Woolly Worm Gazette 2022

WOOLLY WEEKEND

2021 Banner Elk

Woolly Worm Festival celebrates successful downtown return

services near the festival grounds in town to the regu lar and repeated collection of trash throughout the week end that accumulated on the festival grounds by longtime festival supporters the Civil Air Patrol.

BANNER ELK — Despite uncharacteristically warm temperatures leading up to the festival weekend, Mother Nature flipped a switch to bring back typical fall weather, as a wet and damp beginning to the opening day of the 44th Annual Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival on Saturday, Oct. 16, gave way to a cooler afternoon to close the first day, with sun reigning on Sunday to close the two days of activities.

Thousands of visitors flocked again to downtown Banner Elk on both Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 16 and 17, following a 2020 festival that was curtailed to a single race in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With returning patrons came the other facets of the festival that attendees know and love, including the more than 150 arts and crafts vendors selling their wares to food vendors providing tantalizing aromas and pal ate satisfiers, with everything from doughnuts to barbecue available on offer.

Also present were various local organizations who pitched in to make the event take place, with efforts that ranged from raising funds through offering parking

“The event was awesome, despite the rain on Satur day,” Avery Chamber of Commerce Director Anne Winkleman said of the atmo sphere, camaraderie and the success of the festival. “There was so much excitement up on the stage, and the weather didn’t slow anybody down. There was so much pent-up excitement.”

The stars of the weekend, and each festival for more than four decades now, are the woolly worms them selves, as they attempt to wiggle their way up a threefoot string for glory (and cash for the winning owners). Fol lowing an arduous day of rac ing, the last worm standing following dozens of quarter final and semifinal races over the day was owned/trained by Eric Wood from Hickory, who took home the $1,000 grand prize.

Wood stated that he came to the festival thanks to a suggestion from a family member.

“I didn’t even think about it, what I would spend the money on when I bought a $2 worm. That’s like a 500% return on investment!”

Wood said after the win and claiming the $1,000 in cold hard cash.

The festival boasted more than 150 Art and Craft Ven dors, along with numerous food vendors, live enter

tainment, games and more. According to Winkelman, sales went well with many of the vendors on site, as well as with advance E-ticket sales, of which almost 1,200 tickets were sold prior to the festival, more than double the total sold in the festival’s first year of using the online ticketing service option in 2019.

“All of the vendors had an incredible sales event,” Winkelman said. “We had an amazing weekend. The food vendors did really well and had long lines. Even in the rain, we had numerous vendors who sold out. I was amazed with how many peo ple braved the rain for this awesome event.”

PHOTO BY MARISA MECKE

The 2021 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival’s Saturday champion worm owner Eric Wood of Hickory (front row with blue rib bon), is joined onstage by various dignitaries who help to make the festival possible. Pictured are Dr. William Burrow, Mary Jo Brubaker (Woolly Worm Committee Chair), Shawn Stricklen, Adam Binder, Sarah Dewitt, head official and worm reader Tommy Burleson, Wood, Jason Dewitt, Avery Chamber Director Anne Winkelman, Deanna Acklin and Erin Spear.

PHOTO BY MARISA MECKE

Eric Wood, who hails from Hickory, was convinced to attend the festival by his cousin from Taylorsville. Wood poses with his championship ribbon and trophy, along with his champion climbing woolly worm. The $1,000 cash grand prize was put away for safekeeping.

An event to carry on for more than 40 years suc cessfully depends on many people to form a team.

Winkelman shared that this year’s festival was no excep tion, as numerous individu als, groups and organizations from various sectors were instrumental to bringing the festival back to what regular annual attendees are familiar with and enjoy, as well as providing the sort of first-time experience that new attendees will not soon forget.

“So many groups were important and made the event work so well. The Civil Air Patrol were fantastic. The Boy Scouts were great. We had the Ladies Auxil iary of the Banner Elk Fire Department who worked

really hard. Cycle 4 Life, Doug Owen and his whole family all worked throughout the festival,” Winkelman explained. “My family, including my husband and I, my mom and my friend all were busy working. Mary Jo Brubaker did a fantastic job as we worked together in putting on the festival. She was awesome and also had all of her family working

there. The FFA did a good job with us, and though we had less volunteers than we have had in past years, the ones who volunteered did an awesome job and double duty. Talia Freeman from Beech Mountain did a tremendous job, the Educa tors sorority were fantastic, and the Avery High School Key Club were a great help. We can’t thank those folks

enough, and many others, for what they did throughout the weekend.”

The trio of Adam Binder, Jason Dewitt and Shawn Stricklen served together in providing commentary during the races and as the general Masters of Cere monies for the weekend, as several dozen heats of races were carried out in order to get to the grand champion at the conclusion of the day on Saturday afternoon.

Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk partners with the Avery Chamber each year to oper ate the festival weekend, and proceeds from the event are split between the two orga nizations. Kiwanis utilizes its funds toward the awarding of grants for area groups and organizations each year.

Doug Owen, President with the Banner Elk Kiwan is Club, was quick to offer praise for the execution of

this year’s event after last year’s pared-down festival.

“It was great to see the festival in full swing again in 2021. It is our biggest fundraiser of the year and from the funds we are able to generate Kiwanis gives back to the community through grants,” Owen said. “Anne from the Chamber is a real go-getter, and with this being her first festival, she did a fantastic job. She set up a live phone call with The Weather Channel on Sunday morning. The vendors all seemed hap py with their sales, even with the Saturday rain. Many of us feel that is was our biggest Sunday in a long time.”

Following the festival, Owen and a number of oth ers organized a release of the worms that were used from the event back into a natural habitat around Banner Elk to live out their days before eventually metamorphosing

into the Isabella tiger moth.

“For me the official worm release after the festival was extra special,” Owen added. For patron and organizer alike, the Woolly Worm Fes tival was a welcome sight for sore eyes, a hopeful harbin ger that normalcy beyond the previous 18 months may be on the horizon.

“Every person I spoke to, customers and vendors, were so excited to be out. They felt safe there, and there was no frustrations by anyone. More than five vendors told me that this was the most money they had made at any festival they had been to all year,” Winkelman explained.

“Two things I’ll remember from the festival are the long doughnut lines and the long line to get shirts from Don Iverson’s booth. Those were the most popular places. We all had such a good time this weekend.”

PHOTO BY MARISA MECKE

Competitors lined up on the stage to race their woolly worms. The annual Woolly Worm Festival returned in earnest following a trimmed-down 2020 festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Woolly Worm Festival celebrates storied history

BY JAMIE SHELL EDITOR@AVERYJOURNAL.COM

BANNER ELK — Of all the festivals that take place each year across Avery Coun ty and the state of North Carolina, the Woolly Worm Festival is among the most unique of all.

For the past four and a half decades, attendees of the festivals have flocked to the small mountain town of Banner Elk from all corners of the nation for the event to celebrate the magic of a tiny brown and black creature affectionately known as the woolly worm.

The festival, which has been going strong in the High Country since 1978, has transcended its local, small town roots and firmly planted itself, much like worms on a string, upon the national stage.

Festival co-founder Jim Morton, who spent his first autumn in the area in 1973, was enamored by the local legend of the woolly worm as a weather forecaster. According to folklore, the 13 segments of a woolly worm correspond with the 13 weeks of winter. Black segments are said to indicate severe weather, while orange or brown segments are in dicative of milder weeks.

Morton put the worm to work in Banner Elk when he, along with a group of local merchants, was tasked

45 years and going strong

to find an annual event to bring to the area.

While Morton had faith in the little worm’s accuracy, not all worms tell the same story. Some of the High Country’s woolliest denizens warned of severe winter weather with their solid black coats. Other, perhaps more optimistic worms in the same area would have more brown on their backs, indicating that the winter would be mild.

While all the worms were woolly, not all the the worms could be right, so Morton set out to find only the best wormy weathermen by means of a race. It stands to reason, at least to all of those learned in worm lore, that the fastest, most fit woollies will naturally be the most able forecasters of the weather.

So it has been ever since. Woolly worms and their handlers have flocked to Banner Elk every year from all over the world for the chance to win the right to warn the High Country about its upcoming season.

Banner Elk’s small pop ulation swells during the festival. More than 20,000 people have attended the past few events. People flock from all over the country, and not just to gratify the olympian ambitions of their woolly worms. The Banner Elk festival has something to offer to the whole family.

In recent years, more than 150 art and craft vendors have been present at the event. Prospective vendors are juried by the Woolly Worm Festival Committee so that only the best hand

made items are allowed to be sold. No buy and resell vendors are allowed at the festival.

The festival, while now a mega-modern woolly worm event to rival the very wool liest the world has to offer, had humble beginnings. The first Woolly Worm Festival took place at Banner Elk Elementary School on a cold and windy day. The festi val organizers discovered through their ground-break ing worm research, that woolly worms, like people, aren’t usually too interested in recreational climbing when it is too cold.

Unfortunately, it is cur rently impossible to impress the importance of the race upon the woolly worms who, while they are endowed with certain meteorological abil ities, resolutely don’t speak English.

To combat the cold, han dlers have now learned that worms can be motivated by hot air blown through a straw.

Woolly worms, many festival attendees are surprised to learn, are not actually worms at all, but are the caterpillar larvae of the Isabella Tiger Moth. The worms, like many Holly wood actors gone awry, prefer to be known for their adolescent work rather than any perceived grown-up shortcomings.

The worms that festival goers race in the fall aren’t just adept at predicting the winter, they are also well equipped to survive it.

