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Welcome Serving the Greater Asheville, Hendersonville & Waynesville areas

TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

The

Mountain Life Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES | Welcome to Western North Carolina

Unique communities abound with amenities

The Apple Revolution CIDER GETS IN ON CRAFT BEVERAGE BOOM

A Home Run TOURISTS BASEBALL A LONGTIME ASHEVILLE TRADITION

Houses that Music Built

Tryon Equestrian

WARREN HAYNES HELPS THE NEEDY

WHERE HISTORY AND HORSES INTERSECT

RELOCATION & MOVE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

No One Plans for a Less Than Perfect Move...

However, occasionally, things happen.

Having a local advocate goes a long way

Packing and shipping your personal items and household goods can become a stressful part of your moving experience. Feel

goods provider that has been carefully selected by our Move Management Team.

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Very professional movers.�

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Relocating to Asheville, Hendersonville, Waynesville or anywhere else in Western North Carolina requires some regional considerations, and we can help.

Mountainous terrain requires specialized driving knowledge to minimize unexpected expenses.

Ask about our Full Protection Replacement Program that can help protect your valuables.

Allow our personal relationships with moving companies to ensure you receive the best possible service.

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WELCOME TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

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“Choosing the right real estate company to assist you with exploring this area is important.�

- Neal Hanks Jr., President

Welcome. It is our privilege to introduce you to this beautiful region that we call Home. We know that to truly discover Western North Carolina, one must

Client Services

Choosing the right real estate company to assist you with exploring this area is important. You want to be sure you choose the best, and in Western North Carolina, that choice is Beverly-Hanks & Associates. With over 250 full-time professional real

earned a reputation for looking after our clients like no other real estate company

you are interested in residential or commercial real estate, our sales associates can assist you.

800.868.7221 toll free 828.254.7221

Not only do we know the market, we know the area, because it is our home. We know the schools, the hospitals, the churches, the cultural opportunities, and who to call if you have a need. We can inform you on taxes, subdivision restrictions, zoning, home inspections and more. When it is time for a move, we can assist with the relocation of your household. We even have in-house mortgage services. In many ways, we make your move a pleasant experience.

Every year, thousand of buyers and sellers choose Beverly-Hanks & Associates to handle their real estate needs. Many have used our services before, and others are referred from previous customers, from the business community, or from one of the numerous relocation companies who value our professional expertise.

Regardless of the source, our clients come to us for the professional service and consul that has been a hallmark of Beverly-Hanks & Associates, REALTORS ÂŽ, since 1976.

useful in your exploration of Western North Carolina. We look forward to being of service to you.

866.858.2257 toll free

Downtown Asheville 300 Executive Park Asheville, NC 28801

North Asheville

820 Merrimon Ave. Asheville, NC 28804 800.277.2511 toll free 828.251.1800

South Asheville

1 Town Square Blvd, Ste. 140 Asheville, NC 28803 800.868.8999 toll free 828.684.8999

Hendersonville

512 North Main St. Hendersonville, NC 28792 800.868.0515 toll free 828.697.0515

Waynesville

74 North Main St. Waynesville, NC 28786 800.849.8024 toll free 828.452.5809

Lake Lure

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Warm regards,

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Neal Hanks, Jr.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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6 Higher Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NonproďŹ t Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Culisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Farm-to-Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Something Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Cider City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 WNC Wineries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Arts & Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The N.C. Arboretum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Cataloochee Ski Area . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The Parkway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Locales

Asheville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Arden & Mills River. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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MAX COOPER PHOTOS

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Sylva, Dillsboro, Cullowhee & Cashiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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64 96 Weaverville & Barnardsville . . . . . . . . 98 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Hendersonville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Fletcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Haywood County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Madison County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Chimney Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Burnsville & Yancey County . . . . . . . . 116 Tryon & Saluda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Brevard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

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62 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Index of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Useful Numbers & Links . . . . . . . . . . 126 WNC Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ELEVATE THE WAY

YOU PLAY.

Experience The Omni Grove Park Inn Golf Club & Sports Complex with memberships designed to enhance your NKHGUV[NG CPF MGGR [QW EQPPGEVGF YKVJ QWT OCIPKȧ EGPV TGUQTV When you play a round of golf at our nationally acclaimed IQNH EQWTUG [QW EQOG CYC[ YKVJ OQTG VJCP LWUV C UEQTG

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On the cover: “Sunrise in the Smokies,” colored pencil illustration

by Teresa Pennington of T. Pennington Art Gallery in downtown Waynesville. tpennington.com

WELCOME TO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA ISSUE 11

PUBLISHED BY SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, LLC

PUBLISHER/EDITOR Scott McLeod

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Greg Boothroyd

WRITERS Garret K. Woodward

ART DIRECTOR Travis Bumgardner

SALES Hylah Birenbaum Whitney Burton

DESIGN Micah McClure Emily Kepley Moss

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Max Cooper Ashley T. Evans Mark Haskett Margaret Hester Garret K. Woodward

Let Wick & Greene be part of your Western North Carolina family and help you celebrate all of life’s special moments.

Wick & Greene jewelry is more than just jewelry. It’s a message that you are more precious than diamonds, more valuable than gold. And very, very special.

121 PATTON AVENUE ASHEVILLE, N.C. 828.253.1805

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Education

Elementary students in the Haywood County School District.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Shaping young minds in Southern Appalachia

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One of the most important things to consider when you’re thinking about moving is the quality of the schools. Even if you don’t have children or they are out of the nest, you want to know how good of an education the area provides to its students.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Western North Carolina’s school systems and private schools consistently rank among the state’s best. The public schools that serve the area include Asheville City Schools, Buncombe County Schools, Henderson County Schools, Transylvania County Schools, Haywood County Schools, Madison County Schools, Jackson County Schools and Polk County Schools.

ASHEVILLE CITY SCHOOLS Asheville City Schools has more than 4,000 students, having experienced a significant increase in enrollment in recent years. The number of students enrolled at Asheville Middle School is the highest it has been in a decade.

Each of the five elementary schools is a “magnet school,” meaning that parents may apply for admission to the school that best suits their child’s interests.

Asheville High School, a four-year-school of 1,042 students, occupies a stately stone building designed by Art Deco master Douglas Ellington. In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 47% in English II (44.2% state) and 34.3% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 12.9% in English II (5.8% state).

With 714 students, Asheville Middle School, which ranges from grades six to eight, had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 22.3% in reading (10.4% state), 20.1% in math (15.8% state) and 24.3% in science (17.7% state) for 2015.

Claxton Elementary (467 students) integrates the Arts and Humanities into curriculum teaching through drama, dance, music, visual arts and creative writing. In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 40.4% in reading (34.7% state), 37.6% in math (28.3% state) and 47.8% in science (41.5% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 19.7% in reading (10.4% state).

Hall Fletcher Elementary (343 students) emphasizes science, math and technologies through course work such as science lab, its greenhouse and “HopSports,” which works technology into physical education.

Ira B. Jones, a “Global Scholars school” of 478 students, includes Spanish, multicultural awareness and environmental stewardship into its studies. In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 38.1% in reading (34.7% state) and 37.1% in math (28.3% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 17.6% in reading (10.4% state), 25.7% in math (15.8% state) and 22.4% in science (17.7% state).

Isaac Dickson, an experiential learning school of 489 students, bases its core principles on the educational ideals of Dewey, Piaget, and Montessori. In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 40.3% in reading (34.7% state), 32.5% in math (28.3% state) and 46.7% in science (41.5% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 25.5% in reading (10.4% state) and 34.2% in math (15.8% state).

PUBLIC SCHOOLS Asheville City Schools 85 Mountain St. • Asheville, NC 28801 828-350-7000 www.ashevillecityschools.net

Buncombe County Schools 175 Bingham Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-255-5921 www.buncombe.k12.nc.us

Haywood County Schools 1230 N. Main St. • Waynesville, NC 28786 828-456-2400 www.haywood.k12.nc.us

Henderson County Schools 414 4th Ave. West • Hendersonville, NC 28739 828-697-4733 www.hendersoncountypublicschoolsnc.org

Jackson County Schools 398 Hospital Rd. • Sylva, NC 28779 828-586-2311 www.jcps.k12.nc.us

Madison County Schools 5738 US 25/70 • Marshall, NC 28753 828-649-9276 www.madisonk12.schoolfusion.us

Polk County Schools 125 East Mills St. • Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-3051 www.polkschools.org

Transylvania County Schools 225 Rosenwald Ln. • Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-6173 www.transylvania.k12.nc.us

Yancey County Schools 100 School Circle • Burnsville, NC 28714 828-682-6101 www.yancey.net

Asheville High School is home to over 1,000 students. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

With 297 students, the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences, in 2015, had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 70% in English II (44.2% state), 45.6% in math (34.8% state) and 31.7% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 21.4% in English II (5.8% state), 16.5% in math (13.8% state) and 46.7% in biology (14.8% state).

Vance School of Human Diversity and Ecology invites its 465 students to study the people and cultures of the world and examine their relationships with the natural environment. In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 37.8% in reading (34.7% state) and 37.3% in math (28.3% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 24.4% in reading (10.4% state), 26.3% in math (15.8% state) and 37.3% in science (17.7% state).

BUNCOMBE COUNTY SCHOOLS Reflecting the diverse nature of the area’s population, Buncombe County Schools serve children of many different ethnic backgrounds. Students in 42 schools speak more than 55 different languages. The 11th largest school system in the state (and largest in Western North Carolina with more than 25,500 students), Buncombe County Schools employs nearly 4,000 people, making it the county’s second largest employer.

High school students SAT scores consistently rank among the top districts in North Carolina. In 2014, SAT scores in math, writing and critical reading exceeded state and national averages.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS Asheville Catholic School Grades PreK-8 12 Culvern St. • Asheville, NC 28804 828-252-7896 www.ashevillecatholic.org

Asheville Christian Academy Grades K4-12 74 Riverwood Rd. • Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-581.2200 www.acacademy.org

Asheville Montessori School Ages 3-6 15 Julia St. • Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-6014 360 Weaverville Rd. • Asheville, NC 28804 828-645-3433 www.ashevillemontessorischool.com

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Education

PRIVATE SCHOOLS (continued) Asheville School

Its 42 schools include 23 elementary schools, three intermediate schools, seven middle schools, six regular high schools, one alternative high school and two middle/early college schools. The “graduation initiative” began in 2006 to examine and put into motion the long-term changes to improve graduation rates. Since its inception, the program has decreased the dropout rate by 35% in the system.

With 1,316 students, Reynolds High School had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 55.4% in English II (44.2% state), 39.4% in math (34.8% state) and 33.1% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 9.7% in English II (5.8% state), 17.4% in math (13.8% state) and 20.9% in biology (14.8% state).

One of the highest performing schools in the region, Early College is home to 263 students.

In 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 82.8% in English II (44.2% state), 53.6% in math (34.8% state) and 63.8% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 8.6% in English II (5.8% state), 14.3% in math (13.8% state) and 22.4% in biology (14.8% state).

Located in Candler, Pisgah Elementary and its 234 students are a shining example in the district. In 2015, they had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 50% in reading (34.7% state), 39.7% in math (28.3% state) and 64.5% in science (41.5% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 37.1% in math (15.8% state).

Among Buncombe County Schools’ education initiatives is “Learn and Earn Online,” a program that allows sophomores, juniors and seniors the opportunity to take online college-level courses taught by instructors from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Students may also take classes not offered at their high schools through North Carolina Virtual Public School, which sets up coursework, group discussion and student-teacher interaction via the Internet.

Buncombe County’s 42 schools include 23 elementary schools, three intermediate schools, seven middle schools, six regular high schools, one alternative high school and two middle/early college schools.

HENDERSON COUNTY SCHOOLS Henderson County Schools’ vision is “that every student will achieve success and graduate as a life-long learner, globally competitive, prepared for career, college, and life.”

The system has both one of the highest graduation rates in the state and a dwindling dropout rate. Its four middle schools have been nationally designated “Schools to Watch” because of their emphasis on strong academics and their sensitivity to their students.

As the biggest in the district, West Henderson High School has 1,065 students.

In 2015, they had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 54.7% in English II (44.2% state) and 42.9% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 25.5% in biology (14.8% state).

With 1,052 students, North Henderson High School is the second-largest institution in the district. In 2015, they had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 49.5% in English II (44.2% state) and 33.5% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 16.7% in biology (14.8% state).

Home to 193 students, Henderson County Early College is the top performing school in the district. In 2015, they had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 71.4% in English II (44.2% state) and 61% in math (34.8% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 19% in English II (5.8% state), 36.6% in math (13.8% state) and 75% in biology (14.8% state).

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Grades 9-12 360 Asheville School Rd. Asheville, NC 28806 828-254-6345 www.ashevilleschool.org

Carolina Day School Grades PreK-12 1345 Hendersonville Rd. • Asheville, NC 28803 828-274-0757 www.carolinaday.org

Christ School Grades 8-12 500 Christ School Rd. • Arden, NC 28704 828-684-6232 www.christschool.org

Emmanuel Lutheran School Grades PreK-8 51 Wilburn Place • Asheville, NC 28806 828-281-8182 www.emmanuellutheran.info

Fletcher Academy Grades 9-12 185 Academy Dr. • Fletcher, NC 28732 828-687-5100 www.fletcheracademy.com

Hanger Hall School for Girls Grades 6-8 30 Ben Lippen Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-258-3600 www.hangerhall.org

Immaculate Catholic School Grades PreK-8 711 N. Buncombe St. • Hendersonville, NC 28791 828-693-3277 www.immac.org

Learning Community School Grades K-8 375 Lake Eden Rd. Black Mountain, NC 28711 828-686-3080 www.thelearningcommunity.org

Maccabi Academy Grades K-5 43 N Liberty St. #100 • Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-5660 www.maccabiacademy.org

Montessori Learning Center Ages 18 months-6 years 1 School Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-259-9880 www.mlcasheville.org

Mount Pisgah Academy Grades 9-12 75 Academy Dr. • Candler, NC 28715 828-667-2535 www.pisgah.us

Nazarene Christian School Grades PreK-5 385 Hazel Mill Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-252-9713 www.ashevillefirstnazarene.org

An Education for an Inspired Life Asheville School prepares high school students for a lifetime of education. Motivated by a challenging academic experience, our students develop critical thinking skills, communicate effectively, and form strong study habits. Students learn life lessons in a nurturing, close-knit community of 285 students from 20 states and 16 countries. The majority of our recent graduates are attending colleges and universities Barron’s rates as “highly selective” and “most selective.”

For more than a century, Asheville School has fostered lives of leadership and service. We invite you to discover Asheville School and learn why our students have a competitive edge.

Contact us today to schedule a visit, request an admission packet, attend an open house, or inquire about our merit scholarships.

ashevilleschool.org admission@ashevilleschool.org 828.254.6345

Named one of the nation’s most elite boarding schools by Business Insider Insider.

Rated #7 among the top 50 boarding schools in the U.S. by GreatSchools.org.

Visit ashevilleschool.org/app

Education Compared to the students throughout the state, Henderson County’s scholars scored better in ABCs Endof-Grade tests in grades three through eight.

HENDERSON COUNTY SCHOOLS PHOTO

Compared to the students throughout the state, Henderson County’s scholars scored better in ABCs End-of-Grade tests in grades three through eight. Scores were considerably higher than the state average in Geometry, English 1 and Algebra 1 and 2.

Achievements for both males and females exceeded state scores. Every classroom in the 13,000-student system has access to the Internet.

Henderson County Schools owns Historic Johnson Farm, a heritage education center, making it one of only three school systems in the United States to own a farm. The farm, open to the public and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, teaches students about farm life on its 15 acres of farmland, forest, fields and streams.

The school system also has the Bullington Center, a 12-acre horticultural education center that holds workshops to teach children and adults about gardening and plant science.

TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY SCHOOLS The Transylvania County school system operates four elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools and one alternative school. It consistently ranks among the top few school systems in North Carolina in its students’ performances on the state ABC’s tests.

Student attendance is among the best in the state.

In 2015, Brevard High School (696 students) had Level 4 (Solid Command) of 55% in English II (44.2% state) and 36% in biology (30.1% state). That same year, Brevard Middle School (540 students) had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 15.9% in reading (10.4% state) and 20.7% in science (17.7% state).

To help prepare its over 3,500 students for careers in the computer age, the school system offers classes in network engineering and webpage development, as well as a Cisco Academy. On their first attempt, more than 98 percent of its eighth graders met state standards for technology competency.

The school system has also made steady improvement in its student-to-adult ratio. It has sought and received state and federal grants for technology, reading improvement, exceptional children’s

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

programs, school resource officers, library books, juvenile justice programs, and quality management practices.

In conjunction with the Brevard Chamber Orchestra, the system implemented a strings program in its elementary schools. It also started a New Century Scholars program that provides support and college tuition for at-risk students.

HAYWOOD COUNTY SCHOOLS “Success for today, preparation for tomorrow and learning for a lifetime” sum up the vision of Haywood County Schools. With schools far smaller than the state average, the system is able to offer its 7,700 students a great deal of personal attention.

In terms of student performance, Haywood was honored in the 2011 as having a “National Blue Ribbon School,” which was bestowed upon the Haywood Early College. In 2015, the school (of 149 students) had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 65.7% in English II (44.2% state), 56.1% in math (34.8% state) and 47.1% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 11.4% in English II (5.8% state).

In 2015, Tuscola High School (981 students) in Waynesville had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 55.3% in English II (44.2% state), while that same year, Pisgah High School (980 students) in Canton had a Level 4 of 52.8% in English II. During a recent school year, all 16 of Haywood County’s schools made the state ABC program’s expected growth marks, with 14 of them achieving high growth. Less than a third of school districts in the state had 100 percent of its schools meet or exceed the academic growth standard, and Haywood County was the fourth largest district in the state to have done so.

Riverbend Elementary School and Haywood Early College were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence for having more than 90 percent of its students score at or above standard on mandated state tests. More than two thirds of the system’s schools were statedesignated “Schools of Distinction,” compared with less than one third for all state school systems as a whole.

Clyde, Hazelwood, Jonathan Valley, Junaluska and Meadowbrook elementary schools, as well as Pisgah and Tuscola

PRIVATE SCHOOLS (continued) New Classical Academy Grades PreK-8 38 Stoney Knob Rd. • Weaverville, NC 28787 828-658-8317 www.thenewclassicalacademy.org

Odyssey Community School Grades PreK-12 90 Zillicoa St. • Asheville, NC 28801 828-259-3653 www.odysseycommunity.org

Rainbow Mountain Children’s School

Offering Grades 6-8

Grades PreK-8 574 Haywood Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-258-9264 www.rmcs.org

Veritas Christian Academy Grades K-12 17 Cane Creek Rd. • Fletcher, NC 28732 828-681-0546 www.veritasnc.org

CHARTER SCHOOLS Art Space Charter School Grades K-8 2030 US 70 • Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-298-2787 www.artspacecharter.org

Brevard Academy Grades K-8 299 Andante Ln. • Brevard, NC 28712 828-885-2665 www.brevard.teamcfa.org

Evergreen Community Charter School Grades K-8 50 Bell Rd. • Asheville, NC 28805 828-298-2173 www.evergreenccs.com

Francine Delaney New School for Children

“Nurturing the girl;

Empowering

the emerging woman.”

Grades K-8 119 Brevard Rd. • Asheville, NC 28806 828-236-9441 www.fdnsc.net

Shining Rock Classical Academy Grades K-6 21 Shackleford Hall Dr. Lake Junaluska, NC 28745 828.738.2665 www.shiningrockclassicalacademy.com

Summit Charter School Grades K-8 160 Frank Allen Rd. • Cashiers, NC 28717 828-743-5755 www.summitschool.org

The Mountain Community School Grades K-8 613 Glover St. • Hendersonville, NC 28792 828-696-8480 www.tmcschool.org

www.hangerhall.org | 828.258.3600 Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Education high schools and Waynesville Middle School, were all Schools of Distinction, meaning that at least 80 percent of students performed at or above grade level on end-of-grade tests.

MADISON COUNTY SCHOOLS Madison County Schools’ 2,600 students attend two early childhood education centers, four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school and one early college high school. Madison High School has also been designated a School of Distinction.

Madison Early College High School SAT scores were higher than state and national averages, possibly because a higher percentage of its middle school teachers than other teachers in the state have advanced degrees. In 2015, the school (of 204 students) had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 65.4% in English II (44.2% state), 54.5% in math (34.8% state) and 46.4% in biology (30.1% state).

They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 33.9% in biology (14.8% state).

Compared to state averages, Mars Hill Elementary (498 students) had higher testing scores in almost all of its classroom testing. In 2012, the school was recognized as a School of Progress for its high academic growth numbers. For 2015, the school had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 42.1% for math (28.3% state) and a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 26.7% for science (17.7% state).

With some of the best educational facilities in the state, the board of education has led an effort to rebuild and/or remodel all facilities over the last decade.

JACKSON COUNTY SCHOOLS Tracing its history to the mid-1880s, Jackson County Schools received the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s ABC of Education Annual Accountability Report. The schools have joined other county agencies in challenging its staff and 3,600 students to improve their health through fitness.

The system has nine schools, all configured to meet the needs of a large county with few concentrations of population – Smokey Mountain Elementary, which has students from pre-K to eighth grade; Blue Ridge, a pre-K to 12th-grade school (one of the few in the state); the K-8 schools of Fairview, Cullowhee and Scotts Creek; the Pre-K through 12th-grade School of Alternatives for students with special needs; Smoky Mountain High School; and Blue Ridge Early College and Jackson County Early College.

The largest institution in the district, Smoky Mountain High School enrolls 818 students and has been named a School of Distinction. In fact, half of the system’s schools have been designated Schools of Distinction.

In 2015, Jackson County Early College (140 students) had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 64.3% in English II (44.2% state), 46.9% in math (34.8% state) and 48% in biology (30.1% state). They also had a Level 5 (Superior Command) of 35.7% in English II (5.8% state) and 20% in biology (14.8% state).

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Compared to state averages, Mars Hill Elementary had higher testing scores in almost all of its classroom testing.

In 2012, the school was recognized as a School of Progress for its high academic growth numbers.

POLK COUNTY SCHOOLS Polk County Schools serves about 2,500 students in a system that ranks high on state and federal lists of academic achievement. All seven schools – Tryon Elementary, Saluda Elementary, Sunny View Elementary, Polk County Middle, Polk County High, Polk Central and Polk County Early College – made “adequate yearly progress” for the 2010-11 school year.

Saluda was recognized in 2012 as a “National Blue Ribbon School,” becoming one of only 269 nationwide systems to receive the honor. For the 2011-2012 school year, Tyron, Saluda, Polk County Early College was named a School of Excellence by the North Carolina Department of Public Institution, while Polk Central, Polk County Middle and High Schools received a mark as a School of Distinction.

In 2015, Polk County Early College (62 students) had a Level 4 (Solid Command) of 77.8% in English II (44.2% state), 47.1% in math (34.8% state) and 71.4% in biology (30.1% state).

The system is 15th among 115 school systems statewide in local per-pupil spending. The ratio of teachers to students is one of the highest in North Carolina. Test scores for students in grades 3-12 have consistently ranked among the top of both state and national averages in recent years. Every school has a fully equipped and staffed computer lab and media center.

U.S. News & World Report magazine named Polk County High School a Bronze Medal School in its Nov. 2007 report on America’s best high schools. Sunny View and Tryon elementary schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Dept. of Education in previous years. High school students can take advanced placement English, science, history and math courses. They can also earn college credits through several iSchool courses offered in conjunction with University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

YOUR DREAMS

OUR MISSION

Emmanuel Lutheran School

Preparing children for Today, for Tomorrow,Forever

Numerous degree programs, continuing education and community enrichment classes. Find your future at A-B Tech.

Infant through 8th Grade iPads & laptops for all students in grades 5-8 Visit our website for a virtual open house or call for a personal tour

51 Wilburn Place Asheville, NC 28806 828-281-8182 emmanuellutheranschool.org

Visit abtech.edu or call 828.398.7900

ASHEVILLE • MADISON • ENKA • SOUTH • WOODFIN • (828) 398-7900 • ABTECH.EDU

Transformations begin here.

CarolinaDay.org

At Carolina Day School, we inspire students to become innovative thinkers who communicate with intelligence and clarity, create with vision and purpose, and act with courage and compassion to confidently make a meaningful difference in the world.

Schedule your campus visit today. 828-407-4447

admission@carolinaday.org

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

13

Higher learning

Academic pursuits

C

Catering to a diverse population with a wide range of interests and talents, Western North Carolina offers residents an outstanding array of higher education choices.

Home to over 3,600 students, UNC Asheville is the only dedicated liberal arts institution in the state system. UNCA PHOTO

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UNC Asheville, the only dedicated liberal arts institution in the 17-institution University of North Carolina system, has been called one of the best colleges in the country for the money by the Princeton Review and Bankrate.com. It fosters critical thinking by exposing students to areas of interest that are outside of their chosen fields.

Offering 30 different majors, the school employs about 214 full-time faculty members (84% have terminal degrees), giving its 3,600 undergraduate students an average class size of 19. Students from 38 states and 24 countries have enrolled at UNCA, one of the top public liberal arts universities in the nation, where they are able to pursue bachelor of arts, bachelor of science and master of liberal arts degrees. The university has 15 NCAA Division I teams.

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College has the highest enrollment of any Western North Carolina higher education institution, serving more than 27,000 students annually. Established in 1959 as a trade school, AB Tech offers 39 career programs as well as courses that are transferable to any university in the UNC system.

One of the oldest and largest schools in the North Carolina Community College System, AB Tech has five schools – Allied Health and Public Service Education, Arts and Sciences, Business and Hospitality Education, Continuing Education, and Engineering and Applied Technology. It also has a popular continuing education program.

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE AT UNC-ASHEVILLE

This isn’t your grandparent’s retirement.

“There is so much more to retirement these days,” Catherine Frank said. “The idea of just golf and leisure is becoming less and less the way people want to spend their retirement.”

Sitting at her desk at the Reuters Center on the University of North Carolina at Asheville campus, Frank lights up when asked about just what this building is about.

“These are people who want to keep learning and keep using their skills, who want to give back to the community and also understand what the community is all about,” she said.

Frank is the executive director of the center, which is home to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). The center specializes in dozens of programs that aim at providing ongoing academic knowledge and cultural experience for those seniors who live and thrive in Western North Carolina.

“All of our OLLI members are so inspiring,” Frank said. “This program completely changes the possibilities that are at this stage of life.”

Originally the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement, OLLI is “dedicated to promoting lifelong learning, leadership, community service, and research.” Founded in 1988 by former UNCAsheville Chancellor David Brown, the institute was looked at as a way to connect Asheville and greater Western North Carolina by bringing together the influx of retirees to the area.

“David wanted to set UNC-Asheville apart from other schools, with OLLI being a big part of that,” Frank said. “He could see the popularity of Asheville when it came to retirees relocating to Western North Carolina, and he wanted to find ways to immerse them into the community through classes, seminars and volunteer service.”

What started out as 150 students has now grown to over 2,300 active participants each year. Of that, there are over 450 member volunteers who run the gamut of service, from putting together and instructing classes, to serving on committees and organizing research projects, to mentoring and consulting others within the UNC-Asheville student body.

“Other lifelong learning centers may offer courses, but few places like ours actually offer open discussions between members about

things like financial planning, learning how to use technology or health and wellness,” Frank said. “It’s about answering those questions they have as to ‘How am I going to fill my time?’ and ‘What is my identity after I’m no longer working?’”

Programs at OLLI cover an endless variety of topics and subjects, all of which changes with each impending season. Browsing the immense course catalog, one might come across Appalachian mountain music, yoga, Renaissance art, Shakespeare, crafts, Tai Chi, jazz piano, or “How to use your iPad,” to name a few. The programs hone in on the ideals set long ago by OLLI, whose focus on course structure revolves around the arts and humanities, the natural world, civic engagement, wellness, life transition and retirement relocation planning, intergenerational co-learning, and research on trends in the reinvention of retirement.

“When retirement was invented over a century ago, the idea of resting after age 65 was a good idea. But, as we’ve gone along and added more years to our life spans, we haven’t necessarily added structure that would add meaning to those years,” Frank said. “The idea of a 30-year vacation is probably not what someone wants these days. With our members, they want to take their talents and experiences acquired in life and make that transition to use them in different ways in their later years.”

And the Reuters Center itself has also found stability in — Catherine Frank, what it hopes to Reuters Center executive director achieve in the future as the programs ages and evolves. Alongside a $2 million endowment from the OLLI national organization when it joined the network in 2012, the UNCAsheville chapter also received a $1 million endowment from the Janirve Foundation, which was used to help construct the 20,000square-foot center and add courses to its programming.

“Having this building has really helped us stand alone compared to other lifelong learning programs around the country that are struggling to find space and funds to fit their needs,” Frank said.

Frank noted how even she has found encouragement and motivation from OLLI and its members when pondering her own retirement down the line. The influence of the members on greater Asheville extends well beyond the classroom and city limits, where wisdom and community involvement are at the forefront of what makes this region so unique and special.

“Every experience here is a learning opportunity,” Frank said. “All of our members and volunteers want to be here, bright and ready to help. It’s very personal for everyone here, and a great reminder of not only how incredible this area is, but also how much fun life can be no matter what age you are.”

“Every experience here is a learning opportunity.”

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Higher learning Right: AB Tech in Asheville offers programs in aviation and engineering, among many others.

Facing page: the Owen Theatre at Mars Hill College in Madison County.

