Mountain Xpress 12.13.23

OUR 30TH YEAR OF WEEKLY INDEPENDENT NEWS, ARTS & EVENTS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA VOL. 30 NO. 20 DEC. 13-19, 2023

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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C ONTENT S

NEWS

FEATURES 6

MAP QUEST How redistricting affects local candidates and voting districts

JOY TO THE WORLD In this year’s Winter Spirit issue, Xpress reporters speak with community members on a variety of topics related to spirituality and the holiday season.

A TALE OF TWO PEOPLES Locals react to IsraelHamas war

FEATURE

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20 LIGHTING THE CANDLES Groups raise awareness of Kwanzaa in Western North Carolina

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NEWS

COVER PHOTO iStock

32 THE GREAT UNKNOWN Mindful death process finds community support

COVER DESIGN Scott Southwick

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LETTERS

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CARTOON: MOLTON

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CARTOON: BRENT BROWN

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NEWS

17 REPARATIONS BEAT 18 WANT THE FACTS? 20

FEATURES

A&C

26 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 38 BEST MEDICINE WITH ERIC BROWN Bring on the eggnog and holiday Claymation films

32 WELLNESS 36 ARTS & CULTURE 50 CLUBLAND

A&C

54 FREEWILL ASTROLOGY 41 CHRISTMAS CHEER ‘Elf: The Musical’ sparkles like tinsel

54 CLASSIFIEDS 55 NY TIMES CROSSWORD

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OPINION

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

Delve into reasons for ACS enrollment decline

The lesson learned? Public hearings, supposedly a safeguard for democratic decision-making, are a sham.

The rich rule.

— Ken Jones Swannanoa

[Regarding “ACS Commissions Enrollment and Capacity Study to Address Urgent Challenges” Nov. 29, Xpress:] Before any committees make their recommendations, we need to look at this problem and determine if the reason for the decline in the population in public schools is due to the filtering out of students to charter schools or if there is truly a drop in numbers of young children.

Funding charter schools certainly drains the funds available for public schools. There is only a certain amount of dollars available.

Spreading this amount to more pots leaves less in each pot.

— Roberta Birken Retired public school teacher Asheville

What’s behind ACS enrollment drop?

[Regarding “ACS Commissions Enrollment and Capacity Study to Address Urgent Challenges” Nov. 29, Xpress:] Why are the schools so underutilized? Could it be a curriculum problem?

— Barry Shoor Asheville

Board evades responsibility with rezoning vote On Tuesday, Dec 5, about 80 people, most in their 20s and 30s, showed up outside the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting with signs and pots and pans, clamoring to be heard. The board was having a public hearing and vote on a Biltmore Farms rezoning request for over 450 acres.

Say no to war industries in our county

C A RT O O N B Y R AN DY M O L T O N Three hundred forty-five of those acres, now beautifully forested land, were earmarked for further industrial development on the Biltmore Farms property, following up on the 100 acres given for the Pratt & Whitney plant three years ago. CEO Jack Cecil has said that he wants to have more aerospace industry on this land, and the Chamber of Commerce has said it is actively recruiting for such corporations.

What our community does not need is more wealth extraction by war industries. We can get more and better jobs by investing in virtually any other sector than the military-industrial complex.

We also don’t need to be even more engaged with an industry that needs war to sell its products and that is currently profiting from the horrific genocide in Gaza.

Young people have connected these dots and are angry at those making the secret deals that cause

NO JOB TOO LARGE OR SMALL

such death and destruction abroad and lost opportunities here at home.

Many of them came inside to the meeting to voice their opposition to the zoning request.

Palestine was at the top of their minds, but they made clear how our local decision-making, in the name of economic development, has become a part of the killing there. Pratt & Whitney makes the engines for the F-16s and F-35s Israel is using on Gaza.

And they insisted that this complicity stop.

Did the Board of Commissioners listen and act on behalf of their informed and passionate constituents? Not a chance. They voted unanimously to approve the Biltmore Farms request. Chairman Brownie Newman said they didn’t have a choice; they were only following the prescribed zoning norms. But that is a self-serving evasion of their responsibility as elected officials. They had a vote in the matter and took a side.

In 1997, I moved to Asheville because I found so much pleasure and joy and meaning in the rivers, mountains and lands in the Southern Appalachian area. I especially enjoy and cherish the Blue Ridge Parkway, on which I have often traveled, hiked, camped and kayaked the rivers nearby. These rivers, lands and mountains hold a deep spiritual connection for me.

Biltmore Farms asked the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to allow a rezoning of the areas around the Blue Ridge Parkway. The commissioners have voted to allow it, in spite of 30 people who spoke against it, just as they voted to give the Pratt & Whitney plant $27 million in tax incentives. Jack Cecil (who, through an accident of birth, owns this land) has stated that he wants to build an aerospace industrial complex there alongside the French Broad River and the Blue Ridge Parkway. A-B Tech plans to build a training center to educate people to work in these military industries.

I fear they will destroy the lands and the views from the Blue Ridge Parkway forever, even though they claim otherwise. The commissioners approved the rezoning, claiming it will provide good jobs. I believe that is a false promise.

In the USA, our main industrial export is weapons. We ship them out around the world. Our biggest expense is the military and the military-industrial complex. It is the most heavily subsidized industry in our country.

Have you noticed that the U.S. military is not winning any of these wars we

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CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN started? Have you noticed that they did not protect the USA on Sept. 11, 2001?

Have you noticed that Israel was not able to protect its citizens from Hamas on Oct. 7? Have you noticed how badly things are going in Ukraine? Have you noticed how much worse off the people of Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Afghanistan have been since the U.S. military bombed and sometimes invaded their countries?

Pratt & Whitney makes engines for F-35s, which the U.S. has given to Israel. The money never leaves the USA, but the weapons and F-35s do. It is socialism for the military-industrial complex, paid for by our tax dollars.

Israel has used those F-35s to drop weapons on Gaza, Lebanon and Syria this year — and every year — for quite a while. This bombing really increased in the last couple of months. The people on the ground know where those jets and bombs come from — the USA. If you care about Indigenous people or LGBTQ people, know that those bombs are being dropped on them.

If you care about children, know that those bombs are being dropped on them. If you care about brown or Black people, know that those bombs are being dropped on them. (With the exception of the war in Ukraine, nearly all U.S.-made weapons have been used on brown or Black people for decades now.) If you care about the environment, know that making

and dropping bombs from fighter jets is about the worst thing you can do to the environment.

So please ask yourself: Are you OK with using U.S. taxpayer funding to allow Israel to bomb other foreign countries with weapons that we make?

Are you OK with your local and state taxes helping these weapons industries? Do you think that destroying our natural environment in our backyard to make things that will destroy other parts of our small planet will somehow lead to a better world? Is this the road we want to continue going down? Can we not find a better way?

— Susan Oehler Asheville

Let’s do something about Mission Hospital!

All the news about Mission has a hopelessness about it. Even the good news, like its doctors voting not to sign a complete surrender to speaking out against HCA, is tinged with despair.

What can we do as a community?

My idea is to sue to reclaim the name “Mission Hospital.” Today’s hospital complex is not the Mission Hospital I came to know when I first moved here in 2003. Let HCA use its own name, not ours.

Mission Hospital is our community hospital; HCA is not. Is it possible

to sue to reclaim the name? Did the backroom purchase of the hospital system include its specific name?

I would love it if HCA had to surrender “Mission Hospital” and change all its signage to “HCA.” Does anyone know how to make this happen? If so, you have my support.

— Mark H. Bloom Asheville

The silver lining in HCA’s business model?

In a recent news release, Asheville was rated first in the nation in the ratio of individuals moving into the community versus those moving out. For every 100 people leaving Asheville, 301 people moved into our community. Compared with other cities in the United States, Asheville is seen as a good place to live. Many people support this vibrant growth.

At the same time, there is a significant percentage of our population who thinks that Asheville and the surrounding area is growing too fast and that the rate of growth needs to be curtailed. Those who support this viewpoint are frustrated because there is nothing any given individual can do to alter the inflow of people.

Paradoxically, they have a large corporate entity that is doing what it can to alter this rapid growth and

has their backs. That corporation is HCA. They are working diligently to decrease the quality of medical care in our area. Quality medical services is one of the top priorities when individuals are considering a place to live.

Under the previous model, Mission Hospital was a major drawing card in attracting people to our community.

The slow-growth or no-growth citizens would be wise to contact HCA/ Mission administration and let them know how much they appreciate their successful efforts to degrade medical care in our community, thereby causing individuals who are thinking of moving here to select another location.

Unfortunately, all of us who currently live here experience the fragility of the HCA business model when it comes to our health care. It’s both a terrible and tragic price to pay.

— Richard Boyum Candler

Editor’s Note As part of Xpress’ In the Winter Spirit issue, we reached out to local poets, religious leaders, activists and clairvoyants to share their thoughts on the topic of spirituality. See their responses throughout this issue under the “What Does Spirituality Mean to You?” heading.

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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NEWS

Map quest

How redistricting affects local candidates and voting districts

BY GREG PARLIER gparlier@mountainx.com To keep up with changing maps, elections officials are wearing out their Sharpies and ibuprofen supply trying to figure out what new district county commissioners represent every two years, and who’s eligible to run in 2024.

The state will operate on its third set of maps in four years for the U.S. House, N.C. Senate and N.C. House districts after the N.C. General Assembly passed redrawn lines Oct. 25.

For Buncombe County, unlike any other county in the state, that also means new county commission districts. Since 2011, Buncombe’s commission lines have been uniquely tied to the state House lines because of a bill sponsored by state Rep. Tim Moffitt, who represented Buncombe at the time. The Republican now represents Henderson County.

“The goal in Buncombe is simply to carve out one Republican seat, and the same logic would apply to the County Commission,” says Chris Cooper, professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University. “So it’s a good thing for the Republican Party.”

That bill also expanded the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from five to seven seats, requiring all but the chair to be elected by districts. The chair is elected countywide.

“Putting it in districts helps the Republicans and then putting it in districts drawn by Republicans helps Republicans more,” Cooper notes.

Moffitt did not respond to multiple requests to comment for this story. Buncombe’s lone Republican representative at the state level, state Sen. Warren Daniel, says he thinks tying the County Commission to state House lines makes sense.

“I didn’t represent Buncombe County at the time that process was passed into law, but I do think it could be a model for other urban counties whose house districts are all contained within a single county boundary,” says Daniel, who lives in McDowell County and will now represent outlying rural areas of Buncombe.

Kathie Kline, president of the Buncombe Democratic Party, vehemently disagrees.

“This is just an example of NCGA Republicans’ petty efforts to confuse and subvert our voters because Buncombe consistently favors Democrats, but our voters see this for what it is and will not be deterred in expressing their overwhelming 6

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MAP GAMES: The N.C. General Assembly passed this map to determine representatives in the N.C. House and Buncombe County Board of Commissioners in 2024. Experts say the consolidation of Asheville into one district gives Republicans a better chance to win a seat in District 2, where incumbent Terri Wells will look to defend her seat. For comparison, find 2020 and 2022 versions of Buncombe County’s commission districts at avl.mx/d7x and avl.mx/d7y, respectively. Maps courtesy of Buncombe County support for Democratic values in our community,” she says.

HOW WE GOT HERE After the contentious 2020 presidential election, the Republican-controlled General Assembly redrew maps that experts said gave Republicans a better chance to win more state races, but the N.C. Supreme Court struck them down, saying they were too skewed.

The court implemented its own maps to be used in 2022 until more permanent maps could be drawn. After Republicans regained a majority on the court, the ruling was reversed, opening the door for Republicans to draw yet another set of maps for 2024.

Beyond partisanship, all of these changes mean county commissioners up for reelection have a different set of constituents and voters who might

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not see their previous commissioner on their ballot, even if that officeholder is running again as an incumbent. County election officials have to sort through all those changes, which takes time, and because this is the second straight evenyear election with new maps, staff has to balance three maps when determining who represents whom in the county.

The fact that county commissioners run on staggered terms, with at least three commissioners running every two years, not including the chair, makes representation even more confusing.

And there’s a financial burden on taxpayers as well, says Buncombe’s Director of Elections Corinne Duncan.

It costs about $56,000 to send new voter registration cards to all 206,000 voters in the county with their new and correct voting districts printed on them, because of the changes, Duncan says. New cards are slated to go out in January.

WHO REPRESENTS WHOM In a recent meeting with county elections officials, Duncan and Victoria Pickens, accounting and campaign finance specialist for the elections office, laid out color-coded maps with writing in the margins to try and help explain who represents which district now and potentially in 2024.

Basically, we are working with three maps at once, Duncan says.

Commissioners up for reelection in 2024 — Terri Wells, Jasmine BeachFerrara and Parker Sloan — currently represent Districts 1, 2 and 3, respectively, which they were elected to represent back in 2020.

Because of the changing lines, Sloan and Beach-Ferrara would have to run against each other in 2024 in the new District 3. However, Beach-Ferrara announced in October that she wasn’t running for reelection so she could

spend more time with her family. When pressed in November, she confirmed that the changing districts had no bearing on her decision not to run.

Both Wells, who will run in District 2, and Sloan, in District 3, have announced reelection campaigns. There will be no incumbent running in the new District 1, which now includes the east Buncombe, Fairview and South Asheville areas.

Matt Kern, who lives in Riceville, has announced a bid for that seat.

Meanwhile, Al Whitesides, Martin Moore and Amanda Edwards — who were elected in 2022 based on a different set of maps — continue to represent Districts 1, 2 and 3, respectively, as they were drawn for 2022.

Edwards has announced a campaign to run for chair to replace Brownie Newman in 2024, a seat that is elected countywide. Newman has announced that he is not running again.

If Edwards is elected chair, by rule, because she is a registered Democrat, the Buncombe County Democratic Executive Committee would appoint her replacement from the district she was elected to represent, or the 2022 version of District 3. That district encompasses north and northwest Buncombe. When that term is up in 2026, her replacement would have to run in the district in which they live, based on current maps.

If these maps hold, that would likely be the new District 2, which spans the far southwest, northwest and northeast corners of the county, as well as parts of Swannanoa.

Edwards says the frequent changes have created confusion among voters trying to figure out who their commissioner is, but at the end of the day, commissioners will take calls from anyone in the county.

“If someone reaches out to me unsure of who their commissioner is, I’m going to listen to their concerns, and then help get them directed to the right place, and often to the correct commissioner who can help them navigate their challenges,” she says.

Wells says she is happy to help anyone who contacts her, no matter where in the county the person lives.

Regardless, Cooper says, it’s hard even for experts like himself to follow what all the changes mean year to year, and that is bad for everyone.

“I think it’s incredibly confusing for candidates. It’s incredibly confusing for voters. It’s a bad way to run a democracy,” he says.

Cooper says despite challenges from voter rights groups, the maps are unlikely to change again unless the makeup of the Republican-majority N.C. Supreme Court changes, which probably won’t happen until at least 2030.

State Rep. Lindsay Prather, a Democrat who represents Buncombe, says regardless of what party is in

power, maps should be drawn by independent, third-party consultants, not partisan legislatures.

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A MORE COMPETITIVE DISTRICT The biggest potential partisan impact of the new maps is in representation for the new District 2, currently represented by Wells on commission and Prather in the state House.

All state-level representatives are up for election this year.

Buncombe’s state House districts went from three Democratic districts to two Democratic districts and one district that leans Republican, Cooper says.

House 115, in which Prather lives, is the one people should be “laser-focused” on, he says.

“It went from a lean Democrat district to a lean Republican district. So all else being equal, we would expect a Republican to come out of that district,” Cooper says. However, because Prather is an incumbent, she will have some advantages, but Cooper expects it to be a close race.

“I’m not saying a Republican will win. I’m just saying it’s now possible for a Republican to win,” he adds.

Prather retains her confidence, however, despite what could be perceived as an attack on her seat.

“I am certainly a type of candidate that the Republicans do not like to see in the house,” she acknowledges.

She argues that geographically, the district actually isn’t that different from the way it was in 2020, when she won the seat in the first place. Like then, her district includes north and northwest Buncombe; it has just now expanded to include the northeast and southwest corners of the county as well.

That being said, Prather says it’s clear the Republicans did everything they could to draw a district for themselves to win.

“They essentially tried to pack every even slightly red-leaning or red precinct into the same district,” she says. “I’m really looking forward [to the campaign.] I really think the things I’ve been fighting for are things that apply to this district just as much as they did my previous one.”

For Wells, the changing district just represents an opportunity to meet more people.

“I love serving the people of Buncombe County,” she says. “And so no matter which areas they decide are the areas that I am to campaign in and serve, I love doing it. And I love getting out and meeting the people and getting an understanding of what the issues are and what their concerns are. And I’ll work hard for everybody.”

Voters can find out what districts they reside in by entering their addresses at avl.mx/d7v. X MOUNTAINX.COM

DEC. 13-19, 2023

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NEWS

A tale of two peoples

Locals react to Israel-Hamas war

BY CHASE DAVIS cdavis@mountainx.com More than 6,200 miles separate Asheville from the deepening war between Israeli and Hamas forces, but that doesn’t mean Western North Carolina residents aren’t affected by the tragedies playing out in Gaza and elsewhere. Whether it’s through family, friends or religious beliefs, the renewed onset of violence has impacted many people here.

“Regardless of where you stand on the conflict itself, it’s still really scary to see this much violence and division in the world,” says Stephen Herman, a 29-year-old Asheville resident who is ethnically Jewish. “People will often make assumptions about what I believe based on my ethnic or political background, but I think it’s important for everyone to remember that this is a complex issue, and at its core is two communities of people who are suffering. We need to be able to come together and support one another, not pick sides or put each other down.”

Like many others, Herman says he was shocked when he learned about the Oct. 7 surprise attack on several towns in Israel by Hamas, a militant Palestinian political group that the U.S. State Department considers a terrorist organization.

Amid the violence that followed that initial assault, says Herman, many of his friends and family have experienced fear that “has never been felt before at this magnitude.”

“While I no longer practice the faith, I am still very involved in the Jewish community, and I am proud of my heritage,” notes Herman. “With the continuing violence in the Middle East, as well as the rise in antisemitism here in the States, many of my friends are

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GRIM REMINDERS: Rochelle Reich, executive director of Congregation Beth Israel, views posters of hostages who have been taken in the Israel-Hamas War. Photo by Chase Davis scared to even leave their homes. No one should ever feel like that.”

Black Mountain resident Zain Shabati, who was born in Gaza City, says he has lost contact with many of his friends and family in the Palestinian enclave, which is controlled by Hamas.

“Many of the people I know still living in Gaza, who I was speaking with daily in August and September, have gone completely silent. I don’t even know if they are alive,” says Shabati. “That is the problem with wars like this: It is the everyday people who are suffering

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the most, not Hamas or the Israeli government. Regular Palestinians — and Israelis, I would imagine — don’t want all of this violence.”

A CLIMATE OF FEAR While several local groups have offered support for individuals who have been impacted by the war, increased reports of threats against both Jewish and Muslim communities nationwide have sparked concern among local religious leaders.

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish advocacy group, cited a 388% increase in incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault between Oct. 7 and 24, compared with the same period last year. Also during that time, the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received 774 reports of bias incidents and requests for help from Muslims across the U.S., a 182% jump compared to similar periods in 2022.

Rabbi Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila in Asheville says the synagogue has had to bolster security due to safety concerns.

“The increase in antisemitic violence across the country has caused the FBI

and the [Asheville Police Department] to put us on high alert, and we have had to tighten security at all our events,” says Meiri. “There is always someone with eyes on the door keeping track of who is coming in or out. Since the Pittsburgh shootings in 2018, we’ve had to have a contract with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and APD for off-duty officers. It’s sad, but it is our reality.”

On Oct. 12, an Asheville man was arrested and charged in connection with a series of antisemitic email threats sent to a local synagogue, according to an APD report. Meiri also notes that she has been personally threatened for speaking out about the war.

“The increase in violence has forced us to be very vigilant in discerning what is a real threat and what is just scary for us,” says Meiri. “We are having to train ourselves not to cower in our homes when we are afraid because that is what [those harassing the Jewish community] seek to do.”

That same fear is also being felt in the local Muslim community. “While we have not personally dealt with any cases of Islamophobia since the war began, it is still very scary for our congregants,”

CONTINUES ON PAGE 10

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N EWS says Khalid Bashir, board president of the Islamic Center of Asheville. “Just recently, three Palestinian students were shot in Vermont, and a few weeks ago, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death in Chicago.

While Asheville is a far more tolerant environment, who’s to say that couldn’t happen here?”

Although representatives of both the APD and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office have told Xpress that they know of no overtly violent local incidents related to the war, Shabati says he’s been treated differently since the fighting erupted. In one instance, while walking with his family in downtown Asheville, he says a homeless person spat at his feet and called him a slur.

“It really baffles me that people are OK with treating me or other Muslims like we are scum,” says Shabati. “I am not a part of Hamas. I don’t support the manner in which they have chosen to represent Palestine. Yet because of my skin tone and because my wife wears a hijab, we are treated like terrorists.”

Shabati believes that making generalizations or assumptions about the beliefs of any group is dangerous and harmful for the community as a whole. “I think, with this war specifically, people assume that every Arab person must support

the actions of Hamas, just like every Jewish person supports every action of the Israeli government. Neither is a fair assumption, and that kind of thinking leads to violence and division.”

BASIC HUMAN NEEDS Against that backdrop in both the Jewish and Muslim communities, Rochelle Reich, executive director of Congregation Beth Israel, stresses the importance of mutual support.

“A big theme for our congregation has been providing people with the opportunity to process what is happening,” says Reich. “The first week after the war broke out, we helped to organize a community vigil. It was not designed to be a rally, nor do I think it came across that way. It was very much a community gathering focused around being together as people and just, collectively, being able to grieve and process together.”

Both Meiri and Bashir say their respective organizations remain committed to supporting their congregants and those impacted by the war. Meiri

notes that her congregation has raised funds for her to travel to Israel to provide aid and support.

“We will be assisting with rabbis in Jerusalem who are providing support to displaced people, people who have family who are held captive, and also those who have lost friends and family,” Meiri explains, adding, “We’re going to be leading prayer services and vigils as well.”

Closer to home, Meiri says that every Tuesday through Thursday, several members of her congregation come to the synagogue and place calls to the White House advocating for the release of the hostages taken

by Hamas. “We are hoping that our actions will keep [the hostages] in the forefront of everybody’s minds. The news cycle forgets, our leaders forget, so it’s important for there to be a voice that says, ‘We have not forgotten you.’”

Bashir, meanwhile, says the Islamic Center is organizing a fundraiser to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

The organization also has hosted several events designed to give non-Muslim community members a historical perspective on the long-running conflict.

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

‘A feeling of connection to all beings’ Richard Chess is a professor emeritus of English at UNC Asheville, where he served as the director of the Center for Jewish Studies for 30 years.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

Chess: Spirituality is such an imprecise word. But I don’t have a better, more precise word to replace it. I’ll try this: “Spirituality” is fullness of being. It’s more than the fullness of my individual being. It’s RICHARD CHESS expansive — a feeling of connection to all beings, to all being — and it’s also humbling: an awareness of all of being working through my small, separate self at every moment. I experience this only rarely. Sometimes during prayer; in my case, Jewish prayer.