Woolly worms outlast the winter in hibernation. Instead of burrowing deep

Meet the 2022 Woolly Worm Festival Committee

underground like many an imals, they choose to spend the winter closer to the surface, under rocks, fallen foliage or logs. The worms produce a chemical called

cryoprotectant that allows their bodies to totally freeze solid with no adverse effects. Some worms are known to survive as many as 14 win ters using this method.

When it decides it is ready and the spring thaw comes, the worm that stuck itself in the freezer emerges as a

COMPILED BY LILY KINCAID

Behind the scenes of the annual Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival is a hard-working committee made up of members of the Banner Elk Kiwanis Club and the Avery County Chamber of Commerce. This year’s committee consists of, from left to right, top to bot tom, Anne Winkelman, Brenda Lyerly, Mary Jo Brubaker, Meagan Goheen, Doug Owen, Kate Gavenus and Victoria Bowman.

BY LILY KINCAID

LILY.KINCAID@ AVERYJOURNAL.COM

Every year, hundreds of woolly worms gather in Ban ner Elk to race at the Woolly Worm Festival. Crowds gather and watch with bated breath as coaches cheer on their worms from the sidelines. But how did they get here?

The short answer: training. These little fuzzy friends don’t simply wake up one day with Olympic-level athleticism. In fact, the best of the worms train for weeks, even months, leading up to their big race in Banner Elk. If you’re planning on entering a worm into the race, don’t worry – it’s not too late to start training. Here are the dos and don’ts of woolly worm twaining.

Dos

Be sure your worm stretch es before each training ses

How to train your woolly worm

sion, including all three sets of legs. A pulled muscle or torn ligament is sure to put your worm out of the running. Get a headband for your worm if sweating is a concern.

Training is just as much mental as it is physical. If your worm isn’t feeling motivated, take a break from training, plan a movie night and hope that the training montage in “Rocky IV” is enough to inspire it. Your worm will almost certainly respond well to positive reinforcement, so remind it how good of a worm it is often.

Make sure your worm is hydrated by misting its enclosure, but avoid putting water in a bowl for your worm as that can be a drowning hazard. Make sure your worm stays energized with plenty of fresh greens. Luckily, most of the items on a woolly worm’s menu grow right in your front

yard: dandelions, clovers, goldenrod and some grasses. Always listen to your worm, as it knows its own limits and abilities better than anyone else. Take a gentle, encour aging approach to training the little fella, as opposed to an abrasive method that may scare him and make him curl into a ball.

Don’ts

Aerodynamics aren’t some thing to worry about with your worm. Don’t try to give it a haircut or a cool, slick jacket in the hopes of bending the odds in your favor, as aero dynamics play a smaller role in winning than one might imagine.

Additionally, worms are not allowed to compete in roller skates or on skate boards, as this would provide a clear and unfair advantage. Remember, only caterpillars of the isabella tiger moth are allowed to compete. The race

officials are experts at iden tifying woolly worms and woolly wormn’ts, so don’t try to deceive them.

Woolly worms run best barefooted, so don’t think that some fancy high-dollar sneak

ers will improve your odds, either. Along with possibly being disqualified, putting shoes on your worm would likely slow it down. They have a hard time tying their laces, as well, so an untied shoe in

STRONG

moth and spends its newly winged life fluttering around lamps and streetlights remembering the glory days when it was a weather-fore casting festival star.

Attempts to found moth festivals have been met with less success than the ground-based competition, as they have a nasty habit of flying away.

Entering its 45th year, the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival will be held in downtown Banner Elk Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 15 and 16. Races will take

place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Satur day’s grand prize winner will go home with $1,000, while Sunday’s races, which are typically smaller, will award a grand prize of $500.

the middle of the race would be a recipe for disaster.

No matter how your worm performs, be sure to thank it after the race for all its hard work and return it to its home.

Worms can be purchased at the festival, but attendees are also welcome to bring their own worm.

For more information, call the Avery County Cham ber of Commerce at (828) 898-5605 or click to www. woollyworm.com.

FILE PHOTO

A look at some woolly worms in a purpose-built corral. The caterpillars are sold at the event each year to be entered in races.

Thousands

the Woolly Worm Festival

Giving back: Festival enhances local community

BY LILY KINCAID LILY.KINCAID@ AVERYJOURNAL.COM

An average woolly worm might only weigh an ounce or so, but the weight of the Woolly Worm Festival’s impact on the community is almost immeasurable.

Along with the opportu nity for people to take part in the races, enjoy good food, browse the vendors and watch live entertain ment, the proceeds from the festival go right back into the community. Avery County Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk use the proceeds from the festival to enhance schools and children’s programs, as well as promote business and tourism in the county.

While some of the proceeds come from locals, the Woolly Worm Festival draws in visitors from across the state and beyond. This means that the festival is a great boost for the local economy, as local businesses, vendors, restau rants and other organizations can benefit from the influx of tourists. Nonprofits can use the festival as a way to stir up donations and support, as well as an opportunity to educate people on their mission.

