Mountain Xpress 04.23.25

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TAKING STOCK

Recent data from AirDNA, a research and analytics platform that studies the short-term rental market, indicate that more than 1,400 STR units have left the WNC market in the months that followed Tropical Storm Helene — a reduction of 21% of active STR listings in 2025 compared with 2024. Despite the sharp decline, some experts think the upheaval could offer unexpected benefits for STR hosts and WNC residents.

PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Jeff Fobes

ASSISTANT PUBLISHER: Susan Hutchinson

MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas Calder

EDITORS: Lisa Allen, Gina Smith

OPINION EDITOR: Tracy Rose

STAFF REPORTERS: Lisa Allen, Thomas Calder, Brionna Dallara, Justin McGuire, Greg Parlier, Brooke Randle, Gina Smith

COMMUNITY CALENDAR & CLUBLAND: Braulio Pescador-Martinez

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Jon Elliston, Mindi Meltz Friedwald, Peter Gregutt, Rob Mikulak

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Christopher Arbor, Edwin Arnaudin, Danielle Arostegui, Mark Barrett, Eric Brown, Carmela Caruso, Cayla Clark, Molly Devane, Tessa Fontaine, Mindi Meltz Friedwald, Troy Jackson, Carol Kaufman, Bill Kopp, Chloe Leiberman, Jessica Wakeman, Kay West, Clark Wilson, Jamie Zane

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Caleb Johnson

ADVERTISING, ART & DESIGN MANAGER: Susan Hutchinson

LEAD DESIGNER: Scott Southwick

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Tina Gaafary, Caleb Johnson, Olivia Urban

MARKETING ASSOCIATES: Emily Baughman, Sara Brecht

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: Jeff Fobes, Mark Murphy, Scott Southwick WEB: Brandon Tilley

BOOKKEEPER: Amie Fowler

OFFICE MANAGER: Mark Murphy

ADMINISTRATION & BILLING: Lisa Watters

DISTRIBUTION: Susan Hutchinson, Kyle Ramser

DISTRIBUTION DRIVERS: Cass Kunst, Cindy Kunst, Henry Mitchell, Courtney Israel Nash, Joey Nash, Carl & Debbie Schweiger, Gary Selnick, Noah Tanner, Mark Woodyard

Don’t miss I-26 Connector session

I am writing to urge West Asheville residents and all concerned citizens to attend the upcoming public information session hosted by the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) regarding the Interstate 26 Connector project. This crucial meeting will take place on Thursday, April 24, 4-7 p.m., in the Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel at 31 Woodfin St. in Asheville.

This project, while intended to improve regional connectivity, will undoubtedly have a significant and lasting impact on the character and landscape of West Asheville. From property acquisitions and altered traffic patterns to the overall feel of our vibrant community, the implications are substantial. The recent announcement of a change in the project design from having an underpass at Patton Avenue to having an overpass has dramatically changed the impacts on noise in the area.

There may be space to lessen the impact to the community and save cost by sizing appropriately.

This public information session represents an important opportunity for West Asheville to engage with the NCDOT and ensure they fully understand the coming impacts. I encourage everyone who cares about their future experience in our

neighborhood to attend and participate actively.

—

Drew Skau West Asheville

We deserve a better I-26 Connector

People live in cities with great recurring cultural traditions. Austin,

Texas, has SXSW; Miami Beach, Fla., celebrates Art Basel; and for Asheville, we have Interstate 26. This week is your time to do your part as a citizen or leader to show up and get your eyes full of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s future plans for Asheville. It is our local sport!

In 2008, NCDOT proposed the idea of putting the highway over Patton Avenue, and the community

SUSTAINING COMMUNITY

Tools and materials

Things you can do to support local trails

David Huff is councillor for communications of the Carolina Mountain Club (CMC).

Xpress: What remain the top priorities and most urgent needs for Carolina Mountain Club amid the post-Helene recovery?

successfully articulated the negative consequences. In 2010, they agreed to keep the highway under Patton, which became the final design in 2018. NCDOT has now backtracked to the 2008 highway over Patton design, betraying our community and our good-faith collaborations. This redesign was not part of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. This will irreparably harm our community environmentally, aesthetically and economically.

NCDOT may have a right to change things, but they can’t ignore the federal law that stipulates that we should have reasonable alternatives and knowledge of the impacts in an EIS. Impacts of this redesign have not been evaluated, period. This will have tremendous negative impacts on our community for the next century and will significantly affect our ability to navigate in our own city.

Thankfully, we are still in the “design” part of a “design-build” contract. Let’s correct these errors while they are on paper, not concrete. Measure twice, cut once. Their design is full of wasteful fat.

For instance, I-26 balloons between Hillcrest and Montford! Why? Patton Avenue’s lanes are equal to a 60 mph design speed highway. Why? Let’s not forget that they are proposing an enormous concrete highway deck over Patton. The good news is that that’s gonna be one heck of a homeless camp! In general, NCDOT’s own trip projections would be satisfied by something like the four-lane Salem Parkway in Winston-Salem. They are also cutting off Hanover Street and Burton Street because of bloated highway width. There are numerous examples of cost-cutting that can happen that will make it faster, cheaper and meet our community goals. The word count limit stops me here.

Join me at the Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel on Thursday, April 24, 4-7 p.m. Let NCDOT and our leaders know that we deserve better. If it doesn’t happen with you, it will happen to you!

—

Joe Minicozzi Owner, Urban3

ALL ARE WELCOME: “You don’t need to be a trail expert to help,” says David Huff, councillor for communications of the Carolina Mountain Club. Photo courtesy of Huff

Huff: Carolina Mountain Club maintains 440 miles of trails across Western North Carolina. Hurricane Helene left landslides, downed trees and washouts. Since October, we’ve been working closely with the U.S. Forest Service and Blue Ridge Parkway to clear key trails, including the Appalachian Trail and Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Funding is still needed for tools and materials. Restoring trails is about access, conservation and supporting the small towns that depend on outdoor recreation. What can individuals outside of your organization do to help address these needs? You don’t need to be a trail expert to help. CMC is 100% volunteer-run and welcomes all. You can join a work crew, spread the word, donate or organize a fundraiser. Even a few hours of help makes a difference. Schools and youth groups can get involved in cleanup events. Many nonprofits and businesses are working together; and with community support, we can bring the trails back stronger than before.

How are you personally coping with and sustaining yourself during the ongoing recovery process? It’s been a challenging six months. I lost power, water and internet for days and even had a close encounter with a bear. What’s helped is staying active — maintaining my trail section, documenting recovery and leaning on community. CMC has been a source of strength throughout. The scars from the storm remain, and recovery isn’t linear, but I’m grateful to live in such a beautiful place and be part of this work. X

Co-founder, Asheville Design Center Asheville

Parking requirements are a must

[Regarding “The Scourge of Cars: The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Parking,” March 26, Xpress:]

Having lived in Gainesville, Fla., in a neighborhood that is within a quarter-mile of campus, I can report that there are fewer and fewer homeowners left. Residents who can’t afford

CARTOON BY RANDY MOLTON

to move or are too elderly to do so and families with children attending nearby schools would all vote to require 1.5 parking spaces per rental bedroom.

We had parking on our property, but more often than not, our guests would have to park blocks away, and sometimes they couldn’t even find a space to park.

The results are that the neighborhoods are becoming more and more rentals. I wish I could have good things to say about landlords; many are good neighbors. Unfortunately, most aren’t. You can drive down a street and easily identify the rental properties, and for many reasons, most are in the unkempt category.

Parking stickers at first worked, but then that became a game for the renters’ friends who park and ride their bikes into campus. Not to mention, every year the cost of the neighborhood parking permits increased, and soon nasty roam towing entered the picture.

Yes, land for parking costs the same as land for buildings. Yes, it does make housing more expensive. The solution lies in a dedicated transit system to allow building farther from downtown and saving money by riding the bus. The buses deliver riders closer to the center of things, and parking in those areas is expensive anyway.

Unless the City of Asheville doesn’t care about its indigenous residents, who have lived here many years,

parking requirements must be a part of any rental property’s zoning laws.

— Ed Clark Brevard

Don’t blame local officials for Raleigh’s actions

Recent criticism of the progressive policies of Asheville and Buncombe County governments seems to depend on clever, biased, but unsubstantiated remarks rather than obvious facts and history. Instead of detailing the continuing decrease in state funding that has resulted in the reduction in local programs, personnel and services, critics blame the city and county officials.

Since 2011, however, the GOPcontrolled legislature has systematically cut programs for education, health care and juvenile justice, for example, by strangling the state budget.

In addition, in trying to keep property taxes reasonable and unable to create other fair local taxes, local government is hamstrung to create much additional revenue because of legislated restrictions. Again, due to state rules, we cannot even use much of the significant amount of tourism taxes to improve local problems.

Now with the federal government beginning to chop away at regional staffing for weather warnings, national parks, health care, education, addiction

recovery and veterans support, more strain and suffering will likely occur. Tariffs, the removal of immigrant workers and unrelenting food and energy prices will keep the cost of living high. Our local economy and working families will feel the impact keenly.

Despair and fear may lead to anger and blame. False claims of “saving money” and “eliminating fraud” are propaganda meant to divide citizens as a powerful, wealthy elite seeks to solidify their power and control. But you can only fool most of the people some of the time.

North Carolinians and most Americans will, at the ballot box and in personal actions, bring our democracy back into balance as fact and truth prevail.

— Frank L. Fox

Word of the week

rhabdomancy (n.)

divination by rods or wands

OK, this week’s new feature, “What if we get it right? Imagining Asheville in 2050,” doesn’t involve rods or wands. But it does invite local experts to envision what the future could look like if we implement certain initiatives now. Read more about it on Page 21. X

Asheville X

CARTOON BY BRENT BROWN

Embracing neighborhood change

The impossible bargain of feel-good politics

BY BILLY COONEY

During its March 11 meeting, Asheville City Council approved a few changes to the zoning code. Among them were updates to the rules governing flag lots and cottage courts, both of which are often used in attempts to increase the supply of moderately priced housing. Those changes, however, include exemptions for certain neighborhoods identified as vulnerable to gentrification. The purpose, which was explicitly stated during the March 6 agenda briefing, was to protect them from further development pressure and prevent resident displacement.

Council ostensibly wants to apply the zoning updates in these neighborhoods as well, once members figure out how to implement anti-displacement policies. But behind this admirable intention lurks the belief that avoiding policy updates in neighborhoods will keep them safe from change. This is a big problem across the country, in cities small and large. Even Los Angeles opted to exclude single-family neighborhoods from its Citywide Housing Incentive Program. Elected officials nationwide seem reluctant to support increased housing development in single-family neighborhoods, regardless of whether those neighborhoods are vulnerable.

FOSSILIZATION KILLS NEIGHBORHOODS

First, restrictive zoning is exactly what got this country into the current housing crisis. Many U.S. cities have incredibly strict land-use regulations that have made it impossible to build

anything other than single-family homes in most residential neighborhoods. Freezing communities in amber is largely why housing has become so expensive, and doubling down on this, even when well-intentioned, will only worsen the situation. Thus, it’s essential that Council eliminates those exemptions once measures to prevent displacement are in place.

Second, preventing development does not prevent change. Restrictive zoning purports to ensure architectural, economic and cultural conformity. It’s a tool we cling to in the hope of maintaining some control, whether it’s rich neighborhoods keeping poor people out or poor neighborhoods keeping rich people out. But the truth is that even with restrictive zoning, neighborhood residents are often unhappy with new home construction. After all, there’s no guarantee that the style of a new home and the character of its inhabitants will match the existing neighborhood. During the March 11 meeting, for example, one resident complained about big, expensive homes driving up her property taxes.

Even without development, however, neighborhoods will change. Refusing to build housing can create demographic stagnation as kids grow up and move away. So unless a neighborhood welcomes new families — or young couples on a budget who might decide to start a family — the school-age population eventually shrinks, leading to school closures and, potentially, a less desirable neighborhood. Over the long term, restrictive zoning clearly fails to preserve neighborhood character.

“Single-family zoning is not protective — it’s exclusionary.”

Third, clinging to restrictive zoning is not a viable strategy for managing displacement and affordability. Single-family zoning is not protective — it’s exclusionary. Its purpose is to keep people out and maintain rising property values. And while Council’s carve-outs seem well-intended, they exclude substantial portions of the city. One of these exempted areas includes part of Montford, one of Asheville’s most desirable and expensive neighborhoods.

In light of all this, I don’t see how we can take an honest look at what restrictive zoning has accomplished — segregation and a full-blown affordable housing crisis — along with its failure to ensure perpetual stability, and still believe it can be a useful tool for managing development.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

Instead, I’d like to see us talking about development as a tool for good. Many Texas cities have adopted a pro-growth mindset that acknowledges the benefits of building more housing — including helping to create a strong economy and a solid tax base that can support well-funded schools — as well as some tradeoffs, such as increased congestion and neighborhood change. If Council members are serious about addressing the affordable housing crisis, they need to be comfortable with the trade-offs.

In my opinion, cities are destined to change. We don’t have to be thrilled by every new development. Sure, some will be ugly, and there will be more traffic. But if we embrace growth as a sign of a desirable and thriving city, we can take it in stride while implementing policies that strive to make the best of it.

My argument here is not that gentrification is inevitable or that we shouldn’t care about displacing residents. But change is inevitable, and without accepting that fact, we can’t move forward with policies that address our housing needs at both the top and the bottom of the market. Claiming to address the housing crisis while avoiding policies that are even slightly controversial is an impossible bargain with no tangible upside.

Asheville resident Billy Cooney is an urban planner whose work focuses on land-use and transportation policy. He serves on the Downtown Commission and occasionally writes about local planning topics. The views expressed here are his own. X

BILLY COONEY

Taking stock

BY BROOKE RANDLE

Damaged homes, canceled bookings and visitor hesitancy has shaken the once-roaring short-term rental (STR) market in Asheville and throughout Western North Carolina since Tropical Storm Helene ravaged the area in late September.

Tyler Coon, CEO and founder of Savvy Realty, which focuses exclusively on short-term rentals for both buyers and sellers, remembers watching the slow but meaningful impact on the local STR inventory in the weeks and months following the storm.

“There was a massive decline in the number of [active short-term rental] listings. In October, I remember thinking, ‘OK, we lost like, 3% or 4% [of active listings]. By November, I think it climbed to 7%,” recalls Coon. “It was really December and January where we started realizing that this is going to have a much larger effect than we really thought.”

Recent data from AirDNA, a research and analytics platform that studies the short-term rental market, indicate that more than 1,400 STR units have left the WNC market in the months that followed the storm — a reduction of 21% of active STR listings in 2025 compared with 2024. The numbers represent the largest contraction of the local STR market since short-term rentals began soaring in popularity more than a decade ago.

But the news isn’t all bad, according to some area STR experts. In fact, the upheaval may offer unexpected benefits for STR hosts and WNC residents, while providing a better visitor experience.

Short-term rental market assesses new normal

A NEW KIND OF CRISIS

Demand for short-term rentals has outpaced hotels for years in Asheville. An Aug. 28 Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (BCTDA) report noted that from 2019-24, hotel demand in Buncombe County grew 5%, while

vacation rental demand grew 57% over the same period.

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled that growth as cautious visitors sought the safety of private rentals over hotels and motels, says Mark Bastin, chief marketing officer at Yonder Luxury Vacation Rentals, which manages roughly 230 short-

term rentals across 14 counties in Western North Carolina.

“Short-term rentals saw a real jump in popularity during that time for a lot of obvious reasons,” says Bastin. “A lot of folks didn’t want to go to hotels. They didn’t want to get on cruise ships. They didn’t want to get on planes. Vacation rentals were

TRAVEL RESET: The most in-demand short-term rentals (STRs) are higher-end, large homes, often with amenities like hot tubs, pools or pickleball courts. Meanwhile, smaller homes with few or no amenities have tended to be the ones dropping out of the STR market. Photo courtesy of Yonder Luxury Vacation Rentals

sort of the perfect solution because you could isolate and you didn’t have to worry about COVID.”

But if COVID was a boon for the local STR market, Helene had the opposite effect. After the storm, emergency responders and displaced residents flocked to hotels and motels. Vic Isley, president and CEO for Explore Asheville, said during a Jan. 29 BCTDA meeting that hotel stays increased 6% in December compared with December 2023, while vacation rentals dropped 23% during the same period.

Bastin says the decreases in occupancy could be attributed to several factors, including home damage or accessibility issues due to landslides or closed roads. While the majority of properties he helps manage fared well during the storm, Asheville’s extended water and electricity outages drove many would-be renters away during the busiest time of year for visitors. Many hotels brought in their own water supplies during that period.

“Typically a fall season, which is our peak season, we’re seeing anywhere between 65%-70% occupancy. In October, there’s a huge demand,” he explains, noting that Yonder’s listings typically maintain higher nightly rates than other STRs in the area. “Obviously, we, along with a lot of other property managers, saw a huge drop in occupancy from the storm. I would say paid occupancy was probably hovering in October anywhere from 25%-35%, so it was a deep, deep drop from what we’re normally accustomed to.”

Bastin specifies “paid occupancy” because some STRs were occupied by owners or were housing displaced families and utility workers at steep discounts or for no cost, depending on the homeowner.

EFFECT ON HOUSING SUPPLY

While the boost from COVID-19 expanded STR listings in the area, the impact of Helene has caused some STR investors to think twice about their business model, says Coon

“The growth of short-term rentals has sort of plateaued — if not dropped — certainly from last year. I don’t think it’s going to see any big increase in folks coming in and going, ‘Gosh, I want to do the shortterm rental thing,’ like they did during COVID, because they saw it as a great investment,” says Coon. But, Coon emphasizes that the type of STR listings that fell off the books is important. He says that the most in-demand STRs are higher-end, large homes, often with amenities

like hot tubs or pickleball courts. Meanwhile, smaller homes with few or no amenities have tended to be the ones dropping out of the STR market. The net effect, Coon says, could mean more affordable housing is available for low- to middle-income families who are looking to purchase or rent.

“They’re the $300,000 to $500,000 houses that somebody bought up and put some Amazon furniture in and didn’t do a whole lot to it,” he says. “And so despite obviously massive devastation from Helene — I don’t ever want anyone to think that I’m trying to shine a positive light on it, but despite that — I think that these are the type of houses that Asheville needed to go back to the market.”

Coon notes that the reduction in STR inventory is also good for the short-term rental market by reducing competition among hosts, especially in the slower months.

That means occupancy rates are holding steady even after the storm because the number of STRs dropped.

“I think ultimately what we’re seeing is kind of a consolidation, which I think is good for the industry. When you get a saturation, that’s when you start getting complaints from the locals. There’s too many homes sitting there empty,” he says. “If you look at occupancy in February, for instance, in 2025 it was 42.2%, and in 2024 it was 41.7%. I think the reason that’s happening is because there’s fewer listings competing for bookings.”

NO NEW STR REGULATIONS, FOR NOW

In short, the storm might have solved, if only temporarily, an issue the county has been wrestling with for years: how to regulate the STR industry. Opponents of STRs have long blamed STRs for contributing to Asheville’s housing crisis and negatively affecting neighborhoods. A consulting firm hired by Buncombe County identified 5,268 STRs within the county as of 2022, representing roughly 4.5% of the county’s housing stock.

While the City of Asheville implemented restrictions in 2015 that banned whole-house rentals (violators facing a $500-per-day fine), Buncombe County has had few STR regulations. County STR operators have the option to rent out entire homes and are not required to live on the property or even within the state,

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though hosts are required to apply for a one-time permit.

That was poised to change last year, when the Buncombe County Planning Board took up the thorny issue by recommending rules aimed at reducing the number of STRs. After a series of contentious public meetings, a 100-day pause and no consensus in sight, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted to create an 11-member committee tasked with finding agreement among all the parties.

