April 7-13, 2021 Vol. 22 Iss. 45 Western North Carolina’s Source for Weekly News, Entertainment, Arts, and Outdoor Information www.smokymountainnews.com
Sylva denies apartment application, approves another Page 4 Business to increase Black participation outdoors Page 30
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Community weighs pros and cons of vaccination
CONTENTS
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On the Cover: After putting out a call for readers to complete a COVID-19 vaccine survey, The Smoky Mountain News takes a look at how community members feel about getting the vaccine and why others are hesitant or refusing to get it. (Page 6)
News Sylva denies apartment application, approves another ..........................................4 Lunsford pleads no contest to animal cruelty ..........................................................11 Swank named 2021 Macon Matriarch ......................................................................12 Renovations coming to former Central Elementary ................................................13 Barbara McRae — a woman of vision ........................................................................14 Kings Mountain gaming to start this summer............................................................18 Fire at Canton mill contained ........................................................................................19 Community Almanac ........................................................................................................21
Scott McLeod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . info@smokymountainnews.com Greg Boothroyd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . greg@smokymountainnews.com Micah McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . micah@smokymountainnews.com Travis Bumgardner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . travis@smokymountainnews.com Jessica Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessica.m@smokymountainnews.com Susanna Shetley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Bradley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jc-ads@smokymountainnews.com Hylah Birenbaum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hylah@smokymountainnews.com Sophia Burleigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sophia.b@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jessi Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jessi@smokymountainnews.com Holly Kays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . holly@smokymountainnews.com Hannah McLeod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . hannah@smokymountainnews.com Cory Vaillancourt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cory@smokymountainnews.com Garret K. Woodward. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . garret@smokymountainnews.com Amanda Singletary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . smnbooks@smokymountainnews.com Scott Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . classads@smokymountainnews.com Jeff Minick (writing), Chris Cox (writing), George Ellison (writing), Don Hendershot (writing), Susanna Shetley (writing) Boyd Allsbrook (writing)
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Opinion GOP election tactics threaten our republic ............................................................22 Libraries extend beyond four walls ..............................................................................23
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WAYNESVILLE | 144 Montgomery, Waynesville, NC 28786 P: 828.452.4251 | F: 828.452.3585 SYLVA | 629 West Main Street, Sylva, NC 28779 P: 828.631.4829 | F: 828.631.0789 INFO & BILLING | P.O. Box 629, Waynesville, NC 28786
New art exhibit shines light on Black Mountain College ......................................24 It’s National Poetry Month: Join the party! ..................................................................29
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April 7-13, 2021
Business aims to increase Black participation outdoors ......................................30
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April 7-13, 2021
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Jackson County Senior Planner John Jeleniewski presents his staff report on The Bluffs development proposed by Southern Properties and Development LLC. Holly Kays photo
Subdivision hearings coming up in Jackson
Sylva denies one apartment application, approves another BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER espite gusting winds and a temperature of 42 degrees at the time the three-hour meeting began — it was 37 degrees and felt like 30 by its 8 p.m. conclusion — more than 50 people bundled up to attend an outdoor hearing on the fate of two Sylva apartment projects Thursday, April 1. After moving through a pair of formal quasi-judicial hearing processes from the stage of Bridge Park, the Board of Adjustments — which is composed of town board members — ultimately gave unanimous approval to a 150-bedroom, threebuilding complex to be located on 6.83 acres along Savannah Road but denied, by the narrowest margin possible, an application for a 76-unit, three-story senior living building on Skyland Drive. “I’m sorry for the applicant,” said Mayor Lynda Sossamon, who cast the tiebreaking vote to deny the Skyland Drive project. “I feel it’s a very good thing that we need for this area. It just was not in harmony, I did
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April 7-13, 2021
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not feel, with some of the area.” Both projects presented April 1 were seeking a conditional use permit from the town, a requirement for multi-family developments in Sylva. Receiving a CUP requires that the Board of Adjustments go through a formal hearing process and then vote on whether the project meets each of four tenets required for CUP recipients. Projects must receive majority approval on each of the four to proceed. In Sylva’s government, the mayor votes only in case of a tie, something that rarely happens with a five-member board. But Commissioner Greg McPherson was absent April 1, and the remaining four board members split two and two on each of the four votes. Commissioners David Nestler and Ben Guiney voted yes, while Commissioners Mary Gelbaugh and Barbara Hamilton said no. While Sossamon voted with Nestler and Guiney to affirm the first three tenets — that the use will not endanger public health and safety, meets all required conditions and
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SKYLAND DRIVE APPLICATION DENIED The proposal in question came from Clemmons-based KRP Investments LLC. KRP’s manager Karen Perry has been trying to build affordable housing in Sylva for years, intending to leverage tax credits from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency to keep rents low. Her previous proposal, a 60-unit workforce housing project to be located across U.S. 23 from Harris Regional Hospital, met enthusiastic approval from the board but was eventually abandoned due to
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specifications, and will not substantially injure adjoining property values — she sided with Gelbaugh and Hamilton on the last vote, ruling that the location and character of the proposed used would not “be in harmony with the area in which it is to be located and in general conformity with the development of the Town and its environs.” Having failed on that single requirement, the proposal failed altogether.
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The Jackson County Planning Board will consider five different major subdivision applications for approval at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 8. n The proposed Little Cove subdivision would consist of 37 single-family homes on 39 acres on Norton Road in Cashiers. n A series of subdivided and recombined parcels in Cashiers would result in an additional 5.45 acres for four single-family cottages added to the existing Glen Cove subdivision on Norton Road approved in August 2018. n A 34.8-acre project on Whiteside Cove Road in Cashiers would add 20 single-family lots and create the Saratay subdivision. n A proposed cluster neighborhood of six cottages on 4.46 acres would be constructed as part of High Hampton Resort’s core area. n High Hampton wants to create two additional lots in the resort’s core area and annex two lots totaling 20.78 acres located on the property’s northern boundary. The plan would add four additional single-family units to the overall subdivision. The meeting will be held via Zoom. To receive a link or learn more about any of the proposed subdivisions, contact Allison Kelly at allisonkelley@jacksonnc.org or 828.631.2257.
site sustainability issues. This new proposal — originally for a four-story, 84-unit building, which she offered during the meeting to bring down to a three-story, 76-unit project — would have been located on 4.5 acres on the north side of the Chipper Curve and Allens Branch Road intersection. Currently, an open field and a historic home — a 1939, 2,800-squarefoot house with an eye-catching red tile roof — occupy the property. Single-family homes separated by stands of trees and hedges fill the lots nearby. Commissioners admitted eight nearby property owners as parties to the hearing, all of whom were adamantly opposed to the proposed location and to the planned removal of the iconic red-roofed home. “When you remove a landmark, the town runs the risk of
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Attendees bundle up to attend the outdoor hearing. Holly Kays photo mately, it was case of the right project in the wrong place. “I’d love to have dinner with you after this meeting and personally drive you around the town that I’ve lived 42 years in and show you some locations I think might be good,” she told Perry from the stage. “I’m not a real estate agent, but I have some ideas for you. I respect you. I love your project. But I also respect my neighbors.”
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In an action that was less controversial but just as subject to bone-chilling cold, the town board ruled in favor of an application from Southern Properties and Development LLC to build a 72-unit complex of three three-story buildings on Savannah Drive, about 1,120 feet south of that road’s intersection with U.S. 23. Like Perry’s proposal, this project would also be constructed using tax credits, and proposed rents would range between $345 and $750 per month, depending on the unit and the applicant’s income. While the project met less resistance than Perry’s proposal, two people addressed commissioners asking them to deny the project due to expected traffic impacts or to at least delay the decision. “With this being the Easter holiday, a lot of people had to go out of town, and with the unfortunate weather change, one gentleman is on oxygen and I have bronchitis,” said Buddy Sanders. When contacted regarding the project, the DOT said it would not require a traffic impact analysis to go forward, but Sanders asked whether it might be wise to do so anyway. “I spoke with a number of people in the neighborhood today,” said Donna Sanders. “The primary concern is not property value with the apartments being built, but the traffic. People are very, very concerned about the traffic and this has been accentuated by using Yellowbird Lane as a detour.” Ultimately, however, the board gave unanimous approval to all four tenets, granting the CUP.
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becoming Anywhere, USA, and I think all of us would like for our town to be unique,” said former Sylva mayor and property owner Maurice Moody. “The project is a poor fit for our neighborhood.” If the project were approved, said Kristin Kane, “this new building and only this building will be my view from my front porch. If it’s only three stories, I might get some sky. Right now, I see a field, some single-family houses and mountains, so I’m aesthetically and practically opposed to the project.” Multiple people pointed to specific sections of the county’s 2040 Land Use Plan, claiming that the proposed project was not in harmony with the goals stated there. They also took issue with the current state of Allens Branch Road, telling commissioners that it is poorly maintained and too narrow to handle the amount of traffic likely to come and go from a 76–unit development. During the public comment portion of the agenda, Western Carolina University Director of Cherokee Studies Ben Steere addressed the board to say that the proposed development’s footprint may contain “a large significant unrecorded archeological site” related to Cherokee history in the area. In her comments, Perry acknowledged that the project would change the community and that commissioners had a “tough choice” but added that change is inevitable in any community. “My intention here is to meet the need for the people that are already here,” she said. Commissioner David Nestler echoed some of those themes in his comments, saying that Allens Branch Road is the responsibility of the N.C. Department of Transportation, not of the town, but that if the project were built the town would lean on DOT to make any necessary fixes. “Housing is a critical need in this community, and especially quality and affordable housing that meets our minimum housing standard,” he said. “I do think that access to safe and affordable housing helps lift people out of poverty.” Commissioner Mary Gelbaugh agreed with those sentiments but said that ulti-
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Survey shows widespread support for COVID-19 vaccination BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR ore than 80 percent of Smoky Mountain News readers have already received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and less than 10 percent say they’ll refuse altogether, according to the results of an unscientific survey conducted by SMN from March 24 through March 31 of this year. The SMN survey was distributed through The SMN Xtra — The Smoky Mountain News’ free weekly email newsletter — and promoted on Facebook as well. The 376 people who responded to the SMN survey ranged from 19 to 86 years of age, with an average age of 55.9 years. Women made up 77 percent of the group, with one person identifying as non-binary. Together, they all paint a picture of a population that widely supports the massive, ongoing vaccination efforts currently underway across the nation. Of the group, 319 people (84.8 percent) said they’d already received at least one dose, but many who left comments said they’d already received two shots, if necessary — the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires just one. Out of the 57 people (15.2 percent) who said they hadn’t yet received any doses, 23 percent said they’d get it as soon as possible, and 28 percent said they’d get it “eventually.” Comments left by respondents on this question indicated wait times of anywhere from two months to two years. But nearly half of those who hadn’t received any doses said they never would, citing concerns over a rushed rollout, lack of data on long-term side effects, religious convictions or even big-government conspiracy theories. The survey also asked readers how close the virus had come to affecting them and their loved ones. Only 7.8 percent of respondents reported contracting COVID-19 themselves, while more than 37 percent said that
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HAVE YOU 85%
RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE OF A COVID-19 VACCINE? Yes No
23% 49% 28%
graduates said the same. Based on the results of both the Kaiser and SMN survey, this week we’ll explore the topic of vaccine hesitancy through a series of stories that seeks to understand why people
SURVEY RESPONDENTS BY AGE
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April 7-13, 2021
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either they or someone close to them became seriously ill from the virus. The unscientific results collected by SMN show a slightly better outlook than a scientific national survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation during the same time period, when 32 percent of those surveyed said they’d already received at least one dose, and 13 percent said they’d never agree to receive one of the four commercially available vaccines. That survey, however, conducted a much more granular analysis of the issue of vaccine hesitancy. While 32 percent said they’d already received at least one dose, another 30 percent said they would get it as soon as possible and another 17 percent said they’d wait and see. A further 7 percent said they’d get it only if required, and 13 percent said “definitely not.” As far as adoption, the older a person is, the more likely they appear to want the vaccine, and get it if they don’t have it. Conversely, the younger a person is, the more likely they will only get it if required or will refuse altogether. On a similar note, 79 percent of Democrats say they’ve been vaccinated or want to be, with 57 percent of independents and 46 percent of Republicans in agreement. Just 5 percent of Democrats say they’ll never get it, compared to 9 percent of independents and 29 percent of Republicans. Men and women across all demographics were nearly identical in their thoughts on vaccination, but perhaps the biggest disparity of opinion on vaccination preference is reflected in educational achievement. More than 70 percent of college graduates said they had been or wanted to be vaccinated, compared to 57 percent of people with an education level described as high school or less. A full 16 percent of highschool level respondents said they’d never get the vaccine, while 10 percent of college
IF YOU HAVEN’T RECEIVED THE VACCINE, DO YOU PLAN TO? Yes, as soon as I can get an appointment Eventually, but not right away No way!
are choosing (or not choosing) to become vaccinated against a virus that to date has killed 2.9 million people across the world, including 570,000 Americans and more than 12,000 North Carolinians.
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THE FACTS ON THE VAX
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‘I don’t feel like it’s safe’ BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER hen the pandemic first hit, Waynesville resident Sammie Conner was so scared of contracting COVID19 that she wouldn’t even go to the grocery store. As a 56-year-old woman with COPD, among other health issues, she knew she was a prime candidate for a poor outcome, so she sent her husband to do the shopping. One year later, Conner goes to the grocery store and to the masks-mandatory service at her church, but not really anywhere else. She’s doing whatever she can to avoid contracting the virus — wearing a mask, using hand sanitizer, avoiding people.
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“I am in the older age bracket and have pre-existing conditions. The potential for a bad outcome if I contracted COVID-19 was clear to me,” said Slocumb. These Western North Carolina women are getting the vaccine because they know this is what it will take to get back to “normal.” Working to keep a small business alive; spending time with kids, grandkids, parents and grandparents; traveling and meeting new people. COVID-19 vaccines help develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 without having to get the illness. Different types of vaccines work in different ways to offer protection. According to the CDC, for all types of vaccines, the body is left with a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes as well as B-lymphocytes that will remember how to fight that virus in the future. Because bodies that have been vaccinated remember how to fight
But she’s not signing up for a COVID-19 vaccine. “I don’t feel like it’s safe, but that’s my personal opinion,” she said. “They developed it rather quickly, and that causes me to be a little leery of it.” Prior to COVID-19, the mumps vaccine was the fastest to ever be developed, and that took four years. By contrast, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in December 2020 and granted one to Johnson & Johnson in February — all less than a year after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. There is an explanation for how the vaccines were created and approved so quickly. While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first on the market to use mRNA technology, the technology itself is not new. It’s been in development since the 1990s and tested against other viruses like influenza, and work on previous coronavirus outbreaks like SARS helped speed development of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, meanwhile, uses viral vector technology, a system that has been studied since the 1970s and used in vaccines for Japanese encephalitis and Ebola. The
An aerial shot shows the massive COVID-19 vaccination clinic happening at the Smoky Mountain Event Center in Haywood County. File photo the virus, should it encounter it in the future, the risk of severe illness or death goes down tremendously. Despite the necessity of vaccination to slow the spread of the virus, and move toward “normal” life, there are barriers to access for many. Vaccine availability varies greatly by state and even county, due to the localized nature of vaccine campaigns. Reliable access to transportation and internet access in rural communities can be insurmountable obstacles to vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy among communities that have been historically mistreated by the United States government, like Black and indigenous communities, is common. Additionally, there are extreme anti-vaccination sentiments and vaccine hesitancies
Waynesville resident Sammie Conner is leery of getting one of the still-new COVID shots but plans to continue taking precautions while the pandemic persists. Donated photo long research history behind the vaccines, combined with the worldwide focus on ending the pandemic, spurred the rapid development.
among populations that have fallen prey to conspiracy theories about like “Plandemic” and “QAnon” that promote dangerous ideas about sinister motives behind the vaccination campaign. There are also those who believe getting a vaccine, or wearing a mask infringes on freedoms owed to the people of the United States. Shuman is worried that sensationalist media reporting is also contributing to vaccine hesitancy. “There is the issue with the reporting of the mRNA/DNA technology. Most reports in the vaccine development period focused on the ‘new, unproven’ gene technology being used. Never mind that gene technolo-
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Still, they’re new, and that gives Conner pause. “I don’t think it’s had time for us to see what interactions there may be, what side effects there may be down the road,” she said. Many people who responded to The Smoky Mountain News’ survey about local attitudes toward the vaccine had similar hesitations. “I’m very concerned and scared of the virus but equally concerned and scared about any long-term affects from vaccine,” said one respondent, a 48-year-old female who said she might wait a year before getting vaccinated. “It’s still not FDA-approved, only approved for emergency use. That’s what scares me.” A 38-year-old woman cited the new technology and lack of long-term testing as her reason to stay away, especially because there’s not much data yet on how the vaccine could affect the baby she is now nursing. “This virus is not life-threatening to me,” said a 19-year-old male respondent. “Therefore there is no reason to put something experimental in my body. I trust the immune system God gave me is good enough if I continue to take care of it and make healthy lifestyle choices.”
Smoky Mountain News
For many, concerns about long-term impacts drive vaccine hesitancy
COVID-19
April 7-13, 2021
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER eople who have been fully vaccinated can start to do some things they had stopped doing because of the pandemic, according to the CDC. This includes gathering indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask, gathering indoors with unvaccinated people of one household without wearing masks and traveling within the United States without COVID-19 testing or quarantine. For many people, the most valuable part of getting a COVID-19 vaccination is the ability to spend time with family they haven’t had the chance to see since the beginning of the pandemic. Michelle Stewart is a small business owner in Waynesville. Before the pandemic, Stewart’s grandkids would sleep over at her house twice a month. This hasn’t happened since January 2020. Being severely asthmatic, Stewart is high risk for COVID-19 and running a small business means she encounters a lot of people every day. Some from Waynesville, some from all over the country. For her, getting the vaccine is a necessity for being safe at work. Kathye Shuman lives in Asheville. She has
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COVID-19 vaccine means getting back to ‘normal’
not seen her 81-year-old mother since Christmas of 2019. Her mother lives in Alabama and is very high risk for COVID-19. So even though Shuman’s mother has already received her vaccine, they will not feel comfortable visiting in person until Shuman receives her vaccine. Elaine Slocumb, of Bryson City, is 76 years old and as soon as it is safe, she plans to visit family in Maine that she hasn’t been able to see in person since the beginning of the pandemic. She is a registered nurse, holds a Ph.D. in her field and is trained in research. Slocumb says she trusts good science and understands what is meant by the clinical trials and the rigors of emergency use authorization as it relates to COVID-19 vaccines.
