Bill would allow state’s first WNC elk hunt Page 30
On the Cover:
The latest iteration of Miss Maggie not only goes above and beyond for her volunteer job, but she’s also taken the tourist town’s namesake into the digital sphere. (Page 14)
News
Haywood OKs COVID grant despite naysayers........................................................6
Parents’ “Bill of Rights” law hurtling through legislature..........................................7 Tribe announces branding partnership with Sports Illustrated..............................8 Jackson school leaders say students need middle school..................................11
Tuscola principal resigns after football coach imbroglio........................................13
Haywood has financing plan for new $22 million jail..............................................17 Cemetery committee member resigns after chair’s reprimand............................19
Opinions
Tapping gently at her door, fate beckoned me in....................................................20 Letters to the editor..........................................................................................................21
A&E
Haywood artists receive support grants....................................................................22
Dylan scores with ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song’............................................29
Outdoors
Bill would implement N.C.’s first elk hunt....................................................................30 Up Moses Creek................................................................................................................24
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Look beyond the resume and you’ll
written by Ingles Dietitian Leah McGrath
You may have seen ads on social media or articles about collagen powder (peptides) helping with everything from removing wrinkles to reducing knee and joint pain and even improving gut health. While collagen is a hot new supplement that comes in pill or powder form, before you buy into the hype, here are a few things to consider:
1Many of the studies used to convince us to buy collagen have been done on rodents (rats or mice), are small studies with humans, or studies done by the manufacturers of the products.
2We can get collagen from the protein found in animal and seafood tissue – if you are eating these foods you probably don’t need additional collagen.
3It’s a mistake to rely on supplements instead of practicing healthy habits like: exercising, eating a balanced diet with a variety of lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and whole grain, not smoking, and protecting your skin and eyes from sun damage.
4Many supplements don’t contain what they claim.
Bottom Line: There is no indication that taking collagen is harmfulexcept to your wallet, but claims of the benefit may be overblown.
Source: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/collagen/
McGrath - Dietitian
I’M NOT JUST HERE TO PUT IN THE HOURS. I’M HERE TO PUT IN THE YEARS.
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF W RITER
When officers shot Murphy resident Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, while responding to a disturbance call Monday, Dec. 12, a press release from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office said it happened because Kloepfer “engaged in a verbal altercation with officers” and confronted them as he emerged from his camper trailer. However, video of the incident Kloepfer posted to his Facebook page Jan. 18 appears to contradict that version of events, raising questions about an initial storyline that differed drastically from what Kloepfer’s security camera captured.
According to Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith, the shots were fired by members of the Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT team, which Cherokee County had called upon for assistance. Smith had been in office for only a week when the incident occurred, running unopposed in November after beating out two primary opponents in May.
The raid on Kloepfer’s home, a camper trailer on a 3-acre parcel along a winding road 20 minutes outside Murphy, was prompted by a 911 call from the next door neighbor placed just before 11 p.m.
“My neighbor about an hour ago started shooting off fireworks, screaming yelling he’s going to kill the whole neighborhood, yada yada, he’s discharging a firearm,” the neighbor told dispatch. “I’ve been videoing all of this, but I was just gonna let it go. But I just heard his wife screaming ‘stop it,’ and then a bunch of shots went off and now I can’t hear her over there at all.”
Between 11:17 and 11:25 p.m., three Cherokee County deputies arrived on scene but couldn’t contact anyone at Kloepfer’s address on Upper Bear Paw Road.
“We haven’t been able to make contact with anybody at this residence,” one of the deputies says in a radio transmission shortly after arriving. “We’re just coming to the door of the trailer. There’s a detached garage with music blaring in the garage. We can’t get anybody to come to the door at the garage either.”
Kloepfer wasn’t a stranger to local law enforcement. In one exchange with dispatch that night, a sheriff’s office employee told dispatch he was in the office to get some background on Kloepfer, adding, “I think we’ve dealt with him before.” “Yes, multiple times,” the dispatcher replied. Records provided by Cherokee County show that in the two years prior to the shooting there had been 11 calls to Kloepfer’s address, mostly related to noise, fireworks and civil process.
Worried that there could be a hostage in the camper — the woman who the neighbor had heard yell “stop it” before the gun fired — officers sought a search warrant, which would allow them to enter the property even without someone answering the door. In one call, dispatch is asked to both start the search warrant process and contact CIPD to request help from their SWAT team.
The search warrant was approved at 2:14 a.m. but not executed until nearly three hours later. Cherokee County was waiting for CIPD, which has a SWAT team. Cherokee County does not.
Call logs show that CIPD was dispatched around 12:19 a.m. Cherokee is an hour and a half from Kloepfer’s address on Upper Bear Paw Road, and the team met to get organized
at the sheriff’s department in Murphy before leaving for Kloepfer’s house.
There was also red tape to navigate. The Memorandum of Understanding outlining the relationship between Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and CIPD had died with the end of former Sheriff Derrick Palmer’s term, CIPD’s SWAT commander told dispatch, and no new document had been approved after Sheriff Dustin Smith was sworn in.
“If they could, contact the sheriff or the highest-ranking person that they got that’s on duty tonight to do that, because we got to make sure that we’re, you know, covered on the assistance thing,” CIPD’s SWAT commander told dispatch.
After that call ended, dispatch placed a call to let county law enforcement know that
a new agreement was needed. She was assured that Sheriff Smith was at the office and would be able to sign the agreement. Smith did not respond to an email from The Smoky Mountain News requesting the signed agreement.
Kloepfer’s published security video starts at 4:54 a.m. Flashlights appear outside the door as officers open it to throw in the robot they’ve brought with them. It lands and starts shining a light around the dark home. Kloepfer and a woman he identifies on his Facebook page as Alison Mahler don’t wake up until two minutes later, when the robot’s light shines directly into their bedroom.
“What’s going on?” asks Mahler, sounding groggy and confused.
“Hello?” they both call.
“Jason,” a police officer says through a loudspeaker. “Step outside.”
Mahler and Kloepfer emerge from the bedroom and Kloepfer stoops down to grab the robot as its light continues to shine.
“Come outside, Jason,” the police officer repeats as Kloepfer continues to amble toward the door. “Step outside the door onto the deck and show us your hands. Jason, we just want to talk to you. Come outside.”
Kloepfer opens the door 16 seconds after 4:57 a.m., holding the robot in his right hand and lifting up his arms. Multiple officers shout at him to hold up his hands, and 20 seconds after 4:57 a.m. there’s a barrage of bullets as Kloepfer holds his hands above his head. Then he falls to the ground.
“I’m shot!” he yells as the police officer holding the loudspeaker continues to command him to come out with his hands up.
“He can’t. He’s shot,” Mahler yells as she
comes to the door, hands held high. Kloepfer crawls to the door, stretching his own hands outside its frame.
The SWAT team enters at 4:58 a.m., checking the trailer for any other inhabitants as another officer assures Kloepfer, who repeats over and over that he didn’t have a gun, that an ambulance is on its way. At 4:59 a.m. one officer tells the others standing in the trailer to start working on Kloepfer’s medical needs, and they carry him outside.
“Ali, I love you,” he can be heard shouting to Mahler.
At 5 a.m., three police officers enter the now-empty trailer.
“F*** bro. F***,” one of them says. “Cameras, there’s cameras,” says another. They briefly turn toward the camera and then complete their walkthrough of the camper.
Afterward, Kloepfer was taken to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga and charged with two misdemeanors — communicating threats and resisting a public officer. Photos on his Facebook page show a scar running up the center of his torso from hip level to just below the breastbone, with another scar where a bullet struck his right arm.
“I just received everyone’s messages, been offline 100% since I posted the video till now,” Kloepfer wrote in a Feb. 20 Facebook post. “I am physically doing better, mentally me an Ali ain’t so good on this one. We are out of state for fear of our lives since I got out the hospital. I can’t talk to [sic] much about details right now as this is major major case still evolving. But like I said five weeks ago, trust me the news is completely wrong and so are my charges.”
Despite what’s depicted on the video, the release posted to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at 11:42 a.m. Dec. 13 painted Kloepfer as an antagonist whose actions forced CIPD to fire. But two days after Kloepfer posted the video Jan. 18, Smith issued a new press release blaming CIPD for the apparently false information contained in the original release. Dispatch logs show multiple county deputies and investigators were on scene at the time of the shooting, in addition to the CIPD team.
“Following the shooting, my office issued a press release about the event,” he wrote. “The release was prepared by the county attorney based on information my office received from CIPD. Neither myself nor Chief Deputy Justin Jacobs were on the scene at the time of the shooting, so we relied on information provided to us from the Cherokee Indian Police Department. My goal with issuing that press release was not to comment on the subsequent criminal investigation, which remains ongoing, but rather to update the public on a dangerous situation.”
The statement goes on to reference Smith’s platform during his campaign for sheriff, saying that what happened Dec. 13
shows the need for Cherokee County to have its own tactical team.
“It is imperative for us to be self-reliant when it comes to fighting crime, especially during a situation in which time is of the essence, such as a hostage or active shooter event,” he wrote. “I will be asking county commissioners for the funds to create such a unit when budget negotiations for the next fiscal year begin.”
Commissioners didn’t wait for formal budget negotiations to stake out their position on funding a SWAT team. As shown on The Cherokee Scout’s recording of the Jan. 23 meeting, Chairman Cal Stiles introduced a resolution opposing creation of a SWAT team for Cherokee County. The resolution affirms the board’s support of law enforcement but says commissioners have “grave concerns regarding the establishment of a SWAT team including but not limited to the cost to Cherokee County taxpayers, the minimal need for a SWAT team, the preservation of the Constitutional rights of the citizens of the County and the exorbitant amount of liability to which the County may be exposed.”
The board tabled the resolution for discussion Feb. 6. According to County Manager
Randy Wiggins, Smith attended that meeting and told the board he had no intention of requesting SWAT team funding for the 20232024 budget, so the board chose not to vote on the resolution.
As is the case with any officer-involved shooting, the incident is under investigation by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigations. SBI reports never become public but instead are passed along to the district attorney, who reviews their contents and determines whether charges are warranted against any law enforcement officers involved.
District Attorney Ashley Welch and CIPD Chief Carla Neadeau declined to comment for this story, citing the ongoing investigation. Smith did not return an email requesting comment or acknowledge a public records request contained in that same email. Kloepfer’s attorney declined to comment at this time.
Two weeks after it was pulled from the consent agenda to allow more time for research and discussion, a $75,735 grant reimbursing Haywood County for money it had already spent on vaccination services was approved unanimously by Haywood County commissioners despite objections from more than 25 people who spoke out against it for nearly two hours — many of whom peddled vaccine misinformation similar to that heard at the previous meeting.
“I think there’s a misconception that we’re out coercing people into being vaccinated, because that’s not the case at all,” said Sarah Henderson, Haywood County’s public health services director.
That was just one of the many false claims delivered at the meeting addressed by Henderson and Dr. Mark Jaben, the county’s medical director.
On Jan. 17, the no-match grant had appeared on the meeting’s consent agenda, which usually contains administrative items that are deemed non-controversial. But after concerns from constituents and a flurry of incorrect, cherry-picked claims by speakers during public comment, Commissioner Brandon Rogers asked that the item be
removed from the consent agenda and moved to the Jan. 25 meeting.
“I want to be clear, I’m not against the vaccinations at all. I’m not an anti-vaxxer myself. I’ve got people in my own family that have chosen to get the vaccination. It’s fine if they do or fine if not,” Rogers explained to The Smoky Mountain News at the time. “Before moving forward with receiving these funds, I simply just want to understand how we’re spending them, and I want to feel comfortable with how we’re spending them.”
Chairman Kevin Ensley offered insight into his decision-making process by citing research he’d found on the Kaiser Family Foundation website.
“It’s a nonpartisan site, middle of the road. They did a study on COVID and the number of people and everything and I found out that 80% of the nation has gotten at least one shot, 80% of the United States has got a shot,” Ensley said. “North Carolina was in the top third, 87% of North Carolinians have had at least one shot. So I’m not sure it’s that controversial in the vast majority of the public, because most of the public has gotten at least a shot of the vaccine.”
According to Henderson, about 61% of Haywood County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 58% have completed the original series of doses.
Commissioner Terry Ramey — who has been the subject of media scrutiny for being delinquent on more than $2,000 in county property taxes over the past decade — told Henderson he wanted her to change the
wording of the grant, specifically because it was “to focus on removing obstacles to accessing [the] vaccine, increasing vaccine confidence, coordinating COVID-19 vaccine services and expanding Public Health’s COVID-19 vaccination program.”
Henderson told him it was standard wording handed down from the state and not locally created.
Ramey went on to call for unity, as only a few of the speakers at public comment supported the county’s receipt of the grant.
“Seems like we got some people that don’t want to get along. We’ve got some emails — I did, I guess the rest of [commissioners] got them too — that called us all kinds of names and saying we’re bad leaders and we need to grow a set, and all kinds of stuff like that,” he said. “And to me, that’s people that don’t want to ever work together to make things right. That’s people that just want to keep stuff stirred up.”
Rogers defended his decision to pull the item from the Jan. 17 agenda — especially since grant acceptance wasn’t time sensitive — and then framed the issue not as one of misinformation but rather as one of medical freedom.
“I’m not anti-vax by no means,” he said during the meeting. “I believe it all comes down to freedom of choice. That’s who I am as a person. I don’t like anybody telling me what to do, and if you don’t believe me, ask my wife.”
Commissioner Tommy Long expressed the same view.
“I don’t want anybody telling me to take a vaccine,” Long said. “I don’t want somebody to tell me I can’t take a vaccine. It’s called freedom. It’s what our founding fathers died for.”
But Long also dove deeper into the purpose
of the grant, pointing out that it wouldn’t be used to purchase the vaccine itself.
“There’s $53,000 for salaries paid, $17,000 is for benefits, $5,000 for PPE. The way I see this, and correct me if I’m wrong, this is for the budget year 2022-23, so these expenditures started in June of last year,” he said. “So we’re seven months down the road on this. This is part of $17.8 million that was given from the federal government ARPA [President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act] funding to reimburse health departments for the extra burden that was put upon them across the state.”
Commissioner Jennifer Best said that she personally had misgivings about the vaccine, but echoed Long’s position on medical freedom.
“For me, finally, what it came down to is, I think there are issues with the vaccine. I think the COVID virus is not going away. Hopefully it will lessen itself over time. I think that it scares our population, young and old, because it’s so uncertain, but unfortunately this is money we’ve been acting on. We’re just repaying ourselves for what we’ve done,” she said. “It’s a financial decision for me.”
One opponent of the grant who spoke at the meeting, Haywood County resident Eddie Cabe, had his comments about medical freedom used as a reason to accept the grant by both Long and Best.
“It is not the job of the government to get involved between me and my health care,” Cabe said.
“Folks, that’s a two-sided sword,” said Best. “It’s not for us to come between your decision and it’s not to come [between] somebody else’s decision. It is an individual decision.”
Acontroversial education bill making its way through the Republican-dominated North Carolina General Assembly proposes granting parents a slate of “rights” they already have while taking more power from locally elected school boards and prohibiting instruction on a topic that doesn’t currently exist in state educational standards.
