Here it is — 2025, a new year with new possibilities. Unfortunately, 2024 will mostly be remembered as a tumultuous year. Unprecedented damage from Hurricane Helene, the region’s second major flood in just three years, drew the attention of folks near and far. Sometimes that attention was for good reasons, like the selfless generosity of many in Western North Carolina. Other times, that attention was for bad reasons, like the selfish grifters who descended upon the region to malign the people with mud on their boots trying to address the region’s most urgent humanitarian needs. But there were other major stories too, just like there are every year, and it was our pleasure to bring them to you. So join us for a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly that was 2024.
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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT
FAKE N EWS E DITOR
Istarted this annual feature nearly a decade ago to poke fun at the emerging scourge of fake news — lies, really — that had popped up at local government meetings. It was a prophetic move, unfortunately, and in the intervening nine or so years it’s only gotten worse.
While Hurricane Helene brought out the best in most people, it brought out the worst in others who, for financial reasons, wanted to further sensationalize what was already a sensational situation. Property was destroyed. Businesses were wiped out. Lives were ruined. People died. Those are not lies, and they’re no laughing matter.
But as the gravy train of in-kind and financial donations poured into Haywood County, it needed to be periodically refreshed with ever-more outlandish anecdotes, unsupported by facts, to tug on the heartstrings of well-meaning donors from across the country.
Among all the lies, including some spread by our next president, two in particular stand out as the most depraved and ghoulish.
The first, in the wake of the storm, was that there were 2,000 dead bodies in hardhit Swannanoa.
Somehow, someone discovered this massive pile of corpses but failed to come away with even one photograph, in an era when nearly everyone has a high-powered camera and an internet connection in their pocket. Not a single news outlet reported anything remotely resembling a mass casualty incident, which obviously spawned the belief that we were all “covering it up,” as though such an incident could be ignored.
The second, particularly gruesome, is
that “dozens” of babies had frozen to death because their parents were forced by the government to sleep in tents. Not only were there no families sleeping in tents against their will, but there were also no frozen babies. None. Assuming the rumor to be true, again without a shred of evidence, presumes a particularly insulting scenario — that across Western North Carolina, first responders, concerned citizens, church groups and government officials were aware of the problem yet did little more than say, “Hey look, a dead baby!”
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT RENAMED IN HONOR OF PACTIV CEO
The town of Canton is already home to two local landmarks that commemorate individuals who had an outsized impact on the tiny mountain milltown, but soon, they’ll be joined by a third.
The William G. Stamey Municipal Building on Park Street and the Hubert Thomas basketball courts at the Canton
in schools, jails and nursing homes.
Adding another level of supervillainy to the scheme, King then directed the company to appeal its property tax levy, leaving the town in financial limbo from its biggest taxpayer as Pactiv continues to fight.
Pactiv also continues to fight a state lawsuit alleging that the company took $12 million in the form of an economic development grant, courtesy of North Carolina taxpayers, but violated the terms of the agreement by closing the mill. The state wants the money back. King’s lawyers say no way.
Perhaps the greatest factor in naming the wastewater treatment plant after King is the fact that while the 185-acre parcel remains up for sale, Pactiv will stop treating the town’s waste in March, after doing so for decades.
This could end up being the last Fake News Freakout because, as they say, reality is stranger than fiction, or in this case, satire. It’s getting more and more difficult to poke fun at the year’s top stories because the clickbait crowd — some local and regional media included — continues to fabricate more and more ridiculous angles than can be conceived by aspiring comedy writers.
However, we did find a few topics that we thought we could provide a little fun this year. Enjoy them — and buckle up for the next four years.
Smoky Mountain News Editor Kyle Perrotti also contributed to this year’s Fake News Freakout, which is fake.
Recreation Center were both named after deserving members of the community; per a recent announcement, a critical piece of infrastructure responsible for collecting both solid and liquid human waste will now be known as the Michael J. King wastewater treatment facility.
King is more than deserving of the honor. Under his authority, in March 2023 Pactiv Evergreen announced that in just weeks, it would close the century-old paper mill at the heart of Canton.
Leaving nearly a thousand employees with little time to plan — as well as a critical health care coverage gap — King’s actions also caused a milk carton shortage
The situation brightened a bit last May when a potential buyer for the parcel emerged. The two parties struck a deal and were slated to close on Oct. 1, but when Hurricane Helene tore through the region on Sept. 27 it damaged the parcel, as well as the treatment plant. The buyer refused to close until he could get a look at the damage, which Pactiv has not yet allowed. Pactiv wants the buyer to abide by the terms of the agreement, which is like agreeing to sell you a car, then wrecking it on the way to the sale but demanding you still buy it at the previously agreed upon price.
“Fittingly, the Michael J. King Wastewater Treatment Facility will stand as a monument to his legacy,” said one local official. “But remember, even when you flush, some things can keep coming back to haunt you.”
NORTH CAROLINA CHANGES STATE MOTTO
North Carolinians are at their best when the chips are down. But lately, with an influx of strange travelers looking to exploit a disaster to gain social media clout amid the continued devastation from Hurricane Helene, the state’s top brass has decided that the old motto, “esse quam videri” meaning “to be rather than to seem,” just didn’t feel right anymore.
“We are proud to announce the new motto: videri quam esse,” proclaimed Wesley Wordle, the North Carolina Secretary of Syntax and Semantics. “The best and brightest in state government came together one day and just said ‘might as well.’”
The new motto flips the old, outdated one on its head. “We are thrilled to reflect the current social media driven culture that has swept over not only North Carolina, but the entire nation,” Wordle said. “That’s why this new motto, meaning ‘to seem rather than to be’ seemed on the money, quite frankly.”
Wordle pointed to how many viral videos have come out of Western North Carolina that misrepresent easily verifiable facts as a deciding factor leading up to the change.
TELECOMS FIND SOLUTION TO PREVENT CELLULAR INFRASTRUCTURE FAILURE
Some of the largest cellular service providers in the southeast are taking steps to ensure that the next time a serious storm hits, people won’t be left without vital communications.
On Sept. 27, Hurricane Helene came ashore in the Gulf of Mexico, steadily working its way north to the Great Smoky Mountains. Around daybreak as the peak intensity of the storm hit Western North Carolina, cellular communications infrastructure failed, preventing subscribers from communicating with each other and drawing the ire of local officials.
Last week, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon announced the creation of a new joint venture called BirdBand Unlimited, which will roll out service to select Haywood County markets in the coming weeks.
The idea is to eventually issue a carrier pigeon, Columba livia domestica, to all 60,000 residents of the county.
Subscribers will be responsible for the care and feeding of the pigeons, which technically remain the property of BirdBand, but can use them to send short messages written on tiny scraps of paper, strapped to one of the bird’s legs.
BirdBand is expected to introduce the service with a low promotional rate of $89.99 per month for the first year, not including applicable state, federal and local taxes. Normal data and messaging rates will apply, however members of BirdBand’s “Frequent Flockers” customer loyalty program will be eligible for a pigeon upgrade after 12 months of on-time payments.
“That’s why I’ll be driving her two hours each way every day to Charlotte. That’s where all the second-grade recruiters are looking.”
While most of the kids appear to be heading to bigger cities where more eyes will be on them, that isn’t the case for everyone.
Parvus Johnson, father of Tommy Johnson — one of the top Pop Warner prospects in the state — said his son opted to go to Franklin, not because it’s a bigger media market, but because Coach Will Welichick offered him a starting quarterback spot on the Macon Mites. By all accounts, the Mites will have the top offensive line out of all ages 5-7 teams in the region, including a pair of 70-pound tackles who can “really put down a pass rush.”
“I ain’t gonna have my boy coming out and looking bad because them boys up front couldn’t protect him,” Johnson said. “The fact of the matter is, Coach Welichick promised things that Haywood County coaches simply couldn’t.”
Tommy Johnson declined to comment, instead hiding behind his father’s pantleg.
MUNCHIE SHORTAGES PLAGUE QUALLA BOUNDARY
While the recent legalization of recreational cannabis by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has helped to diversify the gaming-reliant Cherokee economy and produced a small surge in tourism, it’s also led to a baffling, unexplainable crisis — the disappearance of tasty snacks and desserts in stores and shops.
The onslaught of outsiders coming to the mountains began immediately as the flood waters receded late in the day on Sept. 27 of last year. Sure, plenty of people in big trucks with loads of tools arrived with an earnest desire to help the area rebuild, but they were quickly overshadowed by another group of folks armed only with slick smiles and selfie sticks.
“We didn’t know where to turn for information since we don’t trust the news or the government,” said Canton resident Prudence Credula. “This fella on YouTube seemed to speak my language. I’m angry, and he is, too! I’ve donated to his GoFundMe page about a dozen times already.”
The influx of influencers probably should have been predictable, but with each video they seem to gain strength — and clicks. One such influencer who goes by the name First Amendment Freddie told The Smoky Mountain News that efforts from local governments to curb “misinformation” are stomping all over his right to free speech.
“They’re trying to tread all over me, but I know the constitution. These folks deserve some kind of cruel — maybe even unusual — punishment, just like back in the good ol’ days. No charges, no bond, no attorney, no trial,” First Amendment Freddie said. “Honestly, their homes need to be searched, because who knows what they’re really up to? I wouldn’t even bother getting a warrant.”
Either way, even after the onslaught of admonishments, First Amendment Freddie said he isn’t going anywhere, at least not until another disaster hits somewhere else.
“A lot of people say tragedy brings the best out of people,” he said. “I don’t know about that, but I can sure as hell tell you it’s bringing the best out of my bank account.”
“We think this is an innovative, eco-friendly solution that will help keep our customers connected to each other, especially in times of difficulty,” said Skylar Cooper, CEO of BirdBand. “Plus, this makes it look like we’re actually doing something and at the same time helps us avoid spending actual money on upgrading towers and transmission facilities.”
Stock prices of all three companies was up on the news, as Cooper brushed aside concerns from critics over network capacity, extreme weather, reliability, scalability, speed and security.
“Look, at BirdBand Unlimited, we don’t just wing it — we soar above the noise. Critics might squawk about weather or security, but let me remind you: pigeons have been delivering messages since ancient Rome,” Cooper said. “Can your cell towers dodge lightning? Plus, who’s going to hack a bird?”
When reached for comment, a pair of eagles nesting at Lake Junaluska voiced support for the endeavor.
HAYWOOD COUNTY LOSES ENTIRE FIRSTGRADE CLASS TO THE TRANSFER PORTAL
Haywood County Schools announced this week that its entire incoming class of first graders has entered the transfer portal, leaving kindergarten educators scratching their heads and wondering where it all went wrong.
“I could tell throughout the school year that some of the kids, especially the ones who impressed bigger schools during spring break workouts, were on their way out,” said kindergarten teacher Anna Gonzalez. “The fact of the matter is, things have changed since the NIL money started pouring in.”
Randy Moochausen beamed with pride as he spoke about his daughter, Rachel. Folks in youth basketball circles have marveled over the last year at Rachel’s ability as both a facilitator and a lockdown perimeter defender, calling her the kindergarten Kelsey Plum.
“As the women’s game continues to grow, I’m excited that Rachel will one day have the same opportunity as boys to make enough money to allow me to retire early,” Moochousen said.
What began as a trickle of regional tourists seeking legal weed on April 20 quickly snowballed into a full-blown cultural phenomenon, but as the Cherokee economy celebrated, grocery store shelves began to look increasingly barren. Chips, frozen pizzas and other stoner staples started disappearing faster than one could say “Hot Pocket.”
“I thought, well, that’s just tourists stocking up for a good time, man,” said Richard Marin, who owns a small convenience store near the dispensary. “But then I couldn’t keep chili-cheese Fritos on the shelf, for like two months.”
Shortages quickly spiraled out of control and by midDecember, major suppliers were struggling to keep up. Trucks loaded with pallets of Reese’s peanut butter cups and Breyer’s Ice Cream arrived only to be swarmed by hungry hordes of shoppers with bloodshot eyes.
Fast food joints weren’t spared either; Taco Bell prompted outrage when it had to implement a “three tacos per customer” limit after running out of tortillas for the third time in a week.