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Vaccine hesitancy could impact employers, employees BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR he last time Americans lived through a global pandemic, the field of employment law wasn’t nearly as developed as it is today. That’s led to an overwhelming number of unanswered questions surrounding the rights and obligations of both employers and employees when considering the massive COVID-19 vaccination effort currently underway. “Oh, it’s been 24/7,” said Jonathan W. Yarbrough, a partner in the Asheville office of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete who has practiced employment law for almost 30 years. “I told somebody the other day, I can’t wait for a week where my time sheet doesn’t have ‘COVID’ written on it.” Jonathan In North Carolina, a Yarbrough number of statutes make it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of age, disability, sex, race, religion, color, national origin, or HIV status, but there are no such protections for people who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which begs the question — can you be fired for being unvaccinated? “That’s a big maybe,” Yarbrough said. “I’d love to give you a bright-line ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, but it’s really a ‘maybe.’” According to Yarbrough, an employer could require that employees receive the vaccine, but the employer would need to consider a few issues first. One issue is if the employee has any medical issues rising to the level of a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act that would preclude them from being vaccinated. Unlike the medical exception for the mask mandate, which needn’t be proven, an employee asserting a medical exemption for the COVID vaccine would essentially need to prove that they’ve been diagnosed with a condition that makes vaccination inadvisable. Another issue is if the employee has a religious belief that would prevent vaccination. Almost no mainstream religions currently practiced in the United States expressly prohibit vaccines, but in the workplace, it’s a much thornier issue. “For the religious piece, I tell folks all the time, there’s no law book I can look at and go, ‘Yep, it’s OK, you’re a Baptist, you’re a Muslim, you’re Jewish or you’re whatever,’” Yarbrough said. “Religion under the law is any sincerely held religious, ethical or moral belief. It’s often very hard to challenge an employee’s religious beliefs.” A third consideration is pregnancy. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there’s still limited data on the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines for women who are pregnant, but experts don’t think they pose a specific risk and test-
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April 7-13, 2021
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EMS Supervisor Toby Moore vaccinates Mike Taylor during a January clinic for employees of Jackson County Public Schools. David Profitt/JCPS photo
COVID-19 ing on animals has shown no issues with the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines. “Absent a religious belief, absent a medical condition and maybe pregnancy — although the medical data seems to indicate that pregnant females can get the shot, so — absent religion or a disability, if the employee doesn’t get the shot and the employer mandates it, then yes, the employer could terminate the employee,” Yarbrough said. As widespread vaccination continues, emerging data on vaccine hesitancy says that there will always be a certain number of people who will refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, for whatever reason. A poll conducted by the Kaiser Health Foundation in March suggests that number is around 13 percent. A Smoky Mountain News survey (See SURVEY, p. 6) puts that number at around 7.5 percent. With the unvaccinated at least somewhat immune to workplace retaliation, Yarborough also gets questions about the rights of vaccinated employees who feel that their unvaccinated co-workers make the workplace less safe. Generally, if an employee quits citing intolerable working conditions due to the presence of unvaccinated individuals, they
“I think we need to focus more on education and incentivizing employees to get the vaccine. If we’re not going to mandate vaccination in North Carolina, we need to really, really push them as hard as we can.” — Jonathan W. Yarbrough
may be able to collect unemployment benefits, but they may not be able to sue their employer. “I have actually had some situations where the employer has been put in a pickle because they have a highly skilled position, mainly in more rural parts of Western North Carolina, where you don’t have a huge applicant pool with the skillset necessary for the work. The employees there basically thought [COVID-19] was kind of a joke. Nobody was social distancing, nobody was wearing masks,” said Yarbrough. “Despite the employer’s effort to enforce the policies, they didn’t want people to quit because they
needed to keep running the business and couldn’t replace employees if they quit, or it would take a while to replace them. Now, if an employee in that situation says, ‘These folks are not doing anything to protect me’ and quits, I think that person would probably get unemployment benefits in that circumstance, but could they sue the employer? Probably not.” Thanks to a limited immunity statute enacted last summer, employees also can’t sue their employer if they somehow contract COVID-19 and believe it happened in the workplace. Questions about COVID in the workplace will continue to pop up as the pandemic continues to evolve, but all in all, Yarbrough thinks the state is prepared to handle them, as they arise. “North Carolina has a fairly robust statutory scheme that gives guidance to employers and protects employees. I don’t know that there’s anything we’re not necessarily doing that we should be,” he said. “I think we need to focus more on education and incentivizing employees to get the vaccine. If we’re not going to mandate vaccination in North Carolina, we need to really, really push them as hard as we can. But as far as workplace safety and employment law, we do have a pretty robust system of statutory and case law here in North Carolina.”
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10.7% DID YOU CONTRACT COVID-19 AT ANY POINT IN THE PAST YEAR?
89.3%
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H ESITANT, CONTINUED FROM 7 Then there are the conspiracy theories — the vaccine contains antifreeze, it’s a government plot to thin the herd, doses contain microchip trackers courtesy of Bill Gates — and Conner has heard them all. She made it clear that she doesn’t believe any of that stuff. “It’s just crazy,” she said. Conner herself gets the flu vaccine every year, and she said that in six months to a year she might consider going in for a
DID YOU OR ANYBODY CLOSE TO YOU GET SERIOUSLY SICK WITH
62.5%
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COVID shot too. Just not yet. She also believes that the vaccine works, at least in the short term. Her mother, also a Waynesville resident, got the vaccine and never caught COVID despite the fact that her neighbor, with whom she had spent quite a bit of unmasked time, got the virus. Meanwhile, Conner’s 14-year-old cousin, who is not vaccinated, became so sick with COVID-19 that she had to go to the hospital for breathing treatment. “I feel like it’s effective,” she said. “I just don’t know of the long-term effect.”
Yes No
gy has been used to treat many other serious diseases for many years now; the reporting on this technology made most people suspicious of ‘something messing with my genes,’ and they are having none of it. Many people I know of are ‘waiting to see’ if it’s safe, so it is imperative that the media stop reporting just the bad stuff and start reporting on all the people with no problems. Until people believe that, I think they won’t get the vaccine, and COVID will not go away.” According to the Cleveland Clinic, a vaccinated person acts as a barrier to slow and prevent the virus from continuing to spread. The ultimate end goal is to get as many people
vaccinated as possible so that more people are protected. The entire population benefits from a high vaccination coverage. The estimated vaccination rate needed for the herd immunity threshold for COVID-19 is roughly 50-80 percent of the population. In contrast, the flu needs only 33-44 percent of the population vaccinated. Stewart’s husband was a research biologist for 25 years, so it is easy for her to understand that getting the vaccine itself is safer than contracting COVID-19. “I think people who aren’t getting vaccinated are scared. They’re afraid of the unknown. I personally am afraid of the known .... COVID-19 kills people. I’ll take my chances with a vaccine that is not FDAapproved over dying,” said Stewart.
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More COVID-19 survey respondent comments KUDOS IN ORDER
who depend on me, meant everything to me.
We have had great vaccine service in Jackson County with the Health Department and WCU providing clinics.
Looking forward to hugging my parents, it’s been over a year since I was last able to.
The Haywood County Health Dept. has done a fine job of scheduling and administering shots. I especially appreciate Dr. Jaben’s video updates. I want to congratulate Macon County for how well they are organized with giving the vaccine.
HAPPY TO BE VACCINATED I do support a right to choose to get the vaccine or not but strongly urge all that are able, to get it. I really want to hug my Mom on Mother’s Day!! I am very grateful for the shots that are available to us to prevent COVID. HCHD has a smooth-running plan in place to deliver the shots, which was nice! We are delighted to get to see our three grandsons in a couple of weeks. It’s been 18 months she we’ve had sweet hugs!!!!
Smoky Mountain News
April 7-13, 2021
It was such a weight off my shoulders to get my vaccinations. Knowing I had done everything I could to protect myself in order to continue to care for and support family members
Being an only child and the primary caregiver for my mother who has moderate Alzheimer’s disease, my family and I have been diligent about the steps we have taken to stay healthy and well. If I were to become ill, then there would be no one readily available to help with the care of my mother. We have consistently been wearing masks, limiting our trips to the grocery store/shopping, and have not physically eaten in a restaurant in over a year (we have picked up takeout). I am also an instructor in an allied health program, so I am fully aware of the benefits of taking all the necessary precautions to protect myself as well as others. Get the vaccine! It will prevent a horrible disease. And they need to quit showing people getting vaccinated with that really long needle! I literally did not feel the vaccination. I wasn’t going to until my aunt died of it at Christmas and my uncle is still in bad shape. That scared me. This virus is real. Doesn’t matter how it got here. The fact is we need to get rid of it. One death is too many, especially when we have the power to stop the spread.
Covid has lasting side effects, vaccine side effects over in a couple days. Faith over fear ... have faith not fear of vaccine. After taking care of many people that became very ill and died, I became very sick too. It’s our personal responsibility to be vaccinated to protect ourselves and anyone we have contact with.
COVID-19 I did not sign up for my vaccination immediately even though I am 77, because I do not have any underlying health issues and I live in the country. Many of my friends of the same age were one to three weeks ahead of me in getting vaccinated. I felt there were others who needed the vaccination before I did.
VACCINE HESITANT It is sad these days that we as a society have gotten so far from our Source that we would even consider the injection of a toxic cocktail as being healthy. And strong opinions and popularity aside, how is it that ANYONE can suggest another person participate without honestly knowing what the long-term effects are? Sorry but just being told something like this is safe ain’t cuttin’ it for me and mine.
Any medical procedure that carries a known risk should always be a choice and not forced. I’m very concerned and scared of the virus but equally concerned and scared about any long-term effects from vaccine. It’s still not FDA-approved, only approved for emergency use. That’s what scares me. It’s very annoying how people who have gotten the vaccination act like they are better and smarter than those of us who are not getting vaccinated. I have never feared contracting COVID-19 in fear of me getting sick. I took precautions to keep vulnerable people in my family protected and so I could keep on working and not be a burden on my co-workers. Science states there is very little data for pregnancy and nursing moms. It is also very disturbing to me the reactions people I know have had to the vaccine such as full body itching, fatigue and anxiety. I have medical friends who teach in countries abroad that warn against certain types of folk from vaccines, but America is like, ‘everyone take it and let science sort ‘em out.’ Just concerned that pharmaceutical companies cut corners in the making of the vaccine.
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ore than 16 months after animal cruelty allegations were filed against Haywood resident James Lunsford, justice has finally been served. “We’re pleased with the judgement,” said Gina Zachary-Doan, executive director of animal welfare group Hope for Horses. “I feel like the amount of time that the state put into this case before it went to court at each continuance shows their commitment to prosecute these types of cases.” Lunsford pled no contest to one count of animal cruelty, a Class 1 misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of up to 120 days in the county jail. Because Lunsford entered a PJC (Prayer for Judgement Continued), he won’t end up behind bars unless he violates another law — any law — within 12 months. “A Prayer for Judgement Continued is an older mechanism in law available to most citizens,” said Assistant District Attorney Jake Phelps, who handled the case. In essence, it means that he has to cooperate with animal control authorities and maintain a clean record. Lunsford must also check in with the court near the end of the year. In November 2019, a number of animal welfare groups including Hope for Horses, Animal Haven of Asheville and 4 Love of Animals became concerned after reports that Lunsford was neglecting animals in his care at his Haywood County farm. Shocking photos show a number of horses with open wounds, their ribs visible due to malnourishment. That same month, Lunsford was issued a summons for four counts of intentional deprivation of sustenance to horses named Cookie, Granny, Spice and Pumpkin, as well as two more counts alleging the same intentional deprivation of sustenance to a cow named Blue Bell as well as six pigs. Lunsford maintained that he was operating as a rescue and had received many of the animals in poor condition. He also stated that animal rights groups were targeting him so he could be used as their “poster child” for fundraising efforts. Zachary-Doan had nothing but praise for District Attorney Ashley Welch’s office, and the prosecutor Phelps. “He was great. He took a lot of time to go over every detail of what the plea consisted of with everyone, with every witness, with people that were involved in the case from Hope for Horses, from Animal Haven and from animal services or animal control,” Zachary-Doan said. “He made sure that we all understood it and were in agreement. I just think that speaks volumes about the District Attorney’s office that he took that much time, just in this case in particular.” Phelps expressed confidence in the plea decision, and pledged vigilance as Lunsford progresses through the next 12 months. “If he harms another animal again,” Phelps said, “I’m certain Ms. Welch will not let that go, and neither will I.” — By Cory Vaillancourt
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Roberta Swank (middle) is presented with the 2021 Macon Matriarch Award from Women’s History Trail members Anne Hyder (left) and Claire Claire Suminski. Karen Lawrence photo
Swank named Macon Matriarch BY THERESA RAMSEY G UEST WRITER he Women’s History Trail project of the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County adopted an activity in 2018 that continues each March as a part of Women’s History Month. This annual celebratory event honors a special “WHT Macon Matriarch” and her role as trailblazer to help shape a better future for Macon County. Since its creation, three very deserving women have previously been distinguished as WHT Macon Matriarchs: Margaret Ramsey (2018), Sally Kesler (2019) and Dorothy Crawford (2020). This year, we are privileged to honor Roberta Jefferson Swank as the fourth “WHT Macon Matriarch.” Due to COVID19 concerns and in lieu of a more formal event, a smaller gathering was held on March 26 on Roberta’s outside porch where ladies from various walks of her life, including her daughter, Laureen, joined her in this important recognition. FHAMC Chairwoman Anne Hyder presented Roberta with a framed certificate that read: “Your dedication to the people of Macon County through community service, your excellent work ethic and your many years of willingness to help others earn you a perfect choice for this award. You exemplify the description of a ‘strong woman’ and we are proud to have you as a colleague! We honor you today with the annual Macon Matriarch Award.” Claire Suminski, one of the key event organizers/WHT Committee, shared a “This is Your Life” presentation containing Roberta’s bio as well as letters and well wishes from a cross-section of individuals privileged to have either worked or volunteered with Roberta in one of her many roles of service. Roberta Jefferson Swank was born in 1937 in Glendale, West Virginia and is a descendant of Thomas Jefferson’s brother. She was an only child, attended a one-room schoolhouse and was proudly the first in
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her family to go to college after receiving a scholarship to West Virginia University. She met her husband Wayne at a Methodist church group and got married one week after graduation. Mother of four children — Laureen, Doug, Scott and Mark — Roberta and Wayne moved to Macon County when he began working at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory. “Roberta was the official dietician for all hospitals in the region for 10 years,” Suminski said. “She is the kind of leader who leads by example and lifts others up.” Jane Morgan, who previously worked in environment health at the health department, added, “Roberta supervised the food service for Macon County Schools. Her knowledge in food science was exemplary. The employees respected her because of her honesty and willingness to work. She never asked anyone to do anything she wouldn’t do.” As for Roberta’s time on the Macon County Board of Health, Hyder, who previously served as the county’s assistant health director, stated that “as a member of this board, which dealt with issues such as preparedness, accreditation, well water program, personnel issues, budget planning and much more, not only did Roberta work hard but she asked the hard questions and added humor when needed. It was a great pleasure to work with her.” Roberta was also involved with Macon County 4-H. “Roberta was my 4-H Leader for many years in the Iotla Community. I thought she was fantastic,” shared long-time friend Becky Ramsey Estes. Roberta was instrumental in Macon County Public Library’s fundraising efforts to build the existing library. Friend Sally Dyar volunteers with Roberta at the Friends of the Library Bookstore as she continues to support literacy in Macon County. David Beam, Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church, said, “Roberta and Wayne may not have been born in Macon County but upon arrival, their love
of this community and its people through their service and involvement endeared them to even the most exclusive of residents. Roberta is an incredibly intelligent, articulate, faith-filled and staunchly independent person who is passionate about the things that matter most. Demure is not a word that describes her. But words like savvy, intentional, dedicated and devoted certainly do. I am thrilled to help honor Roberta among the legacy of women who have gone before her as treasures of this community.” Roberta also served on the Philanthropic Educational Organization Scholarship Committee. On behalf of PEO, Sue Hirsch and Rev. Margaret Freeman said, “Roberta continues to serve on the scholarship committee of PEO. Her desire to help young women in Macon County is why she has been instrumental in helping develop the Ewing-Huffman PEO Scholarship for young women who excel in leadership, academics and service.” Women’s History Trail Co-Chair Mary Polanski said, “Our WHT team is truly pleased to honor you with the WHT Macon Matriarch award. Your giving to this community is like a shining light of persistence and success.” WHT member Theresa Ramsey shared in a letter, “Macon County is a much better place because of your dedication and hard work in so many ways: library, schools, 4-H and much more. You are truly deserving of this award. Thank you for being a strong leader and advocate for so many!” Learn more about the projects of the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County — Women’s History Trail, “Walking in Her Steps” and the WHT Sculpture Project, a special bronze art sculpture titled “Sowing the Seeds of the Future,” which depicts three local historical women (a white woman, an African American woman and a Cherokee woman) — by visiting www.folkheritageassociation.org or email WHT leadership at whtmaconnc@gmail.com.