It may sound a lot like a redux of the debates surrounding critical race theory, but it’s not. The so-called “Parents Bill of Rights” bill was filed on Jan. 31 by senators Amy Galey (R-Alamance), Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) and Lisa Barnes (R-Nash).
“This bill is really about getting parents information, and informing them of their rights, and helping them to be able to access those rights,” Galey told The Smoky Mountain News on Feb. 6. “Over the years, as the parent of three children who went through public education, I know of multiple instances where parents felt that they were stiff-armed by the school, that schools did not really want to deal with them and did not want to give them information. When that happens, parents don’t really know what to do — what are they entitled to? Is the school even telling them the truth? This bill is an attempt to address that discrepancy.”
The bill, which covers students in grades K-4, has moved quickly through the Senate’s Education Committee, co-chaired by Galey and Lee, as well as the Health Care Committee co-chaired by Macon County Republican Sen. Kevin Corbin.
True to its title in one way, the bill ostensibly offers to parents a series of proposed “rights” that in reality already exist.
“I think that a lot of the proposed language in the bill, really, we already do,” said Chuck Francis, chairman of the Haywood County School Board. “We want parents to be involved in our school system. We invite parents to look over school supplies and school materials and curriculum. I think there’s a lot of options already there for parents that maybe they’re just not aware of.”
Currently, Haywood County Schools is ranked seventh-best of 115 public school units in the entire state. Parents already have the power to act on every single one of the “rights” proposed in the Senate bill.
Among them is the ability to request that their student skip sex education classes.
“When we have puberty classes, parents always have the right to opt out of those,” said Dr. Jill Barker, associate superintendent for instruction and curriculum.
The bill specifically focuses on the K-4 grade levels, but HCS does not begin puberty-related classes until fifth grade.
In fourth grade, there is some instruction on healthy versus unhealthy relationships, however the term “relationships” is a general one in this case that isn’t limited to romantic relationships and doesn’t include discussions of sexual activity.
Parents of HCS students can also seek a medical or religious exemption from immunization requirements, can review statewide standardized assessment results as part of the state report card and can request an evaluation of their child for an academically gifted program or for identification as a child with a disability.
“They absolutely have that right,” said Barker. “A lot of times meetings occur before that happens, but if a parent still would like that to happen they can put that in writing. If they are tested for an academically gifted program and they don’t qualify, there is an appeal process.”
Parents can also inspect public school textbooks and other supplementary materials, which is somewhat moot given the increasingly evolving nature of classroom instruction.
“Because our textbook funding is so minimal from the state, we really can’t afford to buy textbooks when there’s an adoption so our teachers really stick strictly with our curriculum standards,” she said. “We develop, throughout our district, research-based resources that we can use together and provide training on. We do have some textbooks, but again, it’s not like it used to be where there’s a textbook a kid carried home every day.”
An additional clause in the bill offers parents the “right” to purchase textbooks. It’s not clear why this is included in the bill, as textbooks of all sorts are commonly available for purchase online and aren’t usually sold by schools.
Another proposed right, access to information relating to school district policies for promotion or retention, is also established in HCS policy.
“We do send retention notification letters home to students periodically throughout the year. And of course, principals are meeting with parents,” said Barker. “We don’t want that to ever be a decision made without all parties in agreement.”
Yet another befuddling right offered in the bill is one of the most basic and longstanding policies of any school system, as terrifying as it may be for some students — the right to receive report cards on a regular basis.
“We even have an online system called PowerSchool, where parents can be notified simultaneously when a teacher posts a grade,” she said. “If they choose to opt into that system, as soon as the teacher adds a grade, that parent can get notification of that
grade,” she said. “We also send automated voicemail messages home through our Blackboard Connect system at night when students are absent from school.”
Then, there’s the right to access information relating to the state public education system, including standards, report card requirements, attendance requirements and textbook requirements.
“All the state standards are on the Department of Public Instruction website,” said Barker. “Those are easily accessible to parents.”
The right to participate in parent-teacher organizations is already established, isn’t under threat and isn’t necessarily controlled by the schools.
“We do have those here in Haywood County, parent organizations. Our federal programs office has a parent advisory committee and Dr. Putnam, the superintendent, has an advisory committee,” she said. “We have the superintendent’s student advisory committee, which consists of high school students.”
Barker says the right to opt out of certain data collection for their child already exists. The right of students to participate in protected student information surveys only with parental consent is also an issue HCS monitors closely.
“That’s a big one. I mean, we actually do have people that want to conduct surveys in our schools. We are very cautious about that. Those are all approved by our superintendent. At times, they are even approved by the Board of Education. If we do deem it to be an appropriate survey, parents always have the right to opt out of those,” she said.
Parents can also review all available records of materials their child has borrowed from a school library.
“If a parent wanted to review or see what their child had checked out, obviously, yeah, we would do that,” Barker said. “We should have digital records of that now, all that is online. I don’t think I’ve had a parent ask for that but we would certainly be able to provide that for them if that’s something they needed to see.”
The most controversial aspect of the bill isn’t any of the proposed “rights” for parents but is rather a prohibition — on instruction about gender identity, sexual activity or sexuality in the K-4 curriculum.
Similar to straw man arguments about critical race theory, there is no instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation in the grade levels proposed by the bill.
“Gender identity is not in the standards for K-12, period. There’s no mention of sexuality in the state standards in K-4,” Barker said, adding that instruction about sexual activity, which occurs after fourth grade, is always abstinence-based and focuses on
healthy relationships.
Parents may not fully be aware of how they can participate productively in the education of their children, but Barker and Putnam want to foster an environment in which parents can reach out at any time.
“If they have questions, contact us, contact our schools. I mean, we want that open door policy with our parents and that communication. That’s what we’re here for,” Barker said. “We would appreciate that more than anything.”
However, the policies of Haywood County Schools pertaining to parental involvement are just that — policies. Were the bill to become law, it would restrict the rights of another group of people, the locally elected school board that makes policy on behalf of voters.
“I would say that it will take away some local control,” Francis said.
Another major concern is that the bill would prohibit instruction to K-4 students on bodily autonomy and “good touch/bad touch.”
Galey says they took care to ensure that this would not be the case.
“That’s something that we talked about when we were drafting the bill, and wanted to be sure that we did not interfere with the ability to teach little children about personal bodily autonomy, or advocating for themselves in how they did or didn’t want to be touched,” she said. “It’s my opinion that good touch/bad touch or “no-no zones,” when you’re talking to a little child, that’s just telling them this is your body and you get to say what happens to it, and people can’t touch you without your permission. That’s just sort of a basic baseline thing for anybody, it doesn’t have to be so much [about] sexual activity.”
Currently, KARE [Kids Advocacy Resource Effort] of Haywood County provides this type of instruction in all elementary schools, including Haywood Christian Academy and Shining Rock Classical Academy, in grades K-5 and at no cost to taxpayers.
Similar to HCS, KARE’s body safety program focuses mostly on safe touch/unsafe touch and how to identify trusted adults. There is no sex ed component to KARE’s trainings.
As of press time on Feb. 7, the bill had received a favorable recommendation from the Senate’s rules and operations committee in advance of a second reading, but it still has a long way to go if it’s to become law.
A similar bill gained House approval in 2022, but this year, House dynamics are different. Republicans are only one vote short of being able to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, so the bill stands a good chance not only of passage but also of withstanding Cooper’s veto, should he issue one.
“Parents are critical to the success of our schools and their participation should be welcomed and encouraged, but the last thing we need is to force the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ culture wars on our children and our state,” said Cooper. “We know from seeing the harmful impacts of the bathroom bill how much legislation like this hurts people and costs North Carolina jobs.”
Wolfetown/Big Y voters will cast ballots Thursday, March 2, during their second special election in three months, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council decided last week.
The election will select a replacement for former Rep. Bo Crowe, who resigned Jan. 30 following a Jan. 6 incident that resulted in Crowe facing three criminal charges, two of which are felonies. In a letter dated Jan. 30 that Chairman Richard French read during Budget Council Tuesday, Jan. 31, Crowe said that “with everything going on,” he isn’t able to put the time and effort into representing his community the way “they know and deserve.”
Filing for the March 2 election opens at 7:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, and closes at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Candidates must pay a $500 filing fee, the same amount they would pay to run for an entire two-year term.
The Board of Elections will certify candidates by Tuesday, Feb. 14, and voter registration rolls closed Friday, Feb. 24. There will be no absentee or early voting. Following the election, any protests must be filed by the end of the day Friday, March 3. After the protest period expires, the Board of Elections will certify the results to Tribal Council, and the winner can be sworn in to serve through the end of Crowe’s unexpired term in October.
If the winner of the special election wishes to seek a full two-year term on Council, he or she will need to start running for re-election immediately after winning the special election. Filing for the 2023 elections, which include a Primary Election June 1 and General Election Sept. 7, opens Monday, March 6, and closes Friday, March 10.
The special election held Dec. 15 to fill seats left vacant by the resignation of Wolfetown Rep. Bill Taylor and death of Painttown Rep. Tommye Saunooke drew robust interest from the community. A total of 17 candidates signed up to run for one of the two seats and turnout on Election Day was high despite short notice and no absentee or early voting options. In January, Michael Stamper was sworn in to represent Painttown and Andrew Oocumma to represent Wolfetown after they won their respective elections.
BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF W RITER
In October, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council approved $324 million for Kituwah LLC to control a “worldwide” brand and invest in multiple resorts. Now, Kituwah LLC has revealed the brand in question — Sports Illustrated Resorts.
“We’ve been working with them for a good six months or so to try to hammer out the details of how this would work,” said Kituwah LLC CEO Mark Hubble. “We expect there’s probably about nine to 10 resorts in North America on the drawing board.”
Sports Illustrated Magazine has been around since August 1954, but Sports Illustrated Resorts is a new venture. Authentic Brands Group is licensing the Sports Illustrated name and brand with plans to build new resorts and relicense existing ones across North America, including Mexico, Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
The resorts will be “very sports-themed,” Hubble said, with fitness centers, branded restaurants and full immersive theme parks attached to them. According to a press release from Sports Illustrated Resorts — published in February 2021, before Kituwah LLC joined the partnership — each resort will offer “a host of attractions from live action sports and entertainment to quality dining, wellness and relaxation,” and properties will include “university locations, upscale golf destinations, chic beach clubs, eco-adventure lodges and large format resorts.”
“The mission of Sports Illustrated Resorts is to provide a vibrant and interactive experience,” said Joseph Cellura, Chairman of ADMI Inc., and Christopher Schroeder, CEO of Experiential Ventures Hospitality LLC, in the press release. “People are looking for experiences that allow them to be more active and participatory, and Sports Illustrated Resorts will create the ultimate immersive experiences for guests through the various hospitality categories and destinations we plan to enter.”
In addition to Authentic Brands, Kituwah is partnering with Experiential Ventures and ADMI Inc. on the venture — some heavy-hitting players. Authentic Brands owns more than 40 lifestyle, entertainment and media brands, including
Sports Illustrated, Elvis Presley, Reebok, Aeropostale and Shaquille O’Neal. Brands Experiential Ventures owns include Condé Nast, a major media company that owns Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, among others. Its team has worked with well-known brands such as Disney, MGM and American Express. ADMI is a development, program, project, construction and facilities management company whose past projects include the New York Apple Store, the Biltmore Spa and Ritz Carlton Deer Valley.
The funding Tribal Council approved in October included $24.5 million for Kituwah’s share of the brand purchase, as well as brand loan and documentation fees. The remaining $300 million was for construction of new resorts under that brand.
grand opening in April.
Hubble said he expects a 20% annualized internal rate of return on the resort side of the operation and that returns on the brand side are “likely to be north of that.” He also expects that partnerships forged through the Sports Illustrated venture will aid Kituwah LLC’s other revenue-generating efforts.
“It’s not only the immediate opportunities on the resort side, but also we’ll be direct partners with Authentic Brands Group, which has a massive number of brands,” Hubble said. “And there’s potential crosspollenization and synergies between different brands and different other projects that we’re looking at. Obviously Exit 407 in Tennessee comes to mind.”
Kituwah LLC broke ground on the Exit 407 project in November 2020 after purchas-
The group plans to build its first new resort in Orlando, Florida, and has identified other potential sites as well that it is not yet ready to name.
In addition to opening new resorts, Sports Illustrated Resorts will seek to rebrand existing resorts. Kituwah could invest in some of those ventures, separately from the $300 million already committed, but in most cases the existing resorts would choose to pay for their own rebrands, Hubble said. The brand would still make money in those instances, however, by collecting license fees and reservation fees. In the next two to three years, Hubble expects to have nine projects either rebranded or in active construction. The company is also exploring several additional locations in Europe and Asia. Hubble said the group is running performance and exit simulations to explore taking the company public in five to nine years.
The first rebranded facility, now known as Ancora Cap Cana and located in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, is slated for a
ing the 200-acre property for $13.5 million in 2019. It’s now called “The 407: Gateway to Adventure,” and Kituwah LLC aims to create a stop for travelers that is also a sought-after destination.
Center is scheduled to open in May, and a groundbreaking for the Courtyard by Marriott will happen soon. Last year, Tribal Council approved $75 million for Kituwah LLC to work with France-based amusement park company Puy du Fou to create a “fully immersive” walk-through show that will take guests on a journey telling the “authentic and heartbreaking” story of Cherokee heroism during World War I. Those plans are still on track, Hubble said, and the project is now in the final design phase.
“Puy du Fou are flying in this week for a site visit at that location,” he said.
Kituwah LLC has made multiple eightfigure investments in revenue-generating projects over its nearly five-year history, but the Sports Illustrated Resorts venture is by far its biggest yet.
There has long been talk of creating a traditional middle school in Jackson County, but now the conversation appears to be picking up steam. In a January joint meeting with the Jackson County Commission, the school board listed a traditional middle school as one of its top budget priorities.
“Without a traditional middle school we’re lacking a lot of opportunities,” said Superintendent Dana Ayers.
Jackson County Schools is unique among The Smoky Mountain News’ four county coverage area — Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties, along with the Qualla Boundary — in that it does not have a typical middle school that exclusively serves sixth- through eighth-graders. Instead, there are four K-8 schools, serving a total of 724 middle grade students — Fairview, Cullowhee Valley, Smokey Mountain Elementary and Scotts Creek.
Part of what brought this discussion to the forefront is the complicated case of middle school sports in a district with K-8 schools. Jackson County Schools has both district middle school sports and schoolbased middle school sports, which has put a strain on both staffing and facilities.
Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, administration had discussions about ending one sports organization or the other. However, at the Jan. 24 board of education meeting, after an outpouring of community input, school board members decided to maintain both district and school-based middle grades sports.
“I would hate to see the Jackson County school system turn its back on any young person who needs a responsible adult to relate to in the community or in the school,” said Jackson resident and former coach Dave Waldrop during the Jan. 24 meeting. “I would like to see the school system keep as many opportunities as possible.”
During a joint meeting of the Board of Education and the County Commission on Jan. 31, school administration named a traditional middle school as a top budget priority, second only to expansion at Fairview School that would create space for a cafeteria.