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,” said William Hugh Nelson, manager of a popular local pizzeria. “We’ve had lines out the door, phones ringing off the hook and people offering insane tips just to get their hands on a pepperoni pie. One guy offered me $50 for a single breadstick.”
The shortage has sparked creativity among some residents. Homemade snack businesses have popped up, selling everything from artisanal trail mix to deep-fried Moon Pies at roadside stands. Still, the crisis has raised eyebrows among critics, who question whether the infrastructure was ready for the sudden influx of cannabis consumers.
Tribal government has promised to address the issue, but in the meantime, some locals are taking matters into their own hands. A Facebook group, “Snack Strong Cherokee,” has formed to help residents trade and barter for hard-to-find items.
“Hey, we just sell the weed,” said budtender Calvin Broadus, Jr. “What people do after that is not our business. But if anyone’s got a bag of Funyuns, I’ll trade you for an eighth.”
SEX OFFENDER/FELON RESPONSIBLE FOR CORONAVIRUS
VACCINE APPOINTS ROAD KILL-EATING ANTI-VAXXER WITH BRAIN WORM TO TOP HEALTH POST (SEE WHALE HEAD, P. 84).
BirdBand Unlimited will soon begin providing communications services in Haywood County. Donated photo
HOMETOWN HERO AWARD
When Tropical Storm Fred cut a half billion-dollar swath of destruction through the eastern part of Haywood County and killed six people in 2021, the tragedy gave residents a chance to come together across political, racial and socioeconomic lines as never before. But it also had another hidden upside, revealed this past September.
Shortly after Fred, then-Sheriff Greg Christopher was asked to explain why the community was able to respond so effectively to the tragedy. He told The Smoky Mountain News at the time that it was because of one simple thing — relationships. Many first responders, elected officials and local government administrators had served in their positions for years, acquiring the expertise, the training and the familiarity with municipal and county institutions to react instinctively. Those who were new to their jobs got to see how real heroes work when times are toughest.
Tropical Storm Fred taught not only our leaders, but also ordinary people like you and me, how to act and what to expect when expecting the unexpected. Volunteers responded immediately, making financial or in-kind donations, staffing distribution hubs, delivering meals and supplies to survivors, mucking out basements, chainsawing downed trees that blocked roads and using their own heavy equipment to clear landslides so aid could start flowing into the county.
CONTINUOUS GROAN AWARD
The fallout immediately following the disaster wrought by Hurricane Helene was tragic and traumatizing, but as time has gone on and debris piles slowly disappear, certain secondary woes are being fully realized.
Chief among those may be Interstate 40, which goes through Haywood County from Buncombe and north up to the Tennessee state line. From the state line back to around the four-mile marker, the eastbound lane is in various states of existence.
Sometimes, the road seems stable, in some places it’s crumbling and in some places, it simply isn’t there anymore.
Once the North Carolina Department of Transportation was able to get in and assess the damage, a timeline began to emerge for when some kind of traffic might be able to flow along the vital corridor.
building codes and understand that we are living in an environment influenced by climate change, where these storms are going to be more ferocious and more frequent,” Cooper said.
“We may need to rethink how we build those back for more resiliency in the future, versus just assuming we’re pushing dirt back into the existing roadbeds and putting bridge structures back where they once were if it no longer makes sense and it’s not in the long-term best interest of the communities,” Tillis said.
That wasn’t all. Also visiting the most fractured bit of roadway was United States Department of Transportation
So when Hurricane Helene hit on Sept. 27, it wasn’t just governments and churches that snapped into action by establishing shelters, coordinating supply hubs or rescuing people in danger. It was you, too, doing many of the same things you did in 2021.
The stories of bravery and sacrifice collected by The Smoky Mountain News in the weeks and months after Helene are too numerous to repeat here and far outweigh the stories full of cowardice, shame and lies we also had to report.
No one hopes we’ll again be visited by such senseless destruction. But if we are, we know that the people of Haywood County stand ready to persevere, for as long as it takes, because we remain #HaywoodStrong.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Thom Tillis, Gov. Roy Cooper, and North Carolina Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins, who all promised they’d fight for resources and expedite the repairs necessary to open up two lanes for traffic, and eventually, the whole highway. The group of officials promised to “build back better.”
“I’d say it’s clear that to do right for the 2030s and 40s and 50s, we can’t have the same assumptions that led us in the 1950s,” Buttigieg said. “I hope and pray that nothing like this is visited upon this community ever again. But the reality is, the United States is in for more frequent and extreme weather events.”
Cooper and Tillis both agreed.
“We’ve got to stop this nonsense of trying to weaken
NCDOT encouraged anyone and everyone with an idea to let their thoughts be known, and recommendations flooded in. While the NCDOT hasn’t tipped its hand, people seem to be most excited about a potential viaduct that would result in a large roadway built on a series of massive support structures built over the Pigeon River.
But not so fast. First comes restoring two-lane traffic.
To stabilize the earth under the westbound lanes to the degree that traffic could pass over the road, contractors drilled giant soil nails into the side of the embankment over the river.
While things seemed to be going well and two-way traffic was supposed to open up sometime this month, Mother Nature, as she is wont to do, laughed at the propensity of humans to feel certain about, well, anything.
Only a couple of weeks ago, as the date for opening two lanes neared, another large landslide occurred that compromised a whole new section of the highway, meaning more soil nails and more time.
It hasn’t yet been announced when the highway may reopen.
FIRST IN FLIGHT AWARD
After Hurricane Helene rocked the eastern reaches of Western North Carolina, Crystal Cochran sprang into action.
A resident of Sylva, mother and Gold Star military wife, Cochran jumped at the opportunity to aid in efforts by Operation Airdrop to get supplies into Western North Carolina and distributed to the hardest hit areas in the region.
During the height of the supply mission, the Jackson County airport was buzzing with air traffic and volunteer power. On the busiest day, there were 188 takeoffs and landings in just nine hours. This means there was an aircraft operation every two minutes and 52 seconds. For comparison, Asheville Regional Airport averages one flight every six minutes and 30 seconds.
At noon on Monday, Oct. 7, the last day of flights from Operation Airdrop in Jackson County, there had already been 650 flights in just eight days. Flight missions by private, volunteer pilots continued through Thursday, Oct. 10, with one couple alone making 22 trips to deliver supplies.
Planes came in from across the country, near and far, places like Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, Idaho, South Carolina, Connecticut, North Dakota, Illinois, Georgia, Massachusetts and Texas.
Cochran was instrumental in organizing the army of volunteers on land, and in the skies, to help out after Helene’s destruction.
Damage to Interstate 40 in Haywood County has become a focal point of Hurricane Helene’s destructiveness. Cory Vaillancourt photo
LEAST INFLUENTIAL YOUTUBE INFLUENCER AWARD
The last few years have been a helluva ride for Haywood County Commissioner Terry “double down” Ramey. Prior to his 2022 election, Ramey faced criticism over his decade-long nonpayment of county property taxes, so he did what any decent, upstanding, God-fearing man would do — he lied about it and threatened the media for reporting on it.
The other four commissioners subsequently chastised him for his behavior before his “service” had even begun.
For proof, one need look no further than his appearance in a recent YouTube video shot by an out-of-state grifter looking to capitalize on a hard-hit region full of generous, trusting people eager to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene. In the video, the YouTuber can be heard encouraging Ramey to force a commission vote to override state law, which even grade-school civics students know isn’t possible. Ramey said that he was only one vote and that it was up to the other four commissioners to help him with his constitutionally impossible task.
Lies in the videos prompted misguided outrage, provoked violent and vulgar latenight threats to the other commissioners and resulted in fellow Republican Rep. Mark Pless, of all people, calling for Ramey’s resignation.
Rather than admit his mistakes, Ramey, who still owes thousands in taxes he never paid, lashed out, calling another commissioner a liar and claiming he’d done nothing wrong.
But Ramey’s latest embarrassing episode might not entirely be his fault; he may not have been aware that people don’t use YouTube when they want to make a name for themselves by showing their ass — they do that on OnlyFans.
MACONIANS UNITED AWARD
Maconians are known among the citizens of Western North Carolina for robust and regular public input at local government meetings and this year was no different. But there was one issue in particular that galvanized the citizens of Macon County to stand together and speak up — efforts to weaken the county’s floodplain ordinances.
Not only did a group of experts volunteer their time to make up the Water Quality Advisory Committee and research the risks of weakening the ordinances, but huge swaths of the public showed up regularly to commission and planning board meetings to let public officials know they were vehemently against the move.
Commissioners may have already moved forward with one of the three proposed changes, but advocates are still holding out hope that other protections will remain in place.
BUILDING THE FUTURE AWARD
This year both Jackson and Swain counties received state grants of $52 million to build new middle schools. For Jackson County, this will be the first traditional middle school the county has ever had and will serve middle grade students in place of the four K-8 schools that do so now.
In the same year, Macon County was awarded $62 million to build its new Franklin High School. Officials broke ground on the project in October.
AUDACITY AWARD
It makes potheads giggle and cops roll their eyes, and in Western North Carolina this year, the stoner holiday 4/20 became newsworthy.
An event to commemorate the special weekend was held Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, at the Smoky Mountain Event Center in Haywood County, and it drew the scrutiny of some in the community.
Haywood Commissioner Terry Ramey has really made a name for himself in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Jack Snyder photo illustration For some, the “Stoner’s Ball” was the “high” point of the year. File photo
However, it also drew a huge crowd and by all accounts was an unblemished success. There were 1,000 presale tickets available for 4/20, and those sold out well ahead of the event.
The founder of the feast was Jo Ellyn Woodward, known to most as the Blunt Queen. The Blunt Queen image has been carefully cultivated, and she can often be seen at either of her cannabis dispensaries in Spindale or Maggie Valley wearing a sort of crown made up of partially smoked blunts. While Woodward’s event had strict no-marijuana policy and no-alcohol policy, she did have plenty of Delta 8 — a substance that produces a similar psychotropic effect to weed — on hand.
Haywood County Sheriff Bill Wilke voiced his concerns in a statement ahead of the event.
“Delta 8, the substance that supposedly will be distributed at this event, has a significant effect of impairment (getting high) when used, and is virtually indistinguishable from organic plant grown marijuana when consumed,” Wilke wrote. “As such, I have significant concerns about the security and safety of attendees, and their activities following the event, particularly travel.”
cards were handed out to individuals diagnosed with one of a number of conditions, including Crohn’s disease, anxiety and cancer.
Next, on another relatively well-known holiday — July 4 — cannabis sales began on the Qualla Boundary for all adults who were members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians or any other federal recognized tribe.
Finally, on Sept. 7, the anniversary of the vote to legalize adult recreational use, the dispensary opened up to anyone over the age of 21.
But Woodward soldiered on, her commitment to providing an elevated experience in Haywood County unwavering. The event brought in cast and crew members from multiple TV shows, including “Moonshiners” and “Master Distillers,” as well as over 40 vendors selling all kinds of wares, from jewelry to soaps to clothing.
And, of course, there were food trucks to quickly quell any munchies attacks.
Following the event, Woodward was proud to say that there were no health or safety issues that stemmed from the event. It isn’t yet known whether the Stoner’s Ball will become an annual tradition.
THE STEAMROLLER AWARD
We hate to belabor one topic, but we have more than one marijuana-related award to hand out this year.
The steamroller award goes to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who launched their cannabis venture despite no shortage of opposition from outside the Qualla Boundary. The rollout moved forward over the course of a series of milestones that began, in earnest, last year when enrolled members voted overwhelmingly to legalize the sale, possession and use of adult recreational cannabis.
On 4/20, a well-known stoner holiday, the tribe opened its 10,000 square-foot dispensary to medicinal card holders;
But the leadup to each of these milestones was fraught with turmoil from local and federally elected officials.
In a letter from North Carolina’s Republican senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, several questions were raised regarding the legality and logistics of the tribe’s cultivation, processing, transportation and sales of marijuana. The questions in that letter were posed to elected and appointed leaders around the region.