tudents enrolled in Haywood County Schools’ exceptional children’s program will soon have a new home at no taxpayer expense. On March 16, the Haywood County Schools Board approved an application to the Public School Building Capital Fund for $250,000 in lottery proceeds to be used for renovations on the former Central Elementary School’s K-1 building. Per North Carolina General Statute 115C546.2, such funds can only be used for “construction, reconstruction, enlargement, improvement, repair or renovation of public school buildings and for the purchase of land for public school buildings; for equipment to implement a local school technology plan; or for both.” Currently, HCS’ exceptional children’s program is housed at the site of the former Hazelwood Elementary School, on Virginia Avenue in Hazelwood next to Folkmoot. Central Elementary School was shuttered controversially back in 2016, but as new housing developments go up around town and population grows, there’s been widespread speculation that HCS will once again have to utilize the facility, which has since been vandalized. Haywood County Manager Bryant Morehead said that the lottery funding would pay for electrical and plumbing work, improvements to the HVAC system, repairs to the ceiling and floors, and insulation. On April 5, HCS’ application came before the Haywood Board of Commissioners for approval. Originally, the item was listed as part of the consent agenda. The consent agenda usually lists relatively mundane housekeeping items that are non-controversial, so they can be approved all at once. This helps speed up meetings, but also limits public comment and presentations on consent agenda items. Haywood County resident Monroe Miller, who was in attendance at the meeting, took issue with the item being placed among the other 14 items on the consent agenda and utilized the public comment session of the meeting to ask that it be placed on the meeting’s regular agenda. “When this item is reached in your consent agenda items, Chairman Ensley, please do one of the following,” Miller said. “Open this for discussion and have the presenter [Haywood County’s Internal Auditor] Kristian Owen explain what these renovations are on a school that is currently closed and why this involves a quarter of a million dollars from the lottery proceeds or move the agenda item to the regular agenda.” Commissioners agreed with Miller and considered the approval of HCS’ lottery fund application during the regular agenda portion of the meeting. The application was approved unanimously. — By Cory Vaillancourt
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Barbara Mcrae stands in the doorway of one of a sculpture at The Bascom in Highlands. Donated photo
ABarbarawoman with vision McRae leaves her mark on Macon County BY J ESSI STONE N EWS E DITOR arbara McRae loved history — learning about it, sharing it with others and making it herself. The long-time community organizer lost a long battle with cancer on March 2, but the projects she set in motion in Macon County will live on for generations to come, including the Macon County Women’s History Trail and the Nikwasi Initiative, both of which were created to preserve parts of Appalachian history that have gone untold for generations. “Franklin and Macon County will continue to be better because of Barbara’s life and work here. Barbara will be remembered by many, many people as a gifted journalist and historian, an amazing naturalist and a true force for women’s history,” said Mary Polanski, a dear friend of Barbara’s and one that was by her side in her final days. “We will remember her smile, dry humor, unending curiosity, and her drive to do the right thing, always.” McRae was not a Macon County native, but she probably knew more about Macon County history than most. She made it a point through her newspaper columns and personal passion projects to bring the county’s history to life and make it relevant to today. “Barbara brought our local history to light. She never let us forget who we are and what life was like to shape us. Yet she was not a native. I certainly believe she is now qualified as one,” said Franklin Mayor Bob Scott. McRae grew up in a military family that moved around often. She graduated from St. Louis University with a biology degree but went to work for IBM as a systems engineer in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 1960s. She married an artist, Jim McRae, and together they chose Franklin as their home in 1973. She worked for The Franklin Press as a reporter and then for Nantahala Power & Light/Duke Power in corporate communica14 tions/marketing. After retiring from Duke in
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2003, she became editor of The Franklin Press, continuing in that position for 10 years before retiring again. Retirement didn’t mean time off for McRae. She continued to be a community fixture with her regular columns in the Press and her tireless work on historic preservation projects, community redevelopment, revitalization and women’s history. She was also elected to her first term on the Franklin Town Council in 2013 and was re-elected to a second term in 2017. “I can say we lost an irreplaceable personality in our community. An irreplaceable positive presence. Barbara was a force for good in our world, still is actually, as the things she helped set into motion will continue to make our community better,” said fellow Councilmember David Culpepper. “I overheard a person once say that Barbara was playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers. She recognized possibilities and advocated for future ideas before most folks realized what was happening in the present.”
Indeed, McRae was always looking at the long game. When a plan didn’t pan out, she didn’t give up — she readjusted and came up with a new plan because she understood the importance of community buy-in if something was to be successful well into the future. “Barbara was dedicated to Franklin and her role as vice mayor. She was active in attending classes and seminars on municipal government. She represented the Town in several groups including the Economic Development Commission,” said Mayor Scott. “She was the founding voice in the Nikwasi Initiative. She was a leading authority on the Nikwasi Mound, the oldest human made structure in Franklin. If it was anything to do with history, Barbara was on the front row telling it.” McRae co-chaired the Nikwasi Initiative board of directors with Juanita Wilson, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Along with Wilson and the rest of the board, McRae set out to do something no one else had been able to accomplish — getting the Nikwasi Mound out from under the town of Franklin’s ownership. Ownership over the native mound had been a source of contention for years between the town and the EBCI. The Cherokee people wanted the mound back under the tribe’s ownership, but the town of Franklin and many Macon County residents believed it was the town’s responsibility to care for the mound since it was deeded to Franklin back in 1947. Despite strong feelings and arguments on both sides of the issue, McRae stood firm in her belief that the mound needed to be better preserved and promoted and that Nikwasi Initiative was in the best position to take care of it. Since the newly formed nonprofit had representatives from Franklin, Macon County, Cherokee and Mainspring Conservation Trust, the idea was that everyone’s interests would be brought to the table. After several contentious board meetings regarding the Nikwasi Mound deed transfer, town council voted unanimously to hand the deed over to Nikwasi Initiative in May 2019. With that historic decision, the Nikwaski Initiative has been moving forward with plans to place educational kiosks near the mound, develop a cultural corridor from the Georgia
Barbara McRae and Mary Polanski, co-chairs of the Women’s History Trail, discuss the research that went into the project before it launched in 2018. Jessi Stone photo
state line to the Qualla Boundary and redevelop the parcels surrounding the mound. The current plan is to recreate the agrarian native community that once occupied the same land. The redevelopment includes a Cherokee-themed restaurant, farm stand, working garden, an apple orchard and educational center. The idea would not only be a tourism draw but it would create a variety of direct and indirect jobs and provide economic development opportunities on the eastside of Franklin. Wilson said she’s thankful for the six years she worked alongside McRae to realize the same vision for the future of Nikwasi. “Knowledgeable, dedicated, are the words I hear most when others describe Barbara McRae,” she said. “A delightfully devilish and creatively curious woman and forever coming up with ideas that would make you think, ‘I wish I had thought of that!’ I will wait to hear from her with every visit to the mound, and as I walk the apple orchards, which will soon be planted in her namesake.” Elaine Eisenbraun, executive director of Nikwasi Initiative, said it was only fitting that they name the heritage apple trail that’s being designed on the greenway in Franklin after McRae. “The beauty of Barbara is that she continues to shine. She had such a wise way of influencing good in all of us. Nikwasi Initiative has named the heritage apple trail that is being designed on the Greenway for her because it absolutely reflects her ability to embrace history, people, and nature all into one tight circle of positive action,” she said. “Barbara’s dreams will live on in her community. I think really, she was a spirit in all our hearts during her life and remains that bright spirit today. Whether you knew her for an hour or a decade, she added to your life.” McRae’s other recent project would combine her passions for women’s history, art and community redevelopment. A few years ago, Anne Hyder, chairwoman of the Folk Heritage Association of Macon County, said she received a call from McRae to go to lunch. At that gathering, McRae shared her thoughts about starting a Women’s History Trail in Macon County under the association. Hyder agreed, and the WHT committee formed with McRae and Mary Polanski as cochairs to start fundraising efforts. The Women’s History Trail is the first of its kind in the state of North Carolina — a walking trail throughout town with plaques to tell the untold stories of the women that helped make Macon County what it is today. While women’s perspectives are often left out of the history books, McRae wanted to find a way to bring their contributions to the forefront. “When I think of Barbara, I smile. I have known Barbara for many years and always knew when we gathered, I would learn something from her. She had knowledge of many things including plants, history of Macon County families, birds, and tidbits of knowledge that always inspired me. She always was a positive spirit that seemed to be contagious to others,” Hyder said. “She will leave a void but will be a part of our community forever with all the wonderful projects and historical data she has given
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s g t - Barbara McRae pictured out in nature with s her camera in hand. Donated photo k g us. I will miss my friend very very much but feel so blessed to have had her friendship.” a McRae co-chaired the WHT committee with her friend Mary Polanski. Based on the - research McRae had done over the years, the t committee started its work on putting togeths er these powerful stories of women no one had k yet heard of, including Arrah Belle Wilson d Johnson — the first female publisher and editor of The Franklin Press. r McRae found out about Arrah Belle while y trying to get her Franklin home listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The e home once belonged to Arrah Belle, and McRae was disappointed when she was turned down for the historic designation. f “There were almost no women in journala ism in the U.S. at that time (1930s) and even s in 1987 only 5 percent were publishers, so she t was way ahead of her time,” McRae told The Smoky Mountain News in 2018. “They t turned me down for the National Register o because Arrah Belle was not in the Women in e North Carolina book. Actually no women west of Asheville are in the book. Someone e needs to write a WNC Women’s History s book, but that’s another project.” - That is what inspired her to put WNC y women on the map with the history trail projn ect, which was unveiled in October 2018. - Hyder said the history trail project then s evolved into the idea to install a public art s piece to honor a few of Macon County’s early d influential females. r “The sculpture — ‘Sowing the Seeds of the Future’ that is being designed now — is due to Barbara’s historical knowledge and
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hard work,” Hyder said. The design developed by sculptor Wesley Wofford shows three women of the time that represent three cultures that overlapped in Macon County — the African American woman named Salley, the Cherokee woman named Rebecca and the European settler woman named Timoxena. “The hands of the women are touching, illustrating the sisterhood of women that transcends cultural divides. The details of each figure reflect specific historical elements of each woman’s culture and the place in society each woman held. The sculpture is a metaphor for the evolution of modern society, a narrative about three very specific local women, as well as a history lesson with embedded historically accurate details including basketweaving and clothing,” Wofford explains in his statement about the public art piece. The 7-foot bronze statue, which costs more than $300,000 to commission, will be placed somewhere near the Nikwasi Mound when it is completed. “There’s a powerful story based on these three real women that knew each other and have connections to the Nikwasi Mound in Franklin,” McRae said in a 2018 interview. The committee is getting closer to their fundraising goal and is making payments on the sculpture as it moves through the process. Hyder recently came before the Macon County Board of Commissioners in March to request $15,000 worth of funding for the project to match the contribution from the town coffers. After explaining that the WHT owed $19,000 toward the sculpture immediately, the board approved funding $19,000 in honor of McRae’s memory. Polanski said McRae would always be her number one “shero.” “A true visionary, I believe there was never a time we shared that she did not tell me an idea that was percolating in her incredible mind. Her heart was full of love and hope for our community, and she made so many wonderful, positive things happen,” she said. “I am grateful to have known her and even more so that she left a trail for all to follow. She was an inspiration,” said Kathryn Sellers, who is involved with the WHT project. “All her knowledge shared with us like the stars in the night sky; they show their splendor and enormity, direct our path and give us comfort. May we always look to the stars and be still, listening for the sweet voice in times of discernment.” The Franklin Town Council approved a proclamation Monday night in memory of McRae. As an influential writer, photographer, historian and naturalist, the proclamation recognizes her as a dedicated public servant to the town through her terms on the council but also her service to the Main Street Program, WHT, Nikwasi Initiative, Macon County Community Foundation, Macon County Arts Council, Macon County Library and other local organizations. To honor McRae’s memory, folks are encouraged to support one of her projects. Visit www.folkheritageassociation.org/womens-history-trail-franklin-nc to donate to the public art project or visit www.nikwasi-initiative.org to donate to Nikwasi Initiative’s efforts.
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Smoky Mountain News April 7-13, 2021
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Curves to Cure What Ails You SUBSCRIBE TODAY USE PROMO CODE RIDE2021 FOR 35% OFF NEWSSTAND PRICE
W W W. b l u e r i d g e m o t o r c y c l i n g m a g a z i n e . c o m
WHO SAYS, AND WHY? Climate change mitigation is far less costly than doing little to nothing. “Bottom-up” piecemeal approaches are like dropping a band-aid on Mt. Etna. In October 2019 and again in 2020, Bank of England Director Mark Carney issued the strongest warning yet, telling British firms that they will go bankrupt unless they divest in fossils and invest in mitigating climate change. In January 2020, Black Rock CEO Larry Fink wrote customers that climate change is making fossil investments an unacceptable risk. Instead,
he wrote, they offer portfolios “that exclude fossil fuel companies.” A 29 January 2020 Forbes Magazine article noted that “Exxon shares are down 24%. The SPDR Energy Select (XLE) exchange traded fund, which invests across the U.S. energy space [industry], is down 25%. Money down the drain.” If your career was or is in a state government that turned over retirement funds to a for-profit manager, investigate. Some fossil fuel billionaires have successfully lobbied state legislatures and retirement boards to privatize retirement programs. Among those lobbyists is the Koch brothers’ misleadingly named Knowledge and Progress Fund. Another “dark money” lobbyist is the Competitive Enterprise Institute, funded by Exxon-Mobil. Result? Retirees’ savings have been is wiped out or severely diminished when the funds lost money or went bankrupt. A November 2020 report by the International Energy Agency found that “shares of publicly listed renewable equipment manufacturers and project developers have been outperforming most major stock market indices and the overall energy sector…. In October 2020, shares of solar companies worldwide had more than doubled in value from December 2019.” Sustainable energy markets are booming as solar energy has become cheaper than or competitive with coal, gas, and oil. In February 2020 Forbes reported, “Total installed U.S. PV [photovoltaic cell/battery storage] capacity is expected
to more than double over the next five years. . . . Thus, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that solar PV installer will be the fastest growing job between 2018 and 2028, with a median annual wage of over $42,000.” That’s good news for investors and for North Carolinians. Our state has begun to regain its pre-2017 status as US Number 2 (after California) in producing solar energy and jobs.
WHAT TO DO NOW: 1. Find out what your money is invested in. If you have IRAs, money market funds, or other investments, get a list of exactly what your money supports from your stockbroker or bank. 2. Look into sustainable or impact investing. As with any investment, check ratings with Morningstar, Forbes, and/or US News & World Reports, at least. Caveat: Some impact investment portfolios might not be as green as advertised. 3. Call/write your North Carolina General Assembly and Congressional officials to end taxpayer-funded welfare for fossil and fossil-supporting companies. 4. Call/write Congress to get all corporate money out of all elections. If a Senator gets $117,125 from the PAC of British ‘American Tobacco and $87,139 from the PAC of Duke Energy, as Senator Tillis did in the 2020 election cycle; and $500 from you as a private citizen, which donors’ interests will he vote for?
TRIPLE-WIN: 1. You’ll safeguard your income. 2. The more we mitigate climate change and the less we use fossils, the healthier we’ll all be, says the American Lung Association. 3. Investing in climate mitigation helps ensure beautiful outdoor recreation for the future.
WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION: • “Choosing the Right Sustainable Fund, Morningstar, Sept. 9, 2020. www.morningstar.com/articles/1000670/cho osing-the-right-sustainable-fund • “The Best And Worst Offenders Of Sustainable Investing,” Forbes, Oct, 18, 2020 www.forbes.com/sites/oliverwilliams1/2020/1 0/18/the-best-and-worst-offenders-of-sustainable-investing/?sh=2e90ca9d6ec3 • “15 Stocks to Buy as the ESG Investing Boom Continues Into 2021,” Barron’s 15 Dec. 2020 www.barrons.com/articles/15-stocks-to-buyas-the-esg-investing-boom-continues-into2021-morgan-stanley-says-51607965236 • Clean Air Choice, American Lung Association. www.cleanairchoice.org/fuels • “It’s Official: Solar is the Cheapest Electricity in History” American Infrastructure Magazine americaninfrastructuremag.com
Smoky Mountain News
usy as life is, even if you invest in stocks, IRAs, or a state retirement plan, you might have missed an investment megatrend: stockbrokers and investment managers have been shifting funds out of fossil fuels for several years. By December 2020 all major US banks had announced they would not invest in Arctic drilling: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Morgan Stanley. Thirty major institutions world-wide divested from fossil fuel companies last year. They’re moving customers into “impact investing” in companies and government projects that reduce the damage being done by the worsening climate. For example, since 2012 Morgan Stanley has offered “Investing with Impact Platform across Wealth Management.”
April 7-13, 2021
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Triple-win Climate Solutions: Your Money and Your Life
Mary Jane Curry, WNCClimateAction.com volunteer, is a retired university teacher of professional writing and research.
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Kings Mountain gaming to start this summer Ongoing lawsuit seeks to halt casino project BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER federal lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Interior’s decision to allow the South Carolina-based Catawba Indian Nation to build a casino in Cleveland County is far from resolution, but the tribe is proceeding with plans to begin gaming on the site — though at a slower pace than originally intended. The Catawba will open a temporary prelaunch facility this summer, a prefabricated modular construction that will offer guests 500 slot machines and food trucks, as well as alcoholic beverages once the tribe secures its liquor license. At the July 2020 groundbreaking, the Catawba announced plans to open a 1,300machine introductory facility in summer 2021, featuring food, beverages and entertainment in addition to slots. However, as the lawsuit wore on, tribal leaders decided to delay construction until after the court reached its decision. “As we saw the slowdown in D.C. on getting some of the questions answered, we took a step back and said, ‘OK, what can we do?’” said Catawba Chief Bill Harris during a Zoom interview last week. The 500-slot modular facility opening this summer will eventually be torn down when the 1,300-slot building comes online, likely next year, but in the meantime it will allow the Catawba to start training employees and pulling in revenue while the court process unfolds. When fully built, the $273 million casino resort is expected to create 2,600 permanent jobs and generate $308 million per year in direct economic activity. The tribe is working with consultant Delaware North and developer Skyboat Gaming, headed by Wallace Cheves, to carry out the project. The plan is to reach full buildout in five years, but that schedule will depend on a variety of factors. “The revenue will drive how quickly the buildout comes,” said Harris. “So if things go extremely well, what we’re hoping to do is probably to go from 1,300 machines to 2,500 machines in three to four years after the opening of the introductory facility. So you’re talking now five years. Within that period of time there should be at least a hotel started and whether it will be completed I don’t have the crystal ball to judge.”
