SMN 02 22 17 by Smoky Mountain News

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February 22-28, 2017 Vol. 18 Iss. 39

Outdoor adventure park proposed in Dillsboro Page 7 Chimney Tops could be closed for years following fire Page 3

CONTENTS

STAFF

On the Cover: Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville is fortunate to be one of few theaters to have a talented scenic artist on staff. Not only does Lyle Baskin produce some of the most stunning backdrops for HART productions, but the backdrops also allow the theater to make money by renting the pieces out to other theaters throughout the country. (Page 22) John Highsmith photo

News Public safety tops Haywood budget wish list ............................................................ 3 Haywood Commissioners decide on tax collector issue ........................................4 Tribal Council calls chief’s hotel contract into question .......................................... 6 Outdoor adventure park proposed in Dillsboro ........................................................ 7 Canton board faced with growing needs .................................................................... 8 School calendar change could impact workers ........................................................ 9 Two elk found dead on J Creek dairy farm ................................................................10 Families beg Macon County to tackle drug abuse ................................................ 13 Sylva begins budget talks .............................................................................................. 15

Opinion Tax collector likely too easy on too many....................................................................17

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Outdoors Chimney Tops could be closed for years following fire ........................................ 34

Back Then Old-time surveyors used some interesting tools, markers.................................... 47

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February 22-28, 2017

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Public safety, transportation top Haywood budget wish list

PUBLIC SAFETY SHORTHANDED Sheriff Greg Christopher has perhaps the most pressing personnel needs. Last year 3,365 people were booked into the Haywood County Detention Center, which is comprised of two facilities and can hold 142 inmates. One of them was Robert Edward Branning, who escaped from a Haywood County detention officer who was transporting him and another inmate to Buncombe County. Branning ended up carjacking a motorist and getting shot by police in downtown Waynesville as holiday shoppers looked on in horror. Miraculously, no one was injured except Branning. Christopher’s asking commissioners for something Haywood County’s never had before — two armed transport officers. While Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania counties use only armed transport officers, Cherokee, Jackson, Macon and Swain counties use them solely for people charged with felonies. Branning has a 2014 conviction for felony assault by strangulation, and a 2015 felony charge for interfering with an electronic monitoring device. Also located within the detention center is the 911 Communications Center. Although its $1 million budget is separate from Christopher’s $4.99 million budget, both saw increases last year on the order of 8 or 9 percent. Together, they make up over a third of the county’s public safety budget, which in turn made up 20.51 percent of the county’s 2016-17 general fund expenditures. Christopher says another sergeant is needed in the detention center to alleviate staffing woes that are currently solved by paying out overtime. Two more full-time telecommunications

OUTDATED

Planning Director Kris Boyd produced documents projecting a marked decrease in grant revenues through 2019 due to decreased federal funding and the way those funds are allocated between urban and rural areas. Most dramatically affected is a Federal Transit Administration grant that supports rural public transportation in areas with fewer than 50,000 residents. Revenue from that grant is expected to decrease steadily from 2014’s $245,000 to $171,000 by 2019. Coupled with less drastic decreases in other, smaller grant revenue streams, revenue in 2019 will be a third less than in 2014. “We are becoming eligible for urban funding, and are considered ‘partially urbanized,’” said Haywood Public Transit Director Alex Aumen. “The state believes we can offset rural funding through urban funding.” The county’s public transportation system — run in conjunction with social service

and volunteers decided to scour the trail system with leaf blowers and metal detectors following close behind. In that search, 10 more nails were located. “[They were] pretty much anywhere there were roots crossing the trail,” Barwatt said.

“They basically took these 16 penny nails and hammered them in an inch or so, and cut off the top with either a hacksaw or a bolt cutter at a sharp angle, [leaving] maybe like anywhere between half an inch and 2 inches sticking up.” A $1,000 reward has been offered for information about the incident. Call the Sylva Police Department at 828.586.2916. As of press time, there were no leads on suspects, but Barwatt thinks whoever placed the spikes might be someone local. He noted that nails were found all the way to a park boundary gate at the end of the Parris Branch Road, a little known access point into the heart of the mountain, within a short hike to the summit of Black Rock. “They kind [of walked the contour] of the mountain, and that’s why I think it’s somebody local who did it,” Barwatt said. “Not many people know that area and how to get there.” 3

PUBLIC TRANSIT NEEDS GROW

Smoky Mountain News

parking lot at the trailhead, the runner notified Barwatt of the incident, stating he found two spikes where he’d gotten hurt. The runner went to the hospital afterward to receive a tetanus shot. Barwatt then called Sylva Police Chief Davis Woodard. This past Saturday, they headed up to where the incident happened, only to find eight more spikes within the vicinity. “Honestly, [I] thought it was just going to be that one area,” Barwatt said. “But, then I started heading down the East Fork Trail back to the parking lot and I didn’t find any, and [Woodard] headed out the East Fork Trail up to the West Fork Trail and then out toward Pinnacle and he found about 30 more.” Since then, the Town of Sylva held an emergency staff meeting, where local officials

ELECTIONS MACHINES Haywood County Elections Director Robert Inman has always been concerned with maintaining the public’s trust in the elections process, but now more so than ever. Although President Donald Trump has leveled as-yet unverified claims of “massive” voter fraud across the country during the 2016 election, a 52 year-old Haywood County man was indeed found guilty of felony voter fraud Feb. 9, when it was verified that he’d voted twice in the Republican primary last March. New voting machines requested by Inman to replace the decade-old ones currently in use won’t exactly help prevent this type of thing from happening again, Inman said, but it will make the process more secure and more efficient overall. “What I’ve been saying to people is, ‘Look at your cell phone. What can it do today that it couldn’t 10 years ago?’” The new machines are also required by law to be fully installed and implemented by Sept. 1, 2019, but carry with them plenty of public inspection, education and testing requirements that take time to complete. At current levels, Inman says the county will need roughly 36 machines. Although he wouldn’t speculate on the cost, voting tabulators can run anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000 per machine, depending on the type and quantity ordered. Inman’s proposal — just like Christopher’s and Boyd’s — represents only a few of the spending decisions commissioners will have to make by July 1, when budgets have to be passed per state law. The county’s next budget workshop meeting will take place at 2 p.m. April 6 at the county Health and Human Services building.

Spikes found in Pinnacle Park, runner injured BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER n a bizarre discovery, more than 50 intentionally placed spikes have been identified and removed from the popular trail system at Pinnacle Park in Sylva. And with less than a month until the “Assault on Black Rock” 7-mile trail race at the park (March 18), race director Brian Barwatt is more than on edge. This year’s race will serve as a fundraiser for Neighbors in Need, a Sylva nonprofit. “My concern [is] for other people up there,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the trail race either.” On Feb. 11, a group of local runners were traversing the course in preparation for the race. Coming down a remote section of the East Fork Trail, one of the runners stepped on a nail, injuring himself. Upon reaching the

agency Mountain Projects — is in danger of decreasing service levels or severe cutbacks. “I wouldn’t say the bottom is falling out, but we can only run our vehicles with the resources we have,” said Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects.

February 22-28, 2017

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER udgeting for the 2017-18 fiscal year is underway across the state, but in Haywood County, a decrease in property tax value makes this year’s process more bitter than sweet. As of Feb. 16, figures from the county tax assessor’s office indicated that the total value of taxable real estate in Haywood County had dropped by about 2.1 percent since 2011. This year’s valuation of $6.17 billion was $132.8 million less than the previous value of $6.31 billion, and came as a surprise to many. As the previous revaluation was conducted during the heart of the Great Recession, 2017’s revaluation was expected to be up significantly, if not slightly. Instead, Haywood County commissioners will see the loss of around $750,000 in revenue, which will necessitate either belt-tightening, dipping into savings or passing a tax increase. Haywood County’s tax rate — 56.61 cents per hundred dollars in assessed value — remains among the lowest in the state; 75 of 100 counties have higher rates than Haywood, from Scotland’s 102 cents per hundred to Carteret’s 31 cents. The 2016-17 fiscal year is the second in a row Haywood’s rate remained unchanged. From 2011 to 2014, it was 54.13 cents, up from 51.4 in 2009 and 2010. From 2006 to 2008, it was 49.7 — a drastic departure from the 61 cents charged in 2005 and prior years. To prevent that rate from creeping back up again Commission Chairman Kirk Kirkpatrick and fellow commissioners will have to evaluate the requests county department heads and staff brought to a Feb. 14 budgeting workshop — all of which they say they need fulfilled if they’re to continue providing the services under their charge.

professionals are also sorely needed in the 911 communications center, according to a report provided to commissioners by Christopher. The 911 center answered more than 140,000 calls in 2016, up from 101,000 in 2013 and continuing a steady trend of 10,000 additional calls each year. These calls are handled by 14 full-time and six part-time operators, just as they have been since 1999. Three are always on duty, and two occasionally assist during peak periods. That works out to 384 calls every 24 hours, an average of 118 per dispatcher per 12-hour shift. “Without adequate staff, this is a direct liability to our county, because we are responsible for the 911 system,” Christopher said. “A lot of 911 calls are a matter of life or death.” County patrol deputies answered more than 25,500 calls of their own in 2016, placing them in the high end of similarly sized counties in North Carolina, but at just five deputies per shift, it’s in the low end of that group. Christopher suggests adding one more patrol deputy per shift — a total of four — to help patrol their 544-square-mile jurisdiction.

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Haywood Commissioners decide on tax collector issue BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER he rift between Haywood County commissioners and the last remaining elected tax collector in North Carolina — Mike Matthews — got a little deeper Feb. 20 when commissioners passed a resolution calling for an end to the practice of electing the position. In a unanimous vote, commissioners decided to ask the Haywood County legislative delegation to sponsor legislation allowing the county to join the other 99 counties in the state that appoint their tax collector. It wasn’t supposed to be about politics, parties or personalities, but the resolution has been hard to separate from Matthews, who has been under fire since before he defeated longtime incumbent David Francis in the November 2014 election. Francis, a Democrat, lost narrowly to the upstart Republican Matthews, whose personal behavior, financial history and professional qualifications left many feeling that he wasn’t suited for the job. Upon taking office, Matthews and commissioners clashed over a variety of issues, from his absenteeism to reduced collections performance. The situation, however, came to a head last November, when the county began an independent investigation into a workplace complaint involving Matthews. The complaint — which Commissioner Mike Sorrells said could have “cost taxpayers a lot of money if it had been true” — was not substantiated in the investigation that was conducted by an Asheville attorney. However, a host of further allegations did arise as a result of the probe. Those could

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

Resolution now moves to state level BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER It’s a resolution, not a revolution. But if Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, Rep. Mike Clampitt, R- Bryson City, and Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville, follow through on Davis’ suggestion that the resolution be taken up by the voters of the county, it will revolutionize the way Haywood County oversees the office that brings in well over 50 percent of its yearly revenue. Haywood County Elections Director Robert Inman said that since because munic-

more time to speak on the issue, and on Feb. 20 that’s just what he got. Although the Historic Haywood County Courthouse wasn’t filled to capacity that night, it certainly contained several times the amount of people that usually show up for any other regularly scheduled commission meetings. The public comment session lasted slightly more than 45 minutes. Of the 17 speakers, eight of them gave various reasons why they thought that the position should be elected. “It should be removed from partisan election,” said retired attorney Bob Clark. “There’s a reason 99 of 100 counties have done it.” Others thought the appointment of the tax collector would allow County Manager Ira Dove (left) converses with commissioners (L- commissioners to have R) Mike Sorrells, Kevin Ensley, and Kirk Kirkpatrick before the more control over the Feb. 20 meeting. Cory Vaillancourt photo position and enforce measures to make sure have played a part in the decision to press for- that collections were being handled in the ward with the change, which was first pro- best possible manner. One person even posed on Feb. 6. brought a petition with more than 100 signaCommissioners seemed ready to vote that tures supporting appointment. day, but newly elected Republican Brandon Some just didn’t see it that way, however. Rogers said he wanted the public to have Six speakers expressed the sentiment that ipal elections are scheduled in 2017, the next opportunity for the countywide referendum proposed by Davis would be in 2018. Concurrent with that, the resolution as passed doesn’t demand Matthews’ termination, instead saying he should be allowed to serve out his term, which ends in December 2018. County Attorney Chip Killian said that such a referendum could appear whenever the legislature so directed; however, a closer look indicates that were it to appear on the May 8 Primary Election ballot or the Nov. 6 General Election card, it would create a situation wherein candidates would have to run for a position that might end up being abolished before the winner would take office. The 2018 election is already highly anticipated; all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs, as are the governorships of 39 states (not North Carolina). Across the country, state legislators elected in 2018 will have a critical

impact on Congressional and legislative redistricting that comes about after the 2020 census. Additionally, Democrats are smarting over yet another presidential popular vote victory coupled with an Electoral College loss and are eager to weigh in on what they see as an already-disastrous Trump presidency, just as Republicans are eager to defend policy victories they’ll no doubt achieve under a unified Republican administration. Commissioners Mike Sorrells and Bill Upton as well as Chairman Kirk Kirkpatrick will also be up for re-election, should they choose to run again. In short, turnout for the 2018 General Election should be high, maximizing the opportunity of voters to ultimately decide the issue. Until then, the resolution sets up an awkward conundrum; commissioners clearly want Matthews gone, but will have to deal with him for the foreseeable future. North Carolina voters have a very limit-

the position should remain elected, including political activist and former Waynesville mayoral candidate Jonnie Cure, who said that the tax collector should serve at the pleasure of the people, not at the pleasure of the board of commissioners. Cure has been a supporter of Matthews’ run for office and even paid his candidate-filing fee at the elections office. Paul Yeager said he thought the elected tax collector was doing “an excellent job” and added, “I don’t really care what they do in 99 other counties or why they do it. I live here in Haywood County.” A few speakers didn’t take a clear position on the issue of the elected versus appointed issue, but instead expressed personal support for Matthews. In one particularly heartfelt testimonial, Elmer Silvers said Matthews was a good man who saves people’s homes. After County Manager Ira Dove again thoroughly and methodically laid out the case for the resolution the question was finally put to commissioners, who’d waited two weeks — or two decades, depending on who you ask — to answer it. Commissioner Sorrells became animated and looked upset as he refuted the allegations of several speakers who had come before the board earlier. He defended the $20,000 investigation into the complaint against Matthews. “The complaint was a pretty serious complaint. Everybody’s scared to death to talk about it but it was a pretty serious complaint,” Sorrells said. “If we hadn’t investigated it and it turned out to potentially be truthful, you, the taxpayers, would have paid for it — a big amount.” A report summarizing the findings of the investigation conducted by attorney Missy Spainhour of Asheville has not been made public, despite repeated requests by The Smoky Mountain News. A copy was leaked to The Mountaineer newspaper before a story containing excerpts from it was published Feb. 10. Sorrells went on to take exception to statements that suggested

ed ability to recall local elected officials; 22 states have statewide recall, 11 states have none at all, seven have unique circumstances, and 10 — like North Carolina — have a small number of local governments with the option. Of 552 municipalities, approximately 20 have local level recall provisions in their charters and ordinances, including Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Hickory, WinstonSalem and, closer to home, Asheville. Haywood County does not, but there may be one final way commissioners could remove Matthews before 2018. General Statute 105-349 states that a governing body — in this case, the county — can “remove the tax collector from office during his term for good cause after giving him notice in writing and an opportunity to appear and be heard at a public session of the governing body.” A hearing may not even be required if the tax collector doesn’t deliver tax receipts according to procedures outlined by statute.

done. There’s people here that know we should have made this an appointed position years ago.”

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Commissioners explain their votes

— Kirk Kirkpatrick

he resolution asking state legislators to change Haywood County’s elected tax collector to an appointed position passed unanimously Feb. 20, with each commissioner giving various reasons during the proceedings for their vote in favor of the resolution.

“The year that we had the two tax collectors had been the highest — according to the North Carolina Treasurer’s office — the highest at 97.54 percent [collection rate], and now we’ve dropped to 97.28 percent while the rest of the state and counties of like size have gone up three-tenths of a percent.” — Kevin Ensley

“This is something that has been thought about for a long period of time, and it should have been

Before any of that takes place, the resolution passed by commissioners must gain the approval of the local legislative delegation, of which Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin, is the dean. He’s joined in that group by Rep. Mike

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“The other thing that this is all about is the integrity of the office. There have been things that have been going on in that office that we are privy to and the public should be privy to because it’s public knowledge.” — Mike Sorrells

“We depend on the tax collector’s office to bring money in. Any money that’s not brought in results in other people paying higher rates.”

How to reduce sodium?

— Bill Upton

Clampitt, R-Bryson City, and Rep. Michele Presnell, R-Burnsville. Davis — reached for comment on the issue a few days prior to Feb. 20 vote — explained that after a conversation with Clampitt and Presnell, they all agreed that if commissioners asked for a change, he would sponsor legislation in the Senate that would put the issue to voters. “I’m in favor of letting the voters of Haywood County decide,” Davis said, adding that both Clampitt and Presnell were on board with the referendum idea. Right before casting his vote, Rogers announced Davis’ position to those assembled, setting the stage for a battle over the issue in the coming year. After the meeting, Matthews said he continues to see the issue from both sides. When asked if he thought commissioners did the right thing by passing the resolution, he said that “one or two” commissioners looked at the issue with the same balance Matthews himself had, but the rest were motivated by personal reasons. In the end, he said, “it still takes away that power from the voter.” “There’s some merit to that,” Kirkpatrick said during the meeting. “But the people that make the decision on that appointment are people you elect as well, so there is a controlling factor there as to our removal or our election every four years.”

Question: My doctor advised me to get less sodium because of high blood pressure. I really like canned soups but they all seem like they are full of sodium. How can I reduce the sodium in soup or canned vegetables? Answer: Typically if you have been told by your physician to reduce sodium you'll want to look for items that are less than 240 mg of sodium per serving. (If it is a whole meal or entree item like a frozen dinner it should be 600mg of sodium or less.) Your goal is to keep your total daily sodium intake to less than 2300mg per day. Check with your doctor as they may even recommend less sodium/day! If a soup has more than 240 mg of sodium per serving you could add more water or more fresh or frozen (without seasoning) vegetables or choose another soup w/ less sodium. If you have the time, make your own soups and stews so you can control the sodium. (Remember, 1 tsp of salt = 2325 mg of sodium) In the case of canned vegetables you can rinse them before using and that typically gets rid of about 40% of sodium listed on label. You can also purchase "no salt added" or "low sodium" canned vegetables. To ﬂavor your vegetables use a no-salt or salt-free broth, or salt-free herbs or spices.

For more information see: https://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm315393.htm and https://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPr essure/Shaking-the-Salt-Habit_UCM_303241_Article.jsp

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REFERENDUM COMING

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February 22-28, 2017

commissioners upset with the election results had attempted to undermine Matthews from the start. Commissioners Kevin Ensley and Bill Upton reiterated their previously stated positions in favor of appointment, but Commissioner Rogers — who wasn’t yet a commissioner when the investigation into Matthews began — had never before weighed in on the issue. He did with his vote, and joined every other commissioner in voting for the resolution, which seeks to terminate the position once Matthews’ term is up in December 2018 and appoint — basically, hire — his successor. Kirkpatrick also stressed that Matthews’ predecessor David Francis wouldn’t accept the position even if commissioners appointed him, which Commissioner Kirk Kirkpatrick said would not happen. Francis was appointed tax administrator upon Matthews’ election to help oversee the tax office, but detractors claim Francis was retained to circumvent the results of the election that ousted him.

“We need to have somebody in that position that is responsible to us. In return, if the folks are not happy with that, then they can look at us five [commissioners].”

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Tribal Council calls chief’s hotel contract into question Chief Lambert stands by contract legality, says agreement benefited the tribe BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER pponents of Principal Chief Patrick Lambert are crying foul over a $5.6 million contract between the Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise and the Cherokee Grand Hotel — which Lambert and his wife own — saying that its existence violates tribal ethics laws. “I told you at some point it would come full circle, and at some point you would have to address that,” Tribal Council Vice Chairman Brandon Jones told Lambert during a Jan. 31 meeting. “I think it’s coming soon.” The contract, which promises Harrah’s Cherokee Casino 75 of the Cherokee Grand’s rooms per night for overflow reservations at a rate of $51 per night, is for a four-year term from January 2016 to December 2019, a total value of $5.6 million. The TCGE board appointed by former Principal Chief Michell Hicks approved the contract on Sept. 17, 2015, after Lambert had been elected chief but before he was sworn into office, with negotiations beginning some time before the election. A request for a record of the vote to approve the contract did not receive a response as of press time, but Angela Kephart, a member of the TCGE board at the time, said she was the only one of the fivemember board to vote against the contract. She and Lambert have had a combative history, with Patrick Lambert Lambert asking for her resignation upon taking office and succeeding in having council shorten her term by a year when attempts to remove her outright following an investigation into alleged wrongdoing were unsuccessful. The contract is no longer in effect, however, after the TCGE voted to terminate it in the last half of 2016. “It’s clearly stated that elected officials cannot contract with the tribe, and the fact that this is in place is very, very concerning,” Jones said in a telephone interview. The ordinance Jones referred to, 117-45, is designed to keep tribal officials from using their positions to profit off the tribe. It states, among other things, that no elected official may “participate in the selection or in the award or administration of a contract or grant award from any government agency, if a conflict of interest, real or apparent, shall be involved.”

The Cherokee Grand Hotel is owned by Principal Chief Patrick Lambert and his wife Cyndi. Holly Kays photo

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

THE CHIEF’S RESPONSE Lambert did not shy away from address6 ing the accusation before council.

“The opposition to me being in this position seems to think there’s some fodder for their cannon here, which I think it just a tad humorous,” he said. Just two days after he said this, Tribal Council would vote 9-3 to begin impeachment proceedings against Lambert, citing the results of an investigation into contract approvals and human resources actions under his administration. Lambert believes that the impeachment vote was retaliation for his ongoing efforts to expose criminal wrongdoing under the previous administration. The FBI is currently investigating the Qualla Housing Authority, which handles $3.2 million annual in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Six members of the authority’s seven-member board are on the Tribal Council. Lambert, who was director of the Tribal Gaming Commission for 22 years until retiring in January 2015 to run for chief, had never before been eligible to contract with the casino due to his position — even though the hotel he and his wife Cyndi own is practically across the street from Harrah’s. He said the contract was negotiated at “arm’s length” — Cyndi takes the lead on managing the hotel, not her husband — and that, while it was signed after he was elected, he was not yet an “official.” The contract was signed on Sept. 17, and he was sworn in on Oct. 5. Moreover, Lambert argued, his $5.6 million contract was actually saving the tribe money. The contract reserves 75 rooms per night at a rate of $51 per room. The average price for an occupied room contracted by the casino was $74 per room. That savings has real implications for the per capita payments tribal members receive from casino profits, he said. “I save the tribe $2 million by giving the casino a good deal on the rooms we have available,” he said. “Me and my wife by not being greedy put $120 in your pocket, Mr. Chairman (Bill Taylor), and every member’s pocket.” A memo that the casino issued regarding

the contract dated April 6, 2016, underscores the point. According to the memo, the Cherokee Grand Hotel was “specifically excluded from consideration for room night purchases” during Lambert’s time as executive director but with his resignation “an opportunity presented itself.” “The Grand property is a preferred property for Casino customers due to quality and proximity and has potential to generate further, unquantified positive financial impacts in the form of enhanced gaming revenues and hotel room cash sales,” the memo reads.

cil. “Only the casino could, and due to political pressure that’s now been done.” It’s not clear exactly when the TCGE voted to cancel the contract. However, it seems likely that some rooms are still under contract, as the contract requires a six-month written notice to the hotel of intent to terminate the contract and outlines a four-month exit period during which the casino decreases its room block commitment by 25 percent of the original agreement. Overflow hotel contracts had been a topic of discussion in Tribal Council before the Jan. 31 conversation took place. During the Jan. 17 budget meeting when a $250 million casino expansion project was On a yearly basis, Harrah’s approved, some councilmembers had spends $4 million to $5 million expressed concern as to the number of overflow rooms the casino paid for on contracts for 80,000 room and how those prices were determined. On a yearly basis, said the casinights at outside hotels. no’s regional director of planning and analysis Jeremiah Wiggins, Harrah’s The memo also confirms the numbers spends $4 million to $5 million on contracts Lambert quoted to council regarding pricing. for 80,000 room nights at outside hotels. It states that the average annualized cost per However, the casino still turns away about occupied room, excluding those contracted at 120,000 room reservations annually due to the Cherokee Grand, is $74, which is 45 per- lack of space, part of the motivation for the cent higher than the $51 provided in the expansion project. Grand’s contract. By contracting with the Tribal Council Chairman Bill Taylor quesCherokee Grand, the memo says, the casino tioned the per-night cost for some of those saves $528,000 annually and $2.1 million rooms and specifically the variation in pricover the life of the contract, “with 100% of ing for similar rooms. savings realized in Tribal Distribution and “When you go to these hotels, you’re getPer Capita payments.” ting the same type of room and some are getting $50 a night and some are making $130 a Taylor said. “You’re not getting an ONTRACT CANCELLED night,” extravagant room. I don’t understand it.” Tension has been thick between the tribe’s However, the TCGE decided last year to terminate the contract early, so it will not executive and legislative branches over the remain in effect through the end of 2019. past year, and discussion of these issues is According to the terms of the contract, only likely to continue during the Tribal Council’s the casino, overseen by the TCGE, can termi- March meetings — a Budget Council meeting nate the agreement — the hotel does not have is scheduled for Feb. 28 and a Tribal Council meeting for March 2. Meetings begin at 8:30 that same right. “I could not cancel that contract without a.m. and are live streamed and archived at being in legal jeopardy,” Lambert told coun- www.livestream.com/accounts/10717024.

BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER

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10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 – Canton Armory 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - North Canton Fire Dept. 6:30 pm, Thursday, March 2 - Saunook Fire Dept. 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Jonathan Creek Fire Dept. 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Clyde Fire Dept. 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Lake Junaluska Fire Dept. 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 – Crabtree Methodist Church 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Iron Duff Community House 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Center Pigeon Fire Dept Dept 6:30 pm, Tuesday, February 28 - Fines Creek Fire Dept 6:30 pm, Tuesday, February 28 - Panther Creek Voting House 6:00 pm, Tuesday, February 28 - White Oak Community House 10:00 am, Saturday, February 25 - Democratic Party Headquarters 6:00 pm, Thursday, March 2 - Democratic Party Headquarters

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Construction on an outdoor adventure park offering everything from rafting to ropes courses could begin in Dillsboro as early as April if the Jackson County Commissioners give final approval to the project following a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 20, at the Jackson County Justice and Administration Building. The plan has been years in the making, discussed in multiple iterations with talks with WNC Outdoor Development, LLC — the company behind the current proposal — underway since summer 2016. - “It’s certainly a big step in the right direction,” said Jackson’s economic development d director Rich Price. “We’ve got a solid project that - I think Jackson County will be very proud of.” s The riverside adventure park idea first came n to public attention in February 2016, when The e Sylva Herald reported that negotiations were - underway between Jackson County, which owns s the property, and the Nantahala Outdoor Center. e No solid agreement was ever forged with NOC, Price said, and then WNC Outdoor Development c came forward with a proposal. WNC Outdoor . Development is a newly formed LLC owned by . Jackson County resident Kelly Custer, who owns - several local businesses including Blackrock s Outdoors and Sheds Hunting Supply. d Under the agreement, Jackson County would f sell Custer’s company 7 acres of a 17.5-acre parr cel along the Tuckasegee River in Dillsboro for - $50,000. It would also invest an estimated - $847,000 in water and sewer infrastructure, d $74,000 in site preparation and $45,000 in a s flood an engineering study. s Custer would agree to a set of terms to . ensure the project will spur the local economy. t Construction plans must be completed within five o years of the project’s commencement, and within e 10 years the company must create at least 10 full-time jobs paying at least $563 per week and - hire an additional 50-80 part-time or seasonal e workers. WNC Outdoor Development must also - show the county its salary and wage data for all vendors and operating agreements and allow - public river access on the property, meaning that - walking trails on the property could be used as a a greenway. n The county estimates its investment in the property at $926,000 but puts the total return on s investment after ten years at $1.03 million. The e economic impact of the development could cons tinue long after 10 years, however. s “It’s very exciting news,” said Jackson’s g tourism director Nick Breedlove. “The project has l the potential to significantly impact tourism and 0 visitation to Jackson County. Looking at the t investment and return on investment, it’s a winwin.”