In September of last year, Rep. Chuck Edwards (RHenderson) introduced the Stop Pot Act in Congress, which would have withheld federal funding from states and tribes that permit the use of recreational cannabis. In that release, Edwards noted that the background of the bill was tied directly to EBCI’s vote to allow recreational adult use of cannabis and the fact that its passage would make the Qualla Boundary the only place in North Carolina to allow recreational adult use.
“The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law,” Edwards said in the release. “During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin.”
But never mind that. Sept. 7, 2024, felt like more of a celebration than a grand opening, drawing people from all over North Carolina and surrounding states. The event featured special deals and even a celebrity appearance by Nathan Apodaca, better recognized by many as Doggface. Apodaca is an actor and musical artist best-known for the 2020 viral video set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” in which he rides a skateboard, carefree, drinking cran-raspberry juice straight from the bottle. Reports note that at least one Smoky Mountain News reporter had butterflies in his stomach upon meeting Apodaca.
The first customer to show up at the door of the dispen-
sary, which began sales at 10 a.m., arrived at 1 a.m., and the line grew steadily. By the time doors opened, the line snaked through the parking lot out to a far-flung side road. That line stayed about that long for hours, as thousands of people funneled through.
While it’s not yet known publicly how well the cannabis enterprise is doing, anecdotal accounts are that there’s been a steady flow of traffic. Time will tell if the tribe meets its lofty nine-figure projections.
BIG BROTHER AWARD
In May, Payton McNabb shrouded herself in the cloak of Big Brother when she took to a Western Carolina University bathroom to film an unsuspecting student.
North Carolina law prohibits filming people in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. File photo
In a video posted by McNabb on X, an unidentified trans woman appears to be trying to leave the women’s restroom. As the woman is drying her hands, a voice (Big Brother) behind the camera asks, “What are you doing?” To which the woman responds, “Going to the bathroom.”
Big Brother goes on to inquire why the subject of the video is in the girls’ bathroom.
The video, posted with the caption “A man F
using the girls bathroom at Western Carolina University. Unreal” had 295,000 views on McNabb’s X account as of May 14, and 15 million views on the Libs of TikTok X account.
While North Carolina law does prohibit filming people in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, like bathrooms, showers and dressing rooms, the law does not make it clear whether that expectation holds in the common area of a bathroom rather than a stall.
After some backlash, Big Brother defended herself and the intrusion saying, “I believe in everyone’s right to their own opinion, and I shouldn’t face punishment simply because I felt uncomfortable with a man being in our bathroom.”
If hurt people hurt people, maybe scared people scare people, and maybe Big Brother is just a scared little girl.
KEEP QUIET AWARD
Rep. Chuck Edwards has refused to speak to The Smoky Mountain News since shortly after he was elected in 2022.
He’s been silent on critical issues of national and regional importance — silent on protecting Social Security, silent on preserving veterans health care, silent on what he did to prevent the Pactiv-Evergreen paper mill in Canton from closing, silent on funding our national parks, silent on why North Carolina didn’t get the congressional funding it needs to recover fully from the damage associated with Hurricane Helene. Dead silence.
It can be frustrating when elected officials refuse even basic communications, but the only real losers are his constituents, for whom Edwards appears to care little.
But when he does talk, it’s may actually be worse.
In 2022, Edwards pulled out of a live campaign debate hosted by The Smoky Mountain News and Blue Ridge Public Radio, instead appearing in a pre-taped event on a television channel owned by the right-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, with whom he’d already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising.
At a town hall meeting in Canton in summer 2023, Edwards refused to answer a question from The Smoky Mountain News about what he’d done to prevent the mill from closing, saying he’d only communicate with outlets that give him favorable coverage.
In that same meeting, a constituent asked Edwards how Buncombe
County residents could help their neighbors after closing of the paper mill and loss of roughly 1,000 good-paying union jobs. Edwards, who could have used the opportunity to create unity, instead decided it would be a good idea to dunk on Asheville, saying that they should “clean Buncombe County up, get the needles off the streets, get a DA in place and prosecute criminals to reduce crime and not allow the spill over into our haven over here.”
Last February, Edwards was accused of misusing his free (read: taxpayer funded) communications privileges by utilizing a campaign mailer to attack Asheville Democratic officials, and was later sanctioned by the House Ethics Committee.
This year, he refused to debate his General Election opponent even once.
Most recently, Edwards did earn a little bit of shine — long after others had already made public statements — by trying to dispel ridiculous Helene-related lies spread on social media, but when then-candidate for President Donald Trump came to Swannanoa after Helene and repeated some of the lies that Edwards had just debunked, Edwards, standing directly behind Trump, cowered in silence.
We’d sure like Edwards to talk to us, but come to think of it, now we understand why he won’t, so we’d rather he just keep quiet altogether.
CHARLIE BROWN’S CHRISTMAS TREE AWARD
This one goes out to the North Carolina General Assembly and Congress, but it will take a little explaining.
When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina early on the morning of Sept. 27, 2024, the sun rose on unprecedented destruction, and it became immediately clear that the damage totals would be in the tens of billions of dollars — far beyond the ability of any local taxing authority to raise and spend.
An initial relief bill from the General Assembly was touted as a first step. The second bill, weeks later, failed to address the needs of the small businesses that power the regional economy. As legislators teed up a third bill, residents were worried that the bill wouldn’t help the people who needed it most, and they were right.
TOWN OF WAYNESVILLE
FAIR HOUSING COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
TTown of Waynesville has Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects currently in progress. The CDBG program requires that a Fair Housing plan and complaint procedure be adopted by the Town.
Housing discrimination is prohibited by Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 and by the North Carolina State Fair Housing Act. In an effort to promote fair housing and to ensure that the rights of housing discrimination victims are protected, Town of Waynesville has adopted the following procedures for receiving and resolving housing discrimination complaints:
discrimination in Town of Waynesville may do so by informing, Rob Hites, Town Manager, of the facts and circumstances of the alleged discriminatory act or practice.
2. Upon receiving a housing discrimination complaint, the Town of Waynesville Development Services Director shall inform the North Carolina Human Relations Commission (Commission) about the complaint. The Town of Waynesville Development Services Direc-
to the State Fair Housing Act and Title VIII.
3. The Town of Waynesville Development Services Director shall offer assistance to the Commission in the investigation and conciliation of all housing discrimination complaints, which are based upon events occurring in Town 0f Waynesville.
4. The Town of Waynesville Development Services Director shall to contact with housing discrimination complaints based upon events occurring in Town of Waynesville by posting this complaint procedure in the Town of Waynesville Town Hall and publishing it in the local newspaper.
What we got was a “Christmas tree” bill, rolled out near the end of session and containing no actual immediate flood relief. It’s called a “Christmas tree” bill because
5. All complaints shall be acknowledged within ten (10) days of receipt.
If you have any questions about the complaint procedure or would like to register a complaint, please contact Rob Hites, Town Manager, by mail at the Town of Waynesville 16 South Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 or by phone at 828-452-2491 or for TDD assistance call 7-1-1.
This information is available in Spanish or any other language upon request. Please contact Rob Hites, Town Manage at 828-452-2491 or at 16 South Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 for accommodations for this request.
Esta información está disponible en español o en cualquier otro idioma bajo petición. Por favor, póngase en contacto con Rob Hites, Town Manager al 828-452-2491 o en 16 South Main Street, Waynesville, NC 28786 de alojamiento para esta solicitud.
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many legislators were invited to hang their own particular ornament — i.e. funding requests for pet projects — upon it, in hopes that it would convince them to vote for it.
Rotten to its core, the bill’s major “accomplishment” was to strip powers from Democrats who’d beaten Republicans in the November General Election by winning the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and superintendent of public instruction and breaking the Republicandominated General Assembly’s veto-proof supermajority.
On June 18 of last year, during a closed session, Commissioner David Loftis became angry at another commissioner while talking about a new animal control officer position.
In the minute leading up to the verbal altercation, voices can be heard discussing problems with snakes on properties, presumably discussing how an animal control officer may handle that situation. In the background a couple of voices grow louder and suddenly a woman is heard saying in a calm tone, “we need law enforcement now.”
When asked by The Smoky Mountain News whether he was concerned about any kind of sanction from his fellow board members, Loftis stated his opinion bluntly.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t care what they do,” he said. “A bunch of crooks in my opinion.”
During the next meeting, Commissioner Roger Parsons said both the altercation and Loftis’ words to SMN were “embarrassing.”
N Main St Waynesville NC 28786
It reminds us of Charlie Brown’s pathetic Christmas tree; legislators gussied it up with glass orbs, twinkly lights and popcorn-string garland and then tried to convince us — and themselves — that it was beautiful.
Although the trio of bills did allocate roughly $1 billion for storm relief from the state’s estimated $9.1 billion revenue surplus, estimated damages remain north of $50 billion.
Legislators, however, offered a seemingly good explanation for the shortfall — they expected Congress to come through with a $100 billion funding package to bolster the nation’s storm response and make whole those who’d lost property in the storm and its associated flooding. Gov. Roy Cooper traveled to Washington, D.C., with a local delegation asking for $25 billion strictly for North Carolina.
But the funding bill advanced by Congress was another Christmas tree; tied to a government shutdown, the bill included all sorts of unrelated provisions meant to induce bipartisan support, just as the clock was running out. President-elect Donald Trump wanted changes to the debt ceiling, which is basically how much money the federal government, $37 trillion in debt already, could borrow. Billionaire Elon Musk voiced his disapproval of the bill, followed shortly thereafter by Trump. The bill was withdrawn, and a second bill was advanced but failed. Finally, hours before the shutdown deadline, a bill did pass; however, it contained no direct grant support to affected small businesses. North Carolina walked away with a paltry $9 billion, which will leave unmet needs in the $40 billion range.
In short, the whole three-month debacle resulted in the people of North Carolina not receiving the holiday gift they’d been promised. Instead, all we got was two ugly Christmas trees and, to reference another classic holiday movie, a set of pink bunny pajamas.
READY TO THROW DOWN AWARD
It’s nice to have an elected board of representatives who care about their county and are willing to fight for what they think is right.
Well, maybe fight isn’t the right word — that is, unless you’re on Swain County’s board of commissioners.
Within seconds, a man’s voice can be heard saying, “I will beat your butt.”
Say what you want about Loftis, but even in the heat of the moment, as he was ready to throw down, he still avoided using profanity.
“I think that people should taste their words before they spit them out. I don’t think I’m a crook. In fact, I’m positive I’m not, and I’ve never told a lie to a commissioner at this table, and I’ve never said anything that wasn’t true to my knowledge to any commissioner at this table,” Parsons said. “I just want us to have a little sense of decorum and good behavior and manners and work together to get the business of this county done in a civil manner that brings pride to our citizens. It’s heartbreaking for me to see what some of our meetings have turned into.”
“Don’t you ever stick your nose into something I’m doing,” the voice continues.
A few seconds later, the audio cuts off for about a half hour before the board — minus Loftis — returned to announce no decisions were made during the closed session.
The whole ordeal led the board to adopt a code of conduct on a 3-2 vote, with Loftis and Kenneth Parton going against the proposed code, which is itself a blemish on the reputation of the county.
HOMETOWN PRIDE AWARD
Evy Leibfarth was welcomed home in style this summer after her medal-winning performance at the Olympics.
In her second Olympic appearance at Paris 2024, the Swain County native took home a bronze medal in the women’s canoe slalom event. She finished with a time of 109.95 seconds behind Australia’s Jessica Fox who won gold with a time of 101.06 and Germany’s Elena Lilik who took silver with a time of 103.54.
In addition to the bronze medal she earned in Paris, Leibfarth was the first U.S. Olympian to compete in all three events — canoe slalom, kayak slalom and kayak cross. She was also the first U.S. female athlete to win a slalom medal in 20 years. Those achievements come on the heels of years of hard work and dedication.
Leibfarth was raised on the waters of the Nantahala River, where her parents worked as raft guides, and she has long been inspired by the Olympians before her who also came through the Nantahala Outdoor Center.
Leibfarth is the 23rd NOC Olympian and the first female to join the ranks.