Smoky Mountain News
April 7-13, 2021
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ONGOING LEGAL BATTLE
Revenue is far from the only unknown surrounding the future of Catawba’s Two Kings Casino Resort. Since its inception, the project has faced vehement opposition from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The tribe has argued that there is no precedent for the federal government to take land into trust that is 18 not connected to and is located across state
lines from existing tribal lands. Meanwhile, both the Catawba and the Cherokee maintain that the property in question is located on their ancestral lands and that the other should have no claim to it. In making its case to state and federal representatives, the Cherokee have also pointed out the blow to its thriving casino business that a Catawba casino near Charlotte would likely deal, estimating the potential revenue losses at $100 million per year. Last March, the U.S. Department of Interior approved the Catawba’s application to take the land into trust, and within five days the EBCI had filed suit in federal court, claiming that the land-to-trust decision was “rushed, flawed” and “violates the plain language of federal law.” When it filed the suit, the EBCI asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction bar-
including slot machines and table games. In a March 25 statement, EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed said he was “disappointed but not surprised.” “This approval stems from the DOI’s original illegal act to take land into trust and force an unwanted casino on North Carolina, a decision that we continue to challenge in federal court,” he said.
OPPOSITION FROM LEGISLATORS Sneed is not the only one speaking against the DOI’s handling of the situation. On Feb. 1, N.C. Rep. Mike Clampitt emailed the offices of Sen. Thom Tillis, Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Madison Cawthorn expressing his opposition to Cooper’s approval of the gaming compact and asking for help to stop the project.
A temporary, 500-slot prelaunch gaming facility will open this summer in Kings Mountain. Donated image
ring the DOI from taking the land into trust — and therefore preventing the Catawba from building their casino — as well as to issue a final judgment declaring that the DOI made its decision to take the land into trust in violation of federal law, requiring it to complete an Environmental Impact Statement and making it pay all court and attorney costs. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg struck down the EBCI’s motion for preliminary injunction, paving the way for the casino project to progress while the lawsuit continues. However, a final judgment is still a ways off. No date has yet been set, and the legal battle could well continue even after Boasberg delivers his final decision. Harris said that if the court rules against the Catawba, an appeal is likely. On Jan. 22 Gov. Roy Cooper approved a gaming compact between the Catawba and the State of North Carolina with terms that are similar to those laid out in the EBCI’s gaming compact. That compact received federal approval from the DOI on March 19. As a result, the Catawba are now legally able to conduct Class III gaming on the property,
“Several things bother me about this,” Clampitt wrote. “1) Cooper entering into compacts without legislature or council of state involvement. 2) A foreign nation entering N.C. accruing land in a business venture without legislative or council of state involvement. 3) The EBCI have legally gone thru a very exhaustive legislative process to get gaming into North Carolina in Cherokee and Jackson counties, and this group taking advantage of the Tribe’s effort and work. 4) EBCI is against this business venture as the proximity is so close to where they have their gaming facilities. 5) The lawsuit from the ECBI and the Federal Department of the Interior, but the ground has been turned for construction, which should not happen until the suit is adjudicated.” Clampitt concluded his email by saying he was prepared to introduce legislation aimed at halting the project and requesting that the federal legislators help “block and halt” the Catawba from locating their casino in North Carolina by requesting that the DOI discontinue its support for the project. So far this year, Clampitt has not filed any bills related to the Catawba issue.
When asked for his stance on the issue, Cawthorn responded that the deal “stinks to the high heavens,” and averred that the DOI “violated federal law to force this off-reservation casino onto North Carolina.” He said he would oppose any legislation seeking to condone the DOI’s “illegal acts” but did not address whether he planned to take any proactive action to stop the deal. “Helping the Catawba Tribe get a casino on their own reservation in South Carolina makes sense,” said Cawthorn. “But it’s pretty clear that making investors rich at any cost has driven this process, not helping the Catawba tribe. This casino is a bad deal for North Carolina and sets a dangerous precedent for allowing wealthy developers to abuse our government.” Thirteen of Clampitt’s Democratic colleagues in the N.C. House of Representatives also voiced opposition to the casino project, signing a March 16 letter that Rep. Susan Fisher wrote to Attorney General Josh Stein, reminding him that House members from both parties have “strongly opposed” the casino for more than seven years. Fisher cited lack of transparency from elected officials and untraceable land holdings as two major areas of concern, writing that multiple current and former elected officials who took action on the project stand to benefit, including family members of Kings Mountain Mayor Scott Neisler, who have significant land holdings around the property. Additionally, she wrote, “other properties surrounding the casino are being bought by a nearly untraceable network of LLCs, sometimes by entities that do not seem to have any legal organization or registration.” She concluded the letter by calling on Stein to conduct an investigation to determine if Kings Mountain has a conflict of interest policy and if any of the city’s elected officials broke that policy; require Cleveland County to disclose any information from closed-door hearings in which commissioners might have learned information they could use “to gain improper benefits”; and to determine if land transactions around the casino site “meet all state laws for transparency and legality.” The moving parts are many, and much will depend on the ultimate — and still faroff — conclusion of the lawsuit. However, when asked publicly, leaders of both tribes express confidence that their cause will win in the end. “I don’t think the Department of the Interior, after their rigorous and deep dive into this situation, would actually take land into trust for gaming if they had not done their work,” said Harris. “So I’m going to rely on the Department of Interior to stand behind what they did.” Meanwhile, Sneed has repeatedly assured his tribe that the court will rule in the EBCI’s favor. “We believe the facts are clear,” his statement read, “and that the court will invalidate this illegal casino and along with it, this compact.”
BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR potentially dangerous situation at the Evergreen Packaging paper mill in Canton on the morning of April 5 was quickly brought under control by early afternoon. Details were scarce initially, but Canton Fire Chief Tim Carver said at 12:45 p.m. that a structure fire within the mill was ongoing, and that various first responders were being brought in to address it. Carver also said he wasn’t aware of any injuries or casualties associated with the fire at that time. Around 3:30 p.m., Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers was able to reassure workers and their families that the situation had been brought under control. “This morning I was contacted and informed that there was a fire in Evergreen Packaging. As a precaution the Canton Fire Department and a number of volunteer departments responded in a timely and effective manner and I’m happy to report that the fire is contained, with no loss of life occurring. I do not know all the details and
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To request a Zoom link to attend virtually, email hr@lakejunaluska.com.
Man pleads guilty in Haywood A Buncombe County man pleaded guilty April 6 to two counts of first-degree statutory sexual offense and four counts of indecent liberties with a child, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said. Nathanial Shane Lewis, 44, of Buncombe County, will serve 190 to 288 months in prison. Senior Resident Court Judge Bradley B. Letts also ordered Lewis be placed on three years of supervised probation when released. “After a long and difficult year with the pandemic, jury trials have resumed, and my office has prioritized our older and more serious cases,” said Welch. With a jury available for the resumption of trials, Lewis entered the plea: He’ll spend at least 15 years and 10 months, and as much as 24 years, in prison. In open court, Lewis admitted he had inappropriately touched and molested a minor child on four separate occasions, during the second half of 2016. “Children are among our most vulnerable,” Welch continued. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute crimes against children in the 43rd Prosecutorial District.” Assistant district attorneys Jeff Jones and Kate Robinette prosecuted the case.
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Lake Junaluska will host an in-person and online job fair from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, at Lake Junaluska to connect with job seekers interested in part-time, full-time and seasonal positions. “We are excited to hire 75 new staff members for seasonal and year-round positions, and we will be offering sign-on bonuses for seasonal positions,” said Karen Kirby, director of human resources at Lake Junaluska. The job fair will be held in the Gaines Auditorium at Lake Junaluska’s Bethea Welcome Center, which is located at 91 N. Lakeshore Drive near the main entrance. To align with COVID-19 safety protocols, social distancing will be observed at the job fair and during the interview process, and all in attendance will be required to wear face masks. To attend virtually, email hr@lakejunaluska.com to request a Job Fair Online Zoom link. Open positions include front desk clerk, reservation agent, reservation manager, event services manager, housekeeping, custodians, landscaping technician, maintenance technician, cook (line and prep), waitstaff, hosts, dishwashers, retail sales associates/baristas and more. For more information or to see job descriptions, visit lakejunaluska.com/careers, call 828.454.6706 or email hr@lakejunaluska.com.
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April 7-13, 2021
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Fire at Canton mill contained
the investigation is ongoing. Evergreen is a private company and is dealing with it in an internal fashion,” Smathers said. The incident never rose to the level of necessitating evacuations of citizens or businesses outside of Evergreen, according to Smathers. “I attribute that to Canton Fire Chief Tim Carver and the chiefs of the volunteer departments — not just from Haywood but other counties also,” he said. “This is what they train for, and I have no doubt that because of their response along with internal action by Evergreen, this dangerous situation could have been much worse across the board.” Smathers said he was not aware of any risk to hazardous chemicals that are stored on site. This latest incident comes on the heels of another fire at the plant in late September, 2020 during which two contract workers performing maintenance operations on a tank were killed. The century-old mill sits in the heart of Canton, as well as in the heart of Haywood County’s economy. More than a thousand workers are employed there, making it one of the county’s largest employers. Headquartered in Memphis, Evergreen Packaging’s 3,800 employees manufacture a variety of paper and paperboard products, operating out of 13 domestic sites in nine states plus Ontario, as well as overseas locations in China, El Salvador, Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Taiwan.
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What’s New at Haywood Farmers Market? · BY SUSANNA SHETLEY · umble sat down with Lauren Wood of the Historic Haywood Farmers Market to hear all about their 2021 season. There are exciting things happening! What better way to spend a Saturday morning than strolling through a farmers market, coffee in hand, live music playing and supporting local growers?
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April 7-13, 2021
Rumble: When will the Haywood Farmers Market open for 2021? Lauren: Opening day was - Saturday, April 3! For the 2021 season we’ll be open on Saturdays 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, through Dec. 18. Rumble : How will it look different this year from years past? Lauren: We’re excited to be open for 38 weeks this year - more than ever before to give our community more access to local foods and products. The last four markets of the year will be holiday markets, like in 2020, rather than just one. For now, 2021 will look like 2020 with health and safety precautions like masks, physical distancing of vendors, hand sanitizer and capacity restrictions on crowded days. We have a great mix of familiar faces and a few new vendors. We are in the same location in the parking lot of the HART Theater/Shelton House in Waynesville. Rumble : What products will be available? Lauren: We’re proud of the variety of locally grown and made foods available at our market: fresh produce and herbs, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, honey, baked goods, pickled/fermented products, infused oils, coffee, vegan/gluten-free products, and more. We also feature quality heritage crafts such as woodworks,
fiber/textile arts, leather, stained glass, candles, body care products, beautiful plants and cut flowers. Also, during the first few weeks of the season we’ll have a lot of great plant starts for home gardens. Rumble : Will there be other events/activities? Lauren: We’ll have live music every week and yoga classes when temperatures are nice. Our community table is open to nonprofits or community groups on a rotating basis please contact us to request a table, see if we have a music spot available, or propose another idea for a fun, safe, outdoor activity! The return of kids’ crafts and other activities depends on the COVID-19 situation, but we have several fun ideas up our sleeve. Visit our website to subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram or Facebook to stay updated on special events. Rumble : What would you say to encourage people to visit the farmers market? Lauren: There are so many important reasons to support local farmers and businesses. Foods are nutritious and flavorful because they were picked the day before
and traveled just a few miles to market. Products are safe and certified and you get to meet and learn from your growers and makers. Your money goes directly back into your community. You help your neighbor and stimulate and support our local economy. Shopping from farmers directly helps them continue farming, supporting food security and protecting our land. Aside from all those serious reasons, visiting the market is a fun way to spend a Saturday morning: strolling in the fresh air, enjoying coffee and a baked treat, humming along to live music, shopping and seeing friends and neighbors. After this tough year and winter, I think we need all the community connections we can get! Rumble : Is there anything else you would like to add? Lauren: We are grateful to be able to support food security, a serious local concern that has been exacerbated by COVID-19. We partner with Haywood Gleaners to take leftover produce from market to deliver to locals in need. We also accept SNAP/EBT (formerly known as food stamps) and offer Double Up Food Bucks. This awesome program allows SNAP/EBT recipients to double their money and get free tokens to purchase food at the farmers market. Come to the yellow market tent to take part. To stay abreast of Haywood Farmers Market information and updates, visit waynesvillefarmersmarket.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Graphic Designer Jessica Murray (from left), SMN News Editor Jessi Stone, Staff Writer Hannah McLeod, Digital Media Specialist Susanna Shetley and Amanda Singletary (not pictured)
Rumble is a weekly e-newsletter created by women, for women and about women. It is published by The Smoky Mountain News and delivered to your inbox each Thursday. The goal is to offer readers a beautifully curated email that will inspire and motivate women to live their best lives. By hearing the challenges and successes of other women, we hope you will find an opportunity to live, love, learn and grow in your own unique way.
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Community Almanac
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The Friends organization raises money to support programming at the four branches of the Haywood County Public Library. The positions are a two-year term, starting in May. Volunteers attend six meetings per year and may be asked to participate in a committee. Most committee work can be completed in a few hours each month. The board especially seeks members who would be interested in taking meeting minutes, helping to organize the annual member meeting, or in assisting with publicity and digital communications. To learn more, email folhaywoodcounty@gmail.com.
ACA enrollment period extended Friends and family of Riley Howell gather together Saturday, April 3, for the inaugural Mighty 4-Miler Race, held in support of the Riley Howell Foundation Fund.
Compliance training for nonprofits WNC Nonprofit Pathways will offer an online 2021 Nonprofit Compliance Update on Tuesday, April 20. The day will begin with a morning session held from 10:30 a.m. to noon, followed by an afternoon session from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. This one-stop event will provide nonprofits everything they need to know about compliance rules and regulations. During the morning session, Ed Chaney, from Schell Bray PLLC, advises taxexempt organizations on a broad range of tax and corporate matters and will be presenting on compliance fundamentals during the morning session. During the afternoon session, interactive breakout discussions will be led by attorneys Ryan Coffield, Anderson Ellis, Meredith Silliman, and Stephen Williamson from the Asheville-based Van Winkle Law Firm. Register at www.nonprofitpathways.org.
Grants awarded to Haywood nonprofits The Fund for Haywood County with the J. Aaron and Adora H. Prevost Endowment Fund and the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund awarded nine grants totaling $24,610 in a recent grant cycle. Since 1994, The Fund for Haywood County, in partnership with The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, has awarded grants totaling $1,196,298. The 2021 grants are: $2,710 to Babies Need Bottoms to provide diapers, wipes, rash cream and basic hygiene essentials to Haywood families facing persistent poverty and acute crisis; $2,325 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western North Carolina to recruit, screen, train and place 10 new mentoring volunteers; $2,125 to Clothes to Kids of Haywood County to defray the cost of rent, utilities and phone for its clothing shop for kids; $2,975 to Community Kitchen to purchase food and supplies needed to
provide fresh, hot meals nightly; $3,115 to Fines Creek Community Association toward supplemental food and MANNA Pantry operating costs; $3,080 to Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency to provide new mothers with access to education and infant safety products, including car seats, pack and plays and diapers; $3,220 to Haywood County Meals on Wheels to provide meals to disadvantaged seniors 60 years and older who are homebound; $2,850 to Haywood Habitat for Humanity toward the construction of a greenway in Chestnut Park neighborhood and $2,210 to KARE to support the Positive Parenting Program. To make a tax-deductible contribution, donate online at www.fundforhaywoodcounty.org. Make checks payable to CFWNC, noting “Fund for Haywood County” in the memo line.
Library offers new printing service All Fontana Regional Library locations in Macon, Jackson, and Swain counties now have remote printing services available. Community members can send a document, file, or photo from their own laptop, tablet, or smartphone to print at a library printer. Print jobs can be sent from inside the library or from anywhere else. That means that you can print from home and then pick up your document at the Print Release Station inside the library. Jobs are held for up to three days and are printed when the user comes into the library to release and pay for the job. Cost is 25 cents per page for either color or black-and-white, and the Print Release Stations in the library accept cash only in small bills up to $10. For more details, visit www.fontanalib.org/print.
Haywood library seeks board members The Haywood County Friends of the Library Board is seeking new members.
Healthcare.gov is open through Aug. 15 thanks to an extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Special Enrollment Period and thanks to new federal subsidies from the American Rescue Plan monthly premiums for many will be reduced or even eliminated. On average, premiums will decrease by $50 per month. Premium payments are calculated at the benchmark of 8.5% of household income. People with income below 150% of the poverty line (about $19,000 for a single person, $25,800 for a couple, and $39,000 for a family of four) will pay no premiums for some plans, including Silver plans with cost sharing reductions. Pisgah Legal Services and its Enrollment Partners of WNC are again offering free assistance helping people in the 18-county mountain region review their options and sign up for ACA health insurance. Pisgah Legal and other Enrollment Partners of WNC participating organizations give local residents free, unbiased health insurance information and enrollment assistance in the NC Health Insurance Marketplace. For more information, visit www.pisgahlegal.org to apply for help online or make a gift in support of this important work.
Dogwood Health launches grant portal In an effort to make grants more readily accessible and to streamline the grantmaking process, Dogwood Health Trust has launched an online grant application portal for organizations serving all or part of 18 Western North Carolina counties and The Qualla Boundary. Dogwood is most interested in projects that address one or more of the organization’s four strategic priorities: Housing, Education, Economic Opportunity, and Health & Wellness. Visit www.dogwoodhealthtrust.org/apply-for-funding to access the portal. Dogwood’s new grantmaking process focuses on learning more about an applicant’s idea or project before requiring a detailed grant proposal. Applicants are invited to complete a pre-application first. Pre-applications are accepted on a rolling basis; there is no due date for submitting requests. To learn more, visit www.dht.org.
