SMN 02 06 19 by Smoky Mountain News

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February 6-12, 2019 Vol. 20 Iss. 37

Major new Haywood schools facility proposed Page 12 Longtime WNC songwriter releases debut album Page 22

CONTENTS On the Cover: For decades, the average farmer has been getting older as the total number of farmland acres has gotten smaller — a trend that holds true in North Carolina as a whole and in Western North Carolina as a region. There are many reasons why farming is a challenging way to make a living, but as long as there are people who need to eat, farmers will be necessary for society. In this story, farmers young and old discuss the challenges of their industry as well as reasons to hold out hope for the future. (Page 32) Brothers Parker (from left), Walker and Tucker stand with one of the seed stock cattle bred at Guy Brothers Farms. Guy Brothers Farms photo

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Longtime WNC songwriter releases debut album ................................................22

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Local homeless remain elusive ........................................................................................4 Domestic violence organization forming in Jackson ................................................6 HCA completes purchase of Mission Health ............................................................7 Haywood budget process begins ..................................................................................8 Bear attack not cause of death in park, autopsy says ..........................................11 Major new Haywood schools facility proposed ......................................................12 Cherokee OKs early gaming payout for housing ....................................................14 Macon leaders attend legislative goals conference ..............................................15 Business News ..................................................................................................................17

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inter Storm Diego draped almost a foot of snow across Sassy Fulp’s roof Dec. 9, but that wasn’t even the worst experience she’s had while living in the tent just down the hill from the trendy furniture stores that line Waynesville’s quaint Main Street. Nor was it the morning she and Hicks woke up to 2 inches of water beneath them. “Sometimes people just make it a little harder,” she said. “People ride by, voicing out opinions and accusations and names — pieces of trash, get a job, pick up the trash, drug addicts, thieves.” The epithets are sometimes true, and sometimes not; Fulp said she’s had a history with drugs and is in recovery, but it was ultimately the pancreatic cancer she couldn’t afford to treat that made her lose her job. Her fiancé told The Smoky Mountain News last December that a few traffic citations and a lack of public transportation made it hard for him to seek out employment as a truck driver. Such are the amalgamated setbacks that lead more and more people to live lives like Sassy and Ronnie — out in the cold. “It’s growing, I think, at an exponential rate,” said Tom Owens, executive director of Open Door Ministries in Waynesville. “It’s starting to overwhelm Haywood County, not only here at the Open Door but at the hospital, behavioral health services, the shelter — we’re all overwhelmed, and we’re trying to

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER uddled together in the dark near an old wood stove beneath an elaborate rigging of tarps and tents on a debrisstrewn mucky dirt lot they’d called home for nearly a year, Susan “Sassy” Fulp and her fiancé Ronnie Hicks watched the heavy wet snow fall and felt the waylaid limbs of weary trees crash to the ground until Sassy finally noticed an unusual silence rising from the town around them. “When the snow came in and the electric went out,” said Fulp, “I know this kind of sounds harsh, but I looked around at Ronnie and I said, ‘You know what, I’m kind of glad this happened. Now everyone sees what it’s like for me and you every night.’” Homelessness seems to be getting worse in Western North Carolina, but it’s a complex issue directly related to a lack of affordable housing and health care, a general susceptibility to drugs and crime, a marked scarcity of mental health and addiction recovery resources, and even lingering antiLGBTQ bias. Portioning out resources to deal with the problem has become problematic in and of itself — it’s hard to find people who exist culturally, economically and geographically on the fringes of society and then count them, but it’s even harder when the inherent limitations of the count itself drastically minimize the scope of the problem and therefore the extent of the funding, year after year. This year, a concerted effort to go face-toface with the unsheltered — on their own turf — may change how the growing problem is acknowledged and addressed.

A pair of chairs sits empty in a small homeless encampment in Haywood County. Cory Vaillancourt photo

“It’s starting to overwhelm Haywood County, not only here at the Open Door but at the hospital, behavioral health services, the shelter — we’re all overwhelmed, and we’re trying to work together to get a handle on this.” — Tom Owens, executive director, Open Door Ministries

work together to get a handle on this.” Seated at a round plastic dining table shortly after 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30, Owens greeted the steady stream of Open Door visitors with first-name fluency — a high-five, or a playful punch in the shoulder on the way to the coffee machine. Most of their faces are familiar to anyone who spends time in Waynesville. Not everyone, though, was there for one of the roughly 30,000 free meals the Open Door serves each year in this county of 60,000 people; as much of the nation grappled with a deadly polar vortex that brought arctic temperatures to the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest, a small group of volunteers was getting ready to head out into the relatively balmy 18-degree Haywood County air. “In rural areas, these are the folks we don’t see quite as often as they are seen in urban areas because they typically are hidden out in the woods, they’re living in tents,” said Chelsea White, of regional advocacy group Down Home North Carolina. “Some of them are living in their cars.” White headed up the Haywood County portion of a national effort directed by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development called a “point-in-time” count. On the state level, the weeklong effort was coordinated through the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, which further divides the state into several regions, including the eight westernmost counties in North Carolina. In each of those counties, organizers cre-

ated lists of known gathering places for the homeless. Armed with a response-based mobile phone app that gathers demographic information like sex, race and reasons for homelessness, Owens and his contemporaries would interview walk-ins, but the success of the count would be largely based on finding those who don’t want to be found. y early that afternoon cold sunshine had flooded the brown grassy field, but Jesse-Lee Dunlap still dodged iceskinned puddles in ankle-deep ruts that rambled their way past red thorny bushes and small, colorful piles of trash. “I always fear that we’re going to find somebody dead,” said Dunlap, who works in the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition’s post-overdose follow-up program. “I really hope that’s not the case, especially since it was so dang cold last night. And it’s really cold right now. I would hope that people are able to survive this.” Carrying a tote bag and a backpack full of blankets, scarves, needles and naloxone, Dunlap took part in the count, but it was far from their first foray into the fringe. A few years ago, Dunlap started a small nonprofit called Radical Inclusion that evolved into a micro-shelter in their Waynesville home. Dunlap created a food pantry out front, held community suppers and also occasionally delivered necessities to the homeless, including Ronnie and Sassy. “That made me realize how big the problem of folks being

2018 point-in-time homeless count results, by county County Number of homeless people Cherokee ..................................................42 Clay............................................................7 Graham......................................................3 Haywood...................................................95 Jackson ....................................................69 Macon ......................................................65 Madison .....................................................9 Swain.......................................................10

Source: NC Coalition to End Homelessness

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he data gathered by Dunlap and others in encounters like that one are fed instantaneously into a database that is ultimately compiled and then presented to state-level agencies, HUD and Congress. Those numbers provide some measure of the problem and help determine resource allocation. “They’re not the final say, but it’s very difficult to bring money for unsheltered [programs] based on a low count,” said Destri Leger, who served as regional lead for the WNC Homeless Coalition’s eight-county WNC count. Both Leger, who also works at the Sylvabased Center for Domestic Peace, and Open Door’s Tom Owens said they believe the counts last year were a quarter to a third of what they should be. “There are a lot of issues with gathering data in this manner,” said Leger. Chief among them are that the count is held but once a year, and always in January; the coldest time of the year is often the only time some homeless will seek shelter, and also often the only time some friends and family might offer it. Unfortunately, this year’s point-in-time count was held after the coldest night of the year, which might be why Chelsea White didn’t find anyone in Waynesville’s Chestnut Park around sunrise, and why Jesse-Lee Dunlap found a half-dozen homeless encampments, but nobody home on that sunny, cold, gusty afternoon. “Unfortunately, in Jackson County, we had five teams that went to 20 different locations where we know the homeless to be living,” said Leger, “but nobody was there.” The numbers collected on Jan. 30 for the 2019 count won’t be available to the public for a few more weeks, but Leger is hopeful that the “overwhelming community response” to this year’s count will provide more accurate totals. “This was the first year that we made a real conscientious effort to get our unsheltered numbers up,” she said. Absent the data, Leger believes Haywood’s count could be higher than the 95 logged last year, and that smaller counties like Swain would see gains due to greater participation. Hopefully, that translates to sorely needed resource allocations more representative of the intersectional nature of homelessness in Western North Carolina. “We have a $500 [housing] voucher for each month,” said Sassy Fulp, who as of press time was still living beneath that circus-like assemblage of water-repellant fabric, despite efforts by the town to enforce zoning ordinances against parcel owner Ron Muse, who refuses to run her and Ronnie Hicks off the tract. “No one seems to have the one-bedrooms and if they do, we have a little dog … he’s part of our family. It’s me, Ronnie and Spike,” she said. “We need some more resources for this, to help people in these situations. There’s a lot of abandoned places, and a lot of places that’s not livable that can be fixed to where people could be living in them.”

Helping Seniors

February 6-12, 2019

Gently nudging a sopping-wet sleeping bag with their foot, Dunlap is visibly relieved when it becomes apparent that there’s nobody, and no body, beneath it. Similar to the Harm Reduction Coalition’s needle cleanup this past summer, it’s difficult to say if finding what one seeks is a good or a bad thing — but find anyway Dunlap did. Beside a rushing creek on the outskirts of Waynesville, Dunlap came upon a man living with his brother in a pair of wind-whipped tents. Handing him a pair of mittens from the tote, Dunlap began to take the man through a series of questions. “You have mental illness? Chronic pain? Substance use? A learning disability? HIV? PTSD? Physical disability? Traumatic brain injury?” Born in the swamps of south Jersey, the lanky 61 year old said he’d been homeless for 12 years except for some short stints in jail. “And you’re homeless because … ” Dunlap started. “I got in a bad relationship,” he said, words for the first time flowing freely from his broad, weathered face. “After 13 years, she started doing crack and all that stuff. I went along with it about five years, and after a while, I just got tired, just come out in the woods and stayed. Quit work. Never went back.” “Do you want to be connected to services that could get you some help?” Dunlap continued. He nodded as the umbrella blocking the front of his tent momentarily took flight.

“What’s the best way to get a hold of you, then?” asked Dunlap, shaking his hand. “Here,” he said. “I’ll be here.”

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unsheltered and out there with no resources was in this area,” they said. Increasingly, what people like Dunlap — who identifies as a member of the LGBTQ community — are also finding is that homelessness hits that particular community much harder. “Statistically, for sure,” they said. “You have people who are shoved out of their houses. Why? Because there’s still a mentality of, ‘You’re doing something wrong,’ if you fall into the LGBTQ category.” Shelters are also ill-equipped to accommodate gays and lesbians seeking services, according to Dunlap, and lodgings are also segregated along binary gender lines so most haven’t even begun to reckon with the needs of the trans community, even in the face of overwhelming demand by non-LGBTQ visitors.

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Domestic violence organization forming in Jackson

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR even years have passed since REACH of Jackson County suddenly shut down operations due to financial issues, leaving the county without a local organization to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. REACH of Macon County stepped in to help by extending its services to Jackson County, but the goal has always been to reestablish a local organization to fulfill the local need. Stakeholders are one step closer to making that goal a reality. A new organization — Center for Domestic Peace — has been formed and recently received its first community grants. “It’s been a long process,” said Andrea Anderson, executive director of REACH of Macon. “When REACH of Jackson closed, a stakeholder meeting was held and it was determined Macon was in the best position to take over services. Then a task force was formed and charged with looking at what made the most sense ... after a year we determined a standalone agency would be best. REACH of Macon has always held the position that it’s more effective to have a local agency to provide those services.” CDP, a collaborative partnership with REACH of Macon, was incorporated as a nonprofit in 2013, but has to have funding in place before it can begin providing independent services in Jackson County. The partnership was established with the mutual goal of CDP eventually becoming its own stand-alone agency — though at this time the details and timeline for that transition haven’t been worked through by the board of directors and staff. The transitioning of services from REACH of Macon to CDP is being done gradually over the next few years as CDP finds its footing and goes through a strategic planning process for its new board of directors. “Part of it is because a new domestic violence agency can’t receive state funding until it’s been providing services for a year so we’re helping them get that experience,” Anderson said. “We’re looking at 18 months to two years before they’re on their own.” Having two standalone agencies will also help REACH and CDP receive more state funding. Right now REACH of Macon is receiving about the same amount of money from the state as it did when it was only providing services in Macon. However, once CDP is fully established it will receive its own full allocation from the state. In the meantime, CDP was recently awarded several grants to get started, including a $1,500 grant from Balsam Mountain Preserve Fund for Jackson County, a component fund 6 of The North Carolina Community

NEW STAFF CDP was also awarded a $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina’s People in Need program as well as a $10,000 grant from The Evergreen Foundation, which has helped the organization hire additional staff members during this transition. CDP and REACH of Macon put their funding together to hire a victims’ advocate dedicated to providing services in Jackson County. The advocate provides direct services in both English and Spanish through education, court advocacy, resource referrals, and crisis counseling.

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February 6-12, 2019

Foundation. The funds will be used to train its new board on the skills it will need to establish CDP as an independent support agency but also to acquire the tools necessary to ensure that CDP remains an effective and sustainable community partner in Jackson County. The topics of this training will include strategic planning, timeline and board development, and long-term financial knowledge.

Destri Leger, Jackson County Coordinator for Center for Domestic Peace (right) and Victim Advocate Ruby Lawrence talk about CDP’s transition into a standalone agency. Jessi Stone photo Though the advocate is currently employed through REACH of Macon, the goal is for the position to transfer to CDP when it establishes itself as a stand-alone agency. “Another new REACH position to benefit Jackson County as well was funded through a rural advocacy grant. We hired one person for Macon and one for Jackson who will go into the most rural areas of the county and try to help people in those communities,” Anderson said. Destri Leger, who has experience working

Center for Domestic Peace Board of Directors • Heather Baker, Board President — Jackson County Attorney • Marsha Lee Baker, Vice President — former English professor at WCU • Tonya Vickery, Treasurer — Reverend at Cullowhee Baptist Church • Jennifer Abshire, Secretary — Director of Jackson County Department of Social Services • Robert Cochran — previous Director of Jackson County Department of Social Services, currently works with Jackson Homeless Program • Marilyn Chamberlin — former WCU professor, currently works with Jackson Homeless Program • Patsy Davis — Executive Director of Mountain Projects • Lane Perry — Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, WCU • Erica Bullock — Andy Shaw Ford in Sylva • Ali Laird-Large — School board member and local community activist • Mary Ann Lochner — Retired counsel at WCU • Andrea Anderson — Executive Director at REACH of Macon County

for REACH of Haywood as well, has been hired as the Jackson County Coordinator for CDP with funding from the Great Smokies Health Foundation. Having those positions will hopefully make REACH and CDP’s services more visible and available for people in outlying areas of the county. CDP and REACH have also had an office in Sylva since October with three staff members, which will help people in Jackson access services. Anderson said it’s been a challenge for people in Jackson to understand they do not have to travel to Macon County to receive services. “In addition to new staff, REACH’s staff still provides services in both counties and the 24-hour emergency hotline is all being funded together,” she said.

SERVICES During the first phase of the transition, Anderson said CDP will solely focus on providing domestic violence services while REACH will continue to provide services for sexual assault victims. Without a shelter of its own, REACH’s shelter in Macon County will continue to service Jackson County clients as well. “A shelter for Jackson would be a second phase — not something we can do immediately,” Anderson said. “Shelters are expensive and take lot of staff to manage. As we build our capacity in Jackson County we can do it in conscious manner where we can continue to provide services as needed in a sustainable manner.” Services provided for Jackson County is currently about 30 percent of REACH’s over-

all budget and the need has only increased over the last year. “Our numbers have gone up from 2017 to 2018 — we had a 25 percent increase in Jackson County clients, including women and kids and men too,” Leger said. REACH served 176 domestic violence victims and 50 sexual assault victims in Jackson County in the last year. Of those, 43 Jackson County clients received shelter stays in Macon County. While people tend to think everyone receiving services through REACH stays at the shelter, Anderson said the shelter is only one of many services people utilize. In the last year, REACH provided 7,844 unduplicated services to Jackson County residents and 502 shelter nights.

BUILDING AWARENESS

Leger said one of the biggest challenges of starting a new organization is building up awareness and support in the community, but luckily CDP has enlisted some help from students at Western Carolina University. “Professor Farmer at WCU has a public relations class and they chose us for their student project,” she said. “We’ll talk about the best angle to publicizing our dual roles within the agencies as we move forward.” Anderson said it will be important to have a consistent message and a streamlined process to make it easier for victims who are looking for services. So why not keep the REACH of Jackson County name since there’s already a REACH of Macon and REACH of Haywood? Anderson said the REACH name confuses people because they think all the organizations are tied together when they are all separate entities. “It’s very confusing because REACH is not a national organization, but also we wanted a fresh start. This is a new effort with new people and I think the messaging for CDP actually makes it very clear what about the mission,” Anderson said. There are two big fundraisers coming up — one to support REACH of Macon and one to raise funds and awareness for CDP. REACH will host its third annual Mardi Gras fundraiser on March 5 at Root + Barrel in downtown Franklin. Those unrestricted funds raised during that event helps with programs in both counties. Tickets are on sale now and sponsorship opportunities are available. If you aren’t interested in getting dressed up for a fun night out on the town, CDP’s inaugural Phantom Gala might be the better option for you. “In lieu of an actual fundraiser, we’re inviting community members to fill out a donation card instead of having to get dressed up and go out and all those funds will directly to CDP,” Leger said. “It’s a low expense fundraiser but there are still sponsorship opportunities for businesses and individuals.” CDP’s office is located at 26 Ridgeway Drive in Sylva. For more information, visit www.reachofmaconcounty.org or www.cdpjaxcountync.org. For services, volunteer opportunities, or to make a donation, contact Center for Domestic Peace/REACH of Macon County at 828.586.8969.

HCA completes purchase of Mission Health

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Western North Carolina,” said Dr. Ronald A. Paulus, Mission Health’s President and CEO. “This is a tremendous win for the people and communities that we serve, and one that may be judged by history as a positive inflection point for the communities we serve. We’ve not only provided for the long-term sustainability of high-quality healthcare and secured special protections for our rural communities, we’ve also created the largest per capita foundation in the nation to address the social determinants of health.” Though Mission boasts awards and positive patient outcomes, Paulus announced the pending buyout to HCA last March as a way for the health care provider to be sustainable into the future. He said reimbursement rates on Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers weren’t keeping pace with Mission’s actual cost to provide services, causing Mission to lose money year after year despite deep cuts. “The average not-for-profit loses 11 cents on the dollar, we lose 4.5 cents on the dollar,” Paulus said during a press conference last April. “We have no impact on our revenue — the state and federal government and Blue Cross Blue Shield are paying below our cost — so we’re focusing on cost reduction. We’ve cut $260 million over the last four years but it gets harder and harder to make those cuts.” Once a purchase agreement was agreed

upon by Mission and HCA, the agreement had to be approved by N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein to ensure the purchase amount was fair and that the terms were in the best interest of the people of Western North Carolina. Community members in outlying Mission communities like Franklin and Highlands

expressed concerns over how the purchase would impact health care services at their respective hospitals. One of the benefits of the purchase is that all proceeds from the sale go into forming a new nonprofit foundation with the mission of improving the health of the region Mission serves. Even though the purchase was still being reviewed, Mission leaders had already chosen their chairwoman for the new Dogwood Health Trust and members were being appointed. There were concerns about the members not being diverse enough to represent all the communities equally on the new board. Stein’s final approval of the purchase agreement January 16 included several negotiated terms to ensure equal representation on the board and more safety nets for the community hospitals. Mission and HCA announced the completion of the purchase on Feb. 1. “From early on, we were confident that HCA Healthcare shares Mission Health’s focus on high-quality, patient-centered care and is the right and best choice to help ensure our continued success,” said Mission Health Board Chair John R. Ball, MD, JD. “We are excited to see how the resources, scale and expertise of HCA Healthcare can help enhance Mission Health’s rich legacy.” Visit hcahealthcare.com.

Dogwood Health Trust now in operation

30 years serving on various local and state nonprofit boards. “I’ve been known for community service and relish those opportunities to serve our communities and region,” she said during a phone interview with The Smoky Mountain News. “And with not having a fulltime job, the people in charge of Mission Health thought I’d be the right person and have the time to devote to this — it’s a big-time commitment.” Brumit and the board members will also have a huge responsibility on their hands to manage the large sum of money placed within their care. HCA paid about $1.5 billion for the assets of Mission Health. Proceeds from the purchase will be combined with Mission Health’s remaining cash and investments — after all debts and obligations are paid — and transferred to Dogwood Trust. The foundation will begin awarding $50 million to $75 million a year in grant funds to nonprofits and government agencies in 2020. “These kinds of resources coming to our region have never been seen before,” Brumit said. So far, 11 of the board’s 15 members have been seated and a majority of them live in or around the Asheville area. Michell Hicks, former Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Sam Lupas, a Cashiers real estate broker, also were appointed to the board. Through negotiations with Attorney General Josh Stein’s office, the foundation

agreed that by July 1, 2019, the board will have no more than 50 percent of its members residing in any one county. Two of its Buncombe appointees will not seek reappointment at the end of 2019 and one other Buncombe appointee will not seek reappointment at the end of 2020. By that time, the board should include at least one member from the five regions of its local hospitals and will not include any member who is an employee or has a business relationship with HCA or is a member of the Mission Health board. Brumit said the board has two potential candidates to interview this week that would represent the more eastern counties of the region, including Polk, Rutherford and Mcdowell counties. “I’ve been delighted by the caliber of candidates that we’ve had. We want to make sure we’re geographically diverse,” she said. “Not just from a board perspective but also from a committee perspective. We’ll be looking for people all over region to serve on our committees — grants committee, nominating committee, governance committee.” Dogwood Trust will seek to fulfill its purpose by addressing what the World Health Organization and other experts call the social determinants of health — factors such as individuals’ early childhood development, education, economic stability and physical surroundings. While she can’t speak to the entire board’s priorities, Brumit said childhood obesity, chronic disease prevention

and the opioid crisis are at the top of her list. “The goal I have is to see the Dogwood Health Trust transform the health and wellness of the region,” she said. “We’ll be getting our grant criteria together — we want a laser focus on what the program will look like. We don’t want to just put a Band-Aid on the causes — we want to find legitimate cures.” Before the board begins looking at what its grant criteria and focus will be, Brumit said its first priority was to hire a national search firm to find a CEO professional to lead the foundation. The foundation also plans to hold listening sessions throughout the region to hear from individuals and other nonprofits about the needs in their specific communities. Brumit also wanted to point out that board members are unpaid volunteers who truly have the best interest of the 18-county region in mind. “We take very seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of resources entrusted to us through the change in ownership of one of our community’s most treasured institutions,” she said. “And we are committed to keeping people and communities at the forefront of everything we do, to being transparent and accountable for producing the greatest possible impact, and to applying strategic and innovative approaches to achieve transformative change.” For more information, visit www.dogwoodhealthtrust.org. 7

t a -

p e

Benefits and highlights of the transaction include the following commitments: • HCA will build a 120-bed inpatient behavioral health hospital in Asheville. • HCA will build a new replacement hospital for Angel Medical Center in Franklin. • HCA will complete the new state-of-theart Mission Hospital for Advanced Medicine in Asheville. • HCA will invest $232 million in capital in Mission Health facilities. • HCA will create a $25 million Innovation Fund focused on improving health care service delivery and spurring economic development. • Mission Health will adopt HCA’s more expansive charity care policy. • HCA Healthcare is providing assurances that certain healthcare services will be maintained.