“When we talk about constructing a traditional middle school, we know that that’s not going to happen overnight and that is still the priority after our Fairview cafeteria and classrooms,” said Ayers.
Superintendent Ayers spoke to the importance of a middle school in Jackson County. Without one, students lack many
opportunities in academics, arts, athletics and career and technical education. There are differing levels of access to all of those offerings at the four K-8 schools.
Some of the schools lack the ability to offer advanced classes for middle grades students because there are not enough students to make up a whole class. For example, while Cullowhee Valley and Fairview schools can offer high school level Math I for eighthgraders, Smokey Mountain Elementary and
CTE class at each school. Smokey Mountain Elementary and Scotts Creek have STEM classes, Cullowhee Valley is offering an agriculture class for the second year in a row and Fairview is able to have a business marketing class.
“Each of those schools has one CTE offering for all those grades 6-8 students,” said Ayers. “What we hope is for a traditional middle school to bring all those programs together, so all middle-schoolers could have
ties and needs.
“The level of expertise is not always there because that’s not how they were all trained,” said Ayers. “If 6-8 had traditional middle schools, then those building administrators and leaders could really focus on being instructional leaders in those grade ranges and subject areas, and elementary building administrators could have more focused expertise on elementary school. It’s difficult for any administrator — whether you’re principal or assistant principal — to be able to have that wide of a range of knowledge and understanding to know that our teachers are providing good core instruction, good supplemental instruction, good art, music and band instruction when you are responsible for ages 4-14.”
Scotts Creek School cannot.
“If we had that traditional middle school setting, then more students could be afforded that same opportunity,” said Ayers.
Additionally, resources for students with disabilities in middle grades have to be spread out across the district. According to Ayers, the number one staffing need in the district right now is for students with disabilities and at-risk populations.
“If we had a traditional setting those teachers could be more collaborative and more adults could see those children,” said Ayers.
Smokey Mountain High School offers 54 different Career and Technical Education classes. Administration thinks those would be more useful to students if there were more opportunities for CTE classes while in middle grades. Currently, there is only one
access to each of those classes before high school.”
“If we can get all the middle schools together, we can offer so much more and so much more opportunity,” said school board member Kim Moore.
Another opportunity for collaboration exists between core subject middle school teachers. According to Ayers, there is only one teacher for each middle grade subject at the K-8 schools. Because of this, collaboration between those teachers of the same subject is difficult and time consuming.
Additionally, administration and curriculum leaders at traditional elementary and middle schools are responsible for either elementary or middle grades. At K-8 schools, the same number of administrators are responsible for serving students from 4 to 14 years of age and an incredible range of abili-
In addition to all the academic and staff-related concerns, there is also student wellness to consider. With a traditional middle school, students are expected to make a transition between fifth and sixth grade, moving to a new environment with different people. This movement helps prepare them for the transition from middle school to high school. Students who attend a K-8 school will spend the greater part of 10 years at the same school with most of the same peers and authority figures, after which the transition to high school freshmen can be jarring.
“Middle school is hard,” said Moore. “It’s a hard time for them. So what happens is if they go from elementary to middle in the same building and then they get dropped off at Smokey Mountain High, that’s a lot.”
When the topic for a middle school was brought up in 2017, the county discussed the possibility of constructing a new building for the traditional middle school as well as renovating one of the existing elementary schools. The school system won’t move forward with determining a site until the board of commissioners is ready to financially support the plan.
The county commission will continue its budget discussions in the coming months.
If you’ve ever wanted to know more about how your local police department functions, then the free Waynesville Police Department’s Civilian Police Academy is for you. Classes are held for eight straight Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Waynesville Police Department beginning March 1, and include lectures from patrol officers, and classes on fingerprint analysis, tactical unit operations, the K9 program and more. Upon completion, participants can also schedule a ride-along with an officer. The program is open to Haywood County residents (including part-time residents) age 18 and older. This year, those aged 16 and 17 can also take part if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Since 2011, the WPD CPA has graduated more than 100 people, some of whom go on to become CPA volunteers and help out with Main Street events, festivals and other volunteer opportunities. Applications are available at the WPD office, 9 South Main Street. Applicants must submit to a background check, and applications must be received no later than Feb. 17. Space is limited to 20 students, so don’t delay. Questions? Contact Mary Ford, civvol@waynesvillenc.gov.
During a recent meeting between the Jackson County Commission and Board of Education, the school system laid out its most pressing capital needs. The county commission, responsible for funding public school capital projects, will determine funding level for the school system when it undergoes budget discussions in the coming months.
“These are funds that are allocated to us annually,” said Superintendent Dana Ayers.
The total operating budget for Jackson County Public Schools this past year was $8.6 million, with the capital budget making up $1.45 million of the total. Within the capital budget, the school system spends the most money on technology, which accounts for about $400,000.
“One of the questions that always comes up is why we need to continue with purchasing for capital outlay one-to-one,” said Ayers. “That is because as we all know, in this world of technology, once you get a device it is old. So, we have a plan for every four to five years that we are getting new devices into the hands of our students and our staff.”
The remaining funds are spent almost equally on capital outlay, preventative maintenance and one-to-one devices. The school system spends about $25,000 of its capital budget on school security.
Several years ago the Board of Education created a capital outlay priority list, which the current board updated during a work session last month. The top budget priority for the school system now is the cafeteria and classroom expansion at Fairview School. According to Ayers, the current cafeteria is undersized and underequipped. Additionally, access to the cafeteria is problematic. Students who have mobility challenges cannot navigate the stairwell. Those who are unable to use the stairwell must exit
the building and use a steep ramp outdoors to get back into the cafeteria.
Fairview cafeteria is situated in a basement-like area of the building. The relatively small space serves the entire 778-student school population, but it can only seat 300 students at one time.
“We know that all 778 students aren’t going to eat lunch at the same time,” said Ayers. “But we start lunch there around 10:40 a.m. everyday and run all the way until a little after 1 p.m.”
The project would involve not only a cafeteria, but also additional classrooms at Fairview School. The tentative plans would be to construct a two-story building with a cafeteria on the first floor and classrooms on the second floor. The school currently offers band but does not have a band room and needs additional space for choral programs as well as Career and Technical Education classes.
“This has been a priority for the school system for some time,” said County Manager Don Adams. “What really has delayed the
HANNAH MCLEOD
STAFF WRITER
Just weeks after the resignation of Tuscola’s head football coach, Principal Heather Blackmon has handed in her resignation from the same Haywood County high school.
Superintendent Trevor Putnam announced that he had received Blackmon’s resignation on Monday, Feb. 6. This comes after she had been suspended with pay from her position on Dec. 16.
When an employee is suspended with pay, they may be suspended for up to 90 days. Blackmon had been on sus-
conversation was the opportunity for grants. This was a priority for the last couple years but because there were state grants that potentially help fund this it was decided to wait and see.”
Second among the school system’s capital outlay priorities is a traditional middle school. Excluding students at Blue Ridge School, there are 724 middle-grades students in the school system split among four K-8 schools.
The third priority for the school system involves renovations and ADA upgrades to the Smokey Mountain High School stadium property and its concession stand. School administration also brought this project up as a need during a county commission’s budget workshops last year.
The school system previously applied for needs-based grants through the state for the Fairview cafeteria and classrooms; renovations and ADA upgrades to the high school stadium; and Blue Ridge gym and performance space. It did not receive funding for any
pension for 52 days as of Feb. 6. She was first hired as Tuscola High School principal in July 2020.
The school system has said it will immediately post the job opening and look both internally and externally for the next person to fill the role. Since Blackmon’s suspension, Assistant Tuscola Principal Jacob Shelton has been serving as lead administrator for the school. He will continue to do so until the position can be filled.
Because this was a personnel issue, the school system could not comment on the nature of the suspension or reasons for the resignation, though the move was related to the suspension of Tuscola’s head football coach Chris Brookshire. Brookshire had been suspended with pay on Dec. 7 and was later suspended without pay on Dec. 16. He resigned his position in January following the revelation that he had been suspended due to allegations of sexual harassment.
Because Blackmon resigned her position after being suspended, North Carolina General Statute does not allow for the specifics of disciplinary action to be made public. For this reason, the public cannot be privy to what went down at the school which resulted in Blackmon’s departure.
“Since this matter was reported in the media, I know our community has had a lot of questions and many have
of those projects.
Other projects listed as capital needs include a track on the Jones Street Property, new bus garage on the current site, erosion control at Scotts Creek School, Blue Ridge School gym and performance space, and softball upgrades at Webster. However, according to school administration, if the idea for a traditional middle school can become a reality, erosion control at Scotts Creek and softball upgrades at Webster could be removed from the list of priorities.
“Our boards will collaborate with you all as the board of commissioners, knowing now what our priorities are,” said Ayers. “Now we’re all on the same page about what our public schools desire and priorities are so we can meet the needs of our students.”
Jackson commissioners will hold a budget retreat at 10 a.m. on Feb. 21 at the SCC Burrell Building. Additionally, the commission is holding a regular meeting this month at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21, as well as a work session at 1 p.m. Feb. 14.
raised concerns over how this matter was handled,” Putnam said following the suspension of both Tuscola employees and the resignation of Brookshire. “It is important to remember the school system is limited on what information it may release about employees. State law requires most employee information to remain confidential, which makes it difficult for us to answer questions or address concerns about employee issues. While this may be frustrating for some, I hope our community realizes that every employee has a right for the process to finish before judgment is made.”
Blackmon spent time in Haywood County when she was growing up and is the grandchild of the namesake of C.E. Weatherby stadium; her grandmother worked as the librarian at Tuscola for several years. When she was hired with the school system in 2020, Blackmon told The Smoky Mountain News that Haywood County was “home.”
“To have the opportunity to potentially spend the rest of my career here has allowed me to truly ‘live the dream’ that everyone deserves, but few get the chance,” Blackmon told SMN after she was hired. “I intend to enjoy every day of it.
Blackmon was the first woman to work as head principal at Tuscola, something she called “an honor and very meaningful.”
There are many things that come to mind when folks think of Maggie Valley.
Some think of soaring ridgelines to the North and South, while some think of fly fishing in the crystal-clear streams. Some think of an elk traffic jam while some think of the short, rugged drive into the picturesque Cataloochee Valley with all its history. But quite a few imagine a young woman wearing her iconic green and red dress with a yellow apron and bonnet. Those people think of Miss Maggie.
There’s a long history of local women assuming the role of Miss Maggie, but it’s hard to argue that many have fit it quite as well as its current iteration.
Warm and friendly, this Miss Maggie also looks the part, with short red braids protruding from beneath the bonnet. Visitors can catch Miss Maggie most weekends and during popular events, standing on the side of Soco Road waving to passersby or greeting visitors in any of the town’s shops. Plenty of people seek her out believing a photo op with her is every bit as crucial as capturing a bull elk on camera.
Maggie Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Teresa Smith commented on Miss Maggie’s resurgent popularity, which has been on the rise since the pandemic began waning and gathering restrictions eased.
“I get calls every day from people asking when she’s going to be out,” Smith said. “People are totally in love with Miss Maggie because of how friendly she is. She embraces the whole spirit of Maggie Valley.”
And Miss Maggie has also entered the world of social media, recently creating both Facebook and Instagram pages, which has only expanded her popularity locally and beyond.
Last week, The Smoky Mountain News sat down with Maggie Valley’s greatest
ambassador for an interview. Here’s what she had to say.
The Smoky Mountain News: When did you become the latest iteration of Miss Maggie?
Miss Maggie: It’s been a couple of years. Oh gracious, I officially got the outfit just before COVID hit.
SMN: How do you like it?
Miss Maggie: Love it. Truly a dream come true. I love meeting the people. I love interacting with the people and hearing stories. There’s just so, so many things about it.
SMH: How’d you become Miss Maggie?
Miss Maggie: I’ll try to keep it to the short version. So we honeymooned here in Maggie Valley. We were eating breakfast at Joey’s [Pancake House] and Miss Maggie walked in. I told my husband at that time before we even moved here that whenever we get to Maggie, that’s what I was going to do. And of course, I was 20 and he looks at me and laughs and says, OK, whatever. And then we would vacation here, and over the next many years, every time we saw her, I told him, “that’s what I’m going to do one day.” And then we moved here in 2017 and my dreams came true.
SMN: Do you ever get bored of it?
Miss Maggie: I’ve already planned that when I can’t walk anymore, [my husband] is gonna either pull me in a wagon or push me in a wheelchair … there’s really nothing I don’t like. I do find it comical that sometimes people think Miss Maggie is like a milkmaid. Or they’ll ask if that’s how I mow my lawn.
SMN: Kids and adults both really seem to like and respond to Miss Maggie. What are some of the typical responses you get?
FMiss Maggie: It’s either they absolutely love Miss Maggie and are surprised, or they’ve looked forward to meeting her. Or they are completely confused and think I am just this crazy lady dressed in the weirdest outfit ever. So, they either know who she is and just get so excited, or are just so confused. It made my day the other day when I went in to order a coffee, and
“It made my day the other day when I went in to order a coffee, and the lady looked at me and she was like, ‘OK, weird question, but are you Miss Maggie?’ And I said yeah. And she said, ‘I took my picture with you the other day. I have been waiting years to do that.’”
the lady looked at me and she was like, “OK, weird question, but are you Miss Maggie?” And I said yeah. And she said, “I took my picture with you the other day. I have been waiting years to do that.” And that happens maybe once or twice a week where I just I go in somewhere and people recognize me. And it’s the weirdest thing to me that people wait this long to meet this person dressed like a stoplight. I don’t think of it as like Miss Maggie is a Disney princess.
SMN: That’s kind of what it seems like.
Miss Maggie: It’s weird, but it’s incredible.
SMN: How do you greet people?
Miss Maggie: Oh, I just go up to them. With little kids, I just get straight on their level. I just go right up, and 99% of the time, I have a sticker in my pocket, and I’ll offer a sticker. If it’s a teenager, and they look embarrassed, I dive right in. Adults, sometimes I go in, sometimes I don’t. It just depends.
SMN: You said there was one person who has been waiting forever to get a photo of Miss Maggie. Are more people starting to know who Miss Maggie is before they get here?
Miss Maggie: There are a lot. Now we have the Facebook page and the Instagram page. And there are people that message the page all the time, asking where Miss Maggie will be and where they can meet her and when can they get a picture with her. There have been a few instances where people have just laid it on our heart to meet up with them. And we’ve
met up with people after work before just because they wanted that picture so bad.
SMN: Do you think your celebrity will grow even more?
Miss Maggie: I don’t know. It’s one of those things where maybe you don’t want it to because you want to be able to keep up with appointments and people who want to see you. But at the same time, you want everybody to know about our beautiful little town. That’s kind of the purpose of it, to welcome everybody to our beautiful little town and show them how hospitable and beautiful and incredible and amazing the people here are.
SMN: There’s a long tradition here with plenty of other Miss Maggies who’ve represented the town. What does it mean to be part of that?
Miss Maggie: It is such an honor. I’ve had the incredible privilege to meet a handful of them. And they are such amazing, incredible, beautiful women. And every once in a while, I’ll be out walking, and I’ll run into one of them. And I’ll always get a picture with them. They’re all so sweet, and it’s such an honor to be able to fall in the ranks with them.