The entire county bene fits from the Woolly Worm Festival, not just Banner Elk. Banner Elk Kiwanis uses the proceeds to fund grants, organizations such as Scouts BSA and programs like the Reading is Fundamental program, which supplies children in Avery County with free books. Kiwanis

has also awarded the grants to help with things like funding school musicals and purchasing new or updated equipment or new uniforms.

Avery County Chamber of Commerce uses the proceeds to continue and further resources that help establish, maintain and grow local businesses across the county.

Each year, Kiwanis gives away thousands of dollars in Woolly Worm Grants, all of which go toward enrich ing children’s programs or schools in some way. Alongside that, Avery County Chamber of Commerce works the proceeds back into the community to enhance the area. With those two combined, it’s easy to see how big of an impact such a little creature has on the lives of children and adults alike in Avery County.

What’s in a worm: Quick facts about our fuzzy friends

BY LILY KINCAID LILY.KINCAID@ AVERYJOURNAL.COM

As interesting as it may be to watch woolly worms race, they’re just as interesting in the wild as they are at the annual festival.

Woolly worms, also known as woolly bears, are the fuzzy brown-and-black caterpillars of the isabella tiger moth.

Located throughout the United States and southern Canada, woolly worms have 13 segments and three sets of legs. Most woolly worms have some variation of black and brown banding on their bodies, but some can be completely black or com

PHOTO BY MARISA MECKE

Before they turn into the isabella tiger moth, the woolly worms crawl around as bristly little caterpillars easy to spot with their distinctive stripes.

pletely brown. In folklore, the color of the caterpillar’s bands indicate the severity

of the winter to come. Each of the sections on the woolly worm’s body represent a

week of winter, and the darker the stripes, the colder the weather will be. But the caterpillar’s life is far from over after the race ends.

In the winter, woolly worms will find a dark, cold spot to hide for the winter. The caterpillar creates a natural antifreeze to protect its body during the winter.

In spring, it will thaw and emerge as a moth. The isa bella tiger moth is typically yellow or orange in color, with spots and faint brown lines across its wings.

Woolly worms have evolved to protect them selves from predators in several ways. Most apparent is the caterpillar’s bristles,

which can be irritating to the touch. When in danger, the caterpillars will curl up into a ball so only the bristles are exposed. Woolly worms aren’t dangerous, but the bristles resemble the hairs on venomous caterpillars, such as saddle back caterpillars and flannel moth caterpillars. Addition ally, woolly worms will eat plants with toxins in them, which stay in their bodies and make predators sick. Woolly worms’ predators are typically birds, wasps and mantises. Eating the toxins prevents the preda tors from eating any more of the caterpillars.

The following are some fun

facts about woolly worms and isabella tiger moths:

• They are unique to North America and do not live on any other continent.

• Woolly worms have tiny eyes and mostly get around by touch.

• The caterpillar’s cryo protectant allows it to survive in temperatures as cold as -90 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Like any moth, the cat erpillars can be parasitized by wasps laying their eggs on them.

• The isabella tiger moth is susceptible to many preda tors, ranging from spiders to bats. The moths usually only live for a few weeks, just long enough to lay eggs.

PHOTO BY CARL BLANKENSHIP Mary Jo Brubaker, William Burrow, Shawn Stricklen, Bobby Savel, Merryweather The Woolly Worm, Jason DeWitt, Melynda Pepple, Leslee Brown, Tommy Burleson, Daniel Binder and Brittany Love posing after Brown’s worm ‘Wild Worm Will’ claimed the prize at the 2019 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival. The proceeds from the festival are split between the Avery County Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk.

Woolly Worm Festival by the numbers

BY LILY KINCAID

LILY.KINCAID@AVERYJOURNAL.COM

Whether this is your first year attending the Woolly Worm Festi val or you’re a weathered patron of it, this guide has all the important numbers you need to know before the third weekend of October rolls around.

0 – Free admission for kids 5 and under.

1 – The number of worms that predict the High Country’s winter weather each year at the festival.

2 – Number of days that the festival takes place this year.

4 – Four dollar admission fee for kids 6-12 years old.

6 – Six dollar admission fee for adults.

13 – Sections on a woolly worm, which are used to predict the weather for the 13 weeks of winter.

25 – The amount of woolly worms that can enter each heat of the race.

45 – This year is the 45th annual Woolly Worm Festival.

170 – Estimated number of vendors that came to last year’s festival.

500 – Sunday’s cash prize for the race is $500.

1,000 – The number of race entrants at last year’s festival. Saturday’s race has a cash prize of $1,000, and the winning worm is declared the official weather forecaster.

20,000 – The estimated number of people who will come to Banner Elk over the festival weekend.