Sometimes during meditation. Sometimes in engaging with art, especially but not only poetry. Language: right there, in the experience, for me, of human language, though that’s not the only language. The language of being alive in me. Your language. My language. His language. Her language. Their language.

The language of poetry. Especially that. Here in Western North Carolina, I have a prayer book. A meditation bench. A book of poetry. A synagogue. Practices to open me to the fullness of being, within, around, beyond me.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

Spirituality is not bliss. Spirituality is not clean. It’s messy. We’re human.

We’re imperfect. We experience joy. We suffer. We can and do work toward the reduction of suffering of others. Doing so may help us reduce our own suffering.

For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

When we open ourselves to the messiness, the whole thing — the beauty and joy, the ugliness and pain — we may have the greatest chance of experiencing something we may call “spiritual.” X

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“Our goal with the community events is to educate people on the background of the war in Palestine and Israel,” says Bashir. “If people are educated, it opens the door for more civil conversations, rather than people yelling at one another.”

ALL TOGETHER NOW Meiri, too, believes that finding middle ground and having candid discussions would be beneficial. “This war is such a nuanced topic that conversations around it can often be difficult,” she points out. “This is not just an Oct. 7 thing: It is hundreds of years of rising and falling conflict. Still, it would be nice if people wanted to have a conversation instead of sticking out [their tongues] and saying, ‘You’re on the wrong side of this!’”

Reich concurs, while also encouraging people to remember that Americans’ perceptions of life in Israel may be far different from what it’s like to actually live there. She recalls a story she heard from an Israeli reporter at a conference more than 10 years ago.

“The reporter, who at the time was covering the Israeli election, listed all the topics that were driving voters to the polls. He listed the typical things you would expect, such as the economy, housing, social services, but he never mentioned the peace process. Now, if you asked 1,000 Jewish Americans what the No. 1 issue in Israel is, they would probably mention the conflict.

However, for people living there, peace seems so far out of reach that they no longer believe that there is any political party that can make it happen.”

Reich herself has never lived in Israel, and the only thing she claims to understand concerning the conditions there is that she will never fully understand them.

“I had the epiphany that living in Israel and dealing with what it is like to live there, from a safety perspective, is completely incomprehensible to Americans,” she explains. “We live in such different worlds that trying to insert our opinions or pretend that we know what’s best is not a good idea.”

For his part, Herman believes that conversations regarding the war should focus on the needs of the people who live in the region, rather than on dogma or revenge.

“I will not pretend that I understand the nuances of the war between the Israeli and Palestinian people,” says Herman. “However, what I do know is that there are innocent people who are dying, caught in the crossfire. Those people, whether they are Jewish, Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian, do not deserve to be dying. I think until we can agree on that, we won’t be able to make any progress.” X

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BUNCOMBE BEAT

County Commission approves controversial rezoning request Despite over an hour of public comment opposed to the proposal, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rezone 764 acres owned by Biltmore Farms adjacent to the Pratt & Whitney plant.

Biltmore Farms requested that two parcels on each side of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Brevard Road be rezoned from residential and commercial service zones to employment zoning, which allows office and industrial purposes, storage, warehousing and wholesale trade, according to a staff analysis of the request.

The analysis notes that the undeveloped parcels are slated for a satellite campus for A-B Tech to provide “specialized manufacturing instruction in support of Pratt & Whitney, as well as potential future spinoff industry workforce.”

Protesters asked commissioners to deny Biltmore Farms’ request to rezone the land over concerns that the new zoning would allow aerospace engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney to further expand in Buncombe County. In 2021, Biltmore Farms sold a 100-acre parcel to Pratt & Whitney for its manufacturing plant near the newly rezoned area.

More than 30 people spoke during the public comment period. Many who spoke asserted that the military technology created by Pratt & Whitney was aiding in the killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

“By working hand-in-hand with Pratt & Whitney on this project, A-B Tech and the county have become complicit with the killings and destruction that Pratt & Whitney enable,” said Ken Jones, local resident and organizer of the group Reject Raytheon AVL. “The engines for the F-16s and F-35s being used by Israel are made by Pratt & Whitney. I say no to preparing workers for such war profiteers.”

Others, such as Swannanoa resident Melody Shank, argued that the land would be better used to help with the issues of affordable housing.

“I am not opposed to the rezoning if it is for the site of A-B Tech training. I am a former high school counselor and I know how important job training and development are for young people,” said Shank. “What I am not really supportive of is a company-specific or war industry-specific training center. … [The land] could be used to provide a mixed-income residential development, a community with green space and ample neighborhood services.”

NO REZONING: Protesters lined the sidewalk outside the Buncombe County administrative building in protest of the proposed rezoning request from Biltmore Farms. Photo by Chase Davis After the public comments, Commission Chair Brownie Newman began to explain the county’s role in reviewing rezoning requests but was interrupted by protesters yelling “free, free Palestine.” After Newman called a five-minute recess, sheriff’s deputies escorted several protesters out of the commissioners’ chamber.

“Our comprehensive plan and our economic development policies do rightly emphasize the need to support manufacturing as a key component of our economy, and it is the sector of our economy that produces the highest wages in our community,” Newman said, following the recess.

“One of the most fundamental things we hear from our community is that they don’t want Buncombe County to become a place where regular people cannot afford to live here. Affordable housing is a major part of that … but even more fundamental is whether or not people can find good-paying jobs.”

Staff recommended that the rezoning be approved because “it conforms to the recommendations from the Comprehensive Plan’s GEC Character Map, the Plan Policies and

Actions, an analysis of neighborhood consistency, and the equity analysis.”

Newman then called for a vote to approve the zoning request, which passed unanimously. No other commissioners spoke on the topic.

“Shame on you!” yelled one member in the audience, following the vote.

Sheriff seeks $186K for downtown patrol During the commission briefing before the regular meeting, commissioners heard a proposal from the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office regarding a $186,000 initiative that would increase law enforcement in downtown Asheville during times when it receives the most complaints from business owners and employees. The commissioners were not provided with the proposal nor its associated costs before the briefing.

Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said the proposed initiative was in response to concerns from downtown workers.

“When we speak with the city, they say they have this under control, but

that’s not the message that we’re getting from the business owners and the workers who work downtown,” Miller said. “We are just trying to do our best for our community and bring everyone to the table to find solutions that we all can live with.”

The proposal, presented by Chief Deputy Herbert Blake, would add three, two-person teams downtown from 5-7 p.m. and 10 p.m.- 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Furthermore, the funding would support an additional deputy in the BSCO’s Real-Time Intelligence Center for remote monitoring. The proposal doesn’t call for new hires but would allow for overtime for current deputies.

Blake said that the initiative was designed to target homelessness but noted that it was not designed to deter homeless people from coming downtown; rather, he said, it is meant to deter “those who have been coming out and creating disturbances.”

“The Supreme Court ruled years ago that it is not against the law to be anywhere in America, so long as they are not breaking the law,” Blake said. “It is the individuals that are breaking the law that we are hoping to deal with.”

Commissioner Jasmine BeachFerrara asked for further details regarding how deputies would respond to encounters with the homeless.

“We believe that a more visible presence will serve as a tremendous deterrent for many of the homeless who come downtown,” Blake said.

“If a person commits a criminal act, they will be charged accordingly. If it is someone that we find is in need of help, we can take that person to the hospital and have them assessed by a mental health clinician. If that clinician determines that the individual is in need of other services, they can make that ball begin to roll.

“The overall goal of this initiative is to treat the issue of homelessness downtown and eventually for all of Buncombe County,” Blake continued. “We want to be able to implement this so that we can take anyone that we encounter who is homeless and a candidate for help and get them that help.”

The commission did not vote on the proposal, with several members requesting more time for review.

Newman said the request could be on the agenda for the commission’s next meeting in January.

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— Chase Davis X DEC. 13-19, 2023

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EDUCATION BEAT

Buncombe schools passes new Parents’ Bill of Rights policies

IN HARMONY: The A.C. Reynolds High School Madrigal Singers earned a standing ovation for their performance at the Buncombe County Board of Education meeting Dec. 7. It was the last time the crowd was in agreement during the contentious meeting, which included two hours of public comment. Photo by Greg Parlier There were tears and cheers.

There was yelling and applause.

A full emotional spectrum was on display during nearly two hours of public comment at the Buncombe County Board of Education on Dec. 7. More than 30 speakers expressed strong opinions both for and against policy updates to comply with the state’s recently passed Parents’ Bill of Rights.

Ultimately, the board unanimously passed the seven policies related to Senate Bill 49, which opponents say creates an unsafe atmosphere for LGBTQ+ students, and supporters argue safeguards parents’ roles in their children’s education. After collecting a month’s worth of feedback from parents, teachers and community members, board member Rob Elliot said the board did its best to mirror the community’s wishes in the policies while still following state law.

“There is a lot of fear and concern from our community on different 14

DEC. 13-19, 2023

sides of the spectrum. How do we balance that? We did our very best to do that. We know no one’s going to leave here tonight perfectly satisfied, but I do feel very confident and appreciative of our staff and community that helped us navigate this in a way that allows us to provide an educational experience that is safe and allows each and every child that comes into our school to reach their full potential.”

During public comment, Craig White, the supportive schools director for the Campaign for Southern Equality, thanked the school board for listening to public concerns about the law from advocates for the LGBTQ+ community. Many of the amendments made to “mitigate the harms of SB 49” were specifically criticized by those on the other side of the debate at the Dec. 7 meeting, he said.

“Every edit that you put in there to try to keep LGBTQ students just

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a little bit safer — they have called those out tonight. That’s what we live with — that scrutiny. That constant scrutiny, that constant fear of attack, that somebody is going to see us being ourselves and say, ‘That’s not OK. That needs to be stopped,’” he said.

About half the public speakers argued that the proposed policies did not go far enough in implementing the new state law, even arguing the district may be breaking the law with its interpretation of it.

“The Parents’ Bill of Rights protects the rights of parents to direct the care and education of their children. It’s also to protect the rights and direct the children’s upbringing, moral and religious training.

Schools may partner with parents in a child’s education, but schools are not ultimately in charge,” said Kay Olsen.

She argued that opposition to the law comes from a vocal minority who

don’t represent the majority of parents and voters in Buncombe County.

One of the repeated concerns was whether the policies allowed information to be withheld from parents, including about a child’s gender identity.

Staci Metcalf said the district’s policy 1310, parental involvement, is not compliant with SB 49 because it says school personnel should balance a student’s request for privacy about their gender identity with state and federal law, rather than mandating that information be shared with parents.

“Parents may agree or disagree with their child’s choice, and that is their right. Parents — not school personnel — are directors of their children’s care and their moral training. To fulfill their legal and moral responsibility, parents need to know what’s going on with their child so that they can help their child appropriately,” she said.

“Nothing good comes out of lies, and nothing good comes from secrets. Evil lies in that darkness.

This noncompliant verbiage to parents conveys that Buncombe County Public Schools have the right to withhold information from parents and, in effect, lie to them.”

After the meeting, Dean Shatley, school board attorney, told Xpress that he was “highly confident” that the district’s new policies follow the law, and the way some public commenters were arguing against some policies suggested to him that they haven’t read the policies in their entirety.

Some of the language added in the last month, like in the parental involvement policy, was to ensure students understand the school’s requirements in making information available to their parents, not to withhold that information, Shatley said.

The other policies related to the bill are parental inspection of and objection to instructional materials, comprehensive health education program, criminal behavior, surveys of students, student health services and staff responsibilities.

Several members of the LGBTQ+ community, including current BCS students, shared personal anecdotes about a lack of trust they felt with school personnel, leading to mental health issues, depression or brushes with suicide.

One speaker detailed a specific moment they had as a teenager on a school bathroom floor with a razor because they felt so alone and unsupported.

Doug Brown, chair of the Buncombe County GOP, argued an incident like that was what SB 49 was all about, helping parents understand what was going on with their children.

“If you were that student’s parent, wouldn’t you want to know what was going on?”

During his comments, White retorted against those who argued for policies that would increase transparency between parents and teachers about their children.

“I agree with trust and transparency between schools and families, between families and children, between schools and children. But if I want to know what books my kid is reading, then I ask my kid,” he said.

Board reviews options for new district maps In a special work session Dec. 7, board members heard three options for redrawing district maps for the 2024 election after a state law singling out BCS required the system to redistrict.

House Bill 142 requires the board to redraw its six districts based on an evenly distributed population rather than on the district’s high school attendance zones, as has been done since 1975.

Currently, Buncombe elects one school board member to represent each of the county’s six attendance zones — Enka, Erwin, Owen, North Buncombe, Reynolds and Roberson — and one at-large member. Candidates must live in the district they represent and run on a nonpartisan basis. Residents can vote for all school board representatives, regardless of their address.

Based on the new law, voters who live in the newly drawn districts will vote only for the representative running in the district in which they live.

The law doesn’t change where students will go to school, only school board representation.

Adam Mitchell of Tharrington Smith LLC and Blake Esselstyn of Magfigure Consulting brought three options to the board members, who were unanimous in their frustration with the fact they were doing it at all.

“I’ve been dealing with this issue for over two years now,” said Vice Chair Amy Churchill. “I find it very interesting that everything I was concerned about and everything the people fighting against this at the state level were concerned about is now coming to fruition.”

Board member Amanda Simpkins was concerned that the new maps will change the identity of certain districts, especially for A.C. Reynolds High School which would undergo the most change as depicted in each of the proposed maps.

“The reality is there’s not a great solution. Initially when the bill was pushed forward, a lot of people thought this would give their district more identity as a voter. That is not what is happening,” she said. “It’s just sad to me.”

— Greg Parlier X

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REPARATIONS BEAT

Reparations Commission discusses proposal for Black education resource campus The Community Reparations Commission is starting to home in on concrete recommendations for how local governments should atone for generations of systemic racism in Asheville and Buncombe County. The latest example: At their Dec. 4 meeting, commissioners discussed at length a desire to use reclaimed city- and county-owned land to establish a centralized campus for needed services.

A joint recommendation drawn up by education and economic development focus groups from the commission concentrated primarily on what facilitators called an “education resource campus” to provide a place where Black folks know they could access resources for everything from specialized classes to prenatal and elder care.

“We know that education is a building block to be able to do whatever you want in your life. And we know that the literacy rates alone in this community already don’t set up Black kids to be able to do whatever they want in their life, and they’re not being taught,” said facilitator Amieris Lavender, who represents the education focus group. “What do our kids need to have in order to be able to access the resources that are in our community?

There’s plenty of programs, and there are resources, and yet when you walk into them, you might not see us.”

Lavender said the commission had gotten feedback from Black residents who felt there had been a loss of places for Black residents to meet with each other and dependably access resources.

“We want to make sure that we’re encouraging collaborative solutions, that there’s no lost opportunities and that we can combat the deep trauma that has been inflicted upon the Black community through years of systemically racist policies that were implemented by city and county entities,” she said.

The proposed campus would be managed and staffed by Black people as much as possible and provide free and ongoing services to past and current Black residents of Buncombe County, according to the facilitators’ presentation. The campus would house prenatal nutrition classes, child care services, supplementary education programs and health care for K-12 students, reentry strategies for those who were formerly incarcerated, adult and continuing education classes, elder care programs and more.

needed at all if there are not enough contiguous parcels left following urban renewal to build something new.

“I’m just saying that I think as we move forward, we examine more deeply what we want to present to the community. Is it the physical position of the hubs or the access to the services that we want to have?”

The commission’s focus group meetings continue through the winter, and the next full commission meeting is Monday, Jan. 22.

Timeline extension update

WORKING TOGETHER: Amieris Lavender, left, and Tara Brown present joint recommendations of the education and economic development focus groups to the Community Reparations Commission at its regular meeting Dec. 4. Photo courtesy of the City of Asheville “The goal of this campus is that [it’s] sort of like a one-stop shop or a place where all [of people’s] needs can be met, where there’s a network of support services for folks in this community so that folks don’t have to run around town to have access to resources, but they’re co-located,” Lavender said.

Facilitator Tara Brown presented a corresponding proposal for a centrally located economic development center for Black Asheville with commercial space for entrepreneurs, job training, financial education and a Black-owned financial institution.

Brown also shared ideas from the economic development focus group to put $250,000 in grant funding toward each legacy neighborhood to create business corridors, or hubs, near Black residential areas. That amount is flexible depending on the specific needs of each neighborhood, Brown said.

During the discussion, several commission members suggested the education campus and economic development hubs could overlap.

Commission member Joyce Harrison suggested they create a community with everything people need, from grocery stores to doctor’s offices and schools, and make it self-sustaining by inviting non-Black dollars to be spent in the community.

Commission Chair Dwight Mullen said it was important to find a way to keep any campus or hub from being gentrified as many areas have been in the past.

But the majority of the conversation revolved around how — and where — the commission could find land to use for any campus or resource hub.

“The programs will come, but in order for us to get it going, we need to have this brick-and-mortar now,” said Tiffany DeBellot, commission alternate, to murmurs of approval from other members. She suggested the commission consider using existing underutilized city and county properties.

Brown highlighted three areas affected by urban renewal — Southside, East End/Valley Street and the Hill Street area of Montford — as potential target areas for a campus or hub, based on a City of Asheville project listing all city-owned property acquired as a result of urban renewal.

Commission member DeWayne Barton said there are already community centers in many of these areas, and they should consider what already exists before starting something from scratch.

Commission member Jesse Ray questioned whether physical land was

At the beginning of the Dec. 4 meeting, Noreal Armstrong, chief human rights and equity officer for Buncombe County, told the commission that county staff would extend communications, data and legal support for the commission at its current level through June 2024. Armstrong’s department could continue to provide support beyond that date, but other service levels would decline at that time.

Previously, the reparations commission had requested a timeline extension to complete its recommendations from the original April 2024 deadline until December 2024. The commission opted not to provide a justification to city and county staff to take back to their respective governmental bodies for why the extension was needed.

“In the absence of a [reparations commission] justification for the extension, staff reviewed the timeline progress to date and to completion to provide county leadership with relevant information and context for the extension request,” Armstrong said.

Data requests, managed by county staff, are 98% complete, recommendations are being finalized and the cease-the-harm audit findings will be presented over the next two months, all of which factored into the county’s decision for a modest extension, she said.

Brenda Mills, equity and inclusion director for the City of Asheville, said Asheville City Council will review the reparations commission’s extension request and the county’s decision at its next meeting, Dec. 12.

Vice Chair Dewanna Little asked Armstrong and Mills if representatives of the commission could get on the agenda of a City Council or Buncombe Board of Commissioners meeting to more thoroughly explain the progress. Both staff members said anyone could come to public comment, but they would ask their staff if getting on the agenda was possible.

MOUNTAINX.COM

— Greg Parlier X DEC. 13-19, 2023

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WANT THE FACTS?

How a library gets its books In 2023, the conversation around what books belong in school and public libraries intensified as some questioned local school and library boards during public meetings about what types of titles should be available to children.

Locally, Ronald Gates, pastor of Greater Works Church, and others have made frequent appearances at school board meetings to argue that various books — usually related to sexual health or depicting LGBTQ+ students and families — don’t belong in libraries accessible to children. In neighboring Burnsville, a display at the Yancey County Public Library celebrating LGBTQ+ topics and authors offended some library patrons, leading to a change in membership on the county Public Library Advisory Board, which is appointed by the Yancey County Board of Commissioners.

Nationwide, according to the American Library Association, there were 1,269 requests to censor library books and resources in 2022, the most since the ALA began compiling data

more than 20 years ago. The total 2,571 titles challenged in those requests was a 38% increase over 2021, according to ALA’s data. The vast majority of titles targeted for censorship in 2022 were about the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, said ALA communications specialist Raymond Garcia in a press release.

Despite the noise, neither Asheville City nor Buncombe County Schools has received a formal book ban request this year, as of mid-November, according to district spokespeople. In the Buncombe County Public Libraries system, requests for reconsideration are also rare.

Buncombe County Public Libraries Director Jason Hyatt says the system typically sees fewer than five a year, and since he started as director in January, there have been four requests, including one for the movie Rocketman, the musical based on the life and career of Elton John.

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at the policies and procedures that determine how books are chosen for school and county libraries.

‘Freedom to read’ There is no motive behind making certain titles available to the general public other than to give as many options as possible that could inspire someone to read, Hyatt says.

For the most part, librarians make a wide range of books available, leaving it up to parents to decide which are appropriate for their children, he adds.

The library follows professional standards, such as the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights, for its collection development policy, which is reviewed and revised every three years by staff members. Materials selection is “based on knowledge of the diverse needs of the entire community” while also considering the “merits of the work,” according to the policy.

“It’s a very solid policy, I think that it clearly outlines the things that are considered. It leaves room for professionals to make informed decisions about the items that they add to the collection,” Hyatt says.

Ultimately, the library attempts to mirror the values of the community it serves, Hyatt says, but errs on the side of inclusion, even if a title is controversial.

“The library affirms the public’s right of access to a broad spectrum of reading, listening, and viewing materials, and upholds the right of any individual to secure information, even if the content may be controversial, unorthodox or unacceptable to others,” the collection development policy reads.

“While anyone is free to select or reject materials for themselves or their own minor children, the freedom of others to read or inquire will not be restricted,” it continues.

Basically, librarians don’t want to be in the position of making decisions for readers but simply want to give readers the opportunity to decide for themselves, something that would not be possible if a title wasn’t made available, Hyatt says.

In the schools In the schools, decisions are made by media coordinators at the school level in collaboration with each school’s media and technology advisory committee, says Janet Fraizer, instructional technology and media systems facilitator for Buncombe County Schools.

Schools’ selections involve an assessment of the available resources and curriculum needs of the school, as well as individual teaching and learning styles.

Similar guidelines are used by the schools as the public libraries, with more emphasis on an item’s “educational significance and direct relationship to instructional objectives and curriculum,” according to BCS’ policy.

Asheville City Schools has a similar collection policy, with each school’s librarian taking the lead in a collaborative effort to match a school collection with the educational goals and needs of the student population.

“The goal is to curate a diverse and engaging range of resources that cater to the educational needs, interests and growth of students at various stages of their academic journey,” says Dillon Huffman, a spokesperson for ACS who recently left the district.

BANNED BOOKS: Some frequent commenters at school board meetings say some books shouldn’t be available for young readers. This bulletin board was displayed in the children’s section at Pack Memorial Library. Photo by Greg Parlier At the public library, anyone can fill out a statement of reconsideration form, found on the library website or at any branch. Once submitted, the Collection Development Team reviews it and makes a recommendation to the Library Advisory Board, which then makes a recommenda-

tion to the library director at one of its meetings. The library director makes the final determination and will respond in writing to the original request within eight weeks, according to the policy.

Similarly, anyone can make a request to add to the library’s collection, which goes through a similar process.

For classroom materials, parents may submit a challenge to any textbook or supplementary materials to the principal, who “may establish a committee to review the objection,” according to ACS’ policy 3210, parental inspection of and objection to instructional materials.

If a parent disagrees with a principal’s decision, it can be appealed to the superintendent and ultimately the Asheville City Board of Education, if necessary.

BCS’ policy is more specific, outlining that a school Media/ Technology Advisory Committee — made up of a “site-based administrator, parent, teacher and coordinator” — will review the material and issue a recommendation to the principal. Appeals can be made directly to the Buncombe County Board of Education.