SMN: Do you have any more ideas for Miss Maggie’s future?
Miss Maggie: I have no clue. We just started the Instagram page a few weeks or months ago, maybe only because my kids said nobody really does Facebook anymore. But I have no idea what else we’ll do.
P OLITICS E DITOR
Commissioners in Haywood County will move forward with pursuing a bank loan to finance the jail expansion after Davenport and Company, the county’s financial advisor, issued a request for proposals for installment financing contracts and explained the nuances of the ones they received.
More than 50 financial institutions were contacted. Five were interested.
Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, Truist and Webster Bank all presented proposals, but only Truist guaranteed an interest rate through the proposed April 17 closing date. The others would guarantee their rates through early March, about 45 days before closing.
Truist offered both 15- and 20-year proposals.
The 15-year proposal offered several interest rates based on prepayment flexibility, with Davenport focusing on the 3.51% option as the most attractive. Under those terms, the debt service through 2038 would total $27.9 million on the $21.8 million loan.
That translates to an ad valorem tax impact of 1.77 cents per $100 in assessed value above the current rate of 53.5 cents.
Although a conventional loan is one option, the public sale of limited obligation bonds is another. The interest rate for the 15-year bonds would be 2.83%. Over the life of the loan, the bond would save the county $1.3 million and present a tax impact of 1.73 cents.
For the 20-year proposal, the Truist loan would come in at 3.71%, with total debt service topping $30.2 million through 2043 and a tax impact of 1.44 cents. The bonds, at 3.20%, would incur total debt service of $28.9 million over that same period and result in a 1.41 cent tax impact.
Based on those proposals, as well as discussions with bond counsel and county staff, Davenport recommended the 20-year
loan proposal from Truist.
Even though the 15-year bond would result in the lowest interest rate over the life of the loan, the rates wouldn’t be locked in for another 60 to 75 days in and could change for the worse.
“A lot of people dedicate their careers to guessing where interest rates are going to go. What I’ll say is, it’s been very volatile. Rates have been up, rates have been down, but we know this is a rate that is much lower than the planning rate that we’d been assuming at the 5%,” Mitch Brigulio, senior vice president of public finance for Davenport, told commissioners on Feb. 6.
The Truist proposal also offers prepayment flexibility, including the option to refinance or to prepay the loan in whole or in part without penalty after 10 years.
County Manager Bryant Morehead, who has extensive financial and budgetary experience, said he was comfortable with the 20year Truist option. Discussion amongst commissioners centered on the prediction that rates would go up in the future.
“You’ll remember we did that small $2 million for the [Haywood County] schools central office, and it was BB&T at that time, we got that for 1.99%,” Morehead said. “Rates jump around but considering how much the feds have raised since that last installment loan, I think 3.7% is a good rate.”
Commissioners can opt to raise taxes by 1.44 cents, or make budget cuts to keep the current rate the same, or find some combination thereof to afford the yearly payments. Debt rolling off the books in the coming years will also help.
Commissioner Kevin Ensley set a public hearing for Feb. 20 for the potential adoption of a resolution formally committing the county to the loan process.
In North Carolina, public bodies must gain approval from a state agency, the Local Government Commission, before borrowing. That meeting is scheduled for midApril.
On the same day her concerns about a parking issue were published, a Waynesville Cemetery Committee whistleblower resigned after the committee’s chair chastised her via email and made problematic comments about the First Amendment, public records laws and open meetings statutes.
“I think the email is concerning and that we have a committee chair who maybe misunderstands some of the statutes that apply to her committee,” said Martha Bradley, Waynesville’s town attorney. “I would want to make sure that she had accurate information to make sure that she was knowledgeable about how to manage the committee and its work. I think this is an isolated issue with an individual perhaps that needs a bit of information to help guide them in their leadership position.”
On Jan. 24, Lisa Kay Cook contacted The Smoky Mountain News about parking in Waynesville’s historic Green Hill Cemetery, providing a security camera still of cars on the grass off Shelton Street on Halloween.
Cook said her intent was to start a public discussion over what, if anything, should be done about it. The Cemetery Committee serves in an advisory role to the town’s Board of Aldermen, and meets quarterly. Cook hoped that public input would inform the Committee in advance of its March 21 meeting so that it could make an informed albeit nonbinding recommendation to aldermen.
Instead, Cook received a scathing email from Cemetery Committee Chair Sharon Franks, reprimanding her for speaking out in the subject.
“I was dismayed,” Cook said. “The email was fear-focused, ripe with false accusations and everyone was copied on it.”
In the email, Franks makes several claims that demonstrate an ignorance of a number of open government statutes enshrined in state and federal law, putting the town at risk of legal exposure. Cook said she’d consulted an attorney, but didn’t have plans to file suit.
“No,” she said. “I am more concerned with the odd secrecy and information control [Franks] asserts.”
Franks begins by telling Cook in the email, obtained by SMN from Cook, that “there are procedures we as a committee must follow before going to the media. As we all are appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, we must first recognize that we answer to them and need to get their approval before doing anything, be it a simple decision to speaking with the media.”
Bradley, the town attorney, said that there are no such policies or procedures.
“There’s no mandatory public comment policy that any of the committee members are required to follow,” Bradley said. “A policy prohibiting individual members of the public from expressing their personal opinions would certainly be a violation of individual’s First Amendment rights.”
Further maligning Cook for providing the security cam photo to SMN as proof of her claims, Franks said in the email that the photo of the cars “was not meant to be shared with anyone.”
Bradley said that the photo is, in fact, a public record.
“It’s not private,” she said. “Any person could come in and request footage from any period, and we would do our best to provide it.”
Cook said she believes information control at any level is dangerous, even in a Cemetery Committee in a small Western North Carolina town.
“The right to see what our government is doing is one of the most fundamental of our
surprising statement antithetical to North Carolina’s most basic open meetings laws.
“When we hold meetings as a committee, it is to talk about issues, come up with a plan or resolution, and then present to the mayor and board,” Franks wrote. “Whatever is discussed in these meetings are to remain in those meetings unless otherwise specified.”
Bradley refuted Franks’ false assertion.
“Yeah, no,” Bradley said. “That’s definitely not correct.”
Meetings of all public bodies, like the Cemetery Committee, are always open to the public.
number of the town’s liaison to the committee, Asset Services Manager Julie Grasty, for publication “without her consent” as the point of contact for those wanting to weigh in on the parking issue.
Cook did not provide Grasty’s contact information to SMN. Grasty is a town employee. The work emails and phone numbers of town employees and elected officials are public record.
“I think that most of those are on the town website,” Bradley said.
— Martharights,” she said. “The press keeps it in check.”
Franks also expressed dismay that SMN asked an alderman for comment on “a situation he knew nothing about.”
Alderman Jon Feichter was heavily involved in the creation of the Cemetery Committee after a regularly scheduled 2018 cleanup at Green Hill caused a furor among some with relatives buried there.
When reached by phone for comment on the parking issue, Feichter admitted he wasn’t immediately aware of the incident but didn’t hesitate to add that he thought parking on the grass wasn’t a good idea. Feichter also expressed gratitude that he’d been made aware of the issue.
Further into the email, Franks makes a
“That’s why they are published on the town’s calendar, and on the town bulletin board in the town hall. Any person is welcome to attend and make notes and then publish that information in any lawful means that they deem appropriate,” Bradley said. “So as far as the content of what is discussed at those meetings being private, that’s not true. All of the minutes and the content of the meetings, the agendas — all of that is public record and a matter of public information.”
Cook was also told in the email that her effort to bring light to the issue was “selffocused” and that it was improper for her to speak out because “the town has a designated person who makes comments or reports to the news media.”
Again, Bradley refuted Franks’ demonstrably false assertion.
“We do not have a public information officer or media representative or anything like that,” Bradley said. “We do try to collaborate and make sure that we don’t say things that are wrong, but there’s no single person or set policy.”
Finally, Franks takes issue with Cook providing the work email address and phone
Franks concludes her email by doubling down on her claim that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to the members of her cemetery committee.
“I believe you owe [Grasty] as well as members of this committee an apology for going beyond the protocol and speaking with the media,” Franks said.
“The cemetery is obviously a sensitive issue for a lot of people,” said Bradley. “There are a lot of loved ones buried there and people do have strong opinions about the cemetery so it’s understandable how much emotion the story evoked, but I along with the rest of the staff of the town will make sure that we work with the committee to help educate them about what their roles are and how to make sure that the public is informed so that we don’t have a contentious public debate about any of those things.”
Cook said she wouldn’t apologize, and that she’d find more productive ways to spend her time in the future.
“It’s a volunteer gig and I am an outsider,” she said. “I am going to put my energy where it is appreciated. Probably in my vegetable garden.”
Sharon Franks did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.
“There’s no mandatory public comment policy that any of the committee members are required to follow. A policy prohibiting individual members of the public from expressing their personal opinions would certainly be a violation of individual’s First Amendment rights.”
Bradley, Waynesvilletown
attorneyDozens of cars sit on the grass at Green Hill Cemetery last Halloween. Town of Waynesville photo
Some sage once observed that your whole life really comes down to just a handful of moments, and it has taken me most of mine to recognize the truth in that. A younger, brasher me would have argued fiercely that we all have free will to do as we will, but now that I am in the home stretch of my allotted years — whatever they may be — I am much more a believer in the role of fate.
Maybe the Calvinist concept of predestination has some merit after all, although I still try hard to resist the tenet that holds that most people are awful, except the “elect” chosen by God — and they’re not so great either.
Not one of these thoughts troubled my mind in the summer of 1991 as I drove my little gray Toyota Corolla over Balsam and into Jackson County in the direction of Southwestern Community College, where I had a 9 a.m. interview scheduled with the division chair of the General Education department, which was about to be renamed Arts and Sciences in keeping with the emergence of the freshly minted College Transfer program.
I was wearing the only suit I owned, a dignified dark gray, and a tie that had black and rust orange stripes. My dress shoes were new and half a size too small, tight and utterly inflexible. The Corolla did not have an air conditioner, which is not ideal when it’s July and you are in a suit and you are already feeling the pressure of the biggest interview of your life. I had all the windows rolled down, hoping the wind would keep me from drenching my suit and appearing for my interview as if I had chosen to swim rather than drive over.
I wasn’t even sure I should be here anyway. I was burdened with the stereotype of community colleges in those days, that whatever English classes they might offer were there primarily for the faculty to teach people who wanted to be welders or beauticians how to fill out a job application and write a rudimentary cover letter.
Would I ever really be able to teach students about the miraculous stories of Flannery O’Connor, or the mind-altering poetry of Wallace Stevens? It didn’t seem likely, but I needed a job and people had been telling me I really needed to apply to Southwestern Community College before I even knew where it was on the map.
When I got there, I drove through the entrance and followed the signs up the hill until I found the right building. I headed straight to the men’s room to compose myself, dabbing the sweatier parts of me with a fistful of brown paper towels, then trying to dry and arrange my hair as best I could. I loosened my tie — nope, too casual — and then tightened it again.
I found the right floor and office number, expecting to meet the division chair, a woman named Jean Ellen Magers, but I met a different woman who chatted amiably with me for 20 minutes or so while I filled out some paperwork. She told me they were desperate for adjunct faculty in the English department, and I would likely be assigned as many classes as I could handle for fall semester.
“Are you my supervisor?” I asked, causing her to break out laughing.
“Lord no,” she said. “It’s time for you to meet Jean Ellen now.”
She sent me down the hill to the brand new Allied Health building, which was huge and gleaming in the hot morning sun. Just the short walk between buildings had me sweating little streams down my back, but the air conditioning in the building was icy cold.
Jean Ellen’s office was on the second floor, a bigger corner office with incredible views and artwork hanging everywhere, along with a stunning variety of plants of all shapes and sizes.
I wouldn’t have been surprised to find tropical birds in there somewhere.
She had her back to me, typing away furiously on her computer. I knocked tentatively, clearing my throat. She spun around, looked me directly in the eyes, and smiled the grandest smile I have ever seen, calling me by name and inviting me in to “have a seat.” I would not call what happened over the course of the next hour — or was it closer to two? — an “interview” so much as a conversation. We talked about the job, yes, and she asked me questions, yes, but we also talked about why there seemed to be more great American short story writers than novelists, and whether the movie “Goodfellas” was on the same level as the “Godfather” movies, and whether it was valid to talk about Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen in the same breath as Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Pablo Neruda. We talked about a new television show we were both very excited about, called “Twin Peaks” by David Lynch.
She told me to put aside my preconceptions about community college students. She warned me that these students, unlike the sleepy freshmen in the university, would hold me accountable, peppering me with questions which they expected me to answer. She asked me if it would bother if half my students were older than I was. She informed me that these students would show up every day prepared, determined, curious, but also nervous and unsure of themselves.
They were there to change their lives and it was our job to help them do that. She asked if I was up to it, and to take some time to think about it instead of giving her an automatic answer.
She was excited that I wanted to teach creative writing, and American Literature, and a class on great films.
“We don’t have a film class, but maybe you could develop
one for us? Would you be interested in helping to revive our literary magazine?”
I did not so much leave the interview as I did float out of it. As I found my way back to my car, I felt like I had entered into some kind of strange dreamscape. I knew my life had changed.
I knew I wanted to work for Jean Ellen for as long as possible, and to have a lot more conversations just like this one. I wanted to meet those students she told me about and answer their questions and do my best to live up to their expectations. I wanted to be part of this new College Transfer program and a part of this college.
That was almost 32 years ago. Every semester for all those years, I have thought: I’ll never have another class like this one, another group of students like these. They keep surprising me. They keep asking questions, holding me accountable, just like Jean Ellen promised they would.
Two weeks ago, Jean Ellen passed away after complications from heart surgery. It is shocking when someone so alive somehow dies in spite of it. She was long retired from the thriving program that she built at the college, but she remained intensely curious and, by all accounts, stubbornly joyous. She had traveled the world to see some of nature’s most brilliant and beautiful plants and not long ago finished re-reading James Joyce’s “Ulysses.”
These past few years, except for an occasional lunch outing, our conversations became more sporadic and were mostly conducted on social media, where we would trade lists of the year’s best films, exciting new television series or a new book the other just had to read. She was always excited about something.
As I review the moments that have defined my life, one of the clearest and most cherished is the day I met Jean Ellen (Magers) Forrister. Godspeed you to the sweet hereafter’s finest library, dear lady, adorned with greenery sublime.
I am so happy that we met. My life was never the same after.
(Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in Haywood County. jchriscox@live.com.)
To the Editor:
I don’t like paying taxes. Why should I pay my hard-earned money to a government? Governments are full of waste and corruption, I could spend it better for what I need. Why can’t my church help the poor? Are Social Security and Medicare just socialist programs? These are valid questions.
My Uncle Joe was the finest human being I have ever known. He was a World War II vet who landed in Normandy, fought the Battle of the Bulge, and ended up in Okinawa waiting to invade Japan. He once told me that it was his patriotic duty and he was proud to pay his taxes. You don’t hear that said much anymore.