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Funding available for disability agencies The Evergreen Foundation board of directors is accepting grant proposals for first quarter 202122. Proposals for this cycle are due by Friday, May 21. Grant proposals submitted via email should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on the due date. Mailed proposals must be postmarked by 5 p.m. on the due date. Applications and information on applying for funding can be found on the Evergreen Foundation website www.evergreenfoundationnc.org. If there are additional questions, email them to dcoleman@evergreennc.org. www.evergreenfoundationnc.org.
New nonprofit partnership in Macon Macon County CareNet and Macon New Beginnings, Inc. recently announced their expanded partnership and a new chapter in their efforts to help those less fortunate in the community. Macon New Beginnings, Inc. will be moving their administrative office and sharing space at the CareNet administrative and distribution facility located on 130 Bidwell Street. Clients with food and housing security issues will now be able to access those resources in one stop. For further information, visit www.maconcarenet.org or www.maconnewbeginnings.org.
Cheer teams win first place The Smoky Mountain Competition Cheer teams competed at three events during the month of February. The teams consist of the Sparking Gems (ages 6-8), the Dazzling Diamonds (ages 6-10), and the Senior Sapphires (ages 7-18). Members are from Haywood, Jackson, Swain, and Macon counties. The teams competed at the Great Smoky Mashup with Maximum Cheer and Dance on Feb. 13 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. All three teams won first place for their divisions. The Sparkling Gems and the Dazzling Diamonds received zero deductions for their performances. The teams traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, Feb. 20 to compete in Triad Xpress competition and won first place for their divisions. They finished out the month competing at the Smokey Mountain Crown Feb. 27 in Sevierville, Tennessee. The Sparkling Gems took second place in their division and received zero deductions for the routine. The Dazzling Diamonds and The Senior Sapphires took first place. All three teams received invitational only bids to compete at The One, a unique end-of-season event held at three locations in the United States. The teams will continue to compete throughout the months of March and April. Tryouts for the 2021-22 season will be held in May. For more information, call 828.506.1419.
22
Opinion
Smoky Mountain News
GOP election tactics threaten our republic A
Apartment complex just doesn’t fit To the Editor: Sylva is a beautiful small town. It is its small-town charm and beautiful surroundings that brings people to Sylva and it is what keeps them here. As a 22-plus year resident of Sylva, it is my passionate belief that the fourstory, 84-apartment building project that is being proposed at 710 Skyland Drive does not fit with the statement in the 2040 Land Use Plan (2020) Overview that “Sylva is poised to take advantage of and build upon these assets by planning for and promoting growth while maintaining its small-town form and character.” While I understand that there may be a need for senior housing, plopping down a 4story building in the middle of a pasture and paving the entire area does not exactly fit within the style of this mostly single-family community. Perhaps a collection of duplexes or townhomes with some green space, even garden areas so that these seniors (of whom I
institutions of republican — small r — government as expressed in the Constitution. The Watergate coverup offended enough Republicans to have impeached and removed Richard Nixon had he not resigned. It was Goldwater who led a Republican delegation to the White House to tell him it was time to go. He went, never attempting reprisals against those who had turned against him. But now, in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidency and his failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election (and with it, the Constitution) the Republican Party is acting remarkably like the Fascist and Communist parties that have fronted for dictatorships elsewhere. It has become a personality cult of Guest Columnist a ruthless leader who doesn’t bother to conceal his dictatorial instincts. Its lesser officials, following Trump’s lead, are attempting to purge anyone, like Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who put their duty to the Constitution ahead of their fealty to him. Even though Sen. Richard Burr is retiring next year, the North Carolina Republican Party hastened to censure him for voting to convict Trump in the second impeachment case. Most Republicans in Congress voted in effect to overturn the results of the cleanly run election that the leader had lost, giving a symbolic victory to the insurrectionist mob that Trump had incited to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6. Three Republican members of Congress, including Madison Cawthorn, our 11th District representative, had helped feed the mob’s frenzy. Now, as if Trump had been telling the truth rather than lying about losing the election, Republicans in more than 40 states are vigorously promoting legislation that would make early voting and absentee voting more difficult for many people. Georgia’s new law is so vicious that it would be a crime to
Martin Dyckman
political party that stakes its future on allowing fewer people to vote does not deserve a future. A democracy that accommodates such a party will not have a future. That is our nation’s present crisis, 234 years after the Constitutional Convention created a government with no prescribed role for political parties. George Washington, for one, feared them. The Republican Party has now become what he famously warned against in his Farewell Address. Alarmed at the partisanship already brewing during his presidency, Washington decried “the common and continued mischiefs of the spirit of party.” The words today look eerily prescient. That spirit, he said, “(S)erves always to detract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions …” The phrases I italicized could be Washington saying from the grave, “I told you so.” Until recently, both major parties tried to be big tents. The Democratic Party of the racists James Eastland and Jesse Helms nurtured the future liberal president Joe Biden. The Republican Party of Barry Goldwater, who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, was big enough for Hugh Scott, Jacob Javits and Everett Dirksen, who provided the leadership and decisive votes to break Southern filibusters and pass that law and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Ironically, those laws delivered the South to the GOP exactly as President Lyndon Johnson sadly predicted. And yet Republicans continued as late as 2006 to vote overwhelmingly for four successive extensions of the Voting Rights Act’s key provisions, including the essential pre-clearance requirement that the Supreme Court killed 5-4 eight years ago. Those were the days. Apart from their policy differences, Republicans and Democrats shared a devotion to the democratic — small d —
LETTERS am one) can remain active, would better suit this neighborhood, if indeed housing is needed. As I write this letter, from 91 Magnolia St., I am looking directly at the proposed Skyland site from my front porch. Have you been to our neighborhood? Please come by! This quiet neighborhood, on the eastern edge within Sylva’s city limits is mostly comprised of single-family homes built in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Right now, I look out at a pasture that gets mowed a couple of times a year, some 80-foot tall pine trees, and through them a beautiful early 20th century home. These will be razed. In the background all around are mountains. There are no tall buildings within sight — or within city limits that I have noticed. It is almost within sight of the hospital, but not quite. Not even the hospital is four stories high. Article II, Sec. 38-45, regarding Professional Business District regulations indicates that the maximum structure height
hand out water to people waiting in lines made longer by other parts of the legislation. One has to wonder whether the real purpose is to distract attention from the worst parts of the bill. Those would allow the partisan Republicans in the Legislature to pre-empt state and local election boards if the vote counts aren’t going their way. That’s as brazen as anything ever foisted on the people of Ukraine, Belarus or Russia. Once that happens, the United States can no longer pretend to be either a democracy or a republic. Meanwhile, Raffensperger already has drawn opposition for re-election next year, including a Trump toady congressman. In the manner of dictators everywhere, especially the Russian who controls him, Trump can’t abide anything other than absolute obedience. His vice president debased himself to Trump for nearly four years until Jan. 6, when he had to decide between illegally trashing Joe Biden’s electoral votes and accepting them as the Constitution required. Trump called him out to the mob and didn’t follow up to see whether he had escaped the insurrectionists shrieking “Hang Mike Pence.” Lately, Trump failed to mention Pence among the other Republicans he would bless in 2024 if he doesn’t run himself. The Republican assault on voting can’t be stopped without enactment of HR 1, the Democrats’ massive reform bill. But one Democrat, the 50th vote critical to enacting it, hasn’t signed on to the Senate version. That’s Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who insists it needs Republican sponsors for the sake of bipartisanship. It’s hard to believe that someone who was governor of West Virginia could be so naïve. He’s unlikely to find more than one Republican senator to support voting rights, let alone the 10 needed to break Mitch McConnell’s filibuster. So the world’s oldest continuous democracy is on life support. The party that controls half the Senate, nearly half the House and a majority of state capitols treats obedience to the law, faithfulness to the Constitution, and support for honest elections and voting rights as acts of treachery. The term “subversive” unquestionably describes that party. (Martin Dyckman is a retired journalist who lives in Western North Carolina. dyckmanm@bellsouth.net)
is 40 feet, which doesn’t include four-story buildings. In the 2040 Sylva Land Use Plan (2020), this neighborhood is identified as an In-fill Neighborhood, which “are areas of existing low- (2 to 4 units per acre) to medium-density (4 to 12 units per acre) single-family residential uses.” Just this past year, that is how the town decided it wanted to grow in this area, not with multi-story apartments. Traffic at the Skyland Drive/Chipper Curve intersection is already awful. The proposed entrance onto Allens Branch will funnel traffic right into that already difficult intersection. The surface of Allens Branch Road is in bad shape, with the edge along the creek crumbling in several places across from the proposed site. The watershed during rains turns Allens Branch Road and Magnolia Street into rivers and my yard into a pond in this “bottom.” Add to this the light and noise pollution created by the 84 apartments that will be backing onto/looming over this quiet neighborhood. My newest neighbors just commented on the positive impact on sleep because of
how quiet and dark it is at night. If this proposal is approved, it will never be dark here again. Our view will be of the side of a building instead of the side of a mountain. If you will review the 2040 Sylva Land Use Plan (2020) policies below, I think that you will find that the current proposal doesn’t comply. • POLICY 4.2: Ensure that the density/intensity of development will be compatible with the general characteristics of the surrounding area in which development is located. • POLICY 5.2: Guide development to achieve appropriate transitions between different types of land uses. The Conditional Use Permit application indicates that in order for the zoning board to “grant and issue” the permit they must find that “3. The use will not substantially injure the value of adjoining or abutting property…” and “4. The location and character of the proposed use will be in harmony with the area in which it is to be located and in general conformity with the development of the Town
Libraries extend beyond four walls
and its environs.” That the proposal meets item 3 is questionable, and in no way does it conform or harmonize as expected by item 4. There must be a better alternative! Please
look elsewhere KRP Investments and Town of Sylva. Kristin Kane Member, Citizens Against Sylva Tower
Susanna Shetley
I
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lexile levels. It’s important that parents observe their kids and ensure the right books are always available and accessible. In November 2019, I published a children’s book called The Jolt Felt Around the World. Writing books was something my mom and I both dreamed of doing. She passed away from cancer in 2016 so her dream never came to fruition. I was determined to achieve that goal for both of us. After an inspiring conversation with my two young boys about the travesties of global warming, I wrote a book to help kids understand the importance of caring for Mother Earth, working as a team, and offering kindness and tolerance to those who are different. In early 2019, I partnered with Wisdom House Publishing in Chapel Hill. My illustrator, Krystal Smith, did a phenomenal job bringing the words to life with her drawings. The dedication page is fully devoted to my mom. Without her as a role model and advocate for books and reading, I do not think I would be a writer at all, much less a published author. Before the days of Barnes & Noble and Amazon, the only access to books was through schools or the public library system. Ben Franklin is best known within the library community for founding the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731, which was American’s first lending library and is thought to be the predecessor for free public libraries. The first true public library in the U.S. was opened in 1833 in Peterborough, New Hampshire Between 1881 and 1919, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie helped build more than 1,700 public libraries around the U.S. Today there are 9,057 public libraries in our country. In 1958, the American Library Association sponsored the first National Library Week. Each year they offer a theme, and this year’s theme promotes the idea that libraries extend beyond four walls and that everyone is welcome to use their services. With so much stress in today’s world, there’s something simplistically beautiful about public libraries. It’s a clear and honest model. Walk in the door and check out a book for free with the promise to bring it back so another patron can enjoy it. For me, this week is especially meaningful because it makes me think of my late mother who was the most amazing woman and a cornerstone in my life. As National Library Week wraps up, take a moment to honor your favorite librarian and perhaps check out one of those old books that meant a lot to you as a child. (Susanna Shetley is an editor, writer and digital media specialist. susanna.b@smokymountainnews.com.)
April 7-13, 2021
t’s National Library week, and for someone who loves books and was the child of a librarian, this week is special to me. Aside from two years as a business teacher, my mom spent her entire career in public education as the librarian of Weaverville Primary School. When she retired, she went back and served part-time in the media center of Fairview Elementary. As a child, my afternoons were spent in my mom’s library. We would play with her typewriter or the Xerox machine. Sometimes we would watch a movie in the AV room or paint on Columnist construction paper and laminate is on the massive 1980s laminating machine that filled up a quarter of the room. When my sister and I weren’t playing with all of the gadgets and machines that reside in a library, we were perusing the many books of shelves and reading. The classic book A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett captivated me as a young girl. I read it for the first time in third grade and re-read it at least six times before leaving elementary school. I would hide the novel on the wrong shelf so no one else could check it out. I also watched the movie version with Shirley Temple at least 50 times. To this day, when I see that book in a bookstore or the move on screen, I feel a strong flutter of nostalgia. Popular American author Beverly Clearly recently passed away. Cleary’s Ramona Quimby series was at the top of my reading list when I was a girl. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 was another book I checked out routinely at my school library. My mom eventually bought me my own copy. I wish I still had that book. As a language arts teacher at Waynesville Middle, my students loved library day. I enjoyed helping them pick out a book that interested them. For the avid readers, I loved the peaceful, curious look that overcame their faces once they settled on a couch to read the first few pages before heading back to the classroom. Now, as a mom, I’m watching my two boys become readers. They have very different tastes. My 12-year old likes historical fiction novels, especially those set in the World War II era. My younger son, however, loves graphic novels, a genre that many modern parents appreciate. Though they have illustrations and shorter sentences, graphic novels offer wonderful stories and challenging
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‘Connecting Legacies’ New art exhibit shines light on Black Mountain College
Robert Rauschenberg, ‘Bubba’s Sister from the Ruminations.’ Below: Joseph Fiore, ‘Black Mountain Lake Eden.’ BY GARRET K. WOODWARD ARTS & E NTERTAINMENT E DITOR rom 1933-1957, Black Mountain College was formed and thrived within the context of its seemingly unconventional methods and ways, only to simply disappear — into the history books of the town it was named after, into the fond memories of those who passed through the magical space along their respective paths in life. “There’s been a bit of a Renaissance in the last 15-20 years in the interest in the history of Black Mountain College,” said Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator at the Asheville Art Museum. Leaps and bounds ahead of its time, even by many of today’s academic standards, the experimental liberal arts institution was a haven for cutting edge artists and the curious alike from around the country — complete creative and spiritual freedom to be “you” and “me,” right in the heart of Western North Carolina. “[Black Mountain College] is only just now starting to come into a lot of art history curriculums,” Schroeder said. “There’s a whole new generation of folks looking at it through a perspective of the arts, but there’s also political engagement and education research on it because it was so progressive in terms of education.” Titled, “Connecting Legacies: A First Look at the Dreier Black Mountain College Archive,” the exhibition will run through May 17 at the museum. Made up of over 1,000 artworks and other documents, the exhibit not only showcases the rich, vibrant art and innovative artisans that once roamed the campus, it also pro-
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The exhibit “Connecting Legacies: A First Look at the Dreier Black Mountain College Archive” will be showcased through May 17 in the Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery at the Asheville Art Museum (located in Pack Square). To reserve your tickets for admission (which is limited due to current safety protocols) and/or to learn more about the showcase, go to www.ashevilleart.org/blackmountain-college/connecting-legacies. For more on the Asheville Art Museum, simply click on www.ashevilleart.org.
ceding the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling. The next year, the school invited musicians Roland Hayes and Carol Brice to become its first African American faculty members. “There’s an ethos that we really try to emulate in our exhibitions and in our collecting strategies at the [Asheville Art Museum], and I think we often look to Black Mountain College for inspiration [in doing so],” Schroeder said. “We certainly acknowledge its influence on the area — and even though we collect more broadly — it encourages us to look at what’s happening right now in Western North Carolina, too.”
“There’s a whole new generation of folks looking at it through a perspective of the arts, but there’s also political engagement and education research on it because it was so progressive in terms of education.” — Hilary Schroeder, assistant curator at the Asheville Art Museum
vides an unbreakable tether to where we stand today in the ever-evolving culture of Asheville and greater Southern Appalachia. Artists featured in the showcase include Lorna Blaine Halper, Ruth Asawa, Hazel Larsen Archer, Elaine Schmitt Urbain, Warren “Pete” Jennerjahn, John Urbain, Joseph Fiore, Ray Johnson, Barbara Morgan, Anni Albers, and more. “In this exhibit, we’re really trying to focus on not just the folks everyone knows, but additionally artists who had really amazing careers
that aren’t household names yet,” Schroeder said. “And we talk a lot about the legacy of Black Mountain College, so it’s amazing to be able to track it through basically when an artist was there right through the end of their careers.” Aside from its avant-garde artistic pursuits, Black Mountain College was steadfast and pioneering in its equal schooling and academic opportunities for women and people of color. Most notably, Alma Stone Williams became the first African American admitted to the institution in 1944, just about a decade pre-
Within the endless archive of artwork, photographs, letters and other materials, the museum was able to acquire much of the collection from the family of BMC founder, the late Theodore Dreier. Of which, many of the piece will be permanently housed at the museum once the exhibit concludes in mid-May. “The documents and furniture [in the exhibition] from the Dreier family was just up in their family home in Martha’s Vineyard, [Massachusetts],” Schroeder said. “It’s been in their possession all these years and they wanted to place it some sort of public trust, and we were selected to receive the gifts — there’s just something so exciting about being able to have [and research these materials] so close to the place that it all happened.”
arts & entertainment
This must be the place BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
I never ever saw the stars so bright, in the farmhouse, things will be alright
I
• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Jacob Johnson (singer-songwriter) April 17. All shows begin at 6:30 p.m. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com. • Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host semi-regular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com. • Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Bohemian Jean (soul/acoustic) April 9, The Realtorz April 10 and Joey Fortner (folk/indie)
April 16. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Shane Meade (singersongwriter) April 10 and Dirty Dave April 17. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
ALSO:
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Arnold Hill (rock/indie) April 9. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade (singer-songwriter) April 9 and Isaac
Step into the barn, amid the milking lines, the endless chores to just keep the whole thing running efficiently, or at least for today (tomorrow is always another story). Help feed the animals. Find the wrench or tools that’s desperately needed. Wipe your sweaty brow and grin in awe of the scene before you. Shake hands with the farmhands and old-timers, salt of the earth ancient souls who have probably seen and felt more than you’ll ever know. Unforgettable sunrises and sunsets. Brutally hard work to just simply keep your head above water. The undying passion for the land and what it produces. Day in and day out. Onward into the unknowns of the seasons. What may or may not be in your favor. And how best to bounce back from it. Fingers crossed. God willin’ and the creek don’t rise, eh? Admiration remains in great supply for these figures.