“While input from the community may be sought, the board believes professional educators are in the best position to determine whether a particular instructional material is appropriate for the age and maturity of the students and for the subject matter being taught,” according to both districts’ policies.

Request for reconsideration If you or your child does come across a book or other media that you believe should not be accessible in a public library, there is a process to ask that it be removed.

BY THE BOOK: Professional librarians work together to craft library collections with the guidance of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, including at Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville. Photo by Frances O’Connor

FEATURED TOPIC: Jason Hyatt, director of Buncombe County Public Libraries, says library displays are chosen based on current events or used to highlight topics that might otherwise go unnoticed in a library’s collection. The East Asheville Branch Library featured books on the history of Israel and Palestine in October.

Photo by Greg Parlier

Public displays Also under fire recently are library displays, often near entrances. Hyatt says staff members consider not only current events and trends but topics that they’d like to highlight that might otherwise not get much attention.

Display topics have ranged from African American history in mid-June to celebrate Juneteenth to the history of pasta and how to cook it during National Pasta Month in October.

“Our intent with every display is to highlight materials that we own and give people a chance to see those items and possibly decide to check them out. [We] treat it like merchandising. We use displays as a way to draw attention to new titles and unique titles and help keep things circulating across the county,” he says.

In that way, libraries are not unlike a bookstore, he says.

“There’s not a larger or deeper meaning to any of our displays other than encouraging people to read, making them aware of the things that we have available. There are times that we have displays that are very intentionally aligned with Buncombe County’s core values. And so we make sure that those displays are right in line with the things that Buncombe County believes in,” he says.

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— Greg Parlier X DEC. 13-19, 2023

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Lighting the candles

Groups look to raise awareness of Kwanzaa in Western North Carolina

BY JUSTIN McGUIRE jmcguire@mountainx.com As a child in Philadelphia, Nex Millen took part in Kwanzaa traditions each December: lighting candles, exchanging inexpensive gifts, singing, sharing a feast.

“I grew up in a household that was Christian, but we still celebrated Kwanzaa,” says Millen, an Ashevillebased hip-hop DJ, artist and producer. “Most people get it mixed up and think it’s a religious holiday, but it can be celebrated by many people of all backgrounds. It builds character in people that celebrate.”

When Millen moved to Asheville nine years ago, he discovered the annual celebration of African American culture was not widely understood in Western North Carolina. “There’s just not a lot of knowledge, and there’s a lot of misinformation,” he explains.

“I’ve talked to people, and they swear up and down that it’s a replacement for Christmas. It falls after Hanukkah, it falls after Christmas. You can celebrate it without disrupting your other holidays.”

As a member of the YMI Cultural Center board of directors, Millen is helping lead efforts to raise local awareness of Kwanzaa. Likewise, Hendersonville writer and activist Crystal Cauley wants to educate people about the holiday through the WNC Kwanzaa Collective, which she founded in 2021.

“It’s important because it’s a seven-day observance that brings families together, communities together,” Cauley says. “And with so much going on in African American communities across this country, we really need to observe Kwanzaa. I want my family and friends to observe it, for us to have that time to self-reflect.”

This year, Kwanzaa runs Tuesday, Dec. 26-Monday, Jan. 1.

The YMI Cultural Center, which held its first Kwanzaa observance in 1988, went virtual in 2020 by producing educational videos highlighting the holiday and its seven principles. The video series Kwanzaa 365 explores the principles through discussions, musical performances and poetry.

Because the center is being renovated, the virtual celebration has remained in place for the last few years, with plans to go back to in-person in 2024, Millen says.

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VIRTUAL HOLIDAY: YMI Cultural Center board member Nex Millen appears in the center’s Kwanzaa 365 videos. Screenshot courtesy of the YMI Cultural Center And the WNC Kwanzaa Collective has plans for Hendersonville throughout December.

SEVEN PRINCIPLES Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by activist and academic Maulana Karenga, who modeled it on “first fruit” harvest festival traditions from parts of West and Southeast Africa.

He said his goal was to “give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.”

In later years, he changed his stance somewhat, saying Kwanzaa was not meant to replace Christmas or other religious holidays.

During the week of Kwanzaa, families and communities typically come together to share a feast, honor their ancestors, affirm bonds and celebrate African and African American culture. Tables are decorated with symbols such as the Kinara (candle holder), Mkeka (mat), Muhindi (corn), Mazao (fruit) and Zawadi (gifts).

Each day, celebrants light a candle to highlight the principle of that day: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work

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and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).

“I can connect with all seven principles in my life,” Cauley says. “And so even though it’s for those seven days, my goal is to have people live

SEVEN DAYS: Crystal Cauley, founder of the WNC Kwanzaa Collective, conducted a story hour in Hendersonville in 2022. Photo courtesy of Cauley

the principles throughout the year.

There is an emphasis, especially for African Americans, to really focus on themselves and how we can unite instead of being divided.”

Millen adds: “I believe it would make anybody, not just Black people, a better person if they were to practice [the principles] every day and then celebrate at the end of the year.”

Cauley, who founded the Black Business Network of WNC in 2016, says her favorite principle is Ujamaa, which focuses on cooperative economics on the holiday’s fourth day.

“We want to support Black-owned businesses and to lift each other up,” she says. “And so Ujamaa means to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.”

Kwanzaa started to gain popularity and mainstream acceptance in the 1980s and ’90s. The YMI Cultural Center first observed the holiday in 1988, in conjunction with Asheville’s Light Up Your Holiday event, with a candle lighting ceremony, gospel music from the Asheville Concert Choir and a drum and dance performance, according to contemporary reports in the Asheville Citizen-Times.

RAISING AWARENESS IN WNC But despite the efforts of YMI and others over the years, Kwanzaa has not gained a foothold in WNC the way it has in other places, Cauley asserts.

A big reason for that, she says, is that the Black population is small compared with other parts of the state.

“If you look at Henderson County, it’s less than 4,000 Black people here [in a county of more than 115,000]. So you have people that may not know much about it, but if you go outside of Western North Carolina to a major city, it’s heavily celebrated.”

Unlike Millen, Cauley did not grow up celebrating Kwanzaa. She became interested after attending a celebration organized by the Rev. DeBorah Shelton Ogiste of Unity of the Blue Ridge in Mills River about a decade ago. “I just fell in love with it from that point and celebrated it, and had my children celebrate it too,” she says.

Two years ago, Cauley founded the WNC Kwanzaa Collective as part of her ongoing efforts to preserve African American history in the region. She also has organized local

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU? Black History Month and Juneteenth events and written a spoken-word poem about the history of slavery in Henderson County.

Her efforts to raise awareness have also included reaching out to businesses to encourage them to recognize the holiday and other Black cultural events by, for instance, having a sale or simply putting up “Happy Juneteenth” or “Happy Kwanzaa” signs.

“We can look at what other cities have been doing for decades,” Cauley says. “You can have a holiday market, have an exhibit, do a story time. Say ‘Happy Kwanzaa’ the same way we say ‘Merry Christmas.’ There’s many ways that we can educate ourselves and participate in different cultures.”

In 2021, Cauley convinced the mayors of Asheville, Hendersonville, Brevard and Fletcher to issue proclamations acknowledging Dec. 26-Jan. 1 as Kwanzaa Week. The collective also sponsored a monthlong Kwanzaa display at Henderson County’s main library and held a virtual celebration at the Hands On! Children’s Museum in Hendersonville.

This year, Cauley has organized some events in Hendersonville: • On Thursday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m, Poetic Versers of Color, a group consisting of Cauley, Tony Robles and Robert Zachary, will perform at the Shakedown Lounge Kava Bar. The event will include a Kwanzaa exhibit and Kwanzaathemed poetry readings; • On Wednesday, Dec. 27, 10:30 a.m., Cauley will be at The People’s Museum for Kwanzaa Story Hour and Craft.

The YMI, meanwhile, is encouraging people to check out its Kwanzaa 365 videos, which include educational segments, musical performances from local soul singer Lyric and others, readings, candle lightings and more.

“The videos are very in-depth and celebrate all seven days of Kwanzaa, so you will want to watch it from No. 1 to the end,” Millen says. “It’s something that you can get together with your family and enjoy, and it’s about as long as watching an episode of your favorite sitcom.”

Millen was aware of the YMI’s Kwanzaa celebrations but didn’t participate until he joined the center’s board. When the pandemic hit, he and others decided to create the videos in order to keep the tradition from dying off.

“Kwanzaa is significant to me because it’s the celebration of the things that we’ve done all year. Going over the principles, doing the rituals, all these things build character in a person, I believe. I’m thankful to be able to celebrate it all my life.” X

‘A profound connection’ Kelly Palmatier is a professional psychic medium in Asheville, with more than 30 years’ experience.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

Palmatier: Spirituality, to me, is a profound connection with the inner self and the universe, a journey that transcends material existence and seeks a deeper meaning and connection to the divine.

The power and beauty of nature in Western North Carolina greatly enhance this spiritual experience. The majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, the serene forests and the cascading waterfalls are not just stunning backdrops: They are integral elements of spiritual life here. They offer a sense of peace and grounding, reminding us of our place in the larger tapestry of life. Hiking through these landscapes, one feels a deep sense of connection and awe, an experience that nourishes the soul.

In this region, spirituality is experienced as a dance between the self, community and nature. It’s a harmonious blend of personal introspection, communal diversity and the profound wisdom and tranquility offered by the natural world. And don’t even get me started on the Vortex!

For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

Embracing a more spiritual life is a beautiful and personal journey. Here are a few options for those seeking to delve deeper into their spiritual path: • Start with self-reflection: Begin by looking inward. Understand your values, beliefs and KELLY PALMATIER what spirituality means to you. This introspection is the foundation of your spiritual journey.

• Practice meditation: This practice can help quiet the mind, bring awareness to the present and connect with your inner self. Even if you start with only two minutes a day, a little meditation goes a long way.

• Connect with nature: Nature has a profound way of awakening our spiritual selves. Spend time outdoors, observe the beauty and intricacies of the natural world, and allow yourself to feel part of something larger.

• Explore different spiritual paths and traditions: Read, research and explore various spiritual philosophies and practices. This exploration can enrich your understanding and help you find a path that resonates deeply with you.

• Cultivate gratitude and compassion: Practice being grateful for your experiences and show compassion toward yourself and others. These qualities nurture a loving and spiritual mindset.

• Incorporate spirituality into daily life: Find small ways to weave spirituality into your everyday routine, whether through mindful moments, expressions of gratitude or acts of kindness.

• Remember to trust your journey: Everyone’s spiritual path is unique. Trust your instincts and follow the path that feels right for you, even if it differs from others.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

I believe there are several misconceptions about spirituality.

• Spirituality is not one-size-fits-all: Often, people think there’s a strict path or set of rules to follow in spirituality. In reality, spirituality is a personal journey that can take many forms. It’s about finding what resonates with your own beliefs and experiences.

• It doesn’t require abandoning logic or scientific understanding: Many believe spirituality and science cannot coexist.

However, spirituality often complements scientific understanding, offering a deeper sense of meaning and connection to the world around us.

• It’s not always about religion: While spirituality can be part of religious practice, it doesn’t have to be. It can be as simple as feeling connected to nature, art or human kindness.

• It’s not just for the enlightened: There’s a misconception that spirituality is only for those who have reached a certain level of enlightenment or have been chosen. In truth, spirituality is accessible to anyone, regardless of their background or experiences.

• It doesn’t guarantee an easy life: Embracing spirituality doesn’t mean you’ll be free from life’s challenges. Rather, it can provide tools and perspectives to help navigate these challenges with resilience and grace.

• It’s not always mystical or supernatural: While some aspects of spirituality involve beliefs in the supernatural, it can also be about understanding oneself and one’s place in the universe on a more practical level.

Spirituality is a deeply individual experience and can bring immense peace and understanding when approached with an open heart and mind. X

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All about love LGBTQ+ church leaders share reflections on service

BY GREG PARLIER gparlier@mountainx.com The Rev. Sarah Hurlbert says she can understand why some fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community never want to step foot in a church.

“Why would you want to be a part of a religious group that has oppressed folks?” she concedes.

But Hurlbert, who identifies as bisexual, says the same God that made her who she is also called her to the priesthood. She is disappointed in those who use the Bible to discriminate against minority communities because of what she says is an improper conflation of politics and Christian teachings.

“The more you study, the more you realize a lot of what’s being preached out there as the Gospel is not true,” she asserts. “And a lot of it is this cultural conservatism, and they’ve gotten the

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Bible and the flag and the Constitution all mixed up. And so it’s important for us to be in the public square, not proclaiming a political party.”

For Hurlbert, there are two primary commandments given by God to guide human life.

“Love God above everything else; love your neighbor as yourself. Outside of that, we have created all these things, all these hoops that people have to jump through, none of it’s Gospel. So what Jesus came to say was a pretty simple message that we’ve managed to really, really make hard.”

Hurlbert joined The Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village as dean in 2022. It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, which, she says, has been on the forefront of expanding acceptance in the Episcopal church, one of the first Christian denominations to officially allow openly LGBTQ+ ministers in its leadership.

While the national Episcopal leaders voted to make the church “fully inclusive” in 1976, it was 2009 before they passed a resolution officially allowing the ordination of LGBTQ+ bishops, and there wasn’t full support for samesex marriage until 2015, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

At All Souls in the 1980s, the Rev. Neil Zabriskie was on the leading edge, challenging the WNC diocese to “begin facilitating conversations around human sexuality as well as becoming a welcoming and safe church for gay and lesbian persons,” according to All Souls’ website.

That conversation continued into the next decade, and today, the Rev. José A. McLoughlin, bishop of the

LEAD WITH LOVE: The Rev. Sarah Hulbert, dean at The Cathedral of All Souls in Biltmore Village, says those who aren’t welcoming LGBTQ+ parishioners with open arms are missing God’s greatest commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Photo by Greg Parlier Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, says it’s his goal to welcome and earnestly include everyone, regardless of background.

“In a world where division persists, we hope that our commitment to being open and affirming is an example of the transformative power of love,” he says. “We hope also to be a living example of a church where everyone is not only accepted but fully embraced for who they are and that each person can find belonging that leads to full flourishing in the divine light of love.”

COMING OUT IN THE CHURCH The Rev. David Eck, who is gay, did not hide who he was from his congregation when he became pastor of Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Fairview in 1993. That was a risky move at the time.

“I think early on a lot of us sort of flew under the radar,” he says. “In my denomination, I would have been fired had the bishop known.”

It wasn’t until 2009 that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, of which Abiding Savior is a member, voted to allow gay and lesbian clergy to serve openly, he says.

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“I would perform all the unions for couples before it was legal to actually marry folks,” Eck says. “And my congregation was supportive of that. And so, you know, we’ve just been sort of quietly affirming a wide diversity of people.”

When Eck did come out to the bishop and his colleagues from other churches, he was the only openly gay Lutheran pastor in the state, but that was less important to him than worship and community outreach.

“Those who know me well weren’t surprised,” he recalls. “Some folks, you know, just can’t seem to get beyond that prejudice. I had to part ways with some people, and there are pastors in the community that won’t work with me. It just is what it is.”

Hurlbert’s journey to the church and self-acceptance went through Broadway. After being raised in the Episcopal church in Central Florida, she moved to New York City, where she worked backstage in Broadway theaters and attended an Episcopal church she liked. But something was unsettled. She met a few women who were ordained in the church and eventually started to realize what she needed to do.

“Something was being stirred up,” she says of her decision to go to seminary. “I took my time and told God a lot of times that God was wrong.

And then I did some real conversation in spiritual direction with clergy, and I finally came to realize, yep, this is what’s happening.”

It wasn’t until she was out of seminary and in the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, where there were lots of other LGBTQ+ clergy, that she came out. By that time, in 2014, the church was much more accepting, making her transition to being open much easier than if she had come out during seminary.

Part of her delay to accept her own sexuality had to do with cultural norms around female relationships, Hurlbert says. There is a cultural acceptance that female relationships take many forms, so early on she was led to believe that certain feelings she was having were just a type of platonic female friendship.

Later, when she entered the church, she fought the urge to get swallowed up by her ministry, not allowing herself to be loved by someone because she was so consumed by her duties caring for her congregation.

Eventually, she fell in love with her now-wife, Dee Hurlbert.

LGBTQ+ LEADERSHIP For Jesse Nelson, who is gay, the presence of LGBTQ+ leaders in the church is important to fostering a welcoming environment, especially with so much divisive rhetoric coming from segments of the Christian community.

OPEN BOOK: The Rev. David Eck has been leading Abiding Savior Lutheran Church in Fairview for about 30 years and was always open with his congregation about his sexual orientation. Photo courtesy of Eck “At the end of the day, you can’t be accepting of LGBTQ+ folks as a church and not accept them into leadership,” he argues. “To me, that’s just not possible. If you’re doing that, you’re playing a game that’s causing confusion.”

Nelson grew up in an evangelical Baptist church in Cashiers but began participating in a local Catholic church because it was a little more socially progressive, he says.

He moved to the Waynesville area about four years ago to help take care of his ailing grandfather and

wound up joining Grace Church in the Mountains, an Episcopal church in town, because he liked the way the congregation preached “radical love.”

“They take ‘love God’ and ‘love your neighbor’ very seriously. I think that, for me, that’s pretty important to spiritual life,” he says.

Now, Nelson hosts “joyful fellowship events” for members of the church to share in their experiences as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Hurlbert says it’s vital for church leaders to actively show the wider community love and acceptance, through word and action, especially in the face of hateful rhetoric that is also being attributed to the Bible.

“I preach to our folks that we’ve got to be out there because there are young people growing up in this farright Christian nationalism that know in their heart that something’s wrong, but they have nothing that they can go to,” she says. “They don’t even know that there’s a place where you can go and be gay and Christian. For a lot of people, it’s a matter of life and death for us to just be out there and be who we are.”

For Nelson, integrating LGBTQ+ people into the church is the only way to build a community that resembles the one taught by Scripture.

“The point of Christianity to me is to grow in love and understanding, and to build peaceful, loving communities,” he says. “And to do that, I think you have to be accepting of the LGBTQ+ community. Not just tolerate it, but you know, integrate it into spiritual life. Because yeah, it is part of our life experience. So it is sacred.” X

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

‘Many viable and worthy paths’ Lisa Forehand is the statewide organizer for Carolina Jews for Justice, a grassroots organization that combines advocacy and education to organize a nonpartisan Jewish voice for justice in North Carolina. She lives in Asheville.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

Forehand: I try to have a personal relationship with God (I prefer to call that which is greater than me Spirit). I also live my life in a spiritual way. I have personal spiritual practices (including mindfulness, meditation, yoga, talking to God) that help me cultivate my ever-evolving relationship to and with Spirit. I also find Spirit present in relationships — when working for justice and building beloved community. Mostly, my spirituality calls me to show up in love (and forgiveness when LISA FOREHAND I miss that aspirational goal because I’m human too) and acknowledge the Divine in all beings.

For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

Listen to your heart. Do you want to be alone or with others to cultivate a more spiritual life? Are you open to trying new practices that might bring you closer to a higher power? Do you feel called to dig deeper into your existing tradition? Is a mystical path of interest to you? Does the Divine feel closer when you are in nature? I believe there is One Spirit (something greater than me/us), but that there are many viable and worthy paths that can lead to Spirit. Being a lifelong seeker is a good start.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

One of the biggest misconceptions about spirituality is thinking that one size fits all and that somehow one way is better than another. Institutional religion may be one path, but it is not the only way to find deeper spirituality. Far from having the answer, the more I learn about spirituality, the more questions I have. X

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Jump, jive an’ wail A jukebox’s journey to the Asheville Radio Museum

BY KRISTIN D’AGOSTINO kristindagostino@abtech.edu When the Rock-ola 1422 jukebox hit dance floors in 1946, bikinis were the new rage in Paris, “Fibber McGee and Molly” ruled the radio waves and college kids jitterbugged to the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and the Andrews Sisters. With its streamlined curves, walnut veneer and chrome embellishments, the Rock-ola fit right in with the flashy Buicks and Cadillacs of its time.

These days, though, students and visitors at A-B Tech might be surprised to come across the Rock-ola parked beside a third-floor elevator in the Elm building. What is a vintage jukebox doing on campus?

Stuart Smolkin, curator of the Asheville Radio Museum, located inside the building, recently described the machine’s presence as an anomaly. The museum, which is hosted by A-B Tech’s engineering department, has over 100 vintage radios dating back to the technology’s inception.

But the Rock-ola, acquired in 2021, is its first and only jukebox.

A DECADE OF SILENCE Eyes sparkling boyishly, Smolkin recalls how a chance exchange with a museum visitor led to his eventual introduction to Joan Giampaolo, the owner of the jukebox, who was looking to donate it. Before even meeting Giampaolo, Smolkin jumped at the opportunity. Decades earlier, while living in New Orleans, he’d spent months restoring a 1940s Wurlitzer

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jukebox, which was later destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

“We had 5 feet of water in our house,” he recalls. “All the antiques that were portable we’d moved upstairs, but the Wurlitzer weighed several hundred pounds. It was completely ruined.”

Having learned the Wurlitzer’s inner workings, Smolkin was eager to restore a similar machine. Jukeboxes from the ’40s, he explains, are particularly beautiful because manufacturers were competing to have the most eye-catching model. “It was like having a lure for a fish,” he says.

The Rock-ola 1422 boasted red, yellow and green panels that glowed in the dark, spinning cylinders that threw colored light patterns and a turntable that rose when a coin was dropped into the slot. When the Rockola 1422 came out, Smolkin says, about 15,000 were made, and it cost around $450 to purchase, which would be about $7,500 in today’s currency.

Excited at the prospect of restoring another machine, Smolkin rented a U-Haul and drove out to Fletcher to retrieve the jukebox. Upon inspection, he discovered the Rock-ola could no longer play music. Its amplifier was broken, its body was damaged and the beautiful walnut veneer was peeling up along the corners.

For the next year, Smolkin and two museum volunteers worked to restore the jukebox. They replaced brittle electrical wiring and glued down the veneer, devising a system of ratchet straps to hold thin pieces of wood in place while avoiding damage to the chrome grill.

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After waiting several months to get the last part from a supplier — a strip of colored plastic that was particularly difficult to find — the Rock-ola played its first song in July after nearly decade of silence: Duke Ellington’s “Take the ‘A’ Train.”

“You would’ve thought the three of us were little kids,” Smolkin says.

“We had blurry eyes; our jaws were hanging down admiring this thing.

It was the first time we saw it lit up. It was so much nicer than we could’ve imagined.”

“I asked for it, and Louise [my foster sister] gave it to me for free, but I felt so guilty I asked if she’d take $25,” Giampaolo recalls. “It was big and heavy, but we got a trailer and took it back to Chicago.”

Over the next three decades, the Rock-ola moved across the country with the Giampaolos, spinning records for six children and, later, eight grandchildren.

“It was always in our family room,” Giampaolo says. “I would play it if I was mopping or dusting and change the records based on the time. My oldest daughter loved Bing Crosby, so I’d play her ‘White Christmas.’ It’s been a part of my kids’ lives since they were little.”

It wasn’t until after 2011, when Giampaolo moved from Florida to live in a small apartment in her daughter’s South Asheville home, that the jukebox began to show signs of age.