AB TECH PHOTO • MAX COOPER PHOTO

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College 340 Victoria Rd. • Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-1921 www.abtech.edu

Blue Ridge Community College 180 W. Campus Dr. • Flat Rock, NC 28731 828-694-1700 www.blueridge.edu

Brevard College 1 Brevard College Dr. • Brevard, NC 28712 828-883-8292 www.brevard.edu

Haywood Community College 185 Freedlander Dr. • Clyde, NC 28721 828-627-4667 www.haywood.edu

Mars Hill College 100 Athletic St. • Mars Hill, NC 28754 866-642-4968 www.mhc.edu

Montreat College 310 Gaither Circle • Montreat, NC 28757 828-669-8012 www.montreat.edu

Southwestern Community College Sylva, NC 28779 828-339-4000 www.southwesterncc.edu

University of North Carolina at Asheville 1 University Heights • Asheville, NC 28804 828-251-6600 www.unca.edu

Warren Wilson College 701 Warren Wilson Rd. Swannanoa, NC 28778 828-298-3325 www.warren-wilson.edu

Western Carolina University N.C. 107 Cullowhee, NC 28723 828-928-4968 www.wcu.edu

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

The college has added several new programs, including an associate degree in healthcare business informatics, a mobile development diploma, a bio-gas option in industrial systems technology and a geospatial technology option as part of surveying.

AB Tech has additional campuses in Enka and Marshall.

Founded in 1889, Western Carolina University in Cullowhee serves more than 10,100 students from 38 states and 32 countries. Programs offering more than 220 majors include the nation’s highest-ranked entrepreneurship and project management programs and a teacher education program that has won national awards. Boasting the nation’s first accredited four-year emergency medical care program, the university also has a criminal justice program upon which North Carolina has modeled an accreditation program.

Students earn bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degrees.

With an enrollment of 1,295 students, Mars Hills College was founded in 1856 and affiliated with the North Carolina Baptist Convention. It offers 30 majors and 31 minors on its large, leafy campus in the Madison County town of Mars Hill. It has five schools – Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences; Education; Fine Arts; Humanities; and Mathematics and Natural Sciences. A member of the South Atlantic Conference, it fields teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.

Selected by the Fiske Guide to Colleges 2014 as a Top 20 “Best Buy” school in the nation for the eighth time since 2005, Warren Wilson College is environmentally friendly school whose students enhance their academic experience by working 15 hours a week on campus. They also must complete 100 hours of community service over four years. The college’s 1,000 students earn bachelor’s degrees in 48 majors and concentrations and 28 minors.

Taking at least one class within each of the school’s eight liberal arts areas, they attend classes that average 14 people in size.

“Christ-centered, student-focused, service-driven – equipping agents of transformation, renewal, and reconciliation” is the motto of Montreat College, a small four-year school in Montreat. Its liberal arts curriculum includes traditional and selected undergraduate and graduate professional degree programs, including degree programs for adults in the areas of business, education, management and nursing. Founded in 1897, Montreat College is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of the United States. In recent years, it had an enrollment of 755 students, with a student/faculty ratio of 9:1.

Brevard College in Transylvania County offers more than 40 majors and minors

AshevilleBuncombe Technical Community College serves more than 27,000 students annually.

degree programs, including those in art, biology, English, environmental studies, exercise science, history, mathematics, music and psychology. Its pre-professional studies include pre-dentistry, pre-law, pre-medicine and pre-nursing. With a student body over 700 students in 2013, the institution has 55 full-time faculty members with a student/faculty

ratio of 12:1. The college has more than 30 student clubs, as well as lots of intramurals and outdoor adventure opportunities. Among its 18 varsity sports are baseball, basketball, cross-country, cycling, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track and field and volleyball.

Offering 30 areas of study, Blue Ridge Community College near Flat Rock in Henderson County has more than 95 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, many of them qualifying students to work immediately after completing their course work. About 2,000 students are enrolled at its main campus and a satellite facility in Brevard. It has one of the largest continuing education programs in North Carolina.

Haywood Community College, serving primarily Haywood, Jackson and Buncombe counties, offers more than 50 programs. Its 2,478 students may select coursework in the departments of Advanced Technologies, Arts & General Education, Business & Entrepreneurship, Creative Arts, Health & Human Services and Natural Resources Management. It also offers distance learning and continuing education opportunities. Like all of North Carolina’s community colleges, it offers general education courses that transfer to the state university system, allowing students to get their first two years of university classes completed at a bargain price.

Serving the people of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, Southwestern Community College in Sylva offers coursework in Arts & Sciences, Career Technologies and Health Services. More than 2,600 students are taking classes offered by more than 60 programs, while another 5,500 participate in the college’s ongoing continuation programs.

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Have it all at Deerfield – extraordinary surroundings,

activity-filled days and nights, an extensive list of amenities – all in one of America’s most desirable retirement destinations, minutes from historic Biltmore Estate, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Asheville’s vibrant ant downtown. Yoou’ ll be free to explore new interests and passions, embracee new ace. friendships, andd enjoy liffe at your pace.

Call to schedule a visit and learn how you cann live the retirement of your ddreams. reams.

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1617 Hendersonvill Hendersonvillee Rd. Asheville, Ash NC deerfffiieldwnc.orgg 800-284-1531 deer 800-284-15 828-210-4592 Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Health Care

A faith-based hospital in Hendersonville, Park Ridge Health was recently rated No. 1 in Patient Engagement and Patient Pick for Western North Carolina.

PARK RIDGE HEALTH PHOTO

In good hands People seeking better health have been coming to Asheville and the surrounding mountains for decades, drawing upon the area’s reputation for restorative air, healing waters and stimulating altitude. That history continues today, giving the Asheville area one of the state’s highest concentrations of physicians in the state.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Because the area is so attractive, Asheville has more doctors per capita than most cities of its size. But the wealth of talent and commitment isn’t confined to the region’s largest city. Western North Carolina has several fine hospitals that practice the latest techniques in treatment, surgery and preventive care.

Leading the way is the region’s largest hospital system, the more than 1,100-bed Mission Health System, which operates six hospitals in western North Carolina, and numerous outpatient and surgery centers. These include the flagship Mission Hospital in Asheville, along with Angel Medical Center in Franklin, Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, HighlandsCashiers Hospital in Highlands, McDowell Hospital in Marion, Transylvania Regional Hospital in Brevard, post-acute care provider CarePartners, long-term acute care provider Asheville Specialty Hospital, the region’s only dedicated Level II trauma center and Mission Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital. Mission Health employs approximately 10,000 team members, including more than 1,000 physicians trained in the latest developments in health care, medicine and technology.

Mission Health, which traces its roots to the 1880s when the local women of the “Little Flower Mission” paid weekly visits to the homes of the needy, has been recognized for delivering world-class care to the people it serves. Truven Health Analytics, formerly Thomson Reuters, has recognized Mission Health as one of the nation’s Top 15 Health Systems 2012-2015. Mission

Wishing You Well &ůŽǁĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ďĂůůŽŽŶƐ ďƌŝŶŐ ƐŵŝůĞƐ ƚŽ ŽƵƌ ƉĂƟĞŶƚƐ͕ ďƵƚ Ăƚ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů͕ ǁĞ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌ ŵŽƌĞ ͘ ͘ ͘ ^ŝŶĐĞ ϭϵϮϵ͕ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ŚĞƌĞ͕ ĐĂƌŝŶŐ ĨŽƌ ŽƵƌ ĨƌŝĞŶĚƐ ĂŶĚ ŶĞŝŐŚďŽƌƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĂƌŽůŝŶĂ &ŽŽƚŚŝůůƐ͘ Ɛ Ă ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ ŚŽƐƉŝƚĂů͕ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ĮůůƐ Ă ŚƵŐĞ ŶĞĞĚ͕ ƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐ ŝŵŵĞĚŝĂƚĞ ĂĐĐĞƐƐ ƚŽ ůŝĨĞƐĂǀŝŶŐ emergency care, ŽƵƚƐƚĂŶĚŝŶŐ surgical care, ĂŶĚ ĂƩĞŶƟǀĞ͕ ĐŽŵƉĂƐƐŝŽŶĂƚĞ acute medical care͘ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů ŝƐ ƉƌŽƵĚ ƚŽ ŽīĞƌ ƚŚĞ ůĂƚĞƐƚ ŝŶ ĚŝŐŝƚĂů imaging, ŽƵƚĐŽŵĞƐͲďĂƐĞĚ ƌĞŚĂďŝůŝƚĂƟŽŶ, ƌĞƐƉĞĐƞƵů geriatric-psychiatric care, ƐƚĂƚĞͲŽĨͲƚŚĞͲĂƌƚ ŽƌƚŚŽƉĞĚŝĐ ĐĂƌĞ ĂŶĚ ŵŽƌĞ͘ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů ƌĞŵĂŝŶƐ ĐŽŵŵŝƩĞĚ ƚŽ ƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐ ƋƵĂůŝƚLJ ĐĂƌĞ͙ Ă ƐĂĨĞ͕ ĐŽŵĨŽƌƚĂďůĞ ĂŶĚ ĐĂƌŝŶŐ ĂƚŵŽƐƉŚĞƌĞ͙ ŵĞĚŝĐĂů ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ƌŝŐŚƚ ŚĞƌĞ ŝŶ ŽƵƌ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ͘ &ůŽǁĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ďĂůůŽŽŶƐ ĂƌĞ ŶŝĐĞ͕ ďƵƚ Ăƚ ^ƚ͘ >ƵŬĞ͛Ɛ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů͕ ǁĞ ĚĞůŝǀĞƌ ĨĂƌ ŵŽƌĞ Ͳ ĞdžĐĞƉƟŽŶĂů ĐĂƌĞ͕ ĐůŽƐĞ ƚŽ ŚŽŵĞ͘

ϭϬϭ ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů ƌŝǀĞ͕ ŽůƵŵďƵƐ͕ E ͻ ϴϮϴ͘ϴϵϰ͘ϯϯϭϭ ͻ ǁǁǁ͘^ĂŝŶƚ>ƵŬĞƐ,ŽƐƉŝƚĂů͘ĐŽŵ Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Health Care MISSION HEALTH,

BY THE NUMBERS: Mission Hospital in Asheville.

MISSION HEALTH PHOTOS

Park Ridge Health Primary Care Physician, Teresa K. Bradley, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. cares for patient at Park Ridge Health South Asheville.

Because the area is so attractive, Asheville has more doctors per capita than most cities of its size.

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,700 Physicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,100+ Volunteers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000+ Beds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,076 Counties served . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Births . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,599 ED Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,297 2014 Community Investment . . . . . . . . . . . . $152,398,000

Health is the only health system in the nation to receive this recognition four years in a row, and the only health system in North Carolina to achieve Top 15 recognition. Mission Hospital has been named one of Truven Health’s Top 100 for seven consecutive years, and Mission Heart has been named by Truven Health a Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital 10 times. Just five hospitals in the U.S. have been named to the Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital list more times than Mission heart.

According to Truven, if all cardiovascular hospitals in the nation performed at the same level as Mission and the other top 50 heart hospitals, more than 8,000 lives would be saved, and nearly 3,500 medical complications would be avoided each year.

Mission Children’s Hospital has 60 board certified pediatric subspecialists in more than 20 different specialties. With 130 beds, Mission Children’s Hospital averages 3,000 patient admissions to its pediatric inpatient units, 4,500 outpatient pediatric surgeries and nearly 14,000 pediatric emergency department visits annually. Each year, about 700 ill and premature newborns receive lifesaving care in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Babies admitted to the NICU at Mission Children’s Hospital go home 13 days earlier than the national average.

Mission Health’s network of primary care physicians and specialists provide quality convenient care close to where you live or work. To find a provider close to you, visit www.mission-health.org.

Mission Health’s focus is, has been and will always be to ensure that high quality, convenient, accessible and affordable care is available to everyone while ensuring the ability to meet the region’s population health needs for decades to come. Mission Health’s ultimate goal is to support all people to “Be Well, Get Well and Stay Well.”

Western North Carolina is served by several other excellent hospitals, such as Angel Medical Center in Franklin, CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville, Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, Harris Hospital in Sylva, Haywood Regional Medical Center in Clyde, Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, Park Ridge Health in Hendersonville, St. Luke’s Hospital in Columbus and Transylvania Community Hospital in Brevard.

Created in 1923, Angel Medical Center in Franklin that is part of the Mission Health System of Asheville. Angel is a 59-bed hospital with seven operating rooms and an 80-person medical staff, the majority of them board-certified. Its emergency room is staff 24 hours a day by nurses and physicians. Among the hospital’s latest additions is a digital mammography system that spots abnormalities to help doctors

Urgent Care open every day, including holidays.

Hopefully things go smoothly as you find your way around, develop new relationships, start that new job, or enroll in new schools. Should anything pop up - like a minor injury or illness we’ve got you covered!

Minor Emergencies.

Major Attention.

With two convenient locations, you can promptly receive complete, quality medical care and quickly get back to settling in. Let Pardee Urgent Care be your new medical home until you become established with a health care provider.

Hendersonville: 828.697.3232 212A Thompson Street | Off Four Seasons Boulevard

Fletcher/Arden: 828.651.6350 2695 Hendersonville Rd | Mission Pardee Health Campus

To find a physician, visit pardeeselect.org.

Health Care MEDICAL FACILITIES Angel Medical Center 120 Riverview St. • Franklin, NC 28734 828-524-8411 www.angelmed.org

CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital 68 Sweeten Creek Rd. • Asheville, NC 28813 828-277-4800 www.carepartners.org

Charles George VA Medical Center 1100 Tunnel Rd. • Asheville, NC 28805 828-299-2519 www.asheville.va.gov

Harris Regional Hospital — A Duke LifePoint Hospital 68 Hospital Rd. • Sylva, NC 28779 828-586-7000 www.westcare.org

Haywood Regional Medical Center – A Duke LifePoint Hospital 262 Leroy George Dr. • Clyde, NC 28721 828-456-7311 www.haymed.org

diagnose breast cancer in its earliest stage. Angel provides a safe patient experience through its patient safety team, medication usage review group and environment of care team. It emphasizes exercise as a way for patients with cardiac and pulmonary problems to regain strength and health. Angel is under a management affiliation with Mission Hospital in Asheville.

CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital in Asheville is an 80-bed regional referral center with programs from those suffering stroke, brain injury, spinal chord injury, multiple trauma, amputation, joint replacement and neurological disorders. The only licensed rehabilitation hospital in Western North Carolina, it is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, meaning that it has met or exceeded rigorous rehab standards. Its therapists have an average of 14 years of experience, and its patient-to-nurse ratio is 6 to 1. It participation in a national database that compares its patient outcomes to similar rehabilitation hospitals around the country allows it to continually assess and improve the quality of its rehabilitation programs.

Charles George VA Medical Center is a 116-bed acute care facility with a separate 120-bed extended care and rehabilitation center serving more than 31,000 veterans from the Western North Carolina area and portions of South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. It provides primary, tertiary and long-term care in areas of medicine, surgery, mental health, neurology, oncology, dentistry, ophthalmology, geriatrics, women’s health, spinal cord injury, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Because the hospital is a teaching hospital, it provides a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology and programs in education and research.

Haywood Regional Medical Center is a 169-bed hospital serving Haywood County and surrounding counties with 160-plus physicians on its medical staff.

Haywood Regional Medical Center offers a comprehensive array of services

Highlands-Cashiers Hospital 190 Hospital Dr. • Highlands, NC 28741 828-526-1200 www.hchospital.org

Mission Health 509 Biltmore Ave. • Asheville, NC 28801-4690 828-213-1111 www.missionhospitals.org

Pardee Hospital 800 N. Justice St. • Hendersonville, NC 28791 828-696-1000 www.pardeehospital.org

Park Ridge Health 100 Hospital Dr. • Hendersonville, NC 28792 855.PRH.LIFE (855.774.5433) Parkridgehealth.org

St. Luke’s Hospital 101 Hospital Dr. • Columbus, NC 28722 828-894-3311 wwwsaintlukehospital.com

Swain Community Hospital 45 Plateau St. • Bryson City, NC, 28713 828-488-2155 www.myswaincommunity.com

Transylvania Community Hospital 260 Hospital Dr. • Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-9111 www.trhospital.org

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Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

A not-for-profit, faith-based health care organization, Park Ridge Health employees more than 1,100 people.

PARK RIDGE HEALTH SOUTH ASHEVILLE PHOTO

GREAT CARE should

ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE

close to home

Haywood Regional is fully accredited by The Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Haywood Regional Medical Center is committed to providing the highest quality care possible, along with the expertise and leading edge technology you expect at larger hospitals, all conveniently close to home. We are supported by Duke Health’s clinical quality and patient safety and LifePoint Health’s extensive resources, knowledge and experience in operating community hospitals.

Services encompass over 30 medical specialties, including: • • • • • • • •

Cardiopulmonary Services Diagnostic Imaging Emergency Services Fitness Center & Wellness Programs Home Health / Hospice In-Patient Psychiatric Unit Intensive Care Unit Women’s and Children’s Services including OB/GYN, Labor & Delivery, Prenatal Classes, Pediatrics, Lactation Consultants.

• • • • • • • •

Laboratory Services Primary Care Clinics Rehabilitative Services Sleep Medicine Sports Medicine Urgent Care Wound Care Surgical Services including Vascular/Thoracic, Spine, General, GYN, Orthopedics, Ear Nose and Throat, Eye, Oral and Podiatry

Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES 262 Leroy George Drive, Clyde, NC 28721 | 800.424.DOCS | MyHaywoodRegional.com

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Health Care Haywood Regional Medical Center is also home to the Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center, the Haywood Regional Outpatient Care Center, and nearby, The Homestead, an inpatient hospice facility. including imaging, orthopedics, spine services, cardiology, general surgery, thoracic and vascular surgery, women’s care, emergency medicine, behavioral health, and includes 12 multi-specialty physician clinics. The campus, located in Clyde, is also home to the 54,000square-foot Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center, the 44,000-square-foot Haywood Regional Outpatient Care Center (includes the outpatient surgery center, laboratory, imaging center including women’s imaging and physician practices) and nearby, The Homestead, an inpatient hospice facility. Haywood Regional Medical Center also operates two urgent care centers in the county, in Hazelwood and Canton. As a part of Duke LifePoint Healthcare, Haywood Regional Medical Center is supported by Duke University Health System’s world-renowned leadership in clinical excellence and quality care and LifePoint Health’s extensive resources, knowledge and experience in operating community hospitals.

Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva, established in 1925, is an 86bed acute and specialty care facility serving Western North Carolina with more than 100 physicians practicing in locations throughout a multi-county region, including Harris Regional Hospital Medical Park of Franklin, an outpatient facility in Macon County. Harris is also affiliated with Duke LifePoint.

Swain Community Hospital, established in 1950, is a 48-bed Critical Access Hospital serving a multi-county region with primary care, emergency medicine and subspecialty care including a pain clinic and a transitional care unit. Harris Regional Hospital and Swain Community Hospital began an affiliation in 1997 and joined Duke LifePoint Healthcare in 2014.

In Highlands, the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital has 24 hospital beds, four operating rooms and 84 nursing home beds. Its boardcertified physician staff covers 14 areas of healthcare in specialties usually found only in much larger facilities. It continues to update its range of diagnostic procedures by adding new state-of-the-art equipment. The hospital provides general surgery, as well as hand, orthopedic, ophthalmology, gastrointestinal, dermatology and plastic surgery. Nearly all of its physicians’ offices are on the hospital campus.

Tracing its history back to 1913, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville is a not-for-profit community hospital managed by UNC Health Care. Pardee is licensed for 222 acute care beds and has 13 operating rooms and 238 physicians and specialists on its medical staff. It also has a 130-bed nursing facility. The medical staff works in

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40 medical specialties. Henderson County’s second-largest employer, it has 1,200 employees. Established in 1953, the hospital offers an array of health services that include adult day health, rehab and wellness center, health education center and urgent care. Pardee is owned by, but not funded by, Henderson County.

Park Ridge Health, also in Hendersonville, has a total of 103 hospital beds and eight operating rooms. Park Ridge Health has more than 141 physicians working alongside more than 1,100 care providers in 42 practices across Western North Carolina. Among the services it offers are audiology, behavioral health, cancer and cardiology services, dermatology, family practice, internal medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedics, pediatrics, podiatry, respiratory therapy, urology and wound care.

The award-winning experience goes beyond the care for patients.

Park Ridge Health is repeatedly ranked a top place to work. Gallup recently named Park Ridge Health a Great Workplace for the fifth year in a row. In 2015, Prevention Partners awarded Park Ridge Health the WorkHealthy America Excellence Recognition. The PRH Wellness programs, including Fit for Life and Fitbit incentive programs locked in this ranking for the second year in a row. Among its other honors and rankings, Park Ridge Health was rated No. 1 in Western North Carolina in Patient Engagement by Becker’s Hospital Review and Becker’s ASC Review. In 2015, Park Ridge Health patients made the hospital No. 1 Patient Pick Hospital in North Carolina. Business North Carolina bestowed that honor on Park Ridge Health because 85 percent of patients who experienced care in its hospital said they would always recommend Park Ridge Health to others.

St. Luke’s Hospital, a critical access 55-bed hospital that serves Polk County and upper South Carolina, has been operating for more than 80 years. Services include emergency, psychiatric, geriatric, wound and home care, as well as surgery, radiology and rehab and respiratory therapy. Working with Rosenberg Bone and Joint, it offers patients new procedures in hip and custom-fit knee replacement that result in shorter hospital stays and improved recovery period.

Transylvania Regional Hospital is licensed for 92 beds and has six operating rooms. It opened the 4,000-square-foot Brevard Cancer & Infusion Center at the hospital in 2009 and has treated hundreds of patients. That same year it launched “The Joint Experience,” enhancing its joint replacement surgery services. The hospital also has operated a digital mammography system that allows images to be archived so they can be easily recalled for comparison with future tests.

Park Ridge Health is your home for award-winning care.

Park Ridge Health’s dedication to achieving perfection in health care dates back to 1910.

Today, our extensive network of providers and specialists is more accessible than ever.

Our comprehensive team works closely together to coordinate your care within one of the broadest physician networks in the region. Park Ridge Health connects you to more than 250 medical providers, which includes more than 35 primary care providers and nearly 100 specialists representing over 30 specialties. With clinics and services located across Western North Carolina, we are here to give you and your family the personalized and award-winning care you deserve.

PRIMARY CARE SPECIALTY SERVICES SAME-DAY & NEXT-DAY APPOINTMENTS LAB & IMAGING SERVICES

Park Ridge Health has been recognized as the #1 Hospital in North Carolina for patient picks.

85% of Park Ridge Health hospital patients would always recommend our hospital to others. — Business North Carolina, March 2015

To find a provider near you, call 855.PRH.LIFE (855.774.5433) to speak with a Patient Care Navigator, or visit us online at parkridgehealth.org.

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Nonprofit Sector

T

Twenty-seven years is a long time for anything.

“It amazing to me that it’s still going on,” Warren Haynes said. “It’s getting bigger and better every year, and I don’t think we would have predicted that when we started it years ago.”

While on tour recently, Haynes phoned in from Warsaw, Poland, to speak at length about the Christmas Jam, the annual all-day rock-n-roll celebration in Asheville that raises money for the local Habitat for Humanity.

“Somewhere along the line it stopped being a local party and started becoming a national and international party,” Haynes chuckled.

Lead singer/guitarist of rock juggernaut Gov’t Mule, Haynes is known the world around for his solo work atop his endless years on the road as a member of The Allman Brother Band and The Dead. And with all of those renowned stages, acclaimed albums and rock royalty collaboration, it all began in Western North Carolina for Haynes, who was born and raised in Asheville.

From what started out as a small gathering one winter’s night in 1988 at the now-defunct 45 Cherry Club in downtown Asheville has now evolved into a standalone beacon of music, community and charity each December at the U.S Cellular Center.

“In the beginning, we gave to a different charity every year, and at some point one of the charities was Habitat,” Haynes said. “We really connected and it clicked. I was very impressed with the organization and decided to continue with them the next year, and then made it a permanent connection.”

Now in its 27th year, Christmas Jam has always been something of a passion and personal project for Haynes, whose musical showcase has led to 33 homes built in Buncombe County.

The event recently handed over a donation of a halfmillion dollars to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, the largest to-date from the Christmas Jam. With each home built, Haynes himself personally meets with the families to celebrate and share in their new chapter in life.

“It’s very emotional, and I think we connect more with the whole concept when we meet the families,” he said. “It’s a wonderful feeling to get to know some of these people and see how the Christmas Jam changed their lives for the better. We’re all in this together and we all need to work together.”

And with their latest endeavor, the Christmas Jam and Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity have broken ground on Hudson Hills (named after Haynes’ son), a subdivision in Buncombe that will eventually be the site of 25 homes and families upon completion.

“As an Ashevillian and Western North Carolinian, it’s important to me because this area helped shape who I am — as a person, and as a musician,” Haynes said. “On some levels, it’s easier for musicians to give back because we just love doing what we do. But also, it’s important for musicians. Speaking for myself, I’ve been given an opportunity to do what I love everyday, which is a huge leg up. For anybody who does something they love for their work, you have to feel lucky, and I do.”

The house(s) that music built DANNY CLINCH PHOTO

“It’s a wonderful feeling to get to know some of these people and see how the Christmas Jam changed their lives for the better.

— Warren Haynes

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Nonprofit Sector

HENDERSON HABITAT CONTINUES TO GROW Originally, the Henderson Habitat for Humanity aimed to build a few homes a year.

But, through decades of hard work, increased volunteer numbers/hours and fundraising, the organization now has its sights set on upwards of 15 structures per year coming to completion.

“Our affiliate is very strong, but we need to grow in an effort to meet the growing needs of Henderson County,” said Henderson Habitat Executive Director Angie Hunter. “We’re doing that by looking for additional ways to fundraise beyond our traditional sources such as federal and community grants, ReStore operations and mortgage payments. We are working to improve our private philanthropy program to increase both major donations and planned giving.”

For 2015, the main goal for the Henderson chapter was aimed at finally breaking ground on Phase II of Dodd Meadows, a Habitat neighborhood that has become a centerpiece for the organization.

“We’ve had to seek additional funding for both projects, and look for ways to get construction started even though the infrastructure was delayed,” Hunter said. “We’ve had to be very creative to stay on pace to meet our construction goals for the year. We aren’t done yet, and have figured out ways to make it all work.”

And beyond the hammer and nails aspect of raising a new home into the air, Hunter wants to push the word of Habitat further into Western North — Angie Hunter, Carolina hearts and minds.

Henderson Habitat “We have many other executive director volunteer opportunities available,” she said. “From helping to identify and qualify future partner families, to mentoring families throughout the construction process, teaching them how to become a productive and successful homeowners, working at our ReStores, and serving on committees to execute successful fundraising events.”

“We’ve had to be very creative to stay on pace to meet our construction goals for the year. We aren’t done yet, and have figured out ways to make it all work.”

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Haywood Habitat for Humanity completed three homes in 2015, with 35,000 volunteer hours donated. HAYWOOD HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PHOTO

HAYWOOD HABITAT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE Since 1990, the Haywood County chapter of Habitat for Humanity has raised funds and walls for numerous homes to be built for those in need of housing. In 2015 alone, it completed three homes that now house 11 people, with over 35,350 volunteer hours donated. Twenty-one folks received financial education classes. More than 100 women learned to build affordable housing through the “Women Build” program. And more than $100,000 has been generated through combined city and property tax revenue from homes built by the Haywood Habitat.

The organization recently broke ground on Walton Woods, a neighborhood Habitat project. The development will have eight new homes and a common area with a playground.

“Right now, we’re working on the infrastructure for the neighborhood, and plan to begin building the first homes right after the first of the year,” said Haywood Habitat Executive Director Jayme Cooper Sheppard. “Depending on volunteer and financial support, as well as weather, we expect that it will take about four years to complete the project.”

But, for Sheppard, there is still much work to be done.

“We’re growing. So many Haywood County individuals, businesses, civic groups, and church groups have stepped up and provided critically needed volunteer and financial support to help make that happen,” she said. “The community has really embraced our ReStore with donations, shoppers, and volunteers.

It’s an exciting time at Haywood Habitat. We’re building relationships, working together, and making a lasting difference in the community.”

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Sports

Baseball is a storied tradition in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina.

McCormick Field (pictured) is home to the Asheville Tourists.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Playtime in the park

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Heading south from downtown Asheville, along bustling Biltmore Avenue, streams of people make their way to McCormick Field.

It’s another warm, breezy day in Western North Carolina, with the Asheville Tourists getting ready to take the ball field.

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“Baseball in Asheville is so historic,” said Larry Hawkins. “Each year, we’re ranked one of the best ballparks in America to see a game. The stadium, the crowd, the backdrop — it’s the epitome of beauty in this region.”

General manager of the Tourists, Hawkins sits proudly in the stands, observing his team as they do warm-ups in preparation for their game that evening, which was the South Atlantic League championship. For a team that was stumbled a bit out of the starting gate in 2015, the Tourists regained their composure for a late-season surge into the playoffs, onward to the title game.

“They struggled in the first half of the season, but they put it together by mid-June — these guys have a lot of heart,” Hawkins said.

Pitcher Jerad McCrummen had similar sentiments.

“We’re a young team with our position players, but we’re a relentless bunch,” he said. “To see where we came from in the beginning of the season to where we are now, it’s about not giving up, not letting the little things get to you, continuing to fight for each other.”

And though it’s just another day “in the office” for the ballplayers and front office administration, what does remain is the long and storied history of Asheville baseball, something everyone involved with the Tourists is well aware of.

“It’s pretty great to tell folks that Ty Cobb once patrolled centerfield here,” Hawkins said.

“You walk in here and there’s pictures hanging up of Cobb and Babe Ruth, and all these other legends who played here over the years,” added Team Manager Warren Schaeffer.

“And anytime you can play a field like that, there’s a sense of history you can’t get anywhere else — it’s pretty special.”