IF IT AIN’T BROKE AWARD
Following this year’s budget season, Macon County maintains its position with the lowest property tax of any county in the state of North Carolina at $0.27 cents per $100 of assessed property value. You know what they say … “If it ain’t broke …”
TRAILBLAZER AWARD
By the end of the 1900s, groups of marginalized Americans like women, Blacks, Hispanics and others had made great strides in their respective liberation movements after centuries of subjugation, leaving some to wonder if we’d ever again witness the bravery and sacrifice required
when the oppressed refuse to be treated as second-class citizens any longer.
But since the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, paving the way for gay marriage, the LGBTQ+ community has also made great progress. Today, there are more out athletes, artists, entertainers and elected officials — federal, state and local — than ever before.
That progress, however, is far from universal, moving faster in some places and slower in others. If a Pride parade is any determinant in how ubiquitous LGBTQ+ equality has truly become, Western North Carolina, especially Haywood
County, was definitely on the slow end of the scale.
Was — until June 28, 2024, that is, when an intrepid band of locals overcame decades of stigma, ugly social media barbs and brief opposition to host the first local Pride festival, in Waynesville’s Frog Level.
More than a thousand people, some traveling from as far as Charlotte or elsewhere, flocked to the festivities, which included live music, food, drinks, art, speeches by local leaders, dance parties and, of course, professional wrestling.
One man, Haywood County native and longtime resident
All means all, y’all. Cory Vaillancourt photo
Evy Leibfarth won bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. File photo
Raymond Valentine, had lived nearly all of his 80 years never expecting to see such a celebration in his own home county. All that time, the revered longtime teacher had to keep his true identity hidden, not that others didn’t have their suspicions. Valentine regularly endured taunts, slurs and disrespect from people in his own community who somehow thought it was their place to voice disapproval on how he lived his life.
“I’m happy with the progress,” Valentine told The Smoky Mountain News in June, “but it was decades too late.”
A simple parade does not equality make, as though the ills of this world would be cured by colorful balloons and clever signs; but today, thanks to everyone who made Haywood’s first Pride on Main possible, our little world seems just a bit brighter and just a bit more accepting — and no matter who you are, we could all use more of that.
www.ThePrintHaus.com
IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T
TRY, TRY, TRY AGAIN
AWARD
Sylva first considered a proposal to address panhandling in November 2022 but ultimately decided against it after a majority of the board and several members of the public spoke out in opposition to the measure.
However, after Mayor Johnny Phillips was elected in November 2023, he brought the topic back before the board in January and directed staff to create a draft ordinance for review. That ordinance passed by split vote in January of this year with Brad Waldrop and then-Commissioner Natalie Newman opposing the measure. A few months later, Newman resigned her position on the town board and told Blue Ridge Public Radio, “we recently had the vote on panhandling where to me it really felt like we were attacking our unhoused population in this town.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. In August, another round of revisions were proposed for the ordinance, at which point previous Sylva Town Board Member Ben Guiney said, “For some reason Mayor Phillips has this vendetta against people on the street asking for money.”
Due to robust public opposition and new voices on the board, the third and latest round of ordinance revisions failed.
ON THE UP AND UP AWARD
Haywood County Schools’ stock just keep rising. This year the school system was ranked sixth out of 115 school districts in the state following the release of testing data. This is compared to its seventh place ranking the year prior and 10th place ranking just a few years ago.
In addition, for the second year in a row, among 14 counties in the western region of North Carolina, Pisgah was the highest performing high school, with Tuscola now ranked number two. Haywood Early College was the highest performing early college and Riverbend Elementary had the highest overall composite score among pre-K through fifth grade title one schools. According to administration, the school system ranked number one in the state in EOC testing.
Sylva Town Council addressed panhandling multiple times this year. Hannah McLeod photo
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AWARD
You might think people don’t care about local government, but sometimes you’re reminded that they absolutely do.
Bryson City’s town government was served a stark reminder of that concept this year when the town proposed significantly raising the water rates.
The ensuing town board meeting was a hoot.
The furor began last August when residents and business owners noticed their water bills had sharply increased — in some cases by over 300%. For some businesses like restaurants, breweries, coffee shops and hotels that use a lot of water and can operate on tight margins, such an increase can create a serious hardship.
the town and the water system’s customers.
“We’re working on our communication,” Sutton said. “No one’s going to tell you’ve we’ve done as good as we could in communication.”
Several business owners and residents turned out at a meeting on Aug. 27 that offered a chance not only to vent frustrations but also to get some answers from elected officials and town staff. The meeting became contentious to the point that Mayor Tom Sutton shut it down after about two and a half hours.
The meeting began with Sutton explaining the situation.
“You’re probably wondering how this got started,” he said. “We’re in the midst of inflation just like everybody else in this country.”
But the crowd wasn’t having it and grew more restless — and more vocal over the course of the meeting. One of the biggest issues with the outrage over the new water rates is the lack of communication between
Sutton noted that the town was developing a new website that will improve communication and that it’s also trying to bolster its social media presence. He also encouraged residents to get on the town’s sunshine list, which enables them to receive emails noticing upcoming meetings, including budget workshops and the like. The speaker who drew perhaps the loudest applause and the most attention once he left the podium was Paul Valone, a conservative author and activist who is especially prominent in the statewide pro-Second Amendment movement. He currently heads up the group Grass Roots North Carolina. Valone told the board that he has plenty of experience lobbying at the local and state level for and against certain ordinances and legislation, which can make him an effective thorn in the side of the town board.
“The easiest way I can see to alleviate this problem would be to create a political action committee to start … raising money and removing members of the town government,” Valone said. “I really don’t want to do that, but if need be, I’m going to start organizing the citizens of this town in a way I do not think you will find pleasant.”
Valone also added that he is no stranger to litigation, should things go that way.
Ultimately, in September, the town — heeding the voice of the masses — adopted a water rate reduction.
Bryson City residents proved that public input can have a tremendous effect on local government. File photo
Here’s to a stronger sense of community in 2025
In listening to the tributes regarding the death of President Jimmy Carter, a phrase from his inauguration speech struck a chord: “…. individual sacrifice for the common good.”
Having spent nearly all my career working in community journalism, I’ve been fortunate enough to have some part in producing hundreds of feature stories and profiles about people who embody that spirit of public service that Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, displayed for more than 40 years after he left the White House in1980.
And, of course, there are also the thousands of untold stories of people who do volunteer and public service work who are never profiled, who never receive recognition for their service and who don’t want it. They just do it. The retired baker and retired surgeon who work together to cook meals at the homeless shelter, the stay-at-home mom who volunteers her time at thrift stores that support those in need, the octogenarian who volunteers for a program that helps at-risk kids improve their reading skills, the entrepreneur who serves on the board of the organization that helps abused children. These are real people doing boots-on-the-ground service for the “common good,” sacrificing to make our communities a better place to live.
It's interesting to note how working for the common good scales. The individuals doing work like I mentioned in the last paragraph aren’t billionaires, but they are helping individuals. Then you have people like Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who is worth $10 billion and has promised to give all her money away to combat climate change and help children and families. She is the pipeline that allows many nonprofits to survive and make use of individuals who volunteer their time.
In so many of the stories we’ve published about people who sacrifice for the common good, there’s a recurring theme:
Community support helps feed the hungry
To the Editor:
The Maggie Valley United Methodist Church wishes to thank the community for their overwhelming support of our Holiday Boutique and Bake Sale that was held on December 7. This fun annual event raised over $10,000. All proceeds will help sustain our two long-standing food ministries: Shepherd’s Table and the Food Pantry. Each Monday, Shepherd’s Table volunteers cook and deliver nutritious hot meals to up to 135 mostly elderly people in our community. The Food Pantry (open Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-noon) provides much needed groceries to the food insecure. With food prices increasing, our food ministries help offset the financial strain on families and individuals in our community. The need is even greater because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
This year our food ministries have been blessed as well with grants from two amazing organizations. Haywood Health Foundation is entering its 11th year serving Haywood
community, being a part of something bigger than themselves and trying to make that community better, stronger, more humane. However, recent studies say that the sense of community and engagement in civic life that has defined America is in decline.
A National Review article last year looked at a study by researchers who had produced what they called the Belonging Barometer, which they say is a “new empirical tool used to quantify levels of belonging in a society.” It was produced by the American Immigration Council and Over Zero, and concluded that the majority of Americans feel a lack of belonging to their “family, friends, workplace and local and national communities.”
Here’s an extended excerpt from the article:
“Their findings, though, were quite disturbing…. a majority of Americans report non-belonging in the workplace (64%), the nation (68%), and their local community (74%).
“The fact that a whopping three out of four Americans feel as though they don’t belong in their local community is perhaps the most disturbing part of this report. This is indicative of a decline in ‘third places’ — community hubs outside of your family and workplace. Church groups, book clubs, improv classes, and even coffee shops are all examples of third places.”
That report’s findings are something I’ve witnessed over my career. Fewer people are finding value in civic groups and community organizations. There’s a lot of disillusionment about the future. Church membership has been declining for decades.
I’ve been involved in the Haywood County Chamber of
LETTERS
County citizens. Their mission is to improve upon the health and well-being of those citizens through grants to many Haywood healthcare organizations as well as other notfor-profit organizations, scholarships to students pursuing education in healthcare, and managing other healthcare related funds. Haywood Health Foundation generously provided a $10,000 grant to help with our food insecurity program. For more information on the important work of the Haywood Health Foundation, visit: haywoodhealthfoundation.org.
Funding provided by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, through its Emergency and Disaster Response Fund Grant, generously boosted our food ministries’ funds by $25,000. Since 1978, this organization partners with donors and nonprofits to respond in times of need. By doing so, they enrich the lives and communities in Western North Carolina. For more information on The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s focus, visit cfwnc.org. We are truly humbled by the outpouring
Commerce for a couple of decades as a board chair, board member and volunteer at many events. I’m often asked what I get out of that volunteering and how it helps my business or my own well-being. The truth is that there isn’t a tangible, measurable benefit to that volunteering. What I do know is that a thriving and vibrant business community is good for my business and good for the community at large, which means it makes this place I call home a better place to live.
And I’ve made some great friends, so my social circle has expanded because of the time I’ve put into this organization. But if that benefit is not measurable, many won’t participate.
My career in the media reflects this phenomenon. Small, local newspapers are suffering from this disengagement in the civic life of communities. If fewer people are participating, or if they feel their participation in local government or local organizations won’t matter, then the news we report on isn’t important to them.
This country does not work if citizens aren’t engaged locally in their communities, which are the foundation of civic life. If we bypass the small organizations and focus our attention on just national news and national leaders and national issues, the foundation crumbles. The reaction to Hurricane Helene left me optimistic about the Western North Carolina sense of community. I don’t want to think it takes a natural disaster to remind us of this, but that’s certainly what I witnessed in the storm’s aftermath.
Which brings me back to President Carter: “…. individual sacrifice for the common good.” In the coming year, perhaps that mantra can guide me and others to do more, to give our time and resources at the local level, put some boots on the ground, be engaged, and make the place we call home a better place to live.
Happy 2025, and godspeed President Carter. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)
of support from our community. Your combined contributions will allow Maggie Valley United Methodist Church to continue to help
the food insecure in Haywood County. Barbara Planchock Maggie Valley
Editor Scott McLeod
Till the wheels fall off
A conversation with Charlie Starr
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR
Amid this modern era of rock music, Blackberry Smoke is the absolute epitome of what it means to plug in your guitar, crank the amplifier and tap into that sacred two-way interaction of sound and scope, energy and enthusiasm residing at the heart of live performance.
Led by front man Charlie Starr, BBS is a well-oiled melodic machine of soaring lyrical aptitude backed by snarling sixstring electric guitars, thunderous bass-n-drums and an ethos of connectivity and compassion through the old adage of “three chords and the truth.”
Speaking to The Smoky Mountain News in preparation for his upcoming solo tour, Starr spoke at-length about not only what it means to be a songwriter and the role of the performer,
but also the significance of BBS crossing over the quarter-century mark.
Smoky Mountain News: With this solo tour, what does that outlet do for you? Not only as a performer, but as a human being — that space of vulnerability, all eyes on you and no band behind you?