The group, known as the Ad Hoc Short-Term Rental Committee, was expected to make its recommendations to the Planning Board in November, but those plans fell apart after Helene. County Planning Director Nathan Pennington tells Xpress that rather than revisit the issue, the county is focusing its efforts on the more pressing matter of Helene recovery.

“The short-term rental landscape has changed dramatically. Many short-term rentals took advantage of the opportunity to convert to longterm rental options post-Helene,” says Pennington. “The Planning Board will be working on the Swannanoa Small Area Plan and

other text amendments that support long-term recovery and economic development, including ways to reduce housing barriers and changing the way we review projects.”

Bastin says he wasn’t expecting the issue to be dropped, but it makes sense given the extent of the damage in the area. Still though, he found the work that the ad hoc committee was doing to be beneficial for both STR operators and the community at-large.

“Our feeling was that the task force was important and that it was a way for us to work with county officials to draft what we believe would make better sense STR regulations. Collaboration is what we had always wanted,” he explains.

Coon notes that the pause might give the county time to refine its onesize-fits-all approach.

‘TRIFECTA OF CONDITIONS’

While Asheville and Western North Carolina continue to recover from Helene, Bastin says the local STR market still faces headwinds.

“We’re still seeing the ripple effects of what happened in Helene. I think that what you have now, especially

since the storm, is almost a trifecta of conditions,” he points out.

National coverage of the storm and its aftermath has altered visitor perceptions about the area, leading some to wonder whether Asheville is safe to visit or if businesses, restaurants or hiking trails remain closed. Explore Asheville, the BCTDA’s marketing arm, and other tourism and small-business entities are diligently battling those sentiments. “While there are still some places you’ve got to be sensitive to, there is a lot that is open, and that’s a message that we’re pushing out hard,” Bastin says.

He also points out that the industry is experiencing a quieter-than-normal slow season. This January through March felt even more painful for hosts who typically rely on the peak season to get them through the quieter times.

“October, November and the holidays give us a little bit of a buffer for the slow months. We just didn’t see that this year,” Bastin says.

The third, and perhaps, most difficult to control element impacting local STR bookings is national and global economic uncertainty. Tariffs, stock market fluctuations and fears of a potential economic recession may

have visitors thinking twice about spending on travel and dining out.

“It’s almost this perfect storm of conditions that has been keeping us slower than usual,” says Bastin.

Despite those challenges, both Bastin and Coon have a positive outlook on short-term rentals and the community at large as the market adjusts to the post-Helene landscape.

“I do hope that some of the shortterm rentals that would be considered affordable housing, that more of that stock can continue to return to primary homes,” says Coon. “I would love to see that. It would be good for the market and for the residents who live here.”

“It’s going to be a little bit of a long road, but I think that the initiatives that Explore Asheville is doing, their advertising and marketing, is beginning to show. I think ‘Good Morning America’ coming here was a big thing,” Bastin adds. “So, the road to recovery is not going to be fixed overnight, but we’re seeing more interest coming to the area. There’s more inquiries. We’re seeing interest in the summer. We’re seeing interest in next fall. Bookings are picking up. So we’re cautiously optimistic.” X

The report’s in

BY LISA ALLEN

Not waiting for a report from a Republican task force set up by President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, District 11, issued a 61-page report on April 15 that concluded that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), while flawed, is needed to help Western North Carolina recover from Tropical Storm Helene. (You can read the full report at avl.mx/eq3.)

Edwards is also part of the larger FEMA Review Council led by Michael Whatley, chair of the Republican National Committee. The group also includes U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx, District 5 and Tim Moore, District 14. It has a year to exmaine the value of FEMA.

“Western North Carolina cannot afford for recovery to be interrupted by total terminations of critical recovery programs,” the report states. Its recommendations are intended to increase the functionality of disaster response programs while reducing the size of the federal disaster footprint.

“As the Administration reviews opportunities to reform FEMA and make the agency more efficient, please consider the suggestions ... and employ a similar, cautious approach that preserves access to federal resources for Hurricane Helene recovery,” the report reads.

The document provides 17 recommendations on how to improve disaster response and recovery in WNC, noting that FEMA programs are geared toward storms hitting coastal areas, not mountainous regions. Below are highlights from the report. You can find additional reporting on this topic at avl.mx/eq8.

Pay to repair private roads and bridges

The N.C. Office of State Budget and Management calculates that half of the roads and bridges in the state are privately owned and Tropical Storm Helene damaged more than 7,000 of them. Edwards recommends FEMA pay for those repairs. Citing one example, one homeowner in Avery County received a quote of $100,000 for him and his four neighbors to replace their bridge that was destroyed in the storm. The homeowners have not been able to access their property by

anything other than all-terrain vehicle since September. FEMA awarded the homeowner $3,000. The report notes, “Western North Carolina communities are at risk of ghostland properties that were once inhabited but have since been deserted because families decide it is economically more feasible to relocate than to spend tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars rebuilding their private road or bridge.”

Automatically approve Asheville’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBGDR) fund by June 30

The report notes if the grant is not automatically approved, the timeline will be detrimental to the region’s progress. In part, it notes, “experienced government officials, including officials within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) itself, continue to warn of the lengthy approval process for CDBG-DR action plans — stating that it will likely take over a year or more for North Carolina and the City of Asheville to get their action plans approved.” The grants can help both homeowners and small businesses.

Cover the full cost of repairing Interstate 40 and major corridors

The state could be on the hook for $262 million for its portions of the repairs, a large chunk of its $7 billion annual budget. The report uses as an example the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which was awarded a 100% federal cost share for $2 billion to repair the bridge from the collapse that was caused by a private cargo ship hitting one of its piers in March 2024. Maryland cited the bridge’s importance to economic growth and maintaining strength in America’s economy in its request. The same can be said for I-40 in Western North Carolina, the report says.

Expand RAPID Pay reimbursement

The RAPID Reimbursement Program is limited to bridge projects and does not include the rest of the state’s transportation system. North Carolina must front 100% of secondary route repair costs and await eventual reimbursement from FEMA, which may take anywhere from a few months

RECOMMENDATIONS: U.S. Rep.

Chuck Edwards released a report that says FEMA is needed in Western North Carolina. Photo by Thomas Calder

to a few years, the report says. As of March 14, North Carolina reports spending $510 million on Helene recovery and receiving $84 million in reimbursements through FEMA’s RAPID Reimbursement program.

N.C. Department of Transportation reports 150 road closures, 100 of which are closed to all traffic. Over 3,100 damaged sites remain untouched.

Eliminate the duplication of assistance restriction

Under current law, a loan is considered duplicative of a grant. Thus, if home or business owners qualify for a federal disaster recovery loan from the Small Business Administration, they are ineligible to receive a federal recovery grant through the CDBG-DR program. “The region’s families and businesses should not be restricted from accessing federal resources simply because the entity needed capital to stay afloat during recovery and loans happened to be made available first.”

The report notes small businesses make up over 99% of all businesses in the state and employ over 1.7 million. According to 2021 Census Bureau data, Transylvania County, for example, is entirely composed of small businesses with 500 employees or fewer.

Prior to Helene, Buncombe County had over 1,300 thriving businesses. Today, permanent or temporarily closed businesses account for over 18% of the county’s pre-Helene business population, the report says.

Simplify getting farm relief

The report requested an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expedite the rulemaking process for agricultural disaster relief aid provided by Congress in December. Lack of clarity in the rulemaking process for natural disaster programs will prevent many farmers from being able to overcome the financial impact of Helene, the report says.

Make Community Disaster Loans more accessible

The onerous documentation required to apply for Community Disaster Loans to tide local governments over while its tax base rebuilds means not one WNC county has applied for it. Local governments are required to provide extensive financial information, such as annual real estate property taxes and audit reports, operating budgets for at least four fiscal years — including the year of the disaster and the three subsequent fiscal years — to apply for loan forgiveness. Many smaller WNC communities don’t have staff they can dedicate to grant writing, especially when loan forgiveness is not guaranteed. The report said the program “continues to ensure elitist communities are able to access the resources they need to recover, while rural America is left behind.”

Reimburse local governments within 14 days

The report suggests FEMA reimburse local governments within 14 days of request for costs toward debris removal and emergency protective measures. “Purchases made … should be reimbursed first, and questions should be asked second.” The report notes that zero new assistance obligations were made to WNC communities for public assistance between Feb. 24 and March 24. “This kind of gap in resources is unacceptable.”

Suspend federal procurement rules

The federal procurement process requires that applicants implement a full and open competitive bidding process. But workforce shortages in trade industries across WNC have forced “applicants to repeatedly and unnecessarily expend additional administrative overhead for contracts with one eligible contractor.” Local contractors have estimated that the federal procurement process adds 10%-20% to the overall project cost and increases the total project length by 12-18 months compared to the state’s procurement process.

Editor’s note: This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing X

Two cents Parents ask county to raise taxes for schools

BY GREG PARLIER

It’s not often you see a grassroots campaign ask the government to raise taxes. But as Asheville City Schools (ACS) faces a nearly $7 million spending gap in next year’s budget, a recently formed parents group is taking matters into its own hands.

Families of Asheville City Schools (FACS), made up of parents from every school in ACS, has launched a Two Cents for AVL campaign lobbying the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to raise the supplemental property tax rate for the district.

The increase, from 10.62 cents to 12 cents per $100 of taxable property value, would cost a property owner in the Asheville City Schools district whose property is appraised at $400,000 an extra $55.20 per year. There is no supplemental tax rate supporting Buncombe County Schools; taxes for county residents who don’t reside in the city schools district won’t be affected.

Proponents of the move include the teacher advocacy group Asheville City Association of Educators, district staff and the Asheville City Board of Education. They say the tax increase is important for maintaining a “no cuts” budget next year. This approach, they argue, is necessary after commissioners slashed spending for K-12 education by $4.7 million at their Jan. 21 meeting.

The reduction in the current year allotment — about 4% for each school district — got parents’ attention, says Christina Shimrock, who is spearheading the Two Cents campaign — FACS’ first action since launching in March.

TAXES FOR SCHOOLS: Christina Shimrock holds a megaphone at a walk-in March 19 for third-grader Alex Small, who reads a letter written by his classmates at Claxton Elementary about why public schools should be fully funded. Shimrock is now spearheading a parent-led movement asking the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners to raise taxes for Asheville City Schools. Photo courtesy of Shimrock

“It really activated our community to make sure that the foundation of our public schools would remain strong. A huge piece of that, and the most important piece, is funding,” she tells Xpress.

‘DIET OF RICE AND WATER’

During the Asheville City Board of Education’s April 7 budget work session, ACS Superintendent Maggie Fehrman presented a dire picture for board members to consider.

The three proposed budgetary options range from the district making no cuts to “surviving on a diet of rice and water,” according to Fehrman’s presentation.

The most conservative proposal, which was the only one that did not include increased revenue from the supplemental tax hike, includes eliminating nine full-time positions in the district’s central office, 13.5 instructional positions in schools and four media and district leadership team positions. Additionally, this proposal would limit hours for bus drivers, instructional assistants, nutrition staff and assistant principals. Fehrman said the district

would be “starving” if left with this budget.

“None of those are great options,” she told the board.

The curtailed budget proposals are a result of the district facing about a $5 million reduction in revenue compared with the current school year and a $2 million increase in required spending for things such as increasing utility and insurance costs and state-required employee salary and benefit raises, Fehrman said. The drop in revenue is a result, in part, of decreasing enrollment and the district’s shrinking reserves, which were used to cover current year expenses after Tropical Storm Helene.

Of the three options, board members overwhelmingly supported option one, proposing no cuts to the current spending budget.

Several members, including George Sieburg, Pepi Acebo and Liza Kelly, said they’d like to see a more aspirational budget option that included funding for things they knew the district needed to work on, such as closing its achievement gaps and expanding early childhood education offerings.

“As it is, a no-cuts budget is less than bare bones,” Kelly said.

Timothy Lloyd , president of ACAE, attended the work session and said he was pleased that the board was so supportive of the district’s no-cuts budget, something the advocacy group has been lobbying for since the county announced its budget cuts in January.

“I am really, really heartened by the fact that many school board members said that there is no reason to even stop at option one and maybe ask [for more]. I really appreciate that coming from our board.”

The board was expected to vote Monday, April 21, on its preferred budget, which Fehrman will present to county commissioners on Friday, May 2.

TAX SEASON

While school supporters see raising the supplemental tax rate as one of the only ways to recoup some lost funds after the storm, not all county commissioners agree.

Commissioner Al Whitesides, who previously served on the city school board and calls himself a supporter of public education, tells Xpress he does not support a supplemental tax hike, arguing the district needs to get more efficient.

He cited declining enrollment and a surplus of space in the district’s facilities as reasons the county shouldn’t raise taxes to give more funding to the schools at a time when county residents are struggling after Tropical Storm Helene.

Supporters of a higher tax rate have cited the declining rate, which decreased from 15 cents to 12 cents in 2017 and again to its current rate in 2021, as evidence the county should restore a higher rate.

But as Whitesides points out, those decreases both came during tax reappraisal years to maintain a “revenue neutral” rate so taxpayers wouldn’t pay more after an increase in their property values.

Meanwhile, Commissioners

Jennifer Horton and Martin Moore voted against the county’s clawback of education funds in January and may be more amenable to the proposal. Horton has posted statements of

support for increased school funding on social media in recent weeks.

Horton, Moore and Commission Chair Amanda Edwards could not be reached by deadline for this story.

Shimrock says she understands it’s politically difficult to raise taxes, but she is hopeful commissioners will hear that there is support from Asheville residents for the change. Yard signs supporting the campaign will go out in the coming weeks, she adds.

“We believe within the public school system that we have support among property owners. But we don’t get to vote, and so that’s why we have to roll out this campaign,” she says. “As families and parents, we really believe in Dr. Maggie’s vision to bring all stakeholders to the table in decision-making,” she notes.

Editor’s note: This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing X

SUSTAINING COMMUNITY

Microconnections

Get involved however you can

Cheoah Landis is executive director of the Laurel Community Center Organization.

Xpress: What remain the top priorities and most urgent needs for your community amid the post-Helene recovery?

Landis: While Laurel wasn’t devastated like our nearest towns, Hot Springs and Marshall, the Laurel Community Center has still played a large role for Helene recovery efforts. We served as a large resource hub immediately after the storm until we pushed out our remaining supplies to more devastated areas in mid-December. We are now working to support our community’s physical, mental and emotional health by providing a gathering space and expanding the programs and activities we offer our communities. What can individuals outside of your community do to help address these needs?

GIVE WHAT YOU’VE GOT: “We all have different strengths and ways we are able to contribute, but together we can, and are, making a difference,” says Cheoah Landis, executive director of the Laurel Community Center Organization.

Photo courtesy of Landis

Throughout the last six months, we have learned the value of mountain microconnections. We own our center, and that has allowed us to provide aid and services beyond our immediate community. We encourage each of you to get involved in your local community however you can. Whether it’s volunteering, attending activities and events, or providing financial support, we can all contribute to support our communities as well as others who need more support during this time. Nonprofits and organizations supporting relief efforts are always grateful for whatever support you can give them. How are you personally coping with and sustaining yourself during the ongoing recovery process?

Embracing the motto of “One day at a time” as we can’t find a new normal overnight and must work each and every day to recover from this life-changing disaster. We all have different strengths and ways we are able to contribute, but together we can, and are, making a difference. Look for the positive, ask for help and love your people. Together we will come back stronger. X

Feeling the burn

BY JANE WINIK SARTWELL A CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS REPORT

Extensive personnel shortages at the N.C. Forest Service (NCFS) hampered the agency’s ability to manage the wildfires that raged in Western North Carolina this spring, state and county officials say.

According to Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, 100 positions are vacant at the agency.

Fast-forward to late March and early April when wildfires burned through nearly 8,000 acres of forest in Henderson and Polk counties. The NCFS deployed 365 people and 23 fire engines, but it still took more than a week to put out the flames.

“They’re doing the best they can with what they have,” Jimmy Brissie, the director of Henderson County emergency services, explained, “but it’s something that our county is very concerned about.”

Federally, things are also grim. As a result of the Trump administration’s funding cuts, 2,000 probationary employees were fired from the USFS. That leaves fewer people to address fires on federal lands in North Carolina.

The result is a crippled wildfire response that could endanger both families and forests in North Carolina and across the country. As flames grow more frequent and intense, the shortage of trained personnel makes communities vulnerable. Fiscal limitations leave life and land hanging in the balance.

WHEN WILDFIRES AND SUBURBIA MEET

North Carolina in particular has the most acreage of “wildlife-urban

interface” — where neighborhoods intermingle with undeveloped wildland — of any state in the nation.

Adding to the potential danger, the number of trees felled during Tropical

Storm Helene is expected to heighten the risk of wildfires in Western North Carolina for at least 10 years.

Despite the high stakes, salaries at the NCFS aren’t compet -

itive enough to keep the agency staffed, Brissie said. A forest fire equipment officer, for example, can make between $32,700 and $45,000 a year.

“Almost every county has a position vacant,” Brissie told Carolina Public Press. “That means it takes much longer to get additional resources in place when there is a large fire. The service has to pull from farther across the state, from surrounding states, and enlist the help of local fire departments.

“It should have taken 24 hours to get everything together to fight these recent fires. Instead, it took three days.”

Aging equipment has only added to the problem. The Forest Service’s bulldozers, for instance, are from the 1970s.

But as much as the machines need to be replaced, so, too, do the men and women who have left the service — like firefighters. Then there are the jobs that don’t easily come to mind but are nonetheless crucial to the mission and makeup of the NCFS.

Which brings us to January, when one of two wildfire mitigation specialists left. The remaining employee now oversees mitigation efforts across the entire state, working with families and neighborhoods to reduce their risk of wildfire and deal with the impacts.

“When we have that kind of staffing gap, that’s going to create an immediate public health risk,” said Fabrice Julien, a UNC Asheville health sciences professor. “Not only for the folks who are living right there, but for folks who are miles away, breathing in the smoke and toxic pollutants in the air.”

At the day care center of Julien’s daughter, children were kept from playing outside for a week in March because of the dangerous air quality.

“Emotionally, bad weather is a sore spot here in Western North Carolina,” Julien continued. “Just knowing that there isn’t that emergency preparedness and personnel in place — that’s going to increase

chronic stress and anxiety in our population.”

THE HEAT IS ON

In Transylvania County, where some mandatory evacuations took place, Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof called the fires “the most threatening” she’s ever seen.

It has been, in fact, one of the worst wildfire seasons in North Carolina.

But the staffing concerns of Brissie and his Henderson County colleagues, and many others across the state, have not gone unnoticed in Raleigh.

A measure to increase salaries at the NCFS by 7.5% — House Bill 599 — was introduced in late March. The proposed $7.8 million appropriation could make jobs at the service more desirable and fill the dozens of vacancies that are putting North Carolinians at risk.

State Rep. Rodney D. Pierce, the Democratic primary sponsor of HB 599, acknowledged that the 7.5% raise might be “a little far-fetched” but said that’s how things get done in politics. Throwing a high number out on the table sends a message, he said.

“If we don’t have Forest Service workers, nobody is going to be there when there are wildfires,” Pierce said. “If you’re the only Forest Service person in your county, you have to constantly be on call. That’s going to put strain on your family, your marriage, your relationship with your kids. There’s that social impact on top of the economic impact of not having a livable wage. We cannot afford to understaff the Forest Service because of their significance, not just in Helene recovery, but overall.”

This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. X

SUSTAINING COMMUNITY

Spreading the word Energy Savers Network branches out to reduce energy costs

Steffi Rausch is director of operations for Energy Savers Network.

Xpress: Tell us about the recent changes at Energy Savers Network and who could benefit from these?

Rausch: Since 2017, Energy Savers Network (ESN) has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County. The purpose of this free program has been twofold — to help qualified households save money on their energy bills by making them more energy efficient while also reducing overall energy usage to address climate concerns.