On a basic level, no democratic government can succeed for very long unless every citizen pays their fare share of the cost. Uncle Joe said, “If you want a government, you have to pay for it.” Only a government can provide for a national defense, build roads and bridges, manage our electrical grid, water and sewer systems and provide our local law enforcement.
If you have enough money you can build your own roads, create your own power station, hire private security guards and build your own rocket to Mars. Of course, if you lived in the mountains and had a secure defended perimeter, your own well and generator, you could survive. But for the vast majority of citizens, just paying the rent is a big deal.
To the Editor:
I recently read in The Smoky Mountain News the article regarding the January 17, 2023, county commissioner meeting on the grant offered to Haywood County to help educate people about the safety of the COVID vaccine.
The article was well written and only told the real truth about the safety of getting the vaccine for those who might choose to get it. It did not say people had to get the vaccine. That is each person’s choice.
Unfortunately, a few anti-vaxxers disrupted the meeting, trying to cajole the commissioners into rejecting the grant offer. These anti-vaxxers think they should be able to prevent people from getting the vaccine. These anti-vaxxers chose not get the vaccine. That was their choice. Nobody told them they had to get it. These few anti-vaxxers have no business trying to hide the truth about the safety of the vaccine nor telling people they do not have the freedom to make the choice for themselves. It makes me utterly sick to see them trying to spread their unfounded lies about
Is there waste and corruption? Since human beings are involved, someone is going to figure out how to manipulate the system. In a democratic government, it is up to the voters to elect representatives who can be trusted to spend our money wisely. We have not chosen well lately.
For the most part, government can operate much more efficiently because the profit motive is eliminated. But sometimes it costs more, because the purpose of government is to provide a service to its citizens, a service that the private sector cannot or will not provide because they can’t make a profit.
Are Social Security and Medicare Socialist programs? Of course they are. Before Social Security and Medicare were created, being old in America was almost guaranteed to mean a life of poverty and limited medical care for most citizens. Our tax dollars are spent on hundreds of similar programs to help all citizens meet their basic needs. So by definition they are all social programs. Our government is a blend of capitalist principles and social programs, as is every advanced free democratic country on the planet.
In America anyone can and should question how our money is spent. But to question the need for a democratically elected government is a step to one-man rule or dictatorship. Grover Norquist, a Republican strategist, has famously said, “My goal is to cut government in half in 25 years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.” The water in the bathtub is rising.
Louis Vitale Franklinthe vaccine.
So far only one of them, Janet Presson, has provided any website backing her claim that the vaccine is unsafe and might kill you. So by checking that website one can find it shows the site is a flat out lie (mediabiasfactcheck.com/openvaers).
These anti-vaxxers are nothing more than a small group of conspiracy spreaders. I believe examples of such sites, as the following, tell the truth and anyone that does not believe them can fact check these sites:
• CDC.Gov/coronavirus/2019
• NPR.Org (which clearly states only about 12 people are behind spreading vaccine lies on media sites)
• Hopkinsmedicine.org
• FactCheck.org (Guide to coronavirus coverage).
The commissioners will do Haywood County residents a disservice if they do not accept the grant and allow a very small group of outspoken anti-vaxxers to control their decision. An intelligent person can google all the research on the vaccine and they can then fact check that site to make an informed and educated decision whether or not to take the vaccine.
Ron Rokstool Maggie Valley
The Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), along with regional partners — including the Asheville Area Arts Council, Transylvania Community Arts Council, the Tryon Fine Arts Center, and the Arts Council of Henderson County — recently announced the 2022-2023 Artist Support Grant awardees. Grants were provided to 24 artists in Haywood, Buncombe, Henderson, Polk, and Transylvania counties, also called Region 17. The Artist Support Grant was created in 2020 to support individual artists during the pandemic and has quickly become a staple for local artists.
The North Carolina Arts Council states that the Artist Support Grants are intended to support “the professional and artistic development of emerging, midcareer, and established artists” as they strive to enhance their artistic and business skills and expand their audiences.
HCAC Executive Director Morgan Beryl led the process working with the other regional arts councils and the NCAC. Region 17 received applications from 79 artists requesting funding in the amount of $203,651. Jurors were selected from throughout Region 17, with each juror having expertise in the discipline that they judged.
“These grants make a significant contribution to an artist’s development and career,” Beryl said. “During this grant cycle, we were delighted to award 24 regional artists with grants ranging from $750 to $3,000, and total-
ing $49,000 in funding, which were the total funds available for Region 17 to grant to artists in this program.”
The 24 artist awardees represent the disciplines of craft, literature, media, music and theatre, and visual arts. Awardees from Haywood County are Rachel David, Ilene Kay, and Kimberly English.
David is a blacksmith, sculptor, designer, and maker based in Waynesville. Her metal-
work practice is holistic, encompassing art, furniture, architectural elements, activism, collaborations and gardening.
“I’m so thankful for this award — it’s humbling and a good kick in the pants to keep working,” David said. “My work is an expression of my lived experience. It is rooted in my need to generously contribute to our world, find solace in learning and exploration, and make effort towards a better and kinder, more beautiful future.”
Kay works in Argentium silver, gold, heat colored titanium and copper sheet and wire to create art jewelry using traditional fabrication metalsmithing techniques.
“Living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I’m thankful for the ever-changing mountain vistas, which offer limitless inspiration for the jewelry I make,” Kay said. “I saw, texture, hammer, and form the metal with hand tools. The directness of forging metal in this manner makes each piece of my jewelry unique. No two pieces of my jewelry are alike, and each piece has a story to tell.
English is a fiber artist and educator. She earned her BFA in Fibers as a Distinguished
The Haywood County Arts Council and its regional partners congratulate the 20222023 awardees of the Artist Support Grants. With that, the community is encouraged to join the celebration of these talented local artists at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 3, at HCAC’s Haywood Handmade Gallery on Main Street in Waynesville. haywoodarts.org.
Scholar from Savannah College of Art and Design and her MFA in Studio Art. Her work has been exhibited widely, most recently through Vox Populi, Oneoneone Gallery, and the Ackland Museum at UNC Chapel Hill.
“This opportunity will provide support as I embark on a residency at Praxis Digital Weaving Lab, where I plan to develop a body of work that combines hand and technological processes in weaving,” English said. “As an emerging Western North Carolina artist, this support is invaluable and is sure to catalyze my blossoming practice.”
Icaught first word of The Weathercock burning to the ground mid-afternoon on Saturday. Scrolling the Facebook news feed, I came across a photo of a familiar old building engulfed in flames, a huge plume of smoke radiating into the skies high above the small North Country town of Chazy, New York.
It was a community forum group page for my hometown, Rouses Point, just up the road from Chazy on the Canadian Border. An Arctic cold front from above the border rolled into the Champlain Valley last weekend. Temperatures hovering around 20 degrees below zero.
Efforts by the local fire departments to put out the blaze were hampered by water freezing upon release from the hoses.
When all was said and done, The Weathercock, what was once a beloved community watering hole, was now a pile of charred wood, ice and smoke. Reactions from the locals poured across social media. Old photos appearing with captions of friends and family gatherings going back several decades. Wild times at The Weathercock, never to be equaled again. In essence, if you weren’t there, you wouldn’t understand.
Peeling through my files, I also came numerous images of blurry, whirlwind nights spent over many moons at the mercy of The Weathercock and its larger-than-life inhabitants. Cold Canadian lager in hand. Shots of well whiskey and tequila. Cash only. Pickled eggs and sausages behind the counter, too. The kind of place legendary dive bars are made of. My kind of place, you dig?
Sure, on the outside, others may say, “Who cares? It’s just an old bar.” Well, for myself and the fine folks of Chazy, The Weathercock was the absolute social hub of a small town with not much left to celebrate these days, a once thriving community now mostly abandoned, in terms of small businesses and the brain-drain that’s occurred — in Chazy, in Rouses Point, in many rural communities along the border. Not much opportunity anymore. Not much left to do but crack open a cold one.
The Weathercock was much more than a hole-in-the-wall dive where your hard-earned money and your well-mannered reputation could both easily disappear after a few
rounds of drinks with any and all who sauntered in on an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon.
It was where friendships began for many inside those creaky wooden walls (which was originally a barn), as well as budding romances and eventual marriage proposals. Just as many wedding receptions happened in there as there were classic rock tribute bands setup in the back corner, Fender and Marshall amps cranked to volume 11.
And the same could be said about breakups, divorces, bar brawls, and arguments in the midnight hour of haste and heartache, too. Truth-be-told, that space represented the entire spectrum of the human condition — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and all of us were loyal customers. Economically, socially, but more so spiritually.
For reference, the families of Chazy and Rouses Point overlap, and do so happily. Same last names. Same family trees. Same celebratory gatherings on the weekends. Chazy was, and remains, a small high school, with Northeastern Clinton (my school) in nearby Champlain the larger regional spot. Big soccer and basketball towns, with Chazy routinely winning the New York State Championship.
As a middle school kid back in the 1990s, my cronies and I started being dropped off by our parents in Chazy, whether it was to attend the “Winter Formal” in the tiny cafeteria or to be in the bleachers at a soccer match, all in an effort to maybe get the home phone number of that cute girl who was part of the same friend group your buddies were also in pursuit of.
And it was ‘round that time where I was initially exposed to the annual Happy Pike gathering, which, sadly, is no more in recent years. Taking place in Chazy on the Sunday during Memorial Day Weekend, it was a decades-long booze-fueled rollickin’ town wide good time disguised as a fishing derby on Lake Champlain. Dozens of diehards hit the lake all weekend, only to haul their catch to the community rec park for a fish fry and
Scott Thompson & Brother Mojo with special guest A. Lee Edwards will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
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The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host TransEnd (rock/pop) at 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11.
Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Blackjack Country at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9.
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Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Tricia Ann & Brian Keith (Americana) at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10.
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Appalachian folk act Pigeon River Messengers will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley.
tailgate celebration.
Each Happy Pike ends with everyone leaving the rec park and heading for The Weathercock to boogie down to the sounds of Mr. Charlie & Blues for Breakfast. Wall-towall faces. A sardine can of humanity. The floor sticky from spilled drinks. Intricate covers of Grateful Dead tunes echoing from the stage and out the open doors into the unknown Clinton County night.
Like clockwork, I’d always roll to up to The Weathercock post-Happy Pike with a truck bed full of living-room furniture. My riff-raff friends and I would pop down the tailgate and unload the musty couch, ratty recliner, coffee table, and standup 1940s ashtray, setting up the pieces in the parking lot for all to enjoy and immerse in. That setup still gets mentioned in passing whenever I’m back home for the holidays.
To note, my resourceful father always liked it when I came home the next morning from Happy Pike, the truck bed filled with empty beer cans and bottles for him to recycle and redeem for five cents apiece to buy his daily newspaper and a hearty breakfast meal at the Hungry Bear diner in Plattsburgh.
The last time I stepped into The Weathercock was June 2022 with my mother. We were heading from a visit with friends in Rouses Point back to our family farmhouse in Plattsburgh. Instead of jumping onto the faster Interstate 87, I motored down Route 9B to Route 9, onward to The Weathercock for a couple games of pool, some icy Labatt Blues, and as many Tragically Hip songs on the jukebox as $5 could buy.
An hour later, we popped out the backdoor into the parking lot. Smiles on our faces following another great happenstance at The Weathercock. Cranking up the truck, I turned to my mother and said, “God, I love this place.” “Me too,” she replied. Putting the truck into drive and merging back onto Route 9, I could see The Weathercock now in the rearview mirror.
Scott Thompson & Brother Mojo with special guest A. Lee Edwards will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin.
Combining more than 100 years of professional musicianship, Scott Thompson & Brother Mojo is a classic rock/soul powerhouse band. Together with the Clocktower of Power horn section, this eight-piece band will have you tapping your toes and drifting away to the music scenes of Woodstock, Muscle Shoals, Laurel Canyon, and Austin, Texas.
A. Lee Edwards has been a singer-songwriter for over 30 years. His music holds an honesty and an authenticity, not built on outward style, but inner substance. He is joined by a backing band of some of the top players in the region, all of which with vocal harmonies reminiscent of The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Buck Owens & Don Rich.
General admission tickets are $18 in advance, $22 day of show. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.
The Pic’ & Play Mountain Dulcimer Players will be resuming in-person jam sessions at the St. John’s Episcopal Church basement fellowship hall in Sylva.
The group welcomes all beginners and experienced dulcimer players, including mountain (lap) dulcimer and hammered dulcimer players. Songs played include traditional mountain tunes, hymns, and more modern music. The group meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of every month in the basement of St. John’s. For more information, call Kathy Jaqua at 828.349.3930 or Don Selzer at 828.293.0074.
Heidi Holton will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Mountain Layers Brewing in Bryson City.
Holton is turning heads with her unique take on one of America’s oldest popular musical traditions: the blues. She began young, leaving Murphy to play in rock bands in Athens, Georgia, and New Orleans, Louisiana, before the blues called and she answered.
Regional blues/folk singer-songwriter
She studied under the great Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna) and then disappeared to Alaska’s arctic interior to perfect her craft. She has then moved back to Murphy and is touring around the country.
The show is free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
Appalachian folk act Pigeon River Messengers will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Meadowlark Motel in Maggie Valley.
A duo based in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, Zach & Lori met over their common love for Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings and folk music as a whole. Originally from Knoxville and later moved to Nashville, Zach is heavily influenced by a wide range of musical genres. From the high, lonesome sounds of Bill Monroe to the funky syncopated rhythms of James Brown, his musical style reflects a unique blend of old and new.
Lori is a North Carolina singer-songwriter who grew up listening to Appalachian ballads and attending bluegrass festivals with her musical family. A fourth-generation ballad singer, she embraces the old songs, all while eager to share her own, which includes many of the songs from her late Uncle Bobby McMillon.
Tickets are $10 per person. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, click on meadowlarkmotel.com or call 828.926.1717.
Performance dates will be Feb. 11, 18, and 25. All shows begin at 9 p.m.
In terms of musical ambassadors within the melodic melting pot of a scene that is Western North Carolina, you’d be hardpressed to find an artist as dedicated and inclusive as that of Andrew Thelston.
Popular Asheville rock act Andrew Thelston Band will hold a special monthlong residency every Saturday evening in The Gem downstairs taproom at Boojum Brewing in Waynesville.
Throughout his exploration of these mountains and its inhabitants, Thelston has remained a sponge of sorts, always soaking in the knowledge and wisdom of astute musicians, the sacred act of performance, and the ancient craft of creation — either in collaboration, in passing, through a recording or in the presence of live music.
The culmination of these vast, ongoing experiences and interactions remains the fire of intent within Thelston to hold steady and navigate his own course, which currently is The Andrew Thelston Band — a rock/soul ensemble of power and swagger. Free and open to the public. facebook.com/andrewthelstonmusic.
• Altered Frequencies (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.342.8014 or alteredfrequencies.net.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. 828.631.1987 or balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Blue Ridge Beer Hub (Waynesville) will host a semi-regular acoustic jam with the Main Street NoTones from 7 to 9 p.m. every first and third Thursday of the month. Free and open to the public. For more information, click on blueridgebeerhub.com.