Baseball first established itself in Asheville in 1897. With the 4,000-seat McCormick Field built in 1924, the Tourists (a team name from 1915-1971, 1976-present) have been a mainstay in the Southeast evolution of the game, where Hall of Famers from every era

“It means a lot to us to know we have that supportive crowd to play for every time — they truly do care if we win or lose.� — Jerad McCrummen, pitcher

have passed through these gates. With a Class-A minor league status, they’ve been a Colorado Rockies affiliate since 1994. “There’s nothing like summer and baseball in the mountains,â€? Schaeffer said. “I love it. I go out there hoping these guys will play to the best of their ability, that we’re ready and it’s their time to shine. It’s great feeling to hit that ďŹ eld and compete every night.â€?

At the core of the Tourists is their most valuable asset — the fans. Day in and day out, thousands of folks from around Southern Appalachia and beyond show up to cheer on the home team. The team itself heads off the ďŹ eld often to help out with nonproďŹ t organizations and community events. It’s a two-way street of camaraderie and appreciation that neither side — the Tourists and local residents — takes for granted. “We’ve been to other ballparks that don’t draw the crowds like we do here, and it means a lot to us to know we have that supportive crowd to play for every time — they truly do care if we win or lose,â€? McCrummen said. “The fans are incredible here. They always pack in, and it’s a big advantage to have a crowd that is loud and supportive behind you,â€?

Schaeffer added. “All their cheers echo off the

tin outďŹ eld walls, with every team who visits always talking about how difficult it is to play here because of the crowd.â€?

McCrummen noted the importance of the lessons learned on the ďŹ eld, those lifelong traits of hard work, determination and pride that reside within the realm of sport, which seamlessly transitions into other career endeavors. “It’s all about that daily grind,â€? he said. “Yes, at the end of the day it is just a game. But, it’s also our profession, and we’re all trying to get to the next level. If anything, this is a place for us to come, learn, and grow, where in the bigger picture we’re all trying to make a positive impact on the community.â€?

And as early bird fans have already found parking and are wandering into the ballpark, Hawkins can’t help but mention just how lucky he feels being part of the Tourists organization. “It’s more than just baseball here, it’s about providing family entertainment and making sure people are having a great time,� he said. “It’s an incredible vibe, where the place is buzzing, the crack of the bat and ball, and you get goose bumps when 4,000 people are in here rooting for the same thing — baseball.�

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Culinary Style

Cosmopolitan country cuisine

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Since it opened in 2011, Curate, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant in downtown Asheville, has become a prized centerpiece in a lush, ever-growing food scene in and around the city.

Creative cuisine from Frog’s Leap Public House in Waynesville (top), and a bustling scene from downtown Asheville’s Curate (above).

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“Our names means ‘to cure and take care of yourself,’ and that’s what we’re telling our guests they can do here,” Executive Chef/Co-Owner Katie Button said. “When you walk into this place on a Saturday night, the kitchen and the audience are going back and forth. It’s a ball of energy that’s so contagious you want to be part of it.”

Button’s intent for individuality in the kitchen is a notion wafting through restaurants around Western North Carolina.

Over the past decade, there has been a food revolution in the area. Along every downtown, you’ll find anything from Cajun to French, Asian to Italian, Mexican to Mediterranean. Whether it’s local establishments incorporating different dishes into the menus or the troves of culinary artisans relocating here, the desire to try something new and different is all around in this land of cosmopolitan country cuisines.

“The entrepreneurs here are unbelievable,” Button said. “The community welcomes outsiders and something completely unique to Asheville. You can relate to other business owners, and we’re all here for the same reasons.”

While the culinary scene of the region expands, and palettes become more sophisticated, the passion and love put into a meal comes from the mere fact that the restaurant chefs, owners and servers all reside in Western North Carolina — a place they are proud to call home.

Head chef at The Sweet Onion in Waynesville, co-owner/head chef Doug Weaver is also at the forefront of a pioneering culinary movement in greater Western North Carolina.

“The thing is, Haywood County is becoming a place that when people are in the area they may go to Waynesville or wherever around here because there is this restaurant they have to try,” he said. “There are a lot of people planning their trips around what places to eat here.”

Residents and visitors alike are starting to take note. Go into any

Beverly-Hanks agent picks Asheville RESTAURANTS Curate, Cucina 24, Corner Kitchen THINGS TO DO Biltmore House, Restaurants & Brewery Hopping

Waynesville RESTAURANTS Frogs Leap, Chef’s Table, Sweet Onion THINGS TO DO Hiking, Fishing

Hendersonville RESTAURANTS Black Rose, Square Root, Never Blue THINGS TO DO Enjoy Main Street, Flat Rock Playhouse

Why move here: Quality of life, Mountain Geography

restaurant on a weekend evening or during the busy summer months and you’ll see bellies full by a made-from-scratch or farm-to-table meal.

“We have many restaurants that can go head to head with any restaurant across the country, and we want to make sure that we continue to have the variety we have,” said CeCe Hipps, president of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce.

Launched in 2007, The Admiral has held a steady course as a wordof-mouth culinary sensation within Asheville. With a specialized menu that switches up monthly, The Admiral offers everything from flat iron steaks to a San Francisco style seafood stew to farm-to-table dishes that incorporate any number of fresh produce items bought directly from farmers and growers in Western North Carolina.

“We change up things seasonally, and we’ll have people knocking on our door everyday with local greens and produce we’ve never used before,” said co-owner Drew Wallace. “Sometimes we’ll have fresh forged mushrooms or a new pork product, which are all great things we have available locally here in Asheville.”

Opened in 2013, Farm Burger is the combination of a farm-totable restaurant and All-American burger joint. The meat and produce is raised in Western North Carolina, which means it’s not only fresh when served, but also beneficial to the environmental and economical stability of the region.

“I think this area is a great connection of small communities. Everyone is really well connected and excited to know where their food comes from,” said George Frangos, co-owner of Farm Burger in Asheville.

“Everyone is very supportive of organic restaurants and local farmers.”

Frogs Leap Public House in Waynesville knew from the start that though breaking into the food business would provide some challenges, but the owners also were confident that the initial intent and purpose of the restaurant would ultimately win out. With a philosophy of offering fresh, local farm ingredients, the location makes sure to always serve what’s in season or what’s on the market

“I want my guests to walk out of here knowing they had one of the best meals of their lives.”

— Katie Button, Curaté

that can fit perfectly with their farm-to-table cuisines.

“My whole goal is to feature Waynesville and Western North Carolina through art, food, music and culture,” said Kaighn Raymond, head chef at Frogs Leap. “Everything we do here at the restaurant is about trying to showcase the qualities and great life we live here in Western North Carolina. I love it all, which is why I moved here.”

And for Button and Curate, it’s about quality over quantity, with her restaurant a prime example of what can happen when a dream is put into motion.

“Nowadays, my expectations are high, and my biggest fear is not meeting them,” she said. “I want my guests to walk out of here knowing they had one of the best meals of their lives. It’s all about the food, the service and the people.”

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33

Farm-to-Table

The Waynesville Historic Farmer’s Market is home to an array of local and regional products, from fresh produce to meat, handmade crafts to artisan beverages. MAX COOPER PHOTO

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From the ground up

Popping down the tailgate of their truck, Paige Witherington and Justin Dansby hop up and take a seat. Their bodies relax as they scan their surroundings.

Nearby Crab Creek flows by in its timeless rhythm, weaving through the fertile valley on the outskirts of Brevard.

Cradling the landscape are innumerable mountains that make up this section of the Blue Ridge.

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“It’s paradise out here,” Witherington said. “Running a farm is a sunup to sundown job. For us, having this place and also having a world-class trout stream right here, world-class mountain biking down the road makes this a true outdoorsman’s community.”

Co-owners/founders of Pitch Pine Organic Farm in Penrose, the duo’s longtime dream of operating their own sustainable farm came to fruition in early 2014. The seven-acre property is situated smack dab in one of the most pristine stretches of soil in Western North Carolina.

“We’ve always loved the mountains, always played in the mountains,” Witherington said. “We love Brevard and we’re lucky enough to come across this great piece of land.”

With the recent boom in demand for organic produce, meat and farm-to-table restaurants, Western North Carolina has become a hotbed for independent, natural food products. Between handcrafted beer using local ingredients, fresh meat from grass-fed cattle, fine wines, fruits and vegetables, the possibilities are endless.

“Western North Carolina is on the fast track. It’s lightyears beyond where other places are with organic farming and farm-to-table, and it will just continue,” Dansby said.

“The key is to get more consumers educated and on board and the extension services are fantastic around here. A lot of that comes from the original tobacco and apple farms and the networks they created here.”

Owner of Smoking J’s Fiery Foods, Joel Mowrey has established his company into the largest chili pepper farm on the East Coast.

Incorporated in 2008, the 10-acre Candler farm has become known throughout the Southeast and beyond as one of the finest producers of peppers in the country.

“Peppers are so tough and tolerant. A lot of these pepper varieties, and vegetables in general, grow well in Western North Carolina,” he said. “The cool nights and moisture content in the air is excellent for what we do. We even have Caribbean varieties that grow over eight feet tall — they’re monsters.”

With his family and business roots set deep into the mountains of valleys of Western North Carolina, Mowrey is thankful Learn more about WNC’s TV for all the support farm-to-table movement and enthusiasm he’s beverly-hanks.tv received from the community and other local businesses since day one. For him, it’s about connecting the dots within your own backyard, taking care of one another and building a strong sense of pride in where you live.

“It really helps to catapult your business when you have the support of numerous agricultural and food-based organizations in this area. There’s a lot of excitement for local products not only by other businesses, but by the consumers, too — it’s in everything here,” he said. “There is this general commitment in this region for people to please other people, and you see that with all the artists and craftsmen who stand being their

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“Running a farm is a sunup to sundown job. For us, having this place and also having a worldclass trout stream right here, world-class mountain biking down the road makes this a true outdoorsman’s community.”

— Paige Witherington, Pitch Pine Organic Farm

products and get supported. Western North Carolina has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world — it’s an adult’s playground.”

Since they acquired the land, Pitch Pine have planted, grown and harvested an array of fresh produce that finds its way to the Transylvania Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning. Farming — and local, organic produce in general — is a vital aspect of the blossoming revival in the farm-to-table culinary scene that has overtaken the palettes of Southern Appalachia.

“There’s this old Appalachian community spirit where it’s not a competition, but more like, ‘Hey, we can learn from each other,’” Dansby said. “More and more farmers are coming to this area and more farmland is becoming available. There’s definitely a resurgence in Western North Carolina and it’s only going to pick up. If you want to eat real food, this is the only way.”

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Something Brewing

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Growing by hops and bounds

Hi-Wire Brewing in downtown Asheville.

MAX COOPER PHOTO

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With over 35 independent establishments in Asheville and surrounding towns, the craft beer industry is booming in these parts. Voted “Beer City USA” in 2010 and 2011, Asheville has become the epicenter for a beverage movement unseen in not only the industry, but also the nation as a whole.

In 2014, craft beer pioneer and industry leader Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Chico, California) opened its $100 million, 180-acre East Coast production facility in Mills River, right outside Asheville.

“The community around Asheville attracts such an artistic and eclectic mix of people, a very similar mix of people like Chico,” said Ken Grossman, founder/owner of Sierra Nevada. “The outdoors is something I try to do on a regular basis — get outside and hike. We’re near mountains, streams and places to recreate in Chico, and Asheville is just like that.”

Alongside Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, industry giants New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, Colorado) and Oskar Blues Brewery both opened East Coast headquarters in Western North Carolina. Coming into 2016, New Belgium fired up its $140 million facility in the River Arts District of Asheville, a property that will become a beacon of economic and cultural significance for the city.

Owner/founder of Oskar Blues, Dale Katechis has built a wildly successful brand of craft beer that is rapidly spilling across the country. Originating in Lyons, Colorado, the business opened an enormous nine-acre $10 million dollar east coast facility in Brevard in 2013.

Katechis decided on the location after years of visiting the region, soaking in the ideal combination of southern culture and endless outdoor recreation.

“I fell in love with this area,” he said. “When we were looking to build, Brevard offered quite the temptation. I knew my quality of life was not going to suffer being here.”

Home to four breweries, Waynesville has become a scene in its own right, with Bear Waters, Boojum, Frog Level Brewing and Tipping Point serving up a wide array of selections that perfectly compliment the innumerable varieties brewed in Asheville.

“This area is a vacation destination for the state, and all of these tourists are interacting with our companies while they’re here, and now they want our products where they live,” said Kevin Sandefur, owner/brewmaster of Bear Waters. “If we’re that kind of lasting impression, it’s great,

“Seeing people sitting out here and enjoying our beer is a surreal thing, and we have more exciting things to come.”

— Jessica Reiser, Burial Beer Co.

and it says a lot of the breweries here and what we’ve accomplished in such a short time.”

Heading down the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, Dieter Kuhn, owner/brewmaster of Heinzelmannchen Brewery in Sylva, sees the growth like a spider web, weaving its way out of Asheville and into the depths of Southern Appalachia.

“It has to do with support of agencies, people in the community, and, of course, the customers,” he said. “Everyone has been supportive. Yes, we’ve worked hard, we’re still here, but we couldn’t have done it all without the support.”

With brewing beer comes the keen philosophy of “work hard, play hard.” For Katechis, coming eastward was as much a business decision as it was a chance for adventure in the Great Smokies and beyond.

“We ride bikes and we drink good beer, and we want to turn other people into that,” he chuckled.

“I don’t clock out and go home. I hit the trails and everyday is like Christmas out there.”

Opening in 2013, Burial Beer Co. in Asheville became a hit with craft beer drinkers and the region as a whole. They produced 150 barrels on a one-barrel system their first year, with that number skyrocketing when they installed their new 10-barrel system. The new

system will hold the foundation for the main facility, as plans are in the works to build an urban farmhouse brewery outside of Asheville.

“It’s been crazy to keep up with the demand and that word-of-mouth popularity has been catching up with us, but that’s a good problem to have,” said co-owner Jessica Reiser. “Seeing people sitting out here and enjoying our beer is a surreal thing, and we have more exciting things to come.”

With the craft brewery explosion in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina, Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville) co-owner Adam Charnack sees it all as friendly competition.

“This industry is filled with camaraderie,” he said. “So what about competition? The more, the merrier. Asheville is this mecca for craft beer, and the more people that place the words ‘Asheville’ and ‘craft beer’ in the same sentence, the better.”

And for Grossman, it’s about continuing to achieve perfection in a rapidly growing industry, one that has become a centerpiece of the Western North Carolina economy.

“We’ve been focused on quality since day one,” he said. “And, I just like beer. I enjoy the whole science and alchemy of turning barley, yeast and hops into something amazing and wonderful.”

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Something Brewing ASHEVILLE BREWING COMPANY None of it surprises Doug Riley.

“Asheville is a mecca for craft beer,” he said. “The people, the incredible water, the quality of life, and the artisan spirit — it’s no wonder there are so many breweries here.”

The owner and head brewer at Asheville Brewing Company, Riley is sitting in a booth at his South Slope location. The late fall sunshine spills into the popular downtown establishment. Looking out the bay windows onto Coxe Avenue, Riley remembers how quiet the Asheville craft beer scene was when he opened the brewery in 1999.

“It was no man’s land at the time,” he chuckled.

“With Highland and Green Man (breweries), we were only the third to open in the city. And in the last five years, it’s really exploded, especially to where the South Slope is the place to be since we opened here in 2006.”

In recent years, South Slope has become the epicenter of a craft beer movement, one that now includes dozens of breweries within the Asheville metropolitan area. Within a stone’s throw of Riley, you have Burial Beer Co., Hi-Wire, Wicked Weed, Twin Leaf and Green Man, to name a few.

“Add into that Sierra Nevada and New Belgium which have recently opened enormous [$100 million dollar] breweries here, and you have quite the scene,” he said.

The Asheville Brewing Company was one of the first of its kind to kickoff the recent craft beer explosion in the city and greater Western North Carolina. Located in the South Slope district of Asheville, the business has become a social and cultural hub of downtown. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

know just exactly what you’re all about. It has to be great with every sip because your reputation and standard is always on the line.”

Eventually, he felt a deep need to return to the Southeast, somewhere where progress, art, culture and community pride intersect. After a friend had suggested Asheville, Riley found an opening for a brewer at Two Moons Brew-N-View in downtown. It was 1997 and he soon found himself headed for Western North Carolina.

A year into his Two Moons endeavor, the business found itself at a crossroads with a misguided direction as to what the company was and what the future held. The owners approached Riley to see if he was interested in taking over. He jumped on it, only to combine forces with Asheville Pizza and launch Asheville Brewing Company. Originally on Merrimon Avenue, the main brewing operations have moved recently to the Coxe Avenue location, a property with much needed space for growth within the production side of things.

— Doug Riley, “We’re 16 years into this and excited for what the next Asheville Brewing Company 16 will bring,” Riley said. “Our seven-barrel brew system is now here on Coxe Avenue. And, with four more 15barrel tanks just purchased, our barrels numbers are Growing up in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Riley wasn’t exposed to looking to jump from 8,000 in 2015 to hopefully 9,500 for 2016.” craft beer until he and his friends started making trips to a bottle Over the years, Riley has found a genuine passion in what these shop outside of Atlanta, a business as rare as it was filled to the brim craft beer products represent — camaraderie. Alongside the with varieties back in those early days of modern craft beer. He fell in friendships and business collaborations that have emerged, it never love with the array of ale styles, soon relocating to Boulder, Colorado ceases to amaze him when he steps into the taproom on any given and eventually to Portland, Oregon in the early 1990s, all in pursuit of day and sees multitudes of people enjoying not only his selections, starting a career within the industry. While in Portland, Riley worked but also the warm and welcoming atmosphere that’s been a staple his way up from the bottom, cleaning kegs to stocking inventory, of the company. ultimately learning how to brew and properly distribute a product.

“Everyone involved in craft beer here in Asheville is ready and “It’s about quality across the board,” he said. “The first time willing to help everyone else, where it’s not about competition, but somebody tastes craft beer — your craft beer — is the first time they collaboration — that’s the key,” Riley said. “And coming in here, on a packed night, there’s not a better feeling than seeing someone enjoy your craft.”

“The first time somebody tastes craft beer — your craft beer — is the first time they know just exactly what you’re all about.

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ASHEVILLE BREWERIES

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Altamont Brewing Asheville Brewing Blue Mountain Brewing Bhramari Brewhouse Burial Beer Co. Catawba Valley Brewing French Broad Brewing Green Man Brewery Hi-Wire Brewing Highland Brewing Lexington Avenue Brewery New Belgium Brewing One World Brewing Oyster House Brewing Sweeten Creek Brewing Thirsty Monk Brewery Twin Leaf Brewery Wedge Brewing Wicked Weed Brewing

WNC BREWERIES Andrews Brewing Co. (Andrews) BearWaters Brewing Co. (Waynesville) Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) Brevard Brewing (Brevard) Catawba Valley Brewing (Morganton) Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) Heinzelmannchen Brewery (Sylva) Innovation Brewing (Sylva) Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) Lookout Brewing (Black Mountain) Nantahala Brewing (Bryson City) Oskar Blues Brewing (Brevard) Pisgah Brewing (Black Mountain) Sanctuary Brewing (Hendersonville) Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (Mills River) Sneak-E-Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) Southern Appalachian Brewery (Hendersonville) Tipping Point Brewing (Waynesville)

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Cider City

From tree to bottle

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Jim Sparks couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

“I’ve seen the entire country, from coast to coast, and I’d never live anywhere else,” he said. “I’m sixth generation in Henderson County and I can see exactly why my ancestors put down deep roots here.”

Walking around the Flat Rock Cider Works tasting room on Main Street in Hendersonville, Sparks points to every detail that will soon take shape in his business. The location is smack dab in the middle of a bustling downtown, one that has seen a cultural and economic renaissance in recent years, with hard cider being added to the list of blossoming industries within the county.

“Henderson County is the number one producer of apples in North Carolina, and all of our apples are grown right here — it’s a whole new door, new industry for the apple farmer’s and orchards,” Sparks

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said. “All of our apples come from our two orchards, with everything else coming from Henderson County orchards.”

With his business partner Jim Revis, the duo launched the company in 2012 after Sparks purchased a cider press and decided to make a go at a new business idea he wanted to plant in the economic heart of the area.

“I’d been in the golf business for years, played professionally, owned a course, and even had a golf construction company,” Sparks said. “But, after I sold the course, I was looking for something else to start up.

I’ve always enjoyed hard cider, and I could see back then that it was something special and would grow as a business.”

Underneath the Flat Rock Cider Works banner, the brand launched Naked Apple Hard Cider, which consists of the two flagship flavors — “Wicked Peel” and “Blackberry Gold.” Since 2012, the products have shot across the greater North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina, with over 250 points of distribution. By the end of 2015, the 4,500-square-foot cidery had produced over 50,000 gallons of product, with projections for 2016 aimed at doubling that number.

“And throughout this, we’re been taking our time to get to this point, to always ensure quality in our products,” Sparks said.

Though the production numbers are increasing, what remains is how well the consumer takes to the beverage. At a recent North Carolina Cider Festival, both flagship flavors took home blue ribbons for taste, style and quality. It’s a growing appreciation for Naked Apple Hard Cider that has justified Sparks’ vision for what he saw as a real possibility in his hometown.

With the Hendersonville tasting room coming online in January, Flat Rock Cider Works will also offer local craft beer and wines on top of local produce from their personal orchards and those of local farmers.

“I see nothing but positive growth in downtown Hendersonville and in the — Jim Sparks, county’s agricultural Flat Rock Cider Works community,” Sparks said. “For us to offer a local product, where we take it from the tree and are involved in the process all the way to the bottle or can, means everything.”

Stepping out of the tasting room and out into downtown Hendersonville, Sparks looks up at another bluebird sky in his hometown. He doesn’t take this place for granted, and also sees everyday — all around him — just what makes this place special.

“I’ve been supported by the town and county for a number of years, as a golfer and now with cider. My family has always been involved in the community, too,” he said. “You can see why people either reside here or choose to move here — this is a great community.”

“All of our apples come from our two orchards, with everything else coming from Henderson County orchards.”

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From the Vine

All in the family

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At a table in his tasting room, Alan Ward makes direct eye contact. This is clearly a guy who wants to not only get his point across, but also make sure you understand just what makes Henderson County so special.

WINERIES

Biltmore Estate Winery (Asheville) Burntshirt Vineyards (Hendersonville) Calaboose Cellars (Andrews) Cherokee Cellars Winery (Murphy) Eagle Fork Vineyards (Hayesville) Falderal Winery (Hendersonville) Ritler Ridge Winery (Candler) Rockhouse Vineyards (Tryon) Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards (Hendersonville) Valley River Vineyards (Murphy)

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“We can grow anything as good as what’s grown in Europe, if not better,” he said.

Ward’s statement isn’t one of false pride.

Owner/founder of Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards in Hendersonville, his words come from being a ninth-generation Henderson native, one who is farming on the same land his ancestors planted and cultivated those many years ago.

“This area is so unique geographically, where we have cool nights and warm days, protection from bad weather by these beautiful mountains, and all these diverse ecosystems that reside and thrive within this region.”

Opened in 2012, Saint Paul Mountain was the first vineyard of its kind in the county. Specializing in 14 grape varietals that result in a bevy of awardwinning styles, the locally minded company harvests its delights from over 75 acres of land. Add in another 100 acres of Henderson County apple orchards they pick from for their Appalachian Ridge Artisan Ciders, and you have a business that is as flourishing as the products themselves.

“People want to eat healthy, and also want to know where their food and beverages come from,” Ward said. “Our wines aren’t mass-produced and sitting on some grocery store shelf for months or years. We grow our own fruits. We know who our other local growers are, and we try to do things that are good for the environment.”

Though he is ninth-generation, Ward aims to change the philosophy of how the land is treated,

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managed, and cared for. It’s not about perfect rows of vines and apple trees, rather the focus is on working with the land, following its contours and responding appropriately to what the climate throws at you.

“We want to preserve the uniqueness of this area — geographically, economically, and culturally,” he said. “We live here, eat here, drink the water from here, so we don’t try to fool nature, we try to work

Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards in Hendersonville.

DONATED PHOTOS

with nature for the best, safest and most sustainable results possible.”

Originally studying chemistry and biology at Clemson University, Ward has spent his adulthood traveling the world in search of the finest agricultural advances out there. Whether it’s researching grape

growth and wine fermentation in the California fields, looking at cider techniques in the Normandy region of France or apple varietals at a laboratory in Switzerland, it’s about a thirst for knowledge that will be absorbed by their land back home and its many uses.

“And none of this was an overnight thing,” Ward said. “It’s about sustainability, where we didn’t want to just do row crops, which can erode the land, not to mention the pesticides that get used. We didn’t want to do that. Apples and grapes are pretty sustainable, and also a large part of history of Henderson County.”

As the number one apple growing county in the state (with North Carolina the seventh largest apple growing state in the country), Henderson has a long and proud past with it comes to nature’s own deliciousness plucked simply from a nearby branch.

“The farmers that came here during the Great Depression are the real heroes,” Ward said. “They came here with nothing, didn’t know anything about the land, and started something so incredible with apples and farming that it still exists today.”

In recent decades, the apple impact on the local economy, though vast, had shifted from a finished product to a commodity. With the bottom slowly dropping out from the industry, a resurgence has occurred in recent years with the implementation of hard cider companies and wineries sprouting up in seemingly every direction.

The endless natural beauty will remain in Henderson County and beyond as the farming community has found stability and growth.

“With farming, a lot of it is desire, but we’re also so fortunate enough to be able to do this,” Ward said. “Farming before used to only last a few generations, ‘shirt sleeve to shirt sleeve’ as they say. We want to break that cycle, we want to keep people in farming, get them more involved

“We want to keep people in farming, get them more involved where great progress and prosperity can happen.”

— Alan Ward, Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards

and educated where great progress and prosperity can happen.”

Gazing out the tasting room window, Ward is looking onto the land of his forefathers, and also the land of his destiny, where the possibilities are as endless as the rows of vines and trees heading towards to horizon.

“The beauty of Western North Carolina is something I think we may all take for granted,” he smiled. “We breathe fresh air, drink clean water, gorgeous mountains with four seasons, and more plant diversity than anywhere in the world. There are so many things to see and do. The people here are like fine wine — all different ages and flavors, all unique.”

We believe that simple is beautiful; that working with the best materials is fundamental; that great design never goes out of style.

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Arts & Culture

No hand left idle

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Using your hands to make what you need or desire is a unique trait in Southern Appalachia — the idea that if you can’t find it or afford it, you build it. That notion in itself soaked into the creative minds and curious spirit of Western North Carolina.

This region has a storied history of handmade crafts, ranging from weaving to woodworking, pottery to jewelry. From the passed down traditions of basket weaving and stonework of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to the modern cosmopolitan art of metalsmithing and glassblowing, there has always been a rich atmosphere of creation in these parts.

Throughout the year, Western North Carolina plays host to numerous art and craft festivals, shows and exhibits, all in an effort to provide the crafter with a platform to share their wares with locals and visitors in search for that perfect piece.

“It’s maintaining that thread through generations, time and history. It’s about what we do, the objects we make, and it’s really important that history doesn’t get lost.”

— Amy Putansu, fiber instructor at Haywood Community College

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“At these shows, you can see the love and compassion that come from each individual piece.

Sometimes it makes you want to cry because you see so much love exhibited in their work — our souls are absolutely in our work,” said Cherokee silversmith General Grant. “They’re not just ‘taking it home with them,’ they’re coming in to get what they were looking for. People are looking for something to feel real, they’re drawn to certain pieces and can’t put them down.”

And in a 21st century global society, many of these cherished skills can fall through the cracks, gone forever. But, luckily, that’s not the case in Western North Carolina.

“It’s amazing how easily things can be lost, where a family technique can die out in a generation,” said

John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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45

Arts & Culture LEXINGTON GLASSWORKS

Weaver Amy Tromiczak. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

local weaver Amy Tromiczak. “There’s something incredible about working with your hands, and that everything you put into a piece really does matter.”

Along with innumerable artisan galleries in every downtown and home studios dotting the mountainous landscape, there’s also a handful of renowned academic institutions promoting and teaching the specific skills to the next generation of crafters. From the acclaimed Penland School of Crafts in Bakersville to the professional crafts program at Haywood Community College in Clyde, the future of handmade items is not only in safe hands, it’s revitalizing what it means to make something and be able to find a market for it.

“The professional crafts program at HCC is very unique. It promotes not only creativity and craft, but also how to market yourself as an artist,” said Amy Putansu, fiber instructor at HCC. “The students here are learning to make things, and make things well, with the emphasis around their ethics very positive, very minded in the local sustainability movement. I love it because they’re creating a whole new future, a different shape of manufacturing in America, a new design in conjunction with manufacturing.”

With textile crafting a large part of the heritage in Western North Carolina, the students are not only preserving the traditional skills, they’re perpetuating them.

“It’s about staying in touch with history,” Putansu said. “It’s maintaining that thread through generations, time and history. It’s about what we do, the objects we make, and it’s really important that history doesn’t get lost.”

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Standing within arm’s length of a 2,000-degree furnace is just another day in the office for Billy Guilford.

“It looks like magic,” he said. “You start out this blob and all of sudden you have a shape, a design, a creation.”

Co-owner of Lexington Glassworks in downtown Asheville, Guilford has been a glass artist for the better part of the last decade. What started out as a curiosity has now become a full “blown” career in an art medium as mysterious as it is mesmerizing.

“People will say, ‘Wow, we didn’t think you were going to make that,’ when you take molten glass and create a vase with a wild neck,” Guilford laughed.