In January 2025, our primary funder, Duke Energy, made significant increases to their funding that will allow us to provide a much deeper level of savings for our clients. Those additional services include replacing electric furnaces with heat pumps, electric water heaters with heat pump water heaters, inefficient appliances with Energy Star appliances and additional insulation — all helping to reduce our client’s energy bills by hundreds of dollars. We also provide home and safety repairs like window/ door replacement, roof/floor repair, debris removal, water damage remediation, etc., thereby helping with storm recovery efforts.

What has been the greatest challenge in getting people to sign up?

SHELTER FROM THE STORM:

“Since 2017, Energy Savers Network has been hard at work weatherizing over 1,400 low-income homes in Buncombe County,” says Steffi Rausch, director of operations for Energy Savers Network. Photo courtesy of ESN

In order to keep this service free, we rely upon volunteers and donations, both of which are difficult to find, mostly because they don’t know we exist. We are a small nonprofit just starting to gain traction since we separated from Green Built Alliance last fall and now operate with a very small staff. While we do receive a lot of our client leads from larger nonprofits, we don’t seem to have nearly the number of volunteers or donations we need to grow and accommodate all of our clients in the way we would like to. If we can get more volunteers and donations, we can double or triple our impact in our community, especially for those impacted by Hurricane Helene.

Can you speak to the importance of this initiative as it relates to the environment?

Energy efficiency is key to reducing fossil fuels, which is a primary cause of climate change and pollution. I can’t think of a better way to help the environment than to reduce the energy usage of everyday citizens while also reducing their energy bill; something that is supported not only by the households that receive it but also local governments and Duke Energy. Please volunteer, donate or apply for service at energysaversnetwork.org. X

Seven months later Updates on WNC parks projects

delayed by Helene

BY JUSTIN M c GUIRE

jmcguire@mountainx.com

If all had gone well, work would already be underway to transform Black Mountain’s aging Cragmont Park into a community recreation hub.

Plans called for repairing or replacing crumbling tennis and basketball courts, building six pickleball courts, adding a youth soccer field, improving the parking lot and installing restrooms (the closest restrooms are at Lake Tomahawk Park across the street). Last summer, Town Council agreed to spend nearly $500,000 on those improvements and more at the 5.14-acre site on Swannanoa Avenue.

“We had a vision for how to really transform it into something that was going to serve a greater population in Black Mountain than it currently does,” says Town Council member Doug Hay. “It was going to be a pretty cool project.”

But when Tropical Storm Helene hit, the renovations were put on hold as town officials and employees went into recovery mode.

Hay and others held out hope the project could be revived. But with Black Mountain facing $27 million in recovery costs, the money was needed elsewhere, he says. That included repairs to Veterans Park, the Lakeview Center for Active Aging, the town’s public works building and other storm-damaged properties.

In March, Town Council and Harper General Contractors Inc., the contractor for the Cragmont project, agreed to terminate the contract and scrap the renovations.

“It’s a huge disappointment for myself personally,” Hay says. “It’s a major loss for Black Mountain

just because that park needs a lot of work. The basketball and tennis courts have not been touched in 20 years, and they’re all falling apart. The park needed a lot of upkeep prior to the storm and now even more so.”

Black Mountain is not the only local community that had to delay a planned recreation project in the

wake of Helene. Among those affected were the Ecusta Trail, a greenway that eventually will run from Hendersonville to Brevard via an abandoned rail line, and Woodfin’s Taylor’s Wave, an artificial whitewater wave in the French Broad River.

Xpress takes a look at where those projects stand nearly seven months after Helene.

TRAIL:

(FOR

Henderson County started paving and other work on the first 6-mile stretch of the Ecusta Trail last summer. Known as Phase 1, the path that runs from downtown Hendersonville to the Horse Shoe community was scheduled to be done by the end of

ECUSTA

BACK ON TRACK

NOW)

PROJECT DENIED: Plans to renovate and repair basketball courts at Cragmont Park have been scrapped. Photo courtesy of Town of Black Mountain

2024. Officials hoped the remaining 13.4 miles would be completed by the end of 2027.

But Helene-related delays have set the project timeline back about six months.

A portion of the under-construction stretch suffered about $400,000 in damage from the storm. Particularly hard hit was an area west of downtown Hendersonville that was flooded and eroded by Shaw’s Creek.

“There was a base layer of asphalt down through that section, and some of that got undercut,” says Mark Tooley, president of the nonprofit Friends of the Ecusta Trail. But things could have been worse, he points out. No section of the trail was wiped out, and all the bridges survived.

“ Marcus Jones , the county engineer for Henderson County, has commented several times that the damage was not near what he thought it would be, given the level of the water from Shaw’s Creek,” Tooley says.

The damage, combined with the N.C. Department of Transportation diverting resources to Helene recovery, put the trail work on hold for months. But the damaged areas have been fixed, and Phase 1 work has resumed with hopes of it being completed by the end of June, Tooley says.

The remaining two sections of the trail — about 5 miles in Henderson County and 8 miles in Transylvania County — are in the design and engineering phase with hopes of work beginning next year and being done by late 2027 or early 2028, Tooley says.

“Everybody’s got their heads down and is forging forward trying to get it done as soon as possible,” Tooley says.

There is a possible snag, however, for the Transylvania County portion of the trail. The Trump administration has frozen two federal grants that were awarded to the City of Brevard under the Biden administration. City Manager Wilson Hooper is not sure of the exact issues but says President Donald Trump has previously expressed objections to money being spent on bicycle infrastructure.

“I don’t know if this grant will survive the review,” he said, according to the WNC Times. “I don’t know if it will have parts of it that are clawed back by the feds or what.”

Key players in the development include Conserving Carolina, which holds legal title to the 19-mile rail corridor, Friends of the Ecusta Trail, Henderson County, the cities of Hendersonville and Brevard and the town of Laurel Park. The state and federal governments have provided funding as well.

TAYLOR’S WAVE: RAPID ADVANCE

In June, the Town of Woodfin began work on Taylor’s Wave, an artificial whitewater river wave on the French Broad River. Construction was set to begin in October on the $4.8 million rock and concrete ledge that will divert the river’s current to create a whitewater “wave.”

The wave, along with an expansion of Riverside Park, is a key component of the ambitious $34 million Woodfin Greenway & Blueway project, which officials hope will help rebrand the small Buncombe County town as an outdoor recreation destination.

The good news is Helene did not change the course of the French Broad enough to make design changes necessary for the wave.

“We were worried about that,” says Town Manager Shannon Tuch. “We had to wait for conditions to stabilize, and then we did a whole bunch of new measurements, had it resurveyed. In the end, the engineers concluded that it wasn’t a material change.”

The effects of the storm delayed the schedule for Taylor’s Wave by about six to seven months, she estimates. “It’s hard to say how much our schedule has been impacted because the schedule was fluid to begin with. Working in the river, it’s very weather dependent.”

Originally, work on the Riverside Park expansion was set to begin after the wave was built, but because accessing the river was impossible immediately after Helene, workers began removing 26 cubic yards of fill material in preparation for the expansion.

Those workers were diverted again to repair a stream bank in Riverside Park, but they are now back to fill removal. Tuch hopes work on the wave itself will begin next month.

“When we were planning to start construction in October, we didn’t necessarily anticipate finishing the wave [in 2024],” she says. “We were going to build maybe just half of it and then try to build the other half this spring. But now that we’re starting in the spring, we’re gonna try to build the whole thing this year.”  X

ROLLING ALONG: Paving work is underway on a portion of the Ecusta Trail in Henderson County. Photo by Justin McGuire

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: Woodfin officials hope construction of Taylor’s Wave, an artificial whitewater wave in the French Broad River, will begin in May. Rendering courtesy of the Town of Woodfin

by Lisa Allen | lallen@mountainx.com

Week of the Pet

HOME DELIVERY

God’s Pit Crew, a nonprofit disaster relief organization based in Danville, Va., delivered four brand-new homes in Burnsville on April 17. The group plans to provide 25 homes in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina as the areas still recover from Tropical Storm Helene. God’s Pit Crew and its volunteers furnish the homes and build decking and porches to ensure each residence is fully functional and comfortable. “We are honored to continue our work of rebuilding and providing hope to those who are still grappling with the effects of Hurricane Helene,” Randy Johnson, God’s Pit Crew president, said in a press release. “These four homes in Burnsville are just a part of our broader mission to bring hope, healing and restoration in times when it’s needed most.” The group has also delivered homes in Black Mountain, Swannanoa and Marion. X

Meet Hodge Podge. True to her tuxedo nature, and when given time to settle in, she is extremely affectionate and loves to chat about her feelings, says the staff at Brother Wolf Animal Rescue. She will spend her first days in a new environment exploring and then will quickly settle into any available lap. Go to avl.mx/ckd to learn more about Hodge Podge and other animals ready for a new home. X

The Hendersonville Tree Board is celebrating Arbor Day with a tree planting at noon Friday, April 25, at Hendersonville Elementary School. An N.C. Forest Service ranger will present awards from the Arbor Day Foundation to the City of Hendersonville. For more than 30 years, the City of Hendersonville has been designated a Tree City USA. To earn the recognition, a city must uphold four core standards: maintaining a tree board or department, having a community tree ordinance, spending at least $2 per capita on urban forestry and participating in an Arbor Day celebration. X

GIRL SCOUT AWARDS

HENDERSONVILLE HEROES!

The City of Hendersonville Environmental Sustainability Board awarded Hendersonville’s Water & Sewer Department with the third annual Sustainability Hero Award on April 3. Board Chair Virginia Tegel noted in a press release that the department has “a long-standing record of prioritizing sustainability in all areas of operation, including water conservation, waste reduction and operational efficiency.” In addition to restoring full water service just two weeks after Tropical Storm Helene, the department established the Mountains on Tap program to encourage drinking tap water and reducing single-use plastics; it also created a water conservation rebate program to incentivize residents to reduce water consumption. The award also highlighted the efforts of Bo Stepp, Damian Bingham, Chase Dowdy and Stephen Bell for their work to repair stream banks to protect sewer infrastructure before the storm. X

Ginger Riddle of Girl Scout Troop 30212 in Buncombe County and Naomi Hines of Biltmore Lake earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for community leadership and service projects. Riddle addressed proper storage and care for livestock feed with her project, Halos for Hay. As Riddle, a Girl Scout of 12 years, said in a press release, “Clean feed is imperative to livestock health and to the overall health of the barn.” The elevated livestock feed storage container protects the hay from ground moisture, water contamination, feathers, other animal feces, cross-contamination of used stall hay and feed bag spillage. One of the storage containers was installed at the Tim Pasour Agriculture Facility, and the other was donated to a local farmer.

Hines raised awareness of teen mental health and the need for preventive measures at Haywood Early College with her project, Mission Mental Health: Teens Take Control. She provided information about early identification of needs, open discussions, accessing resources and modeling healthy habits for stress and anxiety management. “Understanding teen stress and its causes, as well as the physical and mental impact on teens, is vital to identifying teen stress management strategies,” said Hines, a Girl Scout of nine years. Presentations addressed stress management techniques, starting conversations around mental health, how to recognize the signs of someone who needs support and when or how to find adult help. Hines also created a student mental health resource center at the school, shared posters and created an Instagram — @teens.takecontrol — to share mental health and stress management tips for teens. X

Ginger Riddle Naomi Hines

What if we get it right?

Imagining Asheville in 2050

BY DANIELLE AROSTEGUI

danielle.arostegui@gmail.com

Imagine this: It’s a beautiful fall day in 2050, and you’re taking your dog for a walk in the local neighborhood you’ve lived in your entire life. You remember when most of these houses were surrounded by flat green carpets of sterile lawn, but now they’re abuzz with life. The air is thick with bees and butterflies landing on drifts of yellow goldenrod and purple asters.

Your old dog’s tail wags as he watches the birds swoop low to eat their fill before winter sets in. Just as you’re about to turn and head home, a cloud of monarchs rises from the meadow and wheels off into the sky to begin their great migration. You snap a picture and log it with your nature app — one more bit of evidence that the wildlife in your area is finally recovering.

When it comes to the climate, we’re used to thinking about the future in negative terms: What challenges will we face? How much will we lose? How bad will it get?

What if we flipped the script? What if, instead of wondering what will happen if we get it wrong, we ask instead: What if we get it right?

In her recent book titled — you guessed it — What If We Get It Right?, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson does just that. She interviews experts from around the world in fields ranging from clean energy to law to artificial intelligence (AI), asking them to envision what the future might hold if we “get it right” on climate change.

We’re taking a page out of Johnson’s book. Over the next few months, this series will spotlight local experts with positive visions for the future and ideas on what Asheville could look like in 2050 if we invest in these solutions now.

BEAUTY AND HABITAT ON EVERY BLOCK

We are currently living through what scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction — and we are to blame. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the rate of species extinction is 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than what we would expect to occur if we humans were not around.

NATIVE LANDSCAPES: In a new series, Xpress spotlights local experts who have positive visions for the future and ideas about what Asheville could look like in 2050 if we invest in the solutions now. First up is Drew Lathin, owner of Mountain Native Landscape Design, who helps people incorporate native plants into their landscape. Photo courtesy of Lathin

The bottom line? Humans have vastly reshaped the planet in a way that’s less conducive to the continued survival of other species.

Luckily, there’s a relatively simple thing we can do to rebuild wildlife habitat and food webs while simultaneously mitigating climate change: Replace our lawns with native plants.

Drew Lathin is the owner of Mountain Native Landscape Design, where he helps people incorporate native plants into their landscape.

“As a designer, I’m only using native plants because of the relationships between native plants and

insects and all the species that eat insects,” Lathin explains.

Insects are a crucial building block in the web of life. A clutch of Carolina chickadees requires around 500 caterpillars a day to survive. That’s nearly 9,000 caterpillars over the course of the nesting cycle.

And birds aren’t the only species feeding on insects. “Even 22% of the diet of a black bear is insects,” Lathin says.

The benefits of native plants extend beyond supporting wildlife. “When you use native plants in the landscape and they’re appropriately

sited, they need little to no resources,” Lathin explains. “At my house, which is all natives, I don’t water, I don’t fertilize, I don’t spray. I’m carbon negative in my yard because the plants are sucking carbon dioxide out of the air and putting it in the ground in their roots and sequestering it there.”

Consider the difference between that and a lawn that needs regular mowing and fertilizing, both of which contribute to climate emissions and which provides almost no wildlife benefit.

FUTURE VISIONS

Looking out to 2050, Lathin would like to see more lawns replaced with native species, especially around public buildings and community spaces. Residential and commercial lawns, city and county properties, churches, medians and traffic circles all are viable candidates for a native plant makeover.

Lathin argues that native landscapes can be beautiful to humans as well as wildlife when designed intelligently. He points to Bear’s Smokehouse and New Belgium Brewery Co. as two local models that have used native landscaping to great effect.

You don’t have to commit to redoing your entire property to get a benefit from native plants. Even just planting a handful of keystone species — so-called because of their outsized benefit for wildlife — can have a beneficial effect. Examples include oak, birch, blueberries and goldenrod.

While it might not feel like much to install a small patch of native plants in your yard, the cumulative effect on wildlife can be significant. According to Lathin, “There is more residential land in the U.S. than there is in our national parks, so there’s a huge opportunity in residences, industrial parks, around schools and in parking lot medians to reverse these declines we’re seeing.”

April is National Native Plant Month, as well as an excellent time to transplant new plants into the garden. For those interested in learning more, the National Wildlife Federation has a website where you can put in your ZIP code and get a list of native plants for your area.

Lathin acknowledges that there is a place for lawns, such as in Pack Square Park. “You need people to be able to go out there and protest,” Lathin says. “But everywhere where there’s lawn that’s not needed for people to walk or to play on should be landscaped with native plants.” X

Bridging the gap

BY CHLOE LIEBERMAN

Community-based organizations know their local people and issues. But they often struggle to secure funding to sustain their work. At the same time, large organizations have resources but often lack the local knowledge and agility necessary to connect them with the people who need them most.

This is, fundamentally, a data problem. Or at least that’s how Addison Fuller and Matt Corzine of FastRoots LLC see it. Both co-founders of the technology platform have extensive experience in operations, data and logistics, and they share a passion for amplifying the work of grassroots organizations and community-led initiatives.

FastRoots emerged from Fuller’s experience coordinating response efforts in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. Stranded out of town when the storm hit, the West Asheville resident was unable to reach loved ones in Swannanoa, so he turned to Reddit and his phone to coordinate search-andrescue efforts from afar.

This successful endeavor evolved into six weeks of organizing over 100 volunteers across five counties in two states. During that time, especially as work shifted to long-term recovery and rebuilding, two needs became clear: tools to help folks self-organize and establish protocols and systems; and tools for capturing progress data in order to replicate systems and support fundraising efforts.

When Fuller met Corzine, who had recently retired from a career in data reporting and compliance, FastRoots emerged — a self-described “technology platform designed to amplify grassroots

impact, streamline collaboration and secure sustainable funding.”

After Helene, Fuller got to know Andrea DuVall, co-owner of local food delivery service Mother Earth Food, and helped coordinate storm cleanup at Dry Ridge Farm in Madison County. Through these connections, he learned how deeply the storm had impacted a local food system already struggling with high rates of food insecurity, and FastRoots focused its energies there.

The business recently became a key collaborator in the Relief to Resilience Project, an innovative new partnership funded by a $1 million investment from the American Red Cross, through

Fuller: It’s a collaborative process to determine what kind of information gets tracked and how. We walk into the conversion very open and ask them what would be meaningful for their operations. They have the best read on the data that needs to be collected, since they’re on the ground doing the work. The Red Cross has distinct metrics, such as the number of meals and fresh food boxes that will be provided because of this grant. Along with that, we’re tracking where food is going, whether the food delivered was fresh produce, a hot prepared meal or a frozen meal, and how often it’s going to different locations.

local fiscal agent Impact Health. Other partners include Mother Earth Food, Grassroots Aid Partnership and the Equal Plates Project.

FastRoots supports all the players by creating tools for coordinating efforts and collecting high-quality data that is crucial for the Red Cross in tracking grant performance and will support future fundraising activities.

FastRoots co-founders Fuller and Corzine spoke with Xpress about how their company bridges a gap to help community-led efforts become more effective and sustainable.

Xpress: How exactly do you support the organizations that you work with?

Operationally, the software that we’ve built starts with scouting, and an “engage” feature that’s really user-friendly and accessible. The idea is for the platform to increase efficiency and reduce the redundancy of several organizations collecting the same or similar data from the same site. For example, one partner org goes to a relief center and gets a sense of the need there. … X number of hot meals, or Y number of fresh food boxes. Then, either they or another partner can claim that location, committing to provide what’s needed, so another partner knows that they’re covered. They can also track when and if the food gets delivered. So, if the need is originally X number of food boxes but when they deliver, it ends up being Y instead, all that gets tracked. Relief centers can request food through the platform, too.

What has been your impact thus far, both in terms of individual organizations and the community in a broader way?

Corzine: It’s still pretty early on, but everyone we’re working with loves it.

ROOTED IN COMMUNITY: Addison Fuller, left, and Matt Corzine, right, launched FastRoots as a way to support local food-security nonprofits through technology. Photo by Lyndi Hewitt

Impact Health and the Red Cross are excited, and the on-the-ground organizations get to focus on what they’re good at and exhale a bit because the technology is being provided. Nonprofits usually spend a lot of time and energy on admin, especially grant reporting and applying for funding.

Andrea Duvall from Mother Earth Food and others are wonderful at bringing the storytelling aspect to grant and funding proposals. Before working with us, they definitely had some data, too, but what we’re providing adds an extremely important component that will allow the food system to receive the funding that it needs. They can tell a story to a funder and have data to back it up.

With [the Relief to Resilience Project] initiative, a lot of the grant dollars are moving through the partners into the hands of local farmers, so the impact is beyond the organizations and relief centers. This money is staying in our community and really supporting the local food system.