“I used to go away in the summer,” she recalls. “And my grandkids were playing with it and bringing kids to show them. They let the kids monkey with it. That’s when things started breaking.”

Giampaolo was happy to learn of the radio museum and to discover Smolkin’s passion for restoring old jukeboxes. Though she’d considered giving the Rock-ola to one of her grandchildren, donating it to a museum where it could be appreciated by engineering students seemed a better fit.

Roped off beside the elevator, the Rock-ola’s buttons are protected with plastic. Twice a day, it lights up as students pass it between classes.

Anyone interested in hearing it play music can call the museum for a personal demonstration.

“The men there are so kind, and they really care,” Giampaolo says. “I’m happy [the jukebox is] taken care of, and it’s working like I remember it. It’s part of my life. It’s part of my town.”

The Asheville Radio Museum is inside the Elm Building, 340 Victoria Road, Room 315. A volunteer-run organization, it is open to the public Saturdays, 1-3 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, visit avl.mx/d6m. X

playful, incorporating colored plastics, bubble tubes, bright lights and chrome.

Asheville Radio Museum curator Stuart Smolkin says, “There was a lot of competition among jukebox makers so people would be attracted in a dimly lit bar and put money in. ... People liked to dance, and if [a bar] didn’t have a band [it] had a jukebox.”

The ubiquity of the jukebox during the 1930s boosted sales in the record industry, which had plummeted due to the popularity of the radio as well as the onset of the Great Depression. According to Pearce, sales had dropped from its 1920s peak of around 110 million records per year to about 10 million in the early

1930s. By the end of the decade, however, record sales went up again to 33 million.

By the 1950s, jukebox design changed as manufacturers competed less about who had the most attractive design than who had the best technology. Seeburg designed the Select-O-Matic, a model that could store 50 records and play 100 songs — a far leap from the handful of songs available decades earlier.

Soon after, manufacturers began emulating the cars popular at the time, adding colored lights, chrome tailfins and front grills to new jukebox designs — the perfect compliment to the diners popular at that time. X

SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY Soon after its July debut, Giampaolo swung by to visit her old jukebox.

Before it perched beside the elevator, Giampaolo says the Rock-ola spent its Motown years with her in Chicago, its disco years in Florida and came to Asheville in the mid-2000s around the time Adele and Katie Perry were battling for Billboard’s No.1 spot.

Giampaolo still recalls the excitement she felt at age 12, when she first saw the jukebox in a community clubhouse in her hometown of Goodman, Wis. In those days, you could get five songs for a quarter, and the jukebox played a mix of Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney and polka music for the town’s many Polish immigrants.

“We didn’t have any place to go, so the Goodman Clubhouse is where we’d hang out,” she says. “There were only 800 people who lived there.

There was a movie theater, a bowling alley and a soda fountain. We’d get a soda ... play music and the girls would dance around.”

At 20, after graduating college, Giampaolo left Wisconsin for Illinois, where she met her husband and got a job as a medical clerk. Still, she continued to visit the clubhouse for high school reunions. In the late ’50s, the clubhouse was bought by Giampaolo’s

LONG JOURNEY: Joan Giampaolo purchased her Rock-ola 1422 jukebox in the late 1950s. It has traveled with Giampaolo and her family from Illinois to Florida before landing in Western North Carolina in the mid-2000s. She donated it to the Asheville Radio Museum two years ago. Earlier this year, the fully restored jukebox was placed officially on display. Photo courtesy of Giampaolo foster sister, and the jukebox was put in storage. At the time, Giampaolo and her husband were building a house north of Chicago and starting a family. The jukebox seemed the perfect complement to their new home.

A brief history of the jukebox According to Chris Pearce’s 1991 book, Jukebox Art, etymologists believe the word “juke” is derived from Black Southern slang and the West African word “dzug,” which means to lead a disorderly life. Jukebox manufacturers initially distanced themselves from the word, opting instead for the term “automatic phonograph.” Based on Pearce’s research, attitudes shifted once the term was used in films such as the 1942 movie Jukebox Jenny, which transformed the device into a symbol of American life.

When the first Rock-ola came out in 1935, there were already three jukebox

manufacturers on the scene: Wurlitzer, AMI and Mills. Originating in the mid1920s, the first jukebox models were made of dark wood and resembled the radios of the day. The device’s selling point was not beauty but its ability to amplify music for public entertainment.

By the time former pinball machine designer David Rockola put out his first jukebox in the mid-1930s, manufacturers were making them more visually appealing, using fine veneer and alternating light and dark woods.

By the 1940s, designs became more

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

 Online-only events  Feature, page 41  More info, page 45-47  More info, page 48-49 WELLNESS Therapeutic Recreation Adult Morning Movement Active games, physical activities, and sports for individuals with disabilities ages 17 and over.

Advanced registration at avlrec.com required.

WE (12/13), 10am, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave Free Community Yoga & Mindfulness Free monthly event with Inspired Change Yoga that will lead you into a morning of breathwork, meditation and yoga.

Bring your own mat.

WE (12/13), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Tai Chi Fan This class helps build balance and whole body awareness. All ages and ability levels welcome.

Fans will be provided.

WE (12/13), 1pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Nia Dance Fitness A sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts and healing arts.

TH (12/14, 21), 9:30am, TU (12/19), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

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

TH (12/14), MO (12/18), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Dharma & Discuss People coming together in friendship to meditate, learn and discuss the Dharma.

Beginners and experienced practitioners are welcome.

TH (12/14, 21), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

LOCAL HOLIDAY TRADITION: Wortham Center for the Performing Arts hosts A Swannanoa Solstice on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 2 and 7 p.m. This local holiday tradition ushers in the winter season, and this year features Becky Stone, Zoe & Cloyd, E.J. Jones & The Piper Jones Band and more. Photo by Carol Spags Photography

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

FR (12/15), TU (12/19), 9am, SA (12/16), 11am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Yoga for Everyone A free-in person yoga class for all ages and abilities that is led by registered yoga instructor Mandy. Bring your own mat, water bottle and mask. Registration required.

SA (12/16), 9:30am, Black Mountain Presbyterian, 117 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Gentle Restorative & Singing Bowl Sound Bath An evening of Gentle Restorative Yoga practice, breath work, and a crystal singing bowl sound bath.

FR (12/15), 5:30pm, Black Mountain Yoga, 116 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Therapeutic Slow Flow Yoga A blend of meditation, breathing and movement. All bodies, genders, and identities welcome. Bring your own mat.

SA (12/16), 10am, Mount Inspiration Apparel, 444 Haywood Rd, Ste 103 Magnetic Minds: Depression & Bipolar Support Group Free weekly peer-led meeting for those living with depression, bipolar, and related mental health challenges. Email depressionbipolarasheville@gmail.com or call or text (828) 367-7660 for more info.

SA (12/16), 2pm, 1316 Ste C Parkwood Rd Winter Flow w/Jamie Knox This class builds heat in the body and releases excess water, so we can be our strongest and fittest, boosting our immune system and staving off depression.

No need to pre-register. Walk-ins welcome.

SU (12/17), 10:30am, One World Brewing W, 520 Haywood Rd

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Gentle Yoga for Queer & GNC Folks This class is centered towards creating an affirming and inclusive space for queer and gender non-conforming individuals.

SU (12/17), 1:30pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd Barre Fusion A high energy low impact practice that shapes, sculpts, and tones the body like a dancer. No experience necessary, open to all levels.

MO (12/18), 9:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Mettā Meditation In-person guided meditation focused on benevolence & loving-kindness. This event is free to attend.

Beginners and experienced practitioners are welcome.

MO (12/18), 7pm, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Morning Meditation Everyone is most welcome to join the sit; however no meditation instructions are provided.

TU (12/19), 7:15am, Quietude Micro-retreat Center, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Zumba Free zumba class; Registration not needed.

TU (12/19), 6:30pm, St. James Episcopal Church, 424 W State St, Black Mountain

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

WE (12/20), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Free Zumba Gold Fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance.

Free, but donations for the instructor are appreciated. For more information please call (828) 350-2058.

WE (12/20), noon, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

ART Beyond the Lens: Photorealist Perspectives on Looking, Seeing & Painting This exhibition offers viewers an opportunity to explore a singular and still vigorous aspect of American photorealism. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed on Tuesday. Exhibition through Feb. 5, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Hannah Cole: A Mirror, Not a Window A collection of paintings and sculptures that turn the viewer’s attention to often overlooked aspects of our surrounding environment and reframing the very definition of representational art. Gallery open Tuesday through Satur-

day, 11am. Exhibition through Dec.16.

Tracey Morgan Gallery, 188 Coxe Ave Stella Alesi: Squish This exhibition is a group of geometric, abstract oil on oil paper paintings.

With the use of simple shapes and a limited color palette, these works explore the visceral experience of living at this current moment.

Gallery open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am.

Exhibition through Dec. 16.

Tracey Morgan Gallery, 188 Coxe Ave Lelia Canter: Explorations in Heritage & Nature Lelia Canter's vibrant paintings depict Cherokee, Celtic, and Appalachian heritage with unique and informative illustrations of Appalachian history and culture. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 8am. Exhibition through Dec. 30.

Zuma Coffee, 7 N Main St, Marshall Creating Textures: Focus Gallery Exhibition This exhibition features the work of five Guild members: Michael Hatch, Valerie Berlage, Joseph Rhodes, Barry Rhodes, and Joanna Warren. Each artist will display their own respectable arts and crafts during this exhibition. Open daily, 10 am.

Exhibition through Feb., 2024.

Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy

Reckoning: Adornment as Narrative An exhibition of diverse practices, anchored at three points: methods of reckoning; the function of adornment; and the fusing of personal and cultural narrative. Through material language, each artist tells the story of their identity. Gallery open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am and Sunday, 11am.

Tyger Tyger Gallery, 191 Lyman St, Ste 144 Spark of the Eagle Dancer: The Collecting Legacy of Lambert Wilson This exhibition celebrates the legacy of Lambert Wilson, a passionate collector of contemporary Native American art. Gallery open Tuesday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through June 28, 2024 WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee Western North Carolina Glass: Selections from the Collection Western North Carolina is important in the history of American glass art.

A variety of techniques and a willingness to push boundaries of the medium can be seen in this selection of works.

Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday.

Exhibition through April 15, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Paint Your Own Pottery You are invited to come paint your own ceramic bisqueware. We have holiday specific choices, as well as picture frames and jewelry boxes which make great gifts. Use rich and colorful ceramic underglazes to paint the piece.

TH (12/14), 4:30pm, Sarah Sunshine Pottery, 105 Cherry St, Black Mountain American Art in the Atomic Age: 1940–1960 This exhibition features works created during the 1940s–1960s. Much of the art during this time expressed the uncertainty of the era, often relying on automatism and biomorphic forms. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday. Exhibition through April 29, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Daily Craft Demonstrations Two artists of different media will explain and demonstrate their craft with informative materials displayed at their booths, daily. These free and educational opportunities are open to the public. Open daily, 8am.

Folk Art Center, MP 382, Blue Ridge Pkwy Vessels of Merriment This invitational exhibition will feature handcrafted drinking vessels by 15 studio potters from around the country. Viewers will

have the opportunity to browse ceramic mugs, goblets, whiskey cups, wine cups, tumblers and more. Gallery open Monday through Sunday, 10am. Exhibition through Dec. 31.

Grovewood Gallery, 111 Grovewood Rd Romare Bearden: Ways of Working This exhibition highlights works on paper and explores many of Romare Bearden's most frequently used mediums including screen-printing, lithography, hand colored etching, collagraph, monotype, relief print, photomontage, and collage. Gallery open daily, 11am, closed Tuesday.

Exhibition through Jan. 22, 2024.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square In the Flow: The Art of Safi Martin Martin involves pouring acrylic paints directly on the canvas, which conveys a celebration of flow, both in art and in life. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 11am and Sunday, 1 pm. Exhibition through Jan. 7.

Flood Gallery Fine Art Center, 850 Blue Ridge Rd, Black Mountain Weaving at Black Mountain College: Anni Albers, Trude Guermonprez & Their Students The first exhibition devoted to textile practices at Black Mountain College. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 11am. Exhibition through Jan. 6, 2024.

Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St Public Tour: Intersections in American Art Docent led tours of the Museum's Collection and special exhibitions.

No reservations are required.

TH (12/21), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

COMMUNITY MUSIC December Live Series: Monique Pinelli Pinelli, on violin, will be playing holiday and classical music in the exhibitions Beyond the Lens, level 1, and Intersections in American Art, level 3.

WE (12/13), 11am, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Candlelight: Featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons & More A live, multi-sensory musical experience illuminated by thousands of candles, allowing viewers to fully immerse themselves in classical music.

TH (12/14), 6:45pm, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd

103.3 Asheville FM: Record Release & Listening Party A record release and listening party for the Compilation LP, Real People Great Radio Volume 2. Free entry and many of the featured artists will perform. See p49 TH (12/14), 7pm, Citizen Vinyl, 14 O'Henry Ave Singer Songwriter Showcase: AG Hammond, Kim Butler & Sarah Kohrs A singer and songwriter showcase with artist AG Hammond, multi-instrumentalist Kim Butler and accomplished lyricist, Sarah Kohrs.

TH (12/14), 7:30pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr Pianist Brian Turner A renowned composer playing from Bach to Beyonce, Sinatra to Swift, he takes your requests and can play almost anything.

FR (12/15), 7pm, The Omni Grove Park Inn, 290 Macon Ave Kevin Spears the Kalimba Man Spears, has astounded audiences far and wide reimaging what is possible on this traditional African folk instrument.

FR (12/15), 7:30pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St Swingin' in the Season w/Wendy Jones & The Asheville Jazz Orchestra No better way to get in the holiday spirit than with with AJO and a night full of your favorite holiday tunes.

FR (12/15), 7:30pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters: A Holiday Spectacular Featuring songs from their 2019 EP “Christmas on a Greyhound Bus” as well as a selection of familiar holiday classics.

FR (12/15), 8pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave Candlelight Holiday Special: The Nutcracker & More Discover the music of The Nutcracker and more under the gentle glow of candlelight.

FR (12/15), TU (12/19), TH (12/21), 8:45pm, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd AmiciMusic: Two Piano Holiday Get in the spirit of the holidays with this virtuosic concert that is a true ballet of twenty fingers on a single piano.

SA (12/16), 2pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Juan Holladay A solo performance with singer-songwriter, and a surprise guest or two.

SA (12/16), 5:30pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St

An Evening w/Roy "Futureman" Wooten Presenting enchanting melodies, original compositions of soundscapes inspired by the universal language of art, math and music.

SA (12/16), 7:30pm, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd

Advent Recital Series & Lunch The recitals will last thirty minutes, and lunch will follow for a donation of $6. Enjoy music reflecting the season's beauty.

WE (12/20), noon, Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church St

Community Drone Bring an instrument, plug it into one of the mixers we'll have on hand and join the drone in progress or just come to listen. Please bring your own instrument, a cable to connect a mixer and a backup power strip just in case.

SA (12/16), 8pm, Revolve, 821 Riverside Dr, Ste 179

Chloe & Leah of Rising Appalachia An Intimate candlelit evening concert of unreleased new songs, a global song and expressive singing master class.

The vocal master class explores sound vibration and body movement as tools for self-awareness.

WE (12/20), noon, AyurPrana Listening Room, 312 Haywood Rd

Brevard Philharmonic Presents: Christmastime in Brevard Bringing you treasured, holiday favorites, with special guests, the Transylvania Choral Society.

Plus, music from The Nutcracker.

SU (12/17), 3pm, Porter Center, Brevard College, 1 Brevard College Dr, Brevard, NC

The Songwriter Sessions w/Elaine Anderson, Jon Charles Dwyer & Charlie Wilkinson An evening of original songs in a natural acoustic listening room.

This week features Elaine Anderson, Jon Charles Dwyer and Charlie Wilkinson.

WE (12/20), 7pm, The Brandy Bar, 504 7th Ave E, Hendersonville

Mark's House Jam & Beggar's Banquet Weekly Sunday pot luck and musician's jam with acoustic and plug in players. It's a family friendly community day so bring a dish to share.

SU (12/17), 3pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr

Asheville FM Live Music Sessions: Thomas Kozak & The Poets This month features Thomas Kozak, a locally-based singer-songwriter known for his poetic lyricism and captivating guitar mastery.

WE (12/20), 9pm, The Getaway River Bar, 790 Riverside Dr

Holiday Concert The Asheville Community Band will be hosting a holiday-themed concert and will be led by conductor, Frances Shelton.

SU (12/17), 3:30pm, Asheville High School, 419 McDowell St Baroque Recorder Duo Local musicians, Tom Hudgens and Andy John, will present a free cconcert of classical compositions.

SU (12/17), 4pm, Parish Hall of St John in the Wilderness, 1905 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock Russ Wilson Presents: Have Yourself A Swingin' Little Christmas Bringing all of the great Christmas music spectaculars hosted by Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and others.

SU (12/17), 6pm, Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200 Local Live Series: Jay Brown, Kellin Watson & Aaron Price A bi-weekly local live series featuring a variety of talented local musicians. This week welcomes Kellin Watson and Aaron Price to the stage.

MO (12/18), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

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December Live Series: Laura Boswell Boswell, on guitar, will be playing intimate folk music with classical influence that has been described as meditative, transcendental.

TH (12/21), 6pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

LITERARY StoryWalk: Outside In Enjoy fresh air and walking along the StoryWalk trail while reading Outside In, a mindful contemplation on the world's connectedness and the many ways nature affects our everyday lives.

WE (12/13, 20), TH (12/14, 21), FR (12/15), SA (12/17), SU (12/18) 6am, Weaver Park, 200 Murdock Ave Poetry Open Mic Hendo A poetry-centered open mic that welcomes all kinds of performers every Thursday night.

18+ TH (12/14, 21), 7:30pm, Shakedown Lounge, 706 Seventh Ave E, Hendersonville Wilma Dykeman Book Discussions: Jo Ann Thomas Croom Retired Professor of Biology at Mars Hill University, featuring her memoir No Work in the Grave: Life in the Toe

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COM M U N I TY CA LEN DA R River Valley.

TH (12/14), 7pm, W Asheville Public Library, 942 Haywood Rd

TH (12/14), FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7:30pm, The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St

Asheville Storyslam: Home Prepare a five-minute story about where the heart is. Where you’re from, your humble abode, your roots, your heritage or where your mama lives.

TH (12/14), 7:30pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

A Christmas Memory For the fifth straight season, actor and theologian E.R. Haire, Jr. will perform Truman Capote’s beloved short story, A Christmas Memory, as a one-man show.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), SU (12/17), 7:30pm, Parish House of St John in the Wilderness, 1905 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock

Remembering Rumi: Poetry Reading, Whirling Guidance & Music This is the 750th anniversary of the death of the great poet Rumi.

We'll read his poems, interweaving them with great music by Free Planet Radio, and we will whirl in his honor. See p48-49 SU (12/17), 7pm, Bryson Gym, 102 Upper College Rd, Swannanoa Poetry Night Everyone is welcome to share a few poems or just sit back and listen.

Signups to share will open 15 minutes prior to the start.

TU (12/19), 6pm, Oak and Grist Distilling Co., 1556 Grovestone Rd, Black Mountain Punch Bucket Lit: Reading Series w/Justin Marks & Niina Pollari A conversation with Justin Marks, author of If This Should Reach You in Time. Niina Pollari, author of two poetry collections will also be in attendance.

TU (12/19), 6:30pm, rEvolve Buy+Sell+Trade, 697 Haywood Rd

THEATER & FILM Jeeves Takes a Bow Everyone’s favorite hapless hero, Bertie Wooster, embarks on an American adventure armed only with his handsome fortune, his talent for trouble, and his remarkable valet, Jeeves.

WE (12/13), TH (12/14), SA (12/16) 7:30pm, FR (12/15), SU (12/17), 2pm, NC Stage Co., 15 Stage Ln My Favorite Christmas This original collection of stories, favorite holiday music, and dance is a perfect night of nostalgia and holiday cheer that will have you remembering this year as your “Favorite Christmas”.

TH (12/14), FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7:30pm, SU (12/17), 2pm, Hart Theatre, 250 Pigeon St, Waynesville New Queer’s Eve A glimpse into the struggle, absurdity, camaraderie, and joy around this holiday from a LGBTQIA+ lens. New Queer’s Eve invites audiences to share in the joys and struggles of queer life through the decades.

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Every Christmas Story Ever Told Instead of performing Charles Dickens’ beloved holiday classic for the umpteenth time, three actors decide to perform every Christmas story ever told, plus Christmas traditions from around the world.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7:30pm, SU (12/17), 3pm, Hendersonville Theatre, 229 S Washington St, Hendersonville Twelfth Night A mischievous masterpiece, with gender-bending, subversion of authority, true love, sad songs, and madcap hijinks. Add the astounding energy and creativity of the Moppets for a high-octane night of holiday madness.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), SU (12/17), 7:30pm, Attic Salt Theatre, The Mills at Riverside, 2002 Riverside Dr Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley Mary is growing tired of her role as dutiful middle sister in the face of her siblings’ romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Mr Darcy’s Pemberley Estate, an unexpected guest sparks Mary’s hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7:30pm, SU (12/17), 3pm, BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St Elf: The Musical This enchanting musical follows the journey of Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole who embarks on a journey to New York City to find his real father. See p41 FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7:30pm, SU (12/17), 2:30pm, Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut St A Dickens Christmas Carol: A Traveling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts Various forms of mayhem ensues as this professional company scrambles to keep the show going and everything that could go possibly wrong does, to hilarious, ridiculous results.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Still Life & Other Stories by Matt Sandbank A collection of wordless shadow shorts that surprises and delights audiences with visual storytelling.

SA (12/16), 11am, The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St Toybox's Monthly Puppetry Series A new series featuring original works by acclaimed award-winning puppeteer and clown Toybox, alongside some of the best puppeteers in the nation as special guests.

SA (12/16), 11am, The Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St ELF A free holiday movie.

MO (12/18), 7pm, The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave The Blackout Diaries An interactive comedy show were standup comedians, plus regular people tell true drinking stories with photos from the events. Then you, the audience, can ask questions.

TU (12/19), 8pm, PULP, 103 Hilliard Ave

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS Treks Hiking Club for Adults 50 & Over A low-impact hiking club offering leisurely-paced hikes for active adults.

No hiking experience is required, but the hike covers over three miles on uneven terrain.

WE (12/13), 9:30am, Asheville Recreation Park, 65 Gashes Creek Rd Aerial Silks Foundations Learn how to properly ascend, descend, and create stunning shapes on the silks while emphasizing safety and proper form. Participants of all ages and all abilities are welcome.

WE (12/13, 20), 4pm and 5:30pm, Amethyst Realm, 244 Short Coxe Ave O Come Let Us Adore Him: Christmas Creches from Around the World This exhibit is an ecumenical effort to highlight the cultural diversity of each crèche on display, while honoring and celebrating the common theme that runs throughout—the birth of Jesus, WE (12/13), 5pm, First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St Community Choice Enjoy family activities including puzzles, board games, arts and crafts, and more. Kids ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

WE (12/13), 6:30pm, Dr Wesley Grant, Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston St

Dollar Décor DIY Enjoy new crafts made from simple items you have at home or can be found at dollar stores.

