Mountain Xpress 10.19.22

STAY

by a Chelsey Mae

article in The Bitter

about the mysterious

of Knoxville’s steamed hoagie, Xpress set out to discover

Western North Carolina had a comparable

Jacobs

Southwick

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Acebo will be tireless advocate for our schools and kids

This November, for the first time in its history, Asheville City Schools board members will be elected by district residents. It’s a pivotal time for our district, having faced a tumultuous period of constant superintendent turnover, budget ary problems, debilitating mainte nance costs and decreasing enroll ment. To be frank: It’s do-or-die time for our district, and it’s time to turn the ship around. Nobody is better poised to take on the role of an ACS board member at this time than Pepi Acebo.

Those familiar with Pepi will recognize him for his almost reli gious attendance of Asheville City Schools board meetings, having attended nearly every meeting and work session for the past eight years while also serving as an elected PTO officer for the past seven years. Nobody in the city of Asheville has followed the trials and tribulations of Asheville City Schools as closely as Pepi. Not by a long shot. He is an encyclopedia of the history of the board and the district. He has borne witness to dozens of key decisions — good, bad and ugly — tirelessly advocat ing for our teachers and students at each turn. Pepi has been a strong voice for special-needs students, for closing the achievement gap, raising teacher pay and expanding enrollment to balance the budget.

Righting the ship at Asheville City Schools — a district once revered as a model district across the state — will require board members with strong backbones willing to work overtime to do the necessary strategic and budgetary planning to turn things around. It’s a staggering task that demands a

clear track record of fighting for our schools. Nobody has the track record that Pepi Acebo has when it comes to advocating for teachers and students, good governance of our schools and transparency along the way.

There is no clearer choice for a board member who will champion the students and teachers of our district, rebuild trust with our com munity and keep our schools open.

If you want to ensure a bright and promising future for Asheville City Schools, vote for Pepi Acebo for Asheville City Board of Education. — Brooke Heaton ACS parent Asheville

Editor’s note: Heaton reports volun teering for the candidate’s campaign.

gressive leadership we desire in our leaders. In this election cycle, two of the most progressive candidates are not Democrats and have no party affiliation. They are mayoral candi date Kim Roney and City Council candidate Andrew Fletcher.

Over the past decade, Asheville has experienced unprecedented, mostly unfettered development and growth. We have unapologetically built an economy over-reliant on tourism while doing little to con tain its negative consequences. This did not lead to a shared prosperi ty but instead led to skyrocketing property values, a severe lack of affordable housing, the almost total gentrification of historically afford able neighborhoods, along with the worsening issues of homelessness, drug overdoses and poverty.

Berthiaume would be kind, realistic leader

We’ve lived in the mountains of North Carolina for more than 20 years. We’ve seen big changes, from local to international, affect our mountain communities. The city of Asheville deserves a lead er who will bring our residents together to meet such challenges and plan a vibrant future. Our city needs a smart, kind, thoughtful and realistic leader.

We believe that our city needs Maggie Ullman Berthiaume on City Council.

In both public forums and pri vate conversations, we’ve seen Maggie lean into difficult topics, proceeding with kindness, integri ty, openness and realism.

Maggie understands that not everyone in our city agrees with each other. We’ve observed her address those who disagree with her with respect, honoring each person’s needs and reasons. We’ve seen Maggie broaden her perspec tive in response to listening to and learning from others.

As tourists continue to visit our city and new residents continue to move in, our city faces signifi cant challenges.

We believe Maggie will work respectfully with residents and business owners to adequately fund social services staff and police officers to support those in great est need and those in harm’s way. She’ll find ways to adequately fund critical infrastructure repairs and improvements to keep us healthy, productive and proac tive. Maggie will encourage job growth within the city, diversified across industries.

We like to think of ourselves here in Asheville as a beacon of light of progressive thoughts and ideas. And while I agree with that assess ment, one could argue that we have never had a majority among the mayor and City Council that truly represented that shared vision for our community and planet. This happens largely because we have conditioned ourselves to believe that when we elect candidates put forward by the Democratic Party, they will best represent the pro

By electing Kim Roney mayor, we will have the kind of voice at the top of our city government who possesses the knowledge and vision to lead all of Asheville toward the brighter future we envision. Kim Roney and Andrew Fletcher believe in transparency and inclu siveness in governing, while priori tizing equity, people and the planet over profits.

So when you arrive at the polls and someone from the Sierra Club hands you a Democratic Partyapproved voters guide, polite ly hand it back to them and go with these two Sunrise Movement endorsees instead. Vote Kim Roney for mayor and Andrew Fletcher for City Council.

Brian Haynes Asheville

When you vote this fall, please join us in choosing Maggie as one of your three votes for Asheville City Council.

Remember to vote on or before Nov. 8! Voting by mail is easy and convenient: [avl.mx/8ii].

— Benji Burrell and Kathryn Blount Asheville

What Asheville really needs

Here I am, scrolling through October/November 2022 Garden & Gun magazine, and find a full twopage advertisement on Asheville: “Adventure Capitalist: A Leader in Green City Living, Asheville is an Oasis for Outdoor Enthusiasts.” The description for Asheville being

Roney and Fletcher will prioritize equity, people and planet

such a “greenway” and “gateway” to the outdoors sounds great.

Yet I’m thinking, “Really? Then how come our city mayor and Council keep voting in develop ments through conditional zoning to cut trees and mow down present structures?” The ad reads like an invitation to move here, and as it is, we are struggling to pro vide housing and infrastructure for our present population. I wish Asheville was like the ad; only I am clear on our teetering reality of los ing our town to money-grabbers.

We don’t need ads for Asheville to bring in more people and devel opment. We need to use those funds to provide responsible envi ronmental and infrastructure care for our present population.

Most of all, we need a new mayor who respects sane development and a Council with morals.

— Susan Hickerson Weaverville

This is the moment to elect Maggie

Our city has been stressed and pushed to its limits over the past several years. That is why I feel we need Maggie Ullman Berthiaume on City Council in this moment.

Maggie is a thinker, a listener and a doer. She is exactly the leader we need to meet the challenges of our community’s future.

I have known Maggie for 14 years. I worked directly with her when she was the sustainability director for the city. Maggie is a natural collaborator and team mate. I saw Maggie work with citizens, activists and every city department to find ways to make our community better. Asheville is still benefiting from the many programs that Maggie helped cre ate, including reducing the city’s energy use and saving $1 million annually on energy spending.

Maggie listens, asks good ques tions, works well with others and has the knowledge and skills to navigate the systems of local gov ernment to turn ideas into actions.

As a 20-plus year resident of Asheville, a small-business owner, a nonprofit volunteer and believ er in civic duty, I am excited to support Maggie for City Council. Please join me in casting a vote for Maggie during early voting or on Nov. 8.

— Duncan McPherson Asheville

Editor’s note: McPherson reports vol unteering for Berthiaume’s campaign.

Buncombe needs both affordable housing and open space

I am an experienced city and county planner and now a civic activ ist in accord with the principles of community planning. I have served on the city Greenway Committee and Multimodal Transportation Commission and am currently active with Connect Buncombe. I am experienced in both affordable housing and open space, including greenways and trails. I would like to speak up in favor of the proposed general obligation bonds for afford able housing and open space, two very important needs of the people of Buncombe County. I see a strong relationship between affordable housing and open space because families who live in affordable housing need nearby and carefully designed open spaces.

I appreciate the work of the county in preparing for this com bined initiative. I also appreciate the professional contribution of the Trust for Public Land in helping advance this cause for our people. I am a member of the Better With

Bonds | Buncombe Votes Yes com mittee helping support the bonds. The bonds are the proven meth od of supporting long-term capital improvement projects.

I believe that greenways, trails and open space — including future voluntary easements and land acquisition carefully fitted to cit ies, towns, countrysides, historic waterways and beautiful mountain valleys — fulfill many human needs, whether for transportation, health, the pursuit of happiness, heritage, inclusive social equity, environmen tal betterment, economic develop ment or family recreation and fun.

My vision of open space includes Buncombe County unified by a con nected system of multiuse greenways and trails throughout our scenic mountains and vibrant towns. We are a culturally rich community that values health, recreation and quality of life. These pedestrian, bicycle and often transit corridors encourage people to discover our area’s beau ty and local businesses to prosper from connections made along the Buncombe greenway system.

I see outstanding benefits in the area of the social determinants of public health. I daily walk our greenways and trails and experience the incredible casual friendliness of my fellow walkers and cyclists. We should be true to our moun tain heritage way of life. I think we should preserve our natural stream and river corridors, which otherwise would become haphazard sprawl. Please support these valuable bonds.

— David G. Nutter Asheville

Vote for land conservation, greenways and affordable housing

Americans continue to move to our mountains, drawn by our beau ty, job opportunities and retirement amenities. Buncombe County is the growth epicenter. Many service providers and even teachers are finding it hard to buy affordable homes. At the same time, we are losing farmland and the rural land

Last call for election letters

scape and way of life we all treasure. Are these problems two sides of the same coin? Can we build afford able housing while we protect our rural communities?

We can and should find ways to pursue both of these endeav ors. Affordable housing needs to be available in the already built-up areas, along established road cor ridors and bus routes. At the same time, we need to preserve the rural landscapes that remain in our coun ty. My family has placed conserva tion easements on our land, Hickory Nut Gap Farm. We have just opened up a trail at Hickory Nut Gap that is open to the public. Greenways and trails are essential to the health of our people.

Voting yes on the Buncombe County bond referendum in November will bring both land con servation and affordable housing to our community at a critical junc ture in our history. And there is some magic that happens with this money: It will be leveraged with state and federal dollars to bring even more resources to our county. Please vote yes on the Buncombe County bonds. You can learn more about them at [avl.mx/c2w].

— State Rep. John Ager Fairview

Vote for Democratic candidates who share our values

It is my hope that when you cast your votes for the upcoming midterm elections that you take into consid eration the future of our democracy, our country and our lives.

For the past six years, I have listened to the messages coming from the Republican Party. They have been divisive, hateful, racist, untruthful and tend to incite acts of violence. They are anti-educa tion, anti-climate-change initiatives, anti-immigration, anti-journalists and honest news reporting, antiLGBTQ, anti-gun-control legis lation, against the separation of church and state, etc. I have no idea what they are for. They have banned abortions, which have put girls’ and women’s lives in danger. They are banning books. They don’t want our children to learn the facts of history.

The Republicans are forcing their religious beliefs on others. They seem to support dictators and want a fascist government. They have incited an insurrection and attempt ed a coup. They act as if they can do or say anything, as they have not had any consequences for their actions. They have wreaked havoc

onto our country. I am 70 years old and have never thought something like this would be happening in the U.S.

Before Trump came into power, I wasn’t so concerned about whether a Democrat or Republican was in power. It didn’t seem to impact my life one way or another. The main difference was about the amount of government involvement, so I had thought. The Republican Party that we once knew is no longer with us.

Regarding the midterm elections, it is essential that we choose candi dates who share our values. Do you want a party in control that wants to destroy our democracy or do you want a party that wants to maintain our democracy? Do you want people on the courts who vote their person al beliefs or for their party line or people who base decisions on laws and what best serves our people?

The Republicans have been running ads against Cheri Beasley that are blatantly false. The ads are mean and nasty. They are spreading false information repeatedly and demonizing the opposition in an effort to influence people to vote for their candidate out of fear for the other person.

Cheri Beasely is running for U.S. Senate. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara is running for the U.S. House of Representatives. We have candidates running for the N.C. Supreme Court, for associate justice, for N.C. Court of Appeals, N.C. Senate, etc. We must choose wisely, not only for North Carolina but for our country’s future and well-being.

I understand that these are dif ficult times with the prices of everything going up, but this prob lem is worldwide. It is not due to Democrats’ actions. Do you want a party in control of making decisions for us that is constantly repeating negative messages, that blames, crit icizes, demonizes, lies, spreads con spiracy theories, incites violence and hate, and offers no solutions to our problems? Or do you want a party in control that is trying to make things better and wants to find solutions? Do you want news that spreads lies or do you want honest, reliable and well-researched reporting?

None of this will matter if cli mate-change initiatives are not begun immediately. Our planet will become unlivable if we don’t act now. We must vote for the candidates that will do what they can to protect our lives and our country. Please give the Democrats an opportunity to succeed at improving our govern ment. We must not lose faith in our democratic system. All that needs to be done will take sacrifices, changes

and time. Please vote as if our lives depend on it because they really do. Thanks for your consideration.

— Ilene Logelin Arden

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

Seeing red in green building

An Asheville company known for building high-end, “ecologically sen sitive” homes recently completed a house next to our property in a quiet, semirural area. The construction site was a noxious mobile industrial fac tory during the years of the project, the chief problems being noise pollu tion and soil erosion.

The most disturbing aspect of the company’s noise pollution wasn’t so much the ordinary sounds of nail guns, power saws, grinders and actual construction processes, but of earthmoving equipment on a large site — the continuous roaring of engines and the incessant OSHAmandated beeping of vehicles in reverse. Day after day after day for months on end, so that my wife and I often had to shout at each other just to talk outside. This noise obliterated our accustomed natural sounds of wind in the trees and the many spe cies of birds in song.

Soil erosion: The building com pany installed erosion fences, but they were inadequate, and in heavy rainfall, soil-laden runoff would flow down to our community’s pri vate gravel road and flood into the creek. This happened over and over. After several complaints, direct and through a soil conservation agency, the company tried to remedy the situation, but even now there is still runoff and silt. The problem arises from allowing large expanses of bare soil to be exposed for months.

In considering the costs of home building, environmental concerns must go beyond the conventional “green” issues of energy efficien cy and ethics of material sources.

Beyond an indefinite, restful atti tude of synthesis with nature. The uncompensated, unrecognized envi ronmental costs include the impact of construction on the neighbors. Builders and those who hire them, especially those who wish to augment the quality of life for humans in har mony with the natural world, should extend their awareness deeper than the universal cosmos of the planet and their own property boundaries.

Mickey

From Facebook to faceoff

The bumpy road to shaping local politics

BY SARA MURPHY

Back in 2015, Asheville Politics was one of a handful of fledgling online platforms seeking to increase public engagement at City Council meetings. Nearly eight years later, the Facebook group’s membership has grown ten fold to over 11,000 members, reflecting social media’s dramatically increased importance in politics at all levels.

“There just aren’t that many public forums for people that want to talk about politics,” says longtime activist Robyn Josephs, an administrator for multiple Facebook groups, including this one. “You could sit in a coffee shop and talk to one person, but you can sit in Asheville Politics and type at 12,000 people,” she notes.

That broad reach is why Bailey Stockwell is a frequent poster, shar ing information about events listed on another Facebook group, East Asheville for Safety and Truth. She co-founded E.A.S.T. last November to oppose the low-barrier homeless shel ter proposed for the former Ramada Inn on River Ford Parkway.

“Social media is such a convenient way to keep up with what’s going on and find out when and where you need to be to advocate for those things that you care about the most,” says Stockwell. Since its creation, her group has grown considerably both in size — it now boasts some 2,600 members — and scope, having broad ened its focus to cover local politics in general.

Cross-posting events on Asheville Politics, such as a Sept. 8 candidate forum at the East Asheville Library, enables Stockwell to reach thousands more people. Yet she says she doesn’t always feel welcome on the site.

“If you make any comments that are right-leaning, they will attack you,” Stockwell maintains, adding that she and her fellow E.A.S.T. administra tors “call it an echo chamber.”

But former Asheville Politics administrator Rich Lee, one of the group’s founding members, says he hears “equal amounts of complaints that we’re not making it safe enough for conservatives as that we’re not making it safe for progressives.”

And despite their differences, both Lee and Stockwell say their respec tive groups have real-world impact on local politics.

POLITICAL PARTY ATMOSPHERE: In the Facebook group Asheville Politics, the administrators and moderators who monitor the content try to bring an in-person backyard party ethos to the online space. “We have suspended several members for being rude or offensive to another member, but we don’t remove people unless they repeatedly violate the rules,” says admin Andrew Celwyn. Photo from iStock; design by Olivia Urban

“I’ll call certain people I’ve met off of the page and be like, ‘Hey, you need to be here,’” says Stockwell, citing strong attendance at both the candidate forum and a Sept. 6 neigh borhood meeting about the proposed town house development on Pinnacle View Road in Oakley.

Meanwhile, Lee maintains, “Some of the most dedicated readers of Asheville Politics are local officials. Almost anytime I talk to them, they mention a recent conversation on AP.”

Whatever a particular group’s pol itics may be, however, participants will all pretty quickly confront the challenges inherent in any freewheel ing, ongoing public conversation. And opinions vary on how much that rough-and-tumble interferes with achieving posters’ goals.

Longtime member and frequent poster Andrew Celwyn, who became an administrator when Lee stepped down in 2019, says, “We have sus pended several members for being rude or offensive to another member, but we don’t remove people unless they repeatedly violate the rules.” The most common reasons members are removed, says Celwyn, are for posting on national rather than local issues or for posting ads. He did, however, recall one person who was removed for posting anti-vaccine information.

“It is a left-leaning page,” Celwyn concedes, adding “we try not to be in the business of shaping what gets put on the page, other than keeping it local and trying to keep it centered on politics.”

One way Asheville Politics differs from other local pages — and per haps makes the exchanges more like in-person conversations — is its poli cy of banning GIFs and memes.

“A page like ours pushes people to refine their arguments and make them better, so they have a great er chance of influencing our elected officials and others,” says Celwyn, adding that his own appointment to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority board is an example of online involvement turn ing into real-world action.

Similarly, Lee credits his group with inspiring the property tax grant program introduced in Buncombe County, Woodfin and Asheville last year. “I can confidently say that that idea entered the local discus sion through Asheville Politics,” he asserts. Now in its second year, the program lets homeowners apply for up to $500 to help cover housing-re lated expenses such as property taxes, mortgage payments and insurance.

BACKYARD PARTY POLITICS

According to Lee, the folks who cre ated Asheville Politics in November 2013 looked to backyard parties as their model when considering how to moderate the content.

“If you had a party at your house and somebody was hogging the stereo or just shouting everybody down or being belligerent, you wouldn’t think twice about saying, ‘Dude, you’ve got to cut that out,’” Lee points out. “Nobody expects your backyard to be a forum where people are free to express themselves in the most obnoxious or overbearing ways.”

That approach continues to guide the group’s administrators, says Josephs. When they take down posts, she explains, it’s “because the intent is to be unkind. It’s not the content: We want as many different voices as possible.”

Celwyn also highlights another kind of impact, calling his group “the id of local liberal politics that doesn’t

always get its way but is often driving where it’s eventually going.”

BOTH SIDES NOW?

When E.A.S.T. membership grew large enough that Stockwell knew she couldn’t continue to single-hand edly manage the page, she wanted to assemble a politically diverse group of moderators. The idea, she says, was “to find some trusted people that are versatile in their beliefs.”

Of the five administrators, Stockwell and two others are regis tered Democrats; the other two are registered Republicans. “We come from different walks of life, and that makes it work,” she explains. “The goal is to bring people together to at least agree to disagree or find common ground and compromise. If there’s a conversation going on that’s heated but they’re getting some where, I’m going to let that freedom of speech ring.”

But when a conversation descends into name-calling or foul language, the administrators will often put a stop to it. Each decision, she says, is determined by a majority vote.

And despite Stockwell’s commit ment to diversity, E.A.S.T. is wide ly seen as having a predominantly right-leaning membership, which she attributes to the media and political organizations that reached out when the group began voicing concerns about the homeless shelter.

“In the beginning, it was the Republicans who brought in all the help,” remembers Stockwell, noting that the Buncombe County GOP reached out to her, and about a month after the group was established, Chad Nesbitt did a story on his SKYline News Facebook page that triggered an influx of new members. Whenever local media do a story about E.A.S.T., the group picks up about 100 more people, she reports.

“I am very center-leaning,” says Stockwell. “I fluctuate based on what I think is right or wrong, not based on party lines.” At the same time, however, she believes it’s “important

to hear both sides, whether they win or not. I think everybody needs to have that opportunity.”

THE ILLUSION OF INFLUENCE?

But not everyone who’s active in such groups is convinced of their abil ity to affect the world beyond their own virtual borders. “Dialogue gives people an opportunity to say what they want to say: It doesn’t change people’s minds,” says Josephs, who also serves as an administrator for the Black Mountain Exchange and Asheville Politics for Justice and Reform, among others. The latter group was formed by people who felt that Asheville Politics was too permissive of what they felt were racist viewpoints.

And as an early group adminis trator who attended summits hosted by Facebook and also briefly worked for the company, Josephs knows bet ter than most how much control the social media giant has over its groups.

First of all, she notes, Facebook’s algorithms screen posts before administrators and moderators even see them, which sometimes results in nonsensical bans such as labeling the phrase “stupid Americans” hate speech. “If you say, ‘I’m in my garden

with my hoe,’ that post will be gone,” Josephs explains.

Accordingly, she notes, much of the blame for alleged censorship that’s directed at moderators and administrators of pages like Asheville Politics should rightly be assigned to Facebook. The company, says Josephs, doesn’t always let peo ple know that its algorithms have blocked their posts, and it doesn’t share the content of those posts with administrators.

“It’s only when the members show us a screenshot and we see what was removed,” she says, that “we can explain to them how they can enter into the process of asking it to be reversed” by Facebook’s independent oversight board.

In Josephs’ view, it’s really Facebook that has all the power.

“What kind of influence does [Asheville Politics] have outside of the group? A lot less than people want to think,” she asserts.

For his part, Lee wonders whether some of his own early optimism may have been misplaced. “We started with this idea that more education about the workings of local government was going to lead to more cooperative, better-informed decision-making,” he recalls. “When I hear about Asheville Politics now from random members of the public, I’m more likely to hear that there’s just a bunch of angry people and radicals.” Nonetheless, he remains proud of the site and its work, saying, “I still believe in the potential of groups like Asheville Politics to bring people together.” X

“Some of the most dedicated readers of Asheville Politics are local officials.”

— founding member and former administrator Rich Lee

72-unit townhome development coming to West Asheville

There’s a saying that the perfect is the enemy of the good.

A majority of Asheville City Council members may have had that aphorism in mind as they voted to approve a con ditional zoning request Oct. 11. The new zoning, approved 6-1 with Kim Roney opposed, allows for the construction of a townhome development in West Asheville despite some reservations about the project’s design.

The project, proposed by Birch Circle Associates LLC, is on 9.12 acres on Woodland Drive in West Asheville and will contain 72 two-story townhomes across 10 clusters, along with 177 park ing spaces, a playground and a nature trail along the perimeter.

A Sept. 21 hearing on the devel opment by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission led to a 2-2 split vote on recommending the plan due to concerns about the project’s design and accessibility. Those concerns were echoed during the Council meeting by three members of the public, who claimed the project didn’t match the character of surrounding neighbor hoods and argued that increased traffic in the area could cause safety issues for pedestrians and drivers.