FastRoots isn’t a nonprofit. Why not?

Corzine: We’re an LLC (a type of for-profit business), but we’re philosophically oriented toward social impact, and our work is aligned with that. We didn’t want to be competing with our nonprofit

partners for funding, but rather collaborating with them to increase the effectiveness of what they’re doing. Our core tenets are speed, transparency and trust, and we bring these to the grassroots organizing space and to the relationships between organizers and funders.

The need for community-led solutions far outstrips the supply. Contributions that grassroots organizations make, even if they’re small, should be valued in the same way as the work of larger organizations. When they can track their impact and operations with data, for their own use and in relationships with funders, it can be.

Looking ahead, what are you going to be working on?

Fuller: We’re going to be focusing on food systems for the foreseeable future. We’d like to build out more robust tools to help coordinate growers, distribution organizations, kitchens, funders, community organizations and the people who are needing food. Right now we aren’t working directly with farmers, but we’d like to. Also, we’d like to be able to track diverse sources of money flowing in, both from grants and other sources. We are a humble supporting layer, and our job is to uplift the farmers, organizations, kitchens and others who are feeding people. X

APRIL. 23 - MAY 1, 2025

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

 Online-only events

 More info, page 38

 More info, page 41

WELLNESS

Therapeutic Recreation Adult Morning Movement

Wednesday mornings are all about active games, physical activities, and sports adapted to accommodate all skill levels.

WE (4/23, 30), 10am,Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

Free Community Functional Fitness

Build muscular endurance through exercises that focus on multiple repetitions with lower weights while moving in all planes of motion.

WE (4/23, 30), 10:15am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Community Yoga & Mindfulness

Free monthly event with Inspired Change Yoga that will lead you into a morning of breathwork, meditation and yoga.

WE (4/23), 10:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Gentle Tai Chi for Balance

This class works on improving our balance through exercises that help you to think with your feet while strengthening your balance muscles.

WE (4/23, 30), 11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Qigong

A gentle form of exercise composed of movement, posture, breathing, and meditation used to promote health and spirituality.

WE (4/23, 30), 11:15am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Tai Chi Fan

This class includes partner work showing the martial application of the fans when they are used as a weapon and Flying Rainbow Double Fan form.

WE (4/23, 30), 1pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Tai Chi For Beginners Yang 10 & 24

In the Beginner Tai Chi class, the focus is on the Yang 10 and 24 forms as well as Qigong exercises for health.

TH (4/24, 5/1), TU (4/28),11:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Mindfulness Stretching

It uses physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation to improve overall health

TH (4/24), noon, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

GARDEN MARKET: The nonprofit Bullington Gardens kicks off is annual Spring Plant Sale on Thursday, April 24, which runs through Saturday, April 26. The market opens each day at 9 a.m., featuring a curated selection of perennials, annuals, trees, shrubs and veggies, including tomatoes, pollinator-friendly plants and those that can help with erosion control. Photo courtesy of Bullington Gardens

Intermediate Tai Chi Yang 24

This is the Tai Chi that most people envision when they think of Tai Chi. Slow, gentle movements that promote good health.

FR (4/25), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

New Moon Yoga Nidra & Reiki

A dream will be induced taking you into a state of consciousness that can bring about immense healing in your conscious, subconscious, and unconscious mind.

FR (4/25), 6pm, Asheville Salt Cave, 16 N Liberty St

Intermediate Tai Chi

Yang 37

A great class for those who have studied Yang 37 or would like a form that is a little bit more involved than Yang 10 or 24.

SA (4/26), 8:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Free Community Yoga (Level 2)

The class is designed to nourish your body, mind, and spirit by further developing your balance, coordination, flexibility, and cardiovascular health.

SA (4/26), 9am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Family Bootcamp

Make the most of your workout time while showing your children the benefits of staying active.

SA (4/26), 9:30am, Reuter YMCA, 3 Town Center Blvd.

Yoga in the Park

All-level friendly yoga classes based on Hatha & Vinyasa traditions. Classes led by a rotation of certified yoga instructors.

SA (4/26), SU (4/27), 11am, W Asheville Park, 198 Vermont Ave

Free Community Qi Gong

Qi Gong improves balance and coordination, enhances physical and emotional energy, and promotes an experience of well-being.

SA (4/26), 11:30am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Barn Yoga

Community Yoga class with Fairview-based yogi Mary Beth, who teaches a gentle and vinyasa flow.

SU (4/27), 10am, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Rd, Fairview

Sunday Morning

Meditation Group

Gathering for a combination of silent sitting and walking meditation, facilitated by Worth Bodie.

SU (4/27), 10am, The Lodge at Quietude, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

Sunday Sound Baths

A harmonic experience focused on nervous system regulation, energetic balance, and whole body wellness.

SU (4/27), 11am, Weaverville Yoga, 3 Florida Ave, Weaverville

New Moon Yoga Circle

Facilitated by Sierra Hollister, author of Moon Path Yoga, these circles are held at each new moon and full moon and are open to all who wish to join.

SU (4/27), 7pm, W Asheville Yoga, 602 Haywood Rd

Tai Chi Open Clinic

All are welcome in this new curriculum course, regardless of the style of internal martial arts you practice, your skill development or age level.

SU (4/27), 7pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Free Community Athletic Conditioning

Combining strength training, HIIT, plyometrics, kickboxing and step, this class offers a diverse, challenging training experience.

MO (4/28), 8am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Strength & Exercise

Workout at your own pace in a fun atmosphere in this weekly class for active adults working on overall fitness and strength.

MO (4/28), 9:15am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Medical Qigong

A moving meditation and an internal martial art for calming the mind and strengthen-

ing the body and spirit.

TU (4/29), 9am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 QiGong w/Allen Horowitz

The movements help improve circulation relaxation and balance. For more information contact allenhavatar@ gmail.com

TU (4/29), 10am, Asia House, 119 Coxe Ave Nia Dance

A sensory-based movement practice that draws from martial arts, dance arts, and healing arts.

TU (4/29), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109 Drumming for Exercise Jam to some tunes while getting a great, low-impact arm and core workout.

TU (4/29), 1:30pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Free Community Integrated Restorative Yoga

Offer both traditional yoga poses as well as guided meditation to

help you relax deeply, release stress, and increase resilience.

TU (4/29), 5:45pm, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Reiki Circle w/Valerie Holbert & Danielle Sangita

This will be a beautiful Reiki offering with Valerie Holbert and Danielle Sangita. Be sure to RSVP as space is limited.

WE (4/30), 6pm, Be Well Black Mountain, 10 E Market St, Black Mountain

SUPPORT

GROUPS

Nicotine Anonymous

People share their experience, strength and hope to stop using nicotine. You don’t need to be stopped, just have a desire to attend.

TH (4/24, 5/1), 4:30pm, Asheville 12-Step Recovery Club, 1 Kenilworth Knolls Unit 4

Marijuana Anonymous

Whether you’re exploring sobriety, new to recovery, or have been on this path for a while, you are welcome here.

TH (4/24), 6:30pm, American Legion Post #2, 851 Haywood Rd

Magnetic Minds:

Depression & Bipolar Support Group

A free weekly peer-led meeting for those living with depression, bipolar, and related mental health challenges. For more information contact (828) 367-7660.

SA (4/26), 2pm, First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St

Connecting Conversations

Explore conversations built around curiosity, understanding, and openness to develop stronger connections, to be heard, and to empathize with different viewpoints.

MO (4/28), 12:45pm, Peri Social House, 406 W State St, Black Mountain Pet Grief Support Circle

The Pet Grief Support Group provides a compassionate circle for people ages 18 and over grieving the recent death of a beloved pet.

MO (4/28), 6pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd

Families Anonymous Meeting

Gain support from others who have had lived experiences with a family member or friends substance abuse and related behavioral health challenges.

TU (4/29), 6pm, Love and Respect Community for Recovery and Wellness, 350 Chadwick Ave Ste 300, Hendersonville

DANCE

Latin Night Wednesday w/DJ Mtn Vibez

A Latin dance social featuring salsa, bachata, merengue, cumbia, and reggaeton with dance lessons for all skill levels.

WE (4/23, 30), 8pm, One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Rd

Tap Dance: Beginner

Tap dance for beginners teaches the basics through a combination of exercise, music, and incredible fun.

TH (4/24), TU (4/29), 10am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Tap Dance: Intermediate Fun and active class for students who have already taken beginner tap here or elsewhere.

TH (4/24), 10:45am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Tap Dance: Advanced Beginner

Fun and active twice-weekly class for advanced students.

TH (4/24), 11:45am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Free Community Zumba Gold

This class introduces easy-to-follow zumba choreography that focuses on balance, range of motion, and coordination.

FR (4/25), 10am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

Blue Country Line Dance’s Giddy Up Brunch

Learn some of the hottest country and hip hop line dances while enjoying a mimosa or bloody and some delicious crunchylunchy dishes from the Taqueria.

SA (4/26), 11am, The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave

Intro to Line Dance

A true beginners course for those who are new to line dance taught by Liz Atkinson. MO (4/28), 10:30am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Monday Night Contra Dance

A welcoming environment for anyone who would like to contra dance. Lessons start at 7 p.m. and a social dance starts at 7:30 p.m.

MO (4/28), 7:30pm, A-B Tech, Genevieve Circle

Zumba Gold & Silverobics

Calorie-burning, fun, low-impact class that incorporates dance and fitness for older adults each week.

TU (4/29), noon, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

ART

Anti Form: Robert Morris’s Earth Projects

The suite of lithographic drawings by Robert Morris presents a series of ideas for ten works of art shaped out of earth, atmospheric conditions, and built environments. Gallery open Wednesday through Sunday, 11am. Exhibition through May 2025.

Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Asheville Strong: Celebrating Art & Community After Hurricane Helene

An exhibition of artwork by artists who live and work in the Helene-affected Appalachia region. This special, non-juried exhibition celebrates the strength and diversity of our regional arts community. Gallery open Wednesday through Sunday, 11am. Exhibition through May. 5, Asheville Art Museum, 2 S Pack Square

Tattoo/Flash Exhibition

This exhibition showcases the cultural significance of tattoos, highlighting their ability to bridge tradition and innovation, personal expression, and visual storytelling. Gallery open daily, 11am. Exhibition through April 23. Blue Spiral 1, 38 Biltmore Ave

Viewshed Exhibition

The exhibition highlights works that span painting, textile, sound, and performance, inviting viewers to consider the ways in which artistic methodologies evolve and reverberate across time. Gallery open Tuesday through Saturday, 11am. Exhibition through August, 16, 2025.

Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center, 120 College St

Open Art Studio

Bring your favorite medium and work in a collaborative environment to improve your individual talent. Whether it’s paint, pencils, pastel, paper mache, whatever inspires you.

TH (4/24), 1pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Sustenance Exhibition

Sustenance invites artists to explore and interpret the many dimensions of nourishment—physical, emotional, spiritual, and communal. Gallery open Monday through Friday, 10 am, Exhibition through April 25. Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Laine Bachman: Elsewhere & Beyond

A solo exhibition of vibrant nature paintings by New Contemporary artist Laine Bachman, featuring alternative planets, real and imaginary

XPRESS EVENT PICK

Asheville Herb Festival

WNC Agricultural Center

761 Boylston Highway, Fletcher Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, 8:30 a.m. • Sunday, April 27, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

This 35th annual festival will feature over 70 vendors showcasing local plants and herbal products from the Appalachian area.

“For garden geeks like me, the Asheville Herb Festival is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year. It’s worth braving the crowds to get a crack at the free workshops and incomparable selection of plants, including hard-to-find herb varieties, unusual veggie and fruit starts and native species. Just be sure to bring a wagon or other means for toting massive quantities of potted green babies — everyone always buys more than they plan to!”

— Gina Smith X

creatures, and mother nature figures. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10am and Sunday, noon. Exhibition runs through April 26.

Bender Gallery, 29 Biltmore Ave

Identitas Exhibition

The works in Identitas examine culture & heritage through personal narratives, reflecting each included artist’s distinctly unique perspective on self and experience. Gallery open Wednesday through Saturday, 11am. Exhibition through May 10.

Tracey Morgan Gallery, 22 London Rd

Joanie Krug & Alan Wieder: The Incidental Moment

This exhibition will feature Joanie's gestural brushwork that conveys a lively energy and connection to her world. Alan will be showing recent work that he has made on the streets of Asheville. Gallery open Monday through Saturday, 10am, and Sunday, noon. Exhibition runs through May 4.

Pink Dog Gallery, 348 Depot St

Embodiment: Symbolic Narrative

Internationally known encaustic artists Bridget Benton and Kelly Williams will display works from their 2023 residency in Ireland. Visit the craft and gift corner while enjoying some delicious nibbles and drinks.

SU (4/27), 1pm, Re.Imagine Gallery & Studios, 15 Spivey Lake Dr, Fairview

Let's Paint!

Painting class for beginner to intermediate painters. Use you choice of media (acrylic, oil or watercolor).

MO (4/28), 1pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

2025 School of Art & Design Faculty

Biennial

This exhibition provides students and the community an opportunity to view recent work created by distinguished faculty members whose primary research output is studio-based. Gallery open Tuesday through Friday, 10am. Exhibition through May, 2.

WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

COMMUNITY MUSIC

Asheville Beer Choir

For anyone looking to blend great music, local brews, and a sense of community. People can come together to practice, socialize, and support local breweries and businesses.

TH (4/24), 7pm, Ginger's Revenge Craft Brewery & Tasting Room, 829 Riverside Dr Fabio Frizzi: Zombie

Legendary Italian composer performs a live scoring of one of his most famous soundtracks for Lucio Fulci's seminal horror movie Zombie.

FR (4/25), 7pm, Eulogy, 10 Buxton Ave

The Music of Norah Jones & Bonnie Raitt w/Lillie Syracuse

Lillie’s hope in songcraft is to foster shifts towards a deeper connection with nature, community, authenticity in the lives of those who hear her music.

FR (4/25), 8pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

The Tannahill Weavers Feel the unmatched energy and passion of one of the world’s

premier traditional Celtic bands.

FR (4/25), 8pm, Wortham Center For The Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave

Through the Decades: 2nd Annual Live Band Studio Recital Voice Students of Adrianne Blanks at Asheville Music School will be performing with Adrianne Blanks & The Oracles in the second annual live band studio recital. Students will perform songs from the 1950s to 2020s.

SA (4/26), noon, One World Brewing W, 520 Haywood Rd

Bilingual Birdies

Asheville

An interactive bilingual sing-a-long. dedicated to making language-learning super fun for little kids, using catchy songs, interactive live music, theater games, and bilingual puppets.

SA (4/26), 2pm, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St Appalachia Evening Jam w/The Darren Nicholson Band

An unforgettable evening of Appalachian Bluegrass by the Darren Nicholson Band to help SAHC celebrate 50+ years of local land and water conservation.

SA (4/26), 6:30pm, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Rd, Fairview

The Asheville Choral Society Presents: Sculpting Sound w/ Tempus Tempus, ACS's select vocal ensemble, will perform a concert with moments of beauty, wonder and reflection. Featuring contemporary composers Ola Gjeilo, Jocelyn Hagen, and Stacey Gibbs.

SA (4/26), 7pm, Trinity Episcopal Church, 60 Church St

North Buncombe High School Chorus Presents: Let Our Voices Entertain You

Presented by the Weaverville Music Study Club with a freewill offering for the 2026 North Buncombe Music Scholarship.

TH (5/1), 7pm, First Baptist Church of Weaverville, 63 N Main St, Weaverville

COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS

Nature Crafts: Botanical Bookmarks Get crafty and create wonderful pieces of art using natural materials. Advance registration

required. WE (4/23), 12:30pm, Weaver Park, 200 Murdock Ave

Access to Capital

Whether you’re a start-up or interested in growing your business, this workshop is here to guide you through the process to secure a business loan. Register at avl.mx/epp.

TH (4/24), 11am, Online

Crafting Club

Whether you’re into knitting, scrapbooking, painting, or any other creative hobby, this is the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow crafters and share your passion.

TH (4/24), 1pm, Hendersonville Family YMCA, 810 6th Ave W, Hendersonville

Events Chainsaw Safety Course

A free chainsaw safety course presented by STIHL where you can learn the basics of chainsaw safety and maintenance.

TH (4/24), 5:30pm, FIND Outdoors, 49 Pisgah Hwy, Pisgah Forest

Nourishment Through the Seasons Workshop

Ashleigh Whittingtonwill lead an enriching workshop that explores

how to align your eating and lifestyle habits with the natural rhythm of the seasons.

TH (4/24), 5:30pm, All Bodies Movement and Wellness, 211 Merrimon Ave

Financial Planning for

Starting a Business

Learn how to use financial information to manage your business day-to-day, raise capital, incentive key employees, and more. Suited for new and existing business owners

SA (4/26), 9am, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler

YALA Drumming w/ Adama Dembele

Drop in for Yala Cultural tours for a two-hour drum class and cultural exploration led Leaf Ambassador, Adama Dembele.

SA (4/26), noon, LEAF Global Arts, 19 Eagle St

The Art of Transformation

Through a blend of improvisation, poetry, song, and energizing movement exercises, you’ll explore the art of acting and uncover the joy of creative expression.

SU (4/27), 2pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

The Foxy Chef: A Night of Vegan Cooking Chefs will take us on a culinary journey, explaining health benefits of nature’s herbs and spices. This class is open for anyone and everyone.

MO (4/28), 5:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Av

Therapeutic Recreation Adult Crafting

A variety of cooking and crafts, available at two different times. This week features fairy gardens. Advance registration required.

TU (4/29), 10am, Murphy-Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd Your Combination for Success

A special lunch and learn designed to help you discover what is important when it comes to your success and how to unlock your potential in all of your endeavors.

TU (4/29), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Youth Archery Archers learn the basics of archery such as range safety

and proper shooting using techniques based around the USA Archery Explore Archery program.

TU (4/29), 5:30pm, Tempie Avery Montford Community Center, 34 Pearson Ave

1-Hour Make Ahead

Freezer Meals for the Week

In this class, we’ll meal-prep 6 tasty and nutritious freezer meals that can be heated and eaten at a later point.

WE (4/30), 5:30pm, Madison County Cooperative Extension Office, 258 Carolina Ln Marshall

Embroiderers’ Guild of America: Laurel

Chapter

Barbara Dexter-Smith

will give an overview of the exchange of Asian textiles and embroidered costumes and household textiles from east to west, covering production techniques and design.

TH (5/1), 9:30am, Grace Lutheran Church, 1245 Sixth Ave W., Hendersonville

Change Your Palate

Cooking Demo

This free lunchtime food demonstration is open to all but tailored towards those with type 2 diabetes or hypertension and/or their caretakers.

TH (5/1), noon, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

LITERARY

Celebration of Poetry

Six award-winning North Carolina poets will read from their work: Kathy Ackerman; Cathy Smith-Bowers; Luke Hankins; Keith Flynn; Pat Riviere-Seel; and Lee Stockdale.

TH (4/24), 7pm, Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Rd, Fairview

Regional Author Book Club Series: Kings of Coweetsee w/Dale

Neal

Dale Neal is the author of the upcoming novel Kings of Coweetsee, exploring how change comes to a hill born and hill bound people in a mountain community.

FR (4/25), 10am, Peri Social House, 406 W State St, Black Mountain

STEAP Presents: Sherry Lovett

A local non-profit arts organization will feature its third in a series of events to help boost local Hendersonville businesses. Sherry Lovett is a seasoned local storyteller.

FR (4/25), 6:30pm, Gingko Tea Life, 240 N Main St, Hendersonville Unleash Your Inner Storyteller!

An evening of captivating tales and shared experiences. Whether you're a seasoned

storyteller or just love a good yarn, come share your best stories with our welcoming community.

FR (4/25), 7pm, Center for Spiritual Living Asheville, 2 Science Mind Way

Mutual Aid & Revolution: A Conversation w/David Vaina

David Vaina shares his new book, On-Ramps to a New Civil Society, an autonomist reimagining of labor, value, mutual aid, and revolution.