These days, I still have personal ties up in that small town on the Canadian Border. Little sister and her family are there. My parents not far down the road, either. Several old cronies from my youth have now taken over their family farms, raising beef cattle or making maple syrup (or both). I’m proud of them all, if anything for keeping the spirit of the place alive and in good hands — deep roots never to be ripped up by those harsh, unforgiving Arctic winds. And in those rare moments where I find myself physically back in that place, I’ll jump into my old Tacoma and cruise the backroads, this unrolling landscape of pure silence and thoughts provoked, of endless cornfields and dirt roads, and of fleeting sunsets — all eventually finding its way into my restless slumbers in the mountains of Southern Appalachia. Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
Corbitt (soul/acoustic) April 10. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.
• The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. 800.872.4681 or www.gsmr.com.
• Smoky Mountain Event Center (Waynesville) will host a drive-in show with Papadosio (jam/fusion) 6 p.m. April 9-10. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to www.ashevillemusichall.com.
Smoky Mountain News
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.
The old Tacoma in the North Country.
April 7-13, 2021
t was a flood of memories I hadn’t thought of in years. There I was on a date with this girl the other day. She works in town, not far from my apartment. A casual conversation turns into a casual drink. Kind of nice to have that rare interaction these days amid “all this,” truth be told. She’s from the Piedmont region of North Carolina. A self-proclaimed “hippy cowgirl,” she grew up on a farm. A real deal farm family. Six hundred or so head of cattle. Horses. Goats. Dogs. Cats. Ducks. Pigs. All kinds of shiny, expensive equipment to milk the cows and plow the fields. Open air and vast meadows as far as the eye could see. By the second drink of the casual conversation at the neighborhood bar in downtown Waynesville, I started to tell some tales of my own, days long gone, but not forgotten, roaming around the farms and fields of my native North Country (Upstate New York/Vermont). I grew up on the far western edge of Rouses Point, New York. A town about the size of Bryson City, it was the largest village on the Canadian Border in that area, a mile from the international boundary, a mile from Vermont, along the shores of the majestic Lake Champlain. My childhood home was an 1820 limestone farmhouse (once a working dairy). Behind it a large barn with slate shingles on the roof. Filled with bales of hay and rusty farm equipment, it also housed our horse, Branches, as well as numerous cats and dogs that would roam the seven-acre property (which was surrounded by thousands of acres of endless cornfields).
Located at the end of Smith Street, my driveway was where the streetlights stopped, the good pavement ended, and the smell of manure began. At night, if you looked east from my backyard, you could see the bright lights of the small town, of the (nowdefunct) pharmaceutical factory that employed most of the community. But, if you looked west, all you saw was a dark abyss. No lights, maybe just a random floodlight from some barn in the distance. But, otherwise, no light pollution. No noise. No people. No distractions. To which, my father and I would take our dogs for walks at night along those quiet farm roads, where he’d point out the constellations to me. The night sky was never as bright in my youth as it was on those walks. Those farm roads still haunt my dreams. Roads seemingly to nowhere. Broken pavement. Gravel. Dirt. I’d lace up my running shoes in middle and high school, bolting down those routes. Miles and miles. Sometimes in the blazing hot summer when the corn was just starting to emerge from the earth. Sometimes in the early fall, the corn now taller than me and ready to be harvested. Sometimes in the depths of winter, 20 below zero and bundled up in several layers to combat a fierce Arctic wind blowing across the empty fields. It was those icy jogs that were my favorite. Total silence. Just the sounds of your breathing and shoes crunching atop the slippery trek. You’ve never been so cold in your life, but you somehow push through — all while this crazy vibration of time and place echoes through your heart and soul. And the people. All of those childhood friends of mine whose farms I’d find myself frolicking about on. Shenanigans. Stealing cheap Canadian beers from the barn fridge and wandering the back fields (“back forty”) and tree lines. Kicking rocks down dirt paths through the woods. Watching the cows run across the horizon in search of their dinner back at the barn.
• Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host Joel Parisoe 3 p.m. April 11. 828.456.4750 or www.facebook.com/waternhole.bar.
• Stecoah Valley Cultural Arts Center announced Jennifer West as the interim executive director, effective April 1. West previously served as assistant executive director since January 2017. 828.479.3364 or jennifer@stecoahvalleycenter.com.
• There will be a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
• Open call for artists to sell their work in the Carriage House Gift Shop at the historic Shelton House in Waynesville. 25 757.894.2293.
arts & entertainment April 7-13, 2021
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On the stage
Drive-in series returns Arnold Hill to play Lazy Hiker Americana/rock act Arnold Hill will be hitting the stage at 8 p.m. Friday, April 9, at Lazy Hiker Brewing in Sylva. With its recent debut album, “Back to Life,” Arnold Hill sets to change the tone and tempo of what folks might expect on a given night onstage at their nearby bars and breweries in our mountain communities. Formed in 2011, the Jackson County band is named after a road in Sylva where the musicians lived and practiced. In method, Arnold Hill adheres to the playful nature and creative possibilities that reside in a trio. The unique formation can be a tricky line to balance, where you have enough space to explore musically, but also the
Hosted by the Asheville Music Hall, the 2021 drive-in concert series will kick off with a special two-night performance by popular jam/fusion act Papadosio at 6 p.m. April 9-10 at the Smoky Mountain Event Center (aka: Haywood County Fairgrounds) in Waynesville. The show will celebrate not only the 15th anniversary of the inception of Papadosio, but also the 10th anniversary of the Asheville Music Hall. One- and two-day car passes are now available for purchase. These performances will follow any and all local/state Covid-19 safety protocols. All concerts are sociallydistant. For more information on this show and others in the drive-in series (and to buy tickets), visit www.ashevillemusichall.com and click on the “Live Music Calendar” tab.
Pasquale LaCorte as George Burns.
HART Theatre reopens Waynesville’s beloved Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will open its doors again to the public, beginning April 8 with the one-man show “Say Goodnight, Gracie” starring Pasquale LaCorte as George Burns. The production is being staged in the Fangmeyer Theater, with CDC protocols in place. The flat floor of the theater makes it possible for patrons to be in pods spaced six feet apart. Patrons will be asked to wear masks unless they are eating or drinking items
from the concession area, and distancing will be practiced throughout the facility. HART has created a special Covid Safety Video to give patrons a sample of what attending the show will be like. To view it, simply go to www.harttheatre.com. “Say Goodnight, Gracie” is an evening with one of the entertainment industry’s most celebrated figures. George Burns lived to be 100 years old and was a major star until he died. He performed in Vaudeville in the 1920s and in the 1930s he teamed up with Gracie Allen, whom he would eventually marry. The two became stars of film and radio, and eventually had a successful television show in the 1950s. The show offers an unforgettable tour through a century of entertainment. Audiences will be transported with treasured video clips, audio and pictures from the life of these comic icons. The show has performances at 7:30 p.m. April 8-10 and 15-17 and 2 p.m. April 11 and 18. All seats are $20 general admission. To make reservations call the HART Box office at 828.456.6322 at any time and simply leave your name, phone number, the number of tickets you would like held and the performance date on the recording. Door opens 30 minutes prior to the performance.
arts & entertainment
same amount of space to expose vulnerabilities. The show is free and open to the public. www.arnoldhillband.com. Purchase “Back to Life” on all online streaming services.
Arnold Hill.
April 7-13, 2021
Anniversary sale going on now! MONDAY - SATURDAY 11-4PM Storewide plant sale, drawings and fun gifts! 1856 DELLWOOD ROAD, WAYNESVILLE • 828-926-1901
Smoky Mountain News
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On the wall arts & entertainment
beautiful native wildflowers, flowering shrubs, and trees in the exhibit: “Celebrating the Flora of the Smoky Mountains.” Artists must highlight one to three flora subjects in their medium of choice. The plant must be native to the Smoky Mountain region. The representation can range from botanical illustrations to landscapes. However, the plant should be recognizable and included in the title of the piece. Contracts are due April 9. For more information, click on www.haywoodarts.org/callfor-artists or pick up a copy at the HCAC in Waynesville. Email completed contract to gallerygifts@haywoodarts.org.
Interested in metal art? A work by Linda Blount.
April 7-13, 2021
Haywood ‘Juried Artist Exhibit’ The Haywood County Arts Council will host an upcoming exhibition featuring original art from 12 local artists. The 2021 “Juried Artist Exhibit” will run through May 1. Each of the exhibiting artists went through an extensive jury process and they’re are delighted to have their work in the gallery. Artists included in this exhibit: Joan Bazzel, Mel Bennett, Linda Blount, Barbara Brook, Melba Cooper, Wendelyn Cordwell, Mary Decker, Peggy Duncan, Gayle Haynie, Alice Herring, Ilene Kay, Jo Ridge Kelley, Betsy Meyer, Deb Parmele, Amy Shahparast, Jennifer Sharkey, Debbie Skelly, Cheryl Summey, and Lisa Townsend. www.haywoodarts.org.
Haywood celebrates Smokies flora
Smoky Mountain News
A “Call for Artwork” by the Haywood County Arts Council is currently underway. In May, the HCAC will be showcasing our
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A new grant from the Center for Craft is supporting an effort to share traditional metal working techniques with the western North Carolina community. The grant was awarded to William Rogers of Rogers Metals and two Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians enrolled members who have been working with him for the past six years. James Wolfe, from Big Cove, and Snowbird resident Nathan Bush met Rogers when he was teaching hammered copper on the Qualla Boundary. Now both former students will have a chance to extend their own experience to teaching. The grant provides funding for a series of introductory workshops available to the community at no cost. The three-hour workshop courses will begin in late April and extend through May. Each workshop is open to anyone interested in learning more about hammered copper or blacksmithing. Class openings are limited due to COVID protocols. A prospective student will work one-on-one to learn techniques of working either copper or steel from Wolfe and Bush, who will teach at Rogers Metals studio in Cullowhee. Class space is extremely limited and will be filled on a first-come/first-serve basis. To sign up for a class, contact rogersmetals@gmail.com.
WNC Tomorrow Black Oral History Project and a Pullman porter on the railroad. He Western Carolina University’s Special recalled starting a medical practice in 1941, and Digital Collections at Hunter Library being drafted into World War II in 1942, has digitized a collection of interviews conand how he returned to a very segregated ducted between 1986-1989 with Black resiAsheville in 1946, where he continued pracdents from Western North Carolina, all of ticing medicine. Dr. Harrison died in 1992. whom were older than 69 at the time. Another example closer to WCU was Recorded as part of the Western North Carrie Howell Scruggs (1909-2007) who disCarolina Tomorrow Black Oral History cussed attending Hill Street School in Sylva Project are memories of interactions during and Allen School in Asheville. Scruggs recalls segregation, life in the mountains as a Black church services, wakes and celebrating the person and the importance of church and school in the community. Their stories are of days spent sharecropping, service in the military and fighting in world wars, the civil rights movement and integration and other social changes in their lifetimes. “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to offer interviews conducted by the Western North Carolina Tomorrow Black Oral History Project as part of Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Cullowhee. Hunter Library’s Special and Digital Fourth of July and Christmas. Scruggs also Collections,” said Jason Brady, interim chief remembers taking in washing and ironing, of Special and Digital Collections. “These and her husband working in the tannery. The interviews give fascinating glimpses into the experiences of African Americans in Western collection also includes nine interviews with members of the Mount Zion African North Carolina through much of the 20th century and contribute to our goal of provid- Methodist Episcopal Church in Cullowhee. The hope, Brady said, is to further share ing inclusive content to the study of the hisdocumentation of the important contributory and culture of Southern Appalachia.” tions and historical experience of Black peoThe recordings are of African American ple in WNC, which too often is largely residents who lived in Jackson, Swain, unknown and unrecorded. Haywood, Cherokee and Buncombe counFor more information, contact Hunter ties. An example is Dr. Howard Harrison, Library’s Special and Digital Collections at who was interviewed in 1987. Born in 1903 828.227.7474 or on Hill Street in Asheville, Harrison later specialcollections@wcu.edu. worked his way through college as a barber
On the shelf
IT'S BEAUTIFUL OUTSIDE
Jeff Minick
Shel Silverstein? Who might not be moved by some of Emily Dickinson’s verses, or those of Dylan Thomas, or certain poems by Langston Hughes? To those who this April may want to give poetry a try, here are some pointers. First, I recommend starting with short pieces, like “Dreams” by Langston Hughes: Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow. Here’s another short one, Edwin Markham’s “Preparedness,’ which is a particular favorite of mine: For all your days prepare, And meet them ever alike: When you are the anvil, bear— When you are the hammer, strike. Style is another consideration. Perhaps you prefer verse with rhythm and rhyme, as I do, to free verse. Perhaps you prefer the formality of a sonnet to the looser verse of a Walt Whitman or a Mary Oliver. Poetry is a promenade with as many styles as there are poets, and we can all surely find some in this vast choir of voices whose songs appeal to us. My own tastes are all over the board; I like the rollicking verses of Rudyard Kipling, the blank verse of Tennyson, the use of imagery by T.S. Eliot in so many of his pieces. Finally, like literature written for the stage, poets mean their work to be read aloud and performed. They write for the ear as well as for the eye, perhaps even more so, and for the tongue as well. They want us to hear and taste their words instead of seeing them only as objects on a piece of paper. We can bring those words to life when we read poetry to our young people. Nursery
rhymes, historical pieces like “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” or “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” humorous poems like “I Never Saw a Purple Cow” or Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky:” we can make these readings fun and memorable by going a bit overboard, becoming amateur actors enthusiastically adding sparks and pizzazz to the poems. That verse becomes more powerful when read aloud can be seen in numerous offerings online. There we can listen, for example to Johnny Cash reading “The Cremation of Sam McGee” or to some of the various readers of Kipling’s “ The God of the Copybook Headings.” There, too, we can find poets of the last 100 years reading from their own work: Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, even an old wax recording done by Walt Whitman. Some may still wonder: Why read poetry at all? Well, there are many reasons: amusement, edification, a love of the tumble and whir of words and lines. But a central reason to acquaint ourselves with this ancient art form has to do with our humanity. Poetry broadens and deepens our hearts and souls. In the movie “Dead Poets Society,” literature teacher Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) orders his students to “huddle up” in the classroom, kneels among them, and gives them these words of wisdom: “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering — these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love: these are what we stay alive for.” Mr. Keating nails it. Try some poetry this month, some food for the soul. After the events of this past year, heaven knows we can use all the nourishment we can get. (Jeff Minick reviews books and has written four of his own: two novels, Amanda Bell and Dust On Their Wings, and two works of nonfiction, Learning As I Go and Movies Make the Man. minick0301@gmail.com)
The Arts Council of Macon County is creating a literary publication to showcase the talents of Macon County’s many published authors. It will be released this summer, free for distribution and available in print and digital form. The purpose of the publication is to promote local authors by exposing them to a wider readership, and to allow community members and visitors to sample the works of many writers in one tabloid-style publication. The only eligibility requirements are that authors be Macon County residents aged 18 or older, and that content be appropriate for readers of all ages. To be included, submit one excerpt from your favorite published work (may be fiction or nonfiction, from a book, magazine or newspaper), with a 500word minimum, and approximately 1,000-word maximum. Provide the work’s name, publication date, and publisher. Include your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number, plus a 200-word bio. Deadline is May 15, 2021. Send hard copy submissions to The Art Council, PO Box 726, Franklin, NC 28744, and electronic submissions to arts4all@dnet.net. There is no entry fee. The Arts Council intends this to be an ongoing publication, in the same vein as The Wayah Review, a compilation of essays, poems, and visual arts works published by the Council from 1980 until 1992, edited by Barbara McRae. While poets aren’t included in the 2021 publication, future editions will focus on different art forms, from poetry to visual arts to oral history and beyond. If you have questions about this exciting project, contact the Arts Council, art4all@dnet.net or 828.524.ARTS.
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Get Out & Read!
April 7-13, 2021
Time to party, everyone! April is here, and along with warmer weather, blossoms and flowers, and grass grown green, April is National Poetry Month, and this year marks the 25th anniversary of this celebration. Dreamed up by the Academy of American Poets back in 1996, this literary fest is now the largest in the world, involving millions of students and teachers, booksellers and publishers, and of course, poets. The Academy offers all Writer sorts of resources and activities: virtual learning for the classroom, a poem delivered daily to your email, a Poetry and Creative Mind Gala on April 29, and other helps to bring readers and poetry together. Although poetry has made a bit of a comeback in recent years, the majority of American adults report that they never read verse. Of course, they listen to it in music, and most parents of small children surely read nursery rhymes to their children, but they rarely read poems aimed at older men and women. Doubtless, there are reasons for this neglect. Perhaps back in their high school literature classes they disliked the selections found in their textbooks or the way the teachers presented the material. Perhaps they’ve tried reading poems that made no sense to them or left them cold. More likely, the idea of reading poetry has simply never occurred to them. I’ve had students and adults tell me they don’t like poetry, but what they really mean is they don’t like certain poems and poets. How could anyone dislike an entire realm of literature, a vast kingdom stretching from the ancient world up to our own time? Who could not find Robert Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee” funny or laugh aloud at some of the verbal antics of poet
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Outdoors
Smoky Mountain News
At the time, Hunter was on his way back to Columbia, scheduled to make a memorable appearance in his old neighborhood after landing in the private plane he was so proud of. But first, he made a pit stop in Brevard for a business meeting with adventure trailer makers SylvanSport. What he’d expected to be a 45-minute meeting lasted four hours as he checked out the company’s GO Camper — “one of the greatest products I’ve seen in my life,” he said — and was amazed to discover they were having a tough time selling it. By the end of the meeting, Hunter found himself agreeing to leave his $25 million company to come work for a business that had never eclipsed $850,000 in sales, despite being around for 10 years. All this happened despite the fact that Hunter had never been camping before and had little interest in trying. He just thought SylvanSport had a great product, and within six months he’d moved his wife and kids to Brevard and was traveling North America, driving more than 300,000 miles with the camper in tow to sell to dealers and attend industry conferences. Hunter soon noticed that he stood out in a very particular way. “I was the only Black executive, pretty much, in the RV industry — which is a $144 billion industry,” he said.