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Canton board faced with growing needs, shrinking budget

BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER anton officials and town staff met for four hours Feb. 16 to discuss achievements and goals, but will have to spend even more time discussing revenues and expenditures. “We’re going to see how we can continue to make Canton better and how we’re going to afford it,” said Mayor Mike Ray at the outset of the meeting. Hiring more firefighters — an expensive proposition — topped the list of significant priorities for the 2017-18 fiscal year budget, which is to be completed by July 1. OSHA’s safety standard of “two in, two out” requires four firefighters on the scene before two are allowed to enter structures where victims may be trapped. The rule increases firefighter safety and also may lead to better response times, but it cost the town of Waynesville $530,000 and a nearly 10 percent tax increase to hire eight new firefighters last year. Canton would need to hire three at an approximate cost of about $200,000 a year. Hendler-Voss said that the increase in firefighter staffing probably wouldn’t make it into the budget due to the small amount of structure fires and aid provided by other fire departments, but should be looked at long-term. Canton, home to the county’s highest property tax rate, is ill-equipped to bear such an increase right now, especially in an election year when revenue is projected to decrease slightly. County Tax Administrator David Francis told Ray and the board of aldermen that the recently completed 2017 revaluation showed a $1.4 million, half-percent decrease in the total taxable value of land and homes in the town. After some quick number crunching, Canton Town Manager Seth Hendler-Voss said that decrease would amount to roughly $8,000 less in revenue for this year’s budget. It’s not a disastrous amount of money, but Canton’s aggressive and ambitious attempt to remake itself into a more progressive and vibrant community isn’t yet complete. The town’s fabled Labor Day Festival — the oldest in the South — is a prime example of how tradition and progress butt heads during a financial malaise that isn’t quite breaking Canton and many other Western North Carolina municipalities, but isn’t helping them move forward, either. The festival underwent a major reinvention last year with the acquisition of big8 name musical talent meant to draw atten-

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

tion to Canton from Asheville to Knoxville. While the festival itself was free, it was also alcohol-free, a deal-breaker for some festivalgoers and a major obstacle to turning a profit on the event. Last year, the $100,000-plus production was largely funded by sponsorships; Canton budgeted $10,000 toward the festival, but spent more than $11,000. Again, not a disastrous amount of money given Canton’s roughly $9 million budget, but as the projected decrease in property tax revenue couples with this cost and other major expenditures looming — like a $2 million project to correct low water pressure in the Spruce Street area — there’s long been interest in making the festival self-sustaining at worst, and a minor revenue generator at best. Hendler-Voss pitched the idea of charging a nominal admission fee for the headlining act, which is tentatively scheduled to be similar in genre but significantly greater in fame than last year’s Yonder Mountain String Band. Given the estimated 5,500 in attendance for YMSB, a small fee would more than cover Canton’s contribution to the fest, and make up the difference in property tax revenue. Ray and Alderman Carole Edwards seemed less than thrilled at the idea of charging for what has historically been one of America’s great, free, family-friendly festivals for more than a century. Edwards has also been a staunch opponent of allowing alcohol sales or partnerships with the town in general. While alcohol sales among a Monday crowd of 5,500 (and the estimated 3,500 who showed up on Sunday last year) would easily top the estimated $25,000 from a $5 entry fee, opponents of alcohol in Canton claim it might change the character of the event and make the fest a little less family-friendly. Alcohol sales for the fest weren’t brought up at the workshop.

LOOKING BACK A review of 2016’s strategic goals revealed some successes and some failures, but overall progress in recreation, economic development, employee satisfaction and infrastructure. The town’s chief recreational goal was

to begin construction of a new municipal pool by fall 2016. While that failed due to the unexpected loss of a USDA loan through no fault of the town, Canton received plan approval from the Local Government Commission and closed on a commercial loan last week. The $2.2 million project appears to be on track for an August 2017 opening. Efforts to increase use of the Colonial Theater, by partnering with private interests have “not panned out” so far according to Hendler-Voss. Cases like the Colonial demonstrate the importance of continuing economic development initiatives undertaken in 2016. Integral to that initiative was Maggie Valley-based Creative Campfire, which undertook a rebranding effort meant to freshen up the town’s digital image. Freshening up the town’s physical image has also yielded results, as downtown pedestrian improvements and streetscaping proj-

and premiums at 100 percent. Canton also became the first living wage certified government in Western North Carolina.

LOOKING AHEAD With Canton’s pool plan largely set in motion, Aldermen Edwards, Dr. Ralph Hamlett, Gail Mull and Zeb Smathers will continue to address some goals that didn’t quite come to fruition this budget year, while again setting goals for the coming fiscal year. The Camp Hope master plan is expected to be completed soon, in conjunction with Clemson University. Similar to the issues surrounding the Labor Day Festival is the potential sale of food, beer and wine at the Colonial — essential revenue generators needed to allow firstclass talent to take the stage at the underused yet first-class venue. Economic development incentives — set

This year’s Canton Labor Day festival could see admission charges. A Shot Above photo

Freshening up the town’s physical image has also yielded results, as downtown pedestrian improvements and streetscaping projects are nearing 70 percent completion. ects are nearing 70 percent completion. Anecdotes from business owners now occupying once-shuttered retail spaces in the Main Street corridor say the beautification will continue to be an important factor in drawing others to the area. Attracting and retaining a qualified municipal workforce was a 2016 priority that showed measurable progress. The town implemented a smoking cessation and weight loss incentive program meant to curb rising healthcare costs, which augments a robust health plan that covers deductibles

last year at $95,000 — may see a small increase in the coming year as well. Perhaps most interesting of the topics bandied about at the meeting was a suggestion that the town update zoning to allow for so-called “tiny houses” that bring with them very small footprints but higher density rates that might alleviate both property tax revenue stagnancy and the county’s affordable housing crisis. Hendler-Voss is the town’s representative on the Haywood County Affordable Housing Task Force.

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Waynesville offers Civilian Police Academy The 2017 Class of the Waynesville Civilian Police Academy will start Thursday, March 9, at the Waynesville Police Department. The academy provides citizens the chance to understand the various aspects of the police department on a more personal level and the opportunity to interact with the officers that are out on our streets. Attendees also get to meet the K-9 officers

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in surrounding counties â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but support staff like transport and lunchroom workers are what really make the schools tick; without them, everything grinds to a halt. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They are absolutely critical to any operation, making sure our students get to and from school safely and receive nutritious meals,â&#x20AC;? said Garrett. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh my gosh, we would never be in the top 10 percent [of district performance statewide] without them.â&#x20AC;? So much so that the cafeteria manager at Canton Middle School, Sandra Meyers, addressed the board during another meeting on Feb. 13 to â&#x20AC;&#x153;stand upâ&#x20AC;? for her fellow employees. Meyers said at the outset that she was â&#x20AC;&#x153;very nervousâ&#x20AC;? in speaking to the board, but thought it was important she do so nonetheless, because to lose any one of the five under her supervision would make things difficult for the employees, and the school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have an awesome group of girls, [but] thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of times I can not get subs,â&#x20AC;? she said, her voice wavering as she appeared to fight back tears. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve called 15 to 20 people at a time trying to get a sub for a day, and I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get nobody. My girls would step up and do the work. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always find people like that. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t always find good workers to step up and do more than whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s asked of them. And every time Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever asked them, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re like, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sure, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll do whatever we can.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Haywood schools have also had a hard time retaining such employees, and the calendar change could make it that much more difficult to attract and retain them in the future. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those are always hard positions to find,â&#x20AC;? Garrett said. To top it off, the move wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really save the district any money â&#x20AC;&#x201D; although snow days mean the district wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to pay bus drivers and cafeteria workers, the district doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t earn revenue when students arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t in session. The Haywood County School Board plans to take up the calendar issue during its next regularly scheduled meeting at 7 p.m. on March 13 at the Haywood County Education Center in Clyde. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My position,â&#x20AC;? Garrett said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is that I will support whatever it is the board decides.â&#x20AC;?

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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT STAFF WRITER 2012 change to a law that lays out requirements for yearly school calendars has the Haywood County School Board weighing the pros and cons of switching from a daily to hourly format. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The calendar committee presented this as an optional way of looking at things,â&#x20AC;? said Superintendent of Haywood County Schools Dr. Anne Garrett during a Feb. 9 work session. The law used to stipulate that of the 215 days in each school yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calendar, â&#x20AC;&#x153;a minimum of 185 days and 1,025 hours of instructionâ&#x20AC;? would take place, but was amended to read â&#x20AC;&#x153;185 days or 1,025 hours.â&#x20AC;? That small alteration carries with it big consequences not only for students, but also for teachers and employees. On the plus side, yearly instruction would be complete by May 14 each year, with testing complete by May 25, allowing students and employees to begin their summer vacations early. The switch would also allow for around 14 days of â&#x20AC;&#x153;unassignedâ&#x20AC;? time that would provide ample opportunity for students who need remedial instruction to receive it, more time for staff instruction, and insurance against the effects of snow days, which are often made up at the end of the school year. That flexibility might help schools function more efficiently. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You would know exactly when the ending date [for the school year] would be,â&#x20AC;? Garrett said. But for some â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially bus drivers, cafeteria staff and employees who work as both â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the change could mean a big hit in their bank accounts. On snow days, for example, these workers would lose a dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pay, which would in theory be made up when the district makes up the snow day later in the school year. However, the switch to an hourly caleno dar could mean that these workers never get the chance to make up the day, because the lost time would simply be absorbed by the extra time built in to the hourly calendar. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a possibility that this could happen,â&#x20AC;? said Garrett. Haywood County schools have had a hard time of late retaining teachers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in part due to higher available supplement pay

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Two elk found dead on Jonathan Creek dairy farm Cause of death unknown BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER technician with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission was out for a routine check of an elk fence installed at the Ralph Ross and Sons Dairy Farm on Jan. 31 when he spotted two young bull elk dead on the property. One elk was found inside the fence, which the Wildlife Commission installed last year in response to ongoing elk-human conflicts on the Ross property, while a second was found outside of the fence, according to the Wildlife Commission’s private lands coordinator Brad Howard. However, no photographs were taken of the scene, and when Lt. Andrew Helton returned the next day to investigate, the elk had been buried by Ronnie Ross, Ralph Ross’ nephew and the adjacent landowner. Meanwhile, Ralph Ross contends that there were no dead elk on his property, just on Ronnie Ross’. “The landowner came back and dug the bulls back up and allowed us to look them over. There was no sign, that we could tell, that the bulls had been shot,” Helton said, adding that the landowners were cooperative. According to Howard, the carcasses, though still relatively fresh, had deteriorated too much to allow for any sort of tissue samples — absent bullet holes, it was impossible

to tell how the elk had died. “At this point we’ll just continue to monitor the situation, and if we have something

like this happen again, hopefully we can get to the carcass a little bit sooner,” Howard said.

February 22-28, 2017

“We don’t know what happened. It was a weird situation, but I’ve been working with wildlife for 20-plus years and occasionally weird situations happen.” — Brad Howard, Wildlife Commission

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This is not the first time that a dead elk has been discovered on the Ralph Ross and Sons Dairy Farm. The family was in the news last winter when seven elk were shot on the property. Ralph Ross had called the Wildlife Commission Jan. 29, 2016, to report three elk shot for eating the winter wheat crop. Two weeks later, officials found four more dead elk in the woods nearby. No charges were filed in last year’s elk shootings, as North Carolina law gives landowners the right to shoot wild animals caught in the act of destroying property. The Ross family had maintained that the animals that were shot had been damaging the crops. The two elk found dead this January are the only elk known to have died of unnatural causes this year. Wildlife Commission staff euthanized a cow elk Jan. 18 that was suffering from the final stages of brainworm — a disease that only elk are susceptible to, caused by a parasite that a certain type of snail carries — and in the weeks following Thanksgiving a deer hunter accidentally shot a young bull elk in the Harmon Den area, a case of mistaken identity. However, there is no proof that the two elk found on the Ross property last month died of unnatural causes. “We don’t know what happened,” Howard said. “It was a weird situation, but I’ve been working with wildlife for 20-plus years and occasionally

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Smoky Mountain News

weird situations happen. We’re going to continue to try to work and keep the elk out of the places they don’t want them to be.” Elk are native to the Southern Appalachians but disappeared for more than 200 years due to habitat loss and overhunting. They were reintroduced to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2001 and have been growing in population ever since — now, their range extends well beyond park boundaries, with the original herd of 52 up to an estimated 150. While some count that expansion a success, for others — particularly for area farmers — it’s caused problems. People who make their living from the land are now having to factor potential damage from a 700-pound animal into the already tenuous equation of the agricultural lifestyle. Likewise, Wildlife Commission staff is learning on the job how to balance wildlife conservation with the issues that this particular species can cause landowners. One technique they’ve used is installing elk fences on properties where there have been conflicts, including the Ross farm. Following the seven elk deaths last year, the Ross family allowed the Wildlife Commission to install a 2-mile fence around the property, which cost $19,000 for labor and materials and was paid for using state money originating from hunting license sales. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation reimbursed the Wildlife Commission for $1,900. According to Ralph Ross, the fence has helped but hasn’t been completely successful. “It might have helped some, but they’ve been getting through it,” he said. Howard said the Wildlife Commission got a call from the landowners in late January, not long before the dead elk were found, saying that elk were appearing inside the fenced areas. Some of them had figured out how to get through the fence, Howard said, and wild pigs were following suit. Meanwhile, at a nearby property owned by Steve Ross that had also received Wildlife Commission fencing, one side of the fence had lost electricity. Howard said that likely had to do with strong storms that came through the area last month. Upon hearing of the issues, Wildlife Commission staff put in some work to repair both fences, some of which is still ongoing. “They’ve not been back lately,” Ralph Ross said of the elk, “but they will be back.” Howard believes that the best hope for reducing elk-human conflicts going forward is to designate public lands managed for elk habitat so that elk will have less reason to munch on farmers’ crops. Some work has already been done to that end. This month, the Wildlife Commission approved creation of the 1,925-acre William H. Silver Game Land in the Maggie Valley area, a property comprised of various tracts that The Conservation Fund has been working for years to acquire for the Wildlife Commission’s elk management efforts. “We’re slowly expanding opportunities to create a quality habitat for elk on public land,” Howard said. “That’s something that the private landowners and even the general public has wanted to see.”

@SmokyMtnNews 11

Smoky Mountain News February 22-28, 2017

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Families beg county to tackle drug abuse

Carol Anne Elliott speaks out about drug addiction during the Prayers Against Drugs rally in front of the Macon County Courthouse. The group meets at 6 p.m. on the first Friday to bring awareness to the growing epidemic. Donated photo

Gladys Knight, husband to host community event A dilapidated segregation-era high school in Canton purchased by a former student will become a $5 million community center by 2019 if the Reynolds High School Community Foundation meets its fundraising goals. Entrepreneur and Canton native William “Billy” McDowell — married to Motown legend Gladys Knight since 2001 — purchased

addicts who can’t get their hands on the expensive painkillers are turning to a cheaper drug — heroin. Beale said Macon County leads the state when it comes to the number of opiate prescriptions written per capita. North Carolina also ranks high in the number of opioidrelated deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state’s drug overdose death rate increased 14.5 percent from 2014 to 2015. More than 1,500 people in North Carolina died from an overdose in 2015 — making it number eight in the country for most overdose deaths. West Virginia ranks number one. Statewide data also shows that all but five counties in WNC have higher-than-average rates of opioid pills prescribed per person, particular in counties near the Tennessee border. Macon County topped that list with an average of 258 pills prescribed per resident in 2014, and Swain County prescribers wrote nearly two opioid prescriptions, on average, for each of the county’s 14,000 residents. As a product of the 1960s, Commissioner Paul Higdon said he’s a former drug user and has family members who’ve had problems with addiction. He’s seen how drugs destroy a family, a community, the labor force and the education system. “When the best night’s sleep you get is when your kid is in jail — that’s not right,” he said. ”I’ve thought a lot about it — the only way you’re safe is locked up — you’ve got to protect them from themselves.”

the 20,000 square-foot building and adjoining 6.5 acres at auction for $80,000 in 2015. At 10 a.m. on Feb. 28, Knight and McDowell will appear at a “kickoff” event at the property on Reynolds School Road in the Gibsontown neighborhood southeast of downtown Canton, where they’ll further explain the goals of the foundation and chart a financial path forward. Through a spokesperson, the RHSCF announced Feb. 15 that the proposed Reynolds Community Center would provide childcare, exercise and performing arts facilities, a food pantry, substance

Beale countered that it costs $88 a day to keep an inmate in the jail, but it’s cheaper and more efficient to treat addicts in a rehab facility. The problem is the state won’t allocate money for drug abuse treatment. “They keep you (in the hospital) for nine days and send you home and say ‘good luck’ — that’s not enough,” he said. “If it’s a disease you have to treat it like a disease.” More than anything, Stanfield says she wants to see the stigma removed from addiction. She said many people are of the opinion that drug addicts deserve to die because they’ve inflicted the disease on themselves, but even addicts have families that love them and want them to recover. “Our society has decided certain people are not worthy of our worry and concern,” she said. “Even drug addicts are loved by somebody — they are loved by God and that makes them worthy and deserving of our love and support and resources.”

Smoky Mountain News

support each other and pray together. “This was something laid on my heart after dear friends lost their daughter,” Elliot said. “People need a place to go.” Not only is the group reaching out to God for help — Elliot said she knows everyone in the community needs to take action to address the drug addiction problem. She wants to see all support groups, organizations, law enforcement officers and the county government come together to find solutions. Stephanie Almedia with Full Circle Recovery Center in Macon County told commissioners she’s been working on the opiate epidemic fight for 20 years. “And it hasn’t gotten any better,” she said. “There’s a lot of young people using IV drugs that don’t have anywhere else to go.” She said the increase in intravenous drug use like heroin has led to increased cases of HIV and Hepatitis C. While awareness of the issue has increased lately, Almedia said drug abuse still comes with a heavy stigma. “Not many people are willing to talk about it,” she said. “We hold an overdose event every August — we had 75 people last year but I think it will double this year because so many young lives have been lost.” Because of his involvement on the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners’ mental health committee, Commissioner Ronnie Beale is very familiar with the many complicated factors at play when talking about addiction. People are becoming unintentionally addicted to painkillers that are prescribed to them, children are taking painkillers from adults, and

February 22-28, 2017

BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR acon County commissioners heard impassioned cries for help last week from families that have lost loved ones to addiction. By sharing their stories and encouraging others to come forward, these families hope to break through the stigma and work toward finding solutions to the growing opiate epidemic. “My family recently lost a loved one,” said Carol Ward as she struggled through her tears. “She was a brave, beautiful, well-loved, smart person that had been raised properly and taught right from wrong and if she can die of this then none of our children are safe.” Jan Stanfield, a Macon County resident for 20 years, told commissioners the story of her son, Stephen, whose opiate addiction ultimately led to his death in 2006. She remembers her son taking off for Asheville on an April morning in search of drugs. After taking a dangerous combination of painkillers and cocaine, Stephen admitted himself to the hospital for chest pain. Doctors ran tests but found no abnormalities so they released him. Stanfield said two weeks went by without any word from their son. He was eventually found dead on the roof of an auto repair shop just a few blocks from the hospital. He was only 24 years old. He had a bottle of 100 oxycodone tablets on him and an autopsy showed nine pills in his stomach. “I’ll never forget what the detective said when I asked him where he could have gotten all those pills. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘they’re everywhere,’” she said. “We loved him beyond measure — he was funny and cute, hard-working, smart, he loved the outdoors and baseball. The whole dream of seeing your child growing into a responsible adult and living happily ever after was taken away.” In response to the growing concern about opiate addiction — which includes synthetic opioids found in painkillers and poppy opiates found in heroin — Carol Anne Elliott said she and others started a movement called Prayers Against Drugs. The group has a Facebook page and gathers at 6 p.m. on the first Friday of the month outside of the Macon County Courthouse to

Vaya Health and community partners have formed the Western North Carolina Substance Use Alliance, a collaboration to reduce the prevalence of alcohol and drug misuse, as well as the number of fatal overdoses, in 23 western North Carolina counties. The misuse and abuse of alcohol, prescription medications and illicit drugs affect the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans. In 2015, for the first time in U.S. history, the number of heroin-related deaths outnumbered gun homicides. In North Carolina, 25 percent of the 1,567 drug overdose deaths in 2015 involved heroin. WNC has been hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic, which includes heroin, other illicit drugs and prescription pain medications. In 2014, 17 of 23 WNC counties ranked among the top in the state in the rate of fatal overdoses — more than 20 deaths for every 100,000 residents. The WNC alliance aims to increase collaboration across agencies involved in substance abuse prevention and treatment, leverage resources to maximize efforts, reduce duplication and establish top priorities for the region. This includes coordinating efforts to increase access to treatment and recovery services, strengthen prevention and education efforts and examine the impact of substance use on overall health and economic development, as a result of lost worker productivity. For more information about the alliance, visit www.vayahealth.com. Access to services and crisis help are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 800.849.6127.

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Community ready for a fight

New alliance to tackle opioid drug epidemic

abuse counseling and, of course, musical instruction — no surprise given Knight’s multiple Grammy Awards and longstanding reign as “The Empress of Soul.” “Working with Gladys’ celebrity will add to the potential,” said foundation Executive Director Mike Finton. “If we were pursuing grants or federal funding, I think it would be very difficult and take quite some time, but we’re approaching this in threefold basis” which also include the local community and regional assets. For more information on the foundation and the event, visit www.rhs-foundation.com. 13

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Sylva begins budget talks Process likely to be less tumultuous than last year BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER ylva is just starting budget planning for 2017-18, but this year’s process promises to be less arduous than last year’s, when revenue uncertainty and the need for a tax rate increase clouded the enterprise. “I think the town’s single biggest accomplishment is building a fiscally responsible balanced budget that doesn’t take from fund balance,” Town Manager Paige Dowling told board members as they began their Jan. 26 work session. “I think that’s the biggest thing the board accomplished over the year and the thing you’ll need to be the most proud of.” In 2016, the board voted to increase the town’s property tax rate from 30 cents per $100 of value to 42.5 cents. Property values were expected to fall as the area’s first postrecession property revaluation went into effect, and even before the revaluation the town had found itself unable to balance the budget with existing revenue, sometimes finding itself forced to take from savings to cover the bills. Issues with Harris Regional Hospital’s tax payments also caused the board heartburn,

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

as the hospital disputed its originally appraised value and stated that it wouldn’t pay any taxes until the matter was settled. At the time, board members feared that the issue could drag on into the next fiscal year, wreaking havoc on the closely cut budget. The hospital wound up settling the issue in October, paying taxes on a $23.7 million value rather than the originally appraised $42.3 million. The hospital had originally appealed the value at $13 million with the Jackson County Board of Adjustments amending its appraisal to $27.2 million after conducting a closer inspection of the property. While board members aren’t grappling with the possibility of a tax increase this year, they do have plenty of other decisions to make. Department heads and board members put their heads together to list out the needs and wants facing the town this year so that they can start deciding what will get funded now and what will have to wait for a later year. “We look at the needs first, and then we go to the wants,” Dowling said. “Unfortunately, in a small town with a budget our size that may mean that we get very few wants.”

SYLVA’S LIST OF NEEDS The list of needs includes about $540,000 of expenditures on top of the rou-

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Board members peruse the lists of needs and wants to mark the items they feel are most important for the budget to prioritize. Holly Kays photo

Be involved The Sylva Town Board will meet at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 9, at Sylva Town Hall to discuss budget priorities for 2017-18. The public is welcome to come observe the discussion.

tine expenses of running a town, such as salaries and utilities and insurance. The biggest-ticket items are a $120,000 resurfacing of Ridgeway Street and $120,000 to renovate the pool. The town also wants to spend about $5,600 on a salary study to determine whether Sylva is paying its employees competitive wages and estimates resulting wage adjustments would cost the town $20,000 or more. “We need to be paying people comparable to what our adjacent towns are paying,”

Dowling said. “The other part of that is when we’re so behind on it we’re not sure how to catch it up.” “I think this is worth the cost,” said Commissioner David Nestler. “I want to be proud of what we pay our employees, and when we lose people to surrounding areas, it hurts.” The police department will also require some significant investment over the next budget year. The department listed among its needs replacements for

Haywood NAACP to discuss immigration

Investigators released video footage of the suspect to several local media outlets as well as to social media exchanges. Several tips came in over the weekend, which investigators sorted through resulting in a lead that ultimately led to the arrest of James Boyd Custer, 70, of Easley, S.C. Custer was taken into custody in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when he turned himself in after speaking to Waynesville investigators on the telephone.

The Waynesville Police Department responded to the report of a robbery on Feb. 17 at Entegra Bank located at 2045 South Main Street in Waynesville. The suspect fled the area on foot and was able to avoid capture until Monday Feb. 20.

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Haywood Dems to hold precinct meetings The Haywood County Democratic Party is holding annual precinct organizational meetings at various locations throughout the county between Feb. 25-March 2. The meetings are free and open to any registered Democrat residing in the precinct. The primary order of business for the 2017 meetings is the election of precinct officers and delegates to the county convention scheduled on Saturday, April 1. A complete listing of meeting times and locations can be found on the new Party website: www.haywooddemocrats.org. For additional assistance, contact the Haywood County Democratic Party Headquarters at 828.452.9607 or haywooddemocrats@gmail.com.

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The history of immigration will be discussed at the next Haywood County NAACP meeting, which will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Jones Temple A.M.E. Zion fellowship hall, 35 Thomas Park Drive, Waynesville. Dr. Ben Francis-Fallon will present his research on the history of immigration in the United States and the ethnic groups that came here. Francis-Fallon works in the History Department at Western Carolina University, and got his doctorate from Georgetown University. Ethnic politics and immigration are his areas of study. After the presentation, NAACP will have a short business meeting. All people of good will are welcome to attend.