SA (4/26), 3pm, Firestorm Books, 1022 Haywood Rd

Spinning Toward the Sun Speed Read & Song Celebration

Hear excerpts from local and award-winning contributors of Spinning Toward the Sun, a benefit anthology that supports victims of Hurricane Helene.

SU (4/27), 5pm, Ginger's Revenge, 829 Riverside Dr, Ste 100 Poetry Slam

Expect cheers and jeers as the judges do their work. You must only slam your own work, bring three poems and keep it under three minutes.

SU (4/27), 7pm, Elevated Kava Lounge Downtown, 122 College St

Flooded Poetry

Each poet will be able to share 2-3 poems, and occasionally we will have local celebrity poets close out our night with a featured reading.

MO (4/28), 6:30pm, Flood Gallery, 802 Fairview Rd Ste 1200

Meter & Melody: Poetry Night

An open mic for poetry, hosted by Dill.

WE (4/30), 7pm, Static Age Loft, 116 N Lexington Ave

THEATER & FILM

Songcatcher Movie Night

After the film, there will be a panel of local actors and culture keepers who were a part of the film, including Brooke Windsor, Don Talley, Rodney Sutton, Joe Mohar and Don Pedi.

TH (4/24), 7pm, White Horse Black Mountain, 105C Montreat Rd, Black Mountain

The Magic of Jeki Yoo

See the world-renowned illusionist that social media collectively crowned “the cutest magician of all time."

TH (4/24), 7pm, Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave

Death Comes To Play

(A High-Stakes Comic Gothic)

On a dark, stormy night, in a remote location, the celebration of a 75-year-old’s birthday

is upended by the arrival of a mysterious, uninvited guest who turns out to be...fun?

TH (5/24, 5/1), FR (4/25), SA (4/26), 7:30pm, BeBe Theatre, 20 Commerce St

Our Planet Live w/Dan Tapster

Showrunner Dan Tapster will offer behindthe-scenes insights into this breathtaking Netflix series.

TH (4/24), 7:30pm, WCU Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee

Foreign Film Fridays

Every Friday visitors can enjoy a cozy movie night in the gallery featuring some amazing foreign films curated by film-buff Carlos Steward.

FR (4/25), 7pm, Flood Gallery, 802 Fairview Rd, Ste 1200

Let It Be Art!

In this inspiring one man show, we follow Harold Clurman from his beginnings on the Lower East Side, through his education at the Sorbonne in Paris, his initiation into the theatre and more.

See p41

FR (4/25), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 West State St, Black Mountain

Our Movement Starts Here

This documentary shares the story of the protests and struggles from a rural, poor, predominately minority county that was chosen by the state to store PCBs after they were dumped along NC highways.

FR (4/25), 7pm, First Congregational UCC of Asheville, 20 Oak St Into The Woods

A captivating and whimsical musical that weaves together beloved fairy tales into a dark and enchanting narrative.

FR (4/25), 7:30pm, SA (4/26), SU (4/27), 2:30pm, Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut St

Reasonably Priced Babies Improv Show

RPB is a formidable improv comedy group consisting of Tom Chalmers, Mondy Carter, Karen Stobbe, Kim Richardson and Josh Batenhorst.

SA (4/26), 7pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain Interactive Murder Mystery Bearded Lady Productions and The Mule invite you to Murder at Stiletto Heights, an epic '80s immersive murder mystery.

SU (4/27), 6pm, The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd Ste 10

369 Monologue & Short Play Festival

Part 3: Hell & High Water

Brace yourselves for thirteen fearless actors, six visionary directors, and fifteen searing stories ripped from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the tempestuous socio-political currents of our world.

TH (5/1), 7:30pm, Tina McGuire Theatre, Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, 18 Biltmore Ave

Terms of Endearment

Challenges in life and love test the resilience of a mother-daughter relationship in Dan Gordon’s adaptation of Terms of Endearment.

TH (5/1), 7:30pm, Hendersonville Theatre, 229 S Washington St, Hendersonville

MEETINGS & PROGRAMS

Doc Talk: 10 Warning Signs of Dementia

In this session, you'll learn about the 10 warning signs of dementia, a crucial topic for understanding early detection and care. This is a free event, but registration is required.

WE (4/23), 11am, Black Mountain YMCA, 25 Jane Jacobs Rd Black Mountain

IBN Biz Lunch

All are invited to attend and promote their business, products, and services, and meet new referral contacts.

WE (4/23), 11:30am, Yao, 153 Smoky Park Hwy

RSAA Lunch N' Learn Series w/Guest Speaker March's guest speaker, Shaniqua Simuel, founder and owner of Change Your Palate. In memory of one of our community leaders, Robert Simmons.

WE (4/23), 12:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave, PowerPoint Nights

A unique evening of hilarious presentations as everyone is encouraged to share their funniest, most creative, or most absurd ideas.

WE (4/23), 6:30pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St

Doc Talk: Lung Health

A doc talk with Dr. Zeni Scott, a pulmonologist, who will discuss lung health and how to keep your lungs strong. This informative session will cover key tips for respiratory wellness, followed by a Q&A.

TH (4/24), 10am, Asheville YMCA, 30 Woodfin St

NSA-WNC Meeting

Professional keynote speakers, coaches, trainers, facilitators, and consultants who cover a broad range of topics,

skills and knowledge.

TH (4/24), 10am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Create the Avatar & Corner the Market

This program is for the entrepreneur and small business owner who understands the importance of identifying, and engaging, their ideal client.

TH (4/24), 1pm, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler

NCDOT Project Update Meeting Set for I-26

Asheville Connector

An open invitation to the public to get an update on the 1-26 Asheville Connector project. The public will learn more about the recently completed O&A process for the project and may speak with engineers and NCDOT staff about various aspects of the project.

TH (4/24), 4pm, Grand Ballroom at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31 Woodfin St

Naturalist Hikes

Enjoy short, slowpaced hikes led by experienced naturalists to identify plants, animal tracks, bird songs, and other phenomena of Southern Appalachia.

FR (4/25), 9am, Murphy Oakley Pavilion, 11 Liberty St

Community Connections: Speed Resource Networking

Explore the wealth of support and services available in our area by participating in a speeddating-style networking session.

FR (4/25), 11:30am, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Tarot w/Cats

This 1-hour workshop will include a brief history of the tarot, and how to incorporate a one- and three-card pull for daily guidance.

FR (4/25), 5:30pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd

Facts & Fables: Crafting Your WNC Family

Narrative

Rev. Kate Penney Howard discusses honoring family history effectively, even when faced with inaccuracies, embellishments, or outlandish fabrications, focusing on stories from Western North Carolina. Register at avl.mx/eq9.

SA (4/26), 2pm, Online

Braver Angels WNC: Immigration 101

The presentation aims to find common ground on immigration through grassroots events, policy discussions, and collaboration with national leaders. A facilitated discussion will follow the video.

SA (4/26), 10:30am, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood St

Chinese Tea & Tai Chi Foundations

Settle your Qi with Chinese tea while learning the fundamentals of Tai Chi to improve your health. Beginner friendly so all levels are welcome.

SA (4/26), 10:30am, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

The Women's Orchestra at Auschwitz-Birkenau

Dr Susan Eischeid, who spent decades researching the orchestra and interviewing survivors, will present the history of the orchestra.

SA (4/26), 2pm, Black Mountain Library, Black Mountain

Cosmic Embrace: A Twilight Journey of Yoga, Labyrinths & Meteor Showers

This special event combines the calming practice of astrological yoga, the peacefulness of a guided labyrinth walk, and the magic of star and Lyrid meteor shower gazing. Kanuga Main Campus, 130 Kanuga Chapel Dr, Hendersonville Coloring w/Cats

Take 50 minutes for yourself and cuddle with the panthers, meet other cat-lovers, and

color a beautiful picture of a cat from our adult coloring books.

SU (4/27), 2pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd

Family Open Gym

Weekly time in the gym reserved for all ages to shoot hoops and play other active games as a family.

SU (4/27), 4pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St

Alive After 55+

A program for active older adults to socialize, play board games and puzzles, create in group art activities, and more.

MO (4/28), TU (4/29),10am, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

Birding by Ear

A four-session introduction to the wonderful world of birding, the first two instructional sessions emphasize birding by ear. In the last two classes, participants embark on two birding nature walks.

MO (4/28), 10am, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Walking the Great Lakes of WNC

Bring walking shoes and friends to see the lakes of western North Carolina. This program is for any individual who is looking to get a good workout in while enjoying the scenery.

MO (4/28), TU (4/29), 10am, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

Black Men Monday

Featuring a local group that has stepped up in the community to advocate for and mentor students through academic intervention.

MO (4/28), 5:30pm, AmeriHealth Caritas, 216 Asheland Ave

Finding our Still Center in the Midst of the Storm

John Orr and The Social Sangha will lead meditation and a discussion on Buddhist teachings that are applied to social and

environmental issues.

MO (4/28), 6:30pm, The Lodge at Quietude, 1130 Montreat Rd, Black Mountain Safety Day

From exploring cutting-edge products and services to sharing invaluable best practices, this is your chance to embrace professional and personal safety like never before.

TU (4/29), 1pm, New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St

YouTube Academy for Small Business Owners Full-day in-person YouTube and video training for Small Business owners who will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the training.

WE (4/30), 9am, A-B Tech Small Business Center, 1465 Sand Hill Rd, Candler Band Together Asheville: A Speed Band Matching Event Meet, greet and jam with various musicians. All musicians and skill levels are welcome.

WE (4/30), 6pm, One World Brewing West, 520 Haywood Rd

Tarot Community Circle

Each week will cover different topics. Please bring a deck based on the system of the Rider Waite Smith tarot.

WE (4/30), 6pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd

Treks Hiking Club for Adults 50+

A low-impact hiking club offering leisurely-paced hikes for active adults 50 or better. Bring lunch, water, good walking shoes, and dress for the weather.

WE (4/30), 9:30pm, Murphy-Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd

Therapeutic Recreation Hiking

All hikes are between 1-2.5 miles with variable terrain. Transportation provided to site. Advance registration

required.

TH (5/1), 10am, Murphy-Oakley Community Center, 749 Fairview Rd

IBN Biz Lunch: Hendersonville

All are invited to attend and promote their business, products, and services, and meet new referral contacts.

TH (5/1), 11:30am, Thai Spice, 220 S King St, Hendersonville

LOCAL MARKETS

North Asheville

Tailgate Market

Browse from over 70 vendors that will be offering sustainably produced produce, meats, eggs, cheeses, breads, honey, plants, prepared foods, crafts and more.

SA (4/26), 8am, 275 Edgewood Rd

Mars Hill Farmers & Artisans Market

A producer-only tailgate market located on the campus of Mars Hill University on College Street. Offering fresh local produce, herbs, cheeses, meats, eggs, baked goods, honey, body care and more.

Every Saturday through Oct. 26.

SA (4/26), 10am, College St, Mars Hill

Indie Books & Art Market

Enjoy delicious Peruvian vegan treats, shop from local artists and makers, and browse curated books by amazing authors, all in honor of Independent Bookstore Day.

SA (4/26), noon, Haywood Famous, 508 Haywood Rd

Blue Ridge Community College Plant Market

Students in the Blue Ridge Community College horticulture program participate in the production of healthy plants, vegetables, tress, shrubs and perennials that will be for sale. All proceeds directly benefit the horticulture and its students.

SA (4/26), SU (4/27), 8am, Blue Ridge Community College, Bullington Greenhouse, 245 E Campus Dr, Flat Rock

Junk-O-Rama Vintage Market

Browse vintage clothing vendors, local crafters, antiques and more.

SU (4/27), noon, Fleetwood's, 496 Haywood Rd

Magical Market

Stock up on magical supplies in the shop, browse a market of local vendors and pet some panthers in the cat lounge.

SU (4/27), noon, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood Rd

Meadow Market

This vibrant outdoor market features a curated selection of local

makers and artisans.

Browse a delightful array of one-of-a-kind textiles, handcrafted jewelry, beautiful pottery, and more.

SU (4/27), 1pm, The Meadow at Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy, Ste 200

GAMES & CLUBS

Bid Whist

Make bids, call trumps, and win tricks. Every Saturday for fun competition with the community.

SA (4/26), 1pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St

Drag BingOh!

The Radical’s favorite game night hosted by none other than Miss Blue Ridge Pride, Alexis Black returns.

SA (4/26), 8pm, The Radical, 95 Roberts St

Weekly Sunday Scrabble!

Weekly scrabble play where you’ll be paired with players of your skill level. All scrabble gear provided.

SU (4/27), 1:30pm, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Level 256 Weekly Pinball Tournament This is a weekly group knockout pinball tournament. Food will be provided to players. All ages and skill levels are welcome.

SU (4/27), 5:30pm, Level 256 Classic Arcade Bar, 79 Coxe Ave

Music Bingo w/DJ Spence

Featuring 3 different themes of upbeat, family friendly music.

MO (4/28), 5:30pm, New Belgium Brewing Co., 21 Craven St

Indoor Walking for Wellness Club

Weather doesn’t matter when you have a community gym. Let us crank up the tunes to get you motivated.

TU (4/29), 9:15am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave, Bingo!

Weekly bingo raises funds to place service dogs with people affected by Helene.

TU (4/29), 6pm, Wild Wing Cafe South, 65 Long Shoals Rd, Arden

KID-FRIENDLY PROGRAMS

Family Story Time

A fun and interactive story time designed for children ages 18 months to 3 years.

WE (4/23, 30), 10:30am, Black Mountain Library, Black Mountain

Tiny Tykes Wednesday Play Dates

Open play for toddlers to explore bikes, balls, inflatables, climbing structures, and more fun.

WE (4/23, 30), 10am, Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave

Kung Fu For Children

Designed to begin with the foundations of these styles while also teaching application and self awareness.

WE (4/23, 30), 3pm, Dragon Phoenix, 51 N Merrimon Ave, Ste 109

Baby Storytime

A lively language enrichment story time designed for children ages 4 to 18 months.

TH (4/24, 5/1), 10:30am, Black Mountain Library, Black Mountain

Toddlers in the Park Come out for fun, themed-days as warm weather returns. This weeks features awesome art, but advance registration required.

TH (4/24), 9:30am, Jake Rusher Park, 160 Sycamore Dr, Arden

Toddler & Me Time Out

This open gym time allows toddlers and caregivers to make memories and new friends through structures and unstructured activities.

FR (4/25), 10am, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston St

Kids Night Out

Grant Southside Center staff are ready each month to connect with your children over goofy games, crafts, science projects, and snacks.

FR (4/25), 6pm, Dr Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center, 285 Livingston S

Healthy Kids Day

This day is all about encouraging families to take a moment to help kids be kids and set them up for a summer of success.

SA (4/26), 10am, Corpening Memorial YMCA, 348 Grace Corpening Dr, Marion

Coloring w/Cats: Kiddie Edition

An artistic session with coloring books and markers for children ages 13 and under to relax by coloring as they pet cats to reduce stress and anxiety.

SA (4/26), 1pm, House of Black Cat Magic, Co., 841 Haywood R

Toddler Superhero Party

Bring your toddler in their favorite superhero costume for playtime.

SA (4/26), 1pm, Linwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 121 Shiloh Rd

MoveAbility: Weekly Dance Class

Everyone is welcome to explore movement, creativity and self express through dance. Intended for kids ages 5 and up, though.

MO (4/28), 5:30pm, Black Mountain Center for the Arts, 225 W State St, Black Mountain

Toddlers in the Park Come out for fun, themed-days as warm weather returns. This weeks features farmyard fun, but advance registration required.

TH (5/1), 9:30am, Weaver Park, 200 Murdock Ave

FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS

Cake Baking Contest

Put your skills to the test as judges score on overall taste, texture, and originality.

TH (4/24), 2pm, Grove St Community Center, 36 Grove St

Bullington Garden’s Annual Spring Plant Market

Bullington’s market will include many sun-loving trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that will thrive where it once was too shady.

TH (4/24), FR (4/25),

SA (4/26), 9am, Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville Student & Family DV Awareness Workshop: SAFE Program

Our Voice and Verbal Purple will be facilitating an Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention Education Workshop for students in 6th to 12th grades as well as their parents

TH (4/24), 6pm, The Franklin School of Innovation, 21 Innovation Dr Grand Opening Celebration

A new place to get coffee and shop from local artists and crafters. Several artists will be performing their artwork live and there will be a live performance from Marykay and the Moonlighters.

SA (4/26), 7am, Coffee, Art, Music type Place, 1 Kenilworth Knolls

She Slays 5k

This event is all about celebrating the strength, courage, and fierce determination of women fighting cancer.

SA (4/26), 8am, Pardee Cancer Center, 805 6th Ave West, Hendersonville

YWCA Spring Open House

Explore a schedule of sample fitness classes to find what suits you best, learn about personal training options, and tour the

gym facilities.

SA (4/26), 9am, YWCA of Asheville, 185 S French Broad Ave

InterBeing Festival

A rich mix of interactive workshops such as breathwork, song circles, music, live art as well as artistic performances, intimate conversations and group ceremony.

SA (4/26), 10am, Samasati Sanctuary, 1700 New Stock Rd, Weaverville

Patch-a-Palooza

Patch-a-Palooza welcomes families with K-8th grade children to try their hands at various historic crafts from making butter and candles to writing with a quill pen. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about life in Western North Carolina in the 1800s.

SA (4/26), 10am, Vance Birthplace, 911 Reems Creek Rd, Weaverville

Weaverville Art Safari

This event gives guests the unique opportunity to meet over 50 artists and see the spaces where they work and live.

SA (4/26), SU (4/27), 10am, Multiple locations in Weaverville

Dancer Appreciation

Enjoy face painting, inflatables, prizes, sweet treats from The Sweet Retreat food truck, and a sneak peek at the fall class schedule. This free event is open to everyone.

SA (4/26), 11am, Center Stage Dance Studio, 38-L Rosscraggon Rd

Appalachia Day

Enjoy a free, family-friendly festival with live music from Dan Shearin, local artisans, food trucks, and fun farm activities. Proceeds from beer sales and a raffle will support the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.

SA (4/26), noon, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, 57 Sugar Hollow Rd, Fairview Grove Arcade In Bloom

Celebrate with music from a live symphony quartet, a botanical market, performances and art installations, and more.

SA (4/26), noon, Grove Arcade, 1 Page Ave

Spring Festival

Celebrate Earth Day and spring with games, pontoon boat tours, Earth Day crafts and education, kayak demos from Waterways, and more. This free event is open to all ages, and no registration is required.

SA (4/26), 1pm, Lake Julian Park, 37 Lake Julian Rd, Arden

17th Annual Asheville Bread Festival

This festival will span across two days and will feature learning, networking, skill sharing and celebration among the artisan baking community. Visit avl.mx/eqe for the full schedule of events and times. See p38

SA (4/26), SU (4/27), Various Times, Multiple Locations in Asheville

WNC Parade of Homes

Come take a free tour of more than 50 homes. Tours are in-person and virtual and feature a wide range of styles, sizes and price points.

SA (4/26), SU (4/27), 5pm, Builders Association of the Blue Ridge Mountains Parade of Homes, 1 Page Ave, Ste 280

Spring Fling! This free, family-friendly event will include a plant sale, live music, puppet shows, food trucks, artisan vendors, and more.

SU (4/27), 11am, Peace Gardens & Market, 47 Bryant St Jazz Fest, Art Market & Annual Crawfish Boil

Annual Jazz Fest featuring a full day of music, art, and community with a side of fresh Louisiana crawfish. Live music kicks off with the ultra-funky, high-energy grooves of Hoto Mozambique, followed by another set from Hustle Soul.