Council member Roney also asserted that the development, which did not include sidewalks or bike lanes to a nearby bus stop, was “car-centric” in its design. “I think that speaks to the situation of today, but not the situation for a hopeful future,” she said. “And I think that our neighbors deserve resil ient options for transportation.”

But two other members of the public, both of whom said they worked in real estate development and construction, supported the plan, citing the difficul ty of the building site and the need for more housing supply in Asheville. Mayor Esther Manehimer reiterated those sentiments, saying that while the development contained some flaws, the pros outweighed the cons.

“The easiest thing to do would be to vote ‘no’ on this, because it would be the popular thing to do and there’s not really any backlash for doing that. But this Council has been really struggling with how to address affordable housing in our community,” Manheimer said. “If we aren’t brave enough to say ‘yes’ when these projects come forward, even in the face of a lot of opposition, we will stymie our city, and we will stymie the opportunity for the future of our city.”

“I’m a little taken aback by the opposition to this project. I think it’s just because I see so clearly the dire

COMING SOON: The development will offer seven units to those earning 80% of the area median income or less; four of those units will also accept housing choice vouchers. Rendering courtesy of the city of Asheville

need for housing [and] adopting differ ent types of housing,” added Council member Sage Turner. “When we have this much of a crisis going on, I really struggle to hear folks say, ‘I walk my dog there.’ Because I think hundreds of people need to live here as well.”

Derek Allen, the attorney represent ing the developer, did offer some chang es to the project prior to its approval that better align it with city goals. He raised the number of units designated as affordable to those earning at or below 80% of the area median income ($45,000 for an individual; $64,250 for a family of four) for a minimum of 20 years from four to seven; four of those units will also accept housing choice vouchers, up from two. Allen noted that the developer was not requesting a land use incentive grant or other city incen tive to include the affordable units. He also agreed to a new zoning condition that would require the construction of two electric vehicle charging stations.

Council greenlights development of plastic reduction ordinance

Council also voted unanimously to approve a roughly yearlong process for developing and implementing a ban on single-use plastic within the city. If passed, the ordinance would specifi

cally prohibit the distribution of plastic grocery bags and plastic foam takeout containers. A separate update to the city waste ordinance would ban plastic bags used for curbside leaf collection; that measure could be voted on as early as December.

City staff recommends that a vote on the more extensive plastic ban ordinance take place next October following inter nal research and engagement, a 30-day public survey and a six-month period to “review and refine engagement.”

More than 20 members of the public spoke in favor of the proposed ordi nance, many of whom asked Council for an accelerated timeline.

“Sixty million more plastic bags are in the environment every single year just within Asheville, and for each month this plastic ban ordinance is delayed, [there’s] another 5 million more plas tic bags within the environment,” said Zola Ferraby, a senior at Asheville High School. “We don’t have the time to wait on this. And I understand that this is a very important step in order to imple ment this properly. But as the youth, we don’t have time. This is our reality.”

“We do not want to overstate and underdeliver,” said City Manager Debra Campbell. “If we can accelerate, we will. But for now, we don’t want to promise you that we can deliver some thing sooner than that date.”

NEWS

In from the cold

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

jwakeman@mountainx.com

Code Purple will have over 100 beds available for emergency over night shelter for Asheville’s unhoused population when the temperature is freezing or below. The program will also operate for two additional months in the winter and spring of 2022-23.

At an Oct. 4 meeting of the AshevilleBuncombe County Homeless Coalition, Kevin Mahoney, the coa lition’s co-chair and a peer support specialist at Mountain Area Health Education Center, gave an update on this year’s plans.

Code Purple will run from Oct. 15 to April 15. On Code Purple nights, 111 beds will become available at the shelters run by Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministry and the Salvation Army of Asheville and Buncombe County, says Emily Ball of Asheville’s Department of Community and Economic Development.

At ABCCM, Veterans Restoration Quarters will provide 50 beds for men, and Transformation Village will pro vide 45 beds for single women and women with children, says VRQ direc tor Tim McElyea. He says guests will be required to take a breathalyzer test for entry during Code Purple. People who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, he says, will be allowed to sit in an area and sober up while being checked periodically.

The Salvation Army will provide an additional 16 beds for women. “Ladies will receive a hot meal after intake, will be provided hygiene items and have access to hot showers,” writes social services director Evelyne Ball (no relation to Emily Ball) in an email. “All ladies will be expected to be settled in by 9 p.m. with lights out at that time. Upon exiting Code Purple, ladies will be provided with a breakfast bag.” She adds that guests will not be required to take a breathalyzer test to enter the shelter for Code Purple. “The Salvation Army will allow everyone’s behavior to dictate if they receive and keep a bed,” she writes.

Advance planning should help Code Purple — a collaboration with a net work of city, county and nonprofit services — run smoothly. Over the years the program has experienced some problems.

“A big part of the reason that we are so prepared this year is because our two participating shelters came in ready to go,” says Emily Ball about ABCCM and Salvation Army. “We’re coming in with 33 more beds than we

Asheville’s Code Purple program expands

IT TAKES A VILLAGE: Front-line workers such as Justin Pritchard, a communi ty paramedic with Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services’ post-over dose response team, help unhoused people find shelter on freezing cold nights. Photo courtesy of BCEMS

had last year.” She explains that Code Purple had 78 beds available for win ter and spring 2021-22. Only one night during a big snowstorm was every bed in use, she adds.

Ball anticipates overflow space won’t be needed given the increased number of beds this year. However, faith communities may step up with options such as renting a hotel room for an unhoused family if it becomes necessary, she explains.

Official counts indicate that home lessness is on the rise in Asheville. The latest point-in-time count, presented to the City Council in May, identified 637 individuals who were unshel tered. (PIT counts are conducted each January, and data are released in the spring.) This figure was a 21% increase from the 527 homeless individuals recorded in 2021. However, those who work with unhoused populations, peo ple who misuse substances or people who are mentally ill say many of them are not counted.

BUMPY ROAD

Code Purple has been a program in Asheville since the late 2000s, but COVID complicated operations in 2020. That year “we didn’t have any shelter providers who felt like they were able to participate because of concerns about exposure for their ongoing shelter participants,” explains Ball. After an initial scramble, First Congregational United Church of Christ of Asheville stepped up to pro vide Code Purple shelter.

During 2021, the scramble returned when freezing temperatures started in November. The Asheville-Buncombe

Homeless Coalition called Code Purple 16 times in November. But the Code Purple programs at the city’s two Code Purple shelters (Salvation Army and Costello House at ABCCM) weren’t prepared with beds and staff until Dec. 1, which was the official start of the Code Purple program.

Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services community para medic Justin Pritchard recalls a night in November 2021 when he worked his second shift as a member of BCEMS’ post-overdose response team, or PORT. During that shift, a firefighter he knew reached out regarding a man — a veteran — who was outdoors in the cold. The firefighter had called 211 inquiring about the availability of a shelter bed without success.

Pritchard made his own round of phone calls trying to find a place for the man to spend the night. “I stood there and watched him get himself up on all fours, and he crawled over and he laid on the exhaust on the firetruck, because he was so cold,” recalls Pritchard. “And that s*** just broke my heart,” he says, adding “some of my best friends over the years have been vets.”

Finally Pritchard called the emer gency room at the Charles George VA Medical Center. “The nurse who answered knew me, thank goodness,” he explains. “And the VA [medical center] cleared a room they weren’t using and put him up into a room that night.”

In response to situations like these, volunteers at Trinity United Methodist Church began operating a volun teer-run shelter on nights Code Purple was called. The shelter at the church continued to stay open throughout the

winter and provided beds for those other shelters could not support, like homeless people with pets, families and couples. (Shelters are separated by gender, meaning a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend cannot be together.)

But 2022 should be different. The city’s Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee convened a workgroup of previous Code Purple provid ers, BCEMS, Capt. Mike Lamb from Asheville Police Department, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, Mission Hospital and the nonprofit BeLoved Asheville, among others. The workgroup held four meetings to “hash through all of the operational details and get everybody on the same page,” explains Ball.

Of particular focus was coordinating transportation from Mission Hospital for unhoused individuals who have experienced health emergencies, she says.

Another change with the Code Purple program this year is $100,000 in funding. “For the first time, the city has budgeted funding for Code Purple, as did the county,” says Ball. (Asheville City Council included funds for Code Purple sheltering in the fiscal year 2023 budget.)

GETTING TO A SHELTER

Mike DeSerio, outreach program manager at Homeward Bound of WNC, says information on nights when Code Purple is called will be posted on a bulletin board at AHOPE Day Center, a place where people experiencing

homelessness can shower and store belongings. Ball says Code Purple nights will also be announced on the marquee outside Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville.

McElyea from ABCCM notes that Asheville Regional Transit will be free on Code Purple nights. His organi zation also has vans that can drive around town and actively look for peo ple who are unhoused.

If individuals decline an offer for shelter for the night, McElyea says ABCCM will hand out blankets, coats, socks and hygiene kits, along with a list of resources for the unhoused. DeSerio says Homeward Bound will also hand out heavy-duty sleeping bags. BeLoved Asheville provides donations of clothes, sleeping bags and food as well.

Yet despite the developments and growth of coordination efforts, there’s more work to do. Robertson, for exam ple, notes that there isn’t a sheltering option for teens and tweens since Trinity Place: Runaway & Homeless Youth Shelter closed in the spring.

Ball sees providing housing and shelter for the unhoused as a dynamic and ever-evolving project, and it’s one she truly believes in.

“It is our job as a community to con tinue to build out the types of services that people need and that we’ll meet the needs of the people who are home less in our community,” explains Ball. “That will always be our work because the need will always be evolving. We want a homeless services system that is highly responsive to the need at all times, and that can evolve as the need evolves.” X

Here to stay

BY BROOKE RANDLE

When Andrea Kulish and her hus band, musician Chris Wilhelm, first came to the River Arts District in 2013 from Boston, they felt right at home among fellow artists and musicians residing in the gritty and creative hub nestled along the French Broad River.

“We were both drawn by the arts and music. And at the time, Asheville was more affordable for us,” says Kulish, a graphic designer who specializes in Ukrainian pysanky eggs and other mixed media. “I always wanted to have my own studio and gallery, and that seemed possible here.”

That dream became a reality nearly a decade ago when Kulish decided to

rent a space — a 650-square-foot studio and gallery shared with another artist at the Pink Dog Collective, one of several warehouse-turned-artist-studios in the RAD.

But a lot has changed in the nearly 10 years since Kulish moved to Asheville. And as residents flock to Asheville, investors follow, snapping up buildings despite rising prices, which in turn ele vates the value of nearby buildings.

As the 2021 property tax assessment shows, taxes will rise too. Artists in the River Arts District thereby contend with the rising cost of studio space caused by inflation, property tax increases and maintenance costs associated with older buildings.

“Artists [in the RAD] are very con cerned. We don’t know how long we

HAPPY PLACE: Artist Andrea Kulish is one of 34 artists who rent studio space at the Pink Dog Collective in the River Arts District. Photo by Matt Rose

might be here,” Kulish remarks. “At the same time, we are hoping to work with the city and the community to try to keep the art in the Arts District.”

MOVING IN

The RAD, which was once home to about two dozen factories that produced textiles, grain and other goods, began experiencing a renaissance in the 1970s, as artists and investors began to acquire a number of properties and transform the buildings into studios and galleries and rent them at very affordable rates to area artists.

Among those early investors was Hedy Fischer, who co-owns a building at 342-348 Depot St. in the RAD with her business partner Randy Shull. The duo bought the 1920s-era building, which once served as a textile warehouse, and converted it into artist studios in 2010.

“When we purchased it, it was filled from floor to ceiling with boxes of cheap Chinese textiles being sold on Overstock.com,” Fischer recalls.

“The building needed a lot of work, and we did most of it ourselves. We envisioned other artists having studios there and we envisioned a restaurant.” The building now houses the Pink Dog Collective, which supports 34 artists, as well as two restaurants and Asheville’s first and only Black-owned coffee shop, Grind AVL.

From 2010-20 alone, the number of restaurants in the area grew from three to 15, recreation businesses increased from two to five, and the number of artists grew from about 140 across 16 buildings to more than 250 in 19 build ings, according to previous reporting from Xpress

Construction of RADTIP — the River Arts District Transportation Improvement Project — which began in 2018, brought greenway paths, improved streets, additional park space, more parking, landscaping, sidewalks, public art, seating, measures to han dle stormwater, swings and much improved facilities for bicycles to the 2-mile stretch of riverfront between the Amboy Road/Lyman Street/Meadow Road intersection to the south to a point just north of the railroad bridge over Riverside Drive.

And at least five housing new housing projects in the RAD are under con struction, in development or coming online this year alone, including 665 new apartments, thousands of square feet of commercial space, two hotels and an 16-unit camping center.

The growth has been great for artists in the RAD in a lot of ways, says Julie Ann Bell, a local wire artist and co-own

er of Trackside Studios on Depot Street. Bell has rented space in the building since 2009.

“We’re thrilled that there are restau rants and breweries and things like that because we want them to stay in the district for a few hours when people come down to look at art,” says Bell, who also serves as president of the River Arts District Artists, a coalition of roughly 300 RAD artists.

GOING UP

But as investments in the RAD con tinue to stack up, fears regarding gen trification and increased cost of living begin to take hold among both artists and building owners. Fischer notes that one of the biggest factors in deter mining studio rental rates are property taxes, which saw a large jump after the 2017 reassessment.

“In the almost 13 years we have owned Pink Dog, all expenses have increased, but perhaps most dramati cally has been the property taxes, which have increased over 160% since we pur chased the building,” Fischer explains.

Those increases trickle down to art ists who rent studio space, says Bell. As property taxes put pressure on building owners and thereby rent, some artists are pushed out of the area. “Our rent went up 30%,” Bell notes, recalling the rate hike in 2017.

And more tax increases are coming. Buncombe County’s latest property tax revaluation, released in February of last year, shows double-digit percentage increases in nearly all areas of the coun ty since the last assessment in 2017.

Outside of property taxes, Fischer says that costs of maintenance, parking, insurance and other factors all contrib ute to higher studio rates as building owners attempt to keep up.

“Everything has gone up,” she explains “I don’t know if gentrification is the term I would use just yet, but many of the other buildings around us have been bought and renovated since we bought Pink Dog. It still feels a little funky on Depot Street, but the fact that many buildings have been renovated likely plays into the city and county’s property assessments.”

Despite the challenges, Fischer says that she and Hull have worked to keep rent reasonable for the Pink Dog’s artists, noting that rents typically only rise between 2%-4% per year outside of property tax increases. That effort doesn’t go unnoticed by the building’s occupants, many of whom have been tenants for 10 or more years. Both Bell and Kulish express gratitude to their respective landlords who have been supportive of artists in the area.

“I feel I am very lucky to be in a building where the owners (Fischer and Shull) care about the artists and do what they can to keep our rents afford able,” Kulish maintains.

HOLDING THE LINE

While the future of the RAD is uncer tain, Fischer says that she predicts that the influx of new residents will increase the need for practical businesses, such as grocery stores and retail shops. But she doesn’t see that as a force that will push all artists out of the area.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think there will be artists in the RAD for many more years. As rents rise, so does the price of art that is sold, so hopefully, artists will be able to continue to afford a place to work in the RAD,” she explains.

“You see these numbers about how the arts have brought billions of dollars in revenue to Asheville, and that means something,” Kulish adds. “If we’re not here and if this goes away, that’s going to change what it is people love about Asheville.”

Bell agrees and adds that it will take a community effort to keep art in the area.

“I believe there will always be arts in the Arts District, because I believe that there are people and building owners who believe in the arts. I am so grateful to those building owners,” Bell says. “I am, by nature, an optimist. And I truly believe that there will be arts in the Arts District.” X

THE

WELLNESS

Therapeutic Recre

ation: Wednesday

Morning Movement

A variety of physical activities such as active games, aerobics and dancing. Open to indi viduals ages 17+ with disabilities. Contact the Therapeutic Recreation Program at (828)2324529 for additional information.

WE (10/19, 26), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Zumba Gold for Adults

50+

This free class helps work on mobility while moving to the beat to burn off calories. Every Wednesday and Friday.

WE (10/19, 26), FR (10/21), 11am, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

Men's Cancer Support Group

Safely meet in a large conference room and stay socially distant while wearing masks. RSVP to Will at (412)913-0272 or acwein123@gmail.com.

WE (10/19), 6pm, Woodfin YMCA, 40 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 101

Low-Impact Hiking

Treks for Adults 50+

This month's low-impact hike will be in Dupont State Forest. Bring lunch, water, good walking

shoes, and dress for the weather. Must be in good physical condition to participate; ability to walk three+ miles on uneven terrain. Trans portation provided, registration required.

TH (10/20), 9:30am, Asheville Recreation Department, 72 Gashes Creek Rd

Cozy Up for Fall Retreat

Two hours of relaxation time to slow down and reset, as well as experience personal breakthroughs.

WE (10/19), 7pm, $20, avl.mx/c2o

Dementia Partners Support Group AVL

Providing a social setting for individuals to meet and discuss coping techniques, share experiences, and present resource speakers from a variety of agencies.

TH (10/20), 6pm, Scenic View Terrace Clubhouse, 60 Fallen Spruce Dr

Goat Yoga

A traditional class - with roaming Nigerian dwarf goats.

SA (10/22), 11am, Whistle Hop Brewing Co., 1288 Charlotte Hwy, Fairview

Wild Souls Authentic Movement Class

A conscious movement experience in a 100-year old building with a community of like-minded women at

all life stages, hosted by nationally-recog nized self-care author/ speaker/teacher Renee Trudeau.

SU (10/23), 9:30am, Dunn's Rock Com munity Center, 461 Connestee Rd, Brevard

ART

We Will Not be Silenced: Standing for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

A series of photographs and sculptures that bring voice to the inter national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) move ment through the lens of the Eastern Band of

Cherokee Indians, Com anche Nation, Lumbee, and other Native American artists. Open 10am Tuesday through Friday.

WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

NCGC Pumpkin Patch Glassblowers will be filling D Space gallery with glass pumpkins in an array of colors, styles and sizes. Purchases support the nonprofit glass center. Open 10am, closed Tuesday. Through Oct. 31. North Carolina Glass Center, 140 Roberts St, Ste B

Inspiration

Features jewelry, fiber, clay and wood from six Southern Highland Craft Guild members.

TH (10/20), 10am, Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Parkway A Walk in the Woods Five guest artists approach the Carolina woodlands through their personal perspectives, revealing Appalachia through a fresh lens, inspired by fall. Open daily 10am, through Oct. 30. Marquee Asheville, 36 Foundy St

Augmented Reality and Oil Painting Exhibition: Big, Bold, and Colorful Contemporary artist

Jaime Byrd will exhibit her larger scale works.

Open daily 10am. Through Nov. 30. Trackside Studios, 375 Depot St

Our Ecology, Shifting Our Gaze Inward Atlanta born and raised artist Bevelyn Afor

Ukah’s art reflects a collaboration of perspectives on race, sexuality and body image. Through Oct. 30, with a reception and artist's talk on Oct. 22 from 7–9pm. Open daily 10am, 12pm on Sunday.

Pink Dog Creative Gallery, 348 Depot St

Nature’s Gems featuring artist Judy Rentner

The oil painter's colorful works will be on display through Oct. 31. Gallery open daily 11am.

Asheville Gallery of Art, 82 Patton Ave

Rebel/Re-Belle: Explor ing Gender, Agency, and Identity Combines works, primarily created by women, from two significant collections of contemporary art to explore how artists have innovated, influ enced, interrogated, and inspired visual culture in the past 100 years. Through Jan.

16, 2023. Open 11am, closed Tuesdays.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Natural Collector |

Gifts of Fleur S. Bresler

Features around 15 artworks from the col lection, which include important examples of modern and contemporary American craft including wood and fiber art, as well as glass and ceramics. Open 11am, closed Tuesday.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Julie Fowlis

Best recognized as the singer behind the soundtrack of Disney Pixar’s Brave, the singer is a standard-bearer for Gaelic music and culture, performing arrangements that transport you to anoth er time and place.

WE (10/19), 7pm, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

Reuter Center Singers: Look at Us Now

With conductor Chuck Taft, accompanied by Nora Vetro and Eric Fricke on piano. Presented by the Weaverville Music Study Club. Donations accepted.

FR (10/21), 7pm, First Baptist Church of Weaverville, 63 N Main St, Weaverville

A Tempus Oktoberfest Tempus, the premiere chamber ensemble of the Asheville Choral Society, presents a vocal homecoming performance. This Oktoberfest celebration showcases the blend of the group, including classical songs with some raucous drinking songs mixed in. Beer provided by Bearwaters Brewing Company.

SA (10/22), 7pm, $15-20, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 337 Charlotte St

Masterworks 2: Scheherazade

From Rimsky-Korsakov, a vibrant musical illus tration of sandy dunes stretching across the horizon. From De Falla, visit a moonlit oasis with his iconic work for piano and orchestra: Nights in the Gardens of Spain

SA (10/22), 8pm, $25 - $75, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, 87 Haywood St

LITERARY

Poetry Reading: Jeffery Beam

Reminiscent of Eastern Bhakti love poetry, and Western Troubadour and Green Man tradi tions, Verdant recounts a mid-life passage with in a shadowed natural landscape of intense physical and spiritual longing. See p41

TH (10/20), 7pm, Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St

UNCA Visiting Writers Series: An Evening with Poet torrin a. greathouse Featuring transgender punk poet and essayist torrin a. greathouse for an evening of poetry. TH (10/20), 7pm, UNCA, 1 University Heights

THE MOTH Presents the Asheville StoryS LAM: Grown Prepare a five-minute story about the highs and lows of adulting, or the trials and tribulations of getting there.

TH (10/20), 7:30pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Edible North Carolina

Join UNC food historian and editor Marcie Cohen Ferris and associate editor KC Hysmith as they discuss the book, Edible North Carolina: A Journey across a State of Flavor, which provides a 360-degree view of a state known for its farming and food, with essays from North

Carolinians.

WE (10/26), 6pm, East Fork Pottery, 15 W Walnut St

THEATER & FILM

Playing the Skyline and Spell Songs (Student Series)

Join Julie Fowlis, best known as the vocalist behind the theme song Touch the Sky in Disney Pixar’s Brave, for a lecture, musical demonstration, and Q and A, celebrating the rich cultural traditions of Gaelic Scotland.

Recommended for Grades 6-12.

WE (10/19), 10am, $12, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Avee

Foundy Street Flash back Film Series: Little Shop of Horrors Join Foundy Street, Wedge Brewing, and Grail Moviehouse for an outdoor screening, with costume contests, performances by Drag Queen Ganymede, tunes by DJ Lil Meow Meow, and exclusive limited seating from Sunnyside Trading Company - benefitting Cat Fly Film Festival.