Advance registration at avlrec.com required.

WE (12/13), 7pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Therapeutic Recreation Adult Hiking Club Participants need to pack a lunch, water bottle, and clothes comfortable to move in. Open to individuals with disabilities ages 18 and over.

TH (12/14), 9am, Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd Holiday Luncheon Tracy Swartout, first female superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway will be the feature speaker.

TH (12/14), 11:30am, Hendersonville Country Club, 1860 Hebron Rd, Hendersonville Tot Time An adventure with art, music, or storytelling in the Museum’s interactive Art PLAYce. For children ages 0-5 years old and their families or caregivers.

TH (12/14), 11:30am, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square Kids & Teens Kung Fu Learn fighting skills as well as conflict resolution and mindfulness.

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

TH (12/14, 21), MO (12/18), TU (12/19), 4pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 A Conversation w/ Porfirio Gutierrez Gutierrez is a contemporary textile artist featured in the exhibition Weaving at Black Mountain College.

TH (12/14), 1pm, Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St Bowling for Adults 50+ Transportation provided from Grove St Community Center.

TH (12/14), 1pm, Sky Lanes, 1477 Patton Ave Charcuterie Workshop Create a gorgeous charcuterie arrangement that you can package up and take home or enjoy in the Tasting Room.

TH (12/14), 6:30pm, Ginger's Revenge Craft Brewery & Tasting Room, 829 Riverside Dr Swing Dance Lesson & Dance Swing dancing lesson and dance, every Thursday.

TH (12/14, 21), 7pm, Alley Cat Social Club, 797 Haywood Rd Free Santa Photos Free photos with Santa at the food court. Visitors will receive one 4” by 6” photo and digital download of a single image from TapSnap Phototainment.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16),

SU (12/17), MO (12/18), TU (12/19), WE (12/20), Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd

Shaniqua Simuel.

FR (12/15), 5:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

BMC Campus Tours Tours will cover the historic lower campus buildings including The Dining Hall, Lodges, The Quiet House, and The Studies Building as well as the frescos painted by Jean Charlot and BMC students in the summer of 1944.

FR (12/15), 10am, Camp Rockmont, 375 Lake Eden Rd, Black Mountain Jingle Bell Toddler Party Jingle bells, reindeer magic, and a snowball toss are part of the celebration in the magical Castle on the Hill packed with inflatables, toys, activity stations, and festive refreshments.

FR (12/15), 10am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Change Your Palate Cooking Demo This free food demonstration is open to everyone but tailored towards those with type 2 diabetes or hypertension and/ or their caretakers. Our featured host is Change Your Palate's very own

Intro to Indoor Pickleball Learn skills needed to play the fun game of pickleball. Advance registration at avlrec. com required.

FR (12/15), 6pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Art & Soul Relaxing art classes, self expression and laughs with other adults 50 and over. Free, but advance registration at avlrec. com is required.

FR (12/15), 6:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave Photos w/The Grinch The event is free, but a donation of a new, unwrapped toy or a monetary donation to Western North Carolina Toys for Tots is suggested.

SA (12/16), 10am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd Holiday Bingo Good old-fashioned bingo fun with prizes.

Free, but advance registration is required.

SA (12/16), noon, Burton Street Community Center, 134 Burton St

Bingo Small prizes awarded to winners of each game.

SA (12/16), 1pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Treasure Hunt: Walking Team Scavenger Hunt Use your treasure map to follow clues, solve puzzles, and crack codes on this unique scavenger hunt through downtown Asheville. The hunt typically takes about 60 minutes to complete.

SA (12/16), 2pm, Dssolvr, 63 N Lexington Ave Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Black Mountain Learn the history of Black Mountain and the Swannanoa Valley on this walking tour.

SA (12/16), 2pm, Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center, 223 West State St, Black Mountain Holiday Sweater Party for Older Adults Calling all adults ages 50 or better: Eat, drink, and be merry in the tackiest holiday sweater you can find.

SA (12/16), 3pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

Dididada: Movement Lab w/Coco Villa Enjoy getting back into your bodies, and simply dancing for the joy of moving through hyper warm ups, routines, and prompts.

SU (12/17), 11am, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101 Weekly Sunday Scrabble Club Weekly scrabble play. All scrabble gear provided.

SU (12/17), 12:15pm, Stephens Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Wax-Sealed Letters w/ Santa Write Santa a letter, stamp it with real wax, and hand deliver it to the man with the bag.

Free for all ages SU (12/17), 1pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd Cookies: Make, Bake & Decorate A fun-filled afternoon of cookie making, baking, and decorating. Ideal for beginners, this in-person event is perfect for cookie enthusiasts. See p47-48 SU (12/17), 2pm, The Rabbit Hole, 9 State St Santa & Mrs. Claus Santa and Mrs. Claus will available for photos and also to collect

COME CELEBRATE WITH US! Meditation and Music

Sunday, December 24th @ 11 AM

We Are One in Peace on Earth Candle Lighting Celebration Sunday, December 24th @ 7 PM

Burning Bowl and White Stone Ceremonies Sunday, December 31st @ 11 AM

CELEBRATION SERVICES Every Sunday @ 11am

2 Science of Mind Way, Asheville, NC 28806 • www.cslasheville.org • For more info, call (828) 253-2325 MOUNTAINX.COM

DEC. 13-19, 2023

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Wild for Life: Center for Rehabilitation

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THANK YOU!

C OMMU N I T Y CA L E N D AR donations for Boys & Girls Homes of NC. SU (12/17), 3pm, Asheville Guitar Bar, 122 Riverside Dr Cookies, Cocoa, & The Polar Express Enjoy a hot cocoa bar, Christmas cookies, and a showing of the Polar Express. Feel free to wear your favorite holiday pajamas.

SU (12/17), 6:30pm, Restoration Church, 41 Tucker Rd, Black Mountain Holiday Break Camp This will be a week spent learning about the different holidays from around the world.

We'll be exploring some winter-themed art projects, fun activities and more.

MO (12/18), 9am, Kids Garden Asheville, 4 S Tunnel Rd Free Sensory-Friendly Santa Photos All families with children with autism and other special needs can enjoy the time-honored tradition of a visit with Santa, in a more subdued and calmer environment MO (12/18), 10am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd Personal Response to Homelessness: How to Partner w/Local Agencies & Take Action Learn more about the causes, responses, and actions that surround the homelessness issue in Asheville and the region.

MO (12/18), 10am, Stephen's Lee Community Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Christmas Tours Take a guided or self-guided tour of the farm decorated for the holidays. All tours include hot chocolate and cookies and a visit with the Heritage Weavers and Fiber Artists.

MO (12/18), 10:30am, Historic Johnson Farm, 3346 Haywood Rd, Hendersonville Black Men Monday A local group that has stepped up in the community to advocate for and mentor students through academic intervention.

MO (12/18), 7pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave Mid-Winter Revels: A Mother Grove Solstice There will be song, poem, ceremonies of thanksgiving and danced prayers. Free, but donations are welcomed in support of temple programming.

MO (12/18), 7pm, Cathedral of All Souls Parish Hall, 9 Swan St, Biltmore Village World Tavern Poker Night A free to play poker night every Monday.

MO (12/18), 7pm, The Getaway River Bar, 790 Riverside Dr

Holiday Gift Making for Kids Make creative gifts that family and friends will love using Stephens-Lee’s vast supply library.

TU (12/19), 10am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Minute to Win It: Holiday Game Night Meet new people and have a blast competing in silly games with a holiday twist. Free and open to ages 18 through 39.

TU (12/19), 6pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave Free E-Bike Rental A free one hour bike adventure to experience Asheville's historic River Arts District, French Broad River Greenway, local breweries, restaurants and more.

WE (12/20), 10am, Ace Bikes, 342 Depot St Holiday Luncheon Celebrate the first day of winter with a luncheon party and holiday entertainment. For ages 18 and over, and advance registration required.

TH (12/21), noon, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd Photos w/The Kava Bar Santa Santa will be taking photos with you, your kids and your furry friends. Tell the big guy whether you have been naughty or nice.

TH (12/21), 4pm, Sovereign Kava, 268 Biltmore Ave, Makerspace: Holiday Card Making This drop-in style open studio will teach our visitors how to create unique, collage-style holiday cards rooted in self-expression.

TH (12/21), 5pm, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

LOCAL MARKETS Handmade Holidays A market of handmade pottery and craft goods made by local artisans.

MO (11/27), 10am, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain Weaverville Tailgate Market A selection of fresh, locally grown produce, grass fed beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, eggs, cheese, sweet and savory baked goods, artisan bread, fire cider, coffee, pickles, body care, eclectic handmade goodies, and garden and landscaping plants.

Open year round.

WE (12/13), 3pm, 60 Lake Shore Dr Weaverville RAD Farmers Market Winter Season Browse 30+ local vendors all winter long with fresh produce, pastured

meats, baked goods, honey, and more. Safely accessible by bike or foot on the greenway, plus free public parking along Riverside Drive.

WE (12/13, 20), 3pm, Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Dr Golden Hour Market Series A monthly market series bringing high-quality produce & artisan-made goods to Black Mountain, Swannanoa, East Asheville and beyond.

TH (12/14), 4pm, Oak and Grist Distilling Co., 1556 Grovestone Rd, Black Mountain Holiday Pop-Up Market Browse from local Indigenous vendors and artists for any of your gift-giving needs.

TH (12/14), 5pm, Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee North Asheville Tailgate Market Over 60 rotating vendors offer fresh Appalachian grown produce, meats, cheeses and eggs - with a variety of baked goods, value added foods, and unique craft items. Weekly through Dec. 16.

SA (12/16), 8am, 3300 University Heights Asheville City Market Local food products, including fresh produce, meat, cheese, bread, pastries, and other artisan products. Weekly through Dec. 17.

SA (12/16), 9am, 52 N Market St Holly Jolly Market Local artisans and vendors showcasing their unique, handcrafted gifts and festive wares.

SA (12/16), 9am, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Holiday Market Enjoy handmade goods from local artists and purveyors, baked goods and music from a live DJ. SA (12/16), 10am, Seeker Coffee, 39 Catawba Ave, Old Fort Holiday Pop Up Shop Browse over 100 vendors inside this curated Holiday pop up with local and indie craft, vintage, housewares, handmade jewelry, ceramics and more.

WE (12/13, 20), TH (12/14, 21), FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 10am, Center for Craft, 67 Broadway St Plant Club Pop-Up Market Each month features different growers and makers offering a wide array of products; from rare tropicals to native medicinals, handmade pots and trellises to botanical watercolor paintings and more.

SA (12/16), 11am, Canopy Gallery in Art Garden, 191 Lyman St, Ste 316

WNC Farmers Market High quality fruits and vegetables, mountain crafts, jams, jellies, preserves, sourwood honey, and other farm fresh items. Open daily 8am, year-round.

SU (12/17), 8am, 570 Brevard Rd Holiday Market Grab a drink and shop great vintage, local crafts, antiques and more.

SU (12/17), 11am, Fleetwood's, 496 Haywood Rd Pop-Up Market Featuring an array of baked goods, pastries, cookies, bagels, breads made with Carolina Ground flour as well as eggs, honey, botanical dyed yards, books and more.

SU (12/17), 11am, Carolina Ground, 1237 Shipp St, Hendersonville The Star Market Celebrate and support local vendors with neurodiversity and artists with disabilities.

Featuring artists from FIRSTwnc and Imprint Artists. See p49 SU (12/17), 1pm, Canopy Gallery in Art Garden, 191 Lyman St, Ste 316 Bad Luck Vintage Pop Up Discover a curated collection of vintage clothing and home decor. The items on display are a blend of quirky, colorful, and a tad devilish, embodying a fun, playful, and slightly weird vibe.

SU (12/17), 3pm, Asheville Beauty Academy, 28 Broadway St Asheville Night Market Explore dozens of vendors, enjoy drinks and food as well.

SU (12/17), 6pm, The Odd, 1045 Haywood Rd DIYabled Holiday Market Browse unique gifts and support some of Asheville's artists, crafters, tarot card makers and more.

WE (12/20), 3pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS Open Hearts Talent Show Whether you're a fan of heart-stirring vocal performances, mesmerizing dance moves, or good old fashioned rock n' roll, the 2023 Talent Show has something for everyone.

TH (12/14), 5pm, Asheville Masonic Temple, 80 Broadway Hope Coalition's Jingle Jog 5K This fun run/walk brings the community together to raise awareness about substance misuse and serve those who need support in their recov-

ery journey. Holiday attire is encouraged. All ages and abilities are welcome. Sign up at avl.mx/d7z.

SA (12/16), 8:30am, Historic Downtown Hendersonville, 145 5th Ave E., Hendersonville Wildflower Women’s Market Fall Festival Visitors will enjoy music, food trucks, and other activities while browsing a wide selection of unique products, services and art works presented by local women-owned businesses and artisans.

SA (12/16), 10am, Asheville Outlets, 800 Brevard Rd Krampus Ball Holiday Party Dssolvr will be taking over the taps for this pickleball tournament & ugly sweater dance party with DJ Grimmjoi.

Prizes will be given to tournament winners and for the ugly sweater contest.

SA (12/16), 11am, Asheville Sports Club, 137 Coxe Ave Served by Sev Drag Brunch: 1 Year Anniversary Celebrate Served by Sev's one year anniversary with uplifting music

and performers.

SA (12/16), 1pm, Different Wrld, 701 Haywood Rd, Ste 101 3rd Annual Winter Wonder Walk Guests will walk through an outdoor trail while our actors bring the pages of a giant book to life.

Families can also enjoy a holiday market, a kids’ play area, and tasty concessions.

FR (12/15), SA (12/16), 6pm, Adventure Center of Asheville, 85 Expo Dr A Swannanoa Solstice A beloved local holiday tradition that has ushered in the winter season with a joyful infusion of performances by the best and brightest artists in our region.

SU (12/17), 2pm and 7pm, Wortham Center For The Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave Swannanoa Winterfest 2023 This holiday market features 40 artisans and vendors selling a variety of unique gift items under tents decked with festive lights, drinks. fire, music and more. See p49 SU (12/17), 2pm, Grovemont Square, 101 W Charleston Ave, Swannanoa

Nutcracker: Magical Christmas Ballet Experience the warm-glow-nostalgia of America's favorite Christmas celebration performed the international cast and Ukrainian principal artists, SU (12/17), 2pm and 6pm, Harrah's Cherokee Center, 87 Haywood St 8th Annual Trolley La La La Trolley to the Omni Grove Park Inn for an oyster roast and then live holiday music from Brody Hunt & The Silent Knights at The Grey Eagle. This event will also be collecting canned food items for MANNA Food Bank.

TH (12/21), 6pm, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING It's Sweet to Save Lives: Blood Drive The Blood Connection will be hosting a blood drive at the Edward Jones offices.

Use sponsor code "10692" to make an

appointment.

WE (12/13), 1pm, Edward Jones - Asheville, 10 Crispin Ct Warming Shelter & Sanctuary In addition to a warm, welcoming space to share a meal with neighbors, Saturday Sanctuary offers restrooms, phone charging, videos, popcorn and a safe place to rest.

SA (12/16), 11am, First Presbyterian Church Asheville, 40 Church St Katarina's Cabaret Drag Brunch: Taylor Swift Theme A Taylor Swift themed brunch beyond your wildest dreams. All proceeds support Open Hearts Arts Center, a nonprofit organization.

SA (12/16), 2pm, Banks Ave., 32 Banks Ave WTF Holiday Show: Beloved Asheville Benefit An all women holiday show featuring Rebekah Todd, McKinney, Rachel Waterhouse, Derian Blane and more. All proceeds will benefit Beloved and the work they do in our community for those without homes and shelter.

SU (12/17), 6pm, One World Brewing W, 520 Haywood Rd

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

‘A quiet place to pray’ Kyle S. Gillett is the Asheville stake president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

I define spirituality as “a connection with something greater than oneself.” Western North Carolina is a particularly special place to experience that connection because of all its natural beauty and good people. These things make it difficult to deny the existence of a supreme creator, whom I acknowledge KYLE S. GILLETT as our heavenly Father. As I work and volunteer with God’s children in this region, I think of how he planned for us to be born on Earth and use agency to choose our own paths.

When I see myself and other people in our community making imperfect choices, I feel grateful that God’s plan included a savior — his Son, Jesus Christ — who gave himself as an infinite sacrifice to heal our sins, illnesses and shortcomings. Through this atonement, and by Christ’s grace, we can overcome sin and death, allowing us to experience God’s love now, and ultimately return to live with our Father in heaven following this mortal existence.

For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

For those seeking a more spiritual life, my advice would be to find a quiet place to pray vocally and ask God to lead them toward truth. He hears and answers the prayers of those who have a sincere heart and real intent.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

One of the greatest misconceptions about spirituality is that spiritual people are always happy. God loves his children, and part of that love is allowing us to experience all the ups and downs of this mortal life. While God doesn’t cause suffering, where there is suffering, he provides an abundance of grace. X

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

31

WELLNESS

The great unknown Mindful death process finds community support

BY JESSICA WAKEMAN jwakeman@mountainx.com When Elizabeth Barbour miscarried twins in 2010 — children she and her husband very much wanted — she spent the next week cloistered in grief.

A week later, the city where they lived happened to host a candlelight vigil for families impacted by pregnancy loss. “I hadn’t even left the house because I was so devastated,” she recalls. “But we went to this event at a lake. Everybody was given a candle, and you walked around the lake. We were out there walking with hundreds of people.”

Barbour’s voice breaks as she recounts that walk. “Just being part of that vigil with other people who understood this pain was so healing,” she says.

Rituals like the pregnancy loss vigil inspired Barbour to help others who are preparing for impending deaths — their own or others’ — and processing grief. As an intuitive life coach, she helps people create “sacred celebrations” for life passages, including the biggest of all, death.

Local experts say as more baby boomers are aging, they are more curious about thoughtful planning for death, such as eco-conscious burials. They also say the COVID19 pandemic spurred interest in talking about death because many people did not have control over the circumstances of their deaths, and their loved ones felt helpless in the face of that fact.

Barbour is one of several people in the Asheville area who are

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HEART FOCUSED: The Center for Conscious Living and Dying will open in Swannanoa in January thanks to real estate developer David Case, left, and palliative care and hospice physician Aditi Sethi, right. CCLD has three “transition rooms” where people who have two months or less to live can stay until their death, surrounded by loved ones. Photo courtesy of Case now reimagining our societal script regarding death. Approaching death as a sacred passage — which is how many of them define their work — draws from the spiritual, medical and psychological realms, and attracts individuals from all different professions and experiences.

A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO DIE Western North Carolina is home to the nonprofit Center for Conscious

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Living and Dying, a nondenominational, community-supported comfort care facility in Swannanoa that will open officially in 2024. It will be the only community home for dying people in North Carolina.

Community-supported comfort care is a model that’s unfamiliar to many people, explains CCLD’s founder and executive director, Aditi Sethi of Black Mountain. She previously worked for AMOREM, a hospice in Valdese, and CarePartners Hospice Solace Center in Asheville.

Traditionally, if they are lucky, people die in hospitals, hospice or their own homes. Some experiences can range from somber to clinical to scary, and death is often treated as a tragedy instead of the natural completion of a cycle. For this reason, death can be “an innate fear that we have because it’s so mysterious and we don’t talk about it,” says Sethi.

But as a palliative care and hospice physician and an end-of-life doula, Sethi witnessed the glimmer of an alternative. She saw firsthand how when the community provided end-of-life comfort and let the dying person be surrounded by loved ones, it fostered a gentler and more meaningful passing experience for everyone involved. This is the model for CCLD: Volunteers will provide 24/7 comfort support in the form of nonmedical end-of-life care, including preparing food and doing laundry. This allows family and friends to focus on loving up the dying individual instead of taking on the roles of caregivers.

CCLD is not a hospice, nor does it employ hospice workers, but such workers can provide their services at the center when hired by the patient. The center is part of the Omega Home Network, a national nonprofit that supports community homes for dying people. North Carolina’s caregiving regulations guide CCLD’s legal parameters.

The center has three bedrooms called “transition rooms,” tranquil spaces where people who have two months or less to live may stay. The transition rooms, plus a kitchen, library, living room, Sethi’s office and other bedrooms for guests, are located inside a 5,500-squarefoot former residence on 6.5 acres overlooking the Warren Wilson College campus.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 34

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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WEL L NESS The center’s Blue Ridge Mountain landscape gives CCLD “a heaven on Earth quality,” says real estate developer David Case of Asheville.

His role as “abundance magician” for CCLD means garnering resources, including helping to raise $1.9 million from “large donors in short order” to purchase the residence last year. (Case’s limited liability company owns the center.)

CCLD relies heavily on donations, its founders say. However, it also plans to generate revenue through hosting an end-of-life doula training program.

Volunteers and CCLD’s small staff are drawn to the group’s mission for many reasons, including the “desire to be of service and desire for community, in combination with increased interest in death and fear of death,” Sethi says. “And being tired of being afraid of death.”

Two people have already died at CCLD, including Ethan Sisser.

Sisser and Sethi both appear in The Last Ecstatic Days, a documentary about Sisser’s intention to die from brain cancer without fear and surrounded by a community.

DEATH AS A PROCESS The end of life is often treated as a static event, rather than a process that could take days, months or even years. In January, Keaton Hill, an elder at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, will begin hosting a church group called Life in Death Practice Group to support

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS: “We live in this culture of ‘you get three days of bereavement leave and then you have to get back to work,’” says intuitive life coach Elizabeth Barbour. “That’s insane.” She helps people develop rituals in order to honor the process of death.

Photo courtesy of Barbour this transition for anyone at any stage of life.

Hill’s approach toward death is grounded in her faith. “Birth is not what life is, and I don’t think our expiration is what death is,” she says. “We’re all dying. Some of us might want to be doing it more mindfully and with more intention.”

Her interest in starting this group at Grace Covenant stems from being in a stage of life where people she knows are aging and dying, Hill says. She’s also the parent of teenagers who are growing more independent, and she says that’s teaching her other valuable lessons

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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about seasons of change. “The holding on and the grasping is actually what causes me pain,” she explains.

“Letting go is very scary, and loss is very scary. But holding on is where I find there to be more pain than fear.”

The Grace Covenant group will meet weekly through the Epiphany season, until Ash Wednesday. Hill says practices could include rituals like walking meditations where the individual says the mantra “I am going to die” or giving a cherished object away to someone else.

The goal, she says, will be to try “different ways where we intentionally let go, so that when life forces us, we’re just a little more practiced.”

GOOD GRIEF The COVID-19 pandemic meant “it was no longer pathological to talk about grief,” explains Amy Wright Glenn, who is a death doula, chaplain and founder and director of The Institute for the Study of Birth, Breath and Death. The pandemic brought death and grief into the public sphere in new ways.

Previously, grief was treated “like an illness that you’re supposed to get over, like a cold.”

Adds Barbour, the life coach, “We live in this culture of ‘you get three days of bereavement leave and then you have to get back to work.’

That’s insane.”

Holding space, which Glenn defines as “the practice of bringing compassionate presence to what is,”

MINDFULNESS: “We’re all dying,” says Keaton Hill, an elder at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church who is hosting a Life in Death Practice Group. “Some of us might want to be doing it more mindfully and with more intention.” Photo courtesy of Hill is essential to working as a death doula, she says. But she notes that holding space doesn’t only mean being present for someone’s sorrow or grief. It can also mean acknowledging the “joy and wonder” of a life well lived or a death well done.