Those are the needs, but the board also has a long list of projects it would like to see come to fruition — and all of those cost money. To help sort out priorities, Dowling gave each board member a sheet of 12 stickers to place next to the projects most important to them. Projects that gathered the most enthusiasm included adding a concession stand and bathroom to Bridge Park, contributing to the newly established public art fund, extending the grassy area at Bridge Park, developing a trail plan for Pinnacle Park and conducting an ordinance study on density to update the land use map. Dowling’s challenge will be to build a budget that addresses all the town’s needs while using the remaining funds as wisely as possible to take care of its wants. She’ll prioritize projects based on board member interest and project cost. For instance, if the No. 1 priority were too expensive to fit within the budget, she’d move on down the list until she found a project cheap enough to fit. Department heads are currently working to firm up the cost estimates for their various needs in the year ahead, and ahead of the board’s March 9 budget work session Dowling will put together information on the town’s likely revenues and expenditures for the coming year. “March 9 is really to talk about prioritizing needs and looking at budget issues and what our main objectives need to be in building the budget this year,” Dowling said.

February 22-28, 2017

THE WISH LIST

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four in-car cameras and one police vehicle, changing one part-time position to a fulltime position and purchase of a new dispatch and GPS system. The dispatch/GPS system will be a major boon to the department, said Assistant Police Chief Tammy Hooper, who will be promoted to chief following the retirement of Chief Davis Woodard. Pulling information from GPS, she said, “it can tell you exactly what the officer is doing. Instead of talking to us over the radio and telling us to go somewhere, it’s basically going to be on the computer. It holds us accountable and it tells us exactly where the patrol car is.” The Jackson County Sheriff ’s Office is also going with this new system, Hooper said, which steps up the urgency for Sylva to adopt it as well. If Sylva didn’t, the two law enforcement agencies would be using completely different dispatch systems and communication would be difficult. The town also has some less tangible needs to fund. Every year, a town should put away some money for post-retirement benefits so that when an employee chooses to retire, the town isn’t scrambling for money to pay out retirement benefits. But one outcome of last year’s budgeting uncertainty was that the town was not able to contribute to the post-retirement fund, so now it’s playing catch-up. With eight people eligible for retirement between now and the 2022-23 fiscal year, Dowling’s plan calls for the town to budget $150,000 per year for the next six years to catch up.

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Opinion

Smoky Mountain News

Tax collector likely too easy on too many W

Article’s premise was totally unfounded To the Editor: The article ”Unfair collection practices in tax collector’s office?” (Feb. 25 edition) wisely includes a question mark because the article has not a shred of evidence pointing to malfeasance by elected tax collector Mike Matthews’ alleged bias to benefit Republican activists. What The Smoky Mountain News wrote is a hit piece; the verbs make this clear as in paragraph 3,” Hanson ‘seems to be catching a break’” (no proof ) and near the end “delinquent accounts ‘don’t appear’ to have been properly pursued.” The article is missing the following information: How many total delinquent accounts are there, how much money is involved, what is the average length of delay, and of what party are these delinquents, unaffiliated, or independent, not just Republican and Democrat officeholders. What fines were collected from these accounts? How many years delay are there in other accounts? Nor does the journalist cite any reasons for delinquency. Tax law recognizes problems for businesses such as the present unseasonably warm weather affecting Maggie Valley’s ski venues, hospital bills, accidents, divorces and expense for aged parents. In 2009, economists predicted that Appalachia would not recover from the Great Recession until 2015, surely an important factor. An important reason voters elect a tax collector is to prevent political people forcing an employee to go after a citizen through taxes. If Matthews has done the opposite, that is favor one party’s representatives, there is no verification. Sadly we have become so inured to fake news we no long recognize it. It has been

That probe didn’t substantiate the initial employee complaint, but it did reveal what many who work in the courthouse already knew: the new tax collector was not running his office professionally or in a manner acceptable to county commissioners — who are beholden to the voters. Commissioner Michael Sorrells said Matthews’ behavior has “brought a question about the integrity” of both the tax office and the county. Commissioner Kevin Ensley said something similar, that “I have received a lot of complaints about that office. I’m not Editor going to go into them now, but I’ve received a lot of complaints.” When the county voted on Feb. 20 to let Matthews serve out his term and then begin appointing a tax collector, many weren’t surprised. As speakers came to the podium to discuss whether they were “for” or “against” the resolution to begin appointing a tax

Scott McLeod

e reported last week that Haywood County Tax Collector Mike Matthews may have been showing favoritism to some local Republican leaders who were behind in their taxes. As it turns out, we were likely too narrow in that assessment. It seems Matthews may very well just not be enforcing strong and even-handed collection measures for a lot of people, not just GOP leaders. Matthews’ job performance has been questioned since he won the tax collector election in 2014. He couldn’t get bonded, had no experience in the field, and had his own record of nonpayment of taxes. County officials who depend on those taxes were worried and immediately took steps to try and help Matthews succeed. And taxpayers who pay on time had to be worried that there taxes might have to be raised. It seems many of those initial worries turned out to be wellfounded. An employee complaint that could have led to the county getting sued was the catalyst for an unprecedented investigation into Matthews’ job. The county hired an out-ofcounty lawyer to try and ensure the investigation was conducted fairly.

LETTERS going on for years. This article should be called an editorial and titled: “We don’t like the tax collector and here’s why.” Now there’s an honest headline that’s real news. Ted Carr Bethel

Why I still vote Democrat To the Editor: For the last decade, I have questioned my party allegiance, as well as the allegiance of others to their party. Though I have always voted Democrat, many issues and candidates have tested that loyalty. However, despite these differences, I have found the Democrats to be closer to issues that are most compassionate and, though I am not religious, most Christian. It all comes down to this, doesn’t it? Most of us repeatedly vote for one party, despite the candidates, because that party has come to stand for issues we value. My major issues are: n Money in politics — Though there has always been money in politics, the Supreme Court ruling equating corporations to people unleashed the lobbyists to turn many of our politicians into millionaires. n Social issues — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the best public education possible for all children, along with programs that attempt to eliminate poverty and inequity. n An end to war and the many negatives that enable it. One of those negatives is that many young men and women, largely our enlisted fighting force, enter the military solely because their education has limited their

collector, an interesting narrative was repeated: several spoke of Matthews “working” with people to get taxes paid rather than abiding by the letter of the law and taking measures the state has deemed appropriate. Look, it’s commendable when government can work with people to get caught up on taxes when there are valid reasons; on the other hand, it’s not the county’s — or the taxpayers’ — position to act as a lender to people who rightly can afford to pay their taxes but choose not to. When we examined the tax records of several Democrats and Republicans leaders, we found a preponderance of GOP leaders who were behind. But now I believe we were wrong in saying Matthews was cutting them a break; as it turns out, it’s probably more correct to say that many taxpayers of all political stripes are getting the kid glove treatment from Matthews. It’s the way he does his job, and while that may endear him to late payers, it doesn’t do the county any favors. So I’ll apologize to those whom we singled out last week. We stake our reputation on being fair, and when we miss the mark I’m not afraid to admit it. (Reach Scott McLeod at info@smokymountainnews.com.)

possibilities. So write down three issues that repeatedly make you vote Republican or Democrat; and if you had to argue them, could you defend them, as I must, with actual evidence? We should all look forward to that peaceful discussion. Ruth Ballard Hayesville

Listening can work magic To the Editor: Democrats might well consider that you can’t justify your actions based on the idea that, “we are only doing what the Republicans did.” The Republicans were absolutely wrong in refusing to hold hearings and confirm President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. He was qualified, and no one could point to anything that disqualified him. It appears this is the same for President Trump’s nominee. Attend the hearings, and unless something in his past disqualifies him, confirm him. The fact he is conservative is not a disqualification any more than one’s being a liberal disqualifies him or her. Republicans, on the other hand, might well consider abandoning the philosophy of “might makes right.” Neither your party nor anyone else has a monopoly on good ideas. The best ideas come from gathering facts and seeking other views. An open mind produces better ideas than a closed one, and opposite views can disclose weaknesses in anyone’s ideas. Just because one has the power to do what they want doesn’t make what they do right. Otherwise, we would seek a dictatorship and not democracy. Remember it was a child who stated the obvious, “The Emperor has no clothes,” when everyone else ignored the obvious. Both parties put forth periodic bad ideas. Speak up, act

like you can think, show some courage, and don't hide behind the cloak of the party. Finally, examples of bad ideas from both sides of the aisle are easily illustrated. Our poor and lower class is expanding. That is bad for the country. Many Democratic Party government social programs have not achieved what they set out to accomplish. So don’t just throw more money at them. For Republicans, the poor haven’t chosen their lot. Poor people aren’t lazy, they need assistance — the question becomes what will “assist” (not rescue) them the most. As Lyndon Johnson once said, “You can’t chain a man for 100 years, and then lead him to the starting line of a race expecting him to compete with everyone else.” Every snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty. I need to change the two square feet I occupy, both in thought and action. I need to remember I can make a difference. Steven E. Philo Franklin

We should all rally for the environment To the Editor: The right to clean air and clean water seems to have become a partisan issue in our country over the course of the past few years. Why the weather is a political rallying point I do not know. We sing “This land is your land, this land is my land” expecting it to be so because of what we consider to be our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In Washington, D.C., many bills have been sponsored recently making it hard to keep up. One bill looming on the horizon now con-

S EE LETTERS, PAGE 18

February 22-28, 2017

here has never been a president like Donald Trump. There has never been a campaign like the campaign that Trump waged to win the election. And there has never been a first month of a new administration like the first month of the Trump administration. His detractors — and I am one of them — need to stop saying, “This is not normal.” Of course it is not normal. It was never supposed to be normal. The appeal of Trump was built upon that precipice. The American people were fed up with “normal” as it pertains to American politics, so to use that particular phrase as a rallying cry of the resistance is to miss the point entirely. Let us instead say that, “This is not right,” or better still, “This is not America.” Because it isn’t. I still believe in America. And it is because of that optimism that I believe the colossal error in judgment that brought the Trump era upon us will be corrected in elections to come. Or perhaps much sooner. Eventually, those who supported — or still support — Trump will measure their embarrassment (or rage in having been repeatedly lied to) according to how soon they jumped off the bandwagon and realized that while the political system is indeed in need of serious reform and shaking up, that Donald J. Trump is the last man America needs as a reformer or a shaker. Aided and abetted by years of attacks on

the mainstream media by Fox News and other right-wing websites, Trump now presides over a “post-truth” country in which millions of Americans believe that absolutely no news source outside of their alt-right echo chamber can be trusted. In their twisted view, whatever he says — no matter how outrageous or how lacking in empirical evidence — is as “valid” as what anybody else says, especially if Columnist “anybody else” is in any way related to the mainstream media, with “mainstream” being defined as any news source at all that is not associated with the alt-right lie and hate factory. By now, the sheer scale of Trump’s dishonesty is so vast that it is difficult to track. We barely have time to process and react to one outrageous lie before the next one is tweeted out at 3 a.m. or blurted out in a press conference or rally. Some of his lies are, without question, carefully calculated, including any lie that contributes to the assault on the media, a core strategy that helped get him elected in the first place and one he shares with history’s most notorious authoritarians. There is a reason that George Orwell’s disturbing masterpiece 1984 is sud-

denly back on the bestseller list. Trump may not read, but millions of Americans do, and they are quite understandably alarmed by the parallels in Orwell’s book and the defining characteristics of the Trump presidency. At other times, Trump’s lies seem unpremeditated, even off the cuff, as if he is thinks he’s a guest speaker at a Dean Martin roast, cracking wise like a poor imitation of Don Rickles, just riffing on whatever pops into his corroded little mind. That probably accounts for his insinuation of a terrorist attack in Sweden that never happened, just as the “Bowling Green Massacre” alleged by Kellyanne Conway never happened. For a while, it appeared that nothing could break through the most impressive wall Trump will ever build — the wall between reality and Trump’s alternate reality. But in the past week, we have finally seen some serious cracks in the foundation of that wall. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has taken Trump to task over his ties to Russia — which may well turn out to be his undoing — as well as attack on the press. Possibly even worse for Trump, Fox News anchors Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace both “broke ranks” to challenge Trump on his attacks on the free press. While these developments may not necessarily add up to a crisis for the Trump administration, they may portend what is to come, the gradual realization on the part of those Trump supporters who are not com-

pletely around the bend already, that Trump is not the refreshing political trailblazer they hoped he would be and voted for, but a selfabsorbed, petulant tyrant who cannot seem to complete one declarative sentence that does not contain a lie. Instead of draining the swamp, as he promised he would do over and over during his campaign, he simply restocked it with even bigger and more menacing reptiles, including an education secretary who is an avowed enemy of public education and an EPA head who is a climate change denier and in the tank for the fossil fuel industry. He based much of his campaign on Hillary Clinton’s ties to Wall Street, and then stuffed his cabinet with billionaires from Goldman Sachs. The New York Times reported last week that Trump campaign aides had contact with Russian officials prior to the election, which Trump has repeatedly denied. We may well be a short step away from a fullfledged congressional investigation. If there is any evidence that Trump knew about Russia’s tampering into our election, we will have a scandal that will tower over Watergate, according to Dan Rather. The cracks are getting larger by the day, and will only continue to multiply. No, this is not normal. It is also not right. And it is definitely not America. (Chris Cox is a writer and teacher who lives in rural Haywood County. jchriscox@live.com.)

LETTERS, CONTINUED FROM 17

area who love to hike and hunt with both camera and gun should feel secure that the country itself wants to maintain and protect this haven for both the locals and visitors alike. Our mountains and state are a treasure as are so many other places in our nation. Pamela Haddock Sylva

trees and plants. If you remember the haze or smog atmosphere that often hung over the Western North Carolina mountains, blocking out the long-distance view, then you remember acid rain. I also remember mercury in fish, not being able to swim in or fish in contaminated beaches, lakes and ponds, the Great Lakes being so depleted of oxygen that they were called dead lakes and could not sustain life, pesticides such as DDT that nearly wiped out our American Bald Eagle, and large oil and chemical spills, leaking drums of toxic byproducts around waterways and in landfills, smoke stacks spewing noxious smog into the air and many other problems caused by an unregulated system with no oversight. Therefore, I was very concerned over President Trumps gutting the EPA with an executive order, blocking implementation of grants to states to help with environmental issues such as the coal ash dump by Duke Energy and putting forth an appointee to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, who as attorney general of Oklahoma, is in several lawsuits against the EPA in his state and has proposed to do away with the agency. We have made such progress in following EPA’s standards that we have forgotten, or maybe you have never experienced, what it was like before. Let’s all reflect on what we may be giving up without the environmental protections we now enjoy before we return

to the “blighted landscape” that we are still struggling to overcome. PJ Coulter Waynesville

Smoky Mountain News

cerning our environment is the plan to dismantle the EPA. Others that have been signed allow coal debris to once again be dumped in our waterways along with abolishing regulations concerning the release of methane gas (a greenhouse gas) into our air. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-Asheville, just voted yea on a bill that “would put the oversight of public lands into the hands of the state,” which may sound pretty good at first glance. However, concerns over fracking, the wildfires and the destruction caused by hurricanes to our state might make us want to slow down and think about that. Public outcry over the recent proposal by the government to sell off 3.3 million acres of public land stopped it in its tracks. We can make a difference. The air quality in our mountains has suffered in years past because of winds that bring in air from other states. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park straddles the border between us and Tennessee. If we as a state adhere to standards we set but our neighbors set their standards lower, what happens when the prevailing winds bring their pollution to us. Do we build a wall? You would think Americans — given their history — would find it to be their patriotic duty to protect and maintain this land that our forefathers fought so hard to 18 make habitable. Those who grew up in this

Chris Cox

opinion

The cracks are beginning to deepen

Remember the 1970s before gutting EPA To the Editor: We have made much progress in our long-term protections of air, water and the environment since President Richard Nixon signed the Environmental Protection Agency into law in 1970. I was a young adult in the 1970s. One of the big problems then was the depletion of the ozone layer. This layer, above the earth’s atmosphere, was being thinned by chemicals, including CFCs used in refrigerators and aerosol cans, including hairspray. Another problem was acid rain, which includes any type of precipitation that forms and contains toxic chemicals, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, and is very toxic to plants and wildlife. I remember there was a dispute over Tennessee acid rain blowing over into the North Carolina mountains and harming our

We deserve the truth from Trump To the Editor: In these days of political bickering, I believe that words we use must be precise in order to convey the true meaning of what is being said. As I have stated before, “alternative facts” do not exist. If the facts cannot be empirically proven, then they are either unfounded rumor or outright lies. Therefore I believe it necessary to find a definition of “trump.” The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language (Claredon Press, Oxford, UK, 1934 edition) has two listings for “ trump.” The first deals with the card game of Whist in which the suit of cards that is “trump” ranks above the other suits in the game. Of course, the “trump” suit changes with each hand of cards and is not permanent. Any particular “trump” suit has only temporary precedence over the others. The second listing for “trump” is defined as the “Trumpet blast, as in the last trumpet heralding the end of the world.” This comes from the old French word trompe, meaning a trumpet or horn. This

one fits a little better in that it seems to describe how President Trump likes to blow his own horn. I believe that the next listing on the page is actually more apropos to this discussion though. The word is “trumpery.” The word is defined as “worthless finery, unsound reasoning, things of no real value, tawdry and worthless, fallacious.” This comes from the old French word tromperie, which means deceit. We, the American public, are obviously being told untruths by our current president, though he and his supporters refer to these as “alternative facts.” As stated above, I do not believe that “alternative facts” exist. They are either misconceptions or falsehoods. In any case the “trumpery” that we are getting from this administration meets the definition of “… unsound reasoning, things of no real value, tawdry and worthless…” and, above all, “fallacious.” We deserve the facts. We deserve the truth. Luther Jones Sylva

We were the original immigrants To the Editor: It is interesting that the U.S. is so outraged over Mexican illegal immigration

LETTERS when Mexico was actually first to bear the brunt of illegal immigration on this border. If you are familiar with history you may remember Sam Houston and his followers “immigrating” to Texas, Mexican land at that time. Mexico, unable to curb this unwanted occupation, established a law making it illegal. Ignoring the law, Sam Houston and his allies persisted and began the campaign to annex Mexico to the U.S. Mexico, overwhelmed and frustrated by these actions, eventually agreed to annexation. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo established the new U.S. and Mexico border. When marking boundaries, the U.S. took advantage of Mexico and moved boundaries to positions more favorable to the U.S. Annexation put the rights of now former Mexican citizens and their lands into question. We promised to deal fairly and honor their property rights, if documents proving they really owned the land were produced. Sometimes deeds did not exist because the land had been family owned for many generations. The U.S. appropriated much of this property. Ironic isn’t it? More is to be learned if we choose to examine this subject more carefully. Judy Stockinger Franklin

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

828-202-8143

CleanSweepFireplace.com

February 22-28, 2017

The 3rd Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon follows nearly the exact same course as previous years, begining on Main Street in beautiful downtown Waynesville and winding through neighborhoods & scenic farmlands to ﬁnish in Frog Level, a revitalized railroad district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Grills, Fire Pits, & Outdoor Living Design and Installation

New this year is the 4-Miler, which starts and ﬁnishes at the same place as the Half Marathon.

Smoky Mountain News 19

tasteTHEmountains SPONSORED BY SIGMA XI (WCU CHAPTER)

FEATURING DR. CHRIS COOPER FEB 22ND 6:00 PM

Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs

“Different Species, Similar Methods: The Emerging Nexus between the Natural and Social Sciences.”

828.586.3555

Located in Beautiful Downtown Sylva, NC

www.MadBatterFoodFilm.com

Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza.

February 22-28, 2017

Dine-In ~ Take Out ~ Delivery

An Authentic Italian Pizzeria & Restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Just to serve you! Featuring: Calzones · Stromboli Subs · Pasta and More NOW OPEN SUNDAYS NOON to 8 P.M. Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

243 Paragon Parkway | Clyde

Smoky Mountain News

828-476-5058

Taste the Mountains is an ever-evolving paid section of places to dine in Western North Carolina. If you would like to be included in the listing please contact our advertising department at 828.452.4251 APPLE ANDY'S RESTAURANT 3483 Soco Road, Maggie Valley located in Market Square. 828.944.0626. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Wednesday and Thursday. Serving the freshest homemade sandwiches, wraps, and entrees such as country fried steak and grilled flounder. Full salad bar and made from scratch sides like potato salad, pinto beans and macaroni and cheese. www.appleandys.com BLOSSOM ON MAIN 128 N. Main Street, Waynesville. 828.454.5400. Open for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday. Mild, medium, to hot and spicy, our food is cooked to your like-able temperature. Forget the myth that all Thai food is spicy. Traditional Thai food is known to be quite healthy, making use of natural and fresh ingredients, paired with lots of spices, herbs, and vegetables. Vegetarians and health conscious individuals will not be disappointed as fresh vegetables and tofu are available in most of our menu as well as wines and saki chosen to compliment the unique flavors of Thai cuisine. BLUE ROOSTER SOUTHERN GRILL 207 Paragon Parkway, Clyde, Lakeside Plaza at the old Wal-Mart. 828.456.1997. Open Monday through Friday. Friendly and fun family atmosphere. Local, handmade Southern cuisine. Fresh-cut salads; slow-simmered soups; flame grilled burgers and steaks, and homemade signature desserts. Blue-plates and local fresh vegetables daily. Brown bagging is permitted. Private parties, catering, and take-out available. Call-ahead seating available. BOURBON BARREL BEEF & ALE 454 Hazelwood Ave., Waynesville, 828.452.9191. Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Monday through Saturday. Dinner 5 to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Closed on Sunday. We specialize in hand-cut, all natural steaks from local farms, incredible

burgers, and other classic american comfort foods that are made using only the finest local and sustainable ingredients available.

Magazine. Set in a distinguished atmosphere with an exceptional menu. Extensive selection of wine and beer. Reservations honored.

BREAKING BREAD CAFÉ 6147 Hwy 276 S. Bethel (at the Mobil Gas Station) 828.648.3838 Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Chef owned and operated. Our salads are made in house using local seasonal vegetables. Fresh roasted ham, turkey and roast beef used in our hoagies. We hand make our own eggplant and chicken parmesan, pork meatballs and hamburgers. We use 1st quality fresh not preprepared products to make sure you get the best food for a reasonable price. We make vegetarian, gluten free and sugar free items. Call or go to Facebook (Breaking Bread Café NC) to find out what our specials are.

CHURCH STREET DEPOT 34 Church Street, downtown Waynesville. 828.246.6505. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Mouthwatering all beef burgers and dogs, hand-dipped, hand-spun real ice cream shakes and floats, fresh handcut fries. Locally sourced beef. Indoor and outdoor dining. facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot, twitter.com/ChurchStDepot.

BRYSON CITY CORK & BEAN A MOUNTAIN SOCIAL HOUSE 16 Everett St.,Bryson City. 828.488.1934. Open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday brunch 9 a.m. to 3p.m., Full Menu 3 to 9 p.m. Serving fresh and delicious weekday morning lite fare, lunch, dinner, and brunch. Freshly prepared menu offerings range from house-made soups & salads, lite fare & tapas, crepes, specialty sandwiches and burgers. Be sure not to miss the bold flavors and creative combinations that make up the daily Chef Supper Specials starting at 5pm every day. Followed by a tempting selection of desserts prepared daily by our chefs and other local bakers. Enjoy craft beers on tap, as well as our full bar and eclectic wine list. CATALOOCHEE RANCH 119 Ranch Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1401. It’s winter, but we still serve three meals a day on Friday and Saturday. Join us for Breakfast from 8 to 9:30 a.m.; Lunch from 12 to 2 p.m.; and Dinner buffet from 6 to 7:30 p.m., with entrees that include pot roast, Virginia ham and herbbaked chicken, complemented by seasonal vegetables, homemade breads, jellies and desserts. We also offer a fine selection of wine and beer. And a roaring fire in the fireplace. So come enjoy mile-high mountaintop dining with a spectacular view. Reservations are required. CHEF’S TABLE 30 Church St., Waynesville. 828.452.6210. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday dinner starting at 5 p.m. “Best of” Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator

CITY LIGHTS CAFE Spring Street in downtown Sylva. 828.587.2233. Open Monday-Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tasty, healthy and quick. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, espresso, beer and wine. Come taste the savory and sweet crepes, grilled paninis, fresh, organic salads, soups and more. Outside patio seating. Free Wi-Fi, pet-friendly. Live music and lots of events. Check the web calendar at citylightscafe.com. THE CLASSIC WINESELLER 20 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.452.6000. Underground retail wine and craft beer shop, restaurant, and intimate live music venue. Kitchen opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday serving freshly prepared small plates, tapas, charcuterie, desserts. Enjoy live music every Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. www.classicwineseller.com. Also on facebook and twitter. COUNTRY VITTLES: FAMILY STYLE RESTAURANT 3589 Soco Rd, Maggie Valley. 828.926.1820 Winter hours: Wednesday through Sunday 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Family Style at Country Vittles is not a buffet. Instead our waitresses will bring your food piping hot from the kitchen right to your table and as many refills as you want. So if you have a big appetite, but sure to ask your waitress about our family style service. FERRARA PIZZA & PASTA 243 Paragon Parkway, Clyde. 828.476.5058. Open Monday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Real New Yorkers. Real Italians. Real Pizza. A full service authentic Italian pizzeria and restaurant from New York to the Blue Ridge. Dine in, take out, and delivery. Check out our daily lunch specials plus customer appreciation nights on Monday and Tuesday 5 to 9 p.m. with large cheese pizzas for $9.95.

Country Vittles RESTAURANT

& GIFT SHOP

Featuring a Full Menu with Daily Specials PRIVATE DINING ROOM AVAILABLE FOR EVENTS Monday-Sunday 7:00-2:00pm Closed Tuesday

3589 SOCO RD. MAGGIE VALLEY 20

828.926.1820

tasteTHEmountains FRANKIE’S ITALIAN TRATTORIA 1037 Soco Rd. Maggie Valley. 828.926.6216 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Father and son team Frank and Louis Perrone cook up dinners steeped in Italian tradition. With recipies passed down from generations gone by, the Perrones have brought a bit of Italy to Maggie Valley. frankiestrattoria.com FROGS LEAP PUBLIC HOUSE 44 Church St., Downtown Waynesville 828.456.1930 Serving lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; Dinner 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday. Frogs Leap is a farm to table restaurant focused on local, sustainable, natural and organic products prepared in modern regional dishes. Seasonal menu focuses on Southern comfort foods with upscale flavors. www.frogsleappublichouse.com. J. ARTHUR’S RESTAURANT AT MAGGIE VALLEY U.S. 19 in Maggie Valley. 828.926.1817. Open nightly for dinner at 4 p.m.; Friday through Sunday 12 to 4 p.m. for lunch. Daily luncheon special at $6.99. World-famous prime rib, steaks, fresh seafood, gorgonzola cheese and salads. All ABC permits and open year-round. Children always welcome. Take-out menu. Excellent service and hospitality. Reservations appreciated.

JUKEBOX JUNCTION U.S. 276 and N.C. 110 intersection, Bethel. 828.648.4193. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Serving breakfast, lunch, nd dinner. The restaurant has a 1950s & 60s theme decorated with memorabilia from that era.