• Boojum Brewing (Waynesville) will host karaoke at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, trivia at 7 p.m. on Thursdays, “Beer Never Broke My Heart” fundraiser for Haywood Alliance ($5 cover/donation) Feb. 10 and Andrew Thelston (rock/jam) Feb. 11 and 18. All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 828.246.0350 or boojumbrewing.com.
• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Scott Stambaugh (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Feb. 11. Free and open to the public. 828.634.0078 or curraheebrew.com.
• Farm At Old Edwards (Highlands) will host the “Orchard Sessions” on select dates. Tickets start at $25 per person. For tickets, click on oldedwardshospitality.com/orchardsessions.
• Folkmoot Friendship Center (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For tickets, click on folkmoot.org.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Tricia Ann & Brian Keith (Americana) Feb. 10 and Seth & Sara (Americana) Feb. 17. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. 828.454.5664 or froglevelbrewing.com.
• Frog Quarters (Franklin) will host George James (pop/country) Feb. 11 and Melody Lowery (guitar/piano) Feb. 18. All shows are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free and open to the public. Located at 573 East Main St. littletennessee.org or 828.369.8488.
• Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort (Cherokee) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. For a full schedule of events and/or to buy tickets, caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee.
• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will host “Trivia Night with Kirk” from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday, Open Mic Night every Wednesday and Shain Lyles (singer-songwriter) Feb. 11. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Innovation Station (Dillsboro) will host “Music Bingo” on Wednesdays and semiregular live music on the weekends. All
events begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. innovation-brewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host “Music Bingo” 6 p.m. Tuesdays, trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Open Mic 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host trivia 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. Thursdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.349.2337 or lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• Meadowlark Motel (Maggie Valley) will host Pigeon River Messengers (Americana/indie) 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11. Tickets are $10. 828.926.1717 or meadowlarkmotel.com.
• Mountain Layers Brewing (Bryson City) will host Wyatt Espalin (singer-songwriter) Feb. 10, Heidi Holton (folk/blues) Feb. 11, Woolybooger (blues/indie) Feb. 17 and Mountain Gypsy (Americana) Feb. 18. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.0115 or mountainlayersbrewingcompany.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.641.9797 or nantahalabrewing.com.
• Nantahala Outdoor Center (Nantahala Gorge) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows behind at 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. noc.com.
• Orchard Coffee (Waynesville) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Tickets available at the shop. 828.246.9264 or orchardcoffeeroasters.com.
• Quirky Birds Treehouse & Bistro (Dillsboro) will host Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.586.1717 or facebook.com/quirkybirdstreehouse.
• Rathskeller Coffee Haus & Pub (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. 828.369.6796.
• Saltys Dog’s Seafood & Grill (Maggie Valley) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.926.9105.
• Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the week-
ends. 828.482.9794 or satulahmountainbrewing.com.
• Sauced (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. 828.246.9585 or saucedwnc.com
• The Scotsman (Waynesville) will host Sarah Gwendolyn (singer-songwriter) Feb. 9, Celtic Jam 4 p.m. Feb. 11, TransEnd (rock/pop) 9 p.m. Feb. 11, Jackson Grimm (Americana/indie) Feb. 16 and We Three Swing (jazz) Feb. 17. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.246.6292 or scotsmanpublic.com.
• Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts (Franklin) will host Scott Thompson & Brother Mojo w/A. Lee Edwards & Co. 7 p.m. Feb. 11. For tickets, click on smokymountainarts.com or 828.524.1598.
• Southern Porch (Canton) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.492.8009 or southern-porch.com.
• Stecoah Valley Center (Robbinsville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.479.3364 or stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Cashiers) will host semi-
regular live music on the weekends. 828.743.3000 or theuglydogpub.com.
• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. 828.526.8364 or theuglydogpub.com.
• Unplugged Pub (Bryson City) will host Blackjack Country Feb. 9, Rock Holler Feb. 10, Keil Nathan Smith & Sudden Change Feb. 11, JC “The Parrothead” Feb. 15 and 22, Steve Weams & The Caribbean Cowboys Feb. 16, Wayne Buckner Feb. 17 and Carolina Freightshakers (rock/oldies) Feb. 18. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.538.2488.
• Valley Cigar & Wine Co. (Waynesville) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. All shows are at 2 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.944.0686 or valleycigarandwineco.com.
• Valley Tavern (Maggie Valley) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. 828.926.7440 or valley-tavern.com.
• Yonder Community Market (Franklin) will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. Donations encouraged. 828.200.2169 or eatrealfoodinc.com.
This February, the Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC) in Waynesville is all about love — for your friends and family, for your animals, for yourself, and of course, for art.
“We want to be part of our community’s celebration of this place and each other,” said Morgan Beryl, HCAC’s executive director. “It’s important to HCAC to provide varied opportunities to share the love of art so people of all walks of life can take part.”
For this month, HCAC has created many ways to get involved in the creative process. At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, HCAC and Bosu’s Wine Shop will hold the first “Wine & Workshop” of the season at the shop in Waynesville. Attendees will be treated to a flight of three wines, individual charcuterie boards, and two crafts, one stitching and one collage, all of which will be led by artist members Barbara Brook and Dori Settles.
“We’ll take a little felt and thread and create Valentines from the heart with one of the latest trends in textile arts, slow stitching. This is a wonderful form of mindfulness which is a true form of self-love,” Settles said. Tickets are limited to 10 and need to be purchased in advance for $75 online at haywoodarts.org/wine-workshop-series.
For those looking to get a gift that keeps on giving, there’s the “Give a HeART Project.”
HCAC artist members donated their time and skills to create one-of-a-kind art hearts as part of their donation to HCAC’s “Love the Arts Main Street” campaign, which seeks to create a sustainable funding source to keep HCAC in their prime location in downtown Waynesville.
“This project is a partnership between the
artist and the art lover,” Beryl said.
When someone buys a heart, they join the artist on the Love the Arts digital donor wall and they both become part of the campaign.
“We love supporting HCAC to promote its mission. The challenge of creating a unique piece is always fun,” said Lisa Townsend of Mojo Stained Glass, a husband and wife team who create mosaic stones and stained glass pieces often out of vintage window frames.
Finally, throughout the month of February, HCAC is participating in the Downtown Waynesville Commission’s “Love the Locals” campaign. Locals can purchase Haywood Handmade merchandise for 20% off, including 2023 calendars, youth craft kits, locally designed and printed T-shirts, and more.
The Haywood Handmade Gallery in downtown Waynesville is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
For more information, click on haywoodarts.org.
• A special reception for the Bartram Trail Kinship photography showcase will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Photos from the Kinship Photograph Project along the Bartram Trail are on display in the Meeting Room this winter. During the reception, attendees will celebrate and learn more about the work. For more information, click on kinship.photography.
• Southwestern Community College Swain Arts Center (Bryson City) will host an array of workshops for adults and kids. For more information on the upcoming classes and/or to sign-up, click on southwesterncc.edu/scc-locations/swaincenter.
• Dogwood Crafters in Dillsboro will host an array of upcoming art classes and workshops. For more information and a full schedule of activities, click on dogwoodcrafters.com/classes.html or call 828.586.2248.
A special “Valentine’s Dinner” will be served on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville.
Curated and presented by guest chef Michelle Briggs, the evening will consist of a three-course meal.
• First-course: cream of artichoke soup or beet and feta rocket salad with vinaigrette.
• Second course: French-style cordon bleu with prosciutto, Lyonnaise potatoes and honey glazed carrots or beef short ribs with Lyonnaise potatoes and honey glazed carrots or mushroom truffle ravioli in cream sauce with honey glazed carrots.
• Third course: rich coffee chocolate mousse.
Reservations begin at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $135 per couple or $68 per individual ticket. Tax and gratuity included. Beverages are extra.
To RSVP, call 828.452.6000.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.
• A free wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• “Take A Flight” with four new wines every Friday and Saturdays at the Bryson City Wine Market. Select from a gourmet selection of charcuterie to enjoy with your wines. Educational classes and other events are also available. For more information, call 828.538.0420.
• “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on gsmr.com.
A special stage production of “Loves of Elaine” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10-11, and 2 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Fangmeyer Theatre at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville.
After local leading lady, Lyn Donley, found a trunk full of love letters written to her mother, she knew it was too good to not share. When we are young, we see our mother through narrow lenses. She is our whole world, and we think we are hers. As adults, our relationships with our parents change and we grow closer, yet often there forever remains a mysterious unknown side to them we crave to know, but usually never will.
But, what if your mom leaves behind clues to a life you never knew about? Clues that make you see her in a whole new beautiful light? Donley found such clues after losing her mother a few years ago. In fact, a whole treasure trove of love letters.
Slowly, she uncovered decades of love and passion her mother had hidden from her and together with her friend, CJ Deering, wove the missing pieces of her mother’s tapestry in the play, “Loves of Elaine.”
The Haywood Arts Regional Theater in Waynesville is currently offering a wide variety of classes in the theater arts for all ages, young and old. Whether you are just starting out or want to hone your skills, HART has opportunities for you.
Sign up your youngest one or grandkid who has a ton of creative energy but doesn’t know how to focus it yet. Or sign up that young theatre enthusiast who is looking to learn more and find a group of like-minded friends that will last a lifetime. Or maybe this is the sign you have been waiting for to finally gain the courage to step on stage. Whatever the desire, HART has a class that is waiting for you.
Classes run through March 2. HART prides itself on offering reasonably priced
classes so that they can keep the arts alive in Haywood County. Browse the selection of spring classes at harttheatre.org and sign up today for a chance to change your life and discover your hidden talents and passions. For more information, contact Artistic Director Candice Dickinson at 646.647.4546 or email candice@harttheatre.org.
This show is rated PG-13 for strong language. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students. To purchase tickets, click on harttheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 828.456.6322. Winter Box Office hours are 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. ALSO:
• Open call for auditions at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre (HART) in Waynesville. There will be auditions for the following productions: “Every Brilliant Thing” (Feb. 11) and “Elephant’s Graveyard” (Feb. 12). For more information and/or to sign-up for the auditions, click on harttheatre.org/auditions.
This was a fine morning in the coffee shop.
It was Sunday, which meant that others besides me were arriving from church or mass for a latte or to share some pastries with their children. Entertained by a guy their age wearing shoes without socks, the three young women at the table on the other side of the room were pretty and full of quiet laughter. Nearby, the adolescent boys with mom and dad were entranced by the seven foot tall Nutcracker beside their table, and the solitary father seated near the portable heatless fireplace had that long stare of a dad who’d spent most of the night awake with the infant he now held in his lap.
Best of all was the music.
Whoever put together that piped-in mix of tunes had provided a perfect blend for a Sunday morning in a café, quiet hits from the 1950s and 1960s by greats like Marty Robbins, Johnny Mathis, the Beatles, and Brenda Lee. That music was a balm to the soul, and I said as much to the barista on my way out. Nearly young enough to be my granddaughter, she nodded and said, “I love it, too.”
“So it is with music; it is of a time but also timeless; a thing with which to make memories and the memory itself.”
Those words come from Bob Dylan at the end of “The Philosophy of Modern Song” (Simon & Schuster, 2022, 352 pages).
In this collection of more than 60 essays, accompanied by a hundred or so photos and reproductions of posters, Dylan explores songwriters and performers as diverse as Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, and Judy Garland, but not from the usual angles found in such collections. Instead, Dylan takes these hit songs and guides us into their philosophy and meaning. In his brief examination of Johnny Cash’s “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” for example, Dylan tells us these lyrics are about more than a kid who doesn’t listen to his mother, carries his gun to town, drinks some whiskey, and pays with his life. “This is a warning song” writes Dylan. “Don’t be too smart. Always let
somebody else think that they are smarter than you are.”
Dylan’s takes on these songs is part-poetry, part-song, and a whole lot of impressionism. Here are a few of his ideas about “Your Cheatin’ Heart” by Hank Williams: “This is the song of the con artist. In this song you’re
and performed in the 1950s. So much of our music is ephemeral. The latest hits or songs going back only a couple of decades appear on the radio for commercial purposes, but here is a real song bag that deserves some close consideration. Enhancing “The Philosophy of Modern Song” is the magic of technology, which allows us to search out these works and listen to them before and after reading Dylan’s essays. Absorb, for example, Webb Pierce’s “There Stands the Glass” online, and then read Dylan’s piece on the song, which ends with this marvelous summary: “The star of this song is the empty bourbon glass, and it’s built around the same kind of crack guitar sound as on a Hank Williams record, as well as the magical open-string, strummed chord.”
Finally, readers will enjoy the additional miniessays scattered throughout the book. A favorite of mine is found in his chapter on The Drifters’ “Saturday Night at the Movies.” Here, as he does with his inclusion of so many hits before 1960, Dylan points us back to the past and urges us to look at movies like “High Noon” or “On the Waterfront,” which will “hit you in the guts.” At the end, commenting on today’s films, Dylan writes, “People keep talking about making America great again. Maybe they should start with the movies.”
the swindler who sold me a faulty bill of goods — beguiled me, double-crossed me, and now you’re out of moves and soon you’ll be groaning with prolonged suffering.”
In addition to these rambling adventures into the human condition, which are both entertaining and enlightening, “The Philosophy of Modern Song” offers other gifts as well, both for songwriters and musicians as well as for the general public.
Included here are performers and composers familiar to most of us, The Grateful Dead, The Clash, and Johnnie Ray. But others may be total strangers, like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Harry McClintock, and Webb Pierce. As well as possibly revealing his own musical roots, through these appraisals Dylan gives many of us an education in the music of the last 70 years or so.
And like the music playing in my hometown café, many of these songs were written
I do have one quibble with “The Philosophy of Modern Song.” Though the pictures of musicians, various performances and people, landscapes, and towns are credited as to their source in a small-print list in the back of the book, the pictures themselves could use captions explaining their meaning. Many of these are wonderfully evocative of their era, but leave many of us puzzled as to the identity of the people and places shown.
If you want some insights into what Bob Dylan has learned about music through his long career, or if you simply want a pleasurable and instructive tour into some great music, “The Philosophy of Modern Song” is the book for you.
(Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning As I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.” minick0301@gmail.com.)
A monthly book club is being currently offered at the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Each month, a library staff member will be discussing some of the new book titles that the library has received. Particular attention will be paid to “under the radar” titles and authors, new releases, and other books that the staff is excited about. All are welcome and no registration is required. For more information on when the club will meet, please call the library at 828.586.2016.
This club is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jackson County Public Library. The JCPL is a member of Fontana Regional Library (fontanalib.org).
North Carolina could see its first elk hunt since wildlife rules existed if a bill introduced to the General Assembly becomes law.
As currently written, the bill, whose sponsors include Rep. Karl Gillespie, R-Franklin, and Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Bryson City, would direct the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to issue three elk permits for a hunt in October 2024. Two of the permits would be issued through a raffle organized by the Wildlife Commission, with one of those permits reserved for a youth hunter. The third permit would be awarded by an auction to be conducted by a nonprofit wildlife conservation organization under a contract with the Wildlife Commission.