TH (10/20), 6pm, The Wedge at Foundation, 5 Foundy St

Goddess Trilogy Film Series: The Burning Times

Donna Read's critically acclaimed films, which have appeared on pub lic television, create an experience of women's culture and history from the Paleolithic caves of France to the streets of San Francisco in the 1990s. Viewing followed by discussion. Open to the public. FR (10/21), 7pm, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ashe ville, 1 Edwin Place The Frankenstein Rubrics Asheville playwright David Hopes puts a unique spin on Shelley’s iconic monster. Thurs day through Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday

4:00pm, through Oct. 22.

$25, The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St

The Haunting of Hill House

Based on the Shirley Jackson novel, a chilling and mystifying study in mounting terror in des olate and deserted Hill House. Various dates and times through Oct. 23.

$18-25, Hendersonville Theatre, 229 S Washington St, Hendersonville

The Peking Acrobats ft

The Shanghai Circus

Pushing the limits of human ability by defy ing gravity with displays of contortion, flexibility and control.

TU (10/25), 7pm, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

The Peking Acrobats ft The Shanghai Circus (Student Series)

Witness daring maneu vers and technical prowess, with gravi ty-defying feats, festival pageantry, and a joyful celebration of Chinese culture. Recommended for Grades Pre K-12.

WE (10/26), 10am, $12, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS

Third Thirsty Thursday: WCC Social Monthly meeting for the subchapter of the International Coaching Federation, Charlotte.

TH (10/20), 4:30pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy

Introduction to Medi care: Understanding the Puzzle

The program will explain how Medicare works, the enrollment process, how to avoid penalties, and ways to save money. To register, visit coabc.org or call the Council on Aging at (828)277-8288.

FR (10/21), 2pm, OLLI/ Reuter Center, UNCA, 300 Campus View Rd

Sunset Carolina Hemlock Hike

A moderately strenuous two miles, roundtrip. An HRI staff member will guide the hike and provide education about hemlock ecology and how to save this tree from the hemlock woolly adelgid. RSVP is required: email educa tion@savehemlocksnc. org or call (828)2524783.

FR (10/21), 4pm, Youngs Ridge Trail head, 209 Royal Gorge Rd, Old Fort

Wolf Howl

This adult-focused program starts with an in-depth, indoor presentation on these elusive creatures, followed by a trek to the onsite wolf habitats for a howling session. Registration required.

FR (10/21), 6pm, WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Rd

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

There will be raffles, skill clinics and bike safety checks. Bring your bike and helmet.

Free, no registration required.

SA (10/22), 10am, Richmond Hill Park, 280 Richmond Hill Dr

Have AncestryDNA Matches? Now What?

Presenters from the DNA Interest Group will share expertise in using AncestryDNA. com for genealogical research. Registration required.

SA (10/22), 1pm, Free, avl.mx/9ey

Wolf Howl for Kids

This new program includes educational crafts, games, and an opportunity to meet a live animal, followed by a trek to the onsite wolf habitats for a howling session. Recommended for children 12 and under, registration required.

SA (10/22), 6pm, WNC Nature Center, 75 Gashes Creek Rd

Moonlit Medicine Workshop

To shed light on the innate cycles and seasons of menstruat ing bodies, honoring the ancient wisdom this modern world is not teaching. One hundred percent safe and appropriate for non-binary folks, those in the menopause stage of their cycle, and those who haven't started bleeding yet. Space is limited, registration required.

MO (10/24), 6:30pm, $25-45, Asia House, 119 Coxe Ave

Cochlear Implants 101

Three people with cochlear implants will share their experiences and their successes with this technology. An audiologist will add important information about how to qualify for a cochlear implant. This meeting is on Zoom: meeting ID is 505 945 6126; the password is: asheville

TU (10/25), 6:30pm Bingo Night Doors open 4:30pm. Up to $2500 in prizes, weekly.

TU (10/25), 7pm, $25, American Legion Post 70, 103 Reddick Rd

Boy Scout Troop 91

Fall Kick Off

For boys ages 11-18, free to attend first two meetings. Visit: avl.mx/bxq

TU (10/25), 7pm, St. Pauls United Methodist Church, 223 Hillside St

Learn & Play: Disney Villainous

Each player takes con trol of one of six Disney characters, each one a villain in a different Disney movie.

TH (10/27), 6pm, Free, Well Played Board Game Café, 162 Coxe Ave

LOCAL MARKETS

Staples Artisan Market

Small and homegrown market.

WE (10/19, 26), 11am, 65 Merrimon Ave

River Arts District (RAD) Farmers Market

Located on the river with live music and over 30 local vendors.

Safely accessible via the greenway, plus ample parking.

WE (10/19, 26), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr

Etowah Lions Club

Farmers Market

Fresh produce, meat, sweets, breads, arts, and more, through

10/19: Reader: Jonathon Mote 12-6pm

10/20: Reader: Salem 1-6pm

10/21: Reader: Pam Shook 1-6pm

10/24: Reader: Mandi Smith 12-4pm

10/25: NEW MOON in Scorpio

10/31: Reader: Mandi Smith 1-4pm Samhain Shop Ritual 12-1pm

MOON: Nov. 8th

Herbs Available!

Oct. Stone: Jet Oct. Herb: Rosemary

424-7868

ashevillepagansupply.store

Hours:

-

10-8pm

Xpress’

Publishes

October 26.

WE (10/19, 26), 3pm, 447 Etowah School Rd, Hendersonville

Leicester Farmers Market

Leicester’s only community-led farmers market with local produce, cheese, meats and crafts.

WE (10/19, 26), 3pm, Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy, Leicester

Weaverville Tailgate Market

Local foodstuffs, alongside a small lineup of craft and artisan vendors.

WE (10/19, 26), 3pm, 60 Lake Shore Dr, Weaverville

Enka-Candler Tailgate Market

Fresh local produce and heritage crafts. Weekly.

TH (10/20, 27), 3pm, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler

Flat Rock Tailgate Market

A diverse group of local produce farmers, jam and jelly makers, bread bakers, wild crafters, and merrymakers.

TH (10/20, 27), 3pm, Pinecrest ARP Church, 1790 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock

East Asheville Tailgate Market

Local goods, every Friday.

FR (10/21), 3pm, 954

Tunnel Rd

Hendersonville Farmers Market

Produce, meat, eggs, baked goods, coffee, crafts and more from 30+ local vendors.

With live music, kids' activities and cooking demos weekly.

SA (10/22), 8am, 650 Maple St,

Hendersonville

Mills River Farmers Market

A producer-only market, selling products raised or produced within 50 miles of the market. With local musicians, a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and high-quality crafts.

SA (10/22), 8am, Mills River Elementary School, 94 Schoolhouse Rd, Mills River

North Asheville Tailgate Market

The oldest Saturday morning market in WNC. Over 60 rotating vendors.

SA (10/22), 8am, 3300

University Heights

Asheville City Market

Over 50 vendors and local food products, including fresh produce,

meat, cheese, bread, pastries, and more.

SA (10/22), 9am, 52 N Market St

Black Mountain Tailgate Market

Seasonal community market event featuring organic and sustainably grown produce, plants, cut flowers, herbs, locally raised meats, seafood, breads, pastries, cheeses, eggs and local arts and handcrafted items.

SA (10/22), 9am, 130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Junk-O-Rama Saturday Vintage antiques market, every Saturday through Oct.

SA (10/22), 11am, Fleetwood's, 496 Haywood Rd

MakeHER Market

Featuring more than 20 female, independent creatives, makers, and designers and their unique, hand-crafted goods, as well as raise money for a local breast cancer support organization.

SA (10/22), 11am, Reynold's Village, 61 North Merrimon Ave

Jackson Arts Market Makers & Music Festival

With live, local music on Saturdays and an open mic on Sundays.

SA (10/22) & SU (10/23), 12pm, Down town Sylva

West Asheville Tailgate Market

Over 40 local vendors, every Tuesday.

TU (10/25), 3:30pm, 718 Haywood Rd

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS

Annual Eliada Fall Fes tival and Corn Maze

One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to benefit the children, youth and families served at Eliada.

Various dates and times through Oct. Eliada, 2 Compton Dr

Intertribal Graffiti Jam

Around a dozen Indigenous artists from aroudn the country will gather to paint cultural ly inspired murals. See p40-41

TH (10/20) - SU (10/23), Multiple Loca tions across Asheville

Celebración de la Her encia Hispana/Hispanic Heritage Celebration

Una velada de música, baile y cocina latina seguida de una proyección de Encanto en nuestra pantalla al aire libre. An evening of music, dancing, and Latin cuisine followed by a showing of Encanto on the outdoor screen.

FR (10/21), 6pm, Bur ton Street Community Center, 134 Burton St

LEAF 50th Fall Festival

Celebrating 27 years of connecting cultures and creating community through world music and arts.

TH (10/22) - SU (10/23), Lake Eden, 377 Lake Eden Rd, Black Mountain

NC Ceramic Arts Festival

Over 50 artists, with local food.

SA (10/22), 10am, Pack Square Park

Chili Hot Dog Eating Competition

The object is to eat as many hot dogs and buns, with water as the only beverage, within 3 minutes. Condiments and veggie dogs will be provided if desired. $200 cash prize. See p38

SA (10/22), 1pm, $10, Dalton Distillery, 251 Biltmore Ave

Mini Fall Fest

Featuring live music from local bands, live painting with local artists, live screen printing tee shirts with RAD Printworks, and food offerings including a donut-beer pairing and bratwurst. Dog and kid friendly.

SA (10/22), 2pm, Twin Leaf Brewery, 144 Coxe Ave

Fall-O-Ween Family-friendly festival with food trucks, activities and the annual Scarecrow Contest.

SA (10/22), 3pm, Lake Julian Park, 37 Lake Julian Rd, Arden Riddlefest 2022 With a 3pm seminar, Music that Matters: Blues from the Brothers and a 7pm performance, featuring Detroit Blues Brothers Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. and Matt Watroba. Hosted by the Traditional Voices Group.

SA (10/22), 3pm, Burnsville Town Center, 6 Main St, Burnsville Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair Everything a fiber artist needs to expand their art, plus a way to learn a new skill through workshops, demon strations and contests. Watch herding dogs at work, find fleece, and see local sheep and goats shown off to their best advantage in front of the judges.

FR (10/21) - SU (10/23), 9am, Free-$10, WNC Ag Center’s Davis Event Center, 765 Boylston Hwy, Fletcher Fall Festivities

Donation-based pony rides, hay rides, local apples, fresh pressed cider, sould silo and a pig viewing area. All donations go toward Project HNG nonprofit.

See p38

SU (10/23), 10am, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Rd, Fairview

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING

Socktoberfest

With brewery tours, live music, face painting, screenprinting and food trucks. Bring donations of socks or other warm weather gear, to bene fit BeLoved Asheville.

FR (10/21) - SU (10/23), Ginger's Revenge, 829 Riverside Dr, Ste 100

Asheville Drag Brunch

Presents: Night Brunch!

All profits go to UMOJA 501(c)3 as they help to create a space for individual and communal healing and recovery. Fami ly-friendly.

SA (10/22), 7pm, $2540, Biscuit Head South, 1994 Hendersonville Rd

Fairview Road

Resilience Garden

Work Day Volunteers are needed at the garden every Wednesday. All ages and skill levels are welcome to harvest, weed, plant, and build community.

WE (10/19, 26), 5:30pm, Fairview Resilience Garden, 461 Fairview Rd

HALLOWEEN

Hocus Pocus: Spooky Movie Night Outdoors.

TH (10/20), 6pm, Rabbit Rabbit, 75 Coxe Ave

Kooky Spooky Toddler Halloween Party

The historic gym turns into an orange and black fun fest with inflatables, toys, arts and crafts, and snacks. Dress up and join the costume parade.

FR (10/21), 10am, $5, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Sunset Market Hallow een Party Hot beverages, fall cocktails, a bonfire, local vendors and a costume contest with prizes for Best Solo Costume, Best Cou ples/Group Costume and Best Pet Costume.

FR (10/21), 5pm, Oak and Grist Distilling Company, 1556 Grovestone Rd, Black Mountain

Halloween Skate Spooktacular

Lace up your skates and roll-bounce to a soundtrack of Hallow een songs. Skates not provided. Children under 14 must be with an adult.

FR (10/21), 6pm, Carri er Park, 220 Amboy Rd

Haunted History Tours of Downtown Black Mountain

This fundraiser for the museum will highlight local tragedies and triumphs - and the

many ghosts, friendly and frustrated, born from them.

FR (10/21), 6pm, $2530, Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center, 223 West State St, Black Mountain Mills River Park Movie Night: Hocus Pocus Outdoors - bring lawn chairs and blankets. Concessions available. See p41 FR (10/21), 7pm, Mills River Park, 124 Town Center Drive, Mills River

The 10th Annual Haunted Trail

An outdoor immersive experience, ideal for ages 3-12. Ticket sales to this event raise meals for MANNA Food Bank. Various dates and times through Oct. $18, Adventure Center of Asheville, 85 Expo Dr (Early) Halloween Starting with a showing of Disney film Coco followed by a Zombie family dance party. At 6pm, Zombie Prom Silent Disco with DJ Madman Mattox. Costume contests all day.

SA (10/22), 12pm, Rabbit Rabbit, 75 Coxe Ave

Halloween Creepy Climbing Show off your costume, climb for candy on the indoor rock climbing wall, play ghoulish games, and enjoy spooky snacks. Advanced registration is required as space is limited.

SA (10/22), 6pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Halloween at the Weaverville Tailgate Market

Trick or treat and Halloween costume contest, with prizes for Scariest Costume, Grooviest Costume and Cutest Costume. Each winner will get a $10 market bucks prize to shop the Holiday Market.

WE (10/26), 3pm, Weaverville Tailgate Market, 60 Lake Shore Dr Weaverville Craft Cinema Halloween: Edward Scissorhands

A Halloween-themed screening of Tim Burton’s 1990 cult-clas sic. Complimentary beverages and popcorn courtesy of Bhramari Brewing Co. and Poppy Handcrafted popcorn.

WE (10/26), 5pm, Center for Craft, 67 Broadway

An ‘ocean’ of grief

New children’s book addresses parent’s death by suicide

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN

Picture books are a way for care givers to guide children through challenging topics, like new siblings and potty training. Asheville-based child psychotherapist Jillian KellyWavering wrote a children’s book to guide children ages 7-12 through another challenge: a parent’s suicide.

My Grief Is Like the Ocean is writ ten by Kelly-Wavering and illustrated by Jessica Biles, who is based in New York. The pair worked together on the book throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and relied on Google Docs and Zoom for their collaboration.

Kelly-Wavering, whose office is near downtown Asheville, has always been “fascinated by the inner worlds of children,” she says. Previous pro fessional experiences, like working with children in foster care in the South Bronx, furthered interest in how kids process emotions. “I was just so inspired by the way that chil dren communicate and cope with the most difficult experiences in life,” she explains.

Based on her own professional experience working with children who have lost a parent to suicide, she sees that these patients often face complicated grief and a lot of stig ma about their individual parent’s death. “A diversity of feelings come along with death by suicide,” KellyWavering says. This is true for all ages, but children have unique needs due to their psychological devel opment. Kelly-Wavering says she consulted with elementary school teachers about the language they use talking to kids about a parent’s death and sought feedback on drafts of the book from adults who had lost a parent to suicide as a child.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 1,441 deaths by suicide in North Carolina in 2020.

COMPLICATED GRIEF

A loved one’s death from sui cide can bring up confusing emo tions, like feeling anger and sad ness simultaneously.

Kids especially can struggle with grief after a parent’s death from suicide due to “the egocentricity of early childhood,” Kelly-Wavering explains. Children have a tendency

to personalize what happens in their lives — “‘If only I had told him I loved him more, he wouldn’t have been so sad,’” she says as an example.

Kids also don’t grasp the perma nence of death until around age 7, she explains. They might question where the parent has gone or wheth er they are coming back. She also notes that caregivers being overly positive about death — such as tell ing a child, “your dad is in a better place now” — can be confusing. Children may interpret such reassur ance as meaning their parent being alive with them was not a good place, Kelly-Wavering says.

“We wanted to put together a resource so children don’t feel so alone in their grief because death by suicide can be a complicated — and therefore a bit different — form of grief than losing a parent to cancer,” Kelly-Wavering explains.

“Complicated grief” is not an official diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , which mental health providers rely upon for diagnoses. However, the Center for Prolonged Grief at the Columbia University School of Social Work explains the term is used interchangeably with

“prolonged grief disorder,” which the American Psychiatric Association approved as a new diagnosis in 2020.

The little boy in My Grief Is Like the Ocean is depicted in a therapeu tic setting. Kelly-Wavering says this was meant to normalize therapy for children, as coping with death and its aftermath can involve sequenced dis cussions with a child over a long peri od of time. When she begins seeing children as patients, Kelly-Wavering says she tells parents that she may

be in the child’s life for years con ducting check-ins throughout their development. Often maladaptive coping skills, like substance abuse or emotional numbing, arise in the teenage years, she says.

‘PAINFUL TRUTH’

Some may bristle at the suggestion of discussing suicide with a child. Kelly-Wavering isn’t claiming talking to children about a parent’s suicide is easy. It isn’t. But she encourages caregivers to ensure the child has these conversations with a trust ed adult and that they’re done in age-appropriate ways — lest the child find out the truth in an imper sonal, potentially hurtful way.

Betsy Rhodes, a volunteer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention North Carolina, says one way to talk to children about suicide in terms they’ll understand is to underscore how depression is an illness, saying something such as “Sometimes brains get sick the way arms get broken.” Children also need to know that their parent who died was good, but the suicide was not a good choice.

“It’s really in the child’s best inter est for the child to know the truth in developmentally appropriate terms,” Kelly-Wavering says. She explains how many caregivers delay discuss ing a parent’s suicide with a child until many years later.

But waiting — well-intentioned as it may be — can potentially be harmful if the child learns about their parent’s suicide from extended family or social media. In such cases, “there’s a secondary loss because the child finds out the truth and then they realize that their caregiver has been withholding this information for seven or eight years,” Kelly-

LISTENING EAR: Kids can struggle with grief after a parent’s death by suicide due to “the egocentricity of early childhood,” child psychotherapist Jillian Kel ly-Wavering says. Photo courtesy of Kelly-Wavering

Wavering explains. Children need to learn from a loving caregiver that a parent died by suicide, not alone via a Google search or from overheard whispers at family gatherings.

Adds Rhodes, “Not being trans parent is the worst mistake.” She warns caregivers against making a parent’s suicide “a dark secret” to a child. Details like the method by which a parent died by suicide can be shared at an older age when the child has “the support and the scaffolding in place to receive that information,” she explains.

In addition to a story about a young boy whose father died by sui cide, My Grief Is Like the Ocean includes two pages at the beginning directing caregivers how to read the book. It is meant to be “a resource for caregivers to know what language to use because that is perhaps one of the most impossible conversa tions to have with the child,” KellyWavering explains.

TACKLING HARD TOPICS

Caregivers may avoid discussing a parent’s death by suicide out of fear of the child doing a copycat, KellyWavering continues. However, “not talking about it does not prevent it,” she emphasizes.

Rhodes, who experienced the loss of her child to suicide, says that care givers should be aware that a child may share risk factors for suicidal behavior. She notes that research shows that suicidal behavior runs in families, although it is unclear if the

behavior is due to genetics, such as a psychiatric disorder, or imitation. (988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline con tains numerous resources for survi vors of suicide loss: avl.mx/c2v.)

Talking about mental illness and normalizing the discussion of depression can prevent suicide, says Rhodes. For that reason, KellyWavering’s book is a welcome addi tion to shelves. “Unfortunately, there are not a lot of books that address suicide head-on,” Rhodes says. She notes that the suicide prevention group sends bereavement packag es containing relevant books about suicide to school counselors and funeral homes. She has ordered a copy of My Grief Is Like the Ocean for herself and thinks the organization may include the book in bereave ment packages where children are involved going forward.

My Grief Is Like the Ocean is put out by Loving Healing Press. It pub lishes therapeutic books, including numerous children’s books about difficult topics like childhood cancer, terrorism and having a sibling with cerebral palsy or a sensory process ing disorder.

The small publisher “was super enthusiastic about this topic given there is so little on the market about it for children and preteens,” KellyWavering says.

“You don’t really think of these topics as being a part of children’s books, but it’s really important,” she continues, adding “They’ve already asked us to consider tackling other hard topics in the future.”

2022 GENERAL ELECTION VOTER GUIDE

Western North Carolina voters have many choices to make this fall. From the U.S. Senate down to the Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors, 2022’s midterm elections feature contested races at nearly all levels of government. Buncombe County residents will have the additional responsibility of deciding on two bond referendums that could see county government borrow $70 million for land conservation and affordable housing initiatives.

It’s a lot to unpack. That’s why Mountain Xpress is presenting this year’s general election voter guide in two parts. The first, being published this week, will cover Asheville city government races, as well as contests for the local school boards. The second, to be distributed in next week’s paper, will cover Buncombe County races, the N.C. General Assembly and U.S. House District 11.

If you just can’t wait to make your electoral decisions, the entire guide will be available online by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at avl.mx/c30. That’s just in time for the start of early in-person voting Thursday, Oct. 20.

The Buncombe County Board of Elections has more information about when and where to vote at avl.mx/478. Absentee ballots to vote by mail may be requested through Tuesday, Nov. 1. Polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. Xpress has also compiled a list of voting FAQs to answer questions about the process and timeline.

Voting FAQs

In addition to our comprehensive coverage of contested local races in Buncombe County, Mountain Xpress hopes to clear up some frequently asked questions about the process of voting in 2022’s general election. Below, you’ll find short explainers on when, where and with what information ballots can be cast.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY’S 2022 VOTING TIMELINE

Mark your calendar! Take note of the following important dates to make sure your vote is counted before state deadlines:

• Thursday, Oct. 20: Early voting begins at 12 locations across Buncombe County. Sites are open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on weekends. Voters can also deliver absentee ballots to these sites. Eligible individuals not yet registered to vote may use “one-stop” combined registration and voting at early voting sites. More information is available at avl.mx/478.

• Tuesday, Nov. 1: Last day to request an absentee ballot.

• Saturday, Nov. 5: Last day for early voting in Buncombe County. Polls run 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

• Tuesday, Nov. 8: Election Day. In-person voting will be held in 80 county precincts. Polls are open 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. All absentee ballots must arrive by this date at Buncombe County Election Services, 59 Woodfin

Place, or be hand-delivered by 5 p.m., to be counted.

FIND YOUR SAMPLE BALLOT

To find sample ballots and check voter registration status, visit the N.C. State Board of Elections voter search website at avl.mx/6nq.

Users must enter their full name and voter status. After searching, the system will display a list of matching names. Selecting your name takes you to a page with sample ballots (located toward the bottom of the page under “11/08/2022 GENERAL”), the address of your Election Day polling place and the jurisdictions of your representatives. If you voted absentee, this page also shows the status of your ballot.