(Glenn is the author of Holding Space: On Loving, Dying and Letting Go, published in 2017.)

Ultimately, experts who work with death as a sacred passage want to walk beside those who are dying and the bereaved. As Barbour says, “Having someone say, ‘I see you, I hear you, I’m so sorry for your pain’ — that can just make all the difference.” X

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ARTS & CULTURE

More than holiday displays Downtown merchants share inspiration behind decor

BY BRIONNA DALLARA dallarabm@appstate.edu Madam Clutterbuckets Neurodiverse Universe, a retail store tucked away on Battery Park Avenue, is known for its elaborate window displays. In 2021, the Asheville Downtown Association awarded the eclectic antique and gift shop best in show, as part of its holiday window contest.

Two years later, and the business still technically holds the title. Since its win, the downtown association has opted to forgo the competition, replacing it with various other holiday-related cheer, including interactive maps.

“We’re hoping to revamp the [holiday window contest] program and bring it back in 2024 with a little more of a local impact,” says Hayden Plemmons, the downtown association’s executive director. Next year’s tentative plans, she continues, involve “making it more interactive” through QR codes, maps and sponsorships, which could generate more funding for businesses to expand on their displays.

Despite the competition remaining on hold, Madam Clutterbuckets Neurodiverse Universe’s owner, Ashley Deck, and her team have not slowed down. She says her business is always trying to outdo their main competition — themselves.

“We want to continue to create incredible windows and maintain the level of interest that the best-in-show window had,” Deck says.

Fortunately for fans of holiday decor, Madam Clutterbuckets Neurodiverse Universe is not alone. Throughout downtown Asheville, local businesses are gearing up for the holidays with

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

‘TIS THE SEASON: Madam Clutterbuckets Neurodiverse Universe gears up for the latest holiday season with an expansive winter wonderland. Photo by Brionna Dallara window displays. And behind each design is a story to tell.

DELIGHTING OTHERS About a three-minute walk north of Madam Clutterbuckets is the Dog & Pony Show, a home goods shop on Haywood Street.

The business won “wow factor” in the 2021 window display contest.

Owner Margaret Lancaster says that at the time the windows donned teals,

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blacks and silvers to match the shop’s former color scheme.

“I always want them to be beautiful and people to appreciate them, because why not? It’s always a little bit of art and a little bit of things that we sell, but it’s more about just delighting people when they walk by,” Lancaster says.

She recalls a memorable moment from 2021 when a young boy and his father saw the display. “I heard this little boy squealing outside, and he was there with his dad pointing in the window, and it was just so precious,” Lancaster says. “I thought, ‘All right, my job is done. I did what I needed to do.’”

The latest design is particularly meaningful for Lancaster. The inspiration spurred from a sequined red bolt of fabric, the piece de resistance in this year’s window frame. It was a gift from her late friend Jonathon Mariano, who owned We’re Off to See the Wizard; Mariano died unexpectedly this summer. Also in the mix are several Santa Clauses from Mariano’s former shop.

She says their additions complement the white trees she brought in from fellow business neighbor and friend Beth Stickle Schoenheit, owner of Bloomin’ Art. Lancaster felt it was important to commemorate Mariano and to include

something from Stickle Schoenheit, who is set to retire at the end of the year.

“That was completely what the inspiration was for this year,” Lancaster says. “I just wanted to have a little bit of both of those people for different reasons in my windows.”

She had come up with the concept the night before building the displays, after letting her “thoughts wander.” It took two days to complete.

“I think people enjoy seeing the windows decorated. I think it’s part of what downtown stores should do just to make it special, to make it different,” Lancaster says. “I have an art background. I’ve always been interested in design, just all that. And so for me, it’s just a joy.”

HANDCRAFTED DESIGNS Toward the end of Haywood Street, and with some of the largest window space on the block, is Woolworth Walk art gallery and emporium. Displayed in the vast window case are paintings and works from artists featured in the gallery as well as a collection of large, medium and small snowflakes — all handcrafted by the gallery’s employees.

Bethany Perron is the gallery staff member who conceptualized the theme and braved the task of climbing up to the window ledge to piece it together.

“I decided that what I wanted for a theme this year ... was light, white, silver, very wintery and holiday-ish. So we all looked around the gallery and tried to find things that we thought would fit,” Perron says. “And then I curated out of them what would go in the window.”

The snowflakes were strung on a cord and made to look as if they are falling. The staff worked together and combined their varying levels of origami expertise to shape the decorative flurries, even stapling six of the medium snowflakes together to create the illusion of a larger piece.

The staff then chose a collection of art that represented the many mediums the gallery carries.

“We try to pick a good mix,” Perron says. “Fiber, painting, photography, jewelry — lots of stuff. So that people who walk by can get a good representation of what we have here.”

THE ART OF CONVERSATION Southwest of Woolworth’s, on Patton Avenue, local artist Julia Ferris paints large colorful designs on Patton Avenue Pet Co.’s windows. Ferris says she has worked with the company for the past couple of holiday seasons and every time she goes bigger and brighter.

“This year it’s kind of colorful and cozy. Working with Patton Avenue Pet’s is always really fun because they love big designs,” Ferris says. “I really use that in my designing inspiration.”

SPECIAL TOUCH: “I think people enjoy seeing the windows decorated,” says Margaret Lancaster, owner of Dog & Pony Show. “I think it’s part of what downtown stores should do just to make it special, to make it different.” Photo by Brionna Dallara Ferris plans to keep the featured animals in sweaters, which were originally part of the shop’s fall season display. But she has replaced the falling leaves with a winter scene.

The four windows take about 20 hours to complete, she explains. But Ferris, who has done various projects with other local businesses and UNC Asheville, says she doesn’t mind getting lost in her work.

As an artist, the built-in variety that comes with each new job is a perk. “I’m never doing the exact same design twice, which is really nice,” Ferris says. “I really love to lose myself in large-scale work like that.”

The pet store has participated in the window display contest in past years, and Ferris has enjoyed adding to the decorative elements inside the shop, taking creative liberties on the outside.

“I love encouraging young, creative, interested children. I’ve even had kids stop and ask if they can help or give me a color suggestion,” Ferris says.

“Another thing I really love about getting to work outside, especially downtown, is locals tend to stop and chat about what they love watching the windows change each season.”

HEIRLOOM MEMORIES

PAINTER ON PATTON: Julia Ferris gets in the zone with up-tempo playlist as she paints the “purrfect” seasonal scene outside of Patton Avenue Pet Co. Photo by Brionna Dallara

Back at Madam Clutterbuckets, the conversation about this year’s display expands. Deck says she and her staff keep their eyes open for unique pieces to elevate the store’s wacky factor. For example, since its launch, the shop has opted to use skeletons instead of

mannequins. The move was initially to reduce costs. “When we opened ... [we] did not have money to buy expensive props,” Deck explains.

Humor and a touch of magic is also essential to each design. Throughout the year the windows are spruced up

for an array of celebrations, including Halloween and Thanksgiving, among other unorthodox display endeavors.

And during the winter, the three large window displays represent a myriad of holidays. Deck says employees believe in inclusivity and incorporate solstice celebrations, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. This year also features a Pagan window that includes Krampus — the haunting Central and Eastern Alpine folklore Christmastime legend.

“Our main goal this year is to highlight our merchandise while creating a beautiful and fun window that customers will be drawn to,” Deck says.

But even as the design evolves each year, there is one item always tucked away in the glitz and glamor of new props — the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun.

The BB gun belonged to Deck’s father in the late ’40s when he was a child. One of the most memorable reactions to the displays was when a man came in after the BB gun caught his eye. Deck says that she showed him the notches her father had carved into the handle of the gun. The man then exchanged memories from his own childhood with his own Daisy Red Ryder.

“We talked a long time about the nostalgia that vintage toys can ignite in people,” Deck says. “He comes by every year to see how we incorporate the gun into our windows, and it makes me think about my father. I know he would love to see people enjoying his old toy if he was still with us.” X

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

‘Abiding in uncertainty’ Luke Hankins is a local poet and the founder of Orison Books, a local nonprofit literary press.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

Hankins: I think the spirit is the aspect of the self that underlies or exceeds (pick your spatial metaphor) the rational mind. It operates intuitively and holistically, drawing on connections and apperceptions beyond our ability to identify or catalog. The spirit may be an actual entity — the “soul” — or it may simply be a way for us to speak about a profound aspect of human nature and experience. It doesn’t really matter to me which it is.

LUKE HANKINS For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

Read poetry! From ancient times to today, so much of poetry depends on and fosters contemplation, deep attention, porosity of mind and heart, and much more that is essential to the spiritual life.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

That it’s about finding the right answers or the correct system. That’s the basis of all fundamentalism and, ironically, is more a product of the rational mind’s attempts to codify and to control uncertainty than it is about engaging with our spiritual aspect. Spirituality, for me, is actually quite the opposite — it’s abiding in uncertainty, opening oneself to the mystery of being. X

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

COMEDY

WITH ERIC BROWN

BY ERIC BROWN ericjbrown3000@gmail.com It’s the holiday season — a time for joy, cheer and togetherness. In the spirit of this festive time of year, I’ve gathered three comedians I am proud to call my friends — George Awad, Marlene Thompson and Greg Benge — to participate in one of comedy’s most time-honored holiday traditions: complaining about the holidays.

Fun fact: Complaining is the second-most popular activity among comedians. It trails (just barely) behind doing bits relentlessly until everyone gets tired. So please enjoy these yuletide jokes in your favorite sweater (ugly or not) and with whatever nog you feel is appropriate.

OFFER EXPIRES 12/31/2023

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

Bring on the eggnog and holiday Claymation films

And of course, if you were a part of the war on Christmas, thank you for your service. Though we tried our best, the holiday keeps gaining ground; reconnaissance reports decorations have pushed all the way into October this year.

Eric: For me, it doesn’t truly feel like the holidays until I see the old Rankin and Bass TV movies. Every year I look forward to seeing my old Claymation pals — Yukon Cornelius, the Heat Miser and that snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer who won’t stop singing (and looks kind of like Col. Sanders). I feel like it’s high time Asheville got its own cast of holiday characters. With that in mind, what Claymation weirdos would you like to see in Asheville’s own TV movie?

George Awad: Maybe I’m just cynical, but the local Claymation weirdos we’ve had for the past several holiday seasons seem to be packing up and heading for much more affordable places like Dubai. But you can still imagine clay versions of the Patton Avenue guitar god, the just-moved-to-town aerial artist who hasn’t quite landed on Earth yet and the couple who relocated here from Aspen to fulfill their dream of opening a food shop with the word “gourmet” in the name.

Marlene Thompson: I’m pretty partial to the 2003 classic Christmas movie Love Actually. My best friend and I watch it together every year via phone call. We giggle all the way through with the help of some rosé. Is it a good movie? Opinions vary. Still, I’d write a modernized script of Love Actually with an Asheville spin. Vignettes about a big city transplant who lives in West Asheville and falls for the rare barista who actually grew up in Western North Carolina. Or maybe a version starring the boomer Florida couple living by Biltmore Village who find that their marriage would be more complete if they “opened it up to new experiences.” And yes, I know what you’re thinking: Of course, it would be narrated by a snowman Claymation version of Thomas Wolfe.

Greg Benge: Coincidentally, I’ve been working diligently on an ani-

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LAUGH AND BE MERRY: Best Medicine co-host Eric Brown, top left, returns to discuss the holiday season with fellow comics, clockwise from top right, Marlene Thompson, George Awad and Greg Benge. Photo of Brown by Cindy Kunst; all other images provided by comedians mated holiday feature for the past five years! With nearly 23 seconds completed, the pitch is simple: Claire is a successful business opossum visiting her hometown of Asheville for the holidays. Donovan is a laid-back raccoon running a secondhand shop out of a dumpster in West Asheville. Thanks to a double-booked Harebnb, they are forced to share the same gingerbread house at the Omni Grove Park Inn for the winter. Will they be able to scavenge food and evade animal control while tolerating each other’s personality quirks? Find out in this niche romantic holiday classic: A Christmas Critter Cuffing.

Eric: Keeping with the established “fill-in-the-blank-Miser” formula that Rankin and Bass established, I propose we adopt the Leaf Miser. Every fall the Leaf Miser runs out of money, so he changes the colors of all the leaves to draw in tourists, and, of course, their money. Unfortunately, he eats most of the money, which is why nobody in the service industry gets any. The old Leaf Miser eats and eats, and eventually goes into hibernation, waking up briefly at the holidays to eat some of the Biltmore Estate Christmas tourism dollars. Every spring, the Leaf Miser awakens to repopulate the mountains with fresh new leaves and to look for

a new apartment further out of town.

The rent keeps going up, and it’s hard out there. Even for Leaf Miser.

Eric: With the weather turning colder and the holidays creeping ever closer, a lot of people will be dealing with the wintertime blues (which sounds less grim than seasonal affective disorder). With all this holiday darkness looming like that Mariah Carey Christmas song, what do you like to do in town to bring a little light to the season and keep your spirits up? (Don’t say hiking. We get it: It’s Asheville. Besides, it’s too cold.)

George: What always kicks off the holiday season for me is the first sighting of those old-style glass jars of Homestead Creamery’s eggnog in my grocer’s dairy section. Creamy and satisfying, it is the perfect vehicle (the only vehicle) for nutmeg. At about 1,200 calories a sip, the viscous dairy delight slowly sludges down your throat like magma in hot (cold) pursuit of fleeing villagers. Once I spot ’em, I bring a bottle to the register, plunk down the $3 deposit (extortion) and run (well, drive) to my friend’s front porch. He’ll come out with fresh nutmeg and pull a Microplane from his holster, grinding the aromatic herb that centuries of human beings (pre-McCormicks) died trying to find, into a shallow glass of nog. We’ll then sit back, slowly indulge in the joyous medley of eggs, heavy cream and sugar, and begin speaking German with abandon.

Greg: Like a certain West Asheville raccoon, I’m a big fan of secondhand clothing. Whether it’s a curated outfit from rEvolve Mercantile or digging deep for gold in the Goodwill bins, some cheap retail therapy raises my spirits all year round. Like a diligent squirrel or thrifty hamster, I spend the year gathering layers of cardigans, hoodies, long underwear, jackets and coats to survive the cold winter. After a hearty Thanksgiving feast, the great layering begins. Sock after sock and sleeve after sleeve, I bury myself in a cozy sartorial nest. The pressure of wearing an entire closet begins to slow my pulse. Safe from predators until spring, I sleep.

Marlene: Much like Greg, I love a good secondhand sweater and enjoy finding thrift store treasures. But if all the goodies are gone by the time I get to

Goodwill, I know I’ll be binging all the Oscar-nominated movies and shorts.

If it’s streaming, I’m watching. If the shorts are playing at Grail Moviehouse, I’m going and buying a large popcorn.

My birthday is also right in the middle of winter (yay, February). I’m a few years shy of the big 4-0, so maybe in 2024, I’ll finally treat myself to what I’ve always wanted: Botox. Will it remedy wrinkles AND seasonal affective disorder? I’ll find out!

Eric: I have a method for getting through the holidays that’s a little unorthodox, but it’s been working for me. When I’m not busy making tens of dollars doing comedy all around town, I work my real job in the service industry. So being in the criminally underpaid and understaffed service industry, I simply work a dangerous amount of overtime. There’s never enough help, and management never has a plan to deal with the rise in business. That means unlimited overtime. Time both slows and speeds up at a breakneck pace as I disassociate. And I disassociate so hard to deal with all the hours I’m working that I simply cease to exist during the holidays. I become a festive ghost, desperately trying to survive the workweek. I’m my own Christmas spirit, forging my own chains in life.

So when people ask me if I had a good Christmas, I give them a small smile and simply say I don’t know and try not to flaunt the extra $55 (after taxes) that I made for 20 hours overtime that week.

Eric: We all know O. Henry’s classic Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi,” in which a wife sells her hair to buy her husband a watch chain, and her husband sells his watch to buy her a bunch of fancy combs. Yet another classic story of a Christmas ruined by couples not communicating. Did you know O. Henry lived in Asheville for a while? Don’t believe me? Go check out the watch sculpture on the sidewalk on stop No. 4 of the Asheville Urban Trail. Also, he’s buried in Riverside Cemetery.

With O. Henry’s spirit in mind, what would you like to see Asheville give up for you, and what would you be willing to give up in return? Bonus points if your answer is superironic.

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39

WHAT DOES SPIRITUALITY MEAN TO YOU?

‘Allow room for the impossible to occur’ Heather Hanson is a visual artist, spiritual director and founder of Embrace the Space Between in the River Arts District.

Xpress: What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you experience it in Western North Carolina?

Spirituality is being willing to show up in life with an open, curious mind and heart and grapple with the tough questions. To awaken each day with courage and say, “OK, let’s do this. Let’s look. Let’s see, and let’s open ourselves to a different way. Because I’m ready. And I know that no matter what I see, I can face it because I am worthy and loved no matter what.”

The Blue Ridge is a divine embrace, holding, loving, nurturing us as we live, move and HEATHER HANSON breathe within her, providing a safe container within which we wrestle. Painting is how I navigate the space between life’s uncertainty and the vessel that holds my journey. My transformation comes alive in the colors, the forms, the shapes and ultimately in the results.

For those seeking to embrace a more spiritual life, what advice would you offer?

Dedicate time for building your relationship with the Divine. It is the foundation upon which living your peace rests. There is nothing more important.

It’s the first thing I do each morning without fail. I get quiet, journal, ask, listen, receive and give thanks. And in return I am reminded that I’m seen, loved, held and known.

What misconceptions exist about spirituality?

That there is a single path. That there are “right” ways and “wrong” ways.

That you have to “do it” a specific way. I spent so much time worrying about not knowing the “right” way to “be spiritual,” when all I needed was my willingness to sit, get curious, to ask “why not?” and then allow room for the impossible to occur. X

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A R TS & CU LTU R E Marlene: I’d love to see Asheville give up its pseudo-liberalism and skyrocketing rent, but I know the tourism dollars won’t let that happen.

So I’d settle for a good 24-hour diner that’s not Waffle House or Cook Out. I want a place that’s open past 9 p.m. where I can get mozzarella sticks, a side of mashed potatoes and a slice of cheesecake. That’s my ultimate gift. In return, I’d give up making fun of parents who bring their kids to breweries. But only for 31 days. Call it a dry January.

Greg: I’ve been told that, when it comes to gift giving, it’s the thought that counts. Which is why I’m giving up a personal treasure of mine.

That’s right, a half melted sea salt and vanilla candle that I received from Baltimore at a white elephant exchange in 2007. In return, I expect Asheville to dig deep and find an affordable apartment I can move into next year. But what will my new apartment smell like? This regifting of the “Magi” might be more of a “Monkey’s Paw” situation.

Eric: All I want for Christmas from Asheville is some funding for the arts. We have a whole city full of creative people just looking for spaces to do things. I want venues, grants, opportunities for the creatives I love and admire who work in this town.

Come on, Asheville: Give up some money. Nobody should have to drive to Charlotte to do their art. Have you been to Charlotte? It’s awful.

In return for this, my fondest Christmas wish, I will give up an appropriate and truly ironic thing: I will vow to stop using my secret

parking spot where they never tow downtown. That’s right, my ace in the hole for every time I’m running late to a show. I am willing to give that up if it means comedy can flourish here, and for the record, I LOVE that parking spot. Sometimes I’ll park there even if I don’t need to go downtown. That’s how much I love it. I will give it up if that means we can get a dedicated comedy club in town. Preferably on O. Henry Avenue somewhere, you know, for bonus irony points.

George: Damn, I really like Eric’s answer. But because you wanted to hear from four different people, here’s mine: After the Asheville City Council begins generously funding the arts, they should approve a half-percent increase in the local sales tax to fund a standalone karaoke bar; actually, a palace to karaoke! I mean, who doesn’t want the opportunity to sing into a microphone much to the chagrin of passersby? This karaoke Shangri-La would have a bunch of rooms people can rent so they can sing drunkenly off-key to their friends and a big old stage where wasted bachelorette parties from Shreveport can cluster around a microphone and try to woefully rap along with preflute Andre 3000. It would be karaoke every day and every night! Plus, there would be a small kitchen cranking out karaoke-compatible hors d’oeuvres like bacon-wrapped anything and racks of lamb. It would be great for locals, great for tourists, bad for glass trying to stay intact. In exchange, I will concede nothing. Karaoke is a human right. X

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THEATER

Christmas cheer

‘Elf: The Musical’ sparkles like tinsel

OH, BUDDY! The popular Christmas musical returns to the Asheville Community Theatre for a second consecutive year.

Actor Carson Fox, pictured, also returns, reprising his role as Buddy. Photo by Eli Cunningham

BY KAI ELIJAH HAMILTON kaielijahhamilton@gmail.com Asheville Community Theatre was packed on opening night and gleaming with holiday excitement as Elf: The Musical took the stage for the second year in a row. The production, which made its debut on Broadway in 2010, was written by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin with music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin. Its ACT return runs through Saturday, Dec. 23.

The theatrical musical is based on the 2003 film version, Elf, memorably starring Will Ferrell, James Caan and Zoey Deschanel. The movie quickly gained distinction as a modern Christmas classic. Its adaptation to the stage is effective and mostly remains faithful to the source material.

After accidentally being transported to the North Pole as an infant, Buddy (Carson Fox in his reprised role) is raised as an elf by Santa (Greg Austin) and Mrs. Claus (Jessica Garland Lowe, who doubles as the show’s choreographer). Now an adult, Santa informs Buddy of his true identity and further reveals that his unknowing father, Walter Hobbs (Scott Cameron), lives in New York City. Buddy leaves the enchanted North Pole to find him.

Stuffed in his stocking satchel is the only thing to guide him — a snow globe featuring the Empire State Building, where his father works. When Buddy arrives to Walter’s office, the sight of a flamboyantly dressed man-child elf does not sit well with Walter. When Buddy explains who he is and that he’s

arrived from the North Pole, Walter and his staff think the visitor is mentally unstable. Can Buddy soften his workaholic father’s hardened heart, or is he destined to be orphaned all over again?

From its start, ACT’s production of Elf: The Musical is brimming with bright promise and jovial energy. It is both fun for children and, because of some innuendos, entertaining for adults.

Lowe’s choreography in the production also helps adds a peppy quality to the songs. Standouts include ACT’s rendition of “Nobody Cares About Santa,” which is lively and fun, and the more touching number, “I’ll Believe in You.” The latter requires complete emotional surrender to land an effective delivery, which cast members Anderson Ford and Mara Breindel strived to achieve in their roles as Michael and Emily Hobbs, respectively.

Fox’s return to the role of Buddy seems inevitable. His expressions and big eyes instantly make you fall for the character. But his talent goes beyond the physical. The role requires balance.

Had Fox played Buddy as a caricature, the entire play would have faltered.

Furthermore, Fox has to present the character in a way that does not come across as psychotic. If his innocence were overplayed, this could have been cringeworthy. Without question, the charming Fox is undeniably wonderful here.