Charlie Starr: It’s extremely intimate and I love that about it, because it sort of gives people the opportunity to see the way those songs were born. Just an acoustic guitar or two, with no bombast and no pomp circumstance — just three chords and the truth.
And also, I’m a big mouth, so I talk a lot. I love to tell the stories about the songs. I don’t ever plan anything. It all just happens in the moment. And sometimes the songs being laid bare bring memories back to me in the moment — that’s as much fun to me as actually playing the songs.
SMN: You really get to peel the layers back of where it all begins — you, a guitar and an idea. When you start thinking about where it began for you, were you writing songs first or were you playing guitar first?
CS: I played guitar first. And I didn’t want to be a lead singer. I wanted to be [Aerosmith’s] Joe Perry to someone’s Steven Tyler. [I] started in cover bands down around my hometown [in Alabama]. I was 15 years old [when] I started playing in bars and was a grumpy old man by the time I was 19, playing all these honky-tonks, you know?
And I thought, “Man, I want to play. I want to write songs,” or I want to go co-write songs with a singer and live out that kind of band fantasy. I quickly realized that lead singers were all
Charlie Starr will play Asheville Jan. 9. Andy Sapp photo
This must be the place
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
‘To
let old habits die, wild geese are gonna fly’
Christmas Eve. With the sun fading behind the Blue Ridge Mountains, the sky transitioning into bright pink, purple and orange, I found myself quietly jogging the four-mile path around Lake Junaluska. Nobody around me, the air quickly gets cold during sunset. Dozens of Canada geese roaming the walking trails and shoreline, with many more either swimming or in-flight nearby.
Lots on the mind, as per usual. This goround, the thoughts are heavier and surreal, more so than I tend to allow or stand there and face head on or want to deal with, especially this time of the year. But, everything is also filled with a renewed sense of self, this odd lightness of being in the midst of sadness and transformation.
And as all of this ricochets around my restless mind, so does the melody “Wild Geese” by singer-songwriter Liv Greene: “That’s when the ground gets soft and the light gets long/And all things come back, yeah they come back strong/Forgive yourself for what you did wrong if it got you through the night.” Head home from Lake Junaluska. Onward to Waynesville. Back to the humble abode. The small Charlie Brown Christmas tree in the corner to greet me at the door. Enough beer and snacks in the kitchen to hold me over through the evening and impending day of everything closed and nobody around to get anything from. Same goes for fueling up the truck in advance.
A quiet Christmas Eve. Sporadic cars on nearby Russ Avenue, with most already home
that honest sentiment and proceed at a seemingly faster rate than previously imagined by February.
Shit. It happened again this go-round. Your best intentions unfold in real time, only to reveal you’ve got a lot more work to do on yourself. Way more than you’ve thought was left to ponder and resolve. Much more of an unknown depth than was previously explored. You know what lies down there within. And yet, it still gets avoided and pushed to the side until you “finally get around to it.” Look into the bathroom mirror and take note of what you see.
Well, it’s high time to shift your expectations and perceptions. Remember the holidays are a time to examine one’s life and take an accurate inventory of the “here and now” of your precious existence. Remember you’re worthy of love and, most importantly, are loved. Even if you dread the holidays, it can become a platform for transition, transformation and transcendence into your true self. As an eternal optimist, I remain steadfast in pushing ahead to glory.
With “all of that” in mind, I found myself motoring up to the Cataloochee Divide Trail on Christmas. Early afternoon with temperatures oddly mild for the end of December. The sounds of Bert Jansch, Mac Miller, Courtney Barnett, John Anderson, Tom Pearo and Neil Francis echoing out of the truck speakers.
Parking at the Cataloochee Divide Trail, rays of sunshine sprinkled through the tree branches high above the vehicle. A solo trek up the ridge. Silence. Tranquility. Just a lone human being disappearing into the woods, into his restless mind and endless thoughts of what was, what is and what could be moving forward.
soaking in the essence of family and friends. Take a shower and get dressed. Head for one of the only restaurants open in town: Suwana Asian Cuisine. Order the chicken satay, tom kha soup (also with chicken), a small hot sake and a Sapporo. Sip and bite, ponder life, evaluate and repeat.
My immediate family remains some 1,100 miles door-to-door from Waynesville to my parents’ farmhouse in my hometown of Plattsburgh, New York. I heard they received around six inches of snow in the past day or so, with temperatures dropping below freezing. Sounds about right for this time of year. I remember those frozen nights vividly as a kid. Layers of clothes to keep warm. Roaring fireplace in the living room to keep all of us sane.
I hope they’re enjoying Christmas Eve way up yonder near the Canadian Border. Same goes for long-lost friends and loved ones not seen in years. Our memories together are still cherished and will always hold a place on the sentimental shelves stacked high and mighty in my heart and soul. Time marches on. Seconds ticking away ever faster with each passing calendar year. It’s all so surreal, fleeting and bittersweet, don’tcha think?
Where to from here, eh? The holidays come and go with a fury, where seemingly outof-nowhere you’re left standing on the side of the road of life the morning of Jan. 1, wondering what in the hell just happened over the last month, let alone the last year and everything else before that? Slow down, you say: “This year will be different.” But, you soon forget
Bring forth the honest truths as they emerge with each step of the way higher into the mountains. See everything for what it is, for good or ill, but hopefully mostly good. No signs of wildlife. No slight breeze either coming up from Cataloochee Valley way down below. More silence. More contemplation. The redemption of one’s own journey coming to pass when placed in the desolation of nature.
Reach the desired point in the trail to stand in a small clearing and scan the Great Smoky Mountains to the west. A warm sun soothes your skin. Beads of sweat dripping down your forehead from the trail run to this juncture. Well-earned perspiration to relieve yourself of the heat and pressure pushing through your veins and skin. Acknowledge the mountains with a sacred sense of gratitude.
Jog back down the trail to the truck parked underneath the high branches with the sunshine sprinkling through. Wipe down your forehead and neck with a towel. Take a deep breath and exhale. Do it again. Look upward at the blue sky and remember how incredible life is, even when the going gets tough.
Put the truck into drive, but not before selecting Bert Jansch’s seminal 1965 number, “Running from Home,” the poignant lyrics and fluttering acoustic guitar notes swirling around you, right there and in that moment: “Runnin’ runnin’ from home/Breakin’ ties that you’d grown/Catchin’ dreams from the clouds.”
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
Sunset at Lake Junaluska. Garret K. Woodward photo
crazy as hell and I couldn’t deal with’em. [Laughs]. So, I thought, “Well, screw it. I’ll do it myself.” And I moved up to the Atlanta area and found some like-minded people to play with who are still my best friends to this day. And, little by little, that group got kind of whittled down to just a few people and it wound up being me and [Blackberry Smoke’s] Brit and Richard [Turner]. (To note, Brit Turner passed away on March 3, 2024, after a courageous battle with glioblastoma, a cancer of the brain.)
Then, I called up [guitarist] Paul [Jackson]. He was a cover band buddy from down in my hometown. I said, “You’ve got to get up here and be in this band with me. I’m the singer now and I need you to come sing harmony vocals with me and play guitar.”
SMN: Was writing songs something you learned or was there a template that you had in mind about how you wanted to go about it? Or was it trial-by-fire?
On the stage
CS: Well, it wasn’t necessarily trial-byfire. I watched and learned with these different guys that I was playing with, some fantastic songwriters in Atlanta — Chris Edmonds, Tommy Rivers and Gary Stier. I kind of watched them operate and what they do is they write the kind of song I like, which is pretty straightforward and simple. I didn’t have in mind to write prog [rock], something that was more akin to [The Rolling Stones’ Mick] Jagger/[Keith] Richards and Tom Petty. That’s where my heart was living. Still does. And those guys were really good at it. [So], I’m going to apply myself. Eventually, I worked up the nerve to be like, “Hey, I’m going to be the songwriter then.”
SMN: It’s interesting you bring up Tom Petty, where you look at him and the songs are deceptively simple. They were made for you to move, beautiful songs made for you to dance.
CS: Totally. Yeah, that’s right. Jagger said the same thing about his job as a front man and a songwriter and singer for The Rolling
Interested in theatre?
Stones. He’s like, “It’s my job to make you dance.” And [he’s] been doing that successfully now for 60 years — making people dance.
SMN: Blackberry Smoke will celebrate 25 years together in 2025. And even now, y’all are still evolving and growing. Where does that hunger and thirst come from?
CS: Because it’s an addiction just like anything else that gets under your skin and you can’t get it out. It’s, I mean, going back to the [Rolling] Stones, but they don’t need the money. Why do they keep going on the road? Because they’re addicted to it.
SMN: When you think about everything within those 25 years, what’s been your biggest takeaway of this journey thus far?
CS: Man, it’s just the fact that when you fall in love with doing something as deeply as we have, it’s just nearly impossible to even think about stopping. Even with losing Brit, he knew even. He’s like, “Well, we didn’t do all this work to just stop,” you know? So, it goes as long as it can.
Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (HART) in Waynesville has announced the launch of its “Spring Semester Theatre Classes,” which will run Jan. 27 through April 4. The workshops offered provide a diverse lineup of classes for students of all ages and skill levels. Hosted by the Academy at HART, these engaging courses are designed to inspire creativity, build confidence, and
Want to go?
An acclaimed singer-songwriter and storied front man for rock juggernaut Blackberry Smoke, guitarist Charlie Starr will be hosting an intimate solo performance at 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9, at The Orange Peel in Asheville.
Starr will be joined by fellow Blackberry Smoke guitarist Benji Shanks. Americana act Stevie Tombstone will open the show. This is a fully seated concert.
Tickets are $30 per person, with special VIP “Meet & Greet” packages also available. Doors at 7 p.m. Ages 18 and over.
For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to theorangepeel.net.
equip participants with essential performance skills.
From young children discovering the magic of theatre to adults honing their craft, there’s something for everyone. To note, scholarships and pay-by-month options are also available through HART. HART is a cornerstone of the local arts community, offering exceptional education-
al opportunities, community engagement and high-caliber productions. Through its education program, HART remains committed to fostering artistic growth, making the arts accessible and inspiring individuals of all ages.
For more information and/or to register, visit harttheatre.org or call 828.456.6322.
ALSO:
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host semi-regular comedians on the weekends. For tickets, go to caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (Waynesville) will host semiregular stage productions on the weekends. harttheatre.org / 828.456.6322.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center (Highlands) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. mountaintheatre.com / 828.526.9047.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. smokymountainarts.com / 866.273.4615.
• Peacock Performing Arts Center (Hayesville) will host semi-regular stage productions on the weekends. thepeacocknc.org / 828.389.ARTS.
On the beat
Ricky Skaggs returns to Franklin
Country and bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
A 15-time Grammy winner, Skaggs’ career is easily among the most significant in recent country music history, with legendary guitarist Chet Atkins once crediting Skaggs with “single-handedly saving country music.”
Skaggs’ path in life has taken him to various musical genres, from where it all began in bluegrass music, to striking out on new musical journeys, while still leaving his musical roots intact.
In the past decade, Skaggs has been honored with inductions into the Gospel Music Association’s Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. In 2018, a landmark year, Skaggs was also awarded membership into the National Fiddler Hall of Fame, the IBMA Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and country music’s greatest honor, the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Most recently, Skaggs was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts in 2020 for his contributions to the American music industry.
Tickets for the performance start at $22 per person with seating upgrades available. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, visit smokymountainarts.com or call 828.524.1598.
• American Legion Post 47 (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” 3 p.m. every Tuesday. Free and open to the public. 828.456.8691.
• Angry Elk Brewing (Whittier) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows are free and open to the public. 828.497.1015 / facebook.com/angryelkbrewingco.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8-10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 / balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Balsam Mountain Inn (Balsam) will host an “Open Jam” 6 p.m. every Tuesday and semiregular live music on the weekends. 828.283.0145 / thebalsammountaininn.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host semi-
regular live music on the weekends. All shows are located in The Gem downstairs taproom and begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.0350 / boojumbrewing.com.
• Breadheads Tiki Shak (Sylva) will host “Tiki Trivia” at 7 p.m. every first Thursday of the month and semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.307.2160 / breadheadstikishak.com.