Smoky Mountain News

BY J ESSI STONE i N EWS E DITOR n ith the completion of Mission Health s System’s sale of assets to HCA s Healthcare, Dogwood Health Trust is d now officially operating as a private, nonprofit foundation with the purpose of drad matically improving the health and wellbes ing of all people and communities in r Western North Carolina. “This is an historic day for Western - North Carolina as we realize the creation of n what we believe is the nation’s largest per d capita foundation focused on addressing o the underlying factors that impact the - health of our community,” said Dogwood - Health Trust Board of Directors Chair Janice Brumit. y Brumit — a WNC native whose husband t operates 51 Arby’s restaurants in North - Carolina and Upstate South Carolina, including locations in Buncombe, Henderson, r Haywood, Swain, Macon, McDowell, Burke, r Madison, Transylvania, Watauga and t Rutherford counties — was named chairwoman in July 2018. She’s also spent the last

February 6-12, 2019

BY J ESSI STONE - N EWS E DITOR fter almost a year-long process, HCA n Healthcare’s $1.5 billion purchase of n Mission Health is complete. n k Mission Health — which was the largest H nonprofit health care system in the region — r is now an operating division of Nashvillen based HCA, a for-profit health care corpora- tion with 185 hospitals and about 1,800 sites s in 21 states and the United Kingdom. Mission Health is HCA’s first acquisition in North Carolina. “The team at Mission Health has been nationally recognized for providing highf quality patient care, and we’re excited that p they’ve joined HCA Healthcare,” Sam Hazen, , CEO of HCA Healthcare, said in a press m release. “We’re looking forward to investing in Western North Carolina and helping c ensure Mission Health’s 133-year tradition of - caring for communities throughout the e region continues for many years.” n Mission Health includes six hospitals in WNC, including Angel Medical Center in e Franklin and Highlands-Cashiers Hospital d plus an outpatient center in Haywood e County. Mission has been recognized as one of the nation’s top 15 health systems by IBM n Watson Health in six of the past seven years. H “We are very pleased that this transaction ? has now closed so that Mission Health can s continue to focus on caring for the people of -

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Fresh eyes, fresh ideas Haywood budget process begins

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER t’s not Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead’s first budget, but it is his first budget in Haywood County. In fact, Morehead’s previous experience in Gaston County might be part of the reason he’s here in Haywood; Morehead began in Gaston as a budget analyst, worked his way up to assistant budget director, then served as budget director and finance officer before becoming the assistant manager there. During that time, he honed his skills working on a $300 million annual budget, almost four times as large as Haywood’s $88 million, so he’s well-qualified to pass judgment on Haywood’s fiscal management over the past decade or so. “I said it the other day at the planning session, the board and staff have done a lot of great things,” said Morehead, hired last October to permanently fill Ira Dove’s old job once interim manager Joel Mashburn called it quits after a year of service. Chief among them is the attention paid to fund balance – essentially, the county’s savings account; state law mandates a minimum fund balance of 8 percent, which is about a month’s worth of operations. As of this year, the county has worked itself back from a dangerously low post-recession fund balance of just 9.29 percent in 2008 on up to 32.1 percent this year. That’s not the only good news, according to Morehead; the county is bringing in more money – and spending it more efficiently – than at perhaps any time in recent memory. During this past budget year, general fund revenues came in at $88.5 million, against expenditures of $87 million, motor vehicle tax collection was trending to exceed the budgeted $1.69 million by a few percent, and sales tax collections through Dec. 31 were slightly above the projected $3.85 million at $3.89 million. The number of county employees per 1,000 citizens now stands at 8.3, versus 9.4 in 2009. Even the county’s formerly-embattled tax office is showing signs of improvement since Greg West defeated incumbent Mike Matthews to become tax collector in November; although real and personal property tax revenue through Dec. 31 was well below yearly projections of $32.37 million with just over $29.5 million, West said January’s numbers were way up. But as Morehead, commissioners and county department heads work through the budget process in advance of the state’s July 1 deadline, there remain some causes for concern. The county’s general fund expenditures increased in size since 2013 from $70.2 million to $85.3 million, largely a result of the 8 three largest categories — public schools,

Smoky Mountain News

February 6-12, 2019

public safety and human services, which together make up about 65 percent of all county spending. Active and retiree health insurance costs have surged from $5.1 million in 2009 to $7.0 million this year, after dipping down to $4.23 million in 2014; given the state of health care across the nation, that’s not a huge increase, but costs aren’t going down any time soon. Cases handled by the county’s adult protective services are also on the rise; in each of the last two years, intake was less than 200, but this year that number has jumped alarmingly to around 275 – and that’s only for half a year. “I would say it’s a combination of factors, not necessarily opioids,” said Dove, now the director of the county’s Consolidated Health and Human Services department. “Part of this is definitely the demographics Haywood County sees now. There’s been huge growth in Haywood’s population over 65.”

County employees by years of service Less than 5............................................213 5 to 9 ....................................................117 10 to 14 ...................................................57 15 to 19 ...................................................56 20 to 24 ...................................................28 25 or more ...............................................20

Source: Haywood County

Dove also said that the average number of family and children Medicaid cases handled by each Haywood County caseworker is around 790, dwarfing Buncombe’s average of 469 and Jackson’s 564. That points to a lingering suspicion that working for Haywood County isn’t nearly as nice a prospect as one might imagine it to be; a spate of department-level resignations plagued the county in 2017, and a survey of EMS workers showed that over the last three years, 26 resignations cited “pay” as the reason. Given that each EMS resignation costs the county $13,726, employee retention topped the list of goals presented to commissioners, department heads and the public during a Feb. 1 budget workshop held at the DHHS building in Clyde. “Turnover is killing us,” said Morehead. “I think the biggest thing is compensation for employees. It takes you a while to be good at your job, and when you have turnover and inexperience — not that they aren’t good employees — but it takes a while to learn your craft. I’d love to be able to keep the turnover numbers down so we can provide top-notch service to the citizens here.” Substantial discussions took place regarding employee retention, and compensation looks to be on the rise in next year’s budget. But commissioners will have to decide between a cost-of-living adjustment or meritbased raises.

“It’s pretty amazing to me that our employees have been kind of left out of the equation for several years,” said Commissioner Tommy Long. “We’ve got to do something — we’ve got to do something to remain competitive with surrounding counties, and take care of our employees.” Long was elected last November, so this is his first crack at the Haywood County budget; ditto for Commissioner Mark Pless, who’s rapidly earning a reputation as a spending hawk looking to crack down on waste and inefficiency. Pless argued against a COLA increase because it allows the workforce to dictate how they are to be compensated, and allows people who don’t do their jobs get raises anyway. Other concerns that seem to crop up each year center around vehicle replacement, fleet management, increasing utility costs and unmet building and maintenance needs. A slew of big-ticket capital projects also await possible backing and funding, including the Clyde Armory, renovations to the library, a new EMS base, a new location for veterans services, a nursing building at Haywood Community College, and a communications system upgrade, among others.

PAY TO PLAY There are two main ways the county can pay for the expected increases and any major capital projects without cutting services or raising taxes. One is to borrow money. Right now, the county spends about $8.1 million each year on existing debt, but absent new borrowing, that number is expected to drop dramatically each year as loans are paid off until the final payments of $832,000 are made in 2028 and 2029. The other way is by spending down the county’s fund balance, now totaling more than $20 million dollars. “I’m happy with the way our fund balance is going, and we’re close to getting a triple-A bond rating because of that,” said Long. “But things change, and there’s needs that come down the line and hopefully we’ll try to stay ahead of the curve and be proactive instead of reactive, and try to have a little better forecast on expenditures coming down the road.” Long said it was “too early” for him to call for drawing down fund balance, but cited pressing issues that need to be dealt with, one way or the other. “I don’t want to see [fund balance] go backwards, but we’ve got a lot of requests for expenditures coming down the pipe and frankly it appears we’re a little behind due to the recession a few years ago,” he said. “It’s no fault of anybody here, but just the way the things shook out.” Pless, however, remains focused on limiting spending and said he didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the numbers presented during the budget retreat. “I think a lot of times what happens is whenever they do it, they throw everything they can at you, and you have to filter through what is really needed and what is not needed,” he said. “Funding wants — as opposed to actual needs — that is not the way I’m going to do this. I may not be successful in opposing a lot of things, but I still have to oppose some

things because I don’t think they’re necessary. That’s kind of where I think the budget’s going to go from the inflated numbers you saw as well.” And although he’s still somewhat undecided on using fund balance to support increased spending, Pless is clear that borrowing more money is out of the question; for each $1 million financed by the county, it costs about $80,000 a year for 20 years. “We have got a lot of things that are coming about that need to be dealt with, whether it’s taken care of this year or it’s taken care of in the near future,” Pless said. “I’m not in favor of putting more money in the fund balance and borrowing to do stuff. If I’m going to fund something, I want us to fund it, and I would rather take a hit this year on the fund balance, as opposed to borrowing anything.” Like any other business or household, cutting spending, borrowing money or using accumulated savings are the most sure-fire ways to pay for needs and wants, because increases in income are hard to forecast until they actually materialize. But, if it makes commissioners’ decisions any easier, the income side of the equation may be looking up, near-term. The county’s recent and disappointing revaluation — mostly flat, most everywhere — will be revisited in 2020 and new values will take effect Jan. 1, 2021. If those values are higher — as many hope and most suspect will be the case — revenue will increase even without a hike in the tax rate, or conversely, remain stable with a lower tax rate. Another angle on increasing the tax base without raising taxes comes from the Haywood Chamber’s economic development partnership with the Asheville Chamber; in 2018, Haywood outsourced its economic development activities to Asheville’s much larger chamber for about $100,000 a year. Through a full year’s worth of work, almost 20 information requests led to five companies and two consultants visiting developable sites in Haywood County, with two more visits scheduled for the first quarter of 2019. Although the partnership has not yet produced any results in the form of new industries or job creation, most in county government agree it’s likely only a matter of time until it does — leaving only the question of how long commissioners are willing to wait. “I don’t have enough information yet whether [the partnership] is a good thing or not,” said Pless, who expressed opposition to the concept during his commission campaign. “I haven’t seen any bites on it. It has stirred some interest from what we’re told, but then again, that’s what we’re being told. In a few months, if it looks like it’s done some good then I could possibly be swayed. As of right now, I don’t see any fruit.” Morehead said that the county would conduct a departmental budget review through Feb. 15, and that he would present what’s called the “manager’s budget” — more or less a mostly-complete plan with a few decisions yet to be made — by May 20. Public hearings must be conducted once commissioners approve of what’s presented, usually during the month of June.

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BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER n autopsy recently completed on a man who died in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last September determined that 30-year-old William Lee Hill Jr., of Louisville, Tennessee, died from an accidental methamphetamine overdose — not from a bear attack. Hill and his friend Josh Morgan entered the park on Sept. 7, 2018, to search for ginseng, which is illegal to harvest in the park. Hill and Morgan separated during the excursion, and Hill’s family reported him missing at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 9. Two days later, searchers found his body near Rich Mountain Road, about 2 miles from Cades Cove. Morgan passed away Oct. 1, mere weeks after the incident, according to an obituary. A bear had been feeding on Hill’s body and remained in the area, acting aggressively, when searchers arrived. Due to the unknown cause of death and the bear’s aggressive behavior, wildlife managers decided to euthanize the bear, with the road closed to the public while the bear was located and killed. According to an autopsy report completed Jan. 21 and released by the park Feb. 4 —the 35-day government shutdown ended Jan. 25 — Hill had a history of intravenous drug use. Methamphetamine,

amphetamine and caffeine were found in his system during the autopsy, and searchers found syringes and other drug paraphernalia near the body, the report said. While there was evidence of “extensive postmortem animal predation” there were no findings of “antemortem/perimortem trauma” — that is, the bear did not attack Hill before or during his death. It’s uncertain whether consuming the meth-contaminated flesh would have affected the bear’s behavior, because there are too many unknowns in the situation, said Russell Brown, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical sciences at Eastern Tennessee State University, whose addiction research focuses on nicotine, not methamphetamine. “It’s all due to the time at which the methamphetamine was taken, how much methamphetamine was taken, how long it took for the person to perish, and then how long was it before the bear ingested the individual,” said Brown. “In other words: time and dose.” Methamphetamine in the bloodstream is cut in two between 12 and 34 hours after the drug is taken and leaves the body completely in two to 10 days, Brown said. Because Hill wasn’t found until two days after he was reported missing and wasn’t reported missing until two days after he entered the woods, it’s hard to say exactly when he died and how long after that the bear found him.

available to the bear,” he said. “My gut tells me that it would not be enough to cause a behavioral change in the bear, but that’s not what I call an educated guess. There are too many unknowns.” The park has received criticism for euthanizing the bear without knowing for sure whether the animal had attacked a living person. However, autopsy results typically take several months to come back, and the bear’s aggression “This is always one of the hardest caused concern regardless. “This is always one of the decisions a wildlife manager has to hardest decisions a wildlife make, and is one that we did not manager has to make, and is one that we did not take take lightly. Over 2 million visitors lightly,” Smokies come to the Cades Cove area Superintendent Cassius Cash said in September. “Over 2 annually and there are several million visitors come to the Cades Cove area annually residential areas very close to and there are several resiwhere we found Mr. Hill’s body.” dential areas very close to where we found Mr. Hill’s — Smokies Superintendent Cassius Cash body. We could not take the risk of allowing this bear to Burton Ogle, Ph.D., who is a professor of approach or show aggression towards other people.” health sciences at Western Carolina An estimated 1,500 bears live in the 816University, had a similar take, though he noted his understanding of human toxicolo- square-mile national park. Very few bears behave aggressively toward humans, though gy doesn’t necessarily translate to bears. repeated encounters with people and their “Not knowing the actual dose the man food promote that type of behavior. had, it would just be a guess at what was Also at play is the fact that Hill weighed about 110 pounds, according to the autopsy, while an adult black bear might weigh between 200 and 500 pounds — a bear would require a higher dose of the drug to achieve the same level of intoxication. “It’s unlikely, but not impossible, the bear was high on methamphetamine,” said Brown.

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Major new Haywood schools facility proposed BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER t’s $13 million now, or $40 million later, according to a presentation by Haywood Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bill Nolte intended to give Haywood County commissioners an idea of what it will take to address the district’s classroom and administrative needs for the next several decades. “This is not a budget request for this year,” Nolte said during a county budget workshop held Feb. 1. “Unless you want to.” Nolte’s joke drew laughs from commissioners tasked with crafting the county’s

approximately $90 million budget, but the which also requires about 40,000 square needs of the district are no joke, which is feet of space and another five or six acres, why Nolte wants to reshuffle and consolidate but is not included in the proposal. a number of HCS facilities into something he Together, Nolte’s proposal plus the calls an Educational Support Center. maintenance proposal would require If it’s ever fully realized, the ESC would acreage similar to the 10-acre tract adjacent provide for integrated instructional support to Tuscola High School purchased by the services, create more staff and teacher trainschool board last December. ing space and eliminate the need for a new Nolte said he has no preconceived gym at Central Haywood High School. notions about where the ESC would be Consolidation of other services into the located. ESC would also allow HCS to vacate three “We’re going to need five or six usable properties — one in Crabtree currently “It’s a little misguided, I think. In the used for child nutrition, one adjacent to real world, $12.9 million to do all of the Folkmoot your things is a good thing, but I don’t Friendship Center in Hazelwood and the have $12.9 million.” Fiscal year Payment in millions Historic Haywood 2020 $5.81 Hospital, currently — Mark Pless, Haywood County commissioner 2021 $5.66 used for central 2022 $5.50 administration. 2023 $4.91 These changes, according to Nolte, acres. The thing I would push for as super2024 $4.51 would reduce maintenance costs, boost the intendent is that it’s accessible and fairly 2025 $4.21 efficiency of staff and administrative traincentral,” he said, mentioning a corridor 2026 $3.37 ing sessions by reducing travel times and close to Interstate 40 somewhere between 2027 $1.25 serve as an enticement to attract and retain Waynesville and Canton, or somewhere in 2028 $0.83 top teachers. the vicinity of the roundabout near Ratcliff 2029 $0.83 Nolte said the ECS would require a parCove. 2030 $0.00 cel of about five acres in size, but added “The school board’s presentation was that a future consideration was the district’s very bold,” said Tommy Long, a newly electSource: Haywood County maintenance and transportation facility, ed Haywood County commissioner. “But that’s part of our job, to take a look at that, lay it all on the table and see how it all shakes out.” The commission’s other newly-elected member, Mark Pless, went straight to the bottom line. “It’s a little misguided, I think,” he said of the proposal. “In the real world, $12.9 million to do all of your things is a good thing, but I don’t have $12.9 million.” Long foresees lots of discussion on the matter, and realizes that there are a lot of moving pieces to the proposal, including the bit about vacating the hospital — it’s thought that a county-led application for tax credits that would make an affordable housing project in the building feasible for developers has a good chance of coming to We are pleased to announce the opening of our third location in Haywood fruition sometime this summer. County at 33 Bennett Street in Waynesville. We are located just off Brown Ave Proposal aside, Pless has also been vocal below Hazelwood Tire and beside Pioneer Supply. Thanks to our customers, on vacating the old hospital. “Now, are there some immediate needs? we are the largest self storage provider in Haywood County. Yes. We need to do something with the administrative offices. That’s the immediate We offer the same Clean, Safe and Secure facility need. How that shapes out, I don’t know. Do I want to make a mistake and just throw as our sites in Canton and Clyde. them somewhere and have to move them again? No,” he said. “I want them to have a forever home, but I think the way [Nolte] approached it, they gave us everything they wanted, and we have to get through it.” Specs provided by Nolte show the ESC would include 9,000 square feet of meeting space, 10,000 square feet of IT space, 8,750 33 Bennett Street, Waynesville square feet for support services, 1,000

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February 6-12, 2019

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Proposed changes to HCS facility utilization Five current school properties would be affected by the proposed Educational Support Center. Central Haywood High School n Convert the current Board Room to a gym for Central Haywood n Move Instructional Technology Center (ITC) to Educational Support Center n Move Adult Learning Center to vacated ITC space at Central Haywood n Move two Training Rooms and Board Room to Educational Support Center Crabtree property n Move Child Nutrition to Educational Support Center Former Hazelwood Elementary n Move Adult Learning Center to Central Haywood n Move large training room to Educational Support Center n Move 14 Exceptional Child support staff to Educational Support Center Central Elementary n Maintain as an elementary school option for anticipated growth in student population

square feet for child nutrition coupled with 9,000 square feet for dry storage, a cooler and a freezer, and 5,000 square feet for exceptional child support staff, totaling 42,750 square feet. The cost is listed as $12.6 million, which won’t go down the longer commissioners deliberate Nolte’s proposal. Doing everything piecemeal, Nolte warned, would cost much, much more. Replacing Central Haywood High School’s gymnasium — torn down last year when it was deemed unsafe — as well as its shop class would run at least $5 million, and more office and meeting space, $3.6 million. One aspect of the plan involves maintaining Central Elementary — controversially shuttered in 2017 — as an empty building in anticipation of student growth. Nolte’s presentation said that 400 residential units are projected within the school district next year, and a new maximum class size limit passed a few years ago was due to take effect this fall. Were Central Elementary used for something besides classroom instruction, the district would likely need to construct another school in the future anyway, at a cost of more than $30 million. Paying for it all would be a big step, but the county’s well-positioned to borrow money, should it so desire. Per the county’s most recent comprehensive annual financial statement, county debt is currently at $46.47 million, but is declining rapidly.

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Haywood Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two largest Democratic precincts, Ivy Hill and Jonathan Creek, will meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Jonathan Creek Fire and Rescue Department, 87 Joe Carver Rd., for their free, annual precinct meetings. All registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters who reside in these precincts are invited to attend this casual, inclusive, positive, welcoming gathering, whether a newcomer or long-timer in our county. Dessert will be provided. On the agenda will be precinct officer elections, choosing delegates to the county convention on Saturday, March 23, and discussing and voting on resolutions to the party platform. Contact all 828.646.8602 or jafrabq@aol.com or visit www.haywooddemocrats.org.

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February 6-12, 2019

The recent federal government shutdown produced a lot of uncertainty for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, who were given Februaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s benefits early, on Jan. 20, along with an admonishment to budget carefully due to a lack of assurance Marchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s benefits would come. That uncertainty has now vanished, thanks to a letter from David Locklear, deputy director of the N.C. Division of Social Services, Economic and Family Services to county Health and Human Services directors across the state. The USDA, according to Locklear, has confirmed that SNAP benefits will be available â&#x20AC;&#x153;as normalâ&#x20AC;? for March. President Trump has threatened to again shutdown the government Feb. 15, which could result in more uncertainty for April, and beyond.

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Haywood precincts to hold joint meeting

Political commentator to speak at WCU

Smoky Mountain News

Michael Steele, a political commentator and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, will deliver the keynote address as Western Carolina University holds a ceremony to recognize the academic success of 1,651 students who were named to the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chancellorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s list for fall semester 2018. The event will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the performance hall of the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center and also include remarks by Alison Morrison-Shetlar, WCU interim chancellor, and Carol Burton, the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s acting provost. Both the ceremony and a reception that will be held afterward in the Star Lobby of the Bardo Arts Center are free and open to the public. Steeleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appearance at WCU is part of the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Distinguished Speaker Series. For more information, contact WCUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office of Student Transitions at 828.227.3017.

February 6-12, 2019

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Cherokee approves early gaming disbursements for housing BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER oung Cherokee tribal members could soon be able to use their gaming allocations to pay for housing following a unanimous vote from Tribal Council last month. “I believe this is a great opportunity for our young people,” said Big Cove resident Johnny McCoy, who had initiated discussion of the issue. “This gives them the option to use their money in a way that’s going to benefit them in their life in the long-term.” Every enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians receives two payments per year from the casino, their portion as shareholders in the tribally owned Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. However, for tribal members 18 and younger those revenues are placed in a trust fund, the contents of which are released in staggered payments issued at ages 18, 21 and 25. After the age of 18, however, members receive per capita payments directly rather than seeing them deposited in the trust fund. The law already allowes for early disbursements to pay education and health care expenses. However, a circumstance that arose in McCoy’s family highlighted the need for a housing exception as well. McCoy’s son and fiancé had been living

in a rented place, but when that home became uninhabitable they had to move out. While they had money in the Minor’s Trust Fund account, they couldn’t access it to solve the problem and purchase a place to live. “When we went to the bank to get a loan to purchase a home, the interest rate was so high it was unreasonable,” said McCoy. “We’ve already went out on a limb now because we needed housing at that time, and I went to the bank and did a mortgage loan so they could purchase that home, because they needed a home to move into.” The issue went to the tribe’s investment committee, which presented proposed legislation at Budget Council Jan. 8 that would allow for early disbursement to purchase housing, with the amount not to exceed 98 percent of the home’s purchase price or 80 percent of the beneficiary’s account balance at the time of the request. Payment would be made directly to the seller, home builder or financing institution, with the home in question required to serve as the beneficiary’s primary residence. The draft presented Jan. 8 stated that money would be allocated only if housing expenses “cannot be met from other avail-

ordinance. “Council, what you did when you did this and what the committee did when they did this is, you did a new housing opportunity for people that wasn’t there before,” McCoy’s wife Teresa McCoy, who is a former Tribal Council member and candidate for principal chief, said Jan. 10. “It’s a good opportunity.” Principal Chief Richard Sneed has signed the ordinance, saying that he feels it’s a good

The law already allowes for early disbursements to pay education and health care expenses. However, a circumstance that arose in McCoy’s family highlighted the need for a housing exception as well. guage but still broad and it gives us flexibility as a committee to develop internal policies,” said Secretary of Finance Cory Blankenship. Tribal Council voted Jan. 8 to table the legislation so McCoy — who had introduced the original version of the ordinance revision last year but was not notified that a new version was being discussed that morning — would have time to meet with the investment committee and discuss the proposal. McCoy and investment committee members met Jan. 9, and in Tribal Council Jan. 10 members voted unanimously to pass the

compromise with McCoy’s earlier version that would have done away with the staggered distribution in favor of paying out the entire sum when a tribal member turns 18. “It’s a win all around,” Sneed said. However, the change won’t be final immediately. “Once council approves this amendment, we then have to go and update the minor’s trust fund document, and this resolution because it impacts the revenue allocation plan of the tribe also has to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior,” Blankenship said.