MAGGIE VALLEY CLUB 1819 Country Club Dr., Maggie Valley. 828.926.1616. maggievalleyclub.com/dine. Open seasonally for lunch and dinner. Fine and casual fireside dining in welcoming atmosphere. Full bar. Reservations accepted. MOUNTAIN PERKS ESPRESSO BAR & CAFÉ 9 Depot St., Bryson City. 828.488.9561. Open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. With music at the Depot. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Life is too short for bad coffee. We feature wonder-

PASQUALE’S 1863 South Main Street, Waynesville. Off exit 98, 828.454.5002. Open for lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday. Classic Italian dishes, exceptional steaks and seafood (available in full and lighter sizes), thin crust pizza, homemade soups, salads hand tossed at your table. Fine wine and beer selection. Casual atmosphere, dine indoors, outside on the patio or at the bar. Reservations appreciated. PATIO BISTRO 30 Church Street, Waynesville. 828.454.0070. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Breakfast bagels and sandwiches, gourmet coffee, deli sandwiches for lunch with homemade soups, quiches, and desserts. Wide selection of wine and beer. Outdoor and indoor dining. RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT AND BAR Maggie Valley Inn and Conference Center 70 Soco Road, Maggie Valley 828.926.0201 Home of the Maggie Valley Pizzeria. We deliver after 4 p.m. daily to all of Maggie Valley, J-Creek area, and Lake Junaluska. Monday through Wednesday: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. country buffet and salad bar from 5 to 9 p.m. $11.95 with Steve Whiddon on piano. Friday and Saturday: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 to 8 p.m. 11:30 to 3 p.m. family style, fried chicken, ham, fried fish, salad bar, along with all the fixings, $11.95. Check out our events and menu at rendezvousmaggievalley.com SAGEBRUSH STEAKHOUSE 1941 Champion Drive, Canton 828.646.3750 895 Russ Ave., Waynesville 828.452.5822. Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Carry out available. Sagebrush features hand carved steaks, chicken and award winning BBQ ribs. We have fresh salads, seasonal vegetables and scrumptious deserts. Extensive selection of local craft beers and a full bar. Catering special events is one of our specialties. SALTY DOG'S SEAFOOD & GRILL 3567 Soco Road, Maggie Valley. 828.926.9105. Open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Full service bar and restaurant located in the center of Maggie Valley. Featuring daily $6 lunch specials and daily dinner specials such as $1 Taco Tuesdays and 45¢ Wednesday Wings. Backyard Bar is open every weekend thru October. Join us for every NFL game. SMOKEY SHADOWS LODGE 323 Smoky Shadows Lane, Maggie Valley 828.926.0001. Check Facebook page for hours, which vary. Call early when serving

SMOKY MOUNTAIN SUB SHOP 29 Miller Street Waynesville 828.456.3400. Open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. A Waynesville tradition, the Smoky Mountain Sub Shop has been serving great food for over 20 years. Come in and enjoy the relaxed, casual atmosphere. Sub breads are baked fresh every morning in Waynesville. Using only the freshest ingredients in homemade soups, salads and sandwiches. Come in and see for yourself why Smoky Mountain Sub Shop was voted # 1 in Haywood County. Locally owned and operated. SPEEDY’S PIZZA 285 Main Street, Sylva. 828.586.3800. Open seven days a week. Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 3 p.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Family-owned for 30 years. Serving hand-tossed pizza made to order, pasta, subs, gourmet salads, calzones and seafood. Also serving excellent prime rib on Thursdays. Dine in or take out available. Located across from the Fire Station. TAP ROOM BAR & GRILL 176 Country Club Drive, Waynesville. 828.456.3551. Open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tucked away inside Waynesville Inn, the Tap Room Bar & Grill has an approachable menu designed around locally sourced, sustainable, farm-to-table ingredients. Full bar and wine cellar. www.thewaynesvilleinn.com. TRAILHEAD CAFE & BAKERY 18 N Main Street, Waynesville. 828.452.3881 Open 7 days a week MondaySaturday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. You will find a delicious selection of pastries & donuts, breakfast & lunch along with a fresh coffee & barista selection. Happy Trails! VITO’S PIZZA 607 Highlands Rd., Franklin. 828.369.9890. Established here in in 1998. Come to Franklin and enjoy our laid back place, a place you can sit back, relax and enjoy our 62” HDTV. Our Pizza dough, sauce, meatballs, and sausage are all made from scratch by Vito. The recipes have been in the family for 50 years (don't ask for the recipes cuz’ you won't get it!) Each Pizza is hand tossed and made with TLC. You're welcome to watch your pizza being created. WAYNESVILLE PIZZA COMPANY 32 Felmet Street, Waynesville. 828.246.0927. Open Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; Sunday noon to 9 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Opened in May 2016, The Waynesville Pizza Company has earned a reputation for having the best hand-tossed pizza in the area. Featuring a custom bar with more than 20 beers and a rustic, family friendly dining room. Menu includes salads, burgers, wraps, hot and cold sandwiches, gourmet pizza, homemade desserts, and a loaded salad bar. The Cuban sandwich is considered by most to be the best in town.

Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Saturday 12 p.m.-10 p.m.

Closed Tues.

Sun. 12-9 p.m.

Sandwiches • Burgers • Wraps 32 Felmet Street (828) 246-0927

Open for Breakfast MON.-SAT. 8 A.M. 3 E JACKSON ST. • SYLVA, NC

www.CityLightsCafe.com

WAYNESVILLE’S BEST BURGERS

Smoky Mountain News

MAD BATTER FOOD & FILM 617 W. Main Street Downtown Sylva. 828.586.3555. Open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Handtossed pizza, steak sandwiches, wraps, salads and desserts. All made from scratch. Beer and wine. Free movies with showtimes at 6:30 and 9 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. Visit madbatterfoodandfilm.com for this week’s shows.

PAPERTOWN GRILL 153 Main St., Canton. 828.648.1455 Open 7 days a week 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Serving the local community with great, scratch-made country cooking. Breakfast is served all day. Daily specials including Monday meatloaf, chicken and dumplings on Thursdays and Friday fish.

because restaurant fills up fast. Remember when families joined each other at the table for a delicious homemade meal and shared stories about their day? That time is now at Smokey Shadows. The menus are customizable for your special event. Group of eight or more can schedule their own dinner.

February 22-28, 2017

JOEY'S PANCAKE HOUSE 4309 Soco Rd Maggie Valley. 828.926.0212. Winter hours: 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Joey’s is a family style restaurant that has been serving breakfast to the locals and visitors of Western North Carolina since 1966. Featuring a large variety of tempting pancakes, golden waffles, country style cured ham and seasonal specials spiked with flavor, Joey's is sure to please all appetites. Join us for what has become a tradition in these parts, breakfast at Joey’s.

ful breakfast and lunch selections. Bagels, wraps, soups, sandwiches, salads and quiche with a variety of specialty coffees, teas and smoothies. Various desserts.

MON.-SAT. 11 A.M.-8 P.M.

34 CHURCH ST. WAYNESVILLE 828.246.6505 Mtwitter.com/ChurchStDepot C facebook.com/ChurchStreetDepot

A&E

Smoky Mountain News

Lyle Baskin, the scenic artist for Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, puts the final touches on a sweeping backdrop for this summer's production of Fiddler on the Roof. John Highsmith photo

“We never would have been able to justify the money we spend on the sets if I hadn’t known we were going to be able to make some of our money back,” Lloyd said. When Lloyd really wants to go big, he commissions Baskin to paint a show curtain. It’s not a backdrop actors perform under. Instead, it’s an artistically embellished curtain across the front of the stage rather than the typical black panels. “It is a little self-indulgent, but when the audience walks in and there’s a show curtain for Titanic or Night Music it makes the whole theater look magical and you know you are in for something special,” Lloyd said.

FINDING AN AUDIENCE

Behind the scenes HART’s traveling backdrops wow theaters far and wide

BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER aywood Arts Regional Theatre is known for is top-rate shows and high-caliber acting not typical of community theaters. But HART has a well-kept secret that pulls its stage action together, a secret that’s hidden in plain sight of audiences, always noticed but rarely noted: its stunning backdrops. They do a lot of heavy lifting in a show. They set the scene and tone. They inspire actors to get into character. A well-done backdrop transports the audience to another time and place, suspending their sense of reality. After all, that’s a critical aspect of the theater experience. But HART’s jaw-dropping backdrops are also a revenue maker, a rarity for a community

theater of its size. The robust backdrop rental program brings in $15,000 a year. “It allows us to be more elaborate with our sets than we might normally be,” said HART Executive Director Steve Lloyd. “The more money you’ve got, the better the shows can be.” Before HART was in the backdrop business for itself, Lloyd was on the other side of the table, trolling catalogs of set rentals in pre-internet days. But HART soon brought its scene design in-house and turned it into a thriving side business, thanks to a boot-strap, can-do attitude. “As the years have gone by, we now have this huge collection and we add to it all the time,” Lloyd said. Any given month, HART’s backdrops are hanging on theater stages all over the country. Lloyd picked up a clipboard and rifled through a thick stack of backdrop rental contracts from the past few months. “Long Beach, California … Stove Borough, Pennsylvania … Chagrin Falls, Ohio … Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin … Castle Rock, Colorado,” Lloyd read from the pages.

Lloyd has been at it long enough — more than a quarter century as HART’s director — that he has a good idea what backdrops will be winners in the rental department. The most obvious factor: how popular the play is. HART put on the “Sound of Music” 15 years ago, and is still renting the backdrop. “It rents all the time. We just rented it,” Lloyd said. The most rented of all-time was the “King and I.” “It is the most produced and our backdrops were spectacular,” Lloyd said. Sadly, HART just retired the backdrops from the “King and I” because they’d been folded and refolded so many times they wore out. To showcase the collection, Lloyd manages an online inventory of all HART’s backdrops. The dedicated web page features images, descriptions and prices of 50 some backdrops. The job of shipping the backdrops all over creation falls to HART’s facility manager and shop foreman, Tom Dewees. The duties of a backdrop wrangler take some muscle. The giant canvases weigh 50 to 90 pounds, the largest clocking in at 16 feet wide by 40 feet long. Before Baskin can paint the drops, Dewees has to stretch and hang the canvas using a system of grommets, metal pipes, staples and

“Kiss Me Kate” backdrops have really been putting on the mileage lately. “At the end of the rental in Overland Park, Kansas, it had to be direct-shipped to Fort Worth, Texas. It didn’t have time to come back here first,” Lloyd said. “If you do ‘Kiss Me Kate,’ you have to have this drop. You have to have it.” “It allows us to be more elaborate The workhorse behind HART’s set magic is Lyle Baskin, a with our sets than we might Waynesville resident by way of normally be The more money Miami. A lifelong scenic artist, Baskin has toiled behind the curyou’ve got, the better the shows tains of HART for a decade now. He’s can be.” never been in a show, yet he’s always present, creating the ambiance and — Steve Lloyd, HART executive director sense of place that bring the production to life. Baskin is paid on contract by the job, and the wooden frames. Following production, Dewees pay is a lot lower than you’d imagine. A simple takes the beasts off their frames, folds them, backdrop is only $500, while a large elaborate tags them and stores them. HART doesn’t have a corner on the backone can run $1,000. But consider that HART’s big summer drop rental market. Scenic studios that exist blockbusters rack up two to five backdrops a solely to create and lease backdrops have vast show — “Kiss Me Kate” and “Gypsy” topped inventories compared to HART. But most of out at six drops. Plus there’s the cost of the those backdrops are designed for professional, giant canvas itself, around $400. Lloyd has big-city theaters and don’t fit on the smaller spent up to $7,000 on sets for some of HART’s stages of community theaters and high schools. Plus, they cost more. bigger productions.

The backdrop for HART¹s Christmas Carol, shown here with HART director Steve Lloyd as Scrooge, is returning to the stage this year and is a favorite of backdrop artist Lyle Baskin. “It’s like a lithograph from the historic area,” he said.

“You always have to do a lot of different things with your skills.” — Lyle Baskin

John Highsmith photo

When it comes to HART’s price point, nothing beats its quality. In keeping with its community-first mantra, HART rents its backdrops to local schools and organizations at half price. A patriotic backdrop from “Ragtime” is used for the Junaluska Singers’ July Fourth Concert at Stuart Auditorium every year. And a backdrop from “Hello, Dolly!” makes annual appearances at the Tuscola High School show choir’s Country Western Show. When Lloyd’s lucky, he can get doubleduty from a backdrop. The farm scene from the musical “Gypsy” will be used for f“Charlotte’s Web” being performed by the Kids at HART youth program in late March. And an eerie silhouette of trees at night from “Winter’s Tale” will be used for a graveyard scene in “Fiddler on the Roof ” this summer.

“We fly that drop in and put out some tombstones and you’ve got that scene,” Lloyd said. Many community theaters HART’s size don’t have the luxury of putting on shows with multiple drops, or the flexibility to stash drops out of sight. HART can because it has a fly loft, that extra space above the stage that backdrops are hoisted into — a space Lloyd made a case for during the architectural planning for the theater in the mid-1990s. “To be able to hang multiple backdrops and raise and lower them, you have to have twice the height in the loft,” Lloyd said. “We can raise everything up out of the way 30 minutes after ‘Hello, Dolly!’ for the Swannanoa Chamber Music concert. If not for the fly loft, we couldn’t accommodate those rapid changes. It is a valuable resource, but a lot of theaters don’t have it.”

2. Find your Zen. Staying straight and level is a tough on such a grand scale. Baskin has to keep his roofs from sloping, his tree trunks from leaning, his doorways from being lopsided. “After so many years you can see level without using a level and you can measure things without measuring them,” he said. Vertical lines are easiest. “You paint the line down the center of your own gravity so you can feel where the vertical is.” Horizontal lines are tougher. “Walk along the canvas holding the brush really steady in relation to your body.”

3. Look at the world from different angles. Lyle Baskin has a small workshop backstage at HART, where the vision of his backdrops find their origin. John Highsmith photo

Six life lessons from a backdrop artist The Smoky Mountain News asked Lyle Baskin, the scenic artist for Haywood Regional Arts Theatre, to share the secrets of his stage magic. We discovered a few life lessons along the way that we should all take to HART.

1. Remember who’s boss. Baskin isn’t in it for the glory. While Baskin works in collaboration with HART Executive Director Steve Lloyd to come up with each backdrop design, he defers to Lloyd as the chief visionary. “He decides what he wants and I try to make it happen. I am not here to impose my vision on the show. I am here to create an environment. Find out what they want and when they need it and make it pretty.”

“Perspective is complicated,” Baskin said. Baskin routinely takes a time out from his work and steps back to see the whole canvas, not just the corner he’s focused on.

4. Stay in shape. “The most challenging part is going up and down ladders. You have to keep going up and down the ladder and doing it really fast because you don’t want the paint to dry,” Baskin said.

5. Don’t be afraid to get messy. “I ruin pants fast. I’m supposed to change when I get here, but as soon as I get in here, I forget and start checking paint and testing color and before I know it, I get paint on my street clothes. My shoes don’t last very long either. I only have one pair of shoes right now that don’t have paint on them,” Baskin said.

Smoky Mountain News

to work.” HART’s director Steve Lloyd is an impeccable planner. He’s already mulling the lineup for next year’s shows, and will nail it down by August — far sooner than most theaters in the region. Over the next few months, he’ll let a few names slip to Baskin. “So, I was thinking … ” Lloyd might mention in passing. But no luck. Baskin has the poker face of an arms treaty diplomat and knows when to use it. Baskin pled the fifth when asked what scenery makes him cringe. If there’s a backdrop he loathes or a show he detests, he wouldn’t fess up. “I don’t dread any drops. They are all just a huge amount of work,” Baskin said. Nothing daunts Baskin anymore. Need a desert sunset? No problem. Want onion domes? Bring it on. Baskin did have one confession, however. “I am a messy painter,” he said. “I have seen painters who don’t get a drop anywhere but on the canvas. I can’t do that.” Baskin was born an artist and gravitated toward set design as a teenager. “I was drawing since I could hold a pencil,” he said. “I tried other types of art but that’s always where I go to.” Baskin can wield more than a paintbrush

February 22-28, 2017

—BY B ECKY JOHNSON STAFF WRITER Lyle Baskin is a man of high places. He’s spent most of his life on a ladder. A scenic artist and backdrop painter, Baskin is up and down ladders all day, reaching and twisting his arms, waving and pumping his brushes, then it’s back down the ladder and up the next one, lugging paint cans the whole way, from one end of the canvas to the other. “You have to sling paint fast and get it up there and keep it wet until you get it right,” he said. The result is pure magic. A mystical forest, an eastern village, Times Square, a royal palace — Baskin can and has done it all in his 40 years as a scenic backdrop painter. After moving to Waynesville 10 years ago, he became the resident scenic artist for Haywood Arts Regional Theatre. HART tried getting him an electric lift once, but it went up and down too slow, so he was right back to the ladder. Baskin’s ladder proficiency is becoming a rarity these days, however. “Most scenic drop artists paint with the drop on the floor and walk all over it while they are painting,” Baskin said. But not Baskin. He’s spent so much of his life on ladders, “now it’s the only way I want

He spent the first half of his career in Miami, where he plied his talents wherever he could. “You always have to do a lot of different things with your skills. There were no fulltime jobs as a scenic artist in the ‘70s and ‘80s so you had to do other things,” Baskin said. He built displays for expos and trade shows, designed and painted billboards, and fashioned sets for TV shows, including “Miami Vice” for a few years. He was a large-

scale graphic designer before there were computers — “I got really good with an Exacto knife,” Baskin said — and worked for a party company building and painting scenery for lavish weddings and festivities. But he always kept one foot in theater, getting whatever backdrop jobs he could, even volunteering if he had to. “I like theater so much I like to be around it,” Baskin said. After Baskin’s kids grew up, he got tired of life in Miami. Baskin had vacationed in the Smokies often, first as a child and later with his own children. When it came time for a life change, he and his wife moved to Waynesville. In 2007, Baskin formed an alliance with HART as the theater’s chief scenic artist. He still travels back to Miami for set jobs in between his work at HART, but he likes the vibe at HART better than many of the professional theaters he’s worked for. There are fewer egos. It’s a small shop, but Lloyd runs a seamless ship. “It is a great place. I like the way Steve pulls it all together. He’s able to keep a lot of things going at the same time,” Baskin said.

arts & entertainment

HART’s scenic artist sets the stage for drama

and pallet. He can saw, nail, cut, hammer, sand, screw, clamp, scroll and glue to build hard sets as well. “I consider that part of the art really. I can create with wood as easily as painting,” said Baskin, who can build a mean set of boulders from chicken wire and canvas.

6. Know when to quit. “You have to stop at some point. That’s a tricky one. You can refine and embellish it until you drop dead, but you have to move on,” Baskin said.

This must be the place BY GARRET K. WOODWARD

I’m a white man, and I know nothing t wasn’t the film that was shocking. It was the mere fact I had previously thought “I was aware,” and yet actually have fallen so short in my pursuits. Sitting in the Grail Moviehouse in downtown Asheville last Monday evening, I watched in awe the new documentary “I Am Not Your Negro,” which takes an unfinished work of the late iconic AfricanAmerican writer James Baldwin and puts it against the deaths of his friends Medger Evers, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., all while mirroring it to where we as a country and a society stand today. When the film ended, I was the first to jump up and walk out of the theater, simply to stop myself from crying, my body from shaking in witness to the horrors and injustices inflicted upon our fellow Americans since the birth of our nation. The injustice of black Americans isn’t something new. It’s actually something we’re aware of each and everyday of our lives. What the film did was provoke me into the thought: “If you’re aware of it

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

everyday, what are you doing to face the issue, and to make real and positive change in an effort to eliminate the struggle?” Way up in the pasty white Irish and French Catholic communities on the Canadian border of my youth, the main “pop culture” exposure we had to African Americans was through hip-hop acts like Tupac, Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G and Lauryn Hill (though we liked the beat and didn’t pay attention to the lyrics), television programs like “Cops” or “Maury” and whatever our parents or older peers told us they saw and heard while working in the local prisons, which were filled with folks “shipped up the river” from New York City and other urban areas. And when I was a teenager, I only really knew and was friends with one black person for most of my existence leading up to college. His name was David and, in essence, he was “more white” than most of us, with his well-kempt appearance, tucked in shirt and million-dollar smile. We became friends through track-and-field, dubbing ourselves “The Dynamic Duo,” seeing as we always ended up being the two fastest guys on those memorable and victorious relay teams (and 800-meter dashes)

was one of the only whites in the entire building, that I started to realize just how much I don’t know about what it means to be black in America. During my eight months there, I found myself in such a realm of connection, of sheer compassion and friendship. Such much so, that I walked away from the school with a deeper sense of self and of purpose when approaching the racial bullshit of the world-at-large. Unless you can physically and emotionally walk in the skin of black man or black woman, you’ll never truly know just what their eyes see, their ears hear, and what strength their hands have when holding down anger and sadness in the face of oppression and injustice. In my travels throughout America, I’ve seen the best and worst of what this country has to offer. I’ve driven through Gary, Indiana, where I saw abandoned building after abandoned building, where the only property that seemed to show any life was, ironically, the nearby funeral home. I’ve walked into a The balcony in front of Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel liquor store on the wrong side of in Memphis, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot the tracks in Savannah, only to and killed in 1968. Garret K. Woodward photo be told — nicely — by an elderly black man, “You better get what you need to get and get out of this neighborhood before it gets any later, son.” I’ve stumbled drunk and unaware into a Popeyes chain restaurant in the Bluegrass legend Rhonda Vincent & The Rage depths of Harlem at midnight, only to order fried chicken will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in through bulletproof glass as the the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts black girl behind the counter Center at Western Carolina University. gave me an inquisitive look as to There will be a stand-up comedy showcase why in the hell I was there in the from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at first place. Currahee Brewing in Franklin. And recently, I hit the road, on an extended road trip, that The Jackson County Public Library will be hosting an event "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" led me into Memphis. In search of what I had heard was the best from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, in the barbecue in the South, I parked Community Room in Sylva. the truck and got out in the DJ Justin Moe will host “Timeline: A Brief slight drizzle of a cloudy late History of African American Music” from 5:15 afternoon. Emerging from the to 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Macon truck, I could smell the lipCounty Public Library in Franklin. smacking barbecue of Central BBQ, only to immediately see The annual “Pancake Day” will be taking the Lorraine Motel on the other place from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, side of the parking lot. I stood Feb. 28, at the First United Methodist Church out there in silence, in the rain, in Waynesville. and looked up at Room 306, the balcony just outside the door where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was out so vividly when placed against the assassinated on April 4, 1968 (the building countless upper middle-class white kids is now the National Civil Rights Museum). from the Long Island, Jersey and Boston I guess what remains, and what I’m trysuburbs. And as much as they were just as smart and curious as everyone else on that ing to say, is that we as a people (all people) campus, the focus was always on their ath- have a long road to go until we find peace and understanding between the races, letic ability, and on what they could do as though we all have the one, most important specimens brought to the institution to someday bring a conference championship thing in common — we’re all human. I hold out hope, for all of us, and I try each home. and everyday to seek justice and progress And it wasn’t until I haphazardly landfor a better tomorrow. Do you? ed a job at an educational center in the Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all. heart of New Haven, Connecticut, where I together during our early high school years. I think of David, more so in recent years when I found out he had committed suicide after years of battling PTSD following his time in the U.S. military overseas during “The War On Terror.” In college — an upscale, private liberal arts school in New England — the majority of the black peers I knew were on the basketball team, these huge men standing

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an organization committed to increasing the knowledge of the Modern Civil Right movement and works to pass on relevant lessons in keeping with the present day struggle for human rights. This program received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Admission for adults is $10. Student admission is free. For more information, contact Rachel Lackey at 828.488.7843 or rlackey@swainmail.org.

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Scott Ainslie & Reggie Harris Sunday, March 5 • 3 p.m. one of the most sought after choral technicians in the Southeast. The concert is free to all (a donation will be collected on behalf of the ETSU Choral Department) and representatives from ETSU recruitment will be in attendance.

The Choral Department from East Tennessee State University will be giving a full departmental concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. The concert will include music by the university's flagship ensemble, the ETSU Chorale who performed in Waynesville at Tuscola High School and FUMC last Spring. Dr. Matthew Potterton leads the choral department at ETSU and is quickly becoming

The 2016-17 First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Series at Western Carolina University will continue with a concert featuring the traditional music ensemble Blue-Eyed Girl on Thursday, March 2, in Cullowhee. The trio’s 7 p.m. performance in the ground-floor auditorium of H.F. Robinson Administration Building will be followed by an 8 p.m. jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate. “Blue-Eyed Girl is a dynamic group of three young women whose roots are deep in traditional music and dance,” said Peter

Scott Ainslie and Reggie Harris team up for an engaging and lasting encounter with music to move the mind, body, and spirit. Just two musicians and friends, mingling black with white, rooted in blues and spirituals, sharing a free-flowing dialogue in music and story, the language of the soul.

Smoky Mountain News

ETSU choral concert

WCU traditional music series

Koch, education associate at WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center and organizer of the music series. “Their high-energy dance numbers, sweet Appalachian vocal arrangements and old-time rhythmic flair draw from the music passed down to them from their families.” Blue-Eyed Girl includes two Black Mountain natives — fiddler Pearl Mueller and bass player Laurel Willoughby — along with Cherokee County native and banjo player Annie Fain Barralon. Sponsored by the Mountain Heritage Center, the First Thursday concerts and jam sessions will continue through spring with programs from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. Lee Knight will be the featured performer on April 6. The events are free and open to the public. Pickers and singers of all ages and experience levels are invited to take part in the jam sessions, which also are open to those who just want to listen. For more information, call the Mountain Heritage Center at 828.227.7129.

February 22-28, 2017

The Swain Arts Center will present Scott Ainslie and Reggie Harris in their program “Black and White and Blues” at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 5, in Bryson City. In this varied program, Ainslie and Harris will tour the music of the American South where European and African musical traditions cross-pollinated to create the powerful musical hybrids that have long dominated American popular music. With a variety of instruments, stories, and song, the duo will explore the Africanization of old-time mountain music and African musical and cultural retentions in the blues, gospel, and work songs of our African American communities. • Ainslie is an educator, storyteller, scholar/historian and musician. He performs and lectures on the African roots and American diversity of the blues. A Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude grad of Washington & Lee and author of the best-selling Robert Johnson/At the Crossroads, he was awarded the 2000 Sam Ragan Fine Arts Award from St. Andrew's Presbyterian College, a 2000 Indie Award from The Independent in Durham and a 2000 Living Heritage Award from the National Slide Guitar Festival. He's received support for his educational work from the National Endowment for the Arts & NC Arts and is a 2001-2002 Public Fellow in arts education at UNC Chapel Hill. • Harris is a musician, storyteller and educator who has been a vibrant force in musical, educational and historical circles for over 35 years. A well-traveled performer, lecturer and cultural ambassador, he has earned wide acclaimed and respect from peers and audiences alike, throughout the U.S, Canada, Europe and around the world.

Located on the campus of Swain High School 1415 Fontana Rd, Bryson City Admission $10 for adults

On the beat WCU welcomes ‘Queen of Bluegrass’

Franklin gets ‘Nitty Gritty’

February 22-28, 2017

The iconic alt-country/bluegrass act Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will celebrate over 50 years of music with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 3, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. The band's successes include a hit single with their cover version of "Mr. Bojangles" by Jerry Jeff Walker and a gold album, “Will the Circle be Unbroken” featuring Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, and Doc Watson. A follow-up album “Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two” was certified gold, won two Grammy Awards, and was named “Album of the Year” at the Country Music Association Awards.