SU (4/27), 2pm, Oklawaha Brewing Co., 147 1st Ave E, Hendersonville

Snake Eyes: The Crow & Quill 11th Birthday Party

A celebration of surviving 11 years with The Yard Sails, free food and drink specials all day.

SU (4/27), 8pm, Crow & Quill, 106 N Lexington Ave

Food Waste Warriors of Black Mountain Tour

Tour the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden which features community composting and donates a percentage of grown food on plots to Bounty and Soul.

WE (4/30), 5pm, 99 White Pine Dr, 99 White Pine Dr, Black Mountain

Asheville Symphony: Amadeus Festival Kickoff & Beer Release

Step into summer with the Asheville Symphony as we herald the return of the Asheville Amadeus Festival plus special beer releases. See p41

WE (4/30), 6pm, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, 46 N Mills River Rd, Mills River Kentucky Derby Party

Get ready for the ‘greatest two minutes in sports’ with southern snacks and drinks, memorable games, and sophisticated socializing. Bring your Derby hat or one to decorate for the hat contest.

TH (5/1), 2pm, Harvest House, 205 Kenilworth Rd

Smash Bros Tournament w/Nostalgic VG Live Music

An evening of Nostalgic VG music from Mana Meter and Horror-themed surf rock from Monster Wave, while you engage in a Smash Bros tournament.

TH (5/1), 8pm, Third Room, 46 Wall St

BENEFITS & VOLUNTEERING

Dining Out For Life

Dining Out For Life encourages residents of Asheville and Western North Carolina to eat out at participating restaurants in order to raise money for HIV care and prevention in our region. Visit avl.mx/ep5 for the full list of participating restaurants.

TH (4/24), 8am, Mulitple locations in Ashevile

Women's Council of Realtors Silent Auction Bid on a basket and score something extraordinary while supporting a great cause. All proceeds to directly benefit individuals who lost their homes in Hurricane Helene.

TH (4/24), 4pm, The Village Pub, 100 Fairview Rd

Burton Street Neighborhood Cleanup

Burton Street Community Center staff will lead a walk to beautify the community. Litter grabbers, trash bags, and snacks provided.

SA (4/26), 11am, Burton Street Community Center, 134 Burton St .

Comedy Queens Drag Brunch & Fundraiser for Open Hearts

An hour of non-stop fun with Asheville’s best and award-winning comedy queens. See p38 SU (4/27), 11am, White Labs Kitchen & Tap, 172 S Charlotte St

SUSTAINING COMMUNITY

‘Fully funded, fully staffed’ A vision for the future of our

public schools

Shanna Peele is president of the Buncombe County Association of Educators. Xpress: How should Buncombe’s two school districts better collaborate?

Peele: Asheville City and Buncombe County schools should collaborate by aligning budget priorities through stronger partnerships with more frequent meetings between their boards and the County Commission. Ensuring students’ needs are met requires transparent funding discussions with educators. Additionally, school staff are the experts on their students’ needs and their working conditions. They must have a formal voice in decision-making through their union in order to improve working conditions and enhance student outcomes across both districts.

What’s your vision for the future of publicly funded education?

The vision I have of public schools is one where every child thrives — fully funded, fully staffed and resourced to meet every need. Students receive nutritious breakfast and lunch, no questions asked. Educators earn wages that let them live in the communities they serve. Classrooms are safe, modern and welcoming. Every child, regardless of race, income or ZIP code has access to rich, equitable programming. This is the vision I fight for every day.

In the face of so many challenges to our public schools, how do you cope and stay positive?

Sludgefest 3: Benefit Show for Southside Community Farm

This dystopian-themed, immersive theater-filled evening of music, satire, sludgey, carnival games, sludge theme ice cream and more will benefit Southside Community Farm. SU (4/27), 4:30pm, Sly Grog Lounge, 271 Haywood St Volunteer w/Energy Savers Network Worksite volunteers perform energy-saving upgrades in groups for clients in and around Buncombe County. You will also learn helpful energy-saving measures like changing lightbulbs, weatherstripping doors, and insulating water heaters.

WE (4/30), 11am, Buncombe County Queer Cake Off w/ Apple Cider Vinegar, Girl Fairy Tomboy, Puppy Chain

A benefit show for Fierce Flix and Girls Rock Asheville that features a Queer cake off, cake auction. WE (4/30), 8pm, Static Age Records, 110 N Lexington Ave Mad Co. Rocks the AVL Madison County rock and roll to benefit the rebuild of Hot Springs and Marshall. It will feature the music of 75 Singlewide, a squatch rock and roll with a dash of funk. c TH (5/1), 7:30pm, Sly Grog Lounge, 271 Haywood St

NEEDS MET: “The vision I have of public schools is one where every child thrives — fully funded, fully staffed and resourced to meet every need,” says Shanna Peele, president of the Buncombe County Association of Educators.

Photo courtesy of Peele

I stay positive by connecting daily with public school workers — listening, sharing and building community. These relationships remind me I’m not alone in this fight and that there is a path to winning schools our kids deserve. Finding common ground and collective strength fuels my hope. I also realize that sustaining this work is a long game, so I prioritize self-care and lean on my support systems. X

BY TROY JACKSON

Ways to reduce exposure to toxins

Most of the time when we think about sustainability, we think about practices that are affecting the health of our environment. However, I have noticed a growing body of research and interest around sustainability and how that affects our physical health.

We are all aware that the rate of chronic diseases has been increasing for decades now, despite having better treatment options. This growing disease burden is influenced by many factors of our modern environment such as sedentary lifestyles, overconsumption of high-calorie foods and chronic stress.

But the surging presence of chemicals in our food, water and air is also playing a role in these chronic diseases. What was once a “woo-woo” fad in the alternative medicine space, detoxification is a growing area of interest for doctors and patients who are trying to take better control of their health.

WHAT ARE TOXINS?

A toxin is a naturally occurring substance that can cause bodily harm, and a toxicant is the man-made version (for the purposes of this article, I will refer to both of these as “toxins”). Detoxification is the process of breaking down substances into something that can be eliminated from the body — medications, metabolic waste products and toxins from the environment.

Examples of common toxins include pesticides and herbicides, airborne particulates, mold spores, heavy metals, microplastics, flame retardants, plasticizers, BPA, phthalates, food dyes, PFAs, diesel fumes — and the list goes on and on. These toxins are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and even in the products we put on our skin. They are often invisible yet everywhere, making the concept of detoxification seem overwhelming and hopeless. We can be exposed to toxins in two different ways: acute and chronic. While acute, high-dose exposures are rare — such as directly ingesting or inhaling a toxic substance — chronic, low-level exposures are an everyday reality.

A single low-dose toxin exposure likely poses little health risk, which has allowed many of them to skirt past government regulation. However, we do not experience toxins in isolation

but are rather exposed to many different types all of the time, adding up to a greater total exposure. As total toxin exposure accumulates, our detox pathways become bogged down, and we become depleted in key detoxification nutrients. Toxins start to circulate in the bloodstream or get stored in our fat tissue, which directly affects our health.

Research has linked excessive toxin burden to a variety of health conditions: cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, disruptions in natural hormone signaling, fetal development, metabolic disorders, organ damage, asthma/COPD, chronic inflammatory states and increasing autoimmunity.

The good news is that we can take steps to stay healthy in this toxic world. When talking with patients about detoxification, I like to break it up into two categories.

REDUCING TOXIN EXPOSURE

The easiest and most efficient way to reduce toxic burden is to have less of it coming in.

Use glass or stainless steel for food and drink.

Studies have shown that plastic water bottles and food packaging contain high levels of BPA, phthalates, PFAs and microplastics that leach into our food and water if they have gotten hot during shipment, while sitting in your car or heated up in the stove or microwave. This also includes plastic utensils, plastic straws, plastic coffee lids and the containers that microwavable or frozen food often comes in.

Filter your water.

Our water is thoroughly cleaned in water treatment facilities, but the lingering chemicals like chlorine, microplastics and heavy metals are still present as it comes out of the tap. Sink filters, tabletop filters and wholehouse filters are all great options.

Focus on cleaner foods.

Increase your intake of single-ingredient foods and products that you recognize all of the words on the ingredient list. If possible, opt for in-season organic fruits, vegetables and grain products. Lastly, prioritize shopping at local farmers markets to reduce our carbon footprint.

Filter the air in your home.

Air quality inside the home is often worse than outside the home! Use a high-quality air filter in your HVAC and change it every two-four months. (I prefer a filter with a MERV score of 8 or higher). You can also use air purifiers, indoor plants and opening the windows while cooking to further improve air quality. Avoid cigarette smoke and open-flame candles, which increase particulate matter in the air.

Examine your personal care products.

Our skin is a living organ, so what we put on our skin is just as important as what goes into our body. Swap out skin and oral care products with ingredients that are more natural or have fewer overall ingredients.

IMPROVING

DETOXIFICATION

Now that we have reduced the amount of toxicants entering our bodies, we can turn our focus to improving overall detoxification capacity.

Optimize liver health.

The liver is the main organ responsible for detoxification, using thousands of different enzymes to do the job. The best way to keep the liver healthy is to limit unnecessary medications, limit alcohol and reduce fat deposition in the liver. Low sugar, nutrient-dense diets, regular fasting and regular exercise can all help keep the liver healthy.

Enhance nutrient support.

Your liver detoxification pathways rely on nutrients to work efficiently. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts contain special chemicals necessary for detoxification. You also want to maintain optimal B vitamins, vitamin C, selenium and protein in your diet. You can also speak with your doctor about supplementation including NAC, milk thistle, glutathione and alpha lipoic acid.

Support elimination.

Elimination is the final step in detox. Staying hydrated keeps kidney filtration and bile flow optimal. Try to achieve at least one bowel movement per day. If you suffer from regular constipation, consider increasing fiber intake, hydration and exercise.

AREA

OF INTEREST:

“What was once a ‘woo-woo’ fad in the alternative medicine space, detoxification is a growing area of interest for doctors and patients who are trying to take better control of their health,” writes Dr. Troy Jackson. Photo courtesy of Jackson

Magnesium citrate, high-dose vitamin C, coffee and medications like Miralax can also be helpful. Lastly, sweating through exercise and regular sauna use increases elimination through the skin. Remember to rinse off afterwards. Toxins and their harms to our health are just as important a topic as their harms to our environment. We are a connected ecosystem, our bodies to the Earth, and the only path to optimal health includes living in a cleaner world. Though the lion’s share of our toxin exposure must be regulated with stricter standards at the government level and get them removed from ongoing circulation, we do have agency to make choices each and every day to reduce our personal exposure and improve our natural detoxification capacity.

I hope these tips provide a reasonable starting point toward a more sustainable health journey. X

ARTS & CULTURE

Recipe for survival

BY JUSTIN M c GUIRE

jmcguire@mountainx.com

At Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian on Merrimon Avenue, the usual bustling crowds were nowhere to be found in October and November. With tourism gone and local spending tight after Tropical Storm Helene, owner Eric Scheffer knew he had to act quickly.

“We used everything we’d learned over 25 years in this business,” says Scheffer, who owns and operates two Vinnie’s locations, along with Jettie Rae’s Oyster House and Gan Shan Neighborhood Asian. “Analytics, scenarios, models — figuring out how to survive when the flow of customers stopped.”

Scheffer’s restaurants made several changes, including adapting menus to offer more affordable and familiar options to encourage business. Staying connected with local customers to understand their needs was also a key focus.

“Coming out of the hurricane, a lot of people were shell-shocked, obviously,” he says. “So we tried to be very mindful of our customers’ needs. I was just listening to what they wanted, which included menus they were familiar with. Like at both Vinnie’s, we went down to a very limited menu that was all the top 10 greatest hits.”

The storm’s financial toll was steep for Scheffer. Revenue at his four restaurants was down about $800,000 from what it normally would have been in October and early November. After that, business was down about 16%, he estimates.

But adequate reserves allowed his restaurants to survive. Seven months later, while tourism hasn’t returned to

“I

– Susan Roderick Join

How some Asheville restaurants weathered Helene

prestorm levels, his four restaurants have found stability and are adjusting to the new normal, he says. The four locations have about 95% of the staffing they had pre-Helene.

Other local restaurants faced similar challenges, all while relying on loyal local customers for support during the worst of the post-Helene downturn.

Many restaurants weren’t so lucky, opting to close for good after the storm. “I’ve talked to a lot of restaurateurs that have gone out of business, and it breaks my heart,” Scheffer

says. “It’s terrible, it’s horrible, but they don’t have the means or the financing to come back.”

Xpress restaurateurs about how they survived the aftermath of Helene, what lessons they learned and what comes next.

’HEAD ABOVE WATER’

“After the storm, the first thing was a sense of urgency to help the commu nity,” says

STAYING AFLOAT: Asheville’s award-winning Cúrate restaurant survived the post-Helene downturn by being creative, says co-owner Felix Meana. Photo courtesy of Cúrate

rate along with . The restaurant quickly partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide meals for

“In 48 hours, we were already operating, supporting people who had no access to food,” he explains. By mid-October, the restaurant had reopened for

Before long, though, Meana and Button had to start thinking about long-term survival of the James Beard úrate, which serves traditional Spanish tapas. In February, they decided to close its sister restaurant, La Bodega, which never reopened after the storm. Instead, they’ll use the space on Lexington Avenue for private book-

“That was probably the biggest economic impact from the storm because we’re losing part of our business,” Meana explains. “But we’re putting in the effort to get the word out about

In addition, Meana and Button have focused on the restaurant’s e-commerce line, which sells items like charcuterie, olive oil and knives, as a way to bring in additional money. Products that were sold only online

are now displayed in a retail corner of the restaurant.

“We’ve been very creative, trying to do as much as possible to keep busy,” he notes.

Support from locals has played a crucial role in the recovery. “The local community was there for us. They were happy to find a seat,” Meana said. While tourism has not yet returned to prestorm levels, local customers helped stabilize the restaurant during the initial reopening.

Despite challenges like inconsistent business and a labor shortage, Meana remains optimistic. “Week by week, we’re seeing improvement,” he said, though sales are still down 25%-30% compared with last year. His restaurant also has had difficulty finding staff, with many workers leaving the area or switching industries after Helene.

Looking ahead, Meana is hopeful for a busier spring and summer. “We’re in a good moment now, and I think we’re going to see a big turnaround. We’re keeping our head above water and hoping for a better year.”

’LOCALS SUSTAIN US’

Rajdeep Manaise , owner of Mëhfil’s in downtown Asheville, says his restaurant faced challenges in the aftermath of Helene but was luckier than many establishments. For one thing, the building on Biltmore Avenue never lost power.

“When the storm hit, downtown restaurants were some of the few still open,” Manaise recalls. “For the first few days, we were very busy because there was no one else.”

As tourism came to an abrupt halt — and sales dropped by half by November — locals rallied around the restaurant, which serves Indian fare. “Tourism does help, but it’s not the key,” Manaise says. “The locals are what sustain us through the offseason.”

Communication with customers also became crucial. For the first few days, word of mouth brought people in, but as time passed, Manaise used social media and email to keep customers informed about the restaurant’s status. “We just kept the menu limited and opened regular hours,” Manaise says.

Manaise remained committed to keeping his staff employed. “We had to cut down everyone’s hours, but we kept everyone working. We rotated staff so that they could still get some hours, allowing them to pay their bills,” he explains.

Looking to the future, Manaise is optimistic. He took over the restaurant at Skylaranna Resort and Spa in

Hendersonville in March, renaming it Mëhfil at Skylaranna. The expansion gives him a new revenue stream and additional opportunities to keep his staff employed and working regular hours.

’CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC’

Vinnie’s owner Scheffer credits some of his restaurants’ survival to early intervention from World Central Kitchen. His large staff and multiple kitchen facilities helped the nonprofit feed the community, keeping about 70% of his employees on payroll.

In addition, Scheffer ensured that employees who couldn’t return to work received daily meals, helping sustain them during the crisis.

Once the immediate crisis of the storm passed, Scheffer’s team worked with local plumbers and a water company to supply potable water to his restaurants when Asheville didn’t have any. “We could actually get up and running once we were done with the World Central Kitchen commitment,” he explains. Scheffer’s savings played a crucial role in helping him weather the financial strain caused by Helene. “I’ve been smart, I’ve learned to put money away to prepare for sh*t like this,” he says. “The month of October, with my four locations being down, it was a significant hit to our bank accounts. It wiped out a lot of money that we had saved, but we were able to survive.”

Many businesses didn’t have adequate reserves to get through the financial crisis Helene brought on, he points out.

While food costs are stabilizing, the lingering labor shortage, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to stress local restaurants, Scheffer says. “That’s one thing I’ve heard a lot. People who work in the restaurant industry were put out of work by the storm, so they had to go to some other city and a lot of them just aren’t going to come back.”

As the months passed, Scheffer started to see a return to normalcy with local patrons. But tourism has remained down, which was especially noticeable at Jettie Rae’s and at the original Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian on Merrimon Avenue. His other two restaurants are less tourist-dependent, he says.

“I am cautiously optimistic. I have a gut feeling about this,” he says. “I think it’s going to take probably a solid year for us to really get back on our feet here in Asheville. But I do anticipate some level of tourism coming back here this season.” X

April 25 & 26 April 27

Working together

Local organizations fight food waste and feed the community

BY MOLLY DEVANE

molly.devane@gmail.com

For many Western North Carolina residents after Tropical Storm Helene, long days spent clearing away debris, figuring out where to find water and trying to reach friends and family ended in sharing a meal with neighbors — one often made using food salvaged from rapidly thawing freezers and refrigerators.

For three area nonprofits, rescuing food before it’s wasted then redistributing it to those in need is their everyday mission. Long before Helene made landfall, these groups were focused on preventing food waste and feeding community members.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that around 40% of all food produced in the United States

ends up in the landfill each year. At the same time, WNC’s rate of food insecurity — defined as lacking reliable access to a sufficient quantity of nutritious food — is about 20% for adults and nearly 15% for households with children, according to the WNC Health Network.

Food waste also poses serious environmental concerns. Decomposing food produces vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 58% of the methane released into the atmosphere from municipal landfills comes from food, which comprises about 24% of landfill waste.

In response, both the City of Asheville and Buncombe County have declared April to be Food Waste Reduction Month. At its Tuesday, May 13, meeting, Asheville City Council will mark this year’s Food Waste Reduction Month with an official proclamation.

FOOD CONNECTION

“We strongly believe that no fresh food should end up in the landfill when our neighbors don’t have enough to eat,” says Marisha MacMorran, executive director of Food Connection.

Food Connection’s mission, she says, is twofold. “We’re helping the health of our planet and the health of our community members.” Founded in 2015 by Flori Pate, the Ashevillebased nonprofit rescues surplus chef-prepared food that might otherwise end up in the landfill and redistributes it to the community.

Food Connection partners with catering companies, restaurants, retirement centers, universities, hotels and hospitals — any business or institution that produces more food than it can use. On the day MacMorran spoke with Xpress, the nonprofit’s staff and volunteers had just rescued 63 pans of food from a local conference center. Each pan weighed between 13 and 20 pounds.

In the 10 years since Food Connection launched, it’s kept 375 tons of food out of the Buncombe County landfill — that’s 750,000 pounds, or 750,000 meals, that have gone directly to hungry community members.

FREE FOR ALL: “We strongly believe that no fresh food should end up in the landfill when our neighbors don’t have enough to eat,” says Food Connection Executive Director Marisha MacMorran, pictured inside the nonprofit’s food truck sharing a free meal. Courtesy of Food Connection

Food Connection shares some of its rescued food with the community through local agencies, including the Salvation Army, shelters and faithbased groups. Some of it is distributed via food truck — a mobile meals program MacMorran describes as a “free food truck experience.”

Foods are repackaged into individual heat-and-serve, nutritionally balanced meals — think beef brisket and brussels sprouts or gourmet macaroni and cheese fresh from the Omni Grove Park Inn. They’re then handed out for free from the widow of Food Connection’s colorful van — nicknamed Fran — at after-school programs, early childhood learning centers and in rural neighborhoods experiencing high rates of food insecurity.