“Each shape has different steps and if we don’t follow those steps exactly, we can’t get the shape desired.”

For the molten glass, the furnace reaches temperatures of around 2,050 degrees. Within the other furnace, where one shapes and maneuvers the glass, temperatures can hover above 2,300 degrees.

The glowing opening in the second furnace is known as the “glory hole,” where success and failure are determined with the slightest of movements.

“You can’t touch the material, you can’t set it down and come back to it in 10 minutes,” Guilford said. “You gather the ‘first gather’ (placing molten glass on the end of the blowpipe or pipe for the further development of that glass project), and from that point on, you have to focus on the material.”

Originally from Cleveland, Guilford attended Alfred University in New York for ceramics. A prestigious institution for art, which includes the New York State College of Ceramics, Guilford eventually crossed paths with glassblowing and Billy Guilford. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO was captivated by the intricate medium.

“And I began working with glass, with the process so much more intriguing to me,” he said. “It’s a very challenging medium, but I also like the immediacy of it, where the moment you’re done firing up and shaping the glass, the piece is finished, too.”

When he wasn’t in school, Guilford and his college peers spent their summers honing their craft at the world-renowned Penland School of Crafts in Bakersville (an hour outside of Asheville). That time learning and apprenticing

not only opened them up to the endless possibilities of their creativity, but also to a haven of encouraging artists from around the region.

“We discovered this whole community of artisans and art lovers in Western North Carolina, which then exposed us to how great and supportive Asheville is to artists,” Guilford said.

With the intense focus of plate spinning, Guilford gracefully meanders around the furnace and studio — from the flame to the tool bench and back again — as if dancing with the molten glass.

“For me, glass is able to carry light, to transmit light, and that ability in the material is incredible, you can’t find that translation anywhere else,” he said.

“Some of our work is sandblasted with a matte finish so it absorbs light instead of reflecting light — the medium just lends itself to working on some many levels within its characteristics.”

Entering their second year, the studio has now become a fixture on Lexington Avenue, a colorful spot where one is immediately attracted to the cozy space, welcoming atmosphere and picturesque pieces that adorn the walls and floor.

For 2016, the studio will also include a craft beer bar, where folks can come in, get poured a pint with a handmade glass, stroll the gallery and observe the artists at work.

“We jumped right into this community of artists, and we feel part of this community,” Guilford. “This area and this city are rooted in crafts, in arts, in culture, and in a great sense of community. People who come in here ask us if we really do this for a living. Yes, yes we do, and we feel so lucky to do so.”

An artisan shaping his latest project at Lexington Glassworks in downtown Asheville.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

Van Dyke Jewelry & Fine Craft is an inviting space in the heart of downtown Asheville, featuring the handcrafted jewelry of Chris Van Dyke and other local artists. The gallery showcases an eclectic mix of jewelry, pottery, woodwork, and paintings, along with a selection of local crafts.

29 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 | 828-281-4044 | WWW.VANDYKEJEWERLY.COM Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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A Festive Scene

Smoky Mountain shindig

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With so much going on, even residents of these mountains feel like guests with more opportunity than time. From bluegrass to baroque, barbecue to beluga, Western North Carolina has just about every kind of festival you can imagine.

Hendersonville has been growing apples since the mid1700s, and in celebration of the fruit of all that labor (a $22 million crop for the Henderson County now), the city holds the North Carolina Apple Festival during Labor Day weekend in Hendersonville. Celebrating 70 years in 2016, the festival brings tasty food, arts and crafts, free entertainment and, of course, lots of apples to the historic courthouse on Hendersonville’s stately Main Street.

In July, Waynesville also hosts Folkmoot USA, North Carolina’s official international music and dance festival.

The Haywood County town celebrates the region’s traditional roots in late August with the Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, a weekend’s worth of mountain music and dance. Then in October two fall festivals fills the quaint downtown. The popular Church Street Arts and Crafts Festival is a juried craft show, while the Haywood County Apple Festival attracts tens of thousands to enjoy apples, agriculture, crafts and food during the color season.

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What’s better than barbecue, smoky ribs and a beautiful day? All that and music is what you’ll find at Tryon’s Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival, held in June. This is a serious competition (which you get to savor) in which dozens of teams working with the precision of NASCAR pit crews slop and mop their way to (they hope) the coveted grand championship.

Lovers of the movie “Dirty Dancing” will have the time of their lives at the Dirty Dancing Festival held in September in Lake Lure, where much of the cult classic film was shot. There’s a lake-lift competition and lots and lots of dancing.

Considered by many as the best spring music festival, the White Squirrel Festival in downtown Brevard brings hundreds of people to town over the Memorial Day weekend. The festival kicks off with a Memorial Day parade and, like a lot of festivals in the area, also includes a 5K/10K race. Summertime in Brevard brings about the Mountain Song Festival, a benefit show at Brevard Music Center that showcases the best of folk, bluegrass, old-time and traditional mountain music.

Christmas is special in Dillsboro, which during the first two Fridays and Saturdays of December turns its streets into pathways of softly lit candlelight. Dillsboro Lights & Luminaries is a winter wonderland of light-hearted laughter and song, with horse and buggy rides, cocoa and hot cider.

Got a thing for hats? You should be in the Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade. Bring your hat or make one in front of Dillsboro town Hall. Prizes go to the best, biggest and ugliest hat. And, the Easter bunny attends.

The coolest bands and musicians out there today are always on the program at the Lake Eden Arts Festival, held in May and October.

With a heavy emphasis on world music, the festival has turned into one of the area’s premier music and healing arts events. Go for the day, or camp the whole weekend – either way you’ll love the music, the people and the gorgeous Camp Rockmont setting.

The hot days of August are a good time to be indoors, especially when the heels are flying during the Mountain Dance & Folk Festival, held in Asheville’s Diana Wortham Theatre at Pack Place. Held the first week of August, the event has attracted the

SELECTED FESTIVITIES Barnaroo Asheville • www.ashevillebarnaroo.com

N.C. Apple Festival Hendersonville • www.ncapplefestival.org

Winter Warmer Beer Festival Asheville • www.ashevillebeerfest.com

Smoky Mountain Folk Festival Stuart Auditorium, Lake Junaluska www.downtownwaynesville.com

Folkmoot USA Waynesville • www.folkmootusa.org

Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival Harmon Field, Tryon www.blueridgebbqfestival.com

area’s top mountain dancers, balladeers, fiddlers, banjo pickers and others since 1928.

Bakersville in picturesque Mitchell County celebrates its Rhododendron Festival in mid June, a weekend that includes streets dances, a car show and the “Ducky Derby,” which sees thousands of rubber duckies racing down Cane Creek in a fundraiser that everyone loves. The festival also stages the N.C. Rhododendron Pageant, a twoevening event that’s one of the area’s oldest scholarship opportunities for young women.

There’s nothing so sweet as a summer’s evening outdoors. Saturday nights on downtown Asheville’s Pack Square Park, that Folkmoot USA in Waynesville. PATRICK PARTON PHOTO means Shindig on the Green, a four-decades tradition for lovers of bluegrass and traditional music. Grab the kids and some lawn chairs and savor the cool night air in the friendliest of atmospheres.

As sweet as the honey it’s named for, the Sourwood Festival in Black Mountain attracts more than 30,000 to the town’s streets every August. Kids rides and games, face painting, arts and crafts, music and dancing make this a fun alternative to larger festivals held in the area this time of year.

Brewgrass Festival Asheville • www.brewgrassfestival.com

Dirty Dancing Festival Lake Lure • www.dirtydancingfestival.com

White Squirrel Festival Brevard www.brevardnc.org/white-squirrel-festival

Beer City Festival Asheville • www.beercityfestival.com

Mountain Song Festival Brevard • www.mountainsongfestival.com

Festival of Lights & Luminaries Dillsboro www.visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html

Dillsboro Easter Hat Parade Dillsboro www.visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html

Lake Eden Arts Festival Black Mountain • www.theleaf.com

Mountain Dance & Folk Festival Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville www.folkheritage.org

N.C. Rhododenron Festival Bakersville www.bakersville.com/rhod_events.html

Sourwood Festival Black Mountain • www.sourwoodfestival.com

Festival of Flowers Biltmore Estate, Asheville www.biltmore.com

Mountain Heritage Day Sylva www.mountainheritageday.com

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49

A Festive Scene SELECTED FESTIVITIES

The Blue Ridge BBQ & Music Festival (left) in Tryon, N.C., adds smokin’ hot music to the mix. PAULA ROBERTS PHOTO

Historic Johnson Farm Hendersonville www.historichendersonville.org/ johnson_farm.htm

Asheville Greek Festival Asheville www.holytrinityasheville.com/ greek_festival

Church Street Arts & Craft Show Waynesville www.downtownwaynesville.com

HardLox festival Pack Square Park, Asheville www.hardloxjewishfestival.org

Cherokee Indian Fair Cherokee • www.greatsmokies.com

French Broad River Festival Hot Springs www.frenchbroadriverfestival.com

Leaf Festival of Cashiers Valley Cashiers www.cashiersnorthcarolina.com

ColorFest – Art & Taste of Appalachia Dillsboro • www.visitdillsboro.org

Fall Harvest Craft Festival Cherokee • www.greatsmokies.com

Apple Harvest Festival Waynesville www.downtownwaynesville.com

Smoky Mountain Fall Arts & Craft Festival Franklin • www.franklin-chamber.com

North Hominy Community Apple Festival Canton • www.cantonnc.com

WNC Pottery Festival Dillsboro • www.visitdillsboro.org

Waynesville Craft Beer Faire Waynesville • www.waynesvillebeer.com

Hard Candy Christmas Arts & Craft Show Cullowhee • www.mountainlovers.com

Smoky Mountain Mistletoe Magic Arts & Craft Show Franklin • www.franklin-chamber.com

Stecoah Valley Center Arts and Craft Show Robbinsville www.stecoahvalleycenter.com

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In April, the Biltmore Estate bursts into bloom, turning winter away with thousands upon thousands of tulips, azaleas and flowering shrubs. The Festival of Flowers pageantry is accompanied by musical events that draw people to the gardens and the hopeful signs of spring. Also in April, the Historic Johnson Farm Festival in Hendersonville gives children of all ages a glimpse of what a working mountain farm was (and is).

Foodies find lots to love during Asheville’s annual Greek Festival, a late summer events that serves up mounds of delicious ushers in fall with heaping platters of chicken riganto (baked chicken strips sprinkled with oregano, lemon juice and the chefs’ special sauce). The HardLox Jewish Food and Heritage Festival in October is the place to get a mean chopped liver sandwich and a crisp kosher dill pickle.

June in Asheville belongs to beer-lovers. The Beer City Festival features great local music, and Brewgrass features great regional music. Both pour some of the best craft beer made in Asheville and elsewhere in the Southeast.

Asheville’s least formal festival is the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival, an artist-run blast held in September in downtown Asheville.

If you still have any energy after all of that, don’t forget the Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville, a weekend in May full of culture, athletics, music, food, drink and more.

Asheville’s famous drum circle kicks up every Friday night during spring and summer. This free event at Pritchard Park in the heart of downtown gives kids a chance of spin and laugh among hula hoopers, tall bike riders and (sometimes) fire dancers.

Also downtown is the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site, where on the first Friday of May through October, from noon until 2 p.m., there’s free music on the front porch of the historic Old Kentucky Home. Relax under the shade trees to some pleasant tunes, then maybe tour the boarding house that Wolfe’s mother ran in the early part of the 20th century.

Every July, Narnia Studios, a children’s store in downtown Hendersonville, puts on Chalk It Up!, a sidewalk art affair for children (and adults!) that has become one of Hendersonville’s biggest summer attractions. Just remember to register in June.

For one weekend every summer, several farms in the area open their barn doors for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project Family Farm Tour, a self-guided driving tour that lets your children pet farm animals while discovering where their food comes from. Join the tour for any or all of the farms in the Asheville area and surrounding counties.

The Orchard at Altapass, a historic apple orchard and farm on the Blue Ridge Parkway, has events nearly every day May through October. The Coon Dog Day Festival, with its crafts, parade and square dances, happens in Saluda in July. In September, the Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee is a daylong celebration of Southern Appalachian music, dance, arts and culture.

Also in September, there’s the “Fall Into the Farm: A Family Fun Day on the Sandburg Farm” in Flat Rock. This free family-friendly festival highlights the farm life of poet Carl Sandburg’s family and features square dancing, historic barn tours, cheese-making demonstrations and children’s crafts.

There’s lots of live theater in the Asheville area performed with children in mind, much of it performed by the Asheville Arts Center, Asheville Community Theatre and the Tryon Children’s Theater Festival.

Children have been enjoying Christmas at the Biltmore House ever since owner George Vanderbilt introduced his family and friends to the estate on Christmas Eve 1895. Festooned with Christmas trees, poinsettias and thousands of ornaments, Christmas at Biltmore runs from early November to Jan. 1 every year.

Everyone loves gingerbread houses, and everyone loves going to

Christmas at the Biltmore House is a premier annual event in Western North Carolina.

BILTMORE PHOTO

the Omni Grove Park Inn to look at the confectionary castles entered in the hotel’s National Gingerbread House Competition.

Mondays through Thursdays from mid-November to Jan. 1, the public is invited to ogle the dozens upon dozens of houses entered into this growing competition.

Another fun thing to do in winter is to attend the Asheville International Children’s Film Festival, the largest children’s film festival in the Southeast. Held in November, it’s a 10-day extravaganza featuring more than 70 films from 25 countries.

Animation, features, shorts, historical films and fantastic hands-on, interactive workshops – this festival has it all for kids.

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Outdoors RAISING AWARENESS OF ENDANGERED SPECIES

Arboretum amble

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The N.C. Arboretum is a 434-acre public garden and affiliate of the University of North Carolina. Each year more than 500,000 visitors experience the Arboretum’s gardens, trails, exhibits and plant shows, educational programs, demonstrations and lectures.

The Arboretum’s ability to meet its mission and enrich the visitor experience is made possible by a community of supporters – from members, volunteers and staff to state and local funds, tribute gifts, grants and community partners.

The central mission of The North Carolina Arboretum, an affiliate institution of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system, is to cultivate connections between people and plants. A standard $12 per vehicle parking fee is required for non-members. Special events and after-hours activities may require additional fees. For more information call 828.665.2492 or visit www.ncarboretum.org.

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Often recognized for their majestic demeanor and tenacious hunting skills, wolves and peregrine falcons are iconic symbols of North America’s shrinking habitats, degraded environments and dwindling biological diversity.

Although their habitats have suffered great loss over the past 200 years, these beautiful creatures are perfect examples of endangered species brought back from the brink of extinction.

To help honor these animals, The North Carolina Arboretum is hosting the traveling exhibit, “Wild Survival,” an exhibition about the return of the North American wolf and American peregrine falcon population. Developed by the University of Minnesota and James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, the Wild Survival exhibit uses specimens, objects, interactives and video to showcase the biology, behavior and near demise of North American wolves and peregrine falcons.

Over the past 30 years, the wild wolf population in the United States grew from less than 300 to more than 4,000.

As recent as two decades ago, wolves were predicted to completely disappear from North America’s plains and forests however, through strong conservation and reintroduction efforts starting in the 1990’s, the gray and red wolf population began to make a comeback.

The Arboretum’s “Wild Survival” exhibit helps demonstrate humans’ relationship with nature and the interlocking impact wild ecosystems, animals and mankind have on each other.

In the middle of the 20th century, American peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus anatum) were nearly eradicated from eastern North America due to poisoning from pesticides. In 1970, they were officially listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1969, and then again in 1973 when the Endangered Species Act passed.

Beginning in 1974, The Peregrine

The peregrine falcon is a key feature of The N.C. Arboretum’s “Wild Survival” exhibit. JEREMY SMITH PHOTO Fund, along with various national and state agencies in both the United States and Canada, embarked upon a reintroduction program for the peregrine falcon, and now more than 6,000 American peregrine falcons have been released. Although the bird of prey remains federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the survival of the peregrine falcon marked the most dramatic

success of the Endangered Species Act, according to reports from The Nature Conservancy.

“In recent decades, we have faced many issues surrounding our environment and the potential threats that can impact our ecosystems,” said George Briggs, executive director of The North Carolina Arboretum. “By hosting Wild Survival, we hope to shed light onto these concerns and demonstrate to visitors how animal species can reemerge through conscious planning and efforts from society.”

In addition to wolves and peregrine falcons, Wild Survival will also educate visitors about repopulation efforts for American black bears, American elk and white-tailed deer, which suffered great loss due to overhunting in the early 20th century. The mounted specimens were donated by the Museum of York County in South Carolina from its permanent collection. All mounts in the Wild Survival exhibit were retrieved from animals that died from natural causes.

Wild Survival is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Arboretum’s Baker Exhibit Center. The Arboretum has also created educational programs around this exhibit as part of its youth education field trip offerings. Entrance into the exhibit is free, however, non-member guests are required to pay the Arboretum’s standard $12 parking fee. For more information on the exhibit and The North Carolina Arboretum, please visit www.ncarboretum.org.

Exhibit support provided in part by Smoky Mountain Living magazine, Gasperson Moving & Storage and the Museum of York County. The North Carolina Arboretum is located off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 393. From I-26, take Exit 33 and follow Blue Ridge Parkway signs for two miles to the entrance ramp. Please visit www.ncarboretum.org for parking fees and hours of operation.

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Outdoors

Coming down the mountain It’s a feeling that Chris Bates just can’t shake.

Of the many goals Cataloochee Ski Area is focusing on for the future, expanding its “Learn to Ski” program (below) has become a top priority.

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“Being outside, in the winter, on the mountain — there’s nothing like it,” he said. “There’s a sense of exhilaration when you’re on a pair of skis. It’s a rush I’ve never gotten enough of.”

Sitting inside the main lodge at Cataloochee Ski Area high above Maggie Valley, Bates has been the general manager of the business for the last 17 years.

Gazing out the windows onto the snowy slopes, the troves of eager skiers and snowboarders already cruising down the mountain, Bates can’t help to be excited that the 54th season at “Cat” is underway.

“Some of it is relief,” he chuckled. “Typically, we’d have already been open for three weeks by now, but with the warm fall we had, we had to wait. And, with the recent cold snap, we were able to coat the first few trails with snow within one day.”

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“Coat” as in the state-of-the-art snowmaking equipment that has put “Cat” on the map in recent years as not only one of the first resorts to open nationally, but also one of the most efficient and high-tech in terms of what they’re able to do with where they are situated and how (or if ) the weather cooperates with them.

“With our location we realize we’re going to have warm and cold days, where we need to capitalize on our cold days,” Bates said. “What used to take us four or five days to make enough snow for the trails now takes between eight and 10 hours.”

But, Bates noted with a slight grin, it isn’t just all about business when figuring out when to open the “Cat.” “A lot of it is that we’re skiers who run this company when it comes to getting out there and getting the mountain ready — we want to get out Chris Bates and ski, too,” he said. “Our initial design years ago was to get to a point where we could work within a day to make enough snow to open, and we’ve done that.”

Stepping into the lodge around lunchtime, Ski Patrol Director Wayne Morgan kicks the snow off his boots.

DISC GOLF Alongside trail running, hiking and mountain biking, disc golf (or “frolf”) has become one of Western North Carolina’s fastest growing outdoor activities — it really is that much fun.

Sure, it may look simple, and perhaps childish, from the sidelines.

But, grab a disc and try to make the bucket on the horizon in three shots for par. This region is home to several fantastic disc golf courses. Here are a handful of local favorites, for beginners all the way up to expert levels:

Celebrating its 54th season, Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley has become a mainstay and storied mountain playground for skiers and snowboards from Western North Carolina and beyond.

Grabbing a nearby table, he removes his gloves, facemask, goggles, helmet, scarf, and jacket, only to reveal a large smile as droplets of melted snow fall from his hair.

“It’s total freedom up there,” he said. “I don’t know really how to explain it. You come down that hill with the biggest grin on your face, which says it all.”

In his 12th season at Cataloochee, Morgan sees the ski area as something special.

“All the employees are like family here,” he said. “What it comes down to here is one thing — snow. Any day on the mountain is a good day.”

Growing up on the coast of North Carolina, where sandy beaches and flip-flops reign supreme, Morgan didn’t try skiing until he went to college in the mountains near Boone, home to Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain. He then spent his career as an educator in Henderson County. But he never stopped skiing. After working at Wolf Laurel (Mars Hill) and a ski shop near Asheville, he was approached about being in ski patrol, a position held to this day.

“And I get to go work and do this everyday?” he laughed. “From growing up on the beach, once I got to the mountains, I never left.”

Originally from New Jersey, Bates, who learned how to ski at age 3, has been involved in this industry for most of his life. Working in and around ski around in — Wayne Morgan, Cataloochee the northeast, he eventually landed in Ski Area ski patrol director Haywood County, a place he felt his talents and aspirations could thrive.

“And in the last 17 years, we’ve doubled our terrain [to 50 acres], we’ve achieved our goals in terms of snowmaking, where now our focus is shifting to the whole experience,” he said.

With a trademark family-friendly atmosphere, “Cat” has always looked at ways to hone in on what makes the mountain great — the people who ski and snowboard it daily. It’s about making sure the first time skier/snowboarder has an equally pleasant experience compared to a veteran snow hound.

“If we can make their first day or two on the a snow a lot more conducive to learning and having fun, then they will come away from the mountain excited and wanting to become skiers or snowboarders, that’s where it all starts,” Bates said.

Alongside their expanding “Learn to Ski” programs, “Cat” is also increasing its rental options, where any and all can simply head up the mountain, pick up the gear they need and immediately hit the slopes.

“We get around 140 days of skiing here, which is something unique to North Carolina and the southeast in general,” Bates said. “It’s a great feeling to see people pulling into the parking lot today — all smiles today, all ready to go skiing.”

“It’s total freedom up there. You come down that hill with the biggest grin on your face, which says it all.”

Beginner — Catamount Links, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee It’s pretty impossible for one to lose their disc on this course. Looping around the athletic fields, there are wide-open spaces and sparse tree lines. Though there are only 13 holes, many of them are extended in length, and a real treat to be able to truly chuck your disc without fear of it disappearing.

Intermediate — Waynesville Disc Golf Course, Waynesville Recreation Center Though plenty of holes are very welcoming for beginners, there are definitely some difficult ones. If you don’t know the 18-hole course, which can be a little tricky to navigate, ask the center for a complimentary map, or simply ask someone (lots of folks play this course).

Advanced — Haywood Community College, Clyde A great course. Not too many folks around. Holes meander into the woods, which surround the school. Nice trails.

The 18-holes are somewhat challenging, but not too far out of reach for intermediate players.

Expert — Richmond Hill, Asheville Quite possibly the finest course in Western North Carolina. It’s 18 holes of utter chaos looping around a wooded mountain ridge. One hole you’re throwing way uphill, the next it’s back down the other side. Very challenging, but, if played with respect and caution (for intermediate players), one can have the time of their lives out there.

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The Parkway

America’s favorite drive

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The Blue Ridge Parkway unravels gracefully across the landscape, at times suspended from high cliffs and etched into rocky crags, then deftly shifting gears to skim over hayfields and past log cabins bound by split-rail fences.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a haven for classic cars and motorcycles. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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The road seems unfazed by mountain topography. The Parkway moves so harmoniously through the scenery and lays so gently on the terrain, it seems possible that perhaps the Parkway was there first, or at the very least born at the same time as the mountains themselves.

“I can’t image a more creative job than locating that Blue Ridge Parkway, because you worked with a 10-league canvas and a brush of a comet’s tail,” said Stanley Abbott, the chief landscape architect of the Parkway during its construction in the 1930s.

The 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway celebrates its official 81st anniversary in 2016. It is a unique unit of the National Park Service, a scenic roadway through the rural mountain area of Western North Carolina and Virginia. It both moves people from place to place and also binds the region together.

The task facing early Parkway designers was enormous, with little more than vague parameters of where to put the Parkway. Blazing a scenic road through high and rugged mountain passes in the 1930s was an engineering and artistic feat. It also pushed the boundaries of competing American ideals.

The country was in the midst of a burgeoning national park movement, and many in the general public had already accepted a popular concept of preserving America’s grand landscapes. Meanwhile, a love affair with the automobile had likewise gripped the country. These two notions gave rise to the Parkway concept.

Yet merging the two was not easy.

“A road and a park are very different things,” said Ian Firth, a historical expert on Parkway design and professor emeritus in the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia.

“Roads are meant to bring progress and development. A park is 180 degrees different. It is where you preserve something from progress and from development.”

Abbott, just 26 years old when he was hired as chief landscape architect for the Parkway, possessed both the skill and instinct to capture the Appalachian countryside and its sweeping mountain vistas from behind the windshield of an automobile. He often likened his approach to that of a cinematographer, training his camera on one frame after the next and eventually producing a 469-mile masterpiece.

While the Parkway’s design is often compared to art, Abbott and his colleagues applied a mathematical formula to achieve the serpentine line.

Abbott was a master of the spiral curve, a highly engineered and deftly calculated arc that eases cars gently into a curve and exits them smoothly. The turning radius broadens as you move through the curve, much like a spiral expands as it moves outward from the center. The

Blazing a scenic road through high and rugged mountain passes in the 1930s was an engineering and artistic feat.

Parkway owes its sweeping nature to the equation, which avoids the unpleasant centripetal force of standard curves. The formula was perfected by railroads in previous decades.

“They had all these cars they were pulling, and if you didn’t have a gentle change in curve, you had lurches, bumps and screeches that were very uncomfortable for passengers and bad for freight and prone to derailment and accidents,” said Mary Myers, a Parkway expert on landscape architecture and chair of the Landscape Architecture and Horticulture department at Temple University.

Abbott deployed another geometric tool called the reverse curve, essentially two back-to-back spiral curves in opposite directions.

Drivers barely exit one turn before they slalom into the next one. The reverse curve creates a rhythmic experience, as if swaying back and forth through the mountains.

“I don’t think you can find a better example of that beautiful line of grace,” Myers said of the Parkway. “The reverse curves do everything.”

Not only do they achieve a rhythmic motion, but they aim the car’s windshield toward the views, whether it’s a mountain vista on the outside curve or a rhododendron-capped boulder after rounding the bend.

While the Parkway often changes, the grade is gentle, another area of careful calculation.

The notion of Abbott penning the Parkway’s design in one fell swoop is far from the truth. Abbott plugged away dutifully from 1935 to 1944 until he was called into service for World War II. By then, only two-thirds of the road had been completed. Construction resumed immediately after the war and continued in sections until 1967. The final missing link around Grandfather Mountain wasn’t finished until 1987.

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57

Golf

Swinging in the Smokies

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There’s nothing like playing a round of golf at high elevation to quicken the blood and make you feel alive. Golf courses in Asheville and Western North Carolina have attitude as well as altitude, challenging golfers in the most gorgeous of settings.

Condé Nast Traveler Magazine included the golf course at Omni Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in its list of “Top 20 Southern U.S. Golf Resorts.” Designed

by Donald Ross in 1926, the 18-hole, par 70 course has an undulating front nine and a back nine that can be steep. Over a decade ago, the resort invested $2.5 million to restore the course in a manner that Ross would approve. Players who have enjoyed its challenge include golf immortals Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson and more other PGA stars like Doug Sanders, Gene Littler, Fuzzy Zoeller and Chip Beck.

The Country Club of Asheville has an 18-hole, par 72 Donald Ross-designed course with a distinctive clubhouse that overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains. It also boasts a state-of-the-art indoor tennis facility that has eight outdoor clay courts and a modern fitness facility. Also available are a 25-tee driving range and putting and chipping greens.

One of the oldest golf courses in Western North Carolina, Asheville Municipal Golf Course is an 18-hole, par 72 course that opened in 1927. The front nine of this Donald Ross-designed course measures 3,246 yards from the back tees, calling for a driver on every hole. The course is open daily to the public, weather permitting.

The 18-hole golf course at Biltmore Forest Country Club recently underwent at $2.5-million restoration, accompanied by an $8.5-million renovation of the clubhouse, bringing both back to their 1922 splendor. Over the years, the course has attracted the likes of Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden, John D. Rockefeller, William

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The Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville is home to a renowned 18-hole golf course.

OMNI GROVE PARK INN PHOTO

GOLF COURSES Asheville Municipal Golf Course Municipal • 226 Fairway Dr., Asheville 828-298-1867 www.ashevillenc.gov

Biltmore Forest Country Club Private • 31 Stuyvesant Rd., Asheville 828-274-1261 www.biltmoreforestcc.com

Black Mountain Golf Course Municipal • 15 Ross Dr., Black Mountain 828-669-2710 www.blackmountaingolf.org

Broadmoor Golf Links Public • 101 French Broad Ln., Fletcher 828-687-1500 www.broadmoorlinks.com

Cliffs At Walnut Cove Private • 268 Walnut Valley Pkwy., Arden 888-988-3040 www.cliffscommunities.com

Country Club of Asheville Private • 170 Windsor Rd., Asheville 828-258-9762 www.countryclubofasheville.net

Crowne Plaza Tennis & Golf Resort Public • 1 Resort Dr., Asheville 828-253-5874 www.ashevillecp.com

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Golf

GOLF COURSES (continued)

Jennings Bryan, William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge Sporting the only golf course in Western North Carolina designed by Jack Nicklaus, The Cliffs At Walnut Cove is a par 71, 18-hole course that opened in tournament-ready conditions, according to the PGA Tour. Its greens, bent grass fairways, clever bunkering and elevation changes make it a challenge that calls for a sharp eye.