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able personal, tribal or public sources.” Some council members were concerned that wording could prevent young people from accessing their funds if they were able to get approved for a loan but offered an unreasonably high interest rate. To fix that problem, council members voted to change the wording to say that the money would be allocated if expenses couldn’t be “reasonably met” by other sources. “It’s more narrow than the current lan-

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Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale speaks at the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ legislative priorities conference. Chris Baucom/NCACC photo

Macon leaders attend legislative goals conference

Smoky Mountain News

broadband internet has been discussed here in Macon County for quite some time now,” Tate said. “It was interesting to see how many other rural counties across the state are facing similar issues with respect to broadband availability. I was very pleased to see that the expansion of broadband to unserved and underserved areas emerge as the top legislative goal for FY 19-20.” Below is the list of NCACC’s top five legislative goals for 2019-20 as determined at the Legislative Goals Conference: -Seek legislation, funding, and other efforts to expand digital infrastructure/broadband capability to the unserved and under-served areas and residents of the state. -Seek additional revenue sources, including a statewide bond and lottery proceeds, to equitably address statewide public school and community college capital challenges. -Support efforts to preserve and expand the existing local revenue base of counties and authorize local option revenue sources already given to any other jurisdiction to all counties. Oppose efforts to divert to the state, fees or taxes currently allocated to the counties or to erode existing county revenue streams. -Support provision of state resources to ensure county ability to provide essential public health, behavioral health and social services, with specific consideration to the challenges of incarcerated persons, the continued county role in behavioral health governance, and programs addressing substance use disorder, throughout Medicaid transformation. -Seek legislation to repeal the statutory authority under N.C. Gen. Stat. 115C-431(c) that allows a local school board to file suit against a county board of commissioners over appropriations to the local board of education’s capital outlay fund.

February 6-12, 2019

acon County Commissioners Jim Tate and Ronnie Beale and County Manager Derek Roland recently joined voting delegates from counties throughout the state to determine the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ legislative priorities for the 2019-20 biennium session of the North Carolina General Assembly. Gov. Roy Cooper delivered keynote remarks and thanked county commissioners for their commitment to public service. “From broadband expansion and capital needs in the school system to accessing mental health services, all counties in North Carolina are facing challenges similar to those that we are experiencing in Macon County,” Beale said. “This conference gives all North Carolina counties the opportunity to come together as one voice and make our challenges known to the North Carolina General Assembly.” Kevin Austin, NCACC president elect and Yadkin County commissioner, presided over the two-day Legislative Goals Conference, which was held Jan. 10-11. Beale was sent to serve as a voting delegate to the conference to debate, amend, offer new proposals and cast votes on the association’s guiding principles and legislative priorities, which guide advocacy efforts at the General Assembly. The conference is the final step in a comprehensive process, which gives each county a voice in shaping NCACC’s legislative agenda. “Our process offers an opportunity for all our counties to participate. These goals come from counties all across the state and have been vetted by their boards before they come to the Association. It’s a grassroots effort, which involves all 100 counties,” Austin said. “As we all know, the availability of

Smoky Mountain News February 6-12, 2019

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Business

Smoky Mountain News

SCC Career Fair in March

Franklin chamber presents awards

Register now for the first or second day of Southwestern Community College’s Career Fair from 1 to 4 p.m. March 5-6. All health sciences employers should register for March 5. Hospitality and tourism, business, nonprofit, and education should register for March 6. After Feb. 28, employers wishing to recruit two days in a row may register for the second day. SCC hiring events are free to all employers and open to students, alumni, and the general public. Contact Michael Despeaux, Director of Career Services at SCC at m_despeaux@southwesterncc.edu.

The Franklin Area chamber of Commerce recently held its annual awards banquet and the following people and businesses were recognized. Past President’s Plaque was awarded to Rick Westerman. Franklin Chamber Member of the Year went to Lake’s End Marina, Grill, Cabins & Yurts. Club/Organization of the Year award went to Franklin High School Future Business Leaders of America Youth Citizenship Award went to Cody Zuiderveen. Duke Energy Citizenship & Service Award went to Bob McCollum. Citizen of the Year Award went to Carol Ann Elliott.

Real estate company debuts new branding Beverly-Hanks Realtors has officially debuted its new logo and branding style across 15 offices in Western North Carolina. This update is designed to strengthen the real estate market leader’s corporate identity within the market and in the public’s eye. Updates to the Beverly-Hanks brand include a new set of logos, as well as updated core visual elements, advertisements, signs, brochures/flyers, and presentations. The new brand is designed to be more modern and fresh, while retaining the classic and refined elements of the company’s 43-year history.

Business workshops at HCC The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College will offer a free seminar titled, “Are You Ready to Start a Business,” from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at the College’s Regional High Technology Center in room 3021. Understand the basics of starting a business in this seminar that takes you from idea to business plan development. This seminar will cover the importance of a self-assessment, feasibility and the resources available to assist in the planning and startup of a business. “How to Start a Business” will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26. “How to Write a Business Plan” will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. “Basics of Bookkeeping” will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 12. Visit SBC.Haywood.edu or call 828.627.4512 to register.

HCC offers continuing ed classes Haywood Community College’s workforce continuing education department is offering a

65 chimney sweeps descend on Lake Junaluska Sixty-five chimney sweeps spent the weekend at Lake Junaluska learning and practicing niche chimney sweep techniques, including how to properly lay a stone chimney, pour a chimney top or crown, and install a cricket to help get rid of moisture around a chimney. The group gained hands-on experience with stonework at the Nanci Weldon Memorial Gym, where 10, 7-foot tall chimneys were constructed over the course of the weekend. Construction projects also took place in meeting rooms at The Terrace. The chimney sweeps were participating in an event hosted at Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center by the North Carolina Chimney Sweep Association, a nonprofit since 1979. For more information, visit www.lakejunaluska.com. wide variety of courses for the month of February. Communicating Creativity will be held 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7. Cost is $45. This class is for artists across disciplines who want to enhance communication techniques and work with peers to refine messaging and create an artistic voice. Oversize Escort Vehicle Certification will be held Saturday, Feb. 9. This course is designed to meet the training requirements set by the NC Department of Transportation to certify Oversize-Overweight load escort vehicle drivers. In addition, HCC’s workforce continuing education department offers Community First Aid and CPR classes on the third Tuesday of each month from 6 to 10 p.m. For more information on any of the other classes listed above, call 828.627.4669 or email Regina Massie at rgmassie@haywood.edu.

WCU to offer customer service workshop Start the new year off right by learning how to provide the highest level of customer service and how to attract and maintain customers by attending the Five-Star Customer Service for the Hospitality Industry from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, at WCU Biltmore Park in Asheville.

The workshop, which is geared toward the hospitality industry, is being offered by Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment. The registration fee for the workshop is $119. Visit pdp.wcu.edu or email Jill Thompson, WCU’s associate director of professional development, at jcthompson@wcu.edu.

Maggie Chamber presents annual awards The 2019 Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce Award recipients were recently announced during the annual dinner. The Volunteer Awards went to Jasay & Ann Ketchum for Most Enthusiastic; Rose Beck for Most Hours Worked and Rose Beck for Glen Retz Volunteer of the Year. Each year there are three nominees selected for the Spirit of Maggie Award and the membership votes on the winner. This year’s nominees were Christine Chamberlain, owner of Organic Beans Coffee Company; James Carver, for his life-long dedication and service in promoting Maggie Valley; and the MV Public Works Department for their help in decorating the town for Fall Days and the lighting up of the Valley for winter. The 2019 Winner of the Spirit of Maggie Award was given to James Carver.

• The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors held a ribbon cutting and grand opening ceremony for Wonderworks Learning and Arts Center, Inc. The business, located at 174 E. Sylva Shopping Center, offers music lessons, and classes in art, drama, and creative writing for all ages. For more information, visit them on Facebook, call 828.399.1616 or visit www.wonderworkslearningandarts.com.

ALSO:

• Oak Hill on Love Lane Bed & Breakfast has been recognized as Top 25 winner in the B&B category of the 2019 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice awards for hotels for the second year in a row. Oak Hill ranked 11th out of 25 in the U.S. • Western Carolina University’s Free Enterprise Speaker Series will host author, entrepreneur and educator Jeff Percival as he discusses building business success at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Room 101 of the Forsyth Building. For more information, email csfe@wcu.edu. • United Community Banks, Inc., was recently recognized as one of America’s best performing banks by Forbes magazine for the sixth consecutive year. “America’s Best Banks 2019,” an article written by Kurt Badenhausen, ranked 100 of the largest publicly traded banks and thrifts nationwide. United Community Bank was again included in this prestigious list. • Zonta Club of Franklin Area recently donated $5,000 to the Macon County Health Department for prenatal and gestational diabetes medication and supplies. Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. Visit www.zontafranklinnc.org.

Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Columns and newspapers can change views I

Will our democracy survive this test? To the Editor: Safe roads. Safe airports. Safe air travel. Clean water. Clean air. Safe streets. Consumer protection. Safe waste management. Clean, affordable energy. Qualified medical care. Protection from objects flying through space. Safety regarding natural disasters. Military protection from attack. Free/affordable public education for all. Individual rights. Social Security. Medicare. The above is a partial list of benefits of working together through taxation to provide for all American citizens. Some lament these as a form of socialism. Socialism is defined as: “any of various theories or systems of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society or the community rather than by private individuals, with all members of society or the community sharing in the work and the products.” However, most Americans recognize that private enterprise is alive and well in America, co-existing harmoniously with “socialism” for the betterment of us all. What is currently a threat to our democracy, however, is a form of fascism that is growing much like kudzu. Kudzu grows almost a foot per day in the southeastern United States. In its native Asian environment it hardly grows larger than a sweet potato plant. Fascism is defined as: “a system of government characterized by rigid one party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic enterprise under centralized

ideas matter — that powerful messages conveyed in compelling ways can change the course of political debates, movements, and elections. For example, the bitter conflicts of the 20th century between rival totalitarian ideologies are difficult to explain without recourse to ideas. Millions of people were willing to fight and die for causes that originated in the written word of persuasive madmen such as Marx, Lenin, Mussolini, and Hitler. It works for benign ideas, too, and for philosophical conflicts with less at stake. A fascinating study published last year in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science used online surveys to gauge the political views of responGuest Columnist dents before and after they read opeds published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Newsweek. In samples of both general readers and political “elites,” those who read an op-ed became more favorably disposed to its thesis than those who did not, although the effect was weaker for political insiders (as might be expected). Using reasonable estimates of the number of readers exposed to these op-eds in the “real world,” rather than within the confines of the study, the authors calculated the costper-mind-changed ranged from 50 cents to three dollars — which compares favorably with other means of political com-

John Hood

have written a syndicated column on politics and public policy for North Carolina newspapers since 1986. Have I influenced how readers think about the issues I discuss? I certainly hope so, at least to some extent. But there are plenty of smart people, scholars of public opinion and political behavior, who question whether editorials, columns, and op-eds matter. Some argue that political attitudes are so deeply felt, so bound up with partisan affiliation and personal experience, that they rarely change in response to what people read. This is especially true, the argument goes, for the political insiders who wield a disproportionate influence on policy outcomes. Other skeptics argue something like the reverse: that what may look like fixed ideological attitudes are nothing more than fleeting symbols of group affinity, blind allegiance to a charismatic leader, or how poll questions are worded. To the extent opinion writing changes minds, it rarely sticks. It doesn’t transform thoughts or actions in the long run, they contend. As with most questions of human behavior, the evidence here is mixed. Partisan preference (as distinct from party membership) is a powerful force that limits how much people are willing to stray from their team’s consensus. Lots of people do “follow the crowd” when it comes to political attitudes, conforming their views on issues beyond their personal experience to those of their leaders or groups. But there is also good evidence for the proposition that

government control, belligerent nationalism, racism, and militarism, etc.” Most Americans have little awareness of a plot by wealthy, prominent Americans to render President Franklin D. Roosevelt helpless while secretly installing a fascist government in America during the early 1930s. For a clear picture of this sinister plot let me recommend a book written by Jules Archer entitled “The Plot to Seize the White House.” After you have studied Archer’s account of events ,decide whether you prefer a democracy with a pinch of socialism like we already have or a fascist regime run by the wealthy and privileged class of people who have been working systematically for years to quietly set up their regime. Fascism and democracy cannot coexist. You might want to ask yourself if you would be on the inside or the outside of a fas-

munication such as buying ads or staging events. Even if the skeptics are right to cast doubt on the persuasion effect, opinion pieces can serve other rhetorical goals. If the writer is a trusted political or intellectual leader, readers may shift their views based on the byline rather than the content. A strongly argued op-ed may also convince political actors who disagree with the writer that they might lose the debate, pushing them towards compromise. I have loved newspapers ever since I started reading them in the 1970s. I believe in their continued relevance as a critical source of news, analysis, and commentary, whether readers encounter them in print or online. I have considered it a privilege to write a regular column for North Carolina papers, and to contribute occasionally to national ones. And I consider it an opportunity not just to express myself but to inform, challenge, provoke, and, yes, persuade readers to see things as I do. It’s a two-way street, of course. While my core philosophy has remained the same for more than three decades, my views have shifted on some issues in response to writing, responding to critics, and reading editorial content from other writers. Today, I had a more limited goal: to persuade you to keep reading editorial pages and opinion sections. Did I succeed? John Hood (@JohnHoodNC) is chairman of the John Locke Foundation and appears on “NC SPIN,” broadcast statewide Fridays at 7:30p and Sundays at 12:30p on UNC-TV.

cist regime managed by the super- rich. Will our democracy survive? Some say freedom is not free. We must pay for it partly by paying attention to the political moves being made around and to us every day by those who want even more money and more power than they currently possess. Dave Waldrop Webster

Meadows is leader of obstruction, shutdown To the Editor: The “Meadows stands for national security” letter written by Ted Carr clearly linked the word “resist” with Democrats. So, I want to refresh Mr. Carr’s memory about Republican resistance/obstructionism which was, at times, “unprecedented” during Obama’s presidency. Remember these words in 2010 by then Speaker of the House John Boehner regarding Obama’s agenda: “We’re going to do everything … to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell then followed up with his plan of action by saying,

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a oneterm president.” As for Rep. Mark Meadows … I view him as the face of resistance in the U.S. House. He’s widely recognized as the architect of the 2013 government shutdown and he recently advised Donald Trump “now is the time to fight” for his border wall funding, which ultimately led to a historic 35 day shutdown. To add insult to injury, Meadows told furloughed federal workers that a shutdown comes with the territory — “it’s part of what they signed up for in a public service job,” he said. On Jan. 30 Meadows led the floor debate to defeat a bill that would prevent future shutdowns. In a recent Washington Post column, the reporter suggests that Meadows’ power role in the new Congress will be “outside agitator” (to Trump), just like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. While Mr. Carr urged Meadows and Trump to work to achieve bipartisan solution to the shutdown, Meadows’ doesn’t appear to be headed in that direction. He indicated to the Washington Post reporter that over the past few months he’s been developing a new playbook and his final words regarding his tactics were: “Best done stealthily.” Stealthily is defined as operating “in a cautious and surreptitious manner, so as not to be seen or heard.” Sorry, Mr. Carr, but it doesn’t sound as though Meadows is going to take your advice. It sounds more like “resistance” to me! Myrna Campbell Waynesville

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Smoky Mountain News

‘call the man’ kind of husband.” “Or call the woman,” she said. “Yes, yes, please call the woman,” I said. “Call anybody that can actually fix stuff. It’s not gender specific. It’s ‘me’ specific.” We also watched “Love it or List It,” “Property Brothers,” “Flip or Flop,” “Trading Spaces,” and “Fixer Upper,” among others. She especially loved “Fixer Upper,” explaining which house she would choose and talking about its “upside,” as well as how much money there was to be made in such endeavors. From where I was sitting, she might as well have been talking about space flight or teaching dogs how to play tennis, but for her, it was as real and solid as an oak table. A few years later, when we decided to sell our house in town and move out a few miles into a home with more space, inside and outside, as well as a home with more than one small bathroom (hallelujah!), it was clear that she had missed her calling. We spent months and months looking at literally dozens of homes, and she picked them apart like Tom Brady dissecting a weak secondary. She liked this, she didn’t like that, she LOVED this, but just despised that. I could see the scenarios in her head projected on the living room wall: the upgrades and the downgrades, walls that would have to be knocked out, countertops that would have to be replaced. I could already hear the cacophony of hammering and drilling and sawing, and I could already smell the sawdust and fresh paint. We finally bought a place, immediately replacing the bathtub with a jacuzzi and putting down new flooring downstairs. Within a year, every bit of carpet in the house was gone. She was always working on projects during the daylight hours, and then planning new projects at night while we watched the real estate channel. One night, I finally said, “Why don’t you just do it?” “Do what?” “What else? Get into the business. Become a real estate agent. Sell houses. Buy houses. Flip houses. All of it.” “You’ve gone crazy,” she said. “I’ve been watching real estate shows every night for 15 years. I may be clinically insane. But you need to get your license and follow your calling.” Finally, last October, she did. She signed up for classes every weekend for seven weeks, took two tests, passed them both, got her license, left a good, stable job, and got herself a job as a real estate agent with one of the biggest real estate companies around. The whole thing was a blur, like a carousel going way too fast. I think she’s going to a natural, and that makes me happy. It also makes me happy to think that maybe, just maybe, we’ll scale back on the real estate shows a bit. As Dr. Phil might say, “If you can’t watch what you do, then doggone it, you might as well go ahead and do what you watch.” (Chris Cox is a teacher and writer who lives in Haywood County. jchriscox@live.com.)

opinion

hen Tammy and I met almost exactly 15 years ago, there were a few adjustments we had to make, like most couples. She almost fainted when she discovered that there were entire walls in my house covered from floor to ceiling with compact discs and record albums. I could sense that she felt that my décor — “college boy with slightly more disposable income” — left something to be desired. “You’ve got a problem,” she said. “Well, I wouldn’t call it a PROBLEM so much as a hobby,” I said. “I see,” she said. “It looks like your hobby has taken over your house.” Columnist True, but she had issues of her own. I was used to a steady diet of “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “NYPD Blue,” “Deadwood,” and “Six Feet Under.” While she grew to love all of those shows, she introduced me — in the spirit of compromise — to the shows she loved: “Dr. Phil” and a bunch of shows on what I affectionately referred to as “the real estate channel.” I began spending hours each week watching shifty-eyed, controlling men trying to learn how to be more trusting husbands and renegade teenagers learning the value of respecting their elders, all under Dr. Phil’s watchful and judgmental eye. Then I started talking like him. “Honey, do you have time to teach me how to program this remote control?” Tammy would say. “Babe, coaching your spouse to program a remote control is like singing ‘The StarSpangled Banner’ in a monsoon. Your heart’s in the right place, but your rearend’s still stuck out in the storm. In the end, everybody gets wet.” She got tired of that in a few months, and Dr. Phil and his gallery of dysfunctional weepers went away. But the real estate shows never went away, and we watched them all. One of her favorites was House Hunters, in which earnest couples from one place went to another place in search of a house in various price ranges. We liked guessing which house they would choose, and why. Tammy was always commenting on things I would barely notice — the backsplash in the kitchen, the crown molding in the bedroom, the dated fixtures in the bathroom, the lack of natural light. She told me all the things that would need to be done if we were the couple moving into the house, and what those updates would probably cost. “Of course,” she would always add. “We could do a bunch of that stuff ourselves. Rip up that awful carpet, replace the faded tile in that upstairs bathroom, pull out that 1980s dishwasher...” “Sweetie, I failed shop class in eighth grade,” I said. “The teacher said my lamp was a fire hazard. I’m afraid you’ve chosen a

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COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service. FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde. 828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 8 p.m. Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation

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HARMON’S DEN BISTRO 250 Pigeon St., Waynesville 828.456.6322. Harmon’s Den is located in the Fangmeyer Theater at HART. Open 5:309 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (Bistro closes at 7:30 p.m. on nights when there is a show in the Fangmeyer Theater) with Sunday brunch at 11 a.m. that includes breakfast and lunch items. Harmon’s Den offers a complete menu with cocktails, wine list, and area beers on tap. Enjoy casual dining with the guarantee of making it to the performance in time, then rub shoulders with the cast afterward with post-show food and beverage service. Reservations recommended. www.harmonsden.harttheatre.org HAZELWOOD FARMACY & SODA FOUNTAIN 429 Hazelwood Avenue, Waynesville. 828.246.6996. Open six days a week, closed Wednesday. 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

JOEY’S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley. 828.926.0212. Open seven days a week! 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. Joey’s is a family-friendly restaurant that has been serving breakfast to locals and visitors of Western North Carolina for decades. Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey’s is sure to please all appetites. Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s. JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era. KANINI’S 1196 N. Main St., Waynesville. 828.452.5187. Lunch Monday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., eat in or carry out. Closed Sunday. A made-from-scratch kitchen using fresh ingredients and supporting the local food and local farm-to-table program. Offering a variety of meals to go from frozen meals to be stored and cooked later to “Dinners to Go” that are made fresh and ready to enjoyed that day. We also spe-

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FIREFLY TAPS & GRILL 128 N. Main St., Waynesville 828.454.5400. Simple, delicious food. A must experience in WNC. Located in downtown Waynesville with an atmosphere that will warm your heart and your belly! Local and regional beers on tap. Full bar, vegetarian options, kids menu, and more. Reservations accepted. Daily specials. Live music every Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. Open Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter.

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tasteTHE mountains cialize in catering any event from from corporate lunches to weddings. Menus created to fit your special event. kaninis.com MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM 617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva. 828.586.3555. Open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. with Sunday Brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Handtossed pizza, house-ground burgers, steak sandwiches & fresh salmon all from scratch. Casual family friendly atmosphere. Craft beer and interesting wine. Free movies Thursday through Saturday. Visit madbatterfoodfilm.com for this week’s shows & events. MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open seasonally for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted. MAGGIE VALLEY RESTAURANT 2804 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. 828.926.0425. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Daily specials including soups, sandwiches and southern dishes along with featured dishes such as fresh fried chicken, rainbow trout, country ham, pork chops and more. Breakfast all day including omelets, pancakes, biscuits & gravy. facebook.com/carversmvr; instagram @carvers_mvr. PIGEON RIVER GRILLE 101 Park St., Canton. 828.492.1422. Open Tuesday through

Thursday 3 to 8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday noon to 6 p.m. Southerninspired restaurant serving simply prepared, fresh food sourced from top purveyors. Located riverside at Bearwaters Brewing, enjoy daily specials, sandwiches, wings, fish and chips, flatbreads, soups, salads, and more. Be sure to save room for a slice of the delicious house made cake. Relaxing inside/outside dining and spacious gathering areas for large groups. RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201 Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska. Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano. Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95. Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive, Canton 828.646.3750 895 Russ Ave., Waynesville 828.452.5822. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available. Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and

scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties. TAP ROOM BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville. 828.456.3551. Open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, the Tap Room Bar & Grill has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com. VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin. 828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville. 828.246.0927. Open Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Opened in May 2016, The Waynesville Pizza Company has earned a reputation for having the best hand-tossed pizza in the area. Featuring a custom bar with more than 20 beers and a rustic, family friendly dining room. Menu includes salads, burgers, wraps, hot and cold sandwiches, gourmet pizza, homemade desserts, and a loaded salad bar. The Cuban sandwich is considered by most to be the best in town.