Because many food-insecure people don’t qualify for federal food assistance, Food Connection has a “no questions asked” policy.

It’s not always a financial barrier that inhibits access to food, MacMorran points out. Many people who come to the food truck work two or three jobs and don’t have time to cook a meal for their families.

“Folks can come to the truck and get meals for that night and the next night, and the only question we ask is if they want beef, salmon or pulled pork,” she says.

Food Connection has a lot planned for 2025. Between preparing to launch services in Henderson County and planning a capital campaign to build a new facility for scaling its

operations, the organization is also gearing up for its annual Golf Against Hunger Tournament fundraiser on Monday, April 21.

To get involved, visit avl.mx/97q.

12 BASKETS CAFÉ

“Food has a unique and powerful ability to bring people together,” says Ben Williamson, executive director of the Asheville Poverty Initiative (API). “When we gather and rescue amazing food from across the city and get people in a room together, good things happen.”

Williamson is speaking about 12 Baskets Café, an API program that serves free hot meals to the community at its Haywood Road location seven days a week.

Just like a typical restaurant, people are greeted at the 12 Baskets door and seated before ordering from a menu that changes daily. After eating a meal cooked from surplus grocery store items or rescued from one of Asheville’s caterers or restaurants, guests can listen to live music in the café’s garden, craft poems with a writing group or speak with representatives from community partners, such as Pisgah Legal Services or Homeward Bound.

A free store with groceries, toiletries, pet food, camping gear and other useful items is also part of the program. “It’s a community center as well as a café,” Williamson tells Xpress. “Anytime we’re not serving food, folks are welcome to bring their talents and gifts to build community.”

Each week, the location serves 800900 meals and fills 250 grocery boxes. “People are taught the false narrative of scarcity, but the reality is abundance,” says Williamson. “There’s more than enough for everybody.”

The goal at 12 Baskets, he adds, is to model this reality for the community. As with Food Connection, there are no income verification or other forms to fill out to take advantage of services. Everyone is welcome to sit down and have a meal, including the volunteers.

“We’re trying to break down the traditional charity-driven nonprofit model and have something a little closer to mutual aid,” Williamson says.

At 12 Baskets, he continues, washing dishes and waiting tables are no less important than grabbing a seat and having a conversation with folks you don’t know. “That’s an act of service. It helps our city get stronger.”

This spirit was on full display in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, when volunteers and staff cooked from 12 Baskets’ freezer and made sandwiches in the dark to distribute to neighbors. The site eventually got

portable bathrooms and potable water so it could serve as a resource hub.

With so many organizations and people in the community helping each other, it was like a “12 Baskets on every corner,” Williamson tells Xpress. “But for us, that’s our everyday.”

The emergency of poverty existed long before Helene, he remarks, and will be here long after, but we can work together toward a solution. “We say it all the time: Community cures poverty,” he says. “After Helene, the community needle got moved a little bit. We can keep it there, but it’s going to take intention and action.”

To get involved, visit avl.mx/dwr.

WNC FOOD WASTE SOLUTIONS

As its name implies, WNC Food Waste Solutions seeks to educate the community about all the ways that food can be used and kept out of the landfill. With the exception of full-time coordinator Rechelle Ray, efforts are driven by volunteers, who put together programming and share resources with the community partners (including the two mentioned above).

To promote collaboration, the group hosts quarterly networking events for anyone — including individual community members, government entities, businesses and organizations — interested in food waste reduction.

Food Waste Solutions’ biggest event is the biannual Food Waste Solutions Summit, to be held this year on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at the Mission Health/A-B Tech Conference Center. The summit gathers community leaders, innovators, businesses and organizations that are dedicated to addressing food waste and finding sustainable solutions.

“We are all learning from each other,” Ray says.

WNC Food Waste Solutions engages through two main working groups.

The first, Repurpose and Compost, shares information about how to reuse food scraps in the home (think strawberry syrup made from strawberry tops), where to take food scraps that can be composted, and how to start composting in your own backyard.

The second group, Restaurants, Retailers and Redistributors, focuses on how businesses can help drive wider, systemic change to both reduce their environmental impact and improve food security in the region.

Ray stresses that it’s up to households and businesses alike to tackle the issue of food waste. “The more people who understand the issue, the more opportunity for collaboration,” she says. “The individual work and the local work together will make the most impact.”

To get involved, visit avl.mx/970. X

Elite athleticism at Sierra Nevada

BY CHRISTOPHER ARBOR

On Jan. 1, Christopher Arbor and his friends pledged to visit one Asheville brewery each week for all of 2025 in the order that they opened, then share the experience with Mountain Xpress readers. To read about their recent stop at Twin Leaf Brewery, visit avl.mx/eq0. It occurs to me that some of our regular readers might be operating under the misconception that we’re just a bunch of dudes who sit around, drink beer and discuss the world’s problems. But that’s only true for most of us. A few of us are athletes, and the grand open space at Sierra Nevada was the gladiatorial arena where we had our chance to prove it.

But before I get to our heroic deeds of derring-do, I’ve got to take a moment to rave about the location. Imagine your mountain climbing buddy, the visionary one who is always planning the next adventure, the restless one who must reach exhaustion during the day in order to relax at sunset. Now imagine that friend wins the lottery and decides to create a space for people to gather. What that friend would make is — boom — Sierra Nevada’s taproom and brewery in Mills River.

Inside, there’s an enormous, beautiful taproom downstairs and a glorious event space upstairs. Outside, there’s plenty of patio seating, a giant hearth, a playground, an amphitheater and a bocce ball court.

Bocce may be the world’s best sport, in part because you can play it while drinking. I’ve actually got a theory (Look out! Dude with a theory!)

that I play better with a beer in one hand. It balances out the ball in my other hand.

If you aren’t familiar with bocce, here’s the short of it: A player throws a white ball, then everyone throws their colored balls at it, and whoever is closest wins. Come to think of it, that’s the long of it as well. So simple an idiot can play. And I do.

But a bocce ball court? A court is to bocce what a treadmill is to a trail runner, what a pool is to an open-water swimmer, what a rope is to a free climber, what water is to a beer lover. That is to say: It’s confining and unnecessary.

For adventurous athletes like us, we forgo the dull rectangular walls and boring level ground of a bocce court, daringly playing what folks (i.e.,

me) call cross-country bocce — alternatively known as backyard bocce, mountain bocce, free bocce, parkour bocce, X-treme bocce or Calvinball bocce, depending on how many beers I’ve had.

Cross-country bocce fully embraces the messiness of life by playing anywhere and everywhere. Players have to navigate rocks, roots, sidewalks and small children hellbent on toddling right between the players and their target.

To fully appreciate the heroic majesty of it all, I’d encourage you to grab one of Sierra Nevada’s classic pale ales and play in the sun while listening to Julius Fučík’s “Entrance of the Gladiators.”

Cheers to unappreciated athletes and time outside.

Come join us on another adventure. We gather at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. You can email me at yearinbeerasheville@gmail.com or just show up.

• April 23: Sweeten Creek Brewing

• May 3 (a Saturday!): Zebulon Artisan Ales X

STIFF COMPETITION: It’s every man for himself as, from left, Craig Hack, Alan West, Tom Bleick and Bill Kwochka vie for the most meaningless title in sports history: Cross Country Bocce Champion. Photo by Christopher Arbor

by Edwin Arnaudin | earnaudin@mountainx.com

Headed to the Capital

CRAWDAD BASH

Jettie Rae’s Oyster House hosts a Crawdad Bash in its outdoor courtyard on Sunday, April 27. The standing event includes fresh crawfish, served with such Louisiana-style fixings as andouille sausage, corn, potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Tickets are $65 plus tax and include a complimentary beer upon arrival. Additional beer, wine and cocktails will be available for purchase. Two seatings are available — 12:30-3 p.m., and 4-6:30 p.m. — and the special event will replace regular dinner service.

Jettie Rae’s is at 143 Charlotte St. Make reservations at avl.mx/eps.

After establishing its Asheville restaurant in 2009 and expanding to Decatur, Ga., in 2013, Chai Pani announced April 3 that it will add a location in Washington, D.C. The new space will be in the city’s Union Market District, and Vishwesh “Vish” Bhatt will serve as its executive chef. Opening is slated for August, after which Chai Pani owner Meherwan Irani plans to bring a Botiwalla fast-casual grill restaurant to the Upton Place development in the Tenleytown neighborhood of D.C. To learn more, visit avl.mx/epu. X

On Saturday, April 26, 8-11 a.m., kick off the 17th Asheville Bread Festival with the Bread Fair. Over 30 bakers, millers, farmers and other members of the regional grain community will set up tables on New Belgium Brewing Co.’s outdoor pavilion. Visitors are invited to sample and purchase breads and pastries; meet local grain growers, millers and baking book authors; and buy tickets for the Hurricane Helene Raffle for Relief. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own bags to fill with baked goods and wares, and a mug for buying coffee, tea and/or juice. The first 100 people to visit the information booth get a free Asheville Bread Festival tote bag. Free to attend. New Belgium is at 21 Craven St.

BREAD RISE ON THE Pupusas for Pati

A Mamacita’s Taqueria cook recently lost her home to a fire and her employer quickly stepped in to help. Throughout the month of April, sales from the Pupusas For Pati item go directly to the cook and her family. The item is a griddle cake filled with chicharon, refried black beans and cheese, served with curtido (pickled cabbage slaw) and salsa roja. It costs $8. Mamacita’s is at 77-A Biltmore Ave. To learn more, visit avl.mx/epv. X

Crown & Thistle Tea Room’s next Children’s Tea takes place Saturday, April 26, 9-11 a.m. The event features a variety of finger foods, pastries and colorful desserts. Attendees are encouraged to wear their finest tea party attire, and a special prize will be awarded for the best-dressed child. Tickets are $25 for children and $30 for adults. Crown & Thistle is at 62 Overbrook St., Suite C, Waynesville. Make reservations at avl.mx/epx. X

WHAT A DRAG

Bearded Lady Productions has a pair of upcoming events on Sunday, April 27. White Labs Brewing Co., 172 S. Charlotte St., hosts the Comedy Queens Drag Brunch at 11 a.m. Tickets are $30, and all proceeds go to local nonprofit Open Hearts Art Center. Food and beverages are not included. Then at 6 p.m., The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage Co., 131 Sweeten Creek Road, plays host to “Murder at Stiletto Heights,” an ’80s-themed immersive murder mystery show. Tickets are $50 and include dinner. Proceeds will be donated to the Mountain Child Advocacy Center. Both shows are for audiences 18 and older. To learn more and purchase tickets, visit avl.mx/epw. X

Rowan Coffee opens in West Asheville

Second

BY KAY WEST

location has on-site roastery and all-day hours

kswest55@comcast.net

Early on a sunny Sunday morning in mid-April, a steady stream of dog walkers, couples pushing strollers and groups of three and four walk purposefully down both sides of Haywood Road in West Asheville. They’re all heading to the same destination: Rowan Coffee’s second location, which opened April 4.

Inside the refurbished corner brick building — originally an auto garage — sunlight streams through the banks of multipaned windows, and greenery thrives on ledges. More than a dozen people are in line to order a coffee drink, a vegan muffin or toast. Earlier arrivals have claimed leather-upholstered booths, a stool at the bar or the banquette against one wall. A covered, pup-friendly patio out front seats about 25.

As warmly as the residential neighborhood has welcomed the newest business in a wave of young West Asheville entrepreneurship (Character Study, Garden Party, Potential New Boyfriend, Bebop Bottle Shop and Haywood Famous have launched on Haywood in recent months), no one is happier than founder and owner Bow Smith. For him, it is literally a dream come true.

“I moved to Asheville in 2019 and live on State Street,” he says. “The building was vacant at the time, and I always kind of pined for it. But I wasn’t ready then to open a brick-and-mortar.”

Instead, he started Rowan Coffee as a pop-up espresso cart. In September 2021, he and his then-business partner opened Rowan Coffee at 66 Broadway, across the street from Center for Craft. The Rowan roastery was in Candler.

“I always wanted to have a café and roastery under one roof, but there wasn’t room in the downtown shop,” Smith says. “When the Haywood building was listed for lease and I toured it, I saw the entire back room and knew I could move roasting here.”

He took possession in February 2024 and turned the design over to his wife, Jessi Lee Cord. “This is entirely her vision — the layout, the design, the

COFFEE BREAK: Jessi Lee Cord, left, and Bow Smith are pictured in the newly opened West Asheville location of Rowan Coffee and Rowan Roastery. Photo by Danny Lebsock of Heirloom Photographic

furnishings and finishes. Everything you see is her.”

Tropical Storm Helene delayed the opening by a few months, but Smith was buoyed by the business community around him. “I go to all of their places, we support each other. I probably would have failed my application for a wine and beer license if I hadn’t gotten advice from Disco [owner of Potential New Boyfriend].”

Open 7:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., beer and wine are indeed on the beverage menu, along with hot and cold coffee drinks, tea and chai. Baked goods are sourced

from Recess in Black Mountain, French Broad Pantry, West End Bakery and Back Porch Baking Co.; bread comes from Mother. Snacks are available all day, and a small kitchen will allow more substantial dishes as Smith staffs up.

“I started the pop-ups in this neighborhood,” Smith says. “We live here and love being in this building, in this close community and seeing friends. It’s just serendipitous the way it all worked out.”

Rowan Coffee is at 785 Haywood Road. For more information, visit avl.mx/epq. X

4/24:

4/25: Reader: Krysta 12-6

4/26:

4/27:

STUDIO CHAVARRIA

SMART BETS

by Kay West | kswest55@comcast.net

William Matthews Poetry Prize reading Hobbit Affair

When poet, author and musician Keith Flynn created and published the first Asheville Poetry Review in 1994, it was to capture what he observed as a literary renaissance taking place in the mountains. “I thought maybe I’d get one or two issues published,” he recalls. On Wednesday, April 23, at 6 p.m. at Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café, Flynn will celebrate the release of the annual publication’s 30th anniversary issue. Recognized as one of the best internationally read literary journals published in America, Asheville Poetry Review has published over 1,900 new and established writers from 22 countries. While it has a website (avl.mx/eq4), Flynn is

firmly committed to the print edition, supported by subscriptions and newsstand sales in the U.S. and Europe. The anniversary issue, a 372-page overview of the journal’s publishing history, coincides with the review’s announcement of its 2024 William Matthews Poetry Prize recipients. The top three, in descending order, are Mary Makofske, for her poem, Sex, That Peacock; Paul Alexander for Only in Darkness Can You See the Stars; and Craig Van Rooyen for Daylight Savings Poem. Makofske and Alexander will read from their works at the Malaprops event. Flynn, the evening’s host, will also read. Register for the event at avl.mx/eq5. X

Reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a lengthy, solitary commitment. But Sweeten Creek Brewing’s Hobbit Affair is a family- and pet-friendly, come-asyou-imagine-yourself gathering at the Sweeten Creek Road brewery from noon-9 p.m. Saturday, April 26. The event invites hobbits, dwarves, wizards and elves to express and dress accordingly and fully immerse themselves in Middle Earth fantasy on the spacious property. Organizers say casual, medieval-style fights will be staged throughout the day — do not be alarmed! — by co-host Warriors of

Ash, a martial arts school focused on historical European and Dark Ages combat. Warriors of Ash will also present three seminars at the event and offer a variety of games to play for free or for a small fee. Vendors will be on site with fantasy-themed jewelry, clothing, art and accoutrements. Sweeten Creek Brewing is crafting a selection of limited-edition, Hobbitthemed beers especially for the event, and Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ will offer its full menu. Americana band Creative Differences will command the stage 6-9 p.m. For more information, visit avl.mx/eq7  X

Photo of Keith Flynn courtesy of Flynn

Photo courtesy of Warriors of Ash

Let It Be Art!

Renowned drama critic, theater director and author Harold Clurman died in 1980 at the age of 79, but at 7 p.m. Friday, April 25, he will come to life at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts. In his one man play, Let It Be Art!, actor/author/librettist/teacher/publisher Ronald Rand embodies Clurman, taking the audience on a journey through the life of the man named by PBS in 2003 as one of the most influential figures in the history of American theater. The play begins in Clurman’s youth in the early 1900s on New York

City’s Lower East Side, then rolls to the Sorbonne in Paris, where famed composer Aaron Copland was his roommate. The performance then explores Clurman’s time with the Provincetown Players artists collective, friendship with actor Lee Strasberg, co-founding in 1931 of New York’s famous Group Theatre and work as director of 40 plays and revered drama critic for The New Republic and The Nation. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students, plus tax and fees. For tickets and more information, visit avl.mx/eq6. X

Asheville Amadeus Festival

Raise a pint of Fables & Folklore Hazy IPA on Wednesday, April 30, from 6-8:30 p.m., at Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Mills River to kick off the 2025 Asheville Amadeus Festival. The special-release beer and evening of live music mark the return of the biennial celebration of music and the arts presented by the Asheville Symphony. Created in 2015 to honor the life and work of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the festival has evolved into a citywide, multiday collaboration among arts-focused nonprofits featuring live musical performance across genres, theater, dance, puppets and educational opportunities for all ages. “The Art of Storytelling” is this year’s theme, with Grammy-winning mandolinist and singer Chris Thile and Time for Three strings ensemble co-headlining 11 days of performances and activities. Venues include churches and public libraries, the Wortham Center for Performing Arts, Asheville Community Theatre, The Orange Peel, the Brevard Music Center and the Asheville Art Museum. Asheville Amadeus Festival will wrap up with

an Evening with Chris Thile, 7-9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 10, at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. For a full schedule and to buy tickets, visit avl.mx/eq2. X

Photo of Chris Thile by Josh Goleman

Photo of Ronald Rand as Harold Clurman courtesy of Rand

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23

12 BONES

SMOKEBOUSE & BREWING

Trivia Night w/King Trivia, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

EULOGY

Rezn w/Harsh Realm & Howling Giant (metal, prog-rock, psyche), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S

PSK Pole Dancing w/ Karaoke, 9pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Well-crafted Music Series: Wyndham Baird w/Kevin Williams, Evan Martin & Matt Smith (multi-genre), 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO.

Daniel Shearin (acoustic), 5:30pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Jared Sage Band (rock), 10pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Laura Blackley & Dave Zoll (Appalachian-blues, soul, rock'n'roll), 6pm

SLY GROG LOUNGE

Weird Wednesday Open Jam, 7pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Jackson Fig, Better Living & Sean O'Hara (alt-rock, shoegaze, punk), 8:30pm

THE DOUBLE CROWN

Liliana Hudgens Grace w/Wes Pearce & Oil

Derek (indie-folk, alt-country, Americana), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Golden Folk Sessions, 7pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Laura Thurston (Americana, folk-grass), 7pm

THE ODD

Terraoke Karaoke Takeover, 9pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

The Birthday Massacre w/Essenger & Magic Wands (electronic, rock, dark-wave), 8pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY

Open Mic Night, 6pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

• Irish Session, 5pm

• Melissa McKinney's Bad Ass Blues Jam, 7:30pm

THURSDAY, APRIL 24

12 BONES

SMOKEBOUSE & BREWING

Andy Ferrell (folk, country, Appalachian), 5:30pm

27 CLUB Zombii, The Ruff'tons, Colossal Human Failure & Halogi (punk, rock), 9pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Penelope Road (rock, pop, funk), 8pm

BEARS SMOKEHOUSE

BBQ

Roots in the Round (multi-genre), 7pm

CROW & QUILL

Meschiya Lake & The Moodswingers (blues, jazz), 8pm

EDA RHYNE

DISTILLERY & TASTING ROOM

The Gilded Palace of Metamodern Sounds, 6pm

EDA'S HIDE-A-WAY

Bless Your Heart Trivia w/Harmon, 7pm

EULOGY

Why Why? w/My Gal Monday & Pinkeye (surf-rock, alt-rock, punk), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S The Peawees, Cam Girl & Yellowbellies (garagepunk, rock), 9pm

FLOOD GALLERY

True Home Open Mic, 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7pm

LEVELLER BREWING CO. Irish Session, 6pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO.