In 2015, the group performed a sold-out 50th anniversary concert at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. They have enjoyed a career filled with accolades including multiple Grammy, Country Music Association, and International Bluegrass Music Association awards and nominations. “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” has been inducted in the U.S. Library of Congress as well as the Grammy Hall of Fame. “Mr. Bojangles” was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Tickets start at $24. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615.

Bluegrass legend Rhonda Vincent & The Rage will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University. Dubbed the “Queen of Bluegrass,” Vincent is a magnetic force on nature, onstage and off. She was named a seven-time (in a row) “Female Vocalist of the Year” by the International Bluegrass Music Association (2000-2006), along with the IBMA “Entertainer of the Year” in 2001. The Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America named her “Entertainer of the Year” from 2002 to 2006. Tickets are $24 for adults/seniors, $20 for WCU faculty/staff and $8 for students/children. They can be purchased online at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or by calling the box office at 828.227.2479.

HARMONS’ DEN BISTRO TO HOST MATT TOWNSEND Americana singer-songwriter and poet Matt Townsend will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Harmons’ Den Bistro at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville. Dinner, wine and beer available for purchase. $5 cover charge. www.harttheatre.org.

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Michael Bolton to play Harrah’s Beloved singer Michael Bolton will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at Harrah’s Cherokee. Bolton, the multiple Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and social activist, who has sold more than 53 million albums and singles worldwide, continues to tour the world every year, all while writing, recording

DJ Justin Moe will host “Timeline: A Brief History of African American Music” from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Moe is presenting this program in conjunction with “Black History Month” to celebrate the influence of African American music in the United States. He'll be using music in his collection to present a timeline of sorts, from field songs to current Hip Hop and much in between. He has a genuine love for the music and plans on having a reference sheet available with resources such as books, documentaries, and music available to check out from libraries throughout North Carolina via the N.C. Cardinal system. The program is free and open to the public. 828.524.3600 or www.fontanalib.org.

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DARREN NICHOLSON BAND AT THE STRAND The Darren Nicholson Band will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 5, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Nicholson is the mandolinist for Balsam Range, winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association award for “Entertainer of the Year” and “Song of the Year.” Tickets are $18. To purchase tickets, visit www.38main.com.

• The Canton Armory will host “Winter Pickin’ in the Armory” at 7 p.m. every first and third Friday of the month. Mountain music, vintage country, clogging and dancing. Doors open at 6 p.m. Free. www.cantonnc.com.

ALSO:

• Currahee Brewing (Franklin) will host Limited Distance (bluegrass/gospel) at 7:30 p.m. March 4. www.curraheebrew.com.

• Derailed Bar & Lounge (Bryson City) will have music at 7 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.488.8898.

• Innovation Brewing (Sylva) will have an Open Mic night Feb. 22 and March 1, and a jazz night with the Kittle/Collings Duo Feb. 23 and March 2. All events are free and begin at 8 p.m. www.innovation-brewing.com.

• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Troy Underwood (singer-songwriter) Feb. 24, Tea 4 Three (rock/blues) Feb. 25 and The Colby Deitz Band (Americana/rock) March 4. All shows are free and begin at 8 p.m. 828.349.2337 or www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.

• No Name Sports Pub (Sylva) will host Fumblebuckers (bluegrass) Feb. 24 and PMA

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(rock/reggae) Feb. 25. All shows are free and begin at 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. www.nonamesportspub.com. • Satulah Mountain Brewing (Highlands) will host “Hoppy Hour” and an open mic with Jimandi at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays, “Funky Friday” with Bud Davis at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Isaish Breedlove (Americana) at 7 p.m. on Saturdays. 828.482.9794 or www.satulahmountainbrewing.com. • Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host line dancing every Friday at 7 p.m. and contra dancing every other Friday at 8 p.m. Conversation Theory (bluegrass) will play at 8 p.m. Feb. 25. 828.586.6440. • The Strand at 38 Main (Waynesville) will host an “Open Mic” night from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. All are welcome. 828.283.0079 or www.38main.com.

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• The Ugly Dog Pub (Highlands) will host a weekly Appalachian music night from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays with Nitrograss. 828.526.8364 or www.theuglydogpub.com. • The Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will Sugar Lime Blue Feb. 24 and A.P.E. (rock/acoustic) Feb. 25. All shows begin at 9 p.m. • Western Carolina University (Cullowhee) will host Hailey Klinkhammer at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at UC Illusions. There will be a Community Service Choir Concert 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24, a Trumpet Studio Recital 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 and Austin Seybert (trombone) 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Recital Hall of the Coulter Building. There will be a Musical Theatre Senior Recital at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Niggli Theatre. The Mountain Winds concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Bardo Arts Center. www.wcu.edu.

Smoky Mountain News

• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Ed Kelley & Steve Goldman (singer-songwriter) 7 p.m. Feb. 24 and Darren Nicholson & Caleb Burress (Americana/bluegrass) 7 p.m. March 3. All shows are free. www.froglevelbrewing.com.

Visit cwhemp.com for more info.

February 22-28, 2017

• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Kevin Lorenz (singer-songwriter) Feb. 24, Joe Cruz (piano/pop) Feb. 25 and March 4, and Dulci Ellenberger (singer-songwriter) March 3. All events begin at 7 p.m. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com.

Today she is a nine year old who is thriving and enjoying life. The Stanley brothers assure consumers that the oil maintains a 30:1 ratio of CBD to THC. THC is the psychoactive compound that produces the “high” effect in marijuana. Thanks to Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte can now live life like a normal child. She is able to feed herself and sleep through the night. Her autistic symptoms have virtually disappeared. As such, her mind is clear, and her attention is focused. Her brain is recovering, and she is happy.

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

arts & entertainment

On the street

Mountain Heritage Center exhibit on African-American community, music Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center, in partnership with One Dozen Who Care, will host a display on the cultural history and musical traditions of the region’s African-American community that will later be presented in neighboring towns as a traveling exhibit. “When All God’s Children Get Together” is currently open in the center’s exhibit space on the second floor of Hunter Library. Curated by Ann Miller Woodford, an author and founder of the community development organization One Dozen Who Care, the exhibit looks at the role of church, spiritual music and hymns in the African-American population in Western North Carolina. The exhibit is based on Woodford’s book of the same name, which examines musical traditions of AfricanAmericans as practiced at home, work, churches and schools. The Andrews native has conducted extensive research, historical documentation and WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center will host the interviews on African-American histoexhibit ‘When All God’s Children Get Together,’ celry, life and traditions in the mountains. ebrating the cultural and musical traditions of the In three towns — Sylva, Murphy region’s African-American community, as seen in and Waynesville — the traveling exhibit this 1915 photo of William Bowens (left), an will coincide with an evening weekend Andrews businessman, and William Cleveland program of traditional music by gospel ‘Cleve’ Miller (right), a veteran of World War I and groups, community singing and dinners on the ground. The first event grandfather of the curator. Donated photo occurred in Sylva on Feb. 19. Andrew Denson, associate professor of history. Arrangements for the Murphy and The project is supported by funding Waynesville events, as well as other venues from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, throughout 2017, are currently being schedthe North Carolina Humanities Council and uled by Woodford and center staff. the Cherokee County Arts Council. February is Black History Month, with The Mountain Heritage Center gallery is WCU holding numerous events and special open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through activities. Development of the “When All Friday. For more information, call the museGod’s Children Get Together” exhibit was um at 828.227.7129. assisted by WCU public history students and • The Balsam Mountain Inn will host a “Valentine’s Package” through Feb. 28. Add a candlelit dinner for two, fresh flowers, champagne, souvenir flutes and freshly baked cookies for an additional $125 to the room rate. To reserve, 800.224.9498. • A free wine tasting will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. Feb. 25 and March 4 at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. There will also be a Spanish wine dinner with Chef Jackie Blevins at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 ($70 per person, three courses and three wines) and a “pop-in” small plate and wine evening from 5 to 8 p.m. Feb. 24. The “Best Wines You’ve Never Heard Of” will be at 7 p.m. March 2 ($20, which includes more than five wines, with a bread and cheese pairing).

ALSO:

www.waynesvillewine.com or 828.452.0120. • A wine tasting will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Feb. 25 and March 4 at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 828.586.6300. • The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host a wine tasting on Wednesdays and a craft beer tasting on Thursdays. Both events run from 4 to 8 p.m. There will also be tapas from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. www.classicwineseller.com. • Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com.

On the street

The Jackson County Public Library will be hosting an event “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, in the Community Room in Sylva. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” celebrates Black History Month in Jackson County and serves as a tribute to the life and legacy of Victoria Casey McDonald. The event will include musical guests, a Story Circle of shared memories featured friends, family and former students, moderated by Marie T. Cochran. An exhibition by Atlanta-based photographer, Chris Aluka Berry (with commentary by Cochran) will also be displayed in the Rotunda Gallery of the library February through March. Cochran is a former WCU faculty member and founder of the Affrilachian Artist Project. Cochran and Berry are collaborators on a regional documentary initiative on African Americans in the Appalachian region and recipients of a grant from the “We Shall Overcome Fund” under the auspices of the Highlander Center for Research and Education.

The 11th annual Outhouse Race was held on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Sapphire Valley Ski Area. Over a dozen outhouses took part in this crazy, wild and wacky elimination race. The event raises money for local charities and nonprofits. For more information on next year’s race, call 828.743.2251.

Guides needed for Folkmoot There is an open call for guides for the 2017 Folkmoot International Dance & Music

Festival, which is based out of Waynesville from July 20-30. Though the work is demanding, the rewards of being a Folkmoot Festival guide are meaningful and memorable. A once-in-alifetime personal growth and cultural exchange experience awaits for up to 20 individuals, sought by Folkmoot USA to provide support for the 34th annual festival. Guides are ambassadors to visiting international cultural performance groups. Guides also serve as emcees, facilitators and translators. Additionally, they support seamless performances, transportation and meal schedules and ensure compliance with Folkmoot guidelines and N.C. laws. Guides are assigned to their groups 24 hours a day, and are provided room, four meals each day, and are paid a stipend. Extensive training precedes the guide duty, which begins July 14; the festival begins on July 20 and service is completed on Aug. 2. Applications are available at www.folkmoot.org and are due by Feb. 28. For more information, call or email Elizabeth Burson at 828.452.2997 or elizabeth@folkmoot.org. Folkmoot’s year-round programming initiatives have been made possible by Haywood Regional Medical Center, the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina and the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Folkmoot is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating many cultures in one community. The Folkmoot Friendship Center

is located in the Historic Hazelwood School at 112 Virginia Avenue in Waynesville. Staff can be reached by phone at 828.452.2997 or by email at info@folkmoot.org.

Sylva welcomes fourth brewery Though exact details are unknown, BCNC Investments in Bryson City has announced the purchase of the building that formerly held the Evolution Wine Kitchen on Main Street in Sylva. With the sale, Balsam Falls Brewing Company of Sylva plans to remodel and open the brewery and tasting room at a later date. Details and opening date will be announced soon. As well, with the closing of Evolution, former co-owner Gary Long has recently opened the restaurant Lees at the Depot at 42 Depot Street in Dillsboro. For more information, contact Dana M. Smith at 828.342.2060.

Haywood flipping for pancakes The annual “Pancake Day” will be taking place from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville.

They will be serving unlimited buttermilk/buckwheat pancakes alongside prizewinning sausage, bacon and freshly brewed coffee. Tickets are available in the church office, on Sunday morning or from a church member. They can also be purchased at the door. Business sponsorships are available. 828.456.9475.

Waynesville historical speakers series The Town of Waynesville Historic Preservation Commission will host a series of speakers to inform the public on the rich and fascinating stories behind some of the historic places within the community. The goal of “Haywood Ramblings” is to entertain and inform all ages on some of the interesting aspects of Waynesville’s long history. Talks will be held at 4 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Room. • “William Holland Thomas” by Gavin Brown on March 2. • “Country Roads: Pathways to Our Artistic Heritage” by Libba Feichter on April 6. • “Local history and The National Register” by a panel of local historians on May 4. For more information contact the Town’s Development Services Department at 828.456.8647. 29

Smoky Mountain News

Sapphire knows how to potty

For additional information, contact Victoria’s daughter, Faustine McDonald Wilson, owner of Survival Pride clothing at info@survivalpride.com or Marie T. Cochran at art@affrilachiastudio.com, or call the library at 828.586.2016. This event is co-sponsored by Survival Pride Clothing, the Affrilachian Artist Project, and the Jackson County Public Library.

country of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, having located and marked the coordinates of some 600 former homesites in Swain County from Straight Fork to below Twenty-Mile Creek. Conversation and refreshments will follow the presentation. This is open to the public and there is no admission charge.

February 22-28, 2017

Nick Breedlove photo

Victoria Casey McDonald. Garret K. Woodward photo

“The Stones Cry Out: Stories of the People and History of the Bryson City Cemetery” will be the title of the program for the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. Don Casada, the presenter is a native of Swain County and the president of the Friends of Bryson City Cemetery (FBCC). The FBCC was formed to restore, maintain and preserve the cemetery as well as promote the importance of the cemetery to the community. His presentation will include the history of the cemetery and the FBCC organization as well as relate anecdotes and stories involving those who have taken their rest on the “hallowed hill.” Casada is “mostly retired” and worked in engineering in 42 states and on four continents. He and his wife, Susan, whom he met in undergraduate school at N.C. State, make their home in the 127year old house on Stanley Black Hill where he was raised. Since returning home, he has done extensive research on the back-

arts & entertainment

History of Bryson City Cemetery

Remembrance of Victoria Casey McDonald

arts & entertainment

On the wall Want to make a broom? The Mountain Heritage Center, Western Carolina University’s museum of Appalachian culture, will hold a cobweb broom workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, in Cullowhee. The free demonstration, part of the ongoing Appalachian Living craft and skills series, will be led by Cullowhee resident and business owner Mickey Sizemore in the center’s gallery at Hunter Library. Made from local materials, the cobweb broom was designed to access hard-to-reach areas, especially corners that collect spider webs and dust. Sizemore has been making mountainstyle brooms for six years and has led workshops at Warren Wilson College and the Jackson County Library. 828.227.7129.

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

Penland School hosts open House The Penland School of Crafts Community Open House will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 4. This is an afternoon of fun and education for all ages with hands-on activities in most of Penland’s teaching studios. No admission is charged. Many activities are messy, so don’t wear your fancy clothes. Here are the activities for the afternoon: • In the clay studio you can make a clay pot on the potter’s wheel or create a little clay sculpture and decorate it. • In the metals studio, cast a small keepsake in pewter. • In the photo studio, you can have a portrait made by Penland’s resident-artist photographer, Mercedes Jelinek. • In the iron studio, you can shape hot steel with a hammer and an anvil to make a wall hook. Iron studio signups will begin at 1 p.m. • In the print studio you can watch

• Paint Nite Waynesville will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at Frog Level Brewing in Waynesville. Sign up on the Paint Night Waynesville Facebook page (search event: Brush N. Brew) or call Robin Smathers at 828.400.9560. paintnitewaynesville@gmail.com. • A fusion of film, dance and music, “Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical Revue” will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University. Part of the WCU Arts and Cultural Events series, tickets are $10 for students, $18 for WCU faculty and staff, and $23 for general admission. bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 828.227.2479.

30 • Sneak E Squirrel Brewing (Sylva) will host

printmaking demonstrations and make your own print on the Vandercook letterpress. • Visitors to the textiles studio can watch weaving demonstrations and use a sewing machine to put together a small bag. • In the wood studio, carve a wooden letter opener. • In the school store, explore origami using colorful paper. At the Ridgeway building, make decorative paper using the paste-paper painting process. • In hot glass, make either a paperweight or a juice glass. In flameworking, you can make an ornamental glass bead. Please note that glass activities are very popular. Signups for glass start at 1 p.m., but people start lining up at least an hour earlier, so come early if you are hoping to make something in the glass studio. Glass activities are limited to visitors 12 years of age and above. Items made in the hot glass studio will be available for pickup on Sunday afternoon (because hot class has to cool slowly). www.penland.org or call 828.765.2359.

Care to weave a chair? Dogwood Crafters Co-Op kicks off a new year of instructional craft workshops with a “Chair Seat Weaving” class from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. March 8-9 at the Dillsboro Masonic Lodge. Well-known craftsperson Junetta Pell will teach the workshop in which an old chair receives a second chance at life. Participants will replace a chair seat with a diagonal weave using flat reed or binder cane or replace a cane seat in a chair. Please note that the chair frame should be in good repair prior to the class. A list of tools needed will be given when participants register. A class fee of $5 will be charged plus a fee for any materials purchased from the instructor. Register to attend by calling 828.586.2435 or emailing junettapell@hotmail.com by March 3rd.

an art opening for local photographer Ray Richards at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23. His work will be on display for a month. 828.586.6440. • There will be a showcase for artist Shawna Solito from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at Donno’s Higher Ground Tattoo in Bryson City. Solito is a painter and musician. Solito works in watercolor, ink, and acrylics. Her style ranges from detailed abstracts to strange imaginative creatures and landscapes. Her works also include political commentary on conflicts and the environment.

ALSO:

• There will a pine needle basketry class from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at

SCC pottery chosen for NC Welcome Center

Carolina Arts Council and Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, was created to showcase the heritage arts and crafts from Western North Carolina by encouraging visitors to view and purchase artwork from area artists and craftsmen. While pottery is the chosen art form for all three, their paths to become potters have Heritage arts instructors Susan Coe and been just as unique as their work. Ed McIlvaine, along with Kari McIlvaine “I had only thrown pottery once while on (Ed’s wife and a heritage arts student), a trip to Japan, but there was a language barrecently had their pottery chosen for the rier that kept me from understanding the Artist Count exhibit at the NC Welcome pottery terms,” said Coe. “Even with not Center along I-26 West north of Asheville. being able to understand what the instructor was saying, I made a few decent pieces. I decided to give it another try at SCC in 2008 after seeing a pamphlet advertising pottery classes. I have been doing pottery ever since.” Coe went on to earn her heritage arts master potter’s certificate and now teaches classes for the heritage arts continuing education program at SCC’s Swain Center. After moving to WNC in 2011, the McIlvaines discovered their love of clay. They continued Susan Coe recently had her pottery chosen for the Artist to advance their skills at SCC, Count exhibit at the NC Welcome Center along I-26 West. and together they run Sawmill Creek Pottery in Bryson City. Eighteen artists from Jackson and Swain Both of them have earned their heritage arts counties were chosen to represent Western master potter’s certificates, with Ed teaching North Carolina in the inaugural exhibit. The alongside Coe at the SCC Swain Center. exhibit is titled “Smoky Mountains For more information about SCC and the Sampler” and will be available for viewing programs it offers, call 828.339.4000, visit until July 2017. www.southwesterncc.edu or stop by your Artist Count, a project of the North nearest SCC location.

Franklin ‘Three-In-One Art Show’ The Eccentric Gemini presents “The Three-In-One Art Show” from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. The showcase is a collection of artwork, photography and literature by Western North Carolina native Josh Franks. The art display will also remain there until the end of the month. The event is free and everyone is welcome.

the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, Tennessee. Cost of the class is $15 and includes materials. To register, call 423.884.6246 or stop by the museum. • An “Abstract Expressions” exhibit will run through Feb. 25 in the Gallery & Gifts showroom at the Haywood County Arts Council in Waynesville. The exhibit will feature several local artists. Free and open to the public. www.haywoodarts.org. • “The Magic Starts Here” exhibit will run through Feb. 25 at The Bascom in Highlands. Featuring numerous students from the Master of Fine Arts program at Western Carolina University, there will be a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at The Bascom. www.thebascom.org.

• The “Women Painters of the Southeast” exhibition will run through May 5 in the Fine Arts Museum at Western Carolina University. A reception will be held at the museum from 5 to 7 p.m. Jan. 19. www.wcu.edu. • The Adult Coloring Group will meet at 2 p.m. on Fridays in the Living Room of the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. An afternoon of creativity and camaraderie. Supplies are provided, or bring your own. kmoe@fontanalib.org or 828.524.3600. • “Stitch,” the community gathering of those interested in crochet, knit and needlepoint, meet at 2:30 p.m. every first Sunday of the month at the Canton Public Library. All ages and skill levels welcome. www.haywoodlibrary.org.

On the stage

28 Walnut St. Waynesville

There will be a stand-up comedy showcase from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Currahee Brewing in Franklin. Six different comedians and 12 taps flowing with locally made craft beer from Currahee: • Josh Merrell is a local comedian/actor working out of the Asheville area. He has performed at the Eastville Comedy and Greenwich Comedy Clubs in New York City, as well as the Laughfest Comedy Festival (Grand Rapids, Michigan). • Tom Peters has performed in the Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival and hosts a weekly radio show on 103.3 Asheville FM. • Grayson Morris is a stand up comedian based in Asheville. She has appeared in numerous comedy festivals including The Great American Comedy Festival and The Limestone Comedy Festival. She has opened for Louis C.K. and appeared on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live. • Blaine Perry spent several years in New York City developing his comedy chops and was the co-host of the comedy duo called “Don’t Touch Me There.” He moved to the hills of Asheville with his wife and his cat in 2013 and performs throughout the Southeast.

HaywoodChamber.com

Business of The Month Sheila Gahagan, CPA

arts & entertainment

828.456.3021

Currahee has the laughs

I specialize in reviews and audits for non-profits and governmental entities and tax services for businesses and business owners. My customer base has grown almost completely by referrals. • Cary Goff is a writer and comedian out of Asheville. He’s showcased in the Laugh Your Asheville Off Festival, been a finalist in the Port City Comedy Competition and a semi-finalist in the Carolina’s Funniest Stand-Up Comic Competition. Goff also writes satire for the Asheville Disclaimer in the alt-weekly Mountain Xpress as well as The Simpleton Review. • Carlos Canales is a graphic designer and comedian living in Waynesville. He produces and performs in shows throughout the Southeast. He has also performed in Chicago, Atlanta and at the Laughfest Comedy Festival (Grand Rapids, Michigan). The event is free and open to the public. www.curraheebrew.com.

229 PENLAND STREET, CLYDE NC 28721 PHONE: 627-1040 FAX: 627-2329 SHEILA@GAHAGANCPA.COM

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‘Schoolhouse Rock’ at HART A G U A R A N T E E D G R E AT N I G H T O U T

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Rash stories comes to life

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• The Highlands Performing Arts Center will continue the “Live via Satellite” series with the MET Opera’s production of “Rusalka” by Dvorrak at 12:55 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25. There will be a pre-opera discussion led by Beverly Wichman at 12:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.highlandspac.org, at the door or by calling 828.526.9047.

ALSO:

• The LMP Late Night Comedy will be held at 9 p.m. Feb. 24 in UC Illusions at Western Carolina University. www.wcu.edu.

M A Y 12

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Smoky Mountain News

Lake Logan will be hosting “A Rash of Stories” adapted from the short stories of Ron Rash from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at the Lake Logan Conference Center. The stories will be presented by Barbara Bates Smith and musician Jeff Sebens. The varied selections have been adapted by Smith from Rash’s short stories “Lincolnites,” “Burning Bright,” “Casualties and Survivors” and “The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth.” Based at Western Carolina University, Rash has won the Frank O’Connor International Award, two O’Henry prizes, and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award for his stories. Two of his novels have been made into films: The World Made Straight and his New York Times bestseller Serena. Actress Smith, noted for her OffBroadway adaptation and performance of “Ivy Rowe” from Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender

Ladies, has been touring for 25 years with the works of Smith. Jeff Sebens accompanies her shows with a variety of hammered dulcimer, lap dulcimer, guitar, and banjo music. Cost for lecture and lunch is $25, with a bed and breakfast option available for $143.89. susan@lakelogan.org or 828.646.0095.

February 22-28, 2017

The Haywood Arts Regional Theatre’s new youth drama program, KIDS AT HART, opens its second production, the musical “Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR.,” with a performance at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the theatre in Waynesville. The show is based on the 1970s TV series and features songs that are meant to help teach the multiplication tables and grammar. HART’s production is under the direction of Shelia Sumpter, with Madison Sugg as Assistant Director and will feature: Austin Clark, Andrew Delbene, Ashlyn Clark, Sydney Lyles, Harrison Ray, Lily Klinar, Abigail Cumber, Megan Galloway, Anika Gossett, Delilah Jenkins, Josie Ostendorff, Sarah Elizabeth Super, Abby Welchel, Haiden Woods and Cami Wright. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids. To make reservations call the HART Box Office at 828.456.6322 or go online to www.harttheatre.org.

Books ‘Casablanca’ one of the finest scripts of all time 32

Smoky Mountain News

whose dialogue and action seem to me a work of minor genius. For me, and I suspect for others who have seen the picture, “Casablanc” contains some of the best dialogue ever writ-

“What is your nationality?” Rick: “I’m a drunkard.” In the same conversation, Strasser later asks Rick, referring to the German army: “Can

ten for American movies. Let’s see why. First, and most importantly, the writers for “Casablanca” had an ear for the rhythms of conversation and knowing when to end those onscreen conversations. This combination accounts for the terse dialogue of the script. And it is dialogue, not action, that carries much of the movie and accounts for its success. Embedded in our culture are such lines as “Play it again, Sam (which is “Play it, Sam” in the movie), “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine,” “I stick my neck out for nobody,” “We’ll always have Paris,” and “Round up the usual suspects.” Great lines, yes, but “Casablanca” crackles with such exchanges. Here are just a few. At one point, Major Strasser of the Third Reich asks the American Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) personal questions:

you imagine us in New York?” Rick: “Well, there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to invade.” Later, two young, recently married Bulgarian refugees want to leave Casablanca for the United States, but lack the money needed to pay the required bribe for the exit visas. The corrupt official, Captain Renault, privately offers the papers to the young wife in exchange for sexual favors. Knowing that Rick is well-acquainted with Captain Renault, the corrupt official, the woman approaches him to ask whether Renault will keep his word. At one point, she says: “M’sieur, you are a man. If someone loved you … very much, so that your happiness was the only thing in the world she wanted and … she did a bad thing to make certain of it, could you forgive her?” Rick: “No one ever loved me that much.” Young woman: “But, M’sieur, if he never

Jeff Minick

“Casablanca.” For some, that name evokes a city in Morocco, an urban center of four million people quartering one of the more important economies in all of Africa. For most of us, however, “Casablanca” brings to mind the 1942 motion picture classic starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid, and featuring a fine cast of supporting characters. When first released, “Casablanca” won only modest acclaim, but went on to win Writer three Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Curtiz), and Best Adapted Screenplay (brothers Julius and Philip Epstein, and Howard Koch were the screenwriters.). Seventy-five years later, “Casablanca” remains an iconic movie, considered by many one of the finest American films ever made as well as the greatest American romance ever to appear on the big screen. And that screenplay which won an Academy Award surely deserves large credit for “Casablanca’s” enduring appeal. Most movie-goers don’t leave the theater saying, “Man, the guys who wrote that script were fantastic!” Instead, we comment on the acting, the music, the cinematography, or the director, to whom we often mistakenly give credit for the story. We forget about the men and women who wrote the lines and original set directions, who took a story of their own or someone’s novel — or in the case of “Casablanca,” an unproduced stage play titled “Everybody Comes To Rick’s” — and turn that story into script. And what a script we find in “Casablanca!” I have a copy of that original screenplay sitting at my elbow as I write, a screenplay

Cook releases superhero sequel

Western Carolina University alumnus and author Tyler Cook will release his fourth book Vigilante at a special release party at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 4, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. It’s been a year since Aluria appeared as the hero of Canton. He’s become a myth to many, a hero to some, and a threat to others. Among those who think he is an outlaw are those working at the Major Case Squad, who fear he will go too far and become the villain the vigilante hopes to rid the city of. This fear escalates when people are found murdered with a blade shaped like Aluria’s insignia. Could this new hero really be to blame, and if not, can he clear his name and find the person who is behind everything? Released in 2016, Aluria has been named the No. 1 bestselling superhero on www.amazon.com multiple times, as well as reaching their overall bestseller list. In 2014, Cook released A Guide to Historic Dillsboro, now an award-winning book that celebrates the historic town of Dillsboro, as

well as raising money for the Appalachian Women’s Museum. Later that year, he wrote The One, which was released in early 2015. For more information, contact Cook at moonshinepressnc@gmail.com or visit www.tylermcook.com.