February 9

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February 6-12, 2019

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Smoky Mountain News

Outside the bounds of time

Longtime WNC songwriter releases debut album

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER ucked up along a hillside overlooking Richland Creek and the Frog Level district of Waynesville is a cozy bungalow. The walls are covered with all types of artwork collected over the years. Shelves filled with books on world travel and Appalachian culture. Dozens of vinyl records lean against the corners of the back room. It’s the home of Chris Minick and his family. A longtime singer-songwriter and performer in Western North Carolina, the musician tends to the fireplace in his living room. It’s a cold and windy morning in Haywood County as Minick tosses another log into the woodstove. “I moved to Waynesville in 1983, just a week after my first Grateful Dead concert,” the 56-year-old chuckled. “I came up here to help my brother refurbish the old Palmer House and turn it into a bed and breakfast.” And now, some 36 years later, Minick has released his debut album. A collection his own material, “A Place to Go” (recorded by Ray Lyon at Balsam Pillow Studio in Waynesville) is simply a man, his guitar, a harmonica and some melodies to offer to any and all who lend an ear. “It may or may not appeal to people. Some people like it. Some people don’t think much about it or whatever. But, to me, it’s something I have that I can share that means a lot,” Minick modestly stated. “I was involved in [music] before I was out on my own, before I even had to make a living. And as I get older, it’ll be something I can hang onto to help me feel like there’s something in my life I can do and contribute to the world.” Originally from Winston-Salem, Minick has been around music as far back as he can remember. “Really as soon as I got home from the hospital when I was born. We had music in the house. My mom was a piano player. We were involved in the church. We had records galore and listened to records growing up,” Minick said. “When I was 5, my mom got me into the church choir, where I first started learning how to work with other people singing, looking at music and stuff like that. When I was in the seventh grade, I started playing the trumpet, got involved in the hand bell choir.” But, it wasn’t until Minick picked up guitar the summer after he graduated high school when music really got into his veins. “I was just in love with a lot of the rock and folk music I grew up with. I was always a little intimidated by [guitar]. I just thought it was beyond me to pick up something with six strings and make something come out of it,”

Singer-songwriter Chris Minick at his home in Waynesville. Garret K. Woodward photo

“It may or may not appeal to people. Some people like it. Some people don’t think much about it or whatever. But, to me, it’s something I have that I can share that means a lot.” — Chris Minick

Minick smiled. “I spent years listening to all that music. I had hundreds of songs memorized. And I realized it really wasn’t a big deal to learn a few chords and start putting the chords to the songs.” At the top of Minick’s musical influences was — and remains — the staggering works of Bob Dylan. “On the surface, [Bob Dylan songs] sound really simplistic, and some songs of his are, but there’s a lot of other ones that have these nooks and crannies to them,” Minick said. “And stylistically, I could relate to him. I’d hear people say, ‘Ah, Dylan can’t sing.’ But, to me, it was something I could relate to — it was real. It made me realize you had to find your own sound and take that and run with it, because you can’t be somebody else.”

When Minick arrived in Waynesville in the mid-1980s, he soon found himself picking up gigs at Bogart’s Restaurant & Tavern or The Town Pump in Black Mountain. He caught the performing bug, something still pushing the musician to get up there in front of a microphone week-in-and-week-out. “[Performing] is a release. It’s a natural inclination to want to learn songs you like. And if they have a meaning that taps into a bigger archetypal experience, then it’s a way you can share that with other people and be connected,” Minick said. “[With folk music], I think a lot of it, for me, was the messages in the songs. The fact that people could come up with a fairly simplistic approach to music with such a metaphorical message in a song.” Leaning back into his living room couch, Minick gazed over at the roaring woodstove. One could sense his thoughts bouncing around the bungalow, off of the artwork, off the bookshelves and, most importantly, off all those records in the corner — countless songs by his heroes that reside at the core of his being and ultimate path. “Of all the things I’ve done in my life, music’s the one thing that has been the most ingrained part of my life,” Minick said. “I’ve had a lot of odd jobs and ways to make money. I haven’t been necessarily successful in making music as a career. But, it has been sort of a goal — something still waiting to be achieved.”

Want to listen? If you’d like to stream and/or purchase “A Place to Go” by Chris Minick, you can go to chrisminick.hearnow.com. For more information on Minick and upcoming shows, visit www.chrisminickmusic.com.

BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Garret K. Woodward

HOT PICKS 1 2 3 4 5

The Women of Waynesville will host a “Manly Man Auction” at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.

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Smoky Mountain News

tanding in front of the ancient waterfall, I Folkmoot will hold the “Friendship Dinner” watched the lagoon celebrating the Lunar New Year from 6 to 8 p.m. sparkle like some long-lost Friday, Feb. 8, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center stash of emeralds and sapin Waynesville. phires. Splashing the frigid, The monthly “Cherokee Heritage Day” will flowing mountain water onto continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, my face, it felt like a baptism of at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. sorts at the altar of Mother Nature. As part of the Winter Arts Smokies Style series, On the eve of my 34th “The ART of Chocolate” will be held from noon to birthday this past Monday, I 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, in Waynesville. went for a run on one of my most favorite trails in the entire There will be an “Art & Wine Night” (aka: “Sip & world: Midnight Hole in the Dip”) from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Great Smoky Mountains B&C Winery in Maggie Valley. National Park, on the Eastern To some, probably most, 34 isn’t a mileTennessee/Western North Carolina border. stone. But, for me, it’s the end of wildest Total detachment. Total silence. On the rollercoaster of a year in my existence, the weekend, Midnight Hole is packed with beginning of a whole new chapter. tourists. On a Monday, nobody around. Just after my 33rd birthday last year, my It’s only when you’re immersed in nature life flipped upside down into a complete spithat you fully realize just how small you are ral. I was lost, foggy, with no sense of my in the grand scheme of things, and just how old jovial, devil-may-care self. For the first trivial things are that stress or worry you on time in my life, I didn’t recognize the face in a daily basis. You are one speck of beauty the mirror. It scared me. I wanted to feel amid the floating magical dust of existence. normal again. You also realize just how incredible it So, I did what I always do when I’m spintruly is to be here and alive in the world, this ning my wheels: hit the open road. I took off rock hurtling through space filled with up north and out west, up north again and all hopes, dreams and wonder, the breath of around the southeast and greater Southern humanity in utter awe of what today Appalachia. I tracked down old friends and brought, what may be in store for tomorrow made new ones. I laughed. I cried. I laughed and the day after that.

LIVE MUSIC

February 6-12, 2019

Don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear?

CASUAL FINE DINING WITH

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This must be the place

some more. I shared and radiated love to all who I hold up high and mighty. I did a lot of thinking during those thousands of endless miles. I always do a lot of thinking. Probably too much, truth-be-told. But, I suppose I’ve always been that old soul seeking out the big picture of whatever situation — good or bad — I found myself in. Someone recently said to me, “Sorry you had such crappy times last year. Here’s to onward and upward.” Yes, I’m all about the “onward and upward” part. But I also have been learning to embrace sadness as I’ve gotten older. Instead of avoiding it or running away from it, how about heading straight at it with everything you’ve got? Tackle it before it tackles you. I’m able to now find perspective even in sadness and dark times. And I feel lucky for that, to be able to see the big picture and appreciate the ability to be sad and why that emotional state is an important and vital part of life itself. The key to everything is to recognize the sadness and not be defined by it — at some point you must pull yourself out of it and into the next, bountiful chapter. And I ended the last days of 2018 having achieved my biggest dream as a writer: an article published by Rolling Stone. It seemingly came out-of-nowhere, but also was the culmination of over a decade of blood, sweat and tears in this haphazard industry. Y’all have witnessed the majority of those 12 years to the here and now of my passion (aka: career). And y’all always had my back, as I will always have yours, too. We’re all in this together. Don’t ever forget that. So, as 33 transitions to 34, I’m filled to the brim with love, compassion, and, most of all, gratitude: to you and yours, and to the cosmos and infinite universe, whose questions I’ll forever ponder, whose answers I’ll forever chase after with a reckless, joyous abandon. Picking up Jack Kerouac’s seminal novel On the Road is why I found myself on this current trajectory. He sparked a fire within me that’ll never dim. It grows brighter each and every year I find myself in the presence of birthday candles and loved ones. It’s a privilege to get old. Besides, it beats the alternative, eh? Another circle around the sun, and I think of Kerouac and On the Road, his immortal words that continue to echo within the walls of my soul: “So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old brokendown river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in Iowa I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars’ll be out, and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all the rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old …” Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.

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arts & entertainment

On the beat

‘Pour 40’ tour rolls on Jackson County jam/rock act Porch 40 will continue its “Pour 40” tour with a special performance around our region. Dates include 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, at Highland Brewing in Asheville (free); 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Franklin (free); 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, at Bold Rock Cidery in Mills River (free); 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at the Innovation Station (Innovation Brewing) in Dillsboro ($5 at the door); and alongside The Colby Deitz Band at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at Pisgah Brewing in Black Mountain ($7 advance/$10 day of show). For more information, visit www.porch40.com.

Porch 40.

• Andrews Brewing Company (Andrews) will host the “Lounge Series” at its Calaboose location with Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) Feb. 8, Andrew Chastain (singersongwriter) Feb. 9, Liz Nance (singer-songwriter) Feb. 15 and Jody West (singer-songwriter) Feb. 16. All shows are free and begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.andrewsbrewing.com.

February 6-12, 2019

• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host Jim & The Giant Jam 8 p.m. Feb. 8. All shows are free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com. • Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host an acoustic jam with Main St. NoTones from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 7 and 14. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com. • Boojum Brewing Company (Waynesville) will host a bluegrass open mic every Wednesday, an all-genres open mic every Thursday and Modern Strangers (pop/rock) 9 p.m. Feb. 16. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.boojumbrewing.com.

Smoky Mountain News

• City Lights Cafe (Sylva) will host A. Lee Edwards Feb. 9, Andy Sneed Feb. 15 and Jim Elenteny Feb. 16. All shows are free and

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host live music on Fridays and Saturdays. All shows are free and begin at 7:15 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com. • Harmon’s Den Bistro at HART (Waynesville) will host karaoke and an open mic at 8 p.m. on Saturdays. All are welcome. www.harttheatre.org. • Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Feb. 6 and 13, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Feb. 7 and 14. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

ALSO:

• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host Rossdafareye 2 p.m. Feb. 9 and Shane Meade 2 p.m. Feb. 17. All events are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.innovation-brewing.com. • Isis Music Hall (West Asheville) will host Lauren Anderson & Meg Williams (singersongwriter) 7 p.m. Feb. 6, Alexa Rose w/Kathryn O’Shea (Americana) 7 p.m. Feb. 7,

Quality Trailers, Quality Prices

Chuck Brodsky w/Chris Rosser (acoustic) 7 p.m. Feb. 8, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (world) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 8, David Bromberg Quintet (Americana) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 9, Matt Nakoa (folk/rock) 6 p.m. Feb. 10, Erika Wennerstrom (Americana/indie) 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10, Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions w/Weary Travelers (bluegrass) 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12, The Kennedys (acoustic) 7 p.m. Feb. 13 and Chris Wilhelm & Friends (Americana) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 13. www.isisasheville.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host an open mic night at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Dirty Dave Patterson Feb. 8, Porch 40 (jam/rock) 8:30 p.m. Feb. 9 and The UpBeats Feb. 16. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • The Macon County Public Library (Franklin) will host The Vagabonds (old country/gospel) at 2 p.m. Feb. 11. Free to attend. • Mad Anthony’s Taproom & Restaurant (Waynesville) will host Dallas Danger Feb. 9. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. • Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host the “Stone Soup” open mic night every

Tuesday. All shows are free and begin at 7 p.m. www.mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com. • Pub 319 (Waynesville) will host an open mic night from 8 to 11 p.m. every Wednesday. Free and open to the public. www.pub319socialhouse.com. • Salty Dog’s (Maggie Valley) will have Karaoke with Jason Wyatt at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, Mile High (classic rock) 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays, and a Trivia w/Kelsey Jo 8 p.m. Thursdays. • Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and live music on Friday evenings. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com. • The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com. • The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic Night” on Mondays and karaoke on Thursdays with semi-regular live music on Friday and Saturday. All events at 10 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.456.4750.

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On the street arts & entertainment

Cherokee Heritage Day

Cable Cemetery. Karen Marcus photo

‘Whispers in the Cemetery’ The monthly “Cherokee Heritage Day” will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. All day hands-on activities and fun for the whole family. Different activities each month that incorporate Cherokee culture. May include storytelling, painting, corn shuck doll making, making clay heart-shaped medallions, stamped card making, dance or music. Free and open to the public. The “Cherokee Heritage Day” is the second Saturday of every month (except June). For more information, visit www.visitcherokeenc.com.

Ready for the ‘Manly Man Auction’? Women of Waynesville will host a “Manly Man Auction” at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. The event will raise funds for the Haywood County Schools Foundation. Attendees will be able to bid on a variety of professional services, handyman services and date packages offered up by highlyqualified men in the community. Some of the bidding packages include lawn care services, firewood cutting services, a survival training camping trip for two, ballroom dancing lessons, percussion lessons, an estate plan, dog obediance training and more.

WOW member Celeste Ybanez, also the chief operating officer of Frog Level Brewing, is campaigning to be crowned Queen at the school foundation’s annual Mardi Gras Ball on Feb. 23 — to win she has to raise the most funds for the foundation. All donations will benefit the foundation’s mission of providing classroom grants for teachers and scholarships for graduating seniors. In the last few years, WOW members have helped raise more than $25,000 for the schools foundation. WOW’s mission is to support the needs of women and children in Haywood County. There is no cover charge for the “Manly Man Auction” event. If you have a service you would like to donate for the auction, call 828.550.9978.

@SmokyMtnNews

Smoky Mountain News

To honor and celebrate the region’s multicultural heritage, Southwestern Community College’s diversity committee will sponsor its inaugural Cultural Fusion Festival on Wednesday, March 27, on the college’s Jackson Campus. The event’s theme is “How We all Got Here,” and it will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. In conjunction with the festival, the committee will sponsor an arts, literature and video contest. Submissions are being accepted through March 1 (postmarked or received) in the following categories: • Art (multi-media) • Literature (poetry, short stories, prose) • Performance (video) “We’re excited about celebrating all the ways that people from entirely different parts of the globe have come together to create such a unique culture in Western North Carolina,” said Susan Cain, SCC’s

Communications Instructor who is helping to coordinate the event. “This contest is the perfect opportunity to showcase all of the wonderful talent our region has to offer. We are hoping to draw a large number of entries.” The winner of each category will receive a $100 prize. Committee members will determine the winners, who will be announced at 12:30 p.m. during the festival. The competition is open to residents of Jackson, Macon, Swain Counties and the Qualla Boundary as well as to SCC students and alumni. All work must be related to WNC’s fusion of multiple cultures, such as AfricanAmerican, Latino, Native American, Scotch-Irish and many others. Only previously unpublished work may be submitted. Prose should not exceed 2,000 words. All writing must be double-spaced and submitted on paper or via email attachment. Each page must be numbered, and the author’s name, address, telephone number and email address should be included on the last page of each submission. For more information, contact Cain at 828.339.4226 or s_cain@southwesterncc.edu.

February 6-12, 2019

Submissions sought for SCC’s Cultural Fusion Festival

The Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society will host the presentation “Whispers in the Cemetery: The Stones Tell All” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. Grave stones are often a rich resource for genealogy research and carry messages portraying a person’s life or what someone wanted others to remember. Those messages were expressed thru epitaphs, symbols and art reflecting religious affiliation, occupation, social status, and other aspects about the deceased. In this presentation, Karen Marcus will share some of the history and symbols of these messages from cemeteries in our area and how these can be used to solve some genealogical mysteries often encountered.

Marcus started doing genealogy in the 1980s and loves making discoveries of family connections and solving genealogical mysteries. Native of Swain County and a graduate of Swain High, her family roots come from the Enloe, Buchanan, Jones, Crisp, Marcus and other lines that have been in Western North Carolina since the early 1800s and in North Carolina as early as 1755 having had a land grant in Eastern North Carolina. She is a member of several genealogy societies, does the programing and publicity for our society, and is also active with the Northshore Cemetery Association. She holds three different graduate degrees with one of those being from Western Carolina University. Written directions are on the Swain County Genealogy website www.swaingenealogy.com. Conversation and refreshments will follow the presentation. This is free and open to the public.

February 6-12, 2019

arts & entertainment

On the table

Bees, beer and more

Introducing the new “Pint & Pollinator Tour,” a partnership between Waynesville businesses Leap Frog Tours and Spriggly’s Beescaping. This new and educational experience will run every from 1 to 4 p.m. every Friday in February and March. Begin the journey by meeting at the Asheville Museum of Science to see Spriggly’s Insect Exploration Station. This exhibit space features a rotating series of interactive installations focused on the fascinating world of insects. Currently installed is an exhibit highlighting the habitat needed for insects during winter and inclement weather, titled, “Where do Insects Hide When it is Cold Outside?” While at the museum, enjoy a special lesson in bees and pollination, along with seed bomb making. After the museum, the journey continues to the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center to see exhibits, walk a short trail, and learn more about pollinators. At the final stop, visit Whistle Hop Brewing Company for a pint of beer or a

Smoky Mountain News

‘Valentine Cabaret & Dinner Show’

The “Valentine Cabaret & Dinner Show” will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 15-16 at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. An evening of Broadway classics, pop standards, heart-pounding love songs as a troupe of singing actors present dinner, fun, laughs and a few surprises, all served up live on the stage. Space is limited. Advanced tickets suggested. Tickets are $20, which includes dinner and a show. For more information or to RSVP, call 866.273.4615 or click on www.greatmountainmusic.com. Presented in conjunction with the Christian Training Center International. Presented by the Overlook Theatre Company.

non-alcoholic beverage of your choice. The brewery features select drafts which use fruit flavors and/or honey in the brewing process; both ingredients would not be possible without pollinators. While enjoying a drink, they will discuss the many ways pollinators impact the food and beverage industry. After a drink, the tour finishes with transportation back to the Asheville Museum of Science. The tour is three hours starting at the Asheville Museum of Science with roundtrip transportation back to the museum. The tour is open to all ages and is family friendly, with tickets at $85 per adult and $75 per child. The ticket price includes all educational talks, seed bombs, museum admission, one drink, and transportation. Discounts are available for active and retired military service. Private tours are also available. For further details and to reserve your tickets, visit www.leapfrogtours.com and click on “tours,” or call 828.246.6777.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a “Valentine’s Wine Dinner” from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14. Four-course gourmet meal with wine recommendations. Price is $44.99 per person plus wine. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com. • A “Valentine’s Day Dinner & Movie” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 14, at Firefly Taps & Grill in Waynesville. Prime rib dinner special for two with champagne and two tickets to see “An Affair to Remember” just down the street at The Strand at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $69 per couple plus tax and tip. 828.454.5400.

ALSO:

• The Fines Creek Community Association will present a “Valentine’s Dinner & Dance” from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Fines Creek Community Center. Music, food,

Lunar New Year Friendship Dinner Folkmoot will hold the “Friendship Dinner” celebrating the Lunar New Year from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center, located in the Historic Hazelwood School at 112 Virginia Avenue in Waynesville. Lunar New Year, commemorated in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Tibet, is observed Feb 5-19 at the turn of the lunisolar calendar, a calendar based on both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. It is known as “Spring Festival” in modern China, with 2019 the “Year of the Pig” and is predicted to bring health, wealth and happiness to those who avoid conflicts and excessive gambling. Some spiritual pundits suggest that the “Year of the Earth Pig” is also a great time to love bacon. Folkmoot’s Lunar New Year Dinner is hosted by Chinese language students and their teachers. Guests at this celebration will learn about the various cultures of Asia and enjoy a music and dance performance and traditional Chinese foods including dumplings, bam bam chicken, garlic broccoli and Yangzhou style fried rice. Participants will also have an opportunity for Chinese paper cutting, calligraphy, origami and language lessons. Tickets are $18 for adults, $10 for students. Limited seating is available. Purchase Lunar New Year tickets in advance by calling 828.452.2997 or purchasing electronically at www.folkmoot.org. Parking is available in the back of the Folkmoot building for yearround events. Folkmoot’s year-round programming initiatives have been made possible by the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Folkmoot is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating many cultures in one community.

door prizes and more. Steak dinner with the all the fixings is $12 each. Children under age 8: free hot dog dinner with paying adult. 828.593.7042. Proceeds will benefit the community needs of Fines Creek. • Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a beer tasting with AleSmith Brewing from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. Free and open to the public. www.blueridgebeerhub.com. • A free wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Feb. 9 and 16 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.631.3075. • Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

On the table arts & entertainment

‘The ART of Chocolate’

Sip &Dip Art & Wine Night

February 9, 6-8pm Join us and let your creativity flow! per person $

plus tax Includes all materials to paint, a glass of wine & finger foods!

This Month,

Romance is in

the Air

All levels Welcome! Painters under 21 will have other beverage options.

winesbydesign.chris@aol.com Hosted by

B&C Winery, Kirby Phillips your Art Instructor.

2499 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley

Y O U R T I C K E T T O A G R E AT N I G H T

COLT FORD & THE LACS

DWIGHT YOAKAM

FEBRUARY 15

MARCH 9

TRAVIS TRITT, THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND & THE CADILLAC THREE APRIL 27

AARON LEWIS THE STATE I’M IN TOUR MAY 3

Smoky Mountain News

• High Country Style — Enjoy chocolate treats as you shop. • Mast General Store — Sample the many different chocolate candies all day long. • Moose Crossing Burl Wood Gallery — Chocolate moose. • Olde Brick House — Come by for your Hershey’s Kisses and when you purchase two chocolate teas, receive an additional tea of any type of equal or less value free. • Pleasant Places — Complimentary chocolates with a $10 purchase or more. • RE/MAX Executive — Balloon animals, hats and valentines from 3 to 6 p.m. Chocolate surprise noon to 6 p.m. • Sunburst Market — Chocolate heaven flourless cakes tasting and sparkling wines. • The Jeweler’s Workbench — Master Chocolatier Timothy McGuire will be demonstrating chocolate making techniques and provide tastings from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sheri Burch, master metalsmith and jewelry instructor, will be hosting four of her student’s work along with jewelry making demonstrations throughout the day. Steeplechase toffee tastings. • The Kitchen Shop — A complimentary “Sweet Treat” with any $25 purchase. Chocolate samples galore. • The Strand — Hot cocoa and mocha lattes and the film “Chocolat” with the incomparable Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche at 1 and 4 p.m. Movie tickets are $5. • TPennington Art Gallery — Chocolate Recipe Exchange with four special chocolate desserts, and a guessing game everyone can play with a giveaway to the winner. • Twigs & Leaves Gallery — Dave & Judy Horn, owners of the Corn Husk Shoppe will demonstrate from 3 to 6 p.m. Marna Dodson on the piano. Array of chocolate treats will be served. For more information, click on www.downtownwaynesville.com.

February 6-12, 2019

As part of the Winter Arts Smokies Style series, “The ART of Chocolate” will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, in Waynesville. Sponsored by the Waynesville Gallery Association, several merchants and restaurants plan to offer entertainment, special chocolate surprises and other specials. Look for the “red hearts” designating the establishments with specials. Take a photo with the “Queen of Hearts” mascot and collect a red beaded necklace. Face painting is $5 per face. Bring school-age clothing to any gallery for “Clothes to Kids.” From 3 to 6 p.m. gallery events will host artist demonstrations, music, entertainment and chocolate refreshments: • Affairs of the Heart — Complimentary chocolate hearts and “Spin the Wheel” for a discount or free prize. • Beverly Hanks Real Estate — Hot chocolate bar from noon to 4 p.m. • Blue Ridge Beer Hub — Special chocolate beer on tap and complimentary chocolate cookies. • Cedar Hill Studio — Artist demonstration by Ernestine Bucking and Cayce Moyer from 1 to 4 p.m., banjo and tongue drum music with Jeff McCoy 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments and many items in the gallery discounted 10-15 percent. • Dillsboro Chocolate Factory — Buy five and get one free hand dipped chocolate, truffles and shooters. • Ellie’s Fine Resale — Chocolate pretzels and a 25-percent discount on all merchandise. • Firefly Taps & Grill — Decadent chocolate dessert and hot chocolate with Bailey’s cocktail. • Haywood County Arts Council — Artist demonstration with Francoise Lynch at 2 p.m. Enjoy hot chocolate and the music of Betina Morgan on the harp from 3 to 6 p.m.

RSVP by February 8 828-550-3610 or

@HarrahsCherokee Visit ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-745-3000 to purchase tickets. Show(s) subject to change or cancellation. Must be 21 years of age or older to enter casino ﬂoor and to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. An Enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. ©2019, Caesars License Company, LLC.