Izzi Hughes (acoustic), 7pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL Lady & The Lovers (altR&B, soul, rock), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

Eli Lev (alt-country, Americana), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Fee Fi Phaux Fish (Phish tribute), 8pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Andrew Scotchie & Special Guests (rock'n'roll, blues, Americana), 6:30pm

SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/Franco Nino, 9pm

STATIC AGE LOFT

Auto-Tune Karaoke w/ Who Gave This B*tch A Mic, 10pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS Yellow/Pink, Subvertigo, Trust Blinks. &ArawrA (electronic, hyper-pop, alt-folk), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Whitehall w/ Cal in Red (indie-rock), 5:30pm

• Grayson Capps w/ Corky Hughes (folk, blues), 8pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Juice Ratsusz & The Moonshine Boys (honky-tonk, bluegrass), 6pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Julien Baker & Torres (country), 8pm

WICKED

WEED

BREWING

Owen Walsh (acoustic), 5pm

FRIDAY, APRIL 25

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Octave Cat w/Domocile (jazz-funk, funk), 9pm

CORK & KEG

All Crawfish Go To Heaven (blues), 8pm

CROW & QUILL Black Sea Beat Society (Balkan, folk), 8pm

EULOGY

DJ Lil Meow Meow's Dance Floor Rapture (pop, electronic, R&B), 11pm

FLEETWOOD'S Puppychain, Human Urgency, A Lovely Worm & Jest (postpunk), 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB Pleasure Chest (blues, soul, rock), 9pm

LEAF GLOBAL ARTS

Jazz Jam, 6pm

LAZOOM ROOM Modelface Comedy Presents: Bailey Pope, 8:30pm

NEW BELGIUM BREWING CO. Sun Goblin (prog-folk), 5:30pm

NOBLE CIDER & MEAD TAPROOM AND PRODUCTION FACILITY

Crisp Comedy w/Zain Zaidi, 7pm

OKLAWAHA BREWING CO.

Jesse Velvet (psychrock), 8pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

• Sketoe's Ghost (Americana, rock), 6pm

• Marcus White (funk, jazz), 10pm

ONE WORLD BREWING Scott Stetson (country, Americana), 8pm

6pm

NYC GLAM-ROCK: On Sunday, April 27, New York City-based band The Ritualists perform at Westville Pub, starting at 8 p.m. The group will bring its glammy, gothtinged modern rock that may best described as The Cure meets Suede with a bit of a theatrical flair. Photo courtesy of RP

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

The Late Shifters & Blue Ridge Betty (Southern-rock), 8pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Jeff Austin Birthday Tribute (folk, country), 8pm

SHILOH & GAINES

Dark City Kings (garage-punk, indie, bluegrass), 9pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

The Namby Pamby, Comfort Club & Claire Whall (experimental, indie-rock, pop-rock), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Free Throw w/Ben

Quad & Harrison Gordon (punk-rock, pop, indie), 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Kindred Company (alt-rock), 7pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

AstroSauce (rock), 7pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Phil Hanley (comedy), 7pm

THE RIVER ARTS

DISTRICT BREWING

CO.

Shed Bugs (funk, blues, psych-rock), 7pm

THE STATION BLACK

MOUNTAIN

Mr Jimmy (blues), 5pm

THIRD ROOM

Dancing w/Cats w/ LUMA & Bunsen Burner (house, tribal), 8pm

URBAN ORCHARD

A FAM JAM Popup: House Edition, 8pm

WICKED WEED WEST

Stephen Evans (folk, rock), 5:30pm

SATURDAY, APRIL 26

27 CLUB

Lamps Required, Scribblers, Porcelain Parrot & Leaving Echoes (indie-rock, jazz-punk, alternative), 8pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Consider the Source w/ Into the Fog (prog-rock, psych, bluegrass), 8pm

ASHEVILLE YARDS

Trampled By Turtles (alt-indie, folk, bluegrass), 7pm

BEARS SMOKEHOUSE

BBQ

Ryan Barber (multigenre), 7pm

BATTERY PARK BOOK

EXCHANGE

Dinah's Daydream (jazz), 5:30pm

CORK & KEG

Zydeco Ya Ya (cajun), 8pm

CROW & QUILL

Firecracker Jazz Band (swing, jazz), 8:30pm

DSSOLVR PHOMM, 6pm

EDA'S HIDE-A-WAY

Adrian Bundy & His Honky Tonk Hearts (country), 8pm

EULOGY

Slothrus w/Weakened Friends (alt-rock, lofisynth), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S Half-O-Ween Cove Show w/MisFleets, Call the Next Witness & John Kirby & The New Seniors, 9pm

JACK OF THE WOOD

PUB

• Nobody’s Darling String Band, 4pm

• Sweet Megg (jazz, country, swing), 9pm

LAZOOM ROOM BAR & GORILLA

Secret Saturday

Late Nite Comedy Showcase, 10pm

MEADOWLARK

MOTEL

Cashmere Possums (bluegrass, folk, Americana), 7pm

OKLAWAHA

BREWING CO.

Hustle Souls (retro-soul, funk, Americana), 8pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

• Riyen Roots (blues, Americana), 6pm

• Watkins w/Rigometrics (indie-folk, alt-rock), 10pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING

Matt Waters (soul, indie), 8pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

• Strange Rangers (multi-genre), 4pm

• Duck (R&B, funk, blues), 9pm

PERI SOCIAL HOUSE : BAR ~ COFFEE ~ BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Fox & Bones (folk-pop), 4pm

SIERRA NEVADA

BREWING CO.

Moon & You (folk, country), 2pm

STATIC AGE LOFT

Time Lapse (house), 8pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Urocyon, Mo'ynoq, Plaguefever & Nganga (black-metal, thrash), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Eric Hutchinson (Americana, folk, alt-rock), 8pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Kevin Daniel (Americana, blues, Southern-rock_, 6pm

THE ODD

Party Foul Drag, 8pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (indie-rock), 8pm

THIRD ROOM

Red Clay Revival & Sanctum Sully (bluegrass, country, folk), 9pm

TURGUA BREWING CO

Shed Bugs (funk, blues, psych-rock), 5pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN The Tree of Forgiveness Band (John Prine tribute), 7:30pm

SUNDAY, APRIL 27

DSSOLVR

Mana Meter (multigenre), 1pm

EULOGY

Palmyra w/Clint Roberts (soul, post-rock, emo), 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S

Shane Kelly, Jojo Harnish & Jackie Kelsh (country), 9pm

GINGER'S REVENGE CRAFT BREWERY & TASTING ROOM

Sunday Jazz Jam, 2:30pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Sunday Swing Night w/Drayton & the Dreamboats, 5pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

• The Bluegrass Boys, 12pm

• Traditional Irish Music Session, 3:30pm

LEVELLER BREWING CO.

Cajun Jam, 3pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

Shakedown Sunday (Grateful Dead tribute), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Suns of Stars Sunday Residency (bluegrass), 2pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Pisgah Sunday Jam, 6:30pm

SIERRA NEVADA BREWING CO.

• Robert Thomas Band (jazz, prog-rock, Celtic), 2pm

• Seun Kuti (Afro-beat, reggae, hip-hop), 6pm

SLY GROG LOUNGE

Open Mic w/Mike Andersen, 6:30pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Total Wife, Abel & Convalescent (alternative, noise-pop, shoegaze), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

• Patio: Phuncle Sam (Grateful Dead tribute), 3pm

• Drayton Farley w/ James Tucker (country, folk, Americana), 8pm

THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Brady Turner (pop, soul, R&B), 2pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Saint Motel w/Stolen Gin (alt-pop, indie), 8pm

THE RIVER ARTS

DISTRICT BREWING CO.

Comedy from the Future, 7pm

VOWL

Freshen Up Comedy Open Mic, 7pm

WESTVILLE PUB

The Ritualists w/East Ritual (glam-rock, goth), 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK

MOUNTAIN

Queen Bee & The Honeylovers (swing, blues, Latin), 7:30pm

WICKED WEED WEST

Two Fontaines (rock, blues, jazz), 2pm

MONDAY, APRIL 28

27 CLUB

27 Club Karaoke, 10pm

FLEETWOOD'S Best Ever Karaoke, 9pm

HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Trivia Night w/Two Bald Guys & A Mic, 6pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Chris Bullock (jazz, electronic), 7pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING

Open Mic Downtown, 6:30pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

Mashup Mondays w/ JLloyd, 8pm

STATIC AGE LOFT

The Hot Seat Comedy, 7pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Mr. Jimmy & Friends (Blues), 7pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Local Live Presents: Waylon Hamilton & Sarah Mumford (multigenre), 7pm

TUESDAY, APRIL 29

ARCHETYPE BREWING

Trivia Tuesdays w/Party Grampa, 6:30pm

ASHEVILLE YARDS

Remi Wolf (bedroom-pop, funk, disco), 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Turntable Tuesday Spring Event, 8pm

FRENCH BROAD

RIVER BREWERY

Robert's Totally Rad Trivia, 7pm

LITTLE JUMBO

Jay Sanders, Will Boyd, Zack Page & Alan Hall (jazz), 7pm

LOOKOUT BREWING CO.

Team Trivia, 6:30pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

• Tuesday Early Jam, 7pm

• Uncle Lenny's Krazy Karaoke, 10pm

ONE WORLD

BREWING WEST

The Grateful Family Band Tuesdays (Grateful Dead tribute), 6pm

SOVEREIGN KAVA Open jam, 8pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

Suppression, Falling Behind & Formless (noise-core, sludge-metal, grind-core), 8pm

THE BURGER BAR

C U Next Tuesday Trivia, 9:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Scott H. Biram w/The JD Pinkus & Triptych (blues, punk-rock, country), 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

The Lads AVL (rock, blues), 6pm

THIRD ROOM Open Decks, 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

White Horse's Open Mic, 7pm

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

12 BONES

SMOKEBOUSE & BREWING

Trivia Night w/King Trivia, 7pm

ASHEVILLE MUSIC HALL

Stand-Up Comedy Open Mic, 8pm

FLEETWOOD'S PSK Pole Dancing w/ Karaoke, 9pm

HIGHLAND BREWING

CO.

Well-crafted Music Series: Ed Jurdi w/Zach Smith & Matt Smith (multi-genre), 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Old Time Jam, 5pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL

DJ Badonkey Kong (R&B, hip-hop, disco), 10pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Watkins (post-grunge, alt-rock, psych-pop), 6pm

SLY GROG LOUNGE

Weird Wednesday Open Jam, 7pm

THE GREY EAGLE

Stillhouse Junkies (bluegrass, blues, rock), 8pm

THE JOINT NEXT

DOOR

Circus Mutt (folk, Americana), 7pm

THE ODD

Terraoke Karaoke Takeover, 9pm

THE ORANGE PEEL

Sold Out: Rhiannon Giddens & the OldTime Revue (Cajun, country), 8pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Open Mic Night, 6pm

VOWL

Cheap & Trashy Comedy, 8pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Dark City Songwriter Round w/Beth Lee, Amanda Anne Platt & Planefolk (multi-genre), 7pm

THURSDAY, MAY 1

CROW & QUILL

Russ Wilson & The Kings of Jazz, 8pm

EDA RHYNE

DISTILLERY & TASTING ROOM

The Gilded Palace of Metamodern Sounds, 6pm

EDA'S HIDE-A-WAY

Bless Your Heart Trivia w/Harmon, 7pm

FLEETWOOD'S Gringo Star, Yellowbellies & Hunter Begley (indie, garage-rock, punk), 9pm

FLOOD GALLERY

True Home Open Mic, 6pm

FRENCH BROAD

RIVER BREWERY

Jerry's Dead Thursdays (Grateful Dead & JGB tribute), 6pm

JACK OF THE WOOD PUB

Bluegrass Jam w/Drew Matulich, 7pm

LEVELLER BREWING CO.

Old Time Jam, 6pm

NEW BELGIUM

BREWING CO.

It's Trivial w/Divine, 5:30pm

ONE STOP AT ASHEVILLE MUSIC

HALL Isaac Hadden's Thursday Throwdown (multi-genre), 9pm

ONE WORLD BREWING

Kate Leigh Bryant & Alma Russ (folk, country), 8pm

ONE WORLD BREWING WEST

Fee Fi Phaux Fish (Phish tribute), 8pm

PISGAH BREWING CO.

Asheville Mountain Boys (bluegrass), 6:30pm

SHAKEY'S Karaoke w/Franco Nino, 9pm

STATIC AGE LOFT Auto-Tune Karaoke w/ Who Gave This B*tch A Mic, 10pm

STATIC AGE RECORDS

LAKE, Little Champion & Joshua Carpenter (indie-rock, pop, elevator-punk), 8:30pm

THE GREY EAGLE PATIO: Laurel Canyon East (folk-rock), 5:30pm

THE JOINT NEXT DOOR

Lefty Carmean & Friends (Americana, folk), 7pm THE MEADOW AT HIGHLAND BREWING CO.

Drunken Prayer (Americana), 6pm

THE ORANGE PEEL TF3's Jukbox w/Time For Three (Americana), 7pm

TWIN LEAF BREWERY Trivia Night, 6:30pm

WHITE HORSE BLACK MOUNTAIN

Anne Coombs Company Swing & Friends (swing, jazz, funk), 7:30pm

WICKED WEED BREWING

Andy Ferrell (folk, country, Appalachian), 5pm

FREEWILL ASTROLOGY BY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries filmmaker Akira Kurosawa devoted meticulous attention to weather conditions. He would postpone shooting a particular scene for days, waiting for the influx of the exact right blend of wind, clouds or precipitation to create the ideal ambiance. I recommend you adopt his patient sense of timing in the coming weeks, Aries. While you typically prefer direct action, now is a favorable phase to coordinate your desire to get what you need with life’s changing conditions. What advantages might you gain by waiting for the ripest moments to arrive?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You can’t see or hold the wind, though you can feel its force and observe its effects. It scatters some seeds far and wide, dispersing them to grow in unexpected places. When harnessed by turbines, the wind is a renewable energy source. It can be utilized to pump water and fuel telecommunications equipment. Winds influence daily weather by transporting water and heat. I have summarized wind’s qualities because I see this upcoming phase of your cycle as being wind-like, Taurus. You won’t necessarily have to be obvious to spread your influence. You will be able to work behind the scenes in potent ways. Who knows where your seeds will land and germinate? There will be surprises.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The Earth’s first big ecological crisis happened 2.5 billion years ago. Ancient bacteria became a successful life form. They proliferated. The only problem was they produced an abundance of oxygen, which was toxic to all the other existing life forms at that time. And yet that bump in evolution was ultimately essential in the rise of complex organisms that thrive on oxygen, like us. We wouldn’t be here today without bacteria’s initially problematic intervention. Nothing as monumentally major or epic will occur for you in the coming weeks, Gemini. But I do suspect that what may initially seem disruptive could ultimately generate positive outcomes. I hope you prime yourself to transform challenging situations into opportunities for growth. For best results, set aside your fixed beliefs about what’s necessary for maximum progress.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): From the 17th through the 19th centuries, Paris was famous for its salons. There, artists, writers and big thinkers assembled to exchange ideas and inspire each other. The salons were often orchestrated by illustrious, educated women in their private homes. They were hotbeds of networking and cultural innovation. Listening and learning were key elements. Now would be an excellent time for you to organize, host or encourage similar gatherings, Cancerian. You have extra power to facilitate the stellar socializing that generates zesty connections and spreads invigorating influences.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Harriet Tubman (1822–1913) was one of the bravest Americans who ever lived. After escaping enslavement, she heroically returned to other southern plantations many times to help free enslaved people. To accomplish her miraculous rescues, she relied in part on her dreams and visions — what she called divine guidance — to navigate through challenging situations. I suspect you will soon have access to similar assets: extraordinary courage and help from unusual or even supernatural sources. Use these gifts wisely, Leo!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The nations of planet Earth launched 263 space flights in 2024 and are on track for over 300 in 2025. Most of the satellites and spacecraft are devoted to scientific research. A relatively small proportion is dedicated to communication, navigation and military uses. I would love for you to have an equally high level of exploratory and experimental energy in the coming weeks, Virgo. You will align yourself with cosmic rhythms if you spend more time than usual investigating the frontiers. It’s time to expand and extend yourself!

ROB BREZSNY

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): What’s the oldest living organism on Earth? It’s a bristlecone pine tree nicknamed “Methuselah.” Almost 4,800 years old, it resides somewhere in California’s White Mountains, though its precise location is kept secret to protect it. In the spirit of shielding and nurturing valuable things, I urge you to consider maintaining similar safeguards in the coming weeks. Like Methuselah, your precious processes and creations might thrive best when allowed to grow free from undue attention. You may benefit from maintaining privacy and silence about certain matters as they develop.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I love to gaze out my office window at Gallinas Creek during high tide. At certain interludes, the water is perfectly still. It almost perfectly reflects the sky in every detail, with all its clouds, birds and hues of blue. My conscious mind knows the difference between the real sky and reflected sky, but my eyes can’t discern. That’s a helpful metaphor for all of us all the time, and especially for you in the coming weeks. It will be crucial for you to maintain an acute awareness of what’s genuine and what’s illusory.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) revolutionized her field. She didn’t study other cultures from a distance with a detached perspective. Instead, she learned their languages and immersed herself in their daily lives. So she earned the intimate understanding to conclude, “What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” This is a crucial principle for you right now. You must directly observe people’s actions rather than simply believing what they say about themselves — or what others say about them. You must look beyond surface declarations to understand the deeper rhythms and patterns. For best results, be a devoted participant, not an uninvolved judge.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn mystic Alan Watts wrote The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. He proposed that each of us is far more glorious than our separate, isolated egos. It’s difficult to come to this understanding, however, since our culture conspires to hide it from us. That’s the bad news. The good news, Capricorn, is that you will have an unprecedented chance to partly shatter this taboo in the coming weeks. I have high hopes that you will discover deep truths about yourself that have previously been unavailable.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Beginning in 1946, Bedouins exploring caves near the Dead Sea discovered an immense trove of ancient documents written on parchment. These manuscripts provided many new revelations into early Christianity, Biblical texts, and the history and culture of Judaism. I suspect that in the coming weeks, you may experience a metaphorical equivalent of this breakthrough and unveiling. To prepare, meditate on these questions: 1. What mysterious parts of your life story would you like to have illuminated? 2. About which aspects of your past would you like to receive new truths? 3. Is there anything missing in your understanding of who you really are?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): White light enters a glass prism and is translated on the other side into a rainbow of colors. That’s because each color rides its own wavelength, even while seamlessly blended in the white light, and then gets bent differently by the prism. The magic of the prism is that it reveals the hidden spectrum within, the latent diversity contained within the apparently monolithic beam of white light. In the coming weeks, Pisces, I predict that you will be like a prism, bringing out vibrancy in situations or relationships that may seem nondescript or mundane at first glance. Your ability to discern and appreciate multiple perspectives will enable you to create an intriguing kind of harmony. You will have the power to notice and reveal beauty that has been veiled or unnoticed.

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1 Big acronym in insurance

Symbols of wisdom

___-devil

Internet instigator

___ guard

Redding of R&B

Place to take a break

Thoroughly enjoyed oneself 19 Hairy cousin of TV and film 20 Lasting reminder 22 Equals 23 Credit for a hockey player

Place to sift crime evidence, for short

“That really stinks!”

Trespass

“What a pity!” 35 Coxswain’s nightmare

Country whose flag has two green stars in the middle

Smallest

“You sure about that?”

Toy train, e.g.

Biblical vessel

Kind of skate

Dough dispensers

Most populous inland city of California

Showed, as a program

Doohickeys

Article of headgear, informally

Secure, as a onesie fastener