• Bryson City Brewing (Bryson City) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0085 / brysoncitybrewing.com.
• Cataloochee Ranch (Maggie Valley) will host Brian Ashley Jones & Melanie Jean (Americana/ country) 5 p.m. Jan. 18. For tickets and reservations, go to cataloocheeranch.com/ranchevents/live-music.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host Jon Shain & Piedmont Blues 2 p.m. Jan. 26 ($15 for adults, $7.50 for ages 6-16). 828.369.4080 / coweeschool.org/music.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host “Team Trivia” Mondays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 / curraheebrew.com.
• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Fireside at The Farm” sessions on select weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. 866.526.8008 / oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host “Jazz On The Level” 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.454.5664 / froglevelbrewing.com.
• Frog Quarters (Franklin) will host live music from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Free and open to the public. Located at 573 East Main St. 828.369.8488 / littletennessee.org.
• Happ’s Place (Glenville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public.
828.742.5700 / happsplace.com.
• Highlander Mountain House (Highlands) will host “Blues & Brews” 6-9 p.m. every Thursday ($5 cover), “Bluegrass Brunch” 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Sunday (free) and the “Salon Series” on select dates. 828.526.2590 / highlandermountainhouse.com.
• Highlands Performing Arts Center will host “Warm Up With Cabin Fever” featuring Zack Couron & Matt Walden w/Josh Grove (acoustic/folk) 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11. Admission is $15 per person. 828.526.9047 / highlandsperformingarts.com.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Monday Night Trivia” every week, “Open Mic w/Phil” on Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows and events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.586.9678/ innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” on Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to
Ricky Skaggs will play Franklin Jan. 17. File photo
the public. 828.226.0262 / innovation-brewing.com.
• Junction Pub (Sylva) will host “Open Jam” on Sundays, “Marg Monday Karaoke” on Mondays, “Trivia” on Tuesdays, “Open Mic” on Thursdays, Tyler Kemmerling (singer-songwriter) Jan. 3, Rich Manz Trio (acoustic/oldies) Jan. 4, Fuzzy Peppers (rock/jam) Jan. 10 and The New Variants Jan. 11. All events are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.370.2090 / facebook.com/jctpub.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host “Music Bingo” 6:30 p.m. Mondays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. 828.349.2337 / lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Legends Sports Bar & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host an “Open Mic Night” 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday, Karaoke Thursdays (6 p.m.) and Saturdays (7 p.m.), with live music each Friday (8 p.m.). Free and open to the public. 828.944.0403 / facebook.com/legendssportsgrillmaggievalley.
• Listening Room (Franklin) will host Chris Rosser (singer-songwriter) 2:30 p.m. Jan. 5. Suggested donation $20. Located at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host “Open Mic Night” w/Frank Lee every Wednesday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 / mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Old Edwards Inn (Highlands) will host live music in the Hummingbird Lounge at 5:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. Free and open to the public. 866.526.8008 / oldedwardshospitality.com.
• Otto Community Center (Otto) will host James Thompson (Americana) 4 p.m. Jan. 3. Bring a beverage and snack of your choice. Free and open to the public. 770.335.0967 / go2ottonc.com.
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 / facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host Karaoke 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Trivia Night 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796 / facebook.com/rathskellercoffeebarandpub.
• Salty Dog’s Seafood & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host “Karaoke w/Russell” every Monday and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.926.9105 / facebook.com/saltydogs2005.
• Scotsman (Waynesville) will host Shane Meade (singer-songwriter) Jan. 2, Spiro Nicolopoulos Blues Apocalypse (rock/blues) Jan. 3, Celtic Road Jam (Celtic/acoustic) 4 p.m. Jan. 4, Alma Russ (singer-songwriter) Jan. 9 and The Borrowed Band (Americana) Jan. 11. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 / scotsmanpublic.com.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (bluegrass/Americana) 7 p.m. Jan. 17 (tickets start at $17 per person with upgrades available). 866.273.4615 / smokymountainarts.com.
• Stubborn Bull (Highlands) will host semi-regular “Live Music Mondays” with local/regional singer-songwriters. All shows begin at 5:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.200.0813 / the-stubborn-bull.com.
• Trailborn (Highlands) will host its “Carolina Concert Series” on select dates. All shows begin at 5 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.482.1581 or trailborn.com/highlands.
• Twisted Spoke Food & Tap (Maggie Valley) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.926.1730 / facebook.com/twistedspokerestaurant.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows are $5 at the door unless otherwise noted and begin at 8 p.m. 828.538.2488 / unpluggedpub.com.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 / valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 / valley-tavern.com.
• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 9:30 p.m. 828.456.4750 / facebook.com/waternhole.bar.
• Whiteside Brewing (Cashiers) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.743.6000 / whitesidebrewing.com.
• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. Family friendly, dog friendly. 828.200.2169 / eatrealfoodinc.com.
• Find more at smokymountainnews.com/arts
On the wall
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host “ArtWorks” at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Come create your own masterpiece. The materials for art works are supplied and participants are welcome to bring ideas and supplies to share with each other. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 / vroberson@fontanalib.org.
• Marianna Black Library (Bryson City) will host an adult arts and crafts program at 1 p.m. every second Thursday of the month. Ages 16 and up. Space is limited to 10 participants. Free and open to the public. 828.488.3030 / vroberson@fontanalib.org.
• CRE828 (Waynesville) will offer a selection of art classes and workshops at its studio located at 1283 Asheville Road. Workshops will include art journaling, watercoloring, mixed media, acrylic painting and more. For a full list of classes, go to cre828.com. dawn@cre828.com / 828.283.0523.
• Gallery Zella (Bryson City) will be hosting an array of artist receptions, exhibits and showcases. galleryzella.com / 517.881.0959.
• Waynesville Photography Club meets at 7 p.m. every third Monday each month on the second floor of the Haywood Regional Health & Fitness Center in Clyde. The club is a nonprofit organization that exists for the enjoyment of photography and the improvement of one’s skills. They welcome photographers of all skill levels to share ideas and images at the monthly meetings. waynesvillephotoclub@charter.net.
• Haywood County Arts Council (Waynesville) will offer a wide range of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. haywoodarts.org.
• Jackson County Green Energy Park (Dillsboro) will be offering a slew of classes, events and activities for artisans, locals and visitors. jcgep.org.
• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. southwesterncc.edu/scclocations/swain-center.
• Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center (Franklin) will host semi-regular arts and crafts workshops. coweeschool.org/events.
Haywood Arts to offer Helene support grants
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) in Waynesville has announced the launch of the HCAC Helene Support Grant.
Designed to provide financial assistance to HCAC artist members who have been significantly impacted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, the application process is currently underway. Funding will range from $300 to $1,500.
o Susan H
RE S IDENTIAL BR O KER A SS (828)400-1078
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susanhooper@allentate com
e . susan . hooper@allentate
As a resident of Haywood County for over 35 years, I have developed a deep understanding of the local real estate market. Being an active participant in the community and staying informed with the latest trends and developments in the area, I have established myself as a local expert.
As a real estate professional with an unwaveringcommitmenttocustomer
Susan Hoop proffeessional ever known. of (North Ca seller, but as a T both Teexas a time and skil properties w customer ser unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, I am the right choice for you when it comes to buying, selling, or investing in property in Western North Carolina.
I’m dedicated to leveraging my knowledge of the region’s unique characteristics to help you achieve your real estate goals. Don’t hesitate to contact me today to learn more about how I can guide you through the real estate process and make your dream a reality.
The Helene Support Grant is intended for individual artists, providing critical relief as they recover from the storm’s impact on their lives and livelihoods. Eligible artists must be active members of the HCAC as of September 2024 and must be working in one of the following artistic fields: craft, literary, media, performing, visual or interdisciplinary arts.
Eligibility Criteria:
• Applicants must be an HCAC artist member as of September 2024 and be 18 years of age.
• Available to artists and creatives who have experienced loss due to Hurricane Helene, including loss of a studio, home, supplies or income.
er is one of the most real estate agents Ihave Ispeak not only as an out rolina) state property affoormer agent myself in nd Florida. I know the ls it takes to buy and sell hile providing the best vice possible throughout
pg the process. Susan excelled in every wayy. She and Iworked together (1,000 t) f miles apar foor more than seven ecomm months wher u unication was a keyy. . That communication resulted in ersinaf y off two propert ffe foour-month listing, the second one ending in a successful sale. I couldn't be more pleased working through the process with Susan. I highly recommend her to annyyone who wants to work with the very best.
— Suzanne
L. Cruver
On the street
• Applicants must have been affected by Hurricane Helene.
• This grant is intended for individual artists; nonprofits are not eligible for this opportunity.
The HCAC is committed to supporting local artists who contribute so much to the cultural fabric of our mountain community. With these funds, artists can begin to recover and rebuild after the storm’s devastation.
For more details about the Helene Support Grant and to submit an application, please visit haywoodarts.org/grants-funding or contact the HCAC at director@haywoodarts.org.
• “Christmas Light Show Drive-Thru” is running every day through Jan. 6 at the Great Smoky Mountains Event Park in Bryson City, except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. greatsmokies.com/events.
• “Ice Skating at The Yard” will be 4-8 p.m.
On the table
• Scotsman (Waynesville) will host an “Oysters & Beer Pairing” from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4. Half-dozen oysters, three varieties, three beer pairings. Tickets are $25 per person. For more information, call 828.246.6292 or go to scotsmanpublic.com.
• Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will have its wine bar open 4-8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. 828.452.6000 / classicwineseller.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host semi-regular tap-takeovers from local and regional breweries on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9320 / blueridgebeerhub.com.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s
Fridays and 1-8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at The Yard on Depot Street in Bryson City. For more information, visit on facebook.com/theyardbc.
• “Enchanted Island Of Lights” will be shown 5-10 p.m. each day through Jan. 3 at the Oconaluftee Island Park in Cherokee. visitcherokeenc.com/events.
Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. waynesvillewine.com.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. 828.538.0420.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. There will also be a special “Beer Train” on select dates. 800.872.4681 / gsmr.com.
Cold Mountain Art Collective in Canton was decimated by Hurricane Helene. File photo
Lessons from a reimagined winter fairy tale
When you’re a child, this time of year is full of magic and wonder. As you get older, the holidays can become more nostalgic than enchanting, with more sentiment than thrill. Finding that old spark isn’t impossible, but it’ll take more effort to revive it and perseverance to maintain it. “The Snow Child” (Back Bay Books, First Edition, 2012, 389 pages) by Eowyn Ivey is a story of two adults who do just that.
Set in Alaska, 1920, this novel is about Jack and Mabel, a middle-aged couple who are the most recent arrivals to the harsh, vast northern land on the edges of civilization. More distant than heat in their winter, Jack and Mabel have drifted from each other; much of it due to a lost child and subsequent barrenness. After the death of their only newborn, Mabel wanted to flee the tight-knit community they called home back east and start fresh on the frontier. So they did. The work is hard, neighbors are far and few in between and silence lays heavy on the land. Jack and Mabel keep to themselves, separated and insulated by their own sorrows which they harbor in the privacy of their own hearts.
Just as life can dole out suffering that is sudden and unforeseen, so can it bring unexpected joy and blessings. Soon, Jack becomes friends with a not-too-faraway neighbor, George Benson, whose jovial demeanor is a perfect match for his indomitable, lovable wife, Esther. Parents to a jumble of boys, time spent with the Bensons is always a boisterous, messy occasion. Mabel’s depression is a formidable foe
to their loud, full presence but it is eventually defeated and she finds a best friend in Esther and an aunt-like relationship with their youngest son, Garrett.