The bill does not name any particular nonprofit wildlife conservation organization but specifies the selected nonprofit must have been involved with efforts to reintroduce elk to North Carolina. This stipulation narrows down the pool significantly. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was the main group involved with reintroduction efforts in the early 2000s and was the organization chosen to benefit from an inaugural elk permit raffle in Virginia last year. RMEF said it is not ready to comment on the North Carolina bill.
“That’s the only one that I’m aware of, the Rocky Mountain group,” Gillespie said. “They’re pretty much considered the premier organization when it comes to that.”
Proceeds from the raffle and auction would be used for elk management and must supplement existing elk management funding rather than replacing it, the bill says. The Wildlife Commission would be able to reimburse itself for the actual cost of administering the raffle, but the remaining proceeds must go to the Wildlife Resources Fund for elk conservation and management. The nonprofit conducting the raffle would be allowed to keep 25% of the proceeds but must turn the rest over to the Wildlife Commission for deposit to the same fund.
Any elk hunt approved in North Carolina would not impact rules against hunting in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
When the new millennium dawned, elk had been absent from North Carolina for more than 200 years due to overhunting and habitat loss. But in the 1990s, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park began consulting with other agencies about the possibility of reintroducing them to the park. In February 2001, 25 elk were released in the Cataloochee area. After a successful first year — the herd numbered 28 healthy elk by the following January — the park added a second group of 27 to the herd.
In the two decades since, the elk reintroduction has grown from a group of 52 animals drawing tourists to Cataloochee to a population estimated at more than 200, with multiple herds, including large ones in Cataloochee and Oconaluftee, and individual elk seen roaming as far as Georgia, the Nantahala Gorge and Greenville, South Carolina.
Though the growing elk population has caused conflicts with local landowners, other locals treasure their renewed presence in the mountains. They’re popular with tourists, too — visitation to Cataloochee skyrocketed after the elk were reintroduced. But since the early days of the reintroduction, the dream for many wildlife enthusiasts was to see the herd grow large and healthy enough to sustain a hunt. In 2016, the Wildlife Commission amended its rules to allow for a permit-only hunt during the month of October but also adopted a resolution pledging to delay issuing any elk hunting permits until all wildlife managers involved agree the population is large enough. To date, no such permits have been issued.
“What we want to make sure of is that we don’t do anything to negatively impact the elk herd,” Gillespie said. “So what our intent was with this bill was to get that process started, have an elk hunt and there be an opportunity for the Commission to report back on how
that impacted the elk herd, what money was raised, and make a recommendation at that point — is that something we need to continue to do?”
Brad Howard, wildlife management division chief for the Wildlife Commission, said that harvesting three elk will have “minimal if any” biological impact on the population. His understanding is that the permits would be issued for bull elk, which are less important for population growth than female elk.
Gillespie pointed to the example set by Virginia, which has also reintroduced elk to its landscape and held its first-ever permit hunt in October. The state issued six permits to hunt its herd, which is estimated at more than 250 animals. The lottery drew over 30,000 applications, raising more than $600,000, Gillespie said.
“There’s a lot of benefit to a hunt from a financial standpoint, of being able to have more resources to go back into the program to further develop the program,” Gillespie said. “That’s one reason. Another reason is the interest that it raises for wildlife and hunting. Not just with elk, but for the state of North Carolina.”
Gillespie believes the hunt will bring attention to other Wildlife Commission programs in addition to highlighting elk conservation efforts. He’s especially excited about the youth hunting permit that will give one young person a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The bill is still early in its journey toward becoming law. It was filed Jan. 25 and referred to the Committee on Wildlife Resources, which has not yet scheduled a hearing. Gillespie, who together with Clampitt is vice chairman of the committee, said he expects that to happen soon. If the Committee on Wildlife Resources deems the bill favorable, it goes to the Finance Committee, which could then refer it to the Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House Committee.
“We feel like it’s a good, solid bill, but that there’s always things that you can do to improve your legislation,” Gillespie said. “We want to be as good as it can possibly be.”
It’s Plunge weekend in Canton as the 11th annual Plunge Benefit-t-t-ting Kids in the Creek and Environmental Education takes place 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Champion Credit Union Aquatics Center.
The event raises money for Haywood Waterways Association’s Kids in the Creek and environmental education programs, with participants choosing whether to dip their toe or fully immerse in the frigid water. Costumes are encouraged, and a variety of fun activities are planned alongside the event, including Base Camp on the Go outdoor activities, bonfires and live music.
The cost to participate is $10 for youth under 18, $35 for adults or free by raising sponsorships. Walk-ins welcome. To register or donate, visit goplunge.org. For a hard copy registration form, contact Haywood Waterways at 828.476.4667 or info@haywoodwaterways.org.
It’s time to register for volleyball in Jackson County, with signups now open for youth clinics and a women’s volleyball league.
Players ages 14 and up who are in high school or older can register for the women’s volleyball league through Feb. 28 online at rec.jacksonnc.org. Games will be played Thursday nights in Cullowhee. Team fee is $250.
Youth currently in grades 3-8 can sign up for a six-week youth volleyball clinic that will meet Tuesdays starting March 7. Registration is open through Feb. 28. Grades 3-5 will meet 5:30-6:30 p.m. and grades 6-8 will meet 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. Fee is $45.
For more information, contact Andrew
Sherling at 828.293.3053, ext. 6 or andrewsherling@jacksonnc.org.
Registration for Spring Break Camp at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville is now open.
Camps run April 3-7 for rising kindergarteners through rising third graders. The experience will be heavy on outdoor adventure and first-hand experience with the creatures that live in the streams flowing through Arboretum property.
Learn more at ncarboretum.org/educationprograms/discovery-camp.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, which is the nonprofit partner of the Blue Ridge Parkway, has confirmed new leadership to its organization.
■ New officers were elected to the Board of Trustees. Bob Stout of Blowing Rock, who previously served as vice chair, was named chairman. Virginia resident Whitney Brown was named vice chair, Winston-Salem resident Bob Lassiter was selected as treasurer and Winston-Salem resident Julie H. Moore continues to serve as secretary.
■ David Huff of Asheville, Roberts Bass of Winston-Salem and Sam R. Johnson of Dahlonega, Georgia, joined the Board of Trustees.
■ Marsha Ralls Hershman of Asheville, Deanna M. Ballard of Blowing Rock and Charles Hauser of Winston-Salem joined the Council of Advisors.
■ Kevin Brandt was selected as the new development director for Virginia. Based in Lynchburg, he previously served as project manager for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Since 1997, the Foundation has raised more than $20 million to support the Blue Ridge Parkway. A portion of that funding comes through sales of the Blue Ridge Parkway specialty license plate in North Carolina. Learn more at gettheplate.org.
The Wildlife Commission believes the elk herd is “certainly at the 200 mark, if not somewhere over it,” Howard said, but in the coming months the agency will have a more accurate number to share. The current figure is an educated guess based on population counts performed by the Wildlife Commission, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. But a study now underway in partnership with the University of Tennessee will return a much more specific tally.
Called a genetic mark-recapture study, the process allows researchers to estimate the number of individuals in a population by collecting feces and using DNA testing to determine how many different elk left the deposits. Then they return to the field, collect and test more feces, and figure out the proportion of the samples that came from elk already identified in the first round. This allows them to estimate how many
individuals are in the entire population. The more rounds of data collection and testing go into the model, the more accurate that estimate becomes.
“Back in the old days, you used to put tags on animals, and then you tried to go catch them again and how many did you catch that had tags or whatnot,” Howard said. “Now we don’t even have to touch the animal. We match it through DNA. So it’s amazing how far technology and science has come.”
Howard said the graduate student conducting the research will finish this spring, with a final report available in May. Those results will help inform the future of any elk hunting program beyond fall 2024.
“Could this be something that happens every couple of years? Is it something that happens every year?” Howard said. “We’re going to have to take this data and this information that we get, stay on top of it and continue to monitor it and see how often we can begin to offer that level of opportunity with the elk herd.”
Monday & Saturday Dinner Service
Monday 4 p.m.-8 p.m.
Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
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.
The Highlands Biological Station in Highlands will celebrate the Great Backyard Bird Count on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, part of a worldwide event organized by the Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Both days, birders of all skill levels are invited to meet at the North Campus of the Highlands Biological Station to participate in “Early Bird Strolls” 9 to 10 a.m. They’ll get an introduction to the Great Backyard Bird Count before taking a walk around campus in search of feathered friends. Binoculars will be provided.
A family-friendly event 3-5 p.m. Feb. 18, called “Bird’s the Word!,” will wrap up the weekend at the Nature Center. Borrow childsized binoculars to spot birds around Lindenwood Lake, go on a scavenger hunt in the Botanical Garden and learn how scientists need our help to count the birds in our backyards.
The Great Backyard Bird Count was launched in 1998, and this year bird watchers of all ages are invited to help create a real-time snapshot of bird populations by reporting their sightings between Friday, Feb. 17 and Monday, Feb. 20. Participants can count birds for as little as 15 minutes or for as long as they wish over one or more of the four days, completing those counts in their backyard or anywhere in the world. Each checklist submitted helps researchers learn more about how birds are doing and how to protect them.
To participate, report sightings online at www.birdcount.org. Highlands Nature Center programs are free and supported by the Highlands Biological Foundation.
Get ready for gardening season with a seminar covering everything from planning to harvest, 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Center in Waynesville.
Presented by Master Gardener Volunteer Bonnie Refinski-Knight, the program will cover planning garden beds, starting veggies from seeds, following a garden calendar, improving the soil and composting. Class size is limited, with a signup deadline on Feb. 17.
Cost is $10. Makes checks payable to Haywood CEDS and drop off or mail to Extension – Learn to Grow Class, 589 Raccoon Road, Suite 118, Waynesville, NC 28786. Include your email address with the envelope so class materials can be sent in advance.
Boone-based Destination by Design will be leading efforts to create an economic development plan tying together all 29 counties along the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor, following a decision by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
“Our entire team is thrilled to be working alongside the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation to further unify the region around this world-class asset,” said Eric Woolridge, director of planning at Destination by Design. “There is so much amazing talent found here in the heart of Appalachia, and we feel especially fortunate for the opportunity to engage with so many great people and communities here in our backyard.”
Destination by Design will facilitate detailed listening sessions in all 29 counties in the Parkway corridor, followed by a dozen regional meetings to explore specific issues and opportunities. The resulting action plan will identify key projects to advance economic development in multiple communities within the Blue Ridge Parkway corridor.
This effort marks the first time in the Parkway’s 87-year history that all 29 Parkway counties have engaged together to develop strategies benefitting the park’s neighboring communities. It is funded by
two complementary grants Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation received from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The grants designated $393,193 for Virginia and $517,924 for North Carolina.
They are funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and U.S. EDA’s programs to advance economic recovery and resilience in travel, tourism and other sectors.
For the next two years, Appalachian Trail users will experience delays at Stecoah Gap due to construction on Corridor K. Construction for the long-debated project, which will improve a 12-mile portion of road between Robbinsville and Stecoah, began on Oct. 3. Passage across U.S. 143 will be possible during construction, but trail users may be delayed while waiting for vehicles to pass and permission from road flaggers to safely proceed across the highway. It is expected that these delays will occur for at least two years. Find more information, including maps, at ncdot.gov/projects/corridor-k/pages/default.aspx.
Access to the entire Greenbriar area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be closed from Feb. 13 until at least March 31 for flood damage repairs.
The road at the Greenbrier Ranger Station has been closed to vehicle traffic since July after flooding and rockslides made the road unstable and unsafe. Flooding also washed out culverts at Porters Creek beyond the Ramsey Prong Road intersection. Federal Highway Administration awarded a $410,000 contract to Bryant’s Land Development Industries, Inc. out of Burnsville, to complete the road repairs and culvert replacements.
During this time, the road, trails and campsites in the Greenbriar area will be closed to all use. The closure area includes Greenbriar Road, Grapeyard Ridge Trail, Porters Creek Trail, Brushy Mountain Trail, Ramsey Cascades Trail, Old Settlers Trail and backcountry campsites 31, 32 and 33. Once the area reopens, Ramsey Cascades and Porters Creek Trail will remain closed until footlog bridges dam-
Learn about hellbenders, the biggest salamander in North America, during a presentation at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center near Franklin.
Lori Williams, wildlife diversity biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, will deliver this talk for the “Where We Live” series — with help from Rocky the hellbender. Williams is conducting a long-term inventory and monitoring project on hellbenders.
The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act that became law on Dec. 29, 2022, included a major win for wildlife advocates — inclusion of the
North Carolina is home to more than 65 species of salamanders, with over 50 species in the mountain region. But the Eastern hellbender is one of only three giant salamanders found in the world, and it lives in local streams. The salamander averages 1617 inches in length but can exceed 2 feet and weigh more than 2 pounds. Once common throughout the Mideastern U.S., the hellbender has disappeared from many streams due to declining water quality, overcollection and persecution.
ease affecting cervids like deer, elk and moose.
That funding includes $35 million annually for research to focus on methods to detect CWD in live deer, harvested deer and the surrounding environment; best practices for reducing CWD through sustainable harvest; and factors contributing to local spread. Another $35 million would go toward management, including surveillance and testing. Priorities would include areas with high CWD prevalence, areas responding to new outbreaks, areas free of CWD but with greatest risk of CWD emerging, jurisdictions with the greatest financial commitment to combating CWD and efforts to develop comprehensive policies and programs to manage CWD. The bill also allows federal, state and tribal agencies to create and distribute educational materials to inform the public about CWD.
CWD is a transmissible, always fatal, neurological disease that affects deer and other cervids such as elk, moose and reindeer/caribou. There is no test available for live deer — the only way to confirm infection is through lab testing of brain tissue or lymph nodes.
Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act.
The bipartisan CWD Research and Management Act is set to invest $70 million annually in research and management techniques to slow the spread of the deadly dis-
The disease was detected in North Carolina for the first time last year, with five deer testing positive in Yadkin and Surry counties. North Carolina began testing in 1999 and increased its efforts after the disease was recorded east of the Mississippi River in 2002. The state has been using an annual surveillance strategy since 2018.
These
Amole tunneled out of the woods early this winter and started digging back and forth behind the house in a neverending search for food. In two months it has turned our yard into a scale model of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Walk across the grass and your feet sink into newly pushed up earth.
We could trap and kill the mole, but it’s been fun to watch instead as it burrows below the surface, making the ground heave and crack. Our binoculars bring it close.
Besides, we’re not the only ones watching; a hermit thrush does too. It watches so avidly that wherever the mole goes, the bird is close behind. The two have been together so much we’ve named the pair Mole and Thrush.
But Thrush does more than follow. As Mole burrows along, humping the ground up into mini-ridges, the bird rides on top, because he’s hungry too. He’s like an egret that perches on the back of a grazing cow to see what insects its hooves stir up.
Thrush differs from an egret in one intriguing way. When he rides on Mole, his legs, first one then the other, twitch and tremble. They go as fast as a sewing machine needle or a person with a nervous foot. Thrush can’t seem to contain his excitement, waiting to see what Mole turns up, so he sends it into his feet.
