate. Please report scams to advertise@mountainx.com RENTALS APARTMENTS FOR RENT

LOVELY KENILWORTH APARTMENT FOR RENT MID-SEPTEMBER Newly renovated 800sq ft apartment available mid-Sept. Ground level, wooded lot; one bedroom, one bath; new washer/dryer; private drive/entrance. Water and wi-fi included in rent. Granite kitchen countertops/ sink coming soon. Email clabbergirl57@gmail.com .

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for experienced Millwrights workers, HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Technicians, Welders, along with CDL Drivers to perform industrial projects in WNC and the Upstate SC. Jobs may require overtime and occasional out of town travel. Go to our website, imocoinc. net/employment, to fill out an application or come see us at 111 Guaranteed Way, Fletcher, NC 28732. (828) 684-2000 imocoinc.net/ employment/ .

MEDICAL/ HEALTH CARE IN HOME CAREGIVER A New Hope Home Care is looking for in home caregivers to care for adult clients in and around Asheville. We have an immediate need in West Asheville - looking for an active, compassionate caregiver that has some weekday and every other weekend available. Pay is $20/hr. Please call us for more information. 828255-4446 or email: info@ anewhopehomecare.com or visit anewhopehomecare.com.

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IMOCO INC. IN FLETCHER, NORTH CAROLINA IS HIRING! IMOCO Inc. IS HIRING. We are looking

A THERAPIST LIKE ME EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION OPEN “A Therapist Like Me” fue establecido en el 2019, es una organización sin fines de lucro, dedicada a conectar a clientes singularmente diversos con terapeutas singularmente diversos, ambos de comunidades

históricamente marginadas, elevando a los terapeutas de raza de color, proporcionando vales de psicoterapia a clientes históricamente marginados, reduciendo el estigma social que rodea a la salud mental y apoya a nuestra comunidad. La tarifa de pago durante la capacitación es de $40 por hora al comienzo de la contratación con un aumento a $50 por/ hora luego de completar la capacitación. Esperamos que la oportunidad de pagar una tarifa más alta llegue a medida que la organización crezca y revisaremos esta tarifa de pago trimestralmente. Esta posición se basa en la financiación del año en curso y depende de la disponibilidad de los fondos. De tiempo parcial (10 a 20 horas por semana); Las horas de trabajo son tanto en persona como a distancia. Las horas pueden fluctuar dependiendo de las necesidades de la organización. Esto se decidirá en cooperación con las iniciativas actuales de la organización, la junta, los objetivos de la comunidad y el Director Ejecutivo. A Therapist Like Me, established in 2019, is a non-profit dedicated to connecting uniquely diverse clients to uniquely diverse therapists both from historically marginalized communities, elevating therapists of color, providing psychotherapy vouchers to historically marginalized clients, reducing societal stigma surrounding mental

health, and supporting our community. $40/hour training rate at the start of hire with an increase to $50/hour after training is complete. We hope the opportunity to pay a higher rate comes as the organization grows and we will review this rate of pay quarterly. This position is based on funding from the current year and is contingent upon funding availability. Part-time (10-20 hours per week); hours are both in-person and remote work. Hours may fluctuate depending on organizational needs. This will be decided in co-operation with current initiatives of the organization, board, community goals and Executive Director. Full job description: https:// www.atherapistlikeme. org/apply-to-be-our-nextexecutive-director Por favor, postule con una carta de presentación o introducción y un currículum vitae a/Please apply with a cover letter or introduction and resume to: atlmsearchcommittee@gmail .

CAREGIVER FOR SENIORS/HOME COMPANION SERVICES Senior caregiver seeking part-time hours as an in-home caregiver/companion for female clients only. I have recent, local references. My hourly rate is $18 an hour. Jennifer Elliott 828-641-1277 / Jseavlnc@gmail.com.