(828) 898-5605 – Call this num ber for more information about the Woolly Worm Festival, or visit www.woollyworm.com

Woolly Worm Festival Vendor List

Booth # Vendors

81 2nd Time Around

51 Adoughable

Alf’s Kettle Korn

Always Afternoon

91 Americamanta

Amy Bumgardner

139, 140 Artworks

Unlimited

Asia Fusion Elite

Atters Ateller

Avery County Animal

97 Avery Farms

23 Avery Knifeworks

Banner Elk Elementary

Banner Elk Seventh Day

Church

Banner Elk Mini Golf

A1 Banner Elk Shirt Company

Breaded Buns

34 Bear Creek Carving

146 Bearabows

Beech Mountain Club

Bill Lyons Wood Carving

Bob’s Burl Art

Bounty Hunter Hats

Boy Scouts of America

36 Bull City Treasures

Calvin Bennett Photog raphy

Celebrations Soaps

Costanza Wears

Copper Connection

Country Bumpkin

Cove Studio

Creation Shouts

Creative Escapes

Cresent Silver

Dan Goad Fine Art

Darlene’s Sewing Garden

Datil Sensation

Diggy Doughnut

Disbrow Ent

101 Dogwood Creek Studio

Downing Designs

Eagles Nest Realty

112 Evolve Natural Skin

Brushes

Fake-a-Face Face Painting

Famous Brick Oven

Fire Fly Recycled Glass

Firefly Cove

Food Lion

Ginger Mountain Rustics

Grandparents of the For est LLC

Granny’s Glass Works

Hand Over Heals

Happy Skraps

High Country Concessions

120 Holston Mountain Hat Project

126 Horse Creek Leather Works

Humana

Impulsive Creativity

International Grill Co.

iPhotoBirds

Jeri’s Jewels

John Diaz Leather/Cro chet

Judy & Tie

V Jumpin’ Around

87 JustGenna designs

Labrottie Creations

Lasting Treasures

LeafFilter Gutter Protection

19 Leather Link Studio

Let There B Crafts

Little Elk Candle Company

Lofty Crow Studio

Lotos Pottery

Lutherock Camp & Retreat Center

Made By Mimi

Madera Bowls

Mama Bear’s Baby Beads

Martin’s Woodworking

99 McNeill’s Pottery

Michael Kaal Photography

Mountain Life Crafts

Mountain Life Creations

Mountain Mermaid

116 Mountain Momma

Organics

40 Mountain Quilt

63 Nature’s Gift Market

NC Navigator

Nicholson Ridge

21 Nomadic Graphics

Noodlecakes

Old Sarge’s Jerky

Old Time Timber

Palate & Pelt

Papa Bear Keepsakes

A3 Paris Festival

Potting for Fun

Prissy Patches Boutique

Reflections of Nature

Roan Mountain Honey

Rockness Monster

61 Romero Seascapes

Rosehip Lane

29 Santa’s Bag

Savell Studio

Savvy & Co.

Sending Shoppe Inc.

Shell Creek Sellers

Silly Willy Caricatures

104 Silver & Stones

Jewelry

Silver Charm Gifts

A4 Sips Soda Shop

Soul Sisters Boutique

B Southland Concessions

Spectrum News

102 Spiral Dyes

37, 38 Stanley’s Produce

C Steak Boys, Inc.

Stephen McIntyre

Stillthereshinesause

Stoned Beautiful

Tar Heel Basement

S, T Turner Concessions

The Art of Joy

The Fish Factory

The Iron Hutch

The Nut House

The Pretty Paws Cause

The Reclaimed Artist

D Third Eye Coffee

67, 68, 69 Too Stinkin’ Cute

142 Trip & Peggy’s Cajun

Seasoning

78, 79, 80 Turtle Old Man Jewelry

152, 154 Two Sweet Sisters

Ulikai Designs

128 West End Wreaths

K What a Lattee Coffee

160, 161 Whiskey in a Week

Whitson Crafts

159 Wicked Woven

Wild Child Clayworks

Wood ‘nut you

Woolly Worms & Stuff

Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival

Worm Festival aficionado Jason DeWitt,

with Merryweather the Woolly Worm, catches the

of onlookers at the

Banner

Fourth of

Parade.

Woolly Worm’ Roy Krege presents the $1,000 top prize

main-event winner Rebecca Perree, who poses with her winning worm named

Toes’ at the

Banner

Woolly Worm Festival.

Banner Elk Dentist Bill Burrow put his DDS to

use as the woolly worm doctor at the

festival.

were the administration of woolly worm

Woolly Wules and Wegulations to follow

BY JAMIE SHELL EDITOR@AVERYJOURNAL.COM

There can only be one weather-wise Woolly Worm at the end of every Woolly Worm Festival. The honorable distinction includes bragging rights and the mandate to predict the upcoming winter’s weather.