In Weaverville, just north of Asheville, is Reems Creek Golf Club, an 18-hole, par 72 course. Located in the beautiful Reems Creek Valley, it’s surrounded by tall mountains through which the Blue Ridge Parkway passes. The 6,492-yard course was designed by Hawtree & Sons, a British firm that worked on Royal Birkdale, a course that’s in the British Open rotation.

South of Asheville in Mills River is High Vista Country Club, whose golf course is open to the public. Established in 1976 and designed by Tom Jackson, the 18-hole course has dramatic elevation changes and winding fairways. Nearby, Etowah Valley Golf Club has three 9-hole courses, all knitted together in one spectacular championship golf experience. Create the combination you want from six tee positions on a scenic mountain plateau 2,200 feet high.

Height matters at Mount Mitchell Golf Club, located near Burnsville. Lying at about 3,000 feet elevation and bordered by peaks that exceed 6,000 feet, the course is relatively flat. The South Toe River runs through it, a factor that must be taken into account for many shots.

In the mountain region west of the Asheville area there are a handful of top-notch public courses, including the Sequoyah National in Cherokee (designed by Robert Trent Jones II) and the historic 27 holes at Waynesville Inn, Golf Resort & Spa. In the Cashiers area of Jackson County, the scenic High Hampton Inn has one of the most picturesque courses in the country.

Cummings Cove Golf & Country Club Public • 20 Cummings Cove Pkwy., Hendersonville 828-891-9412 www.cummingscove.com

Etowah Valley Golf Club Public • 470 Brickyard Rd., Etowah 800-451-8174 www.etowahvalley.com

High Hampton Inn & Country Club Public • 1525 Hwy. 107 South, Cashiers 800-334-2551 www.highhamptoninn.com

High Vista Country Club Public • 88 Country Club Rd., Mills River 828-891-1986 www.highvistagolf.com

Laurel Ridge Country Club Private • 49 Cupp Ln., Waynesville 828-452-0545 www.laurelridgeexperience.com

Mount Mitchell Golf Club Public • 11484 N.C. 80 South, Burnsville 828-675-5454 www.mountmitchellgolf.com

Omni Grove Park Inn Public • 290 Macon Ave., Asheville 800-438-5800 www.groveparkinn.com

Orchard Trace Golf Club Public • 3389 Sugarloaf Rd., Hendersonville 828-685-1006

Reems Creek Golf Club Semi-private • 36 Pink Fox Cove Rd., Weaverville 828-645-4393 www.reemscreekgolf.com

Sequoyah National Golf Club.

Public • 79 Cahons Rd., Whittier 828-497-3000 www.sequoyahnational.com/

Smoky Mountain Country Club Public • 1300 Conley Creek Rd., Whittier 800-474-0070. www.smokymountaincc.com.

Southern Tee Golf Course Public • 111 Howard Gap Rd., Fletcher 828-687-7273

Springdale Country Club Public • 200 Golfwatch Rd., Canton 800-553-3027 www.springdalegolf.com

Waynesville Inn, Golf Resort & Spa Public • 176 Country Club Dr., Waynesville 800-627-6250 www.wccinn.com

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Located in Weaverville, the Reems Creek Golf Club is cradled by the Blue Ridge Parkway.

DONATED PHOTO

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Lake Lure, NC 28746 828-694-3001 Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

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Asheville

With a population of 88,000 and growing, Asheville is the largest city in Western North Carolina and serves as the area’s economic and cultural nerve center in many ways.

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Billed as a place where “altitude affects attitude,” Asheville is surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains and is just a short car ride to the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s been renowned as a place to retreat and take in natural wonders since the 1800s.

Over the last decade its once-dormant downtown has exploded with commerce and entertainment that is second-to-none in the Southeast.

With a theme of “cosmopolitan country,” the culinary scene is bursting at the seams in and around the city. In 2013, The Daily Meal ranked Asheville “The #1 Locavore City in America” (food that comes from within a 100mile radius), while that same year The Huffington Post named it one of the “Cities You Need To Visit.”

As far back as 2007 Asheville started getting noticed.

It topped the Relocate-America.com list of the 100 best places to live that year, while U.S. News & World Report named it one of “America’s best affordable places to retire” for 2009. And in an August 2011 report, Good Morning America pegged Asheville as one of the “10 most beautiful places in America.”

There are nearly two dozen craft breweries in Buncombe County, with their delicious output lauded by beer enthusiasts. In 2009, Imbibe magazine’s readers voted Asheville the “best craft beer city in America,” and from 2010-2012, Asheville has won a national online poll for the coveted title of “Beer City USA.” In 2014, the city was named one of the “Top Ten Foliage Destinations” in the United States by USA TODAY, ranked one of the “Best Places to Live” by Livability.com and one of the “Smartest Cities in America” by Forbes. It was also recognized by National

Geographic on their list of the “World’s Best Cities,” who described the location as “a mecca of awesome mountain scenery, bohemian art and southern cuisine.”

These days, Asheville is firming up its reputation as a culinary center with a sizable and rapidly evolving food scene. They city has some 250 independent restaurants and 12 farmers markets. Livibility.com named it one of the country’s top-10 “surprisingly vibrant food cities,” and the Huffington Post listed it among the top “undiscovered local food cities.” The best of the city’s culinary offerings is celebrated at events like the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association’s Taste of Asheville, an annual gala featuring cuisine and spirits from dozens of area eateries, wineries and breweries.

Outdoors enthusiasts find no shortage of activities in Asheville, whether it’s hiking, biking and climbing, paddling and fishing on the French Broad River and local lakes, careening through the trees on a zip line, or golfing at one of the area’s renowned courses.

Asheville is such an outdoors destination that a few years ago Outside magazine named it “Best Southern Town” for outdoor adventures. And of course, no survey of Asheville’s outdoor offerings would be complete without a mention of the area’s stunning leaf season. TripAdvisor.com recently named the city the best place in the nation to view fall foliage.

Amid this renowned city are six distinct areas — Downtown, Biltmore Village, Biltmore Park, North Asheville, Rivers Arts District and West Asheville — each as unique as the people, places and things that inhabit them.

Welcome

Downtown Asheville is a haven of small business, art and culture.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

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Asheville

Downtown Asheville

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The heart of the city, downtown Asheville is a cultural mecca. For several years Asheville was voted the “top small-city arts destination� in the country, just one of many labels this vibrant, evolving district has been tagged with.

Downtown is full of galleries and shops displaying all manners of art, from traditional mountain crafts to more modern creations.

A popular gathering spot, and one that is home to numerous festivals throughout the year, Pack Square is the epicenter of downtown Asheville. MARGARET HESTER PHOTOS

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The Asheville Art Museum, which has helped anchor the arts scene for decades, recently announced major expansion plans. The Black Mountain College Museum & Arts Center hosts exhibits, talks and workshops that celebrate the legacy of the college, a noted avant-garde institution from 1933-1957.

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Asheville

The annual Christmas Jam at the U.S. Cellular Center.

GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

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Work by artist Beth Andrews. SOUTHERN HIGHLAND CRAFT GUILD PHOTO

Some of the area’s biggest art events take place in Asheville. In July and October, the U.S. Cellular Center is home to the four-day Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, which has taken place for more than 60 years.

At the event, more than 200 local and regional craftspeople fill the center, offering their creations of clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, wood and jewelry. A newer event, The Big Crafty, has exploded in popularity in recent years. Held in July and December at Pack Place, it’s a kind of community bazaar, with quirky crafts, local food and beer, and music.

One of Asheville’s newest festivals, the Mountain Sports

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The performing arts also flourish in Asheville, with dozens of venues hosting live music, readings, theatre and comedy on a nightly basis.

The U.S Cellular Center is the largest, with both a 7,600-seat arena and the 2,400-seat Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. The center hosts everything from performances by the Asheville Symphony Orchestra to roller derby bouts starring the Blue Ridge Rollergirls. More intimate performances take place at the Diana Wortham Theatre, a 500-seat venue that is part of a downtown cultural and educational center, Pack Place, and the recently opened Altamont Theatre, a 120-seat performance spot that boasts some of the best acoustics in the area.

The Orange Peel, a renovated 1970s-era music club, draws national acts on a nightly basis and was recently named one of the best rock venues in America by Rolling Stone. And on just about any given night, innumerable bars, breweries, clubs and restaurants around the city feature live music of various genres.

There’s also a burgeoning comedy scene, with both amateur and professional stand-up comics performing several times a weeks at various venues. The annual Laugh Your Asheville Off, held in in July, is the biggest comedy festival in the southeast.

Festival hosts an array of outdoor gear demonstrations, live music and craft beer each Memorial Day weekend in nearby Carrier Park. For those who find large-scale festivals too big for their liking, there’s a smaller, but still-vibrant event in September, the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival — a familyfriendly festival celebrating the funkier side of Asheville’s underground arts and music.

Every April, downtown has hosted HATCH Asheville, a creative arts and mentoring festival that brings in luminaries from around the world to discuss and showcase work in seven disciplines: architecture, design/technology, fashion, film, journalism, music and photography.

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Asheville ASHEVILLE’S HIDDEN GEMS Strolling the beautiful stretch of architecture that is the Grove Park Arcade in downtown Asheville, what also catches your eye is the array of fine dining and one-of-a-kind shops that immediately fills you with surprise and curiosity.

And as you wander down Page Avenue, you stop in your tracks. In a nearby storefront, a display case sparkles and shines. You’re standing in front of Roberto Coin, where everything within grasp is beautiful and true.

“It’s all about getting the right jewelry on the right girl,” said Steve Woolum. “I can look at someone and just know about what they’re wearing and what jewelry they have on as to what they’d be interested in here.”

For almost 30 years, Woolum has been immersed in the jewelry industry. Managing shops around the Caribbean and beyond, his talents and knowledge about high-end gems and jewelry is not only an asset to Roberto Coin but also a mainstay of trusted skill and longtime customer relationships within their Asheville store.

“Since we’re a brand, Roberto Coin is collection driven,” Woolum said.

“And with a brand like ours we focus on earrings Steve Woolum and bracelets, because earlobes and wrists are like fingerprints — no two are alike.”

One of eight specialized boutiques in the world, the Asheville location remains the flagship Roberto Coin store in the United States. Recognized as one of the premier manufacturers of 18-karat white, rose and yellow gold across the globe, the Italian company has displays in every Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Bloomingdale’s.

“With 18-karat, it means less copper content, which means it’s more flattering on the skin,” Woolum said. “And with the latest trend of rose gold, we do a tremendous peach gold — a better color to look at when people are thinking about rose.”

Originally from North Carolina, Woolum never thought he’d return to his home state. After a long and bountiful stint in the Caribbean, he found himself at the helm of the Roberto Coin in Asheville when they opened the doors in December 2006.

“Downtown was still pretty quiet back then, but I remember there’d be these cars that would just stop in the middle of the road in front of the shop,” Woolum smiled. “And these welldressed women would jump out, walk into the store and say,

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“There’s a quiet sophistication about Asheville, where you meet the most interesting people that have lived wonderful lives and done so many great things.”

— Steve Woolum, Roberto Coin Asheville manager

‘Is this the Roberto Coin? There’s a store here?’ They just couldn’t believe it.”

And as the Asheville boutique has grown, in popularity and quality, so has the city itself outside their doors.

“Of course, we’ve seen huge changes with the new hotels being built and all the new businesses coming into downtown,” Woolum said. “And we love it.”

After almost a decade of residing in Asheville, Woolum takes pride in the people, places and things that make this a soughtafter and beloved destination, for residents and visitors alike.

“You find people passionate about the city because they chose this city,” he said. “There’s a quiet sophistication about Asheville, where you meet the most interesting people that have lived wonderful lives and done so many great things. People aren’t drawn here because of a job, they’re drawn here because they want to be here, and that makes all the difference.”

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Of course, traditional music also gets its due.

On Saturday nights throughout the summer, thousands of mountain-music fans gather for the Shindig on the Green. The outdoor event was founded back in 1930, as the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, by legendary Appalachian song collector and folk historian Bascom Lamar Lunsford. It’s still one of the best ways to take in mountain music and dance performed by the young, old and everyone in between.

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Asheville The Mowrey family is the force behind Smoking J’s Fiery Foods.

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Jael and Dan Rattigan. GARRET K. WOODWARD PHOTO

FRENCH BROAD CHOCOLATE LOUNGE Tucked away in a corner of the French Broad Chocolate Lounge in downtown Asheville, Dan and Jael Rattigan can’t help but smile, shaking their heads in awe of the journey they not only have found themselves on, but also created together.

“It was epic, and that’s the only way to put it,” Dan laughed. “All of this happened in a very short period of time.”

It all started with a simple interaction. Cut back to 2003. Dan was in law school in Minneapolis, and also working for a catering company.

While working a wedding one day, he met Jael, the sister of the groom. She was in graduate school and working towards an MBA. They hit it off immediately.

“We started dating, got interested in chocolate, both dropped out of our graduate programs and moved to Costa Rica by way of a 40-foot school bus that Dan converted to run on used vegetable oil,” Jael grinned.

Driving the bus from Minnesota to Central America, the couple (who had just found out were expecting) kicked

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The city has recently emerged as a center of local, specialized food production.

Blue Ridge Food Ventures, an 11,000-square-foot kitchen that’s part of Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, is home to a renowned culinaryeducation program. With its cooking and food storage capacity, along with classes and marketing assistance, BRFV has helped scores of food entrepreneurs find a recipe for success.

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Asheville also has a vibrant literary culture that springs from deep roots.

The great American novelist Thomas Wolfe was born and raised here, and other noted writers of his era, including O. Henry and F. Scott Fitzgerald, did some of their best work while staying in Asheville. The Thomas Wolfe Memorial, a state historic site in Wolfe’s restored childhood home, hosts tours, readings and other events to celebrate his rich body of literature.

The sky’s the limit for activities and opportunity in downtown Asheville.

Food to festivals, crafts to craft beer, music to mountains — it’s all here, ready for the taking.

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Asheville

“Our products are not just about quality, it’s about a collection of energies, from the grower to the harvest, the maker to the server.”

— Jael Rattigan, French Broad Chocolate Lounge co-owner

off their dreams in motion. Once in Costa Rica, with Dan’s baking experience and Jael’s business sense, they decided to open a restaurant, Bread & Chocolate (which still thrives to this day).

Before they had even left for Costa Rica years prior, the Rattigans always knew their destiny would have something do with chocolate.

“Jael was making chocolate for Christmas gifts and she suddenly got this tingling sensation in her hands, an epiphany about chocolate,” Dan said. “And I supported her in that. Once we started to see the world with these new lenses of chocolate, we started to see everything in that frame of reference in what we wanted to do — chocolate became part of our world.”

“In pursuit for sharing our love for people, chocolate is at that intersection of a pleasing sensory experience, something that people share and celebrate,” Jael added. “It’s a powerful connection.

It’s a creative culinary pursuit as well as a sincere affection for the community.”

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While living in Costa Rica, the Rattigans came across an abandoned cacao farm, which they then purchased and have been rehabilitating gradually in recent years. But, with the impending birth of their second child, they realized it was time to return to the United States, to be closer to friends and family.

“What we were looking for was somewhere with a fantastic food scene, a supportive small business community, and a great place to raise kids,” Jael said. “And over and over again we kept getting told to check out Asheville.”

When they relocated to Asheville in 2006, they immediately started work on what would become French Broad Chocolates. Though initially the company was a day-in-and-dayout operation out of the kitchen of their West Asheville home, the Rattigans knew to survive, financially and professionally, they’d have to create a space for people to congregate, to consume and enjoy their wares. After acquiring a small business loan, they opened their original location on Lexington Avenue. It was a success, with lines out the door and down the sidewalk an everyday occurrence.

“We were surprised by it all, where we’d drive by the lounge at night and couldn’t believe how many people were in line for our chocolates,” Jael added. “We can’t believe we created this, where now we have the lounge, the product line, our employees, and a positive impact on commerce. Our products are not just about quality, it’s about a collection of energies, from the grower to the harvest, the maker to the server.”

With their continued successes, French Broad Chocolates opened a production facility on Buxton Avenue, of which over 15 tons of chocolate are made each year (12 tons being used in the lounge itself, the rest for candy bars and specialized chocolate bites). They also moved the lounge to its current location in Pack Square, the heart of Asheville, in November 2014.

“The food scene in this town is amazing,” Jael said. “We’re all collaborating, and it’s becoming a model for other cities to follow.

Chocolate makers are working with breweries who are working with restaurants. It’s a playground and we’re working together to make this place better everyday.”

“I mean, just look around you outside, at the gorgeous mountains surrounding us,” Dan added. “This is a place of beauty geographically, and due to the people, too — we all choose to live here.”

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Asheville

Biltmore Village

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One of the most unique shopping experiences in the South, Biltmore Village is home to high-end boutiques, open-aired restaurants, locally owned retailers and other points of commercial and residential interest.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Built as a community entrance for the renowned Biltmore Estate, the village is filled with tree-lined streets, historic homes and majestic architecture.

Nearby is the Biltmore Estate, site of the Biltmore Mansion, one of the largest private residences ever built. Completed in 1895, today the 250-room, French renaissance-style house and the 8,000-acre grounds are open to guests for tours, dinners, concerts and outdoor activities. The gardens, stables, restaurants, winery and hotel all help make this North Carolina’s top tourism destination, with more than a million people now visiting each year. The estate’s Biltmore Winery is also the most visited winery in the country, and features both tours of the vineyards and an expansive tasting room.

SURFACE GALLERY In the depths of Biltmore Village in Asheville, within earshot of the bustling intersection of Hendersonville Road and Lodge Street, sits the Surface Gallery.

“We want you to walk into our space and have a very intimate time with each piece,” said Surface Director/Curator Katie Avant.

Wandering the room, one finds themselves in the presence of some of the finest contemporary art, from Constance Williams (encaustic painter) to Bill Brown (steel sculpture), Mark Bettis (cold wax painter) to Akira Satake (ceramics).

“There are only a handful of contemporary galleries in Asheville, where this city is well known for its long craft tradition,” Avant said. “And we wanted to be a little bit different, where we could offer a gallery of artists and pieces that you won’t find anywhere else.”

Opened in April 2015, the idea behind Surface was one where artists could be displayed in a place that eliminated distractions and overcrowding on walls, with each work able to breathe freely in

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Surface Gallery in Biltmore Village.

its own space and time.

“Of the artists here, each are highly identifiable,” Avant said. “We don’t want you to be over-stimulated with a bunch of little things where you can’t actually visit with the piece and appreciate it for what it is.”

In terms of what they showcase, Surface seeks out professionals, not just in title, but also in attitude, style and flavor. It’s about breaking ground on a fresh canvas or lump of clay rather than trying to follow what artistic trail has already been tread upon.

A RT F O R L I V I N G

“You come in here and say to yourself, ‘I’ve never seen something like that before,’” Avant said. “We’re looking for a unique twist on all types of genres of art — extremely unique and quality items.”

And when a customer steps into Surface, their connection to a piece is automatic and one of pure joy and curiosity.

“It’s an immediate thing,” Avant said. “You don’t have to tell the person they may like a certain piece.

They know it immediately, and they know exactly where it’s going to go and be placed in their lives — it’s a pretty special thing.”

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That sincere artisan appreciation by residents and visitors is a shared trait of businesses, shops and galleries within the Biltmore Village.

Here, the skills and talents possessed within one’s hands are upheld as part of the deep cultural and economic foundation of greater Western North Carolina.

“There is so much creativity and art in and around Asheville, from culinary to visual to musical,” Avant said. “It draws people in from all over because of this rich culture that this area has established.”

When asked just what makes Asheville special, to live and work in, Avant smiles and takes a moment to gather her thoughts.

“I try to go to new restaurants, breweries and galleries all the time, and I still feel like I’ve only skimmed the surface. And the other side of that is the mountains, where if you don’t make it over the hill you’re missing half the city and what it stands for,” she said. “There’s always a surprise, with new businesses popping up, new people moving to here to preserve the culture and environment that makes this place so special.”

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Asheville

Biltmore Park

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A “fresh re-imagining of the main streets of the past, made to meet today’s standards of smart growth, green living and reduced driving,” Biltmore Park is just minutes from downtown Asheville.

Between an array of apartment, condo, townhouse and residential home options, the strength lies in the vibrant commercial/urban core of the community, which extends outward into neighborhoods as unique as the people who inhabit them.

At the center of the town are numerous restaurants, cafés, spas, health clubs, boutiques and gathering spots. Consumers and residents alike enjoy catching a flick at the Regal Biltmore Grande Stadium 15 movie theater or perusing retailers like REI, LOFT and Barnes & Noble. Amid these stores are plenty of local, independent businesses and world-class merchants.

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FROM THE FARM TO YOUR TABLE Randy Dunn has a favorite joke.

“What’s the difference between sauce and gravy? About three dollars,” he laughed.

Executive chef at Roux, a “new southern” style restaurant at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park, Dunn has spent the last six years turning the space from a blank canvas into one of the premier culinary destinations in the city.

“I just love serving people,” he said.

“Feeding them, making them happy — that’s what it’s all about.”

Dunn’s friendly sense of humor is something that permeates through the kitchen and out onto the serving floor. You see, the Hilton is well known for being a higher-end hotel, one of cosmopolitan tastes. And Roux aims to not only match that taste with his dishes, but also make sure the interaction between customer and chef is anything but at arm’s length.

“We try to create a relaxed atmosphere,” Dunn said. “Even though you’re in this really nice hotel, we don’t want you to feel you’re in some stuffy restaurant. Some people might walk by and think the food is too

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Asheville

Roux prides itself in using the freshest ingredients, many of which are from Western North Carolina.

DONATED PHOTO

“I just love serving people.

Feeding them, making them happy — that’s what it’s all about.”

— Randy Dunn, Roux executive chef

expensive or the space looks too fine dining, but we’re actually one of the more affordable spots anywhere in Biltmore Park for the quality of food that you get.”

One look at the menu and you can see the intricate thought and passion put into the selections. It’s taking beloved dishes and infusing them with a southern “twist.” And by “twist,” many-a-time Dunn is referring to the local ingredients that Roux gathers from the nearby farmer’s market in Biltmore Park or from regional vendors who personally come into the restaurant with the freshest items available anywhere.

“On Wednesdays, we’ll walk up to the farmer’s tailgate market, get what we need, and head back down to the restaurant and cook

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it,” Dunn said. “It’s great when people are enjoying their meal and ask me about the food, and I’m able to tell them it’s right from here in Western North Carolina.”

Of those local items, Roux gets its burger meat, sausages and ribeye steaks from Hickory Nut Gap Farm (Fairview), fresh produce from Cane Creek Valley Farm (Fletcher), jams and jellies from Claire’s ABC Gourmet Preserves and bread from Annie’s Bakery (both in Asheville). Add in local dairy products and apples (Henderson County) for seasonal dishes and you have a menu that is as sustainable as it is delicious.

“And some of these local vendors have been with us since we opened,” Dunn proudly stated.

Dunn himself grew up in Tennessee. Originally a civil engineering major, he soon found his real passion in kitchen, cooking for others when he and his colleagues started a supper club while in school.

Though he was raised in a cooking-savvy family, it wasn’t until he entered the prestigious Johnson & Wales culinary institution in Charleston that Dunn knew the path he was on was the right one.

Following graduation, he was hired at the renowned Carolina Inn (Chapel Hill), where he remained as the business reached fourdiamond status. And when the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park was under construction in 2009, the company came knocking, looking at Dunn as the one to lead the new restaurant venture, a position he’s held ever since.

“What’s there not to love about living and working here?” he said.

“I love being in nature, and there are so many great outdoor things to do here. And for a small city like Asheville, the food scene is huge.

You could try a new restaurant every night of the week for a year, and yet there’d still be places you haven’t tried or just opened.

There’s always something going on.”

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Asheville

West Asheville

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Quite possibly the fastest growing area in the city, West Asheville has become home to numerous small businesses.

From cafés and breakfast nooks (West End Bakery, Biscuithead, Sunny Point Café) to restaurants (Nine Mile, The Admiral, West Asheville Lounge & Kitchen), music venues (The Mothlight, Isis Music Hall, The Odditorium) to breweries (Altamont, Oyster House), and everything in between, the area offers a warm welcome to the possibilities of niche commerce. The section is known for its “neighborhood friendly” image, where you’ll see just as many baby-strollers and joggers moseying down the sidewalks as patrons heading toward a concert or lunch date.

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TIME TO MAKE THE DOUGHNUTS Kim Dryden expects only one thing from her customers.

“That when you come in here you will eat the greatest doughnut you’ve ever eaten,” she said.

Co-owner of Hole, an artisan doughnut and gourmet coffee shop on Haywood Road in West Asheville, Dryden and her business partner, Caroline Whatley, have established themselves within their first year of operation as one of the “go to” spots for culinary sweet-tooth treats in the city.

“It makes us both very proud,” Dryden said.

“We weren’t sure if this concept was going to work, but we’ve met so many incredible and supportive people through this, who like our product and our atmosphere — that’s what keeps us going forward.”

Originally from Raleigh (Whatley hails from Baton Rouge), Dryden found herself in the mountains of Western North Carolina some 18 years ago. These ancient peaks and valleys spoke to her soul and she knew she wanted to put down deep roots.

“You can’t beat the quality of life here,” Dryden said. “I mean, just this week I went

Asheville “We’ve met so many incredible and supportive people through this, who like our product — that’s what keeps us going forward.”

— Kim Dryden, Hole co-owner

mountain biking at Bent Creek, hiking at Graveyard Fields, and saw some waterfalls. This is a really friendly community, one where people are always outside.”

The duo had previously launched the Tin Can Pizzeria, a popular food truck in Asheville. Although successful, they eventually sold the business in hopes of trying something new, something sweeter. While trekking through Carolina Beach, they came across a long-time staple of the beachside town — Britt’s Donuts.

“That place has been around for 75 years, serving delicious, hot doughnuts,” Dryden said. “And we realized Asheville didn’t have a gourmet doughnut business, so we did more research around the southeast, in other cities, and figured out what it is we needed to do to bring the same idea to Western North Carolina.”

With Whatley’s past bakery experience and Dryden’s business sense, the duo opened Hole in September 2014.

“It was absolutely crazy — we were so nervous,” Dryden reminisced. “We must’ve rolled about 800 doughnuts for that first day, and by 11 a.m. we were sold out.”

Ranging from thai lime coconut to maple glaze, rosemary bourbon to spicy pumpkin (and beyond), Dryden said the trick — or “key” — to their scrumptious doughnuts is the ingredients and how fast they get the fresh dough into the fryer.

“Besides the rice bran oil, we used stone ground organic flour and grass-fed milk,” she noted. “And the coffee is our own special blend roasted right up the road at PennyCup Coffee Co.” On any given weekday, Hole hand rolls and sells around up to 400 doughnuts, with that number almost doubling when the weekend comes around. Now that the shop has become a destination for local foodies and tourists alike, Dryden can’t help but feel lucky for all the love and encouragement the company has received from the restaurant community as a whole.

“We’ve gotten so much support from the local residents, and from other restaurant owners,” she said. “Chefs from all over the city

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Hot and fresh doughnuts from Hole. DONATED PHOTO come in, see what we’re doing, and support us, and we do the same for them. We’re also a fair wage business for our employees, too.

Everybody works together in Western North Carolina — we make sure everyone is taken care of.”

Stepping into the small, cozy building, one is immediately mesmerized by the mouthwatering flavors wafting from the openair kitchen. The space is modern yet filled with such a sense of the past, where old wood furnishings and genuine southern hospitality make one feel right at home.

Upon eating one (well, OK, two) of the savory doughnuts, Dryden wanders over to ask how everything tastes. Words of sheer delight are muffled through chewing sounds and hearty grins. “You like them, huh? Well, good,” she smiled.

“The people of Asheville always push the limits, and with such a creative and positive energy,” Dryden added. “For us, it’s about making you feel comfortable and welcome from the moment you walk in the door, to stay and enjoy yourself — we take all kinds, we love everybody.”

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A

Asheville

River Arts District

The Wedge Brewing Company in the River Arts District of Asheville is a popular gathering spot for locals and tourists. MAX COOPER PHOTO

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A rising jewel of the Southern Appalachian art scene is the River Arts District, an everexpanding complex of studios and galleries near the French Broad River that’s also becoming one of Asheville’s culinary and entertainment hubs.

The Grey Eagle, a nationallyrenowned music venue in the RAD, brings in top talents from around the region and across the country, and has

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“Pure Barre is the fastest, safest way to change your body” Art studios and galleries are the foundation of the RAD. MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

bubbled up to become one of the acclaimed spots in the Southeast for live entertainment. Brewing some of the finest craft beer in the region, The Wedge is tucked behind the numerous art studios (Broken Road, Clayspace Co-Op, Constance Williams, Molly Courcelle), all within an earshot of numerous restaurants (White Duck Taco, 12 Bones Smokehouse, The Bull & Beggar, All Souls Pizza) and performance spaces (Magnetic Theatre, The Bywater) that dot the RAD. Coming into 2016, the centerpiece business will be New Belgium Brewing Company, one of the largest craft beer companies in the country (based out of Fort Collins, Colorado), who recently opened their $140million east coast production facility in the heart of the RAD.

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Asheville THE ASHEVILLE RUNNING COLLECTIVE It’s late afternoon in the River Arts District section of Asheville.

The early fall sunshine radiates from bluebird skies above. And while most cars filling up the enormous dirt parking lot at the Wedge Brewery are there for a fresh handmade craft beer, several vehicles pull up at the far end of the property.

Dozens of joyous souls emerge, all adorned with bright workout clothing and running shoes. They converge, shaking hands and welcoming each other during a quick stretch or friendly banter about how their day went. A voice in the crowd gives the signal and they’re off, down Lyman Street, along the French Broad River Greenway and through nearby Carrier Park.