If your name does not show up, you are not registered to vote in North Carolina. If you believe this is an error, contact your county Board of Elections.

Each county Board of Elections also has sample ballots available on its website. Voters are encouraged to fill one out in advance to minimize time spent in a polling place.

VOTE BY MAIL

If you’d like to vote by mail, request an absentee ballot through the N.C. State Board of Elections’ online ballot request portal (avl.mx/8ii) or by filling out and submitting an absentee ballot request form by mail. All forms must be returned to the corresponding county Board of Elections by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1; request forms can be mailed, emailed, faxed or brought to the county

Previous Xpress coverage of the 2022 general election is available through the following articles:

• “$70M for land conservation, affordable housing up to Buncombe voters” — Aug. 19, 2022, avl.mx/c3c

• “Edwards, Republican panel talk ‘leftist agenda’ in schools” — Aug. 29, 2022, avl.mx/c3r

• “Manheimer, Berthiaume pull in Asheville campaign funds” — Sept. 7, 2022, avl.mx/c3n

• “NC-11 candidates talk issues, strategy ahead of Election Day” — Sept. 7, 2022, avl.mx/xmasjbh

• “Buncombe County Commission candidates talk policy, vision at CIBO forum” — Sept. 12, 2022, avl.mx/c3q

• “How local candidates put donations to use” — Sept. 16, 2022, avl.mx/xmasjbg

• “NC House candidates participate in AAAC’s ArtsAVL Town Hall” — Sept. 16, 2022, avl.mx/c3p

• “Asheville, Buncombe prepare for school board elections” — Sept. 22, 2022, avl.mx/c3o

Daniel Walton X

election office in person by the voter or a near relative.

When your ballot arrives, follow the enclosed directions. You must mark the ballot in the presence of a notary public or two witnesses, who must sign the absentee ballot envelope upon completion.

The completed absentee ballot can be mailed back to the county Board of Elections (you will need your own postage stamp) or delivered to any early voting site or the county Board of Elections. An absentee ballot can be delivered by a near relative, but it must arrive at the Board of Elections or be dropped off by 5 p.m on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8. Absentee voters can sign up for text or email updates on the status of their ballot through BallotTrax (avl.mx/8il), run through the N.C. State Board of Elections.

DO I NEED TO BRING MY ID?

Voters will not be required to show photo identification for the 2022 elections, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. A North Carolina Superior Court has permanently enjoined the law requiring photo ID for voting. Following a trial in April 2021, a three-judge panel in the Holmes v. Moore case concluded that the voter photo ID law violated the North Carolina Constitution. The court’s decision, which was issued on Sept. 17, 2021, means that voters are not required to show photo ID in elections in North Carolina.

However, eligible voters registering to vote at a one-stop voting site must provide one of the following: a North Carolina driver’s license or an identity

card from the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles; a current utility bill, bank statement or paycheck showing the voter’s name and address; a student photo ID plus a school document showing the student’s address; or any document from a government agency showing the voter’s name and address.

Having trouble? Call the N.C. State Board of Elections at 919-715-0135, the Buncombe County Board of Elections at 828-250-4200, or 866-OUR-VOTE, a nonpartisan election support hotline by the nonprofit Election Protection.

OTHER VOTER GUIDES

The following nonpartisan voter guides offer information and candidate profiles for state and national races:

• Vote411, a bilingual voter guide sponsored by the League of Women Voters, can be personalized to match your sample ballot. avl.mx/8im

• Democracy NC offers comprehensive guides to both statewide and Buncombe County races. avl.mx/c2x

• Carolina Jews for Justice has compiled a voter guide for the General Assembly and U.S. House District 11 races. avl.mx/c2z

• The NC Values Coalition has teamed up with iVoterGuide to create a nonpartisan voter guide that scores candidates on their adherence to “life, family and religious freedoms.” avl.mx/8iv

• The N.C. State Board of Elections 2022 Judicial Voter Guide focuses solely on candidates running for seats on the N.C. Supreme Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals. avl.mx/c2y

Asheville Mayor

On Sept. 14, Mayor Esther Manheimer announced that she’d been backed by five of the six sitting Council members, claiming that the joint endorsement “may be the first of its kind in Asheville.”

The only Council member not to jump on the Manheimer bandwagon was Kim Roney — understandably, given that Roney is the mayor’s opponent. The two have often been on opposing sides inside Council chambers as well, with Roney voting against Manheimer on issues such as the city’s fiscal year 2022-23 budget and new open space rules for development.

The two candidates dominated May’s five-way mayoral primary, with Manheimer taking 42.3% of the vote and Roney 33.4%. But those results show Roney to be a far stronger challenger than any Manheimer faced during her 2017 reelection campaign, when she earned 77% of votes in a four-way primary.

The incumbent has largely campaigned on her record, particularly emphasizing her management of the city through the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Roney has criticized city government for a lack of transparency and disregard for public input.

— Daniel Walton X

How would you define Asheville’s regional role in Western North Carolina?

Website: VoteManheimer.com

Occupation: Attorney, partner with the Van Winkle Law Firm

Previous candidacy or offices held: Mayor (2013-Present), Vice Mayor (2011-13), Asheville City Council (2009-11)

Website: KimRoney4Asheville.com

Occupation: Music educator

Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council

Key endorsements: Did not answer

Amount of money raised: Did not respond

Top three donors: Did not respond

What one area of city government do you think has been most neglected over the past four years, and what would you do to revitalize it?

Trusted leadership brings people together. Together is how we create opportunities for our residents. Becoming a trusted leader takes time, listening skills and a collaborative mindset. That’s what I bring each day as mayor, whether I’m negotiating the most equitable budget in our history, welcoming a new living-wage employer or representing our city at the White House. I listen, learn and apply it to better serving our community. I ask for your vote so we can achieve more together.

In my second year on Council, with eight years advocating for the people of Asheville and our mountain home, I’m weary of selling out our city to unchecked tourism and for-profit development that extract our natural resources, burden our infrastructure and displace our vulnerable neighbors. I’m committed to addressing affordability, public safety and neighborhood resiliency, and I’m endorsed by the Asheville and Buncombe Associations of Educators, Equality NC, WNC Central Labor Council, Center for Biological Diversity and caring neighbors like yourself.

At our best, Asheville is a leader for positive change, as we have been for LGBTQ equality, equity and sustainability during my leadership. Asheville is the hub for our regional economy, and as mayor, I see firsthand how the region depends on us to lead in the face of emergency climate disasters, high-speed fiber access, transportation planning and job recruitment and growth. Going forward, I want Asheville to be known for taking the lead on climate and equity solutions.

Asheville is known as a welcoming place in the South, but we struggle to realize our aspirational goals because we have deep and growing disparities across race, class and the social determinants of health. As a resource hub in WNC, we have an opportunity and an obligation to plan for smart growth, address disparities and repair harm, partner on creative solutions, change course to prioritize people over profit, protect cultural identity and respond meaningfully to our stated climate emergency.

The pandemic demanded that we quickly pivot to bolstering services needed to ensure our residents have housing, safety, cleanliness and city services. I worked hard to partner with the county to respond to the emergency medical crisis, as well as quickly provide rent relief and small-business support. To address the continuing effects of the pandemic, I supported pay raises for city staff, including police and bus drivers, increasing spending on cleanliness and partnering to address our houselessness crisis.

Public engagement! Perceived disdain for public engagement is discouraging when we have resourceful neighbors bringing lived and professional experience to solutions. Skills gained, especially through the pandemic to address barriers to participation, are being removed: limiting public comment and remote engagement, proposed disbanding of advisory boards, withholding documents and meeting behind closed doors. I’m committed to advancing participatory democracy and budgeting so we can plug into our people power and get moving toward being better.

A survey presented at this year’s Council retreat found that city staff largely feels “overwhelmed” and “exhausted.” What should change about Asheville’s leadership to address those feelings?

Our staff are essential to our quality of life and delivery of core services in Asheville. I regularly thank staff for their hard work and dedication and ask leaders to do the same. I supported our staff with raises and paid family medical leave. I listen to staff to understand their challenges. What I hear: We must fill vacancies, focus Council’s work without exceeding the staff’s capacity, and as a community, better appreciate our approximately 1,200 employees.

With the budget vote in July, Council missed the opportunity to pass living wages for all city employees, postponing until 2023. We need to lead — not lag — on living wages based on housing costs to recruit and retain staff. With societal issues like public safety and homelessness, business as usual isn’t working. An equity audit of our systems might bolster a plan to meet this moment, while empowerment for staff to engage the public could energize from the ground up.

This year’s Council retreat also highlighted feelings of distrust among Council members. What would you do as mayor to improve Council’s teamwork?

I am proud to be endorsed by five of the six current Asheville City Council members. They recognize my teamwork. One challenge of serving with an elected body is that it’s essential to work together to make progress, but politics can create unproductive tensions. I work hard to rise above politics. I use respect, collaboration and listening; I help Council members advance their goals and ideas. The mayor has a duty to ensure every idea is heard and thoughtfully considered.

At the retreat, Council collaborated on six strategic priorities that guide our work, including neighborhood resiliency, which I brought to the table. We’ve done good work under pressure, and our processes are getting in the way of doing better. I’m running to bring transparency to the mayor’s office through an open meetings policy, which includes scheduling public pre-meetings of Council instead of the private check-ins happening now. Our community will support a shift designed for shared accountability and shared success.

Why should Asheville voters support you over your opponent?

Asheville City Council

A crowded primary field of 11 Asheville City Council candidates was whittled down to six in May’s elections. The upcoming vote will halve that field again to fill the three open seats on Asheville’s governing body.

The three candidates who topped May’s results include two incumbents — Antanette Mosley and Sheneika Smith — as well as Maggie Ullman Berthiaume , who has deep connections with city leadership through her service as Asheville’s first sustainability officer. The three also have the backing of the WNC Sierra Club, which plays a key (and occasionally controversial) role in influencing local elections.

The three remaining candidates each earned less than 10% of the vote in May’s primary. Allison Scott , Nina Tovish and Andrew Fletcher all share concerns about the city’s transit system and support strong affordable housing measures. Further information about the candidates’ stances is available through the Xpress primary guide at avl.mx/bij.

— Daniel Walton X

QUESTIONS

How do you view the city’s role in addressing homelessness, and what specific strategies will you pursue to fill that role?

Website: Maggie4AVL.com

Occupation: Climate advocate

Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A

Key endorsements: AFL-CIO and the Combined Labor Council, WNC Sierra Club, Asheville and Buncombe Area Educators Associations, Home Builders Association of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Elinor Earle

Amount of money raised: $29,442

Top three donors: Mack Pearsall, Charles Wise, Nanci Mackey

Council’s role is to provide effective, valuesdriven leadership. Housing 600-plus chronically unhoused neighbors and connecting them to necessary services is an all-hands-on-deck situation. I’ll use my coalition building and policymaking skills to focus on supportive lowbarrier/high-access housing, long-term housing and wraparound services. We have incredible existing organizations and individuals who are deep in this work. They are the backbone of this work. I will honor and deepen our partnerships.

What specific strategies do you most support for increasing affordable housing in the city, and how will you fund that work?

I will use my proven experience to champion deeply affordable housing and zoning that supports adding small-scale housing into our neighborhoods – near jobs and services. As a citizen, I will vote yes on the countywide housing bond referendum to fund affordable housing, including homeownership for the missing middle and repairs to keep long-term residents in their current homes. The clearly stated 2030 housing outcomes of the bond will have a deep positive impact throughout our community.

Website: FletcherForAsheville.com

Occupation: Musician/tour guide/ freelance

Previous candidacy or offices held: Candidate, 2017 Asheville City Council

Key endorsements: Brian Haynes, Ben and Cate Scales, Sunrise Movement AVL

Amount of money raised: $9,660 (as of Sept. 26)

Top three donors: Elliot Eichler, Laura Conner, Andrew Fedynak

The city has a role in dealing with any problem in the city and an obligation for the care and safety of its residents, whether housed or not. The experience of houselessness should be rare, brief and safe. The continuing unaffordability of housing will continue to feed this problem as long as our solutions fall short of the problem. I support a low-barrier shelter, and it should be close to the city center and close to public assistance and resources.

Short term, we need better zoning and enforcement to rid our city of illegal whole-home short-term rental investors. Neighborhoods should be for neighbors, and we need to stop losing our housing stock to Airbnb. Current enforcement efforts are weak and widely exploited by scofflaws. Long term, we need to fund housing for workforce tenants and buyers, as well as partner with nonprofits. I generally oppose subsidizing for-profit developers, but there are some zoning negotiations where that is a useful tool.

What do you see as the city’s most pressing transportation issue, and what approaches do you favor to address it?

Most pressing issue: limited transportation options. This disproportionately burdens lower-income people and reduces everyone’s opportunities for better health, vitality, connection, autonomy and a cleaner planet. Approaches: I’m working to expand neighborhood and citywide transportation options through my service on Asheville’s Multimodal Transportation Commission and as a board member of Asheville on Bikes. On Council, I’m committed to infrastructure that enables residents to get around safely using their mode of necessity or choice. We’re all in this together.

The most immediate issue is the loss of revenue as a result of city staff failures to capture money from public parking fees that fund transit. The second issue is a Council that says they support transit while cutting transit. Third, we need housing for workers close to jobs. This is a leadership problem, and it’s going to take new leaders who are more serious about transit and housing if we want better transportation and less traffic.

How do you assess the city’s progress to date on matters of equity, and what would you do to further that goal?

Asheville’s reparations resolution is charting the course for the nation. To guide turning that resolution into reality, we tasked the Community Reparations Commission with addressing generational wealth creation and boosting economic mobility in the Black community. I’m listening, especially to people doing the work. I’ll await their recommendations and work creatively to find resources to support them. I’ll also support the Equity Office as they lead us to implement the Equality Action Plan.

The data shows that both the population and median incomes of African Americans in Asheville are declining. This should alarm our leaders. Asheville, like the rest of the nation, has systematically transferred resources from minority neighborhoods for decades and continues to do so. We need to stop doing damage and invest in what our historically marginalized neighborhoods are asking for. To help reverse the tide, I support the work of the Reparations Commission and await their recommendations.

What area of city government is most overfunded, and how should those resources be allocated instead?

“Overfunded” implies that an initiative receives more resources than it deserves. I’m for transparently exploring how funding matches or mismatches our priorities and exploring how we get in alignment. I held myself to that standard when I served as sustainability director. I started with no budget. I saved $1 million annually in energy costs and used those savings to fund new programs. I worked with the community to align our resources with our goal of becoming a national sustainability leader.

Pay for upper management, across departments, should be frozen to make room to raise wages for rank-and-file city workers. Many departments are currently understaffed, lowering the quality of city services that Ashevilleans expect. If we want better city services, we can start by paying workers enough to live in the city they work in.

Website: MosleyForAVL.com

Occupation: Attorney and Asheville City Council member

Previous candidacy or offices held: Appointed incumbent on Asheville City Council

Key endorsements: AFL-CIO, Progressive Caucus of N.C. Democratic Party, Sierra Club, Equality NC, Asheville Fire Fighters Association

Amount of money raised: $5,500

Top three donors: My top donations have come from friends and family.

In the city’s recently passed new budget, funding was allocated for the new position of homelessness strategy project specialist. Further, the Dogwood Health Trust has funded an evaluation of the city’s homelessness issues and will be recommending research-based solutions. Council also funded Homeward Bound’s conversion of the former Days Inn on Tunnel Road, which will also serve as its new headquarters and offer wraparound support services on-site, as well as permanent supportive housing for approximately 80 chronically unhoused persons.

I leverage my dual roles as a member of Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee and the Council liaison to the Asheville Housing Authority to provide opportunities for developers to work with the Housing Authority to place voucher holders into housing, as well as to encourage responsible development of affordable housing. Since joining Council, we have voted to bring over 600 affordable units online.

Website: Tovish4AVL.com

Occupation: Writer, visual artist, activist

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: AFL-CIO/WNC

Central Labor Council, Progressive Caucus of the N.C. Democratic Party, Equality NC, Asheville City/Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville Home Builders (aka Builders Association of the Blue Ridge Mountains)

Amount of money raised: Around $7,000

Top three donors: Gordon Atkinson, Robert Woolley, Lori Hedrick

Homelessness is a national problem, requiring changes in our social safety net on the national and state levels to resolve. As a municipality, Asheville’s role must be to mitigate suffering and help people overcome barriers to finding and keeping a stable home. Small-scale, modest-budget pilot programs — developed in collaboration with local social service organizations — would help us explore which strategies work best for our community. We should also enlist the full participation of neighborhoods and faith-based groups.

Developing affordable housing on the scale we need is going to require *all* the strategies, including land use incentive grants and land trusts. Let’s start with zoning for denser residential neighborhoods, especially along transportation corridors. We should also consider the “social housing” model of mixed-income development on city-owned land, with affordability guaranteed in perpetuity. Construction can be funded by bonds, paid back in part from rent or purchase fees. Removing the middleman in housing development makes deeper affordability possible.

I believe that the city and county must work together to create modes of transportation that connect outside of the city as well, such as parkand-rides. Another topical transportation issue is the cost of parking for downtown workers. The county is currently exploring options to subsidize the cost of monthly parking passes. As a candidate who was endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), I am a strong supporter of workers’ rights, prosperity and well-being.

At a bare minimum, Asheville needs reliable, extended-hour public transportation service for our community’s necessity riders. Ultimately, we need transit that’s so good that people with cars will chose to ride it over driving themselves. Although it will benefit residents first and foremost, visitors will enjoy it, too. Great public transit reduces both traffic and infrastructure burdens; it’s good for our economy and our environment. We should collaborate with the county and prioritize transit investment in the city budget.

Website: AllisonForAsheville.com

Occupation: Director of impact innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality

Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A

Key endorsements: Asheville Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Progressive Caucus North Carolina, Equality North Carolina

Amount of money raised: $16,000

Top three donors: Anne Guse, Amy Mandel, Shelley McCormick

Homelessness is a solvable issue, but it’s going to take real investment from our local government and community to solve it. I support minimum wage initiatives that reflect the true cost of living in Asheville; I will champion creating city rapidresponse teams similar to Buncombe County’s paramedicine teams; I will collaborate with all local organizations (faith-based, nonprofit, etc.) along with community residents to use our existing systems and facilitate partnerships for wraparound services to support our unhoused neighbors.

When a worker in Asheville earns a minimum monthly wage of $1,256, average rent for a twobedroom apartment is $1,771, and the median home price is over $400,000, that’s a crisis for our community. Our government must commit to building and supporting deeply affordable living. This can be accomplished through working with community land trusts, rent assistance in addition to Section 8 vouchers and advocating for BIPOC community-led housing initiatives from the Asheville Reparations Fund Commission.

If someone lives near town and works near town on a M-F 9-5 schedule, then biking or using the bus may be possible. A lot of people I talk with say our public transportation system and living outside of the city proper can make it extremely difficult to use buses daily. The schedules and routes have too many gaps to make that work. Add in nonexistent bike lanes in most of the city, and biking becomes dangerous.

Website: N/A

Occupation: Vice mayor, Asheville City Council

Previous candidacy or offices held: Asheville City Council (2018), vice mayor (2020)

Key endorsements: WNC Sierra Club, Asheville Fire Fighters Association

Amount of money raised: N/A

Top three donors: N/A

Shortly after my appointment to Council, I devised the first dedicated funding stream for the reparations initiative. Notably, these funds do not come from taxpayers. To date, there is over $1 million in the fund. I am also a staunch advocate of equitable affordable housing and land sovereignty to prevent further displacement of Black communities. We are doing the work, but there is still more to be done as we strive toward racial and socioeconomic equity.

There’s so much more to do, both to redress the harms of the past and to ensure just outcomes now and in the future. The Reparations Commission has begun its work; we await its findings and recommendations. The role of Council (and Buncombe County) will be to provide the commission with the resources it needs and to follow through in implementing its recommendations. Additionally, every Council decision must be deliberated and monitored with an equity lens in place.

Asheville’s legacy of redlining and urban renewal makes reparations a necessary part of achieving racial justice. I was pleased to see the committee members selected recently, and the city has earmarked in the budget continued funding for reparations. It is crucial that Black leadership continues to steer and control this process, with meaningful community input in the commission’s recommendations. Solutions such as home loans and business loans look very promising.

The No. 1 cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Our $2 million grant agreement for the purchase of the Days Inn on Tunnel Road for permanent supportive housing is a major step in the right direction. Partnering with Homeward Bound to convert the motel into 85 affordable units for those experiencing chronic homelessness is an intervention that faces the issue head-on. Housing solutions that offer adequate support services will increase social integration and stability rates.

We should consider moving the remaining $6.5 million in Affordable Housing Bond funds to the Housing Trust Fund. We should update HTF policy to consider guidelines for land acquisition, a possible raise of the $1 million loan cap and increase on per-unit subsidy, and a new loan request cycle that aligns with other funders. Also, we should learn more about bond cycles, create a more robust set of criteria for subsidies and update policies to address lower income levels.

America’s bus driver shortage has left several transit systems in crisis, including ours. Earlier this year, the driver shortage impacted major routes. A few routes to major social centers, grocery stores and public housing communities could only operate once per hour, and other routes were canceled. Improved feedback between drivers and City Council will make drivers feel more “in the loop,” building a greater sense of community and growing the driver pool necessary to help Asheville meet public transit needs.

Advancing equity is an ongoing and generational commitment. To advance equity and inclusion within municipal government, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity racial equity framework and equity tools have been used. To advance to yet another level, each department should draft an equity action plan, which maps out steps toward transformational change in order to deepen the conversation with communities, advocates and stakeholders around how we deliver equitable outcomes across and throughout the organization.

I would not characterize any area of city government to be overfunded. In fact, the city is understaffed in a number of departments. The city’s most recent budget has been called the most equitable in Asheville’s history. Included were raises for all city staff, funding for afterschool programs, funding the new urban forester and homelessness strategy project specialist positions and a $500,000 annual commitment to the reparations fund – all accomplished without raising the millage rate on property taxes.

The premise that any area of city government is meaningfully “overfunded” is flawed. Human resources are our largest expenditure. Salaries, wages and benefits total over $121 million in fiscal year 2022-23. Operating expenses and capital/debt will cost less, around $88 million. City government is not overstaffed — quite the opposite. The new budget finally guarantees a living wage to employees; eventually, that should become a thriving wage. We might need to be more conservative about the salaries of our highest-paid staff.

Did not respond.

Did not respond.

Asheville City Board of Education

Not much has changed since May in terms of the Asheville City Board of Education field. Of the nine candidates on the primary ballot, eight advanced to the general election. Voters will now chose four to serve on the first city school board to have elected members.