Each festival includes massive amounts of worms battling other potential champions tooth and nail in order to claim the top honor a worm can receive. Any smart worm is already searching for whatever they can use to gain a competitive advantage over the field.

Because of this, race or ganizers at the festival have implemented a strict set of rules and regulations to ensure a good, clean compe tition, as well as multiple-in dustry-standard Human Gwowth Hormone tests.

First off, those wishing to enter a worm into compe tition must obtain, train and register their worm. Although the festival will have worms available for sell onsite, entrants are allowed to bring their own worms from home.

Those wishing to compete must pay a $5 entrance fee and have a name ready for their worm— which, if you choose to bring one from home, you’ve probably al ready accomplished. Festival organizers remind racers that the more creative the name, the better.

Worm trainers who are serious about the race should register early, as there are a limited amount of spots

Despite the vast crowds, all competitors at the Woolly Worm Festival must follow the same set of rules and regulations in order to race their worm and potentially win monetary prizes during Saturday and Sunday race heats.

available. A maximum of 25 worms compete in each heat and the number of heats are determined by the number of those wishing to compete, as well as the weather. Only genuine, honest, 100-percent verified woolly worms will be allowed to compete. The festival makes no exceptions for genetic modification or species variation. To ensure that the fuzzy worm you are handling is indeed a proper woolly worm, check that it has 13 segments and some color variation of brown and black. If it has more or fewer segments then it is recom mended that you replace the worm gently back where you found it, as it cannot be

guaranteed that all worm wrangling is safe.

At the beginning of each heat, worms are placed at the bottom of a vertical string on the race board. When the starting signal is given, worm handlers are allowed to release their worms. The worm, string and board are not allowed to be touched during the race but worm drivers are encouraged to yell, scream, whistle or blow on their worms with a drinking straw. Motivational music and speeches are also found to be very inspiring to worms.

The first worm to reach the top of the string will be declared the winner by the main race judges that in

clude Tommy Burleson, who has officiated the festival for more than three decades.

Burleson, who stands seven-feet, four-inches tall, is one of the only people who can accurately judge the rac es’ dramatic climaxes which take place at the top of a tall race board.

The regulation string upon which the woolly worms will make their ascent is designed to have the texture and tension of a strand of milkweed. Festival founder Jim Morton was inspired to go down this path after watching two woolly worms climb a stalk of milkweed in the wild and wondering which would get to the top more quickly.

FILE PHOTO

A festivalgo er watches as his worm begins the great ascent up the regula tion string. Worm owners may blow warm air upon the worm to spur on their competitor to climb the string.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

‘Elvis and Dolly’ has entertained for more than a decade

BY LILY KINCAID LILY.KINCAID@ AVERYJOURNAL.COM

Just like the Woolly Worm Festival itself, an Elvis and Dolly Parton trib ute artist pair have become a staple of Avery County.

John Greene, who has been an Elvis tribute artist for decades, performs alongside his wife, Carrie Greene. Carrie Greene performs as Dolly Parton, and the pair have been

performing alongside each other for many years. The Greenes are now an act known as “Elvis and Dolly.”

Over the years, Elvis and Dolly have performed at nursing homes, local festivals such as Summer Fest and the High Country Music Festival, memori al concerts, high school reunions and more. This year, as they have done for 13 years, they will perform at the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival as well.

Typically when they per

form at the festival, there’s a large crowd and it’s a lot of fun, John Greene said.

“The crowd always has good energy,” Carrie Greene said.

The Greenes love to participate in the Woolly Worm Festival, not just because of how fun it is, but also because of the generosity that the two sponsoring organizations demonstrate with the funds, they said.

“The funding that it provides for different com

munity entities is a great cause, and we appreciate how much work goes into it from all the Chamber and Kiwanis members,” John Greene said. “They’re giving selflessly, and they don’t have to do that, but they give a lot of time. It takes a lot of organization and a lot of personal time for them to do that, and we’re glad to help them with that.”

As chairman of the Avery County Board of Education, John Greene sees how the

festival benefits students in Avery County firsthand, which is something that he said he is extremely grateful for.

“Kiwanis have been such a great partner with us,” he said. “They provide money for different programs that we have, and provide money that we wouldn’t have otherwise. It allows us to help children that we otherwise may not have the funding to help, and it’s not so restricted that we aren’t able to help those that we

need to. We’re able to see where there’s a need and then meet that need.”

The Greenes also wanted to recognize Dave Calvert, who handles their sound system in “rain, shine, sleet or snow,” John Greene said. They couldn’t do without Calvert, he said, and they appreciate everything he does for them.

Elvis and Dolly will be performing at the Woolly Worm Festival on Satur day, Oct. 15.

PHOTO COURTESY MARILYN BALL “Elvis and Dolly” performing at Newland’s Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in 2014.