Galactic Maya frequencies readings from the Zuvuya Crew Scrumpy cider pressing demonstration and tasting Special cider and mead releases

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ANNOUNCEMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS $10K+ IN DEBT? BE DEBT FREE IN 24-48 MONTHS! Be debt free in 24-48 months. Pay nothing to enroll. Call National Debt Relief at 844-977-3935. ATTENTION OXYGEN THERAPY USERS Discover Oxygen Therapy That Moves with You with Inogen Portable Oxygen Concentrators. FREE information kit. Call 866-859-0894. (AAN CAN)

CREIANC'S REAL ESTATE VENDORS' EXPO Tuesday, September 19th, 5:30 to 8:30 - 30+ Real Estate Investing-Specific Vendors! 20-minute Masterminds lead by Local Experts! - Door Prizes! - Grand Prize: $500 Cash +1 year membership! DENIED SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Appeal! If you're 50+, filed SSD and denied, our attorneys can help get you approved! No money out of pocket! Call 1-877-707-5707. (AAN CAN)

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DISH TV SPECIAL $64.99 for 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/23. 1-866-566-1815. (AAN CAN)

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Donate your car. Change a life. Do you have an extra car that needs a new home? Your donated car can open the doors to independence, increased income, and higher education for a hardworking member of our community. Vehicles of all types and conditions are welcomed and appreciated! The donation is tax-deductible. The process is simple. The impact is real.

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GOT AN UNWANTED CAR? Donate it to Patriotic Hearts. Fast free pick up. All 50 States. Patriotic Hearts’ programs help veterans find work or start their own business. Call 24/7: 844-875-6782. (AAN CAN) NAME CHANGE I Gurbir Singh son of Parminder Singh resident of Fresno, California hereby declare that I changed my name from Gurbir Singh Khosa to Gurbir Singh for all future purposes. SENIOR LIVING My Caring Plan’s local advisors have helped thousands of families with unique needs find senior living. Can you afford 2k a month in rent? We can help for free! Call 866-386-9005. (AAN CAN) SPEEDY SATELLITE INTERNET Shop w/ A Viasat Expert for Speedy Satellite Internet. New

UNCLAIMED / RECEIVED FIREARMS The following is a list of Unclaimed / Received firearms currently in possession of the Asheville Police Department: BLK/SIL JIMENEZ JA NINECA 9MM, BLK/SIL S&W 37-1 38, BLK XDM 45 GRN/PNK, SIG SAUER MOSQUITO 22, BLK FEDARM FRX 12GA, BLK SAVAGE ARMS STEVENS 12GA, BLK/BRN TAURUS G3 9MM, BLK/BRN SPRINGFIELD MIL-SPEC 45, BLK/BRN TAURUS PT22 22, BLK MIL-SPEC 1911 45, BLK RUGER LCP 38, BLK BERETTA 9MM, BLK RUGER LCP II 22, BLK/WHT SPRINGFIELD XD 40, BLK BERETTA 22, BLK GLOCK 17 9MM, BLK S&W BODYGUARD 38, CHR JENNINGS J-22 22, BLK/BRN ULTRA-HI 2200 22, BLK GLOCK 23 40, GRY 1911 A1 45, BLK/SIL RUGER P89DC 9MM, BLK GLOCK 23 40, BLK/BRN SIG SAUER P365 9MM. 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.

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS CLASSES & WORKSHOPS SOMATIC ANCESTRAL HEALING Welcome! We'll delve into the depths of our identity & sort out which seeds we water & what is to be composted (metaphorically) We'll engage through meditation, storytelling , song & art. Oct 1,8,15,22, 10am-1pm. Ph. 8286209861.

MIND, BODY, SPIRIT COUNSELING SERVICES ASTRO-COUNSELING Licensed counselor and accredited professional astrologer uses your chart when counseling for additional insight into yourself, your relationships and life directions. Stellar Counseling Services. Christy Gunther, MA, LCMHC. (828) 258-3229.