Welcome to the “Thursday Night Wedge Run.” “There are so many beautiful trails around us, but we wanted to also create a flat stretch of road where we could go as fast and far as we wanted,” said Mark Driscoll.

Social media coordinator of the Asheville Running Collective, which puts on the weekly Wedge Run, Driscoll looks forward to meeting up with friends and curious alike every Thursday for a steady trek around the RAD and its natural beauty cradling the French Broad River that flows through the city.

“Up at the front of the pack can be fast, and for some people that can intimidating,” Driscoll said. “But we try to make it as casual and open to everyone as possible because at the end of the day we’re all just going for a run.”

The Wedge Runs became a natural bi-product of the ARC. In 2011, knowing how deep the running talent pool was in Asheville, ARC President Frankie Atkins decided to create a club where enthusiastic runners from all backgrounds and sponsorships could work and achieve their training and racing goals together. The idea originally stemmed from the arduous and majestic Blue Ridge Relay.

A 210-mile mountainous trek (with 18,000 feet of elevation gain and 20,000 feet of elevation loss) from southwestern Virginia into downtown Asheville, the hometown team back then had a lackluster showing in 2010, with Atkins rallying all the local talent he could to win in 2011. The success of that first victory led to subsequent wins in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

“The mission of the ARC is to fill a gap,” Driscoll said. “Where we can be that next step for someone looking to hit new professional levels, or someone looking to compete and keep running post-college.”

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Now a certified nonprofit organization (which raises fund to send athletes to competitions), the ARC wanted to build on its vision to where it could extend its welcoming spirit to all. Thus, the Wedge Run came to fruition.

“Anyone who has experienced running scenes or communities knows that one of the coolest things about running is that you have a shared connection with all runners,” Driscoll said. “Yes, some of us can go on and on about races times, workouts and splits, but if you hang out after the Wedge Run with us you’ll hear talk about everything else besides running.”

And the folks lining up each Thursday for the eight-mile out-andback route (though you can turn around whenever you’d like) are as varied as their personalities. To the left, you might have someone training for the upcoming Olympic trials. To the right, a husband and wife going for out for a laidback evening jog.

They are lawyers, doctors, carpenters, journalists and nurses, among an endless array of career pursuits. It’s a — Mark Driscoll, Asheville Running family where the name of Collective social media coordinator the game is camaraderie, with all culminating at the finish line in front of the Wedge for a post-run beverage.

“We’re a team here, whether it be achieving goals in running or in life,” Driscoll said. “We’re people who want to improve on a local, regional or national level. Once running gets in your blood, it’s something you’ll always want to do.”

Grabbing a seat at a table on the Wedge’s vast patio, Driscoll and his friends, new and old, all salute another great Thursday run of well-earned sweat and jovial laughter. It’s just one of the innumerable reasons he and everyone proudly call Asheville home.

“We live in an eclectic city where you’re a block from a great farmto-table restaurant, café, craft brewery and music venue, and yet also are just 10 minutes from the Pisgah National Forest,” Driscoll said. “Just get outside and run at whatever pace and distance you want. I’ve met my best friends and wife through running — it’s all about that sense of community.”

“One of the coolest things about running is that you have a shared connection with all runners.”

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WEDGE STUDIO ARTISTS are located in the River Arts District of Asheville, North Carolina.

Come explore our collection of award-winning artists.

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Asheville Reynolds Village is a large-scale mixed-use development in North Asheville.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

North Asheville With a large focus being placed on the rest of the city, North Asheville has been working behind the scenes, creating a steady stream of new, small business and eccentric development.

Once overlooked, it is rapidly becoming a hot spot for retail and commercial businesses looking to stakeout their own piece of land to pursue and cultivate their dreams.

Science and education also loom large in the North Asheville community. The University of North Carolina at Asheville’s 3,600 students participate in such projects as the local hub of the statewide Renaissance Computing Institute, or RENCI. RENCI’s mission is to “bring the latest cyber tools and technologies to bear on pressing problems.”

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM

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Greg Garrison knows exactly what makes people happy.

“Ice cream,” he said. “Where you come in here happy or come in here to become happy, it’s about creating a happy atmosphere and making a delicious product.”

Sliding a cup of red and golden beet (with, of course, local beets) swirl atop a scoop of salted caramel ice cream across the table, Garrison is all smiles when asked about his business, The Hop Ice Cream Café — a longtime staple of sweet congregation in Asheville.

“Our job here first and foremost is provide our customers with happiness,” he said. “We’ve got our ice cream recipes perfectly dialed in, where we’re able to MICAH MACKENZIE PHOTO

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Asheville

“You’d walk into the door somewhere, anywhere, and everyone would say hello with a smile on their face, where they were wanting to engage with you — Asheville attracts that open-minded, welcoming personality.”

— Greg Garrison, co-owner, The Hop

really focus on making this location more of a community center.

Come in, hangout, bring your friends and family.”

The company’s flagship shop on Merrimon Avenue heading out of downtown into North Asheville has been a beacon of fun and festivities since it opened in 1978. And yet, for Garrison, who purchased the business with his wife, Ashley, in 2008, ice cream was quite possibly the last thing he envisioned himself doing as a career.

Originally from Houston, Garrison was meandering around Western North Carolina in search of a college to play soccer. He eventually found himself at UNC-Asheville, a place he knew immediately was where he wanted to be.

“I remember distinctly coming over that rise on I-40 west into Black Mountain,” he said. “The moment I saw Asheville and these mountains, I knew this place was exactly for me.”

Garrison felt a connection with the people in the city and outlying areas. There was a sense of genuine sincerity he’d never come across before.

“Everybody here seemed very willing to say hello, to have a conversation, and not just people I was supposed to meet, but just people in general,” he said. “You’d walk into the door somewhere, anywhere, and everyone would say hello with a smile on their face, where they were wanting to engage with you — Asheville attracts that open-minded, welcoming personality.”

At the time, Greg and Ashley were Texan high school sweethearts attending college in different states. Ashley then transferred from Alabama to Asheville. And to make a little income on the side of

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academic and athletic endeavors, the couple found jobs at The Hop. With what started as a gig aside from school soon became something of a lifestyle for the Garrisons.

“After college, Ashley stuck with The Hop, while I was an assistant soccer coach at UNCA,” Greg said. “I did various jobs in the summer, but was always somehow involved with The Hop.” Ashley became manager, with the original location moving a few blocks up Merrimon Avenue to its current location in 2007. Around that time, the owners had mentioned the idea of selling the company. The Garrisons saw an opportunity and bought The Hop in 2008. Since then, they’ve opened a second spot in West Asheville 2010, as well as a creamery (where 85 percent of their ice cream is made) in 2015 right up Haywood Road from The Hop West.

“We’re a small business in the community and we look for ways to work with other small businesses around here,” Greg said. “A lot of our ingredients are local, where we work hand-in-hand with our neighbors who support us, and we want it that way — to make the best possible ice cream.”

Alongside the classic standbys, The Hop offers a wide (seemingly endless) array of styles, where vegan selections are listed right next to a honey or coconut style. Greg looks at his business as one piece of a larger puzzle of camaraderie and joy within greater Asheville.

It’s about opening your door and bringing people together for a unique and enjoyable experience, where the laughter and conversation is just as delicious as the ice cream in their hands.

“The Hop has been in Asheville for so long. It’s something special to the city,” he said. “It was something special long before we bought it, and we’re going to keep it that way pushing ahead.”

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Buncombe COUNTY

Arden & Mills River In Arden and Mills River, there’s lots of room to roam — and you don’t have to go far to experience some of the finest facets of mountain life.

Arden is an unincorporated community in south Buncombe County. It’s a quick jump off of Interstate 26, with Asheville 15 minutes to the north and Hendersonville 15 minutes to the south. It’s just a few miles from the Asheville Regional Airport and right next door to some of the best spots on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The community is bordered to the east by the French Broad River and just down the road from the North Carolina Arboretum. An extraordinary public garden that adjoins the Parkway, the 434-acre Arboretum has 65 acres of cultivated gardens and 10 miles of hiking and biking trails, hosts one of the most unique bonsai collections in the country, and stages a steady stream of exhibits on subjects ranging from mountain quilts to rare plants.

Also nearby is Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest, a federal facility that’s part of the Pisgah National Forest, and the Lake Powatan Recreational Area, which together offer dozens of mountain trails and lakeside camping sites.

A favorite Arden locale for kids is Jake Rusher Park, a huge public park with playgrounds and a walking area.

One of the play areas includes several castle-like structures, so some locals call the facility “Castle Park.”

become a leader in their field and maker of some of the finest microbrews for the last 35 years. Based out of Chico, California, the company hit 1 million barrels for their 2013 production year. With those staggering numbers, the company felt it was time to open an East Coast headquarters, with Asheville and Western North Carolina their ideal location not only for distributing strategies, but also for an unparalleled quality of life for their employees.

Another nearby community, Skyland, is home to scores of additional eateries and shops and more recreation facilities.

The county-run Zeugner Center has a heated indoor pool, measuring 35-by-75 feet, that hosts water exercise classes and open swim times for the public.

Another county-run facility, Lake Julian Park, is popular among local families. The 300-acre lake and surrounding park offers picnicking spots, boating, fishing and a playground. The lake has an abundance of fish, including bass, brim, catfish, crappie and tilapia. Anglers can fish from the shore and, for a small fee, from privately owned or rented boats. The park also rents paddle boats and canoes, and provides free use of a

In August 2014, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. opened a $100 million, 180-acre facility in Mills River.

One of Arden’s most impressive historic structures is the Blake House Inn Bed & Breakfast, which was built as a summer retreat in 1847 by the son of a Charleston plantation owner. The house is a rare example of Italianate architecture with Gothic Revival influences. It has been restored and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

In August 2014, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. opened a $100 million, 180-acre facility (with around 150 acres remaining a natural landscape) in Mills River, right next door to the Asheville Regional Airport. As one of the pioneers of the craft beer industry, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has

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SIERRA NEVADA PHOTO

pontoon boat for people with disabilities, senior citizens and student groups. On the shore, there’s a sand volleyball court and horseshow pits.

The park is open year-round, though the hours vary with the seasons. In addition to the regular offerings, Lake Julian is center stage for special annual events, including fireworks displays on July 4, fishing tournaments and the Festival of Lights.

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Buncombe COUNTY

Weaverville’s walkable downtown features an eclectic mix of shops and eateries. MAX COOPER PHOTO

Weaverville & Barnardsville Two communities in north/central Buncombe County offer laid-back living a short distance from the hustle and bustle of Asheville.

Weaverville, population 3,200, has had a mini growth spurt in recent years. The town is situated in the Reems Creek Valley, adjacent to Interstate 26 and just five miles north of Asheville, where many Weaverville residents work.

The town has its own economic base, however, with everything from small independent eateries (like local favorites on Main Street, Blue Mountain Pizza, WellBred Bakery & Café, and The Glass Onion) to large-scale manufacturers (like Arvato Digital Services,

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one of the biggest compact disc producers in the country).

Weaverville has earned a reputation for keeping its neighborhoods clean and green. It’s garnered the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA certification every year since 1990, and in 2009 the foundation named it the top “Tree City” in the state.

The town maintains Lake Louise Park, a hub of local recreation. The small lake is surrounded by picnic tables and shelters, outdoor grills, a playground and a walking trail, making it a perfect spot for family and community events, exercise and romantic strolls.

From Weaverville, it’s just a 15-minute drive to the scenic roads and trails of the Blue Ridge Parkway. And the town is home to Reems Creek Golf Course, a semi-private course designed in part by Hawtree & Sons, British architects who specialize in crafting classic Scottish-style links.

Weaverville prides itself on a tradition of neighborliness, offering residents ample opportunities to get to know each other, be it in a park, at a local pub or sporting event, or at the Weaverville Downtown Go Around, a casual monthly event that’s one part meetand-greet, one part walking tour.

A key part of Weaverville’s recent growth has been in

A key part of Weaverville’s recent growth has been in its bustling art scene.

The Big Ivy Historical Park serves as a community center for Barnardsville.

DONATED PHOTO

its bustling art scene. Local galleries and studios showcase the work of jewelers, painters, potters, glass artists, sculptors and fiber artists. Two main local events celebrate the town’s artistic abundance: In September, there’s Art in Autumn, which fills Main Street with arts and crafts. And twice a year, in May and October, there’s the Weaverville Art Safari, a free, self-guided studio tour featuring faceto-face encounters with dozens of area artists and craftspeople.

One of Weaverville’s main attractions is the Vance Birthplace, a state historic site. There you can visit the restored childhood homestead of Zebulon Baird Vance, a storied North Carolina leader who was the state’s Civil War governor and also served in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress. The property, in a serene part of Reems Creek Valley, hosts regular tours, reenactments and educational presentations.

The Vance home, a five-room log cabin, has been reconstructed around the original chimney and preserved in appropriately rustic, early-19th

century style, as have the six original log outbuildings.

Ten miles northeast of Weaverville is the bucolic community of Barnardsville, set amidst rolling hills, pastures and mountain farms.

Like Weaverville, it’s home to both folks who enjoy a relaxed environment and a substantial number of professional artists.

Barnardsville was once a town, but the residents decided to go unincorporated in 1970. As it shed its municipal government, it found other ways to build community connections.

A local association coalesced and founded the Big Ivy Community Center, which has evolved into a vibrant hub of activity. The center hosts a library, pre-school and swimming pool, and provides space for an array of gatherings, events and services, including a pre-school, after-school programs, a community library, a book club, senior lunches, bingo bouts, computer classes, and yoga and zumba sessions.

The space is also available for rent, and is used for workshops, reunions, birthday parties, weddings and other special events. Every October, the center hosts Mountain Heritage Day, featuring local cuisine, crafts, music and exhibitions on traditional mountain living.

The center’s grounds are also home to the Big Ivy Historical Park, which is dedicated to preserving local heritage. The centerpiece of the park is the pre-Civil War cabin of Henry Carson, grandson of the community’s founding family, the Dillinghams. There’s also a replica of a one-room schoolhouse that was built in the 1890s.

Barnardsville is in a part of Buncombe that’s full of farms, so fresh, local food is literally a part of the landscape. There are several community-supported agriculture options, and weekly farmer’s markets at the Old Barnardsville Fire Station, so residents often buy their produce from their neighbors.

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Buncombe COUNTY

Black Mountain

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Nestled in the Swannanoa Valley, Black Mountain enjoys proximity to nearby mountain vistas, rivers and trails, and has plenty to offer in its own right.

Downtown Black Mountain.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

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The town of almost 8,000 residents has a vibrant but quaint commercial center and is noted for its cultural and recreational offerings. It’s a community that breathes with a particular kind of mountain energy, embracing both its natural surroundings and its tastefully configured, small-town urban core.

Part of Black Mountain’s vitality can be attributed to its draw as place to gather, consult and worship. Popular retreats and conference centers include the Blue Ridge Assembly, Christmount, The Cove, Ridgecrest, and the Montreat Conference Center. The last of those centers is located in Montreat, a small village adjoining Black

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Mountain that is also home to evangelist Billy Graham and a liberal arts school, Montreat College.

Downtown Black Mountain features a hearty cluster of independent restaurants and bars, gift stores, craft shops and art galleries, and nearly 50 antique dealers. Town Hardware and General Store, on State Street, offers an inventory of 35,000 items and the quintessential oldtimey shopping experience.

The town’s historic feel is enhanced at local institutions like the Swannanoa Valley History Museum, located in the former Black Mountain Fire Department building, which was designed by Richard Sharp Smith (project architect for Asheville’s Biltmore mansion) in 1921. Also downtown is the nicely preserved historic train depot, which is run as a gift shop and event and display space by a crew of volunteers.

To take in one key part of the town’s history — the distinguished run of the avant-garde Black Mountain College, which was located next to Lake Eden from 1933-57 — travel fifteen miles to downtown Asheville

Rising Appalachia performing at a past Lake Eden Arts Festival. DAVID SIMCHOCK PHOTOGRAPHY • WWW.DAVIDSIMCHOCK.COM

and visit the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, which pays homage to the iconoclastic institution with an ongoing roster of exhibits, talks and performances.

Outdoor recreation is one of Black Mountain’s hallmarks. Nearby fishing holes abound, and just north of town, the 10-acre Lake Tomahawk and its bank-side walkways are a favorite spot for a stroll, fishing off the peer, or a non-motorized boat ride. Several local summer camps are some of the oldest in the area.

The Black Mountain Golf Course, which is run by the town, has a special claim to fame: one of its 18 holes is a whopping 747-yard par 6. And just a few miles away is the Cliffs at High Carolina, a wellness-focused high-end community. And the town hosts numerous footraces, bike rides and other athletic contests on a regular basis.

Unique festivals and gatherings take place in Black Mountain throughout the year. The last Saturday morning of each month, for example, Town Square hosts CRUZ-N, a casual gathering of classic car, truck and motorcycle enthusiasts. The Black Mountain Arts and Crafts Show takes place each June, and on a mid-August weekend, the town stages the annual Sourwood Festival, a street fair that

brings tens of thousands of visitors for a celebration featuring mountain handicrafts and art, rides, games, traditional foods, music and dancing.

Several local institutions, including Montreat College and nearby Warren Wilson College, offer frequent concerts, theatre productions and dances. Twice a year, in May and October, the Lake Eden Arts Festival brings together local and national artisans and musical acts.

Visitors to LEAF, which often sells out early, can camp on the festival grounds or opt for day passes.

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Henderson COUNTY

Hendersonville & Flat Rock

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Hendersonville, long known for its historic charms, is blooming into the future.

The town, population 13,000, is the largest in Henderson County and is the county seat. In recent years, it has revitalized the local business scene and advanced its reputation as a place that offers something for just about everyone.

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MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

The town’s many tranquil neighborhoods and housing developments all surround a sturdy core — a downtown that’s a unique blend of the past and the present. It’s full of pubs, restaurants, museums, general and specialty stores, and other independent businesses, welcoming to pedestrians, bikers and cars all at the same time.

Few downtowns in the area can boast such a concentration of attractions, especially museums. The Henderson County Heritage Museum is housed in the historic old courthouse, built in 1905. The Mineral and Lapidary Museum, on Main Street, offers geologic highlights from near and far. Also downtown are Hands On!, a free educational museum for children, and the Historic Hendersonville Train Depot, home of the Apple Valley Model Railroad Club. The club has installed a remarkable scale model railroad that has over 600 feet of track. And just outside of town is the Western North Carolina Air Museum, the first air museum in the state, which features restored and replica antique and vintage airplanes.

Downtown bustles with special events throughout the year. In the summer, the free Monday Night Street Dances take place, bringing traditional mountain music and dancing. Attendees are welcome to tap their toes as spectators or cut a rug on Main Street. Music on Main Street, a weekly summer concert series on Friday nights, showcases diverse styles of local live music. And

SHERRILL JAN JACQUE

A celebration of the county’s major crop, the North Carolina Apple Festival pays tribute to everything the fruit has to offer, along with other local foods, crafts and entertainment.

Beautiful Objects.

Well Placed.

JOHN SMITH, ‘RED MAPLE‘

again, visitors are free to sit and watch or to join in on the dance area.

The biggest event of the year is the North Carolina Apple Festival, held every Labor Day weekend for more than 60 years. A celebration of the county’s major crop, the festival pays tribute to everything the fruit has to offer, along with other local foods, crafts and entertainment.

Local foods get a boost at the Henderson County Curb Market, a farmers market held downtown three days a week during warmer months and once a week during winter. The market has a true local focus. Vendors must be county natives and all items for sale are required to either be handmade or locally grown.

The arts also make a strong showing in and around Hendersonville, with the Arts Council of Henderson County taking the lead. The council recently launched a performing arts series. The Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, which celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2016, stages frequent performances and conducts both music education programs and a youth orchestra as well.

BILL RUSS/VISITNC.COM PHOTO

The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design also makes a major contribution to the local arts scene. Based at a 50-acre facility in Hendersonville, the center is a project run by the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Its programs include craft and design research and publishing, exhibitions, public art projects, and conferences that draw artists from across the country.

The town of Hendersonville manages a splendid array of local parks, which are integrated into a comprehensive greenways plan. Berkeley Park presently has a baseball park and a large pavilion, and plans are being advanced to develop a nature trail there. Boyd Park has two tennis courts and a unique municipal park feature: a miniature golf course. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park features picnic tables, a walking path and a granite memorial to King. The park also has a baseball field, a mile-long nature trail and a half-mile walking trail. Lenox Park is another popular picnicking spot, as are Toms Park, which has more than 20 shuffleboard courts, and Sullivan Park, which has basketball courts and a playground. The twomile-long Oklawaha Greenway Trail passes through several of the parks.

Patton Park is one of the larger facilities. The 19-acre park has two baseball fields, a football and soccer field, basketball, racquetball and tennis courts, pavilions, picnic

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Henderson COUNTY Hendersonville is neighbored by smaller towns that also have much to offer. Nearby Flat Rock, once known as “The Little Charleston of the Mountains,” has long been a resort escape for southerners fleeing summer heat. tables, two gazebos, a playground, a walking trail, an Olympic-size swimming pool and skate park.

When it comes to outdoor recreation, Hendersonville is uniquely situated. It’s close to the Pisgah National Forest, DuPont State Forest, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and several mountain lakes and rivers. Just five miles from downtown is Jump Off Rock, a storied scenic overlook.

According to local legend, hundreds of years ago, a Cherokee Indian chief and his sweetheart would meet on the rock, until he was called off to battle. She waited at the rock for him to return, but he was killed in combat, so she leapt to her death. Her ghost, the legend goes, appears on moonlit nights. Whatever the truth to the story, today the views remain fantastic, and the trails around Jump Off Rock are popular with hikers.

The Holmes Educational State Forest, eight miles from downtown, offers more opportunities to explore nature in a managed forest setting.

There’s a series of trails and several picnic areas, all surrounded by hardwood trees, azaleas, rhododendron and wild flowers.

Henderson’s ties to traditional mountain agriculture and culture are on display at Historic Johnson Farm, a former farm and tourist retreat that was established in the late 19th century. The centerpiece of the property is a house built from handmade bricks, the home of a wealthy tobacco farmer. Several outbuildings, including a blacksmith shop, barn

and cottage, have also been lovingly preserved. In 1987, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and today the 15-acre site is owned and run by the county school system, and provides a unique range of heritage education programs, including field trips, tours, classes on farm animals and guided nature walks. A renovated boarding house is home to the Heritage Weavers & Fiber Artists, a group dedicated to preserving the history of local textile arts.

Another historic Hendersonville treasure is the Mountain Farm & Home Museum, which is dedicated to preserving agricultural and domestic equipment, methods and literature related to rural life in 19th century Western North Carolina. The museum offers a trip back in time, and is packed with such relics as a 16-foot water wheel, a local doctor’s buggy, grain reapers and threshing machines, and antique engines, tractors, butter churns and tools.

The cornerstone of higher education in Henderson County is Blue Ridge Community College, the main campus of which is just south of Hendersonville. The two-year, comprehensive post-secondary school serves more than 15,000 students a year. The college, which recently celebrated its 46th anniversary, offers 95 programs of study and one of the largest continuing education programs in the state. It has placed special emphasis on technical programs in automotive technology, emergency response, law enforcement, nursing, engineering and machining technology.

Hendersonville is neighbored by smaller towns that also have much to offer. Nearby Flat Rock, once known as “The Little Charleston of the Mountains,” has long been a resort escape for southerners fleeing summer heat. It’s home to the Flat Rock Playhouse, where the many and varied performances draw some 100,000 visitors each year. It’s also where you can visit the Carl Sandburg Home, where the renowned poet and writer lived out his last 22 years. The estate, which Sandburg christened “Connemara,” is a National Historic Site and welcomes the public to view everything from Sandburg’s 10,000-volume library to the goat farm that was lovingly tended by Sandburg and his wife.

Etowah, also close by, has become a residential and retirement haven that features some of the finest golf courses in the area.

The Flat Rock Playhouse is a cultural hub of Henderson County.

SCOTT TREADWAY PHOTO

Poet Carl Sandburg.

AL RAVENNA, WORLD TELEGRAM STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. NEW YORK WORLDTELEGRAM & SUN COLLECTION.

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The Weston Homestead by Biltmore Farms Homes

Fox Run Preserve is marketed exclusively by Beverly-Hanks & Associates, Asheville, NC. This is not intended to be an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to buy real estate in Fox Run Preserve by residents of CT, HI, ID, IL, NY, NJ, OR, PA and SC or in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law. No offering can be made to residents of New York until an offering plan is ďŹ led with the Department of Beverly-Hanks ASSOCIATES Law of the State of New York. All prices and plans are subject to change without prior notice. Copyright Š 2016 Biltmore Farms, &LLC

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Henderson COUNTY

Fletcher A small town that enjoys close proximity to some of Western North Carolina’s biggest attractions, businesses and natural wonders, Fletcher is no longer simply a sleepy stopping point between Asheville and Hendersonville.

The town’s motto, fittingly, is “Pride in our past, and faith in our future.” Fletcher is growing at a steady and smooth pace, with its current population of 7,340 more than double what it was a 20 years ago. The town sits on six square miles of relatively flat land, with the Blue Ridge Mountains on the close horizon.

Located in north Henderson County, Fletcher is just a quick jaunt away some of the most vibrant and culturally rich cities and towns in the region. Asheville, Black Mountain, Brevard, Flat Rock, Hendersonville, Mills River, Lake Lure and Saluda are all within a 20-mile radius of the town.

Fletcher is uniquely positioned for national and international travelers, and a great spot to host visitors from near and far. In addition to ready access to the nearby Interstate 26, residents are just minutes away from Asheville Regional Airport, which offers nonstop flights to almost all major U.S. cities. The airport is going through a growth spurt of its own, adding new routes on a regular basis.

In recent years, the town has expanded its health and recreation initiatives, implementing a greenways master plan that makes the community more walkable and bikable. At present, there are 4.5 miles of connected trails; the plan envisions expanding the network to some 13 miles. Two local parks offer opportunities for exercise and enjoyment close to home: The 60-acre Fletcher Community Park features playgrounds, picnic areas, walking trails, and baseball and soccer fields, and Kate’s Park, adjacent to the Fletcher Library, has playgrounds, trails and an outdoor grilling area.

Community celebrations, from free concerts to parades, take place throughout the year. Many annual highlights are staged in the fall. Pickin’ in the Park, a bluegrass-infused gettogether in September, turns Fletcher Community Park into a center of mountain music, local food and kids’ activities. And in October, Kate’s Park hosts an annual Halloween Carnival that offers safe (if slightly spooky) fun for families.

The biggest festival draw of all is the weeklong Western North Carolina Mountain State Fair, held each September at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher. The state-run fair

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Bluegrass pickin’ at the Feed & Seed. MAX COOPER PHOTO

is a counterpart to the annual North Carolina State Fair in Raleigh. The Mountain State Fair drew an estimated 175,000 attendees from around the region.

The WNC Agricultural Center’s 87-acre multi-use facility hosts events year round, including horse and livestock shows, a variety of professional conferences, classic-car events and multiple trade shows.

Several times a year, the Ag Center welcomes thousands of arms aficionados to the Land of the Sky Gun and Knife Show, which outgrew its traditional home at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville. The show has expanded significantly, adding 130 new vendors (upwards of 450). The upsizing was made possible by the recent completion of the Davis Event Center, a 45,000square-feet arena that’s outfitted with huge exhibit spaces, several conference rooms and an onsite restaurant.

Other new economic opportunity is brewing in Fletcher, as the town, in conjunction with the Fletcher Area Business Association, is developing a “Heart of Fletcher District.” The mixed-used district is being tailored to support small retail businesses, professional offices and independent restaurants, and will feature a new Town Hall complex, built in part with a special $5 million community-facilities loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, Fletcher has long been home to (and close to) major manufacturing and industrial facilities.

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Haywood COUNTY

MAX COOPER PHOTO

Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton & Clyde

H

High-peaked mountains surround the town of Waynesville, once billed as the “Gateway to the Smokies” and now the county seat of Haywood County. These ridges bring snow in the winter and cooler temperatures in the summer, with Haywood boasting the highest average elevation of any county east of the Rockies. The county has 18 mountains that are 6,000 feet or higher.

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Waynesville and its quaint, historic Main Street are just part of what makes it a unique mountain community. Haywood includes Maggie Valley, a small town long popular to visitors, and Canton, a longtime industrial town that takes pride in its blue-collar roots.

Where to Retire magazine named Waynesville one of its 100 Best Places to Retire, calling it the best mountain town and saying it had the best main street. It also referred to Waynesville as a “low-cost Eden.” The town’s proximity to Asheville offers residents the best of a larger city while still holding on to its small-town amenities.

Downtown is a pedestrian’s dream with much to choose from including working art studios, fine restaurants, breweries, a local bookstore, coffee roastery, gift shops, a bakery, and more. The first Friday of each month is Art After Dark, a gallery stroll with meet-the-artist events that is almost like a street party due to the number of people who show up.

There also the popular Mountain Street Dances on several Friday nights during the summer beginning at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Haywood County Historic Courthouse, a fun, free event where you can listen to live music and take part in the traditional dancing. No worries for those new to the art form as the caller takes his time and walks everyone through the steps.

Waynesville is also one of those mountain towns that provides a great jumping off point for a mountain vacation. It’s close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Pisgah National Forest, mountain biking trails and whitewater rafting rivers Just outside of Waynesville is Cold Mountain, the peak that Charles Frazier used to name his acclaimed novel that also became the title of the subsequent movie.

Hiking the mountain requires a map and an entire day, but you can view it by following U.S. 276 out of Waynesville until you hit the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Cold Mountain overlook is right at the U.S. 276/Blue Ridge Parkway intersection.