What Mole turns up are earthworms. I’ve read that a mole can eat its body weight in worms in a day. We see a juicy one, slick and pink, wiggle up out of a crack, trying to escape Mole’s ravenous jaws, only to fall prey to Thrush. Thrush sees pink, then — Snap! — he plucks the worm and — Gulp! — down his throat it goes. The two parts of his beak work together like a knife and fork in the hands of a hungry boy. Thrush wipes his beak on a blade of grass then goes back for more.
It’s when Thrush jumps in front of Mole and watches him approach that his bird legs twitch the fastest. And when his legs twitch, his tail twitches too. As goes the tail, so goes the rest of the body, until Thrush is all in a jerk.
Can this be the same bird that’s overwintered here in the past? That thrush really was a “hermit.” He’d fly out of the woods and land under our hollies to eat fallen berries, then dart back as if he couldn’t wait to be alone again. He was so socially averse that no more than a glance from us out the window would send him off.
But this year, Thrush is a party animal. He sees Mole humping along, thinks about worms, and out he comes to quiver and dance. Out come our binoculars too.
That is, until this morning. This morning Mole moved into virgin ground, Becky’s flowerbed — the one right below a window. Mole was so close we didn’t need binoculars to see him push up dirt. And perched on top of the moving earth was Thrush, waiting for a pink wiggler to show, his skinny legs going to town.
To make sure we weren’t just seeing things, Becky opened her bird Bible, John Terres’ “Encyclopedia of North American Birds.” Terres does not mention thrushes under “SOME ODD METHODS OF FOODGETTING,” but he does name other birds that engage in “a peculiar kind of foraging called foot-stirring.” He says, to give chapter and verse, “Lapwings bring earthworms to the surface by quick trembling motions of one foot.” Next Becky went to an online source, Cornell’s “All About Birds,” and read, “Hermit Thrushes sometimes forage by ‘foot quivering,’ where they shake bits of grass with their feet.”
But it’s not foot-stirring or foot-quivering that’s going on in the flowerbed this morning. Thrush and Mole are hunting in concert, and foot-strumming is what I see.
Now Thrush jumps in front of Mole, his thin legs pumping, his clawed toes picking away. Mole senses the twanging vibes and thinks, “There’s a wiggler just ahead!”
I can’t see Mole, of course, but I can picture him under the rhythmic surface, his big hands plucking at dirt and roots. Like a bluegrass boy slapping the strings of a bigbellied bass, Mole anchors the music with pounding thumps in a Foggy Mountain Breakdown, in a Deliverance duel, while Thrush claws and hammers at banjo earth.
We tap our feet too, in front-row seats. It’s a Moses Creek hoedown with Mole and Thrush. Now, suddenly, between the two — flashing pink to their clogging beat — here comes Pretty Polly!
Burt Kornegay is the author of “A Guide’s Guide to Panthertown Valley.” He and his wife, Becky, live in Jackson County.
• The Jackson Arts Market takes place from 1-5 p.m. every Saturday at 533 West Main St. in Sylva with live music and an array of local artists.
• Cowee School Farmer’s Market is held Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m., at 51 Cowee School Drive in Franklin. The market has produce, plant starts, eggs, baked goods, flowers, food trucks and music. For more information or for an application, visit www.coweeschool.org or call 828.369.4080.
• Jackson County Green Energy Park is once again welcoming visitors. It is open to the public each week 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Public classes will resume this spring. JCGEP will also host live glassblowing demonstrations at Innovation Station during the Lights and Luminaries festival in Dillsboro. For more information email info@jacksonnc.org or 828.631.0271.
• Haywood Community College will host “Balance & Burnout: Small Business Lunch & Learn Series” from 12-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15. Seminars are free to attend. To see the full schedule and register, go to sbc.haywood.edu.
• Haywood Community College will host “Relationship Marketing, Your Ground game: Relationship Marketing Series” from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. Seminars are free to attend. To see the full schedule and register, go to sbc.haywood.edu.
• Cowee School will host a Valentine’s Dessert and Dance Fundraiser from 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center with music by BlueJazz. Tickets are $20, available at the door or at coweeschool.org.
• Haywood Waterways Association and The Town of Canton are hosting the 11th annual Plunge and Plunge Challenge will take place at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Champion Credit Union Aquatic Center (Canton Pool). The event raises funds for Kids in the Creek and other Haywood Waterways’ other community education activities. For more information contact 828.476.4667 or info@haywoodwaterways.org.
• Haywood Community College Foundation is hosting a concert to support student needs on Saturday, March 4, at 3 p.m. in the HCC Charles Beall Auditorium. The Blue Ridge Orchestra will showcase Musique Ménage, a concert of contrasts, featuring Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 — “The Great” — and original music by local artists Fancy and the Gentlemen. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.haywood.edu/orchestra
• Mountain Area pregnancy Services and the WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor work together to provide a casual support group for prenatal and breastfeeding individuals from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesdays at Mountain Area Pregnancy Services, 177 N Main St. Waynesville, NC. All are welcome, registration is recommended. For more information please call 828.558.4550.
• The Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library Creative Writing Group meets 10:30 a.m. - noon on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. For more information, email Jennifer at jennifer.stuart@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2561.
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• Knit Night takes place at 5:30-7:30 p.m. every second Tuesday of the month at The Stecoah Valley Center. The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is recommended: 828.479.3364 or amber@stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• Professor Bart D. Ehrman, Biblical scholar and author of six New York Times bestselling books including “Jesus” and “The Triumph of Christianity,” will speak and answer questions at 7 p.m. Friday, April 14, at the Queen Auditorium in the Folkmoot Friendship Center at 112 Virginia Ave. in Waynesville. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door Tickets may be purchased at Blue Ridge Books or by calling 828.226.5921.
• Tremont Writers Conference, an intensive five-day retreat for writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry will take place Wednesday, Oct. 25-29. Applications to participate in the event may be submitted online now through April 30 at writers.gsmit.org.
• Creative Writing Club will take place at 3:30 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the Macon County Public Library. The writing club is intended for ages 8-12. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Move and Groove Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Thursday, at the Canton branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Exciting, interactive music and movement story time ideal for children 2-6 years old. For more information contact Ashlyn at ashlyn.godleski@haywoodcountync.gov or at 828.356.2567.
• Mother Goose Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Wednesday, at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Ideal for children from birth to 2 years old. For more information, contact Lisa at lisa.hartzell@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2511.
• Wiggle Worms Storytime takes place 10:30-11 a.m. every Tuesday, at the Waynesville branch of the Haywood County Public Library. Ideal for children 2-6 years old. For more information contact Lisa at lisa.hartzell@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2511.
• Storytime takes place at 10 a.m. every Tuesday at the Macon County Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Toddler’s Rock takes place at 10 a.m. every Monday at the Macon County Library. Get ready to rock with songs, books, rhymes and playing with instruments. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
• Art afternoon takes place at 3:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Macon County Public Library. For more information visit fontanalib.org or call 828.524.3600.
concert at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. A livestream will be available through the First UMC Waynesville YouTube channel. For more information visit www.voicesinthelaurel.org.
• Voices in the Laurel will sponsor Movie MADness, a community Multicultural Arts Day from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, at First Baptist Church in Waynesville. While admission is free, space is limited, so make your reservation today at www.voicesinthelaurel.org.
• Helena Hunt will play traditional tunes for a Sunday afternoon concert from 3-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26, at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library. For more information contact Jennifer at jennifer.stuart@haywoodcountync.gov or call 828.356.2561.
• Green Energy Park will celebrate its reopening with the “Fire Arts Festival” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Green Energy Park, 1/2 mile past Huddle House in Dillsboro. For more information visit www.JCGEP.org.
• Mountain Makers Craft Market will be held from noon-4 p.m. the first Sunday of each month at 308 North Haywood St. in downtown Waynesville. Over two dozen artisans selling handmade and vintage goods. Special events will be held when scheduled. mountainmakersmarket.com.
• “Flights & Bites” will be held starting at 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in downtown Waynesville. For more information on upcoming events, wine tastings and special dinners, click on waynesvillewine.com.
• A free wine tasting will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday and 2-5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• Take a trip around the world with four different wines every Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday 11a.m.-6 p.m. at the Bryson City Wine Market. Pick from artisan Charcuterie Foods to enjoy with wines. 828.538.0420
• Cooking classes take place at the McKinley Edwards Inn from 6-8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. To reserve your spot call 828.488.9626.
• Chess 101 takes place from 3:30-4:30 p.m. every Friday in the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Public Library. No registration required, for more information call 828.648.2924.
• Wired Wednesday, one-on-one technology help is available at 3-5 p.m. every Wednesday at the Canton Branch of the Haywood County Library. For more information or to register, call 828.648.2924.
• Uptown Gallery, 30 East Main St. Franklin, will be offering Children’s Art Classes Wednesdays afternoons. Adult workshops in watercolor, acrylic paint pouring, encaustic and glass fusing are also offered. Free painting is available 10 a.m.-3 p.m. every Monday in the classroom. A membership meeting takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3 p.m. All are welcome. Call 828.349.4607 for more information.
n Complete listings of local music scene
n Regional festivals
n Art gallery events and openings
n Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers
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own project and a bag lunch. 828.349.4607 or pm14034@yahoo.com.
• The 20th annual Business of Farming Conference is coming up Saturday, Feb. 11, at the A-B Tech Conference Center in Buncombe County. Organized by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. Register at asapconnections.org.
• Howard Browers will lead a birding adventure at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, at Lake Junaluska. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.
• Hike in the Lake Logan Retreat area at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, with Haywood County Recreation and Parks. The hike starts just before Lake Logan and ends lakeside. All hikes are $10. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.
• The Highlands Biological Station will celebrate the Great Backyard Bird Count on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18.
• Learn about hellbenders during a presentation at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center near Franklin. For more information visit coweeschool.org.
• Master Gardener Volunteer Bonnie Refinski-Knight will host a seminar on gardening from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, Feb. 21, at the Haywood County Cooperative Extension Center in Waynesville. Cost is $10.
• Explore a section of the Art Loeb Trail at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, with Haywood County Recreation and Hikes. All hikes are $10. Sign up at bit.ly/haywoodrec.
• The annual Haywood County Extension Master Gardener plant sale is now underway, with pre-paid orders due by March 3. Find order forms online at haywood.ces.ncsu.edu, pick them up at the Extension Office on Raccoon Road in Waynesville or contact 828.456.3575 or mgarticles@charter.net.
• Registration is open for two upcoming sessions of Outdoor Adventure Kids, or OAK, at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. OAK is open to kids ages 6-13 and runs Fridays 12:30-4:30 p.m., with the first session March 331 and the second session April 14 through May 12. Learn more or sign up at ncarboretum.org/educationprograms/youth-family-programs/oak-drop-offprogram.
• The inaugural Land and Lake Relay will be held Saturday, March 4. This 63-mile race is set up for fourperson and six-person teams, starting at Warren Wilson College in east Asheville and finishing at Fonta Flora Brewing at Lake James. Registration is limited to 60 teams. For more information or to register, visit gloryhoundevents.com.
• The Haywood County Elementary Honors Chorus and Voices in the Laurel Concert Choir will present “Haywood Voices Sing We Are One,” a multi-cultural
• “Thursday Painters” group will be held from 10 a.m.3 p.m. on Thursdays at The Uptown Gallery in Franklin. Free and open to the public. All skill levels and mediums are welcome. Participants are responsible for their
• The 16th annual Asheville Catholic School Shamrock 5K/10K will return Saturday, March 11, benefiting the O’Brien and William Edward Gibbs Memorial Scholarship Fund. Both races sold out last year, so early registration is encouraged. For more information or to register, visit gloryhoundevents.com.
The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 copies across 500 locations in Haywood, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, including the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. Visit www.wncmarketplace.com to place your ad!
Rates:
• $15 — Classified ads that are 25 words, 25¢ per word after.
• Free — Lost or found pet ads.
• $6 — Residential yard sale ads.*
• $1 — Yard Sale Rain Insurance
Yard sale rained out? Call us by 10a.m. Monday for your ad to run again FREE
• $375 — Statewide classifieds run in 170 participating newspapers with 1.1+ million circulation. (Limit 25 words or less)
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Note: Highlighted ads automatically generate a border so if you’re placing an ad online and select a highlight color, the “add border” feature will not be available on the screen.
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NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.17 E 616 Teresa B. Summey, Teresa Summey
Greer, P.C.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
LAND CLEARING
LOWER OLD #4 HOUSING
NOTICE OF ADMINISTRATION
Case No.2023 E 000046
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS HOUSE DEMO PIONEER VILLAGE
788-6785.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
GUT REHAB SERVICES FOR 2 HOUSES BIG COVE HOUSING
DONATE YOUR VEHICLE
MOUNTAIN PROJECTS, INC. is seeking 2 positions for our Head Start and Early Head Start Programs. Come work for a team that cares for their community and wants to improve the lives of children and families. Family Service Worker (Haywood County): A four year degree in Social Work, Family Services, Counseling, Human Services or related
FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROJECT DIRECTOR--
not required. A High School Diploma is required. Early Head Start Teacher (Haywood County): Early Childhood Education degree from an accredited community college preferred. Child Development or Infant/Toddler
Each position must work effectively with coworkers, parents and children. Work effectively with diverse populations. Good judgement in making decisions, computer skills and multitask
Valid driver license and insurance are required. Some travel required and homeground checks along with random drug testing are required. You will also receive health, dental and vision insurance, retirement, long and and life insurance. please apply at www. mountainprojects.org
AA/EOE
AFFORDABLE HOUSING MANAGER
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate- Heritage
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Beverly Hanks & Associates- beverly-hanks.com
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• Anne Page - apage@beverly-hanks.com
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• Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com
• Rick Border - sunburstrealty.com
• Randy Flanigan - 706-207-9436
• Steve Mauldin - 828-734-4864
EXP Realty
• Ashley Owens Rutkosky - ashley.rutkosky@exp.realty
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• The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com
• Ron Breese - ronbreese.com
• Landen Stevenson- landen@landenkstevenson.com
Lakeshore Realty
• Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com
Mountain Dreams Realty- maggievalleyhomesales.com
• Lyndia Massey- buyfromlyndia@yahoo.com
Mountain Creek Real Estate
• Ron Rosendahl - 828-593-8700
McGovern Real Estate & Property Management
• Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com
Premier Sotheby's International Realty
• DeAnn Suchy - deann.suchy@premiersir.com
• Kaye Matthews - kaye.matthews@premiersir.com
RE/MAX Executive - remax-waynesvillenc.com remax-maggievalleync.com
• The Real Team - TheRealTeamNC.com
• Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com
• Mary Hansen - mwhansen@charter.net
• Billy Case- billyncase@gmail.com
Rob Roland Realty
• Rob Roland - 828-400-1923
Smoky Mountain Retreat Realty
• Tom Johnson - tomsj7@gmail.com
• Sherell Johnson - Sherellwj@aol.com
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BLACK MALE CAT, ARTU 10 year old, sweet house-panther; loves toys and high places. Sometimes lap cat, sometimes independent. Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ ashevillehumane.org
PITBULL TERRIER MIX, BROWN&WHITE, LADYGODIVA 6 year old girl who’s always smiling. Loves hiking and treats, and knows some commands. Asheville Humane Society (828) 761-2001 adoptions@ashevillehumane.org
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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, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
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