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F R E E W I L L A S T R O L O G Y BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries photographer Wynn Bullock had a simple, effective way of dealing with his problems and suffering. He said, “Whenever I have found myself stuck in the ways I relate to things, I return to nature. It is my principal teacher, and I try to open my whole being to what it has to say.” I highly recommend you experiment with his approach in the coming weeks. You are primed to develop a more intimate bond with the flora and fauna in your locale. Mysterious shifts now unfolding in your deep psyche are making it likely you can discover new sources of soulful nourishment in natural places—even those you’re familiar with. Now is the best time ever to hug trees, spy omens in the clouds, converse with ravens, dance in the mud, and make love in the grass. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Creativity expert Roger von Oech says businesspeople tend to be less successful as they mature because they become fixated on solving problems rather than recognizing opportunities. Of course, it’s possible to do both—untangle problems and be alert for opportunities—and I’d love you to do that in the coming weeks. Whether or not you’re a businessperson, don’t let your skill at decoding riddles distract you from tuning into the new possibilities that will come floating into view. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini author Fernando Pessoa wrote books and articles under 75 aliases. He was an essayist, literary critic, translator, publisher, philosopher, and one of the great poets of the Portuguese language. A consummate chameleon, he constantly contradicted himself and changed his mind. Whenever I read him, I’m highly entertained but sometimes unsure of what the hell he means. He once wrote, “I am no one. I don’t know how to feel, how to think, how to love. I am a character in an unwritten novel.” And yet Pessoa expressed himself with great verve and had a wide array of interests. I propose you look to him as an inspirational role model in the coming weeks, Gemini. Be as intriguingly paradoxical as you dare. Have fun being unfathomable. Celebrate your kaleidoscopic nature. CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” Cancerian author Henry David Thoreau said that. I don’t necessarily agree. Many of us might prefer love to truth. Plus, there’s the inconvenient fact that if we don’t have enough money to meet our basic needs, it’s hard to make truth a priority. The good news is that I don’t believe you will have to make a tough choice between love and truth anytime soon. You can have them both! There may also be more money available than usual. And if so, you won’t have to forgo love and truth to get it. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Before she got married, Leo musician Tori Amos told the men she dated, “You have to accept that I like ice cream. I know it shows up on my hips, but if you can’t accept that, then leave. Go away. It is non-negotiable.” I endorse her approach for your use in the coming weeks. It’s always crucial to avoid apologizing for who you really are, but it’s especially critical in the coming weeks. And the good news is that you now have the power to become even more resolute in this commitment. You can dramatically bolster your capacity to love and celebrate your authentic self exactly as you are. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Virgo writer Caskie Stinnett lived on Hamloaf, a small island off the coast of Maine. He exulted in the fact that it looked “the same as it did a thousand years ago.” Many of the stories he published in newspapers featured this cherished home ground. But he also wandered all over the world and wrote about those experiences. “I travel a lot,” he said. “I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” You Virgos will make me happy in the coming weeks if you cultivate a similar duality: deepening and refining your love for your home and locale, even as you refuse to let your life be disrupted by routine.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): My hitchhiking adventures are finished. They were fun while I was young, but I don’t foresee myself ever again trying to snag a free ride from a stranger in a passing car. Here’s a key lesson I learned from hitchhiking: Position myself in a place that’s near a good spot for a car to stop. Make it easy for a potential benefactor to offer me a ride. Let’s apply this principle to your life, Libra. I advise you to eliminate any obstacles that could interfere with you getting what you want. Make it easy for potential benefactors to be generous and kind. Help them see precisely what it is you need. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In your history of togetherness, how lucky and skillful have you been in synergizing love and friendship? Have the people you adored also been good buddies? Have you enjoyed excellent sex with people you like and respect? According to my analysis of the astrological omens, these will be crucial themes in the coming months. I hope you will rise to new heights and penetrate to new depths of affectionate lust, spicy companionship, and playful sensuality. The coming weeks will be a good time to get this extravaganza underway. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Is it ever morally permissible to be greedily needy? Are there ever times when we deserve total freedom to feel and express our voracious longings? I say yes. I believe we should all enjoy periodic phases of indulgence—chapters of our lives when we have the right, even the sacred duty, to tune into the full range of our quest for fulfillment. In my astrological estimation, Sagittarius, you are beginning such a time now. Please enjoy it to the max! Here’s a tip: For best results, never impose your primal urges on anyone; never manipulate allies into giving you what you yearn for. Instead, let your longings be beautiful, radiant, magnetic beacons that attract potential collaborators. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Here’s a Malagasy proverb: “Our love is like the misty rain that falls softly but floods the river.” Do you want that kind of love, Capricorn? Or do you imagine that a more boisterous version would be more interesting—like a tempestuous downpour that turns the river into a torrential surge? Personally, I encourage you to opt for the misty rain model. In the long run, you will be glad for its gentle, manageable overflow. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): According to the Bible’s book of Matthew, Jesus thought it was difficult for wealthy people to get into heaven. If they wanted to improve their chances, he said they should sell their possessions and give to the poor. So Jesus might not agree with my current oracle for you. I’m here to tell you that every now and then, cultivating spiritual riches dovetails well with pursuing material riches. And now is such a time for you, Aquarius. Can you generate money by seeking enlightenment or doing God’s work? Might your increased wealth enable you to better serve people in need? Should you plan a pilgrimage to a sacred sanctuary that will inspire you to raise your income? Consider all the above, and dream up other possibilities, too. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean author Art Kleiner teaches the art of writing to non-writers. He says this: 1. Tell your listeners the image you want them to see first. 2. Give them one paragraph that encapsulates your most important points. 3. Ask yourself, “What tune do you want your audience to be humming when they leave?” 4. Provide a paragraph that sums up all the audience needs to know but is not interesting enough to put at the beginning. I am offering you Kleiner’s ideas, Pisces, to feed your power to tell interesting stories. Now is an excellent time to take inventory of how you communicate and make any enhancements that will boost your impact and influence. Why not aspire to be as entertaining as possible?