N.C. State Poetry Contest Entries are currently being accepted for the 2017 North Carolina State University Poetry Contest. The contest is open only to residents of North Carolina (including out-of-state students who are enrolled in North Carolina universities). It remains one of the largest free-entry contests in the South. The Grand Prize winner will receive $500. The best N.C. State undergraduate entry will receive a $100 prize. “Guest Judge” this year is Richard Garcia. At 7:30 p.m. April 13, there will be a presentation of awards and a reading from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sharon Olds at Titmus Theatre in Thompson Hall on N.C. State’s campus in Raleigh. n The contest is open to all North Carolina residents except

knew … if the girl kept this bad thing locked in her heart … that would be all right, wouldn’t it?” Rick (harshly): “You want my advice? Young woman: “Oh yes, M’sieur, please. Rick: “Go back to Bulgaria.” What is wonderful about the dialogue in the movie is that it surpasses the script — or at least the script in my possession. I’m not sure how the changes occurred, whether from the director or the actors or more writing, but there are differences between the written script and the script as performed. Perhaps the single greatest of these differences comes at the end of the film. Rick has just killed Major Strasser to allow Laslo and Ilsa to escape to Spain. In the script, Renault offers Rick an escape route, Rick thanks him and adds a line about a bet he’d made with Renault. In the movie, however, Renault intends to join with Rick in the resistance movement, to which Rick responds: “Louis, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” To motion picture audiences during the fiery days of World War II, that line signified the union of the Americans and the French. That many of the actors in the film were European refugees also adds to the poignancy of the story. Their accents and their first-hand familiarity with the Nazi regime enhance the written words of the script. Conrad Veidt (Major Strasser), Peter Lorre (Ugarte), Paul Henreid (Victor Laslo), S.Z. Sakall (Carl the waiter), and a number of actors in minor parts had fled Europe after the Nazi takeover. Sakall lost three sisters in concentration camps, and though the director Michael Curtiz had emigrated before 1933, several of his relatives followed him to escape death at the hands of the Nazis. “Casablanca” is a 75-year-old monument to the value of love and romance, the need to resist tyranny, and the freedom so many associate, even today, with America.

tenured/tenure-track professors in the University of North Carolina system; writing instructors teaching at N.C. State (but teaching assistants and graduate students are eligible); poets with a published book of poetry (if they can buy your book online or from a publisher or bookstore, they consider you published); and previous winners. Previous finalists must submit poems that have not been previously submitted. n You may submit as many as three poems. The poems may not have appeared elsewhere in any publication, in print or online. There is no limit as to genre or length. n All entries must be typed and titled. Do not put your name on the poem, so it may be judged anonymously. Put your name on a cover sheet along with your contact information, including phone, address, and email. n No email submissions will be accepted. Submit all entries in hard copy to: NCSU Poetry Contest Campus Box 8105 English Department NCSU Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8105. Postmark deadline is Monday, March 13. Due to volume, they cannot contact each contestant or return your poems afterward.

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Down to bare rock Smokies’ Chimney Tops could be closed for years following fire BY HOLLY KAYS locust wood steps can still be seen, swirled in STAFF WRITER burned piles or hanging onto the rock face hen starting the hike, it’s not immediwith the ground they once clung to now someately obvious why the Chimney Tops where at the bottom of the mountain. Trail should be appointed for longThe trail used to meander. It used to pass term closure. The brook is babbling, the sun through little pockets of shrubs and swing by is shining and the trees are towering just as shady trees. Now, there is no trail. And the one would expect of a trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the results of a recent trail rehabilitation effort make for exceedingly pleasant walking. But as the trail nears its terminus at the twin peaks of the Chimney Tops, the reason becomes abundantly clear. Its harbingers are announced with a jumble Michael Crowe of WBIR in Knoxville of burned branches here, fights through rubble to the burned and an area of blackened bare end of the Chimney Tops Trail. ground there, and the sudden realization that, even on a brisk winter day when it’s hard to smell much at all, there’s a faint odor of charcoal in the air. “It all burned so intensely,” said Dana n The Chimney Tops 2 Fire started on Nov. 23 Soehn, the park’s spokesperson and hike and swelled in size overnight Nov. 28 due to leader for the band of media representatives dry conditions and hurricane-speed winds. given one-time access to the closed trail. n Of the 17,904 acres that burned, 11,410 “Those straight-line gale-force winds that we were within the Great Smoky Mountains had blew these trees over, and when these National Park, representing about 2 percent of trees come over, they take the trail and soil the total park area. with them, so the trail as we know it is no n After the fires, 31 miles on 16 trails were longer in place.” closed. Currently, four trails — including the As the trail turns to face the twin summits Chimney Tops Trail and the Road Prong Trail, of the Chimney Tops, the truth of her words is which joins it — are under long-term closure. apparent. The rocky outcrops were once covThe other closed trails are Bull Head Trail, ered with the texture of rhododendrons and Sugarland Mountain Trail and Rough Creek trail. sand myrtle, the occasional tree threading its n A portion of the Chimney Tops Trail is roots through the thin soil and providing a expected to reopen this summer or fall, but hospitable resting place for hikers wanting to the summit could be closed for years. stop short of a full-on scramble up the rocks. n Ten percent of the burned area — about Not anymore. The Chimneys are now bare 0.2 percent of total park area — experienced rock, stripped of trees and shrubs and flowers, high-intensity burning. About 25 percent of cliffs falling steeply on either side. The trunks the burned area and 0.5 percent of total park of upheaved trees fall across the spine of rock, area experienced moderate-intensity burning creating an obstacle course in place of a trail, and the remaining 65 percent of the burned with steep cliffs on either side always warning area was unburned or experienced low-intenagainst a misstep. There’s little to no soil to be sity burning. found — just rock, and char. The remains of

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Burn damage to the Chimney Tops is evident even from the trailhead. Holly Kays photos soil that’s still around is badly damaged, vulnerable to erosion and sloughing off down the mountainside. It could be years before the full trail is open again, Soehn said, and it will be summer or fall before hiking is allowed even on the lower portion of the Chimney Tops Trail. As to how long it will take for the area to return to its pre-fire condition? It could be 80 years, Soehn said. “We know that we need to let the rest of the trail set and give it time to heal before we plan any kind of future work on it, because it wouldn’t be sustainable for us to build something on unstable slopes,” Soehn said. “We’ll know much more in 2018.”

MOVING FORWARD The Chimney Tops 2 fire started as a small, slowly growing ground fire on Nov. 23, 2016, and had reached about 50 acres by Sunday morning, Nov. 27. But then the winds came, wafting the blaze to 500 acres by Monday as winds continued to gain strength overnight. As darkness fell, wind speeds as high as 87 miles per hour propelled the flames toward Gatlinburg with unprecedented speed, resulting in a fire such that many firefighters with decades of experience had never before seen in the eastern U.S. Before rains quelled the flames, the fire had burned 17,904 acres, killed 14 people and caused $500 million in property damage. A pair of Tennessee teenagers were arrested and charged for arson, but no information about the case is being released publicly, with District Attorney General James Dunn enacting a gag order shortly after the arrests. The end of the Chimney Tops Trail is where it all started. It’s only the last 200 yards or so of the trail that’s really damaged, though signs of the tumultuous fire season do appear earlier. About three-quarters of the way up, what looks to be a muddy but steep path splits off from the main trail, with a wooden sign that reads “This is not a trail” placed over it. It’s the remains of a hand line, a line of dirt that firefighters dug around the fire perimeter to keep it from escaping. Fire lines don’t have to be very wide to contain a ground fire that spreads along the forest floor,

but they do have to cut down to the bare mineral soil, with all potentially flammable organic matter dug away. When the fire is over, lines that have not been rehabilitated can open the door to erosion. In the case of the Chimney Tops 2 Fire, the fire lines had to be installed quite a ways from the actual start. Even though the fire was only 1.5 acres when first discovered, the fire lines outlined a 410-acre perimeter. But that’s for good reason, Soehn said. Slopes on the Chimney Tops measure about 80 degrees — it would be near impossible for firefighters to safely work on those rugged slopes, and any materials they moved to create a fire line would just shift downhill, making the line ineffective. “What you have to do is tie it into an area where it can actually stop that movement of ground fire,” she said. “That’s what the 410 (acre) containment lines were.” Further up, the first glimpse of the postfire Chimneys comes in view, partially veiled by the branches of a spruce tree. It’s a stark sight, just bare rock. Across the valley looms Mt. LeConte, burn scars acutely visible on its slopes as well. Later this year, the trail will likely be open up to the point of this view. The park plans to expand the existing lookout to accommodate the traffic the trail is likely to attract and to do some “strategic trimming” of trees to allow a view of the Chimneys. It’s an important trail for many people, Soehn said, and the park is trying to get it open as soon as possible. “There’s a real emotional connection to the experience people have hiking the Chimney Tops,” Soehn said. “It’s a part of people’s rituals when they come back where they always hike it year after year after year. People have been proposed to on this mountain. It’s a part of how people make memories.”

RECOVERY WILL COME The Chimney Tops is one of the hardesthit areas of the 11,410 park acres affected by the fire, and of the 17,904 acres burned overall. Within the park, 65 percent of the area inside the burned perimeter was either unburned or lightly burned, meaning that within three to five years, park visitors won’t really be able to tell

that it was ever on fire. Another 25 percent of the burned area was moderately burned, meaning that the shrubs and some of the larger trees were damaged, but the soil is still intact and holds seeds that will regenerate with time. However, 10 percent of the burned area within the park burned with a high intensi-

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Smoky Mountain News

ty, meaning that soils, grasses, shrubs and even canopy trees were damaged or destroyed. The end of the Chimney Tops Trail is part of that 10 percent. The vegetation is gone, the soil is unstable, and trees are upended and blackened. A similar situation exists on four other park trails. The Bull Head Trail, Sugarland Mountain Trail and Rough Creek Trail are all expected to see long-term closures as park staff watch how the slopes and soils stabilize over time. Those four trails are a subset of the 16 that were originally closed in connection with the fire, accounting for about 31 trail miles of the 848 in the park. The Chimney Tops Trail has been a subject of particular concern, however, and not just because it’s where the devastating fire originated. The trail was extensively rehabilitated during a three-year project 20122014, a $750,000 endeavor funded by private donations to the Smokies Trails Forever Program, which is part of Friends of the Smokies. Before the rehabilitation, the trail was heavily eroded and braided, as

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Dana Soehn stands atop a staircase covering a trail that’s no longer there.

many as 20 feet wide in places. The steep grades were all mud, creating opportunity for accidents as well as sedimentation in nearby Walker Prong. Donors and workers from across the country joined forces to transform the trail into a sustainable, natural-looking route marked by locust steps filled with handchiseled rock and culverts made of gigantic rocks that workers hauled from areas near the trail to fit seamlessly into the landscape. It’s a “thoughtfully done” project displaying “amazing workmanship,” Soehn said, and “We want to honor that and do everything to get this trail back into shape.” Donations poured to the park after the fire, with the $500,000 fundraised following the event sufficient to do needed work on the Chimney Tops Trail. The fire damage won’t derail the timeline of the next Trails Forever Project, which was announced just days before the Chimney Tops 2 fire exploded as a two-year rehabilitation of the Rainbow Falls Trail. The fire is also expected to have minimal impact on the park’s fisheries and wildlife, thanks mainly to the season in which it occurred. The fire struck when the spawning and reproduction cycle for fish was well over and when the vegetation that wildlife depend on for food was already dormant. So, while individuals might have perished in the blaze, the fire isn’t expected to have much of an impact on these species at a population level. “What could be more impactful is the drought we were in throughout most of last year,” Soehn said of the fisheries. The 2016 fire season will have lasting impacts, and it will become a long-term part of the park’s larger story. But the Smokies as a whole is far from resting in total devastation. As a percentage of the total park area, the fire area is small, and as the years pass the vegetation will recover — even on the Chimney Tops, though return to its pre-fire conditions will be slow. “It has a story to tell, both about the tragedies of this fire and the recovery we’re going through as a community and the park together,” Soehn said. “It’s important to us to allow the public to yet again experience this and not let this devastation take the trail away from us.”

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A human-caused fire estimated at 132 acres is burning in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area about 20 miles south of Waynesville. It is within the Pisgah Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest in the headwaters of Crawford Creek. The Cold Mountain Fire was reported the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 17, and had 83 firefighters and support staff, including two helicopters, assigned to the incident as of Monday, Feb. 20. A light rain on Saturday gave firefighters an opportunity to complete containment lines on the east side of the fire as other personnel conducted reconnaissance on the fire’s west flank. The fire was 50 percent contained as of Feb. 20. Trail closures are in effect for the Art Loeb Trail north of Shining Rock Gap and the Cold Mountain Trail. Minimum-impact suppression tactics are in place to protect wilderness and resource values in the area. Smoke may be visible in surrounding communities for several days. The fire is being managed under a unified command structure between the N.C. Forest Service and the U.S. Forest Service.

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NCDOT TO HOLD A PUBLIC MEETING REGARDING IMPROVEMENTS TO N.C. 107 FROM N.C. 116 to U.S. 23 BUSINESS IN JACKSON COUNTY STIP PROJECT R-5600

The project team is developing designs for upgrading N.C. 107 to a four-lane, median divided facility with access management considerations to relieve congestion and improve traﬃc operations along this heavily traveled route. The public meeting will take place on Thursday February 23, 2017, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Southwestern Community College, in the Conrad Burrell Building (Room 102C), located at 447 College Drive, Sylva. Interested citizens may attend at any time and NCDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and receive comments regarding the proposed project. Attendees will also have the opportunity to submit written comments and questions until March 13, 2017. No formal presentation will be made. The public can view information online at https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/publicmeetings/.

February 22-28, 2017

Anyone desiring additional information may contact Steve Williams, NCDOT Division 14, Design Construction Engineer; 253 Webster Road, Sylva, NC 28779 by phone; (828) 586-2141 or via email; sjwilliams@ncdot.gov. NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to participate in this meeting. Anyone requiring special services should contact: Mr. Williams as early as possible so that arrangements can be made. Persons who speak Spanish and do not speak English, or have a limited ability to read, speak or understand English, may receive interpretive services upon request prior to the meeting by calling 1-800-481-6494. Aquellas personas que hablan español y no hablan inglés, o tienen limitaciones para leer, hablar o entender inglés, podrían recibir servicios de interpretación si los solicitan antes de la reunión llamando al 1-800-481-6494.

The third annual Gateway to the Smokies Half Marathon will include a new 4-Miler race this year, slated for 7:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, in downtown Waynesville. The half marathon begins on Waynesville’s Main Street and winds through town, out to rural Plott Creek and finally to the historic Frog Level district for the finish. The new 4-Miler will share the half marathon’s start and finish line but separate from the longer route a mile in to travel through Waynesville’s neighborhoods before hitting the finish. Sponsored by the Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and developed by experienced competitive athletes. Strollers are permitted in this family-friendly race. Register at www.haywoodchamber.com/events-calendar/signature-events.

Fly tying gathering coming to Maggie Hang out with other fly tyers and tie some flies for a veteran during Tie One On, 1-6 p.m. Sunday, March 5, at Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley. The event will support Project Healing Waters, an organization that works with military veterans using fly fishing as therapy. Participants should bring their fly tying stuff and come create some ties for a veteran to use. Non-tyers are welcome as well to come talk fishing and watch some of the best fly tyers in the Southeast. Bob Nanney, fearnofishbob@att.net or 828.246.8015.

Trout waters to close for stocking

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About 1,000 miles of trout waters will close to fishing after sunset Feb. 28 until the reopening date of 7 a.m. April 1. The closure of Hatchery-Supported Trout Waters will allow the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to stock these waters in preparation for opening day. During spring and early summer each year, waters are stocked at frequent intervals to boost anglers’ fishing experience. This year’s stocking will supply about 916,000 trout, 96 percent of which average 10 inches long with the other 4 percent exceeding 14 inches. When stocked waters re-open, anglers can harvest up to seven trout per day with no minimum size limit or bait restriction. www.ncwildlife.org/fishing/trout.

Explore Panthertown and donate for conservation Schoolhouse Falls in Panthertown Valley. Donated photo

donation toward the project. Donate at www.mainspringconserves.networkforgood.com. RSVP for the hike at

828.269.4453 or friends@panthertown.org. The event is free for Friends of Panthertown members, with nonmembers asked to give a donation.

Learn how to fight invasive plants

Explore astronomy in Bryson City A trio of portable planetarium shows will be offered Friday, Feb. 24, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. With programs at 2, 3 and 5:30 p.m., the show will take people through past and present views of the night sky in an entertaining and fact-filled format. The Fontana Regional Library recently acquired the portable planetarium through a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act. Free, with seating limited. Reserve a ticket at 828.488.3030, ext. 129.

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February 22-28, 2017

Landscape and nursery professionals will have a chance to learn about invasive plant management from a roster of botany and ecology professionals during a workshop 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Highlands Community Building in Highlands. The program will include an overview of invasive plant issues in Western North Carolina, as well as control and eradication methods for invasive plant species and a segment on native alternatives to invasive ornamental plants. Faculty will include Gary Kaufmann, botanist and plant ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service; Bob Gale, ecologist and public lands director for MountainTrue; James Costa, executive director of the Highlands Biological Station; and Russell Funderburk, horticulture specialist for the Highlands Biological Station. Continuing education credits are available from several professional organizations. The workshop is free with a $50 cost for CEU administration. Lunch provided. Register at www.highlandsbiological.org/invasive-plants.

Of 39 changes to N.C. Wildlife Commission regulations proposed this year, 38 were approved when the commission voted on the proposals Feb. 16. Among the changes were creation of the 1,925-acre William H. Silver Game Land in Haywood County; allowing bear baiting with unprocessed food on private lands during the first half of the mountain bear season; letting trappers apply unused tags during the following season; eliminating the use of paper big game harvest sheets in favor of phone or online reporting; and redefining youth as anyone under age 18. The only proposal not approved would have prohibited the use of archery equipment for taking nongame fish on a section of Lake James. After hearing from constituents, wildlife commissioners recognized that stakeholders are working together to resolve the issues the proposal attempted to address. New regulations will be effective Aug. 1. The full text of 2017 wildlife proposals is online at www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/news /documents/pubhearbook_2017_18_w.pdf.

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A family-friendly hike exploring Panthertown Valley will leave at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, from the Salt Rock Gap entrance off Breedlove Road in Cashiers, returning by 2 p.m. The 2-3 mile route will visit several of Panthertown’s many waterfalls. Mainspring Conservation Trust and Friends of Panthertown are currently in the midst of a fundraising effort to conserve 16 acres of land bordering the Salt Rock Gap entrance. The land, which will cost $195,000, would hold a parking area to help with visitor traffic flow and protect the view from inside Panthertown Valley. Panthertown Valley is a popular backcountry recreation area within the Nantahala National Forest near Cashiers. “If a private house were built on the knoll along the property, it would be seen in the view looking back from Salt Rock, Little Green Mountain and Big Green Mountain,” said Sharon Taylor, Mainspring’s director. “Our goal is to instead allow visitors to be enveloped in the full outdoor experience, and truly feel like they are in the wilderness, from the minute they leave their car.” About 37 percent of the needed funds have been raised, and Mainspring has secured a private donor who will match any

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Referendum coming for tomato growers A statewide referendum in March will ask North Carolina tomato growers whether they want to continue the $20 per acre assessment on harvested commercial tomatoes that funds research, education and marketing to promote N.C.-grown tomatoes.

Business of Farming Conference returns to Asheville The 14th annual Business of Farming Conference is coming to Asheville Saturday, Feb. 25, giving farmers of all experience levels a chance to learn more about the business side of agriculture. Topics, to be led by regional professionals and farmers, will include social media, legal tools for farmers and markets for medicinal herbs. The day will also include grower-buyer meetings, which give farmers a chance to connect with buyers from local restaurants, grocers and distributors. "The Business of Farming Conference has been a huge help to our business,” said Tracy Cavagnaro of Holt Orchards. “I walk away from the conference with a bunch of ideas and excitement for the next season." The conference is organized by Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project with support from the Buncombe County Service Foundation, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, Farm Burger, Southern Risk Management Education Center, USDA Risk Management Agency and other partners. Register at www.asapconnections.org or call 828.236.1282.

Smoky Mountain News

February 22-28, 2017

The proposed assessment term is six years, beginning with the 2017 crop. All farmers engaged with commercial tomato production — whether they be farm owners, tenants or sharecroppers — are eligible to vote. Ballots will be mailed March 2, and those who have not received a ballot by March 6 will have 10 days to apply for one from Ellen Moss of the N.C. Tomato Growers Association, 828.685.3989 or ellen_moss@yahoo.com.

Ballots must be postmarked by March 23. The referendum requires a two-thirds majority for passage. The NCTGA board of directors administers funds collected.

Lunch and learn about the HCC arboretum The authors of a book and exhibit chronicling the history of Haywood Community College’s campus arboretum will speak during the kickoff program to the Lunch and Learn series, at noon Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Western Office Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in Asheville. Tamara Graham and Sybil Agrintar

wrote Forest, Farm + Garden: The Campus Arboretum of Haywood Community College and will deliver a lecture on the story of HCC’s 50-year stewardship journey. Free, with lemonade provided. Bring your own lunch. Located at 176 Riceville Road in Asheville. 828.296.7230 or heather.south@ncdcr.gov.

Abound in berries this summer A seminar covering the ins and outs of blueberry and grape cultivation is coming to Swain and Jackson counties, offered by N.C. Cooperative Extension. n 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, March 1, at the Swain Extension Center in Bryson City. n 6-8 p.m. Thursday, March 2, at the Jackson Extension Center in Sylva. n 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, March 7, at the Cashiers Public Library in Cashiers. The seminar will cover site selection and preparation, soil conditions, fertility needs, spacing, trellising, weed control, cultivar selection, pruning, training and harvesting, as well as control options for common pest issues. Free. Registration required with Christy Bredenkamp, clbreden@ncsu.edu, or call 828.586.4009 in Sylva or 828.488.3848 in Bryson City.

Grow your own shiitakes A class on growing shiitake mushrooms will be offered 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Macon County Environmental Resource Center in Franklin. The hands-on workshop will explain the growing process and then help participants drill the fresh-cut hardwood logs they bring with them to inoculate them with shiitake spores. $10, with registration required at the Macon County Cooperative Extension Center, 828.349.2046.

Plant sales coming to stock WNC gardens

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Haywood Community College’s campus is carefully planned to double as an arboretum. Benjamin Porter photo

Planting season is getting closer, and Western North Carolina gardeners are offering opportunities to buy top-notch plants for the upcoming growing season. n Orders are open through Friday, March 17, for plants from the annual Haywood County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association plant sale. Edibles and native plants — everything from berries to fruit trees to pollinator-attracting perennials — are available at exceptional prices. Order forms are available at the Haywood Cooperative Extension Office on Raccoon Road in Waynesville or by contacting 828.456.3575 or

mgarticles@charter.net. Orders are due pre-paid by March 17, with edibles delivered for pickup on April 8 and native plants on May 20. Proceeds fund education-related horticulture projects in Haywood County. n Macon County 4-H is taking orders for fruit and berry plants through Friday, March 17, with pick-up April 5-6. Plants for sale are apple trees, cherry trees, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, peach trees, pear trees and plum trees. Order forms are available at www.macon.ces.ncsu.edu, at the Macon County Extension office, or through the mail by calling 828.349.2046. They must be returned in person or by mail to N.C. Cooperative Extension, 193 Thomas Heights Road, Franklin, N.C. 28734. Proceeds will fund Macon County 4-H.

WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • The Jackson County School Health Advisory Council is co-sponsoring the seventh-annual Healthy Snack Master Competition. Students are encouraged to create an original recipe and turn it into to their school’s cafeteria manager by Thursday, Feb. 23. Info: 586.2311, ext. 1936. • “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” – a program celebrating Black History Month – is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, in the Community Room of the Jackson County Public Library. Music and shared memories. Info: info@survivalpride.com, art@affrilachiastudio.com or 586.2016. • “Timeline: A Brief History of African-American Music” will be offered from 5:15-7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Featuring DJ Justin Moe. 524.3600. • Registration is underway for a regional conference entitled “Growing Partnerships with Outdoor Tourism and Local Communities” that will be offered by Western Carolina University from 9:15 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. Ways to grow demand for outdoor tourism that contributes to the region’s economy will be discussed. Registration: $139. Register: tourism.wcu.edu, 227.7397 or 800.928.4968. • Haywood Ramblings will feature a presentation entitled “William Holland Thomas” by Gavin Brown from 45 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, at the Waynesville Town Hall Board Room. Brown began his career as an attorney in Waynesville in 1972, served on the Board of Aldermen from 1999-2007 and has served as mayor since 2008. Presented by the Town of Waynesville Historic Preservation Commission. • Haywood Regional Medical Center will have representatives recruiting talent at an upcoming regional job fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on March 2 at Southwestern Community College in Sylva. Apply online or search opportunities: MyHaywoodRegional.com/careers or 452.8290. • Progressive Nation WNC meetup is held from 5:30-8 p.m. each Monday at the Folkmoot Friendship Center on Virginia Avenue in Hazelwood. For like-minded progressive and Democratic activists wanting to share ideas and action steps. Questions: Amber.Kevlin@aol.com. • Cruise in Maggie Valley event is held from 1-5 p.m. every Sunday at 2771 Soco Road. Vendors: $10 per space. Cruising@MaggieValleyAntiques.com.

BUSINESS & EDUCATION • A course in conversational Japanese will be offered starting Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Western Carolina University’s Cordelia Camp Building in Cullowhee. Classes meet from 6-7 p.m. on five consecutive Wednesdays in Room 143. $79. Register: learn.wcu.edu. Info: yono@wcu.edu. • A class on computer file organization will be offered at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Jackson County Public Library. Sign up: 586.2016. • Dr. Chris Cooper of Western Carolina University will present a discussion on “Different Species, Similar Methods: The Emerging Nexus Between the Natural and Social Sciences” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Sponsored by the WCU Chapter of Sigma Xi. • “Basics of Bookkeeping” is the topic of a seminar offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Small Business Center, Room 5108. Register or get more info: 627.4512 or SBC.Haywood.edu.