The district those candidates hope to lead, however, has seen major upheaval. Former Superintendent Gene Freeman, who had announced in April that he would retire at the end of November, instead took a $94,000 “negotiated separation agreement” and left Asheville City Schools in June. Interim Superintendent Jim Causby now leads ACS; the newly elected school board will be tasked with hiring his permanent replacement.

Meanwhile, the district continues to struggle with staff recruitment and retention, with many workers saying wages fail to meet the area’s cost of living. The Asheville City Association of Educators, a professional group that represents school staff, has endorsed Liza EnglishKelly, Amy Ray, Rebecca Strimer and Jesse Warren.

Ray and Strimer were also among the top four picks of primary voters, along with Sarah Thornburg and Pepi Acebo. Rounding out the field are William (Bill) Young Jr. and Miri Massachi.

— Daniel Walton X

Why I support

Among the board’s most important responsibilities will be hiring a new permanent superintendent. What qualities will you seek in candidates for this hire?

Website: Pepi4Asheville.com

Occupation: Manufacturer of children’s blocks

Previous candidacy or offices held: Seven

years as a Parent Teacher Organization officer at different schools. Prior applicant for appointed school board with votes from Julie Mayfield and Esther Manheimer in 2019.

Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators (2021) and Buncombe County Association of Educators (2021)

Amount of money raised: Self-funded. Top three donors: Self-funded.

We need a superintendent with competence, grace and a service mentality who puts teachers, students and families above expediency. Knowledge of our district and a commitment to our city are vital. I support a second year with an interim superintendent and a search process starting in the winter/spring of 2023-24 with significant community engagement and proper vetting. A spring search yields a larger pool of qualified candidates. A delayed search allows the board to make a better selection.

Website: See Liza English-Kelly for ACS Board of Education on Facebook

Occupation: Teacher

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville-Buncombe N.C. Retired School Personnel

Amount of money raised: Did not respond.

Top three donors: Did not respond.

I would expect an ideal candidate to understand the history that has plagued our district with regard to racism, inequitable policies and financial issues. The candidate will be highly qualified through their hands-on experience in classrooms and can demonstrate empathy and understanding of the complexity of issues that teachers and school staff face on a daily basis. He or she will be communicative, down-to-earth and inviting to students, parents and staff alike and amplify the whole community’s voices and concerns.

What steps should the board take to address the system’s staffing issues, both in teaching and support roles?

We need to increase pay beyond a living wage, working with our Buncombe County commissioners and the N.C. General Assembly to fulfill the Leandro funding mandates to provide suitable public education for all students as required by our state constitution. We also need to address a culture of retaliation so that educators can work with community members to address management and resource issues in our district and so that we can retain our great teachers and staff.

ACS must guarantee that classified staff is making at least an actual living wage before the local supplement is figured in — the local supplement is a bonus. ACS leadership must commit to a longterm strategic plan that includes a commitment to rigorous curriculum, developmentallyappropriate and equitable testing and a culture of accountability. Incentivizing and recruiting educators of color should be a priority, and thinking creatively about the district’s financial situation could free up funding to attract and retain new teachers.

What resources or programs should schools employ to help students feel more secure in the classroom?

School violence is never acceptable. I’ve advocated for teacher-led, school-based approaches for effective behavioral management, communicating clear behavioral expectations and providing tools to instill student self-discipline and appropriate initiative. A school-based approach might include resources like Conscious Discipline, Love & Logic, Montessori, PBIS, CRM, SEL, but the professional learning community (studentfacing staff) needs to select and implement this at the grassroots so that the school culture has a school language that allows staff to function together to support students and families.

Individuals’ basic needs must be met before we can attempt academic learning. Universal access to mental health care and support services housed throughout our schools and increased access to healthcare and wellness/social services would go a long way to ensuring those basic human needs are met. We also have to focus on relationships and mutual respect. Every student should feel a sense of belonging and have a deep sense of their value as a member of the school community.

What does a thriving school district mean to you, and what do you see as the district’s biggest current obstacle to achieving that vision?

A thriving school district has thriving schools where students, staff and families feel welcome and supported to provide the best education for every student. Our schools need students who are ready to learn, which means universal access to quality early childhood education, better retention of teachers, staff continuity in our schools and pay that supports teachers and staff living in our communities. Our biggest obstacle is fingers-inears worship of policy governance that shields the board from addressing failures in leadership.

ACS has established a culture where the only constant is change. Reactionary policies, a revolving door of superintendents, shifting discipline practices, and curriculum and testing that change every couple of years all contribute to a feeling that our district is unpredictable at best and ill-informed at worst. We need a strong culture of accountability reflected from central office down into every school in the district. We must expect and demand excellence from every person who serves in ACS.

“Xpress represents the heart of Asheville and I want it to always be here.”

– Michele Bryan

Michele and

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Website: MiriForACS.com

Occupation: Preschool-8th grade movement instructor

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: None at this time.

Amount of money raised: Not actively fundraising at this time.

Top three donors: None at this time.

Website: AmyforACS.com

Occupation: Attorney

Previous candidacy or offices held: No elected office; have served on public and private boards, including the board of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville and the board of the Asheville City Schools Foundation.

Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Buncombe County Commissioner Al Whitesides, Buncombe County Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Gordon Grant, Holly Jones

Amount of money raised: Did not respond.

Top three donors: Carol Cobble, Deborah Crowder, Daniele Wikoff

I think we all need consistency of leadership in this district. So, in addition to the experience and skills we normally seek in a candidate, we need to find someone who will get to know and be a part of this community, co-create a vision with our families and be with us long term to help see the vision come to fruition. We need someone creative and open-minded who is not afraid of making changes.

I am looking for a superintendent who is a servant leader — someone who understands that leadership is listening to, empowering and supporting every student-facing educator, from teachers to bus drivers, principals to cafeteria and custodial personnel. Leadership is not dictating from above but fostering an atmosphere of trust, creativity and joy. I am also looking for a superintendent who has already demonstrated successful servant leadership in a school district. We must do our due diligence to ensure an excellent fit.

Website: StrimerForACS.com

Occupation: Housing counselor and program coordinator at OnTrack WNC

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: Asheville City Association of Educators, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Elinor Earle, Dr. Amieris Lavender, Dr. Gordon Grant

Amount of money raised: $2,195

Top three donors: Marc and Linda Voorhees, Eleanor Lane, and Bob and Diane Strimer (21 total donors)

This board’s most important duty will be the hiring of the next superintendent. Nearly every challenge our district faces is due to a lack of stable leadership and direction. As a board member, I will hire a leader who supports and listens to teachers and staff. Our district deserves someone who is invested in Asheville and plans to remain in the role for the long term. Finally, we must have a leader who understands that public schools serve all students.

insider’s

At the board level, we need to ensure that our principals and administration are taking care of their teams to keep the quality people we employ. Then, we need to strengthen our relationships with the city and county to ensure our community is attractive and affordable for newly licensed teachers and other professionals who could work in our schools. We need to listen to our teachers and staff and hear what they have to say about this as well.

As supervisor of the superintendent, the board should hold the superintendent accountable for (1) retaining educators by listening to them and giving them the resources they need; and (2) expanding our recruitment efforts, especially of educators of color. As a public advocate, the board must lobby state leaders for higher salaries and fewer mandates and work with local leaders on affordable housing to enable educators to live and thrive here. We will attract and retain educators when we treat them well.

To address this issue, we must use a twofold approach: local innovation and state-level advocacy. Locally, we can leverage public and private resources to maximize compensation and enhance all staffs’ experiences. Partners like United Way’s United 4 Youth Network are already here and ready to support schools. At the state level, public schools have not been fully funded for too long. It’s time we demand that our state stop holding the shameful distinction of lowestpaid teachers in the region.

I tend to think of security in terms of safety and belonging. Do all diverse students feel welcome in their schools? Do they have an adult they trust in their building? Are they safe to share when they are struggling? Any programs that promote this kind of relationship building and grow the capacity of educators and students to build their socialemotional skills serve these purposes. I support restorative justice and practices, resilience and trauma-informed programs and equity training for teachers.

ACS has made strides in campus safety, but there is more to do. Sheriff Quentin Miller has a video surveillance tool that enables him and his staff to see all public spaces in and around every county school. This surveillance reduces unnecessary and scary lockdowns, and police can quickly and precisely locate any threat. We need this tool. We should also explore sensors that detect firearms as soon as they are carried through an exterior door and automatically lock interior doors.

Experts agree that building a positive, healthy and supportive school culture is key to preventing violence in schools and making students feel secure. When teachers have time, energy and support to foster authentic relationships, students feel safe and seen. This is the environment and culture that prevents unsafe behaviors and violence in our schools. Supporting teachers is key to students’ sense of security, and I will advocate for teachers to receive all that they need.

A thriving school district means thriving students and families, which also means thriving teachers and strong partnerships with community organizations to make sure our families and community have the resources they needs to support everyone. A thriving district means students feeling they are an important part of our community. It means teachers are fulfilled and feel like they are truly making a difference. It means parents are happy and thankful for sending their kids to school in an amazing district.

A thriving school district is one built on mutual trust: between district leadership and educators, between students and educators, and between parents and schools. Students’ needs are centered, and every educator understands that their role is to discern how best each student learns. District leaders understand that their role is to support teachers, instructional assistants and school-based staff to teach every single student.

We have had inconsistent and sometimes poor leadership, but ACS is strong and poised to thrive

again.

A thriving school district is a stable school district with a strong leader. The next superintendent will receive steady support and be held accountable when I am elected. Ironically, our history of leadership instability is our biggest obstacle. Our new superintendent will have to face up to the struggling reputation our district now has. I am ready to serve on the board that will select and retain a solid superintendent and tend to a culture that ensures our students thrive.

WARREN DID NOT PROVIDE RESPONSES IN ADVANCE OF THE XPRESS DEADLINE.

Asheville

THE QUESTIONS

Among the board’s most important responsibilities will be hiring a new permanent superintendent. What qualities will you seek in candidates for this hire?

Website: ThornburgFor SchoolBoard.com

Occupation: Attorney, McGuire Wood & Bissette

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: Al Whitesides, Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Elinor Earle, Gordon Grant, Drew Reisinger

Amount of money raised: $1,865.97

Top three donors: David Cartner, Esther Manheimer, Amy Kelso

1) Commitment to a model where central office exists to support and nurture students, teachers, staff and parents in mind, body and spirit. The job of superintendent is a service role. 2) Ability to build trust with teachers, staff, parents, county budget officials and the broader community, accomplished in part by being present and visible in each of our schools frequently. 3) Willingness to engage in transparent decision-making. 4) Consistency, stability, professionalism and collegiality.

Website: N/A

Occupation: Retired

Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A

Key endorsements: Keith Young, former Asheville City Council member

Amount of money raised: Under threshold.

Top three donors: N/A

Experience in strong community engagement with diverse communities, specifically BIPOC and LGBTQIA. Also strong budgetary skills and a strong awareness and understanding of how to eliminate the achievement gap between black and white students

What steps should the board take to address the system’s staffing issues, both in teaching and support roles?

Teachers are the most important school-based factor impacting student outcomes. We must: 1) Prioritize teacher recruitment and retention, particularly teachers reflecting the diversity of their classrooms. 2) Prioritize compensation from local funds. 3) Advocate on the state level to increase compensation. 4) Look creatively at affordable housing options such as district-owned housing or low-interest mortgages. Support staff are also vital to school operations, and we must offer a fair wage and a positive work environment built on trust and collegiality.

It’s all about the budget and communication. Appreciation for staff starts in the pocketbook. Pay them well and then look at other incentives to keep them. We need stability.

What resources or programs should schools employ to help students feel more secure in the classroom?

1) Participation in Sheriff Quentin Miller’s RealTime Intelligence Center, with cameras installed at school campuses as is done in Buncombe County Schools. 2) Whole-school, whole-child framework, such as the N.C. Center for Resilience & Learning, where kids feel physically and emotionally safe so they can focus on learning. 3) Programs such as Ms. Earle’s summer jump-start program in Hillcrest, as well as ACS’ preschool program to help new kindergarten students feel secure academically in the classroom.

Make sure your school’s anti-bullying, harassment and nondiscrimination policies are current, reflect district and state guidelines, and include clear definitions and consequences. Reflect on the current and historical influences that shape your school’s culture. Consider the following: school mission and policies; how students interact; the racial and gender dynamics among students; how parents and families are involved and engaged; how celebrations are approached; the curriculum and instruction materials, etc. From there, develop meaningful action plans that maximize existing strengths.

What does a thriving school district mean to you, and what do you see as the district’s biggest current obstacle to achieving that vision?

1) All students able to work toward and complete their individual academic and vocational aspirations. 2) Smaller class sizes where all students feel seen and heard, with a focus on growth and development rather than only achievement. 3) A community school model (such as our local engagement strategy through the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County) where all students learn and thrive in a healthy, connected community.

The biggest obstacle to a thriving school district at this point is stability. Superintendents, central office, and teachers. Our budget woes are also a factor. Lastly, the gap between black and white students is still very persistent.

Buncombe County Board of Education

The three races to represent the Enka, Erwin and Reynolds districts on the Buncombe County Board of Education will all be listed as nonpartisan on the ballot. But that hasn’t stopped party politics from shaping campaigns for the school board.

Buncombe’s Democratic Party has endorsed incumbent Judy Lewis, Kim Plemmons and Rob Elliot for the Enka, Erwin and Reynolds seats, respectively; all three are party members. Similarly, the county GOP backs Kim Poteat, Greg Parks and Sara Disher Ratliff, the respective Republican hopefuls.

As the contests have worn on, the rhetoric surrounding them has escalated. In a since-deleted Oct. 10 Facebook post, Parks shared a photo of Plemmons surrounded by the mostly Democratic candidates who had been endorsed by the Buncombe County Association of Educators, including Elliot. Parks claimed those candidates hate police, support “LGBTQ agendas in our schools” and back “[critical race theory] and other curriculums that teach and promote hate.”

All residents served by Buncombe County Schools will vote for all three district races, regardless of where they live; those served by Asheville City Schools will not cast ballots in those races. Given the complicated boundaries of local school districts, voters should check their sample ballot at avl.mx/6nq before heading to the polls.

— Daniel Walton X

THE QUESTIONS

What role do you believe parents should play in directing the day-to-day operations of the school district?

What steps should the board take to address the system’s staffing issues, both in teaching and support roles?

Website: PoteatMK5.Wixsite.com/ My-Site

Occupation: Did not respond.

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: Did not respond.

Amount of money raised: Did not respond.

Top three donors: Did not respond.

Website: Parks4BCS2022.com

Occupation: Quality manager

Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A

Key endorsements: N/A

Amount of money raised: Per G.S. 163-278.10A, my campaign will not expend more than $1,000.

Top three donors: N/A, self-funded.

What resources or programs should schools employ to help students feel more secure in the classroom?

Parents should know exactly what their children are being taught. When parents have questions, they should be able to get clear answers, with yes-or-no questions answered with yes or no.

Parents should be able to see all materials being taught to their children instead of summaries. Parents should also know the safety protocols in place for the protection of their children.

I view the parents and residents of Buncombe County as shareholders in our school system. Their involvement and participation can only strengthen Buncombe County Schools.

What does a thriving school district mean to you, and what do you see as the district’s biggest current obstacle to achieving that vision?

Our board should research to find the reason for staffing issues, then find solutions to address those issues so that our county can get back to teaching our children with full staff, teachers and support roles. We should also do all we can to make sure we are paying a living wage to all staff, teachers and support roles while supporting them in other ways as needed.

There are programs using retired veterans and police officers to help secure our children in their schools and classrooms we should look into. We also should be holding students accountable in the way they treat teachers and other students. Neither students nor teachers should have to deal with bullying. All students and teachers should be treated with respect, and when respect is not given, consequences should be received.

A thriving school district means children are focused on the basics of education: reading, writing, math and true history, leaving moral issues at home. It is a school district where parents are not only heard but listened to and included in solutions when they are experiencing issues. I see the biggest current obstacle as being the lack of voice parents have. Parents I have spoken with believe they are not being heard; this is very apparent at school board meetings.

In today’s environment, every industry is having difficulties in retaining and recruiting staff. However, some are doing great at it, for example, Chick-fil-a. Why is that? They create a culture where associates are respected and rewarded for success while focusing on their customers. The board should explore new practices outside of the educational system to learn and grow. BCS’ mission is “Preparing Students for Their Tomorrow.” To achieve this, we as a board should be looking at tomorrow and evolving.

Safety must always be at the top of the priority list. I want to see the school system develop security that resembles our airports. We need to eliminate outside concerns, then focus on eliminating risk factors inside our buildings. This is another opportunity to work with other industries outside of the educational system. We should always welcome review from industry leaders.

A thriving school district would be one that is focused on safety, that is respectful, honest and completely transparent. Where the focus is on education. A system that leads by example and sets standards. The biggest obstacle to achieving that is social/political agendas that have no place in the educational system.

Website: Did not respond.

Occupation: Substitute for Buncombe County Schools; retired senior vice president, Wells Fargo

Previous candidacy or offices held: Did not respond.

Key endorsements: Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, Al Whitesides, Pat Bryant, K. Ray Bailey

Amount of money raised: Did not respond.

Top three donors: Did not respond.

and community. I would do that by being in the schools, as well as meeting with parents and community members to solicit feedback on how to improve parent and school relationships. We’ve had a difficult couple of years that have created a lot of frustration. I totally understand and want to help resolve the issue in a positive way.

We must develop a plan to retain teachers and support staff. Being a substitute teacher, I have observed how hard they work, and they definitely deserve better salaries. I would strongly advocate that local and state leaders support this for our educators. Regarding recruitment, I would work closely with the Buncombe County Schools Foundation, which has written a grant for funding to improve recruitment. I would also work with the board and county commissioners on our area’s affordable housing crisis.

I was very pleased to learn about our Sheriff’s Department intelligence system with access to the cameras in every school. I would recommend additional school resource officers, especially in our middle and high schools. We need additional officers for our elementary schools so they are not covering several schools. There are a couple of safety tools I have seen in some of the schools that I would like to have across the system.

A thriving district is when we ensure every student has the ability to be successful. Students should have a safe and great learning experience. Parents should be involved and feel welcome in their schools. Our teachers, administrators and staff should be fairly compensated and enjoy their career in education.

Website: ElliotForEducation.org

Occupation: Registered forester

Previous candidacy or offices held: None

Key endorsements: Buncombe County Association of Educators, Asheville City Association of Educators, AshevilleBuncombe Retired School Personnel

Amount of money raised: Did not respond.

Top three donors: Did not respond.

I will work to build respectful and constructive family and school partnerships. Parent and family involvement in their child’s education is critical for every child reaching their full potential. Our schools should continue to provide a variety of opportunities for parents to volunteer in the school, serve in advisory roles, give feedback, address concerns and work in a constructive manner with school administration to resolve any issues in a mutually respectful manner.

I will help provide a positive work environment for staff by actively advocating for their needs and providing resources needed to successfully perform their job. In addition, I would support the board in continuing to request budgetary support for county supplements to state teacher salaries to help ensure living wages and a fair pay scale. Lastly, I would support the board in advocating for more competitive teacher wages, benefits and incentives to our state elected officials.

I will work to expand resources for additional social workers, mental health support and school nurses at every school. I will also support our board in promoting social-emotional learning that helps create a bully-free school environment for every child. I support the current initiatives from the board and Sheriff’s Office to provide every school with a dedicated resource officer that can develop a relationship with the community and use new technology to help improve overall security.

A thriving school district is one where all parts of the school community work together collaboratively to provide our schools with the support needed to ensure that each and every child feels safe, cared for and fully supported in meeting their full potential. I believe that improving our family and community partnerships will lead to this vision of a thriving school district.

Website: SDRForACR.com

Occupation: Compliance officer

Previous candidacy or offices held: N/A

Key endorsements: Van Duncan, former Buncombe County sheriff

Amount of money raised: Did not respond

Top three donors: Did not respond

WORK

TOGETHER

All districts should strive to increase parental involvement across all grade levels. Statistics show that attendance, graduation rates and an overall more positive attitude toward learning are affected when parents are actively involved in their child’s education. All schools should increase opportunities for working parents to be involved by offering activities after school. Curriculum information must also be more readily accessible so parents can engage their children throughout the school year as it pertains to what they are learning.

Buncombe County has one of the highest costs of living in the entire state. Therefore, it is imperative to offer competitive wages to all teachers and support staff. In a world where you can find a job in fast food making over $40,000 annually, strides must be made to adequately compensate educators. It is also not solely about the money — teachers must be given the support staff and supplies they need!

Parents in the district send their kids to school daily and have the expectation that they will come home safe and unharmed. This is a reasonable expectation. It is up to the board and the sheriff to implement a plan to meet this expectation every single day. Buncombe County Schools must have a student resource officer, or at the very least a retired officer with SRO training, present at every BCS campus.

A thriving school district displays multiple characteristics. First, active, informed, engaged parents/guardians. Second, adequately prepared, funded and supported staff, from the principal all the way down to the custodians. Kids can sense when their teachers are overwhelmed and overworked. Third, a safe, secure learning environment. Finally, that learning environment needs to be flexible enough to accommodate all students. As for obstacles, the one common denominator is money. Having enough and ensuring that it is allocated/ used properly is key.

Polly Crutchfield, a fifth-grader at Isaac Dickson, won the inaugural ‘I Voted’ sticker contest organized by the Buncombe County Election Services. In an Asheville City Schools press release, Crutchfield explains the inspiration behind her work. “No matter who you are, you should have all the right you need. Everyone holding hands on the sticker represents that we can do anything when we work together.”

Photos courtesy of Asheville City Schools

LEWIS

Key ingredients

What is the quintessential WNC dish?

BY GINA SMITH

It was sometime during that slow, gray period right before Valentine’s Day 2020 — back when we all still imagined the coming year might be something less awful than the dev astating global dumpster fire it soon proved to be — that I first read about Knoxville, Tenn.’s steamed hoagies.

The introduction came via Chelsey Mae Johnson’s exquisite ode to Knoxville’s favorite sandwich, “They Still Like That Soft Bread,” in The Bitter Southerner . In the story, Johnson reminisces about her personal relationship with steamed hoagies, then digs into the food’s history and legacy through research and conversations with Knoxville locals. While reading her skillful, loving prose, my interest was piqued by the concept of simple, ubiquitous dishes that serve as the foundation of a region’s culinary vernacular.

I found myself wondering: Does Asheville have its own version of the steamed hoagie?

BOOZY MILKSHAKES AND HIPPIE SALADS

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s in Auburndale, Fla., a small town smack in the center of the state, dotted with lakes lurked by alliga tors and hemmed by swamps, cow pastures and orange groves. There were several dishes I loved as a child that I later realized were the funda mental elements of Central Florida’s unique food language. The list is a flavor map of the area’s culture: freshly squeezed orange juice, citrus swirl (vanilla ice cream swirled with frozen orange juice), fried alligator tail (best when eaten to live blue grass music at the beloved Allen’s Cafe in Auburndale), strawberry shortcake (ideally purchased and consumed at the annual Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City), Cuban sandwiches and Greek salads with potato salad on top.