One night, the first snow of the season falls down as they ride home from dinner at the Bensons. When they reach their house, Mabel impulsively starts a snow fight with Jack and it ends with them both making a small child out of snow. With a face carved beautifully by Jack and dressed by Mabel in mittens and a hat, the snow child stands outside, a symbol of some old spark in their hearts revived. They go to bed and the next
This little girl, named Faina, traipses into their life, as mysteriously and magically as a fairy would. In fact, Mabel begins to wonder if she in fact did step out of a fairytale. As their relationship with Faina deepens, Mabel recalls an old Russian fairytale: “The Snow Child.” In it, an old, childless couple builds a child out of snow and the next morning it has come to life. The fairytale has several endings, depending on which variation it is. In this way, Mabel fears a fated end to Faina or unavoidable hurt. What she learns though is that we have more control over our endings than we think.
day the snow child is gone. Soon, they begin spotting a tiny blonde girl, who peers from behind the trees along the woodline of the forest and scampers away at any sign of recognition. She wears the same mittens and hat the snow child wore.
Suffering cannot be avoided in life, but one of the ways we can keep it from suffocating us is enjoying the good that we do have.
Despite Mabel’s sadness and fear that Faina will be taken away from her or leave one day, she enjoys every minute she is with her. This change in perspective, to fully embrace the present blessing, strengthens Mabel and reanimates a hopeful twinkle inside her that had almost disappeared.
Aside from the engaging journey of Mabel and Jack rediscovering happiness and love, this novel is wonderfully descriptive of its setting. It was no surprise when I read that the author grew up in Alaska herself. Only a native would be able to illustrate the wildlife and botany with such precision and care. Ivey has a lovely way of bringing the characters and the land to life.
While this book is not really about Christmas, I think it’s a great book to read around this time of year. It is wintery, snowy, charming and feels like an adult fairytale. But most of all, it is a good reminder that no matter how old you are, no matter what crosses you have borne throughout life, you always have the ability to regain some of that youthful spirit you once carried. (Anna Barren is a teacher and book lover. annab4376@gmail.com.)
Writer Anna Barren
Word from the Smokies
BY HOLLY KAYS | S PECIAL TO SMN
Ramsey Cascades Trail reopens following multiyear rehabilitation
For the first time in nearly three years, the trail to Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s tallest waterfall is fully open — and following an intensive rehabilitation of its entire four-mile length, Ramsey Cascades Trail is in better shape than it’s been in decades.
“It’s a great feeling, just seeing how hard everybody worked and how they overcame all of the challenges that came up that we weren’t planning for,” said Josh Shapiro, Trails Forever crew supervisor for the park. “Now that the trail’s safer and more navigable, I think more people will go up and be able to enjoy the waterfall.”
Ramsey Cascades tumbles down 105 feet of rock, creating a fitting reward for hikers hardy enough to complete the four-mile hike, which climbs more than 2,000 feet in elevation from the trailhead in the park’s Greenbrier Area. This picturesque promise makes Ramsey Cascades Trail one of the
park’s most popular hikes. But all that traffic — coupled with heavy precipitation, erosion from nearby Ramsey Prong, and steep topography — had taken its toll on the trail.
“This trail had more deficiencies than most of the other trails we have worked on,” Shapiro said.
The Trails Forever crew that Shapiro oversees was created in 2008 through an endowment fund from Friends of the Smokies, the park’s philanthropic partner. The program supports a permanent trail crew capable of carrying out the skilled labor required to bring the park’s most degraded trails back to life.
Nearly 900 miles of trails crisscross the Smokies, most of them built during the Civilian Conservation Corps era in the 1930s and ’40s. The park has two full-time trail crews — one based in North Carolina and the other in Tennessee — that work to keep them clear of brush and blowdowns. But with
going to be able to address the level of erosion challenges that the Ramsey Cascades Trail had,” said Dana Soehn, president and CEO of Friends of the Smokies.
The four-mile trail divides into two sections: the lower mile and a half, originally built as a road, and the upper two and a half miles, which travel through a steep mountain gorge. Both presented unique challenges. The lower section is three times as wide as a typical hiking trail and hardened with gravel. The crew had to recontour the path and dig new drains into the hardened surface, all without using heavy equipment. The upper section was rocky and heavily eroded, with the narrow gorge leaving little room for the trail crew to work. Rebuilding this section took “a lot of creativity,” Soehn said — and a lot of stairs.
Stairs are “the most sustainable solution” in a rugged, rainy area like upper Ramsey Cascades Trail, she said. But they are also an extremely labor-intensive solution. Trail crews build them using locust wood, a material that is naturally resistant to decay. But these logs are heavy—an eight-foot piece weighs about 100 pounds—and the area’s remoteness combined with the park’s guidelines for managing it as a proposed Wilderness Area mean that mechanized equipment can be used only in rare circumstances, and then only after acquiring special permission.
crews weren’t able to address the complex issues afflicting the park’s most popular trails. Trails Forever is filling that gap, with rehabilitations complete on Forney Ridge, Chimney Tops, Alum Cave, Rainbow Falls, Trillium Gap and Abrams Falls trails—and now, on Ramsey Cascades. Friends of the Smokies has given nearly $4 million toward Trails Forever projects in the last 16 years, about a quarter of that for the Ramsey Cascades project.
“It had been on the list for a long time as needing full-scale rehabilitation, because a simple replacement of a water bar was not
The park’s mule team usually moves heavy trail-building materials like locust logs, but a river crossing midway through the trail prevented the animals from accessing the upper section. In preparation for the project, the park obtained permission to have helicopters drop off more than 700 locust logs at five different locations on the upper two miles.
“Without the airlift, there’s no way we could have gotten the locust in there to rebuild some of the structures that were falling apart,” Shapiro said. But even with help from the helicopters, the crews sometimes had to carry these logs as far as a quarter mile away from the drop-off site.
On a typical day, 14 to 20 people were working on Ramsey Cascades
At 105 feet, Ramsey Cascades is the tallest waterfall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Andrea Walton photo
Trail. In addition to the eight-person Trails Forever crew, American Conservation Experience and Southeast Conservation Corps crews were also on site, with the park’s two regular trail maintenance crews pitching in and volunteers helping out on Wednesdays.
Ramsey Cascades was originally scheduled as a two-year project starting in 2022. But major flooding two months in set that timeline back, severely damaging sections of the trail and leaving the area inaccessible by car. Within just a few hours on July 12, 2022,
2025. During this time, crews will widen and repave the trail, last paved in 1963; add 50 new parking spaces and a pathway to the trailhead protected from the main road by a guardrail; build a new viewing platform at the falls; and install new signs and educational panels. These changes aim to make the trail safer and more accessible to hikers while also better protecting the natural environment through which it travels.
“A lot of hikers are looking for a destination as part of their hiking experience, so having these trails open and accessible could give somebody their first opportunity to really experience the Smokies and all that hike has to offer,” Soehn said. “It’s very important for us to be able to sustain those trail experiences for users of today and tomorrow.”
USDA implements new wood processing program
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack unveiled a new program to support American wood processing facilities.
The National Park Service Trails Forever Crew, funded by Friends of the Smokies, completed the three-year rehabilitation of Ramsey Cascades Trail with support from American Conservation Experience, Southeast Conservation Corps, and volunteers. National Park Service
the Greenbrier area of the park received an estimated 8.72 inches of rain, after soils were already saturated from 5 inches of rain that had fallen the previous week.
The area remained closed through April 2023, and the Trails Forever crew spent the remainder of the 2022 season assisting the Tennessee Trail Crew with its regular maintenance work, mostly in the Cosby Trails District. When they returned in 2023, their task list had expanded to include rerouting 900 feet of trail where the flood had washed it out and replacing two displaced footlogs that had previously been deemed solid enough to stay.
“It created a lot more work than we were planning for,” Shapiro said.
But the crews got it done, using 1,200 locust logs and 760,000 pounds of rock crush as they dug 151 drains, regraded 2.5 miles of trail, removed trip hazards, pruned overgrown vegetation, and built two bridges, decking and handrails on another bridge, and 600 steps. On Monday, Nov. 18, Friends of the Smokies and the National Park Service held a ribbon cutting to celebrate reopening the newly rehabilitated trail.
This milestone arrived just two months before work is set to begin on another iconic waterfall hike — Laurel Falls Trail. This 1.3mile trail, which receives 300,000 visits each year, will close for 18 months starting Jan. 6,
The Trails Forever crew will continue working toward that mission next year as it turns its attention to Bullhead Trail, the fourth of the five routes to Mount Le Conte to receive the Trails Forever treatment. Work will begin in May and is expected wrap up in November 2026. Parts of the seven-mile trail were severely damaged during the Chimney Tops 2 Fire in 2016, with significant erosion issues on the upper section. The crew will restore the entire length, making the trail safer and more sustainable for future hikers.
As Trails Forever enters its 17th year, Soehn is looking toward a horizon where all the trails in need of a top-to-bottom rehabilitation have received it, and rather than spending years working on one four-mile stretch, the Trails Forever crew can help keep trails throughout the park in tip-top shape.
“Over the years, we believe we’ll get to a spot where we will have addressed the need for full-scale trail rehabilitations,” Soehn said. “Then, the Trails Forever crew can address challenging maintenance needs on any trail section across the park. Because we want all trails — the full trail portfolio — to remain open and accessible to our visitors.”
(Holly Kays is the lead writer for the 29,000member Smokies Life, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the scientific, historical, and interpretive activities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services such as this column. Learn more at SmokiesLife.org or reach the author at hollyk@smokieslife.org.)
USDA Rural Development is partnering with USDA Forest Service to provide funding through the new Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP). The program will support the processing and utilization of wood products from National Forest System lands to improve forest health and reduce the risk posed by wildfires, insects and disease and the detrimental impacts they have on communities and critical infrastructure.
Through TPEP, USDA Rural Development and the Forest Service will make $220 million available in loan guarantees for borrowers to establish, reopen, retrofit, expand, or improve wood processing facilities, sawmills and paper mills, that use trees harvested from federal or Tribal lands. The program is designed to manage up to 20 million acres of national forests managed by USDA Forest Service and complement the Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire
Crisis Strategy.
USDA Rural Development will begin accepting TPEP applications on December 26, 2024, with a maximum loan amount of $25 million. USDA encourages applicants to use the TPEP Dashboard to find areas the Forest Service has identified as high or very high priority areas to address the risk of wildfires and insect infestations or disease, which have caused or have the potential to cause significant damage.
Applicants may learn more through the upcoming TPEP webinar, scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
USDA encourages applicants to consider projects that will advance the following key priorities:
• Reducing climate pollution and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities;
• Ensuring all rural residents have equitable access to USDA Rural Development programs and benefits from Rural Developmentfunded projects; and
• Assisting rural communities recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure.
Applications must be submitted electronically using Grants.gov.
Drought eases across North Carolina
The North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council continues to classify much of Eastern North Carolina as being in a moderate drought, but the entire western part of the state has been scaled back to abnormally dry, the lowest classification.
The shift away from drought status follows rains that swept across the region throughout the second half of December.
The Joyful Botanist
BY ADAM B IGELOW
A cedar by any other name
When is a cedar not really a cedar?
Well, in the case of the evergreen tree that most people know as eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana), that answer is always. This cedar is not truly a cedar. Its common, or folk name is redcedar, which I’ve also seen written as red cedar. And often people will shorten that to cedar and would assume that it is truly a cedar.
True cedars are in the genus Cedrus, and
truly a cedar.
It is one of two species of juniper that grow naturally in the mountains, and is the more common of the two, even as the other species is called common juniper (Juniperus communis). Common juniper is what is known as a circum-boreal plant and can be found growing across the northern part of North America from Maine, across Canada and all over the western United States and has many different varieties occurring in this range.
The juniper that you will mostly see, eastern red-cedar (see, isn’t that confusing?) is usually a small to medium sized tree that lives in old fields and along the edges of forests and woodlots. They can get as tall as 50 feet and take on a wide spreading growth habit when they are really old and large. Most red-cedars take on a compact, conical shape like a Christmas tree.
as far as I could discern, there aren’t any members of that genus that are native to the continental United States. The eastern redcedar is certainly native and can be found growing in every state east of the Rockies. It is in the genus Juniperus, which makes the eastern red-cedar really a juniper. Maybe we could call it eastern juniper to help avoid confusion, and you could. It’s a common name, and there are no rules surrounding their use. But nobody would really understand what plant you’re talking about. And isn’t that the point of names in the first place, to know what and who we are talking about?