On the stage

On the wall

arts & entertainment

WCU School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition

Smoky Mountain News

February 6-12, 2019

HPAC Live via Satellite The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present the National Theatre of London’s production of “I’m Not Running” Live via Satellite at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. “I’m Not Running” is an explosive political drama exploring personal choices and their public consequences. Pauline Gibson is a junior doctor, who becomes the face of a campaign to save her local hospital. She’s thrust from angel of the National Health Service (NHS), to becoming an independent Member of Parliament. In the Houses of Parliament, she crosses paths with her university boyfriend, Jack Gould, a stalwart Labour loyalist, climbing the ranks of the party. As pressure mounts on Pauline to run for leadership of the Labour party, she faces an agonizing decision. Tickets are available at www.highlandspac.org or at the door. All students are admitted free of charge.

Open call for HART actors

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will hold auditions for its 2019 main stage season Feb. 10-11 at the theatre in Waynesville. Directors of all of the main stage productions will be present and all roles are open. HART is principally a community theater and preference is given to those auditioning as volunteers. Those auditioning as professionals are expected to have a prepared monologue, professional headshot and resume, professional experience and training. Community 28 theater actors do not have to have pictures

• “Dancing Through the Ages” classes will be held at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 1, 8, 15 and 22 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Join dance instructor Jada Bryson for a beginner dance class focusing on Baroque, Waltz, and English Country styles. They will host a grand finale ball at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Everyone is welcome to participate. Partner and/or friend participation is encouraged, but not necessary.

ALSO:

• There is free comedy improv class from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday in Maggie Valley. No experience necessary, just come to watch or join in the fun. Improv teacher Wayne Porter studied at Sak Comedy Lab in Orlando, Florida, and performed improvisation with several groups. Join Improv WNC on Facebook or just call 828.316.8761 to RSVP for directions.

or resume’s and will simply be asked to cold read selected scenes. Those interested in being considered for musical roles, professionals and community theater actors, should bring sheet music for a song they have prepared. An accompanist will be on hand to play. Actors are asked to keep songs to a maximum of 32 bars. The shows being cast are “The Foreigner,” “Bridges of Madison County the musical,” “Stardust Supper Club Review,” “Oliver,” “A Facility for Living,” “Mamma Mia,” “The Crucible” and “Arsenic and Old Lace.” The HART Theatre is at 250 Pigeon Street in Waynesville. Anyone interested in working backstage is encouraged to attend. www.harttheatre.org.

The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center is pleased to present the School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition 2019, which will be on display through May 3. Outside of the classroom, faculty members in the School of Art and Design are active artists and scholars that make significant contributions to the arts. They regularly exhibit in venues across the globe, from New York to Los Angeles to Japan and speak at major conferences in their fields. The School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition provides students and the public an opportunity to view recent work created by these distinguished faculty members whose primary research output is studio based. Exhibiting School of Art and Design Faculty: Erin Adams, Tom Ashcraft, Heather Mae Erickson, Jon Jicha, Justin Morgan Kennedy, Kevin Kirkpatrick, Ron Laboray, Mary Anna LaFratta, Matt Liddle, Susan Alta Martin, Greg McPherson, Leigh Ann

Parrish, Nathan Perry, Laura Sellers, Erin Tapley, and Richard Tichich The faculty in the WCU School of Art and Design bring to the studio and classroom a commitment to the process of innovation and skill-building as well as their range of experience as makers, collaborators, and researchers. Collectively, the faculty

have received recognition and support from Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Endowment for the Arts. All WCU Fine Art Museum exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public. For further information, visit arts.wcu.edu/biennial or call 828.227.3591.

Cherokee art showcase at WCU The exhibit “Outspoken: Paintings by America Meredith” will be on display through May 3 at the Fine Art Museum Gallery B in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University. This showcase draws particular attention to the importance of language in Meredith’s work, bringing together paintings that incorporate Cherokee syllabary, reference Cherokee oral histories, and pair found-object text with visual imagery. The WCU Fine Art Museum is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Free parking is available. www.facebook.com/americameredithart.

Uptown Gallery reception, presentation The Uptown Gallery in Franklin will host two upcoming events. • There will be an opening reception for the Uptown Gallery and Macon County Art Association from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8. New art work for the February through April season will include two- and three-dimensional fine art, ceramics, fabric art, jewelry, photography, and a wide range of one of a kind gift items created by award winning local artists. • The MCAA and the Uptown Gallery will sponsor a presentation by Jason Rizzo entitled, “Focusing Your Focus: Improving Composition for Photography and Painting,” which will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11. This educational presentation will be the program during the monthly MCAA meeting. The gallery is located at 30 Main Street in Franklin. For additional information about the gallery or classes, please call 828.349.4607, email franklinuptowngallery@gmail.com or click on www.franklinuptowngallery.com.

On the wall arts & entertainment

WWI exhibit at Mountain Heritage Center Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center is currently hosting an exhibit to commemorate World War I and the centennial of the end of hostilities in the “war to end all wars.” “I Want You! How World War I Transformed Western North Carolina” is on display in the museum’s first floor gallery, located in Hunter Library. It features wartime images and artifacts, as well as examples of propaganda used to build support for the war effort. It highlights local individuals who served, such as Ransom Coward, a Jackson County soldier, and Lula Owl Gloyne, a member of the Eastern Band

There will be an “Art & Wine Night” (aka: “Sip & Dip”) from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the B&C Winery in Maggie Valley. Admission is $35 per person (plus tax), which includes all materials to paint, a glass of wine and finger foods. All skill levels welcome. Painters under age 21 will have other beverage options. RSVP by Feb. 8. Call 828.550.3610 or email winesbydesign.chris@aol.com.

Waynesville, Canton Library art showcase

• A “Beginner Step-By-Step” painting class will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursdays at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Cost is $25 with all supplies provided. For more informa-

• “The Things They Don’t Teach You In School” series will hold an origami class in collaboration with The Bascom from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. No experience necessary. All materials provided. For ages 18-30. • The Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) Campus Theme, the “Defining America” exhibit brings together artists with different perspectives on the concept of “America” and asks visitors to reflect on the values, definitions, and assumptions attached to this concept. The exhibition will be on view through May 3 at the Bardo Arts Center. Regular museum hours at the BAC are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays until 7 p.m. 828.227.ARTS or visit bardoartscenter.wcu.edu.

ALSO:

• Haywood Community College (Clyde) Continuing Education Creative Arts will host “Introduction to Bladesmithing” March 1819, as well as the “Smoky Mountain Hammer-In” March 21-24. creativearts.haywood.edu or call 828.565.4240. • Mad Batter Food & Film (Sylva) will host a free movie night at 7:30 p.m. every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. www.madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

What Are Cannabinoids? Cannabinoids are a group of closely related compunds that act on cannbinoid receptors in the body, unique to cannabis (or hemp). The body creates compounds called endocannabinoids, while hemp produces phytocannabinoids, notably cannabidiol. Cannabinoids is traditionally used for pain, sleep, and ﬁbermyalgia. Alzheimer’s Migraines Asthma Breast Cancer

Diabetes Crohn’s Disease

Prostate Cancer Menstrual Cancer

CBD has traditionally been used for: Anxiety/Depression Seizures Pain/Fibromyalgia Nausea/Vomiting Sleep Tremors PTSD ADHD/ADD Autism

The Endocannabinoid System is perhaps the most important physiologic systerm involved in establishing and maintaining human health. Although the endocannabinoid system affects a wide variety of biological processes, experts believe that its overall function is to regulate homeostasis.

Smoky Mountain News

There will several local artisans on display at the Waynesville and Canton libraries through March. Artists at the Waynesville Library will include Patty Johnson Coulter (painter), Linda Blount (painter), Jason Woodard (painter) and Mollie Harrington-Weaver (painter). Artists at the Canton Library will include Russell Wyatt (photographer) and Ashley Calhoun (painter). www.haywoodarts.org.

tion on paint dates and/or to RSVP, contact Robin Arramae at 828.400.9560 or paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com.

facebook.com/smnews

February 6-12, 2019

Maggie Valley ‘Sip & Dip’

of Cherokee Indians who served as an Army nurse and a commissioned officer. World War I took place from July 1914 until November 1918, with the U.S. involved in the European military action beginning in April 1917. The exhibit was created by Mountain Heritage Center staff with support from the Library of Congress, WCU’s Special Collections and the “Defining America” theme committee on campus, as well as the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. It will be on display through Friday, April 26. This month, the exhibit will be supplemented by elements from the “North Carolina in the Great War” exhibit from the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 828.227.7129.

366 RUSS AVE, WAYNESVILLE | 828.452.0911

BiLo Shopping Center | facebook.com/kimspharmacy

arts & entertainment

WAYNESVILLE OFFICE 74 North Main Street | (828) 634-7333

Smoky Mountain News

February 6-12, 2019

Get details on any property in the MLS. Go to beverly-hanks.com and enter the MLS# into the quick search.

Westview | 4BR, 4BA | $999,997 | MLS#3377888

Clyde | 2BR, 2BA $95,000 | MLS#3467004

Canton | 2BR, 1BA $105,000 | MLS#3466446

Clyde | 3BR, 2BA $158,500 | MLS#3468381

Canton | 2BR, 1BA $165,000 | MLS#3467522

Clyde | 3BR, 1BA, 1HB $169,000 | MLS#3469782

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Books

Smoky Mountain News

Falling in love with a writer later marry, her struggles with the Church, and her ups-and-downs as a poet. So how do I love thee, Patricia Lockwood?

Jeff Minick

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and I have fallen in love. Again. Three years ago, Nina George entranced me with her novel The Little Paris Bookshop. Ah, Nina, Nina, Nina: she won my heart, and I still open that fine tale once a month or so, rereading certain passages and always delighted by her romantic take on life and the ways of the human heart. For the last 10 years, Mark Helprin Writer and his A Soldier of the Great War have also held me in thrall. (Yes, I am a bi-bibliosexual.) Alessandro, the novel’s hero, draws me back again and again with his wisdom, kindness, and erudition. And now Cupid, that wicked little devil, has once again drawn his bow and released his arrow straight into my word-loving heart. I almost turned my back on Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy: A Memoir (Riverhead Books, 2017, 336 pages). That book winked at me from the bookshelf in the public library, but after flipping through the pages, I sighed and returned her to her companions. But she kept whispering, “Oh, come on, I think we’d be good together,” and so 10 minutes later I returned and picked her up. Two days together, and she had my full attention. After another day I was, as I say, in love. Priestdaddy is, quite simply, one of the most loving, most humorous, most insightful, most poetic, and most generous memoirs I have ever read. Here Lockwood, age 35, brings us her family: her father, a Lutheran pastor turned Catholic priest, a political and cultural conservative who loves to play electric guitar and lounge around in his underwear; her mother, a fanatic about health and diet who is a devout believer with a ribald sense of the absurd; and her siblings. Lockwood also tells her own story, her adolescent years in a strict but loving Catholic home, her running away from home at 19 with Jason, a man she will

Let me count the ways. First, Lockwood is a poet, published as such, and she has the connoisseur’s taste for words and syntax. Of her sister and singing she writes: “My sister stayed on the home note, and she never walked outside of the church. She will take fresh breaths of the cathedral as long as she lives, and empty her

dead breaths into it, and in the midst of all that lofted air, her voice will keep climbing, surrounded by its angels, and the arches of their wings.” Priestdaddy and Patricia Lockwood also brought me a mountain of mirth, which is what lovers do. Real lovers tell us something wicked or bawdy, and and delight us, and we burst with laughter, which brings strange looks from those around us. Below are a few of Lockwood’s lines, funnier when you have read them in context, but still sparkling here: On her father and hunting (he was terrible at it): “Because my father wasn’t allowed to hunt hippies, he decided to settle for hunting deer instead.” On her father’s refusal to wear a seatbelt: “Why would he ever want to be safe? What was he, a little girl? A miniature woman? A babylady? John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, huge hairy Samson form the Bible — those men didn’t wear seatbelts.” On her sister’s home-schooled Catholic children: “In the course of regular conversation, they sometimes burst into Latin. In regular children, this would indicate a need to call the exorcist ….” On her mother and her ignorance of computers: “Starting at midnight, she opens her laptop and begins reading the Internet aloud.

How long can it take? she reasons. Five hundred pages at MOST.” On the seminarian who lives with them for a while: “He was born, like many seminarians, at the age of sixty-five, with a pipe in his mouth and a glass of port in his hand.” Then there is her take on Catholicism and conservatism. Lockwood no longer practices the Catholic faith in which she was raised. She is a progressive and a feminist. Yet she writes of her childhood, of her parents, of conservatives, and of orthodox Catholics with a civility, a tenderness, and a smile rare today in our public square. She writes what she knows, her life and the life of her family, and of those eccentricities she finds in herself and others. Whether she agrees with her father’s ideas about God or her mother’s take on the Virgin Mary — she doesn’t — is immaterial. She writes as she does vibrant with love, telling us, perhaps unintentionally, that while ideas, faith, and politics are important, so too are the human beings in our lives. In the last paragraph of Priestdaddy, Lockwood writes that “A family never recognizes its own idylls while it’s living them, while it’s all spread out on the red-and-white checked cloth, while the picnic basket is still open and before the ants have found the sugar, when everyone is still lying in the light with their hearts peeled and in loose sweet segments, doing one long Sunday’s worth of nothing. It recognizes them later, when people are gone, or moved away, or colder toward each other. This is about that idyll … and I am giving it no chance to grow cold.” Thank you for Priestdaddy, Patricia Lockwood. You served up the idyll piping hot. Now, a personal note and a warning: I am a believing Catholic (and sometimes a damned bad one), yet I found Lockwood’s presentation of the Faith humorous and true. Others more rigid than I might decry some of her humor as blasphemy. Oh, well. I always was a fool for a merry woman who knows that words and language are holy. (Jeff Minick is a writer and teacher. minick0301@gmail.com.)

Outdoors

Smoky Mountain News

‘Effort like they’ve never had to give’ Farmers get older and fewer, but hope remains for ag’s future

Wendy and Graham Brugh of Dry Ridge Farm in Madison County push a chicken tractor. Sarah Jones Decker/ASAP photo BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER Zac Guy grew up on the back of a tractor. His father worked in sales and his mother was a postal carrier, but Guy’s grandfather Louie Reece was a commercial beef farmer, raising cattle as well as the hay and corn silage they needed to thrive on his farm in Bethel. “Some of the fondest memories I have of growing up was time spent around livestock and with my grandfather on a tractor,” said Guy, who is now 41 and lives in Waynesville with his wife and three sons. “To this day I can get on a tractor, and it’s almost like a time warp.” Guy enters that time warp quite often while tending his 1,800-acre cattle farm, and he does so atop the same tractor his grandfather used all those years ago. Reece used to pencil himself notes on the hood of that tractor, rubbing them off and replacing them with new messages as the years wore on. The tractor is still chugging along, penciled notes still legible on its hood. But unlike his grandfather, Guy doesn’t farm full-time, and he doesn’t even farm in Western North Carolina. His rented 1,800 acres are located near Abingdon, Virginia, where the land is less expensive and easier to work. As a kid, he never expected that his adult life would include farming at all. “I never even considered it,” said Guy. “I had bright lights and shooting for the moon expectations and got my engineering and my

master’s of business at N.C. State and took some post-grad stuff from Harvard and jumped into the business world.” Guy’s career path brought him to the head of the business unit for Fortune 500 pharmaceutical manufacturer Baxter Health Care, as well as to the post of quality and manufacturing director for industry-leading chemical companies. But he’s an entrepreneur at heart, and in 2004 Guy went full-time with a business he’d kept as a side hustle since high school — building with reclaimed hardwood. He’s now the owner of Bethel-based Appalachian Antique Hardwoods, LLC. He started raising cattle about 10 years ago, a decision that had more to do with giving his sons — ages 14, 11 and 9 — a quality childhood than with supplementing his income. “Sometimes you make a little bit of money farming. Most of the time you don’t, but our mentality was if it gives our children the opportunity to have that set of skills, those experiences, those challenges, it’s a good investment into our family,” Guy said.

TROUBLING STATISTICS Farming has always been a hard business, and in many ways it’s only getting harder. People like Guy — people who decide to start farming as young adults in their 20s and 30s — are becoming increasingly rare as farmland acreage continues to dwindle. In 1945, the average North Carolina farmer was 46.6 years old, farming 64.8 acres

of the total 18.6 million acres of farmland in the state, which was home to 287,412 farms, according to farm census data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By 1992, the average age had risen to 54.7 years even as the average farm size more than doubled to 172 acres. However, the number of farms had plummeted to 51,854 operations totaling 8.9 million acres — just 47.8 percent of the acreage present in 1945. The most recent USDA census, completed in 2012, showed those trends progressing even further, with the average age hitting 56.9 years in North Carolina and the average farm size moderating somewhat to 168 acres as the number of farms fell to 50,218 operations on 8.4 million acres. Another census was taken in 2017, but those results have not yet been published. According to a 2018 report from American Farmland Trust, nearly 31 million acres of agricultural land nationwide were lost to development between 1992 and 2012 — about the size of the entire state of North Carolina. The trend is even sharper in Western North Carolina than in the state as a whole. In 2012, the average age of a farmer was 60.6 in Haywood County, 60.1 in Jackson, 60.7 in Macon and 55.5 in Swain, though the much smaller sample size in Swain County could have produced a misleading average. Swain County reported 94 farming operations in 2012 compared to 245 in Jackson, the nextsmallest county, and 597 in Haywood, the

largest. While the number of farmland acres decreased by 5.8 percent statewide from 1992 to 2012, it fell by 30 percent during the same period in Haywood County, even while rising slightly in Jackson and Macon. That’s because WNC has a different story than the state as a whole, said Charlie Jackson, executive director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project in Asheville. The region’s agriculture legacy has been largely shaped by the rise and fall of tobacco, with nine counties in the 20-county burley tobacco region of Appalachian North Carolina — Haywood is included in the nine-county burley belt while Jackson, Macon and Swain are not — producing 95 percent of WNC’s tobacco sales in 1997. Tobacco farming provided a profitable and dependable income, due largely to a federal quota program that prevented overproduction from driving down prices. But changing social opinion on tobacco use and the eventual dismantling of the tobacco program changed all that — where 50 years ago WNC was home to thousands of tobacco farms, said Jackson, that number is now in the dozens. “The uniqueness of the tobacco program, I can’t imagine how that could be reinstated around any kind of crop,” said Jackson. “It was just a really special thing. It’s unfortunate in a way that we’re having to compare things to it because there’s just not going to be anything like it again.”

THE WORLD’S BIGGEST GAMBLER It’s not all about tobacco. Farming is just a hard profession, and veteran farmers are quick to say that it’s only gotten harder as the years go by. “When I started farming in 1974 I was on my own farm, leased some farms, what we grew we got a good price for,” said Don Smart, a Haywood County farmer who keeps dairy cows and beef cattle and grows vegetables, grain and tobacco. “If I graduated from N.C. State today, 45 years later, and wanted to farm, it would be impossible. I could not do it. I could not make enough to pay my health insurance, and there’s no land available.” Smart remembers how, as a young guy, when someone asked him why he wanted to become a farmer he would respond that it was because he wanted to be able to say he’d survived the world’s toughest industry. “I thought it was funny, but now that I’m 66 with all the aches and pains showing up, I didn’t get as wealthy as I thought I would,” said Smart. “I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of what I said.” The escalating price of inputs is much of the trouble, said Smart. When he started farming, for example, a tractor cost about $10,000. Now it’s $60,000 or $70,000, but his tomatoes are selling for about the same price that they did back then. “The inputs have gone up and up and up, yet on the general wholesale market the prices have stayed pretty much

crop within minutes. “If you want to talk to a gambler, talk to a farmer, the world’s biggest gambler,” said Guy. “He puts everything he’s got into it — time, heart, money — and he gambles on the fact that crop’s going to come to fruition and make some money. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t.”

Walker Guy rides a tractor that originally belonged to his great-grandfather with help from his uncle Wade Reece. Guy Brothers Farms photo

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SUCCESSION PLANNING

S EE FARMS, PAGE 34

Rogers Shelton, William Shelton’s father, examines the lettuce crop in 2014. ASAP photo

Smoky Mountain News

Shelton has four sons, ages ranging from 16 to 23, and while none of them have said they definitely will not take over the family farm, Shelton doesn’t have any expectation that a single one will ultimately take up farming as a career. “I feel like it’s their life,” he said. “Looking back on it I have loved, loved the farming, but it has been challenging and stressful and I don’t know that I would wish that part on anybody. But that said, somebody has to do it. Somebody has to pick up the torch and carry it. It somehow needs to evolve in a way that it is feasible and doable for young people to get into.” Between them, only 46 farms in Haywood, Jackson, Swain and Macon counties had principal operators aged 34 or younger in 2012, according to the USDA census — just 3.6 percent of the total 1,262 farms recorded there that year. When looking at those stats, said Jackson, it’s important to note that the total number of farms includes more than a few operations that were never intended to provide much in the way of income. Many older landowners, especially, will continue to run a small number of cattle because that’s what they’ve always done, and because keeping at least minimally involved in agriculture has significant tax implications — agricultural land is taxed at a lower rate than other types. “Farming is different than a lot of other occupations where essentially you just don’t retire, so there are a lot of farmers that are counted by the census who maybe have some cows grazing,” said Jackson. “They’re not necessarily very active farmers. My great-uncle did this into his 90s.” Still, it’s hard to deny that the average age is high, and getting higher. As the generation of farmers that as of 2012 made up 55.4 percent of the principal operators in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties — those age 60 and older — passes away, the question will be, what will happen to the land they once farmed? Development offers by far the best price per acre, but once a house is built on a piece of land it’s nigh impossible to turn it back into farmland. Some young people still do embrace the farming lifestyle. Two of those 46 young farmers in WNC are siblings Afton Roberts and Nate Darnell, who together operate Darnell Farms in Swain County, along with their spouses and children. “When I was young I knew I wanted to farm, and I wanted to do what my dad did because I thought all you had to do was work hard and be honest and you’d be fine, because that’s how this country was built,”

February 6-12, 2019

the same,” agreed William Shelton, operator of Shelton Family Farm in Whittier. “I remember in the mid-80s I was paying, I don’t know, $3.50 an hour for labor. Propane was 60 cents a gallon instead of two-something a gallon. Fertilizer was reasonably priced per ton as opposed to today.” Other challenges have developed as well. For many small farmers, food safety regulations are a big obstacle — the Food Safety Modernization Act, which former President Barack Obama signed into law in 2011, gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration broad new powers to prevent, detect and respond to food safety issues. A worthy goal, perhaps, but these regulations include a marked increase in recordkeeping requirements for farmers, including type, amount and frequency of chemicals applied; weather conditions during those applications; inspections of fields to ensure no wild animals or animal waste contacts the crops; and countless more. For a farmer who’s already hard-pressed to make payroll and get his own to-do list done, meeting those requirements can be near impossible. “If a bird poops on a plant, if you have 15 acres of something and 5,000 plants to an acre, that’s 55,000 plants,” said Nate Darnell, operator at Darnell Farms in Swain County. “You have to find that one plant that got that on it and inspect it daily. It made the industry more expensive, and sometimes when you make something more expensive everybody recoups their money except the guy at the beginning.” Labor is another challenge. Most farmers will tell you that it’s hard to get Americans to reliably and competently do the physical labor required to sustain a fruit and vegetable operation — the industry has long been dependent on Hispanic labor, and that labor has become harder to get. According to Smart, that’s because the federal government is reluctant to give out work permits and instead requires farmers to go through the H2A program, which effectively requires them to pay laborers $15 an hour when workman’s compensation, housing and transportation requirements are factored in. “You just can’t pay $15 an hour and grow $8 tomatoes,” said Smart. “Tomatoes need to be $15, $16 a box, and they’re not bringing it because there’s a lot of tomatoes grown all over the world.” The American farmer has a hard time competing with foreign imports, said Smart — it’s so much cheaper to grow and harvest crops where regulations are fewer and labor cheaper, so as long as the market is flooded with vegetables from across the globe, how can the American farmer ever expect to demand the price he deserves for the crops he grows? Farming also comes with a monumental start-up cost. It requires land, equipment, seed, livestock, fertilizer, labor — it’s near impossible to even get started without a family operation to inherit or some independent source of wealth, and even then debt is a typical necessity. You never really know what you’ll make from a given year’s crop until you’ve sold it and the check has cleared. Floods, drought, hail, late freezes, early freezes and insects can all wipe out a

In addition to growing his own tomatoes, William Shelton packs and distributes crops from other farmers, including those of the Florida grower who harvested the tomatoes filling these boxes. Holly Kays photo

February 6-12, 2019

outdoors

FARMS, CONTINUED FROM 33 said Darnell, 34. He grew up on the farm, working and sweating through the summer alongside his father’s hired field hands. It was hard work, and certainly not always fun, but he learned to respect the value of labor and to love the process of seeing a crop through from seed to final fruit. Even with his romantic vision of hard work and honesty always equaling success somewhat tarnished through the lens of experience, Darnell is still hooked on farming. “I always went to the farm because it’s something rich and fulfilling,” he said. “It can’t all be about economics. It needs to be large part economic — you have to be able to make money — but to me it’s not all about economics. I had a terrible year last year. I lost a lot of money. But by no means do I want to stop farming.” “The way that we were raised on this farm, we kind of have a natural bond to what we do,” Roberts added. Unlike Darnell, Roberts, 26, didn’t always want to get in on the family business. She figured she’d graduate high school, go off and do her own thing. But right around that time the local food movement was getting big, and she saw her dad falling behind on the marketing and promotions work needed to take advantage of it. Roberts was comfortable with those sorts of skills, and she took the lead on managing the events, direct sales and social media presence that are necessary for success in today’s world. Growing food is important, but so is connecting people to the process used to grow it, and providing experiences that show what makes your particular farm unique. “It’s almost like you’re doing two things. You’re providing entertainment, and you’re a farmer,” said Darnell. Luckily, at Darnell Farms there are multiple shoulders across which to spread that load. Roberts handles finances, marketing

and agritourism, while Darnell and Roberts’ husband Patrick are all about the farming. The siblings don’t deny that farming is a hard life, and that it’s not for everyone. You’re at the mercy of the market and the weather, labor is hard to come by, vacations hard to take. Regulations can be onerous, money management difficult. But it’s a good life, too. There’s a freedom on the farm, and an irreplaceable fulfillment in turning a bunch of seeds into fields of fruits and vegetables capable of nourishing thousands of people. Darnell and Roberts have seven children between them — they’re hopeful that at least one of them will someday want to take over the farm. But they’re not going to force anybody into it. To make it as a farmer, the first requirement is to want to make it as a farmer. “If the boy wants to farm, I will do everything in my power to help him and encourage him and will try to get him to the point where he can do it on his own, but I’m not going to manipulate him into farming because that’s what I want my baby boy to be,” said Darnell of his oldest son, who is 10. “It’s a wonderful profession, but it needs to be something in my opinion that you decide to do.”