Elly Leidner also delivers a lovely performance as Buddy’s unlikely girlfriend, Jovie. There’s an ’80s vibe to her portrayal, calling to mind Mary Stuart Masterson’s underdog role as Watts in the 1987 film Some Kind of Wonderful.

Leidner makes her lovelorn character relatable and someone to root for. It’s a joy to see her in each scene. Because of her striking presence, Leidner has the potential to become a viable film star. Meanwhile, Zach Shackleford, a newcomer to ACT’s stage, is similarly alluring. He plays the gruff department store manager where Buddy winds up working. Here’s hoping we see more of Shackleford in productions to come.

While the brisk pacing is noteworthy, the production noticeably lost its traction just before intermission. It’s as if something backstage or unseen by the audience altered the high-flying energy of the performance. Because of this, the rhythm of the show was altered, and the acting onstage felt rushed and cautious.

In particular, the momentous emotional explosion between Walter and Buddy lacked the powerful heart-rendering feeling needed to enter Act 2 effective-

ly. This can happen sometimes in live productions and quite possibly was a fluke. Thankfully, the show regained its footing before too long, and the verve was restored.

Director Mark Jones does an incredible job adorning this production with immense spirit, alongside music director Kristen Johnson Dominguez. The costume design by Ida deserves considerable praise as well for its balance of realism and quirkiness. Additional kudos goes to the ACT for allowing cast members to keep their edgy, individual styles. For years in the performance arts, many actors did not earn a role because of unfair judgment linked to tattoos, piercings and hairstyles.

With the return of Elf: The Musical, ACT clearly has a holiday hit on its hands … again. And based on comments offered by staff during the curtain speech, it seems likely the production will return next year. More 2023 shows have already been added to accommodate public interest. And while this impulse to bring Elf back each year is understandable, one has to wonder what other great Christmas shows could be rotated in to keep it fresh.

But for now, Elf: The Musical is the holiday production. It has a big heart and dazzling production values, all of which sparkles like tinsel. Those who manage to catch a showing will experience a Christmas wish come true. X

WHAT Elf: The Musical WHERE Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E. Walnut St. WHEN Through Saturday, Dec. 23, with performances Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets $18-$36.50

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

LITERATURE

‘A yearning for self-discovery’ The influence of Thomas Wolfe on River Whyless drummer Alex McWalters

BY THOMAS CALDER tcalder@mountainx.com We return with the latest iteration of “Look Homeward,” a recurring feature exploring the life, work and impact of Asheville author Thomas Wolfe on our area’s local writers, educators, historians and creatives.

Previous articles have included conversations with authors Terry Roberts and Wiley Cash, as well as Kayla Seay, site manager at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial.

In this month’s column, we speak with Alex McWalters, a local writer, musician and educator. For over a decade, McWalters has played percussion for River Whyless. In addition to his music, he currently serves as an adjunct professor of creative writing at UNC Asheville and serves on the board of Punch Bucket Lit, an Asheville literary nonprofit.

Xpress: What is your essential Thomas Wolfe line — this can be from a book, short story, letter, you name it.

McWalters: Mine would be a passage from the opening of Look Homeward, Angel: “A destiny that leads the English to the Dutch is strange enough; but one that leads from Epsom into Pennsylvania, and thence into the hills that shut in Altamont over the proud coral cry of the cock, and the soft stone smile of an angel, is touched by that dark miracle of chance which makes new magic in a dusty world.

“Each of us is all the sums he had not counted: subtract us into nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas.

“The seed of our destruction will blossom in the desert, the alexin of our cure grows by a mountain rock, and our lives are haunted by a Georgia slattern, because a London cutpurse went unhung. Each moment is the fruit of forty thousand years. The minute-winning days, like flies, buzz home to death, and every moment is a window on all time.

“This is a moment.”

I have referred to this passage countless times in the 15 years or so since I first read Wolfe’s famous novel. ... As with all great art, I find something new in this passage each time. Or, maybe it’s not that I discover anything new, only that the words resonate more deeply as I age.

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DEC. 13-19, 2023

AN UNFOUND DOOR: Writer and musician Alex McWalters poses in front of a life-size photo of Thomas Wolfe inside the exhibit hall at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Photo by Thomas Calder First, it is a brilliant summary — a thesis statement of sorts — of what the book contains, both in terms of its subject matter and in terms of its lyricism. In the sweep of one sentence, Wolfe touches on the heritage of the characters that will feature in the novel, acknowledging America as a country comprised of immigrants, then tracing the Gant family’s movement westward and southward to Altamont, Wolfe’s fictional Asheville.

He also includes the image of the angel, which, as the novel’s title suggests, and as readers soon learn, is one of the novel’s central symbols — one that gains power and reverberations as we move through the story.

Then, in the second paragraph, we get another slugger of a sentence. The idea that we are all the sums we have

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not counted is lovely, yes, but mostly terrifying. As James Baldwin says in his essay “The White Man’s Guilt”: “History … is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all we do.

It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations. And it is with great pain and terror that one begins to realize this.”

Wolfe, I think, is implying all of this in his “love that ended yesterday in Texas” line, which, to me, is somehow both beautifully mysterious yet direct: We are responsible, whether we know

it or not, to things that happened long before we were born.

Lastly, I’ll say that I love this passage as much for its language and imagery as for its ideas. The “minute-winning days.” Listen to that!

The assonance, the syllabic balance it creates! The image of days as winning minutes. It’s so good.

In short, as a writer myself, this is the sort of opening to which I aspire.

When were you introduced to Wolfe’s writing?

I came to Wolfe as a junior in college at Appalachian State. I had changed my major from media broadcasting to creative writing the year before and was feverish with literary enthusiasm.

I wasn’t much of a reader before college, and I remember feeling like I had a lot of catching up to do. Given that I was in Boone, I’m sure Wolfe’s name was floating around, but I came to his work via Jack Kerouac. Kerouac was unapologetically influenced by Wolfe, and I wanted to follow that lineage. I remember clearly being blown over by the power of Homeward’s language, feeling simultaneously excited and desperately humbled.

But in truth, it wasn’t until I read the novel again, a few years after college, that I really appreciated the depth of Wolfe’s courage and brilliance.

Tell me more about the Kerouac/ Wolfe connection.

Douglas Brinkley wrote the following in his introduction to Kerouac’s “Windblown World,” which is a collection of his journals that he kept while writing his first novel, The Town and The City and while writing On the Road.

“Under the lyrical spell of Thomas Wolfe, whose sweeping novels Of Time and the River and Look Homeward, Angel romanticized the desolation of the vast rawness that was America, Kerouac had become determined to make himself into just as great a native storyteller. Kerouac admired many facets of Wolfe’s writing: his robust prose; his embrace of the autobiographical impulse to create fiction out of one’s own myth; his ability to conjure the sadness in nostalgic moments, to find the spiritual in the forlorn, and to celebrate the holiness inherent in the American earth; and the romantic, optimistic tone he retained far into adulthood.

According to Kerouac, Wolfe’s novels engulfed him in ‘a torrent of American heaven and hell…[that] opened my eyes to America as a subject.”

Magical Offerings All of what Kerouac felt about Wolfe is precisely, to the word, what I felt about Kerouac, especially the part about my eyes being opened to America as a subject. And so, in learning of Wolfe’s influence on Kerouac, and then of Wolfe’s connection to the mountains to which I had just moved, I felt compelled to explore that literary lineage so as to go through Kerouac directly to the source of his inspiration — to see for myself what it was that had Kerouac so jazzed. I was not disappointed.

How has Wolfe’s writing impacted your music? For readers who don’t know, River Whyless’ 2012 debut album pulls its title, “A Stone, a Leaf, an Unfound Door,” from a line in Look Homeward, Angel.

Wolfe’s work was influential both to the music/lyrics of our debut album, as well as in helping us develop a sense of ourselves as artists. River Whyless became River Whyless not long after the band relocated to Asheville from Boone. In Boone, we had a different lineup and went by a different name, and so our move to Asheville and the album we subsequently recorded encapsulated a period of intense growing pains for us, both as individuals and as musicians.

In this way, our debut record was a coming-of-age work in the vein of Wolfe’s Look Homeward. We felt we had at once come home and embarked. And we chose Asheville, as opposed to Nashville or LA, because we found the city to be creatively exciting and inspiring, and so we also looked to Wolfe as an example of somebody who had embraced and mined his environment and his experiences to make something exuberant and beautiful. Wolfe is nothing if not epic, and we’re attracted to that.

Lastly, and probably most significantly, we chose the refrain from Look Homeward, Angel — “A stone, a leaf, an unfound” — as our album’s title because it captures a yearning for self-discovery that is always just beyond our reach and is thus always

drawing us onward, a thing we still feel as musicians and that Wolfe captured so poignantly.

Why do you suppose Wolfe isn’t as widely read today as some of his contemporaries — I’m thinking specifically about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway — all three of whom shared the same editor, Maxwell Perkins?

I think there’s a couple reasons.

The first is simply that Wolfe is difficult in terms of the density of his prose. I happen to love his verbosity, but it takes more energy to read his sentences than it does the very terse and spare style of someone like Hemingway. The rhythms are utterly different. Not to mention that all of Wolfe’s novels are long. This alone can be a deterring factor.

I would also dare to argue that a book like Look Homeward, Angel is more or less plotless in a conventional sense of the word. That’s absolutely an oversimplification, but compare Look Homeward to The Great Gatsby, and I think you see my point. I happen to love long books and am tolerant of “plotlessness” if the language compensates for it — but, yeah, Wolfe asks a lot of his readers.

It’s also true, I think, that a book like Look Homeward, Angel is much more challenging to teach in a classroom than something like The Great Gatsby or The Sun Also Rises, and so its merits are simply not propagated to the same extent. This is true also of his short stories. They weren’t anthologized in the same way his contemporaries were. That’s just a theory, of course. Speaking for myself only, I read a lot of Hemingway and Fitzgerald in my college lit classes.

Wolfe, I came to on my own.

Finally, if you could time travel back to 1937, when Wolfe returned to visit Asheville, where in town would you take him and what question would you ask? (Oh, and if drinks were involved, please specify the type you’d be sipping.)

Come to Cam’s place, because

Coffee

with friends tastes so much better!

I’d feel compelled to break the law.

By that I mean, I would bring a flask of the best scotch I could afford and encourage Wolfe to walk the streets of Asheville with me. We’d pass the flask and also barhop along the way. This is my vision of kickin’ it with Wolfe, in part because it is, I confess, something I do without him. I carry a notebook, I walk the streets, I observe, and, yes, I often think of old TW. The second time I read Look Homeward was after I’d moved to Asheville from Boone. I was living on Biltmore Avenue back then, and I often walked from the house I was renting up the long hill and into town.

I pictured Wolfe walking this same street, his father’s shop up on Pack Square, the stone angel and of that hypnotic, haunting last scene in the novel. O lost and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again!

On our stroll, I would try to describe to Wolfe all the ways in which the city would change, about how his house looks now in 2023, and also I would thank him and embarrass him with praise. Then I’d challenge him to a game of pool.

Editor’s note: Thomas Calder, Xpress managing editor, is a member of Punch Bucket Lit. X

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Thank you to our parade judges: Debra Campbell, City of Asheville | Sherree Lucas, Go Local | Terri Lynn Queen, I Heart Media | Jason Hyatt, Buncombe County 44

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ARTS & C U L T U R E

FOOD ROUNDUP

What’s new in food Nightcrawler says hello to new home at Farewell Nightcrawler — a roving popup that combines owners Alexyss Kaneubbe’s and Chris Mumford’s love for cocktails, coffee, beer and wine — has found a home by collaborating with coffee shop Farewell on Southside Avenue.

Every Thursday through Monday, 6 p.m.-midnight, Nightcrawler will bring its signature brand of libations to the Farewell space after the coffee, plant and natural wine store closes.

“Being able to be Farewell’s latenight identity allows us to finally have a space where we can curate a menu, set the lights and interact with people the way we’ve always wanted to,” Kaneubbe and Mumford offered in an email response. “It’s the same amazing location and building with a nighttime vibe and an expanded menu offering cocktails and boozy coffee, of course.”

Before teaming up with Farewell, Nightcrawler found temporary homes at Strange Magic and Eda Rhyne Distilling Co. “We were only able to bartend at events when people asked us to,” they write. “So it’s a huge deal for us to be able to have a little space and call it our own while also working to bring cocktails to the daytime flow of Farewell.”

While past pop-up spots were temporary, the legion of fans from the local service industry scene and beyond are anything but. The impetus behind creating Nightcrawler, the owners say, was to “bring a spot to Asheville that offered pretty much everything we love about the service industry into one solid place; [to open] a bar for bartenders that people visiting can also be very stoked on.”

Ties to the service industry run deep for Nightcrawler. Mumford was the general manager, beer buyer and bartender/barista at The Brew & Brew in Austin, Texas, before moving to Asheville last year with Kaneubbe.

She works at Pollen, a coffee and flower shop where she’s formed friendships and connections she says are critical to Nightcrawler’s success.

The two hope to eventually open their own place for Nightcrawler but are thankful for the current arrangement with Farewell.

“This opportunity is something that allows us to see proof of concept, let people get an idea of who we are, what we are like and what we have to offer,” writes the duo. “Hopefully ... it could open up doors for us to be able to have our own space.”

Farewell is at 11 Southside Ave. Follow Nightcrawler on Instagram at avl.mx/d7m for additional information.

SHARING IS CARING: Nightcrawler has collaborated with Farewell to give its pop-up coffee and cocktail concept a regular home Thursdays through Mondays. Photo courtesy Nightcrawler

Ugly sweater bar crawl Bar Crawl USA hosts the seventh annual Asheville Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl on Saturday, Dec. 16, 3-9 p.m.

Participants are encouraged to deck themselves in an ugly holiday sweater before meeting at Daddy Mac’s Down Home Dive for registration and a crawl kickoff party.

The crawl stops at Banks Ave Bar, Capella on 9 Rooftop Bar, The One Stop and Claddagh Restaurant & Pub, ending at Scandals Nightclub for the official crawl after-party.

Tickets costing $17 per person grant participants a bar crawl koozie, a holiday lanyard with a map of the participating bars, discounted drinks at participating locations, DJ entertainment at multiple bars, holiday livestream trivia with prizes and a chance to win a $100 cash prize through a giveaway at the crawl’s after-party. A photographer will be taking pictures of the group throughout the crawl.

VIP tickets for $22 also include an official ugly sweater drawstring

bag and one complimentary beer at Banks Ave Bar. Daddy Mac’s Down Home Dive is at 161 Biltmore Ave. Visit avl.mx/d7p for tickets and additional information.

Holiday markets are coming to town Two distinct holiday markets are coming to Asheville breweries this weekend.

The first will transform Hi-Wire Brewing’s River Arts District Beer Garden into a Weihnachtsmarkt, or German-inspired holiday market, on Saturday, Dec. 16, noon-5 p.m.

Shipping containers at the brewery will become stalls for vendors to decorate and sell their goods.

The Haus Heidelberg food truck will serve authentic German dishes during the event, and Blunt Pretzels and Mount Patisserie will provide baked goods. Hi-Wire will offer Glühwein, a traditional German mulled wine.

On Sunday, Dec. 17, noon-9 p.m., New Origin Brewing will host its second annual Christmas Market. A

variety of pop-up vendors will offer holiday-themed products and gifts for the season. New Origin will brew a winter beer to be released during the event, and 900 Degreez Pizza will offer a themed Christmas special.

Kids (and adults) can have their picture taken with Santa Claus, Greenhouse will run a flash tattoo pop-up, Mount Patisserie will sell doughnuts, and a “make your own s’mores” station will be available.

The Hi-Wire Brewing RAD Beer Garden is at 284 Lyman St. Visit avl.mx/d7n for additional information. New Origin Brewing is at 131 Thompson St. Visit avl.mx/btn for additional information.

Holiday cookie workshop Rabbit Hole will host a hands-on cookie-making, baking and decorating event on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2-4 p.m.

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ARTS & CU L T U R E Workshop participants will be guided through the process of forming cookies from dough and decorating prebaked cookies with a variety of icings, sprinkles and other edible decorations. Tickets ($40 per adult or parent-and-child pair) include hands-on learning for several varieties of cookies and decorative styles.

Each attendee will leave with two dozen mixed cookies.

“While participants will not be making dough from scratch, as recipes require the dough to be refrigerated ahead of forming and baking, they will be provided with recipes if they wish to make more at home,” says Alice Oglesby, garden and public relations manager for Sunny Point Cafe and Rabbit Hole.

Rabbit Hole is at 9 State St. Visit avl.mx/wordcapi for tickets and additional information.

Ugly sweater yoga with mimosas Funky Flow Yoga hosts a holiday-themed yoga class at plēb urban winery on Sunday, Dec. 17, 10:30-11:30 a.m., taught by Mandy Przywara. Przywara is an RYT 200, a registered yoga teacher who has completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training. This will be her third year offering the event at plēb.

The class is suitable for both yoga beginners and experienced practitioners. Attendees are encouraged to wear their ugliest holiday sweaters or any other piece of themed, cozy attire for the class. Przywara’s yoga poses will themselves include a holiday twist. Mimosas, plēb wines and nonalcoholic beverages will be available for sale at the bar.

“The event falls a week before Christmas, right in the thick of holiday prep, planning and shopping,” says Przywara. “We all get so bogged down in those preparations and the

stress that comes from the holidays, so I wanted to create a fun event that would allow folks to destress. Our timing is very intentional.”

Attending the class costs $10 per person. Guests are encouraged to arrive at least 15 minutes before class begins to claim a mat space.

“I hope that folks will walk away from this event feeling relaxed and rejuvenated in a sort of ‘calm before the storm’ way,” says Przywara. plēb urban winery is at 289 Lyman St. Visit avl.mx/d7l for tickets and additional information.

New CEO at Cúrate Cúrate has announced the appointment of Susan Aplin as its new CEO. “The ownership team and I are thrilled to welcome Susan to the team,” says chef Katie Button in a news release. “As Cúrate continues to grow, we know that the addition of an experienced and thoughtful leader is going to prove effective in achieving our vision for the business.”

Aplin brings over 30 years of experience in both the gourmet food and e-commerce industries to the role. She has held executive positions with large, global companies such as Williams-Sonoma Inc., The Gap, Bambeco, Sports Authority Inc., Staples, Bill Me Later and the World Trade Center Institute.

Before joining Cúrate, Aplin served as co-CEO of Asheville’s Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn.

“I look forward to strengthening the position that Cúrate has earned in the restaurant space and taking it to the next level in the direct-to-consumer, CPG [consumer packaged goods], travel and wine industries,” says Aplin in the news release. “I am excited to lead Cúrate restaurants and lifestyle brands into the next chapter of [their] legacy.”

Cúrate is at 13 Biltmore Ave. Visit avl.mx/d7k for additional information.

BRINGING GOOD PEOPLE AND GREAT COFFEE TOGETHER! Coffee, Tea, and Sweet & Savory Eats Take Out • Catering

Collab beer for a cause Chai Pani Restaurant Group founder and chef Meherwan Irani has teamed up with Monday Night Brewing brewmaster Peter Kiley to release a limited-edition beer. The beer is part of Monday Night Brewing’s Chef Series, which celebrates chefs while pledging a portion of sales to charity.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Giving Kitchen, a nonprofit organization providing emergency assistance to food service workers.

Kiley devised the beer – a wheated rice lager with turmeric ― to reflect Irani’s heritage and complement the flavors and spices of his Indian cuisine at restaurants such as Chai Pani and Botiwalla. Wheat is the predominant grain in northern India, while rice is the leading grain in southern India. The turmeric adds notes of earthy, floral and citrus flavor. This beer is now available at all Chai Pani Restaurant Group restaurants as well as Monday Night Brewing locations throughout the Southeast.

Chai Pani is at 22 Battery Park Ave. Botiwalla is at 697 Haywood Road. Visit avl.mx/d7o for additional information.

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AR T S & C UL TU R E

ROUNDUP

Around Town Doll show debuts at The Odd The Odd Doll Exhibit, spotlighting several regional and local artists who specialize in unique dolls, will be held at The Odd in West Asheville on Sunday, Dec. 17, 11-4 p.m. The event is organized and hosted by toy maker, puppeteer and comedian Keith Shubert, who runs Toybox Theatre.

Attendees will be able to meet the artists as well as purchase items.

The Odd’s brunch menu and bar will be available.

“I wanted to share with the Asheville community many of the amazing artists in the region specializing in one-of-a-kind figurative work for a holiday market,” says Shubert.

“One of the things I do year-round in the community is curate eclectic casts of artists at different events, to spotlight a variety of unique voices [and] to promote creativity and support for independent artists.”

Shubert, who has lived in Asheville since 2009, is also involved with Asheville Vaudeville, Asheville Fringe Arts Festival, LEAF Global Arts and other arts and community events.

The Odd is at 1045 Haywood Road.

For more information on Toybox Theatre, visit avl.mx/d7q.

Bask celebrates a decade Bask, a heavy and progressive rock band from Asheville, will hold its 10th anniversary celebration at Burial Beer Co.’s Eulogy on the South Slope on Saturday, Dec. 16, 8 p.m. The free concert will open with punk band Zombie Queen and metallic hardcore group Serrate. Live visuals by local cinematographer Garrett Williams will accompany Bask’s set.

HELLO DOLLY: Keith Shubert of Toybox Theatre will host a local doll show at West Asheville’s The Odd on Sunday, Dec. 17. Photo courtesy of Shubert.

Burial Beer Co. will also release a new beer, Rid of You, in honor of the 10-year friendship between the brewery and Bask. The dry Irish-stout style was chosen as one of the band’s and brewer’s favorites and is named after a track on the band’s album III. The beer will be available on draft only at Eulogy.

Drummer Scott Middleton says the band is excited to mark the special occasion with a hometown show.

“We’ve been able to tour the States, Canada and Europe and play with many bands we love and admire,” he says. “When we first began, [we] had a modest goal of getting music onto vinyl. Fortunately, we accomplished that early on and were able to do some things that seemed like a pipe dream ... while we were writing demos in basements and bedrooms.”

Eulogy is at 10 Buxton Ave. For more information, visit avl.mx/d7r.

Whirling dervishes at Warren Wilson Asheville Wordfest will commemorate the 750th anniversary of poet Rumi’s death at “Remembering Rumi” on Sunday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m., at Bryson Gym at Warren Wilson College. The event is inspired by an annual event held each year in Konya, Turkey, by Rumi’s followers, the Mevlevi Dervishes.

“Remembering Rumi” will feature his poetry read by Laura HopeGill, founder of Asheville Wordfest.

Asheville Percussion Festival director River Guerguerian and his longtime 48

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wind- and string-instrument bandmate, Chris Rosser, will provide musical accompaniment. A whirling workshop will be led by Erik Bendix, who trained in Mevlevi dervish whirling and has whirled with Mevlevis in Konya.

Bryson Gym is at 102 Upper College Road, Swannanoa. For more information, visit avl.mx/d7s.

Listening party 103.3 Asheville FM will release its second annual compilation LP, Real People Great Radio Vol. 2, at a listening party at Citizen Vinyl on Thursday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m.

Several of the collection’s 10 local bands and artists will perform at the free event. The collection features multiple genres and community voices.

“Throw an onion 10 feet in any direction in Asheville, and you’ll hit an artist,” says Bill Donovan, Asheville FM’s music director, in a press release.