When I write eastern red-cedar and use the dash instead of making it all one word, I am trying to denote that it is not really a cedar. This is done with many common names that were misnomers. Mountain-ash (Sorbus americana) isn’t really an ash (Fraxinus spp.), and trout-lily (Erythronium spp.) is not in the Lilium genus, so it’s not truly a lily. And the eastern red-cedar isn’t
The leaves of eastern red-cedar are needle-like when young and develop overlapping scales with a distinctive cross-hatching pattern when mature. They also tend to splay out in multiple branching. The bark of mature red-cedar is a distinctive reddish brown that flakes off and looks shredded. This plant disperses its seeds in small cones that resemble berries. They are green when immature and ripen to a bluish-black.
If you see a tree laden with these fruits, you are looking at a female tree as the eastern redcedar is a dioecious plant, meaning there a separate plants for pollen production (male) and for seed development (female), so if you are planting them in a landscape, you’ll want to make sure you have both sexes represented.
When you do find a fruiting female tree, if you squeeze open one of the berries and smell it, you will get the pleasant and bright aroma of gin. Juniper berries are one of the main aromatic flavors of gin, and when you look into the etymology of the word juniper, it turns out to be the same roots as the word gin.
So, as we turn the calendar to 2025, I’d like to propose a toast to native plants and the beautifully diverse ecosystem we share here in the Southern Appalachian Bioregion. Here’s to the trees, shrubs, vines, and wildflowers. And here’s to you, dear reader, for sharing in my love of native plants, and in my journey to share that love with you. Cheers!
(The Joyful Botanist leads weekly wildflower walks most Fridays and offers consultations and private group tours
The red-cedar
quite a cedar, it turns out.
Adam Bigelow photo
Wilderness Wildlife Week
More than 90 free educational sessions, five days of outdoor excursions and key note speakers await attendees of Pigeon Forge’s 33rd Wilderness Wildlife Week Jan. 28 through Feb. 1.
One of the largest gatherings of wildlife experts and enthusiasts in the Southeast, the event features activities for participants of all ages and fitness levels. Headquartered at The Ramsey Hotel & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, the event also offers off-site trips throughout Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
This winter celebration of the great outdoors is free and open to the public. Online registration for all hikes, trips and craft
classes begins on Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. Eastern at MyPigeonforge.com/event/wildernesswildlife-week.
For three decades, Wilderness Wildlife Week has introduced thousands of attendees to some of the country’s leading wildlife experts. Attendees have access to a full roster of topics and experts who highlight the nature, terrain, culture, and history of the Great Smoky Mountains. The event has won numerous awards for its variety of presenters, overall attendance, and ability to offer attendees opportunities to interact with fellow enthusiasts over a broad range of topics.
Outdoor excursions of all levels are available throughout the week. Highlights include a four-mile hike to Huskey Branch Falls, traveling past the remains of some of the very first tourist homes along with the famous “Troll Bridge” and learning about the history of the once booming logging industry of the early nineteen hundreds (Feb. 1 at 9 a.m.). Bus trips include a guided tour of the American Eagle Foundation’s new facilities (Jan. 28, 29 and 30 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.). Six Pink Jeep Tour excursions are available on Jan. 28, 29, and 30 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Appalachian Bear Rescue tours take place on Jan. 28 and 29 at 9 a.m.
Nearly 40 exhibits and vendors, including the not-for-profit Cades Cove Preservation Association, Smokies Life (formerly Great Smoky Mountains Association), Great Smoky Mountain Homesite Preservation Program and Keep Sevier Beautiful, are open daily during the event beginning at 10 a.m.
Burning permits required
The N.C. Forest Service has reinstated the requirement for open burning permits in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Cleveland, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties.
The requirement for open burning permits was waived Oct. 12 through the authorization of House Bill 149, the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024.
Burn permits can be obtained from any open authorized permitting agent or online at ncforestservice.gov/burnpermit.
When burning outdoors, recommended best practices include the following:
• Never burn on a dry, windy day.
• Never leave a fire unattended.
• Keep a water source, shovel, rake and a phone nearby.
For additional best practices and wildfire prevention tips, visit ncforestservice.gov/fire_control/fc_firesafetyoutdoors.htm.
Market PLACE WNC
MarketPlace information:
The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!
Rates:
• $15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.
• Free — Lost or found pet ads.
• $6 — Residential yard sale ads.*
• $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE
• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
• Boost Online — Have your ad featured at top of category online $4
• Boost in Print
• Add Photo $6
• Bold ad $2
• Yellow, Green, Pink or Blue Highlight $4
• Border $4
Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.
Note: Yard sale ads require an address. This location will be displayed on a map on www.wncmarketplace.com
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF HAYWOOD IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE SUPERIOR COURT DIVISION BEFORE THE CLERK 24SP000005-430
IN THE MATTER OF THE FORECLOSURE OF A DEED OF TRUST from MAX GERRY ROBINSON, JR. and wife, TERRALENE ROBINSON to GENERAL AMERICAN CORP., Trustee, dated JANUARY 16, 2003, recorded in BOOK 546, PAGE 212; REFORMED MARCH 6, 2023, and recorded APRIL 20, 2023, in BOOK 1084, PAGE 2166, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY
Pursuant to an order entered March 26, 2024, in the Superior Court for Haywood County, and the power of sale contained in the captioned Deed of Trust (the “Deed of Trust”), the Substitute Trustee will offer for sale at auction (the “Sale”), to the highest bidder for cash on:
JANUARY 3, 2025, AT 10:00 A.M. HAYWOOD COUNTY COURTHOUSE 285 NORTH MAIN STREET, WAYNESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA the real estate and the improvements thereon secured by the Deed of Trust, less and except any of such property re-
leased from the lien of the Deed of Trust prior to the date of said sale, lying and being in Haywood County, North Carolina, and being more particularly described as follows (the “Property”):
TRACT ONE: BEGINNING AT AN IRON PIPE SET AT AN OLD FENCE INTERSECTION POST AT SOUTHWEST CORNER OF RHINEHART TRACT (DEED BOOK 261, PAGE 688, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY) AND SOUTHEAST CORNER OF GREEN TRACT (DEED BOOK 172, PAGE 17, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY) AND RUNS FROM THE BEGINNING POINT THUS ESTABLISHED: S 88-11-20 W, PASSING AN IRON PIPE SET AT 170.85 FEET, A WHOLE DISTANCE OF 178.85 FEET TO THE CENTER OF THICKETY ROAD (S.R. 1513); THENCE WITH THE CENTER OF THICKETY ROAD THREE CALLS AS FOLLOWS: S 23-3726 E 109.74 FEET TO A POINT; S 33-22-40 E 86.90 FEET TO A POINT; AND S 52-32-13 E 99.41 FEET TO A POINT; THENCE LEAVING SAID ROAD AND RUNNING N 02-09-53 E, PASSING AN IRON PIPE FOUND AT 26.33 FEET, A TOTAL DISTANCE OF 235.42 FEET TO AN IRON PIPE SET; THENCE N 11-3830 W 4.06 FEET TO THE BEGINNING. CONTAINING 0.605 ACRES, AS PER PLAT AND SURVEY BY L. KEVIN ENSLEY, RLS, DATED 11-8-88, DRAWING NO. A-091-88, AND BEING A PORTION OF THE PROPERTY
DESCRIBED IN DEED
BOOK 208, PAGE 534, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY. ALSO SEE PLAT BOOK A, PAGE 89, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY.
TOGETHER WITH AND SUBJECT TO RIGHT OF WAY FOR STATE ROAD 1513 TO ITS FULL LEGAL WIDTH.
BEING THE SAME PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN DEED DATED SEPTEMBER 29, 1999, FROM MAX GERRY ROBINSON, SR. (A.K.A. MAX GARY ROBINSON) AND WIFE, JEAN ROBINSON, TO MAX GERRY ROBINSON, JR. AND RECORDED IN DEED BOOK 475, PAGE 1012, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY.
TRACT TWO: BEGINNING AT AN IRON PIPE SET, SAID IRON PIPE SET BEING S 11-38-30 E 4.06 FEET FROM THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF RHINEHART TRACT (DEED BOOK 261, PAGE 688, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY) AND SOUTHEAST CORNER OF GREEN TRACT (DEED BOOK 172, PAGE 017, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY) AND RUNS THENCE FROM THE BEGINNING POINT THUS ESTABLISHED: S 27-57-09 E 142.65 FEET TO AN IRON PIPE SET; THENCE S 42-0211 W 111.66 FEET TO AN IRON PIPE SET; THENCE N 02-09-53 E 209.09 FEET TO THE POINT AND PLACE OF BEGINNING, CONTAINING 0.172 ACRES, AS PER PLAT AND SURVEY BY L. KEVIN ENSLEY, RLS, DATED 11-8-88, DRAWING NO. A-091-88,
AND BEING A PORTION OF THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN DEED BOOK 396, PAGE 557, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY. ALSO SEE PLAT BOOK A, PAGE 89, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY. BEING THE SAME PROPERTY DESCRIBED IN A DEED DATED SEPTEMBER 29, 1999, FROM DEAN ROBINSON AND WIFE, MARY JANE ROBINSON, TO MAX GERRY ROBINSON, JR. AND RECORDED IN DEED BOOK 475, PAGE 1015, HAYWOOD COUNTY REGISTRY. The record owner(s) of the Property not more than ten (10) days prior to the date hereof is Terralene Robinson. Parcel ID: 8657-19-7736 In the Trustee’s sole discretion, the sale may be delayed for up to one (1) hour as provided in Section 45-21.23 of the North Carolina General Statutes.
deposit, or a cash deposit of $750.00, whichever is greater, will be required of the last and highest bidder. The balance of the bid purchase price shall be due in full in cash or
to take place within thirty (30) days of the date of sale. The Substitute Trustee shall convey title to the property by non warranty deed. This sale will be made subject to all prior liens of record, if any, and to all unpaid (ad valorem) taxes and special assessments, if any, which became a lien subsequent to the recordation of the Deed of Trust.
This sale will be further subject to the right, if any, of the United States of America to redeem the above-described property for a period of 120 days following the date when has run.
The purchaser of the property described above shall pay the Clerk’s Commissions in the amount of $.45 per $100.00 of the purchase price (up to a maximum amount of $500.00), required by Section 7A-308(a)(1) of the North Carolina General Statutes. If the purchaser of the above-described property is someone under the Deed of Trust, the purchaser shall also pay, to the extent applicable, the land transfer tax in the amount of one percent (1%) of the purchase price.
To the extent this sale involves residential prop(15) rental units, you are following:
(a) An order for possession of the property may be issued pursuant to Section 45-21.29 of the North Carolina General Statutes in favor of the purchaser and against the party or parties in possession by the clerk of superior court of the county in which the property is sold; and
(b) Any person who occupies the property pursuant to a rental agreement entered into or renewed on or after October 1, 2007, may, after receiving the notice of sale, terminate the rental agreement upon 10 days’ written notice to the landlord. Upon termination of a rental agreement, the tenant is liable for rent due under the rental agreement prorated to the effective date of the termination. The 4th day of November 2024.
The Miller-Hogue Law Firm, P.C. 1130 Harding Place, Charlotte, North Carolina 28204
704-307-4330 / jmhogue@m-hogue.com
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24E001655-430
Frank G Queen, having
of the Estate of Urpo E. Karppinen of Haywood County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before Mar 11 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.
Executor
154 N. Main Street, Ste 2 Waynesville NC 28786
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24E000373-430
Joyce Ann Reece, having -
istrator of the Estate of Johnny Ray Ledford of Haywood County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before Mar 25 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery.
All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.
Administrator 95 Depot Street Waynesville, NC 28786
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.24E001553-430
Jessica Burgess, having -
istrator of the Estate of James Michael Caldwell of Haywood County, North Carolina, this is to notify all persons having claims against the Estate to present them to the undersigned on or before Mar 25 2025, or this notice will be pleaded in bar of their recovery. All persons indebted to said Estate, please make immediate payment.
Administrator 415 Orion Davis Rd Waynesville, NC 28786
ANSWERS ON PAGE 26
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