REASONS FOR ABSENCE
A man pours coffee during a recent Black Folks Camp Too trip to Falls Lake State Park. Black Folks Camp Too photos
ART OF THE INVITE Brevard business aims to increase Black participation outdoors BY HOLLY KAYS STAFF WRITER arl B. Hunter Jr. describes his younger self as a “Good Times kid,” growing up on free lunch and government assistance in Columbia, South Carolina. He wasn’t great at school — he didn’t even learn to read fluently until he was a teenager — but he had a quality about him. And he had a mentor. His name was Marion Cooper “Fuzzy” Thompson, he was a guidance counselor, and he changed Hunter’s life.
E
“What he would tell me was, ‘Don’t be a woulda, coulda, shoulda kid,” said Hunter. “Don’t be that kid that perpetuates the stereotype that folks have of you.” Teenage Hunter hung on those words, the words of somebody who believed that he could leave the neighborhood and make something of himself. And he did. He went to Georgia Military College, and then to Appalachian State, where he played football. He graduated and went on to become vice president of a $25 million company, traveling the world as he sought and closed deal after deal. “My tagline is I was a Gucci, Louis Vittonwearing, sports-car driving, Italian-suit wearing, private plane flying executive,” he said. And then, in 2014, everything changed.
Hunter started camping because he had to. As SylvanSport’s new vice president of sales, it was his job to sell their campers, and to do that he had to know how they worked. Quickly, though, he began to enjoy it. In 2017, he took his then 7-year-old son Dillon on a three-month-long tour of the United States, visiting 49 campgrounds in 20 states and provinces as he drove between business deals. The entire time, they saw exactly one other Black family camping. Hunter knew why Black people were such a rare sight at campgrounds and in the backcountry, because not too long ago he’d been absent from those places too. “My great-grandmother told my grandmother, told my mother, told me, ‘Don’t go in the woods. The boogeyman in those woods. That’s what white folks do. That’s not some-
Get involved Sometimes, outdoor newbies are looking for a signal that their questions and presence on the trail are welcome, and Earl Hunter of Black Folks Camp Too hopes to see the Unity Blaze become that symbol. A simple emblem showing crossed logs and a flame, it’s a symbol that the wearer is willing and able to help folks who are new to the outdoors. Buy a blaze and learn more about Black Folks Camp Too at www.blackfolkscamptoo.com — and if you camp, find someone who has never been and invite them to go with you.
thing we do,’” he said. The admonition came from a generational fear of what it meant to be in the forest. The woods were a place of vulnerability and isolation, where horrible violence could be unleashed while the victim’s screams disappeared into silence. “These places become places of reckoning,” he said. “It’s not a place for recreation. It’s a place for ‘don’t go in there.’ I knew what my grandmother was talking about. I knew what they were feeling.” Fear wasn’t the only reason he’d stayed away. Lack of knowledge was a big driver. Hunter didn’t know anything about the outdoors until he found himself working as an outdoor industry executive. He had no clue about how to choose a sleeping bag, where to find trail maps, what trail blazes meant or how to practice Leave No Trace. “And then the third thing is the industry never really invited us to enjoy it,” said Hunter. Billboards, magazines, ads — they were all “pretty much 35 to 49-year-old white males hanging off a cliff.” To Hunter, outdoor adventure was never really billed as thing that Black people could and should do. Research backs up Hunter’s observations about low Black participation outdoors. While the Outdoor Foundation’s 2019 Outdoor Participation report showed that African American respondents were slightly more likely to go running or jogging than whites, their participation lagged far behind that of other ethnic groups when it came to camping and hiking, with only 5.9 percent of Black respondents saying they’d gone camping in the past year and 5.5 percent saying they’d gone hiking. By contrast, 16.3 percent of whites said they’d gone camping and 20 percent said they hiked.
BIRTH OF BLACK FOLKS CAMP TOO Hunter knew why Black people weren’t camping, but increasingly, he nurtured the conviction that they should. Outdoor recreation had made him happier, healthier and generally more excited about life. Everyone else was missing out, and they didn’t have to be — after all, their tax dollars paid for public lands too. In 2019, that conviction prompted him to leave his job with SylvanSport, which had gone from $1 million to $17.5 million in sales in the four years he’d been there, and start his own business — called Black Folks Camp Too. He launched it from the stage of the 2019 Outdoor Economy Conference in Asheville. He chose that venue because as a career business executive, Hunter saw the issue as an economic one as much as a social one. “I knew that Black folks’ spending power was $1.2 trillion per year, and I knew we make up 14 percent of the population, and I simply asked the folks, ‘If this is the outdoor economy conference, why aren’t you asking for Black folks’ money?” he said.
Become a Master Gardener
An excited group poses during one of Black Folks Camp Too’s very first backpacking trips on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
Growing up in Columbia, Hunter and his family would often do cookouts at the state park nearby. There was a campground there, but staying the night was never even a consideration. It was the same story at the city parks where he’d play baseball. There were trails all around, but he never set foot on them. Culturally, such things were never
the invitation flawlessly. They hosted multiple pre-trip Zoom calls to make sure Hunter knew what to bring and what to expect, arranged a rendezvous prior to the trail head so he could follow them there without getting lost out of cell range, brought extra food and supplies in case he came up short, and taught him the on-trail skills he’d need to go again in the future. “Now I’m addicted to backpacking,” he said. “I did 130 miles last year.” Black Folks Camp Too is now in its second year, and things are moving fast. The business has partnerships going with the state parks systems in both North and South Carolina, as well as with a variety of local and national businesses, including GSI Outdoors, Backcountry.com and many more. The partnership with North Carolina, Parks and Trails for Health Initiative, was announced just a month ago and is a marketing effort combining physical activity in parks, greenways and other outdoor spaces with educational opportunities. The barriers to Black outEarl Hunter and his son Dillon, then 7, explore the door participation are real, and U.S. during a three-month trip in 2017. Hunter knows that overcoming them will be more like a marathon than like a sprint. However, he also knows the key to run“You can’t just invite folks to somening that race, and it’s the same key thing without telling them exactly what that Marion Thompson handed him all they’re going to find, and I don’t think those years ago when he was just a high you can invite folks also not knowing if school student in Columbia, South they even want to come, and why they Carolina. don’t want to come,” he said. “He didn’t force me to do anything. Hunter has a recent, personal examHe didn’t twist my arm,” said Hunter. ple of this principle. Though he’s been “He did the same thing I’m telling you camping countless times since arriving we have to do in regards to the outin Western North Carolina, he’d never doors. We have to twist folks’ hearts. been backpacking until about a year He twisted my heart enough to make ago. Some guys he met at the Outdoor me realize I was more than where I Economy Conference invited him out to was.” Panthertown Valley, and they executed
on his radar. But if somebody had invited him — he may well have gone. That’s why, for Black Folks Camp Too, “invitation” is the operative word. Hunter sees personal invitations from camping enthusiasts as the key to boost Black participation, but to be successful those invitations must be accompanied by knowledge and understanding.
For the first time in almost 20 years, the Montford Neighborhood Association in Asheville will host a public garden tour to raise funds for community initiatives. Tickets are now on sale for the event, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5. The 2021 garden tour will feature live musicians in many of the garden settings, and the individual gardens will represent the immense variety of landscape styles in the Montford Historic District, where many homes date back to the late 1800s and others are more recent builds. Some of the gardens emphasize today’s interest in pollinator health with a rainbow of brilliant blooms, and others concentrate on evergreens or hardscape additions like fountains and fishponds and fire pits. Docents will be on hand at every garden to answer questions about the plants and the unique characteristics on display. Tickets are available online at www.montford.org/garden-tour and will be on sale at the Asheville Visitor Center beginning two weeks prior to the event.
Sign up for seed trays Signups to grow seed trays in Waynesville’s Old Armory greenhouse will be available 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting Monday, April 12, at the Old Armory. The Old Armory provides trays, dirt, water and the greenhouse, with growers supplying the seeds. The greenhouse is open anytime the center is open for growers to water and check on plants. $5 per tray with five-tray limit per person. 828.456.9207 or oldarmory@waynesvillenc.gov.
Pitch in at the Pisgah Center Volunteers are wanted for various roles at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education near Brevard this spring, with many positions open to people of all ages and requiring little experience. Positions include: n Fishing mentors who help guide and instruct fishing program participants. n Front desk greeters who answer phones, greet visitors and answer basic questions. n Facilities maintainers who work on garden, building and lawn maintenance tasks. n Gardeners who help with activities in the native plant, wildlife and pollinator gardens. n Raceway monitors who answer visitor questions about trout in hatchery raceways. Volunteer hours are flexible and fall between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sign up with Lee Sherrill at 828.877.4423 or lee.sherrill@ncwildlife.org. 31
Smoky Mountain News
THE POWER OF INVITATION
Tour Montford gardens
April 7-13, 2021
“What I quickly found out is that they didn’t know how to ask,” said Hunter. “They didn’t know the reasons why we didn’t camp.” Black Folks Camp Too is not a charity or a 501c3. It’s a business, and through it Hunter contracts with companies, industries, government agencies — any organization that’s looking to increase minority participation outdoors, especially Black participation. Black Folks Camp Too creates the copy and marketing content to make it happen. “Our one job is to remove fear, add knowledge and invite more Black folks to camp and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle with any and everyone,” said Hunter. “While we’re doing that, we create unity around the campfire.” Positive changes are taking place, though slowly. According to the 2019 North American Camping Report from Kampgrounds of America, the percentage of new campers from multicultural groups edged that of white campers, 51 to 49 percent. The 2018 KOA report showed that the percent of Black American campers rose from 6 to 8 percent between 2012 and 2017 and that 14 percent of new campers in 2018 were Black. In the past few years, 34 percent of non-white millennials said they had recently started camping, compared to 18 percent of white millennials. Campers under the age of 25 are the most ethnically diverse, according to the report.
outdoors
Applications are being accepted for the 2021 Macon County Master Gardener Volunteer Program, a 10-week course meeting 8:30 a.m. to noon Wednesdays starting May 5 at the Environmental Resource Center in Franklin. Participants will receive 35 hours of training in a variety of subjects ranging from bulbs to berries to organic gardening. Master Gardener certifications are bestowed after completing training, passing a take-home exam and returning a like number of hours in volunteer service. Applications are due Wednesday, April 28. Course fee of $100 includes book and weekly handouts. Classes will be held indoors with social distancing and masks required. Request an application from Christy Bredenkamp, 828.349.2049 or clbreden@ncsu.edu.
outdoors
Celebrate National Park Week
Ready for camp?
Learn more at www.nps.gov/npweek. Sign up for Parkway programs at www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/calendar.htm.
requiring masks when physical distancing cannot be maintained. The public can also explore parks virtually through a variety of engaging online activities.
ONLY $18.99* PER YEAR! Subscribe at smliv.com and use promo code 2021WOW for
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Smoky Mountain News
April 7-13, 2021
Register for the Fun 4 Kids Day Camp offered by Jackson County Parks and Recreation beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 17. The online-only registration day will enroll 25 participants at each of the county’s two recreation centers, in Cullowhee and Cashiers. Activities typically include pool trips, field trips, group games, individual games, arts and crafts and special speakers. n The Cullowhee camp is open to children who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade. Cost is $625, or $600 for the second child enrolled, and dates are June 14 through Aug. 6. n The Cashiers camp is open to ages 5 through 12, though campers must have completed kindergarten. Cost is $700 and dates are June 1 through July 30. Contact Dora Caldwell with questions at 828.293.3053, ext. 5, or doracaldwell@jacksonnc.org. www.rec.jacksonnc.org.
National Park Week is April 17 through April 25, and parks across the country will celebrate with a series of theme days kicking off with a free admission day on Saturday, April 17. Scheduled theme days will be: Saturday, April 17: Free Admission and Park Rx Day; Sunday, April 18: VIP (Volunteers in Parks) Sunday; Monday, April 19: Military Monday; Tuesday, April 20: Transformation Tuesday; Wednesday, April 21: Wayback Wednesday; Thursday, April 22: Earth Day; Friday, April 23: Friendship Friday; Saturday, April 24: Junior Ranger Day; Sunday, April 25: BARK Ranger Day. The Blue Ridge Parkway will celebrate with a five-part open house series April 1922. Sessions are: “Blue Ridge Parkway Orientation,” a brief introduction to the Parkway and complexity of managing the linear 469-mile park, 5 p.m. Monday, April 19, and 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 20; “Caring for the Corridor,” a session discussing the care and keeping of the Parkway’s road, overlooks, bridges and tunnels, 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 20; “Inspiring Park Stewards,” a panel featuring what it means to tell park stories well in the 21st century, 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 21; “Protecting Park Resources,” a panel discussing natural and cultural resource projects, 5 p.m. Thursday, April 22. When visiting parks, practice responsible recreation, including following rules
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Park, Gatlinburg Police crack down on litter outdoors
A targeted law enforcement effort aiming to combat litter resulted in 37 stops including 25 verbal warnings and 13 citations on the northbound Spur of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park March 2829. Officers with the National Park Service and the Gatlinburg Police Department collaborated on the effort, which aimed to enforce a provision of Tennessee state law that states any motor vehicle transporting litter or any material likely to be blown away must contain the material in an enclosed space or fully cover it with a tarp. More than 10 million motorists travel the 5-mile Spur between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge each year, many of them hauling garbage from rental units or private residences to trash collection centers. Garbage bags and construction waste blown out of vehicles often scatters along the roadways after being hit by vehicles. The road sees the most litter accumulation of any in the park. “With increasing visitation trends and more use of park roads for business and recreation, we need everyone to do their part to keep our roads litter-free,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “To protect our scenic values and wildlife, it is vital that
A park ranger speaks with the driver of a truck hauling unsecured garbage. NPS photo
we prevent trash from ever being discarded in a National Park.” Additional targeted enforcement dates are scheduled for the remainder of the year. The Spur, a 5-mile section of roadway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, is traveled by over 10 million motorists annu-
ally and accumulates the largest amount of litter among the Park’s 384 miles of roads. Additional targeted enforcement dates are also scheduled throughout the remainder of 2021. To pitch in with litter pickup events organized by Keep Sevier Beautiful, visit www.keepsevierbeautiful.org.
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Help out stream scientists 9:30AM-4PM
Jason Meador (center) leads a Stream Visual Assessment Protocol field trip. Donated photo
See space through a telescope Check out the night sky with the Western Carolina University Department of Chemistry and Physics during a telescope viewing party 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, at the Jackson County Airport in Cullowhee. The viewing is part of the 2021 North Carolina Science Festival’s Statewide Star Party, and WCU astronomy faculty will have telescopes on hand to show the Moon, Mars, star clusters and galaxies. Viewers will learn how to identify spring contellations, and children will have the chance to participate in activities around the theme “Moon and Mars.” The event is supported by the N.C. Space Grant. In case of bad weather or overcast skies, the viewing will be postponed to Saturday, April 17, at the same time and location. For more information, including COVID-19 protocols, visit https://bit.ly/31HXsNm or contact Enrique Gomez at 828.227.2719.
Sponsored by WNC Region of the Small Business Center
Smoky Mountain News
Learn about stream health and find out how to gather data for research biologists during a workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. The group will gather in front of the library to download and learn about Stream Visual Assessment Protocol. Afterwards, they’ll walk to the greenway with Jason Meador, aquatics expert for Mainspring Conservation Trust. Meador will teach participants how to use a citizen science tool to contribute to research that biologists are collecting about the Little Tennessee River. Register with Kristina Moe at kmoe@fontanalib.org or 828.524.3600.
April 7-13, 2021
Fly fishing expeditions with Haywood County Recreation and Parks start Saturday, April 10, with a three-hour journey through one of Haywood County’s finest trout streams. Expeditions begin at 8 a.m. and are offered on the West Fork of the Pigeon River April 10, 17 and 24, as well as May 8. A May 22 session will held on Richland Creek starting at Vance Street. Experienced local anglers Ray Sugg and Reid Warren lead these expeditions. A fishing license is required and participation is limited to seven per session. Cost is $10 paid at registration. Register at 828.452.6789 or ian.smith@haywoodcountync.gov.
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Local wildflower expert Donna Machen will lead a pair of hikes in the Big Creek Watershed of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tuesday, April 13, and Saturday, April 17. The group will meet at 9:30 p.m. and begin with a one-hour introduction to wildflowers, with an easy 4-mile hike to follow, concluding by 3 p.m. Machen began learning to identify wildflowers more than 25 years ago, and the Big Creek Watershed is one of her favorite places to find blooms while they’re most abundant, between April and May. Organized by Wild irises bloom in the Haywood Big Creek Watershed. Waterways Donated photo Association, the events are free for members with a $5 donation requested from nonmembers. The hikes are part of HWA’s “Get to Know Your Watershed” series of outdoor recreation activities. Space is limited. Bring a camera and wildflower books, but no pets. RSVP to Christine O’Brien at christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 828.476.4667, ext. 11.
Family Day coming to Jackson greenway Families are invited to walk the Jackson County Greenway from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 17, while enjoying a variety of activities along the trail. Family Day at the Greenway is an Ascent Partnership collaboration between Harris Regional Hospital, Swain Community Hospital and Western Carolina University. Events will include rock painting, yard games and an ecology scavenger hunt. Harris EMS, PT Solutions and Harris Pediatrics will all have tents set up for attendees to learn more about their services. https://fb.me/e/5bsisxp9d.