All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. • Konnichiwa! A five-week, non-credit conversational Japanese course will be offered from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesdays from Feb. 22-March 29 at Western Carolina University’s Cordelia Camp Building in Cullowhee. Info and online registration: http://go.wcu.edu/japanese. Questions: yono@wcu.edu. • The U.S. Forest Service is hosting Industry Days on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 23-24, to provide information and assistance to contractors who may be interested in bidding on project work on North Carolina’s national forests. The first is from noon-4:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Nantahala Ranger District Office in Franklin; the second is from noon-4:30 p.m. on Friday at the Southern Research Station Headquarters. Info: 257.4205, twoldu@fs.fed.us or www.sbtdc.org/programs/ptac. • An informative Open House event about the new Certified Nonprofit Professional credential Western Carolina University is offering will be held from 3:305:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 at WCU’s instructional site at Biltmore Park in Asheville. The first course begins with an onsite workshop March 10. To register or learn more: go.wcu.edu/cnpworkforce. Info: 227.3070 or jcthompson@wcu.edu. • A presentation on the history of immigration in the U.S. and the ethnic groups that came here will be offered by Dr. Ben Francis-Fallon at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Haywood County NAACP’s meeting at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Jones Temple A.M.E. Zion in Waynesville. • A program entitled “How to Write a Business Plan” will be presented by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, at the Jackson Campus. Part of a business startup series, which will meet each Monday through March 27. Registration required: www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc. Info: 339.4211 or t_henry@southwesterncc.edu. • A regional conference on “Growing Partnerships with Outdoor Tourism and Local Communities” is from 9:15 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee. Hosted by Western Carolina University. Registration: $139. Pre-conference workshop from 1-5:30 p.m. on Feb. 27 on fundamentals of operating a tourism development authority; costs $29. http://tourismn.wcu.edu or 227.7397. • “Choosing Your Legal Structure” is the topic of a seminar offered by Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Small Business Center, Room 5108. Register or get more info: 627.4512 or SBC.Haywood.edu. • Southwestern Community College’s Career Services will host a job and networking fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, in the Burrell Conference Center on the SCC Jackson Campus in Sylva. Employers wishing to recruit at the event can register by writing to m_despeaux@southwesterncc.edu. • “The Stones Cry Out: Stories of the People and History of the Bryson City Cemetery” is the title of the program for the Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting at 6:30 p.m. on March 2 at the Swain County Regional Business Education and Training Center in Bryson City. • A seminar entitled “Effective Fundraising with the Help of Your Board” will be presented by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center from 9 a.m.-noon on Wednesday, March 8, at SCC’s Jackson Campus in Sylva. Led by Amanda PEARCE, CFRE and owner of Funding for Good, Inc. Register: www.ncsbc.net. Info: 339.4211 or t_henry@southwesterncc.edu.

Smoky Mountain News

• Haywood Community College’s Small Business Center will offer a seminar entitled “HR Basics for Small Business” from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, March 9 at the HCC Regional High Technology Center in Clyde. Register or get more info: SBC.Haywood.edu or 627.4512. • The Southwestern Commission is accepting proposals for funding from local governments and nonprofits in the state’s seven westernmost counties through 5 p.m. on Friday, March 3. For guidelines and match requirements, visit: www.regiona.org. Info: rharris@regiona.org. • A program entitled “Basics of Bookkeeping” will be presented by Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, March 6, at the Jackson Campus. Part of a business startup series, which will meet each Monday through March 27. Registration required: www.southwesterncc.edu/sbc. Info: 339.4211 or t_henry@southwesterncc.edu.

FUNDRAISERS AND BENEFITS • The Wildlife Club at Haywood Community College will host its 11th annual Wild Game Dinner at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Haywood County Fairgrounds. Fundraiser for students. Bring your favorite wild game dish, vegetables and/or dessert. $10 admission ($5 if you bring a dish). Children under 12 eat free. 627.4560 or srabby@haywood.edu. • The ninth annual Mardi Gras Ball benefit for the Haywood County Schools Foundation is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Laurel Ridge Country Blub. Sponsored by Entegra Bank. • Tickets available now for the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville’s Annual Pancake Day, which is from 6:30-7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28. Tickets available at the church office, on Sunday mornings or from church members. Also at the door. 456.9475.

VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS

Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: ■ Complete listings of local music scene ■ Regional festivals ■ Art gallery events and openings ■ Complete listings of recreational offerings at regional health and fitness centers ■ Civic and social club gatherings scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25; and 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, March 1-8, in the Waynesville Wellness Classroom. First come, first served. 539.0440, www.blueridgenaturalhealth.com. • “Know Your Numbers – Heart Month Screening” is being offered through March 2 by Haywood Regional Medical Center. Screenings are held from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at Haywood Health Center in Clyde; and from 1-3 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, Feb. 28 and March 2, at Mast General Store in Waynesville. • A hands-only CPR course is scheduled for 10 a.m.12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Haywood Regional Health & Fitnsess Center in Clyde. Hands-only CPR is the use of chest compressions in an attempt to resuscitate a victim of cardiac arrest. $15 fee for members; $25 for nonmembers. Register by Feb. 22: 452.8080 or at the front desk. Info: 452.8098. • NEDAwareness Week is Sunday through Saturday, Feb. 26-March 4, to shine the spotlight on eating disorders in Western North Carolina. www.thecenternc.org. simoneseitzavl@gmail.com; elaine@thecenternc.org. • The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 1:30-6 p.m. on March 3 at Little Brasstown Baptist Church in Brasstown. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800.RED.CROSS (800.733.2767).

• Applications to be Folkmoot Festival guides will be accepted until Feb. 28. Twenty individuals will serve as ambassadors to visiting international cultural performance groups during the 45th annual festival from July 20-Aug. 2. Info: 452.2997 or elizabeth@folkmoot.org.

• The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive from 8:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m. on March 3 at Swain County High School in Bryson City. Download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800.RED.CROSS (800.733.2767).

• Applications are being accepted through March 3 for exhibitors at the sixth annual Healthy Living Festival, which is from 9 a.m.-noon on April 8 at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. For applications or info: 587.8292 or lizcochran@jacksonnc.org.

• A Food Addicts Anonymous Twelve-Step fellowship group meets at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays at Grace Church in the Mountains in Waynesville. www.foodaddictsanonymous.org.

• Haywood Regional Medical Center is currently seeking volunteers of all ages for ongoing support at the hospital, outpatient care center and the Homestead. For info and to apply: 452.8301, stop by the information desk in the lobby or volunteer@haymed.org. Anyone interested in becoming a hospice volunteer can call 452.5039. • Greening up the Mountains Festival is seeking artists, mountain crafters, environmental and food vendors to apply for a booth in its 20th festival, which is from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on April 22. Applications available at www.greeningupthemountains.com, or call 631.4587. • STAR Rescue Ranch is seeking volunteers to help with horse care, fundraising events, barn maintenance and more at the only equine rescue in Haywood County. 505.274.9199. • Volunteer Opportunities are available throughout the region, call John at the Haywood Jackson Volunteer Center today and get started sharing your talents. 356.2833.

HEALTH MATTERS • Acupuncture clinics for Haywood County veterans are

• The Jackson County Department of Public Health will offer a general clinic from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting March 6. 587.8225. • Heart health will be the topic of the Ladies Night Out programs, which are at 4 and 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28, at the Angel Medical Center cafeteria in Franklin. • A support group meeting for those with Parkinsons Disease and their caregivers will be held at 2 p.m. on the last day Wednesday of the month at the Waynesville Senior Resource Center.

RECREATION AND FITNESS • An NC Safe Plates class will be offered on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 28-March 1, at the Macon County Agricultural Services Center in Franklin. Registration deadline is Feb. 17. For info or to enroll: 349.2046 or Julie_sawyer@ncsu.edu. • Registration is underway for a PDGA-sanctioned disc golf tournament, which will be held on Sunday, March 12, at the Waynesville Disc Golf Course at Vance Street Park in Waynesville. Register for the “Blind Hog Day Light Savings Throw Down” at https://www.discgolf-

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scene.com/tournaments/Blind_Hog_Day_Light_Savin gs_Throw_Down_2017. Info: 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov. • “Winter Warm-Ups” will be offered from 10-11:15 a.m. on Mondays through Feb. 29 at Sylva First Baptist Church. Movement exercises designed to increase flexibility, build strength and encourage more activity during winter months. 369.6909. • Friday night skiing and snowboarding is being offered through the Jackson County Parks & Recreation Department at Cataloochee Ski Resort. Hours are 5-9 p.m. on March 3. $25 lift only; $35 for lift and rental; $45 for lift, rental and lesson. www.rec.jacksonnc.org.

SPIRITUAL • A new mindfulness group will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursdays through March 16 at 166 Branner Ave., Suite C, in Waynesville. Cost: $25 per person or $40 per couple per session. Registration required: 703.609.9107 or dchristiano@yahoo.com.

POLITICAL • Jackson County Democratic Party precincts will hold their annual meetings on Feb. 23 and 25. All precincts except Cashiers, Glenville and Canada will be at noon on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Jackson County Family Resource Center in Webster. Cashiers and Glenville meet at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Cashiers Recreation Center. Details on Canada’s meeting have not been set.

February 22-28, 2017

• Indivisible Swain County meets at 6 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Seniors Center, 125 Brendle Street in Bryson City. Bipartisan group committed to applying peaceful, persistent pressure on government officials for the common good. 488.1118.

• A Silver Sneakers Cardio Fit class will meet from 10-11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Waynesville Recreation Center. For ages 60 and above. Cost is regular admission fee to the rec center or free for members. 456.2030 or tplowman@waynesvillenc.gov. • Book Club is held at 2 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800 • Senior croquet for ages 55 and older is offered from 9-11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Vance Street Park in front of Waynesville Recreation Center. Free. For info, contact Donald Hummel at 456.2030 or dhummel@waynesvillenc.gov. • A Hand & Foot card game is held at 1 p.m. on Mondays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2800. • Senior Sale Day is on the third Friday of every month at the Friends of the Library Used Bookstore. Patrons 60 and older get 20 percent off all purchases. Proceeds benefit the Sylva Library. • Pinochle game is played at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813. • Hearts is played at 12 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813. • Mah Jongg is played at 1 p.m. on Wednesdays at Haywood County Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 356.2813.

KIDS & FAMILIES

• N.C. Rep. Mike Clampitt of Bryson City will have a constituent meeting at 4 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Historic Haywood County Courthouse in Waynesville. Opportunity to ask questions about what Clampitt’s office is working on, the General Assembly and share any concerns.

• Open House dates for the Waynesville Parks & Recreation Department’s upcoming summer camp season will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 at the Waynesville Recreation Center. Attendance at one session mandatory for parents whose kids want to attend camp. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

• The Jackson County Republican Party will hold its monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 27, at Ryan’s in Sylva. Agenda includes plans for the Jackson County Republican County Convention, which is March 17. Info: 743.6491 or jacksonctygop@yahoo.com.

• “Mommy/Daddy and Me” open gym is available for parents and kids to play or do arts and crafts from 10-11 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. For ages 3-5 with parents present; no preregistration required. $1 per child per day.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS • “A Rash of Stories” adapted from the short stories of Ron Rash will be presented by Barbara Bates Smith and musician Jeff Sebens from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, at the Lake Logan Conference Center in Haywood County. $25 for lecture and lunch; $143.89 for B&B, lecture and lunch. Info: Susan@lakelogan.org or 646.0095.

Smoky Mountain News

• Haywood County Senior Resource Center is looking into starting a weekly Euchre Card Group. If interested, contact Michelle Claytor at mclaytor@mountainprojects.org or 356.2800.

• Author Tyler Cook, a native of Franklin and Western Carolina University alumnus, will release his fourth book “Vigilante” at 9 a.m. on March 4 at the Macon County Public Library. It’s a sequel to “Aluria” and the second in his “Aluria Adventure Series.” Moonshinepressnc@gmail.com or tylermcook.com.

SENIOR ACTIVITIES • Chair/Mat Yoga is offered from 2-3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Canton Senior Center. 356.2838 or 648.8173. • The Mexican Train Dominoes Group seeks new players to join games at 1:30 p.m. each Tuesday at the Senior Resource Center in Waynesville. 926.6567.

• Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina – an effort to help area residents commit to a healthier lifestyle, will meet from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Haywood County Senior Resource Center in 40 Waynesville.

• Family friendly slalom and downriver “Glacier Breaker” races are set for Feb. 25-28 at Nantahala Outdoor Center. $30. On-site registration from 9-10 a.m. at River’s End Restaurant. 785.4854 or www.nantahalaracingclub.com. • Applications are being accepted through March 3 for young musicians who want to perform in the Haywood County Arts Council’s 19th annual Student Honors Recital, which is at 3 p.m. on April 2 at the First United Methodist Church of Waynesville. Pianists, instrumentalists and vocalists. Application info at http://haywoodarts.org/special-events. Area youth music teachers can register students by writing director@haywoodarts.org or calling 452.0593. • Registration is underway for Youth Volleyball Clinics for girls through the Jackson County Recreation Department. $40. Clinics are Thursdays from March 9April 13 at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Grades 48. www.rec.jacksonnc.org. • Registration has begun for Youth Spring Soccer through the Jackson County Parks & Recreation Department. Open to players born between 2003-12. Birth certificates required for first-time players. $55. www.rec.jacksonnc.org. • The Canton Library offers a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) program each month. At 4 p.m. on third Tuesday. Children ages 612 are welcome to attend. Please call 648-2924 for more information.

• Registration is underway for Homeschool P.E. through Jackson County Parks & Recreation Department. $20. Classes will meet at 10 a.m. every Tuesday starting Jan. 31 for 10 weeks. For ages 5-15. www.rec.jacksonnc.org.

form as part of the Galaxy of Stars Series on Friday, Feb. 24, in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Tickets available at bardoartscenter.wcu.edu or 227.2479.

“The Lego Batman Movie” will be shown on Feb. 2223 at 7 p.m. at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. See website www.38main.com for prices.

• The Choral Department from East Tennessee State University will be giving a full departmental concert at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. The concert is free to all (a donation will be collected on behalf of the ETSU Choral Department) and representatives from ETSU recruitment will be in attendance.

• “Life of PI” will be shown on Friday, Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Mad Batter Food and Film. Free. www.madbatterfoodfilm.com.

• Michael Bolton will be preforming on Friday, Feb. 24 at Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee at 9 p.m. https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-cherokee/shows

• A family movie will be shown at 10:30 a.m. every Friday at Hudson Library in Highlands.

• There will be a stand-up comedy showcase from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at Currahee Brewing in Franklin. Six different comedians and 12 taps flowing with locally made craft beer from Currahee. The event is free and open to the public. www.curraheebrew.com.

KIDS MOVIES

FOOD & DRINK • Blossom on Main, Thai Fusion will hold an Open House with samples of food, sake and wine from 3-5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 128 N. Main Street in Waynesville. • The Balsam Mountain Inn will host a “Valentine’s Package” through Feb. 28. Add a candlelit dinner for two, fresh flowers, champagne, souvenir flutes and freshly baked cookies for an additional $125 to the room rate. To reserve, 800.224.9498. • Graceann’s Amazing Breakfast is 8-10 a.m. every Tuesday in the Sapphire Room at the Sapphire Valley Community Center. $8.50 for adults; $5 for children. Includes coffee and orange juice. 743.7663. • Free cooking demonstrations will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Saturdays at Country Traditions in Dillsboro. Watch the demonstrations, eat samples and taste house wines for $3 a glass. All recipes posted online. www.countrytraditionsnc.com. • A game day will occur from 2-9 p.m. every third Saturday of the month at Papou’s Wine Shop & Bar in Sylva. Bring dice, cards or board games. 586.6300. • A wine tasting will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays at Papou’s Wine Shop in Sylva. $5 per person. www.papouswineshop.com or 586.6300. • A free wine tasting will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays at Bosu’s Wine Shop in Waynesville. www.waynesvillewine.com or 452.0120. • A wine tasting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays The Classic Wineseller in Waynesville. Free with dinner ($15 minimum). 452.6000.

• “Schoolhouse Rock Live! JR.” will be presented at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on consecutive Saturday, Feb. 25, at HART in Waynesville. $10 for adults; $5 for kids. Reservations: 456.6322 or www.harttheatre.org. • The MET Opera’s production of “Rusalka” by Dvorrak will be presented live via satellite at 12:55 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Highlands Performing Arts Center in Highlands. Pre-opera discussion led by Beverly Wichman starts at 12:30 p.m. Tickets: highlandspac.org, at the door or 526.9047. • Matt Townsend (acoustic singer songwriter) will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at HART’s Fangmeyer Theater in Waynesville. Dinner is served starting at 5:30 p.m. at Harmon’s Den. • The 2016-17 First Thursday Old-Time and Bluegrass Series at Western Carolina University will continue with a concert featuring the traditional music ensemble Blue-Eyed Girl on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m., in Cullowhee in the ground-floor auditorium of H.F. Robinson Administration Building. • The iconic alt-country/bluegrass act Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will celebrate over 50 years of notable music with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 3, at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts in Franklin. Tickets start at $24. www.greatmountainmusic.com or 866.273.4615. • Roots and Dare (acoustic singer songwriters) will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, at HART’s Fangmeyer Theater in Waynesville. Dinner is served starting at 5:30 p.m. at Harmon’s Den. • The Eccentric Gemini will present “The Three-In-One Art Show” from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, in the Macon County Public Library Meeting Room in Franklin. Art reception with Josh Franks. 524.3600.

A&E ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • The Canton Armory will host “Winter Pickin’ in the Armory” at 7 p.m. every first and third Friday of the month. The event includes mountain music, vintage country, clogging and dancing. Doors open at 6 p.m. Free. www.cantonnc.com. • A multimedia performance of “Taj Express: The Bollywood Musical Revue” – a fusion of film, dance and music – will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Bardo Arts Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. $20 for nonstudents; free for students. Preregistration required: tcbowers1@catamount.wcu.edu (for students) and hensley@wcu.edu (for non-students). • The LMP Late Night Comedy will be held at 9 p.m. Feb. 24 in UC Illusions at Western Carolina University. www.wcu.edu. • Rhonda Vincent and the Rage (bluegrass) will per-

• The Darren Nicholson Band will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 5, at The Strand at 38 Main in Waynesville. Nicholson is the mandolinist for Balsam Range, winners of the International Bluegrass Music Association award for “Entertainer of the Year” and “Song of the Year.” Tickets are $18. To purchase tickets, click on www.38main.com. • “Black and White and Blues” will be presented by Scott Ainslie and Reggie Harris at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, at the Swain Arts Center, which is located on the campus of Swain County High. Tour music of the American South where European and African musical traditions cross-pollinated to create the hybrids that have long dominated American popular music. $10 for adults; free for students. 488.7843 or rlackey@swainmail.org.

CLASSES AND PROGRAMS • A cobweb broom-making workshop is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at Western Carolina University’s museum of Appalachian Culture in Cullowhee. Demonstration by Mickey Sizemore. 227.7129.e

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â&#x20AC;˘ There will a pine needle basketry class from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, Tennessee. Cost of the class is $15 and includes materials. To register, call 423.884.6246 or stop by the museum. â&#x20AC;˘ The Waynesville Public Art Commission is sending out a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Call for Artistsâ&#x20AC;? for a new piece dedicated to the Plott Hound. Should you have any questions, please contact Amie Owens, assistant town manager at aowens@waynesvillenc.gov.

ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soft Diplomacy: Quilting Cultural Diplomacy in Liberiaâ&#x20AC;? is on exhibit through May 5 at the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at Bardo Arts Center in Cullowhee. 227.3591. â&#x20AC;˘ The Western North Carolina â&#x20AC;&#x153;Artists Countâ&#x20AC;? project is hosting a series of exhibitions to highlight the rich visual contributions made by area artists. The first such exhibit, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Smoky Mountains Samplerâ&#x20AC;? is now open at the Welcome Center north of Asheville on Interstate 26. Southwestern Community College instructors Ed McIlvaine and Susan Coe as well as SCC student Kari McIlvaine have their pottery on display through July. â&#x20AC;˘ Painter Shawna Solita has an art exhibition ongoing throughout February at Donnoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Higher Ground Tattoo in Bryson City. Watercolor, ink and acrylics. 488.8282. â&#x20AC;˘ Abstract art will be exhibited through Feb. 25 at the Haywood County Arts Council Gallery & Gifts at 86 N. Main Street in Waynesville. Featuring local artists. 452.0593, info@haywoodarts.org or HaywoodArts.org. â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Magic Starts Hereâ&#x20AC;? exhibit will run through Feb. 25 at The Bascom in Highlands. Featuring numerous students from the Master of Fine Arts program at Western Carolina University. www.thebascom.org.

FILM & SCREEN â&#x20AC;˘ 2017 Academy Award Nominee, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Arrivalâ&#x20AC;? will be shown on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. Madbatterfoodfilm.com. â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alliedâ&#x20AC;? will be shown on Thursday, March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. Madbatterfoodfilm.com. â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Loganâ&#x20AC;? will be shown on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m., Satuday, March 4 at 1:30 p.m., 4:10 p.m., and 7 p.m., Sunday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m., and March 6-9 at 7 p.m. at The Strand on Main in Waynesville. www.38main.com.

S Banking... Simplified ns, Mortgages, business loan and moreâ&#x20AC;Śall with the community in mind.

â&#x20AC;˘ Adult movie time, 6:30 p.m. Mondays at Jackson County Public Library. Call for title of movie. 586.2016.

Outdoors â&#x20AC;˘ The Gem & Mineral Society of Franklin celebrates its 45th anniversary at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Masonic Lodge in Franklin. â&#x20AC;˘ Three shows with a portable planetarium will be offered on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. Show times are 2, 3 and 5:30 p.m. Free tickets required: 488.3030, ext. 129 or stop by the library.

ARDEN ŕ Ž /LUKLYZVU]PSSL 9K (YKLU 5* ŕ Ž CANTON ŕ Ž (JHKLT` :[YLL[ *HU[VU 5* ŕ Ž WA AY YNESVILLE ŕ Ž >HSU\[ :[YLL[ >H`ULZ]PSSL 5* ŕ Ž ASHEVILLE ŕ Ž 7H[[VU ( (]]LU\L *VTPUN : :VVU

Smoky Mountain News

â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Doctor Strangeâ&#x20AC;? will be shown on Friday, March 3 and Saturday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Mad Batter Food & Film in Sylva. Free. Madbatterfoodfilm.com.

February 22-28, 2017

â&#x20AC;˘ An exhibition by Atlanta-based photographer Chris Aluka Berry will be on display through March in the Rotunda Gallery of the Jackson County Public Library in Sylva. Info: info@survivalpride.com or art@affrilachiastudio.com.

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• A Citizen Science Workshop focused on the weather is scheduled for noon-1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. Become a contributer to the NASA Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE). https://globescistarter.org. • A program on Camping Stoves and Water Treatment will be offered from 1-4 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the Cullowhee Recreation Center. Learn about the pros and cons of different fuel types, styles and applications for cooking. www.rec.jacksonnc.org. • Swain Clean’s third annual Pizza Social is at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Swain County Senior Citizens Center. Group’s mission is clean roads and waterways. RSVP: 736.6770. • A class on “Growing Shiitake Mushrooms” will be offered from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at the Macon County Environmental Resource Center in Franklin. $10 materials fee. Bring two hardwood logs; oak is preferred; no walnut, locust or conifers, 4-6 inches in diameter and 3 to 4 feet long. Register at the Macon County Cooperative Extension Center. Questions: 349.2046. • The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. on Feb. 28 on the fifth floor of the Commission’s headquarters at 1751 Varsity Drive in Raleigh to take comments on a no-wake zone rule in Clay County. Comments are also accepted through 5 p.m. on April 3 at betsy.haywood@ncwildlife.org. Info: www.ncwildlife.org.

February 22-28, 2017

• An exhibit chronicling the history of dugout canoes in the Americas will be on display through May 2 at the Baker Exhibit Center of the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. • A Base Camp Adventure Club trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., is scheduled for Sunday through Wednesday, March 5-8, through the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Includes trip to the Tennessee Aquarium, Lookout Mountain, downtown and more. Register or get more info: 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov or http://www.waynesvillenc.gov/basecamp-adventure-club-trip-to-chattanooga-offered. • The Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians and the Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited are hosting a “Tie One On” event to support Project Healing Waters from 1-6 p.m. on March 5 at Rendezvous Restaurant in Maggie Valley. Bring flytying gear and tie flies for a veteran’s fly box. Info: fearnofishbob@att.net or 246.8015.

• A Lunch and Learn program examining stewardship of the western landscape will be presented at noon on

Smoky Mountain News

Thursday, Feb. 23. Speakers will be Tamara Graham and Sybil Agrintar, authors of “Forest, Farm + Garden: The Campus Arboretum of Haywood Community College.” Presented by the Western Office of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. 296.7230, heather.south@ncdcr.gov or www.ncdcr.gov/about/history/western-office. • A program on starting plants from seed will be offered from 1-2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24, in the Waynesville Library Auditorium. Registration required: 356.2507 or kolsen@haywoodnc.net. • A program on “Keeping Backyard Poultry” is set for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Macon County Extension Office. Topics include breed selection, hatching, brooding and more. Register: 349.2046. • ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project) kicks of its year with its 14th annual Business of Farming Conference in partnership with NC Cooperative Extension and Mountain Bizworks. The conference is Saturday, Feb. 25, at AB Tech in Asheville. Register: asapconnections.org or 236.1282. • The Appalachian Homesteaders Network, a regional network of “Preppers,” will host a meeting to discuss resources available to Preppers in WNC and North Georgia from 1-3 p.m. on Feb. 25 in the Community Room of the Marianna Black Library in Bryson City. • The N.C. Cooperative Extension Service will hold a seminar on establishing and maintaining blueberries and grapevines at three different locations: 10 a.m.noon on Wednesday, March 1, at the Swain Extension Center in Bryson City; from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday, March 2, at the Jackson Extension Center in Sylva; and from 10 a.m.-noon on Tuesday, March 7, at the Cashiers Library. For info or to register: 586.4009, 488.3848 or clbreden@ncsu.edu.

HIKING CLUBS

FARM AND GARDEN • The second annual workshop on nonnative invasive plants for landscape and nursery professionals is set for 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Highlands Community Building. $50 per anyone seeking Continuing Education Units; free for others.

www.ThePrintHaus.com

641 North Main Street, WAYNESVILLE, NC (3/10 Mile North of the Courthouse)

828-456-HAUS (4287)

• Nantahala Hiking Club based in Macon County holds weekly Saturday hikes in the Nantahala National Forest and beyond. www.nantahalahikingclub.org

• The Cherokee Runners meets each month on the 1st and 15th of the month (if the first falls on Sunday, the group meets on the 2nd), at the Age Link Conference Room. Group runs are being held each Tuesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. starting at the Flame. www.cherokeerunners.com.

• Carolina Mountain Club hosts more than 150 hikes a year, including options for full days on weekends, full days on Wednesdays and half days on Sundays. Nonmembers contact event leaders. www.carolinamountainclub.org

• The Jackson-Swain Master Gardeners’ Association meets at 9:30 a.m. every second Wednesday at the Jackson Community Services Building on Scotts Creek Road in Sylva. Mike Glover at 736.2768 or lmgofish@gmail.com.

• Mountain High Hikers, based in Young Harris, Ga., leads several hikes per week. Guests should contact hike leader. www.mountainhighhikers.org.

• Pigeon Valley Bassmasters Club will meet at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at J&S Cafeteria, Enka, Exit 44 off I-40. 712.2846.

• Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, located in East Tennessee, makes weekly hikes in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park as well as surrounding areas. www.smhclub.org.

• Macon County Horse Association meets at 7:30 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Macon County Fairgrounds Alumni Building. Education program and business meeting. ddoster@fs.fed.us.