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE It’s easy to look at the numbers on declining farm acres and lack of youth in the industry and emerge with a depressing conclusion — that the agrarian way of life is over and the farmer is on his way to extinction. But ask Bill Yarborough, a former Haywood County cattle farmer, longtime special assistant to the N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture and 2018 recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, and you’ll get quite a different picture. “I’m as optimistic about agriculture as in my whole time of working or farming,” said

Darnell Farms is a family business for Nate Darnell (from left), Afton Roberts, Jeff Darnell and Patrick Roberts.

Smoky Mountain News

Tracy Mendy/Darnell Farms photo

“I’m as optimistic about agriculture as in my whole time of working or farming.” 34

— Bill Yarborough

Change in WNC farm acres 1992-2012

While Jackson and Macon counties saw a slight increase in farmland acres, that figure fell dramatically in Haywood County. Stats from USDA Census of Agriculture Yarborough, whose career has spanned four decades thus far. Don’t mistake that statement for any kind of willful ignorance of the vast shifts that agriculture has seen in the past 50 years. To the contrary, Yarborough said, he’s seen “tremendous change” over the course of his agricultural career. WNC has gone from a place populated mainly by farmers — fulltime operations, family gardens and everything in between — where a crop of tomatoes would sell within 50 miles of where it was grown, to a less agrarian society, where most people get their produce from the grocery store after it’s traveled a typical distance of 800 to 1,800 miles. “Those are huge shifts,” said Yarborough. “It really changes things, and it helps you to understand the dynamics of agriculture too.” But Yarborough is hopeful about the future for two reasons. First, the world population is growing, and all those people need to eat — farming is a field with some built-in job security. Second, he sees promise in the millennial generation. “I think millennials have the most optimistic outlook of anybody,” he said. “They think good things are going to happen and they think they have to do it on their own. They want to do it on their own.” Not everyone shares Yarborough’s faith in the next generation’s ability to replace the aging farmers of today. In Guy’s view, for example, today’s young people lack the work ethic and the willingness to sweat it out in a physical job like farming. But the agricultural sector is much wider than farming alone. While only about 1 percent of Americans make their living from a farm, said Yarborough, about 20 percent derive their income from agriculture in some manner, whether it’s driving trucks full of tomatoes, turning peaches into jam or researching crop science in a lab. There are all sorts of opportunities for businesses that take raw materials — locally grown tomatoes, beans and blueberries, for example — and turn them into market-ready products. “What we need in agriculture is the

Department of Commerce and others to quit thinking about putting in 500-job auto parts plants somewhere and start thinking about what are the needs and opportunities,” said Yarborough. “The opportunities here are for food processors.” The more such facilities are in place locally, the more profit farmers will be able to make on their crops, and the more incentive there will be for future generations to work the land. In 2011, the WNC Regional Livestock Center opened in Canton. Before then, WNC cattle farmers had to take their livestock to Tennessee or Virginia to get them sold. The livestock center just marked $100 million in sales, an average of more than $12 million annually that would have otherwise gone to another state while increasing the farmer’s cost per pound. “I’ve just seen in that little bit of time more and more young people having some cows in Haywood and over the region,” Yarborough said.

TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE A sustainable future will have to be more than just a rebooted version of the past, however. Technology has rapidly changed the way farming is done, increasing yields even while acreage has fallen, and it will continue to be vital to the industry. Rural broadband expansion will be just as important for the success of agriculture as for the moreoften discussed sectors of education, small business and real estate, Yarborough said. “Most people don’t realize that the first industry that accepts new technology is always agriculture,” said Yarborough. “In fact, most of the time agriculture is the one that invents new technology. We have tractors even in the mountains now that you can push a button and it uses GPS and drives itself. We have equipment now and for a long period of time, that has yield monitors that can tell you exactly by the acre, by the foot, by the row what the yield is on that crop, and we’ve been doing that for 20 years. These self-driving cars is

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isn’t anything special genetically. Guy uses technology in other ways, too. Because he’s only physically on the property several times a month, he uses drones to fly the pasture, allowing his farm manager to check on the herd remotely and report on their health through a thermal lens that can read temperatures and determine if any cows are outside the fence or are being unusually still — Guy helped develop the technology. “We do that, but we also saddle up horses and play John Wayne for the day,” he said. For Guy, farming was never about the income. It was about his kids — about giving them the opportunity to see the cycle of life and death, to learn the value of hard work and to have a childhood shaped by sunshine and open pastures. “It’s an investment into my kids,” he said. “That’s the way I look at it. It’s not going into my pocket. I’m planting some shade trees — I may never get to sit under them, but future generations will.” Early signs are that the investment is paying off. He describes farming as a “fulltime interest” for all three of his boys, and his oldest Average age of N.C. farmers, 1945-2012 Tucker, at 14 years old, has expressed a consistent fascination with — and aptitude for — the artificial insemination process. In fact, when he was about 11 years old Guy secured the boy special permission to take classes at Clemson University and get certified as an AI technician. Tucker has traveled all over the Southeast breeding cattle for farmers. “Talk about investThe average age of a North Carolina ments,” said Guy. farmer has been trending upward for The threats to the farmdecades. Stats from USDA Census of Agriculture ing way of life are real, and the year-to-year challenges monumental. It’s a hard way to make a living, with a level of uncertainty baked into the deal. advancement he can’t help but admit how But there’s an immeasurable beauty to great it would be to have a robot that could it, too. pick his crops, eliminating the constant “This time of year, when it’s cold and worries about labor. gray, I have to remind myself that spring’s “I’d love to have one,” he said. “I’d proaround the corner,” said Shelton. “Then I gram him and say, ‘Go out there and pick try to imagine the feeling I have when those beans and never stop.’” seeds start to sprout, and the smell of that Technological innovation is key to Guy’s earth when you plow and get your beds business. He runs an unusual type of cattle ready, and that whole experience as the operation — Guy Brothers Farms produces days get longer and how hopeful that is, seed stock, bovines bred to have such supeand how every spring is like a birth.” rior genetics that they can be sold at high “You’re so tied to that cycle,” he continprices to propagate the herds of operators ued, “that I think it brings a fullness to your across the country. life because you learn to put that whole cycle “We had a calf born last year that his of life in perspective, and that’s something sire had been dead for 16 years and his that I think a lot of people miss out on.” mother had been dead for three years,” said There’s a reason that some people still Guy. “He was born out of an embryo transdecide to be farmers, and hopefully those fer situation into a recipient cow.” reasons will continue to make sense for the Guy thrives on the science of farming, generations to come. the process of mapping out which genetic “Agriculture for young people is a woncombinations will yield the finest cattle derful way of life,” said Darnell, “but they’ve specimens possible. He makes his genetic got to be willing to accept that it’s going to matches on paper, uniting egg and sperm in take effort — sometimes effort like they’ve a test tube and then implanting the embryo never actually had to give.” into a cow that will be a good momma, but nothing to us. We’ve been doing it a long time.” In fact, agricultural technology has made such incredible leaps that some wonder if the future of farming will require a farm at all. Smart brought up the example of current research aiming to create hamburger meat grown entirely in a lab, with no actual cattle raising required at all — scientist Mark Post created his first hamburger in 2013 at a cost of $330,000 but expects to soon be selling the creations commercially for a much more reasonable price. “The company says in a roundabout way, ‘We ain’t going to need no more cows, no more pigs. We ain’t going to need no more chickens, no more corn and soy beans. We ain’t going to need no more John Deere tractors. We’re going to grow it down here in the lab,’” said Smart. “If you want to be a farmer you’ll put your lab coat on, get in your computer-driven car and drive down the road a few miles to a plant and go in there and pour amino acids and carbohydrates in a vat and grow steak.” On the other hand, when Smart turns his mind to the benefits of continued tech

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outdoors February 6-12, 2019

Land trust celebrates 100 properties conserved

Disaster payments go out to farmers

Conservation of six new places last year brought Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust to a landmark total of 100 conservation projects completed, totaling 3,320 acres. Newly protected properties include: n An expansion of Ravenel Park thanks to a donation of Sunset Rock property from the Hartman family. n A 22-acre property called Sassafras Gap Farm â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which is on the edge of the Blue Valley, has a stunning view of Satulah Mountain and buffers the Nantahala National Forest â&#x20AC;&#x201D; donated by Stell Huie. n Castor Meadows, a small, old farm in the Glenville community that includes beaver wetland and early successional habitat, donated by John Berteau. n Dendy Orchard Knob, a small conservation easement donated by Ken Nimmons buffering the Nantahala National Forest in the Turtle Pond community. n Cedar Hill, a 44-acre conservation easement on the eastern side of Rock Mountain in Cashiers, overlooking Sapphire Valley. It

The federal government shutdown created some delays in getting applications processed for the Agriculture Disaster Relief Program of 2018, but the first two rounds of checks from the $240 million program have now been sent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the most important thing I have worked on since becoming Ag Commissioner,â&#x20AC;? said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and it was absolutely pummeled in 2018. Many farmers are hurting and may not be able to secure funding to start the 2019 growing season. While this money does not come close to making whole the crop losses, I hope it will help farmers get financing for the coming year and help jump-start the economies of rural North Carolina.â&#x20AC;? More than $15.2 million was mailed Jan. 31 with a second batch going out Feb. 1, with about 2,000 of the 7,000 submitted applications processed by the weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end. Applications are being processed randomly, not on a countyby-county basis. Of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 100 counties, 70 received a presidential or secretarial disaster declaration, qualifying farmers for the program. Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Michael caused an estimated $1.2 billion in agricultural losses statewide. Checks will be processed weekly as applications are verified and approved.

Smoky Mountain News

Many Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust properties are located in the Cashiers Valley. Donated photo n High Knob, a 150-acre conservation easement donated by Patrick Horan and Noel Thurner near Caney Fork and protect-

ed in partnership with the Open Space Institute. It protects a climate-resilient landscape that provides critical habitat for plants and animals affected by climate change and connects a large swath of other protected lands in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. To learn how to preserve family land or become a member of HCLT, contact 828.526.1111 or info.hitrust@earthlink.net.

Learn the ins and outs of charitable giving Gather with fellow fly fishermen and learn how to get the most tax benefit out of charitable giving during an evening that will begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley. CPA and outdoor enthusiast Nancy Lux will speak on donations to nonprofits, including when donations are and are not tax deductable. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a topic that Trout Unlimited Cataloochee, which is hosting the event, has hoped to host for several years. The evening is part of TUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regular monthly meeting and will start with a storytelling session and social hour, including a fly-fishing flea market and a 50-50 drawing. Luxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. tucataloochee427@gmail.com.

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8 Locations Serving you in Western North Carolina 721 North Main Street, Waynesville, NC Âˇ 452-2216 219 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC Âˇ 252-8234 1453 Sand Hill Road, Candler, NC Âˇ 667-7245 3270 Hendersonville Road, Fletcher, NC Âˇ 684-9999 746 East Main Street, Franklin, NC Âˇ 524-4464 8005 NC Highway 141, Murphy, NC Âˇ 837-0460 30 Highway 107, Sylva, NC Âˇ 586-0425 3533 US 441 North, Whittier, NC Âˇ 497-6211 APY=Annual Percentage Yield. This is not a commitment to lend. Rate and term based on an evaluation of credit.

protects rare species and habitats, and adds to other HCLT-protected lands.

Learn more when you visit our website: mountaincu.org

FRO OG LEVEL Â&#x2021; DOWNTOWN WA AY YNESVILLE

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W W W . PA N A C E A C O F F E E . C O M

Plan for summer camp

Camp options include:

Experience a casual, relaxing atmosphere perfect for all walks of life, from families to golf groups to ladies who lunch. We pride ourselves on using fresh ingredients from our gardens and supporting local farmers. The details are priority.

Open to the Public, 7 Days A Week! Daily hours: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Winter Menu Includes Hot Soups & Snacks

n STEM Camp. Rising third through sixth graders are eligible for this camp focused on science, technology, engineering and math, with nature and the great outdoors incorporated throughout. Activities include learning about science through weather and plant life and technologies such as light and energy, with campers building and becoming their own engineers. All camps are offered in two-week blocks, with some one-week camps as well such as White Water Week, Summer on the Fly and Paddle Sports Training Camp.

Call 828-926-4848 for reservations.

1819 Country Club Drive Maggie Valley, NC

M AG G I E VA LLEY C LU B . CO M

February 6-12, 2019

n Outdoor Play. Rising first and secondgrade students will discover daily creative ways to play outside. n Discover Camp. A limited number of rising fifth and sixth-graders will hike, swim and discover the wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains region. Students will be off-site four days per week. n Explore Camp. A limited number of rising third and fourth-grade students will hike, swim and discover the wonders of the

Great Smoky Mountains region. Students will be off-site four days per week. n Creative Boot Camp. Rising third through sixth-grade students will blend nature and art using a brand new curriculum.

outdoors

Waynesvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Base Camp Summer Camp will offer a variety of options for kids this year, and a slate of upcoming meetings will give parents the chance to have their kids signed up. Sessions will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Feb. 19, Feb. 26 and March Base Camp participants 5, and at 6 explore a waterfall. SMN photo p.m. Thursday, March 7. In order to qualify for registration, at least one parent or guardian must attend a meeting, which will cover camp structure, prices, expectations and the registration process.

Lighten your load backpacking Get ready for backpacking season with a tutorial on lightweight adventuring, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 19 and Thursday, Feb. 14, at REI in Asheville. During this lightweight backpacking workshop, participants will receive hands-on help reducing their overall pack weight. While updating gear to save ounces is always helpful, there are other ways to adjust your thinking and packing of current gear to lighten the load. Participants should bring their packed, trail-ready pack for an interactive gear shakedown with an REI expert. $20 for members, $40 for nonmembers. Space is limited. Sign up at www.rei.com/events.

Explore the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a heart-pumping hike to Charlies Bunion, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15. Guides Lloyd and Charlene Shiver will lead this 9-mile hike, which offers spectacular views along the way and at Charlies Bunion itself, a magnificent rock outcrop

humorously named for the appearance of mountain man Charlie Connerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet. On a clear day, 6,217-foot Mt. Kephart and 6,621-foot Mt. Guyot are visible from the Bunion. Organized by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. All proceeds benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. $45, or $30 for members. Learn more at https://bit.ly/2UyuhXo.\

Get schooled in kayak rolling

Learn how to safely roll a kayak during one of two sessions scheduled for 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. Feb. 13 and Feb. 27 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Kayak rolling is an essential skill for safely enjoying the water. Participants should bring their own boats. Free for members, with the daily fee charged to nonmembers. Tom McAvoy, tommac207@bellsouth.net.

Smoky Mountain News

Hike the Bunion

WAYNESVILLE

PARKS AND RECREATION

828.456.2030

or email tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov

outdoors

Water champions honored Three water champions were recognized for their work to improve Haywood County’s rivers, streams and reservoirs during 2018 at Haywood Waterways Association’s annual membership dinner last month. n The Maggie Valley Sanitary District received the Pigeon River Award for its work to protect the town’s drinking water supply. The district services 10,000 users and counting, and since 2013 has protected more than 7,000 acres in the town’s watershed to maintain water quality. Other partners in the effort include The Conservation Fund, Blue Ridge Parkway, Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, U.S. Forest Service and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The Pigeon River Award is given to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to protecting Haywood’s land and

water resources. n The Town of Canton received the Big Creek Award for Partner of the Year. Canton hosts several Haywood Waterways events, including the 2018 Plunge fundraiser, Leaders in the Creek and nearly all 21 years of the Kids in the Creek program. The town also supports greenways, participates in the WNC Stormwater Partnership and serves on the Commission for a Clean County to beautify the landscape and keep trash out of the water. n Jack and Carol Bailey received the Richard T. Alexander Volunteer of the Year Award for their service. The Baileys help at events such as Kids in the Creek, stream cleanups, tree plantings and fundraisers. They also collect water samples through the Volunteer Water Information Network, data that Haywood Waterways uses to justify projects and leverage financial assistance. The membership dinner was sponsored by Derric and Donna Brown, Keller Williams Great Smokies – Yvonne Kolomechuk, Pigeon River Fund of the Community Foundation of Western N.C., Town of Clyde, and Town of Waynesville.

Watch for ducks Layer up and embark on a duck day adventure, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Lake Junaluska. Expert birder Kevin Burke will lead this 2-mile walk to identify as many ducks as possible. This time of year, most ducks are in full breeding plumage anticipating the upcoming mating season. Burke will offer various strategies for observing details such as body shape, color markings, behavior and habitat that are critical for correct identification. Organized by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. Proceeds benefit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. $45, or $20 for members. Learn more at https://bit.ly/2G4ee09 or call 865.436.7318, ext. 349.

Insects in freefall? A former Western Carolina University biology professor will speak on what he terms the “insect apocalypse” at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Over the past several years, various studies have shown that insect populations worldwide are in a freefall decline. WCU Professor Emeritus Kefyn Catley will discuss the close relationship between bird, insect and human populations; the role of insects in driving and maintaining Earth’s life support systems such as pollination, nutrient recycling, biodiversity and food webs; and ways that people can help mitigate the crisis. The presentaKefyn Catley. Donated photo tion is part of the Franklin Bird Club’s regular monthly meeting. www.franklinbirdclub.com or 828.524.5234.

February 6-12, 2019

Get started beekeeping Learn the basics of beekeeping with a class slated for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Haywood County Extension Center in Waynesville. The course will cover what kind of honeybees to get, where to locate them, how to manage them and how to harvest honey — all while dealing with the challenges facing honeybee health such as declining habitat and varroa mites. $40, and offered through the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service and Haywood County Beekeepers Association. Register by Feb. 6 by calling 828.456.3575.