Take a stroll at the arboretum The N.C. Arboretum in Asheville will resume offering guided trail walks this spring, with groups setting off at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays April 10 through Oct. 30. Walks will be limited to 10 people, including the guide, with masks required for all. Groups depart from the Baker Exhibit Center lobby, and while there is a $16 park-
ing fee the walks themselves are free. As of April 1, the arboretum’s summer hours are in effect, with gardens and trails open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through October. The Baker Exhibit Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The incoming gate closes at 8 p.m. Due to limited space, pre-registration is encouraged, either online at bit.ly/3dxJlzw or in-person at the Baker Information Desk. Pre-registered participants must check in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled program to keep their spot.
Go birding
34
Learn the basics of birding with an outdoor adventure 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 17, near Franklin. Situated amid the Western North Carolina migratory bird flyway and the Little Tennessee River, participants will bird one of the best places in Appalachia to see and hear avian arrivals firsthand. Offered by Alarka Expeditions. Tour includes moderate walking. Cost is $55; learn more at bit.ly/3dvzqwc.
WNC Calendar COMMUNITY EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS • Waynesville Art School will hold an all-school exhibition to showcase students’ artwork and the first of its kind Dragons-over-Waynesville installation from noon to 5 p.m. on April 11. Masks are required as the school follows Covid-19 safety protocols. For more information call 828.246.9869, or visit WaynesvilleArtSchool.com • Live Forgiven Church will host a curbside grocery giveaway from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Sunday, April 11. Prepacked groceries and some fresh foods will be available to anyone who could use a little extra support. Simply drive up to the parking lot at the church (45 Crown Ridge Road, Sylva) to participate. • Family Day at the Greenway will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 17, from at the Jackson County Greenway in Cullowhee. Some of the events include rock painting, yard games, and an ecology scavenger hunt. Harris EMS, PT Solutions, and Harris Pediatrics will all have tents set up for park-goers to interact with and learn more about their services.
BUSINESS & EDUCATION • Lake Junaluska will host an in-person and online job fair Tuesday, April 13, and Wednesday, April 14, at Lake Junaluska to connect with job seekers interested in part-time, full-time and seasonal positions. For more information or to see job descriptions, visit lakejunaluska.com/careers, call 828.454.6706 or email hr@lakejunaluska.com. To request a Zoom link to attend virtually, email hr@lakejunaluska.com. • The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College, in coordination with Small Business Centers in the WNC Region, will offer a free three-part Small Business Tax virtual learning series featuring representatives from the North Carolina Department of Revenue. The Small Business Tax series will be held 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays, April 6, April 20 and May 4. Visit SBC.Haywood.edu or call 828.627.4512 to register. • The Small Business Center at Haywood Community College is offering a free "Empowering Mountain Food Systems - Agribusiness" webinar series. The four-part series is designed to address the unique needs of current and prospective agribusinesses. Upcoming classes include Agritourism to be held 9-10 a.m. Wednesday, April 28. Visit sbc.haywood.edu or call 828.627.4512 to register. • Western Carolina University will host Western Wednesday at 6 p.m. April 28, for a presentation about the impact of COVID-19 on North Carolina’s economy and its projected road to recovery. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the program. Visit https://wcu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tzuudecvrjoueta4oed33se8x9fxqotxgzih to RSVP.
VOLUNTEERS & VENDORS • The annual Adopt-A-Highway Spring Litter Sweep is coming up April 10 to 24, and volunteers are needed to help the N.C. Department of Transportation remove litter from roadsides. Volunteers will receive cleanup supplies such as trash bags, gloves and safety vests and are encouraged to follow COVID-19 safety guidance while out and about. Sign up at bit.ly/3c7vtez or call 919.707.297.
A&E
• The Classic Wineseller (Waynesville) will host Jacob Johnson (singer-songwriter) April 17. All shows begin at
n All phone numbers area code 828 unless otherwise noted. n To have your item listed email to calendar@smokymountainnews.com 6:30 p.m. Reservations required. 828.452.6000 or www.classicwineseller.com. • Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host Bohemian Jean (soul/acoustic) April 9, The Realtorz April 10 and Joey Fortner (folk/indie) April 16. All shows begin at 6 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host Shane Meade (singer-songwriter) April 10 and Dirty Dave April 17. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Arnold Hill (rock/indie) April 9. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday. Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com. • Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host Shane Meade (singer-songwriter) April 9 and Isaac Corbitt (soul/acoustic) April 10. All shows begin at 8 p.m. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com. • Smoky Mountain Event Center (Waynesville) will host a drive-in show with Papadosio (jam/fusion) 6 p.m. April 9-10. For more information and/or to purchase tickets, go to www.ashevillemusichall.com. • Water’n Hole Bar & Grill (Waynesville) will host Joel Parisoe 3 p.m. April 11. 828.456.4750 or www.facebook.com/waternhole.bar.
FOOD AND DRINK • There will be a free wine tasting from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday and 2 to 5 p.m. every Saturday at The Wine Bar & Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075. • The “Uncorked: Wine & Rail Pairing Experience” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on select dates at the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad in Bryson City. Full service all-adult first-class car. Wine pairings with a meal, and more. For more information and/or to register, call 800.872.4681 or click on www.gsmr.com.
ON STAGE & IN CONCERT • Haywood Arts Regional Theatre will open its doors again to the public, beginning April 8 with the one-man show “Say Goodnight, Gracie” starring Pasquale LaCorte as George Burns. The show has performances at 7:30 p.m. April 8-10 and 15-17 and 2 p.m. April 11 and 18. To make reservations call the HART Box office at 828.456.6322.
ART SHOWINGS AND GALLERIES • A “Call for Artwork” by the Haywood County Arts Council is currently underway. In May, the HCAC will be showcasing our beautiful native wildflowers, flowering shrubs, and trees in the exhibit: “Celebrating the Flora of the Smoky Mountains.” Contracts are due April 9. For more information, click on www.haywoodarts.org/callfor-artists or pick up a copy at the HCAC in Waynesville. Email completed contract to gallerygifts@haywoodarts.org.
Smoky Mountain News
• Open call for artists to sell their work in the Carriage House Gift Shop at the historic Shelton House in Waynesville. For details, call 757.894.2293. •The “2021 Juried Artist Exhibit,” hosted by Haywood County Arts Council (HCAC), opens on April 2 and will run through May 1. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, click on www.haywoodarts.org. • “Connecting Legacies: A First Look at the Dreier Black Mountain College Archive” features archival objects from the Theodore Dreier Sr. Document Collection presented alongside artworks from the Asheville Art Museum’s Black Mountain College (BMC) Collection to explore the connections between artworks and ephemera. The exhibition is on view in the Asheville Art Museum’s Van Winkle Law Firm Gallery through May 17. General admission is always free for Museum Members, UNC Asheville students, and children under 6; $15 per adult; $13 per senior (65+); and $10 per student (child 6–17 or degree-seeking college students with valid ID). Admission tickets are available at www.ashevilleart.org/visit.
Outdoors
• Learn about stream health and find out how to gather data for research biologists during a workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Macon County Public Library. Register with Kristina Moe at kmoe@fontanalib.org or 828.524.3600. • The Gem & Mineral Society of Franklin is pleased to announce the re-opening of the Gem & Mineral Museum on Saturday, April 10, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Information about additional days and hours will be announced at a later date. • The N.C. Arboretum in Asheville will resume offering guided trail walks this spring, with groups setting off at 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays April 10 through Oct. 30. Walks will be limited to 10 people, including the guide, with masks required for all. Groups depart from the Baker Exhibit Center lobby, and while there is a $16 parking fee the walks themselves are free. Due to limited space, pre-registration is encouraged, either online at bit.ly/3dxJlzw or in-person at the Baker Information Desk. Pre-registered participants must check in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled program to keep their spot. • Check out the night sky with the Western Carolina University Department of Chemistry and Physics during a telescope viewing party 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, at the Jackson County Airport. For more information, including COVID-19 protocols, visit https://bit.ly/31HXsNm or contact Enrique Gomez at 828.227.2719.
• Local wildflower expert Donna Machen will lead a pair of hikes in the Big Creek Watershed of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tuesday, April 13, and Saturday, April 17. The group will meet at 9:30 p.m. and begin with a one-hour introduction to wildflowers, with an easy 4-mile hike to follow, concluding by 3 p.m. Organized by Haywood Waterways Association, the events are free for members with a $5 donation requested from nonmembers. Space is limited. Bring a camera and wildflower books, but no pets. RSVP to Christine O’Brien at christine.haywoodwaterways@gmail.com or 828.476.4667, ext. 11. • The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is accepting proposed migratory bird hunting seasons for 2021-2022 through its online comment portal at
35
Visit www.smokymountainnews.com and click on Calendar for: n n n n
Complete listings of local music scene Regional festivals Art gallery events and openings Complete listings of recreational offerings at health and fitness centers n Civic and social club gatherings www.ncpaws.org/paws/wrc/publiccomments/publiccomments.aspx. These regulations will apply to waterfowl, webless and extended falconry. Commissioners will review the comments and set season dates April 22. Learn more at www.ncwildlife.org/portals/0/proposedregulations/migratory-birds. • A series of horticulture classes aimed at home gardeners will be offered in the New Year through Haywood County Cooperative Extension. Upcoming sessions are April 13, Pruning Trees & Shrubs. Classes, taught by extension agents and experienced Master Gardener volunteers, will last for approximately two hours and be held via Zoom until face-to-face training is possible. Sign up by emailing mgarticles@charter.net. Cost is $10 per class. • Learn the basics of birding with an outdoor adventure 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 17, near Franklin. Offered by Alarka Expeditions. Tour includes moderate walking. Cost is $55; learn more at bit.ly/3dvZQwc. • Register for the Fun 4 Kids Day Camp offered by Jackson County Parks and Recreation beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 17. The Cullowhee camp is open to children who have completed kindergarten through sixth grade. Cost is $625, or $600 for the second child enrolled, and dates are June 14 through Aug. 6. The Cashiers camp is open to ages 5 through 12, though campers must have completed kindergarten. Cost is $700 and dates are June 1 through July 30. Contact Dora Caldwell with questions at 828.293.3053, ext. 5, or doracaldwell@jacksonnc.org. www.rec.jacksonnc.org. • The inaugural Running of the Goats 5K and Nature Walk will take place at the WNC Nature Center in Asheville on Sunday, April 25. Registration is limited and rolling starts with waves between 7:30 and 9 a.m. will allow for distancing. Proceeds will benefit Friends of the WNC Nature Center and support programs throughout the park. Register at www.wildwnc.org/runwild. • Registration is now open for Discovery Camp at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. Camps will be offered weekly from Jun 7 through July 2 and July 19 through Aug. 13. They’re open to rising second through seventh graders, who will spend the week exploring the great outdoors in the 434-acre Arboretum campus. Learn more or sign up at www.ncarboretum.org/educationprograms/discovery-camp.
HIKING CLUBS • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take an easy 1.5-mile hike for novice meditators on the Rufus Morgan Trail on Wednesday, April 7. The club will meet at Westgate Plaza in Franklin at 10 a.m. Call leader Deborah Gregory, 4210008, for reservations. Visitors are welcome. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a strenuous 9.5mile hike on Saturday, April 10. The club will meet at Cowee School at 8:30 a.m. Call leader Larry Barnett, 828.226.9123, for reservations. Visitors are welcome. • The Nantahala Hiking Club will take a 4-mile moderate-to strenuous hike Sunday, April 11. The club will meet at the Smoky Mountain Visitors Center at 1 p.m. Call leader Katharine Brown, 421-4178, for reservations. Visitors are welcome.
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37
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ANSWERS ON PAGE 34
PART-TIME MAINTENANCE CARETAKER needed for apartment community in Sylva, NC. Please email letter of interest or resume to: info@southernrm.com. EEO
BLUE RIDGE HEALTH NOW HIRING Blue Ridge Health has openings for full-time Patient Access Representative (PAR) and Medical Assistant (MA) at its Bryson City clinic location. Both positions require a high school diploma or equivalent, and at least one-year experience working in a PHGLFDO RI¿FH HQYLURQment preferred. For MA position, LPN or MA FHUWL¿FDWLRQ SUHIHUUHG Please visit www.brchs. com and click on careers to apply today!
NOW HIRING: B. H. Graning Landscapes, Inc. is looking to hire individuals interested in a career in the landscape industry. Group EHQH¿WV DIWHU GD\V Pay is based on knowledge and experience starting at $12 to $20. Hiring PT CDL Dump Truck Driver. Hiring individuals experienced in decorative concrete, carpentry, irrigation, masonry, maintenance landscaping and certi¿HG VSUD\ WHFKV $SSO\ online at www.bhglandscapes.com/employment-application. BUILDING & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES SUPERVISOR – Residential Living #003673 Western Carolina University is accepting applications for a permanent full-time Building & Environmental Services Supervisor (#003673) with the Department of Residential Living. This
position will act as a working supervisor with daily housekeeping duties and management responsibilities. This team leader will be the daily supervisor of a housekeeping team working in one or more assigned areas within the WCU Residential Living facilities. Duties include but are not limited to: performing staff training in coordination with the Housekeeping Supervisor; tracking team members’ attendance and recording for timekeeping purposes; Assessing Team members’ requests for time off and approving or denying requests as appropriate; Responsible for setting clear expectations and instructions and supporting all team members in the successful pursuit of WKRVH JRDOV 7DNHV ¿UVW step disciplinary action in the form of informal verbal discussion with and correction of employee when expectations are not being met; Daily visual inspection of team’s assigned housekeeping areas. If requested by Housekeeping Supervisor or Housekeeping
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Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, Answers on 34 the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!
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www.smokymountainnews.com
April 7-13, 2021
WNC MarketPlace
Manager, Team Leader will also complete written inspection of assigned work area(s); acting as a communication liaison between Housekeeping Supervisor/Housekeeping Manager and Housekeepers. This is a physically demanding job that requires constant standing, squatting, walking, pushing/pulling, and the ability to lift up to 50lbs on a regular EDVLV 0LQLPXP TXDOL¿cations for this position are: Graduation from High School or possession of a GED, and one year of experience in the area assigned; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Management prefers candidates with at least 2 years supervisory experience in a housekeeping setting. Western Carolina University is an Equal Opportunity/AcFHVV $I¿UPDWLYH $FWLRQ Pro-Disabled & pro-Veteran Employer. Apply at https://jobs.wcu.edu/postings/15285
HOUSEKEEPING – HOURLY, 2ND SHIFT, Residential Living #T00942 Western Carolina University is accepting applications for multiple 2nd shift housekeeping positions (#T00942) with the Department of Residential Living. The work schedule for this position is Monday-Friday, from 3pm to 11:30pm, with some rotational weekend work required. This temporary position will lapse a maximum of 11 months after start date and may end sooner, depending on the needs of the department. Successful hourly employees will be eligible for rehire, subject to the needs of the department. This position will perform a variety of duties in the care, cleaning, and disinfection of Residential Living facilities. Duties include physical activities such as moving furniture, operating cleaning equipment, carrying trash, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, walls, winGRZV DQG OLJKW ¿[WXUHV and minor maintenance. Related tasks may be assigned as needed. Min-
LPXP TXDOL¿FDWLRQV IRU this position are: Some knowledge of cleaning procedures, the ability to follow instructions and to perform medium to heavy physical work; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Western Carolina University is an Equal OpporWXQLW\ $FFHVV $I¿UPDWLYH Action/Pro-Disabled & pro-Veteran Employer. Apply at https://jobs.wcu. edu/postings/15112 HOUSEKEEPING – HOURLY, RESIDENTIAL LIVING #T00942 Western Carolina University is accepting applications for multiple housekeeping positions (#T00942) with the Department of Residential Living. This position will perform a variety of duties in the care and cleaning of Residential Living facilities. Duties include physical activities such as moving furniture, operating cleaning equipment, carrying trash, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, walls, windows DQG OLJKW ¿[WXUHV DQG minor maintenance and other related tasks. MinLPXP TXDOL¿FDWLRQV IRU this position are: Some knowledge of cleaning procedures, the ability to follow instructions and to perform medium to heavy physical work; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. Western Carolina University is an Equal OpporWXQLW\ $FFHVV $I¿UPDWLYH Action/Pro-Disabled & pro-Veteran Employer. Apply at https://jobs.wcu. edu/postings/12618 FULL-TIME ASSISTANT TEACHER CHILDCARE M-F, 9 am-5 pm dependent on classroom ratios,
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A Quintessential 5D|5BA home with year-round mountain and Golf Co ourse views in Masters Landing. Built and designed by Distinctive Building and Design n, this home features IW IW FHLOLQJV D VSDFLRXV JUHDW URRP DQG D FRYHUHG SRUFK ZLWK EXLOW LQ Q ȴUHSODFH
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For Sale
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Ranch style home sitting on 12 accres with 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a wra ap-around SRUFK DQG DQ XQȴQLVKHG EDVHPHQW ZLWK endless possibilities.
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Brand new Craftsman home located in Stoneridge subdivision n. Enjoy the 9 ft. ceilings, Anderson window ws/exterior doors, and modern kitchen.
MILITARY SURPLUS W/C Pants/Shirts, Jackets. Military Boots ON SALE. Cold Weather Clothing, Field Gear, Sleep Bags, Packs, Bags. 828-349-3140.
Wanted to Buy 1960’S AND 1970’S LAND ROVERS Whole or Parts - Especially interested in series Rovers sold from Harrell’s Motor Sales in Waynesville Wanted to restore to keep local. 828-506-5733 (828) 506-5733
April 7-13, 2021
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Stunning home on Lake Junaluska. This home has a spacious dining room, a JUHDWW URRP ZLWK LWK D JDV OORJ ȴ ȴUHSODFH O DQG G EHDXWLIXO KDUGZRRG ȵRRUV
Located on 4.23 acres in Franklin, NC, this KRPH RHUV 66 DSSOLDQFHV DQG JUDQLWH FRXQWHU W WWRSV LLQ WK WKH NLWFKHQ D JDV ȴUHplace, and a covered front porch.
WNC MarketPlace
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Smoky Mountain News April 7-13, 2021