On the west side of Waynesville is Hazelwood Village, which has merged with the town but has maintained its own identity and evolved into a revitalized retail district, including pottery studios, coffee roastery, gourmet restaurant, and a business

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Haywood COUNTY

Left: A popular annual event, the Canton Labor Day festival celebrates the town’s blue-collar identity. Right: The Fourth of July Celebration at Lake Junaluska attracts thousands of locals and visitors. Below: Maggie Valley’s Butts on the Creek barbecue restaurant feeds hungry visitors with flair.

HAYWOOD COUNTY TDA • MARGARET HESTER • MAX COOPER

that makes homemade soaps and lotions (which make great gifts).

Hazelwood also is home to the Folkmoot Friendship Center, which serves as the headquarters for the two-week international dance and music festival that is held every July.

Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center is home to the World Methodist Conference and the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. It features a public, 2.5-mile paved walking/jogging path around the lake with a 1.5-mile extension available. There are ducks, geese and swans, benches, bridges, dam, butterfly garden and a rose walk along the path. In addition to lodging accommodations open, a couple of good restaurants and the World Methodist Museum also are on the grounds, along with a native plant garden and meditation labyrinth. Paddleboats can be rented on the lake. There is also a pool and playground. The lake is just off U.S. 19 north of Waynesville and east of Maggie Valley.

Waynesville is also home to the Museum of North Carolina Handicrafts, which is located in the historic Shelton House and features 19th century crafts, including pottery, quilts, basket and woodworking.

Just 10 miles outside of Waynesville is Maggie Valley, a quaint mountain delight that sprang up to cater to visitors and still rolls out the welcome mat to traveling tourists. From spring to autumn, the

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valley is also packed with motorcyclists from around the country, who come to traverse the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, motor through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and enjoy the camaraderie of other riders who make annual treks to Maggie Valley to visit the Wheels Through Time Museum. The museum is among the highlights of a visit to Maggie Valley, featuring a world-class collection of historic motorcycles and cars.

Cataloochee Ski Area features the best skiing in the southern mountains and typically is one of the first ski resorts in the East to open. Near the ski resort is the Cataloochee Ranch, which has cabins, horse stables, a grand old lodge and restaurant, all atop a 5,000-foot mountain. Those not staying at the ranch are invited to join staff and visitors for evening cookouts, where you might even hear some local storytelling and mountain music.

From Maggie Valley it’s a short drive to Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Elk again roam free in the valley, thanks to a re-introduction program. Dusk is the best bet for guaranteed sightings, but please, stay away from the elk — they have antlers for a reason.

For true local charm, look no further than Canton and Clyde, the neighboring towns nestled in eastern Haywood County. They are situated around the Evergreen paper mill, which has been running steadily for more than 100 years.

Canton is a snapshot of a classic mill town, with many of the unique and beautiful bungalows and buildings once built for mill workers and managers still intact. The downtown district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its crown jewel is the Imperial Hotel. Originally crafted as a stately home, it currently includes The Imperial, a popular restaurant.

The restored Colonial Theatre features concerts, shows, films and other entertainment events in a beautifully restored historic theater. The stage features a winter music series hosted annually by the International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning local group Balsam Range.

Clyde, a hamlet that lies between Canton and Waynesville, can boast as its own the oldest structure in Haywood County. The ShookSmathers House, home to the Shook Museum, was built around 1820, with additions and renovations made for decades producing the finished product we see today. The home’s attic chapel played host to many storied circuit preachers over the years, many of whom have left their mark in the collection of signatures that decorate the chapel’s walls.

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Haywood COUNTY BOOJUM CELEBRATES ONE YEAR, SIGNS DISTRIBUTION DEAL It has been a dream come true for Kelsie Baker.

“This first year has really been a whirlwind of learning and getting our feet under us,” she said. “The public reception has been beyond what we could have hoped for, and we want to do everything we can to keep people excited and proud to have us here.”

Co-owner/manager of Boojum Brewing Company in Waynesville, Baker and her family have quickly established themselves as one of the “must try” craft beer destinations in Western North Carolina.

Amid a highly competitive industry — locally, regionally, and nationally — where reputation resides in every beverage poured, Boojum (who recently celebrated its one year anniversary) has risen to the upper echelon of flavor, style, and selection. Between its offsite brewery and downtown taproom, the business is a social and economic beacon within the community.

“The best thing is when someone tells us that we make their favorite beer. With all the amazing craft beer around Western North Carolina, that really means something,” Kelsie said.

Though from Florida, the Bakers always had a cabin in Maggie Valley. Their longtime relationship with Haywood County, one filled with passion and love, is what made the decision easy when they were looking around as to where to place the brewery.

“We love it here. When you start a business like this one, you have to be sure about the place you’re opening it in,” Kelsie said. “As time goes on and we get to meet more and more great people, see other new and exciting businesses pop up, and get to experience more of the incredible outdoor life here, it just reinforces that we made the right decision. We definitely count ourselves lucky that the place we wanted to live for some many reasons also just happens to have one of the best craft beer scenes in the country.”

And though their beers are beloved by locals and tourists alike, the biggest smile on Kelsie’s face these days is due to Boojum signing what is, quite possibly, one of the largest regional distribution contracts in recent memory. Teaming up with Budweiser of Asheville (an independent, family-owned company who sells Anheuser-Busch products, and is not owned by them), Boojum will now be sold around 12 Western North Carolina counties, as well as in regional grocery stores.

“It was the right time for us, and we’re very happy with the decision,” Kelsie said. “It means that people will start seeing our on tap a lot more often, and starting this month they’ll be seeing it in stores.”

The distribution deal came about with Boojum’s brewery expansion.

In order to justify the new equipment purchases and increasing demand, a partner was needed to make sure the distribution and sale of their products not only went smoothly, but also was monetarily beneficial for the brewery once the investment was made.

“With our new fermenters coming online this fall, we had to decide whether we were going to invest in self-distribution — people, trucks, time — or find a partner to help us do this,” Kelsie said. “In the end, we decided that we wanted to focus all of our efforts on making our brewery and taproom great rather than on distribution.”

With her brother, brewmaster Ben Baker, at the production helm concocting hoppy brews and delicious seasonals, Boojum will

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“The best thing is when someone tells us that we make their favorite beer. With all the amazing craft beer around Western North Carolina, that really means something.”

— Kelsie Baker, Boojum Brewing Company co-owner increase their numbers from 800 barrels this year to a projected 2,500 or more barrels for 2016. The brewery currently runs on a 15barrel system (465 gallons per batch), with five 15-barrel fermenters and two 30-barrel fermenters. They also have three bright tanks and recently purchased six bourbon barrels for aging certain styles.

“Demand dictates a lot of what we do, and we aren’t sure of what the demand for different will be quite yet,” Kelsie said. “We did a bit of distribution this year, but our capacity was much lower, so only a few styles were available at the time. This coming year will be another huge learning experience for us as we figure out what people want.”

But, even with all the preparation, encouragement and hard work, even with all the beers poured and signing an extensive distribution deal, what remains at the foundation of Boojum is the more important ingredient — consistently making quality craft beer.

“From day one, we’re always said that we to keep it fresh and exciting, to never cut corners. We’re really passionate about what we do — always experimenting, reading, learning new techniques and ideas,” Kelsie said. “ With the people here in Western North Carolina and in the craft beer industry, it’s an amazing feeling to have all these people supporting you and being excited about what you’re doing.”

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WNC

Locales

Mars Hill, Marshall & Hot Springs Located in a mostly rural, picturesque part of Madison County, Mars Hill is a small town that’s big on mountain traditions.

Marshall, population 870, is the county seat and sits on the banks of the French Broad River some 20 miles north of Asheville.

The town is an enclave of artists, local galleries and studios.

Stroll down Marshall’s Main Street and you’ll find a bookstore, numerous cafes, galleries, antique shops and eateries.

One mainstay is The Depot, an old-timey general store. It’s a great community shopping spot that doubles as a performance venue on Friday nights, when local musicians strike up a soundtrack of traditional bluegrass and country music. There’s also plenty of music to be heard at the town’s regular French Broad Fridays, a series of free outdoor concerts.

Several other institutions keep Marshall’s art scene humming.

The Madison County Arts Center, also on Main Street, presents exhibitions of both traditional and contemporary art.

About 15 miles northeast of Marshall is the resort town of Hot Springs, which is also nestled next to the French Broad.

Though its resident population is only 560, the town’s numbers swell with visitors seeking relaxation and recreation.

Hot Springs got its name from one of the region’s extraordinary natural features: mineral springs with a temperature of more than 100 degrees.

The town itself is quite quaint, lined with cafes, coffee shops and gift stores. The real action is in the surrounding waters and ridges, which are renowned for outdoor activities including biking, fishing, kayaking and tubing.

Hot Springs’ real outdoor claim to fame, though, is its intimate relationship with the Appalachian Trail, which

There are 1,800 residents within the town limits, and 11,000 within a five-mile radius of downtown. Mars Hill sits close to Interstate 26, offering quick access to Asheville, which is 15 miles south. The state’s border with Tennessee is just 11 miles north.

Mars Hill College contributes much to the character of the town. A private liberal arts school The French Broad River is a with an enrollment of 1,400 students, the college is playground for watersports.

MAX COOPER PHOTO affiliated with two Baptist institutions. It was founded in 1856, making it one of the oldest educational facilities in Western North Carolina.

The college’s artistic and cultural offerings are considerable. The Rural Life Museum preserves and presents artifacts of traditional Appalachian communities, and the Weizenblatt Art Gallery shares both visiting exhibitions and student and staff works.

The 1,800 seat Moore Auditorium hosts frequent concerts and other performances. The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, founded in 1975, has become one of the region’s top theater draws.

Come winter, nearby Wolf Ridge Ski Resort is open for business. The resort recently expanded its operations, and now offers 82 acres of terrain for skiers and snowboarders.

The area around Mars Hill is rich with other outdoor opportunities, including nearby stretches of the Appalachian Trail, numerous other trails in the stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT passes literally right Pisgah National Forest, and the fishing- and paddlingthrough the town, bringing hikers to Hot Springs throughout friendly French Broad River. the year. Each April, the town hosts the weekend-long From June through August, the town stages the Mars Hill Trailfest, a celebration of all things AT complete with live Music & More Summer Series, a free monthly event that brings music, local foods and athletic events. folks out for music and dancing. Throughout the year, the Ebbs In May, Hot Springs sponsors the annual French Broad Chapel Performing Arts Center’s 250-seat theater hosts musical River Festival, featuring an impressive roster of musical performances ranging from the classical to the traditional. groups, whitewater and bike races, arts and crafts vendors and Two other small Madison County towns, Marshall and a kid’s village. In September, the town also plays host to the Hot Springs, have made the most of riverside living.

French Broad Fall Fest, a celebration of craft beer and live music set against the beauty of fall leaf season.

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Chimney Rock MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Off the beaten path, about 20 miles southeast of Asheville via Highway 74A, is a Western North Carolina community that enjoys spectacular views, an abundance of outdoor activities, a temperate climate and a unique ecosystem.

The expansive Hickory Nut Gorge, nestled between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains, feels like a land unto itself. The 14-mile mountain canyon is split by the Rocky Broad River, which ultimately flows into Lake Lure.

Four small townships are in the gorge: Gerton, Bat Cave, Chimney Rock Village and Lake Lure. Each has its own particular charms, but a common thread that benefits them all is the natural setting, which is famed for its biodiversity.

Hickory Nut George is home to 14 rare animal species and 36 rare plant species, and is a haven for biologists, geologists and birders.

It’s teeming with streams and stunning rock formations, as well as Hickory Nut Falls, a waterfall with a 404-foot drop that’s one of the biggest in the region. The falls made a big splash on the big screen, serving at the setting for a fight scene in the 1992 film “The Last of the Mohicans.”

The crown jewel of the gorge is the 4,000-acre Chimney Rock State Park, home to a hulking granite monolith that the park is named after. A climb up the stairs to the top of 315-foot-tall Chimney Rock (or an elevator ride there) is rewarded with panoramic views to spots as far as 75 miles away.

The park has an extensive network of hiking trails and ample opportunities for bouldering and rock climbing. And impressive as it is, Chimney Rock isn’t even the high point. Other easily accessed features above the rock include the Opera Box, a stone enclosure with a broad opening where you can sit and take in the stunning sights, Devil’s Head, a menacing rock “face” perched over the gorge, and Exclamation Point, the park’s highest point, some 200 feet above Chimney Rock.

The park has a rich history that gives it appropriately deep ties to the region. The land it sits on was bought and developed by a Missouri native, Lucius Moore, a doctor who was diagnosed with tuberculosis circa 1900. Moore moved here to clear his lungs with the mountain air, and went on to develop both the park and the nearby resort town of Lake Lure.

After being privately owned for more than a century, the site was purchased by the state of North Carolina in 2007 and is presently in the midst of major upgrades.

In August there’s the Race to the Rock, which is actually two races: a 5K run and a 25-mile bike race, both of which end at Chimney Rock. In September, there’s the weekend-long Flock to the Rock, a celebration of the area’s exemplary birding scene.

Nearby are the townships of Bat Cave and Chimney Rock Village.

In Bat Cave, the Old Cider Mill sells mountain crafts and curios, and, during apple season, fresh-pressed cider. In Chimney Rock Village, Bubba O’Leary’s General Store offers a trip back in time to an era before chain stores and strip malls.

Hickory Nut Gorge hosts a wide range of lodging options, from short-term cabin rentals to stately mountain inns.

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WNC

Locales

Burnsville & Yancey County

Yancey is an elevated county with some of the highest mountains to be found in Western North Carolina (and in the eastern U.S. for that matter). It makes sense, then, that the county offers living situations and outdoor experiences that go above and beyond the norm.

Mount Mitchell (above) is the highest peak on the East Coast.

MAX COOPER PHOTO

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The county is bordered by Tennessee to the north and a stretch of the Appalachian Trail to the south.

There are 11 townships in Yancey, the largest of which, Burnsville, is the county seat and has 1,700 residents. Located in the center of the county, Burnsville is 35 miles north of Asheville and 50 miles west of Johnson City, Tennessee.

Just a few miles from Burnsville looms Mount Mitchell, the tallest peak east of the Mississippi River, reaching to 6,684 feet above sea level. The mountain is surrounded by the 2,000-acre Mount

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Mitchell State Park, which is full of choice spots for hiking, camping, picnicking and outdoor education. Several trails of varying lengths lead to the summit of Mount Mitchell, where a recently built observation deck offers the perfect perch for high-altitude sightseeing. Flowing right by the park is the Toe River, which offers premium trout fishing and whitewater rafting.

In addition to its peaks and valleys, Yancey County is known for its extraordinarily rich artistic output. The county boasts more that 400 full-time and 200 part-time working artists, including basket makers, glassblowers, metalsmiths, painters, paper makers, potters, quilters, sculptors and weavers.

Twice a year, the Toe River Arts Council sponsors the Toe River Studio Tours, as scores of local artists, from both Yancey and neighboring Mitchell County, open their studios for a free, upclose look inside the creative process. And each August, downtown Burnsville comes alive with local art at the Mt. Mitchell Crafts Fair, celebrated for more than 50 years.

The Carolina Mountains Literary Festival is held in Burnsville each September. It started as a small gathering of authors and readers in 2005, and has blossomed into a full-fledged literary happening complete with readings, workshops, plays and seminars.

The performing arts have a strong presence here as well. The Parkway Playhouse in Burnsville, founded in 1947, is the longest running community theater in North Carolina. It produces a wide range of performances, and has a special dramatic arts education program for children age 4 to 18. A nonprofit group, the Burnsville Little Theatre, performs fundraising shows for various local nonprofits.

Another standout Burnsville’s institution is the Nu-Wray Inn, built in 1833. The oldest lodging house in the region, it’s hosted such notables as Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe and Elvis Presley.

The inn is known both for its historic charms and its signature Southern breakfasts, with most menu items sourced from local farms.

The John Wesley McElroy House was built around the same time, in 1840. McElroy, a local businessman and lawyer (and later a Confederate brigadier general) constructed the 3,000-square-foot home as a mountain mansion for his wife, Catherine. In later years, the family of William Moore, a state senator and Union Army officer, took residence in the home. The home got a new lease on life in 1987, when a local historical association purchased it and established the Rush Ray Museum of Yancey County History.

Yancey is also home to one of the most unique communities in the South — Celo, a settlement and land trust founded in 1937. There, some 40 families adhere to a loosely defined humanist ethic and help run a collective farm and the Arthur Morgan School, a progressive middle school with roots in Quaker values and the Montessori educational approach.

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Tryon & Saluda

T MAX COOPER PHOTO MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

Touted as the “First Peak of the Blue Ridge,” Polk County has long welcomed flatlanders to a higher altitude, offering foothills rich with history, culture, crafts, vast natural areas and unique culinary traditions.

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Elevations in the county range from 300 feet to 3,200 feet. Most of Polk’s 20,000 residents live in or near the county’s three main towns – Columbus, Saluda and Tryon.

Columbus, the county seat, is a scenic small town dotted with historic houses and other noted buildings, such as the Polk County Courthouse, which has been preserved in all its 1859 splendor.

Saluda is nestled in the mountains in the southeastern corner of the county, and in fact its borders stray over into neighboring Henderson County. The town is famous for sitting atop the Saluda Grade, once the steepest railroad grade in the United States. It is also well known for its charming town center, with a main street lined with cafés, restaurants, antique shops, art galleries and historic buildings like the M.A. Pace General Store, a hub of local commerce and community that recently celebrated its 115th birthday.

Tryon has long been a haven for artists, crafters, musicians and writers. Back in the early 1900s, when Tryon was a small village, artists flocked in from Europe and major U.S. cities like Chicago and New York, establishing an informal creative colony. Today, the town’s art scene still thrives, with numerous studios, galleries, art schools and theaters.

The art of toy and craft making was an integral part of the town’s development.

Tryon Toy-Makers and Wood-Carvers operated from 1915 to 1940, cranking out small wooden figurines and toy animals. While the company is long gone, crafting businesses still boom in Tryon, and the recently opened Tryon Toy-Maker’s House Museum pays tribute to the town’s handmade traditions.

Tryon has also taken recent steps to celebrate the legacy of its most famous native, the late jazz and soul great Nina Simone, who was born here in 1933. The heart of downtown features Nina Simone Plaza, home to a striking bronze sculpture of Simone playing piano keys suspended in midair.

Polk County is home to dozens of parks and recreation areas. In Saluda, the Green River Cove Recreation Area offers access points for fishing, tubing, kayaking, canoeing and hiking. Tryon’s 50-acre public park, Harmon Field, sits next to the Pacolet River and features wading areas, a playground, tennis courts, a walking track, sports fields and horse rings. There are scores of hiking trails, ranging from easy to moderate to strenuous, in the county, and Polk is noted for its numerous summer camps.

The county can rightly boast of hosting some of the finest public events and festivals in the region. In April, there’s the Block House Steeplechase, a day of races that’s the longest running steeplechase in North Carolina, now celebrating its 68th year. The event is sponsored by the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club, which also stages horse shows throughout the year. The Foothills Equestrian Nature Center also offers regular equestrian events at its 400-arce facility in Tryon.

May brings the Saluda Arts and Music Festival, and in July, Saluda hosts the lively annual Coon Dog Day Festival, a bark-filled celebration of the mountains’ favorite canine that includes a classic car show and parade. The Art Trek Tryon Studio Tours, held each July, showcase the town’s many artists, as does the Tryon Arts & Crafts Fall Festival, in October. Each June, Tryon hosts the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival. The event includes the state barbecue championship, featuring some 90 competing teams. And several of the county’s wineries and vineyards host tours and feature tasting rooms.

TRYON RESORT & TRYON INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN CENTER Molly Oakman still has to pinch herself.

“I’ve witnessed competition at this level only a couple of times in my life,” she said. “And never did I think it would be right here in my backyard.”

Community relations manager for the Tryon Resort, Oakman speaks enthusiastically about the company’s centerpiece project — the Tryon International Equestrian Center. A $100 million stateof-the-art 1,450-acre facility opened in 2014, the property is the next chapter in a town where history and horses intersect.

“With the long and storied equestrian history in Tryon and Western North Carolina, it’s truly an honor to have this facility here,” Oakman said.

Featuring 10 riding arenas, over 1,000 permanent stalls, elevated and shaded viewing decks, restaurants, family activities, boutiques, and more, the center takes a love for horses to the next level, where any and all can come and enjoy the beauty of the sport and its incredibly gifted animals.

“For us, it’s about bringing together family, horses and entertainment,” Oakman said. “We want to expose people to the sport who maybe haven’t been before. This facility is open to everyone. People can come here and appreciate all these beautiful animals, and be able to see world-class entertainment.”

The long and storied equestrian past of Tryon started in 1917 when Carter Brown came to town from Michigan to open the Pine Crest Inn, a renowned spot where northerners could come and ride their horses during the winter. From there, Brown started the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club, which ultimately influenced the start of the Tryon Horse Show in 1929 (third oldest of its kind in the country) and the Block House Steeplechase in 1934. And in 1956, the U.S. Equestrian Team trained in Tryon for the Olympics.

With the center becoming a must-see location for spectators and competitors alike, Tryon is now mentioned in the same breath as sacred equestrian towns like Lexington and Saratoga. It’s something the center’s investors and builders aimed for, but with a slight twist, where the facility would include year-round amenities with most events throughout the season free to hardcore fans and those curious as to what the scene is all about.

“When Mark Bellissimo (investor/developer) thought of all the different details for this place, he built it from scratch, where spectators were heavily considered, and every single detail is made for you to have the best experience possible,” Oakman said. “This can be a pretty inclusive sport, but it’s been our mission to make sure everyone can come and enjoy what we have to offer.”

The project also created over 700 construction jobs, with another 300 positions being filled within the center itself.

“The facility was somewhat of an answered prayer for this area,” Oakman said. “With the center being built, and with the visitor numbers double and triple our projections for 2015, this has been a great opportunity for the town and this region.”

For 2017, the center will also build a 150-room hotel overlooking the competition fields. And they also were named as hosts of the coveted American Eventing Championships for 2016-2018.

“It’s about exposure of this sport to the area, and also showcasing beautiful Western North Carolina to the equestrian community,” Oakman said.

For someone who grew up around horses and has been riding most of her life, Oakman looks at the center as something that will bring the beauty and lore of the sport into the next generation — locally, regionally, and nationally.

“I grew up in nearby Rutherford County, and I’ve been riding here in Polk Country for a long time,” she said. “And I remember our biggest night this past summer, where we had thousands of people here, watching and cheering on the horses and competitors. I spent most of that evening crying — it was one of the special things in my life I’ll never forget.”

The Tryon Equestrian Center features 10 riding arenas.

ERIK OLSEN PHOTO

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Brevard is filled with an array of shops, restaurants and breweries.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

B

Brevard

Being a small town doesn’t mean you can’t offer some of the finest charms Western North Carolina has to offer. Just ask the 7,600 residents of Brevard, the county seat of Transylvania County. The town has distinguished itself as an epicenter for nearby outdoor adventures, education, art and music.

Transylvania can justly claim to be “The Land of Waterfalls,” as some 250 waterfalls exist in the county. Some are relatively small and gentle. Others take big, breathtaking plunges into mountain pools. Looking Glass Falls, for example, drops 60 feet amid a stunning crop of boulders and is one of the most-photographed waterfalls in the country. The wildly popular Sliding Rock is a natural waterslide where thousands of visitors slide down its long, slick surface into a 6foot-deep pool at the bottom.

Remarkably, more than half of the land in Transylvania is publicly owned and protected, including 88,000 acres of Pisgah National Forest, the 10,000-acre DuPont State Park and the 7,600-acre Georges State Park. Together, these offer myriad opportunities for biking, camping, climbing, hiking, horseback riding, paddling and sightseeing.

Another natural treasure, tucked within the Pisgah National Forest, is the Cradle of Forestry, site of the first forestry school in the United States. The national forest is also home to the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, a state-run facility that hosts students of all ages to learn about the region’s unique biodiversity.

The headwaters of the French Broad River, one of the oldest rivers in the world, are located near Brevard. A few miles west of the town, the master guides at Headwaters Outfitters help

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residents and visitors alike take advantage of all the river has to offer. It’s a hot spot for tubing, canoeing, kayaking and fly fishing. Nearby, the Davidson River, another renowned troutfishing destination, flows through the Pisgah National Forest.

There’s also plenty to enjoy in the heart of Brevard, a vibrant and walkable hub of independent shops, boutiques, galleries, pubs and eateries. Between April and December, the Fourth Friday Gallery Walks — a monthly celebration of local art, food, wine and music — offer an especially pleasant way to peruse local businesses and get to know neighbors. More local arts are highlighted on the Scenic 276 South Fine Art & Craft Corridor — a 13-mile stretch of state road that showcases numerous galleries and studios.

It’s a rare town that can boast of hosting an equal number of barbecue joints and Asian restaurants — and just as many ice cream parlors — but in Brevard it’s true.

The Brevard Music Center has hosted noted performers for the past 75 years. Its signature event is the annual Brevard Music Festival, which spans seven summer weeks and features more than 80 different acts. Local music aficionados also take in shows at Brevard College’s Paul Porter Center for the Performing Arts.

Contributing to the town’s special character is Brevard College, a small liberal arts school of over 700 students founded in 1934 and located adjacent to downtown.

In March, the college hosts the world-touring Banff Mountain Film Festival, a big-screen celebration of films and documentaries about life and sports in the wild. In May, the town pays tribute its signature furry creature with the White Squirrel Festival. White squirrels, you ask? As it happens, the Brevard area is home to a rare concentration of, well, white squirrels. The festival features a parade, free concerts, a “Squirrel Box Derby” and other, well, “nutty” amusements.

Come summer, Brevard’s Main Street becomes a prime place to cut a rug. Each Tuesday night, Old Time Street Dances are held to a soundtrack of live bluegrass.

BREVARD MUSIC CENTER It’s all about finding yourself in the moment.

“That moment that we’ve all felt when music gets in your spine and tingle from it,” said Mark Weinstein. “It’s when that moment changes your life and transforms you, something that we want for our students and for our audience — a transformative moment which will remain with you when you leave here and return to your daily lives.”

As president and CEO of the Brevard Music Center, Weinstein stands at the helm of a world-renowned classical music institution now entering its 80th year as a mainstay in the cultural and societal heart of Western North Carolina.

“Music is a language that speaks to everyone, and I think all types of music speaks to lots of different people,” he said. “What we want to do is end stereotypes on what you may or may not like, whether it be rap or classical. It’s about exposing people to something they may not have heard before, and letting them decide if it’s for them.”

Home to over 400 gifted music students (ages 14-29) from around the country, the center brings them together for a summer where they’re housed on the 180-acre campus, ready to learn and perform at the more than 80 concert showcases and a handful of festivals (including blues and opera) from June through August.

“You have these incredibly talented kids onstage, where you’re seeing their enthusiasm for this path they’ve taken,” Weinstein said.

“Rather than just simply seeing the music in some stuffy setting, filled with people in tuxedoes, you’re seeing the future of this music by these students who are playing their hearts out, surrounded by the beautiful outdoor nature of Western North Carolina.””

Acclaimed faculty, which includes concertmasters from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic, bring the pupils under their wings, often finding themselves onstage with the students during performance. Add that to guest performers like Yo-Yo Ma and Malin Broman, and

what comes to fruition is a long-time vision of creative crosspollination and melodic exploration.

“This center has been here 80 years, and if you think about it, imagine how many students have gone through here in all those decades,” Weinstein said. “Imagine how many of those people are populating the major orchestras around the United States and the world, how many are teaching in universities and in the public school system — educators of the next generation, which means the love and drive for this music will go on for years to come.”

But, Weinstein emphasizes, beyond the musical contributions of the center and its students, the most important thing is the character and pride built into each pupil who passes through this magical place, tucked away in the picturesque mountains of Brevard and greater Transylvania County.

“Some of these students may choose later on to become doctors, lawyers, or even fire chiefs,” he said. “And it’s that training here that can make them great people, to learn discipline, to know what good that practice can do for you, what dedication and teamwork is, and how they can take those skills and apply it whatever it is that want to do with their lives.”

“It’s about exposing people to something they may not have heard before, and letting them decide if it’s for them.”

— Mark Weinstein, Brevard Music Center CEO

BREVARD MUSIC CENTER PHOTO

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Sylva, Dillsboro, Cullowhee & Cashiers Jackson County, which includes the county seat town of Sylva and the high-altitude village of Cashiers, has some of Western North Carolina’s most spectacular scenery.

Lake Glenville.

MARGARET HESTER PHOTO

The county was established in 1851 from parts of Haywood and Macon counties and named after President Andrew Jackson. The Tuckasegee River winds through the county, boasting some of the best trout fishing in the region. In fact, Jackson County is home to the WNC Fly Fishing Trail.

Jackson is also home to part of the Nantahala National Forest, the largest of the four national forests located in the state. Nantahala is a Cherokee word for “land of the noonday sun,” and the Nantahala Gorge in adjoining Swain County is considered one of the top whitewater rivers in the East. National Geographic magazine called the river the number one water tourist destination in the country, and it attracts more than 250,000 paddlers a year.

The 2013 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships was also recently held in the gorge at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.

Sylva has one of the most vibrant downtowns in all of Western North Carolina. It boasts an assortment of art galleries, furniture and clothing stores, restaurants, coffee shops, a bakery, breweries and more.

The town’s bustling Farmers Market is also open every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, May through October. Sylva’s tree-lined streetscape, dotted with benches, provides visitors with an afternoon of easy walking. There is even an official 1.2-mile tree walk, featuring 44 of the more than 50 species in Sylva, designated a Tree City USA. The Sylva Garden Club currently maintains the walk, which features a guidebook, map and small signs at the base of each tree indicating its common name. The walk officially begins in the shade of Bicentennial Park near the historic courthouse.