Smoky Mountain News

N.C. efforts aid Texas turkey population

A trap-and-release effort based in North Carolina is helping to boost wild turkey populations in Texas. Biologists are trapping the wild turkeys at airports in Pitt, Columbus, Brunswick, Guilford, Beaufort, Stanly and Forsyth counties, where they post a risk to aircraft that could strike them on runways. The U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS Wildlife Department is responsible for removing wildlife that could endanger airline operations, and the organization contacted the N.C. Wildlife Resources commission with a plan to remove the birds rather than kill them. APHIS uses rocket nets — a type of animal trap used to capture a large number of live birds at once without harming them — to catch the turkeys with onsite cameras monitoring the birds’ activities prior to trapping. The effort is a joint venture between the Commission, APHIS, the Texas Parks and

Wildlife Department and the National Wild Turkey Federation. It began in December and finished in January, with several dozen eastern wild turkeys making their way from airstrips in central and eastern N.C. to restoration sites in east Texas. The same turkey subspecies that exists in North Carolina is native to East Texas. One hundred years ago, Texas turkeys — like those in North Carolina — nearly disappeared from the landscape due to unregulated and heavy market hunting, as well as rapid deforestation and habitat destruction. “Over the years, North Carolina received nearly 2,000 wild turkeys from 12 other states,” said the Commission’s Wild Turkey Biologist Chris Kreh. “It’s really nice to see North Carolina able to pay that forward now and help Texas with their restoration efforts.” North Carolina populations have rebounded, with 265,000 wild turkeys living in 100 counties today, but eastern wild turkeys are still scarce in some East Texas counties.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Volunteers will be available to assist with federal and state income tax preparation and filing through Feb. 1 until April 12: From 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays at the Jackson County Department of Aging and from 2:30-6:45 p.m. by appointment on Tuesdays at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Outside of appointments, help is available on first-come, firstserve basis. Library appointments: 586.2016. Info: 293.0074 or 586.4944. • Concerned citizens will hold a discussion about anomalies of the recent California fires at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Includes conference call interview of a survivor of the Paradise Fire. Info: 800.736.3351. • Cataloochee Ski Area will offer reduced rates for law enforcement personnel and their families on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 7-8, in Maggie Valley. Present a valid ID to receive discount. www.cataloochee.com. • The 12th annual Father-Daughter Dance will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Christian Life Center at First United Methodist Church of Sylva. Advance registration: $30 per couple, $5 for each additional daughter. At the door: $45 per couple and $5 for each additional daughter. 586.2358. • Southwestern Community College is seeking nominations for the SCC Foundation’s inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award. Nomination form is available at https://tinyurl.com/ycgrb6be. Nominations due by Feb. 11. Info: k_posey@southwesterncc.edu or 339.4227. • The WNC Nature Center will open its red panda exhibit on Feb. 14 in Asheville. Two new resident pandas are named Leafa and Phoenix. Sponsorships start at $25, and symbolic adoptions start at $25. www.wildnc.org or https://tinyurl.com/ychgs9js. • Registration is underway for the Region 8 Western Regional Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 20-21, at the Ramsey Regional Activity Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. The largest STEM event held in Western North Carolina. For grades 3-12. For info and to register: http://camps.wcu.edu (click on “Science Camps and Programs”) or 227.7397. • Registration is underway for a survival challenge entitled: “Can you survive one month in poverty?” The NC Poverty Simulation Experience is from 1-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Register: aensley@mountainprojects.org. • Cashiers Area Chamber is seeking feedback to improve visitors’ experiences to the area. Take the survey at: tinyurl.com/y6w4uqyo. • Registration is underway for Marriage Enrichment Retreats that will be offered three more times over the next year at Lake Junaluska. Led by Ned Martin, an expert in marriage counseling. Price is $699 per couple. Dates are March 10-12, Aug. 18-20 of 2019 and Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in 2019. Registration and info: www.lakejunaluska.com/marriage or 800.222.4930. • Fontana Regional Library now offers anyone with a library card free access to eMagazines, for reading on any mobile device or computer. This new service joins our popular eBooks and digital audiobook`s selection — all available 24/7 from the library’s digital collection. To get started enjoying digital magazines as well as eBooks and audiobooks, visit e-inc.overdrive.com or download the Libby reading app. www.fontanalib.org.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Western Carolina University’s Free Enterprise Speaker

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. Series will host author, entrepreneur and educator Jeff Percival, who will discuss building business success at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Room 101 of the Forsyth Building. csfe@wcu.edu. • Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a political commentator, will deliver the keynote address at Western Carolina University’s academic awards ceremony at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center in Cullowhee. 227.3017. • Western Carolina University’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment is accepting registrations for a “Better Communication Through Creative Play for Marketing and Sales Professionals” that will be offered from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, at WCU’s Biltmore Park location in Asheville. $99 (includes lunch). Register or get more info: pdp.wcu.edu or 227.7397. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “Are You Ready to Start a Business” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from noon-2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “How To Start a Business” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:308:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Balsam Mountain Business Matters meets on the 4th Tuesdays at 10 a.m. Great opportunity to network with other business owners. Meeting is held in the clubhouse of Vantage Pointe Homes at Balsam Mountain located at 17 Wilkinson Pass Ln in Waynesville. lgaddy@balsammountainapartments.com. • The Jackson County Public Library in Sylva will be starting a monthly documentary series called “DocuWednesday” at 4 p.m. on the last Wednesday of each month. The movies will be shown in the beautiful movie theater in the Community Room. At the end of each movie, the staff member who selected that documentary will lead a short discussion with the public. If you would like to know what movie will be showing each month, please email Benjamin Woody at bwoody@fontanalib.org to be placed on an email list. The first showing will be “Disruption.” 586.2016. www.fontanalib.org. • A Six Sigma Whitebelt training will be offered from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, March 1, at Western Carolina University’s Biltmore Park in Asheville. Offered by WCU’s Office of Professional Growth and Enrichment; instructor is Dr. Todd Creasy, DM, MBA, MSc. Learn how to apply the five-step methodology of Six Sigma in product, process or service industries. Early bird registration: $249. After Feb. 1, cost is $279. For info and to register: pdp.wcu.edu or 227.7397. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “How To Write a Business Plan” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled

Smoky Mountain News

“Basics of Bookkeeping” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “Your Small Business Taxes” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Registration is underway for a seminar entitled “Marketing Your Business” that will be offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2, at HCC’s Regional High Technology Center in Waynesville. Part of the “Are You Ready to Start a Business series. Room 3021. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • Haywood Community College’s Workforce Continuing Education Department is offering a wide variety of courses. For a complete listing: www.haywood.edu. Info: 627.4669 or rgmassie@haywood.edu. • The African-American Business Association Workshop & Meetup is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at the Arthur R. Edington Education & Career Center in Asheville. • Evening classes for anyone wanting to obtain a high school equivalency diploma are offered from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays at Haywood Community College in Clyde. 627.4648. • The Western North Carolina Civil War Round Table meets at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at the HF Robinson Auditorium at the Western Carolina University Campus in Cullowhee.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • The Women of Waynesville will host a “Manly Man Auction” at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville.

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings Cataloochee Valley area. To register for training or get more info: karl_danforth@nps.gov. • Haywood Regional Medical Center is seeking volunteers of all ages for ongoing support at the hospital, outpatient care center and the Homestead. For info and to apply: 452.8301, stop by the information desk in the lobby or volunteer@haymed.org. Anyone interested in becoming a hospice volunteer can call 452.5039. • STAR Rescue Ranch is seeking volunteers to help with horse care, fundraising events, barn maintenance and more at the only equine rescue in Haywood County. 828.400.4940. • Volunteer Opportunities are available throughout the region, call John at the Haywood Jackson Volunteer Center today and get started sharing your talents. 356-2833 • Phone Assurance Volunteers are needed to make daily or weekly wellness check-in calls for the Haywood County Senior Resource Center. 356.2800.

HEALTH MATTERS • The Meditation Center will host a class in Reiki, an ancient form of natural healing, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Feb. 10, in Sylva. Cost: $125 donation. Info: www.meditate-wnc.org or 356.1105. • “Your Amazing Newborn” class will be offered from 79 p.m. on Feb. 7, April 4, July 11, Sept. 5 and Nov. 7 at Haywood Regional Medical Center in Waynesville. Focusing on abilities, behavior, appearance and reflexes of your new baby. Pre-registration required: MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses or 452.8440.

• Mast General Stores in Asheville, Waynesville and Hendersonville will match every pound of candy purchased on Feb. 9-10 with a $1 donation to MANNA FoodBank. www.MANNAFoodBank.org.

• The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition will conduct overdose recognition and opioid overdose reversal training from noon-2 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency, Room 301, in Waynesville. Info: 706.482.8795 or 356.2292.

• Tickets are on sale for Haywood Pathways Center’s inaugural Empty Bowls event, which is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, at HART Theatre in Waynesville. $25 per person. Attendees select a bowl handcrafted by local WNC potters and enjoy various soup tastings. Bowls go home with guests as reminders of the empty bowls in the community and warm hearts that work to fill them.

• “Breastfeeding A-Z” class will be offered from 7-9 p.m. on Feb. 14, April 11, July 18, Sept. 12 and Nov. 14 at Haywood Regional Medical Center in Waynesville. Focusing on techniques for proper latching and comfortable positions for a baby and mom to get started. Pre-registration required: MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses or 452.8440.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS • Haywood Hospice is seeking volunteers to help with reception duties, grief groups, working directly with patients, running errand and other support. A training session is set for at 9 a.m. on March 25. Info: 452.5039. • Senior Companion volunteers are being sought to serve with the Land of the Sky Senior Companion Program in Henderson, Buncombe, Transylvania and Madison Counties. Serve older adults who want to remain living independently at home in those counties. • Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeking volunteers to assist rangers with managing traffic and establishing safe wildlife viewing areas within the

• Registration is underway for a “Treating Pain Safely: Fewer Opioids & Better Results” – a controlled substances education opportunity for prescribers that will be offered from 5:30-8:45 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18, at Swain County Hospital in Bryson City. Registration: https://mahec.net/event/57332. Info: https://tinyurl.com/y9ddjdp5. • The Macon County Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina will hold an info and networking event from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Jump Factory in Franklin. RSVP: maconchapter@autismsociety-nc.org. • A “Preparation for Childbirth” class will be offered from 7-9 p.m. on Thursdays from March 7-28, June 627, Aug. 8-29 and Oct. 3-24 at Haywood Regional Medical Center in Waynesville. Pre-registration required: MyHaywoodRegional.com/ParentClasses or 452.8440.

wnc calendar

RECREATION AND FITNESS • Registration is underway for “Dance Tonight Waynesville” upcoming classes in Waltz and fox trot. Classes are held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Mondays throughout February at Folkmoot. Cost: $10. RSVP: 316.1344. • Registration is underway for “Dance Tonight Waynesville” upcoming classes. Classes are held from 3-3:50 p.m. (rumba, salsa); 4-4:50 p.m. (foxtrot, single-time swing); and 6-7:30 p.m. (waltz and foxtrot) on Tuesdays throughout February at Laurel Ridge Country Club. Cost: $10. RSVP: 316.1344. • Registration is underway for “Dance Tonight Waynesville” upcoming classes in “East Coast Swing.” Classes are held from 6-7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays throughout February at Waynesville Wellness. Cost: $10. RSVP: 316.1344. • Tai Chi & QiGong classes are being offered at 7 p.m. on Mondays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net. • A Tai Chi for Arthritis, Level 1, class is being offered at 11:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net. • A Tai Chi for Arthritis, Level 2, class is being offered at 12:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net. • Tai Chi for Beginners is offered at 1:30 p.m. on Thursdays at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde. 450.3741 or paul@pcasper.net. • The Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department is now offering pickleball on four indoor courts from 7 a.m.-2 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Equipment provided; free for members or daily admission for nonmembers. 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov.

February 6-12, 2019

• ZUMBA! Class with Monica Green, are offered from 6-7 p.m. on Monday & Wednesday, at the Canton Armory. $5 per class. 648.2363 or parks@cantonnc.com. • ZUMBA is offered at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville on Thursdays at 6 p.m. with Patti Burke. Check Facebook page Patti Burke Zumba Students for additional information such as holiday or weather related cancelations. $5 per class. • There will be several ballroom and Latin dance classes offered on Sundays and Mondays at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Classes for beginners, intermediate and all levels. $10 per class. For more information, click on www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Flow + Center Yoga is offered from 9-9:55 a.m. on Wednesdays at Maggie Valley Wellness Center. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com. • Gentle Vin Yin Yoga is offered from 9-9:55 a.m. on Fridays through November at Maggie Valley Wellness Center. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com.

Smoky Mountain News

• The Safekids USA/Blue Dragon Taekwondo School is

offering self-defense classes from 9-10 a.m. on Saturdays. $5 per class. For females 14-older. Classes are at 93 Jones Cove Road in Clyde. • Karaoke is happening at 8 p.m. on Saturdays at Harmon’s Den Bistro at HART Theatre in Waynesville. • The Maggie Valley Wellness Center is offering two yoga classes from 9-9:55 a.m. on Wednesdays through March: Gentle Flow with Candra and Gentle Vin Yin with Jamie. 944.0288 or maggievalleywellness.com. • A wide variety of yoga classes are offered daily through the Waynesville Yoga Center. For updated, current listings, visit: http://waynesvilleyogacenter.com/class-schedule. • Pickleball, a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong, will be offered from 9 a.m.-noon on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Old Hazelwood Gym in Waynesville. $3 per visit, or $20 for a 10-visit card. 452.6789 or iansmith@haywoodcountync.gov. • Yoga classes designed specifically for those who have experienced trauma are being offered at the Fitness Connection in Waynesville. www.sonshineyoga.com. • Tai chi is offered from 10:45-11:45 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at Haywood Regional Health and Fitness Center. It’s also offered from 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays. Taught by Bill Muerdter. For info about the classes or HRHFC memberships and offerings, call 452.8080 or visit MyHaywoodRegional.com/Fitness. • Ultimate Frisbee games are held from 5:30-8 p.m. on Mondays at the Cullowhee Recreation Park. Organized by Jackson County Parks & Recreation. Pick-up style. 293.2053 or www.rec.jacksonnc.org. • Pickleball is from 1-3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday nights at First Methodist Church in Sylva. $1 each time you play; equipment provided. 293.3053. • The Canton Armory is open to the public for walking from 7:45-9 a.m. on Monday through Friday unless the facility is booked till spring. 648.2363. parks@cantonnc.com.

SPIRITUAL • Registration is underway for Guided Personal Retreats, which will be offered March 18-20, July 2224, Sept. 16-18 and Oct. 21-23 at Lake Junaluska. Lakejunaluska.com/retreats or 800.222.4930.

POLITICAL • Haywood County’s two largest Democratic precincts, Ivy Hill and Jonathan Creek, will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Jonathan Creek Fire and Rescue Department. 646.8602 or jafrabq@aol.com or www.haywooddemocrats.org. • The Haywood County Democratic Party will hold annual precinct organizational meetings from

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Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 7-9, at various locations throughout the county. A complete listing of meeting times and locations is at: www.haywooddemocrats.org.

• Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases. Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library.

• The Swain County Democratic Party will meet at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at United Community Bank, 145 Slope Street, in Bryson City. Info: 488.1118.

• Pinochle game is played at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

Down Home Haywood holds its monthly community meetings at 2:30 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month at Canton Presbyterian Church. Tackling issues like healthcare, wages, housing and more. chelsea@downhomenc.org.

• Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • The North Carolina Writers’ Network-West will sponsor The Literary Hour on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise indicated at the Keith House on the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. This reading is free of charge and open to the public.

• A Canasta card game is set for 1 p.m. on Mondays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800. • A Parkinson’s Support Group is held at 2 p.m. on the last Wednesdays of each month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

KIDS & FAMILIES

• Canton Book Club meets at 3:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month, at the Canton Library. 648.2924.

• The Bascom is offering KID ZONE with Harry Potterthemed art and craft projects from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Hudson Library in Highlands.

• Cookin’ the Books will be held at noon on the last Wednesday of the month at the Waynesville Public Library. A book club focused on cookbooks. All members choose a recipe from the book and bring it to share. The group will discuss the good and bad aspects of the chosen cookbook. 356.2507.

• Winter Youth Retreats will be offered Feb. 8-10 and Feb. 15-18 at the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center. Energized worship and special activities such as skiing and mission projects. Info: www.lakejunaluska.com/winteryouth or 800.222.4930.

• Waynesville Book Club at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of each month at Waynesville Library Meet to discuss books, which are chosen by each member (taking turns) and provided by the library. New members are welcome. For more information, 356.2507.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • A new jewelry class will be offered at 1 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, at the Jackson County Department on Aging Center in Sylva. Local artist Lawrie Williams will show how to make wire are rings and earrings. $3 for participants; $5 for non-participants. 586.5494. • Registration is underway through March 9 for the Smoky Mountain Senior Games presented by the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Center and the Cherokee Bird Town Gym. Games are April 1-May 3. Cost: $15 per person plus additional fees for some events. For ages 50-up. Info: 586.5494. • The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800. • Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800 • A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Thursdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

• The Haywood County DV/SA Task Force is sponsoring a Poster Contest for seventh and eighth-graders in Haywood County. Awareness project for Teen Dating Abuse Awareness Month (February). Theme is “Healthy Relationships … Better than _______.” Prizes are gift cards. Contest ends at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8. Finished posters must be turned in to the REACH Office of Haywood County. Winners announced on Feb. 14. Info: 456.7898 or bqreach@aol.com. • The monthly “Cherokee Heritage Day” will continue from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. All day hands-on activities and fun for the whole family. Different activities each month that incorporate Cherokee culture. May include storytelling, painting, corn shuck doll making, making clay heart-shaped medallions, stamped card making, dance or music. Free and open to the public. The “Cherokee Heritage Day” is the second Saturday of every month (except June). www.visitcherokeenc.com. • Waynesville’s Base Camp Summer Camp will offer a variety of options for kids this year, and mandatory parent meetings are set for 6 p.m. on Feb. 19, Feb. 26, March 5 and March 7. Camp options include Outdoor Play, Discover Camp, Explore Camp, Creative Boot Camp and STEM Camp. • Registration is underway for a Boy Scout Ski Retreat that will be offered from Feb. 22-24 through the Lake Junaluska Conference & Retreat Center. Get hands-on experience at Cataloochee Ski Area. Info: www.lakejunaluska.com/boyscouts or 800.222.4930.

Puzzles can be found on page 46 These are only the answers.

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a “Valentine’s Wine Dinner” from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14. Four-course gourmet meal with wine recommendations for each course. Price is $44.99 per person plus wine. To make your reservation, call 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

• A Lego club will meet at 4 p.m. every fourth Thursday of the month, at Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Library provides Legos and Duplos for ages 3 and up. Free. 488.3030.

• Reservations are being accepted for a Valentine’s Day Dinner and a to see “An Affair to Remember” at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 at The Strand in Waynesville. 454.5400.

Registration is underway for Lake Junaluska’s Winter Youth Retreats, which are held from December through February in Haywood County for middle school and high school youth groups. Two-night events start at $186 per person; three-night events start at $249 per person. To register or view schedule, including speakers, band and entertainers: www.lakejunaluska.com/winteryouth. Register: 800.222.4930.

• Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville will host five for $5 Wine Tasting from 5 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14. Come taste five magnificent wines and dine on Chef Stacy’s gourmet cuisine. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

• Registration is underway for Discovery Camp with weekly camps available June 10-Aug. 16 at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. Open to pre-K through rising eighth graders. Register: www.ncarboretum.org/education-programs/discovery-camp.

KIDS FILMS • The Highlands Biological Foundation will offer a series of nature-themed films and documentaries shown at 6:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday of March in Highlands. For info on each show, call 526.2221. • A family movie will be shown at 10:30 a.m. every Friday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL EVENTS • As part of the Winter Arts Smokies Style series, “The ART of Chocolate” will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, in Waynesville. Sponsored by the Waynesville Gallery Association, several merchants and restaurants plan to offer entertainment, special chocolate surprises and other specials. Look for the “red hearts” designating the establishments with specials. For participating merchants visit www.downtownwaynesville.com.

FOOD & DRINK • Celebrate the Lunar New Year “Year of the Pig” at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8, at Folkmoot in Waynesville. Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/y9slpx2c.

• B&C Winery will hold an Art & Wine night from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 9 at 2499 Soco Road in Maggie Valley. $35 per person includes all materials to paint, a glass of wine and finger foods. Other beverage options available for painters under 21. RSVP by Feb. 8 to 550.3610 or winesbydesign.chris@aol.com. • Valentine’s Banquet is scheduled for Feb. 14 at HART Theater. Featuring a feast prepared by Harmon’s Den Chef Christy Bishop. $45 per person with an added charge of $20 for wine pairings. Reservations deadline is Sunday, Feb. 10. To make reservations, call: 456.6322.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Feb. 9 and Feb. 16 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. www.papouswineshop.com or 631.3075. • Leap Frog Tours and Spriggly’s Beescaping will offer the “Pint & Pollinator Tour” from 1-4 p.m. every Friday in February and March. $75 Tour starts at Asheville Museum of Science and ends at Whistle Stop Brewing Company. Cost: $85 for adults; $75 for children. Tickets include educational talks, seed bombs, museum admission, one drink and transportation. Leapfrogtours.com or 246.6777.

Find Us On

ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Western Carolina University’s traditional music series will feature Cullowheezer at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, on the ground floor of Noble Hall in Cullowhee. mhc.wcu.edu. • The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville will continue its winter season with the international debut of “Bop and Evey” by Irish actor and musician Caoimhín Ó Rían. Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-9 and 2 p.m. Feb. 10. Ticket prices are $13 for adults and $7 for students. 456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org. • The Highlands Performing Arts Center will present the National Theatre of London’s production of “I’m Not Running” Live via Satellite at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. www.highlandspac.org. All students are admitted free of charge. • “Hamlet” will be screened as part of the Bardo Arts Center’s Sunday Cinema Series at 3 p.m. on Feb. 10 in Cullowhee. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch. $15 for adults; $10 for WCU faculty/staff and seniors and $5 for students. Arts.wcu.cinema or 828.227.ARTS. • The Vagabonds will perform old country, oldies, old pop and gospel at 2 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 524.3600. • Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen will present William Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night” at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14-16 and at 3 p.m. on Feb. 17. Tickets: $20 for adults; $15 for seniors, WCU faculty and staff; $10 for students and children. 227.2479.

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• The Great Balsam Nashville Songwriters in the Round Series starts Feb. 16 at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. Info and tickets: https://tinyurl.com/y9ukvtes. • Nashville Songwriters in the Round series will launch at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. Cost: $25 for adults; $12 for students. Info: www.folkmoot.org or 452.2997. • Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Kiwanis Cabaret Variety Show, which is set for 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 17, at the HART Theater in Waynesville. Proceeds benefit children’s programs in Haywood County. Tickets: $20 for adults; $10 for students. www.harttheatre.org. • The United States Navy Band will perform at 7:30

MAGAZINE

Smoky Mountain News

• Fines Creek Community Association will present a Valentine’s Dinner & Dance from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Fines Creek Community Center. Tickets: $5 for dance only or $12 for dinner and dance. Children 8-under receive free hot dog dinner with paying adult. 593.7042.

• A free wine tasting will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Feb. 9 and Feb. 16 at Bosu Wine Shop in Waynesville. 452.0120 or www.waynesvillewine.com.

February 6-12, 2019

A&E

wnc calendar

• The Haywood County Arts Council will hold a JAM (Junior Appalachian Musicians) for fourth through sixth graders from 3:30-5 p.m. on Tuesdays from January through May at Shining Rock Classical Academy. Cost: $85. 452.0593 or bmk.morgan@yahoo.com.

Print subscriptions are available at smliv.com or call 866.452.2251. Amazon, Kindle and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

wnc calendar

p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. • Jim Witter will perform musing from the 1960s and ‘70s at 3 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the David Orr Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts in Cullowhee. 227.2505 or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu. • Highlands Performing Arts Center will have dinner theater performances scheduled on March 21-23 and 28-30; and the full-length play “Calendar Girls” by Tim Firth, set for May 23-26 and May 31-June 2. Highlandscashiersplayers.org.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • “Whispers in the Cemetery: The Stones Tell All” is the topic of presentation for the Feb. 7 meeting of the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society. Meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. Directions and info: www.swaingenealogy.com. • Second Saturday Markets take place at 5:30 p.m. at Folkmoot in Waynesville. Info: https://tinyurl.com/yaa6soor. • “Dancing Through the Ages” classes will be held at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 8, 15 and 22 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Join dance instructor Jada Bryson for a beginner dance class focusing on Baroque, Waltz, and English Country styles. They will host a grand finale ball at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Everyone is welcome to participate. Partner and/or friend participation is encouraged, but not necessary.

February 6-12, 2019

• Local artist Joan Doyle will offer a Valentine Wine & Paint Art Class from 4-5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Haywood County Arts Council Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville. Sip a glass of wine while painting a Valentine heart. Cost: $25 for members; $30 nomembers. Reservations: 452.0593 or info@haywoodarts.org. HaywoodArts.org. • Local artist Denise Seay is offering a Valentine Quilt Block Art class from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Haywood County Arts Council Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville. Learn the basics of hand piecing, applique and quilting. Cost: $50 for members; $55 nomembers. Reservations: 452.0593 or info@haywoodarts.org. HaywoodArts.org. • There will be an “Art & Wine Night” (aka: “Sip & Dip”) from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the B&C Winery in Maggie Valley. Admission is $35 per person (plus tax), which includes all materials to paint, a glass of wine and finger foods. All skill levels welcome. Painters under age 21 will have other beverage options. RSVP by Feb. 8. Call 828.550.3610 or email winesbydesign.chris@aol.com.

Smoky Mountain News

• Botanist Ed Schwartzman will lead an excursion through a rare-plant community on Saturday, Feb. 9, in Macon County. Offered through Cowee-based Alarka Institute. $65 includes vegetarian lunch. www.alarkaexpeditions.com/upcoming-events. • “The Things They Don’t Teach You In School” series will hold an origami class in collaboration with The Bascom from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. No experience necessary. All materials provided. For ages 18-30. • Local artist Francoise Lynch will demonstrate oilpainting techniques from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville. 452.0593, info@haywoodarts.org or HaywoodArts.org. • Ballroom Dance Lessons will be offered from 6-7:30 p.m. on Mondays through Feb. 25 at Folkmoot in Waynesville. $10 per class. Register: 452.2997. Info: dancetonightwaynesville@gmail.com. • Jackson County Cooperative Extension will offer a “Stampin’ Up!” card-making class at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, in Sylva. Register: 586.4009.