“But they’re also probably someone who supports their art by working in the retail or service industries, tourism or any number of occupations. This is our way of supporting the folks who keep us going, and who create excellent music that resonates far beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Citizen Vinyl is at 14 O. Henry Ave. For more information, visit avl.mx/d7t.

Nonprofits host The Star Market Two local nonprofits are collaborating to host The Star Market, a free holiday market at Art Garden AVL in the River Arts District on Sunday, Dec. 17, 1 p.m.

FIRSTwnc works to empower neurodiverse people and people with disabilities through community connection, and Imprint Artists works to elevate the quality of life for artists. The Star Market will feature artists and craftspeople from both organizations.

Art Garden AVL is at 191 Lyman St. For more information, visit avl.mx/d24.

Swannanoa Winterfest The annual Swannanoa Winterfest, a free community celebration modeled on traditional European holiday markets, will be held in Grovemont Park on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2-6:30 p.m.

The event will feature 40 artisans and vendors, musical entertainment and jugglers, a marshmallow roast over an open fire pit, as well as food, holiday treats and hot drinks available for purchase.

New this year is the Holiday Trolley, available for a $3 donation, which

gives a guided tour of the historic Grovemont neighborhood. Grovemont is celebrating its 100th anniversary as America’s first planned community.

Children’s games and activities will be available, including a visit from Olaf the Snowman and a booth for writing and mailing letters to Santa Claus.

Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishables or monetary donations to support the Healthy Food & Fund Drive sponsored by local nonprofit Bounty & Soul.

Friends of the Swannanoa Library will also host a used book sale in the library’s basement throughout the event.

Grovemont Park is at 251 Stonewall Ave., Swannanoa. For more information, visit avl.mx/9we.

Asheville author wins N.C. Fiction Prize Local author Robert McGee has added a new title to his repertoire: winner of the N.C. State Shorter Fiction Prize. McGee’s short story “Why I Never Published My Novel” took home the top prize this year, as judged by Smriti Ravindra, who called it “funny, poignant, clever and meaningful.”

The story begins with a family death that alters the course of the narrator’s life, followed by a series of curveballs.

McGee has entered and been a finalist six times. Upon receiving this year’s news of winning, he says, “I danced around my living room for a few minutes and didn’t get much work done that morning.”

For more information, visit avl.mx/aus.

— Andy Hall X

with additional reporting

by Murryn Payne

MOVIE REVIEWS THE BOY AND THE HERON: Legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki’s final film is a masterful meditation on creativity and legacies. Grade: A — Edwin Arnaudin

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

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CLUBLAND For questions about free listings, call 828-251-1333, opt. 4.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13 ALLEY CAT Karaoke Party, 8pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm DIFFERENT WRLD Memory Card, Tombstone Poetry, Orre & Trust Blinks (indie-rock, alt-rock, experimental-folk), 9pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Dan's Jam (bluegrass), 5pm URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE Trivia, 6:30pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN Irish Music Circle, 7pm

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EULOGY Sipe, Seriff & Wolf (jazz), 7pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Moon Night Jazz Speakeasy, 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Slow Poison, Chancey 77, Jared Petteys & The Headliners (rock), 9pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Mike Kenton & Jim Tanner (jazz), 5:30pm

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CROW & QUILL Firecracker Jazz Band, 8pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well-Crafted Music w/ Matt Smith, 6pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Bluegrass Jam w/Derek McCoy & Friends, 6pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Latin Night w/DJ Mtn Vibez, 8:30pm SHAKEY'S Sexy Service Industry Night w/DJ Ek Balam, 10pm SHILOH & GAINES Trivia Night, 7pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm THE ODD Safety Coffin, Yesterday's Clothes & Lucky Flip (indie-rock), 8pm THE ORANGE PEEL 10 Years w/Lost Hearts (rock, prog-metal), 8pm

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ASHEVILLE ROCK: On Wednesday, Dec. 13, Asheville rock duo Safety Coffin takes the stage at The Odd, starting at 8 p.m. They’ll be joined by local alt-rock band Yesterday’s Clothes and Lucky Flip. Photo courtesy of Kiy Hall SALVAGE STATION Sugar Nova & Future Joy (indie-pop, electronic), 8pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Dark City Kings (indie, bluegrass), 5pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Mr Jimmy's Friday Night Blues, 8pm

SHAKEY'S Karaoke, 9pm

THE STATION BLACK MOUNTAIN Mr Jimmy (blues), 5pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Tripp St. (electronic, dance, dubstep), 10pm

SHILOH & GAINES Karaoke Night, 8pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Django Jazz Jam, 7pm THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Karaoke w/Terraoke, 9pm THE ODD CodaPen, On the Block, The Discs & Blistering Dissonance (punk, garage), 8pm

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 27 CLUB Auroras Hope, Second Wind, Eye Candy, Accidents Club & the Takedowns (punk, rock), 7pm ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Live Music Sessions, 7:30pm

BOTANIST & BARREL TASTING BAR + BOTTLE SHOP Fancy Marie (alt-country, honky-tonk), 6:30pm CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE ASHEVILLE • Comedy at Catawba: Clare O'Kane, 7pm

• Comedy at Catawba: Freaky Friday Stand-up Showcase, 9pm CORK & KEG 3 Cool Cats (rock'n'roll), 8pm DIFFERENT WRLD Sweet Pine (alt-rock, shoegaze, indie), 8pm EULOGY State Park Ranger w/ Dish & Good Trauma (grunge-folk), 7pm FLEETWOOD'S Small Doses & The Welcoming, John Kirby Jr. & The New Seniors (punk, metal, rock), 8pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Fire Flower (jazz), 7pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA John Price Trio (multiple genres), 9pm

HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Drag Music Bingo w/ Divine the Bearded Lady, 7:30pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Mtn Vibez Dance Party, 10pm THE ORANGE PEEL Barbie Dance Party, 8pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Honky-Tonk Fridays w/ Jackson Grimm, 4pm

THE RAILYARD BLACK MOUNTAIN Stetson's Stink Bug Bourbon Band (country, Americana), 7pm

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

THE RIVER ARTS DISTRICT BREWING CO. Kate Bryant (country, folk), 6pm

MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Chris Jamison (Americana, folk), 6:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Awake in the Dream (rock), 8pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE Cider Celts (Celtic, folk, old-time), 6pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Awen Family Band w/ Funklestiltskin (Zydeco, bluegrass, Afrobeat), 10pm

WXYZ BAR AT ALOFT Andrew Thelston Band (rock, psychedelia, blues), 7pm

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16

ONE WORLD BREWING Muddy Guthrie (rock, Americana), 8pm

ALLEY CAT Karaoke Party, 8pm

SALVAGE STATION Dirty Dozen Brass Band (jazz, funk, R&B), 8pm SHAKEY'S • Friday Late Nights w/ DJ Ek Balam, 12am • Big Blue Jams Band (multiple genres), 9pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY • Live Music Sessions, 7:30pm • 80's MAXimum Overdrive, 10pm ASHEVILLE CLUB Mr Jimmy (blues), 7pm

SHILOH & GAINES 4-Way Cookie w/Mike Barnes, Howie Johnson, Mark McDaniel & Jeff Sipe (rock, jazz), 9pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Kayla McKinney (country, honky-tonk), 8pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Dinah's Daydream (jazz), 6pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Joe May (pop, soul, rock), 10pm

CORK & KEG The Old Chevrolette Set (country), 10:30pm CROW & QUILL Meschiya Lake's New Orleans Jazz Band, 8pm EULOGY Bask w/Zombie Queen & Serrate (psych, soul, Americana), 7pm FLEETWOOD'S Hans Condor, Tiny TVs & Bad Sleepers (garage, punk), 8pm FOUR POINTS BY SHERATON Comedy Hypnosis w/ Jon Dee, 8pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. 9 Day Trip (country, rock'n'roll, Americana), 6pm HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Up Jumped Three (jazz), 7pm

27 CLUB Midnight Mass: The XXX-Mas Edition, 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Christmas Warm Up Dance Party w/DJ Big Daddy, 9pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Eggy (indie, funk), 10pm

ASHEVILLE GUITAR BAR Doss Church & the Unholy Noise (soul, Americana), 7:30pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB • Nobody's Darling String Band, 4pm • The Well Drinkers (bluegrass, Americana, Cajun), 9pm LA TAPA LOUNGE Karaoke, 9pm MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Mitch McConnell & The Senators (bluegrass, rock, old-time), 6pm NOBLE CIDER & MEAD DOWNTOWN Crisp Comedy Downtown, 7pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Songs from the Road & The Wilsons Spring Hotel (rock, bluegrass, folk), 4pm

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SALVAGE STATION Toubab Krewe w/Shira Elias (folk, African, rock), 8pm SHAKEY'S Trash Talk Queer Dance Party & Drag Show, 10pm SHILOH & GAINES Lyric (pop, rock, funk), 9pm SOVEREIGN KAVA DJ Uncle Rizz, 8pm THE BURGER BAR Best Worst Karaoke, 9pm THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Hip-Hop Holdup 2: Life is a Movie, 9pm

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THE GREY EAGLE Odie Leigh w/King Strang (country, folk, blues), 9pm THE ODD Party Foul Drag: Saturday Night Tease, 8pm THE ORANGE PEEL • Hip Hop Hooray w/DJ Oso Rey, 10am • Sold Out: Old Gods of Appalachia: Family Traditions, 8pm URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE 80's Dance Night, 7pm

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CLU B LA N D WXYZ BAR AT ALOFT Asheville AV Club, 7pm

5 WALNUT WINE BAR CaroMia, Rahm, Iannuci & Jaze Uries (dreampop, soul, R&B), 8pm

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17

DSSOLVR Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK EXCHANGE Parker’s Back (swing, jazz), 3pm

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CATAWBA BREWING CO. SOUTH SLOPE ASHEVILLE Comedy at Catawba: Emily Panic, 6:30pm DIFFERENT WRLD Archer Oh (indie, garage-rock), 8pm EULOGY Setting w/Wind Cults (experimental, newage), 7pm FLEETWOOD'S Cajun Cabaret w/The Deviled Eggs, 6pm FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Reggae Sunday w/ Chalwa, 3pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Jackson Grimm (folk-pop, Americana, Appalachian), 2pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB • Bluegrass Brunch, 1pm • Traditional Irish Jam, 3:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Finkelstein 3 (bluegrass), 4pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Sunday Jazz Jam, 1:30pm PISGAH BREWING CO. Pisgah Sunday Jam, 1:30pm S & W MARKET Mr Jimmy (blues), 1pm SOVEREIGN KAVA Cosmic Appalachian Soul, 7pm THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Sunday Brunch Karaoke w/Terraoke, 12pm THE ORANGE PEEL Old Gods of Appalachia: Family Traditions, 8pm PLĒB URBAN WINERY Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 4pm

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18 27 CLUB Karaoke Monday, 10pm

HAYWOOD COUNTRY CLUB Open Mic w/ Taylor Martin & Special Guests, 7:15pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Totally Rad Trivia w/ Mitch Fortune, 6pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB • Quizzo! Pub Trivia w/ Jason Mencer, 7:30pm • 'Twas the Mic Before Christmas: Comedy Showcase, 9:30pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Takes All Kinds Open Mic Nights, 7pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Mashup Mondays w/ The JLloyd Mashup Band, 8pm THE JOINT NEXT DOOR Mr Jimmy & Friends (blues), 7pm

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THE RIVER ARTS DISTRICT BREWING CO. Open Mic w/Jenny B., 7pm WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN White Horse Open Mic, 7pm

CROW & QUILL Para Gozar (Cuban), 8pm

AMICI'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT Rene Russell (Americana, rock, bluegrass), 5pm ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm FLEETWOOD'S Psych Night w/DJ Torren, 9pm FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Saylor Brothers & Friends (jamgrass), 6:30pm HIGHLAND BREWING CO. Well-Crafted Music w/ Matt Smith, 6pm

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21

ALLEY CAT Karaoke Party, 8pm

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

FLEETWOOD'S Spooky Tuesdays: All Vinyl DJs, 7pm

URBAN ORCHARD CIDER CO. SOUTH SLOPE Trivia, 6:30pm

ASHEVILLE BEAUTY ACADEMY Moon Night Jazz Speakeasy, 7pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Old Time Jam, 5pm

EULOGY Rap Is Dead w/Phantom Pantone, 8pm

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SOVEREIGN KAVA Night Open Jam, 8pm

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FLEETWOOD'S A Very Tight Christmas w/Comino & Paprika (garage, punk, indie), 9pm FRENCH BROAD RIVER BREWERY Jerry's Dead (Grateful Dead & JGB Tribute), 6pm HIGHLAND BREWING DOWNTOWN TAPROOM Not Rocket Science Trivia, 6pm JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7:30pm MAD CO. BREW HOUSE Chris Long (rock, Americana), 6pm OKLAWAHA BREWING CO. Kid Billy (Americana, blues, indie-folk), 7pm ONE WORLD BREWING Jake Burns (reggae, rock, folk), 7pm ONE WORLD BREWING WEST Ovadya (neo-psych, world-music), 8pm OUTSIDER BREWING Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm SHAKEY'S Comedy Showcase w/ Hilliary Begley, 8pm SHILOH & GAINES Karaoke Night, 8pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Poetry Open Mic, 8pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Karaoke w/Terraoke, 9pm

THE GETAWAY RIVER BAR Asheville FM Live Music Sessions, 9pm

THE ODD Nintenbros (Video Game Cover Band), 8pm

THE GREY EAGLE Gabe Dixon w/Sahara Moon (Americana, folk, blues), 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL The Long Distance Relationship w/Rond (indie-rock, psych), 8pm

THE ODD Shake A Leg & George Trouble (folk-punk, rock, reggae), 9pm

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F R E E W I L L A S T R O L O G Y BY ROB BREZSNY ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1849, Harriet Tubman escaped from enslavement on a plantation in Maryland. She could have enjoyed her new freedom in peace, but instead resolved to liberate others. During 13 bold forays into enemy territory, she rescued 70 enslaved people and ushered them to safety. She testified that she relied on her dreams and visions to help her carry out her heroic acts. They revealed to her the best escape routes to take, the best times to proceed and information about how to avoid the fiendish “slave catchers.” In alignment with astrological omens, I invite you to be like Tubman and seek practical guidance from your dreams in the coming weeks — to solve problems or seek bliss.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Jack Nicholson has often played mavericks and anti-heroes in his movies. His life away from the silver screen has also been less than steady and predictable.

For example, he has fathered six children with five different women. His fellow actor, Carrie Fisher, said Jack was “fun because he doesn’t make sense.” A person with casual knowledge of astrology might be surprised that Nicholson is a Taurus. Your tribe isn’t typically renowned for high eccentricity. But in his natal chart, Nicholson has the brash planet Uranus near his sun in Taurus, indicating he’s quirky. Aside from that, I have known plenty of Tauruses whose commitment to being uniquely themselves makes them idiosyncratic. These themes will be in play for you during the coming weeks.

(PS: Taurus musician David Byrne starred in the concert film, Stop Making Sense.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The platitude says that if life gives us lemons, we should make lemonade. I’ve got a variation on this theme.

Consider the Neva River in northwestern Russia.

It freezes every winter. During the frigid months of 1739-1740, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered her workers to cut huge blocks of ice and use them to construct a magnificent palace on the riverbank. She filled the place with furniture and art, making it a hub of festivities celebrating Russia’s triumph over the Ottoman Empire. I bring these themes to your attention, Gemini, because I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will have substantial redemptive power.

Whether you make lemonade from lemons or a palace from a frozen river is up to you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy,” wrote Cancerian author E. B. White. “If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” According to my astrological analysis, your fate in recent weeks has been more challenging than seductive.

You’ve been pressed to work on dilemmas and make adjustments more than you might like. But this rhythm is about to change. Up ahead, life is seductive, welcoming and appealing. Are you prepared to drop any unconscious attachment you have to your interesting discomfort so you can smoothly make the transition to more ease?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I want to prepare you for the delights of the coming days. I want to make sure you are fully alert for them and primed to appreciate them. So I give you the thoughts of Leo psychologist Carl Jung. “It is important to have a secret, a premonition of things unknown,” he said. “We must sense that we live in a mysterious world — that things happen and can be experienced that remain inexplicable; that not everything can be anticipated; that the unexpected and incredible belong in this world. Only then is life whole.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you taken a refreshing break lately? Maybe even a soothing sabbatical? Have you treated yourself to a respite from the gritty grind? If not, please do so soon.

And while you are recharging your psychic batteries, I ask you to give your fantasy life ample

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room to wander wildly and freely. In my astrological opinion, your imagination needs to be fed and fed with gourmet food for thought. For the sake of your soul’s health, I hope you dream up fantastic, unruly, even outrageous possibilities.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): My Uncle Ned advised me, “The best gift you can compel your ego to accept is to make it your servant instead of your master.” An early Buddhist teacher sounded a related theme when she told me, “The best things in life are most likely to come your way if you periodically shed all hope and practice being completely empty.” The girlfriend I had when I was 23 confided, “You may get more enjoyment from the witty ways I confound you if you don’t try to understand them.” I offer these three ideas to you, Libra, because you’re in a phase when the moral of your story is that there is no apparent moral to your story — at least until you surrender your notions of what the moral of your story is.

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SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I believe you Scorpios are the zodiac sign mostly likely to benefit from being empathetic. By that I mean you have substantial power to thrive by reading other people’s moods and feelings. You are often able to figure out angles that enable you to gather what you want while helping others to gather what they want. You are potentially a genius at doing what’s best for everyone and getting paid and rewarded for it. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, this knack of yours will soon be operating at peak levels.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun died over 3,300 years ago. When his mournful entourage placed him in his tomb, the treasures they left included a pot of honey, which was meant to sweeten his travels in the afterlife. In the early 20th century, archaeologists excavated the ancient site. They dared to sample the honey, finding it as tasty and fresh as if it had just been made. Amazingly, this same longevity is a characteristic of most honey. I propose we use this as a metaphor for your life.

What old resources or experiences from your past might be as pure and nurturing as they were originally? And now could they be of value now?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Screenwriter John Patrick Shanley writes, “Life holds its miracles, good erupting from darkness chief among them.” I predict a comparable miracle for you, Capricorn, though I suspect it will arise out of confusion or inertia rather than darkness. My advice: Don’t be so bogged down in the muddle that you miss the signs that a great awakening is nigh. Start rehearsing how you will feel when deliverance arrives.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Before he reached the height of fame as a novelist, Aquarian Charles Dickens experienced financial instability.

When he was 31, the situation got desperate, and he resolved to take extreme measures. For six weeks, beginning in October 1843, he obsessively worked on writing the story A Christmas Carol.

It was published on December 19 and sold out in a few days. Within a year, 13 editions were released. Dicken’s economic worries were over.

Dear Aquarius, I think the near future will be a favorable time for you, too, to take dramatic, focused action to fix a problem you’re having.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Many religious people believe God can hear their prayers and intervene in worldly affairs. Other religious folks think God can hear their prayers but may not intervene. Then there are the non-religious folks who don’t believe in God and think praying is useless. Wherever you might be on the spectrum, Pisces, I’m pleased to reveal that you will have extra access to support and benefaction in the coming weeks — whether that’s from God, fate, nature or other humans. So seek out blessings and assistance with alacrity. Be receptive to all potential helpers, even unlikely ones.

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Department. REMINGTON, 552, 22; STEVENS, 940-E, 20GA; WHT/BLK, RTS, REVOLVER; WHT/BLK, COLT, REVOLVER, 22; BLK, SAVAGE, STEVENS 62, 22; BLK, S&W, 9MM, 9MM; SIL/ BRN, TAURUS, 357 MAGNUM, 357; SIL/BLK, CHARTER ARMS, 2000, 44; BRN/BLK, MARLIN, 336, 35; BRN/BLK, WINCHESTER, 94AE, 44; BRN/BLK, ARMINIUS, HW7, 22; BLK, GSG, 522, 22; BRN/ BLK, REMINGTON, 510, 22; GRN/BLK, SIG SAUER, 522, 22; SIL/YEL, RAVEN ARMS, MP-25, 25; BLK, S&W, 9MM; MOSIN, M44, 7.62; MARLIN, 60W, 22; BLK, FEDARM, FRX, 12GA; SAVAGE, STEVANS, 12GA; BRN/BLK, MOD RB, 14, 22; CHARTER ARMS, UNDERCOVER, 38; SIL/BLK, KAHR ARMS, CW45, 45; ROSSI, M68, 38; MOSSBERG, SHOTGUN; BLK, CITADEL, SHOTGUN, 12GA; SIL/BLK, ROSSI, S.A., 12GA; BRN/BLK, RG, RG23, 22; CHR/BRN, F.I.E., F15, 22; BLK/TAN, OMEGA, 100, 22; BLK, COBRA, FS380, 38; BLK, MOSSBERG, 500, 12GA; SIL/ BLK, TAURUS, REVOLVER, 38; BLK, S&W, M&P, 357; BLK, MOSSBERG, 22; BLK, ZORAKI, P.A.K., 9MM. Anyone with a legitimate claim or interest in this property must contact the Asheville Police Department within 30 days from the date of this publication. Any items not claimed within 30 days will be disposed of in accordance with all applicable laws. For further information, or to file a claim, contact the Asheville Police Department Property & Evidence Section at 828232-4576.

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T HE N E W Y O R K T I ME S C R O S S W O R D P U ZZLE edited by Will Shortz | No. 1108

ACROSS 1 Not real 9 Phantomlike 16 Printing specification 17 Went in formation, in a way 18 Runaway best seller 19 What Brits call Bordeaux reds 20 Feature of many a gas station 21 Rap’s Lil ___ X 23 Name that’s a city in Oklahoma 24 Lumbering creature of fantasy 25 18-Across

by Miley Cyrus, in two ways 30 Flyers, on scoreboards 31 Went undercover 32 Send out 33 Exhibiting Newton’s first law, say 36 Pour down 39 Time of one’s life 40 18-Across by the Doors, in two ways 43 ___-compliant 44 Newbie 45 Inception 46 Replica, informally 48 ___ gratia artis 50 Word after chocolate or chemistry 51 18-Across by Peter Gabriel, in two ways 55 Ave. crossers 58 Utah’s ___ Canyon 59 Letters for a handyperson 60 Author Silverstein 61 Infotech standard akin to ASCII 64 What 25-, 40- and 51-Across might originally have appeared on, appropriately?

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7 Web mag 8 Uncouple 9 Maker of the Yukon S.U.V. 10 Van ___, band with the 1984 #1 hit “Jump” 11 Bornean primate, informally 12 Melville’s Bartleby, for one 13 How much it’s gonna cost 14 Allow to 15 N.F.L. units: Abbr.

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33 Singer Paula 34 Cirque du Soleil performer 35 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, collectively 37 Triumphant cry 38 Vape “health” claim 41 Santa-tracking org.

42 Dongle connector, in brief 43 Podcast interruptions 47 Fiats 49 Soupçon

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54 Mike of “So I Married an Axe Murderer” 55 Flaky rock 56 Conical dwelling 57 Toys that can be used while either sitting or lying 60 “Pierce film with fork” might be the first one 61 Durham sch.

62 Prefix with many -isms 63 Nav. rank 65 Comfy shoe, informally 66 Sex education subject

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