THE N EW Y OR K TI M ES C ROSSWORD P UZ Z LE edited by Will Shortz | No. 0809

PUZZLE BY CARYN ROBBINS AND MATTHEW STOCK

ACROSS 1 Woodworker’s file 5 Landlocked African country 9 Divulged 14 Barn bundle 15 Lofty beginning? 16 Eco-friendly party announcement 17 What’s found under Casper’s Christmas tree? 20 “Outlander” network 21 “Evil Woman” rock group, for short 22 Brillo competitor 23 Boardroom V.I.P.s 25 Alternative to a glossy finish 27 Rule that forbids singing hymns to the devil? 32 Filmmaker ___ Lily Amirpour 33 Nursing site 34 Baseball’s “Big Papi” 36 Access to the company jet, for example 38 Feature of a satchel 41 N.Y.C. cultural institution that opened nine days after the 1929 stock market crash 42 Wedding dress fabric 44 “Indeed!” 46 Costume department staple 47 Doctor’s concern when a rival clinic opens up next door? 51 The “O” in EGOT 52 “Oh, fudge!” 53 Did a 5K or 10K 55 Teamwork inhibitor 56 Billiards ricochet 59 Evidence at the robbery crime scene? 64 Of little consequence 65 Island near the Big Island 66 Domesticated 67 Caving to gravity

68 Dance Dance Revolution move 69 Did in, as a dragon

DOWN 1 Clinton’s first appointee to the Supreme Court, informally 2 Partner of oohs 3 Place for a key card 4 Passover, in Hebrew 5 Some pizzeria offerings 6 “Watch it, man!” 7 Dada artist Jean 8 Classic show tune with the lyric “When you know the notes to sing, you can sing most anything” 9 Landlocked African country 10 June 18th vis-à-vis Juneteenth 11 Part of La La Land 12 N.B.A. forward ___ Porter Jr. 13 Largest Scottish loch by volume 18 Option on Halloween 19 Distinctive flair 24 Bit of fantasy sports fodder

26 Word with paper or insurance 27 Catches some Z’s 28 Famed backboardbreaking dunker of the 1990s 29 Activity for Bill Watterson or Bil Keane 30 29-Down output 31 One per customer, e.g. 35 Sudden turns 37 Bit of conicalshaped candy 39 Slightly 40 Crunchy baked snack 43 “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to fool me!”

45 High point of Exodus? 48 Pesters no end 49 A modern wedding might have two of them 50 Large, white waders 53 Turntable speeds, for short 54 Piece for one voice 57 Roller rink shape 58 Internet ___ 60 Quaff for a caroler, maybe 61 What “Gras” means in “Mardi Gras” 62 What “Mardi” means in “Mardi Gras”: Abbr. 63 Work with thread

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS NY TIMES PUZZLE

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