Speaking of the Jackson County Courthouse, it is often called the most photographed courthouse in the state. And why not, as it sits atop a knoll accessed by 107 steps. Those steps are what gives local highway N.C. 107 its name.

Friday Night Live brings music to Sylva and Dillsboro with an ever-changing list of locations and bands. The popular Sylva After Dark gallery stroll is held on the first Friday of each month.

The Bridge Park Pavilion is a popular gathering place for events in downtown. The Scotts Creek Bridge conveniently

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connects the Bridge Park and Poteet Park.

Nearby Western Carolina University’s Fine Arts Center and Museum has an excellent permanent collection and visiting exhibits, along with a great line-up of nationallyknown performers. With over 10,000 students, WCU also is home to the Mountain Heritage Center, which features exhibits, demonstrations and educational programs on mountain society, past and present, from the migration of the Scotch Irish people to basket making traditions.

A mysterious collection of Native American petroglyphs known as Judaculla Rock is located on Caney Fork Road off N.C. 107 between Cullowhee and Glenville Lake in Jackson County. In the late 19th century, Cherokee groups were known to have ceremonial assemblies around the rock.

Archeologists who have perused the stone claim it was carved sometime in the Late Archaic Period, about 5,900 to 3,200 years ago. At this crossroads of the town is the Village Green, a commons area lined with shops with a stage that also hosts a full lineup of free performances.

You’ll find plenty of hikers and rock climbers amongst the permanent residents in the area. Panthertown Valley boasts 6,700 acres of sheer rock, waterfalls, and hiking and biking trails. Cashiers also has excellent golfing and country clubs.

High Hampton Inn and Country Club and Fairfield Sapphire Valley are full-service resorts that provide rooms, golfing, dining and other amenities. In the village proper, a walking trail leads shoppers to the many retail shops and restaurants. Whitewater Falls, the tallest waterfall in the east, is located 10 miles from Cashiers.

Calendar

Asheville Wine & Food Festival.

LAKE EDEN ARTS FESTIVAL PHOTO

Jan. 8-10 – Best of Our State. Grove Park Inn, Asheville. 800.435.5800. www.groveparkinn.com Jan. 23 – Winter Warmer Beer Festival, Asheville.

Celebrating craft beer from the southeast and beyond. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com Feb. 5-7 – Celtic Weekend, Grove Park Inn, Asheville.

800.435.5800. www.groveparkinn.com Feb. 13 – Asheville Symphony. Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com Feb. 19-21 – Arts and Crafts Conference, Grove Park Inn, Asheville. 800.435.5800. www.groveparkinn.com March 3-7 – Southern Conference Basketball Championships, ExploreAsheville.com Arena, Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com March 12 – Asheville Symphony: The American Four Seasons, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com Mid-March – Comedy Classic Weekend at Grove Park Inn. Event features renowned comedians amid an intimate setting. 800.435.5800. www.groveparkinn.com

Early April – Do Tell Storyfest, Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown Theatre. Listen to tales from rhymes to folk tales to history to modern personal stories from the region’s best performers. www.dotellfestival.org Mid-April – Mélange of the Mountains, Laurel Ridge Country Club, Waynesville. Experience the culinary talent of some of Western North Carolina’s most regarded restaurants and vendors as area chefs compete in categories ranging from salad to seafood to dessert. www.haywood-nc.com April 12 – Celtic Woman, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com April 16 – Asheville Symphony, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com May-September – Downtown After 5, Asheville.

Monthly concert series on Lexington Avenue featuring local and national acts. www.ashevilledowntown.org May-September – Rhythm & Brews Concert Series, Hendersonville. Monthly series featuring an array of local and regional music acts. www.downtownhendersonville.org

Late Winter/Spring – Festival of Flowers at Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Enjoy the beauty of tulips, azaleas and countless flowers as spring takes over this historic site. www.biltmore.com

Mid-May – Lake Eden Arts Festival. Held twice a year in Black Mountain, LEAF aims to connect cultures and create community through music and art in the great outdoors. Music, poetry, dancing, camping, kids activities and more. www.theleaf.com

March 23 – Harlem Globetrotters.

ExploreAsheville.com Arena. Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com

May 14 – Asheville Symphony, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville. www.uscellularcenterasheville.com

April-December – Art After Dark, Waynesville. First Friday of the month. Evening stroll of galleries, restaurants and breweries in downtown. www.downtownwaynesville.com

Late May – Asheville Beer Week. A weeklong event celebrating the craft beer scene in Asheville and greater Western North Carolina. www.avlbrewers.com

Late May – White Squirrel Festival, Brevard. Weekend event of live music, craft beer vendors, and more. www.whitesquirrelfestival.com Late May – Beer City Festival, Asheville. Featuring dozens of local, regional and national craft breweries. www.avlbrewers.com Memorial Day Weekend – Sandburg Folk Music Festival, Carl Sandburg Home, Flat Rock. www.nps.gov/carl Memorial Day-Labor Day – Concerts on the Creek, Sylva. Weekly concert series featuring local and regional acts from all genres. www.mountainlovers.com June-August – Brevard Music Center Concert Series. A wide-array of outdoor events at the center featuring some of the finest national and international classical, opera and string performers on the beautiful mountain campus. www.brevardmusic.org Early June – Brevard Blues N’BBQ Festival. Serving up fine southern barbecue and blues music. www.brevardmusic.org Early June-Labor Day – Pickin’ in the Park, Canton.

Weekly jam session showcasing local and regional musicians. www.cantonnc.com June 10-11 – Blue Ridge Barbecue and Music Festival, Tryon. Considered one of the most popular sanctioned barbecue competitions in the United States. All proceeds benefit the local chamber of commerce. www.blueridgebbqfestival.com June 11 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com

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Calendar Mid-June – Appalachian Lifestyle Celebration, Waynesville. Celebration of mountain culture, featuring live music, food, dance and crafts. www.downtownwaynesville.com June 18 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com June 18-19 – PlottFest, Maggie Valley. Festival honoring the Plott Hound, the state dog. Live music, crafts, clogging, dog competitions and trout fishing. www.plottfest.org June 25 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com

Aug. 13 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org

Labor Day Weekend – Canton Labor Day Celebration.

Live music, vendors, rides and children’s activities. www.cantonlaborday.com

Aug. 13 – Blue Ridge Breakaway, Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. An annual cycling event in support of the initiatives of the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce. www.blueridgebreakaway.com

Sept. 3 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org

Mid-August – Asheville Wine & Food Festival.

Culinary event showcasing dozens of restaurants, breweries, wineries, and more. www.ashevillewineandfood.com Mid-August – Waynesville Beer Faire. Pouring local and regional craft beers, with live music and food. www.waynesvillebeer.com

Sept. 9-18 – The NC Mountain State Fair, Western North Carolina Agricultural Center, Fletcher.

Celebrating mountain traditions with rides, exhibits, art, food, concerts and more. www.mountainfair.org Mid-September – Mountain Song Festival, Brevard Music Center. Food, local artists, children’s activities, nature exhibits and more. www.mountainsongfestival.com

Late June – Art Trek, Tryon. Dozens of artisan studios open to the public. www.romanticasheville.com July 2 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org

Smoky Mountain Folk Festival at Stuart Auditorium, Lake Junaluksa.

July 4 – Independence Day, with celebrations, parades and fireworks around Western North Carolina.

July 9 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org Mid-July – Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville. www.southernhighlandguild.org July 16 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org July 21-31 – Folkmoot USA, Waynesville. Two-week international dance and music festival. Headquartered in Haywood County, but events also held at venues throughout Western North Carolina. www.folkmootusa.org July 23 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org Late July – Smokin’ in the Valley WNC BBQ Festival, Maggie Valley. www.maggievalley.org Late July – LEAF Downtown Asheville. A weekend of live music, dance and culture put on by the Lake Eden Arts Festival. www.theleaf.com Early-August – Sourwood Festival, Black Mountain.

Music, dancing, arts and crafts, super food, kid’s rides and games, face painting and more in a no alcohol environment, along with gourmet sourwood honey. www.sourwoodfestival.com Aug. 4-6 – Mountain Dance & Folk Festival, Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville. Since 1928, mountain fiddlers, banjo pickers, dulcimer sweepers, dancers, balladeers and others have gathered the first weekend in August at the event. www.folkheritage.org

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Mid-August – Laugh Your Asheville Off. Weekend comedy festival featuring local, regional and national comedians. www.laughyourashevilleoff.com

Late September – Greek Festival, Asheville. Sample traditional foods while enjoying Greek music, dance and culture. www.romanticasheville.com

Aug. 20 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org

Late September – Mountain Heritage Day, Cullowhee.

Annual celebration featuring live Appalachian music and dance, with artisan crafters and demonstrations. www.wcu.edu

Aug. 27 – Shindig on the Green, Pack Square Park, Asheville. Free traditional music concerts held outdoors in downtown. www.folkheritage.org Labor Day Weekend – Smoky Mountain Folk Festival, Stuart Auditorium, Lake Junaluksa. Two nights of the finest traditional music and dancing in the region. www.smokymountainfolkfestival.com

Oct. 1 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com Early October – Taste of Sylva. Culinary event showcasing restaurants in downtown and around the community. www.mainstreetsylva.org

Index of Advertisers 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty . . . . . . . . . 111 AB-Tech Community College . . . . . . . . . 13 Advanced Business Equipment . . . . . . . 117 Alice Dodson, Architect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Ambiance Interiors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 American Home Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Architectural Woodcraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Asheville School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Benbow & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Beverly-Hanks & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover B-H Mortgage Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Back Cover B-H Relocation & Move Management Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover Biltmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Biltmore Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Blackbird Frame & Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Blinds and Designs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Carlton Architecture+ DesignBuild . . . . 39 Carolina Day School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Christie’s Lighting Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Creekside Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Deerfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Diamond Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Emmanuel Lutheran School . . . . . . . . . . 13 Ethan Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 First Baptist Church of Asheville . . . . . . 93 Four Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Fox Run Preserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 General Equipment Rental. . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Givens Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Goosmann Rose Colvard & Cramer, P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Grand Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Griffin Architects, P.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Grove Arcade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Hanger Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Haywood Regional Medical Center . . . . 23 Home Source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Horizon Tile & Stone Gallery. . . . . . . . . 97 Ingles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Insurance Service of Asheville . . . . . . . . . . 4 Marthaler Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Medallion Pool Company . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Morgan Stanley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 NAI Beverly-Hanks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Nationwide/Chad McKinney. . . . . . . . . . 73 New Morning Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Nova Kitchen & Bath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Early October – Maggie Valley Oktoberfest. Live music, craft beer and food vendors. www.maggievalleyoktoberfest.com

Mid-October – Oktoberfest, Asheville. Live music, craft beer and food vendors. www.ashevilledowntown.org

Oct. 8 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com

Mid-October – Apple Harvest Festival, Waynesville.

Live artisan demonstrations, Appalachian music/clogging and dozens of craft booths and food vendors. Over 40,000 people stroll through downtown during the celebration. www.haywoodapplefest.com

Early October – ColorFest, Dillsboro. Local artisan demonstrations. www.mountainlovers.com Mid-October – Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville. www.southernhighlandguild.org

Mid-October – Church Street Art & Craft Show, Waynesville. Over 20,000 visitors pass through this festival throughout downtown. Dozens of artisan booths, food vendors, as well as live Appalachian music and craft demonstrations. www.churchstfest.com Oct. 15 – Art in the Park, Asheville. Dozens of artisan vendors, with live demonstrations. www.ashevilleartinthepark.com Mid-October – HardLox Festival, Pack Square, Asheville. Jewish food and entertainment. www.hardloxjewishfestival.org

Early November-Jan. 1 – Christmas at Biltmore Estate. The grand estate puts on a show every holiday season with lighting, lit fireplaces inside, special musical performances and other events. www.biltmore.com/visit/calendar/holiday.asp Mid-November-Early January – National Gingerbread House Competition viewing at the Grove Park Inn. Walk through the inn and see hundreds of intricate gingerbread creations and the award winners. www.groveparkinn.com Month of December – Dillsboro Luminaries & Lights.

Jackson County town is lit with luminaries, stores host open houses, Santa, children’s activities, horse and buggy rides, music. www.visitdillsboro.org/specialevents.html Mid-December – 28th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam. A popular all-day concert fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, presented by Haynes (guitarist for Gov’t Mule and The Allman Brothers Band). www.uscellularcenterasheville.com

MARK HASKETT PHOTO

Mid-October – Lake Eden Arts Festival. Held twice a year in Black Mountain, LEAF aims to connect cultures and create community through music and art in the great outdoors. Music, camping, kids activities and more. Black Mountain. 828.686.8742. www.theleaf.com

Omni Grove Park Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Otter & Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Pardee UNC Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Phillip C. Price Law Firm, PLLC . . . . . . 85 Proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Pure Barre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Park Ridge Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Platt Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Ramble, The. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Residence Inn Marriott. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Roberto Coin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Rumbling Bald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Samsel Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Screen Door. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Silver Fox Gallery & Interiors . . . . . . . . 103 Smith Dray Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 St. Luke’s Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Stone Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Studio B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Studio McCormick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Sweet Onion Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Tipping Point Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Tons of Rentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Two Men And A Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Union Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Van Dyke Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Views at Rose Hill, The . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa . . . 109 Wedge Studio Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90-91 Wick & Greene Jewelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Early November – WNC Pottery Festival, Dillsboro.

Featuring master potters, the daylong event includes live demonstrations and craft booths. The festival was recently named a “Top 20 Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society, which represents 12 states. www.wncpotteryfestival.com Early November – Tryon Beer Fest. Celebrating all things craft beer. www.tryonbeerfest.com

Mid-December – “A Night Before Christmas,” Waynesville. A family holiday celebration in downtown, filled with live music, caroling, oldfashioned wagon ride, storytelling and a special appearance by Santa. www.downtownwaynesville.com Dec. 31 – First Night Asheville. Entertainment, games, fireworks in an alcohol-free atmosphere. www.ashevilleparks.org

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125

Information

DISTANCES (IN MILES)

Getting started CLIMATE January February March April May June July August September October November December

Avg. High Avg. Low Avg. Precip.

46 27 3.07 50 29 3.19 58 36 3.83 67 44 3.16 74 52 3.53 81 60 3.24 84 64 2.97 83 62 3.34 77 56 3.01 68 45 2.40 58 37 2.93 50 30 2.59

Asheville Hendersonville Weaverville Waynesville Brevard Asheville Airport 15 12 22 36 20 Greenville/ 80 59 60 100 56 Spartanburg, SC Charlotte, NC 124 111 138 153 132 Knoxville, TN 129 144 123 112 152 Columbia, SC 158 137 165 178 157 Atlanta, GA 208 187 215 169 183 Raleigh, NC 251 275 260 279 283 Charleston, SC 268 247 275 288 267 Myrtle Beach, SC 302 281 309 322 301 Savannah, GA 314 293 321 335 314 Wilmington, NC 360 339 366 380 359 Washington, DC 471 495 463 500 503 Orlando, FL 584 563 591 604 583 New York City, NY 691 714 682 719 722 Miami, FL 794 773 801 815 793

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME Asheville City Buncombe County Haywood County Henderson County Madison County North Carolina United States

2000 $33,091 $36,795 $34,029 $38,385 $31,065 $39,257 $42,257

2008 $39,906 $43,805 $39,042 $46,047 $38,077 $46,574 $52,029

2014 $46,917 $43,287 $41,214 $47,761 $38,645 $46,556 $53,657

Source: N.C. Department of Commerce

VOTER REGISTRATION Buncombe County 35 Woodfin St., Asheville • 828-250-4200

Haywood County 1233 N. Main St., Waynesville • 828-452-6633

Henderson County 75 E. Central Ave., Hendersonville • 828-697-4970

Jackson County 401 Grindstaff Cove Road, Sylva • 828-586-7538

Madison County 5707 Hwy. 25-70, Marshall • 828-649-3731

Polk County 40 Courthouse St., Columbus • 828-894-8181

Transylvania County 221 S. Gaston St., Brevard • 828-884-3114

Yancey County 225 W. Main St., Burnsville • 828-682-3950

DRIVERS LICENSE Buncombe County 85 Tunnel Road, Asheville • 828-252-8526 1624 Patton Ave., Asheville • 828-251-6065

Haywood County 290 Lee Road, Clyde • 828-627-6969

Henderson County 125 Baystone Drive, Hendersonville 828-692-6915

Jackson County 876 Skyland Drive, Sylva • 828-586-5413

Madison County 164 N. Main St., Marshall • 828-649-2248

Polk County 130 Ward St., Columbus, • 828-692-6915

Transylvania County 50 Commerce St., Brevard • 828-883-2070

Yancey County 116 N. Main St., Burnsville • 828-682-9619

VEHICLE REGISTRATION Buncombe County 85 Tunnel Road, Asheville • 828-252-8526 780 Hendersonville Road, Asheville 828-667-2104

Haywood County 478 Champion Drive, Canton • 828-646-3406 80 Waynesville Plaza, Waynesville • 828-452-1577

Henderson County 145 Four Seasons Mall, Hendersonville 828-692-0648

Jackson County

126

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

454 E. Main St., Sylva • 828-586-3886

Madison County 133 S. Main St., Marshall • 828-649-3528

Transylvania County 69 New Hendersonville Hwy., Pisgah Forest 828-883-3251

Yancey County 14 Town Square, Burnsville • 828-682-2312

TAX OFFICES Buncombe County 828-250-4910 buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/tax

Haywood County 828-452-6734 • haywoodnc.net

Henderson County 828-697-4870 • hendersoncountync.org/ca

Jackson County 828-586-7541 • jacksonnc.org/tax-collector

Madison County 828-649-3402 madisoncountync.org/-tax

Polk County 828-894-8954 polknc.org/departments/taxassessor

Transylvania County 828-884-3200 transylvaniacounty.org/tax-administration Yancey County 828-682-2198 yanceycountync.gov

PROPERTY TAXES Buncombe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.604 Asheville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.46 Biltmore Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.385 Black Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.375 Montreat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.41 Weaverville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.42 Woodfin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.305

Haywood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.5661 Canton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.58 Clyde . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.43 Maggie Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.39 Waynesville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.4382

Henderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.5136 Flat Rock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.084 Fletcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.325 Hendersonville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.44 Laurel Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.39 Mills River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.0974 Saluda (in Henderson) . . . . . . . . $0.605

Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.28 Dillsboro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.21 Forest Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.15 Highlands (in Jackson) . . . . . . . . . $0.135 Sylva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.30 Webster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.05

Madison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.52 Hot Springs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.51 Mars Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.47 Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.49

Polk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.5175 Columbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.415 Saluda (in Polk) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.605 Tryon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.5508

Rutherford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.607 Lake Lure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.191

Transylvania . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.4499 Brevard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.4525

Yancey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.50 Burnsville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $0.50

Helpful links ELECTRICITY Duke Energy duke-energy.com Haywood EMC haywoodemc.com Progress Energy progress-energy.com

NATURAL GAS Progress Energy progress-energy.com PSNC Energy psncenergy.com/en

PUBLIC UTILITIES City of Asheville Water Resources ashevillenc.gov/departments/water

Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County msdbc.org City of Asheville Sanitation ashevillenc.gov/departments/sanitation

Henderson County Utilities hendersoncountync.org

CABLE/INTERNET/ PHONE AT&T att.com Charter Communications charter.com DirecTV directv.com Mountain Area Information Network main.nc.us

StarBand starband.com TDS Telecom tdstelecom.com Verizon verizon.com

AIRPORTS Asheville Regional Airport flyavl.com Hendersonville Airport hendersonvilleairport.com

TRAINS Amtrak amtrak.com Great Smoky Mountains Railroad gsmr.com

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Buncombe County Transportation buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/Transportation

CITY/COUNTY GOVERNMENTS Buncombe County buncombecounty.org Asheville ashevillenc.gov Barnardsville barnardsville.com Biltmore Forest

Brevard/Transylvania brevardncchamber.org Cashiers Area cashiers-nc.com Carolina Foothills polkchamber.org Downtown Waynesville Association downtownwaynesville.com

Haywood County haywood-nc.com Henderson County hendersoncountychamber.org

Jackson County mountainlovers.com Madison County madisoncounty-nc.com Maggie Valley maggievalley.org Polk County polkchambernc.com Saluda Business Association saluda.com Yancey County yanceychamber.com

TOURISM Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority exploreasheville.com

Cashiers cashiersnc.com Dillsboro Merchants Association visitdillsboro.org

Haywood County Tourism Development Authority visitncsmokies.com

Henderson County Travel and Tourism historichendersonville.org

Jackson County Travel and Tourism mountainlovers.com

Lake Lure Tourism rutherfordtourism.com Madison County visitmadisoncounty.com Polk County nc-mountains.org Transylvania County Tourism visitwaterfalls.com

Weaverville Tourism visitweaverville.com Yancey County visityancey.com

biltmoreforesttownhall.homestead.com

Black Mountain townofblackmountain.com Fletcher fletchernc.org Montreat townofmontreat.org Weaverville weavervillenc.org Haywood County haywoodnc.net Canton cantonnc.com Clyde townofclyde.com Maggie Valley townofmaggievalley.com Waynesville townofwaynesville.org Henderson County hendersoncountync.org Flat Rock Village villageofflatrock.org Hendersonville cityofhendersonville.org Laurel Park laurelpark.org Jackson County jacksonnc.org Sylva townofsylva.org Madison County madisoncountync.org Hot Springs townofhotsprings.org Marshall townofmarshall.org Mars Hill townofmarshill.org Polk County polknc.org Columbus columbusnc.com Tryon tryon-nc.com Rutherford County rutherfordcountync.gov Lake Lure townoflakelure.com Transylvania County transylvaniacounty.org Brevard cityofbrevard.com Yancey County main.nc.us/yancey Burnsville townofburnsville.org

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE Asheville Area ashevillechamber.org Black Mountain-Swannanoa blackmountain.org

SCHOOLS Asheville City ashevillecityschools.net Buncombe County buncombe.k12.nc.us Haywood County haywood.k12.nc.us Henderson County henderson.k12.nc.us Jackson County jcps.k12.nc.us Madison County Schools madisonk12.net Polk County polk.k12.nc.us Transylvania County Schools tcsnc.org Yancey County Schools yanceync.net North Carolina Public Schools ncpublicschools.org

North Carolina School Report Cards ncreportcards.org

PRIVATE SCHOOLS Asheville Catholic School ashevillecatholic.org

Asheville Christian Academy acacademy.org

Asheville Montessori School ashevillemontessorischool.com

Asheville School ashevilleschool.org Bethel Baptist School bethelwarriors.org Carolina Day School cdschool.org Christ School christschool.org Emmanuel Lutheran School emmanuellutheranschool.org

Fletcher Academy fletcheracademy.com Hanger Hall School for Girls hangerhall.org

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

127

Information

Mountain Xpress mountainx.com The Blue Banner thebluebanner.net The Mountaineer themountaineer.villagesoup.com

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

CONTINUED

Immaculata Catholic School immac.org Learning Community School thelearningcommunity.org

Mount Pisgah Academy pisgah.us Nazarene Christian School ashevillefirstnazarene.org

Rainbow Mountain Children’s School rmcs.org

Veritas Christian Academy veritasnc.org

CHARTER SCHOOLS ArtSpace Charter School artspacecharter.org

Brevard Academy brevard.teamcfa.org Evergreen Community Charter School evergreenccs.org

Francine Delany New School for Children fdnsc.net Shining Rock Classical Academy srca.teamcfa.school

Summit Charter School summitschool.org The Mountain Community School tmcschool.org

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College abtech.edu Blue Ridge Community College blueridge.edu Brevard College brevard.edu Haywood Community College haywood.edu Mars Hill College mhc.edu Montreat College montreat.edu Shaw University Education Center shawuniversity.edu

South College southcollegenc.edu Southwestern Community College southwesterncc.edu

University of North Carolina-Asheville unca.edu

Warren Wilson College warren-wilson.edu Western Carolina University wcu.edu

LEARNING CENTERS Penland School of Crafts penland.org Osher Lifelong Learning Institute olliasheville.com

PUBLICATIONS Asheville Citizen-Times citizen-times.com Asheville Magazine ashevillemagazine.com Asheville Tribune thetribunepapers.com Black Mountain News blackmountainnews.com

Crossroads Chronicle crossroadschronicle.com Hendersonville Times-News blueridgenow.com

Hendersonville Lightning hendersonvillelightning.com

128

Welcome Beverly-Hanks & ASSOCIATES

The Smoky Mountain News smokymountainnews.com

The Sylva Herald thesylvaherald.com The Transylvania Times transylvaniatimes.com

The Tryon Daily Bulletin

Henderson County Red Cross hcredcross.org MedWest haymed.org Mission Hospitals missionhospitals.org Pardee Hospital pardeehospital.org Park Ridge Hospital parkridgehealth.org Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care urgentcares.com St. Luke’s Hospital saintlukeshospital.com Transylvania Regional Hospital trhospital.org

VA Medical Center asheville.va.gov

tryondailybulletin.com

Yancey County News yanceycountynews.com

MAGAZINES Blue Ridge Outdoors blueridgeoutdoors.com Capital At Play capitalatplay.com The Laurel of Asheville thelaurelofasheville.com

Smoky Mountain Living smliv.com Sophie Magazine sophiemagazine.com Verve Magazine vervemag.com WNC Magazine wncmagazine.com WNC Woman wnc-woman.com

TELEVISION STATIONS WYFF-TV 4 (NBC) Greenville • wyff4.com WLOS-TV 13 (ABC) Asheville • wlos.com WSPA-TV 7 (CBS) Greenville/Spartanburg • wspa.com

WYCW-TV 62 (The CW) Greenville/Spartanburg • carolinascw.com

WHNS-TV 21 (FOX) Greenville/Spartanburg • foxcarolina.com

AM RADIO STATIONS 570, WWNC news, radio • wwnc.com 880, WPEK news, talk • therevolution.com 920 WPTL country, news, talk • wptlradio.net 1230, WSKY Christian • wilkinsradio.com 1310, WISE sports, talk • 1310bigwise.com 1450, WHKP news, music • whkp.com

FM RADIO STATIONS 88.1, 95.3, WCQS NPR news, classic music wcqs.org

88.7, WNCW eclectic music, news • wncw.org 90.5, WWCU Western Carolina University wwcufm.com

92.5, WYFL Bible Broadcasting Network bbnradio.org

93.7, WFBC Top 40 • b937online.com 96.5, WOXL Lite rock • 965woxl.com 98.1, The River 981theriver.com 99.9, WKSF Kiss Country • 99kisscountry.com 103.5, MAIN-FM Community programming main-fm.org

105.1, WQNS Rock • 1051rocks.com 105.9, WTMT Rock • 1059themountain.com

MEDICAL CENTERS Asheville Specialty Hospital missionhospitals.org

Blue Ridge Regional Hospital spchospital.org

Care Partners Rehabilitation Hospital carepartners.org

PLACES TO GO Biltmore Estate biltmore.com Blue Ridge Parkway blueridgeparkway.org Botanical Gardens at Asheville ashevillebotanicalgardens.org

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site nps.gov/carl/index.htm Cataloochee Valley elk wildlifesouth.com Cherokee North Carolina cherokee-nc.com Chimney Rock State Park chimneyrockpark.com

Dupont State Forest dupontforest.com Great Smoky Mountains National Park nps.gov/grsm

Great Smoky Mountain Railroad gsmr.com

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort harrahscherokee.com

Hot Springs hotspringsnc.org Maggie Valley maggievalley.org North Carolina Arboretum ncarboretum.org

Old Pressley Sapphire Mine oldpressleymine.com

Pack Place packplace.org Pisgah National Forest fs.usda.gov/nfsnc Smith McDowell House Museum wnchistory.org

Thomas Wolfe House wolfememorial.com Western North Carolina Nature Center wildwnc.org

TOURS Asheville Urban Trail romanticasheville.com

Asheville Historic Trolley Tours ashevilletrolleytours.com

Brews Cruise Brewery Tour brewscruise.com Lazoom Tours of Asheville lazoomtours.com

Segway Tours movingsidewalktours.com Walking Tours of Historic Asheville history-at-hand.com

LIBRARIES Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Regional Library amyregionallibrary.org Buncombe County Public Libraries buncombecounty.org/governing/depts/Library

Haywood County Public Library haywoodlibrary.org

Henderson County Public Library henderson.lib.nc.us

Jackson County Public Library fontanalib.org/sylva

Madison County Public Library madisoncountylibrary.org

Transylvania County Public Library library.transylvaniacounty.org

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COMMUNITY OFFICES LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE REGION Downtown Asheville

Hendersonville

Saluda

300 Executive Park Asheville, NC 28801 800.868.7221 toll free 828.254.7221

512 North Main St. Hendersonville, NC 28792 800.868.0515 toll free 828.697.0515

153 East main Street Saluda, NC 28773 877.557.8512 toll free 828.749-3504

North Asheville

Waynesville

820 Merrimon Avenue Asheville, NC 28804 800.277.2511 toll free 828.251.1800

74 North Main St. Waynesville, NC 28786 800.849.8024 toll free 828.452.5809

Beverly-Hanks Mortgage Services

South Asheville

Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure

NAI Beverly-Hanks Commercial

112 Mountain Boulevard Lake Lure, NC 28746 866.858.2257 toll free 828.694.3001

410 Executive Park Asheville, NC 28801 866.810.5893 toll free 828.210.3940

One Town Square Blvd, Ste. 140 Asheville, NC 28803 800.868.8999 toll free 828.684.8999

866.858.2257

30 Town Square Blvd., Ste. 202 Asheville, NC 28803 828.775.9179

customerservice@beverly-hanks.com

beverly-hanks.com

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