42 • One Heart Singing’s winter term is through April 10

at 89 Sierra Lane in Franklin. No audition or need to read music. Try two sessions before committing. Meets from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesdays. Info: 524.3691 or 360.1920.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • Opening reception for the Uptown Gallery and Macon County Art Association is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. on Feb. 8 at 30 Main Street in Franklin. New artwork displayed through April includes two- and three-dimensional fine art, ceramics, fabric art, jewelry, photography and more. Info: 349.4607, franklinuptowngallery@gmail.com or www.franklinuptowngallery.com. • The Bascom will have a public reception for its two newest exhibitions: SOUNDWAVE and “hear+there” from 4-6 p.m. on Feb. 8 in Highlands. • Macon County Art Association and the Uptown Gallery will sponsor a presentation by Jason Rizzo from 6-7 p.m. on Feb. 11 at 30 Main Street in Franklin. Educational presentation entitled: “Focusing Your Focus: Improving Composition for Photography and Painting.” Info: 349.4607, franklinuptowngallery@gmail.com or www.franklinuptowngallery.com. • The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) in Waynesville will be kicking off the new year with a variety packed show filled with the original art of 28 local artists. The “2019 Juried Artist Exhibit” will run through Feb. 23. Each of the exhibiting artists went through an extensive jury process and are delighted to have their work in the gallery. The HCAC believes that original art by local artisans can be both affordable and collectable. www.haywoodarts.org. • The exhibit “Outspoken: Paintings by America Meredith” will be on display through May 3 at the Fine Art Museum Gallery B in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University. The WCU Fine Art Museum is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Free parking is available on site. www.facebook.com/americameredithart. • The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center is pleased to present the School of Art and Design Faculty Biennial Exhibition 2019, on display through May 3. All WCU Fine Art Museum exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public. For further information, visit arts.wcu.edu/biennial or 227.3591. • The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center will have a yearlong exhibition on “Defining America” through May 3 in Cullowhee. Info: 227.ARTS or bardoartscenter.wcu.edu. • The Haywood County Arts Council and Haywood County Public Library are presenting works from the following artists at the following locations through March: Russell Wyatt and Ashley Calhoun at the Canton Library and Patty Coulter, Linda Blount, Jason Woodard and Molly Harrington-Weaver at the Waynesville Library. • Through April 26, Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center is hosting an exhibit to commemorate World War I and the centennial of the end of hostilities. “I Want You! How World War I Transformed Western North Carolina” is on display in the museum’s first floor gallery in Cullowhee. 227.7129. • New artist and medium will be featured every month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800.

FILM & SCREEN • “The Mule” is playing Wednesday, at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. See website 38main.com for pricing.

• “Widows”, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 & Feb. 9 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555. “First Man”, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555. “Vice” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8-9 & 13 and 1 p.m. & 4 p.m. on Feb. 9-10 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. See website 38main.com for tickets. • A special showing of the 1957 release “An Affair to Remember”, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. $5, visit 38main.com for tickets. • “Bohemian Rhapsody”, will be shown at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 14. 6:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and 7 p.m. Feb. 16 at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. 586.3555. “Bohemian Rhaspsody” will be shown at 7 p.m. on Feb. 15-16 & 20 and 1 p.m. & 4 p.m. on Feb. 17 at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. See website 38main.com for tickets. • Free movies are shown every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. See website for listings and times at madbatterfoodandfilm.com.

cation workshop that will be held on Saturday, Feb. 29, at Macon County’s Serpentine Barrens. Cost: $65 (includes lunch). www.alarkaexpeditions.com.

FARM AND GARDEN • The annual Haywood County Extension Master Gardener plant sale is underway through Feb. 25. Orders must be pre-paid. Pick up an order form at Cooperative Extension Office in Waynesville, call 456.3575 or mgarticles@charter.net.

HIKING CLUBS • Carolina Mountain Club will have an 8.5-mile “Cantrell Lodge History Hike” with a 700-foot ascent on Saturday, Feb. 9. Info and reservations: 460.7066 or barbc129@gmail.com. • Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous hike on Saturday, Feb. 9, on the Ridge Trail. Info and reservations: 524.5298. • Carolina Mountain Club will have a nine-mile hike with a 2,400-foot ascent on Sunday, Feb. 10, at Sassafras Mountain. Info and reservations: 505.2036, 408.887.3666 or daisytk@yahoo.com. • Carolina Mountain Club will hold a 5.3-mile hike with a 1,000-foot ascent on Feb. 10 from Tanyard Gap to Hot Springs. Info and reservations: mwbromberg@yahoo.com.

Outdoors

• A recreational racing program for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities will run from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on non-holiday Saturdays through the end of the season. Cost: $10 for two runs or $20 for unlimited pass. Lift ticket or season pass required. Register: www.nastar.com. • Cataloochee Ski Area will hold night racing from 78:30 p.m. on Thursdays from through Feb. 14 in Maggie Valley. Open to ages 18-up. $15 to race; $35 for race and 6-10 p.m. lift ticket. www.cataloochee.com.

• John and Cathy Sill will lead a trip to look for wintering water birds and other species on Feb. 7 at Lake Junaluska. Sponsored by the Franklin Bird Club. Meet at Bi-Lo parking lot at 8 a.m. to carpool. Sign up: 524.5234. • The Franklin Bird Club meeting will feature a presentation entitled “Of Birds and Bees: Evaluating the Insect Apocalypse” at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Led by Kefyn Catley, emeritus professor of biology at WCU. Info: franklinbirdclub.com or 524.5234. • The Franklin Appalachian Trail Community Council will hold its February meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce. https://appalachiantrail.org/home/conservation/a-tcommunity-program. • Learn how to safely roll a kayak during one of two sessions scheduled for 7:30-8:45 p.m. on Feb. 13 and Feb. 27 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Free for members; daily fee charged to nonmembers. tommac207@bellsouth.net. • The Great Smoky Mountains Association will have a “duck day adventure” from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Lake Junaluska. Expert birder Kevin Burke will lead the two-mile walk and identify as many ducks as possible. Cost: $45 or $30 for GSMA members. Proceeds benefit the park. Info: https://bit.ly/2G4ee09. • Registration is underway for the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project’s annual Business of Farming Conference, which is from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the AB Tech Conference Center in Asheville. Cost: $75 before Feb. 1; $95 after. Register: https://asapconnections.org or 236.1282. • Registration is underway for a winter-plant identifi-

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a 7.8-mile hike with a 1,100-foot ascent on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at Trace Ridge. Info and reservations: 460.7066 or barbc129@gmail.com. • The Great Smoky Mountains Association will have a nine-mile hike from 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, to Charlies Bunion. Cost: $45 or $30 for GSMA members. Proceeds benefit the park. Info: https://bit.ly/2UyuhXo. • Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate threemile hike on Saturday, Feb. 16 to Yellow Branch Falls. Info and reservations: 743.1079. • Carolina Mountain Club will have an 8.9-mile hike with a 1,900-foot ascent on Sunday, Feb. 17 at Cedar Rock Mountain. Info and reservations: 684.7083, 606.7956 or dblanning@bellsouth.net. • Carolina Mountain Club will have a six-mile hike with a 1,650-foot ascent on Sunday, Feb. 17, at River Ridge Loop and Jack Branch trails. Info and reservations: 622.3704 or jckdalton9@gmail.com. • Carolina Mountain Club will take an 11-mile hike with a 2,000-foot ascent on Wednesday, Feb. 20 from the Mountains to the Sea Trail to Green Knob. Info and reservations: 704.877.7804 or waltersharon204@gmail.com. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate sixmile hike with an elevation change of 520 feet on Saturday, Feb. 23, from Warwoman Dell to Martin Creek Falls. Info and reservations: 369.7352. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate-tostrenuous 9.2-mile hike with an elevation change of 800 feet on Saturday, Feb. 23, on the Cataloochee Divide. Info and reservations: 456.8895. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a moderate 4.5-mile hike on Saturday, Feb. 24, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Info and reservations: 788.2985. • Carolina Mountain Club will take a 9.5-mile hike with a 2,500-foot ascent on Feb. 24 from Good Road to Bald Knob. Info and reservations: 275.6447 or ejb5711@gmail.com. • Carolina Mountain Club will have a four-mile hike with a 600-foot ascent on Sunday, Feb. 24 to Wintergreen Falls. Info and reservations: 384.4870 or stuengo@comporium.net.

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Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads. ■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150. ■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2. If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type. ■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background. ■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold. ■ $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. Up to 25 words. ■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

Classified Advertising: Scott Collier, phone 828.452.4251; fax 828.452.3585 classads@smokymountainnews.com

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WNC MarketPlace

FINANCIAL

EMPLOYMENT

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ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT For Downtown Development Program. Downtown Waynesville Main Street City Organization seeks self-motivated individual, customer service skills, trustworthy, dependable, team oriented, advanced computer expertise, Quick Books proficiency, innovative promotional abilities, adept in Social Media/Facebook. Full Time. Requires some nights, weekends, holidays. Involves other comprehensive job responsibilities supporting work flow of organizational director by providing administrative reinforcement. • Applicants are asked to inquire by Email. Please send Resume, Cover Letter & Salary Requirements to be considered to:

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February 6-12, 2019

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AIRLINES ARE HIRING Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance Now! 866.441.6890 SAPA FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Business Administration Instructor (Economics) & Paramedic Instructor- Continuing Education. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

Catherine Proben Cell: 828-734-9157 Ofﬁce: 828-452-5809

EMPLOYMENT

MAD BATTER In Downtown Sylva is hiring for Kitchen Staff. Please apply in person between 2-4pm, Mon-Fri. FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Associate Degree Nursing Instructor - Barber Instructor - Dept. Chair Associate Degree Nursing Instructor - Industry Training Instructor (CATV) for Continuing Education - Industry Training Instructor (Electrical Systems) for Continuing Education - Practical Nursing Instructor (10-month contact) - Network/Management CISCO CCNA Certified Instructor Registered Medical Assistant Instructor for Continuing Education Senior Systems Administrator Technician. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.comHuman Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer BOATBUILDING CAREERS Bayliss Boatworks is Hiring! Carpenters, painters, welders, electricians and CNC operators and programmers. Full-time work and great benefits. Visit: www.baylissboatworks.com/about/careers BROWN TRUCKING Is looking for COMPANY DRIVERS and OWNER OPERATORS. Brown requires: CDL-A, 2 years of tractor trailer experience OTR or Regional in the last 3 years, good MVR and PSP. Apply at: driveforbrown.com. Or Call Brandon at 919.291.7416.

www.smokymountainnews.com

828.452.5809

DRIVE WITH UBER. No experience is required, but you'll need a Smartphone. It's fun and easy. For more information, call: 1.800.655.7452 STECOAH VALLEY CENTER SEEKS Part-time Instructors to Teach Guitar and Fiddle for the JAM Program. Mon. & Thurs. 4-5p.m. Need to be able to Teach Old Time/Bluegrass Music in the Traditional Method. Please Contact Jennifer West at 828.735.9966 if Interested. UNABLE TO WORK Due to injury or illness? Call Bill Gordon & Assoc., Social Security Disability Attorneys! FREE Evaluation. Local Attorneys Nationwide 1.800.371.1734 [Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL (TX/NM Bar.)] LAND SURVEYING POSITION Morehead City, NC - Crew Chief or S.I.T. Pay $15-$21 per hour depending upon experience. Email: Chase Cullipher: chase@tcgpa.com or Call 252.773.0090 WORK FROM ANYWHERE You have an Internet connection. 13 positions available. Start as soon as today. As simple as checking your email. Complete online training provided. Visit this website for details: https://bit.ly/2yewvor SAPA

Brian Noland RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROFESSIONAL

bknoland@beverly-hanks.com

Mike Stamey 828-508-9607

74 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786

828.452.5809

Michelle McElroy BROKER ASSOCIATE (828) 400-9463 michelle@beverly-hanks.com Haywood County Real Estate Expert & Top Producing REALTOR®

74 NORTH MAIN ST. • WAYNESVILLE, NC

www.beverly-hanks.com

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All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination” Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18 This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All dwellings advertised on equal opportunity basis.

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS We Are Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting From $535.00 Rental Assistance Available - Handicapped Accessible Units Available

OFFICE HOURS: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm 168E Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.586.3346 TDD# 1.800.735.2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

Climate Control

Storage 48 SECURITY CAMERAS AND MANAGEMENT ON SITE

beverly-hanks.com

mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

828.734.5201

cproben@beverly-hanks.com

74 N. Main St., Waynesville, NC

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REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

Sizes from 5’x5’ to 10’x20’

Climate Controlled

1106 Soco Road (Hwy 19), Maggie Valley, NC 28751 Find Us One mile past State Rd. 276 and Hwy-19 MaggieValleySelfStorage.com on the right side, torry@torry1.com across from Frankie’s Torry Pinter, Sr. 828-734-6500 Italian Restaurant

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beverly-hanks.com

HOMES FOR SALE

BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112. SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your Mortgage? Denied a Loan Modification? Is the bank threatening foreclosure? Call Homeowner's Relief Line Now for a Free Consult! 855.995.4199

COMM. PROP. FOR RENT

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TRAVEL/VACATION

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147 WALNUT STREET • WAYNESVILLE

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Teresa S. Bailey BROKER, REALTOR®

828-593-7097

Teresa@4Smokys.com

HAYWOOD SPAY/NEUTER 828.452.1329

WAYNESVILLE OFFICE:

Great Smokys Realty

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Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

RE/MAX

EXECUTIVE

Ron Breese Broker/Owner 71 North Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786 Cell: 828.400.9029 ron@ronbreese.com

www.ronbreese.com Each office independently owned & operated.

828-564-1950 www.4smokys.com

36 S. Main St. Waynesville

• Carolyn Lauter - carolyn@bhgheritage.com Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com • Ann Eavenson - anneavenson@beverly-hanks.com • Billie Green - bgreen@beverly-hanks.com • Michelle McElroy- michellemcelroy@beverly-hanks.com • Marilynn Obrig - mobrig@beverly-hanks.com • Steve Mauldin - smauldin@beverly-hanks.com • Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com • Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com • Brooke Parrott - bparrott@beverly-hanks.com • Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com • Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com • Ellen Sither - ellensither@beverly-hanks.com • Mike Stamey - mikestamey@beverly-hanks.com • Karen Hollingsed- khollingsed@beverly-hanks.com • Steve Mauldin- smauldin@beverly-hanks.com • Jerry Powell - jpowell@beverly-hanks.com • Mike Stamey - mstamey@beverly-hanks.com

Christie’s Ivester Jackson Blackstream • George Escaravage - george@IJBProperties.com ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com • Pam James - pjames@sunburstrealty.com

Jerry Lee Mountain Realty

Jerry Lee Hatley- jerryhatley@bellsouth.net Keller Williams Realty - kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff@kw.com

Lakeshore Realty

• Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Cindy Dubose - cdubose@mountaindream.com

February 6-12, 2019

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Haywood Co. Real Estate Agents

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WNC MarketPlace

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McGovern Real Estate & Property Management

LOVEY - HANDSOME PUREBRED MINIATURE POODLE MALE ABOUT 10YRS OLD. HE'S HAD GREAT CARE, & APPEARS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE (ALTHOUGH HE COULD LOSE A LITTLE WEIGHT). HE'S A SWEET, FRIENDLY GUY, WALKS POLITELY ON LEASH, AND ENJOYS GOING ON ADVENTURES. HE'S PERFECT FOR A RETIRED COUPLE OR SINGLE PERSON WHO WOULD ENJOY THE COMPANY OF AN OLDER, SETTLED DOGGY.

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The Smoky Mountain Retreat at Eagles Nest

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smokymountainnews.com

• Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com • Holly Fletcher - hollyfletcher1975@gmail.com • The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com • Ron Breese - ronbreese.com • Landen Stevenson- Landen@landenstevenson.com • Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com • Mary & Roger Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net • Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net • David Rogers - davidr@remax-waynesvillenc.com • Marsha Block- marshablockestates@gmail.com Rob Roland Realty - robrolandrealty.com

WNC Real Estate Store

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TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE 828.452.4251 | ads@smokymountainnews.com 45

WNC MarketPlace February 6-12, 2019 www.smokymountainnews.com 46

SUPER

CROSSWORD

HER MIXED-UP ACTIVITIES ACROSS 1 Make hostile 9 Sliced to bits, as a potato 14 Quibble 19 Used with both ears 20 Love, in Lido 21 Like a lamb 22 Eleanor Roosevelt’s successor chars beef and pork? 25 Step foot in 26 Pluralizable word 27 By means of 28 D.C.’s nation 30 “The Cosby Show” actress defeats a jungle beast? 37 Lamb’s cry 40 Org. for cavity fillers 41 Suffix with election 42 High volcano in Europe 43 “La La Land” co-star makes an animated fish docile? 52 First episode 53 Actor Hale 54 “-- big girl now” 55 Piece of lifting lingerie 58 “Mixed Nuts” actress successfully woos a seamster? 65 Ivanisevic of tennis 66 “Como --?” (Jorge’s greeting) 67 Tiptoed about 68 Smear (on) 70 Female pastor, e.g. 75 Poet Gallagher 76 Deep dislike 78 Battery pole 79 Some iPods 81 “Crazy” singer cuts a

gossipy meddler’s fingernails? 87 Comedian Schumer 88 Wade’s rival 89 Top 40 tunes 90 Big name in tractors 92 “Gidget” star challenges the head of a college? 98 Frozen drink brand 101 Savings plan, for short 102 Holiday in Vietnam 103 Divs. of a ton 104 1980s astronaut irritates a peeress? 113 -- tight leash 114 Poet’s p.m. 115 Ray of McDonald’s 116 Brewery kilns 120 “Buttons and Bows” singer stashes away dozens of cases of classic soda? 127 Habituate 128 Circus venue 129 Part of PG 130 Franklin’s belief in God 131 Burdened 132 “No turning back now!” DOWN 1 Singer Lane 2 Debt security 3 Research center: Abbr. 4 Prop for art 5 -- -Grain (cereal bar brand) 6 Airport landing abbr. 7 Greek letter #19 8 Graceful tree 9 Talked too long 10 Permeate 11 “See how many there are,” informally

12 Be off target 13 Fox’s home 14 Sky streaker 15 Declares 16 By means of 17 Know instinctively 18 Classroom instruction 23 Year, to Jorge 24 Hot tub site 29 Gasteyer of “Mean Girls” 31 Roosted 32 Busyness 33 Ho-hum 34 Queen, e.g. 35 Hosp. sites 36 Singer Sayer 37 Queen, e.g. 38 ABA or AMA part: Abbr. 39 Uncertainty of meaning 44 Large tour vehicle 45 Sky shiner 46 Loop trains 47 Eastern ideal 48 Actress on NBC’s “The Brave” 49 Leaf, Sentra and Maxima 50 Ambulance VIP 51 “Serpico” author Peter 55 1990 Jamie Lee Curtis action thriller 56 Birds of Arabian myth 57 Torah cases 59 WWII female enlistee 60 Got some air 61 Toronto-to-Detroit dir. 62 Midori on ice 63 War zone of the ‘60s 64 Spoke slowly and solemnly 68 L- -- (drug treating Parkinson’s)

69 Actor West 71 Prefix with lateral 72 Actor Silver 73 Pre-F string 74 Vetoing vote 77 Gore Vidal’s Breckinridge 80 Beatty and Buntline 82 Cheat 83 Tell untruths 84 “-- be a pleasure!” 85 Exams for some jrs. 86 Yemeni, e.g. 91 Navy off. 92 Salt, in Paris 93 Disposed 94 “... and yet here we --” 95 Burgundy or maroon 96 Kinsman: Abbr. 97 Greek letter #7 98 Prefix with lateral 99 Frank 100 May of film 105 A long time 106 Alter, in a way, as a skirt 107 Seat holders 108 Actress Rich 109 Actress Lindsay 110 -- -warrior 111 Prescription amounts 112 One-named New Age musician 117 Tennis units 118 Baht earner 119 Sediment 121 Rapa -- (Easter Island) 122 TV’s Linden 123 Man-mouse linkup 124 Disposed 125 Cheer yell 126 Soft & --

ANSWERS ON PAGE 40

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SUDOKU

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, Answers on 40 the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

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Junaluska’s story as told through historians

very reader of this column has heard of the person known as Junaluska. But what do you really know about him? What is his true significance? I decided to look into the matter. Here’s what I found. The sources I primarily depended upon for this account are cited below. Accounts of Junaluska’s early life are both sparse and varied. It can be said that he was born sometime in the 1770s either in Tennessee (as recent genealogical records suggest), near Murphy or on the headwaters of the Little Tennessee River (maybe in Rabun County, Georgia, or maybe in Macon County). Junaluska was known as Gulkalaski (“one falling from a leaning position”) because one day when his mother placed his carrying frame against a tree it fell over. When he was a warrior in his mid-20s, he was given the name of Tsunulahunski (“one who tries, but fails”) because he failed in his sworn effort to exterminate “every” Creek. This name was difficult for many whites to either pronounce or spell. Western Carolina University historian Gordon B. McKinney further records that “Virtually nothing is known of Junaluska’s life until 1811. During that year, the Shawnee

BACK THEN chief Tecumseh visited the Cherokees at Soco Gap and urged them to join his war against the advancing American settlers. Junaluska spoke for the Cherokees — despite this instance of leadership, he never held the title of chief — and rejected Tecumseh’s overtures. Junaluska also spoke for the tribal leadership when he extolled the advantages of the settled agricultural life-style adopted by the Columnist Cherokees.” There can be no doubt that in November 1813 Junaluska led a contingent of Cherokee warriors southward to fight against the Creeks. Hicks picks up the story there: “General Andrew Jackson was directing the frontal attack (on 27 March, 1814) of a Creek fortification that had been built within the projection of land created by a bend in the Tallapoosa River in eastern Alabama. Stand Watie, with his Lieutenant, John Ross, were directing the Cherokee attack on the rear of the fortification but were faced with crossing the river itself. Gulkalaski (i.e., Junaluska) and two other warriors swam the Tallapoosa River in

George Ellison

Editor’s note: This column first appeared in a February 2002 edition of The Smoky Mountain News.

the dark and took the Creek warriors’ canoes in spite of gunfire from the Creek Indians which wounded one of the three Cherokee, an Indian named Whale. This action gave Jackson the upper hand in what had been a situation stacked against him. In the ensuing battle Gulkalaski drove his tomahawk through the skull of a Creek warrior when the Creek had General Jackson at his mercy.” When the westward forced removal of the Cherokees took place, Junaluska was living with his family near present-day Robbinsville. Hicks records his verbal reaction as related in Cherokee tradition: “At the forced removal, witnessing the scene before him, and with tears gushing down his cheeks Chief Tsunulahunski lifted his face toward the heavens and said, ‘Oh my God, if I had known at the battle of the Horse Shoe what I know now, American history would have been differently written.’” Longing for his native homeland after his 1839 arrival in northeastern Oklahoma, Junaluska walked the entire distance back to North Carolina in 1843. Once again Hicks picks up the story: “His old friend Colonel William Thomas plead Chief Tsunulahunski’s case to the General Assembly of North Carolina and on 2 January, 1847 they ratified ‘An Act in Favor of the Cherokee Chief, Junoluskee, who distinguished himself in the service of the United States at the battle of Horse Shoe as

commander of a body of Cherokees, as well as divers other occasions during the last war with Great Britain.’ The Assembly awarded him full citizenship, 337 acres of land in Cherokee county, district 9, tract No. 19, and one hundred dollars. Chief Tsunulahunski took a Cherokee wife, Ni-suh (possibly his third wife), and raised a family of two boys, Jim-my and Sic-que-yuh, and one girl, Nalih. He died on 20 October, 1868, at over 100 years of age. His grave is on a hill in the town of Robbinsville and is marked with a memorial stone erected by the General Joseph Winston Chapter of D.A.R. in 1910.” In 1997, The Friends of Junaluska designed and constructed a seven-sided monument around the grave and placed seven granite markers upon it. There is a marker for each of the seven Cherokee clans. Each marker tells about Junaluska’s life and achievements. That’s the story. I don’t want to draw any grand conclusions. But I will note that the story adds resonance to the overall themes: Native American rights (which were ignored) versus the desire for land and domain on the part of the early settlers (which triumphed). Two powerful figures — Junaluska and Andrew Jackson — personify and lend a human face to that tragic collision. (George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at info@georgeellison.com.)

February 6-12, 2019 Smoky Mountain News 47

February 6-12, 2019 Smoky Mountain News

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