• Benton MacKaye Trail Association incorporates outings for hikes, trail maintenance and other work trips. No experience is necessary to participate. www.bmta.org.

• The Macon County Beekeepers Association meets at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month at the extension office located on Thomas Heights Road next to Jim Brown Chrysler on Highlands Road. New members welcome.

• Diamond Brand’s Women’s Hiking Group meets on the third Saturday of every month. For more information, e-mail awilliams@diamondbrand.com or call 684.6262.

OUTDOOR CLUBS • The Jackson County Poultry Club will hold its regular meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Jackson County Cooperative Extension Office. The club is for adults and children and includes a monthly meeting with a program and a support network for those raising birds. For info, call 586.4009 or write heather_gordon@ncsu.edu. • The North Carolina Catch program, a three-phase conservation education effort focusing on aquatic environments, will be offered through May 15. The program is offered by the Waynesville Parks and Recreation Department. Free for members; daily admission for nonmembers. 456.2030 or tpetrea@waynesvillenc.gov.

• Carolina Mountain Club will have a five-mile hike with a 700-foot ascent on Feb. 26 at Turkey Pen and Pea Gap Ramble. For info and reservations, contact leader Dick Zimmerer at 989.0480 or dd1zz@yahoo.com.

• The Cataloochee Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets the second Tuesday of the month starting with a dinner at 6:30 p.m. at Rendezvous restaurant located on the corner of Jonathan Creek Road and Soco Road in Maggie Valley. 631.5543.

Large Wall Calendar Designed to be written on. (No purchase necessary)

509 Asheville Hwy., Suite B, SYLVA, NC (Located in the NAPA Auto Parts Center)

828-586-HAUS (4287)

• Cold Mountain Photographic Society is a camera/photography club for amateurs and professionals who want to learn about and share their knowledge of photography with others. Must be 18 or older to join. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month in the conference room of MedWest Health and Fitness Center, 262 Leroy George Drive in Clyde. More information at www.cmpsnc.org or info@cmpsnc.org.

• High Country Hikers, based out of Hendersonville but hiking throughout Western North Carolina, plans hikes every Monday and Thursday. Schedules, meeting places and more information are available on their website, www.highcountryhikers.org.

• An RV camping club, the Vagabonds, camps one weekend per month from April through November. All ages welcome. No dues or structured activities. For details, write lilnau@aol.com or call 369.6669.

FREE 2017 THE PRINT HAUS INC. GROUP

• Friends of the Smokies hikes are offered on the second Tuesday of each month. www.friendsofthesmokies.org/hikes.html.

• The Nantahala Hiking Club will have a Saturday Trail Maintenance Work Hike from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25. Register/info: 369.1983.

Come in and pick up your

Authorized ShipCenter

• Hike of the Week is at 10 a.m. every Friday at varying locations along the parkway. Led by National Park Service rangers. www.nps.gov/blri or 298.5330, ext. 304.

• Haywood Bee Keepers Association meets at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the NC Ag center on Raccoon Road. hcbees.org. • Smoky Mountain Beekeepers meet at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at the SCC Swain Center in Bryson City on Almond School Road. Open to anyone interested in honeybees. 554.6935. • The Franklin Walking Club meets at 10 a.m. every Saturday (weather permitting) at the Tassee picnic shelter on the Greenway at the corner of Wells Grove Road and Ulco Drive. All fitness levels are welcome, call Linda at 421.7613. • Swain County Trail Runners. Long run group meets 8 a.m. Saturdays at the Deep Creek Trailhead Parking Area in Bryson City. All runs are on trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or Tsali Recreation Area. All distances, paces, ages welcome. More information at 399.0989, 488.6769 or wdtreern@yahoo.com. • The Sylva Garden Club meets at 9:30 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Presbyterian Church in Sylva. cindyrparker@gmail.com. • WNC Sportsman’s Club meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Monday night of each month at the Juke Box Junction Restaurant located in Bethel at the junction of US 276 and N.C. 110 wncsportsmansclub.com

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

PRIME REAL ESTATE Advertise in The Smoky Mountain News

AUCTION

MarketPlace information: The Smoky Mountain News Marketplace has a distribution of 16,000 every week to over 500 locations across in Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties along with the Qualla Boundary and west Buncombe County. For a link to our MarketPlace Web site, which also contains a link to all of our MarketPlace display advertisers’ Web sites, visit www.smokymountainnews.com.

Rates:

■ Free — Lost or found pet ads. ■ $5 — Residential yard sale ads, ■ $5 — Non-business items that sell for less than $150. ■ $15 — Classified ads that are 50 words or less; each additional line is $2. If your ad is 10 words or less, it will be displayed with a larger type. ■ $3 — Border around ad and $5 — Picture with ad or colored background. ■ $50 — Non-business items, 25 words or less. 3 month or till sold. ■ $300 — Statewide classifieds run in 117 participating newspapers with 1.6 million circulation. Up to 25 words. ■ All classified ads must be pre-paid.

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

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CONSTRUCTION/ REMODELING HAYWOOD BUILDERS Garage Doors, New Installations Service & Repairs, 828.456.6051 100 Charles St. Waynesville Employee Owned. FOR SALE: HEATILATOR I-60 Wood Burning Fireplace, for Built In Applications, Large Firebox Opening, with 30ft. Chimney. New in Original Packaging, $600 For More Info Call 828.696.5039. ACORN STAIRLIFTS. The Affordable Solution to your stairs! **Limited time -$250 Off Your Stairlift Purchase!** Buy Direct & SAVE. Please call 1.800.291.2712 for FREE DVD and brochure.

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ALL THINGS BASEMENTY! Basement Systems Inc. Call us for all of your basement needs! Waterproofing, Finishing, Structural Repairs, Humidity and Mold Control. FREE ESTIMATES! Call 1.800.698.9217 BATHTUB REFINISHING Renew or change the color of your bathtub, tile or sink. Fiberglass repair specialists! 5 year warranty. Locally owned since 1989. CarolinasTubDoctor.com. 888.988.4430. SAFE STEP WALK-IN TUB: Alert for Seniors. Bathroom falls can be fatal. Approved by Arthritis Foundation. Therapeutic Jets. Less Than 4 Inch Step-In. Wide Door. Anti-Slip Floors. American Made. Installation Included. Call Now 800.701.9850 to receive $750 Off. DAVE’S CUSTOM HOMES OF WNC, Free Estimates & Competitive rates. References avail. upon request. Specializing in: Log Homes, remodeling, decks, new construction, repairs & additions. Owner/Builder: Dave Donaldson. Licensed/Insured. 828.631.0747 or 828.508.0316

MOTORCYCLES CRAZY BOB’S BIKER STUFF Jackets, Chaps, Vests, Helmets, Rain Gear, Saddlebags, Sissy Bar Bags, Tool Bags, Stickers, Patches. We also got you covered with 50 Sizes of Tarps: Heavy Duty Silver, Brown & Green, Blue & Silver, Blue & Camo. 1880 Dellwood Rd., Waynesville 828.926.1177

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ADVERTISE YOUR VEHICLE In over 100 newspapers across the state for only $375. Call Lyndsey Clevesy at NC Press Services, 919.516.8009. DRIVE WITH UBER. No experience is required, but you'll need a Smartphone. It's fun and easy. For more information, call: 1.800.655.7452

WNC MarketPlace

CARS -

A-1 DONATE YOUR CAR For Breast Cancer! Help United Breast Foundation Education, Prevention, & Support Programs. Fast Free Pickup - 24 Hr Response - Tax Deduction 855.306.7348 SAPA CARS/TRUCKS WANTED!!! Top Dollar! Free Towing From Home, Office or body Shop. All Makes/Models 2000-2016. Same Day Pick-Up Available! Call Now: 1.800.761.9396 SAPA

DONATE YOUR CAR, Truck Or Boat To Heritage For The Blind. Free 3 Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. CALL 1.800.416.1496 STOP PAYING FOR Expensive Auto Repairs! Get discounted warranty coverage from the wholesale source, and don’t pay for expensive covered repairs! Start saving now! Call 844.274.6148 SAPA

PETS

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Prevent Unwanted Litters! The Heat Is On! Spay/Neuter For Haywood Pets As Low As $10. Operation Pit is in Effect! Free Spay/Neuter, Microchip & Vaccines For Haywood Pitbull Types & Mixes! Tuesday-Friday, 12 Noon - 6 pm 182 Richland Street, Waynesville

EMPLOYMENT

February 22-28, 2017

EASTER - A BEAUTIFUL SIX-MONTH-OLD KITTEN WITH AN ORANGE, BLACK AND WHITE COAT. SHE IS A SWEET, FRIENDLY KITTY, AND SHE LOVES TO RECEIVE PETTING FROM ANYONE SHE MEETS. SHE WILL BE A WONDERFUL FAMILY COMPANION CAT.

COOPER - A HANDSOME FOXHOUND MALE ABOUT TWO YEARS OLD. HE LOVES PEOPLE AND IS FRIENDLY TO EVERYONE HE MEETS. HE HAS A MODERATE ENERGY LEVEL, AND WILL BE HAPPY WITH SOME WALKS WITH HIS NEW FAMILY, AND A LITTLE YARD TIME TO PLAY.

EARLY HEAD START TEACHERJackson County - An Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education is required for this position. Candidates must have the ability to work well with families and co-workers, 2 years’ experience working with birth – 3 years and have good judgment/problem solving skills. Prefer someone with Infant/Toddler CDA credentials and basic computer skills. Full time with benefits. Applications will be taken at Mountain Projects, 2251 Old Balsam Rd, Waynesville, NC 28786 or 25 Schulman St, Sylva, NC 28779 or you may go to our website: www.mountainprojects.org and fill out an application online EOE/AA.

MAPLE TREE VETERINARY Hospital & Dog Camp Hiring Front Team PT & FT. Brief interviews Feb. 28th and March 7th at 1:30 p.m. Bring Resume, Cover Letter and References. RSVP with Full Name and Date you Plan to Attend. Email: staff@mapletreevet.com AIRLINE MECHANIC TRAINING Get FAA Technician Certification. Approved For Military Benefits. Financial Aid If Qualified. Job Placement Assistance. Call Aviation Institute Of Maintenance 1.866.724.5403 SAPA MEDICAL BILLING TRAINEES NEED! Train at Home for a new career now at CTI! No Experience Needed! Online Training can get you job ready! 1.888.512.7122 HS Diploma/GED & Computer needed. careertechnical.edu/nc FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Audio Visual Technician, Dean of Corporate and Industry Training, Critical care Paramedic & RN Instructor, Certified Nursing Assistant Instructor, Automotive Systems Technology Instructor, Program Coordinator-Collision Repair & Refinishing For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

NICOL ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

OFFICE HOURS:

www.smokymountainnews.com

Monday & Wednesday 8:00am - 4:00pm 168 E. Nicol Arms Road Sylva, NC 28779

Phone# 1.828.273.3639 TDD# 1.800.735.2962

EMPLOYMENT

PEER SUPPORT SPECIALISTS Meridian is hiring Peer Support Specialists in the following programs: Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT) in Jackson County, ACTT in Cherokee County, and PACE (all peer team) in Haywood County. Being a Peer Support Specialist provides an opportunity for individuals to transform their own personal lived experience with mental health and/or addiction challenges into a tool for inspiring hope for recovery in others. Applicants must demonstrate maturity in their own recovery process, have a HS Diploma or GED, valid driver’s license, reliable transportation and have moderate computer skills. If you are seeking some basic information about the role of Peer Support Specialists within the public behavioral health system, please go to NC Peer Support Specialist Certification Site: http://pss.unc.edu/ You do not have to be a certified peer support specialist prior to employment. To apply, visit the employment section of our website to complete an application and submit your resume: www.meridianbhs.org

RECEPTIONIST FOR LAW OFFICE In Waynesville. Full Time. Limited Benefits. Experience Preferred. Primary Duties include answering phones, receiving payments, client confidentiality, filing, general legal assistant work and support for paralegals and attorneys. No Calls or Walk-ins. No Telecommuting. Send resume AND cover letter to: apply@wenzellawfirm.com DRIVE WITH UBER. You’ll need a Smartphone. It’s fun and easy. For more information, call: 1.800.861.0329 DRIVER TRAINEES NEEDED! Learn to drive for Stevens Transport! No Experience Needed! New drivers can earn $900+ per week! Paid CDL Training! Stevens covers all costs! 1.888.748.4137 drive4stevens.com FTCC Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Computer Programming & Development/Database Instructor, Certified Nursing Assistant Instructor For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com/ Human Resources Office Phone: 910.678.7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer LOCAL DRIVERS WANTED! Be your own boss. Flexible hours. Unlimited earning potential. Must be 21 with valid U.S. drivers license, insurance & reliable vehicle. Call 855.750.9313

CAVALIER ARMS APARTMENTS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS Offering 1, 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartments, Starting at $400 Section 8 Accepted - Rental Assistance When Available Handicapped Accessible Units When Available

OFFICE HOURS: Wednesday 12:30pm - 4:00pm & Friday. 8:00am- 4:00pm 50 Duckett Cove Road, Waynesville

Phone # 1-828-456-6776 TDD # 1-800-725-2962 Equal Housing Opportunity

This is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

MOUNTAIN REALTY

Mieko Thomson ROKER/R /REALTOR EALTOR®® BBROKER

Cell (828) 226-2298 Cell

mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com mthomson@remax-waynesvillenc.com www.ncsmokies.com www.ncsmokies.com

2177 Russ Avenue Waynesville NC 28786

EMPLOYMENT

ROB ROLAND 828-400-1923

RROLAND33@GMAIL.COM

Find the home you are looking for at www.robrolandrealty.com Residential · Land · Commercial

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REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCEMENT

OUR HUNTERS WILL PAY TOP $$$ To hunt your land. Call for a free Base Camp Leasing info packet and quote. 866.309.1507. www.basecampleasing.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE

SAVE YOUR HOME! Are you behind paying your Mortgage? Denied a Loan Modification? Is the bank threatening foreclosure? Call Homeowner’s Relief Line now for Help. 1.844.359.4330. SAPA

HOMES FOR SALE

BRUCE MCGOVERN A Full Service Realtor, Locally Owned and Operated mcgovernpropertymgt@gmail.com McGovern Property Management 828.283.2112. PROTECT YOUR HOME With fully customizable security and 24/7 monitoring right from your smartphone. Receive up to $1500 in equipment, free (restrictions apply). Call 1.800.941.7987

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STORAGE SPACE FOR RENT

Emerson Group • George Escaravage - george@emersongroupus.com

ERA Sunburst Realty - sunburstrealty.com • Amy Spivey - amyspivey.com • Rick Boarder - sunburstrealty.com

Lakeshore Realty • Phyllis Robinson - lakeshore@lakejunaluska.com

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Mountain Home Properties mountaindream.com • Sammie Powell - smokiesproperty.com

McGovern Real Estate & Property Management • Bruce McGovern - shamrock13.com

Realty World Heritage Realty 74 N. Main St., Waynesville, NC

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realtyworldheritage.com • Carolyn Lauter realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7766 • Martha Sawyer realtyworldheritage.com/realestate/viewagent/7769

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LAWN & GARDEN

BORING/CARPENTER BEE TRAPS No Chemicals, Poisons or Anything to Harm the Environment. Handmade in Haywood County. 1 for $20, 2 or More for $15 each. 828.593.8321

beverly-hanks.com Ann Eavenson - AnnEavenson@beverly-hanks.com Randy Flanigan - RandyFlanigan@beverly-hanks.com Michelle McElroy - MichelleMcElroy@beverly-hanks.com Marilynn Obrig - MarilynnObrig@beverly-hanks.com Brooke Parrott - BrookeParrott@beverly-hanks.com Catherine Proben - cproben@beverly-hanks.com Ellen Sither - EllenSither@beverly-hanks.com Mike Stamey - MikeStamey@beverly-hanks.com Pamela Williams - PamelaWilliams@beverly-hanks.com

kellerwilliamswaynesville.com • Julie Lapkoff - julielapkoff.yourkwagent.com • Yvonne Kolomechuk - yvonneksells.yourkwagent.com • The Morris Team - www.themorristeamnc.com

828.734.6500, 828.734.6700

HEMLOCK HEALERS, INC. Dedicated to Saving Our Hemlocks. Owner/Operator Frank Varvoutis, NC Pesticide Applicator’s License #22864. 48 Spruce St. Maggie Valley, NC 828.734.7819 828.926.7883, Email: hemlockhealers@yahoo.com

• • • • • • • • •

Keller Williams Realty

1 Month Free with 12 Month Rental. Maggie Valley, Hwy. 19, 1106 Soco Rd. For more information call Torry

GREAT SMOKIES STORAGE Conveniently located off 19/23 by Thad Woods Auction. Available for lease now: 10’x10’ units for $55, 20’x20’ units for $160. Get one month FREE with 12 month contract. Call 828.507.8828 or 828.506.4112 for more info.

Beverly Hanks & Associates

Haywood Properties - haywoodproperties.com • Steve Cox - info@haywoodproperties.com

CLIMATE CONTROLLED STORAGE FOR YOU

12X28 STORAGE UNIT FOR RENT In Tuckaseegee, Half Mile Down Hwy. 281. $130/mo. For More Info Call 828.450.0534.

Haywood County Real Estate Agents

Judy Meyers 26 N. MAIN STREET • WAYNESVILLE (O) 828-564-9393 (C) 828-734-2899 JAMEYERS@CHARTER.NET

remax-waynesvillenc.com

find us at: facebook.com/smnews

• • • • • • •

remax-waynesvillenc.com | remax-maggievalleync.com Brian K. Noland - brianknoland.com Holly Fletcher - hollyfletcher1975@gmail.com Judy Meyers - jameyers@charter.net Mieko Thomson - ncsmokies.com The Real Team - the-real-team.com Ron Breese - ronbreese.com Dan Womack - womackdan@aol.com

smokymountainnews.com

BEAUTIFUL 4/BR 2/BA HOME 15 Boxwood Terrace, Canton, NC. Ready to move in with 2,300 sq. ft., Newly renovated with Master Suite, Laundry & Walk-in Closet. Adequate Storage & Lots of Character. Walking Distance to Library & Main Street. $274,000 Call Alesia for more info 828.400.9943

MOBILE HOMES FOR SALE

Ann Eavenson R B A

February 22-28, 2017

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

LOOKING FOR A MINI FARM? This rustic house and land is located in the Henson Cove Area of Canton, NC. Includes a Barn, 2 Acres, 2 Streams, a Pond and a Forest of Bamboo. Asking $195K. For more info or to preview house and property, call Alesia at 828.400.9943

WNC MarketPlace

LEASE TO OWN 1/2 Acre Lots with Mobile Homes & Empty 1/2 Acre + Lots! Located Next to Cherokee Indian Reservation, 2.5 Miles from Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. For More Information Please Call 828.506.0578

HOMES FOR SALE

Rob Roland Realty • Rob Roland - rroland33@gmail.com

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

www.smokymountainnews.com

February 22-28, 2017

WNC MarketPlace

Super

CROSSWORD

INTERNAL CAPITAL ACROSS 1 Seer’s “gift,” for short 4 Pig noise 9 Tosses out 14 Some choir women 19 With 74-Down, “Such gall!” 20 Tree-toppling ax wielder 21 Expiate, with “for” 22 Statue of Liberty feature 23 African beast submerged? 26 Ranch rope 27 Unit of Time 28 Park or Fifth: Abbr. 29 Like partially spoiled oil? 31 Five-alarm, for one? 35 Mao — -tung 36 British isle 37 Slyly derisive 38 Mocked by imitating 41 Humdrum 44 Amor or Eros 47 Magic lamp owner’s language? 51 Purpose 52 Property unit 54 Hereditary unit 55 Daphnis’ lover 56 Tan-colored door security feature? 62 Banknotes 64 Wichita-to-Akron dir. 65 Fueled (up) 66 Tennille or Braxton 67 “Misty” crooner Johnny 69 Hero of Sophocles’ “Electra” 71 It’s hidden in this puzzle’s 10 longest answers

73 Native of Cuba’s capital 77 Fail to do as promised 79 Watson of “The Bling Ring” 81 Texas border city 82 “The Simpsons” clerk 85 Q-V link 86 Snap-on parts of a tot’s tote? 88 Friend of the Lone Ranger 90 Tenderfoot 92 Do injury to 93 Jockey (for) 94 “Farewell, Ms. Clooney!”? 98 Wading birds 102 Raccoon relative 103 Israel’s Eban 104 Texas city near Dallas 105 Dick — Dyke 106 Washroom, informally 109 Thoroughly clean some sour fruit? 114 Tune about Houdini? 119 Several eras 120 Flat piece of microfilm 121 Flat, as pop 122 Cause Reagan to digress? 126 By itself 127 Without — (worryfree) 128 Sandbank 129 Thigh’s place 130 Fiery feeling 131 Faked out, in ice hockey 132 Utilized a keypad 133 “What — the odds?”

DOWN 1 Set of values 2 — kebab 3 Giant in soda 4 Providing with footwear 5 Modern, in Muenster 6 Rent-to- — 7 Adjust on a timeline 8 — Fountain (Rome landmark) 9 Skull bone 10 Great Salt Lake’s state 11 — moment too soon 12 Honored a king, maybe 13 Bondmen 14 Razor name 15 Pork cut 16 Like phone calls and outlines 17 1 followed by 27 zeros 18 Like arbors 24 Living proof? 25 Relating to the kidneys 30 McEntire of country 32 — Grande 33 Confound 34 Scholastic meas. 39 Sword part 40 Pres. before JFK 42 Of a large store of data 43 Opposite of “yep” 44 “Hasta —!” (Spanish “Later!”) 45 Often-quoted Wilde 46 Sonnet, e.g. 47 In one’s own house 48 Peruvian of yore 49 Below, in a 46-Down 50 “Meh” mark 53 Decide 57 Pre-’91 empire 58 Fade away

59 Xanadus 60 Lover of Lennon 61 Top part of some forms 63 Intend to 67 “Well, I declare!” 68 Actress Mia 70 Brawl 72 Diplomat’s bldg. 74 See 19-Across 75 Allow to enter 76 Snoots 78 Fellas 80 Toothpaste box org. 82 — loss for words 83 Many a Net radio host 84 Teamster ID 86 Utterly fail 87 Toothbrush brand 89 Pekoe, e.g. 91 Irish actor Stephen 95 Annoy 96 Crunches crunch them 97 Slot car, say 99 Kilmer of “Top Gun” 100 Not divided into parts 101 “— Thro’ the Rye” 104 Forceful 105 Line of motor scooters 107 President of Syria 108 Verbalize 110 Be sweltering 111 City NNE of Tampa 112 N.J. Devil, e.g. 113 Swamp plant 115 As well 116 Look keenly 117 Neighbor of Mont. 118 Actor Richard 123 TV’s Turner 124 Keystone policeman 125 Carly — Jepsen

answers on page 42

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PERSONAL A CHILDLESS COUPLE SEEKS To adopt an infant. We are financially secure, married and will be hands-on parents. Your expenses Paid. Todd & Sharon. Call 1.844.699.5299 or email SharonandTodd123@gmail.com YOUR AD COULD REACH 1.6 MILLION HOMES ACROSS NC! Your classified ad could be reaching over 1.6 Million Homes across North Carolina! Place your ad with The Smoky Mountain News on the NC Statewide Classified Ad Network- 118 NC newspapers for a low cost of $330 for 25-word ad to appear in each paper! Additional words are $10 each. The whole state at your fingertips! It's a smart advertising buy! Call Scott Collier at 828.452.4251 or for more information visit the N.C. Press Association's website at www.ncpress.com

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WEEKLY SUDOKU Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine. Answers on Page 42

Old-time surveyors used some interesting tools, markers “The line runs down the meander of the ridge to where Bossy dropped her first calf.” “The line runs to where a block of ice stood in the road.” “Proceed for about the distance it takes to smoke two cigarettes.”

George Ellison

hrough the years, my wife and I have located tree slashes, stones, stakes, etc., which delineate the boundaries of the cove in which we live. Right off the bat we discovered that old-time Appalachian surveys Columnist and deeds can be confusing and informational and amusing at the same time. The oldest specific deed I’ve found in the Swain County records for our cove dates to January 1904: “On the Waters of Lands Creek. BEGINNING on a beech in the Matthew Garrett line and runs S. 65 W. 79 poles to a pine on top of a ridge between Lands Creek and Tuckaseegee River; then up the ridge as it meanders N. 4 W. 10 poles to a hickory . . . then down the ridge as it meanders S. 9 W. 29 poles to a black oak . . . then S.W. 4 poles to a buckeye and spruce

BACK THEN pine on the creek; thence to the BEGINNING, containing 35 acres more or less.” I’m not sure what a “spruce pine” is in this context. At 1,700 feet, the elevation is too low for red spruce. And the cedar pine, which is sometimes called “spruce pine,” is found in the coastal plain and piedmont. My “guess” is that the reference is to shortleaf pine. A second 10-acre tract (“more or less”) was added to the property in 1910. By that time, the beech at the “BEGINNING” of the 1904 tract had either died or, more likely, been chopped down for firewood. The first line of the subsequent deed was emended to read: “BEGINNING at a white walnut tree … go S 67 W 47 poles to a pine on the top of the ridge between Lands creek and Tuckaseegie River.” The white (or butternut) walnut has disappeared, no doubt a victim of the butternut canker blight that entered the southern mountains in the latter part of the 20th century. Other factors contributing to the poor quality of land descriptions included a lack of slope corrections in early surveys, missing reference points, local names for tree species and the sloppy quality of hand-copied deeds, all of which make things difficult if not impossible for the surveyor.”

Several years back, I found and printed out an online essay by Tennessee surveyor Phillip Meeks titled “Appalachian Surveying.” The essay is no longer posted, but I still have notes from the hardcopy. Under the heading “Natural Obstacles,” Meeks noted that “what these mountains lack in height they compensate for in blackberry brambles and thickets of rhododendron. This kind of terrain puts obvious demands on a land surveyor who must constantly deal with slope corrections, slow travel through unforgiving vegetation and dense canopies that render GPS useless: ‘The Good Lord made plenty of flat land [here] but he put it all on its edge.’” Difficult terrain and crude instruments no doubt resulted in less than ideal land descriptions by early surveyors. In surveying a “pole” equals 16.5 feet (a rod). A local surveyor advised me that sapling poles of that length were used. Rope — being more

flexible and lighter — also made excellent “poles.” Where the line extended along a straight course, poles or ropes of 33 or even 66 feet could be employed to save time and energy. A staff-mounted or hand-held compass allowed the surveyor to enter appropriate boundary descriptions in his data book. The Gunther’s Chain method was also used in oldtime surveying for distance measurements. As I understand it, a magnetic compass was set on a tripod and leveled horizontally via the level bubble so as to obtain the direction by bearings. The chain is divided into 100 links, marked off into groups of 10 by brass rings which simplify intermediate measurement. “Back then,” the local surveyor noted, “surveys using poles, compasses, and Gunther’s Chains were not always perfectly accurate, of course. But we have been able to find one corner and then use old-time pole and compass methods to locate another corner. An old-time survey of 500,000 feet can sometimes be accurate to within 25 or 30 feet.” (George Ellison is a naturalist and writer. He can be reached at info@georgeellison.com.)

February 22-28, 2017 Smoky Mountain News 47

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