PHOTO COURTESY JUSTIN CARVER | BES

John Greene, performing as Elvis, was “joined onstage” by BES student Mason Gilliam during the school’s “Get Your Rock On” Day on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018.

Enjoy the show but be careful with Woolly Worms

BY RAY WILLIAMS

It’s the time of year in the High Country when the march of the Woolly Worms begins. This familiar and fascinating insect, sometimes referred to as the Woolly Bear, and known to science as Pyr rharctia isabella, the Isabella Tiger Moth, will soon be seen wandering across many roadways.

One of the things that makes the fuzzy, multicolor Woolly Worm caterpillar so interesting is that dating back to Colonial times it has been proposed that the length of the brown and black bands on the caterpil lar can predict the severity of winter. Though experts disagree on this, it is a fascinating part of mountain folklore and results in a lot of attention to the bands!

Also, (and excitingly, espe cially for children!) since the caterpillar likes to be on the move this makes them a great choice for insect races.

The Woolly Worm is very wildly distributed through out the US and Canada, and festivals held to celebrate its appearance in the fall may be found in many towns.

In our area of course the Woolly Worm Festival every October in Banner Elk is looked forward to by chil dren and adults alike. Kids from across our region bring their favorite caterpillar(s) to race and see which is the fastest (and thus predict the winter), while local artists and food vendors provide a very festive atmosphere.

This festival is one of the highlights of our fall season, so making sure it continues is important. One aspect of

this is ensuring that the main insect attraction continues to thrive in nature so that it can be the star of the show for years to come. This article provides information about the biology of the Woolly Worm to aid in understand ing a few things to keep in mind to make sure one of our most familiar High Country insect continues to thrive.

A member of the Tiger Moth Family of insects, the caterpillar form of the Woolly Worm is much more familiar and seen more than the adult. A relatively small yet handsome orange with black dots, the adult moth is found in our area primarily in the spring, and unless you really look hard for it at night it’s not easily found. After hatching from eggs laid by the female moth caterpillars eat a variety of plants and grow into the familiar Woolly Worm

caterpillar with brown and black “fuzzy” bands. When reaching their largest size, the caterpillars are seen moving across our roadways beginning in September and lasting into the fall. This type of behavior, called wan dering by insect biologists, is not uncommon for many insects and is necessary for their survival. Its purpose is for a caterpillar to locate a suitable place to hiber nate over the winter before resuming an activity like eating in the spring before forming the pupa from which the adult will emerge. A secluded place of the caterpillar’s choosing under a structure or piles of leaves affords them protection. Interestingly, to survive a potentially cold winter the caterpillar actually makes its own anti-freeze.

Using what we know about their biology, here are

a few things to keep in mind if you collect caterpillars for races at the local festival (or perhaps just to observe them). Carefully consider ing these will go a long way to making sure the Woolly Worm remains a natural wonder of the High Country. First, avoid collecting too many Woolly Worms. Even though observing our roadways it appears there are lots of caterpillars in our area, it’s hard to know the actual number. There is cur rently great concern about insect numbers declining for reasons that are poorly un derstood, and no one wants this to happen to one of the favorite insects in the High Country. If attending the Woolly Worm Festival with your race favorite, or just spending some time watch ing these fascinating insects at your home, limiting your collection to one caterpillar

or a very small number, will help maintain a healthy local population of Woolly Worms.

Second, you really want to keep any Woolly Worm caterpillars out of their natu ral environment for as little time as possible. It’s hard to know exactly what condi tions they need to survive, so even if you place a caterpil lar in a nice box with leaves to provide them shelter, this may not be what the cat erpillar really needs. Keep in mind that the wandering caterpillars are no longer in terested in eating and trying to feed them does not affect their survival.

The festival races aside, Woolly Worms do not make good pets and you should not try to keep one over the win ter (even if you put your box outside) to watch them de velop into an adult moth next spring. Natural conditions

for them to survive are very hard to copy and it’s very possible that your caterpillar will not survive over winter in a setting you create.

Finally, keep track of where you collected your caterpillar(s) and return it to this same place (though not to the road surface). Even though the Woolly Worm caterpillars wander seeming ly far and wide, the distance they cover does not have to be that great. Compared to us, insects are small, so what seems a short distance to you can be substantial for them. The place you find your Woolly Worm is what it “considers home” and its survival will be increased by staying in that area.

It’s hard not be fascinat ed by Woolly Worms, and whether you believe they can forecast the winter, or be the champion at the Woolly Worm Festival, doing what is needed to make sure we can look forward to them each fall seems something everyone wants. A few simple considerations will help assure this so please be mindful of them as you enjoy our fuzzy friends.

Dr. Ray Williams is a native of Asheville, and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State Univer sity, where he taught for 25 years. What he tried to instill in his students is the fascinating lives of insects, which he continues to research and write about in retirement. He lives in Boone with his wife, Bev erly, and has two children in college. He will write a semi-regular column on local insects in the area.