During summers, my parents would often tote my younger sister and me in a camper or RV to Western North Carolina for a week or two of cooler-than-Florida temperatures and mountain views. And decades later, I eventually put down perma nent roots in Asheville after years

of gradually inching my way here. By 2020, I’d been writing profes sionally about Asheville’s food scene and farms for close to a decade. But despite a fairly long-term and intimate relationship with the area, after reading Johnson’s story, I still couldn’t put my finger on what Asheville’s answer to Knoxville’s steamed hoagie might be.

Then one day this summer, very unexpectedly but much to my excitement, an email from my editor at Mountain Xpress appeared in my inbox asking me to pursue this very topic. So, I started asking questions.

My first stop was Nan Chase Not only is she a food historian and author of the book Lost Restaurants of Asheville, but she’s also a former investigative journalist. I knew she

wouldn’t give up until she had some answers. Now a resident of the small town of Fries, Va., Chase knows more than most about Asheville’s history and the evolution of its food scene, but the question had her scratching her head at first, too.

“When I first started thinking about it, I couldn’t come up with anything,” Chase admits. Diving into Lost Restaurants to research possi bilities, she wandered a tasty trail of erstwhile Asheville delicacies, start ing with the advent of the popular boozy milkshakes at longtime West Asheville hangout Burgermeister’s, which operated from 1995 to 2013. After some thought, though, she decided “that was an Asheville clas sic, but it didn’t quite rise to the level of the steamed hoagies.”

From there, she considered the more general category of ice cream desserts, historically widespread in Asheville due to decades of available high-quality milk products from the imported Jersey cows at Biltmore Dairy Farms (which was sold to Pet Inc. in 1985). Chase also went in the opposite direction, looking at hearty salads popularized by Asheville’s original hippie restaurant, Stone Soup (open from 1977-94).

But she decided neither of those really qualified as iconic Asheville foods, either. “I realized that for Asheville, throughout its history, the one constant thing has been the churning of what’s new, what’s deli cious, what’s hip,” Chase explains.

“Then I took a step backward and asked: What was it all based on? And I ended up at Cherokee foods.”

BEANS AND GREENS

Known to the Cherokee as the three sisters, beans, corn and squash (as well as pumpkins) were not only a mainstay of local indig enous diets but eventually made

ginasmithnews@gmail.com

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Clarence Robinson, aka The Flavor King, contem plates (and relishes) the key ingredients that make up many of Western North Carolina’s quintessential dishes. Photo by Neil Jacobs

Classes & Workshops

HISTORY IN THE MAKING: The former Rabbit’s Motel is also the future site of Areta’s Soul Food, a café planned for the historic space at SoundSpace@ Rabbit’s music rehearsal studio. Photo courtesy of Buncombe County Spe cial Collections

their way onto the daily tables of Western North Carolina’s white settlers as they learned native foodways. Ultimately — along with greens, fish and foraged foods such as wild mushrooms, ramps and herbs — the three sisters developed into “the bedrock food of Asheville and Western North Carolina,” says Chase. “Those sorts of things form the backbone of Western North Carolina mountain cuisine. And they can be taken to great heights, but they are the very simple build ing blocks that existed before white settlers came in.”

Chase notes that these ingredi ents — particularly beans and corn in the form of cornmeal and corn bread — have been ubiquitous not only at family tables in WNC over the centuries but as menu staples at everything from the humblest down-home diners to the snootiest upscale establishments. And in the 2000s, with the whirlwind advance ment of the local restaurant scene, culinary innovators have enthusi astically and continuously riffed on those edible origins, creating a culi nary style that’s uniquely Asheville.

At this point, I realized it was time to speak with a chef, and preferably one with a connection to Asheville’s culinary past. So, I tracked down Clarence Robinson , aka The Flavor King, operator of Cooking with Comedy food truck and the future executive chef of Areta’s Soul Food, a café planned for the historic space at SoundSpace@Rabbit’s music rehearsal studio.

In addition to being a hilarious, mad kitchen genius, Robinson has deep Asheville roots and a family

link to a priceless piece of local food history. Many of his recipes come from the repertoire of his greataunt Areta Peterson , a revered home cook for whom Areta’s Soul Food is named. And his father was friends with the owner of Rabbit’s Café, the eatery at the Black-owned Rabbit’s Motel, which operated from the 1940s until the early 2000s in Asheville’s historically Black Southside neighborhood. Robinson recalls hanging around Rabbit’s as a child back in the 1980s watching through the screen door as the cook, Lou Ella Byrd , prepared dishes for customers.

When I got in touch with him about my quest, he, too, was initial ly puzzled by my question. But after pondering for a few moments, he landed in familiar territory. “You know, Asheville is so versatile, there’s not just one kind of cuisine around here; everything is always switching up, so it’s hard to real ly pinpoint one thing,” Robinson says. “But I’d say it’s that same old Southern cuisine they’ve been cooking around here — you know, greens and barbecue and all that.”

According to Chase’s Lost Restaurants of Asheville , Rabbit’s was known for its Southern soul food dishes, including slow-cooked collard greens, pinto beans, squash casserole, candied yams and pork chops that one diner in the 1990s declared were as “thick as Bibles.” Robinson’s Cooking with Comedy menu upholds the culinary legacy of Rabbit’s, offering plenty of clas sic Southern comfort dishes like fried chicken, oxtails, barbecued ribs, cabbage, green beans and

sweet potatoes. But the chef — like so many others in Asheville — also puts his own modern spin on those elemental flavors.

“With pinto beans and stuff like that, Asheville’s sticking to the script. And people still want that oxtail, too — I cook a lot of them. I think greens are a big thing, with a lot of people trying to go vegan,” he says. “I’m cooking greens a differ ent way myself. I’ve been doing col lard green quesadillas and collard greens and salmon wraps. I utilize collard greens a lot.”

Musing about greens and beans, I figured I should probably touch base with a farmer, so I headed out to the WNC Farmers Market on Brevard Road.

GREASIES AND TURKEY CRAWS

My day was just starting when I pulled into the WNC Farmers Market parking lot on a bright September morning. I’d just dropped my daughter off at school, and the sun was gradually making its way into the blue sky above the buildings and mountains. But farmer Carolyn Edmundson of Edmundson Produce Farm in Mills River had already been hard at work for many hours.

I found Edmundson perched on a forklift in her farm’s vendor stall surrounded by enormous mesh sacks of sweet corn hopping with tiny sparrows looking for an easy breakfast. She’d been on the job since 1 a.m. selling her fresh corn, beans, cucumbers and other items — every day, buyers from road side produce stands, small grocery stores and restaurants all over the Eastern U.S. and beyond travel to the WNC Farmers Market and start lining up as early as 2 a.m. to purchase produce. But she was still happy to chat with me.

Edmundson, who grew up in the small community of Zirconia in Henderson County, has been grow ing vegetables in Mills River with her husband, Randy , for 35 years. They started with just an acre of sweet corn and now grow 115 acres of non-GMO vegetables, including several varieties of squash, pick ling cucumbers, and their specialty — beans. Due to ever-increasing demand from restaurateurs and grocers, they currently devote a full 40 acres of their operation to beans, including the conventionally popular half-runners and string less Blue Lake, plus greasies and October beans, Louisiana purple pods, Roma beans and a few others. Next season, they plan to add even more varieties.

AT THE MARKET: Restaurants, says farmer Carolyn Edmundson, love to buy her greasy beans — a WNC native variety so named for its shiny green pods. But chefs also like other WNC homegrown varieties, too, including Louisiana purple pods, featured here. Photo courtesy of the WNC Farmers Market

An accomplished cook who, for many years, operated a suc cessful retail bakery for her farm, Edmundson also has a certified kitchen where she cans and pickles her farm’s produce to sell by the case. And during slow periods in her market stall, she shells, strings and breaks beans that she later takes home to can for her own family’s pantry.

She says she believes that beans, in both their homespun and more elevated modern restaurant itera tions, could be considered a quint essential WNC dish. “We ate a lot of greasies when I was growing up,” she remembers, specifying that it was a shorter variety than the ones she currently grows. “We grow the long greasies, which are easier for picking.”

Restaurants, she says, love to buy her greasy beans — a WNC native variety so named for its shiny green pods. But chefs also like other WNC homegrown varieties, too. As an example, Edmundson shows me a basket of October beans, named for the time of year they are usually harvested in WNC. They are unex pectedly beautiful, the pods a del icate, pearly white-green stippled with streaks of magenta and ruby pink. The beans inside the pods are white with pink markings and very fat compared with other types of beans I’m familiar with.

“Now, we shell those out,” Edmundson explains. “They’re pink and white in the shell, and when you cook them, they turn brown. They’re delicious.” When cooked, she adds, the beans expand to an even larger size, making for

very hearty eating. “If you can them, you only put the jar half full then fill it the rest of the way with water, because they swell up and fill the jar.”

She then leads me to some long green pods and shelled speckled brown beans drying in a cardboard box, a native WNC variety named turkey craw. “Turkey craw’s the one that everybody’s asking for next year,” says Edmundson. “It’s an heirloom, and the tale of where it came from is that somebody’s great-granddaddy killed a turkey, and when he was cleaning it, it had these beans in its craw.”

Although these local beans are an essential WNC food and demand has skyrocketed for them with the growth of Asheville’s restaurant scene, Edmundson points out that there are other vegetables, like squash, that should be considered part of the answer to my steamed hoagie question. “Sweet corn, beans and pickling cucumbers are our No. 1 hits,” she says.

As Chase noted, some of those hits — the beans, corn and squash — have been underpinning the food culture of the WNC moun tains since the land was steward ed by its original inhabitants, the Cherokee. Others, like cucumbers, edged in with white immigrants and eventually made themselves right at home. Mix all those ingre dients with Asheville’s inclination toward constant experimentation and change, and I guess I’ve uncov ered an answer to my steamed hoa gie question, albeit one that’s as quirky, colorful and history-steeped as the city itself. X

Under cover

BY BILL KOPP

As the Halloween season approach es, Asheville’s music calendar is robust with holiday-related events. But four shows are especially notable in their shared passion for repurposing music — often decades old — with a mod ern-day twist.

LET’S DO THE TIME WARP (YET) AGAIN

The Rocky Horror Picture Show was a box office failure on its 1975 release, but a groundswell of fanatic movie goers eventually helped the film take its rightful place as a pop culture clas sic. The campy musical turned horror movie tropes on their head, introducing themes like androgyny into mainstream culture. And audiences’ participatory reaction to the film kick-started the cosplay concept.

As Rocky Horror heads toward its 50th anniversary, the musical shows no signs of losing its appeal. And Asheville is the perfect locale to stage anoth er revival of the musical. The Rocky Horror Music Show takes place Friday, Oct. 21, at 9 p.m., at The Grey Eagle.

Drummer Courtney Cahill is spear heading the project, but he doesn’t con sider the Asheville-based Rocky Horror a revival at all. “It’s a very unique staging of the material,” he asserts. “There are hundreds of ‘shadow casts’ that engage with the movie on screen, and theater companies that put on the musical, but we present it as a total rock show.”

The local production began in 2021 with a pair of shows, and in August the cast reconvened to prepare for a run of performances this fall. Even though this Rocky Horror is a stage production, Cahill’s cast bases its music and dia logue on the 1975 film, not the original 1973 musical.

“We’re going for [the film soundtrack’s] sound,” Cahill says, “and we’re certainly trying to channel the actors from the film.” He adds that the show includes “just enough intersti tial narration to stitch it together for the newbies.”

The film starred a number of high-profile actors, including Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon. But the most memorable roles featured Meat Loaf (as short-lived delivery boy Eddie) and Tim Curry in the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The Asheville cast fea tures saxophonist Myles Dunder and

Familiar tunes performed in costumes ring in the Halloween season

TUNE OR TREAT: Covers will be played, costumes will be worn, and audiences will delight at several local venues this Halloween season. Pictured, clockwise from top left, are members of the Rocky Horror Music Show; Cam Girl; LazrLuvr; and Mac Sabbath. All photos courtesy of bands, except for Cam Girl by Sofia Campins and Mac Sabbath by Paul Koudounaris

drummer Troy Crossley, respectively, in those roles.

Dunder says he has taken part in shadow casts of Rocky Horror ever since his high school days. “Rocky Horror taught me that there is nothing more beautiful than a theater full of weird people excited about the same silly thing,” he says.

The band/cast members are drawn from among Asheville’s deep-bench musical community. “We’re a group of friends who have known each other for many years in different bands,” Cahill says. “But when we first got into our underwear and corsets, we saw each other in a much different light.”

Cahill remarks upon the ways in which the show resonates with Asheville audiences. “Even though the movie is not playing, the audience is still engaging with us [as if it is].” And he notes with pride that that interactiv ity continues even after the final curtain

falls. “After the show, people always come up and tell us what Rocky Horror did for them in their journey seeking a unique identity.”

The Grey Eagle is at 185 Clingman Ave. Tickets are $17-$20. For more infor mation, visit avl.mx/c24.

COVERS FOR BOOKS

An Asheville tradition for more than 20 years, the Halloween Cover Show brings together local music artists and music lovers for a night of community and familiar tunes. And it’s done in sup port of an underserved, marginalized part of society: incarcerated people.

This year’s event will be held Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.; the secret location will be revealed via Instagram (@avl. halloween.cover.show) a few days prior. Tickets are $20.

All funds raised from this year’s annual Halloween Cover Show will

go to support the work of two locally based advocacy groups, Tranzmission Prison Project and Asheville Prison Books. Both organizations launched in the early 2000s, aiming to provide free books to incarcerated people. APB serves the Carolinas, and TPP mails books and literature to incarcerated LGBTQ+ people nationwide, explains Riley Carter, a volunteer with TPP since 2015.

About 30 volunteers are involved locally, and Carter emphasizes that while both organizations are “connect ed to a wider network of prison books programs,” those links are informal. Neither organization is a registered 501(c)3. “As a bunch of anarchists, we aren’t the most concerned with the money or status of the project,” Carter

says. “We just want to send out books to prisoners until every cage is emptied.”

Carter believes that the work of TPP and APB is a radical act “because it resists the alienation and isolation per petuated by prisons.” And he believes that the prison system is hostile to his group’s mission. “This is not easy work,” he says. “But with every pack age we send to our community behind bars, we’re succeeding in our goals.”

The two organizations have sent many thousands of packages to incar cerated people, Carter says. And many prisoners send letters of thanks in return. “Those thank-you letters are some of my most prized possessions,” he says. “They let me know that we are succeeding and that we have to keep going.”

The Halloween Cover Show is a way to support the efforts of these organi zations while having fun. Carter says that he has been attending every year since 2013. “And I had the pleasure and honor of organizing the show in 2011,” he says. “We raised upwards of $6,000.”

At press time, Carter was keeping the lineup for this year’s show under wraps. “We try to get a good mix on the bill; nothing too obscure,” he says. But he did provide some hints. “You can expect to [hear bands performing covers of] Korn, Judas Priest, Britney Spears and The Specials,” he says. In other cities, Carter continues, similar events focus on punk. But the Asheville tradition “ends up landing in a swirl of irony and sincerity.”

Sponsored by Pansy Collective, this year’s event promises to be unique and eclectic. “You can expect food, a raffle, community safety volunteers, a photo booth by DIYabled, a costume contest and DJs,” Carter promises, calling the event “a completely DIY immersive Halloween experience.”

SET LASERS TO ‘FUN’

In recent years, tribute bands have become a growing sector on the live

music landscape. Some focus specifi cally on the music and visuals of one act, while others seek to re-create the vibe of a particular time. It’s the latter approach that forms the foundational concept of Asheville-based LazrLuvr, a seven-piece group featuring wellknown local and regional musicians.

The band will be the featured enter tainment at the Lore and Legends Masquerade Ball on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m., at Continuum Art Gallery in Hendersonville.

Vocalist Raphael Morales developed the LazrLuvr concept with drummer Sam Frame. “From inception, the idea was to make a massive supergroup that brought people from the community together in the wake of the isolation and separation we all felt during COVID,” Morales explains. “We wanted to create a unique ensemble piece that brought something to the table for everyone, performing iconic songs that people couldn’t find in a live setting anywhere else in our region.”

LazrLuvr combines visuals inspired by modern-day synthwave artists and applies it to a nostalgia-filled set list that surveys the ’80s pop landscape.

The five core musicians — Morales and Frame plus guitarist Eric Congdon, keyboardist Brad Curtioff and bassist Walker Astin — had never been in a room together before starting the group, Morales says. But once they ran through four representative songs by classic artists of the era — Alan Parsons Project, Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Loverboy — Morales says that “every light bulb we had turned on.” The suc cess of ’80s throwback series “Stranger Things” influenced the group’s setlist as well.

The original concept focused on fash ion. “Initially, it was going to be more Lycra than band,” Morales admits with a laugh. “But once we realized the scope of talent, we knew it would be so much more than that.” Morales says that LazrLuvr strives to avoid being genre-specific. “I wanted to be more

decade-oriented,” he explains. That meant adding two vocalists, Fancy Marie and Hope Griffin. “Now we’re beyond fortunate to have a power house vocal block,” he says. At present, Morales says that the group’s repertoire features “about six hours of music.”

Morales notes that a key to LazLuvr’s appeal is the “collaborative selfless ness” of the group members, most of whom have worked fronting other bands. “LazrLuvr is a wild ride without a lot of room for ego,” he says. “We all share that space equally.” And visu als — props and costumes — remain central to the LazrLuvr aesthetic, as Morales and fellow members pour hours into their onstage get-up.

LazrLuvr is already booking well into next year, and Morales says that the group’s collective goal is to “stay fresh, adapt to demand and bring as much joy to the world as possible.” The costume-mandatory Masquerade Ball is technically sold out, but Morales emphasizes that 35 tickets have been held back for sale at the door. The event includes a Victorian-style din ner, bar and desserts. “And our set is going to be absolutely ridiculous,” Morales promises.

Continuum Art Gallery is at 147C First Ave. E., Hendersonville. For more information, visit avl.mx/c25.

YOU DESERVE A MAC TODAY

The music of prime-era Black Sabbath has served as inspiration for countless bands, applying the drop-tuned, doom-laden style of the Birmingham, England, foursome to their own creative ends. But perhaps the most unusual band to follow in Black Sabbath’s wake is Los Angeles quartet Mac Sabbath. The group plays The Grey Eagle on Halloween, Monday, Oct. 31, at 9 p.m.

The group’s sound will be familiar to many listeners: The melodies closely follow the music of Sabbath’s 1970s albums. And the group members will

be eerily recognizable as well, but per haps not in the way one might expect.

Lead singer Ronald Osbourne is cov ered in clown makeup with a shaggy red wig and dressed in a baggy red, white and yellow suit.

The rest of the band looks suspicious ly like fast-food mascots gone wrong as well: guitarist Slayer MacCheeze sports a giant head that looks like a mass-produced cheeseburger (with horns borrowed from Spinal Tap’s stage setup). Drummer Catburglar is a cartoonish cross between Kiss drummer Peter Criss and a masked thief. Bassist Grimalice ... well, you get the idea.

The band doesn’t grant interviews, and band manager Mike Odd explains why, using a not-so-subtle Black Sabbath reference: “Ronald is ... para noid,” he says. Instead, he speaks on the group’s behalf and recalls how he first got involved with the freaky foursome.

“I got this call, and the guy says, ‘You’ve got to come down to this burg er franchise in Chatsworth, Calif.; it’s going to change your life.’” Odd’s reply: “Yeah, I’ll bite.”

There he encountered a costumed quartet playing Black Sabbath tunes, but their lyrics sought to launch a “dinner rock revolution,” extolling the evils of fast food, processed ingredients, multinational corporations, genetical ly modified organisms and the like. Odd was immediately won over and began booking the group at venues in Southern California.

Inevitably — even in a cultural land scape overrun with high-concept ideas — Mac Sabbath got noticed. “I put a thing on YouTube, and it instantly went crazy,” Odd recalls. With a mischievous smile, he notes that “Fox News was the first major outlet that picked up Mac Sabbath; they said all these awful things about them!”

It didn’t hurt, either, when Black Sabbath’s official social media posted a link to the video. In short order, Mac Sabbath was invited to perform in England at the 2015 Download Festival, sharing a bill with Kiss, Mötley Crüe and Slipknot. They even played a private party given in honor of Ozzy Osbourne.

Yet, Mac Sabbath simply cannot operate according to traditional rules of rock ’n’ roll. Ronald’s paranoia seeps through in his between-song banter, as he rants about other bands he imagines are stealing his ideas. Odd ticks off a

list: “Cinnabon Jovi, Weezer Schnitzel, Burger King Diamond, KFC/DC ... even Van HaLensCrafters. And they’re not even food! How dare they!”

Tickets are $23. For more information, visit avl.mx/c26.

Swan song

BY EDWIN ARNAUDIN

If the promises of political candi dates are to be believed, Asheville’s arts community will be in good hands regardless of who’s elected mayor and to City Council. Or at least that will be the case for those individuals who participated in the Asheville Area Arts Council’s third and final Arts AVL Town Hall events Oct. 12 at the Diana Wortham Theatre.

Vying for three City Council seats, challengers Allison Scott , Andrew Fletcher , Maggie Ullman Berthiaume and Nina Tovish par ticipated in the event, along with mayor Esther Manheimer and mayoral challenger (and current council person) Kim Roney . City Council incumbents Antanette Mosley and Sheneika Smith did not partake. AAAC Arts Coalition chairs Jessica Tomasin and Reggie Tidwell served as moderators.

Similar to the previous two Arts AVL Town Halls held during the 2022 election cycle, this round of candidates was asked about issues facing the creative sector. But unlike past events, three of the participants in the final gathering were also professional artists — Fletcher, Roney and Tovish.

Also a first in the series was the planned departure of Manheimer, who provided written responses to subsequent questions follow ing her exit. (Manheimer had to leave the event to moderate U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley ’s nearby town hall event.) Tomasin and Tidwell alternated reading the mayor’s pre-written responses. In them, Manheimer touted past and ongoing city accomplishments for the arts, including the Art in the Heart series of public instal lations and performances in Pack Square Plaza.

Professional pianist Fletcher, multidisciplined artist Tovish and music educator Roney provided personal anecdotes from the front lines of being a working artist in Asheville. Scott — attempting to be North Carolina’s first openly trans gender elected official — touted her support of queer creatives and peo ple of color through her work at the Campaign for Southern Equality. Meanwhile, Berthiaume highlight ed her past role as Asheville’s first

sustainability officer as well as her ability to work quickly for artists, if elected.

All participants advocated for the passage of both county bond referendums on the Nov. 8 bal lot. They also all spoke in favor of increased funding for the arts, prioritizing programs to create affordable housing specifically for artists and establishing a full-time city position for the management of public art.