PHOTO SUBMITTED

A Woolly Worm is found crawling through the autumn leaves.

A historic look back at the annual Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival

BY JAMIE SHELL EDITOR@AVERYJOURNAL.

BANNER ELK — For the past 45 years, the Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival has been a staple of the fall season in Avery County. Since its inception in 1978, the festival has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors to the High Country, as well as countless dollars to benefit local nonprofit groups and civic organiza tions.

The staff of The AJT searched the newspaper archives for images from Woolly Worm Festivals past,

highlighting the joy and entertainment that the event represents and provides on an annual basis.

The 2022 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival re turns to downtown Banner Elk on the third weekend in October, this year from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16.

FILE PHOTO

Posing with mascot Merryweather and Tommy Burleson, Joshua Grosser and his worm, Aspen, are joined by his sister, Calli, mom, Cindi, and father, Don, as the winner of $1,000 at the 2017 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival.

FILE PHOTO

The champion woolly worm in races at the 2017 Wool ly Worm Festival in Banner Elk was Hans Solo, who was handled by owner Reyn Beekman of Boone. Hans Solo was examined by official festival forecaster Tommy Burleson.

FILE PHOTO

Roy Krege and Jim Morton were recognized for 40 years of service to the Woolly Worm Festival in 2017 during a meeting of the Banner Elk Kiwanis Club. Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation Executive Director Jesse Pope is pictured here with Krege, accepting a framed festival poster on behalf of the Morton family.

FILE PHOTO

North Carolina Governor Jim Martin examines his woolly worm before entering the race while he attended the 1988 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival.

FILE PHOTO

Jesse Gilliam, Brad Blair, Travis Blair, Jeff Gilliam and Michelle Eggers showed their woolly worm spirit during the 1993 Banner Elk Woolly Worm Festival.

A look back on the Woolly Worm Festival

BY LILY KINCAID LILY.KINCAID@AVERY JOURNAL.COM

BANNER ELK — As Ban ner Elk and Avery County are gearing up for the 45th annual Woolly Worm Festi val, now is the perfect time to look back at the festival’s history.

The festival started in 1978 by Jim Morton, who became fascinated with the folklore around woolly worms after he came to the area in 1973. Though it started out small, the festival has been gaining popularity ever since its inception and is now one of the few nationally recog nized woolly worm festivals.

Avery County Cham ber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Banner Elk took over operation of the festival in the seventh year. By then, the festival had been featured on national television and was picking up more momentum each year.

The festival is a part of Avery County’s history and culture. Around 20,000 people came to the Woolly Worm Festival last year, 1,000 of which entered the races. The first year, only 63 people entered the race. While the races are the

main draw for the festival, there’s plenty to do for those who aren’t as inter ested in the competition.

Just last year, 170 vendors set up at the festival – far more than the three or four vendors that attended the first one. This year, vendors include a variety of pro fessions, from jewelers to farmers to potters.

The races started as a way to pick which woolly worm would serve as the forecast er for the upcoming winter. Woolly worms are plenti ful in this area, and since color patterns differ from one worm to the next, not every worm’s forecast can be correct. Morton came up with the races to determine a definitive forecaster.

Similar to the lore behind Groundhog Day, woolly worms are said to be able to predict the severity of the winter. Each of the 13 seg ments on the caterpillar’s body is said to represent each week of winter, and the darker the segment, the harsher the weather. Darker black segments are also said to predict snow.

People can bring their own worms, so long as they are the caterpillar of the isabella tiger moth, to race, or they can purchase a worm at the festival. The

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winning worm on Saturday will be the worm to predict the weather. Local legend and woolly worm whisperer Tommy Burleson typically reads the worm to give the prediction.

Over the years, people have come up with nu merous theories on how to entice their woolly worms to crawl up the three-foot nylon string the fastest. Some try to warm the caterpillar’s legs before and during the race, as woolly worms are much less active on colder days. Some give affirming words of encouragement to their worms, while others take a “tough love” approach to coaching. Others swear by singing to their worms from the sidelines, while some are adamant that any

coaching or noise from the sidelines makes the little critters nervous enough to freeze up. If you’re unsure about where to get your worm from, don’t worry. There’s no advantage to bringing your own worm or choosing one at the festival – it’s all up to skill, and maybe a bit of luck as well.

The Woolly Worm Festival is a perfect family friendly opportunity for adults and kids of all ages. This year’s festival is on Oc tober 15 and 16 at the His toric Banner Elk Elementa ry School. Registration for the races begins at 9 a.m. each day and the races start around 10 a.m. Registration is limited, so be sure to get there early if you’re plan ning on entering.

PHOTO COURTESY AVERY COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The woolly worm whisperer himself, Tommy Burleson, conduct ed the annual reading of the worm in 2020, held by champion Hallie Willis with the Avery Chamber of Commerce.