In addition, the candidates stressed that continued financial support for nonprofits to host out door events is essential in main taining a thriving public square, particularly when it comes to assisting minority-led organiza tions with little to no event orga nizing experience.

“On City Council, we need peo ple who get the big picture and look at it from different lenses, whether it be equity or whether it be just an impact on the commu nity,” Scott said. “And sometimes just realizing that we need to help some groups more than others.”

The candidates found further common ground on addressing the city’s changing landscape.

“The housing problem in Asheville needs to be addressed through a portfolio of solutions,” Tovish said. “It is our responsibil ity as a community to mitigate the harm that is being done.”

To that point, Fletcher spoke out against short-term rentals, saying

that he knows far more friends who’ve been forced out of homes due to Airbnbs than because of hotels. These and others whom he called his “logical voters” now live outside city limits and there fore are unable to select him on their ballots.

“These are the people that we call ‘traffic’ now — they used to be ‘neighbors,’” he said.

The controversial proposed Duke Energy substation on Lexington Avenue in conjunction with an expansion of the out-of-date Thomas Wolfe Auditorium was also discussed, with Berthiaume reflecting on her battles with the utilities provider at the state level through her participation in a coa lition composed of residents from 15 North Carolina cities.

“[Duke Energy employees] might not be rocket scientists, but they’re nuclear scientists, for crying out loud,” she said. “They can come up with some engineered solutions to meet what we’re looking for.”

Meanwhile, Roney tied the alarm ing speed and lack of transparency with which the current Duke plan was developed to her overarching commitment to open meetings.

“Which comes first, the planning or the engagement? It has been the planning, and then we’ll sell the public on it,” she said. “I need you to keep bringing your voices to the table so we can come up with solutions together. Because no group of seven people is going to be able to fix the mess that we’re in without us all coming to the table and helping.”

While the Arts AVL Town Hall series has concluded, the larger Creative Sector series that it’s under continues Wednesday, Nov. 2, with the State of the Arts Brunch at The Orange Peel. And in February, newly appointed state, county and city officials will par ticipate in a meet-and-greet with the local arts community. To learn more, visit avl.mx/but. X

Why

support

CITY FOLK: From left, Asheville City Council candidates Allison Scott, Andrew Fletcher, Maggie Ullman Berthiaume and Nina Tovish, and mayoral candidates Kim Roney and Esther Manheimer participate in the third and final Arts AVL Town Hall. Photo by Edwin Arnaudin

What’s new in food

Diwali, a festival of lights, is among one of India’s largest holi days, celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. But as local Indian chefs and restaurant owners will tell you, the gathering transcends religious lines and is recognized by people of all faiths around the world.

On Monday, Oct. 24, a number of Asheville’s most prominent Indian restaurants will honor the holi day with authentic Indian cuisine, themed drink specials and fun fes tivities honoring the revered day.

Chai Pani will deck out its restau rant with decorative lights, lamps and flowers, and bring back a number of old favorites that aren’t always on the menu. Guests will also receive gift bags filled with homemade sweet treats at the end of each meal.

“Diwali is like combining Christmas, New Year’s Day and the Fourth of July all in one,” says Molly Irani, co-founder and hos pitality director of the Chai Pani Restaurant Group. “It’s one of the holidays that unites many religions in India, so regardless of one’s cul ture or background, Diwali is a time to celebrate, share and to love.”

Al Singh, owner of both Mehfil and Dilbar, is planning “something special” at both restaurants for all to enjoy, regardless of background or religious affiliation. Each guest will be given a complimentary welcome drink upon arrival. Next, diners will be able to select from a list of buy-one-get-one appetizers. A free dessert will also be offered at the end of each meal.

“This is a day when all commu nities come together and celebrate as one,” says Singh. “We want to celebrate this event with our fellow residents, customers and visitors in our beloved town of Asheville.”

Visit your favorite local Indian restaurant’s websites and social media feeds for additional informa tion on this year’s Diwali celebrations.

BBQ & Barn Dancing

Music, dance and food collide at Hickory Nut Gap’s latest Barn Dance on Saturday, Oct. 22, 6-9 p.m. Greenville’s West End String Band scores the evening with a varied selection of bluegrass, Americana and honky-tonk-inspired tunes.

Buxton Hall BBQ will be serving Brunswick stew, pulled pork sand wiches and a variety of sides for the evening’s groovers and shakers.

“The thing about the barn dance that connects with Buxton the most is that this is a community-focused event with a well-respected farm,” says the restaurant’s general man ager, Brandon Grogan. “I bet if you asked most people what kind of food would be served at an event like this, they’d probably say barbecue — so it just makes sense.”

Hickory Nut Gap Farm is at 57 Sugar Hollow Road, Fairview. Kids 4 years old and younger get in free; admission for those 5 years and older costs $8 each. A family pack of four tickets is available for $28. Visit avl.mx/c29 for addition al information.

BRIGHT LIGHTS: Mehfil, Dilbar and Chai Pani are among the local Indian restau rants with plans to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. Photo from iStock

Chili dog chow down

What lengths are you willing to go to in order to prove your fandom for the almighty frankfurter? If you’re feeling lucky, you can prove just how coney crazy you are by com peting in Dalton Distillery’s chili hot dog eating contest on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 1 p.m.

The name of the game is to eat as many chili dogs and their buns (with water as your only beverage) within three minutes. The winner will be based solely on the number of dogs chowed down within the allotted time. A $200 prize is up for grabs to the first-place winner, and second place will receive a Dalton’s Distillery mug as well as two tour and tasting vouchers.

Owner Adam Dalton will supply the dogs as well as a variety of drink specials, such as $8 hot buttered rum, $7 bloody marys and two for $5

chocolate coffee rum pudding shots available throughout the event.

Franny’s Farmacy, the distillery’s next-door neighbor, will be passing out free samples of its hemp prod ucts and coupons.

“Adam Dalton’s wife, Katherine, makes a delicious chili that we want to share with the community,” says distillery manager Emily Spear .

“We wanted to do something a bit different and add chili to the hot dog competition. Much like our spirits, we like to take something traditional and put our own twist on it.”

Dalton Distillery is at 251 Biltmore Ave. There is a $10 entry fee to com pete. Contact daltondistillery@gmail. com to register for the competition.

Char-spook-erie

The cheese stylists of Asheville Charcuterie Co. and the craft beer connoisseurs of Catawba Brewing Co. on South Slope join forces on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 6:30 p.m. for a special Halloween-themed char cuterie-making workshop.

Participants will be guided on how to cut artisan cheeses into spooky shapes and learn how to perfectly fold salami to create a salami rose. Participants can also customize their boards with a number of Halloweenthemed add-ons. The boards will be created to pair with the Catawba’s new King Don’s Pumpkin Ale.

“At our Spooky Halloween Workshop, guests are encouraged to dress in their favorite costumes and come out for some cheesy fun,” says Asheville Charcuterie Co. owner Lindsey DiMartino. “We plan on

everyone leaving with a little more knowledge and a little more happi ness than they came with.”

Catawba Brewing Co. is at 32 Banks Ave. The event is $85 per person. Visit avl.mx/c28 for tickets and additional information.

Foods and tunes

Southern chef and Asheville native Annie Pettry, in collabora tion with Citizen Vinyl and DJ Isaac G, hosts her variation on the recur ring Turntable Supper series on Monday, Oct. 24, 5:30-8 p.m.

Pettry is a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast, a two-time Food & Wine People’s Best New Chef nominee and a previous contestant on “Top Chef,” seasons 14 and 16.

The evening’s four dishes, notes Pettry, “will showcase the versatility of different ingredients by using all parts to capture the full essence of flavor. Similarly, the musical [hiphop] pairing will explore this con cept with the versatility of sound, by showing how the sounds or the ingredients of a song have been sam pled and used to create new songs.”

A portion of the Turntable Supper’s proceeds will benefit the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.

Citizen Vinyl is at 14 O. Henry Ave. Tickets cost $120 per person with an optional $20 wine pairing add-on. Visit avl.mx/c2a for tickets and information.

Burmese Bites & Bonfire

Chef Yunanda Wilson’s roaming Burmese pop-up series, aThoke Lay, makes its next stop at Smoky Park Supper Club on Friday, Oct. 21, 4:30-7:30 p.m., for Burmese Bites & Bonfire.

The aThoke Lay concept, translat ing to “little salad,” allows Wilson to keep things fresh and varied with a rotating menu offering playful twists on traditional Burmese flavors. The latest menu, which is completely gluten- and soy-free, will feature aloo kyaw (herb potato chips topped with red chilies and roasted pea nuts), mohinga (catfish soup with lemongrass, rice noodles, egg and split pea crackers) and mont lone yay baw (boiled rice balls accompa nies by candied pistachio nuts and coconut flakes).

Spirits and other beverages will also be available for purchase. A cup of complimentary Burmese hot milk

tea will be awarded to the guest who brings the funniest or most unique mug to the event.

Smoky Park Supper Club is at 350 Riverside Drive #3141. Tickets are $60. Visit avl.mx/c2b for tickets and information.

Festive fall cheeses

Looking to add a little fall flavor to your next cheese board or picnic on the parkway? Darë Vegan Cheese recently rolled out a trio of new seasonal products to help you do just that by weaving in the tastes of autumn through collaboration with fellow local businesses.

Available as a cheese wedge, the new Asheville Chedda’ flavor is concocted from a base of cashews, coconut milk and handmade chick pea miso before receiving a gener ous dose of Green Man Brewery’s flagship ESB special amber ale. Veggie cream cheese starts from the same base that is mixed with red and green bell peppers, carrots, onion and celery then combined with “magic garlic dust” from Well Seasoned Table.

Have a sweet tooth too? The new Mocha Cookie Crunch plant-based cheesecake is infused with espres so beans from Dynamite Roasting Co. to provide a rich, yet balanced dessert spread with a minimal caf feine kick.

Darë Vegan Cheese is at 12 Locust Cove Road, Weaverville. Visit avl.mx/c27 for additional information.

Mayfel’s under new management

Mayfel’s, the downtown restau rant serving Louisiana-inspired Southern cuisine since 2003, is now operating under new ownership for the first time since its founding.

Sherrye and Anthony Coggiola, who also own The Cantina at Historic Biltmore Village, purchased the restaurant from original owner Loretta Woolley in early October. Despite the changing of hands, the new Mayfel’s regime promises to keep things more or less the same.

“This place has some great his tory, so we’re not trying to change much,” says General Manager Scott Kitchen . “We’ll be keeping most of the same menu with a couple of tweaks here and there.”

Mayfel’s is at 22 College St. Visit avl.mx/c2d for hours of operation and menu options.

Around Town

Michele Scheve started thinking about putting on a mock beauty pageant back in August while pro ducing a stand-up comedy show featuring a former pageant queen at The Orange Peel. So, when the same venue offered her a slot in October to host another event, she was ready.

“I already had a fully conceived notion to have Halloween characters and others compete in a spoof beau ty pageant,” says Scheve, who owns and operates Slice of Life Comedy. “This is just a dream to actually be doing it.”

The inaugural Asheville Comedy Halloween Beauty Pageant takes place Saturday, Oct. 22, at 8 p.m. The event will feature seven costumed comics competing in such catego ries as beauty, talent, swimsuit and stand-up comedy.

On the bill will be Clay Jones as Mason Vorhees, Jason’s over looked cousin; James Harrod as Cullen from Twilight; Bri Padgett as Cruella de Vil; Larry Griffin as Michael Myers; Corey McClain as The Bachelorette Banshee of Biltmore Avenue; Hilliary Begley as Agatha Trunchbull from Matilda; and Christian Lee Villanueva as a vampire.

Cameron Davis will host the event; Morgan Bost is the evening’s emcee.

“The first question they’ll be asked is, ‘Where are you from, and how did you end up in Asheville?’” Scheve says. “Their responses can go anywhere.”

Ultimately, Scheve explains, the audience will decide who is crowned the Asheville Monarch of Halloween.

“October is such an amazing month of dress-up and play, and that’s the spirit I hope the audience brings to the show and leaves with afterward,” says Scheve.

Cary Goff from Disclaimer Comedy and Bost and Davis from The Hot Seat are co-producing the event with Slice of Life. The seated show is open to audience members 18 and older.

The Orange Peel is at 101 Biltmore Ave. Tickets are $15 online and $17 at the box office. For more information, go to avl.mx/c2c.

Sharing Indigenous culture

The Intertribal Graffiti Jam will bring a dozen Indigenous artists from around the country to down

The Orange Peel hosts Halloween-themed mock beauty pageant

town Asheville Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 20-23, to paint culturally inspired murals at multiple loca tions. The gathering was organized by the Indigenous Walls Project, launched by Asheville resident, Jared Wheatley, a dual citizen of the U.S. and the Cherokee Nation.

Wheatley says the event is the first of its kind anywhere in the country and notes the participating artists represent 10 Indigenous nations.

“There are so few opportunities for Native folks to be able to repre sent their culture in a public way,” he says. “This is a good opportunity for us to come back in the conver sation in a very positive way and talk about native land and history and show that we’re maintaining our culture.”

Several events will be held in con junction with the jam:

• On Friday, Oct. 21, the Diana Wortham Theatre will host “The Intersection of Indigeneity and Urban Art.” The event will fea

ture a VIP reception at 6 p.m., followed by a screening and panel discussion of the docu mentary Mele Murals at 7 p.m. avl.mx/c2q

• Also Friday, Rabbit Rabbit, 75 Coxe Ave., will hold a tribal Silent Disco — Inter-Tribe Jam with DJ Malinalli. Admission is $5, with all proceeds going to the Indigenous Walls Project, Wheatley says. avl.mx/c2u

• On Saturday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., an Intertribal Market fea turing crafts, jewelry and more from Indigenous makers, will held at 46 Aston St. avl.mx/c2t

“We do these murals, but it’s real ly about building a community that doesn’t exist and has never existed in Asheville,” Wheatley says. “We’re on the land of the Cherokee, but most of the Indigenous people here in Asheville that I work with and spend time with and share stories are not actually Cherokee. It’s an

urban center, and just like every urban center, it’s very diverse.”

For more information, go to avl.mx/bjd.

Witchy women

Residents of Mills River asked the town for more community recre ation events, and officials conjured up an answer.

The Henderson County town will host its first movie night Friday, Oct. 21, at Mills River Park about 7 p.m. The featured film will be the 1993 Halloween classic Hocus Pocus, star ring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as a vil lainous comedic trio of witches.

The idea for the movie night came from Katrina Townsend, recently hired as the town’s first recreation program coordinator, says Town Manager Daniel Cobb

“Katrina has years of experience planning community events such as

CAPTION HELL OF A TIME: Cameron Davis, featured here as the devil, will host the inaugural Asheville Comedy Hal loween Beauty Pageant. Featured comedians include, starting top left, clockwise: Bri Padgett as Cruella de Vil; Clay Jones as Mason Vorhees; Christian Lee Villanueva as a vampire; Corey McClain as The Bachelorette Banshee of Biltmore Avenue; James Harrod as Cullen from Twilight; Larry Griffin as Michael Myers; and Hillary Begley as Agatha Trunchbill from Matilda. Photos courtesy of the comedians

this, and she wanted to do something festive and family-friendly for the Halloween season,” Cobb explains.

“The long-awaited Hocus Pocus 2 has just come out on Disney+, so the movie choice seemed fitting.”

Townsend’s position was creat ed and funded as a result of Mills River’s first Parks and Recreation Master Plan, completed last year. Public input into the plan indicated overwhelming support for more rec reation programs and events like the movie night, Cobb says.

The town will sponsor more events going forward, but it is not ready to release a schedule.

“We hope this can serve as a family-friendly evening activity for the community,” says Cobb. “As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandem ic, we want to give the community an opportunity to reconnect.”

Folks attending the movie should bring lawn chairs and blankets but are asked to leave pets at home. A concession booth with popcorn and other snacks will be open.

Mills River Park is at 124 Town Center Drive. For more information, go to avl.mx/c2i.

Healing words

When queer poet Jeffery Beam was 42, he faced a crisis that still affects him almost three decades later. He fell in love with a young er man, threatening his then-15year relationship.

“My husband and I, as of May, have been together 42 years, so you can see that this crisis for me didn’t end my 15-year relationship, but it did ultimately heal long-standing wounds in my psyche that had pre vented me from living a full, commit ted life,” he says.

Beam’s new collection of poems, Verdant, was born of that crisis and the healing process that followed. He will read from the collection Thursday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., at Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center.

“If you look at my work through the decades, the main characteristic you will see is the surrealism/sym bolism becoming embedded, quietly almost invisibly, into a style that is minimalist,” he explains. “Verdant remains certainly in my minimalist, yet highly symbolic and impression istic style. I always have the hope to change in a subtle yet pervasive and singular way the spirit ... of my reader through a poetry that enters one in an almost secret, spellbind ing way.”

Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center is at 120 College St. For more information, go to avl.mx/c2l.

Killing us softly

The Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center is honoring multi-Grammy Award winner Roberta Flack , undoubtedly the most prominent musical artist to come from Black Mountain, with a permanent exhibit.

A 7-foot banner at the museum highlights Flack’s Western North Carolina roots with childhood photos, an image of her birth certificate, infor mation about her family and more. It was installed in preparation for the museum’s 2023 exhibit “Striking A Chord: Music and Community in the Swannanoa Valley.”

Flack, 85, achieved superstardom in the early 1970s with the smash sin gles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love.”

“This is the first time a celebrity of international fame has been fea tured in the museum, and the panel gives us a unique insight into what life was like for African Americans who lived in Buncombe County in the 1930s,” says museum director LeAnne Johnson

The museum partnered with Black Mountain native and Atlanta publicist Regina Lynch-Hudson to

Hudson conducted interviews with Flack and Flack’s cousin, Carol Briggs Hovey.

The Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center is at 223 W. State St., Black Mountain. It is open Wednesdays-Saturdays, 1o a.m.5 p.m. For more information, go to avl.mx/5up.

Prom theme

The Tanglewood Youth Theatre will present The Prom on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2:30 p.m. at Asheville Community Theatre.

A Broadway hit later popularized by a Netflix movie, The Prom tells the story of a girl who finds opposition from the PTA when she wants to go to the prom with her girlfriend. The musical will feature a cast of 13- to 17-year-olds who have been partici pating in a youth production class at ACT since August.

Directed by Michael Jorizzo , the play stars Harry Ferguson , Rylee Strongosky, Evan Brooks, Andy Bowman, Henry Clickner, Maeve Cort , Everett Leggat , Ryan Papaioannou , Simon Leonard , Paige Gorczynski , Nicole Miller, Evren Davis and Bryson Kuykendall.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for ages 3-17.

The ACT is at 35 E. Walnut St. For more information, go to avl.mx/c2r.

— Justin McGuire X

MOVIE REVIEWS

Local reviewers’ critiques of new films include:

HALLOWEEN ENDS: It took the misfires of Halloween and Halloween Kills to get there, but writer/director David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride have finally delivered a creative take on the horror saga befitting their talents. Grade: B — Edwin Arnaudin

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS: Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, writer/ director Ruben Östlund’s beautifully shot, pitch-black comedy takes dead aim at the extremely wealthy and their ill effects on society. Grade: B-plus — Edwin Arnaudin

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19

12 BONES BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Queer Comedy Party: Bailey Pope, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Disclaimer Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

Jay Brown (classic country, jazz, ragtime), 6pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER Trivia Night, 6pm

CAMDEN'S COFFEE HOUSE

Open Mic hosted by Kathryn O'Shea, 7pm

FINCH GOURMET MARKET

Altamont Jazz Project, 5pm

HI-WIRE BREWING RAD BEER GARDEN Game Night, 6pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Wednes days w/Matt Smith, 6pm

HIGHLAND DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Vinyl Night w/DJ Nato, 6:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Latin Night Wednes days w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8pm

SALVAGE STATION Matisyahu (alt, indie), 8pm

SILVERADOS

Wednesday Night

Open Jam hosted by Hamza Vandehey, 6pm

SOUTHERN

APPALACHIAN BREWERY

Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/ Host Caleb Beissert, 8pm

SWEETEN CREEK BREWING

Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Andrew Finn Magill (acoustic), 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Brent Cobb & Hayes Carll (singer songwrit er), 8pm

THE ODD

Austin Lucas, Laura Blackley, Connie Page Henshaw (indie folk punk, singer songwrit er, country), 7am

THE ORANGE PEEL Styles P w/Spaceman Jones and The Mother ships (rap), 8pm

THE POE HOUSE Team Trivia w/Wes Ganey, 7pm

THE SOCIAL Wednesday Night Karaoke w/LYRIC, 9pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

GUITAR HERO: Award-winning international guitarist and composer Hiroya Tsuka moto will perform at White Horse Black Mountain on Friday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. The Boston-based musician was born in Kyoto, Japan, and came to the United States after receiving a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Photo courtesy of White Horse Black Mountain

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Stephan Crump (bassist extraordinaire), 7:30pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20

185 KING STREET Congdon & Co. ft Sprio Nicolopoulos (covers), 7pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Blue Ridge Jazzway, 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Sweet Lizzy Project (rock, pop), 8:30pm

BLACK MOUNTAIN BREWING

The Blushin' Roulettes (modern old-time), 6pm

CAFE CANNA SpanGLISH Karaoke Patio Party, 9pm

CASCADE LOUNGE Trivia Night w/Nick, 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Dreamboat, Bad Sleep ers, TVOD, Gesserit, Slow Stab (punk), 8pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Early James (sing er-songwriter), 7pm

FROG LEVEL BREWERY Chris Wilhelm (Americana, folk rock), 5:30pm

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND

Mr Jimmy (blues), 10pm

GREEN MAN BREWERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Grace Pettis (Ameri cana country), 7pm

• Paula Hanke & Peggy Ratusz: 70’s Rock, Pop & Disco Queens, 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich & Friends, 7pm

MAD CO. BREW HOUSE

Hope Griffin (acoustic, folk, blues), 6pm ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Phirsty Phursdays w/ Lumpy Heads (Phish tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Big Dawg Slingshots (Western swing), 8pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Brushfire Stankgrass (modern mountain music), 6:30pm

SALVAGE STATION BoomBox w/ Equanimous (dance, electronic), 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

The Foundry Collective ft Pimps of Pompe (jazz, acoustic), 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR

Rum Punchlines Come dy Open Mic, 6pm

THE ODD

All Hell, Lost Hours, Dead Register (funeral doom, doomgaze), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Kevin Morby w/ Cassandra Jenkins (alt/ indie), 8pm

THE ROOT BAR

Ashley Heath (country, blues), 6pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Thursday Night Karaoke, 8:30pm

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21

185 KING STREET

Empire Strikes Brass 10 Year Reunion (funk), 8pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

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

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Slift w/You Said Strange (alt/indie), 8pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS

RIVER

Cast Iron (bluegrass), 6pm

CASCADE LOUNGE

Friday Night Bonfire Karaoke, 6:30pm

CEDAR MOUNTAIN

CANTEEN

Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 2pm

CORK & KEG

My New Favorites (honky tonk, Appala chian), 8pm

DIRTY JACK'S Miami Gold (rock), 7:30pm

DRY FALL BREWING

CO.

The New Rustics (Americana), 7-10pm

FROG LEVEL BREWERY

Natti Love Joys (reggae), 6pm

GINGER'S REVENGE

CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Jukebox Jumpers (country blues, soul), 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

We Have Ignition (surf rock), 7pm

HIGHLAND

DOWNTOWN

TAPROOM

Drag Music Bingo w/ Divine the Bearded Lady, 7:30pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Freebo & Alice Howe (Americana, blues, folk), 7pm

• Supatight w/ Leisureville (funk, R&B, hip-hop), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

Brother Smith (Ameri cana), 9pm

MAD CO. BREW HOUSE

The Lads AVL (rock, folk, blues), 6pm

MEADOWLARK

MOTEL

Friday Night Karaoke, 7pm

MILLS RIVER

BREWING

Dirty Dawg (acoustic, Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia), 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Free Dead Friday w/ Gus & Phriends & Generous Electric Duo (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

5j Barrow (folk rock), 8pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Hustle Souls (soul), 9pm

QUEEN AUDITORIUM

Darren Nicholson and Shawn Lane (bluegrass, Americana), 7pm

SALVAGE STATION

STS9 w/Daily Bread (dance/electronic), 6pm

SILVERADOS 84 Van Halen Tribute, 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR

Getaway Comedy: Kevin Casey White, 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE Rocky Horror Music Show, 9pm, see p34

THE ORANGE PEEL Warren Zeiders (country), 8pm

THE OUTPOST Buddhagraph Space ship (rock), 6pm

THE ROOT BAR

Linda Mitchell and Friends (jazz), 9am

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Hiroya Tsukamoto (guitarist), 8pm

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22

185 KING STREET

Spirit Reunion ft Chris McDermott, Jeff Sipe and Zack Page (blues, soul, funk), 8pm

305 LOUNGE & EATERY

Old Men of the Woods (folk, pop), 3pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY

Beauty Parlor Comedy: Brett Hiker, 7pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Catz In Pajamas (rockn-roll), 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Random Rab, Liquid Bloom, PheuZen, & Abby Vice (edm), 9pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE

Dinah's Daydream (Gypsy jazz), 5:30pm

BENT CREEK BISTRO Old Men of the Woods (folk, pop), 12pm

BISCUIT HEAD SOUTH

Asheville Drag Brunch Presents: Night Brunch!, 7pm

BOLD ROCK

ASHEVILLE

Myron Hyman (classic rock, blues), 7pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER

Super 60's, 6pm

BOOJUM BREWING CO.

High Blue Heron (Americana, blues, rock), 9pm

CATAWBA BREWING SOUTH SLOPE

Hearts Gone South (honky tonk), 7pm

CORK & KEG

Julie Sanders (Amer icana, country, folk), 8pm

DIRTY JACK'S

Jones Cove Band

Halloween Show Party (funk, soul, rock), 3pm

DRY FALL BREWING CO.

Mojomatic (blues), 7-10pm

FLEETWOOD'S Noise Fest 333, 2pm

FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY

Pile Dripping (alt/indie), 7pm

FROG LEVEL

BREWERY

Los Gatos & Friends (acoustic), 6pm

GINGER'S REVENGE CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Miss Cindy and The Knockin' Boots (classic country, honky tonk), 4pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY CLUB

Latin Grooves w/DJ Mtn Vibes, 10pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Isaac Hadden Organ Trio (jazz, funk), 6pm

HIGHLAND DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Dirty French Broads (Americana grass), 7pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

Special Consensus (bluegrass), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Nobody’s Darling String Band, 4pm

• Brother Smith (Americana), 9pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Saturday Night Dance Party w/DJ Shortstop, 10pm

MEADOWLARK

MOTEL

Mike Ogletree (acous tic), 6pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Tand (improvisational rock), 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Haunted Like Human (folk), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Kind Hearted Strangers & Jokers Trade (rock, jam band), 6pm

OSKAR BLUES

BREWERY

Ska City, 6pm

SALVAGE STATION

STS9 w/Maddy O'Neal (dance/electronic), 6pm

SILVERADOS

Ultimate Aldean Expe rience (Jason Aldean tribute), 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Day & Dream (sing er-songwriter), 6pm

• Babe Rainbow (alt/ indie), 9pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Asheville Comedy Halloween Beauty Pageant, 8pm, see p40

THE OUTPOST

Pixiebilly (folk, rock, blues), 6pm

THE ROOT BAR

Blackwater Voodoo (rock, blues, country), 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Dana Cooper & David Starr (singer-songwrit er), 8pm

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

Mark's House Jam and Beggar's Banquet, 3pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL Desert Dwellers, iXNéE, Oragami w/ Secret Special Guest (edm), 9pm

BENT CREEK BISTRO

Old Men of the Woods (folk, pop), 12pm

BLUE GHOST BREWING CO.

Sunday Open Jam hosted by Knob Creek Incident, 4pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER Craig St. John (sing er-songwriter), 1pm

EURISKO BEER CO. Don't Tell Comedy, 7pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Phuncle Sam Libra Party (Grateful Dead, rock, jam), 2pm

HIGHLAND DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Mr Jimmy Duo (blues), 1pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• John McCutcheon (Americana, folk), 7:30pm

• Poor Man's Gambit (Americana, Celtic), 7:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• Bluegrass Brunch, 12pm

• Traditional Irish Jam, 4pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

• Sunday Jazz Jam Brunch, 1pm

• The Gardening Club (fusion/Blue Note jazz), 6pm

ORCHARD AT ALTAPASS

Seth and Sara (Americana, country, pop), 3pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

The Last Sunday Jam w/Spiro & Friends, 6:30pm

SILVERADOS

Karaoke Sunday Nights w/Lyric, 9pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Mother Marrow (folk), 5pm

• Bob Mould (alt/indie), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Whitney (hip-hop), 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

The Asheville Jazz Orchestra, 7:30pm

PLĒB URBAN WINERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 4pm

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

305 LOUNGE & EATERY

Old Men of the Woods (folk, pop), 5pm

CASCADE LOUNGE Industry Night, 6pm

DSSOLVR

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

GREEN MAN

BREWERY

Old Time Jam, 5:30pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY

CLUB

Taylor Martin's Open Mic, 6:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

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

LITTLE JUMBO

Justin Ray Quintet (jazz), 7pm

NOBLE CIDER

DOWNTOWN Freshen Up Comedy Open Mic, 6:30pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Mashup Mondays (funk, soul, jazz), 8pm

SILVERADOS

Bluegrass Jam Mon days w/Sam Wharton, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

The Sheepdogs (rock), 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Mr Jimmy and Friends (blues), 7pm

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25

185 KING STREET

Bennett Sullivan &

Friends ft Owen

Grooms and Tim Gardner (bluegrass, Americana), 6:30pm

5 WALNUT WINE BAR

The John Henrys (jazz, swing), 8pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Tuesday Night Funk Jam, 10pm

BREVARD MUSIC CENTER

Jeff Sipe Trio (rhythm & blues, jazz, funk), 7:30pm

CASCADE LOUNGE

Tuesday Bluegrass Jam, 6pm

FLEETWOOD'S Saftey Coffin, Matt Charente & Frankie Knuth (punk, Ameri cana), 8pm

FRENCH BROAD BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

HEMINGWAY'S CUBA Para Gozar (Cuban), 6pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Jay Sanders, Zack Page & Alan Hall (jazz), 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Early Tuesday Jam (funk), 9pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Grateful Family Band Tuesdays (JGB, Dead tribute, rock, jam), 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA

Open Jam hosted by Chris Cooper & Friends, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE Imarhan (desert rock), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

The Airborne Toxic Event (rock), 9pm

THE SOCIAL Travers Freeway Open Jam Tuesdays, 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Tuesday Night Trivia, 7pm

WAGBAR Tuesday Night Trivia With Your Dog, 6pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Open Mic Night, 7pm WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Kinky Komedy, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Disclaimer Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

BOLD ROCK MILLS RIVER

Trivia Night, 6pm

CAMDEN'S COFFEE HOUSE

Open Mic hosted by Kathryn O'Shea, 7pm

FINCH GOURMET MARKET

Altamont Jazz Project, 5pm

HI-WIRE BREWING RAD BEER GARDEN Game Night, 6pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-Crafted Wednes days w/Matt Smith, 6pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Gary Ferguson w/ Allen Shadd (Ameri cana, folk, bluegrass), 7pm

• Asheville Sessions

ft Marisa Blake (jazz, world), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Mountain Music Jam, 6pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Latin Night Wednes days w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8pm

SILVERADOS Wednesday Night Open Jam hosted by Hamza Vandehey, 6pm

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BREWERY Jazz Night w/Jason DeCristofaro, 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic w/ Host Caleb Beissert, 8pm

SWEETEN CREEK

BREWING

Witty Wednesday Trivia, 6:30pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

Andrew Finn Magill (acoustic), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Marley Carroll (edm), 8pm

THE POE HOUSE Team Trivia w/Wes Ganey, 7pm

THE SOCIAL Wednesday Night

Karaoke w/LYRIC, 9pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Wednesday Open Mic, 5:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK

MOUNTAIN

Traditional Irish Music Session, 7pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27

185 KING STREET

Shawn Lane & Richard Bennett (Americana, bluegrass), 7pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR

MGB (covers, sing er-songwriter), 7:30pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Champagne Drip ft Ace Aura (edm), 10pm

CAFE CANNA

SpanGLISH Karaoke Patio Party, 9pm

CASCADE LOUNGE

Trivia Night w/Nick, 7pm

GIGI'S UNDERGROUND

Mr Jimmy (blues), 10pm

GREEN MAN BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm HIGHLAND DOWNTOWN TAPROOM

Lady and The Lovers (Top 40 covers), 6pm

ISIS MUSIC HALL & KITCHEN 743

• Rakish (Celtic, folk), 7pm

• Jonathan Kreisberg Trio (jazz), 8:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich & Friends, 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Phirsty Phursdays w/ Lumpy Heads (Phish tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Isaac Hadden Solo (acoustic), 8pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST Kim Jade and the Good Thing (funk, soul, blues), 8pm

THE FOUNDRY HOTEL

The Foundry Collective ft Pimps of Pompe (jazz, acoustic), 7pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR

Rum Punchlines Come dy Open Mic, 6pm

THE ORANGE PEEL Nightly (alt/indie), 8pm

THE ROOT BAR Knotty G's (soul-soaked Americana), 6pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Thursday Night Karaoke, 8:30pm

FOLK TALE: Isis Music Hall will host American folk singer and songwriter John McCutcheon on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. on its main stage. The seven-time Grammy nominee, who recently released his 43rd album, is considered a master of the hammered dulcimer. Photo courtesy of Hello Wendy PR

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” Aries mythologist Joseph Campbell said that, and now I’m passing it on to you just in time for the Sacred Surrender Phase of your astrological cycle. Make sage use of Campbell’s wisdom, Aries! You will generate good fortune for yourself as you work to release expectations that may be interfering with the arrival of new stories and adventures. Be brave, my dear, as you relinquish outdated attachments and shed defunct hopes.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes before being discarded. Then they languish in our soil or oceans, degrading slowly as they cause mayhem for animals and ecosystems. In alignment with current cosmic rhythms, I’m encouraging you to be extra discerning in your relationship with plastic bags—as well as with all other unproductive, impractical, wasteful things and people. In the coming weeks, you will thrive by focusing on what will serve you with high integrity for a long time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Achilleas Frangakis is a professor of electron microscopy. He studies the biochemistry of cells. In one of his research projects, he investigated how cells interact with the outside world. He didn’t learn much about that question, but as he experimented, he inadvertently uncovered fascinating new information about another subject: how cells interact with each other when they heal a wound. His “successful failure” was an example of what scientists sometimes do: They miss what they looked for, but find unexpected data and make serendipitous discoveries. I suspect you will experience comparable luck sometime soon, Gemini. Be alert for goodies you weren’t in quest of.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Renowned Brazilian novelist Osman Lins was born under the sign of Cancer the Crab. He wrote, “I will now live my life with the inventiveness of an engineer who drives his locomotive off the tracks. No more beaten paths: improvisation is the rule.” In the coming weeks, I am all in favor of you, my fellow Cancerian, being an inventive adventurer who improvises liberally and departs from well-worn routes. However, I don’t recommend you do the equivalent of running your train off the tracks. Let’s instead imagine you as piloting a four-wheel-drive, all-terrain vehicle. Go off-road to explore. Improvise enthusiastically as you reconnoiter the unknown. But do so with scrupulous attention to what’s healthy and inspiring.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In recent years, art historians have recovered numerous masterpieces that had been missing for years. They include a sculpture by Bernini, a sketch by Picasso, a drawing by Albrecht Dürer, and a painting by Titian. I’m a big fan of efforts like these: searching for and finding lost treasures. And I think you should make that a fun project in the coming weeks. Are there any beautiful creations that have been lost or forgotten? Useful resources that have been neglected? Wild truths that have been buried or underestimated? In accordance with astrological potentials, I hope you will explore such possibilities.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The most important experience for you to seek in the coming months is to be seen and respected for who you really are. Who are the allies best able to give you that blessing? Make vigorous efforts to keep them close and treat them well. To inspire your mission, I offer you three quotes. 1. Franz Kafka said, “All the love in the world is useless if there is a total lack of understanding.” 2. Anais Nin wrote, “I don’t want worship. I want understanding.”

3. George Orwell: “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libra poet Wallace Stevens said that the great poems of heaven and hell have already been written, and now it is time to generate the great poems of earth. I’d love to invite all Libras, including non-writers, to apply that perspective in their own sphere. Just forget about heaven and hell for now. Turn your attention away from perfection and fantasylands and lofty heights. Disregard pathologies and muck and misery. Instead, explore and celebrate the precious mysteries of the world as it is. Be a connoisseur of the beauty and small miracles embedded in life’s little details. Find glory in the routine.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here are two top Scorpio pastimes: 1. exploring and deploying your intense, fertile creativity; 2. spiraling gleefully down into deep dark voids in pursuit of deep dark riches. Sometimes those two hobbies dovetail quite well; you can satisfy both pursuits simultaneously. One of my favorite variations on this scenario is when the deep dark void you leap into turns out to actually be a lush wonderland that stimulates your intense, fertile creativity. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, that’s likely to happen soon.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “I don’t want to be made pacified or made comfortable. I like stuff that gets your adrenaline going.” Sagittarian filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow said that. With the help of this attitude, she became the first woman ever to win an Academy Award for Best Director. Her film was *The Hurt Locker*, about American soldiers in Iraq who dispose of unexploded bombs while being harassed by enemies. Anyway, Bigelow’s approach is usually too hard-ass for me. I’m a sensitive Cancer the Crab, not a bold Sagittarius the Centaur like Bigelow and you. But I don’t want to assume you’re in the mood for her approach. If you are, though, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to deploy it. Some marvelous epiphanies and healing changes will be available if you forswear stuff that makes you pacified or comfortable.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Author Jan Richardson tells us we can’t return home by taking the same route we used when we departed. This will be wise advice for you to keep in mind during the next nine months. I expect you will be attempting at least two kinds of homecomings. For best results, plan to travel by different routes than those that might seem natural and obvious. The most direct path—the successful passage—may be circuitous.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In the coming days, maintain strict boundaries between yourself and anyone or anything that’s not healthy for you. Be ultra-discerning as you decide which influences you will allow to affect you and which you won’t. And rather than getting sour and tense as you do this, I recommend you proceed with wicked humor and sly irony. Here are three saucy self-protective statements you can use to ward off threats and remain inviolable. 1. “The current ambiance does not align sweetly with my vital soul energy; I must go track down some more harmonious karma.” 2. “This atmosphere is out of sync with my deep precious selfness; I am compelled to take my deep precious selfness elsewhere.” 3. “The undertones here are agitating my undercurrents; it behooves me to track down groovier overtones.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): While asleep, have you ever dreamt of discovering new rooms in a house or other building you know well? I bet you will have at least one such dream soon. What does it mean? It suggests you want and need to get in touch with parts of yourself that have been dormant or unavailable. You may uncover evocative secrets about your past and present that had been unknown to you. You will learn about new resources you can access and provocative possibilities you had never imagined.

MARKETPLACE

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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

2BD/2BA: VISTA VIEWS!

Deluxe chalet, wrap around deck, tastefully furnished private west Burnsville. Easy access to 26; 20 min to Weaverville/45 min to Asheville. No pets. Refs. 6 month min. $1,400. Text 954-496-9000

SHORT-TERM RENTALS

6 MONTH RENTAL - WEAVERVILLE Fully furnished townhome available - 11/15/22 til 5/15/23 2bed. 2.5 Baths. 1 mi from North exit 21. $1,800 all inclusive. First mo.+security deposit. No pets, 2 adults max. References required. 828-450-4388.

EMPLOYMENT

GENERAL

FOOD MANUFACTURING FACILITY HIRING MULTIPLE

POSITIONS Dover Foods Manufacturing facility in Mills River NC is hiring for multiple positions including Production Associates and Bending Operators. The hours for these positions are currently Monday- Thursday 7:00 am-3:30 pm and Fridays 6:00 am-2:30 pm. Positions are full time offering benefits and a sign-on bonus. Applications can be placed online under the "Careers" tab or submitted directly in-person at our manufacturing facility. (828) 891-6260 avl.mx/c3b

JCC SEEKING LIFEGUARD

JCC seeks full- or part-time lifeguard for year-round pool. $12/hr with benefits. Email your resume to wendy@ jcc-asheville.org PROGRAM ASSOCIATE--ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES

(ESOL) Literacy Together is hiring a Program Associate for our ESOL program. The program recruits and trains volunteer tutors to work with immigrants seeking to learn English to improve employment opportunities, navigate the health care system, participate in school conferences with their children and/or prepare for the citizenship exam. The ESOL Associate will work alongside the ESOL Director in all aspects of the program. The ideal candidate will be proficient in Spanish and have experience teaching English as a Second Language. This is a 30 hour/ week position with flexible hours, a generous time-off policy, and the ability to work remotely for a portion of the

time. Salary is $28,000/year. For details and application go to: https://lit-together. org/job-openings/

WAREHOUSE WORKERWEEKLY PAY Immediate hire - no experience needed. Weekly pay! $16/hr warehouse worker position at a local recycling facility. Full time. Benefits available. Apply today at atlanticstaffing.net, call 828-579-2880 or email resume@atlanticstaffing.net.

ADMINISTRATIVE/ OFFICE

ADMISSIONS MANAGER Adventure Treks is seeking an admissions manager to join our team in WNC. The ideal candidate is a self-starter and detail-oriented, and will be responsible for our admissions process. info@ adventuretreks.com adventuretreks.com.

JOIN THE BLUE RIDGE PUBLIC RADIO TEAMDEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE Blue Ridge Public Radio is hiring a Development Associate! The Development Associate joins a strong team of professionals that applies a balanced approach to annual and philanthropic giving to advance the goals of the organization. This role is recognized as foundational and essential for the team and BPR as a whole. The organization offers competitive salary and benefits. Please visit www. bpr.org/careers for the full description of the position and to submit your application. careers@bpr.org www.bpr. org/careers

HUMAN SERVICES

CAREGIVERS

INDEPENDENT CAREGIVER

AVAILABLE FOR WORK 20+

years' experience. Extensive health-related experience. Specialize in dementia care. Excellent references. Asheville, Black Mountain, Canton, Arden, Candler & surrounding areas. 828-768-2708 or email dpinkston0680@gmail.com.

HOME

4G LTE HOME INTERNET

NOW AVAILABLE! Get

GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo.! 1-866571-1325. (AAN CAN)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS If you have water damage and need cleanup, call us! We'll work with your insurance to get your home repaired and your life back to normal ASAP! Call 833-664-1530 (AAN CAN)

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES

In as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months!  Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 1-866-370-2939 (AAN CAN)

BATHWRAPS IS LOOKING FOR HOMEOWNERS We update bathtubs with new liners for safe bathing and showering. Specialize in grab bars, non-slip surfaces and shower seats. All updates are completed in one day. Call 866-531-2432. (AAN CAN)

DONATE YOUR CAR FOR KIDS Fast free pickup. Running or not. 24 hour response. Maximum tax donation. Help find missing kids. Call 855504-1540. (AAN CAN)

LONG DISTANCE MOVING Call for a free quote from America’s Most Trusted Interstate Movers. Let us take the stress out of moving! Call to speak to our Quality Relocation Specialists: Call 855-787-4471. (AAN CAN)

PAYING TOP CA$H FOR MEN'S SPORT WATCHES! Rolex, Breitling, Omega, Patek Philippe, Heuer, Daytona, GMT, Submariner and Speedmaster. Call 888320-1052

SPECTRUM INTERNET AS LOW AS $29.99! Call to see if you qualify for ACP and free internet. No Credit Check. Call Now! 833-955-0905 (AAN CAN)

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

BAKING CLASSES! Baking classes now available at Dogwood Cottage Baking located in Woodfin, NC. 10 classes to choose from to dive deep into the science of baking. Sign up online today! 828-484-7254 dogwoodcottagebaking.com.

YOUR CAREER STARTS HERE WITH MHC! Get paid to do good! Assessment/ Youth Counselors are needed to support at-risk youth in our residential facility in Asheville. We offer paid training and excellent benefits. Apply at bit.ly/MHCCareers 919-7543633 vpenn@mhfc.org mhfc. org/opportunities

SERVICES

AUDIO/VIDEO

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)

COMPUTER & IT TRAINING PROGRAM Train online to become a computer & help desk professional. Grants and scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI 888-2811442. Computer with internet is required. (AAN CAN)

CREDIT CARD DEBT RELIEF!

Reduce payment by up to 50%! Get one LOW affordable payment/month. Reduce interest. Stop calls. FREE no-obligation consultation Call 1-855-761-1456 (AAN CAN)

DIRECTV SATELLITE TV Service Starting at $74.99/ month! Free Installation! 160+ channels available. Call Now to Get the Most Sports & Entertainment on TV!  877310-2472 (AAN CAN)

DON'T PAY FOR COVERED HOME REPAIRS AGAIN

American Residential Warranty covers all major systems and appliances. 30 day risk free / $100 off popular plans. Call 855-731-4403 (AAN CAN)

BUNCOMBE COUNTY BEEKEEPERS CLUB BEE SCHOOL Buncombe County Beekeepers Bee School to be held Nov. 1st & 3rd evenings; Saturday Nov. 5th all day. Find information and sign up at wncbees.org. Get all the information to start your journey.

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

AUTOMOTIVE

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES

CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaled – it doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 866-535-9689. (AAN CAN)

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